Junebug Show Diaries

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

Saturday, June 26, 2010

6/26/10 - Pride 2010 - Loring Park - Minneapolis

We played again this year at Twin Cities Pride 2010. This festival is such a wonderful display of peace, acceptance and togetherness. I have been to a bunch of festivals, but never have I felt such a great, loving sense of community than I have at Pride in the Twin Cities. There's little to no judgementalism and everyone just wants to have a good time and celebrate life and humanity with other human beings (and some canines, too). People of all ages, shapes, sizes, races, walks-of-life, belief systems, political views, et cetera are present with positive attitudes and open minds. This is, therefore, a perfect crowd for a band whose primary goal it is to spread good feelings and a fun atmosphere.

I (tony) had to work today. But it was okay, I was working AT the festival. My employer, Downtown Dogs, has a booth at Pride and I was operating a lure course for folks' dogs. My shift was over at one o'clock, so I headed over to the Loring Stage, where our friends Yasen Marie were already on stage. I had a quick chat with the stage manager as well as the master of ceremonies, a fabulous drag queen named Gosh Alice Jones, and then we were ready to roll.

We took the stage and received a rousing introduction from Gosh, including a tidbit that we were featured in Who Cares magazine. "Who cares?!? WE DO!" she exclaimed. If only the rest of the world was as enthusiastic as Gosh...

After our first tune, Anthony welcomed the beautiful crowd, warning them that they were a little TOO attractive, a little TOO beautiful. "It's okay," he assured us, "I'll try not to get too excited." There were plenty of others getting excited, however. There was an older man who, during "Casanova," we could tell was just dying to grab the mic and join us. He didn't though. We remember the lesson of Dot Com. But he continued to be enthusiastic, however, and encouraged the crowd to get up and dance with him though "Bad Mamma Jamma."

Anthony introduced "Clone You" using the tamed-down explanation. "It's about loving somebody so much that you want to clone them so you can have two of them... at the same time. Yeeahh, that's it!" Nick interjected, "Or clone yourself so you can watch." "Easy," I butt in. "It is a family show, guys."

Before we started our last tune, I made sure to let everyone know that we are always happy to play this event and that we stand in solidarity with the meaning of this festival. Anthony then described the ultimate dream. Getting back to the planet where you came from and eating some Tollhouse cookies and milk. "Jumpstart My Rocket" finished our set.

The stage and sound crew at this gig were exceptional. Everyone was polite and patient and all around cool. The drunk kit sounded exceptional. Like last year, we had a sign language interpreter, which is both fantastic and surreal. I found myself watching her through much of the set. I kept thinking, that's what our songs look like?

Do any of you guys know who Ross Mathews is? You might know him as "Ross the Intern" from Jay Leno's show. Well, he wasn't present at our set that we know of, but he was at the festival. Both Anthony and I said hello to him. I just figured I'd throw that in there.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

6/5/10 - Go Pink! - Tiffany Sports Lounge - Saint Paul

So, it turns out that breast cancer really sucks. People are fighting it pretty hard and scientists are trying to figure out how to vanquish it from existence. I used to often wonder why people focused on breast cancer so much more than other cancers, such as bladder or testicular cancers, which we in Junebug have lost loved ones to. Well, it turns out that humanity is closer to figuring out breast cancer than any other form at this point. Heck, they've even gotten pretty close to developing a preventative vaccine for breast cancer. If we as a species can figure out how to cure breast cancer, well that just opens the door to figuring out all those other piece-of-crap cancers. So, pouring money and effort into getting rid of boobies cancer is more important than ever. Seeing as how we in Junebug are four heterosexual men, we are quite concerned about saving the boobies as well, for our own selfish reasons. The fact is everyone can appreciate them. Even my gay male friend Travis thinks boobs are funny sometimes. So we figured we would do something so simple as playing a show in order to join the growing fight against this riduculous plague.

