Junebug Show Diaries: July 2010

Sunday, July 25, 2010

7/24/10 - O'Gara's Garage - St. Paul, Minn.

Tonight was our anticipated Modern Day Fairy Tales CD release show in the Twin Cities. O'Gara's ended up being the venue and we had musical support from The Upshot and Capital Sons. We had a warm reception in Aberdeen, and we hoped to have as great a time here tonight. We a decent turnout. Contrary to what you may have read posted somewhere online, there were more than ten people present. It was closer to sixty-five, according to the door man. But there's no need to squabble over it.

We took the stage and Anthony exclaimed that we had a special surprise for everyone -- chocolate-covered bacon! "If you're a true Junebug fan, you might want to devour some bacon." Of course there wasn't any chocolate-covered bacon for real, but sometimes Anthony likes to dream. He then went on to plug our new album, Modern Day Fairy Tales, saying that "Pay the Toll to Ride the Junebug Flow" is the title track. Unbeknownst to the rest of us, Anthony changed the title of the album, after it has already been printed, distributed and sold.

We plugged on through the opening tracks from the album, including "Casanova." Anthony informed the crowd that we had just tripped them out with "Vacation to Oblivion" and now we would funk them out with this one. The dance floor desperately wanted the crowd to dance on it as well. When it came to Lil Buddy's rap portion of the song, we hadn't planned ahead for a guest artist to join us, so as we were playing through it, Dustin told Anthony to do the rap. He laughed through it, spouting some of the lyrics here and there, intermingled with some Anthony-speak that we love. When the song was over, I encouraged people to pick up the album to hear how the song is actually supposed to sound.

We took a brief detour from Modern Day to play Share favorite, "Poet (Who Didn't Know It)" and "Come Together," which we wrote back in the Sixties. Except for one lyric, which was written tonight: "One thing I can tell you / You should buy our CD!"

The next tune featured a special guest performer who goes by the name of Anna Wosika. She performed on our album and knocked this song out of the park. She gave it exactly what it needed and took it to heights we couldn't have reached on our own. She sang chorus vocals on "Bad Mamma Jamma." As she took the stage, I introduced her as "our friend and lover," then backtracked with, "well, one of our lover." Because you see, our bassist Nick is, in his own words, "totally hittin' that." "I ain't lying," he went on, "the girl's fine." Before the song started, Anthony said, "There's a backstory that goes with this. Way back in '72 I was driving down an old Alabama road..." He stopped short. I enthusiastically said, "Tell the story!" "And there shined a shiny demon," he concluded. I have an idea there was probably more to the story. Will we ever get it out of him? Only the demon knows.

We continued plugging along with "Cake" and we encouraged people to rob liquor stores in the neighborhood. Then, Nick announced that we were on the radio just last night. We were on KFAI's "Minnesota Sountrack." We started off the show with none other than... "Refrigerator." Nick said he was pumped to be on the radio, but then it was that song. Dustin seemed quite pleased, however, exclaiming a gleeful "yes!"

"Crossroads" was dedicated tonight to my sister Joni. "I say, don't go, little darlin' / Don't be like a rainbow / that vanishes when I get too close. / 'Cause I will wander for decades / in clothes worn and ragged / to find you / next to that gold."

After the mood was softened with "Crossroads," Anthony asked if anyone wanted to rock it. "How hard do you want to rock it?" Somebody shouted out, "The hardest!" Dustin then asked, "How FAR do you want to rock it?" Our friend Cody shouted, "To Tokyo!" So we busted into "To the Next Tokyo!" Not once did we say the word "episode." We all spontaneously sang "Tokyo" each time and the result was brilliant, if I'm allowed to say so myself. During Anthony's solo section, Dustin informed that it is his favorite lead guitar part on the entire album. Because of his "Tokyo" suggestion, this song was dedicated to him.

