Tied For Last

Last band of a ?-band afternoon

It sounded like a great idea at the time.

John B got in touch with Wild Spirits while looking to book a regular evening show, and the booker told him about their all-ages punk/alternative matinees which had been getting a pretty big audience. We'd been looking into playing an all-ages show anyway, so it seemed like a good fit.

We had confirmations from a bunch of people who said they were coming, including a few who were bringing their kids, little brothers, etc., so we were really looking forward to the gig. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was for a deluge of rain (possibly 2-4 inches that day alone), so we were also a little concerned.

That afternoon, there was a hell of a downpour, and that ended up keeping a whole bunch of people at home – including other bands (wusses). We got to the venue to find that two other bands had cancelled and that the two bands that did show didn't bring an audience. Wild Spirits was having a bad day.

When we heard that the band before us didn't show, we told the guys at the club that we could start earlier and play through if they wanted. They were cool with it, and the rest of the day took on a very laid-back vibe.

Our audience was very small, but we were damn happy the diehards who came, and I was determined to play as well as I could. There was a lot of interaction between the band and the audience, including our taking many requests and changing up the planned set list quite a bit.

The stage sound was crappy because it was a wide stage with one front monitor. This meant that it was hard for Tommy and me to hear our voices, and John B couldn't hear our guitars at all. Our friends Batpam and Mike told us later on that the room sound was awesome, so at least that's cool.

Unfortunately, I'd been recuperating from a cold so my energy level wasn't that strong. My voice held out for the whole show though, which was extra cool considering the fact that I couldn't hear it that well. While being onstage and not hearing ourselves did have an impact on our overall energy, we ended up having a real good time, and the guys who worked there treated us, and our friends quite well, so all-in-all, it was a good gig.

There’s another story here about another band that we had helped, but who ended up biting us in the ass, but out of professional respect, and a comment from them that they plan on making it up to us, I shan’t mention it here.

Set List:
American Girl (soundcheck)
Stay Up and Talk To Me
She Was Just a Girl
Ziggy Stardust
I'm Not Fine
Sailor
Party Dress
Bloody Tuesday
Sweet Jane
Wasted
Eve of Destruction
A Song for the Ladies
Lesbian Circus
Achiever
Take Janine Away
Superstar
Got No Life
Baghdad