history 4
the official gig at iq's
(Damn it, somewhere around here I've got the ad from the GB Press-Gazette on our gig at IQ's, but can't seem to locate it. Anyhow, when I do I'll post it so it'll be like official.)
Late afternoon on the designated Friday we showed up at the bar for a sound check. A SOUND CHECK. I know, for Gary and a few of you out there who may be used to this stuff that sounds like no big deal, but to me it felt as if Pete Fountain himself found my stolen clarinet.
Four or five veteran alkies were at the bar when we got there. They looked at us through bleary eyes as if we were the Beatles materializing out of a desert mirage. We strolled past dismissively and tried not to inhale their breath.
The stage at IQ's offered ample room to inadvertantly stick the neck of your guitar up a fellow band member's butt.
On stage we plugged in our amps and geetars and wailed away for a few songs. Sandy yelled at us about being a tad loud. Loud? Hell, Gary's ears weren't even bleeding yet. Didn't matter, we were set.
Went home to meditate, met the guys back at the bar to set up just before 10. I'd had a couple or three espressos to relax at home and I felt fine, but my hands were shaking and I kept plugging my amp into the storage room lock.
At ten Bill gave us the thumbs up and we launched into a wild version of Manic Depression. It must have been perfect since some drunk told us later, “Man, if Hendrix was here he would have thought he was up on the stage!” What better proof than that?
Well, we did a decent job. Hit most of the right notes, too. Jody got flashed by some babe who was stalking him - as usual with my luck I was looking the other way at the time. But the audience seemed to like us and cheered us on.
Two hours later the crowd yelled for an encore so much that, shucks folks, we decided to play Manic Depression one more time. That was about the only mistake we made all night.
This time, instead of coming together perfectly after the brief intro, Mike decided to wait a couple beats to start, then sang a half-octave higher and two times faster than usual. Gary and I were still tuned down from the song before, so we sounded like a record player someone had unplugged. Jody was the only one to not screw up.
Somehow we survived it. The crowd was too drunk to notice any difference anyway. And the Stand Ins were now in the public domain.
later that night...
As we packed up our gear around midnight, one of the guys in the following band asked to talk. The bass player's wife couldn't get a baby-sitter, so he ran home and they were sans bassman. He asked me to sit in with them and I got stage fright all over again.
The caffeine had worn off long ago, I was tired, and my ability to reason faltered. I agreed.
They generously told me what key to play before each song, and I managed to hang in there. Stumbled outside at 2am with numb, bleeding fingers, and dreams of hitting the road with the Stand Ins. We hit the road alright, but in different directions.
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