5/26 - Park Tavern

We have a new best friend, Bill.

According to Bill his own self, he was a drinker at age ten, so I'm thinkin' he was a bad boy, but not in the leather jacket wearing/motorcycle riding sense.  Told us that he had been downtown for the rib cook off, got kicked out of one place (just one?, I asked), was on his way home and got lost, so he stopped in and then heard us playing and decided to stay.  I like how he could find his way to Cleveland, but not back to his own house.  I asked him where he lived and he told me Litchfield....the Park Tavern is in North Royalton.  He didn't seem too concerned when I told him that he was no where close to home.  But he told the bartender that his friend dropped him off there and that he would be back to pick him up later. 

It was MUCH later when he left.  Our new friend, Bill was exhausting.   

He was so stupid drunk that the bartenders refused to serve him, except for water and I noticed that he was the only one drinking from a plastic cup.  Even the people who were going to or coming from the patio had glass glasses. 

He was constantly in our faces doing air guitar, directing us, talking to us, singing along, and dancing (well, his version of singing and dancing).  When I was singing Leaving On a Jet Plane, he actually acted out the song like a little kid.  He put his arms across his chest to hug himself during the words "hold me like you'll never let me go" and when it got to the chorus, he started doing the airplane thing with his arms out and buzzing around the bar.  It was amusing for about 3 seconds. 

After we were done, I headed over to the bathroom (I know you've missed the bathroom stories) and these 2 girls come out of the only stall, which was giant and apparently had a sound proof door so that they had to be in there together to chat with one another....anyway, they looked like they're about 12 years old, which made me wonder if I have reached the age where everyone under 30 looks like a teenager, and one of them tells me that I should be really careful if I go in there because the bathroom toilet is almost overflowing.  Okay, really...we have to use the word bathroom as an adjective for toilet????  I suppose if we were in the country, that would make sense so that I would know it wasn't the outhouse toilet or if we were camping I would know that it wasn't the port-o-potty toilet.  So, that alone convinced me that they really were 12 years old and had really good fake ID's.  I took one look in the stall and decided to head back out and I told them that they should tell the bartender.  I watched them stroll back to their spots at the bar, pick up their drinks and continue their conversation even though the bartender was right in front of them.  So, I called her over and told her about the bathroom toilet. 

When we left I made Mudcat stop at the nearest gas station.  Aren't you glad I share these things?

5/25 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

This gig was pretty uneventful other than seeing our cutie little guitar boy.  His mom and dad showed up at just about every gig during the winter and he was always dressed like a miniature Elmer Fudd, but with his blankie....just way too cute. 

Anyway, one day along with his EF get up and his blankie he had a red guitar.  We tried to get him to play something but he was having no part of it.  According to his parents, he could do a mean "Muffin Man".   

Hadn't seen them all since the winter months, just the mom breezing through, but Friday they were all there, with blankie but no guitar.  He was still just as cute.

East side Chuck was back in action, spinning his date around the salad bar.  Can't remember which song we were doing, but he was actually a good dancer.  After the song ended, he was teaching another guy his dance moves, which was way more entertaining to watch than his dancing with the girlfriend.

5/5 - Fat Little Buddies

I apologize for having neglected the blog (again), but the only thing that really stands out in my mind from all those blogless gigs is the guy in a Tony the Tiger suit at The Wine Bar.  No, not like a costume type of suit, but like a man's suit made from fabric that looked like Tony the Tiger.  He had the whole ensemble topped off with a black fedora.  And somehow, he was able to pull off the look.  Definitely sent out the message that he's a guy who likes to have fun.

Okay, moving on to this gig.  We had to be inside, but got to play on the stage ~ pretty fun!  The stage was actually pretty cool, they had it set up like a living room with a giant Oriental rug, a couch, a fire place and a huge tv.  Plus there was a row of old theater seats along one wall.  Tons of space, so we got to have some elbow room for a change. 

There was an older gentleman who could barely walk, he had to hold on to the backs of the chairs as he went, but he made his was to the back room where we were and sat down and started jamming.  He was just too cute.  Then some girl comes in all by her own self, gets up on the dance floor, raises her arms up and yells out like she's at a rock concert that we're awesome (thank you for that, by the way) and then proceeds to dance all by her own self, which I've done, but there were no other people on the dance floor with her.  So, the old man comes up to her with this big smile on his face and they become the perfect dance couple.  It was just way too great.  That girl (but not Marlo Thomas) made his night.  Of course she had to switch to slow dancing, but she didn't seem to mind. 

And Jake was our celebrity for the night when some guy comes in on the last song and is jammin' away, then he gets this "hey, I know you" look on his face and comes up to the stage.  When we were done, he told Jake that he recognized him from the King of the Blues last year.  So, they kibitzed and caught up.

Oh yeah, and it was the super moon.  I had to sneak out before we started and during the break to catch a glimpse.  There's just something about a full moon.

2/4 - Park Tavern

Welcome home, Big Rig Bernie! Nice to see you and Betty.

This was our Park Tavern debut. We were well received, so hopefully we'll be playing back there again. And we had fun too.

