After work last night I caught all my mass transport on time, getting off my big red bus at Fairfax and Santa Monica precisely 5:40. I didn't see him, but apparently Dylan saw me getting off my bus on his way home, had I seen him I would have taken that as a fine omen of good things in store for my night.
I had a nice stroll down Orange Grove, as always admiring the palm trees. I met Amy as she parked her car and at once we turned back up Orange Grove, walking to Kung Pao Bistro, or as we like to call it "Chinese Lido". We had a nice filling dinner and a couple of large beers, talking about all things work and then some what not. On the way home we stopped by a thrift store to see if there were any inspiring outfits for the show, there were none.
Once home I was pleased to find that I had ample time for a pre-show indulgence, a nice warm bath. I find my center in a tub of warm water, and I love to center myself before a show. I thumbed through a mail order music gear catalog and relaxed my mind.
After toweling off I selected a pair of jeans for the show, deciding to wear my favorite dark blue type 1's. I called my brother to check on his progress, he had apparently just left for a jog. I spoke to Dylan for a bit, we decided that we should leave our house no later than 8:30. I had originally wanted to leave earlier, but in reflection, this was the perfect time to leave. While speaking with Dylan on the phone I learned about the omen that I had missed, now taking it into account I decided to accept it and apply the goodness of it retroactively.
I tossed through the closet, looking for the best costume for the day. I complained a bit about having nothing to wear, but much less than I normally do. Since the show was in fine and wonderful Downey, CA I was a little less conscious about my outfit, and I mean no offence to the fine people of Downey, CA when I say that, in fact, that is a compliment. Also taken into account was the venue itself, "The Anarchy Library", having played there many times before I had a pretty good sense of what to expect. I finally decided on wearing a sleaveless pastel purple shirt, with two small flowers over the left boob. I added to the shirt a faux leather belt w/ metal studs and matching faux leather wrist band and shazaam, the perfect outfit for the day....
Next up i had to hassle with the equipment. I had a small conversation with Devin earlier in the day and it had been decided that our preference, if we could manage, was to pile the four of us, Devin, Amy, Dylan and my self plus all the equipment, into Amy's Ford Escape. So in the loading of the equipment I new I had to take into account four people and more equipment than usual, Devin usually drives himself and his keyboard gear in his own car.
Fist thing I always load my guitar amp, because it has wheels and I can use it to push one of the large speakers we use for the electronics. I rolled the guitar amp with the speaker on top of it down the walkway from our front door to the stairs, from there I hoisted the large and heavy speaker, walking backwards down the steps, I have never counted but I would approximate a total of 14 stairs make up the flight. Upon touching down I gently set the speaker out of the way and ascended again, to retrieve the guitar amp. The guitar amp is always a bit of a challenge as it weighs close to 90 pounds, but I used the railing and stepped cautiously backwards down the stars. When I completed the steps I set the guitar amp down on the sidewalk and stacked the other speaker on top of it, from there I had just a short push and roll to the car. I stuck the guitar amp in the rear driver side of the escape, adjusting the rear passenger seat a bit in order to hold the amp snug in place. On the other side of the vehicle I placed the Speaker, adjusting the seat in front of it upwards, to allow more room. Behind this large speaker and after another walk up and down stairs I paced the other large speaker, there is just enough room for both of them to fit and snap the door close. More trips up and down were made, in the middle of the area of the truck I place the large metal suitcase which contains our sampler/sequencer, piled a top of it are the many bags which contain cables and power chords. In the rear passenger area I placed the power amp, my guitar and the container with our cds for selling.
I took a few moments and enter the bathroom to sloppily apply eye-liner and Mac Studio Fix. I checked out Amy's rather awesome costume for the day and complimented her on her fine choices.
Devin and dylan arrived then and we managed to stack the keyboard on top of everything in the extreme rear of the Escape. His keyboard stand is shoved vertically between my guitar and the door in the rear passenger seat.
We pile into the car and we are off. I drrove, even though I didn't actually know anything about the freeways we need to take. Luckily everyone in the car was kind enough to drive from their respective seats in the vehicle. There was much chit chat on our way down to Downey, CA and I believe a fun time was had by all, I even caught myself feeling pleased that we all went in one car for maximum enjoyment. After a brief detour towards being lost and a long drive we finally pulled up and parked behind the club.
We milled about in the club for a drink, and to caught a bit of the first band Kingshead. Kingshead finishes right on time at 9:30, how lucky that we actually had time to set up without rushing. While they loaded out we unloaded the truck and placed our gear by the door. I found the bag which contained my over-drive pedal and opened it up. I had remembered earlier that I wanted to change the 9-volt Battery inside of it, I performed the task just in time to haul everything into the club and onto the stage.
Set up was very simple, there is a large drum riser behind the front portion of the stage which we were able to use as defacto speaker stands. I placed the Two P.A. speakers on the outside corners and my guitar amp just inside the Speaker on stage left, that way I was able to hear the drums and my guitar clearly, and to allow my guitar to mix inside of the electronics better for the audience. There were no problems at all during set up, so I was able to maintain a relaxed and comfortable mental state. I did some brief fooling with levels and finally settled on an appropriately loud volume.
Amy then came on stage and off we went.
We began the set with R.S.O., a song that is difficult for me to start on because the chorus takes a little bit of warm up time. It proved to be a fine choice to begin with, and in looking out I could see that we had the attention of nearly the entire bar.
Next up Amy decided we should do Geurilla, a song I am much more comfortable with, It goes over just as well.
Our third song was Iw6, followed by Mondo Di Corpo, which got a very good response.
Amy's fifth choice of song was Static Cling, I miffed a few lines in the verse but still felt very pleased with the performance.
Amy was then ready to end the show with Guaranteed Used, butI loked at the clock and told her it had only been 20 minutes, could we maybe do Slut Buffet next? She agreed which was nice, but there was later some talk amongst the band the the instruments were too loud during that particular number. After Slut Buffet Amy announces guaranteed Used as the last song, and we bash through it, once again it was not my most technically wonderful performance but I did feel I conveyed the emotion. At the close of Guaranteed Used the crowd, or at least the people in front were pretty adamant that we play one more, I wanted to do dichotomy, but Devin and Amy chose instead to play Mustache Rides, the Mosey version.
Good times had by all.
I realize this post is rather annoyingly written, but I'm feeling rather annoying today, but I'm happy about it and I'm not going to let a little thing like readability get in the way of more good times.
No comments:
Post a Comment