At the moment I’m sitting in a Starbucks, knowing I shouldn’t be, but my favourite independent coffeeshops are either way out of range or closed due to hideous fire damage. I’m watching a little brown bird on the table just outside, cocking its head here and there and back and forth and possibly listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers with me. God knows what those sounds mean to the poor little beastie. I Love the way they’re so sleek… and yet floofy.
Documenting the new House of Musical Traditions.
I like the word “floofy”. Ignore the fact that it’s probably not a real word.
RHCP is one of those bands that I’d really like to see but never have gotten the chance to. There isn’t a big list of performers like that. Most of what I listen to are CDs that we’ve gotten on the road of other performers that we cross paths with regularly. I’m fortunate in my friends I suppose – amazed by the talent there – but there’s of course nothing like the Chili Peppers, nothing like the metal bands that I grew up on…. I want to go see something like Skindred or Nonpoint or something.
Ernie Fowler hosting the An Poitin Stil open mic in Timonium, MD.
I’m definitely sitting underneath a subwoofer. Flea is my Lord and Master, but at this moment he’s making my bowels uncomfortable with his overriding 5-string.
Acacia Sears and Ashraf Dawod are… funny.
The other guy sitting near me has decided to strike up a conversation and we’ve babbled about the truth of smoothies for a little while. What I’m drinking is more milkshake than smoothie. It’s coating my interior and making me sad. I wanted fruity, delicious refreshingness – not thick fruit-flavoured goo. My tears are absorbed by banana strawberry cream and my weeping is masked by “Under the Bridge”.
Yesterday, Frederick was threatened by thunderstorms and though part of me was expectant and excited by the electricity, a lot of me was all a’feared that we’d get rained out. Beyond wanting to play, our contract for the day didn’t include a kill fee for rain and it’s always nice to have the extra paycheck.
While we waited for the rain to stop, Heather tried out some new songs on the people who were pinned with us in our little dry nook. They liked us in our nook.
Heather and I playing first Saturday Frederick.
We didn’t know at all that this Frederick’s First Saturday was the annual Mutt Strut! I Love the bulldogs, though the idea that these guys might just take to the air at any second made me fear for the slightly clean exterior of my Saturn.
This mammal, however made me completely lose it during Allergy. It was so fierce! So GROWLY! And then I burst out laughing!
We got to play as the sun went down when suddenly all the dogs were replaced with babies in strollers. There must be some kind of solar-powered transmorphic de-lycanthrope switch.
The rain got us started late, but we always cause ruckus and about a half dozen people who’d come to see us huddled with us and our gear under an overhang, pulling plastic bags over the speakers and praying nothing exploded. The grumble of thunder eventually let up and we started the show with an only slightly moistened Alvarez, a rather damp rob and a Heather who was the only one of us smart enough to stay out of the rain.
Now… dogs…. lots of people walk their dogs on Saturday afternoons down Market Street in Frederick. It’s quite a show. Yesterday though it was “Strut Your Mutt” day as well and the dogs ruled the streets. Once the rain cleared out they poured onto the sidewalks. Big dogs, little dogs, medium dogs, triplets, quadruplets, dogs being walked, carried, dogs in strollers, one cat in a stroller… there’d been a costume contest so dogs were dressed up and people were dressed up to match. It was bizarre.
But, what with so much eye candy around, it was sad to see the effect we were having. The dogs would start coming up on our little set up and start freaking out. They didn’t want to pass in front of the speakers and they’d try to back up. The owners would pull them along past the first speaker at which point the dogs would try to move quickly forward, of course only to discover that there was ANOTHER speaker ahead of them. They’d try to run towards US but then they didn’t like the bass of the djembe. They’d try to run away from us but that was into the street.
I felt bad for the beesties and tried to quiet down when one was particularly ill-effected, but their ears almost unanimously swept back and there was much whining and to-do.
(ice maker groans and rattles and scares the FUCK out of me)
Okay, I’m going to curl up around a pillow again and see if I can soothe myself into unconsciousness. I wish it was raining again though – I want the patter-down-sound and rumble of thunder and burning-white shocks through the windows. Then I want to go run around and become very chilly and wet and then change clothes and wrap myself in a blanket with good company and watch terrible sci-fi movies till dawn.
Oh, and then call in sick to work.