Anthony then explained that Cody gets a back-to-back dedication, since Cody has been talking about doing a video for "Jumpstart." Here's the thing, though. Cody's been talking about doing a video for that song since we were all still students at Northern. Will it happen? Only the demon knows. I was so wrapped up in this thought that I missed my initial drum hit in the intro, but I didn't realize it and hit late. "Did I miss it?" I asked incredulously. Yes. Yes, I did.

I offered a deal to the crowd tonight. The first person to rush up to the foot of the stage and correctly name every member of the band would win an autographed poster of Junebug. The first person to do so was Cody Tesnow, after a long gap of confusion. There was already a poster signed and ready to go, but Cody grabbed a blank one and a marker and demanded afterward that each of us dedicate our autograph to his genitals. You stay classy, Mr. Tesnow.

Our buddy PJ was present at this show, and as you may or may not know, he likes to record live shows and tonight was no exception. There are two options below for immediate, FREE download.

MP3s in a Zip file! 192 kbps, 108 MB FLAC torrent 460 MB

Finally, at one point tonight, Nick came over to me on stage and shook my hand, saying that this was the most fun he had had on stage in a long time. The sad thing about this is that, though we didn't know it at the time, this would regretfully end up being Nick's last show with Junebug. Unfortunately, he didn't get an opportunity to say farewell to the Junebug fans like he would have liked to have. For limited details, please read this post at the Junebug Flow blog.

Photos by Liza Kollman

Sunday, July 11, 2010

7/10/10 - After Party/CD Release / Red Rooster - Aberdeen, S.D.

Encore: | Hangin' Out in a Soundproof Room | Place | Crossroads |

Ah, yes. The fabled Red Rooster Coffee House. Earlier today we performed at the Pig Out in Central Park, and now, tonight, it was time to properly celebrate the release of our second album, Modern Day Fairy Tales. The Rooster was so kind tonight as to offer to stay open late to accomodate an After Pigout Party and to celebrate our CD release. The show didn't get started until around 11:00 p.m. Dan Cleberg, co-owner of the Rooster, one-time bassist for the band, and all around swell guy, introduced us tonight. He mentioned that this is our CD release party. He went on to explain that a CD release party is where there's a party to release CDs. Because, you know, it's kind of confusing. He explained tonight's concept of Junebug Karaoke. Four songs tonight were to be sung by four lucky audience members. Dan also explained that Saliva was still playing at the Pig Out, still in the midst of warming up for Junebug.

We opened with the first three tracks from the album, back-to-back-to-back, when Anthony then explained the goal was to play the new album in its entirety. I then explained that this new album is made up of old songs, so that the people where we live now can get to know us better and the folks at Rooster can relive some good memories. Dustin pointed out that once we played at show at the Red Rooster, and that it happened to be our first. And that some of the songs we played at that show were on this album.

Jon Wayne (from Jon Wayne and the Pain) was in the house tonight, after having played at the Pig Out. So, who better to guest vocalize on "Casanova"? He freestyled well, and afterward I gave an interesting piece of trivia: that Anthony, Dustin and I went to high school with Jon. It was met with silence, as my comments usually are. I then conceded that it was a boring piece of trivia.

What followed next was the first installment of Junebug Karaoke. The guest singer was Brian Hoesing and the song was "I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's)." He pretty much ruled it. He took control of the stage, knew all the words and worked it out. At the end of the song, he told us to "give it to [him] twenty-seven times!" We were only too happy to oblige. We used the consistent mathematical formula, though. Of course. Thanks, Brian! You did great.

We continued the show with an old tune of ours, "Cake." Anthony introduced it by saying it was the first song we ever played at the Red Rooster Coffee House all those years ago. The crowd dug that. The next tune was another moldy oldy, written specifically for our friend Crystal's answering machine back in the NSU days. Dustin dedicated it, saying, "This goes out to Crystal, wherever you are." "North Carolina," I answered. "You know, you can leave some mystery, Tony," he chided, "it's okay." Evidently I can't.

