Show Journal 2009-08-01
I wound up driving myself to the show tonight and managed to park a few blocks away the club. I had both of my guitars with me. I always feel like a douche carrying guitars through downtown because usually people who carry or play guitars downtown are, in fact, douches. I made it without incident past the usual assortment of homeless and street kids as well as the sea of uselessness gathering outside the Greek Cuisina without a look or comment. I turned to enter the club and a bigger guy with spiky hair, sandals and a flipped up collar asks “do you play both at those at once?” He removed the phone from his ear and confidently looked around as if expecting a high five from someone who thought that was funny. The high five never came. Why? Because I’m fairly certain it was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. It wasn’t quite sarcasm, it wasn’t really a joke but it really wasn’t a genuine question either. Keep in mind he felt compelled to pull the phone from his ear to ask this. I responded “no” because I genuinely had no idea how else to respond. This was about 8:45. Little did I know at 8:50 the dumbest question I’ve been asked would be trumped by the strangest question I’ve been asked. I was attempting to talk to Dave out front of the club when we were interrupted by this woman we appeared to be part school teacher, part gypsy and all sorts of crazy. She walked up, paused, and asked “am I too skinny to be a belly dancer?” She was dead serious. So much so that she asked. Dave responded with a joke about glittery clothing and castanets and we didn’t even get the slightest crack of a smile. The details regarding the rest of the conversation are long and tedious but it ended with Dave and I getting a lecture from this lady that we shouldn’t put the word Octane in the name of our band if we don’t know what it means. We had presented the proper dictionary definition but she wanted to know about “the essence of the word” and “what it really means”. She eventually strolled away. I quickly went in the club, vowing never to leave its cozy confines again. Although the attendance was a little lackluster, this show was a fresh of breath air. Well the air in Kelly’s is never exactly “fresh” but you know what I mean. When we were approached about the show they asked “what bands do you want to play with?” I responded “how about 48 Thrills and The Anxieties?” Done and done. Both write good songs, both are entertaining to watch and both are cool to spend an evening with. It turns out this was Glenn’s last shows with The Anxieties. We first met him forever and a day ago when he was playing bass for Compact 56 in Eugene. It was nice because most of the C56 dudes came out to the show, well, except for Adam who is apparently sheep farming in Australia or some nonsense. They played well and as always Glenn makes shredding on any instrument look way too easy. They did a Naked Raygun cover which pleased me very much. 48 Thrills was up next and were entertaining as always. I figured out what I like about them. They try just a little harder than many other bands. Not in a rock star sort of way, but in a sing it a little harder, play it a little better and challenge ourselves a little sort of way. It’s corny but I like to see that the band playing in front of me is working and not just phoning it in. We were up last and it was pretty good. We snuck in a few older songs that aren’t often played (Brand New Faces and Apology To You) and I thought we did alright. Nothing else real noteworthy happened. We just made a lot of noisy racket to our friends and friends of friends until late in the evening. All in all a very good night. Thanks to Nalin for setting up the show and all who stuck around.
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