Tag: Shows

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TAAS @ Eddie’s Attic (Atlanta, GA), 28-Jul 2007

The Arts and Sciences w/ Kaiser Cartel

I sure did like them Kaiser Cartels people (it’s actually Kaiser Cartel. I know that. I just like saying it like that). You should go listen and buy all their stuff. CONSUME! CONSUME!

Okay, now that you’re back… seriously, they were really very amazing and good people. There’s a song by the Tragically Hip called “Escape Is At Hand For the Travelling Man” that more than anything else I know sums up the strange sort of moments musicians sometimes have with each other when you’re playing the same bill. The moments between sets and after the show, where you’re just talking and being reminded that you’re a member of this bizarre secret club with its own language and concerns. I sat and talked for a while with Courtney, who I think I will now simply refer to as The Kaiser, because between that conversation and the show itself I find myself with my current dilemma.

No, no, it was a good show. A really good welcome back. You made us feel great and I can’t thank you enough. Oh, we were sloppy, sure, but it just resulted in more smartass banter onstage. A great crowd, a good show.

So, what’s the dilemma? Well, music and I seem to be getting back together again. So now she and I have to sit down and have the conversation. You know, the one where we discuss where this relationship is headed.

I hate that conversation. And I blame all of you and the Kaiser for making me have it.

Disclaimer: No actual blame should be construed as being placed on either Courtney Kaiser or the members of the Arts and Sciences viewing and listening audience. This is a literary conceit Paul dreamed up pretty much just for the sake of calling Courtney “The Kaiser” because he found it amusing.

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12 July: Atlanta

10 High (Atlanta, GA)
w/ Adam McIntyre, Feable Weiner, YOU

This show was more stressful than most. It began when I asked Nicole, who does the booking there, if I could have Adam on the bill. She didn’t actually have any sort of kit from him and so basically agreed to it based solely on my word. She decided to make it a four-band bill, adding YOU from Atlanta, and Feable Weiner from Nashville. I had seen YOU a couple of times before and was already a fan, and Nicole told me that Feable Weiner was another really great pop band out of Nashville. I felt a little like the show was sort of on my head, not just because I knew she was nervous about having someone on the bill that was an unknown for her but also because I happen to like her a lot.

Adam went on first. I think he’s got a much darker view of his show than what I saw. I was still worried about the crowd overall but it was already a decent size during his set, and definitely a great turnout for a band that no one knows in town. They played a pretty tight show for a band that apparently was operating on only two rehearsals, playing a lot of his new record. Good arrangements, solid stuff. Nice, frankly, to feel like I had a chance to expose him to people who would be receptive.

Feable Weiner was next, who I’d never seen. They reminded me a little of a cross between Weezer and Sloan which is not a bad cross to be. The crowd was still trickling in, which was good. Stranger still was that I didn’t recognize most of them. With FW being from Nashville I assumed the majority of the crowd was YOU’s, but apparently that wasn’t necessarily the case.

YOU was third. I’ve seen the three times now and every show has been different. In some ways they could be mistaken for being sort of a novelty; this show their theme was country and western night and they were dressed in western shirts and cowboy hats and opened with “Take It Easy” by the Eagles. But after that they went into their originals, which I can’t quite easily categorize other than to say it’s pop and damn good pop. The place by this time was pretty packed, probably around 200 people or so, maybe more, I’m really bad at these estimates. But I finally relaxed about the turnout, and now merely worried that they’d all leave before we went on.

Still thinking the crowd was mostly YOU fans I decided to move “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” from the middle of the set to the start, thinking if I could grab people then maybe I could keep them for a while. It seemed to work, assuming that was why, because we kept the majority of the crowd for the rest of the night, which considering we went on a little before 1am was pretty good. We probably were only down to about 175 by the time the end of the show rolled around and we were playing “Antmusic.” Lee thinks we may be doomed to playing that all the time now as it always goes over huge.

I was really worried beforehand about the show going off, about having a crowd when the club took my word for the bill, but Nicole was really happy at the end of the night. It’s also gratifying to look up during your set and see so many people bouncing around and not recognize them. But also to see the faces you do recognize. It’s ALSO gratifying to look up during your set and see the soundman singing along to your songs.

I think we may be on the verge of a hiatus for shows, to try and focus on new songs, as well as the feeling that I may have stretched my crowd a little thin lately with so many local shows. For the first half of the night, while the crowd was slowly coming in I was worried the show would be a bust in the end and that’s what I would be left with in the intervening months. But the turnout was better than I ever expected and they stayed for the whole show.

Thanks to anyone reading this who was able to make it out. It means everything to me.

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5 Jul: Atlanta

the Earl (Atlanta, GA)
w/ Nillah, What The?!

This weekend brought an all new musically experience into my life.

I locked myself out of the van before the show.

Which serves as a fine microcosm for the show. I had actually been offered a show on this night at 10 High (where we’re playing next week, the show date I eventually took) but turned it down because immediately after holidays this town is dead. I suppose it has to do with Atlanta being such a city of non-natives, so they’re all out of town for the big days. At any rate, recently Lyle, my bass player who has his own band called What The?! asked if I could fill a slot on the bill at the Earl on the 5th. Being Lyle I agreed. All expectations about turnout proved to be true and we played to a crowd of about 20. Worse, the crowd actually diminished during the set, which (I feel lucky to say) hasn’t happened in a while. I played a spectacularly sloppy show, fueled by the lack of a crowd and the lack of an open van.

Anyway, it could have been worse, there could have still been equipment in the van when I locked myself out. Frankly, this story is the most interesting thing about the show. Someone at the club pulled aside one of the two guys watching the parking lot, who also happened to have recently been released from prison for stealing a car, to see if he could get in. But apparently Penny is impervious to even the skilled and retained her secrets. I tipped him anyway, though, needless to say. Eventually AAA came while I was playing the show, and Sarah dangled the keys at me from the crowd to let me know all was once again well.