Junebug Show Diaries

Monday, May 30, 2011

5/29/11 - Art & Bicycle Spectacle - Red Rooster Coffee House - Aberdeen, S.D.

Set:
| Last Night | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Handlebar Mustache | I Am the Walrus [The Beatles] | Pay the Toll to Ride the Junebug Flow | Modern Day Fairy Tales | Vacation to Oblivion
| Casanova | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | M'Lady | On the Sidewalk | Bikin' With the Devil [Van Halen] | Like a Spy (Not the Stalker) | Refrigerator (country) |

Cheyana's Special Performance:
| Downtown Liquor Store |

As I know I've mentioned before, we always love coming to the Red Rooster Coffee House in Aberdeen, S.D. It was where we started and it's always been a second home. We haven't been here in awhile, though. We've been to Aberdeen, at the Sixth Avenue Gallery, but not the Rooster. So when Dan asked us if we wanted to play the Art & Bicycle Spectacle, we gave a mighty "yep."

The original plan was to have the louder electric acts play on the outside stage and the lighter, acoustic acts would play inside the Coffee House. The weather was playing tricks, however, threatening to drop rain on the event all day long. Dan decided it would be better to not have the electric bands' gear all sitting outside in case the sky decided to dump (which, for the record, it didn't). But we loaded in and caught Small Town Anthem doing their thing. We were next in the lineup.

We started the show with a huddle-up and broke it with the common "Goooooo, Bayside!" This was completely lost on this crowd. It then occurred to me that we are older than most of the people in attendance. It is quite possible that they, unlike us, have not seen every episode of Saved By the Bell. We're showing our age. "I guess you guys are too young for that," I lamented.

We started out by jamming on the song "Last Night." We started in the middle, in the nice little jam section, and after vamping on it for awhile, kicked in and finished the song. Then, after ripping through "Poet," Anthony told the crowd about our new merch deals. (We have two new t-shirts as of this show.) He gave a sales pitch, saying, "We cut out the middle man... then hire him back to do our taxes... then cut him out again. Now he's suing us." A friend and superfan, Ann V. called out, "I'm an attorney!!! I will defend you!!" "Thank you," Dustin said. "We will need that."

We played a couple Beards tunes that are new to the Rooster, followed by "I Am the Walrus." We saw a million faces. We rocked them all.

There was a point in this evening's show in which people were heard speculating on whether I am, in fact, a gremlin. This was odd to me, but not unwelcome. It may have had something to do with me asking for water? They didn't want me to reproduce? I already did, though. But more on that later. I did get a glass of water - from a lovely young lady in the crowd. I've seen her at shows before, but I don't think I've ever met her, nor do I know her name. But she was singing along during the show, so she's a fan. At any rate, thanks for the water. I appreciated it greatly.

The show rolled on. During "Modern Day Fairy Tales," Dustin sat down in the front row while playing. You see, his niece was there and she's a big fan. She was decked out in her Junebug t-shirt and everything. So as he sat next to her, playing the show, she was smiling and happy about it. It was super cute.

Also cute was our old pal Cheryl joining us on "Casanova." As usual, she stole the show with her unique style of dancing and vocalizing. She gave various shout-outs to various entities (people, bands, baseball teams) and turned the stage back over to us. What we do without Cheryl? She's kind of the best.

Tonight I introduced a special fan in attendance. As you may know, I became a dad last month and my son, Josiah, was experiencing his very first Junebug show this evening. I would say that he loved it, but due to the hot pink ear protection he was wearing, he slept through the whole thing. Well, and he's just over a month old. Whatever. There will be more opportunities.

Throughout the show, our pal Roberto and his family kept calling out "Stalker! Stalker!" So, when it came time for there to just be one song left, it appeared that we absolutely had to play that tune. Anthony told them it was coming up next, but unbeknownst to him, Dustin had other plans. He told Brandon to play the opening line from Van Halen's "Runnin' With the Devil" and to Anthony's surprise, we kicked in. However, instead of singing the actual lyrics, Anthony paid tribute to the day's festivities by singing lyrics about bicycles. The chorus was "Bikin' with the devil." It was classic.

