Junebug Show Diaries

Monday, May 19, 2008

5/18/08 - Varsity Theater - Minneapolis

May 18, 2008
Gorilla Productions
Battle of the Bands
Varsity Theater
Minneapolis, MN

After focusing these past few months exclusively on our upcoming album, Share, Junebug finally played a show! This was the latest installment of Gorilla Productions' Battle of the Bands series. We sold some tickets and played with a few other fun Twin Cities bands at the famous and historic Varsity Theater in Dinkytown.

The show started at 4:30 and we went on at 6:00. We kept the set short and sweet, due to a thirty minute time limit, and all the tunes we played tonight were off the upcoming album.

Our bassist tonight was the incomparable Kai Catudio, who recorded bass with us on ten of twelve album tracks. Kai's energy and musicianship were perfect for our live show and we truly loved having him play with us.

Though we didn't win the "battle," we got a lot of really great feedback from audience and musicians alike. The Varsity was a great venue to play. In fact, it was voted as City Pages' top music venue of 2007. It was great to be included in an event that took place in the Minneapolis music scene. We look forward to possibly playing shows with these or other bands in the near future.

Finally, we got to see an old friend at this show -- the mighty and elusive P.J. Pearson! Of course he bootlegged the show with his fancy schmancy audio equipment. Because that's what he does.

So, anyway. Fun show. It was a good start to what we hope is a successful run in the Twin Cities.

Friday, August 10, 2007

8/10/07 - Ramkota Hotel - Aberdeen, S.D.

Junebug & Josh Going Away Party

Encore:
| Everlong [Foo Fighters] |

Tonight was a big night. It is one of the important days in the history of Junebug. It was a huge going-away party. For tonight was our final show as residents of Aberdeen, South Dakota, before relocating to the Twin Cities. Furthermore, tonight was the final show with Josh Rieck as a member of our band, before he moves to Vermillion, South Dakota to attend graduate school at USD. Both Josh and I (tony) currently work at the Best Western Ramkoa Hotel here in Aberdeen, so we were able to obtain the inexpensive rental of event rooms at the hotel for tonight. It was all ages, and there was a bar for those 21 and older. This tends to be an ideal situation for Junebug shows, since we seem to appeal to both younger audiences as well as drinking bar crowds.

We had high hopes for this show, but we got a bit worried early on since there was the very strong possibility of inclement weather. There were sever weather warnings all over the area and there were pretty dark clouds looming in the distance as we were loading in. Luckily, it didn't deter anybody, as it ended up being one of the biggest Aberdeen crowds we have ever had. Late in the show, Dustin commented on this saying, "Look at all these people. This is fantastic! There could be a tornado right now and wipe us all out, and you came!" I responded, "At least we're going out happy."

Tonight's show was locally star-studded, meaning that we had a number of guests perform with us tonight. Our old friend Drew Bertsch, a very bad mamma jamma who used to be a manager at Wendy's, joined us on the song about his employment alma mater. It was his birthday, too, so that made it extra special. Elizabeth Andrews, whom I referred to as the "Fifth Bug" since she played with us so often, joined us for "The Date" and "Place". On "Found My Boogie" tonight, Jeremy Burckhard played guitar and Marcus Hoox played bass. We had hoped that there would be people in the crowd capable of playing the song completely without us, but only those two people of that description came forward. Furthermore, another guest of the evening was the band Dr. Versatile. Whilst we took a set break, they played to keep the crowd there and entertained. Finally, at the very end of the night, DJ Rad Jackson finished off the night with the after party entertainment. He did my wedding just a couple months ago and it was one of the greatest parties I've ever attended.

One of the very notable guest appearances tonight was by twelve-year-old Dan Hartung. Dan was one of Dustin's guitar students, and he is really exceptional. Since we are leaving Aberdeen, Dustin thought that we would bring him onstage to pass the torch to the younger generation. He played with us on the "Passing the Torch" jam, as well as a portion of "Funk #49" by Joe Walsh. We then all ripped into "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett, but with me on lead vocals for this tune, it became "I Love Rocky Road" by Weird Al. The kid could wail. After his performance as he was leaving stage, Dustin said, "The Aberdeen music scene is now in your hands." "Don't screw it up," I advised.

You know, it happens at every show. Some clown yells out "Freebird" and you're forced to either ignore it and look like a jerk or address it and look lame. Tonight, we chose to address it. Anthony sang some of the lyrics while Dustin, Josh and I tried to accompany him. It was half-hearted at best. We stopped abruptly and Anthony said, "That's all you get." Thank god.

