3/5/09 - Bunker's - Minneapolis

March 5, 2009
Bunker's
Minneapolis

Set:
| Pay the Toll to Ride the Junebug Flow | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | M'Lady | Last Night | I'm a Bad MammaJamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Found My Boogie | Refrigerator | Chosen Ones | Crossroads | Aphrodite | Clone You |

---

The New Congress is awesome, and we feel great opening for them. Tonight was the second time we played with them at Bunker's, and it was even better than last time. The place was packed from the start, and that's definitely a good sign. There's one regular who has been there every time I (tony) have, and he reminds me of what our friend Rory might be like in 25 years. This dude dances and gets into it all. He's good stuff.

Anyway, our set consisted mainly of stuff we've been playing quite alot lately, which is fine, since it seems to be rocking faces. Why fix what isn't broken, y'know? However, we tried out "Refrigerator" in front of this crowd, which possibly was not one of our more inspired moves. Even the dancing dude stepped back a bit. However, "Crossroads" kind of kicked some butt tonight. I'm not sure folks expected us to whip out something so different from what we had been playing, but it was definitely a nice response. I have a feeling "Crossroads" will be a regular fixture in our sets from here on out.

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.

All in all, it was a solid show. The only trouble we had was almost not starting on time. The last time we opened for The New Congress, I used the drummer's whole kit, cymbals and all. But this time, they were playing with a new drummer and we didn't know ahead of time. When we were told that we could take the stage, I realized that the kit had no cymbals or snare. (It is, by the way, very common practice amongst kit-sharing drummers to use one's own snare and cymbals, since they take the hardest beating.) Well, I hadn't thought to talk to him. When we were told to go set up our stage, I had to go home and come back! Luckily it only took about a half hour in all. But as soon as I got back, we rocked it well.

Hey, all in all, we had a really wonderful night and The New Congress is an amazing band. Any time they ask us, we'll be there.