Victoria Stromme, a friend of Nick's and a fan of Junebug, is taking part in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure. She gathers pledges and raises cash and walks/runs/jogs/limps/crawls for thirty miles over three days. Seriously. This raises both money and awareness to this excellent cause. As part of her fundraising, Victoria put together a rock show called "Go Pink!" Tiffany Sports Lounge donated the stage (taking no financial cut from the door) and the bands donated their talents as well as merch items. Furthermore, numerous local businesses donated door prizes.

The show included Will Hutchinson, 36Sunrise and Junebug. There was supposed to be another band, too, but because of set times they disagreed with upon arriving, they gathered up their toys and went home before their set time. That only meant that Junebug got a longer set and the people that came to see them still paid their money to the cause. So there really were no losers, except the dudes that decided not to play. They lost out on being part of a great event. I was looking forward to hearing their set, too. I had heard good things. Lame.

The place was very well decorated for the festivities. There were pink balloons, pink feather boas and pink banners decking the halls. Victoria also provided several pink apparel items for band members to use if they wished. However, we didn't need much augmentation, as is apparent in photos taken tonight. We decided the best way to perform and to show our support was to completely deck out tonight. All of us wore many variations of all pink and white apparel, striking lust in the hearts of all who saw us, and awareness into the minds of the enlightened.

If you've followed Junebug for awhile, then you know that every now and then, a character named Randy shows up to play drums at our shows. He was present at the 2007 10,000 Skates show in Aberdeen, S.D. as well as at the Basilica Block Party in 2009. He looks strikingly like me (tony), but a lot more sleazy, with Elvis sunglasses and a trucker moustache. Rumor has it, Randy is my long-lost brother from Colorado, but others think it's me in disguise. Well, Randy was here tonight, playing drums and cracking wise.

We played a typical set of "bangers" tonight, including a recent addition to our repertoire, "Come Together" by the Beatles. At the very end, I reminded the crowd of the theme tonight, as we sang "Come together right now," I finished it off with,"over boobies."

On "Casanova," we had a fella named Zach from the crowd join us to freestyle. He did a fantastic job soliciting donations to the jar on the stage, shouting, "For the cure! For the cure!" It was a beautiful thing.

After "Casanova," Randy removed his necktie (which was actually a ladies' scarf) and tied it around his head as a headband. "It's getting hot in here," he explained. "It's a fashion statement, too."

After "Bad Mamma Jamma," Anthony told the crowd that this is as good as it's going to get tonight. Then Randy proceeded to take off his suit jacket.

After "Modern Day Fairy Tales" we mixed it up a bit with "Crossroads." This is, as you know, a couple-skate and there were some folks slow dancing. A few drinks were held up in the air and were swaying.

We played a couple more rockin' tunes and Randy asked, "Is it in poor taste to say that we're offering free breast exams ourselves?" He also added a disclaimer that there was no guarantee to the accuracy of the exams. Nick responded that it probably was in poor taste. "I'm gonna go with 'yes,'" he said. "It's in poor taste? Okay, cool. We're offering them."

Of all the shows in our history, none seemed more appropriate to revive an oldie of ours called "Breasts." This song was originally played in the Aberdeen / Red Rooster era. It's a song that we wrote as younger men who really desired breasts. "If I had breasts / What a happy world it would be / ... / Women have breasts / Why don't they show them to me?" Anthony said, "Now this song is being used tonight to save breasts. We've come full circle."

In the midst of all the fun and festivities, we took a moment to remember a fallen hero. My friend and yours, Rue McLanahan, one of the stars of The Golden Girls passed away this week. Much like we did when both Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur passed, we commemorated their impacts on us by playing the Golden Girls theme song. Furthermore, I shared some trivia with the crowd. In Season 1 of The Golden Girls, Blanche was two years younger than Sex & the City's Samantha is now. Think about that for a moment. The crowd tonight pondered it deeply. At least that's how I interpreted the stunned silence.