As a going away present to Josh, we let him have a microphone tonight. We played "Sweet Potato" by Cracker at his request and he sang lead vocals, so he kind of required one. In all of his time with us, I believe this was only the second time he got a mic.

A super-rarity of ours reared its head tonight. Out of absolutely nowhere, we started playing "It's Been a Long Time". If you've never heard of it, don't worry. Most people haven't. It's a reggae tune about a dude who lives in a garbage can and that's how he avoids the man keeping him down.

Tonight during "The Date", Josh wandered into the crowd for a dollar dance. Anyone wishing to pay a dollar (which would go toward his gas money to Vermillion tomorrow) could dance with him while he played the song. I didn't catch whether or not he made any money on that. Then, during the next song, he played an upright bass that he built with his own hands, sweat and tears. Because that's what he does.

Tonight, we decided to play two brand new songs that we've never played before. They were "Stan" (on which Dustin plays a baritone guitar) and "Give Me Some Truth". While this show marks the end of our Aberdeen chapter, we wanted to show that this was not the end. It is simply the start of something new, with new songs and albums on the horizon. We've got plenty of new material that you all will here. It's certainly not the end.

We thought it would be appropriate to close tonight's show with "Crossroads". We were saying goodbye, but we will meet again. Maybe there will be adventures and sorrows, but we will all see one another again one day. After this was over, the crowd began chanting, demanding one more song. It was equally fitting to play "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters. "If everything could ever feel this real forever / If anything could ever be this good again / The only thing I'll ever ask of you / You've got to promise not to stop when I say when."

We love you, Aberdeen.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

6/9/07 - Plymouth Congregational Church - Aberdeen, S.D.

June 9, 2007
Tony's Wedding
Plymouth Congregational Church
Aberdeen, SD

Soundcheck:
(no particular order)
| Breathe You In | Like a Spy | Last Night | many others |

Set:
| Breathe You In |

At Tony's wedding, he and Liza wanted Junebug to perform "Breathe You In" during the ceremony. Anthony, Dustin and Josh were all groomsmen, and Elizabeth came up during the lighting of the unity candle and it was a beautiful performance.

Before the ceremony, however, the boys were soundchecking and playing around with many different songs, just having a good time and treating early arrivals to an impromptu little show (the contents of which are long forgotten). Tony joined along for a couple minutes in his white tux, but with a lack of any drums, just banged on a stool.

Tony's all married now and the Junebug boys were a part of it. Rawk on.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

6/1/07 - Red Rooster - Aberdeen, S.D.

June 1, 2007
Red Rooster Coffee House
Aberdeen, SD

Soundcheck:
| Intergalactic Grits (partial) | Every Rose Has Its Thorn [Poison] |

We always love playing at the Red Rooster. There's something about that place that just encourages good vibes and great feelings. While the crowds there aren't huge, per se, they almost always offer the warmest reception. So we always try to put together an awesome show, whether it's trying out new or experimental stuff, or just playing our well-known tunes. Tonight was no exception. Dustin predicted that it would be "the equivalent of the water cooler show on Thursday night Must-See TV." We brought it, and we brought it well.

We started out on a mellow note with "Spring Fever," but kicked it off proper with "Poet Who Didn't Know It." The whole set was solid, so I won't bother describing every single song.

HOwever, it bears mentioning that it has become customary to invite any hip-hop artist in the crowd to freestyle on "Casanova". Tonight's featured guest was Red Rooster regular, Cheryl Tullis and she was fantastic, as she always is.

During the break, we got some great reviews and kicked off the second set, which was full of some of our best stuff, starting with "Crossroads".

"Next Episode" started out on its own again tonight, with no intro - which threw some for a loop. However, we did start it as if it was a ballad, which threw the others for a loop. At any rate, we did rock it to the next episode, with a killer rendition of "Enter Sandman" thrown in there. "Exit light, enter night, take my hand...off to the next episode." Inspired brilliance, what can we say?

After "Bad MammaJamma", the part in which Anthony says, "Give it to me five times," someone in the crowd said, "That was seven." For the first time ever, someone cracked the code. Dustin remarked that if Anthony said, "Give it to me negative two times," we wouldn't hit at all.

After hitting the crowd with some funk, we decided to attempt, for the second show ever, "Soul Shaker," an instrumental funk/rock smash! To close the show, we played "Clone You" and "Bumblebee", much to the screaming joy of an old fan, Amy Heidenreich-Heinz, who was in attendance tonight.

As we said earlier, the Rooster has always been a favorite place of ours and tonight's show was no exception. So many friendly faces, so many happy dancers, and the place seems to be Junebug's home. So, the Rooster should be thanked for that.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

5/28/07 - 10,000 Skates - Aberdeen, S.D.

