11/20/10 - Sidestreet Grille & Pub - Fargo, N.D.

Set One: | Found My Boogie | Pay the Toll to Ride the Junebug Flow | Modern Day Fairy Tales | Back in the U.S.S.R. [The Beatles] | M'Lady | Downtown Liquor Store | Casanova | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Refrigerator | Moon Over the Water | Last Night | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | Sledgehammer [Peter Gabriel] | Fargo Gypsy Girl | The Date | Like a Spy (Not the Stalker) |

Set Two: | Come Together [The Beatles] | Aphrodite | On the Sidewalk | Crossroads | Golden Girls Theme [Andrew Gold] (feat. Eden Parker) | Dr. Phil (Part 2 - Dr. Phunk) | Damn the Man | To Outer Space [To the Next Episode] / Misty Mountain Hop [Led Zeppelin] | Clone You | Godzilla [Blue Oyster Cult] (feat. San Haven Chuckle) | Vacation to Oblivion | Jumpstart My Rocket |

Fate brought us back to Fargo. That, and our various vehicles. Once again, we ended up taking three different vehicles, which you wouldn't think would make sense. But different peeps gots different plans. So it was.

We had never played the Sidestreet before, but I (tony) heard from some family members that it was a hoppin' joint. When we arrived, we were greeted by a big ol' Budweiser poster on the door advertising both that particular brand of beverage and our rock and roll show. (After the night was over, I grabbed it for our rehearsal space... because we never tire of looking at our own faces. Or maybe it's just me.

We ordered a tasty and zesty taco pizza which we enjoyed heartily with some lovely hoppy adult beverages. The San Haven Chuckle played some killer tunes, as usual, whipping out brand new, never-before-heard material. However, they opened the show with the beginning of our very own "Chosen Ones," after which we all needed new pants. Because, you see, we were so overwhelmed with our own egotism that we couldn't control our bodily functions.

There were many, many wonderful people in attendance. Two of my sisters and two of my nieces were present as well as many of their friends. Sarah and Katie were both there. So were the Trumbos. Plus, our old pals PJ and Bryan were both there. They're our buds from high school and they both live in the general vicinity of the Twin Cities... which makes it odd that they were at a Fargo show. But there were there and we are happy about that. In fact, PJ taped the show. A torrent link appears below. Aside from these amazing people were establishment regulars and tons of folks we don't know. The place was full and they seemed to be having fun.

Our set time arrived, so we donned our white shirts and wigs and stormed the stage. We broke out "Found My Boogie" right off the bat and got it started out right. Early in the set, we played "Back in the U.S.S.R." exclaiming that we had to celebrate the Beatles finally being released on iTunes. Later in the night, we played "Come Together" to keep the dream alive. "It's a big event," Anthony mused. "It's huge." "Just think," Dustin interjected, "of the money that isn't going to them."

We barreled on, right on through "Casanova" (no guest rapper) and when it was finished, Anthony asked, "Was there anybody having sex in the room during that song? If you were makin' love during that song, just imagine throwing some Wendy's fries into the mix. Hot fries!" Boom! We hit 'em with "Bad Mamma Jamma." That's the way it goes at a Junebug show.

We played "Refrigerator," by request of Travis from the Chuckle (though we were actually going to play it anyway... shhh, don't tell him). What happened next... we knew it was going to happen at some point. The Chuckle came to the foot of the stage and showed us their butts. "It's a full mooon!" Dustin shouted. Then, quite appropriately, we played "Moon Over the Water" (with the obligatory Chuckle lyrics).

After "Fargo Gypsy Girl" Anthony informed the crowd that we were actually IN Fargo, and that we can't play that song in Williston and have it mean the same thing.

We took a set break, had a drink, visited with some folks and then got back on the ol' sage. "We'll try to make this one good," I said. "We apologize for the first half of our portion of the show." Dustin shouted, "It's YOUR fault!" I'm not sure who he was talking to. It may have been me.

Anthony introduced the second set saying we were going to "get all fudged up, if you know what fudgin' means!"

A few more cool things happened tonight. We played a new version of "Chosen Ones" that we call "On the Sidewalk" for the Fargo crowd, and those who know the song enjoyed the newness. We had a guest vocalist on "Golden Girls" tonight. A gentleman by the name of Eden Parker is a Fargo/Moorhead musician and he performs the song as well. So why not? He nailed it. Good stuffs.

The fun-ness continued. We had a revival of an old self-help tune. Dr. Phunk returned tonight. We asked how far you wanted to rock it. "Outer Space" was the answer. So that's what we did, with a little Zeppelin thrown into the mix.