After that, we did play "Stalker." But Roberto and his family were not satisfied. They perpetuated screams of "Refrigerator! Refrigerator!" While we could have said, "one per customer," we obliged. But, instead of the version that everyone knows, we belted out an old-time country version of the song. They really didn't know what they were bargaining for, nor what hit them. Spontaneity is a beautiful thing.

So that was it. It was our set. The show was done. We were met with cheers and applause. Except one little girl in the front row was reduced to tears. Oh, she had liked the show. It was nothing negative. Except that she had been hoping with all her heart that we would play her favorite song. The little girl was Dustin's niece, Cheyana. And her favorite song is "Downtown Liquor Store." I had been under the impression that in order for that to be your favorite song, you had to be 21 years or older. But she proved us wrong. She wanted to hear this song so desperately. Dustin, being the nice uncle that he is, suggested that perhaps we give her a special performance of it outside. So we did. Here is the video.

Friday, May 20, 2011

5/19/11 - Driftwood Char Bar - Minneapolis

Set One:

Set Two:

Encore:

| Downtown Liquor Store |

Tonight we returned to the stage after a two-month (to the day) performance break. Our last show was March 19. After that we took some time to just rehearse and record some stuff for our next album Beards which we've begun. Not to mention, my wife pushed our baby out of her body. It's a pretty big deal. But we're back in the saddle again.

It was our first time playing at the Driftwood Char Bar in South Minneapolis. It's definitely got a "neighborhood bar" feel, with most of the patrons being regulars, it seemed. We had an opening act tonight, Not Quite Canada, from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They're friends of Anthony's and the bassist happens to be an IPR grad. They brought their brand of semi-acoustic, banjo goodness from the northland. We hope to get out to their neck of the woods this summer as well.

We took the stage when their set was up and I decided that I would be addressing the crowd in a faux New York accent all night long. You know how I roll. It was a decision I made, and it was final. No arguments.

We opened with "Pay the Toll," and it should have been an indication. It wasn't too bad, but when the ending came along, it was a train wreck. Interestingly, that's what we try to portray musically at the end of the song anyway, but this time it went well beyond intent.

We continued with an old standby, "M'Lady," and afterward, Anthony thanked Not Quite Canada for having performed. I, in my faux New York dialect said, "Almost Canada, big hand for them. Almost Canada -- that's what they're called, right?" A person in the crowd said, "Not Quite Canada." "Not quite? Ah well, I was almost right." "Not quite," she replied. Maybe it was better heard than read, I'm thinking.

This was followed by our version of "I am the Walrus," which was quite rousing, I felt. When it over, Anthony said "I don't think I have to tell you who wrote that one!" New York Tony answered for the crowd, "It was the Monkees. We all know that."

We attempted a brand new cover tune tonight. It's a song about justice. It's called the "Bed Intruder" song. If you've never heard the original, look it up on YouTube. You won't be disappointed. So we played it. And we will play it again.

The next song on the agenda was "Refrigerator" and Dustin, Brandon and I attempted to play this song in a old country style. I started the train beat and Brandon played a nice bouncy bass line as Dustin played some good ol' country guitar. Sadly, it seemed that Anthony didn't realize we were playing "Refrigerator." He stopped us and announced that he had a sick obsession with his refrigerator, that it lets him touch it in nasty ways. He counted off the song with an extremely slow tempo, which we played. We stopped and regrouped. He counted off an appropriate tempo and I attempted the train beat again. No good. We then played the song normally. After all that.

ANTHONY: This song is off our self-titled album. It's called "Modern Day Fairy Tales."
TONY: It's not self-titled, you know.
ANTHONY: (laughs) I know.
DUSTIN: We take American Express!!

We finished off the first set with "On the Sidewalk," and "Sledgehammer." We somehow forgot how the ending to "On the Sidewalk" was supposed to go. "Painful" wasn't supposed to be one of the choices, but it's the choice we went with. "Sledgehammer" was actually better, however.

Anthony announced our set break, letting everyone know that we were all going to be back after taking this huge dump we'd been holding in. Dustin mentioned that we had already started it, all over the stage throughout the set.

