daddy's big night out!
1:03 p.m.
ok...back to saturday night...
i saw online 3 different times that the music was supposed to start, i hate that. but it was free to get in, so that was cool.
i got to arcata around 10:30 pm...the streets were full of people walking around...the movie had just gotten out, and there were lots of folks hanging around the bars on the plaza.
i drove around for a while, i'm always a bit uneasy about going places by myself...i finally parked and headed to the club...haha, it WASN'T free, it was 4 bucks! no biggie...
kulica was playing when i got there, i guess they're THE big hippie-jam band around here right now. kinda boring to me...a few songs were pretty cool, but they're just too blues-based for me...great drummer, though, he really looks like he's having fun.
jared saw me right away, he was real glad i came...got a handshake and a bit of a shoulder squeeze, AND he remembered my name, haha! he said his band (ground control) would be going on in about 45 minutes.
when i had called the club earlier, the guy on the phone called them "ground cover"!
got me a nice cold non-whoopie beer and proceeded to hold up a post or two...saw some people i know, the straightest-looking couple...they were bustin' a move, for sure. i said hi to them later, and i know the mrs. didn't recognize me at first, had my cool shirt and my wool cap on...trying to blend in!
lots of cool-looking SHORT semi-hippie boys milling about...hmm, i DO need to get out more.
kulica did some song about "ganja" and of course, everyone was cheering.
went out and had a smoke between bands...went back in, and g.c. was setting up...jared on drums, 2 more percussionists (one guy was hitting cymbals with his bare hands, ouch!...lead singer, keyboard player, who was really animated, bobbing and weaving all over while playing, fun to watch...sax, guitar, great bass player, real funky, and another guitarist, acoustic, he sang a lot too...he DID have a mojo bag hangin' around his neck...far out man.
the band was setting up, and some of 'em started playing, and gradually they all joined in, it was a cool start.
so yeah, nine guys...the first song was cool, and i was thinking, hmm, this sounds like talking heads when they had all those extra people in the band. well, the second song WAS a talking heads number, "slippery people"...( now THERE'S a good name for a band!) good call, michael!
the stuck the falsetto oooh-oooh's from the stones' "miss you" in the middle of that one, that was interesting...
the band had a lot of dynamics, sometimes they'd drop out to just percussion in the middle on a song, and sometimes it sounded like the song was about to fall apart, and all of a sudden they'd pull it back together...
they did an old bill withers song..."using me", is that it? and one kinda disco number, i think it was by that jamiriqui guy...(spelling?)...there was a disco beat to a lot of the set, it sure didn't sound like hippie music...the crowd was almost at a punk-level of energy, very cool.
the lead singer took his shirt off halfway through, that was a treat, nice body....and at the end of the set, he took his HAIR off! he had been wearing a wig the whole time...his real hair was about as short as mine is right now...i had NO idea! they were full of surprises...
oh and one song, all of sudden there was this great trumpet solo, from where i was standing, i didn't even SEE the guy...so it's 10 members...
they did some typical covers, "sympathy for the devil", stevie wonder, grateful dead, even, but the arrangements were always interesting.
talked to jared after the show for a second, and THAT'S when i met his girl.... i thought he said she lived on the street, but i guess he said "down the street", meaning she lives close to the store....
jared is a really great drummer!
anyway, it was a fun evening, i'm gonna go see them again for sure...i CAN go someplace by myself, i guess!
ok, back to work...
later, michael