We performed for our biggest crowd yet on the waterfront at Claudio's and had the crowd up and dancing, none of these photos do any justice to the kineticism of the energetic crowd but then again I was limited to taking photos between songs.
Robby Osbourne ?
J.C. on Keys.
Windy show over the water with my tie as scrunchy.
Hangin' Out by Da' showers.
For breakfast Rob and myself sampled Crabby Jerry's right across the water from Claudio's. I got the FISH (Cod) Platter with Fries, Very Tasty.
The Greenview Inn of Riverhead which is designed duplex motel style offered adequate amenities but our room (Rob and myself) seemed a bit stuffy and airless. There was a bumbling asian fellow at check-in who slightly panicked when my Cheez Doodles got stuck in the vending machine which I proceeded to shake after which he refunded my seventy five cents, then our door would not open with the pass key (an actual key) so we had a brief game of charades as he showed me to use the doorknob keyhole as opposed to the deadbolt above. I put my refunded seventy five cents into the vending machine and got two bags of Cheez Doodles and grabbed a bucket of Ice. There are certainly worse places and the Greenview did have its charm, well the night check-in guy did.
THE PROS - Room had beds, toilet, shower and T.V. (with remote control)
THE CONS - No shampoo and conditioner or even shampoo/conditioner, language barrier with staff, low tech ice machine, paltry selection in snack machine, lack of air circulation in room, wall to wall carpeting in outdoor hallway.
A nightcap of french vodka and cheesey doodleness.
A Double Header weekend for us as the band has a late night show at JCs (two long sets) and an afternoon appearance tomorrow at Claudios (three not quite as long sets as the longish sets the night previous) and it was nice to return to JCs Restaurant amongst its plush and beautiful flora. The band played really well and premiered tonight were "Sister Christian" and the Classic purple chestnut "Lets Go Crazy"
Dave offered me a piece of Chicken Quesadilla (not pictured) which was Delicious (Thank You Dave) but not quite as good as the Quesadilla from the Heritage Pub which has yet to be topped, this will become an ongoing topic if all goes as planned.
It did become more crowded than this. This was taken at LIKE Eight Thirty!!! (it was).
I missed photographing the moment when J.C. cracked Dave's back, but this is right after.
T.V.s (television sets you preverts) and Instruments.
This was a very fun show for us and the band lucked out with the weather since we were playing an outdoor gig on a sunny August afternoon AMONGST NO SHADE that thankfully became cloudy, so much so that it went from Too Much Sun to Too Many clouds and we had to cut two songs from our last set as it actually started to drizzle. Once again even with the aid of my yellow milk crate the stage was of an awkward height and I was also fearful of falling backwards off the stage but these are the drummer's hang ups arent they ???, our singers had no problem jumping on and off for costume changes. We played very well and attracted quite an array of onlookers just outside the barricade who happened to be passing by.
This was a gig to remember and I look forward to our return.
Songs premiered at this show were "Anyway You Want It", "New Year's Day" and "Just Like Heaven" (well if this wasnt the premiere it has been years since we played it) featuring THE Robert Smith costume.
Consumption of alcoholic beverages is accepted behavior and almost pre-requisite in the business of performing music and presenting it as well but on some nights you can step backwards instead of forwards and I am so glad that I am not speaking from my experience or any of my bandmates.
Our regular sound engineer Sean could not make this show so we hired an outside freelancer from Craigslist who was serious enough to come see the band last month and tonight he got his audition (albeit he was payed for his services) and at first I thought he seemed to know what he was doing (he used terms like XLR cable, Guitar & Electricity) and I was impressed at the fact that he mic'ed the resonant head of the Snare Drum as opposed to the batter keeping that pesky microphone clip out of harm's way, He even had me plug in the mini-XLR so I was able to put my Qualified "Recording Engineer" skills to work.
By the second set something was rotten in Pepperland (Beatles reference) as a feedback hum overtook the stage monitors of which I initially wrote off as Gain/Fader problems but they persisted throughout our set to no avail, the band sounded good on the dancefloor but onstage things were getting fuzzy. Turns out both of our sound crew had a bit too much to drink and at one point had to be nudged awake by Rob to ask for hotter (in level) vocals. I am told that throughout the second set there were proud exclamations of "Dont Worry, I Do This ALL THE TIME!!!" which makes you kind of wonder, there was also vomiting into dixie cups which I happily missed. As a band this gig separated the men from the boys as White Wedding played non-stop, un-phased and very well too without a hitch,... at least not from our end.
The engineer's assistant was a very nice guy who volunteered to take photos of us so I lent him my Lumix camera and he got a few good shots as seen here.
Tonight was 4/6ths of the core band as Nancy could not make the show due to a family loss and Paul was on guitar duties but there was some interesting people in the audience that finally started dancing by the second and third sets. This was the night that a woman walked up to Paul, saw a little hole in his jeans and ripped it making a bigger hole, what strange behavior to show your appreciation.
Taking Dave's lead I decided that I Also Had To Have the Chicken Quesadilla from the menu. A Decent if not Large sized dish of a quartered Quesadilla over a most flavorful and respectable salad flanked by portions of Pico de Gallo (mmm Cilantro), Guacamole with a hint of Lemon and Sour Cream. Take a closer look at that Salad, There was All Kinds Of Stuff in there.
At this fishy appearance we performed on the far end of the dock so there was water directly below (planks protecting me from the drink of course) and the ocean breeze as a constant on all sides. I set up the Kit Drums in the shade but as the afternoon waned the sun moved in the sky and so did the sunburn, I came out fine but cannot speak for Paul who welcomed it.
The Constant Ocean Breeze can make you actually want to KILL SOMEONE at times without the use of a "scrunchie" or hair pin!!!
Fish & Chips @ Claudio's ($14.95) decent cole slaw.
The band had a Great time once again playing the Bunion in Bay Ridge and this time on a Friday night to showcase the possibility of future Live Music to the new owner (who was a No Show). Being in the same borough as my apartment I was on my own getting my "home practice kit" to the gig and I thank Chris for getting me there, getting back via car service was not as horrible as I thought it would be. As you can see below it is a bit of a stripped down setup especially the cymbals but my PDP Bass Drum sounded Incredible, too bad it moved all night long being subject to the physical act of being struck combined with a slippery wood floor and no tension (Rubber Mat PLEASE) holding it back in place. Never Again!!!
Our friend and fan Steve christened my Bass Drum "The Topless Creeper" on account of having no rack tom mounted atop and due to my lack of rubber soled mat the Bass Drum "Creep" that me and my bandmates dealt with throughout the evening.
And I thought that was long behind me. More Like TOO FAR in front of me.
Culinary Lesson # 1 - There is No Cuisine in certain instances.
Autographing a few White Wedding t-shirts.
Towards the end of our show a patron of the bar filmed us which is not unusual but this person recognized me and questioned Nancy to which he got an affirmative answer all mid-song mind you and approached me to say "Your Dream Came True" which puzzled me at first. Turns out it was my childhood friend Angelo (he was in KISSAMANIA with me) who just happened to be there and all of this was captured on his Iphone which you can see just here below this sentence.
It was a great moment that happened by chance and to me chance doesn't just happen.
