On Wednesday, I accompanied James for his rock and roll show at Southpaw. It's a great venue, but when it's crowded it becomes a pain in the ass to get a drink or go to the bathroom. Luckily, we had no such problems on Wednesday night, and not because the bands got free beer and a private bathroom, but because there were about 25 people there. But when you consider that there were four bands and half the people were for me an James, that's not too bad. Anyway, it was a night of firsts for me. It was the first time I'd played a club with a legitimate backstage area and band room, which made me feel extra special. It was also the first time I'd played the bass in a show. It was definitely less stressful than playing the guitar, but it has its own host of problems. Given that you usually only play one note at a time, and often that one note is all anyone hears, it's extra-embarrassing when you flub it. It didn't help that the set list was tinkered with right up until we got on stage. The drummer didn't even know what songs we were playing. Still, there's something kind of nice about having a heafty bass guitar in your hands. Feels more substantial than the guitar. I was also feeling a bit self conscious because everytime I looked into the crowd I saw James' ex-girlfriend, who used to man the bass for him, among other things. After the show, she told me that I had a "I'm actually a good guitar player stuck with a bass" look on my face.
For the opening band, I thought we were pretty good. James' music takes a lot of work to really enjoy. It's not immediately engaging a lot of the time, but if you hear it enough it gets very catchy. On the whole, it was a good experience. Felt good to be on stage again. The last time was over a year and a half ago. And this was the first time either of us had played live with a real drummer since, probably, the last Underpants Cowboy show, which was almost six years ago. So we take this show on the road today, just me and James and assorted loops and effects. I can't imagine doing this for an extended period of time. I'm finding a week and half kind of daunting. James is hitting the road for two months. I'm kind of settled into my comfortable little domestic life, but even if I weren't I don't know how appealing the thought of touring for a few months would be. So as it is, I'm really looking forward to the next week, since it's unlikely I'll be doing this again. I'm so looking forward to SXSW. We'd made our plans without any idea about where we'd be sleeping for the week. I'd planned on asking Doug, but he'll be gone for almost the whole time we're there. Miss Charming Melodee had mentioned that James' music doesn't lend itself too well to attracting hordes of groupies, so the chances of our shacking up with some hot rock and roll babes is pretty remote. As luck would have it, Jenny G (whom I suppose could be seen as a hot rock and roll babe) just happened to move back to Austin not 6 days ago, and has already found an apartment. So she's letting us stay there. And in exchange James will hopefully hook her up with a pass to all the SXSW shows. Works out for everyone. And her little dog (Linc), too.
So tonight, we rock Providence, Rhode Island. Look out, Littlest State in the Union! Then the Granite State of New Hampshire on Saturday for two shows, and Sunday to Boston for two shows as well. I'm a little disappointed, and mildly surprised, that I don't know anyone in any of those places.from Southpaw:
The downstairs band room at Southpaw. Your eyes do not deceive you- that's a racecar tire for a coffee table. The haze was from the copious amounts of incense burning, I suppose as some sort of "courtesy" by the club for hedonistic musicians.
Me and James (and the drummer Mike). It was very dimly lit. Perhaps to go with the somber mood of the music.
Dimly lit again. I had to pee fiercely for the last four songs. Dangers of free cheap beer.