5/29 - Scorekeepers
It's a patio gig and the sun is blazing hot, so we set up and sweat through it....for a while.
But let's back up to how it all started with bad omens ~
The guy who booked us wasn't in yet and no one else seemed to know what to do with us. So, Mudcat waited it out until a phone call was made to give us clearance to proceed. Maybe these people should be working for Home Land Security or Border Patrol.
We get all set up and we're ready to start and a string on Jake's guitar breaks. I swear I had nothing to do with it.
The bartender tells us that every day for the past 3 days she's been scheduled outside and every day for the past 3 days the weather forecast made no mention of rain and every day for the past 3 days it's poured down rain.
Enough bad omens for ya? Here's what happened ~
There's a fundraiser going on inside for Shelly, who has breast cancer so we had a lot of people coming out to hear us and then going back in to hear the DJ announce someone else's ticket number as a winner.
While they're outside listening to us, I start to notice that most everyone is looking up at the sky and pointing. Of course I had to turn around and look up too and I saw that the sky had turned most angry indeed. It certainly took the mystery out of why it stopped being so blazing hot.
Then we feel a couple of rain drops...no big deal. Then we hear some claps of thunder...no big deal. Then the lightning...starting to be a deal. Then we found out just how angry the sky really was. We're talking no amount of anger management could have helped.
I tried to grab an umbrella from one of the tables, but couldn't budge it. The boys tried to help and it still wouldn't budge. Then one guy who was making his way inside stopped and suggested that we move the table over...the edge of the umbrella was under the overhang. In our defense, we're musicians not engineers.
So now we're the only ones still on the patio, stuck under the umbrella with all the equipment scootched into a jumble, the rain is coming down in a torrent, the thunder and lightning are putting on quite an audio/visual show and Mudcat turns into Carl Spackler and announces that the heavy stuff won't be coming down for a while.
Jake is appointed "runner" to get the equipment inside. He became instantly drenched. Eventually, Mudcat helps him and he becomes instantly drenched. I played the girl card and stayed under the umbrella (hey, one of us had to hold it up and since I was still dry it seemed like the logical choice).
Now comes the task of de-jumbling all the equipment and drying everything off with the towels that Mudcat has in his Mojo survival kit. He must have been a boy scout, because he's always prepared, although I think adding a canape to the mix for future outdoor gigs might just earn him a merit badge.
Betty came to Jake's rescue with more dry towels and dry clothes and Mudcat took one of our Project Mojo t-shirts to change into, but both boys were still soaked.
Just then, Joan shows up to hear us play. Great timing girlie. Had a barley soda with her and chatted for a bit while trying to help dry stuff off and re-organize.
And because the fundraiser peeps had their very own DJ we were sent home, but not before he called a winning ticket number and the girl who had that ticket came up to us to turn it in for her prize. Have another beer.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
5/24 - The Treehouse
This was a patio gig, but the TV's were all inside (stupid, stupid, stupid basketball). And apparently there were no smokers there or they decided to quit cold turkey. I take that back, we did see about 4 tables worth of smokers on the patio....as we were driving away.
We did have some supporters, though. There was a couple who stayed longer than their dogs at home would have liked and there was a girl who was walking home from dropping her car off at the garage and heard us, so she decided to stop in for a bit.
I'm thinkin' that because it was Memorial Day weekend, the Cavs were playing and it was just a wee bit cool for hangin' out on the patio with no heaters, oh yeah and the Greek festival was going on down the street AND the Taste Of Cleveland was happening, we really did okay with the number of people who were there.
A lot of people stopped on the street (sidewalk) to listen to a few songs before moving on, even from the other side of the street. The best part was when Jake went to investigate. He went across the street, sat down on the church steps (see mom, your son does go to church!) and came back to report that it sounded pretty much the same from across the street as it did up close and personal. That BOSE system is pretty great.
Almost forgot about the people in the adjoining patio who were enjoying a spirited game of corn hole. One of their players came up to sing. She and Jake did a duet.
So, everything is going along all fine and well and we see a helicopter circling above and circling and circling some more. It also seemed that we were in the very middle of that circle. I was beginning to think that ASCAP is a pretty serious business or that Mark and Little Pat were somewhere close by.
This was a patio gig, but the TV's were all inside (stupid, stupid, stupid basketball). And apparently there were no smokers there or they decided to quit cold turkey. I take that back, we did see about 4 tables worth of smokers on the patio....as we were driving away.
We did have some supporters, though. There was a couple who stayed longer than their dogs at home would have liked and there was a girl who was walking home from dropping her car off at the garage and heard us, so she decided to stop in for a bit.
I'm thinkin' that because it was Memorial Day weekend, the Cavs were playing and it was just a wee bit cool for hangin' out on the patio with no heaters, oh yeah and the Greek festival was going on down the street AND the Taste Of Cleveland was happening, we really did okay with the number of people who were there.
A lot of people stopped on the street (sidewalk) to listen to a few songs before moving on, even from the other side of the street. The best part was when Jake went to investigate. He went across the street, sat down on the church steps (see mom, your son does go to church!) and came back to report that it sounded pretty much the same from across the street as it did up close and personal. That BOSE system is pretty great.
Almost forgot about the people in the adjoining patio who were enjoying a spirited game of corn hole. One of their players came up to sing. She and Jake did a duet.
So, everything is going along all fine and well and we see a helicopter circling above and circling and circling some more. It also seemed that we were in the very middle of that circle. I was beginning to think that ASCAP is a pretty serious business or that Mark and Little Pat were somewhere close by.
Friday, May 29, 2009
5/22 - Glenwillow Grille
Despite the Cavs requiring everyone's attention, we still pulled off a pretty good gig. Apparently Cavs fans can multi task, because they seemed to be paying attention to us as well (and not just during the commercials).
And here's a wee bit of history for you ~ the building that houses the Glenwillow Grille was the general store for Austin Powder. Not Austin Powers...Austin Powder (the gun powder guy).
Mike (the owner) was able to keep the original woodwork and the wood walls. I wonder if old Austin ever played the guitar out on the porch...
We made a new friend. Karla, with a K (she was very, very specific about that). I couldn't quite get the importance of our knowing how to spell her name. I almost felt obligated to write her a note. Almost.
And now I think I know why our Last Call friends are thusly named. It's not because they stick around until last call, it's because they don't get there until then. Lighten up Francis, I'm just yuckin'.
Despite the Cavs requiring everyone's attention, we still pulled off a pretty good gig. Apparently Cavs fans can multi task, because they seemed to be paying attention to us as well (and not just during the commercials).
And here's a wee bit of history for you ~ the building that houses the Glenwillow Grille was the general store for Austin Powder. Not Austin Powers...Austin Powder (the gun powder guy).
Mike (the owner) was able to keep the original woodwork and the wood walls. I wonder if old Austin ever played the guitar out on the porch...
We made a new friend. Karla, with a K (she was very, very specific about that). I couldn't quite get the importance of our knowing how to spell her name. I almost felt obligated to write her a note. Almost.
And now I think I know why our Last Call friends are thusly named. It's not because they stick around until last call, it's because they don't get there until then. Lighten up Francis, I'm just yuckin'.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
5/16 - Mojo's Coffee House
It was the Mojos at Mojo's...pretty clever, huh? Well, I was there too, but I was the one taking the picture. Of course I couldn't have thought to have Betty take the picture before she left. Oh well, it's always something.
And Betty brought a crew. THANK YOU! Grandma Jake was there too. Very nice to have you all.