Second Annual
10,000 Skates
Melgaard Park
Aberdeen, SD

It's Moustache May and the boys in Junebug celebrated in our show at 10,000 Skates this year! Each member came as he was in our new look - nice and sleazy. All four boys sported moustaches and sleazy duds.

Like last year's 10,000 Skates, a skate competition was companion to a great roster of bands. The set was short and sweet, but it's always great to play an outdoor show for park-goers. At one point in the set, Anthony referred to the "seating section" and encouraged a "dancing section." However, Dustin reminded him that it was Memorial Day and it was a beautiful day in the park and if people wanted to just lounge in the grass, that it was okay to do so. They did and everyone was happy.

The set started "up" and stayed that way till the end came too soon. We started with "Boogie" and continued with a speedy version of "The Date". After that was our flavor of "Funky Music", which went straight into "Next Episode". Surely no one was shocked. However, the shock arrived when in the middle of the song we inexplicably busted into a sweet rendition of "Dream On" by Aerosmith. "The good Lord'll take you away...to the next episode."

Once again, 10,000 Skates was good to us. Huge props go to Ryan Clay and Josh Andrews, both of YAPA, for putting this together.

Oh, and Anthony was the one who came up with the name "10,000 Skates" last year, when he still worked at B'donkey donk. (the now defunct "Donkey" skate shop.)

Sunday, April 8, 2007

4/7/07 - Wild Oats - Aberdeen, S.D.

Tonight, we arrived to a packed Wild Oats. We thought this was a very good thing. That there would be a lot of people there to hear our rock. We came in about forty minutes before our start time and began tuning and gearing up for the show. Well, it turns out that tonight was some big night in the world of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. And those UFC fans take their stuff very seriously. Some dude came up to us and asked, "What the hell are you doing?" Well, we were getting ready to start our set at the start time we were told. "We're watching a fight here. You better not interrupt that." There were other such welcoming comments, and even a threat in one case. One of the members of our band was told that our asses would be kicked if we started playing. So... yeah. Pretty serious about their stuff. Needless to say, we waited until the match was over. No asses were kicked in the making of this show.

There was a bigger crowd tonight, at least at the start. The fight fans stuck around long enough to finish their steak, potatoes and beers. As a bonus, they got some of our tunes. To start the show, Anthony announced that now was the time to place your bets, because Junebug would be having a no-holds barred, ultimating fighting match ourselves. Maybe asses would be kicked after all... by ourselves!

The show started off well. Our friend Scott Waltman was one of the people who was totally into it, and we encourage that. Not everyone was so into it, however. After we played "Jumpstart My Rocket," one of our more energetic songs, there was nearly no response from the mostly unattentive crowd. Well, just like last night, we caught their attention with "The Ocean" by Led Zeppelin. Again, like last night, "Episode" took over, fully baffling the patrons in attendance. Afterward, Anthony explained that "You never know when the Episode's gonna strike. It could show up anywhere!"

Sometimes in shows we like to transition seamlessly from one song to another, just to keep things moving along. Tonight we attempted a seamless transition between "Rapper's Delight" and "Clone You." Let me tell you, there were seams. And they were ripped. Not the best idea we've ever had. Let's see if that ever happens again.

Anthony caught the crowd's attention once again by shouting, "Who here likes Ween!?!" Massive cheers. "No, no," I interrupted, "WeeN, with an N." The cheers subsided. Anthony said, "Well, I like that, too, people, but we're going to play some Ween right now." Then some dude yelled out, "Play some Slayer!" Yeah. "We wish," Anthony sheepishly replied. We played "Piss Up a Rope" and dedicated it to Randee from Wild Oats. He plays in a country band, and it's a country song.

Dan Cleberg showed up tonight to shoot some footage of us for a documentary he's working on. He's taking a look at the Aberden music scene and comparing the bands he looks at to different types of hot sauces. It sounds odd, but it'll all make sense in context. So he shot about ten minutes of footage of us from different songs and hopefully we'll make the cut.

"Bullet In Your Head" was dedicated to Scott Waltman tongiht, since he stuck around and he digs that tune. In the words of the immortal Randy Jackson, "Good lookin' out."

Before our final song tonight, Dustin wished to thank the venue. "From UFC to country bands, you've got it all, Wild Oats."

We then proceeded to play the money medley, because, as we said, "Foget about the music and artistic integrity. We don't need that crap." It's all about the CASH, people. All about the cash.

Dan's raw footage from tonight

The finished short film

Saturday, April 7, 2007

4/6/07 - Wild Oats - Aberdeen, S.D.

