Old Folks Night At The Bottom Lounge

Last night's gig went a bit better than expected considering that unforeseen circumstances prohibited us from rehearsing beforehand. We were able to run through most of the set in soundcheck which helped shore up the old confidence a bit. Taking a new band live is always a baptism by fire but when you've done other stuff that causes people to actually pay attention, the pressure intensifies and the only solution is to go out and play hard and not worry too much about the little things. My E deciding to tune itself a step down in the middle of one of the songs did not make life easier, as I was convinced that lack of rehearsal and too much daydreaming had me playing the wrong chords, but once I sussed out the situation I cranked it right back up. And when our poor drummer, who had played the entire set flawlessly, ended the last song a measure early, it somehow served more as a comedic coda than anything else. Well, for us anyway. It'll take some time to get our sea legs but we've got a hell of a good band. The other SBB cats did great, and all in all it wasn't half-bad for our first official gig.

Joe King was kind enough to act as our roadie, and he subcontracted the merch gig to two sweet kids from New Hampshire who had driven out for the show, Sluggo and Jessie, a.k.a. The Other Jessie. The Geezers were absolutely brilliant. Funny, clever, tight as hell and cranking out one great tune after another. These cats are even longer in the tooth than yours truly and they sound about a thousand times better than most kid bands here in Hog Butcher central. The Pink Lincolns, no strangers to the Geritol lifestyle themselves, were better than I think I've ever seen them, and I've seen 'em a lot - they work great as a four-piece. Mr. C. Barrows was on his best behavior, so there were no punches thrown, no trips to the ER, etc., but they rocked the house regardless. Thanks to both bands for giving us a slot on the bill.

The Lincolns' tour manager was good enough to work with Jack the soundman to tape our set, so once Mass has gotten a chance to find one or two tunes that I didn't completely screw up, we'll throw 'em on our web site. We'll have some pics up there soonish (including more than one including our guitarist Pat), but here are some teasers in the meantime.

Soundcheck

Soundcheck

Sweet Black And Blue

The Gang after the gig, L-R: Joe King, Mass, Ms. Pixie, Your Trusted Reporter, Mssr. Vapid, SBB drummer Philip Stone, Jenny "J.D." Choi, The Original Jessie