The Living Rockumentary

Last week I played six shows, all exciting and different and exhausting. Sorry for the belated gig diaries. My dog ate my diaries. My cat chewed off my fingers.

PACE, 1/24 w/ Spanish For Hitchhiking.

Everyone covered this show pretty well. I'll just add that I LOVED playing at PACE, and think this could be a venue where we could build a following with the under-21 crowd. I enjoy playing shows where there is a wide cross-section of people in the audience and PACE was a good example. The age range had to be around 50 years and it seemed as though everyone had a great time. I played my new bass, the crazy monster that has too many strings for its own good. While I had a great time playing with both bands, I felt as though it was one of the best SFH shows we've had, which meant I was a little less focussed on SFTD. Also, when the latter was on stage Henning cast a shadow on me, making it even trickier to figure out what I was doing on bass. If we ever get an official tour rider I'm going to demand twelve inch platform boots so that I'll always be at least the same height as Henning.

Living Room concert, 1/30, Tony & Shelly's.

Wow, what a spread. It's hard to have a bad gig with a belly full of tasty food. I especially liked the empanata thingies, which I scarfed down many of. The audience was a mix of fans and unfamiliar faces - all friendly and smiling, though I felt very awkward during the show. Living room concerts are a great way to play for people who might not go out to rock shows in clubs, but there's always the risk that you are trapping people who haven't heard the music before. Kind of like showing off slides of your vacation to relatives. But I thought we played well, except for Roger O'Malley, which strangely fell apart.

Squealing Pig, 1/31, SFTD & The Fawns.

Anya and I drove up separately from the band van, as I had family to visit on the Cape. I wished we could have done the whole band bonding thing but, as it turns out, we would have been strapped to the roof in order to fit all the equipment. In other bands I've felt some of the best shows have happened after riding together in a van for a few hours. The laughing, arguing, sleeping, singing and farting that happens between band members is... special.

We arrived at the Pig feeling a little road weary and droopy, but after a big bowl of smokey chowdah and curry fries (!) we were feeling better. The Newcastle also helped. Then another Newcastle really helped. I was happy that lots of people were in the club. The Fawns seemed to go over really well, and, I think, better than Schooly D. Both bands were tighter than a shut clam (see band van bonding). Ok, so the new Fawns' song almost fell off the wagon, but it was redeemed by the Journey cover. I was happy to play Omnivore again, though I hope at some point soon we return to the extended Who-like chaotic ending. I would love to play the Pig again and next time I'll find a place in the van, even if it means crawling into the glove compartment.