Eric's Show Journal - posted on March 26, 2005 by

Show Journal 2005-03-26

Near the beginning of our set, Dave announced that we were on the verge of our 400th show. Yes, it was show #398 but it might as well have been the 2nd or 3rd. This being said here are things you would expect to see from a band that has played this much: 1) You would expect Justin to have working stuff. When the first guitar stops working, the second guitar should work. When handed a third guitar you would expect that the tuner would work properly. That’s just not how we roll. 2) After this many shows, you would think we would know some better jokes and be able to handle down time a little more gracefully. Since every song tonight ended with three minutes of chatter and waiting for someone to get ready it should have been our chance to shine and display our comic genius. In Dave’s defense though, how many Newport vs. Lincoln City jokes are there to be made? 3) For this many shows you would also expect to see the same drummer on at least a monthly basis. By next month we will have yet another person sitting behind us. I’m thinking it’s time to give the drummer a mask and a cool stage name. Then we wouldn’t have to bother with explanations and introductions. Just get a warm body and no one would care. When I stop to think about it I suppose people don’t come to see us for our professionalism. Despite the awkwardness of our set, the show was actually pretty good. At first it seemed very sparsely attended because of the room size but started to fill in when Blue Turns White started. They got some heads moving, and some horns up and then everyone got nice and rowdy during Thirty3’s set, which picked up the energy level for the rest of the night. I ended up missing Idle Class and Reprisal’s (?) set because apparently I have a future in taxi driving. Thanks to the folks who set up the show, the local bands who I apologize for missing, The Casketeers for driving far enough to earn a plug for their band, and everyone who took a chance on some bands they might not have ever heard before.