Spring AK Concert Tour - Third Stop
DISCLAIMER: If you want to continue to think of me as a mom who knits and sews and cooks and thinks of sunshine and rainbows and my dog, please do not read this. However, if you are willing to plunge ahead and see the other side, the side of me who has tattoos and stays out late and sometimes might not even be a good role model for young children, read on!
Yesterday was Marcus's second birthday. Being the great parents that we are, we called in a baby sitter for the kids and let him celebrate the evening with his grandmother. We went out to the most anticipated evening of the entire concert tour. We were going to see Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. (You know the theme song from King of the Hill? They wrote that.)
The show was at Altar, a venue that neither Greg nor I have been to yet. It is one of the many churches turned bars that Pittsburgh has to offer. (Is this a statement to what is happening to religion in this fine city?) Quite a cool place. The entire one wall of the room is that bar with huge screens showing anything from movies to silhouettes of dancing naked women. There are even two screens that show a shot of the stage just in case you can't see from where you are. It has a nice sized stage and the nicest bathrooms that I have been in since... I don't know when. They were really nice bathrooms! There are also lots of stained glass mirrors and cool crosses everywhere.
We got there just after the first opener came on stage. It was a band called Georgia which I really liked. They had a lot of really great harmony and strayed from the typical song format and layout. While they played, the crowd hung back along the seating against the walls or at the bar, not a single person stepped foot into the center of the floor. Greg and I merely crossed the center of the floor and found a spot at the bar. I had to order up a Corona. I just couldn't head out see the Peacemakers without a Corona... or four. We started up a conversation with a couple sitting by us at the bar. They were an "older" couple, meaning older than us, probably in their 40's.
The second opener was a trio called Jason Kendall. They were also a groovy little group although I felt they would be more suitable for background music, perhaps something to listen to as you are wandering around a rib festival. As they played, we soon became aware of some looming doom. There was Hola Lola. We had never seen Hola Lola before. We would have remembered her if we had. She was wearing a bright pink shirt that said, "Hola" on it, a shirt that was clearly made to be worn by someone around the age of 15, not someone who would have legally been able to attend the 21+ show that we were at. Hola Lola would not have surprised us the least had she been the personification of that old Kinks song "Lola" where a certain individual that was thought to be a woman turned out to be a man. We didn't have a camera on us to capture this train wreck of a human being, but to give you a better idea of what we were dealing with here, Hola Lola looked almost exactly like this:
As Jason Kendall was clearing the stage, I ordered up my third Corona and got ready to move towards the stage. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Hola Lola and her gang trying to not so slyly inch their way towards the front of the room, too scared to make a real move. I grabbed up Greg and we walked right in front of her and claimed the first spot on the floor, front and about a foot to the right of center. Unfortunately, the stage was big enough that Hola Lola was also able to follow my lead of claiming a spot at the front and ended up right next to me. The couple that we had been talking to at the bar sauntered up to us on the other side and we continued to chat with them quite a bit. It turns out that we have been at several concerts (both Peacemaker concerts and other artists) with them. Meanwhile, some old guy who was trying to pretend he was way past his prime by being a member of the Altar security team, informed us that we had to step back, that we could not be right up on the stage. He then proceeded to rope off an area across the front of the stage about 4 feet wide, explaining that he had to provide room for the waitress to walk through. Umm... bullshit. We weren't the only ones thinking that. The Peacemaker's roadie was on stage setting up and had a few choice words with Mr. Security explaining that Roger (as in Roger Clyne) was not going to be happy with that arrangement. After about 10 minutes, Mr. Security must have lost because he returned to dismantle the velvet rope barrier and all us happy people returned to our posts against the stage. Determined not to lose all his power and masculinity, he pointed at me and said, "If I see your beer up on the stage, it's mine!" As soon as he turned his back Greg said, "Okay dad!"
A couple more minutes passed and Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers were taking the stage.
(picture taken by me at Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH 3-26-06)
They kicked off the show with Wanted and instantly the band and the crowd was on fire. This band is just incredible. Their CD's are great but their concerts are just a whole different entity. The crowd is really part of the show. I am really at loss on even attempting to try to explain what one of their concerts is like. You just have to go.
