We leave home: Scott, Beau, and I finally hit the road around 11:15a in the
Touring Vessel...
Another filthy gray day, the fog was back... and traffic absolutely bit the
weenie... here in Chicago we had a couple of weeks (and one night in
particular) where we had snowfalls like no one had seen since 1979...
... coincidentally 1979 is the last time anyone can remember our local
expressways being in any acceptable state of repair...
The plows have ripped up every piss-poor patch we tax payers funded, not to
mention the millions of gallons/pounds of coffee and donuts it took to fuel
the snails who actually put the patches in... and to call the original effort
"steeply based in planned obsolescence" would be giving the clods way too much
credit for thought... no, they just plopped that Sacreteİ down hoping it would
work...
"Hey boss, there's pipes showin' out of this pot hole... looks dangerous, what
should we do?"
"I don't really care... open another bag of redi-mix... and pass me another
donut... the pink one with the sprinkles... NO, THE SPRINKLE ONE!!! Can't youz
guys get Nut-IN' right?"
Anyway, the results of the expressway being a pock-marked suspension testing
zone were evident every five feet or so... I've NEVER seen so many hub caps
sitting in the breakdown lane! TONS of them! From all different types of
cars... it was amazing... and the piles of snow hadn't even fully melted
yet...
And more fog...
Nothing really lifts one into the mood like a thick FOG... MAN I feel
creative...
We're headed down to Headliner's (I'm already envisioning all the TVs, the
name just screams "sports bar" to a Chicago boy... anyway, we kept slogging
through pockets of traffic, not saying much...
Scott found a cool Gospel station when we hit Indiana, and we rolled through
the fog listening to some kick-ass spiritual music...
Now those of you who know me know that I am far from a traditionally religious
man, but I'm telling you if my church had rocked half this hard I mighta stuck
around longer than I did... for those of you unfamiliar with this sort of
broadcast lemme just say don't be so quick to change the station next time
you're surfing... the organ sound (what ALWAYS hooks both Scott AND I) is
usually superb... and there's no denying the energy... and isn't that what we
all got a feeling of at a show? The music lifting us out of our seats and our
stale lives, making us move and yelp in celebration of that force that made us
what we are? That force that coaxes us to "make it just one more day"?
Haaaaal-Layyyyyyyy-LUUUUUU-yaaaaa brothers an' sisters!
And right along with my luck, the weather changed!
... to fog AND rain...
... so much for divine intervention...
"Oh CHRIST!" Scott issued. "Nice timing", I thought to myself...
"What, man?"
"I forgot my keyboard," he said.
"What?"
"I left it in my garage... all I have is the piano and the organ..."
I for one am completely astounded... Scott messed up...
... Scott NEVER messes up...
... OFF stage, that is... but ONSTAGE is a different matter... I remember this
time in Peoria where he...
.... naaaawwwww, you don't want to hear about that... but let's just say they
WERE able to open for business by 2p the following day, so the charges were
dropped...
Where was I? Oh yeah...
"So what does this mean?" I asked.
"It means we gotta re-select the shows for the weekend," Scott answered...
No problem, we just need to find two shows where Brent didn't use any
synthesizers... which boils down to a few months in 1986, basically...
I took out Scott's Deadbase and began pouring over it looking for possible
shows, and I found two fairly close to each other which flexed the overall
muscle of the band... 3/28/86 would be the show for tonight, it seemed...
In looking over the sets, both shows had everything... all four of our
vocalists (Mike, John, Scott, AND Mike H.) had a song or two, and both shows
looked like tons of fun...
When we finally got to Louisville (which, by the way, is NOT pronounced "Loo-
ey-Ville" but more like you had begun to speak and your throat had gotten
constricted... repeat after me... "Looo-i-villlghhhhlghhh-*koff*"... got it?
Okay...) we got lost... this is due to following directions from Yahoo...
... not "A Yahoo"... but Yahoo, the browser service... (Ed. note - I warned
y'all about this!) and in my estimation, no more aptly named company
exists... their maps and directions were no help, prompting us to stop in
a gas station to get rather muddled (but far more accurate) directions to
the club...
... oh, did I mention the fact that Scott ALSO forgot the atlas? Musta been
under the keyboard...
When we finally found the place, we pulled into the parking lot and were
immediately impressed with the crashed Cessna 172, nosed into the hillside
above the lot, it's rusted white undercarriage gleaming in the half-light...
Note To Self: I want what the pilot had...
So the three of us found our way into the club, getting a warm greeting from
Scott's friend Kari (a guess at the spelling) who was somewhat responsible for
hooking us up with the place...
And so there we were, the three of us...
... and it remained that way for quite some time... shades of Shank Hall
anyone? (See the last Milwaukee gig RRP for details)...
Now, you all know me as a kind, generous, thoughtful man...
... well, those of you who haven't experienced me before or during a sound
check do, anyway...