There was a special deviation from the intended setlist tonight. We played "Like a Spy (Not the Stalker)," which does not appear on Modern Day Fairy Tales. However, last time Roberto saw us, he wanted to play it and we didn't. So we did tonight, just for him. It served double-duty because it's my mother-in-law's favorite Junebug song, too, and she was present. So everyone was happy.

Up next was the second installment of Junebug Karaoke! The song was "Downtown Liquor Store" and the guest singer was to be Pat Marler. But he was nowhere to be found. Anthony wanted the ball to keep rolling and Stacy Smith volunteered to do the honors. She came up and we started the song. About halfway into the first verse, Marler bounded up onto the stage and we started over with both Pat and Stacy on the mics. It was a little rocky, because as Dustin pointed out, this is probably the most difficult song to choose. There are about six or eight verses and it's hard to keep them all straight. But Marler and Stacy held their own, it was fun, and everybody enjoyed it, including us. When the singers left the stage, Stacy said it was horrible. I said it was fun. Which it was. Good job, Stacy and Marler.

We played "Refrigerator" after Anthony told us that out of all the songs he has written about refrigerators, that was probably the best one. The song was over and there was a brief lull while Anthony tuned and the rest of us took a drink of water, coffee, etc. Suddenly, with no warning, the crowd erupted into spontaneous applause. It was incredible. Then, after playing "Episode," I informed the crowd that "yes, we actually spent good time and real money to record that song in a studio." They seemed pleased and incredulous at the same time.

Next up was tonight's penultimate Junebug Karaoke performance. The song was "Jumpstart My Rocket" and the singer was none other than Red Rooster co-owner and onetime Junebug bassist, Daniel Leon Cleberg. Dan mentioned that he had to print out the lyrics to the song because he didn't know them. I warned him that it is full of F-bombs, which I think he may have actually believed for a moment. He said that he had meant to listen to the song many times, but his battery died. An audience member shouted out, "Jumpstart it!" That proved to us that his performance was meant to be. And tell you what: he rocked it. He's got that great front-man stage presence and energy that every band desires. His performance was incredible. There are a couple clips of his performance in the playlist embedded here. Check 'em.

Junebug Karaoke continued and concluded immediately with the next song. We played "Found My Boogie" with special guest vocalist Chad something. Sadly, I didn't catch his last name. It was a fun run-through, and afterward Chad thanked us for the opportunity, since he's starting his own band and this gave him a little confidence. We're glad to help. Junebug Karaoke went over very well. We enjoyed it and it really seemed to be a hit with the Rooster crowd. There are now murmurs of sometime in the future doing an entire Junebug Karaoke show. Think that's a good idea?

After "Found My Boogie" we only had one song left on the setlist, but since we still had so much time left, we figured we'd open up the floor to requests. We played some old favorites and then, just as Anthony was explaining that this song would be our last song, Nick turned to me and said, "Come Together!" So, he and I unexpectedly busted into "Come Together." "I guess we're gonna play this one," Anthony relented. After paying tribute to the Beatles, Anthony said that okay, NOW we're playing our last tune. It was "Bumblebee," just like our typical show-closer of old.

However, that was not enough to satisfy the still nearly full-house crowd, apparently. There was a persistent chant of "one more song!" I asked Dan how much time we had left, seeing how late we could go since they were open late already. He said we could keep going. So while the stringed instrument players retuned, I took a drink of water. Someone shouted out, "Rockin' Out in a Soundproof Room!!" Dustin replied, "We just played it! Just now!" I corrected him that it wasn't actually that, but our newest song, "Hangin' Out in a Soundproof Room."

We closed out the night by playing two great songs to properly put everyone to bed: "Place" and "Crossroads." When those concluded, it really felt like an appropriate end to a fantastic day. It goes without saying that we adore the Red Rooster Coffee House and everyone who dwells therein. In fact, Modern Day Fairy Tales was dedicated to the Rooster Crew. We will always view that place as home.

Thanks again, Dan, Kileen, Angela, Zion and everyone else. We love you immeasurably.