Although it was nice to have all of you there, the highlight of the evening had to be when we met Don King from The Outsiders ("Time Won't Let Me"). I'm calling it my brush with greatness. He's a very nice man and he's working on a documentary about Cleveland bands. Looking forward to seeing that. Don said that he plans to have it out by Christmas, so keep your eyeballs pealed for that as well as Santa.
Oh, I know what else ~ there's a book shelf at Mojo's where you can leave a book and take a book. I wanted to take a book on the honor system that I'd bring one later, but I controlled my own self (well, Jake helped too). The book was called Mojo and it was all about music. Now, don't you think that Jake should have let me take it? Fine then. I suppose it is appropriate for them to have it there.
Ooh....and Mojo's (the coffee house, not the book or us)makes some pretty kick ass peanut butter cookies!
Monday, May 11, 2009
5/8 - Brewsters
We passed by the Plain Dealer building on the way to Brewsters and there was a Canadian (as in fowl, not person) standing right on the edge of the roof. It was way more amusing seeing it for real than telling you about it now. Never mind.
Anyway, it's been a while since we played at Brewsters and their remodelling looks great!
Once again, we had a patio gig and it rained. We set up inside and the second we got done setting up, the rain stopped and most everyone went back out to the patio. Can't blame them, that's where we wanted to be too, but the radar showed lots of green and yellow so we stayed indoors.
We had a few tables of people who stuck it out inside with us for a while, but eventually they moved on and by the end of the gig there were only a handful of people in the bar.
Oopsie, almost forgot about the bowlers who high fived each other EVERY time one of them got a strike.
And here's an actual conversation between some chick and me when we came back from our break and were ready to start up again ~
Some Chick: You guys should play outside.
Me: Well...we were supposed to, but it was raining when we set up. We just checked the radar and there's still too great of a threat for rain so we have to stay inside.
Some Chick: You guys should play outside.
Me: Let's review....
Seriously, that was our conversation. And then, without another word she exited stage left. Hmmm....I wonder if she knows Mike (see Patio gig post).
We passed by the Plain Dealer building on the way to Brewsters and there was a Canadian (as in fowl, not person) standing right on the edge of the roof. It was way more amusing seeing it for real than telling you about it now. Never mind.
Anyway, it's been a while since we played at Brewsters and their remodelling looks great!
Once again, we had a patio gig and it rained. We set up inside and the second we got done setting up, the rain stopped and most everyone went back out to the patio. Can't blame them, that's where we wanted to be too, but the radar showed lots of green and yellow so we stayed indoors.
We had a few tables of people who stuck it out inside with us for a while, but eventually they moved on and by the end of the gig there were only a handful of people in the bar.
Oopsie, almost forgot about the bowlers who high fived each other EVERY time one of them got a strike.
And here's an actual conversation between some chick and me when we came back from our break and were ready to start up again ~
Some Chick: You guys should play outside.
Me: Well...we were supposed to, but it was raining when we set up. We just checked the radar and there's still too great of a threat for rain so we have to stay inside.
Some Chick: You guys should play outside.
Me: Let's review....
Seriously, that was our conversation. And then, without another word she exited stage left. Hmmm....I wonder if she knows Mike (see Patio gig post).
5/2 - Moonlite Tavern
This was our first time at the Moonlite and they liked us so much that they invited us back! That's such a good feeling. So, if you missed us on the 2nd, we'll be back on the 30th.
We had an actual stage to set up on. We like that. This one had mirrors all around it, which Jake was loving because he got to see his fingers workin' those strings from another person's perspective. I did not like the mirrors, because it reminded me of a work out room at the gym (well, from what I hear anyway) and I was a wee bit concerned that we were going to be the unwitting participants in a jazzercise routine. As it turned out, we weren't. Whew....
And Mudcat was loving the set up not so much for the mirrors, but for the flat screen TV pointed right at him so that he could watch the NASCAR race while we were playing. I like watching NASCAR for the pit crew and the wrecks (but only if no one is hurt...settle down).
Here's something you just don't see every day, at least not anymore ~ a pay phone on the wall.
There's something about a phone that has a receiver, a cord and is actually bigger than my thumb that I find comforting, not to mention that you have to stay in one place while you're using it. I really need to stop now, because I sound like I'm about to go into the rant of having to walk uphill both ways to school....barefoot...in the snow....and let me tell you, it was no picnic!
So, here's the thing I don't get ~ this guy was playing a video game of some sort, but before he started he pulled a chair over, stood on it and hung his keys from one of the ceiling beams. I thought maybe it was a safety feature that if he was too drunk to climb back up on the chair at the end of the night to retrieve his keys, then he would ask for the bartender to call him a cab (I've always wanted some poor drunk slob to ask me that so that I could say "okay, you're a cab". And yes, then I would call a cab to come and get them...geesh, I'm not that mean). Turns out that he just needed a place for his keys while playing the game. Here's an idea ~ how about your pants pocket, buddy?
This was our first time at the Moonlite and they liked us so much that they invited us back! That's such a good feeling. So, if you missed us on the 2nd, we'll be back on the 30th.
We had an actual stage to set up on. We like that. This one had mirrors all around it, which Jake was loving because he got to see his fingers workin' those strings from another person's perspective. I did not like the mirrors, because it reminded me of a work out room at the gym (well, from what I hear anyway) and I was a wee bit concerned that we were going to be the unwitting participants in a jazzercise routine. As it turned out, we weren't. Whew....
And Mudcat was loving the set up not so much for the mirrors, but for the flat screen TV pointed right at him so that he could watch the NASCAR race while we were playing. I like watching NASCAR for the pit crew and the wrecks (but only if no one is hurt...settle down).
Here's something you just don't see every day, at least not anymore ~ a pay phone on the wall.
There's something about a phone that has a receiver, a cord and is actually bigger than my thumb that I find comforting, not to mention that you have to stay in one place while you're using it. I really need to stop now, because I sound like I'm about to go into the rant of having to walk uphill both ways to school....barefoot...in the snow....and let me tell you, it was no picnic!
So, here's the thing I don't get ~ this guy was playing a video game of some sort, but before he started he pulled a chair over, stood on it and hung his keys from one of the ceiling beams. I thought maybe it was a safety feature that if he was too drunk to climb back up on the chair at the end of the night to retrieve his keys, then he would ask for the bartender to call him a cab (I've always wanted some poor drunk slob to ask me that so that I could say "okay, you're a cab". And yes, then I would call a cab to come and get them...geesh, I'm not that mean). Turns out that he just needed a place for his keys while playing the game. Here's an idea ~ how about your pants pocket, buddy?
Friday, May 8, 2009
5/1 - Rider's Inn
Well, Samantha, the resident cat made it to her 40th litter...yeah, 40th. Kinda brings a whole new meaning to the words "cat house".
This was a duo gig, because of limited band space, so Jake got the night off.
We had some hangers on (people who stayed after they finished eating), which was nice. At least we know they liked us.
Rob and his entourage were there just for the barley sodas (and us). They stayed for the duration. Thanks, boys!
All in all it was a pretty uneventful gig, but sometimes we need those to balance out the Mikes of the world (see Patio gig post).
Well, Samantha, the resident cat made it to her 40th litter...yeah, 40th. Kinda brings a whole new meaning to the words "cat house".
This was a duo gig, because of limited band space, so Jake got the night off.
We had some hangers on (people who stayed after they finished eating), which was nice. At least we know they liked us.