We returned for the second set and in my faux dialect I announced that we were now re-branding the show. It was now entitled, "Rock You Before the Rapture," since this weekend is May 21, the day in which that looney ol' pastor predicted Judgement Day to be. We warned the crowd about the danger of the raptures. They're dangerous, you see, like in that movie about the people on the jungle island. They were running from the raptures, and the raptures learned how to open those doorknobs. You know, the velociraptures. They can learn. I then mentioned that their sight is based on movement, and Dustin interjected to correct me. "No, no, no. Those are the tyrannosaurus raptures." I concluded with, "Watch your butts for the raptures. They'll eat ya. It's rapture weekend."

We ripped into "Come Together" to start the second set. About eight bars into it, Dustin turned to look at me, turned back around and walked off the stage - while playing. He walked into the crowd, greeted some fans - while playing - and then went into the men's room. It was here that he played out the remainder of the song. Taking a cue from Dustin, Brandon walked off stage and went to the back door of the venue - while playing. He then closed the curtain that separated the entryway from the main room - while playing. Had Anthony and I not been virtually tied to the stage, we probably would have wandered around, too. After the tune was over, Dustin explained he journey into the men's room by informing us of the huge dump he took in there.

Anthony introduced "Casanova" by inviting some love-making. "If there's a special someone in the audience you want to make love to, feel free." We played the song and rocked it. Immediately afterward, Dustin boisterously exclaimed, "You just had sex!!"

We rocked an extended version of "Bad Mamma Jamma," which was kind of awesome. There was a great reaction, lots of dancing and singing along. But when it was done, Heidi, the sound person cut us off. "One more, one more, one more, one more," she said. So, basically the idea we got from her was that we had time for one more. Which is odd, because we were only four songs into our set. But looking at the clock, she was right. We decided to play "Hell-Bent Woman," which rocked their faces. For reals.

Just as we were finishing up, we heard chants for "one more song, one more song." We asked Heidi and she responded with "One more, one more, one more, one more." So, basically the idea we got from her was that we had time for one more. So at our pal Donovan's request, we played "Downtown Liquor Store" and invited him to sing along with us. Though he admitted he doesn't really know all the words, he joined us and it was funz.

The crowd loved it, and when we were done, I gave a reminder warning; "Watch out for the raptures, folks. It's rapture weekend."

Sunday, March 20, 2011

3/19/11 - Sixth Avenue Gallery - Aberdeen, S.D.

Encore:
| I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Dr. Phil (Part Two, Dr. Phunk) | Say It Ain't So [Weezer] |

Tonight was our mighty return to the excellent Sixth Avenue Gallery in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The show was billed as being both Junebug and Aberdeen's own lounge lizard Frankie Diamond, Jr. Frankie was supposed to come out of retirement tonight for a special show, but in what some would call typical showbiz fashion, the superstar cancelled at the last minute with little to no explanation. Diamond's people could not be reached for comment. Luckily, local singer-songwriter and a former Blue Orange band mate of mine (tony's), Will Brown, showed up to fill the slot and open the night.

When it was time for our set to start, there were various announcements being played over the P.A. system as if they were coming from a hospital or something, paging various doctors with familiar names to various hospital departments. Such as, "Dr. Bergman to gastrointerology, please. Dr. Anthony Bergman to gastrointerology." It all made sense, however, when the final announcement was "Dr. Junebug to the Sixth Avenue Gallery stage, please." The theme from television's ER played and we all entered the stage area in scrubs, surgical masks and rubber gloves. We kicked into an extended version of "Good Vibes" and the show was underway. Of course, throughout the night we would continue to make references to surgery or being a doctor or other such clever things. "How many of you came from the hospital tonight?" Because that's what we do.

Tonight's show was accompanied by the visual art of Nurse Rachel. Our friend Rachel Blazinski from Minneapolis was at this show, creating visual art, painting while using our performance as inspiration. She, of course, was wearing scrubs as well as a stethoscope. Because just as we are all obviously medical doctors who play instruments in this band, Rachel is obviously a registered nurse who paints alongside us.

For the second song of the night, Anthony explained that the last time we were here we should have played the next song, but didn't because it slipped our minds. But tonight we remembered. And so it was that we played the vulgar "A Junebug Christmas" tonight. In March. It went over well as expected.

