Show Journal 2002-01-11
I’m really starting to like playing in Montana. Our first experience there in 1998 was less than flattering … only 4 people at the show and all of them were really, really drunk. Our last two shows however have been tons of fun to play so we were really looking forward to this one. We decided to leave on Thursday night and ended up driving all the way to Idaho and slept in a truck stop. Not too bad but it was damn cold in the van. I think it was 18 degrees outside? We had good weather the next day (no rain or snow) and the drive was really quite nice. Dave really wanted to stop and eat some Rocky Mountain Oysters along the way and was willing to do it for the bargain price of $5. We entertained the idea briefly but came to the conclusion that if he were to vomit bull testicles on stage we would never be welcome in Montana again. We skipped the ball eating and ended up getting to Helena very early. Once there we met up with Megan (who was putting on the show) and several of her friends. Everyone was totally cool and did a good job of making us feel at home. Before the show we went over to the Country Harvest for some dinner. Dave ordered Iced Tea and quickly spotted a small spider in the dish with his lemon. The waiter remarked that Dave must be a good marksman for spotting the small arachnid so quickly. Weird. I missed the Shrimpers but Jim said they were cool so we’ll go with his commentary. The Bricks had an old school punk influence and not surprisingly were pretty cool to watch. Finally the mighty Switch Two 47 took the stage and we were all very impressed. We’ve played with them twice before and they are the coolest guys in the world. The best moment of the night however (maybe even this year) was when Derik from Switch said “this song goes out to 800 Octane” and they proceeded to play a cover of Shaken!!! It was so awesome! As Justin said covering one of our songs is probably the most flattering compliment possible. Those guys rule. Next up was Coldsnap 9 who we played with in Livingston last summer and oh my god they rocked. Do yourself a favor and check them out now … you won’t be disappointed. I use this phrase all the time, but seriously …. they rock. Everyone was pretty stoked after seeing CS9 so it was easy to play to the already amped crowd. Only a few people knew any of our songs but everyone seemed to like the music. We played Astro Zombies again and just about damn near everyone who knew the words came up and sang. After the show we met one kid who really wanted a sweatshirt but only had a few bucks on him. We told him if you wanted it he would have to undress and then run back into the main room in front of all the people to get his prize. He did. Amazing. Unfortunately that just ups the ante for the next person who wants something free. Perhaps we should start traveling with a donkey? After the show we went back to the Country Harvest with the other bands for more food. After being frightened by a certain person’s knowledge of 2 Live Crew songs (we are protecting his identity for the people in Rochester) we went to Nina’s house where she was kind enough to let us stay the night. All in all we had a great time in Helena. Happy birthday to Megan and thanks to everyone who made us feel welcome. Special thanks to the guys in Switch Two 47 and Coldsnap 9!
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