I flaked yesterday and didn't take a picture. Luckily, this photo was taken after midnight Thursday, so it technically works for Sept. 28, crappy as it may look.
Crazy — there's less than a hundred days left in this project. And the year.
Within the span of three hours last night, I managed to spill tequila and shiraz all over myself (the tequila when I took a shot out of a plastic cup and realized, three-fourths of the way in, that the barkeep had generously oversupplied me, but it was too late to stop the momentum of the shot; the shiraz was my own idiot fault because I was gripping the cup — yes, cup — in my teeth and doing something else with my hands and suddenly I realized I couldn't bob my head around like so and there went delicious wine all down my damned shirt). And the fine folks you see dancing up there in that picture also contributed to the nastiness of my shirt (which is black, fortunately) by periodically (accidentally?) flinging the contents of their nearly empty cups in my general direction.
Luckily I was a sweaty mess within two seconds of entering the Hi-Tone, so it didn't make much of a difference in my general appearance.
• I hadn't seen Jimmy or Theresa in several months. In fact, I think the last time might have been last spring or summer. Anyway, it had been too long. Theresa and I hung out in the kitchen for way too long and girl talked. We watched old videos of the guys answering random questions posed by their friends. We laughed as Phil winced at his silly accent and Jimmy squirmed to try to figure out what was written in ink on his knuckles. It said "DORK," I believe, but at one point I was drunkenly convinced it said "FURY." Theresa and I agreed that we are unashamed to admit that we like Justin Timberlake's music. THERE, I SAID IT. We went down to the Deli to pick up two pizzas, but the staff kept true to their "worse service than the last time you were here" rule by making us wait for something like half an hour or 45 minutes while some new dude completely effed up the ham and cheese pizza to the point where it was basically a pizza crust topped with four slices of ham laid flat underneath maybe ten thick slices of cheese laid flat. Or at least that's how it looked. The good people waiting on us actually gave us the pizzas for free for waiting so long, but still. WTF is with the Deli lately? Or have they always been like this and I've just never really noticed because I go in there so infrequently?
Anyhoo, it was good to see those two again. Hopefully it won't be another freaking year or half a year or whatever until I see them again.
• My trip home that same weekend was a whirlwind of Wal-Mart and tiny fried-fish restaurants and birthday cake and photographs. There and back too quickly as always.
• The Rob Crow show was kind of disappointing. We got there at 10 (doors opened at 9), thinking there was only one opening band, but we were a little dismayed when we realized there were two opening bands (we're an impatient lot). The first one went on ten minutes after we got there. They were a local band. I didn't much care for them, but I am an asshole who generally does not support local bands unless they're preternaturally good. The second band was local, too, and they were a bit better than the first, but I didn't really care for them either. Rob Crow played a short and fast set. It was good, but the crowd wasn't really into it, so he didn't really seem into it. It was so small that everyone was sitting at tables and not up at the stage. I guess I could have gotten up to do something about that, but A) you know me better than that and B) I was already wasted by then, and taking pictures in the bathroom. So, yeah. Would have liked to have seen way more of the headliner than the local bands. But that's just me, and I go to shows like four times a year. So WTF do I know?
Phil summoned up the gorditas to actually talk to Rob while he was standing around, sipping from a cup and staring off into space. He shook his hand and got a shoulder pat when Phil asked him about his new baby. Phil said that really made him light up.
Here's a bit of "If Wade Would Call" from the new album:
Last time I was at the Hi-Tone, it was to see Pinback. And some seriously crazy shit went down and I thought Phil was going to have to choke a bitch (because a bitch tried to choke him).
So let's hope this show goes much better. I will bring an even bigger posse of emotional shoe-gazers with me if need be.
