Show Journal 2006-01-27
Despite the allure of the show being all ages, this was actually a bar show. Kind of a dingy and smelly college bar at that. When they opened up the door to the upstairs part of the club for us to load in (ie – “the top of the cock”) it was as if someone had just unearthed a tomb with rotting corpses inside. The smell of last weeks show rolled down the two flights of stairs all the way to the street and made everyone gag as we loaded in. Speaking of gagging who takes the stall doors out of the restrooms? Seriously, three urinals and a toilet all lined up in a row with no dividers. Nice to get a small taste of prison life. We ended up riding down with the Clorox Girls since they were having van troubles. It was cool to hear so many of their crazy tour stories. The highlight was definitely “I was really wasted and left my jeans in a dryer somewhere in Canada so I only had one pair of jeans for the rest of the tour and they were way too tight”. Classic! They are out losing their pants somewhere in a foreign country and our wild night consists of drinking coke and discussing bowel movements. The Clorox Girls were pretty fun to watch and I’m glad they could play the show. I only wish more people were there to see them. PB Army was up second and they were having major microphone issues. Constant squealing = not good. Dave and I commandeered the PA and discovered the amp for the mains was unplugged. After fixing it (plugging it in) the volume and energy level started to pick up. PB Army sounded pretty good. A few too many encores, but I don’t know that I could resist 30 drunken friends insisting on more rock. Anyway, it’s always good to see them. We were up last and started playing to Darin and Tim because everyone else had wandered away. We started off strong. Justin broke two strings during the first 3 seconds of the song. I hate when that happens. If you stop the song after only 5 seconds you look lame. If you keep playing and have the other person walk across the stage, find a guitar and tune it, only to come back in at the last chorus you look lamer. Never get a second chance to make a first impression. Thankfully alcohol was flowing and I don’t think anyone other than us really cared. People eventually started to move and we played 6 new songs because no one knew the difference. Highlight of the night and possibly my year? Two guys in camouflage hunting attire came up and kept asking Dave to say “bullshit” into the microphone. “Hey Man. Say bullshit. Say bullshit into the mic. Do it. C’mon say bullshit”. So naturally Dave says “bullshit” and they both raise their arms in victory. So bizarre. The only other exciting moment was when on the way home we heard a loud “ping” noise and realized the vent on the roof of our van broke off exposing out loft to the elements. January weather in Oregon with a hole in your roof? Not good. Can’t wait to see how full of water the roof is tonight on the way to Richland. Thanks to PB Army and the Clorox Girls!