Anthony introduced "Clone You" in the usual way, explaining that if you love someone enough, you might want two of them, which could enhance certain bedroom activities. After thinking about it for a moment, Randy said, "I'd probably do it with myself in that case... I'm just thinkin' out loud." Dustin added that in a case in which there was a cloned woman, then there would be four boobies to save.

We then played "Downtown Liquor Store" and invited the crowd to join us in robbing a liquor store later tonight.

Next came an energetic and high-octane performance of "Sledgehammer," which got us all sweating like hogs. We announced that the next song would be our last of the evening, but there was still time to donate to the cause. Nick said that if you donate $20, Randy will make out with you. Anthony replied that he wasn't sure whether that was encouragement or a deterrent. "One thing it's definitely not," Dustin added, "is a guarantee." Then Randy took off another layer; his button-down pink shirt, leaving a tight pink t-shirt. "Jumpstart My Rocket" blasted into full force.

The song rocked on into the "breakdown section. Then Randy took his t-shirt off, revealing his sweaty, hairy, flabby body. All the women swooned, because Randy is too much man for them to take. Randy continued to rock the drum kit, glistening in his own filthy stink.

When it was all said and done, the night was a success. At the end of the night, Victoria informed me that we had all raised over $1,000 for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day For the Cure. That's a show well played and boobies well saved. We went Pink, and we are proud.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

5/7/10 - Primetime Sports Bar - Burnesville, Minn.

We were asked to be part of the special reunion of Inebriation tonight. So we did. Plus it was Nick's wife Anna's birthday bash tonight and she used to sing with Inebriation back in the day. We played at Primetime in Burnsville, a venue we had never played before tonight. As we first pulled into the parking lot, I balked a bit at the idea that a bar/venue was located in a strip mall. But it turns out I'm a chump, because the place was huge with a professional-sized stage and excellent sound. It's a case of not mixing metaphors by judging the venue by its cover.

The night started with our friend Jon Wayne playing some acoustic tunes, followed by us. We were set up (drums and all) on the front of the stage, while the drum kit for the headlining act was set up on the drum riser. Like I said, though, this place had wonderful sound. The balance was good on my drum kit and for once, my vocal mic was at the right level. I pretty much appreciate that.

We took the stage and Anthony asked the crowd enthusiastically if they were wearing their party pants. After a meager response, he said, "Are your party pants on? Huh? Depends?" And a split second later, I totally got the joke.

We had two guest duelling rappers tonight on "Casanova." Idara and Bona Fide were both present and took us up on our invitation. It was pretty much the best guest spot we've ever had. Those guys are pros, and if you missed it, you're probably sad about it.

We moved right along with our program, and Anthony introduced "Bad Mamma Jamma" saying, "We hope Wendy's either endorses us or sues us." "Either way, we win," I added. Too true.

After wishing Anna a happy birthday from stage, we broke into our newly rehearsed version of "Come Together" by the Liverpool Lads. It's getting better every time we play it, and I love playing it. As I mentioned earlier, my mic was at a proper level tonight and it was a good thing, because at one point in this song, Anthony had some kind of guitar issue as was attending to that, which caused him to miss some lyrics. I was able to cover for him, and many folks didn't even know the difference. So it's good to have a proper vocal mic balance.

In addition to the numerous acts performing tonight, there was also a booth by the entrance/exit to the venue. The organization was called Tits & Giggles, and they were raising money to help in the fight against breast cancer. During a song break, I informed the crowd that Tits & Giggles was there and that it was an important cause. In fact, saving the boobies is a very big, important and personal cause of mine. Because face it, boobies are cool. We need to keep them around. Tits & Giggles. It's a funny name.

With three songs left on the setlist and the m.c. telling us that we had fifteen minutes left, Anthony announced, "This is our last song." We had to backpedal and apologize to the crowd for getting their hopes up. We were actually playing more than just the one.