After a couple more tunes, we debuted a brand new song. Actually we played it last night in Minneapolis, but this is the second time we've ever played it for an audience and the first for Aberdeen. It's called "Hell-Bent Woman" and it's a rocker. We've still got some minor kinks to work out, but we're rockin' it. It'll be included on the Beards project.

Next we played the extended jam-out version of "Last Night." Located on the stage when we arrived tonight was a piano. Now, we don't usually use piano live, but Dustin was inspired. During the "You shouldn't have gone to sleep at nine" part, he started banging out the chords on the piano. It was actually pretty amazing. It wasn't miked, so all you heard of it was the natural room noise, but since it's a quiet part of the song it worked. It was great.

We announced tonight that Brandon would be offering free mammograms and Dustin would be offering free proctal exams. Doctor humor. Like I said, we're geniuses.

We played "Godzilla" tonight, which is admittedly kind of a kickass song. But halfway through it, I realized something. I hope no one else made the connection, but I started feeling kind of bad that we were yelling, "There goes Tokyo!" in light of the very recent earthquake and tsunami destruction in Japan. Now, of course we didn't think of this ahead of time, and like I said, I hope no one else made the connection either. The song is about a giant lizard attacking the city, not a natural disaster. Regardless... sorry, Japan.

We played a chill out section of the set with "On the Sidewalk," "The Date," and "Spring Fever." Afterward, Anthony said that spring was on its way. Everyone was excited. I anxiously asked the crowd, "Do you have a fever?!?" Cheers of acknowledgement. "Well we have the cure! We're doctors for chrissakes!" various scattered chuckles. "I've been waiting all night to pull that one out." My career in comedy continues.

For example, during "Refrigerator," at the part where everyone stops and then I yell "two, three, four," I first said, "I'm a gynecologist." See what I did there? I referenced the evening's theme. Brilliant.

After "Like a Spy (Not the Stalker)" Dustin said that it was part of our court sentencing that we have to play that song at every show. I pointed out that "Downtown Liquor Store" was part of our other court sentence. During said song, It was a beautiful sound when we cut out and the crowd yelled, "to drink himself to death!" We love that enthusiastic participation. Good on ya.

Next, we revived a cover tune that we used to play in the old Aberdeen days that used to go over well amongst the beer-drinkin' crowd. The old Beatles / Joe Cocker standard "With a Little Help From My Friends." As it turns out, it's still a crowd pleaser. Who knew? Apparently Anthony did.

We took a brief break and came back to rock 'em with that 2008 favorite, "Poet (Who Didn't Know It)." We plowed through a bunch more tunes and had a local rap artist (whose name eludes me) join us on "Casanova." The rock continued through a few more tunes and the crowd rocked with us. We had some girl asking for couple songs or something. Then when we acknowledged her request, she apparently changed her mind. She didn't want that crap. So we hit her over the head with our brand new version of "I Am the Walrus" by the Beatles. And let me tell you, I'm really happy with how this one is turning out. I really think we rocked it hard, and I kind of didn't want it to end. I could have played that song all night, regardless of whether everyone else would have been on board with that.

A couple more tunes and then Brandon started playing a steady quarter note bass riff. I kicked in on drums and then Anthony announced, "We're gonna stop pussyfooting around now!" Boom. "Runnin' With the Devil." Then "To the Next Episode." Followed by "Misty Mountain Hop." Then the ending of "Episode." That's a solid rock-block, my friends. The pussyfooting surely did end there. And please call us Shirley.

Here's a brief little lesson to you regarding Junebug shows. If you request a song of ours, there is a roughly 99% chance that we will play it. We like to keep the people happy. And if there are people who like us well enough to actually want to hear a specific song of ours, we want to oblige that. Case in point: a person tonight (more specifically, Rory Behrens) shouted out, "Aphrodite!" So what did we do? We played it. It's really that easy, people.

However, when people request songs that aren't ours, there are no guarantees. When someone shouted out "Seven Nation Army!" (by the White Stripes), it wasn't met with as much success. Anthony started riffing on "Blue Orchid" (also by White Stripes) and I joined in. Then he stopped and said, "You only get a taste." We played "Damn the Man" instead.

