Tied For Last

Second band of a five-band night.

The last time we played cbgb was almost three years ago. In the interim, it was literally impossible to book another gig - not because they didn't want us - but because there was no way to actually get though to them on the phone to actually schedule something. After a few months of that, we had given up trying other than half-assed attempts once every two months or so.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago. We know that cb's is in imminent danger of closing its doors, so we figure they'll be so inundated with bands trying to squeeze in that last gig that we never gave a thought to trying to book there. Then a promoter contacts Tommy (thanks to myspace.com) and offers us a show at cbgb's lounge. We grab it.

The lounge at cbgb is downstairs, and it had originally been opened to showcase jazz and avant-garde / experimental music. They've apparently changed their policy to accommodate the likes of us.

The weather forecast was threatening thunderstorms, but that just didn't happen. So we got a really strong showing which made us pretty psyched. The band before us was a three-piece. Guitarist, bassist, and female singer. They were good, and she was great. Bluesy rock stuff - not all of it up my alley, but they were definitely big steps above your average chick-vocalist project, and had enough hooks so that not every song sounded alike (very hard to do without drums). They didn't have a lot of people there at all, but thye didn't let that show in their performance. They ended up staying around for our whole set as well, so that was cool.

We have a rep for setting up and breaking down really quickly, and, since this was our first time with the new booker, and since we were all pretty jazzed from the turnout, it took us about 7 minutes to be fully ready to go. We got the word from the sound guy, and we were off.

The stage lights are inches above eye-level, so we couldn't see the audience too well, but that was okay because we still heard 'em loud and clear. We probably played less self-consciously because we couldn't see them, so we were a little freer with movement, but the response to each song was LOUD, so we knew we were doing the right thing.

Cbgb and The Continental have shorter set times than some other places we play, so we try to keep the between song banter in check. We ended up blazing through the set, and it was one of the tightest sets we've ever played. We just nailed it.
I counted one slight musical mistake but I'd be nit-picking if I pointed it out, and since it didn't affect the song, I'm not gonna. So there.

I am gonna say that each of the four of us just played so well together that we were just having a blast. John and John were like a machine so Tommy and I were able to wail to our heart's content (me vocally - him on geetar). By the time we reached Baghdad (in the set), we'd been moving so much that John B slipped on a wet spot on stage and damn near took a header off the stage. He covered it so well that everyone thought it was just another move in overly-kinetic stage presence. I even had two different people point out to me later, "damn - your bassist was ON tonight."

He was. And we were. And it was friggin' FUN.

Set List:
SHE WAS JUST A GIRL
STAY UP AND TALK TO ME
TAKE JANINE AWAY
ACHIEVER
BURNING LOVE
SAILOR
SUPERSTAR
PARTY DRESS
BLOODY TUESDAY
RAVE ON
BAGHDAD