Saturday, January 21, 2012

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.





Wednesday, November 16, 2011

10/28 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

This was our Halloween gig, but SOMEBODY, who will remain nameless, JAKE chose to not wear a costume this year. He did not get the thumbs up from his "old girlfriend" like Mudcat and I did for our costumes. Mud was a surgeon, I was a cowgirl. Did I mention that Jake didn't dress up this year?

Mandy looked adorable as a flapper, but she looks adorable even when she's not in costume.

Some of the kids were dressed up, mostly of the princess and witch variety, East Side Chuck was not dressed up this year either and he was a little too busy enjoying his date to pay any attention to us.

Jim and Paula were there....also NOT in costume and Paula had been over the moon about dressing up when we had talked about it at the previous WF gig. I have a feeling there was a compromise involved.

Tony was his cheerful self. It's always a pleasure to talk with him.

A super duper cute little boy was there with mom and dad in tow, sporting his red guitar. "Do You Know the Muffin Man" is the extent of his songlist so far, but it's a song that Mudcat didn't know. Perhaps we'll add it to our repertoire. Perhaps not.

10/22 - Stop 45

It's not the old hole in the wall joint, it's across the street. Same name, different set up.

It's a wine bar with a train theme going on with an actual working model that goes around the room on a shelf up by the ceiling. Unfortunately, it wasn't running....guess I could have asked Tom to turn it on for us, but I didn't. They also have the obligatory wine theme as well.
Interesting combination.

As we're bringing in the equipment and looking at our little corner of the world for the evening, discussing what could go where, one of the patrons comes up to us tells us to have a seat and stick around, because the band will be starting soon. Good to know. And then he left.

During the middle-ish, everyone got their checks at the same time and then did a mass exodus. That was not a good thing, playing to an empty place, but we kept going and soon enough, second shift came in.

We didn't eat there, but the pizzas that were coming out of the kitch parading by us on their way to the tables looked pretty tasty.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

10/15 - Sammy K's Steakhouse

Our happy bar manager attributed their lack-o-peeps to Homecoming and to some other community activity, so we ended up doing just 1 set and called it a night.






At least the few people who were there were appreciative. That's always a plus.

10/14 - Cabana's

This was an odd weather night. On the way there, we saw a rainbow. Not so odd, but stay with me. Following the rainbow and in a short amount of time, we got rain, thunder, lightning, and hail. No pot of gold, just weather.
We met some nice people who chitted and chatted with me before we started. The guy's brother is in a band and does benefit shows. And I've slept since then, so can't remember the name of the guy or his band.
A couple of girls did some dancing and they stayed for the duration. Not so sure if they ended up staying because they were enjoying our music, or if they were just waiting out the weather. Let's go with both.

Friday, November 11, 2011

10/7 - Whole Foods, University Hts

We were bumped from the stage by the Juice Weasel. Okay, fine...that's not what it's really called, but it was some sort of juice-o-matic (not to be confused with the bass-o-matic). Where did they put us, you ask? In front of the eggs. So close to them that if we backed up too quickly, they would have been scrambled egg ready.
Oh, but the fun doesn't end there. Mudcat had to be on his toes to dodge the worker bees coming out of the back with their restocking supplies, most of which were on giant carts. And we were in direct line of the line to get to one of the tasting tables, which meant that the people who had carts and who were there strictly to shop decided to go "off roading".
One woman thought it would be a great idea to run her cart over Mudcat's mic stand, which sent the stand careening until the microphone became one with Mudcat's face, because my reflexes were not quick enough to right it before it made contact. Sorry, Mud. And what a trooper, he never stopped playing.
Then there was the woman who asked me if we could make change. We make change, that's what we do. She wanted to tip us, just not that much. And she asked me this while I was singing.
And if you don't believe this all happened, just ask Jim and Paula. They were our witnesses. Although, they were probably getting free juice and missed everything.

10/1 - Riverside Wines

Now, this gig I remember ~
Thanks to Betty, Bernie, and their crew for coming out to celebrate and offer support!
While we were doing our thing, I noticed a couple girls talking to each other and the girl who was drinking red wine and wearing a white blouse (you see where this is going, don't you) was the animated one and after she did one hand gesture too many, her red wine and her white blouse became one. She was horrified. And then seemingly out of nowhere, their server appeared with a travel size spray bottle. He gave it to her and she spritzed like a mad woman and then gave the spray bottle back to her server. After the gig, I asked him what that magical formula was and he told me that it was Oxy spray, so I had to get some. It's quite the wonderful pre-laundry treat. As a matter of fact, it completely took out spaghetti sauce that was covering my sweatshirt and jeans the other day. And when I say covering, I do mean covering. The sauce was even on the back of my shirt, but the story of the spaghetti sauce shower is a blog unto itself.
And Bernie, what did we learn at this gig? I'll tell you, because I know you weren't paying attention to Jake's instruction. Do not try to make Jake read a text message from your phone while he's in mid-gig. You're welcome, Jake.

