Strange how things can suddenly come full circle.
Last night worked out quite well. I went to the Masquerade early to meet Randy and the folks in The Nerd Parade to pick up a ticket from them. What a weird scene. I mean, the Masquerade has always been dark and weird, but now, as a not-19-year-old-kid... BOY did I feel out of place. And looked out of place too in my brion/tweedy wanna-be sportscoat and jeans look. It was kinda funny. Felt like a geezer for the first time ever.
After that I ran over to Vinyl and sat on the steps reading a newspaper waiting for the doors to open. Adam came out to chat and informed me that the doorman was indeed Jim. 12ftguru, you'll get a kick out of this. Jim is this monstrous drummer I used to play with, God, at least 12 years ago. He actually played in a lot of different bands at the time that John and I were either recording or playing with. And frankly, neither Jim or myself could really remember which ones were which. I *know* that I played with him, but I can't remember if I was temporarily playing bass in Monkey Boy when he was in it, if he was in my short-lived band The Punch-drunk Mutts, or if he actually played briefly in Spiral (John? Memories?). I know he was also in The Shakes with my friend Shawn, and I recently found the mix master for that stuff. I need to get him a copy. He's going to be playing with Adam now... small world. It was great to re-connect with him though. Sweet guy.
I hung out through Adam's set, which was quite tight despite the fact that he was rushing to compensate for overly long sets by the other bands. They were the first band of the night to get a good reaction and an actual crowd. The first instrumental was a great opener. They went into Girl U Want and got everyone hopping. The rest of the set continued to focus on the rockers and went really well. I just wish they hadn't felt so rushed, though it didn't really hurt the energetic set. I just know how lousy that feels for the band, and more banter from Adam between songs is a good thing. I say that about few performers (it usually seems so contrived and annoys me), but he's good at endearing himself to a crowd. I had to hop out the door as they were getting off stage so I could make it back across town to see the Nerds.
I missed a few songs, but made it in time for most of their set. Wow. I signed The Nerd Parade without seeing them live (it took literally 3 measures of "Kitten" for me to say YES PLEASE!). While I expected them to be good live, I didn't expect them to be so... perfectly honed I guess? I mean, they have this cute, lovable stage presence, that tops even De Novo Dahl. Abby's voice is just astonishing live. Even more so than on the record. They are wonderful with the crowd (and this was a bunch of cynical kids who were there to see some silly neo-punk band called Retard-o-Bot), and they were insanely tight. I couldn't stop grinning. I can't wait to see them in a little indie-dive atmosphere like Lenny's or a club like The Earl where they are more in our element. They also need to be doing big festivals. This is going to be an interesting spring/summer. :)
So, then BACK over to Vinyl just in time to catch The Arts and Sciences setting up. They played as solid as ever (especially for their first gig in, what, over a year?), and the new line-up works well for them. Talked with Robyn, Chris, Paul, Sarah, Mandy and the rest of their gang, and it was nice to re-connect with them as well. Paul actually mentioned wanting to pick back up on the (All The) Sceneless Hipsters project at some point, which kinda surprised me. But was cool. If either of us can find time, I'm all about that.
The whole night felt very cathartic somehow. Like a lot of mildly-negative and disconnected loose-ends were finally getting tied up. Maybe it falling on the cusp of this whole rock rejuvenation thing I'm feeling lately made it seem more poignant. But, I left feeling quite at peace with the world. Like everything was clicking and positively charged. God, I love it when things are positive.
After that I ran over to Vinyl and sat on the steps reading a newspaper waiting for the doors to open. Adam came out to chat and informed me that the doorman was indeed Jim. 12ftguru, you'll get a kick out of this. Jim is this monstrous drummer I used to play with, God, at least 12 years ago. He actually played in a lot of different bands at the time that John and I were either recording or playing with. And frankly, neither Jim or myself could really remember which ones were which. I *know* that I played with him, but I can't remember if I was temporarily playing bass in Monkey Boy when he was in it, if he was in my short-lived band The Punch-drunk Mutts, or if he actually played briefly in Spiral (John? Memories?). I know he was also in The Shakes with my friend Shawn, and I recently found the mix master for that stuff. I need to get him a copy. He's going to be playing with Adam now... small world. It was great to re-connect with him though. Sweet guy.
I hung out through Adam's set, which was quite tight despite the fact that he was rushing to compensate for overly long sets by the other bands. They were the first band of the night to get a good reaction and an actual crowd. The first instrumental was a great opener. They went into Girl U Want and got everyone hopping. The rest of the set continued to focus on the rockers and went really well. I just wish they hadn't felt so rushed, though it didn't really hurt the energetic set. I just know how lousy that feels for the band, and more banter from Adam between songs is a good thing. I say that about few performers (it usually seems so contrived and annoys me), but he's good at endearing himself to a crowd. I had to hop out the door as they were getting off stage so I could make it back across town to see the Nerds.
I missed a few songs, but made it in time for most of their set. Wow. I signed The Nerd Parade without seeing them live (it took literally 3 measures of "Kitten" for me to say YES PLEASE!). While I expected them to be good live, I didn't expect them to be so... perfectly honed I guess? I mean, they have this cute, lovable stage presence, that tops even De Novo Dahl. Abby's voice is just astonishing live. Even more so than on the record. They are wonderful with the crowd (and this was a bunch of cynical kids who were there to see some silly neo-punk band called Retard-o-Bot), and they were insanely tight. I couldn't stop grinning. I can't wait to see them in a little indie-dive atmosphere like Lenny's or a club like The Earl where they are more in our element. They also need to be doing big festivals. This is going to be an interesting spring/summer. :)
So, then BACK over to Vinyl just in time to catch The Arts and Sciences setting up. They played as solid as ever (especially for their first gig in, what, over a year?), and the new line-up works well for them. Talked with Robyn, Chris, Paul, Sarah, Mandy and the rest of their gang, and it was nice to re-connect with them as well. Paul actually mentioned wanting to pick back up on the (All The) Sceneless Hipsters project at some point, which kinda surprised me. But was cool. If either of us can find time, I'm all about that.
The whole night felt very cathartic somehow. Like a lot of mildly-negative and disconnected loose-ends were finally getting tied up. Maybe it falling on the cusp of this whole rock rejuvenation thing I'm feeling lately made it seem more poignant. But, I left feeling quite at peace with the world. Like everything was clicking and positively charged. God, I love it when things are positive.