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When Bands Go See Bands
Well, it finally happened. It
took a lot of coordination, phone calls, pleading, and
other assorted nonsense. I offered to be in charge of
buying the tickets, and people associated with my band
but not actually in the band were on and off the guest
list more frequently than I can change mandolin
strings. And, in true “band” fashion, at the last
minute, it almost didn’t work out.
But, thankfully,
it did, and I finally, finally, got my own entire
band, all three people, to go see another band.
And not just any
band, in fact, this band had the exact number of
people in it that my band has. It must be a lucky
number.
 Oh,
did I mention, we went on our journey in the official
band tour bus. Someday, we’ll get a better tour bus,
but for now, I’ll have to put up with a “tour bus”
that – get this, - does not have a dashboard.
That’s right, a
dashboard. The dashboard to our tour bus, which I have
never seen yet, myself, is purported to exist,
according to our guitar player. He said, when he
bought the vehicle, that yes, the vehicle did come
with a dashboard, but he removed it to “Fix the
Heater-control-thingy.”
That was about 2
years ago. Let’s just say that on the trip home, I had
to wrestle with cables and wires and
god-knows-what-else until, by some miracle, we thought
that we could actually feel defroster air coming out
of the dashboard.
Our road trip
began in Hood
River, and we headed West on I-84,
to our first tour stop, mind you, our first real band
field trip-tour stop.
It was the Jack in
the Box off exit 16.
Someone had to use the
bathroom. Those 45-minute drives are something else,
you know.
Then, at the last
minute, our bass player decided she needed something
to drink, so she went in and came back with a giant
something or other. But, just so you know, keep this
landmark restaurant in mind as you read the rest of
the story.
We were on the
road again. What to eat? Where? So many choices. So we
decided on the only thing that seemed logical at the
time.
Ethiopian Food.
Most of us had
never tried this cuisine. We learned about the whole
“pancake-crepe” item that’s an integral part of this
food culture.
 We
headed down I-84 again and drove to the Rose Quarter
exit and headed north. We were in search of a
restaurant called “Horn of Africa” Our guitar player
was convinced this restaurant existed near the concert
venue. But, this was way before the time of removing
the dashboard from the tour bus, so we could be
talking decades here, I’m not sure.
It turns out we
didn’t find that particular eatery, but did find a
similar one nearby. So we head into this place – and
we’re pretty much the only ones there.
Except for the
restaurant owners, who happen to be little people.
By the way, the
owners were the most cheerful, helpful people I’ve
ever met. Our waiter had to reach up to put menus on
the table.
As they were
looking at my license to make sure I was the right age
for beer, I thought to myself “I just got to an
Ethiopian restaurant in a tour bus that has no
dashboard and now I’m being carded by a little
person.”
I just couldn’t
stop thinking about the little people dancing around
the even smaller Stonehedge in 1983’s “Spinal Tap.”
Ah, to be in a
band.
The restaurant
played African-sounding jazz. Soon a few more
customers came in. Our conversation ranged from
“ethno-botany” to Halloween costumes. They had my
favorite beer, but they didn’t give a glass. And, come
to think of it, I didn’t have a fork either.
The food was
great. Un-pronounceable but great. But there’s no
silverware. They bring out two of these huge dishes
with various meats and vegetables on these humungous
pan-crepes- that you tear off and wrap up with what
you’d like to try.
I got over my fear
of no forks and dug in.
Soon, we were
full, happy people. It’s almost time for the show.
The check arrives.
Our bass player rummages through her purse. Everybody
pretty much had the same thing, so we can forgo the
“restaurant math” that plagues some folks and just
split it 4 ways. We box up the leftovers and promise
the owners we’ll return again.
Suddenly, our bass
player says she needs the key to the tour bus. We joke
that she’s going to leave us stranded. She comes back
a little worried. Her wallet is nowhere to be found.
The wallet is not in the bus, but she just knows that
she brought it with her. In fact, the last time she
saw it was….
At Jack in the
Box.
After a few phone calls,
miraculously, the Jack in the Box in fact does have
the wallet, and will keep it for safekeeping until we
pick it up later tonight.
[Advance story
line: The photo to the left is our bass player
retrieving her wallet from Jack in the Box at the
Drive Up Window at 1 a.m.]
I settle the bill and we’re on
our way to the show.
The Wonder
Ballroom is only a few blocks away, but it’s so packed
with people out front that we have to backtrack a few
blocks to find parking, but it’s not so bad. What is
bad, though, is having to wait in a huge line to get
to the box office to pick up will-call tickets. If I
have to gripe, then how bout another line for will
call? But, half the show is hanging out in line, I
know.
Showtime was
listed as 9 p.m.,
but I should know better by now. Fortunately, that’s
what time the warm-up band starts. We finally make it
through to the ticket window and get inside. Good
thing I reserved some tickets, because I think the
show sold out.
It turned out that
the warmup band was a band I saw back in January. It
was Jackstraw, in yet another configuration that I
hadn’t seen before. They were wailing away on some
down-home bluegrass.
Instead of the usual 2 guitar
players, there’s a totally different guitar guy (who
coincidentally looked like one of the original guitar
players), but who could also jam some note-perfect
bluegrass picking. He combined the best of both into
one.
This show must
have been an all-ages deal because the beer section
was closed off, and the only way to get in, was,
that’s right, to wait in another line. I have another
gripe – a place this big needs a coat check room. What
am I supposed to do? It’s 40 degrees outside and 85
degrees inside, and it’s just gonna get worse. Come
on, Wonderball – get on the ball on this one. Have
some amenities for people over 30.
The lights finally
dim and this band comes on. Two acoustic guitars. One
acoustic bass. Some vocal mics. Hmm, very similar to
my band, indeed.
The show starts
with the basic upbeat country-style song.
And I look out
over the crowd from the bar upstairs at the back of
the room. And I say to myself, “What the heck was
that? Did someone fall off the stage?
And then, it
happened again. Somebody climbed up on the stage,
danced around, and then flung himself into the
audience, a portion of which gladly kept him from
plummeting to the floor. He bounced around on the
crowd for a few seconds and then disappeared.
I can’t believe it
- people are gonna crowd surf to this music??
I venture up
closer to the stage, but, I’m gonna be kinda careful -
I don’t really want somebody landing on me.
After all, I don’t
want my band to suddenly become a duo due to a bizarre
crowd surfing accident.
The Devil Makes Three
w/Jackstraw
Wonder Ballroom
Oct. 23, 2009
Portland
1. Beneath the Piano(?)
2. For
Good Again
3. River Deep
4. Shades
5. Uncle
Harvey’s Plane (Roger Miller)
6. ?? “Chicago
waiting for my train to come in (rag)
7. My Gal
(Jim Kweskin Jug Band)
8. All Over You (Bob Dylan)
9. Graveyard
10.Ten Feet Tall
11. South
Nashville Blues (Steve Earl)
12. The
Bullet
13. ?? “people always screamed for it at
every single show – highway – ain't drunk to drive”
14. Car Wreck
15. Gracefully Facedown
16. ????
Eastern European sounding instrumental
17.
Statesboro Blues
18. ???? “20 dollar gold piece on
my watch“
19. Aces and Twos
20. Black Irish
encore
???? “Back to my home
– ain’t nothing done here that you can hold”
P.S. this was a difficult set
list to nail down, so sorry for the omissions. I
emailed the band, but so far, no response. If anyone
can fill in the 6 songs I’m missing – please send it
in!
Thanks Dougie for the discs –
I’ll give them a listen soon and see you at the next
show!!
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