Rob and his entourage were there just for the barley sodas (and us). They stayed for the duration. Thanks, boys!
All in all it was a pretty uneventful gig, but sometimes we need those to balance out the Mikes of the world (see Patio gig post).
Friday, May 1, 2009
4/25 - The Room
Sorry for the delay in writing this, but there are an awful lot of shiny things around to distract me. Okay, here we go ~
This was a slow night, probably because of the weather...yeah, let's go with that. However, everyone really liked us. Especially Rachel and that's a way good thing since she's the one who booked us!
Jake made some new friends. The boys were most impressed with him and with good reason.
Bernie was there to offer his support. Thanks!
At one point during our break, the conversation turned into a "who's on first" kinda thing. Who knew that Mrs. Robinson could cause such a ruckus? The song, not the person.
There was a guy at the bar who ordered some sort of shot and after he downed it, grimaced like I've never seen and promptly sucked on a lemon wedge. Then he nodded his approval to Allison, the bar goddess. Now, I don't know about you guys but I think that sort of compliment just wouldn't fly outside of the bar. Could you imagine having someone react like that to a gourmet meal that you prepared or after tasting brownies that you made from scratch (special or regular), or worse yet, after a kiss?
And then there was the guy who kept getting up from the bar and going over to a table where his backpack was. He rooted around with what looked like a bag of potato chips then messed around with some contraption, went back to the bar for a moment and then went outside. Turns out that it was a bag of tobacco and the contraption was a gizmo to roll cigarettes. It only took me 3 times of him doing this to figure it out....anyway, I have to wonder just how fresh you need the tobacco in your cigarette to be when you're going to light it on fire and then inhale the smoke into your lungs. Why wouldn't you just roll a bazillion at home before you head out and put them in a handy dandy carrying case? Guess you have to be a smoker to get it.
Speaking of smoking, it seemed that my songs were timed perfectly to everyone's nicotine call (at least I'm hoping that it was the call and not my singing that drove them out). Anyway, each time it happened the bar emptied out with only Bernie left. Then I started to wonder if it might not be him...
Just yuckin'.
Sorry for the delay in writing this, but there are an awful lot of shiny things around to distract me. Okay, here we go ~
This was a slow night, probably because of the weather...yeah, let's go with that. However, everyone really liked us. Especially Rachel and that's a way good thing since she's the one who booked us!
Jake made some new friends. The boys were most impressed with him and with good reason.
Bernie was there to offer his support. Thanks!
At one point during our break, the conversation turned into a "who's on first" kinda thing. Who knew that Mrs. Robinson could cause such a ruckus? The song, not the person.
There was a guy at the bar who ordered some sort of shot and after he downed it, grimaced like I've never seen and promptly sucked on a lemon wedge. Then he nodded his approval to Allison, the bar goddess. Now, I don't know about you guys but I think that sort of compliment just wouldn't fly outside of the bar. Could you imagine having someone react like that to a gourmet meal that you prepared or after tasting brownies that you made from scratch (special or regular), or worse yet, after a kiss?
And then there was the guy who kept getting up from the bar and going over to a table where his backpack was. He rooted around with what looked like a bag of potato chips then messed around with some contraption, went back to the bar for a moment and then went outside. Turns out that it was a bag of tobacco and the contraption was a gizmo to roll cigarettes. It only took me 3 times of him doing this to figure it out....anyway, I have to wonder just how fresh you need the tobacco in your cigarette to be when you're going to light it on fire and then inhale the smoke into your lungs. Why wouldn't you just roll a bazillion at home before you head out and put them in a handy dandy carrying case? Guess you have to be a smoker to get it.
Speaking of smoking, it seemed that my songs were timed perfectly to everyone's nicotine call (at least I'm hoping that it was the call and not my singing that drove them out). Anyway, each time it happened the bar emptied out with only Bernie left. Then I started to wonder if it might not be him...
Just yuckin'.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
4/18 - The Patio Bar
No, we didn't play on the patio (but at least they had one).
Where to start? I guess with our new friend, Mike. This guy had the stature of Danny Devito and the personality of Ernest T. Bass with a wee bit of Ed Norton thrown in for good measure.
Keeping that in mind, try to imagine this one sided conversation we had with him (we were there and it's still hard for us to believe). He opened with, "I love Jesus. I mean, I appreciate what he did for me and all, but I'm a government man. I really love the government. They plow my street when it snows...Jesus never did that for me, they pay for hurricanes and floods (I'm assuming he meant for the clean up of the aftermath of hurricanes and floods not for the actual sending them part), and I love cigarettes. Cigarettes and alcohol. Especially cigarettes (as he took a moment to contemplate the cigarette in his hand rapidly burning down). Woo-wee, that wind!" (I'm hoping that he switched back to the hurricane part of his tale).
And he was the self designated requester of songs. My favorite request was, "play some Garfunkel". Mudcat told him that we didn't know any Garfunkel songs that he did by himself, but we'd be glad to do some Simon and Garfunkel. "NO, NO, NO....not them....you know...Garfunkel". Oh so too very scarily, I was able to follow his train of thought as it was derailing and offered up Grand Funk Railroad. "YEAH, YEAH, that's it...play them". So, we played Simon and Garfunkel.
This place was a nice little neighborhood bar and if you have an aversion to the law, then you would have got your $6 worth of sin taxes out of the way in one evening.
I kind of felt like being at the kids' table during Thanksgiving, providing the kids' table was in a separate room from the adults. They at least came in to check on us every now and then, which prevented us from creating our own little coup. We tried, though.
At one point, Mike came in with a few other people and told us to connect with the crowd as he gestured toward himself and the others, then promptly went out on the patio and closed the door behind them.
And speaking of coups, you guessed it ~ another Mike story. We took a break and sat at the adults' table, just a few bar stools down from him. The bar was a squared off U shape and sitting directly across from Mike were a few Hispanic boys. Yeah, we thought it might get ugly too, because Mike was well into his love of alcohol via Jagermeister and Bud. He raised his beer bottle and shouted USA!, USA!. Then he told the Hispanic boys to raise their bottles too. When they didn't, he stared speaking his version of Spanish to them. Jake's favorite part of this one sided exchange was when Mike asked them if they worked and one of the boys started speaking real Spanish back to him. The only thing I could glean from it was the word "loco". Then Mike decided that he needed to really be friends with them, so he meandered over to their side of the bar where he could carry on his ramblings up close and personal, which was about the time we went back to the relative safety of our kids' table.
Oh, and he was quite the "dancer". Jake and I were trying to decide if he was actually dancing or just doing his best to stay upright. At one point, both attempts failed...but our new friend Mike is a trooper. He did a quick save by rerouting his oneness with the chair, which was soon to be a oneness with the floor and lunged the chair and himself toward us (thankfully, there was plenty of room for him to work his magic) and then started "dancing" around the chair. Kind of like dancing with a broom, but as polar as one can get from Gene Kelly.
So, I guess all in all Mike was the real entertainment for the evening. They could have saved some money and just booked him....
No, we didn't play on the patio (but at least they had one).
Where to start? I guess with our new friend, Mike. This guy had the stature of Danny Devito and the personality of Ernest T. Bass with a wee bit of Ed Norton thrown in for good measure.
