Wow, this night was probably top 5. It involved blood, sweat, urine, not necessarily in that order. The show was officially sold out by 11pm. Head Rush (have since changed their name to HR7) started of the night with a high energy blend of ska/rock. I had never heard them before, but had always heard good things (check them out if you haven’t yet). They were followed by Clouded Vision (Sublimish reggae/punk), I think they said they’re coming out with a cd soon so check for it.
Chapter 1-The Sweat:
We hit the stage a little late but the energy in the room was primed. Without any easing in or introduction, we let the bangers fly. The dance floor was packed all night full of every shape and size moving every way they could.
Chapter 2- The Blood
Our last song was "Drunk & in Love" we did a rock n roll ending and held out the last note. I thought I was in Aerosmith and pointed the mic stand at the crowd like a gun and went First Blood on everybody. Then I swung it around to my left and it stopped mid swing. Based on the reaction of the people in the first row, I knew I didn’t hit a speaker. Instead I hit Kevin, who was playing bass, right in the forehead. He looked stunned, borderline passing out and leaned on the back wall for support. Never missing a note he was trying to figure out what happened. At that moment the blood came rushing down his face. He looked like Hulk Hogan had just just hit him with a chair in the WWE. Fortunately it was our last song, the crowd wanted more, but realized that the bass player may need some medical attention. After stopping the bleeding and putting his bass down, everyone wanted to take a picture with him which we all thought was very punk rock.
Chapter 3- The Urine
During our set a member of another band that played earlier got 86’d and wasn’t too happy. Somehow, in his drunken haze, he climbed onto the roof of Club Fred. All I know is that someone standing in front of the the club thought it was raining, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Yep, he pissed on them, from the rooftop. Yeah thats right, somebody went home that night, realizing that they really got pissed by a guy standing on the roof. The next day that person had explain the story of how they thought it was raining but they really were taking a golden shower. Needless to say that band he is in probably won’t be playing Club Fred again in this lifetime.
Also-a note to bands in general in this town. When you are done with your set, don’t take a shot on stage, don’t talk to your friends. Just get your gear off the stage. Drummers: take your entire set down, then break down off stage. Guitarist/bassist-take your gear offstage then pack it into the case. I’m from the old school of gigging where sound men and stage managers were assholes, but the shows ran on time.
