After seeing Showshane and a Thousand Times Yes play there a few times I was pretty geeked to play at the Third Street, but was pretty let down when we got there. The stage was in shambles after a pretty wild previous night with the group Diegrinder. The supports underneath the plywood staging were apparently broken as the whole stage bounced like a trampoline when you were on it, giving you the sneaking suspicion that you could fall through at any time. The PA system wasn't any better as most clearly evidenced by the white dollar store electrical extension cords being used as speaker cables, draped lazily over the doorways.
Not having a big crowd didn't bother me, it was just good to get out and have a jam session with the Dragstrippers and NC, first time I had heard any of lead singer Eric Dahlstrom's music since we broke up the Sturgeon Generals years back, except for in the brief stint with Outlawed when Cris and I were under the Juicy moniker and played with them and the Dragstrippers at the Old Miami a few years prior. Even with all the shit equipment and the ungrouded noise squawking from all the amps, we put on a good tight performance and we could actually hear EVERYTHING.
Negative Conductor's ear-bleedingly loud show offset with Eric's less-than-complimentary gestures (we'll leave it at that) toward the bar establishment led on to a continually intensifying display of "fuck everyoneism" that carried into the Dragstrippers set, until the back room of the Third Street was a warzone of overturned tables, broken glass, and beer. I hadn't witnessed a display like this in years, and I left feeling like "Did that just happen? " And trying to remember how old I was. I guess being that we booked the show, we felt somehow responsible for the chaos that ensued. But fuck, maybe every weekend's like that there, I don't know. We never heard anything back from them.
-CM |