Keeping that in mind, try to imagine this one sided conversation we had with him (we were there and it's still hard for us to believe). He opened with, "I love Jesus. I mean, I appreciate what he did for me and all, but I'm a government man. I really love the government. They plow my street when it snows...Jesus never did that for me, they pay for hurricanes and floods (I'm assuming he meant for the clean up of the aftermath of hurricanes and floods not for the actual sending them part), and I love cigarettes. Cigarettes and alcohol. Especially cigarettes (as he took a moment to contemplate the cigarette in his hand rapidly burning down). Woo-wee, that wind!" (I'm hoping that he switched back to the hurricane part of his tale).
And he was the self designated requester of songs. My favorite request was, "play some Garfunkel". Mudcat told him that we didn't know any Garfunkel songs that he did by himself, but we'd be glad to do some Simon and Garfunkel. "NO, NO, NO....not them....you know...Garfunkel". Oh so too very scarily, I was able to follow his train of thought as it was derailing and offered up Grand Funk Railroad. "YEAH, YEAH, that's it...play them". So, we played Simon and Garfunkel.
This place was a nice little neighborhood bar and if you have an aversion to the law, then you would have got your $6 worth of sin taxes out of the way in one evening.
I kind of felt like being at the kids' table during Thanksgiving, providing the kids' table was in a separate room from the adults. They at least came in to check on us every now and then, which prevented us from creating our own little coup. We tried, though.
At one point, Mike came in with a few other people and told us to connect with the crowd as he gestured toward himself and the others, then promptly went out on the patio and closed the door behind them.
And speaking of coups, you guessed it ~ another Mike story. We took a break and sat at the adults' table, just a few bar stools down from him. The bar was a squared off U shape and sitting directly across from Mike were a few Hispanic boys. Yeah, we thought it might get ugly too, because Mike was well into his love of alcohol via Jagermeister and Bud. He raised his beer bottle and shouted USA!, USA!. Then he told the Hispanic boys to raise their bottles too. When they didn't, he stared speaking his version of Spanish to them. Jake's favorite part of this one sided exchange was when Mike asked them if they worked and one of the boys started speaking real Spanish back to him. The only thing I could glean from it was the word "loco". Then Mike decided that he needed to really be friends with them, so he meandered over to their side of the bar where he could carry on his ramblings up close and personal, which was about the time we went back to the relative safety of our kids' table.
Oh, and he was quite the "dancer". Jake and I were trying to decide if he was actually dancing or just doing his best to stay upright. At one point, both attempts failed...but our new friend Mike is a trooper. He did a quick save by rerouting his oneness with the chair, which was soon to be a oneness with the floor and lunged the chair and himself toward us (thankfully, there was plenty of room for him to work his magic) and then started "dancing" around the chair. Kind of like dancing with a broom, but as polar as one can get from Gene Kelly.
So, I guess all in all Mike was the real entertainment for the evening. They could have saved some money and just booked him....
4/17 - Enclave Coffee House (and video rental)
Well, this might have been our last gig at the Enclave...that all depends on Timothy Vegas. He's the new owner and everyone is hoping that he'll keep the Enclave the same (other than the new furniture). We're hoping so too, because we really like playing there.
The weather was so nice that the front door was left open, which was all fine and well until we were forced into a battle of the bands when a half dozen Harley's started up at once. The Harley's won, by the way.
It was nice to see some familiar faces again and of course we convinced ourselves that they were there to see us more than they were there for the coffee (and video rental). We dedicated "Walkin' The Dog" to the one with the most hair and legs, who bolted out the front door when we followed that with "Stray Cat Strut".
Now, here's something you don't see everyday. This was an actual notice posted on their bulletin board. Had to get a picture of it because there's no way I could relay it verbatim ~
There's just so many things I could say (and have said) about it, but I'll let you guys make your own comments.
The boys did their rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and Mudcat followed it with his office version of "If I Only Had A Brain". Kudos to Kayla for her backup singing!
We closed with "Ridin' The Storm Out" and Mudcat quite cleverly wished the Enclave the same.
Hope to see you guys soon!
Well, this might have been our last gig at the Enclave...that all depends on Timothy Vegas. He's the new owner and everyone is hoping that he'll keep the Enclave the same (other than the new furniture). We're hoping so too, because we really like playing there.
The weather was so nice that the front door was left open, which was all fine and well until we were forced into a battle of the bands when a half dozen Harley's started up at once. The Harley's won, by the way.
It was nice to see some familiar faces again and of course we convinced ourselves that they were there to see us more than they were there for the coffee (and video rental). We dedicated "Walkin' The Dog" to the one with the most hair and legs, who bolted out the front door when we followed that with "Stray Cat Strut".
Now, here's something you don't see everyday. This was an actual notice posted on their bulletin board. Had to get a picture of it because there's no way I could relay it verbatim ~
There's just so many things I could say (and have said) about it, but I'll let you guys make your own comments.
The boys did their rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and Mudcat followed it with his office version of "If I Only Had A Brain". Kudos to Kayla for her backup singing!
We closed with "Ridin' The Storm Out" and Mudcat quite cleverly wished the Enclave the same.
Hope to see you guys soon!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
4/11 - Ravenna Elks Club AND Redhawk Grill (yup, 2 gigs in one day!)
So, let's start with the Elks Club ~
This marked the 1 year anniversary of their new building and let me tell ya what, it was like a palace. Very nice indeed.
They had a corn hole ( I really wish that game had a different name) tournament going on in one room and raffles, pool playing, and general all round good fun in another room. We were part of the general all round good fun.
Everyone was super nice to us and Jake made a new friend.
Oh yeah, and Jake did "Old Time Rock & Roll" by request. Pretty amusing hearing him singing "say I'm old fashioned, say I'm over the hill".
Moving on to the Redhawk Grill ~
Our new friend, Andy was very appreciative of our songs and chatted with us for a while when we were done.
Mudcat and Jake did a kick ass version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". A couple started to leave just as the song began and they stopped and came back to dance to it. Said they couldn't resist. Told ya it was kick ass.
The best part was that we only repeated 6 songs! Three of them were intentional and the other 3 just sort of fell into the groove. AND we still had plenty of songs left over that we didn't get to. Not to toot our own horn, but we know a lot of songs (toot,toot!).
So, let's start with the Elks Club ~
This marked the 1 year anniversary of their new building and let me tell ya what, it was like a palace. Very nice indeed.
They had a corn hole ( I really wish that game had a different name) tournament going on in one room and raffles, pool playing, and general all round good fun in another room. We were part of the general all round good fun.
Everyone was super nice to us and Jake made a new friend.
Oh yeah, and Jake did "Old Time Rock & Roll" by request. Pretty amusing hearing him singing "say I'm old fashioned, say I'm over the hill".
Moving on to the Redhawk Grill ~
Our new friend, Andy was very appreciative of our songs and chatted with us for a while when we were done.
Mudcat and Jake did a kick ass version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". A couple started to leave just as the song began and they stopped and came back to dance to it. Said they couldn't resist. Told ya it was kick ass.
The best part was that we only repeated 6 songs! Three of them were intentional and the other 3 just sort of fell into the groove. AND we still had plenty of songs left over that we didn't get to. Not to toot our own horn, but we know a lot of songs (toot,toot!).
Monday, March 23, 2009
3/20 - Johnny Malloy's
Mudcat used his Jake-in-the-box (exactly similar to a Jack-in-the-box), since we were Jakeless this gig. He had another gig that was scheduled before this one...the nerve. And I don't like being Jakeless. I don't like it one bit.
But, he stopped in for a wee bit before his gig. Betty and Bernie were there too with Jake's best friend, Lindy.