We kept rockin' it. The people kept dancing. The ladies kept screaming. Nurse Rachel kept painting, but took periodic dance breaks. Then, with only song left in the set, our old buddy Drew walked in. If you don't know or remember Drew, he was one of the baddest mamma jammas to ever don a Wendy's uniform. He worked his way up to management back in the day and our song about Wendy's became required listening for his underlings. He even performed the song with us on his 21st birthday, way back in 2007. Sadly (for him) the remaining song on the setlist was not "Bad Mamma Jamma." In fact, this is the first show ever since debuting the song that we did not put it on a setlist.

After we finished "Sledgehammer," the final song on the list, the crowd demanded more. I mean demanded. Not just more songs, but "Bad Mamma Jamma" in particular. They were literally screaming for it. Literally. It was 3:45 a.m. and people were screaming for "Bad Mamma Jamma." Life is good, my friends. We played it, and threw it out to Drew tonight. Meaning, we've played this song at every. single. show of ours since July 2000. But you've got to keep the people happy. And the fact is, it's a damn fun song. Everyone got on their feet and crowded the front of the stage and shook their beautiful booties. It was an extended dance version of the song, and we expended a LOT of energy.

When we were done, there were even still more chants for "one more song!" Anthony said, "I don't think we can top that, guys." But again, they insisted. So we obliged with an extended dance version of that Junebug self-help hit, "Dr. Phil (Part 2, Dr. Phunk)." We have never had such a good reaction to that song as we did tonight. Anthony put his guitar down, picked up his Dr. Phil book and worked the crowd, going so far as to roll around on the floor with his feet in the air while screaming his catharsis. I had never seen him interact with a crowd like that. It was a pretty beautiful thing. The crowd connection we had tonight is unparalleled in our journey so far.

When that song was over, they still weren't ready to stop partying with us. So we pulled out one more final final final song. Final final this time. Anthony encouraged the crowd to sing along. It was Weezer's "Say It Ain't So," and the crowd sang along with every word. Again, it was a beautiful thing, and I can't tell you how much I love Sixth Avenue Gallery. When the song was close to ending, Dustin grabbed a guitar and smashed it into pieces on the stage. Parts flew everywhere and crowd members actually scrambled to grab them up as souvenirs. How odd for us to experience such enthusiasm, but we're happy to accept it.

Finally, tonight I decided to run an experiment in broadcasting the show on Ustream to an internet audience. A number of people actually watched the broadcast and gave really nice feedback. Perhaps we'll continue this experiment, and perhaps we'll work on broadcasting in better quality. A playback of most of the broadcast can be viewed below. The first song is missing, as is the encore set.

The night was a success. We left the stage at a little after 4:00 a.m. and we were all fairly pooped out. We greeted folks and had a couple more beverages up in the VIP room and decompressed a bit. We retold tales of things that happened that night, and things we want to do in the future. Friends new and old laughed and joked along with us. I had a truly beautiful time this night. We love Aberdeen. We love Sixth Avenue Gallery. We'll be back soon, I imagine.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

3/18/11 - Memory Lanes - Minneapolis

Tonight we returned to Memory Lanes in Minneapolis. In case you didn't know or guess by the name, Memory Lanes is a bowling alley. The stage is set up right over the lanes, and while we rock, you bowl. Rock 'n' Bowl? Maybe there's a future business venture in that. Anyhow, I have to say it's pretty interesting to finish a song, and before you hear any cheering or anything you hear bowling pins behind knocked down. And sometimes there's no applause at all. I mean, people are there to bowl after all. (For example, see the video below.)

We started it out with "Poet" and ever since we decided to switch it up a tiny bit, it's had more energy. It's now much better as a show opener. Next, I wanted our pal Robb to use my iPod to record video of our performance of "Come Together." But when it was time to start the song, I had no idea where he was. I couldn't see him. I thought maybe he stepped out for a cig or stepped in for a whiz. So I said to play "Modern Day" instead, which we did. Immediately after it started, I looked out and saw Robb directly in front of us with the camera rolling. Sometimes I truly am an idiot. As it turned out, we played it next and he got it. The video exists here on this page.

What is it with the drumkit technical difficulties lately? It happened again tonight. But this time it was the feet on my kick drum. Is it time for a new drum kit? Probably. Can I afford it? Probably not. Anyway, I was a pro and fixed it lickety split. I apologized for the technical difficulties and returned the bowlers to their regularly scheduled program.

