Junebug Show Diaries

Saturday, September 9, 2006

9/8/06 - Red Rooster - Aberdeen, S.D.

September 8, 2006
Red Rooster's 10^th Anniversary
Red Rooster Coffee House
Aberdeen, SD

Tonight was part of the fantastic ten-night Red Rooster tenth anniversary celebration. Junebug's first real show was at the Rooster on May 6, 2000 and the Rooster has been a huge part of our existence thus far - this was our 27th show at the Coffee House. When introducing us tonight, Dan referred to us as a "quintessential Rooster band". Them's big words m'friend.

After starting them off with some real rock and funky rhymes, we invited Fed By Doris onstage to recreate an old tradition - a communal performance of "Da Bomb". Talk about high octane. View it here.

Next was the energetic combination of "Sweet Love" and "Bad MammaJamma", followed by the reason we do this. That's right - money. We certainly are good little capitalists. The Money Medley came out in full swing for the first time in front of the Rooster's crowd.

After playing our newest song, "M'Lady", we had a really intense workout, closing the first set with three doozies of rock-fest. "Found My Boogie", "Refrigerator" and "Chosen Ones" really did the job and our break was well earned. (When we started "Chosen Ones", a fan could be heard exclaiming, "FINALLY!")

Elizabeth Andrews lent her beautiful talents to the first four songs of the second set. She is wonderful on the violin and we love her.

Before we played the most country-fied version of "Cake" ever, Dustin was tuning his guitar to a slide tuning. He said, "I'm going to attempt something that I've never really done before, and I KNOW for a fact I'm not good at it. But that's half the fun, right kids?" Anthony replied, "Well that's just the flavor of this band, you know? We can't do anything wrong." Indeed.

We found that after Liz's set, we really didn't have a lot of time left, so we played three more tunes. "Another One Bites the Dust" is always a crowd pleaser. As is our own mega-hit, "Jumpstart My Rocket".

We closed our set with another popular Junebug tune, but a different start than usual:
Anthony: Thanks for coming out...we are now rockin' you to the end of the night. But it's another episode of your life.
Dustin: And it's the end of ten years, and the beginning of who knows.
Anthony: Of another episode of another ten years.
Dustin: Of the next decade.
Tony: The next what?
Dustin: The next decade!
Tony: Oh, decade. I thought you were gonna say,
ALL: TO THE NEXT EPISODE!

We didn't even plan it. We are simply amazing.

But even more amazing is the Red Rooster Coffee House. Thank you, Red Rooster for the great times and all the shows.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

8/26/06 - Wild Oats - Aberdeen, S.D.

August 26, 2006
Wild Oats
Aberdeen, SD

Set Three:
| Rapper's Delight [The Sugarhill Gang] (with elements of "The Humpty Dance" [Digital Underground]) / To the Next Episode | Jumpstart My Rocket | The Money Medley (For the Love of Money [The O'Jays] / I Need Some Money [John Lee Hooker] / Gimme Some Money [Spinal Tap] / Money [Pink Floyd] ) | M'Lady | The Date | Another One Bites the Dust [Queen] | Damn the Man | Downtown Liquor Store | With a Little Help from My Friends [The Beatles (Joe Cocker version)] |

Tonight was the Sizzlin' Summer Nights car and bike show in Downtown Aberdeen. When we all arrived at the Oats, there was a big parade of classic cars and motorcycles happening outside. Wild Oats was packed with families still eating dinner and enjoying the event. Very many of these people stuck around for the show - which was cool.

We got a bit of a late start because the Oats was doing pretty good business and people were still being served at the tables. When Randy gave us the go-ahead, he asked that we start out a bit quieter than we were last night. Oh, but we picked it up later on in the night, let me tell you. And stuff. The crowd seemed a little bemused when the "3 furious" portion at the end of "...Junebug Flow" reared it's head. But everything was okay when we played "Back in the USSR". I mean, who DOESN'T love the Beatles? The first set was short but sweet (only 44 minutes) and only a tiny portion of folks left at the break.

