SSW, Mr Roberts, 4/14/2011

We were a last minute add with Pop Suicide. They wanted us to fill as much time as possible.

The show was a comedy of errors. Two mic stands broke. Kenny's bass amp wasn't working properly. Both Rick AND Jim broke strings. On more than one occasion at least one of us was in the wrong key. For a few songs I realized as we started that we hadn't played them in weeks or months. No one but a handful of our dedicated fans (read FRIENDS) attended. They still paid us the $150 guarantee ($75 per band) but warned that we needed to bring a crowd next time. Of course, with less than a week's notice about a show, that's hard to do. Especially for a Thursday show.

I had three beers...one before, one during, and one after. And I drake coffee and 32 ounces of water. Ate a huge pasta dinner. Had decent sleep. I'd say it was pretty sober drumming and not terrible. Mostly I just hadn't played some of the songs for a long time. We also debuted 3 tunes that weren't really ready for prime time but went fine. I recorded the show...not our best performance. Rough start...middle was decent...got sloppy as we hit the home stretch again.

After the show I was accosted by a persistent drunken Moroccan man. First he really wanted to know all about my drums (which are about as "not special" as a drum kit can get and still be playable in a professional situation) and then he wanted to tell me what a great player I was over and over. And then he wouldn't go away. He wanted to talk to me, but wanted me to drop everything I was doing and stare straight into his eyes...but I needed to load out. He seemed unwilling to talk while I packed up...and it created an akward situation. After load out I tried to talk to him, but it became apparent that he was quite drunk AND had some language barriers. He was very passionate about whatever it was that he was saying and really, really wanted me to respond...but he was basically mumbling jibberish. No idea what that was about. I couldn't tell if he was hitting on me...was just really into the drums...or what. I suspect he was in that "when women drum it is so cool and sexy and they are awesome" thing. The drummer that played in the opening band had way better chops than me and he didn't seem interested in that guy at all.

I always find it suspect when people are overly enthusiastic about what a great drummer I am. I think that I am a reliable drummer and do a decent job in a beginning-intermediate kind of way. I don't have tons of chops and I don't have tons of finesse. I have a limited pallette of skills. I have a good amount of experience playing in a group situation and I am good at listenting to my bandmates and reacting appropriately. I try to serve the music and not show off. I practice and I learn my parts and I show up to rehearsal and, unless you are one of those people who hate me (and there are those people in the world) I'm easy to get along with in a band. I promote my shows and even book them as needed. I buy beer for the band. I have my own equipment and transportation and rehearsal space. I pull my weight.

I am not, however, awesome. And when someone tells me I am awesome I think it says more about them than me. They either
1) are a guy that has a hang up about female rockers
2) are a woman who wishes they could be a rocker but is afraid to try
and usually are also drunk.

Setlist:
1. PART TIME PUNKS
2. HATE & WAR
3. I HATE THE RICH
4. NEW ROSE
5. THAT'S HOW I ESCAPED MY CERTAIN FATE
6. TEENAGE KICKS
7. MR. SUIT
8. HELICOPTER
9. WE ARE THE ONE
10. DON'T GIVE ME NO LIP CHILD
[we took a break here to change 2 broken strings]
11. BOSCOBEL BREAKOUT
12. I AM A CLICHE
13. DANCE (4X) TO THE RADIO
14. SUSPECT DEVICE
15. YOU DRIVE ME APE (YOU BIG GORILLA)
16. WARSAW
17. POLITICAL SONG FOR MICHAEL JACKSON TO SING
18. EVERYBODY'S HAPPY NOWADAYS
19. MANIAC
20. ONE TRACK MIND
21. TOO DRUNK TOO FUCK
22. TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISPS PLEASE
23. FUCKED UP AND WASTED