On The Island, At The Fest
I'm not going to post show reviews here, but I will throw out some general impressions.
Last weekend was a blast! BB/GS road trips are the purest form of entertainment imaginable. If cable ten starts running R-rated DIY reality shows, we should think about putting one together.
The GS posse made the ~4 hour trip on Friday in a partial blizzard. There were windshield wiper issues, ie only having one, and it eventually falling off. A good samaritan helped us TCB and get back on the road. Ah, Nova Scotia!
We played a bar show; same town as my Feb 4 entry, but a different bar. The crowd was also different; more middle aged people (which is fine... ageism sucks), maybe more jock-dude types. We still had a small core of supporters, so it was not unlike the last time we were there.
I drank for this show. We were on last, and the wait was really killing me. I had the option of not driving anywhere afterwards, and I used it. This was only the third time in my 15 years of playing shows that I'd played drunk. All three times were with GS.
The set went pretty well, none of us were incapacitated. Ube's vocals kept cutting out at the end, which was a mystery to us. It's hard to lose one member even for a second, because the sound is so bare-bones. Although the bar had been packed at one point, there were a lot fewer people there when we were done. I kind of assumed we'd driven them all away, but that may not have been the case. We started very late, close to 2am. I could review this show in almost the same words as last time... few crazies up front, room seemed to empty... staff didn't like us at all. Ube stood on the monitor! Ummmm! #rubs one index finger over the other#
All the bands on the bill sounded fine, but stylistically we were severely fending for ourselves. The organizers of this event probably had difficulty finding a show for us. I think that's good though... makes for a diverse festival. You just have to hope enough people get it. 15-20 is probably "enough". Of course, 200 would have been great!
My hat is off to the gentleman and two ladies that got us on this fest. They totally understand what we do. These folks took a considerable chance giving us a bar show period, never mind a headlining spot. That meant a lot. Big ups to BD, GM and KB. Hope to see you at N X N End!
But our story doesn't end there. We went back to the house of rock afterward, and continued to engage in drinking and conversation. I totally made an ass of myself. I find weird things funny. Hopefully no one there thought I was psycho.
Next up was an all ages show on Saturday afternoon. The venue was large, a church hall nearly the size of a basketball court. The stage had to be five feet high. A decision was made to play on the floor.
BB was on this bill too; I like playing with both bands at one show, and I don't like it. It's great to have the extended family around, but that's a lot of rockin' for me to do. I'm not gonna just stand there to conserve energy for the next set. I asked the organizers if there was any way a band could play between BB and GS. It seemed like this was a go.
BB played one of our most fun sets ever. There were maybe 30 ish kids there (there was a lot going on that weekend). We had all kinds of room to run around on the floor. I started the set on a pissed-off note because I had just discovered that I'd drunkenly lost an important/expensive adapter the night before. Little things really set me off. Big things just seem to bounce off me. It's weird. But yeah... I was ready to go smash stuff with a bat. That's how I get. I never actually do anything bad, but people seem to get freaked out when I'm like that. Folks, that's just how I am. My idea of anger management is not doing anything that'll land me in jail. That means talking a little crazy talk sometimes.
I'm off topic. The set went really well, despite a few technical difficulties. No one complained about the spacebeam this time (as if I care). It was fun strutting around and doing silly poses. The other guys in the band played in their underwear. I'm too self conscious to do that, so I wore a dress instead. Did I mention this was a church hall? Muhahahaha.....
After an extended period of no bands playing, I approached one of the organizers about the band order. It turned out GS were supposed to go on next after all. I was a little ticked at the time, but organizing a whole weekend of multiple shows is not an easy thing to do, especially with people like me playing in more than one band. So no harm done, and no hard feelings. I was very glad to be playing that show at all.
The delay knocked a little wind out of the show's sails, but there were still a decent number of kids there by the time we started to play. The vast space that had benefitted BB seemed to work against us at first. We play best in a small space. Ube and our friends in the audience seemed to sense this, and took action. There was group busting and a lot of manic dancing. Mind you, not this manic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7eUGsB9VY0
...but you get the idea. I want every GS show to be as nuts as that video. Costumes and dancing.
Unfortunately, the earlier delay had cut into our set and we could not finish. So, as Poison and Uber lay in their customary post-set heap, T. America and I grabbed the floor tom and raced around the room playing it. We were in a full sprint at one point... it was insane! Maybe GS should play at the Friendship Center sometime. It would be fun to run around.
Anyway, a swell weekend. Thanks to KM for an awesome time and some dutiful work behind the merch table! And to everyone who took pictures of us. We're so vain.
