Monday, March 28, 2005
Studies Show Slappy May in Fact Not Be Jebus....
Last night's open mic was intersting for many reasons, not the least of which was that I was drinking beer. I didn't drink before playing, that's something I've tried to slow down a little bit on. Still, it makes the rest of the night sort of fly by, so I guess it has it's value anyway. I did have waitresses trying to bring me beer all night, though. I guess now I know how a recovering crack adict feels. Actually, I probably don't, and I'm quite glad for that.
So the whole Slappy is Jebus thing went off with a hitch or two. I was forgetting more lyrics than usual last night, that's never good, especially when trying to extoll the virtues of some sort of Plastic Jesus. It wasn't anything I couldn't get through, though. The big problem came on the third tune (after Are You Drinkin' with Me Jesus?, that's right, a rare two Jesus night, it was Easter after all). We had planned to do Vibrator Dependent, but as much as a dug in the big black bag o' harps, I couldn't find my kazoo. That's OK, we can always move onto a different tune quickly. How about Two Condoms? Same sort of song, kind of fit in with what we were trying to do. There was a little mix up on the key, though. The voice works regardless of the key, the harps don't however. I unfortunately didn't notice the different key until I got to the harp solo. Nothing sounds worse than trying to do something a half step off. Still, we overcame that with a little JB style harmonica solo. After the breakup of 957, JB would do some of our own material solo. The first time he played Anti Love Song he said "...and the harmonica goes..." and sang a really dorky and unimaginative harmonica-esque vocalization. I really dug him doing that because I got to turn to anyone sitting near me and say, "You know, I remember the harmonica solo being better than this." I found that even more fun when the person I told it to had no idea what I was talking about. Anyway, we salvaged Two Condoms to some degree and went on to the final tune I Got My Mojo Workin'. Talk about salvaging something, that song probably salvaged the whole set. Joined by Josh on drums, we really tore it up. Again, Josh sort of took off on drums and dared us to keep up, but the song needs to be driving, so as long as he doesn't go completely nuts, that works. My voice trashed, we headed back to our table. Of course, I immediately found the missing kazoo from our failed attempt at Vibrator Dependent.
Ran into some folks I hadn't seen in quite a while. TSA's brother (not SSA) showed up and talked scotch with me for a while. That's scotch the whiskey, not the ethnicity or tape. Susie did a couple of tunes and stopped by the table to say hey. Always good to see her and she may start attending the Dunn Bros. show.
Also while sitting at our table after playing, I overheard a conversation between GF1 and Bruce about ASO. Now normally I would feel bad about evesdropping, but GF1 was pretty loud, obviously not caring who heard. Since he also made reference to some of the issues on the mic, I feel comfortable discussing it here. And since there is a posting under 'News' on ASO's web site entitled Doc Leaves Band, I'm not breaking any news here. All I have to say is that having been through the breakup of 957 was tough enough on me, and we had no radio airplay, only one scheduled gig and no definite long-term prospects. Doc leaving ASO doesn't break them up, but it changes things considerably. With Doc's son being the guitarist that really could make things akward. Add to that some of the stuff I heard about drummer Brad last night, and, well, maybe ASO is down to two guys very soon. The core of ASO has always been Shawn and Gary, with all of the lineup changes this band has been through the two of them have hung together. ASO will continue, I have no doubt. And I am not saying Chambers or Brad are leaving, but both of them make playing out of town gigs tough because of Brad's work and Chambers' schooling. Them playing Rapid City a lot is great for me, but not the best thing for a band that would really like to hit the big time. Whatever comes, ASO will plug on. Best of luck to my favorite local band, the only one that matters.
BOJ
So the whole Slappy is Jebus thing went off with a hitch or two. I was forgetting more lyrics than usual last night, that's never good, especially when trying to extoll the virtues of some sort of Plastic Jesus. It wasn't anything I couldn't get through, though. The big problem came on the third tune (after Are You Drinkin' with Me Jesus?, that's right, a rare two Jesus night, it was Easter after all). We had planned to do Vibrator Dependent, but as much as a dug in the big black bag o' harps, I couldn't find my kazoo. That's OK, we can always move onto a different tune quickly. How about Two Condoms? Same sort of song, kind of fit in with what we were trying to do. There was a little mix up on the key, though. The voice works regardless of the key, the harps don't however. I unfortunately didn't notice the different key until I got to the harp solo. Nothing sounds worse than trying to do something a half step off. Still, we overcame that with a little JB style harmonica solo. After the breakup of 957, JB would do some of our own material solo. The first time he played Anti Love Song he said "...and the harmonica goes..." and sang a really dorky and unimaginative harmonica-esque vocalization. I really dug him doing that because I got to turn to anyone sitting near me and say, "You know, I remember the harmonica solo being better than this." I found that even more fun when the person I told it to had no idea what I was talking about. Anyway, we salvaged Two Condoms to some degree and went on to the final tune I Got My Mojo Workin'. Talk about salvaging something, that song probably salvaged the whole set. Joined by Josh on drums, we really tore it up. Again, Josh sort of took off on drums and dared us to keep up, but the song needs to be driving, so as long as he doesn't go completely nuts, that works. My voice trashed, we headed back to our table. Of course, I immediately found the missing kazoo from our failed attempt at Vibrator Dependent.
Ran into some folks I hadn't seen in quite a while. TSA's brother (not SSA) showed up and talked scotch with me for a while. That's scotch the whiskey, not the ethnicity or tape. Susie did a couple of tunes and stopped by the table to say hey. Always good to see her and she may start attending the Dunn Bros. show.
Also while sitting at our table after playing, I overheard a conversation between GF1 and Bruce about ASO. Now normally I would feel bad about evesdropping, but GF1 was pretty loud, obviously not caring who heard. Since he also made reference to some of the issues on the mic, I feel comfortable discussing it here. And since there is a posting under 'News' on ASO's web site entitled Doc Leaves Band, I'm not breaking any news here. All I have to say is that having been through the breakup of 957 was tough enough on me, and we had no radio airplay, only one scheduled gig and no definite long-term prospects. Doc leaving ASO doesn't break them up, but it changes things considerably. With Doc's son being the guitarist that really could make things akward. Add to that some of the stuff I heard about drummer Brad last night, and, well, maybe ASO is down to two guys very soon. The core of ASO has always been Shawn and Gary, with all of the lineup changes this band has been through the two of them have hung together. ASO will continue, I have no doubt. And I am not saying Chambers or Brad are leaving, but both of them make playing out of town gigs tough because of Brad's work and Chambers' schooling. Them playing Rapid City a lot is great for me, but not the best thing for a band that would really like to hit the big time. Whatever comes, ASO will plug on. Best of luck to my favorite local band, the only one that matters.
BOJ
# posted by Blind Orange Julius @ 10:04 AM 
