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With that, night one comes to a rollicking end. It's off to try and catch some sleep. Could it possibly get any better than this? Only tomorrow will tell....
Favorite non-music memories from the first day: Cameron eating two of the greyest, most pruned Circle K hotdogs I've ever seen; the damn things looked like they'd been there two years! Then, being right of the brink of falling to sleep when Cameron's roommate started blasting "No Rain" by Blind Melon--25 times in a row. Literally.
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Friday: September 23, 2005
After a wee bit of sleep and dreams of the bee girl, it's time to get up. Poptarts are eaten, shit is shot, and showers are taken. From there, we listen to records until it's time to split. Great fun!
First up is another pre-show at the Goner store. Groggy but psyched, I stumble over to thumb through some bins when I get a tap on the shoulder from Handsome Mick of the Resinators. He rolled down from Illinois for tonight with his brother and pops in tow and I'm damn glad to see him.
He and his crew roll out briefly to find their hotel before the first act is up, Joe Silverking. Again, this is a one man band set, but no crazy percussion rigged--just a dude, a guitar, and his voice. Joe rocks it and is fun, so we're off on another good note. After a short break it's the midblowing tandem of Ross Johnson and Jeffrey Evans. Holy crap, Ross Johnson may be the funniest guy ever--my ribs are killing me from laughing so hard! They do "The Man Who Loved Couch Dancing" from Jeffrey's Gibson Bros. days, one of my all-time favorite songs. I've seen that guy do this song onstage over the years more times than I can count and it gets me in the heart every time. This day, it hits me particularly hard and I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave the building, I'm so choked up. After the set, Jeffrey's selling about four CDrs of rare stuff and I only have one already. This whole thing is killing me--I think I've fried a synapse I'm so happy!
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From here, it's back over to the Hi Tone for round two. Kicking things off are the Overnight Lows. Damn it, this is one brutal trio--blistering stuff! The gal on bass is playing this Explorer shaped Hamer with a black and white prism graphic paintjob, a la the Scorpions. I'm convinced I'll be listening to Lovedrive over and over for the next two weeks. The Carbonas and the Lamps follow, keeping things on a raw energy high. Then, the first spiritual experience of the night, the Persuaders. I remember catching them with the Oblivians around Chirstmas of '97 in the most hateful ice storm ever and being blown away by them, but nothing could've braced me for this performance. In the greatest mood setting move I've ever seen, the guys start their set by thanking FEMA for their new Gibson Flying V's (they're from NOLA). From that moment forward, the Persuaders proceed to burn the place to its foundation--one of the best sets I've ever seen. Surely, back-to-back epiphanies are out of the question on this night. Wrong. This evening, the Persuaders are followed by the only band on Earth that could stand after their amazing display, the Reatards. I've loved these guys since Teenage Hate first came out but for one reason or another never managed to catch them live. Holy shit, was this ever worth the wait! At one point during their set, Jay hits the floor and is down for quite awhile. I ask Mick after the show what was going on then (he was filming and had a good view to see). He tells me some guy is trying to break Jay's leg and Jay screams "you can't stop me--you can't fucking stop me!" Woah--perfect! It's just that kind of night. I step outside when they're done to catch my breath and hear music from inside. Oh shit--one more to go! Human Eye takes the stage and what an impressive, original spectacle they put on. This stuff is pretty complex musically--somebody give that drummer a friggin' trophy! The frontman even gets out a roll of duct tape, attaches a knife to the headstock of his guitar, sticks a fish on that, and goes back to slaying. Crazy great performance from these guys!
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