For a moment I thought we were in a sequel to Groundhog's Day when our new friend, Bruce told us that he has been to more than 400 concerts and he'll be 50 this year. I thought about Groundhog's Day, because he told us over and over and over and over and over and over. Gosh, I sure hope he doesn't drive angry...
OH ~ I learned a great trick (which you may already know and if you do, why haven't you shared this information with me) to keep your pitcher of beer cold. Float a plastic glass of ice in it. Pretty slick, huh? I can't believe that I never thought of that. Oh well.
Well, I think that's it for this installment of movie reviews and household hints.
Mudcat used his Jake-in-the-box (exactly similar to a Jack-in-the-box), since we were Jakeless this gig. He had another gig that was scheduled before this one...the nerve. And I don't like being Jakeless. I don't like it one bit.
But, he stopped in for a wee bit before his gig. Betty and Bernie were there too with Jake's best friend, Lindy.
For a moment I thought we were in a sequel to Groundhog's Day when our new friend, Bruce told us that he has been to more than 400 concerts and he'll be 50 this year. I thought about Groundhog's Day, because he told us over and over and over and over and over and over. Gosh, I sure hope he doesn't drive angry...
OH ~ I learned a great trick (which you may already know and if you do, why haven't you shared this information with me) to keep your pitcher of beer cold. Float a plastic glass of ice in it. Pretty slick, huh? I can't believe that I never thought of that. Oh well.
Well, I think that's it for this installment of movie reviews and household hints.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
3/18 - three...three...three posts in one
No, that's not the name of a bar, I'm catching you up on the last 3 gigs. Apparently, there are an awful lot of shiny things around here, because I've been hugely distracted. Okay, here goes ~
2/13 - Enclave Coffee House
Friday the 13th...oooh, scary (not really).
Remember the guy I was telling you about from the last Enclave gig who was there with his daughter? Oh guess what, he was back (sans daughter) and bought one of our CD's! Thank you!
We saw a couple of other familiar faces and I want to believe that they were there to see us, not just there for the coffee.
During our break, Jenna (the chick in charge on Friday nights) asked Jake to play "My Girl". So, we all tried to come up with the Temptations version, which felt like we were cramming for the big exam and then she asked us if we wanted her to print out the lyrics, which made us breath a sigh of relief (especially Jake, since he was the one who would be singing it for her). Turns out it was Nirvana's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" that she wanted to hear, which worked out quite well since Jake knows that one.
That's pretty much all the exciting-ish stuff from this gig.
2/28 - Johnny Malloy's
We had a nice crowd for an early gig (6-9...DJ after that).
While we were setting up, I overheard a guy at the bar boasting that he had been there since 2:50. That's pretty specific. He didn't say 3:00 and he didn't say 10 'til 3. He said 2:50. I'm wondering if his goal was to drink himself sober, because he was there for the duration.
Betty and Bernie were there with one of their friends. It's always nice to have their support.
In the back of the room we had a birthday party group. We got a request to sing "Happy Birthday" to the guest of honor from 2:50 boy, which makes me wonder if he knew her and was not invited to the party (he was sitting at the front end of the bar) or if he was just being nice. Anyway, we sang to her and everyone cheered for her and life went on.
But then....
We saw Elvis. The Vegas Elvis. He proceeded to the back of the room to the birthday group, plopped down his boom box, got out his Mr. Microphone and started singing (yes, while we were playing). When we finally figured out what was happening, we stopped to let him have his moment. A couple at the bar yelled to us to keep playing, because that was a separate party, but we decided to be nice. Elvis came up to us on his way out to apologize for singing over us, so that made me feel better. And of course as he was leaving I had to announce that "Elvis has left the building". How many times in your life do you ever get to say that for real (okay, for fake...I know it wasn't the real Elvis...he's working at the 7-11 in Michigan). And I got to quote Johnny Carson, who said "if life were fair, Elvis would be alive and all the Elvis impersonators would be dead".
That pretty much sums things up.
3/13 - Enclave Coffee House
Oh, guess what ~ it's Friday the 13th again...spooky....to quote Pogo, "Friday the 13th came on Friday this time".
Peanuts came out to offer his support and to visit our friendly customer service returns department, where items can be exchanged without having a gift receipt.
The pictures on display this time were pretty cool. Very art noire-ish. We liked them, but not $75 worth of like.
And we got some sad news. The Enclave will be closing in June. So, if you want to check out the Enclave (and us!) come out on Friday, 4/17.
No, that's not the name of a bar, I'm catching you up on the last 3 gigs. Apparently, there are an awful lot of shiny things around here, because I've been hugely distracted. Okay, here goes ~
2/13 - Enclave Coffee House
Friday the 13th...oooh, scary (not really).
Remember the guy I was telling you about from the last Enclave gig who was there with his daughter? Oh guess what, he was back (sans daughter) and bought one of our CD's! Thank you!
We saw a couple of other familiar faces and I want to believe that they were there to see us, not just there for the coffee.
During our break, Jenna (the chick in charge on Friday nights) asked Jake to play "My Girl". So, we all tried to come up with the Temptations version, which felt like we were cramming for the big exam and then she asked us if we wanted her to print out the lyrics, which made us breath a sigh of relief (especially Jake, since he was the one who would be singing it for her). Turns out it was Nirvana's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" that she wanted to hear, which worked out quite well since Jake knows that one.
That's pretty much all the exciting-ish stuff from this gig.
2/28 - Johnny Malloy's
We had a nice crowd for an early gig (6-9...DJ after that).
While we were setting up, I overheard a guy at the bar boasting that he had been there since 2:50. That's pretty specific. He didn't say 3:00 and he didn't say 10 'til 3. He said 2:50. I'm wondering if his goal was to drink himself sober, because he was there for the duration.
Betty and Bernie were there with one of their friends. It's always nice to have their support.
In the back of the room we had a birthday party group. We got a request to sing "Happy Birthday" to the guest of honor from 2:50 boy, which makes me wonder if he knew her and was not invited to the party (he was sitting at the front end of the bar) or if he was just being nice. Anyway, we sang to her and everyone cheered for her and life went on.
But then....
We saw Elvis. The Vegas Elvis. He proceeded to the back of the room to the birthday group, plopped down his boom box, got out his Mr. Microphone and started singing (yes, while we were playing). When we finally figured out what was happening, we stopped to let him have his moment. A couple at the bar yelled to us to keep playing, because that was a separate party, but we decided to be nice. Elvis came up to us on his way out to apologize for singing over us, so that made me feel better. And of course as he was leaving I had to announce that "Elvis has left the building". How many times in your life do you ever get to say that for real (okay, for fake...I know it wasn't the real Elvis...he's working at the 7-11 in Michigan). And I got to quote Johnny Carson, who said "if life were fair, Elvis would be alive and all the Elvis impersonators would be dead".
That pretty much sums things up.
3/13 - Enclave Coffee House
Oh, guess what ~ it's Friday the 13th again...spooky....to quote Pogo, "Friday the 13th came on Friday this time".
Peanuts came out to offer his support and to visit our friendly customer service returns department, where items can be exchanged without having a gift receipt.
The pictures on display this time were pretty cool. Very art noire-ish. We liked them, but not $75 worth of like.
And we got some sad news. The Enclave will be closing in June. So, if you want to check out the Enclave (and us!) come out on Friday, 4/17.
Monday, February 16, 2009
2/7 - Trading Post
Pete and Linda came out to show their support. It was really great to see them! I was surprised that they ventured out there, since it's at the opposite end of the earth from where they live.