Recently the band set out to write eight songs in eight days. At the end of the eight days they put on a show and performed their newest songs. Being that this took place down in Mexico, it wasn't something that I was able to just run down and be a part of. In fact, I had completely forgotten about it until they started playing a few songs I didn't recognize and Roger said something about Turbo Ocho. They played seven songs off of Turbo Ocho. It was my understanding that the album wasn't out yet but when we left the show Greg had one in his hand that he picked up at the merch stand.
At some point during the course of the concert while they were playing a song from Turbo Ocho that I didn't know, I got the wise idea to buy the band a round of shots of tequila. Since I am really somewhat shy, I didn't want to be singled out so I kinda sneaked the shots onto the stage by Roger's feet while they were in the middle of the song. You know, because giving isn't about being recognized for your actions. This of course completely backfired. Roger ended up drinking two of the shots himself. He gave one shot to the horn player that was on stage for a few songs. Then he just pissed me off. He picked up a shot and handed it to none other than Hola Lola. Bitch. This was even before Roger got the wise idea that Hola Lola should come up on stage and "throw her hair around". And to think, it was almost a perfect night. My whole outlook on giving has now been altered. From now on anytime I give something, I am going to jump up and down and scream, "Look at me! I am a giver!!"
Last show I went to was right after "No More Beautiful World" came out and he played all but one song on the entire album that night. The more I have listened to the album, the more I liked it, but I was still sour that during that particular concert he didn't play a single song from "Americano". Thankfully this show he played a pretty good mix from both Peacemakers albums and Refreshments albums. (The Refreshments were his old band. I know you know the song Banditos. ) After playing several songs that they wanted to play, they took some requests, although paid no attention to Greg yelling out his song. Then they were back into Mekong for a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Roger partly made up for irritating me with that little stunt he pulled with that shot of tequila by reaching out and taking my hand during the song. He sang and looked deep into my eyes like I was a super model. Uh huh. When they went off the stage at the end of their set, everyone started chanting "Uno más! Uno más! Uno más!" Despite the fact that a lot of their lyrics are in Spanish and I sing along, I don't know Spanish and don't know what I am singing. I also did not know what I was chanting for but it surely sounded like something I wanted! (Greg informed me that I was yelling out, "One more! One more! One more!") They came back on stage and treated us with tres más. They probably could have picked a little bit better of a show stopper for their final song than Nada, but I'll take it.
When they finished their last song I reached up and got a handshake from Roger. Then the band started leaving the stage so I jumped my little 5'2 self onto the edge of the stage and took a set list that was taped to the speaker. With the help of the set list, this is pretty much how the night went down:
Wanted
I Know You Know(from Turbo Ocho)
Hello New Day
I Speak Your Language
Mexico
Maybe We Should Fall in Love
Americano
Mercy (from Turbo Ocho)
Banditos
I Can Drink the Water (from Turbo Ocho)
Lemons
Mañana (from Turbo Ocho)
Beautiful Disaster (on the set list but they didn't play it)
Noisy Head
Tell Your Momma (on the set list but they didn't play it)
Contraband
State of the Art (from Turbo Ocho)
Your Name on a Grain of Rice (on the set list but they didn't play it)
No More Beautiful World
Jack vs. Jose (by request)
Wake Up Call (by request)
Broken Record (by request)
I Don't Need Another Thrill (by request)
Mexican Moonshine (by request)
Green and Dumb (by request)
Mekong
Counterclockwise (on the set list by they didn't play it)
Girly
I Do (from Turbo Ocho)
Nada
This morning while my kids beat each other up, I laid on the floor pretty worn out and listened to Turbo Ocho. I really love this album. I don't normally love any album the first listen through but for some reason, this one just really did it for me. There are actually 11 songs on the album and it includes some sort of DVD of making the album too which I'll have to watch.
In conclusion, damn good times and damn good music all around. It isn't that often that I am able to really live in the moment but when hanging out with Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers on stage, being right there in that moment is really the only place to be.
Yesterday was Marcus's second birthday. Being the great parents that we are, we called in a baby sitter for the kids and let him celebrate the evening with his grandmother. We went out to the most anticipated evening of the entire concert tour. We were going to see Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. (You know the theme song from King of the Hill? They wrote that.)