Not nearly as much fun as the chick who was drinking some blue liquid in a giant glass. She made her own dance floor and also made her designated driver wait...and wait....and wait. But with her being there, Big Rig Bernie got to hear Bobby McGee twice.

And Jake was still on a roll from the night before. He was crazy good!

2/3 - Cabanas

Jake was on FIRE!

Mudcat and I have never heard him play like that. Especially his solo during The Thrill is Gone. All I could think while he was playing was that I want to send the recording of that song to B.B. King. Honest.

That's pretty much all I can remember about this gig. Everything else took a backseat to Jake's playing. I'm telling you ~ ON FIRE.

1/27 - Whole Foods, University Hts.

Once again, we were squeezed out by the juice weasel. No stage for you!

I think they might be having us do a progressive breakfast....last time we were in the eggs, this time we were by the ham. I felt a little devilish as we went into the black forest of Virginia with the scent of maple in the air and the chip chopped waves crashing like spiral slices peppered with honey. I crack my own self up!

It ended up being a pretty good location, actually better than the stage.

Poor Mudcat was having technical difficulty, but he's a trooper and rose above the troubles.

On a more positive note ~ our friend, Eileen was there and I got to talk with Pete and Sharon after the gig. Haven't seen either of them in about a hundred years.

All in all, it was a pretty good gig.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE!

1/21 - Solon Freeway Lounge

This is our bowling alley gig, even though we're not playing in the actual alley part....pretty sure the bowlers might take issue with that, but I'm thinkin' it would be an interesting combination of dodge ball and bowling. I hated dodge ball. Has it been outlawed yet? But I digress. I'll wait right here while you find your shocked face.

We had gobs of room and there were some tiny dancers. Sort of impatient ones at that. They were standing and waiting and giving us the miniature hairy eyeball because we were still in the setting up stage and not in the playing stage, which apparently they thought happened auto-magically. It doesn't.

After the tiny dancers went home to bed and the big girl dancers got liquored up, there was quite a party. The boyfriend of one of the girls did his obligatory dance with her, which consisted of him standing in one place and letting her dance around him.

And you know how street shoes are not to be worn on the alley, which is why we have to wear rented shoes that 45,000 other people have put their sweaty feet into....well, apparently it's okay if you wear the bowling shoes outside to have a smoke and then come back onto the alley. Apparently the thing that matters is the shoes themselves and not the content of their souls. Hmmm...I know some girls like that.

1/20 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

Do they just grow the kids cute in Beachwood or what?

It started with this little boy who saw us setting up and launched into his Lala Song. The tune was pretty nondescript (although according to his mother it was Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star), but the lyrics were amazing. They went like this:
lalalalalalalallalalalalala -breath- lalalalalalalalalalalalala - breath- lalalalalalalalalala.
And then there was the second verse, same as the first, but not Henry The Eighth. His song got stuck in our heads and even Mudcat was singing it while we were finishing with setting up, but Mud sang it about 45 octaves lower.

Then there was the little girl who was rockin' out. You know the head shake from the wee ones who don't want to try those pureed peas or carrots? Well, imagine that head shake to music. Her mother must have thought that her little darling was becoming dehydrated, so she gave her some water. The little girl resumed her rockin' out, but apparently was able to hold that water in her mouth, because as our song ended and her mom was trying to get her to clap the most perfect fountain arc spewed from that kid's mouth directly onto her mom's dry clean only sweater. It was great.

1/7 - Rudy's Bar and Grill

Always a fun gig at Rudy's and this time Rudy his own self was there for most of the evening. Let's just say that Rudy knows how to get a party started and to keep it going. Pretty sure most of that training came at a fraternity.

Some of the guys were playing pool...shooting pool....which one is it? I don't know, but what I do know is that the cue ball is supposed to remain on the table, unless of course it's scratched. And that would be scratched as in dropped in the pocket, not scratched as in having a less than pristine surface. The cue ball made contact with the floor quite a bit that night.

And I was so glad to see that their cook wore a t-shirt other than the one that must be his favorite that reads "ankle rests" with arrows pointing to the shoulders. Doesn't get much more classy than that, does it ladies?

1/6/12 - Cabana's

Our first gig of the new year!

Here's the deal ~ I've slept since the last blog entry from the gig in October, so let's just say that a good time was had by all and that's a wrap up of the gigs ending out 2011.

Now, back to our first gig of 2012. We had quite the crowd, which was somewhat surprising. Figured everyone would have been partied out, but apparently Mentor is a happening place to live and/or hang out.

My new friend Pat told me that she and a couple of her girlfriends came in to have one drink and then move on, but they liked everything we were playing, so they stayed. And it's a good thing they did, otherwise Mr. Casual-Dressy (he kept his maiden name) with the silky t-shirt, creased flood pants over shiny penny loafers (less the pennies), and leather jacket to top off the all black ensemble would have had no one to hit on, because all the other girls were there with their men.

Not sure if he really like what we were playing too or if he just didn't want to leave alone and held out the hope that the woman of his dreams would walk in just before closing, because he stayed for the duration after Pat and her friends left without him. And no, the woman of his dreams did not walk in just before closing. Mr. Casual-Dressy left alone.