What's Liverpool going to be like?
Last weekend was a blast! BB/GS road trips are the purest form of entertainment imaginable. If cable ten starts running R-rated DIY reality shows, we should think about putting one together.
The GS posse made the ~4 hour trip on Friday in a partial blizzard. There were windshield wiper issues, ie only having one, and it eventually falling off. A good samaritan helped us TCB and get back on the road. Ah, Nova Scotia!
We played a bar show; same town as my Feb 4 entry, but a different bar. The crowd was also different; more middle aged people (which is fine... ageism sucks), maybe more jock-dude types. We still had a small core of supporters, so it was not unlike the last time we were there.
I drank for this show. We were on last, and the wait was really killing me. I had the option of not driving anywhere afterwards, and I used it. This was only the third time in my 15 years of playing shows that I'd played drunk. All three times were with GS.
The set went pretty well, none of us were incapacitated. Ube's vocals kept cutting out at the end, which was a mystery to us. It's hard to lose one member even for a second, because the sound is so bare-bones. Although the bar had been packed at one point, there were a lot fewer people there when we were done. I kind of assumed we'd driven them all away, but that may not have been the case. We started very late, close to 2am. I could review this show in almost the same words as last time... few crazies up front, room seemed to empty... staff didn't like us at all. Ube stood on the monitor! Ummmm! #rubs one index finger over the other#
All the bands on the bill sounded fine, but stylistically we were severely fending for ourselves. The organizers of this event probably had difficulty finding a show for us. I think that's good though... makes for a diverse festival. You just have to hope enough people get it. 15-20 is probably "enough". Of course, 200 would have been great!
My hat is off to the gentleman and two ladies that got us on this fest. They totally understand what we do. These folks took a considerable chance giving us a bar show period, never mind a headlining spot. That meant a lot. Big ups to BD, GM and KB. Hope to see you at N X N End!
But our story doesn't end there. We went back to the house of rock afterward, and continued to engage in drinking and conversation. I totally made an ass of myself. I find weird things funny. Hopefully no one there thought I was psycho.
Next up was an all ages show on Saturday afternoon. The venue was large, a church hall nearly the size of a basketball court. The stage had to be five feet high. A decision was made to play on the floor.
BB was on this bill too; I like playing with both bands at one show, and I don't like it. It's great to have the extended family around, but that's a lot of rockin' for me to do. I'm not gonna just stand there to conserve energy for the next set. I asked the organizers if there was any way a band could play between BB and GS. It seemed like this was a go.
BB played one of our most fun sets ever. There were maybe 30 ish kids there (there was a lot going on that weekend). We had all kinds of room to run around on the floor. I started the set on a pissed-off note because I had just discovered that I'd drunkenly lost an important/expensive adapter the night before. Little things really set me off. Big things just seem to bounce off me. It's weird. But yeah... I was ready to go smash stuff with a bat. That's how I get. I never actually do anything bad, but people seem to get freaked out when I'm like that. Folks, that's just how I am. My idea of anger management is not doing anything that'll land me in jail. That means talking a little crazy talk sometimes.
I'm off topic. The set went really well, despite a few technical difficulties. No one complained about the spacebeam this time (as if I care). It was fun strutting around and doing silly poses. The other guys in the band played in their underwear. I'm too self conscious to do that, so I wore a dress instead. Did I mention this was a church hall? Muhahahaha.....
After an extended period of no bands playing, I approached one of the organizers about the band order. It turned out GS were supposed to go on next after all. I was a little ticked at the time, but organizing a whole weekend of multiple shows is not an easy thing to do, especially with people like me playing in more than one band. So no harm done, and no hard feelings. I was very glad to be playing that show at all.
The delay knocked a little wind out of the show's sails, but there were still a decent number of kids there by the time we started to play. The vast space that had benefitted BB seemed to work against us at first. We play best in a small space. Ube and our friends in the audience seemed to sense this, and took action. There was group busting and a lot of manic dancing. Mind you, not this manic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7eUGsB9VY0
...but you get the idea. I want every GS show to be as nuts as that video. Costumes and dancing.
Unfortunately, the earlier delay had cut into our set and we could not finish. So, as Poison and Uber lay in their customary post-set heap, T. America and I grabbed the floor tom and raced around the room playing it. We were in a full sprint at one point... it was insane! Maybe GS should play at the Friendship Center sometime. It would be fun to run around.
Anyway, a swell weekend. Thanks to KM for an awesome time and some dutiful work behind the merch table! And to everyone who took pictures of us. We're so vain.
What's Liverpool going to be like?
posted by the baron ash von foolishness at 11:24 AM
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