After "On the Sidewalk," Anthony said, "That one's going out to Paul Simon, wherever he is." "He's on a beach somewhere, probably," I replied, "with James Taylor." Dustin added, "Didn't he just retire? Or was that Phil Collins? I get them mixed up." It was Phil Collins.

Tonight we debuted a brand new song that you've never heard before. It'll be included on the upcoming Beards project. "This next song we've never played," Anthony expained, "it's brand new. It's called 'Hell-Bent Woman,' it's about women -- how they make you crazy. It's going out to my girlfriend."

After "Jumpstart" tonight, Anthony informed our loyal cheering section that we love them, "like nylon loves the other side of nylon." "Did you mean Velcro," I asked. "Maybe. Either way I like it."

We closed tonight with the debut of our brand new rendition of the Beatles classic tune, "I Am the Walrus." It was a little shaky at the start, but we got into it and really got it rockin'. If you weren't there tonight, you'll probably get a chance to hear it later. We're not giving this one up any time soon. I really like this one.

Tonight we had a loyal cheering section sitting at one of the front tables. They were cheering and singing along, shooting video and taking pictures. These people are priceless. If everyone could be as enthusiastic about what we do as these fine ladies and gentlemen, life would be grand. Thanks for the love, people.

Photos by Rachel Blazinski
Video by Robb Main

Friday, February 25, 2011

2/24/11 - Nomad World Pub - Minneapolis

It was the Nomad's Minne-Series featuring the Twin Cities' own Pictures of then. This means that every Thursday night this month, Pictures of Then is showcasing and putting together other bands to play with them. Tonight was interesting because each of the four bands participating (Pictures of Then, Capital Sons, Tasha's Laughter, and Junebug) all have members who work at Apple Stores across the Twin Cities. So when Dustin was asked if Junebug wanted to play, we gave a mighty "uh-huh."

Junebug started off the show. According to the Pictures of Then guys, the best slots this month have been the first couple. So we gladly took on the responsibility of kicking things off.

Notably, tonight's setlist was derived by one Mr. Dustin T. Marks. This is notable, because Anthony is usually the brains behind the nights' programs. But Farmer D wanted to give it a go tonight, and it turns out that he didn't blow it. 'Twas good.

We kicked it off with a rockin' rendition of "Poet" and moved on to "Refrigerator." If you've been reading the Show Diaries, then you know the past few shows have been fraught with technical difficulties dealing with my kick drum pedal. There's a broken part on it that I'm MacGuyvered a couple times and another part that just plain comes apart relatively often. Well, tonight, that wasn't to be a worry since the Pictures of Then drummer graciously offered the use of his kit. So midway through the first chorus of "Refrigerator," the kick drum pedal stopped working. I must be cursed. I continued playing sans kick drum up through the half-time bridge. Then at the part in which I shout a count-off and we come back in, I motioned to the others that it would be a moment. As fast as I could, I jimmied the necessary hardware into place. Meanwhile, the other members of the band played the theme from television's popular police drama, Law & Order. Anthony narrated a brief mystery tale. When things were fixed, I joined it. When there was a natural break, I counted off "two, three, four!" and we kicked back in to finish "Refrigerator." That's live spontanaity, folks. I love it.

We played "M'Lady" and afterward, Anthony explained that Dustin is the reason that this song has 30% less sodium since the last time we played it. I added, "It's like 'The Biggest Loser' up in here."

We continued on with a solid, bangin' set, which the crowd responded to very well. We felt a good energy tonight. Furthermore, the other bands kicked ass, too. Overall, this was a great show, and it was a great lineup. We can't wait to play with these bands again.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

2/16/11 - Whiskey Junction - Minneapolis

Encore:
| Golden Girls Theme [Andrew Gold]|

Tonight we played at Whiskey Junction. Down the block at the Cabooze, nationally known Galactic was playing. Earlier in the night at the Junction, a band called Soap played a Pre-Galactic party. So apparently, it seemed that Junebug was playing the During-Galactic party... But that didn't matter too much. There were still people at our show. This included, I might add, my mother, sister Laurel and niece Angell. They completely surprised me. I was loading in and I heard someone say, "Hey, is Junebug playing tonight?" It was my family members, who live in North Dakota. They surprised me! Plus, this was my mom's FIRST Junebug show ever. It was a momentous occasion, and I'm glad they made it out.

