Friday morning the phone rings around 11am and I roll
out of bed... Scott saying he'll be by after picking up Ahmer.. my shit ain't
together (sorry mom)... scramble into the shower and throw some stuff in a
bag... and Scott knocks on my door, I'm still brain-dead... We roll through
the city and out into the sticks, and after several hours and lunch at a place
that gives new meaning to the word "Ralf" not to mention the snotty
waitress and proliferation of copies of "Senior News", we arrive in
Peoria... stop by the motel and inspect the BB holes in the windows... 3 rooms,
nine members & crew, six beds... Note To Self: "You know it's gonna get
stranger..." ...so let's get on with the SHOW...
We drive another few minutes across the river and
we're in Peoria Proper... after some slight confusion the alley for load-in is
found and we walk through the stage door, down a ramp, and onto the stage of an
old vaudeville theater built in 1929... the place makes you feel kinda grungy at
first, but it grows on you... after consulting the house technician we start to
set up... this place is BIG... 1700 seats including the balcony... with a HUGE
dance floor and seating under the balcony... soundcheck is limited chaos as we
try to make a poorly outfitted monitor system work for us, and "H.C.
Sunshine" begins to sound like the band I know instead of an echoing
cacophony (See "ACOUSTICS: My Problem, Not Yours" due out in paperback
soon), and Note To Self: After I got Corso's drum pad up in the house he hit one
of his Godzilla Footstep patches and upon hearing the shear power roared...
"YYYEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!"...
he's gonna scare a few folks with that thing tonight, I reckon... Dave is
somewhat happy with the results on the tape and even though we took hours to put
it together, the doors open right on time... now, just enough time to scarf the
now cold pizza Sprout so thoughtfully brought for me, I LOVE THAT GIRL!
We're all sitting around the band room, jokes and
last minute arrangements are chewed over one final time, and I head out into the
house to the console... as I look out, the room has collected more than a few
folks and I begin to think "Hey, this ain't so bad"... ten minutes
later, the band hits the stage and the house lights go down, and the response is
genuine... people begin to filter in from the lobby, the seats, EVERYWHERE...
the floor just fills up!!! Two songs into the show Sprout comes by the board to
inform me that the door guy is freaked because the line to get in wraps around
the building and they have had to open other doors to get the crowd in... good
news INDEED... not bad for a first time in the town...
The band is on fire tonight... the first set allowed
me to "tune the room" and the band let Peoria know what it intended to
deliver, and at the end of the set Mike Maraat brushed the hair out of his face
and said "There sure are ALOT of you! We'll be back in a little bit..."
to a tremendous cheer... "Touch" gets the house hoppin' in the second
set, and Mike Maraat does his best Bobby laying into it as I whack out his voice
with delay during "Estimated"... "Drumz" is truly inspired,
with Corso's "Deep Boomin'" mixing fluidly with Ahmer's spacey patches
and kit work flowing into a sort of Rainforest motif..."Stella Blue"
always FEELS better in a large room like this, and after a rousing "Throwin'>NFA"
the clapping and singing didn't stop or drop intensity until the band returned
to the stage AGAIN to an overwhelming response prompting Mike Hazdra to step to
the mic and pronounce "Y'all are NUTS" followed by more audience
frenzy... "One More Sat. Night" was good'n punchy and an elective of "K.C.
Jones" got people on their feet and ON THE STAGE... Note To Audience: WE
LOVE YOU... Please dance anywhere BUT there, ok? Thanks.
As I looked at the people shuffling out, all looking
quite content, I thought "HELL YA... I can stick around for more of THIS..."