The second set was a great set suitable for finding one's boogie, and find boogie they did. "Paint It Black" was a good shade faster tonight, to the delight of Sarah and Liza. It apparently made an impression, since midway through the third set, a man was heard shouting, "Play some more Stooonnnes!" "Found My Boogie" seems to have re-emerged as a dancetastic superhit for us, with a solid beat and bouncy lick.

Just before "Clone You", Anthony's guitar cable started throwing out some static. As he worked on it, Tony, Dustin and Josh threw out a killer jam that segued perfectly into the song. Hear it now by clicking here.

The show was so fantasmic that during the second break, Josh had to run down the street to his shop to get super glue for his blistering fingers. In spite of his precautions, he still ended up playing out the show with a pick. That's some true RAWK, if you ask me.

The third set started with a funky, danceable version of "Rapper's Delight"...but not surprisingly, we delighted ourselves all the way to the next episode.

We offered a little therapy session as well tonight in the third set with an installment of the destined-to-be-classic "Dr. Phil" series. Tonight was Part Two: Dr. Phunk. Afterward, the same man who wanted to hear more Rolling Stones music asked Sarah if the Dr. Phil number was on the "soundtrack". Apparently, it should be because it was the best song to that point in the show. At least we're making a difference in that man's life.

Tonight's peformance of "The Date" was crazy-fast, but good like that. Who knows if it will be that fast again, but it was appropriate for this show. Later on, Dustin played the riff from "Another One Bites the Dust" and a person in the crowd asked incredulously, "Are you REALLY gonna play that?" Anthony replied, "No, we don't play that song." But Josh picked it up and Tony kicked in and Anthony shouted, "Oh no we didn't! SNAP!" And we rocked it. Solid.

After Damning the Man, we Robbed a Liquor Store in Ashton Kulesa's honor. And finally, we closed the show with a powerhouse, high-octane performance of Joe Cocker's version of "With a Little Help from My Friends." WE got a little help from OUR friends as well. We invited folks to come up and sing along, and all participants were known members of the Aberdeen music scene. Jason Hill (Urban Revue and solo work), Joel Burckhard (Pops Blue Rhythm), Will Brown (solo music and The Blue Orange), and Nick Howell (Urban Revue) all came out and sang their hearts and their lungs out. It was a fantastic, high-energy ending to a real kick-ass show, if I may say so.

The Aberdeen music scene COULD be so amazing. There are so many great musicians in this town that need support and we truly and deeply THANK Randy and Wild Oats for taking a chance on us. We loved playing this venue and we hope that we can play there again. If more venues could do what Randy did and take a chance, they may find that people in this town will come out for a show like this.

Thank you, Randy. Thank you, Wild Oats. Thanks to everyone that came out and supported us and rocked out. Good times.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

8/25/06 - Wild Oats - Aberdeen, S.D.

August 25, 2006
Wild Oats
Aberdeen, SD

We finally got our first shows at Wild Oats in Aberdeen. This is a very good thing for us because people actually go to this bar and most of them are people around our age that have an appreciation for local music. So if we want to play around town, this is a good venue to have available to us.

We decided it would be worth it to rent some gear from Pauer Sound to blow the crowd away and make us sound amazing. Enter Joel Burckhard. He helped us set up and set levels on the sound board. According to him and the crowd, we sounded amazing.

We played three sets tonight, featuring our best known songs as well as a few new covers we whipped up for this very occasion. Tonight was the debut of our versions of "Paint it Black", "Another One Bites the Dust", the Joe Cocker version of "With a Little Help from My Friends" and the "Money Medley" which includes a full version of Pink Floyd's "Money". These all went over well - and we later found out that the crowd kept expecting "Next Episode" to pop out of any of them! Ah, our goal was finally achieved.

It was a good night. People came in and stayed (with the exception of the table of women that exited past us single file during the first song). It took a little while, but the crowd bought enough beers to fall into the music and find their boogies. It was a really great experience to play in front of a largely different Aberdeen crowd. The night ended with the great closer, "Sledgehammer". There was no sitting with arms crossed or bored brooding. Everyone was dancing, bobbing, nodding or moving in some capacity. It was tons of fun. Afterward, a few regular Junebug show-goers went so far as to say it was one of the best 'Bug shows they had ever seen. High praise indeed.

