This might have been our last hoorah at the Mustard Seed. No, we didn't do anything outrageous and we kept our pyrotechnics to a minimum....they're changing their entertainment format and trying new things to see how that works, so we won't know until next year if they will want us back or not.
But, in the meantime ~ here's what happened: Everything was going along pretty non-blog worthy until this gentleman who had been dining alone, but was now just sitting at the bar listening to our music, decided to play maitre d. He was dressed for the occasion with a suit jacket and a Quicksilver Sly Fedora hat. I do believe he is the real life version of Chuck Finley from "Burn Notice".
A couple came in and they were waiting to be seated, just like the sign instructed. Chuck decided that they had waited long enough and got up from the bar, went over to them, greeted them with a slight bow, took 2 menus from the hostess stand and told them to follow him. He then proceeded to slowly, and deliberately escort them to a table where he made a grand gesture of getting the woman settled in her spot and then exchanged pleasantries with the man and I'm assuming he then told them that their server would be right with them and to enjoy their dinner.
The manager chick in charge intercepted Chuck on his way out and had a nice long chat with him, which I'm guessing might have had something to do with his lack of employment at the restaurant.
After their conversation, he exited as slowly and deliberately as he had seated that couple at the other end of the restaurant, glanced at us, grinned, and tipped his hat on his way out.
Wonder if we were as memorable...guess we'll find out next year.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
6/18 - Whole Foods
Thanks to Lightnin' for stopping out to see us!
We didn't see our regular dancer guy, but we did see a couple dancing in the ice cream aisle (or it could have been frozen yogurt).
Our new friend, Dave pulled up a chair to make his very own ring side seat and stayed for about an hour.
I think the joint is jinxed for Mudcat. The last time we were there he dropped his glass slide on their concrete floor...yeah, it broke. Oh, guess what he did with his back up glass slide this time. If you guessed that he dropped it on their concrete floor and that it broke then you would be correct, but win nothing.
We didn't see our regular dancer guy, but we did see a couple dancing in the ice cream aisle (or it could have been frozen yogurt).
Our new friend, Dave pulled up a chair to make his very own ring side seat and stayed for about an hour.
I think the joint is jinxed for Mudcat. The last time we were there he dropped his glass slide on their concrete floor...yeah, it broke. Oh, guess what he did with his back up glass slide this time. If you guessed that he dropped it on their concrete floor and that it broke then you would be correct, but win nothing.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
6/10 - The Boneyard
Our first patio gig of the year! Well, our first outdoor patio gig. And to help us celebrate the occasion were some midges, which made Jake SO happy.
We had a tiny dancer at this one. She was a little cutie and she was quite mesmerized by Mudcat.
After a bit, one of the servers came out and with the bartender's help, rearranged the tables into a long line, because there was a party of 12 coming out to the patio. They get it all right and proper and moments later, 2 guys sit down with their beer at the far end of the tables.
They are obviously part of the party for which the rearranged tables were intended as they were watching for their friends. However, their friends decided to stand around a high top table that could fit four, if those 4 people were either really small or they were all jammed in together.
The boys at the long line-o-tables motion for them to come over and sit down. They don't. Oh, and I forgot to tell you that one of the boys was a big jock type guy and the other one was a scrawny geek type guy, which brings me to my next observation.
The bigger of the 2 boys is getting more anxious the longer he's segregated from his average size friends, so after a bit of what I'm sure he thought was an internal struggle....you know, the one that showed all over his face and was made even more outward with his body language, he left his small friend to fend for himself. But he was kind enough to leave the pitcher of beer with him.
So, now Scrawny Boy is getting to be even more of a Nervous Nelly, sitting at the head of the otherwise empty table with a pitcher of beer and his very own beer glass. When he realizes that all his "friends" are quite content to be standing all jammed together without him, he makes one of the most important decisions of his life. He holds his position as head of the empty table.
