JACK DANIELS, LA, JACK DANIELS, SAN FRANCISCO
We had got the call a month back, we were invited to play with the Shiny Toy Guns at the Roxy (LA) and Slims (SF). Sounded great, then the kicker - Jack Daniels himself was sponsoring the shows. To me it meant much more than just a show, it meant playing for a man that has done so much for me, and I can't remember any of it. I do remember parts, like the first time I ever drank his brew. It went down rough, but by the end I did a belly flop off of a lifeguard tower into the sand. This sort of awesomeness is synonymous with the Jack Daniels experience, so of course we jumped at the opportunity.
The week before the two shows we had played a Halloween show for SD radio station 91x aboard a giant yacht in Mission Bay. There were tons of people, we went nuts, and I got tons of black makeup all over my guitar. We left the yacht show in such a rush that all of our gear was literally thrown in from every possible angle. So of course packing up for the West Coast run sucked. Good thing that my little brother Eric (the drummer) is full of vitality and tetris know how - he is the best man for the job (I did my part too). Packing for these small runs is always hard. Do we bring a trailer? Who's gonna be the prima donna and bring two bags? Why wont the van start? We finally got on the road to hit major LA traffic, but what the hell good times await.
One of main reasons we have been looking forward to playing out lately is to try out our new material. We just finished our album, and its taken awhile to adjust to our new set. We decided to play our new song called "Here I Come" at the Roxy. Its always exciting to think about playing a new song, then half way into you realize its new to everyone else, and one tends to think it didn't come out right. Did I sing in Russian? Noone is throwing their bra's onstage, must be a shitty song... I had tried so hard not to drink from the free bottles of Jack before the show, why didn't I get the whole crowd in the green room drunk before we played? Funny thing is after the show I saw a video of the performance, actually sounded good!
So we played our set, watched an amazing show by the Shiny Toy Guns, and took our entourage of 20 people around Hollywood - home of the $12 whiskey coke (fitting as we had just left whiskey paradise) Cinespace, the W, then off to Rich's one bedroom studio with, you guessed it, 20 people. A great time was had by all, judging by the five complaints he got the next day, all from different neighbors.
We recovered, recouped, and headed off to SF the following day. We waved goodbye to our entourage, left huddled on the floor with no blankets, grabbed some cheap coffee and headed north.
Drivning into SF is always a sight. Its downright inspirational, and one can see instantly see how it's captivated people from around the world. It had an effect on me too, until I saw two transient guys kick the crap out of another transient guy while everyone had to watch. Family's, baby's, spandex biker guys, no one was spared. It was "let's go check out golden gate park" gone wild. There was no shortage of "vendors" on the premise too, and unfortunately I was a bit bugged out by the whole deal. All cities have their issues, just sucks when you see it first thing...
The venue we played at was great. Very nice sound people (for once) and another great crowd. We played a good set, hung out with the Shiny Toy Guns camp, and drank from their green room with great admiration. We scoured the city for a good time after, and found it. Allan's (bass player) mom got us two rooms at the W, and we promised her we wouldn't screw anything up. We found a weird bar where the bartender's where yelling at each other, literally mad for some reason. Another awkward setting, though this time it seemed a little less intense, more funny thanks to our friend Jack Daniels. Made me think... I could get used to this..
