August 3 , 2004 - Pete's Candy Store - Brooklyn, NY - with: the Pelicans
Henning says: Yaaaawwwwwn....Last night, we played at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn. Sorry, School for the Dead band, about how late the night was. I sense a bunch of sleepy musicians out there in the worforce today. Yesterday afternoon, I walked from work to Enterprise on King Street where I had reserved a large car. The picking-up process was surprisingly quick and easy (I think it's because I had filled out all the info already online) and only ten minutes later I was driving away in a really cheesey Pontiac of some kind. The interior design was ultra-sleezey with large bulbous air vents everywhere, goofily shaped dashboard, and blood-red displays. I was a little embarrassed to be driving this car - it was the equivalent of one of those huge boom boxes with all the crazy Transformer-like pieces and gaudy display and giant speaker cases. But it was super powerful and comfortable and quiet. I drove home with the airconditioner blasting and went inside to pack our stuff. The equipment is on our top floor and the temperature up there on an August afternoon singes your nostrils like attic air. While I was hurriedly packing-up, something weird happened to my upstairs phone. It just kept beeping every five minutes like it wasn't being charged even though the light said it was charging, it was very irritating. Then while I was sweating like a wrestler and untangling stubborn cables, the phone KEPT ON ringing, but I had to go downstairs to answer it. I swear, I got like 9 calls in five minutes. A bunch of them I missed. I eventually got everything packed up and Brian said he would be over in ten minutes so I quickly jumped in the shower to try to cool down a little. I took a very very cold shower and felt a little better, but by the time I got my shoes tied I was as sweaty as a softball game at fat camp. Brian and I loaded all the stuff into the gimungous trunk of our pimp-mobile and we picked up Tony and headed for our secret drop-off and pick-up spot in Springfield where Max was waiting for us. When we pulled up next to him, he looked nervously at our tinted windows, probably imagining that he was about to be accosted by a mobster nephew. On the way to NY we hit a whole mess of traffic, most of it caused by cones in the road. Someone had left a whole mess of traffic cones in the road for what seemed like no reason at all. Brian and I talked about music and Tony and Max talked about babies. We got to Pete's just in the nick of time, about five minutes before the Pelicans were starting, and tried to assimilate and catch our breath. Brian and Max ordered sandwiches and beers. Tony and I had sodas. The Pelicans played a set of awesome songs (Ari was wearing one of his Queer Eye shirts) to a full room. It was fun to not only hear Ari's newer songs but also to hear the old Humbert ones while sitting with Brian and Tony, (all three of us used to be in Humbert with Ari). We took the stage after the Pelicans. A lot of their fans had left but a few stuck around, and we had some familiar friendly faces in our crowd, specifically, Pete, Matt, Alan, and Max's "camping" friends. Our set was rough and messy. It was hard to hear much and there was a mysterious ringing tone which somehow was not in the key of any of the songs we played. But, we did ok and we made some people laugh. It was devastatingly hot on the stage but I didn't really notice until the show was over. My friend from the past, Alan Chaput, came to the show, which was great. I hadn't seen him for years and years. In the old days, he helped me out a bunch on my solo effort "Big Plans for Underachievers" by playing many instruments for me and we were good friends all through my college years in Lowell. Now he is in a band called Valeze. His whole band showed up for our set, which was very nice of them. Thank you, Valeze. Also, Alan brought me a present. It was a small bag of fish. Thank you, Alan. We got out of Brooklyn pretty hurriedly knowing that the late-tired morning hours awaited us in Massachusetts. Brian kindly stayed awake with me for almost the whole way home and when he finally did nod off to sleep (litterally nodding his head down and then quickly up, and then down) Max woke up and kept me company. We hit a bunch more crazy trucks-everywhere traffic but from New Haven to Northampton was smooth sailing. We got home at just about 3:20 and I unpacked the car and brought all the stuff upstairs and went to bed. Expenditures Car rental: 62.00 Gas: 11.00 (it's secret how we pulled that off.) Tolls: 9.00 -------------- Total: 82.00 Earnings Money donated to band in passed around bucket: 23.75 One CD sold: 10.00 -------------- Total: 33.75 Total spent: $48.25 and forty winks.   Brian Says: I was in a timeless, weightless space, happily floating without a care in the world. Somewhere in the distance, I faintly heard one of my least favorite songs: Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love". I thought to myself, "huh, funny. I think Henning recently joked that we should cover this song. When was that? I'll ask him next time I see him..." Suddenly, Henning miraculaously appeared to my left, driving a car with an all blood-red dash disply. Even more miraculous was that he was listening to the same infernal Bad Company song. "Henning, did you say we should cover this song?". "Yeah", he laughed. A couple minutes later Ifully awoke and asked him, "when did you say that thing about covering "Feel Like Making Love?". "Like 10 seconds before you woke up and asked me about it". "Oh". It was all making sense. But I do love the timelessness of sleep. didn't realize my sandwich had copicola on it until 3/4 of the way through. By which time it was too late to switch with Max, who was eating in the other room. I wondered if we both got the same sandwich and that's why he didn't come in to switch sandwiches. But after a while I went in the barroom and asked Max, "did your sandwich have copicola on it?" He said "no". Oh well, now when I see copicola (ga-ba-goul) in the deli case, I can say I've had it. Pete's band beverage policy is very geneous. I had Ketel One and Stoli drinks for free. In the Jake Slichter book about Semisonic, he relates many episodes where the relative anonymity of the drummer results in his being ignored by autograph seekers, interviewers, etc, while all eyes and words are focused on the lead guy. So I smiled to myself when a fan said hi to Henning and then introduced his girlfriend. I was just a guy standing next to Henning. Just wait 'till my book comes out. It will revolutionize gardening and barbecue. Max Says: Brian, I hope my Pete's Candy Store sandwich was tasty. Your mozzarella and tomato with basil on baguette was as well, and I enjoyed eating it while sitting in the bar, people watching during the Pelicans' set. I liked the first few songs that Ari and co. played, but the room was very loud and I thought I might feel self-conscious eating in front of everyone. So I ate alone out in the bar and was just as happy. Having played New Haven, Northampton, NYC and Boston last week, I felt like I really was on tour, though having to work full days in-between was pretty exhausting. On all three out-of-town shows (two with SFH), one thing remained consistent: almost nobody showed up. This isn't to say I don't enjoy playing the shows, I do. Even if we're only playing for one or two people, I like traveling, hanging out with my friends in the band and playing music. But I wonder: at what point does it stop making sense to drive 7 hours for a mozzarella and tomato with basil on baguette?	Uncomfortable Back To School Something's Taking Over Thug Save My Place J ournal of Lies Map Superhero One Lady Dancing Disgruntled Lover Photobooth Curtain Omnivore no activity pages (scanner not working right now)