The look on his face told me that he probably spent a lot of his school years saving places for his friends in the cafeteria, while they ate at another table with the hope that they would at least join him for dessert and he was reliving those moments.
Finally Jock Boy comes back over to join Scrawny Boy, but only long enough to refill his glass from the pitcher that he left on the table with him. Scrawn Boy takes this as his cue to have an "in" and walks back to the group-o-guys with his large friend, leaving the pitcher of beer on the table to act as a beacon.
The good news is that the server chick and the bartender did not rearrange those tables in vain. That's where all the pitchers of beer ended up, so that the boys wouldn't have to take turns holding pitchers along with their glasses.
Curiously, the pitchers were always at the far end of the table from where all these boys were congregated....the very same spot where Scrawn Boy was lording over his invisible subjects.
One way or another, he was going to get his friends to that table.
We had a tiny dancer at this one. She was a little cutie and she was quite mesmerized by Mudcat.
After a bit, one of the servers came out and with the bartender's help, rearranged the tables into a long line, because there was a party of 12 coming out to the patio. They get it all right and proper and moments later, 2 guys sit down with their beer at the far end of the tables.
They are obviously part of the party for which the rearranged tables were intended as they were watching for their friends. However, their friends decided to stand around a high top table that could fit four, if those 4 people were either really small or they were all jammed in together.
The boys at the long line-o-tables motion for them to come over and sit down. They don't. Oh, and I forgot to tell you that one of the boys was a big jock type guy and the other one was a scrawny geek type guy, which brings me to my next observation.
The bigger of the 2 boys is getting more anxious the longer he's segregated from his average size friends, so after a bit of what I'm sure he thought was an internal struggle....you know, the one that showed all over his face and was made even more outward with his body language, he left his small friend to fend for himself. But he was kind enough to leave the pitcher of beer with him.
So, now Scrawny Boy is getting to be even more of a Nervous Nelly, sitting at the head of the otherwise empty table with a pitcher of beer and his very own beer glass. When he realizes that all his "friends" are quite content to be standing all jammed together without him, he makes one of the most important decisions of his life. He holds his position as head of the empty table.
The look on his face told me that he probably spent a lot of his school years saving places for his friends in the cafeteria, while they ate at another table with the hope that they would at least join him for dessert and he was reliving those moments.
Finally Jock Boy comes back over to join Scrawny Boy, but only long enough to refill his glass from the pitcher that he left on the table with him. Scrawn Boy takes this as his cue to have an "in" and walks back to the group-o-guys with his large friend, leaving the pitcher of beer on the table to act as a beacon.
The good news is that the server chick and the bartender did not rearrange those tables in vain. That's where all the pitchers of beer ended up, so that the boys wouldn't have to take turns holding pitchers along with their glasses.
Curiously, the pitchers were always at the far end of the table from where all these boys were congregated....the very same spot where Scrawn Boy was lording over his invisible subjects.
One way or another, he was going to get his friends to that table.
6/5 - Mojo's Coffee House
This gig was just the boys. I was in Kent at the Wine & Arts Fest (as a vendor, not just a wine tasting wanderer), so here's the gig report I got from Mudcat ~
"It was good."
He's a man of many words, isn't he? Of course I had to nag more info out of him, but I didn't get much.
A couple guys were there for open mic night and came up to play and sing for a while and our friend, Don was there.
Okay, for Mudcat that's a huge amount of information.
So, that's it for this one.
"It was good."
He's a man of many words, isn't he? Of course I had to nag more info out of him, but I didn't get much.
A couple guys were there for open mic night and came up to play and sing for a while and our friend, Don was there.
Okay, for Mudcat that's a huge amount of information.
So, that's it for this one.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
6/4 - Paradise Resturaunt & Pub
I don't know about you, but when a place is called "Paradise", I usually picture a dump. This place was actually not a dump, but very nice.
This time, we were not on the patio due to rain. And this time, the place had AC....just not flowing into the stage area. There was one tiny air vent that Mudcat was kind enough to point in my direction. The vent really didn't help much, but the gesture did. Thanks, Mud!