Photos by Tabith Leigh De Voss

Post script: Here is a video put together by Jeremy Burckhard, comprised of photos of tonight's show by Tabitha Leigh De Voss, with a soundtrack by Captain Swayzor and the Planeteers and Friends. It is one of my favorite things.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

7/10/10 - Great Aberdeen Pig Out - Aberdeen, S.D.

And so it was, that Junebug returned to the Pig Out two years later in 2010. This year, the festival was held in Aberdeen's Central Park, rather than the traditional Main Street. Also different, there were no cookoffs or eating contests... which is what I thought the Pig Out was named after. So, it's pretty much become a music festival now, with some vendors. At least that's what I saw. The face of the fest is changing. Whether it's for the better remains to be seen. Oddly, there's no shortage of controversy in that town over anything dealing with enjoyment for young people. A few years ago, there was a free festival-like show in Melgaard Park that we were a part of, and people wrote nasty letters to the editor about not being able to get their Sunday nap because of all the noise in the park. Likewise, with this year's Pig Out, there were letters to the editor about the swear words coming from the fest. So this is what the town is dealing with in putting on music festivals. There are all sorts of unnecessary politics going on in the community and among the organizers. It's goofy. But we decided we were just going to get up on stage, play our hearts out and have a good time. Because that's what it's about -- having fun.

Due to a last-minute schedule change, we were taken off the main stage, and put on the secondary stage. It seems that the promoters accidentally left Jon Wayne & the Pain off of the lineup schedule and they had to scramble to fix it the day before. We ended up with a later slot, though, so that actually made the change a good thing. There were more people in the park at the later time than the original time.

It was a hot one, for sure. There were two stages, and they were both arranged in east corners of the park, which meant that the sun was beating down on them the whole time. The stage we played had a black floor, so that helped absorb the heat and turn the performance area into a sauna, which is exactly what you want on a 95º day.

We did a very brief line-check while the band on the main stage was finishing up. Then when the mighty Scott Sauer behind the soundboard gave us the signal, we started right up. "We're Junebug, we're gonna rock and roll you," Anthony announced, "then kiss you goodbye." We opened with the Beatles' "Come Together" and got the party started.

After the palates were whetted with a few tunes, Anthony announced that our brand new album is now available -- at this very show! It's the first time it has been available, and we decided to give away a free CD to the first person to run down to the foot of the stage and tell us the name of the third track on our first album, Share. The answer is, of course, "Share." Nobody seemed to know it and Dustin said that was a good sign. In the end, a young man in the crowd did know the answer, so he got a free copy of Modern Day Fairy Tales.

As I said before, it was a very hot day today. So I let the festival-goers know that across the street Wesley and the Jones family were selling cool, tasty and refreshing lemonade in an effort to raise money to go on their mission trip to Moldova. "My friend lived in Moldova for awhile," Dustin said. "Mine, too," I added. Dustin explained, "It's the same friend." Chuckles.

Anthony introduced the next few tunes telling the crowd that "we're gonna get funky. It's okay though," he went on. "We okayed it with the City. We filled out a funk license." Bam!

It was a good, short, concise set, designed to keep the crowd wanting more. Which is just what they'll get tonight at the Red Rooster. We saw some old friends today, including Junebug's former bassist, Josh Rieck. He was playing with the Sherpa String Syndicate, and we got to visit with him a bit. The Pig Out was good, if a little disorganized. And a security guy tried to take my video camera. And we almost didn't get our full compensation. But it all turned out well in the end. The Pig Out was good.

Photos courtesy Stargazing Photography

Junebug Show Diaries

Sunday, July 25, 2010

7/24/10 - O'Gara's Garage - St. Paul, Minn.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

7/10/10 - After Party/CD Release / Red Rooster - Aberdeen, S.D.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

7/10/10 - Great Aberdeen Pig Out - Aberdeen, S.D.

Note from Tony:

Blog Archive

Other Junebug blogs

Facebook

Followers

Contributors