And Josh got a mic for the first time tonight.

Huge thanks go to Pauer Sound, Joel Burckhard, and Randy from Wild Oats.

Sunday, July 2, 2006

7/1/06 - 720 Space - Minneapolis

July 1, 2006
The 720 Space
Minneapolis, MN

This was the much anticipated (by us) first appearance in the Twin Cities. We played at a new venue called "The 720 Space" in downtown Minneapolis. It's not immediately obvious by looking that there's a venue there. At first it just looks like an office supply company. The area around there is made up of old warehouses that have been converted into lofts for business and such. The Space is just one of many lofts in the building. While we were loading in (on a freight elevator) and setting up, we heard a band practicing in one room and while we were loading out, there was a rave going on in another. So the building is well used by businesses and other groups.

The show got underway roughly around 10pm with Junebug starting out the night. The crowd wasn't massive, but it wasn't entirely miniscule either. We opened the show with "Poet Who Didn't Know It" to a really good response. "Bad MammaJamma" was next and got screaming cheers afterward. We kept the set concise, rounding out at 50 minutes, and we made sure to have a diverse sampling of our work, ranging from "Spring Fever" to "Refrigerator" to "The Date". After the show was over, Anthony and Tony both referred to the set as "high octane". And it was indeed a very fun and energetic show.

Minneapolis bands The Brutes and Solid Gold and the Massachusettes-based Animal Hospital also performed tonight.

Special thanks are extended to Brandon from the 720 Space for hooking us up with the show. Also thanks to our friends who showed up at this show: Logan and Melissa, Chuck, Bryna, Heather and Isaac, and PJ. (And of course Sarah, Jenny and Liza!)

Sunday, June 25, 2006

6/24/06 - Red Rooster - Aberdeen, S.D.

June 24, 2006
"Junebug in June" Weekend
Red Rooster Coffee House
Aberdeen, SD

Tonight was the continuation of the Junebug weekend at the Rooster. The opening act was a reunion of the Dimbulbs, with Adam Hoox on guitar and lead vocals, Trevor LeBoo on bass and Floam Chomsky on drums. It was fantastic to hear that band again. They have been missed. The final number was "You're the One that I Want" from Grease, with Hobo on drums and Sierra on the female vocal part. Oh, such fun had by all. One fan was heard outside saying, "I wouldn't want to follow that." Well, follow that we did - and hopefully lived up to expectation.

After kicking things off with "Junebug Flow" and bringing the boogie with "Bad MammaJamma", Anthony said, "We've got a song that we should have written, but I think you will recognize it..." And boy did they. Junebug dared to play the old Fed By Doris standard, "Da Bomb". The crowd danced and sang along and we played "Refrigerator" and all seemed right with the world.

And then Anthony's guitar got cranky and stopped working. Not to worry, because Anthony and Dustin in their infiniate wisdom managed to figure it out. For a couple songs. It got grumpy again during a rockin' performance of "Chosen Ones". No matter. The set kicked ass anyway and the Rooster Rats seemed to love what we were bringing.

We kicked the second set into gear with one of the new favorites, "Poet Who Didn't Know It" followed by the title track from our forthcoming second album, Share. Then, since we didn't get the chance to play all the songs from last night's bucket show (or give away either of the two free CDs), we deviated from our setlist and had members of the crowd come up and finish it off. And it was a great decision. The very first drawing was "Casanova" and Adam Hoox did a guest spot freestyling. It's a shame his mic wasn't turned up louder, because as Dustin and Tony both agreed, it was probably the best "Casanova" guest spot to date. That d00d's got skillz.

After we finished off the bucket, Dustin launched into on of the most famous guitar licks in history - and we played "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits. The looks on faces of the crowd were priceless when we whipped out that gem. And the looks were even more amazing when we whipped out the NEXT EPISODE. Yes, indeed.