It was an unusual crowd mix with some people dressed to the nines, and others in their dirty baseball uniforms. But everyone played nice together.
One couple at the bar caught my eye, because the woman was drinking white wine with a marciano cherry in the glass and I thought that was kind of fun. The guy was drinking beer. But wait, there's more. After a couple of drinks, they ordered shots. The shot was Sky Vodka direct from the bottle on the shelf, not chilled, with a lemon wedge. How in the world they drank that at all was beyond me (warm vodka just isn't appealing to me), but how could this chick drink that after white wine with a cherry and then go back to the wine with the sweet cherry after sucking on the lemon? And not once, not twice, but 3 times....and they both walked out of there like they had been drinking water. I'm still stunned.
The owner, "Stanley" (and I use quotes, because for reasons that I won't get into I am pretty darn sure was not his real name) bought us a round of drinks and then shut us down a little early. There seemed to be a private party brewing and we were not invited, which was fine by me.
This time, we were not on the patio due to rain. And this time, the place had AC....just not flowing into the stage area. There was one tiny air vent that Mudcat was kind enough to point in my direction. The vent really didn't help much, but the gesture did. Thanks, Mud!
It was an unusual crowd mix with some people dressed to the nines, and others in their dirty baseball uniforms. But everyone played nice together.
One couple at the bar caught my eye, because the woman was drinking white wine with a marciano cherry in the glass and I thought that was kind of fun. The guy was drinking beer. But wait, there's more. After a couple of drinks, they ordered shots. The shot was Sky Vodka direct from the bottle on the shelf, not chilled, with a lemon wedge. How in the world they drank that at all was beyond me (warm vodka just isn't appealing to me), but how could this chick drink that after white wine with a cherry and then go back to the wine with the sweet cherry after sucking on the lemon? And not once, not twice, but 3 times....and they both walked out of there like they had been drinking water. I'm still stunned.
The owner, "Stanley" (and I use quotes, because for reasons that I won't get into I am pretty darn sure was not his real name) bought us a round of drinks and then shut us down a little early. There seemed to be a private party brewing and we were not invited, which was fine by me.
6/3 - Milestone Bar & Grille
Did you ever wonder why "grill" is spelled with an "e" at the end when it follows "bar &"? Yeah, me neither.
So, this was one of the warmest and most humid nights EVER and we get to play in a bar with no AC....not that it was broken, but that it was nonexistent. And there was no cross breeze, there were no ceiling fans, just the open front door and that did absolutely nothing to help lower the temp inside.
And yes, yes they did have a patio....
Everyone, with the exception of Karen and Elmo got their drinks and fled to the patio where there was a nice breeze and a coolness to the air.
After encouraging words from Karen, Heather came back inside and stayed for a bit. She even joined us for a few songs as did Elmo. I tried to force Karen to be our backup singer/dancer for "stop in the name of love" and she complied for a wee bit.
And we were Jakeless, but with good reason. He was at the second round of the King of the Blues competition and oh guess what, he WON! If you didn't see the link in my congrats posting, here ya go ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01_v9_p5PZY
Once again, CONGRATULATIONS, JAKE!
So, this was one of the warmest and most humid nights EVER and we get to play in a bar with no AC....not that it was broken, but that it was nonexistent. And there was no cross breeze, there were no ceiling fans, just the open front door and that did absolutely nothing to help lower the temp inside.
And yes, yes they did have a patio....
Everyone, with the exception of Karen and Elmo got their drinks and fled to the patio where there was a nice breeze and a coolness to the air.
After encouraging words from Karen, Heather came back inside and stayed for a bit. She even joined us for a few songs as did Elmo. I tried to force Karen to be our backup singer/dancer for "stop in the name of love" and she complied for a wee bit.
And we were Jakeless, but with good reason. He was at the second round of the King of the Blues competition and oh guess what, he WON! If you didn't see the link in my congrats posting, here ya go ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01_v9_p5PZY
Once again, CONGRATULATIONS, JAKE!