I'm glad I made it out, too, since they were there. I've been getting pretty sick with a head cold and today it was so bad that if tonight had been simply a rehearsal night, I would have cancelled. But the show must go on, stuffy head, runny nose, sweaty hands and all.

We opened the show with "Pay the Toll" and my kick pedal technical difficulties reared their head again. The dang thing fell apart in the midst of the song, but I was able to jerry-rig it mid-song. MacGuyver strikes again, dudes.

Anthony let the crowd tonight know that rock and roll will never die. It doesn't rust. "You can leave it in the fridge and it won't mold." I added that if you want to, you can use a little bit of jewelry cleaner on it every now and then to prevent tarnishing.

We played "Destiny, She Drives a Rolls" again tonight. However, this was significant since it was the first time we have played it for a Minneapolis crowd.

After "Godzilla" tonight, Anthony warned the crowd to "hide ya kids, hide ya wife." "And hide ya husband," I added.

"We don't write a lot of songs about appliances. But when we do..." "They're winners."

Since my family members were here tonight, we had to oblige their requests. Laurel particularly wanted to hear "Downtown Liquor Store," so we simply had to give in. (I'll tell you a little secret; we were going to play it anyway.) I added a little commentary after the song. "You know that part where we say, 'Now I'm playing blackjack with a two dollar whore because I had the balls to rob the downtown liquor store'?" I asked. "I bet my mom was very proud of me." It seems I was right, since she gave me a big thumbs-up after that.

We played another tune, and then came time to honor the wishes of another family member. My niece Angell really wanted to hear "Dr. Phil," and since we originally had planned on playing it in the second set, we bumped it up for her since they had to turn in early. "This is going out to the three hottest ladies in the room," Anthony said, pointing at my family members' table.

An interesting phenomenon took place tonight that I like to call the reference portion of our program. Someone said something about words to live by. Then Dustin said, "one to grow on." I said, "Now I know, and knowing is half the battle," and then added, "The more you know." "After these messages.. we'll be right back." "The Lakewood Mall." "Sight on Sound!" "Country Furniture really wants your business!" If you know what any of that means, good on ya. If you don't, my apologies for wasting your time.

We played "Place" and then did a set break. It was pretty much okay, too. Because at this point, the crowd who had been there at the beginning had filtered out to the Cabooze for the Galactic show. There were maybe about fifteen people still there, including barstaff (!). Ouch, right? Well, we took our set break around eleven o'clock or so and decided that maybe we'd hang out, get some food, and wait until more folks filtered in. No sense in spending our gold on stage when no one's there to enjoy it. So I visited with my family and some friends that were there. The other boys got some wings, I took more cold medicine, and we laughed and enjoyed one another's friendship. My family got going, since they had an early appointment and driving ahead of them, and we got back onstage around midnight.

As we were getting ready to play, some dude yelled out, "Freebird!" Yeah. "There's always one guy," I said. So we played it. Well, what we know of it, which was the first verse or so and then it fell apart. We've never played it before. So as I said tonight, a lot of people ask for it, "and then we make them sorry." "Everybody begs for it till they get it," Anthony added.

"Casanova" was dedicated to sex tonight. "Bad Mamma Jamma" was dedicated to all the fat chicks in the house. "The Date" was dedicated to all the ganja in Jamaica. It was a night full of dedications.

As the evening went on, more post-Galactic folks were trickling in for a couple more drinks. People were dancing, we were having fun. It was all good. After we finished off the night with "Sledgehammer," the remaining crowd began chanting for one more song. So being the good friends we are, appreciating all of the wonderful people still there, we played the Golden Girls Theme to thank them for being a friend. At the end of the night, I was exhausted and still sick, but it was a darn fun night, in spite of it. Good times.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

2/4/11 - American Burger Bar - Saint Paul

Encore:
| Poet (Who Didn't Know It) |

Tonight's show was a bit of a last-minute deal. It was pitched, booked, and promoted in less than a week's time. But when we were approaced to play a Winter Carnival party for the Vulcans in beautiful downtown Saint Paul, we pretty much had to do it. For a little background on the amazing, artistic, partying, fun-loving group called the Vulcans, read this article from the City Pages: Meet the Vulcans: The Twin Cites' most controversial partiers.

