Last band of a 2-band night.
A great crowd, a great show and a great time!
As usual for a Saturday night, the evening started
out with an open-mic. Because we were smack-dab in the middle
of Christmas and New Years, there were not a lot of acts. I
walked in the door as the final acts were finishing up. The
band members all arrived at about the same time, and as we took
to the bar to have a drink and chat with our supporters who
got there early, the first band of the night took the stage.
The band was in reality a Russian American female
singer/guitarist and her male backup guitarist. Before starting
the first song, she went into 2-minute long tirade. It was apparently
the big "dramatic" opening to her performance. All
drama was lost, however when, in trying to sit down on a stool
while singing, she crashed ass-first to the floor and knocked
a beer on herself. Another "artiste" bites the dust.
The holidays kept the less-hearty out of the city,
so, barring the table of Russians who stayed around to watch
for a few songs, the audience members were all TFL friends,
and lucky for us, we had quite a lot of 'em. I didn't want the
Russians to feel out of place, so I greeted them with a "Happy
New Year" in Russian. Coincidentally, that's the only Russian
phrase I know that isn't littered with profanity, and it came
in quite handy.
Apparently, the Orange Bear stage is being renovated.
As part of the renovation, there were two small walls/posts
added to the sides of the stage. This made for less stage room
to move, and increased the temperature about 10 degrees. It
made too much movement difficult, so I compensated by occasionally
moving in front of the stage to sing.
We got the chance to resurrect "Beautiful
In Black" which we hadn't played since May, and that went
over very well. We also dedicated "Best Friend's Girl"
to Ed Marshall from Atomsmasher- our friend and a huge Cars
fan from way back.
Not much else to report about the show because
it really came off quite smoothly. We did so well in fact, that
we got called on for a legitimate encore. that's always nice!
On the two occasions where I lost my voice mid-note,
Tom was right there to back me up, and the only time we screwed
up at all was during our encore of American Girl. John B and
I hadn't practiced it, because we hadn't planned on playing
it. For the verses, he called out the chords to me so that I
could play along. Unfortunately, he forgot the chorus chords,
so he just played in "D" (the key of the song), and
I dropped out on the choruses. Barring the few musician friends
we had in attendance, I don't think anyone was the wiser.
Stay Up and Talk to Me
She Was Just a Girl
Eve of Destruction
A Song for the Ladies
Wasted
Sailor
Superstar
We're Alright
Beautiful In Black
Got No Life
Party Dress
Best Friend's Girl
Burning Love
Take Janine Away
(encore) American Girl
