...that Jack made these posters for us to put up at WATERLOO ICE HOUSE announcing our upcoming gig there. When we showed up on gig night, one of the waitresses told us that someone from the Austin Chamber of Commerce had come by to complain about the posters. She told us they thought it looked like a baby on fire. She was really put off when Jack told her, "No, it's a baby dissolving in a vat of acid."
...that an 18-year old runaway named Asha called my number by mistake, ended up talking with me for several hours because I sounded "cool", called every night for the next few days, and, ultimately, ended up living at Mathtown for a week or so.
...that Mandy called me in my room at Mathtown from his room at Mathtown. He said he was going to shoot himself. He has several large guns. I heard a loud boom and then silence over the phone. I waited, listening for a sound. None. I said, "I didn't hear a body drop. Seconds later, a loud thud as Mandy threw a phone book to the floor."
...that we were out at Mandy's family's place in the sticks of Southton Rd. We were hanging with some friends including this freak named Josh. We got bored and decided to go out to the road and fake a mugging when a car drove by. We heard a car coming over the bridge, Josh fell to the street and we pretended to kick his ass and take his wallet. The car, filled with a family, stopped and began honking its horn to get us to stop. They looked terrified. As some of took off running, Josh hops to his feet and waves to the car's occupants, "Just kidding!"
...that we were playing at CHANGEZ, usually an industrial dance club. It was the last of a series of gigs there, each increasingly hostile. We were playing MEANTIME when, timed perfectly between the intro and verse, someone form the upper level of the club yells, "SUCK!" Henry Thomas (the kid form E.T.) was there that night. I have my suspicions.
...that we were playing at CHANGEZ and, not surprisingly, nobody was dancing. Not that they weren't enjoying us. So, this large, drunk guy jumps on stage during the intro to LET'S HOLD HANDS and frightens Jack off the stage. The rest of us continue to play as he steps up to the microphone to screams of "Reggie, no!" from the audience. He spake, "Dance! Dance, muthafuckas, dance! These guys are good! I like their music!" After the gig, he handed me a note written on the back of a bar tab. On it, he aplogized for getting on stage, said he was a friend of someone we knew, and promised to get us a gig at SWT in San Marcos.
...that we were doing Frank Black's HEADACHE at LA TUNA. Now, Mandy had never before sung anything with the band, but we had him singing the phantom high part that only he could hear. When we get to the chorus, I hear Mandy's weak "Headache!" and I bust out laughing. I laughed so hard and uncontrolably that I stopped playing and felt as though I would soon swoon. I could barely make out my bandmates dropping out of the song one by one.
...that we were playing at ZOEY'S, a coffee house. I guess the ambience set a overly relaxing mood because Mandy played the gig while lying down on one the sofas.
...that we were asked to play at a party for Becky at her parents place in Marble Falls. A lovely house, but located in B.F.E. Now, after all the trouble of getting out there with the equipment, we begin to play and, within moments, a sheriff's patrol car comes rumbling up the road. It turns out it was the Sheriff's patrol car. Sheriff Bill Mill steps out of his cruiser to hear us playing, coincidently, I SHOT THE SHERIFF. He politely asked us to stop playing because the neighbors had complained. You couldn't even see the nearest house.
...that we were playing at ZOEY'S and Mandy had taken a radio so he could listen to the Bulls game while we played. He got pissed because it was interrupted by live coverage of the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase.
...that we were playing at the ELECTRIC LOUNGE and the entire audience came up on stage and sang with us. We were trying to write a set list before we went on, and one of us suggested opening with our cover of Zappa's STICK IT OUT. We dared ourselves and opened with it. That was the first time we cleared a room before our first song was over. The only person left in the place was Chuck's girlfriend Becky. So, she climbed up on the stage and sang our set with us. She was the "entire audience".
...that we were playing at BORRACHO'S in San Antonio. We played our cover of LA BAMBA, which Chuck sang. We thought it was funny that Chuck actually knew the words. Not unusually, we weren't sticking to our set list and had to confer after the song to decide what to play next. While we were doing this, someone yelled sarcastically for us to play LA BAMBA again. Jack and I looked at each other with the same thought in mind. He said, "I dare us." So, I went into the opening lick and we played the entire song again. When we finished, the same hecklers yelled, "You suck!" So we did the song again, this time with a revised chorus by Jack: "Go fuck yourself, go fuck yourself..."
...that we unloaded all our equipment at DOZA'S for a gig. When it was time to set up, I noticed that Mandy was gone. I looked outside and his truck was gone. Well, we couldn't wait for him, so we set up without his help. Then it was time for soundcheck and, still no Mandy. Finally, a few minutes before we were to go on, he shows up. I was so pissed. I asked where he'd been. In a brilliant example of "Mandylogic" he said that he had gone to help a friend move. I mean, what can you say to that?
...that we were playing at WATERLOO on 6th Street in Austin. Somewhere early in the gig, Jack suddenly, for whatever reason, found it necessary to say, "This next song is dedicated to all the gay people in the audience." When he saw the rest of us trying to hide our embarrassment, he made everything better by saying, "I'm serious!"
...that we were playing at one of Bill's parties. He had invited the head of a local record label that had shown interest in us. Between songs, Jack began reciting a Christmas story that contained some lines which were pretty insensitive towards those partygoers who happened to be Jewish; like the label head and his wife. We weren't signed.
...that we were rehearsing at CHANGEZ and were approached by the lead singer of a dance band from San Antonio, John, and a mutual friend. (This band was very popular. They had a song on Billboard and were written up in Rolling Stone. Their show was a big production and they used tape and sequencers to make a lot of their music when they played live.) As we were being introduced to the John, Jack asked, "Are you live, or Memorex?" John walked off. Later, our mutual friend told us that John had come to our rehearsal to ask if we'd be interested in being his band's permanent opening act, even on tour. They had just been booked for two weeks during spring break to play at a club in Acapulco.
|
|
|
|