I was also surprised to see R.J. and Winston. Even though they rode in on a Camel, they were still Kool. I think they went out to talk with Mary a few times during the evening too.
Well, I must mention the bathrooms again. Hey, a bathroom can tell you a lot about the place that surrounds it. The toilet paper was chained and padlocked to the wall. Now, I'm not sure if that was their way of discouraging toilet paper theft or if they just had an overabundance of chains and padlocks. The women's room had the word women painted on it like graffiti and there was a hole in the door that could have been used to rest your fist in if you got bored with keeping your arms at your side. The mirror was so non-reflective that I wondered why they even bothered with the mirror at all.
However ~ Linda clued me in to the fact that there was a "nice" bathroom on the other side of the bar by the pool tables. This one had a normal sign on the door and it was big and bright
inside and it had one of those circular tables with a ruffled cover over it with the glass over that. There was a framed Chip and Dale picture on it and a nice little fake fern. One entire wall was dedicated to Harley Davidson with their logo painted on it and the mirror in this bathroom was not only reflective, but it was full length. Guess the choice of bathroom depends on how a girl is feeling about herself at the time.
SO...we're playing along with Mudcat and Jake doing some very impressive guitar solos and people are clapping (which I took as a good sign) when this guy walks up to us and tells us to "kick it up", so I asked him if he meant the type of music or the volume. He said both. Then I asked him what he wanted to hear and he said to play anything. Fine then. I asked him again and he told us to play some Hank Williams. Just then a scene from the Blues Brothers flashed before me and I wished that I had thought to bring some chicken wire with me.
But don't worry about us....we were alright.
This seemed to be mostly a biker bar (kinda figured that out with the Harley wall), but all that leather was peppered with the boys in bib overalls and cowboy boots, construction workers who came right from the job and with girls who had dress-up sweat shirts or the kind you boys would think twice about taking home to meet your mom. Well, I'm sure you could take her home to meet your mom after she changed her shirt that said "I'M DRINKING FUCK OFF". We just let her drink.
And you know there had to be the guy in camouflage to go with all that mix (and there was). When we were singing "down by the river, I shot my baby" I swear that camo-boy looked at me like "yeah...me too". That was a wee bit disturbing and sort of amusing all at the same time.
One snippet of conversation that I heard was some guy telling his buddies about how bad his day was. His car wouldn't start. Then he got it started and he drove through a mud puddle and his muffler fell off. Yeah, the parking lot had a lot of duct tape in it. Neil Young was right, rust never sleeps...it just waits in the parking lot of the the Trading Post.
Oh yeah, there's a newish beer out there that I'm pretty sure was invented by some guy at Budweiser who was trying to kill his hangover at a marketing meeting and just got lucky. It's Bud (or Bud Lite) with Clamato juice. Say it with me ~ EWWWWWWWWWWWWA.
Pete and Linda came out to show their support. It was really great to see them! I was surprised that they ventured out there, since it's at the opposite end of the earth from where they live.
I was also surprised to see R.J. and Winston. Even though they rode in on a Camel, they were still Kool. I think they went out to talk with Mary a few times during the evening too.
Well, I must mention the bathrooms again. Hey, a bathroom can tell you a lot about the place that surrounds it. The toilet paper was chained and padlocked to the wall. Now, I'm not sure if that was their way of discouraging toilet paper theft or if they just had an overabundance of chains and padlocks. The women's room had the word women painted on it like graffiti and there was a hole in the door that could have been used to rest your fist in if you got bored with keeping your arms at your side. The mirror was so non-reflective that I wondered why they even bothered with the mirror at all.
However ~ Linda clued me in to the fact that there was a "nice" bathroom on the other side of the bar by the pool tables. This one had a normal sign on the door and it was big and bright
inside and it had one of those circular tables with a ruffled cover over it with the glass over that. There was a framed Chip and Dale picture on it and a nice little fake fern. One entire wall was dedicated to Harley Davidson with their logo painted on it and the mirror in this bathroom was not only reflective, but it was full length. Guess the choice of bathroom depends on how a girl is feeling about herself at the time.
SO...we're playing along with Mudcat and Jake doing some very impressive guitar solos and people are clapping (which I took as a good sign) when this guy walks up to us and tells us to "kick it up", so I asked him if he meant the type of music or the volume. He said both. Then I asked him what he wanted to hear and he said to play anything. Fine then. I asked him again and he told us to play some Hank Williams. Just then a scene from the Blues Brothers flashed before me and I wished that I had thought to bring some chicken wire with me.
But don't worry about us....we were alright.
This seemed to be mostly a biker bar (kinda figured that out with the Harley wall), but all that leather was peppered with the boys in bib overalls and cowboy boots, construction workers who came right from the job and with girls who had dress-up sweat shirts or the kind you boys would think twice about taking home to meet your mom. Well, I'm sure you could take her home to meet your mom after she changed her shirt that said "I'M DRINKING FUCK OFF". We just let her drink.
And you know there had to be the guy in camouflage to go with all that mix (and there was). When we were singing "down by the river, I shot my baby" I swear that camo-boy looked at me like "yeah...me too". That was a wee bit disturbing and sort of amusing all at the same time.
One snippet of conversation that I heard was some guy telling his buddies about how bad his day was. His car wouldn't start. Then he got it started and he drove through a mud puddle and his muffler fell off. Yeah, the parking lot had a lot of duct tape in it. Neil Young was right, rust never sleeps...it just waits in the parking lot of the the Trading Post.
Oh yeah, there's a newish beer out there that I'm pretty sure was invented by some guy at Budweiser who was trying to kill his hangover at a marketing meeting and just got lucky. It's Bud (or Bud Lite) with Clamato juice. Say it with me ~ EWWWWWWWWWWWWA.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
1/30 - 3rd Base (it's a bar, that's not how far I let him get)
Betty and Bernie were there with their entourage. THANK YOU! I do believe that Betty is our official den mother, recording secretary, historian, lyrics finder, and all 'round good sport.
Jeff and Carrie were there, but were around the corner (no, not the bar in Lakewood) and they didn't even realize that we were the band until we took a break and I went to talk with them.
Swan was there to offer support and to regale us with her tales of meatloaf (apparently, it's not just for supper anymore).
Chloe made her appearance too, which was a most welcomed sight! And she allowed us to not miss a beat (no pun intended) with keeping us abreast (I said breast) of the conversations at the bar while we were in the midst of our sets.
There were a couple of guys at the bar who thanked us for taking them back..."but not too far back". You're welcome. I think.
Jake kicked ass on his guitar solos and I'm not the only one who thought so, based on all the applause from family, friends, and strangers.
If I didn't tell you in the last post (hey, I've slept since then and I have CRS ~ Can't Remember Shit) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAKE! Even if I did tell you, the sentiment is still the same.
The End
Betty and Bernie were there with their entourage. THANK YOU! I do believe that Betty is our official den mother, recording secretary, historian, lyrics finder, and all 'round good sport.
Jeff and Carrie were there, but were around the corner (no, not the bar in Lakewood) and they didn't even realize that we were the band until we took a break and I went to talk with them.
Swan was there to offer support and to regale us with her tales of meatloaf (apparently, it's not just for supper anymore).
Chloe made her appearance too, which was a most welcomed sight! And she allowed us to not miss a beat (no pun intended) with keeping us abreast (I said breast) of the conversations at the bar while we were in the midst of our sets.
