11 Oct – Pilot Light (Knoxville, TN)
w/ Apelife
12 Oct – Candler Park Festival (Atlanta, GA)
w/ lots of other Daemon bands, most of whom I missed because I was still asleep
I count IPO as a sort of strange aberration, so in truth this was the first time I have gone on the road with a band.
I think it went well.
We drove up in two vehicles, Lee, Lyle and I in a van and Chris and Robyn in his car with the drums. We couldn’t fit everything into the mini-van we were using. The drive was mainly gossip about local bands. Lee and Lyle know each other but I don’t think they’ve ever spent an extended amount of time together, and in general none of us really have. We rehearsed a couple of times in the week leading up to the show but there’s not a whole lot of messing around while we’re all still in the “let’s get this song nailed” stage. So we name dropped and told embarrassing band stories for most of the drive. I also ate a sandwich from a rest stop vending machine (I didn’t eat lunch beforehand. Lesson learned).
We loaded in and the club seemed sort of indifferent to us. Not that I can really blame them, they didn’t know who the hell we were when you get right down to it, and they do this every day anyway. So we loaded in, met the other band (Apelife) who were friendly. That’s always a plus. We soundchecked and I realized something has gone horribly wrong with Pinky. That’s the telecaster. I’m hoping it’s just in need of a setup, but it’s out of tune and staying that way. I tried to find a happy medium but it just wasn’t working, so in the end I used Lee’s backup (which happened to be a Telecaster).
Then we had about two hours to kill before the show started. We roamed around. We sat. During this time the whole of Knoxville that was laid out for us to see was dead. D-E-D dead. By 10:15 there were about 8 or 9 people in the club. Standing outside I could see people walk by occasionally, and they would stop and look inside (the door was propped open) and they all had the same look on their face that said, gee, I’ve never noticed this place before… I wasn’t feeling terribly good about the prospects.
Somehow, between then and 10:45, the town suddenly sprang into life, the club began to fill up, and I was forced to decide that yes, there now ARE enough people for me to wear the suit for the show (this is an important decision). By the time we went on the room was fairly well full, and even one of the press people Daemon had asked me to comp showed up. We played and they cheered. For my true out of town debut it went just about as well as it could have. We did “Pulling Mussels” for the cover. The band was on and the performance was a step above the rehearsals leading up to it. It felt good and left me feeling hopeful about the future of this setup.
Someone squealed after every song. I hugged her after the show. You have to show gratitude for something like that. A lot of people came up and said they really enjoyed it. We only sold one CD, unfortunately, but overall it was something, and hopefully enough to manage to get in again. Apelife started and I could tell they were a familiar band in town. They reminded me of the Swimming Pool Q’s in a lot of ways (all of them good).
We drove back to Atlanta after the show, through intermittent and unbelievably thick fog, and got in about 5am. Unloaded and everyone left. I crashed. Woke up and got my stuff ready and then loaded out for the 3:30 show at Candler Park. This show was with the Million Box, though Lyle was filling in for David. The crowd was average (good but not amazing) compared to what I’ve experienced there in the past. But the set went well, especially since we never managed to get a rehearsal in for it. Did “September Gurls” as the cover. It was hot and I was damn tired but it was still good. Amy as there and was very nice as always, she jokingly picked on me about being so pop. It was very good. Danielle Howle went on after us (and last) and I’d never seen her live before, she’s very impressive. After loading up I went to go tell her I loved her set but she pre-empted me by saying so about me and telling me she’s still trying to get us a show together up in Columbia where she’s from. So I mumbled something (I’m sure, I mean, I had no idea she even knew who the hell I was) and stumbled back to the car. Went to get some food and then home. By the time I went to bed I felt a bit like all I had done was play a show, come home, sleep, get up, play another show, come home and sleep.
Which, basically, is what I did. I better get used to it. Hopefully, I’ll have to.