9/23 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

Well, since I'm just now posting about this gig and it's been over a month, it's going to be a short post. Really short. Unless I keep writing about how short it's going to be.
I do apologize for my neglectfulness with this blog, but I've been busy out my eyeballs and unfortunately the things I like most to do (this blog would be one of those things) keep getting pushed further and further into the abyss.
It seems that none of the gig's blogworthiness is making its way back to me, other than Tony being nice as ever. He's our go-to-guy for wine and he always makes time to chit and chat with us.
And I've got to believe that our regulars were there....East Side Chuck and the Dancing Sisters. Hey, that might be a good name for a band.

Monday, October 10, 2011

9/19 - Rudy's Bar and Grill

The grill part of this bar & grill was a teeny tiny kitchen, but a lot of food was making its way out of there. Everyone getting a good base to soak up all that alcohol.

It was so nice to play for a full-ish house and it's also been so long since we've played in an actual bar that we forgot just how sticky spilled alcohol can be. But don't worry about us.....we were alright. All the squishy sounds each time we took a step were sort of amusing to me.

A girl came up to ask us to play something that she could dance to and we had to wonder exactly what kind of music she was referring to, because there were people dancing while she was making her request.

And those boys in Vermilion really take their pool seriously (the cue ball kind, not the swimming kind). I thought that Jake was getting ready to jump in and be the bouncer to break up a dispute, but they seemed to work it out themselves.

Then we get to the end of the evening and Mr. Plastered decides that he wants to play the tambourine. As he invaded our inner sanctum, his foot made direct contact with Jake's then full water glass. Amazingly enough, the water missed Jake's foot board but it immersed all our
cords. It's remarkable how much water a single glass holds after it's spilled.

This guy must have been a regular there and/or the sticky floor was due to his previous spillage because he knew right where the towels were kept and went to get some to sop up his mess.

While he was wiping up the water, he never missed a beat with the tambourine. It was probably a much more interesting view from the bar than from our vantage point ~ he was bent over at the waist, wiping the floor with one hand, banging the tambourine against his upturned butt with the other hand.

The good news is that we didn't get electrocuted and their cleaner's job was made easier, because the water spilled on the sticky part of the floor.


9/9 - Dragon Ranch

Okay, so sue me....I'm writing this a month after the fact. Let's see if I can overcome the CRS.

From what I recall, it was a pretty low key gig, but I do remember a couple things ~

Jake's pilot peeps flew in and stayed for the duration. That was awfully nice of them. And they appeared to be staying because they were enjoying themselves and not out of any obligation. What a concept.

There was also a couple with their son, who had been asked to audition for some musical somewhere.....hey, I barely got all the gory details at the moment, so be amazed that this much is seeping through.

And Ed & Penny came out before heading off to Vermilion for a jam (musical type, not toast type). Ed was completely awestruck by Jake's guitar playing. And with good reason ~ Jake is phenomenal!

Monday, September 12, 2011

9/3 - Riverside Wine

The place was consistently full all evening, which surprised me with it being as warm as it was. I figured that everyone would want to hang out in the AC.

The party at the table directly in front of us was already in full force when we got there and they stayed for the duration.

And the trains were pretty consistent all evening as well. They seemed a lot longer this time, like whole songs worth of long. Oh well, it kept things interesting.

Along with the people and the trains, there were an overabundance of bugs and with Jake being the bug whisperer, we were able to carry on with no screaming or flailing about.


9/2 - Whole Foods, University Hts

WELCOME BACK, JAKE!!!! All is right with the world.

What a treat it was to see Big Rig Bernie again. He made a surprise appearance, but I think that the word got out, because there was a plethora-o-people there this time. I'm talkin' a lot.

And thanks to Jim and Paula for coming out. It was good to see you both again.

Our new friend, Eileen gave us quite a few pointers. In writing. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

Those were the highlights. We had our usual tiny dancers and a couple older ones as well, but nothing earth shattering.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

BW3, Strongsville

Once again, we were Jakeless and once again, I was not diggin' it. And yes, I told him that he can never leave again.