There were a couple of guys at the bar who thanked us for taking them back..."but not too far back". You're welcome. I think.
Jake kicked ass on his guitar solos and I'm not the only one who thought so, based on all the applause from family, friends, and strangers.
If I didn't tell you in the last post (hey, I've slept since then and I have CRS ~ Can't Remember Shit) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAKE! Even if I did tell you, the sentiment is still the same.
The End
Saturday, January 31, 2009
1/24 - Rider's Inn
Mudcat and I did a duo gig at Rider's. There's just not enough room for the 3 of us...barely enough for two. Oh yeah, and we got a parking space right up front. Coincidence? I think not.
There was quite an interesting mix of people and/or attire. We had everyone from the barely old enough to drink to the barely able to move about unattended. And the attire ranged from nicely dressed for an elegant dinner to the guy who's t-shirt probably covered his entire stomach about 50 lbs ago. But that's okay, they all liked us.
During the course of the gig, Elaine brought out some sort of wee animal for everyone to see, hold, and fawn over. It took a while to figure out that it was actually a cat. Well, Mudcat figured it out (maybe it has something to do with the name...), but I had to ask. I was actually considering that it might be a bear.
Anyway, turns out that this kitten was part of Samantha's 38th litter. Yeah, 38. I KNOW!
She is their house cat (Rider's is a B&B) and apparently quite active. Jill said that Samantha gets more action than most of the guests and probably has better stories.
About 15 minutes later, one of the guests came downstairs to get his room service tray-o-food (I'm thinkin' he's not completely clear on what room service actually means) and when he headed back up the stairs with tray in hand, Mud and I had to keep from laughing, thinking of Jill's comment.
Next on the scene is a border collie looking dog who decided that he needed to check out all the band equipment up close and personal. At least he didn't decide to mark our area his territory.
All I could think of is that we were getting a little too close to the Ghostbusters' "dogs and cats sleeping together" thing...sorry Jake, didn't mean to haunt you with the Ghostbusters reference. I crack my ownself up ~ haunt/Ghost...hey, I'm sure one of you is at least chuckling warmly.
Other than that, I got nothin'.
Mudcat and I did a duo gig at Rider's. There's just not enough room for the 3 of us...barely enough for two. Oh yeah, and we got a parking space right up front. Coincidence? I think not.
There was quite an interesting mix of people and/or attire. We had everyone from the barely old enough to drink to the barely able to move about unattended. And the attire ranged from nicely dressed for an elegant dinner to the guy who's t-shirt probably covered his entire stomach about 50 lbs ago. But that's okay, they all liked us.
During the course of the gig, Elaine brought out some sort of wee animal for everyone to see, hold, and fawn over. It took a while to figure out that it was actually a cat. Well, Mudcat figured it out (maybe it has something to do with the name...), but I had to ask. I was actually considering that it might be a bear.
Anyway, turns out that this kitten was part of Samantha's 38th litter. Yeah, 38. I KNOW!
She is their house cat (Rider's is a B&B) and apparently quite active. Jill said that Samantha gets more action than most of the guests and probably has better stories.
About 15 minutes later, one of the guests came downstairs to get his room service tray-o-food (I'm thinkin' he's not completely clear on what room service actually means) and when he headed back up the stairs with tray in hand, Mud and I had to keep from laughing, thinking of Jill's comment.
Next on the scene is a border collie looking dog who decided that he needed to check out all the band equipment up close and personal. At least he didn't decide to mark our area his territory.
All I could think of is that we were getting a little too close to the Ghostbusters' "dogs and cats sleeping together" thing...sorry Jake, didn't mean to haunt you with the Ghostbusters reference. I crack my ownself up ~ haunt/Ghost...hey, I'm sure one of you is at least chuckling warmly.
Other than that, I got nothin'.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
1/23 - Enclave
Dear Betty,
Here's what happened...
Jake jinxed us by saying that he hoped we could get a parking space right in front like we had the last time we played at the Enclave, because we rounded the corner to find not one spot at all. Anywhere. Mudcat drove around a couple times, but nobody left. So, we ended up parking in the back and we carried the equipment through their slolemn course (pretty sure it was set up just for us) to get back up to the stage at the front. Of course, there were no open spots when we were done, so we reversed the process.
Some interesting art work was on display. Kinda hard to explain, but it looked like the artist might have had some ideas that needed to be expressed regarding drug use and quite possibly lesbianism (at least that's my take on them).
The first song I did was Landslide and I looked up at the back of the room to see my reflection in the men's bathroom mirror (the door was open, but the bathroom was empty) just as I was singing "and I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills", which made me want to change the lyrics, but I knew that would send me into hysterics. Then I had to sing "mirror in the sky" without changing the words or chuckling.
Remember the Redhawk gig where Jake was the winner and let us know it all the way home...well, there was a poster that just said "the winner is" and then there was a big open space at the bottom. I can't tell you how much I wanted to write Jake's name on there and/or to snag the poster for him. But, I behaved my own self.
It was a fairly sparce crowd until around 11-ish when the place pretty much filled up. Most odd indeed, but I guess 11-ish is coffee drinkin' time in Willoughby.
Oh yeah, the same guy was there who got all excited the last time we played at the Enclave when Mudcat sang "I'll be stalking you" instead of "I'll be watching you" and ran up to his friends to tell them. This time he was happy as could be, because his friends got to hear it too. Jake and I spotted the guy, but Mud didn't, which is too bad, because it would have been most enjoyable to see the look on that guy's face if he had noticed him and sang the song the regular way, Oh well.
There was some guy there with his daughter. She was bored out of her mind like only a pre-teen can be when she's out with one of her parents and not her friends. She successfully ignored him by texting, putting her head down on the table, and looking away from him. He seemed pretty dejected until he realized that we were playing songs that he liked. Then he perked up and tried to ignore his daughter's requests to leave. Eventually, she won.
Dear Betty,
Here's what happened...
Jake jinxed us by saying that he hoped we could get a parking space right in front like we had the last time we played at the Enclave, because we rounded the corner to find not one spot at all. Anywhere. Mudcat drove around a couple times, but nobody left. So, we ended up parking in the back and we carried the equipment through their slolemn course (pretty sure it was set up just for us) to get back up to the stage at the front. Of course, there were no open spots when we were done, so we reversed the process.
Some interesting art work was on display. Kinda hard to explain, but it looked like the artist might have had some ideas that needed to be expressed regarding drug use and quite possibly lesbianism (at least that's my take on them).
The first song I did was Landslide and I looked up at the back of the room to see my reflection in the men's bathroom mirror (the door was open, but the bathroom was empty) just as I was singing "and I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills", which made me want to change the lyrics, but I knew that would send me into hysterics. Then I had to sing "mirror in the sky" without changing the words or chuckling.
Remember the Redhawk gig where Jake was the winner and let us know it all the way home...well, there was a poster that just said "the winner is" and then there was a big open space at the bottom. I can't tell you how much I wanted to write Jake's name on there and/or to snag the poster for him. But, I behaved my own self.
It was a fairly sparce crowd until around 11-ish when the place pretty much filled up. Most odd indeed, but I guess 11-ish is coffee drinkin' time in Willoughby.
Oh yeah, the same guy was there who got all excited the last time we played at the Enclave when Mudcat sang "I'll be stalking you" instead of "I'll be watching you" and ran up to his friends to tell them. This time he was happy as could be, because his friends got to hear it too. Jake and I spotted the guy, but Mud didn't, which is too bad, because it would have been most enjoyable to see the look on that guy's face if he had noticed him and sang the song the regular way, Oh well.