Anthony introduced "Damn the Man" tonight saying, "It's the weekend! You don't have to work! Your supervisors aren't here!" I meekly said into the mic, "Mine might be..." You see, later tonight DJ Diesel performed, along with the Minneapolis Vix go-go dancers. Well, as it turns out, I work with a woman who is part of this particular dance troupe. In fact, she is one of my supervisors. I've never seen her perform, and she has never seen me perform. I was halfway hoping to run into her tonight, but no dice. There were only three of the Vix present tonight, and my supervisor was not one of them. Just to be safe, though, I wasn't too emphatic during "Damn the Man." Which is a shame, right? It's almost like I'm a scab crossing a picketline. But you've gotta do what you've gotta do when the man (or scantily-clad woman) is present.

After we were done, DJ Diesel and the Vix took the stage, followed by Full Throttle Monkey and finally Inebriation. It was a great party atmosphere tonight. The show was run very smoothly, too. We had a designated m.c. who was giving us regular updates on how much time we had left, he introduced the bands, and kept things moving right along. It was one of the best organized shows I can remember.

We had fun, Primetime. Oh, and Tits & Giggles.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

4/17/10 - Red Sky Lounge - Mankato, Minn.

Again we rolled into Mankato, ready to rock and ready to roll. We had never played the Red Sky Lounge before tonight. It looked less like a music venue and more like a semi-swanky night club. I could see the ladies in short skirts milling about waiting for the party to get thumpin'. But alas, it was a rock and roll night. They may have been disappointed, but I'm not too cut up about it.

We all arrived and loaded in and decided to go grab a bite to eat at a bar and lounge down the block. We had some beers, some good visitin', and good camaradarie time with all of us boys and our ladies.

It was at this time that we were approached at our table by a young lady. A very young lady. She was a girl scout. In a bar. It was okay, though, her mom was with her and she was selling cookies. She was pretty adorable and we had all had just enough drinks to really have a hankerin' for some tasty girl scout cookies. We all bought some and also promised not to tell anyone that she sold them in a bar. I guess I broke that promise just now, but we never got any names. So no one's in trouble and we ate some cookies. Everyone wins.

Originally The Islez were scheduled to play with us tonight, but it wasn't in the cards. They ceased their operations before the night arrived. We got back to the venue just in time to catch the start of My Lady Four, our friends and the Islez's replacement.

Between bands, I was warned by Carp (ML4's drummer) that I was going to need to play lightly because the acoustics of this room really bring out the drums - maybe a little too much. Then a friend of ours in the crowd, also a drummer, named Tony Bartholomew warned me of the same thing. Then Nick mentioned it to me. As did the sound guy. Finally, Anthony took me aside and said it was really important that I play lightly tonight. So, I'm pretty sure I got the picture, believe it or not. So I got on stage and played lightly. I could barely hear my snare drum myself so I decided to just go easy on the cymbals. During our set break, I was told my drum volume sounded fine. I continued to play normally.

Our second set began with a disclaimer from Anthony: "This second [set] is going to be a lot more offensive. So if you don't want offensive, go home and watch Grey's Anatomy, you f-cks!" You stay classy, Junebug.

Folks were having a lot of fun tonight. Our friend Tony B., whom I mentioned earlier was having a grand old time. He was dancing, singing, screaming and generally doing what people do when they have fun. If only there were about five of him in every crowd...

However, Dustin's girlfriend Sarah nearly got kicked out of the venue. Sometime during the second set, Sarah went to a soft bench seat to lay down and wait out the rest of the show. A bouncer came over to her and, assuming she was wasted, told her that she couldn't sleep there and she'd have to leave. She didn't though. It all worked out.

As we played our show tonight, the televisions on the wall kept running, complete with closed captioning. Normally in a situation like that, the televisions would be broadcasting some sporting event or sports highlight show. Not these. The patrons of the Red Sky Lounge were being treated to CSI while they listened to our music. There was a television very near to the drumkit, actually, and I found myself drifting into drumming auto-pilot while I watched the program and read the captions. It wasn't very good, and as I announced to the crowd, "we provide a really shitty soundtrack to CSI."

It's true.