The Aquarium
Fargo, N.D.
Set:
| Pay the Toll to Ride the Junebug Flow | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | I'm a Bad MammaJamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Found My Boogie | M'Lady | Downtown the Liquor Store | Last Night | Moon Over the Water | Place | Chosen Ones | Lady Madonna [The Beatles] | Soul Shaker | Clone You | Aphrodite | So True | Damn the Man |
Last time we wanted to play Fargo, we were glued to weather reports, wondering if we were going to be able to make it because of a monster blizzard. We didn't make it, so we rescheduled for March 28. No blizzards then, right? Exactly. However. Mother Nature had other plans and apparently really didn't want us to play in Fargo/Moorhead. This time, we were glued to the flood reports. People had been sandbagging all week and the river was going to crest on this very day. Businesses were shut down, people were evacuated (including our good friend Kelsey and her daughter). Was Junebug going to play this show? You're damn right we were. And we did, Mother Nature be damned. We all drove to Fargo from Aberdeen (where we played the previous night) and rocked the heck out of them. And we heard from many of them that they were glad to have just been able to relax for an evening.
But none of this happened before I (tony) threw out my back. It was honestly the worst back pain I've felt in my life, but I did my best to power through. My sister had to help me down the stairs because I couldn't walk or even stand up. Thankfully, my bandmates helped me with all my drum gear. If not for those guys... sheesh. So, I'm not really that intense, Fargo. That wincing while playing and baring of teeth with tightly closed eyes and head down, not looking at the crowd isn't actually my playing style, I was actually in excruciating pain. That being said, the show was rockin' and heavy duty.
Tonight was Junebug's official Share CD Release show in Fargo. Yup, seven months after its release. Sharing in the festivities this night were the San Haven Chuckle and the Mind Funk Allstars. It was a glorious gathering and Nick said his new favorite band is the Chuckle.
After a kickin' version of "Found My Boogie", Dustin addressed the crowd. "Flood Relief '09. Thank you for having us here to relieve you from the flood. You're welcome, by the way. If we had decided not to come, who knows what would have happened." This of course goes to the fact that last time we planned a Fargo show, there was a blizzard. This time there was a flood. We're planning a tornado for June. Stay tuned.
During "M'Lady" Dustin accidentally knocked over a mic stand with his guitar. This threw his guitar sorely out of tune. After the song, while he was tuning it, Bud, Travis, and Paul decided to kill some time by coming up to the stage and showing us their rear ends. Bare, with no clothes on them. I made a comment about the real Moon Over the Water. Thanks folks, I'm here all week.
The San Haven Chuckle has a song called "May They Wake". There's a portion of it that sounds almost exactly like the chorus of "Moon Over the Water". That's something that could be expected, since Travis and Anthony have been known to spend late nights jamming and sharing songs they've come up with. Intentional borrowing happens from time to time. Well, when they played "May They Wake" this night, they sang lyrics from "Moon". Likewise, when we played "Moon", we sang their lyrics at the same part. We are friends. We have a good time.
Tonight was fun. A lot more people came out than I expected. Laurel and Wendy (two of my sisters) were there, as were a number of people we know from the Jamestown days who now reside in Fargo/Moorhead. I would also like to say that my back pain had me kind of out of it. Iwas not being stuck up. I know there were people there that I haven't seen in awhile, so if it seemed that I snubbed you, it was not intentional. Catch me next time we're in town (in June).
Great show, Fargo. We were glad to take your mind off things for an evening!
Oh, Red Rooster Coffee House. How we love you.
A question that's in my mind, however, is whether we've really been away long enough that people have forgotten the "Next Episode" routine. After "Place," I said "Did we rock it? How far would you say we rocked it?" Anthony and Dustin began asking the question too, but it took a good thirty seconds for anyone to shout it out. I guess it's possible that we're not quite as clever as we think.
We descended upon Christensen's Big V's in Saint Paul once again to bring the mighty rock. There was a much better turnout this time around. Last time we played Big V's it was during the week if I remember correctly and we played only to the other bands a couple regulars at the bar who were more interested in the ball game on television than in the music in the immediate vicinity. This time, the crowd only increased as the night went on. Also in the crowd were Cody M. and Ji-Yeon all the way from Aberdeen.
There was a shortage of microphones tonight, so I had one in back, Nick went without, and Anthony and Dustin shared a mic in the style of Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. There's always that question of "will they accidentally touch mouths? If so, does that mean they kissed? And what if someone's breath is bad?" Maybe other people never thought that, but I did. And no, Dustin and Anthony did not kiss. Not tonight, anyway.
Tonight, I discovered for the first time the band greenroom at Bunker's. I hadn't known it existed the first time we played. So it was cool to just chill down there for a little while and eat some M&Ms and drink some water. Plus, when I used the bathroom, they had a print of George Costanza's sexy photo shoot. I was overjoyed. Were my pants up when I took the photo? You decide.