5/29 - Mustard Seed
Well, with it being the holiday weekend and all this gig seemed as slow as molasses in January.
Really nothing eventful, but we still had fun.
For some reason, every time the manager came out to the main dining/bar area where we were set up, I kept feeling like we were going to get into some sort of trouble...kinda like having the principal come into the classroom his own self and escort you to his office (not that that ever happened to me, of course). But, we never saw his office.
The end.
Really nothing eventful, but we still had fun.
For some reason, every time the manager came out to the main dining/bar area where we were set up, I kept feeling like we were going to get into some sort of trouble...kinda like having the principal come into the classroom his own self and escort you to his office (not that that ever happened to me, of course). But, we never saw his office.
The end.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
5/28 - Whole Foods
Our spot this time was between the lemonade and the bananas, opposite the bottled water (oh yeah, Whole Foods is a grocery store).
We were also in prime viewing location of the cheesecake sampling. I got more nervous as the slices dwindled, but thankfully there were a couple pieces left by the time we finished. I'm pretty sure I ran over there to get some and I'm pretty sure that Mudcat would have appreciated having more than a wee taste, since I chowed it down on the way back to our spot.
But I did assure him that it was a tasty treat. I'm nice like that.
Saw some familiar faces this time ~ the guy who danced his way past the cheesecake to the deli and then doubled back to scoop up the artichoke and spinach dip girl. She wasn't made out of artichoke and spinach dip, she was serving samples of it. And the couple who clearly have different wardrobe requirements for their jobs (she was in a skirt and really high heels, he was in shorts and boat shoes...and yes, they both were wearing tops). Or maybe they just have different ideas about what's comfortable to wear on a milk and bread run.
It just makes me chuckle to see people dancing while grocery shopping, but so does the concept of having live music in a grocery store. Even so, glad that it's us, because it really is a fun little gig.
We were also in prime viewing location of the cheesecake sampling. I got more nervous as the slices dwindled, but thankfully there were a couple pieces left by the time we finished. I'm pretty sure I ran over there to get some and I'm pretty sure that Mudcat would have appreciated having more than a wee taste, since I chowed it down on the way back to our spot.
But I did assure him that it was a tasty treat. I'm nice like that.
Saw some familiar faces this time ~ the guy who danced his way past the cheesecake to the deli and then doubled back to scoop up the artichoke and spinach dip girl. She wasn't made out of artichoke and spinach dip, she was serving samples of it. And the couple who clearly have different wardrobe requirements for their jobs (she was in a skirt and really high heels, he was in shorts and boat shoes...and yes, they both were wearing tops). Or maybe they just have different ideas about what's comfortable to wear on a milk and bread run.
It just makes me chuckle to see people dancing while grocery shopping, but so does the concept of having live music in a grocery store. Even so, glad that it's us, because it really is a fun little gig.
5/15 - Tavern Of Richfield
Ahh...a quaint little tavern tucked away in a quaint little town.
The Marcel Marceau gig, as I like to call it.
We are now officially "gig whisperers".
If you've ever seen the movie "Spinal Tap", you know that their numbers all go to 11...ours go into the negative.
We were actually asked to turn down (which just never happens) and not once, but twice.
Apparently, they were unaware of our motto: our music should be enjoyed, not endured.
The Marcel Marceau gig, as I like to call it.
We are now officially "gig whisperers".
If you've ever seen the movie "Spinal Tap", you know that their numbers all go to 11...ours go into the negative.
We were actually asked to turn down (which just never happens) and not once, but twice.
Apparently, they were unaware of our motto: our music should be enjoyed, not endured.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
6/9 - CONGRATULATIONS, JAKE!!!!
Jake is the King of the Blues Store Winner ~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01_v9_p5PZY
This is an acceptable reason for missing a gig, don't you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01_v9_p5PZY
This is an acceptable reason for missing a gig, don't you think?
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