Even more fun times rolled on. We invited Bud and Travis up to perform Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla" with us. "Get ready for some audio sodomy," Travis warned. He wailed, Bud shredded, The Reverend jumped up and shouted some Japanese gibberish into the mic (says Bud, "it's not functional Japanese, but it is actual") and we brought down the house with that one.

And I can't forget the lone dancing girl, which is becoming more and more common as shows go on. This one even knew the words. Lone dancing girl, we salute you.

There was a winter storm rolling in, so as Anthony & Katie and Dustin & Sarah went to their lodging for the night, Brandon and I braved the ice and snow and got on the road back home to Minneapolis.

Torrent this show in its entirety at The Trader's Den.

11/11/10 - Merlin's Rest - Minneapolis

11:11, 11/11
Merlin's Rest
Minneapolis

Set:
| Pay the Toll to Ride the Junebug Flow | Modern Day Fairy Tales | Back in the U.S.S.R. [The Beatles] | M'Lady | Casanova | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | Auld Lang Syne | The Date | Place | Golden Girls Theme [Andrew Gold] | Aphrodite | Clone You | Found My Boogie | On the Sidewalk | Sledgehammer [Peter Gabriel] | Damn the Man | Jumpstart My Rocket |

Tonight was an incredible occasion. It only happens twice a year, both times on the same day. Tonight we were celebrating 11:11, 11/11. The eleventh hour, the eleventh minute, the eleventh month, the eleventh day. A day and time we like to call "Eleven Eleven Eleven Eleven." We arrived ready to celebrate. We distributed party hats, noise-makers, and general excitement amongst the crowd. We had clocks onstage so everyone could keep track of when the big moment was getting close.

After opening with a couple of old standbys, we revived our rendition of the Beatles' classic "Back in the U.S.S.R." We haven't played this one for years, but we felt like it belonged back in our repertoire. So there it is, for our enjoyment and yours.

"Casanova" had a guest vocalist tonight, which was Russ from the always entertaining Julie Puppets. It's a pity there was so sound engineer tonight. Maybe then we could have heard Russ's vocals a little better. They sounded like they were probably pretty amazing. *sigh*

We played "Bad Mamma" tonight, and at the end Anthony says "give it to me ___ times," I think he forgot that it was his line. He looked back at me as if he was waiting for something. He eventually remembered. But it was so wonderfully awkward, I needed to share.

I then announced that we had four minutes before 11:11, 11/11. We launched into "Poet" and luckily finished just in time to celebrate the big moment! We all put on our party hats, blew our noisemakers, took a drink, sang "Auld Lang Syne," all made a wish, and kept the party going.

After "Place," Anthony told the crowd and the dancing girl that they made him believe again. This elicited laughter. I'm not sure it's what he was going for, but so it goes. After "Aphrodite," Anthony called out, "THANK YOU, GOODNIGHT!" Of course, it wasn't the end of our set. So all he did was get the crowd's hopes up. But we dashed those hopes by continuing, because it's what we do.

Tonight, we debuted a new song of sorts. It's a re-worked version of our song "Chosen Ones," but done in our interpretation of the style of Paul Simon. Junebug covering Paul Simon covering Junebug. We call it "On the Sidewalk."

After that we ripped into "Sledgehammer." Afterward we all felt kind of pooped. I said that song really takes it out of me. Dustin replied, "In the words of Lethal Weapon, I'm gettin' too old for this shit."

Also appearing tonight were our friends in Yasen Marie. Cody brought some friends. Tony's brother-in-law also stopped by -- all the way from Denver. Wha..?

Tonight saw the resurgence of an interesting phenomenon. That is the occurance of the lone dancing girl. We've had this creature appear at shows in the past and I'm sure we'll have it again in the future. The lone dancing girl is a creature that is really into what we're doing, feeling our vibe, perhaps feeling the effects of some substances, and generally "celebrating life." This is how tonight's lone dancing girl, Alana said it. Another important characteristic is that dancing girl is doing this completely by herself. Alana was a perfect example. She was loving tonight and danced to our tunes for the entire second half of the show. After our set was over, she approached each of us individually, congratulated us on our performance, hugged us, called us either "baby" or "honey" and kissed some of us on the cheek. This was someone for whom 11:11, 11/11 obviously held a lot of meaning. We appreciate your deal, Alana the lone dancing girl! We'd like to see more of that.

Be sure to come out next year when we celebrate (say it out loud, now) 11:11:11, 11/11/11.