March 23, 2003 - Flywheel - Easthampton, MA
HENNING: The Flywheel show. What a funny strange night it turned out to be. I met Walter. He was about as different from the image I had in my head, while emailing with him, as possible. Very nice guy who just seems to love music. When Brian, Lesa, and I showed up, we peeked into the concert going on already and the room was full of teenagers in white t-shirts. It was hot and crowded and loud and we immediately turned around and headed down the street to the Brass Cat. The jukebox was playing really good music and the three of us played some Keno and what have you. Eventually the rest of SFTD joined us and brought news that everything was running behind schedule and we wouldn't be going on until about 10. No big surprise there, but it did mean that we had some more time to kill. When went back to Flywheel, so we could see the Screwdrivers play, we arrived just as they were setting up. Perfect. They had a different line-up than when Brian and I had played with them a while back in Connecticut. And who was their new bass player? None other than Kevin Lamkins old-school Steamtrain friend and radio DJ extraordinaire. They played a nice show. Their new approach was more poppy and musical than their old one. Near the end of their set, Brian realized that he didn't have his snare drum stand so I went into the back room with him to see if we could find anything he might be able to use. The Screwdrivers picked that moment, when we weren't in the room, to play their cover of the Aloha Steamtrain's "Many a Wonderful Thing That Gets Me High." We rushed back in to see it. It was great. Not only did they cover the song, but they covered all of our parts (without keyboards). Kevin played my bass part almost verbatim and Brian said the same about the drummer. It was a surreal thing to see, I tells you. Also Kevin sang the harmonies better than I ever did. By the time SFTD took the stage there was only a handfull of people in the room: The Screwdrivers, The Borgeois Heros, Lesa, Walter, and Cameron Hull. All musicians. They turned out to be a wonderful crowd. We took a break and asked the Heros to play a song. I've described bands before by saying you just want to pick them up and put them in your pocket. It never applied as well as it does to the Borgeois Heros. They played their song Television. It was great. Lesa wondered if they were familiar with the Malarkies. It's a pretty tough gig at Flywheel. No monitors (which means when you're singing you can't hear your own voice, and when you are playing the guitar you can't hear if you are playing the right notes) and there is lots of feedback and such. But at the same time, the room is filled with such a love for creative expression that it all equals out. They are having a fund raising show coming up in May to hopefully replace their sound system, so I hope to be a part of that in some way. KEN: in my little cul-de-sac of the world it feels like spring, right now, at midnight. i smell the earth. there's a gentle breeze. i want to go for a walk. but i'm afraid the neighborhood dogs will sniff this odd new presence walking past their fences and there'll be much barking. so instead i'm parking my butt here to say it was an easthampton kind of night. school for the dead played flywheel with (not counting the members of the other band, or the lead singer's girlfriend) 3 people in the audience. but it's quality, not quantity! two of the three dedicated onlookers were the band bourgeois heroes, a drums and guitar duo that henning invited up during our set to do a song of their own, on their own. they made me feel i was back at the baystate in 1994, indie-rock central. they were minimalist and good. they played a catchy song called "television." k records should come knocking on their door soon. funny story. we played 6th out of 6 bands. why? because the show-booker got an e-mail from someone hoping we wouldn't go on too early because their friend REALLY wanted to come see us but she didn't get out of work until a certain time. so to make that mysterious super-fan happy, the show-booker bumped us to the last slot on a dead sunday night. a little birdy told me that the "mysterious super-fan" was lauri mac -- who didn't show up, with or without her notations. that's 25% less audience! booooo! the earlier part of the flywheel evening was fairly crowded, of course. "with teenagers," the nice guy at the snack bar told me when i showed up at 7 p.m. to see what was happening. i was so early i wandered around the silent town and ended up eating dinner alone at nini's, which had great salad dressing and even better bread, which i ate separately. halfway through my penne with spinach and pinoli nuts, henning lesa and brian walked by my window seat, mimed some silliness, and henning ran in to say they'd be at the brass cat. eventually tony and max came in and kept me company. we all ended up at the brass cat, with its awesome jukebox. i killed time with the trivia whiz bar videogame, and put a buck in the jukebox and picked "government center" by the modern lovers, "walking after midnight" by patsy cline, and "flat foot flewzy" by nrbq. saw a bearded eric poulin, wearing shiny green plastic necklaces (st. pat's day parade in holyoke was today), said hello, he's a great guy (you may remember him from the ska-pop supergroup knuckle sandwich back in the day -- community, fight!!). eventually we played our show. "photobooth" "martha" "something's taking over" "day job" "v-66" "uncomfortable" "pick a gripe" "ayla" "omnivore" or something like that. henning made me play some tv theme requests from the audience (aka the screwdrivers, who played before us), and that's all. even though the show happened two hours ago it's already escaping me. as people were setting down after the show, tony and i had fun goofing around in our grey hooded fleece things (we now have an alterna-folk duo side project. we don't have a name yet, but we've got the funky acoutsic strumming and the growl and we're coming to an amphitheater near you. opening for counting crows.) earlier in the day i went to the butterfly conservatory. people have been recommending that to me for quite a while, and i actually drove by it at first (listening to utopia), but thought, "it's such a beautiful day, what else am i going to do?" so i went in and, after getting used to the jumpy fluttering all around me, i fell into a calm trance, following red and black rorschach designs as they flitted through the warm greenery. now i, too, will recommend that YOU go there. it's relaxing and strange. and stop by richardson's candy store, too. they're nearby and weren't particularly busy when i stopped in to pick out my tiny box of chocolate-covered crackers and nougatines. i'm all for more sunny warm days. i count none but sunny days. BRIAN: I'd like to thank Max for putting up with my self indulgent drumming at the Flywheel. I would have looked up and smiled more at him, but my hair was permanantly in my face, making me feel even more self indulgent. I guess put it down to the pre gig visit to the Brass Cat, and trying too hard to please the Bourgiois Heroes. Finally lastly, when all the war crap seriously gets me down, I think: well, someone had to be writing scripts and music for the Archies and Partridge Family during the height of Veitnam.....	Photobooth Curtain The End (The Doors)/ Baby Hold On (Eddie Money) medley (sort of) Everybody Loves Martha Something's Taking Over Thug Day Job V-66 Uncomfortable Pick A Gripe Ayla Omnivore (No pictures, sorry.)