It was high-octane from there on out with "Jumpstart" and "Found My Boogie". The next song on the setlist was actually "Clone You" but Ashton, a girl in the crowd really wanted to hear "Downtown Liquor Store". We put it to the crowd and the consensus spoke. And quite fittingly, during the song two uniformed Aberdeen Police officers came into the coffee house and eyed the band. After the song was over, Tony assured them it was only a song - just a story. They seemed satisfied.

For our show closer, we performed the Aberdeen debut of our cover of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer". When it began, the crowd had varied looks on their faces - "could be?" "is it?" "I think it is"... I wanna be - your sledgehammer! ... "Yeah!" According to Paul Lundstrom, "It was the rockingest version of 'Sledgehammer' I've heard."

We want to thank the Red Rooster Coffee House for hosting this "Junebug in June" weekend. It was a total blast.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

6/23/06 - Red Rooster - Aberdeen, S.D.

June 23, 2006
"Junebug in June" Weekend
Red Rooster Coffee House
Aberdeen, SD

Tonight was the first night of the "Junebug in June" weekend at the Red Rooster Coffee House. Adam Hoox played tonight as well as a sort of reunion by the Blue Orange.

Tonight's show was a "Choose Your Own Show" show. After we started the show out with "Vacation to Oblivion" and "Modern Day Fairy Tales", there were song titles in a Country Crock tub. The members of the crowd were to come forward, draw one title out, read it allowed to the rest of the class and we would play it. And we did.

The experiment worked and it was fun. There was talk that it may become an annual thing: The Bucket Show -OR- as Anthony called it, the "Choose Your Own Show Show". The experiment worked well although "Bumblebee" showed up a little sooner than we usually play it, as did "Bad MammaJamma". But no worries we still rocked the rest of the show.

"Piper" was drawn out of the bucket and we all gave one another an imperceptible acknowledgment and started the song. In the middle of the number, "Next Episode" pushed it aside and took over! We played through the whole song, and when it was over, "Piper" took over where it left off. It was much like the "Episode" incident that took place on June 9, 2001. When it was done, Anthony explained to the crowd that you never know when that song is going to rear its head. Dustin referred to it as a "two-fer".

This show was kind of like coming home for us. The Rooster gave us our first show on May 6, 2000 and we have played there like crazy since then. In recent months we haven't played there so much, but this show was great and so welcoming - people in the crowd knew our songs, they danced, and when certain songs were pulled from the bucket, people cheered.

It was a fun, fun show.

Friday, June 16, 2006

6/15/06 - Nestor Bar - Fargo, N.D.

June 15, 2006
The Nestor Bar
Fargo, ND

Soundcheck:
| Like a Spy |

Thursday night at the Nestor. The bar was smokey, the crowd was sparse, and the bar staff was friendly. It was a pretty typical Nestor night. Totally Killer Nachos opened for us tonight. They were comprised of some guys we knew back in Jamestown: Travis (formerly of "Outpatient 13", Bud (formerly of Mediocrity and Meddle) and Chris (formerly of Meddle). Also on bass was a guy that Tony met once twelve years ago and actually remembered.

We opened our set with the newest incarnation of "Junebug Flow". That song keeps changing bit by bit. I think it's actually getting better. It was fun at any rate. Continuing the supercharged beginning of this show was "Underneath the Sweet Love" right into "Bad MammaJamma". Man, does it get any better?

"Casanova" had the groovy jazzy beginning tonight. It's been awhile since we've done that. "Vacation to Oblivion" made a brief appearance tonight as did our old friends the Golden Girls. Also tonight we debuted our NEW cover of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer". We learned that the song happens to be a Totally Killer Nachos staple, so we invited Travis and Bud to sing with us on that tune, which was our show closer.

Tonight was Dustin's sister's 21^st birthday. But she couldn't come in to the show. She was so drunk they wouldn't let her in. Yikes. Poor Jennie.

Some old friends from Jamestown were there tonight. As was mentioned before, Travis, Bud and Chris were there as well as our old friend Clare Olson and old buddy Sam Mandan. Good times. Good times.

All in all, it was a pretty rawkin show.