We decided to re-hash our sports/workout theme from our previous show. It hadn't been done yet in the Cities, so we went for it. It was good except that there was a dude who felt Brandon's Track & Field shirt was no good. It should have been Hockey, he insisted. The man even bought us all drinks under the condition that we all pretended that Brandon's shirt in fact said "Hockey." Hey, it doesn't take much for us to do stuff. Free drinks? We'll take it. Thanks, guy.

We started out the night following a setlist, the same setlist from our previous show in Aberdeen, as a matter of fact. But we quickly abandoned it. These Vulcans really wanted to party and kept asking for different types of songs. "Something rockin'!" "Something slow so we can dance with our women!" Who needs a setlist when you're feeling the vibe of the folks? It was good. After rockin' a little while, Anthony asked the crew, "Are we partying hardy, or hardly partying?" The answer was clear. We were partying hardy. Partying so hardy that a Vulcan dude had a referee whistle that he was blowing in rhythm during our songs. Someone said they could have done without it, but I loved it. I think it belonged there tonight.

There was a bit of a lull while Anthony tuned his guitar and he was trying to fill time by talking a bit without saying much. A dude in the crowd yelled out, "Less talking, more playing!" "Yes!" I shouted. "That's what I like to hear."

We continued with the playing, keeping it diverse with "Stalker," "Downtown Liquor Store," "Refrigerator," "Crossroads," etc. Everyone was digging it, dancing, drinking and having a fantastic time. We partied ourselves out a little bit and needed to take a break.

During our break, some kind of magic happened and the bar which was pretty well hoppin' already packed in even more. So we kicked in with "Come Together" and "M'Lady" and the party was resumed.

One of the servers from the bar walked past us with a notecard stuck to her forehead which read, "Weezer or White Stripes?" So we played "Say It Ain't So." It's nice to be able to give the people what they want.

We kept it rolling and got a little funky with "Dr. Phunk," "Casanova," and "Bad Mamma Jamma." It was around this time that my mother-in-law Diane and brother-in-law Michael joined us virtually via the miracle of Skype. That's right. They were sitting in their living room in Aberdeen, South Dakota watching our show at American Burger Bar in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The wonders of technology. It has certainly got me thinking about the possibility of live streaming shows in the future for those out-of-towners who want to keep up with us. Is that something we should think about?

When we were to play "Next Episode" tonight, we were going to open with the first verse of "Runnin' With the Devil" by Van Halen. However, once we started it, it was clear that the crowd was WAY too into it to abandon it after just one verse. So we pretty much played it for the song's entire length, though I'm pretty sure Anthony didn't have all the lyrics. The crowd didn't care, though. They were totally getting down and singing the lyrics themselves. Then we kicked into "Next Episode" and the crowd surprisingly seemed to like it just as much. After we were done and basking in the cheers of the crowd, Dustin said, "American Burger Bar? Who knew?" Indeed. Who would have guessed that this place would have the amazing atmosphere that it does?

Sadly, the night had to come to a close. We played "Sledgehammer," announcing it as our last song. And while the people voiced sadness at it being the last of the night, they danced extra hard. After it ended there were consistent chants of "one more" and "encore!" After a brief deliberation, we decided to play "Poet." Again, the folks danced extra hard and enjoyed the final song of the night. After it was over, there were still chants of "one more" and "encore." But the management had turned on the lights and house music. In the biz, that means "it's over." I tried explaining this to the gal in the blue top and sunglasses, but she was adament about wanting us to play more, almost seeming to be on the very edge of anger. Ah, yes. Keep them wanting more.

Finally tonight, there was young spunky lady named Brianna who was totally into the show. She was dancing, getting her friends to dance, chatting with us and being an all around sport. She said that we should rename our band The Beardies. I let her play my cymbals and I gave her some CDs to reward her for her enthusiasm.

That's one of the things we like, folks. Hope to see you all at the next one!

Photography by Tony/Liza Kollman