April 19 , 2003 - The Thirsty Mind - South Hadley, MA
BRIAN: I'll break the ice for this Thirsty Mind show. It felt like it was 2:00 in the afternoon when I arrived at Ning/Lesa's place to load stuff up. It was really about 6:45. But it was sunny and warm. Earlier in the day, I spooked Max by calling his name from the Pleasant St. alley as he was walking by, postering. I stopped and chatted briefly with him and Anya and Mr.+Mrs and soon to be baby Glennon. So, anyway, I was first to arrive at the Thirsty Mind, and after 2 trips up the stairs ith equipment, I started to thing, "this IS where the gig is, right?"--because my car, Ning' scar and Tony's car all left at the same time, but 10 minutes after I arrived I was still the only one. It was, after all the right place, and within 20 minutes I had an iced coffee and a big cookie and was setting up my drums. After 10 years of having no front head on my kick drum, I now have one. HERE's A CONTEST: ALL YE ARTISTS: WHAT UNIVERSAL DESIGN, SO I CAN STILL DRUM FOR MANY BANDS, SHOULD BE ON MY KICK DRUM? Now, how do I set up a topic for that? THE WINNER CAN WIN A COPY OF MY SOLO ALBUM, BEING, HAILED BY mmmble.....AS THE "ODESSA" OF THE NEW MILLENIUM. So, the gig. I became momentarily angered by the complaints from downstairs. I guess I still do just wanna rock. If I was hired to merely tickle ye ears, that I'd do. But I believe I was there to promote some shaking of yon bootay. Well, I don't remember many details. It was good to see Rick and his wife, and my co-worker Sarah up front digging it with their friends. And we apparently have some savant fans who are very good at getting words out of our band's name. Perhaps the gig diary photos will show this. After, I hustled over to the Eagle's Club to dramatically rejoin King Radio as their tambourine player. I just needed to know that I was wanted. It was a fun thing to do. And I was looking forward to Chandler Travis, and they were entertaining, but I had to leave after 4 songs, because, why, oh why, were the horns miked, and so damn loudly?? They were 3x louder than Chandler's voice. Today was Easter at the Drakes and tomorrow (later today) is Patriot's Day. The Red Sox play at 11am, and then I may go and put the finishing mixing touches on Sitting Next to Brian. MAX: My Saturday: 8:45 a.m. I'm up thinking I'm Ozzy. I watched 4 episodes of the Osbournes the night before and woke up mumbling profanities with a heavy English accent. I feed the cat, drink a pot of coffee and get to work making a new SFTD poster for tonight's show. I'm feeling a little guilty that my postering around Mt. Holyoke, which is across the street from the Thirsty Mind, has been kind of minimal. Since I work near Mt. Holyoke I have no excuses. My cat ate the posters. I got beat up on the way to the copy shop. FBI agents confiscated the posters as evidence of my research in extraterrestrial activity. So I'm making a new one, with lots of pink, cute Japanese anime characters, and a catchy description of the band for people who have never heard us. The poster looks like eye candy. 11:14 a.m. I'm walking around Mt. Holyoke, feeling summer and happy and lost. I put up 15 posters, constantly looking over my shoulder for the campus security. Nobody harasses me as I slink through the shadows. That's probably because on this bright sunny day there aren't many shadows to slink through, and I probably just look like a confused Hampshire student. 1:04 p.m. Postering downtown Northampton, looking for a new guitar strap and possibly something to wear tonight. I pretend to be scared as Brian jumps out of the alley by Downtown Sounds, but c'mon, could Brian really scare anybody? I guess if he told the band his hands were cut off in a lawnmowing accident that would frighten us. I found a powder blue strap which looks nice. Anya convinced me that neither my sparkly or cow-pattern straps work with the new bass. She's right, I'm sure. Later, I wonder if it's dorky that my new Chuckies match my new strap. I mean, I know it's dorky, but will anyone notice? Brian and a member of the audience both take note. Ugh. 5:50 p.m. Cutting up artwork for some Fawns' cds and watching a Prince concert. It's a show from '99 with guests like the Time, Lenny Kravitz and Maceo Parker. Not the best concert but it's good to see Prince having so much fun on stage. Plus, he's a mofo on every instrument he picks up, playing wicked solos on guitar, keys, bass and drums. Ok, so the outfits are over-the-top (nothing new there), but at least he's not trying to stuff a beer gut into them. And he gets all religious on yo ass at the end. I think it's just a phase. 7:45 p.m. Walking into the club, feeling rushed and late. Everyone is here and set up. The throngs of people I had hoped would follow my posters to the Thirsty Mind haven't shown up. I'll chalk that up to the lovely spring night - I probably wouldn't want to be inside either. From the get-go I'm battling my new bass, having more trouble with the pesky fifth sting than I had expected, as well as not being able to hear myself at all. I have some homework to do. It was one of my sloppier shows, but I enjoyed it anyway - especially the between-song banter and the impromptu commercials. 9:45 p.m. We're following Debbie to the Moanin' Dove in Amherst, which is a lovely bar with a plentiful selection of beers (including my fave brewery, McNeil's) and I realize I've left my coat and wallet at the Mind. Thankfully, Henning and Lesa drive all the way out to Amherst to bring it to me. What nice people. I eat a lot of peanuts, drink some great Belgian ales and enjoy the fact that we've found a new smoke-free bar to hang out at. Am I wrong in thinking the Translator song was the worst cover we've performed live? I mean, it didn't seem to matter *that* much since only a few people knew the song anyway, but peeee-ewwww, what a stinker (and I bear much of the blame!). Tony added comic relief by edging further and further away from the stage, mid-song, until he was finally hidding behind an easy chair in the corner. Are we done at the Thirsty Mind for now? Maybe move on to Capo's or PACE if we want a nice coffeehouse vibe? At least Capo's didn't seem to have issues with noise. TONY: Hennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnninnnnnnnnnng, I just wanted to let you know that people were complaining at the Thirsty Mind. Vociferously complaining that there needed to be an "n" in "School For The Dead" for them to come up with many more words. It's like "Wheel Of Fortune" where they gave you the r,s,t,l,n and e. In "School For The Dead" you have all of those but the n.	Everybody Loves Martha Thug The Screen Door Soup Of The Moment Sitcom Theme Don't Be A Stranger w/ Lisa Bezo on guest vocals Something's Taking Over Day Job Uncomfortable Photobooth Curtain Pick A Gripe Rock & Roll Camper V-66 Everywhere That I'm Not (Translator cover) Ayla The New You The Wichita Train Whistle Sings Omnivore plus various commercials: Gatorade, I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke, Slinky, Armour Hot Dogs, Meow Mix, and another cat food one Ken started that I don't recall. Activity Pages