There was some guy there with his daughter. She was bored out of her mind like only a pre-teen can be when she's out with one of her parents and not her friends. She successfully ignored him by texting, putting her head down on the table, and looking away from him. He seemed pretty dejected until he realized that we were playing songs that he liked. Then he perked up and tried to ignore his daughter's requests to leave. Eventually, she won.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
1/17 - Redhawk Grill
Other than the fact that it was snowing sideways, it was just lovely weather for a gig. And foolish me, forgot that people in the snowbelt don't think twice about sideways snowfall and will head out to the bar just to get rid of some cabin fever, so I made a bet with the boys that it would be an early gig. I bet 11:00, Mudcat bet midnight, and Jake bet a full gig with us ending at 1:00, but first he had to know what the prize would be for winning, which is the right to gloat. And he did. At varying intervals all the way home. Mud just turned up the volume on the radio.
Mary, the head chick in charge, told us that we could put our bags and whatnot on the pool table if we wanted to get them out of our way. She said that other bands do that, because no one ever uses the pool table. Mudcat made the call to leave the pool table open, just in case someone wanted to play. He's the smartest boy ever. Moments later, some people walked in and all the boys in the group had their own pool cues. And those are the people we got tips from. Pretty sure they wouldn't have liked us and/or tipped us had we used the pool table as our storage area.
It was Richard's birthday, so we did our version of the happy birthday song. He stood up and took his bow, he stood up on one foot, and he actually considered doing the cartwheel, but chickened out at the last minute.
Oh yeah, and it was a night for Beatles songs.
The roads were pretty crummy by the time we left. Apparently, vertical snow actually becomes horizontal at some point. We trudged along and all was right with the world (except for the gloating interjections from Jake).
We dropped off Jake and continued on our way when we noticed a pair of headlights coming toward us in the middle lane on I90. Yeah, what's wrong with that picture? Miraculously, all the people on the road at that point (including us and the drunken idiot) moved out of each others' way to avoid an accident. This person moved into the fast lane (although from his perspective it was the slow lane), zoomed on by us and continued on as far as I could see the tail lights. We were so stunned that it didn't occur to us to call 911 until we were home and by then it seemed a far better thing to just have a beer. Hopefully, one of the many police officers tending to cars that had spun out was able to stop that idiot. Wonder if that guy is a driving instructor...
So, that's pretty much it for that gig.
Stay tuned for our next gig where Jake wears a barret.
Other than the fact that it was snowing sideways, it was just lovely weather for a gig. And foolish me, forgot that people in the snowbelt don't think twice about sideways snowfall and will head out to the bar just to get rid of some cabin fever, so I made a bet with the boys that it would be an early gig. I bet 11:00, Mudcat bet midnight, and Jake bet a full gig with us ending at 1:00, but first he had to know what the prize would be for winning, which is the right to gloat. And he did. At varying intervals all the way home. Mud just turned up the volume on the radio.
Mary, the head chick in charge, told us that we could put our bags and whatnot on the pool table if we wanted to get them out of our way. She said that other bands do that, because no one ever uses the pool table. Mudcat made the call to leave the pool table open, just in case someone wanted to play. He's the smartest boy ever. Moments later, some people walked in and all the boys in the group had their own pool cues. And those are the people we got tips from. Pretty sure they wouldn't have liked us and/or tipped us had we used the pool table as our storage area.
It was Richard's birthday, so we did our version of the happy birthday song. He stood up and took his bow, he stood up on one foot, and he actually considered doing the cartwheel, but chickened out at the last minute.
Oh yeah, and it was a night for Beatles songs.
The roads were pretty crummy by the time we left. Apparently, vertical snow actually becomes horizontal at some point. We trudged along and all was right with the world (except for the gloating interjections from Jake).
We dropped off Jake and continued on our way when we noticed a pair of headlights coming toward us in the middle lane on I90. Yeah, what's wrong with that picture? Miraculously, all the people on the road at that point (including us and the drunken idiot) moved out of each others' way to avoid an accident. This person moved into the fast lane (although from his perspective it was the slow lane), zoomed on by us and continued on as far as I could see the tail lights. We were so stunned that it didn't occur to us to call 911 until we were home and by then it seemed a far better thing to just have a beer. Hopefully, one of the many police officers tending to cars that had spun out was able to stop that idiot. Wonder if that guy is a driving instructor...
So, that's pretty much it for that gig.
Stay tuned for our next gig where Jake wears a barret.
Monday, January 5, 2009
1/3 - Key West
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Our first gig of 2009 was for a birthday party for Ruth (a.k.a. "Granny"). I won't tell you how young she was, because girls just don't. But I will tell you that we left out the verses in our version of happy birthday that direct the birthday person to stand on one foot, do a cartwheel, a somersault, and the occasional back flip. All that was required of Granny was to stand up and take a bow, which she did.
We had our tiny dancers at this gig, but they did more running than dancing, which seemed to make their mom sooooooo happy. Or not.
Most everyone was singing along and appeared to be enjoying themselves, but clearly they were there for Granny and not for us. She packed it in around 10:30, which was followed by a mass exodus.
So, that was pretty much it.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Our first gig of 2009 was for a birthday party for Ruth (a.k.a. "Granny"). I won't tell you how young she was, because girls just don't. But I will tell you that we left out the verses in our version of happy birthday that direct the birthday person to stand on one foot, do a cartwheel, a somersault, and the occasional back flip. All that was required of Granny was to stand up and take a bow, which she did.
We had our tiny dancers at this gig, but they did more running than dancing, which seemed to make their mom sooooooo happy. Or not.
Most everyone was singing along and appeared to be enjoying themselves, but clearly they were there for Granny and not for us. She packed it in around 10:30, which was followed by a mass exodus.
So, that was pretty much it.
Friday, January 2, 2009
12/27 - Streetside Cafe
Well, this was a pretty much Jake's gig...his family was there and he has a brand new fan!
Let's just say that Jake's new fan was high on "life". And I'm pretty sure he couldn't decide where he wanted to be from. His accent kept changing from British to Australian-ish to American-ish. When he made his exit, he kissed me on the right cheek, then the left cheek and then came back to the right cheek telling me that "we do it 3 times". But wait, there's more ~ he said "cheers" and then "chow". Maybe that was his way of telling us that he was happy and going to grab a bite to eat.
This guy was also a "photographer". He had a camera with a flash that was perched about 2 feet above the camera and a zoom lens that could have captured a fly on a blackboard across the street, but he was taking pictures of us from about 2 feet away.
He also did a duet with Jake...on his air guitar.
We get all kinds.
Well, this was a pretty much Jake's gig...his family was there and he has a brand new fan!
Let's just say that Jake's new fan was high on "life". And I'm pretty sure he couldn't decide where he wanted to be from. His accent kept changing from British to Australian-ish to American-ish. When he made his exit, he kissed me on the right cheek, then the left cheek and then came back to the right cheek telling me that "we do it 3 times". But wait, there's more ~ he said "cheers" and then "chow". Maybe that was his way of telling us that he was happy and going to grab a bite to eat.
This guy was also a "photographer". He had a camera with a flash that was perched about 2 feet above the camera and a zoom lens that could have captured a fly on a blackboard across the street, but he was taking pictures of us from about 2 feet away.
He also did a duet with Jake...on his air guitar.
We get all kinds.
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