TMBG Tour '07
-
Cleveland 7/21
Cleveland: Beachland Ballroom
I’ve played here before. It’s an old social hall with a bar in one room, an auditorium in one room and a separate venue in another room. Downstairs is a vintage store. It’s a great place.
On almost every tour I can think of there at least one time when I will drop too much money at a music store. I just got a record player and only have Alice Cooper Live at my place in Brooklyn. The rest are in Kentucky. So, to bolster my collection I bought:
Bruce Springsteen The River – In the movie, Copland, Sylvester Stallone comes home after a shit day of work being a pushed-around sheriff. He lies on the couch and listens to this record.
Paul Williams Just An Old Fashioned Love Song – I wanted to hear Lucky Old Sun on vinyl. He wrote the Muppet Movie songs.
Harry Nillsson A Little Touch of Schmillson in the Night – A fellow came up to me after the show and told me I reminded him of the English Music Hall genre. Coincidentally, the cover songs on this album may be in that genre.
Def Leppard Pyromania – One of the perfect albums. I should have it on vinyl.
Beatles Sgt Pepper – Another perfect album. Same reason.
Keith Emerson Nighthawks Soundtrack – I like Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and Powell. And Stallone.
ELO El Dorado – I love ELO. I ate at the diner on the corner. I had a potato/pork strudel slice and dumplings. Real good.
Next door, my friend was playing. He was in the Polyphonic Spree with me. Real nice fellow. Dan. He was playing with another Spree member, Annie. I wasn’t in the band when she was. She’s got a wonderful voice. She’d bought the Wizard of Oz on vinyl downstairs. I bought her cd. It’s really good. She’s real nice. Her band is called St. Vincent. You should see them sometime.
I had cut my set to 30 minutes the night before. Flans wanted me to do forty-five or at least go on later because the gap between me and them was too long. As an opener, I was wary of going on 45 minutes. I thought the 30 minutes was a decent amount of time. So, this night I would extend my set a little longer and also go on later so that I could make the 10:15 mark. Doors were at 8 and I was to go on at 9:30. I was anxious. Very anxious. It was hard to wait. I went on stage at 9:36. I added Angel to the set. Didn’t really want to. I felt I had crafted the perfect opening set and Angel would taint it. It was a poor decision. Last minute anxious decisions usually are.
It was a pretty good set. A couple of hecklers. I didn’t mind. Some of the people had been standing for an hour and a half already. It sucks to stand that long. Most were very gracious and patient and polite. My accordion went out a couple of times. I think it went out almost completely at the end of the set. The cord was messed up. I’m glad it wasn’t my accordion. I took a picture of the crowd from the stage at the end and my batteries fell out. I pretended it worked.
I can’t drink before I play so right after I got a Shiner Bock. My favorite beer. There’s a bbq place in NYC that Smokey-and-the –Bandit-ed some Shiner. It’s probably gone now.
The Giants went on and the power went out after their first song. So precise with the end of the song it looked staged. Again, Giants fans are real nice and dealt with it. Some were angry. I saw them. John and John are brilliant showmen and came out and did an acoustic set. Meanwhile, the house was scrambling to find a fuse. Some people left. Most waited and it was worth the wait. They put on a fantastic show. True showtime heroes are TMBG. I got to play Particle Man again. I had a late dinner and washed my dishes. It sucks to be in food service and then be done and then have to wash more.
It was a great crowd. Old as eighty, young as five. All having a good time. I like Cleveland. A lot.
-
Lancaster, PA 7/20
Lancaster is Awesome:
What a fantastic show with lots of smoke from the fog machine. I’ve never been to this town before. It’s got a good scene. And the Chameleon is a great venue. One part of the bar is Atlantis themed. Jesse, the manager, told me it used to have more stuff like the bottom half of a lady in the water and a shark and a fish at the end of a fishing pole. Jesse studies composition at the university.
They have a wall of fame with promo 8X10’s of bands collected over the years. I never had one made. Linnell told me it was a good idea for the newspapers to promote your show. I’m very unorganized. I saw a Bogmen picture. I know what Vic Thrill is doing now but not the others. I worked with a girl in Texas who had “Princess” on her convertible’s license plate. She went to LA for vacation. I asked her how it was when she got back. She said they drove around a lot and that her cousin was in a band. “They still play?” “No, but I think they were big once.” “Who was it?” “um . . . suicidal . . suicidal tendencies? Are they big?” “Yeah. What’s your cousin doing now?” “He works at Home Depot.” That’s a good sign because it means he is still rocking. And Wikipedia just confirmed it. By the way, I forgot to ask which one her cousin was. Details are the warts on Cromwell’s face and incoherent paragraphs are my forte.
I met some nice parents whose kid has been able to get into many shows even though he’s in fourth grade. I gave him a shirt.
I got to play Particle Man this show. I wasn’t on. I couldn’t make it awesome. Linnell is very gracious.
The next morning, I went to the Central Market and got some raspberries and cherry tomatoes and apples for the road. And an Amish donut. Wait, 3 Amish donuts.
-
Dewey Beach, DE 7/19
On the way to Dewey Beach:
I got up at 6:50 this morning, packed, and got a car service to Penn station and took a train to Baltimore. Then, I took the shuttle to the rentals and picked up my car for the tour. I got a gps system. It’s one less thing to worry about. But my gps wouldn’t let me enter Highway One or DE-1 or any other combinations, so I got lost a little.
I get excited on the first day out and get the shittiest food I can. Its stupid. I got Taco Bell. I didn’t ruin myself but I should have stuck to fruit. I will pace myself tomorrow.*
Bottle and Cork, Dewey Beach:
This venue is partially outdoors. The stage is inside and most of the people would be inside. I like playing inside. Playing outdoors is like paying for dinner by throwing your money in the wind, hoping the cashier is dextrous. This place worked well and the sound guy/manager was really nice.
This show was good for me. I went on too early though. My sheet said 9:30 and I should have gone on later. And I can’t tell how long my set is without a clock, so I went on shorter, not wanting to go over on my time. I’ve done it before and I would be remiss to do it again. But this time it created a longer gap between me and the Giants. dammit.
A pretty lady walked through the crowd with jello shots. I’ve never seen that at a Giants show. That makes it a novelty and it made me want one. On stage, I made it known that I would get one even though the urge to spend money on jello would diminish by the time I was civilian again. As I walked off the stage, a nice gentleman purchased one and gave it to me. It was orange flavored.
I met nice people at the show. I got to watch the Giants, too.
*When I was in the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus it was up to me, Magic Brian and Mr. Pennygaff to find the worst processed meat at a truck stop and eat it and then have poker faces when our stomachs ached. Usually, the winners were either the jerky that was basted in gravy which is called beef steak or the hot-pickled sausage.
don’t buy it -
Bowery Ballroom 7/18
Last night was one of the best shows ever. Usually, the front row is full of people who have been waiting to see the headliner and have no patience for me. And I can see it on their faces. And that’s all I see. But last night many of those faces were familiar. And they were smiling. What a wonderful thing. I tried to do my show different. It was fun. I almost threw out a song that I’m still not comfortable with but decided to leave it in. Magic. I slept well. Very well.
It’s also cool to see your heroes excited to see you. Flans and Linnell were all smiles. Fantastic.
Shaky after-show hands took picture