And once again, he didn't miss much. Nobody trampled through the equipment as we were setting up and nobody had sex in the parking lot. I mean really, how can you top that?

One of the guys in a bachelor party requested that we play some Beatles, because the groom-to-be really like them. We played "Oh, Darlin'" and quickly realized that was a bad choice for someone who is about to get married. So, we tried to save ourselves, but ended up playing a couple more good-love-turned-bad songs and then it hit me that we knew one happy song ~
"Happy Together". Oddly enough, after we played the happy song for him they took the bachelor party inside. Oh well.

8/19 - Whole Foods, Beachwood

Well, we were Jakeless and I don't like it. Not one bit. The nerve of him to go on vacation. Geesh.

Although, he really didn't miss much at this one and I think it's because his absence effected everyone, not just me. Jake's favorite fan was concerned when she didn't see him, so I explained his lack-o-presence to her. She accepted it, but like me was not happy about it.

The only dancers we had were our regulars, who are starting to come out of their shell with us. Two little girls who are sisters and as different as night and day. One of them is a little tomboy and the other one is a little princess, who brought ballet moves to "The Letter". Betcha that was never in The Boxtops' and/or Joe Cocker's wildest dreams (oh no, wait....that's the Moody Blues).

8/18 - Panini's, Chagrin Falls

I think we're jinxed when it comes to this Panini's.

Last time was the power outage. This time was the rain/thunder/lightning. But at least this time we still got to play, just not outside. And of course the storm stopped about 3 seconds after we started, so all the people coming in paraded past us on their way outside to the patio and then paraded back as they were leaving. During our break I suggested to the boys that we tear down and reset up outside, but noooooooooooo.

Thanks to Jim and his crew and to our new family of friends for staying inside with us. You guys made the gig for us!

Friday, August 19, 2011

8/13 - Jammy Buggers

We all asked the same thing, so here ya go ~ Jammy Bugger is British slang for a lucky individual.

It's a neato-peato place, especially if you're out and about and hungry between 10pm and midnight. They have a $3 menu, which includes a 1/4lb cheeseburger. How great is that?

There are some fun little games stashed under the coffee table, which Jake and I tried our hand at (inside joke for Jake). They also feature local artists' work and are all around friendly people. Just go there.

Our new friend, Paul and his crew were our big supporters. They even requested originals. That just never happens. And I think it's time that Jake names his guitar, but it has to be a stripper name, since Paul so deftly slid his tip into the G string....

Friday, August 12, 2011

8/6 - Riverside Wines

This was the first time playing here that we were able to be outside. And I believe it was also
our first deck gig. Patio gigs are nice, but what a great set up they have ~ a multi-layered deck with flowers and fountains (too many in Jake's opinion) that overlooks a ravine into the river. On the opposite side of the ravine is a train track. A very active train track.

The trains made for a nice backdrop to Folsom Prison Blues and Driver 8.

We had a nice little support crew along the side, that is when their attention wasn't on the trains. How refreshing it was to see that inner child poking through the surface of some of the adults. Remember when we were kids and we would give the universal hand signal to truck drivers so that they would blow their horns? That's what these people were doing to the train drivers....would they be conductors or engineers? Either way, those guys made it very clear that their horns were in good working order.

Aside from all the train stuff, I got to be Spider Woman, but I didn't get to wear a neat suit that shoots webs out of the wrists. So, I guess it was more like spider patrol, keeping the arachnids from encasing us, along with our mic stands in their webs. You're welcome, Jake.

With 10 minutes to go, the rain started up again. And how ironic is it that it happened while I was singing, "crying on the corner, waiting in the rain" and "all of my life I've been waiting in the rain". We closed up shop early to avoid the downpour that never came. We'll sing for 10 extra minutes the next time we're there to make up for it.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

8/5 - Herb's Tavern

Unfortunately, we didn't get there early enough to enjoy a Herb Burger. We'll have to plan ahead next time.

It never ceases to amaze me how we can make ourselves fit into tight spaces. Somehow, we made it work and we had fun doing it. I suppose that if our musical careers come to a screeching halt, we could always get jobs in the circus as the clowns in a Volkswagen.

Dorothy is a trooper, she made it out with her foot in an air cast. Poor little thing broke her toe. Ouch. Suzie kept her company. Thanks, girls for coming out!

Jim, Marilyln, Irv, and Judi were there to support us as well. You guys are all right.

Mike was driving along Detroit, minding his own beeswax when he realized that we were playing on the patio. It was too late for him to turn back, but he said he'll catch us there next time.