... those of you who've been lucky enough to sit in on a sound check know that
I'm a right-old BASTARD with a smart mouth and a penchant for getting under my
employer's skins... and you ALSO know I rarely get away with such behavior but
I do it time and again...
See, the thing is, I hate to look stupid...
... never mind the clothes I wear, I REALLY do hate to look stupid...
I had asked the house staff to be ready for a 5p load-in... this, of course,
did not happen... in SPADES...
I set up the key rig and the vocals, and eventually Mark and Corso showed up,
so I was able to get one drum kit up and the bass wired up, but it took
forever for Ahmer and John to show up, and so you KNOW who was bringin' up the
rear... MARAAT...
I was ready to kill him, bad directions or no directions... but when he and
Sprout finally arrived (around 7:30p) and told their tale, I felt so bad and
my anger dissipated instantly... see, they had stopped for directions too...
... and they walked right into a lazy afternoon self-stabbing victim at some
shot'n'beer joint not to far from the club...
I'm sure seeing this guy bleeding all over wasn't humorous... but I have this
Benny Hill vision in my head of Mike asking loudly over this guy's groans:
"HEADLINER'S... HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF IT? HEAD-LINE-ERS!!! Tell you what...
just draw a map in this pool of blood, and we'll be on our way... open your
damn EYES when I'm talking to you, man! HEEEE-LLlooooo?"
I figured he'd had enough, so I left him to get his stuff together at his own
speed... my apologies to the opening band...
Didn't I mention that? Oh, yeah... this was a first...
Due to a lack of understanding as to what it is we actually do, the house
booked a band to open for us... some local boys by the name of "Bucket"...
these poor guys...
... because see, we were gonna get a sound check in... oh yes... even if it
WAS kinda our fault running late and all...
This room is really nice (not the expected Mecca of Sports), with a stage
surrounded by red theater curtains, a nicely equipped system, and a nice open
room with a balcony to the right as you look at the stage...
Dave the house tech moved when he had to and was absolutely top-notch
professional, right down to not squawking at me that he had to get the opener
checked... and I appreciate that sort of professionalism the most from a house
guy... he's willing to kick a little ass to make sure the visitors are
comfortable... thank you VERY much, man...
Sound check went fairly well, but I wasn't about to take any more time as the
doors were supposed to open and Dave hadn't even gotten Bucket set up yet...
they agreed to use most of our stuff, like drums, bass amp, and keyboards...
and this in turn brought them up a notch in our minds...
No sooner had they gotten set up than they started playing... Allmans, Phish,
etc. being their menu for the night, although they do Dead tunes I'm told (we
asked them not to, of course) also...
There was a good crowd when the DSO hit the stage, unfolding an "Iko" like a
blooming flower, the layers peeling back to produce new levels of jam... and a
few tunes later Scott got loose with a "Good Times", devoid of any usual curse
words as some of his older family members were in attendance, and the "Althea"
had people sauntering around the dance floor before Hazdra let go with a
powerful "Box of Rain"...
After the set break, the band unleashed one of the greatest "Playin' In The
Band" versions I have heard them do, opening with it then slipping into
"Franklin's" then "Miracle" then back into "Playin'" before the drummers
thrashed the room, followed by a "Space" that eased effortlessly into "The
Wheel" after which Scotty got to strut his organ-stuff with "Mr. Fantasy" then
the band took it BACK into "Playin'"... this was the best workout the song had
gotten in my opinion since the 1973 shows at Martyrs' and Schuba's the
previous weeks... "Around" and "Good Lovin" finished the set on a high note
and the band encored with the prescribed "Baby Blue"... but not to let the
crowd leave on a down note, they ripped into "Hell in a Bucket" in honor of
the opening band...
The show done, the people greeted, we packed up our stuff and made for the
hotel, after which I went out partying with Scott, Kari, and some musicians
she knew until the dawn came up...
I went into the hotel and asked the desk clerk to please have someone wake me
in the Touring Vessel (parked right outside the front doors to the lobby) ...
I drunkenly explained that I had to sleep with the equipment... this all made
perfect sense to me... I mean they make wake-up calls as a part of their
service, right? Why not have someone walk out to the parking lot to wake me
up? The truth of the matter was I had KNOWN I was gonna be a snoring machine
(LOTZ-O-BEER + Cameron= a roommate you NEED to kill) and I figured a little
stiff back and/or neck was better than the stiff ribbing I'd get over my
nasal-noise... so I asked for an 11a "wake-up knock"...
Did it happen? Tune in next time and find out!
COMING SOON: "...th'weather down here... 'so fine...", "Carbondale" - A City
Or An Apt Name For The Taste In My Mouth, What The Copper Dragon's *sshole
Looks Like Up Close, Harlan Our Savior, Video Fun, and "Why It's Not A Good
Idea To Sell Dollar Porters At Our Shows"...