Second band of a five-band night
Preface 1:
Our previous gig at the Continental (12/15/03)
went over so well that Walt, the venue's booker called us and
asked us to open for a pop-punk tour that was coming through
town. Usually, a band must call the venue to get booked, and
it's extremely rare for the venue to contact the band and invite
them for a specific show. So when Walt called and said that
he thought we'd be "perfect" for the show, we were
very psyched.
Preface 2:
My excitement was dampened, however, when, on Monday night,
I was at John B's house, and his neighbor from across the street
backed out of her driveway and right into the driver-side door
of my parked car. The sideview mirror was gone, and there was
a whole and a crack in the door panel. Worse yet, when I rolled
down the window so that I could see (since I had no mirror),
the window did not roll all the way back up.
The weather on gig night was very cold, very windy,
and very rainy. This meant that we might not have a good showing.
It also meant that, as I drove down to the gig on the West Side
Highway, when oncoming cars hit puddles, the splash of dirty
water would come right through the slightly ajar window and
hit me in the face. I was NOT in a good mood.
The Gig:
There was one guy on before us, Rod
Webber, some people thought he sounded kinda like Jonathan
Richman (after all, he is from Boston and is a solo performer),
but I thought some of his stuff sounded more like the Velvet
underground. Either way, we thought was pretty good.
The place was damn crowded for a Tuesday night
- especially considering the crappy weather. We brought a good
amount of people, and there were also a lot of other folks there
(possibly to see the other bands, but, since there's no cover
charge, we can never be sure). Even with the strong crowd, I
was grumpy.
All my anger dispersed as soon as I hit the stage.
Since The Continental has short sets, we were set up in record
time. It probably took no more than six minutes to get all our
stuff set up and to sound check. I started the riff from "Stay
Up and Talk to Me" and we were flying. My anger got channeled
into performance energy, so I was in motion from the get go.
It's hard to tell how an audience is receiving
you until after the first song. The reaction to the first song
can tell you if you've grabbed their attention or if they're
just there for the alcohol, and it can set the tone for the
rest of the set. At the close of the first song, the reaction
was overwhelming. We were seeing a lot of people in the audience
that we didn't know, and they were clearly enjoying what they
saw.
The momentum never really quit, and it resulted
in one of our best sets ever. The whole band was on fire, and
I think we all knew it, so we were having a blast! We were only
supposed to be on for 30 minutes, but I'm pretty sure they let
us have an extra song or two. If there had been a record label
guy in the audience, we'd be signed right now.
In a tribute to Buddy Holly on the 45th anniversary
of his death, we played our new kicking version of "Rave
On" and we gave away a few free one-time-only special edition
tour shirts with a cool graphic that John B designed. We'll
get a picture of that on the site soon.
Afterwards, we had many people we didn't know
come up and tell us that they dug our set. One guy in particular
came up to me, shook my hand and said, "I really hope you
guys make it, because I loved your set." There's just no
greater feeling than having someone appreciate your work like
that.
Lastly, I was bummed that I didn't get the chance
to hang out and see headliners Tokyo
Rose and Junction
18. I probably would've stayed had my car been in better
shape (who wants to leave equipment on a NYC street in a car
with a window that doesn't close?). I don't know what Juntion
18 sounds like, but Tokyo Rose has a really good sound. I spoke
with their bassist for about a minute and he seemed pretty cool
as well.
Nothing much else to say, other than, if you missed
us this time, you REALLY missed a great show.
Stay Up and Talk to Me
She Was Just a Girl
We're Alright
Rave On
Lead You On
A Song for the Ladies
Eve of Destruction
Superstar
Sailor
Burning Love
Take Janine Away