Soundcheck:
| Piper |

Tonight was a great start to another weekend at Wild Oats downtown. We had really hoped we'd get a big crowd, with college students and regulars alike. Unfortunately, we hadn't realized until very recently that this weekend is Easter weekend and tonight was Good Friday. This, of course, means that the college students are at home and people are more in a family mindset than a party time frame of mind. Luckily, though, the place wasn't empty. We still had some pretty good attendence, and those who were there were ready to enjoy some drinks and have a good time.

We opened with our own Junebug-ized version of "Back in the U.S.S.R." by the Beatles and seemingly caught the crowd's attention. We continued with "Casanova" and then on to "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen. We've found that the more we play cover tunes in a setting like this, the more people pay attention to our originals. So that's what we did tonight. But we don't ever play covers in a copy-cat way. We always play the songs in our style.

The show tonight contained our normal frivolity. We wished Cheryl Tullis a very happy birthday. Anthony told the crowd that "we've come to rock you - and give you Cadillacs." Dustin responded, "Shut up, Oprah." Our friend Wade in the crowd threatened us with "I'll donkey punch you, tomorrow!" We don't know why he threatened this, but he did. Anthony then proceeded to advertise the Donkey skate shop in the Lakewood Mall, and invited people to check it out. Inside info: The Donkey store, which Anthony used to manage, closed up shop some time ago. Anthony was grateful that his presentation got a laugh. Dustin added a "Tromboooooone."

The witty banter continued. Later in the show, Dustin thanked the crowd for coming out to Wild Oats tonight. "That was totally not lame of you." We dedicated "Spring Fever" to Liza tonight, even though her mother Diane was consistently protesting spring time in favor of winter snows. She's one of those. Anthony, relating an anecdote, finished his tale by saying, "You know what they say, if the groundhog sees his... uh, Buick Skylark or something.." A crowd member shouted "Shadow!" Dustin affirmed, "Dodge Shadow, yes! Thank you." Anthony descended into giggles. Dustin then encouraged people to buy drinks and tip their waitresses. "But don't tip 'em over!" Classic.

Tonight, to introduce "Damn the Man," Anthony went on a mini-rant about hating your job and hating your boss and how you sometimes just want to damn him. Well, I had to add a disclaimer that I work for my future father-in-law. He's my boss. Not to mention, he was present at tonight's show. So, I had to assure him that I do not necessarily support the claims and/or products presented. After it was over, Anthony said to stay tuned for our second set -- Junebug mark two: this time it's personal.

To open the second set, Dustin brought out an electric shaver and announced that if at any time during this set, there are four people dancing, "I have this razor here that could be used to shave something." "He'll shave his beard," Anthony announced excitedly. "Let's not limit it to the beard," he replied. "It could be anything." Intriguing, no?

The second set started with us poorly attempting "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang. The bright spot was the guest vocal by Aberdeen's own hip-hop artist, Fatcat. We had fun with that fella tonight, for sure. Too bad there weren't more people paying attention to a good tasted of local rap. Afterward, Anthony thanked him saying, "Thank you for breathing life into this boring band."

He later introduced "Bad Mamma Jamma" by saying, "You're gonna savor the Wendy's flavor, if you know what I mean." "What do you mean," I asked. No answer. The world will never know.

Tonight, we began playing "The Ocean" by Led Zeppelin. It was going very well, and the crowd that was there was completely into it, raising their glasses and bobbing their heads. Then, without warning, "To the Next Episode" reared its ugly head. The crowd was supremely confused by this horrible turn of events. As the song went on, it gave up the struggle to "House of the Rising Sun." Once again, the crowd dug it. They were singing along and swaying their mugs, German-drinking-song style. But alas, "Episode" returned to close out the battle. Much bemusement was held by those in attendence. Then, after a few failed joke attempts, Dustin let everyone know that we have now dropped the "witty" from the banter.

We had another special guest tonight, and it was our old friend Elizabeth Andrews. She played violin with us on "The Date," "Breathe You In," "Place" and "Piss Up a Rope." I think she was a bit taken aback by "Piss Up a Rope." I don't quite remember if she practiced this with us or not, but it's kind of a delightfully vulgar and misogynistic song. She may have been uncomfortable. If that is the case, we are sorry.

Tonight, a brand new song was debuted. It's called "Call Me Up" and it will be on the upcoming album, Stan. It went okay and the crowd liked it. We then closed with "Last Dance With Mary Jane" and called it a night. I don't think Dustin actually shaved anything tonight. Not on stage, anyway.

We'll be back, same time, same place tomorrow night.