The show was at Altar, a venue that neither Greg nor I have been to yet. It is one of the many churches turned bars that Pittsburgh has to offer. (Is this a statement to what is happening to religion in this fine city?) Quite a cool place. The entire one wall of the room is that bar with huge screens showing anything from movies to silhouettes of dancing naked women. There are even two screens that show a shot of the stage just in case you can't see from where you are. It has a nice sized stage and the nicest bathrooms that I have been in since... I don't know when. They were really nice bathrooms! There are also lots of stained glass mirrors and cool crosses everywhere.
We got there just after the first opener came on stage. It was a band called Georgia which I really liked. They had a lot of really great harmony and strayed from the typical song format and layout. While they played, the crowd hung back along the seating against the walls or at the bar, not a single person stepped foot into the center of the floor. Greg and I merely crossed the center of the floor and found a spot at the bar. I had to order up a Corona. I just couldn't head out see the Peacemakers without a Corona... or four. We started up a conversation with a couple sitting by us at the bar. They were an "older" couple, meaning older than us, probably in their 40's.
The second opener was a trio called Jason Kendall. They were also a groovy little group although I felt they would be more suitable for background music, perhaps something to listen to as you are wandering around a rib festival. As they played, we soon became aware of some looming doom. There was Hola Lola. We had never seen Hola Lola before. We would have remembered her if we had. She was wearing a bright pink shirt that said, "Hola" on it, a shirt that was clearly made to be worn by someone around the age of 15, not someone who would have legally been able to attend the 21+ show that we were at. Hola Lola would not have surprised us the least had she been the personification of that old Kinks song "Lola" where a certain individual that was thought to be a woman turned out to be a man. We didn't have a camera on us to capture this train wreck of a human being, but to give you a better idea of what we were dealing with here, Hola Lola looked almost exactly like this:
As Jason Kendall was clearing the stage, I ordered up my third Corona and got ready to move towards the stage. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Hola Lola and her gang trying to not so slyly inch their way towards the front of the room, too scared to make a real move. I grabbed up Greg and we walked right in front of her and claimed the first spot on the floor, front and about a foot to the right of center. Unfortunately, the stage was big enough that Hola Lola was also able to follow my lead of claiming a spot at the front and ended up right next to me. The couple that we had been talking to at the bar sauntered up to us on the other side and we continued to chat with them quite a bit. It turns out that we have been at several concerts (both Peacemaker concerts and other artists) with them. Meanwhile, some old guy who was trying to pretend he was way past his prime by being a member of the Altar security team, informed us that we had to step back, that we could not be right up on the stage. He then proceeded to rope off an area across the front of the stage about 4 feet wide, explaining that he had to provide room for the waitress to walk through. Umm... bullshit. We weren't the only ones thinking that. The Peacemaker's roadie was on stage setting up and had a few choice words with Mr. Security explaining that Roger (as in Roger Clyne) was not going to be happy with that arrangement. After about 10 minutes, Mr. Security must have lost because he returned to dismantle the velvet rope barrier and all us happy people returned to our posts against the stage. Determined not to lose all his power and masculinity, he pointed at me and said, "If I see your beer up on the stage, it's mine!" As soon as he turned his back Greg said, "Okay dad!"
A couple more minutes passed and Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers were taking the stage.
(picture taken by me at Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH 3-26-06)
They kicked off the show with Wanted and instantly the band and the crowd was on fire. This band is just incredible. Their CD's are great but their concerts are just a whole different entity. The crowd is really part of the show. I am really at loss on even attempting to try to explain what one of their concerts is like. You just have to go.
Recently the band set out to write eight songs in eight days. At the end of the eight days they put on a show and performed their newest songs. Being that this took place down in Mexico, it wasn't something that I was able to just run down and be a part of. In fact, I had completely forgotten about it until they started playing a few songs I didn't recognize and Roger said something about Turbo Ocho. They played seven songs off of Turbo Ocho. It was my understanding that the album wasn't out yet but when we left the show Greg had one in his hand that he picked up at the merch stand.
At some point during the course of the concert while they were playing a song from Turbo Ocho that I didn't know, I got the wise idea to buy the band a round of shots of tequila. Since I am really somewhat shy, I didn't want to be singled out so I kinda sneaked the shots onto the stage by Roger's feet while they were in the middle of the song. You know, because giving isn't about being recognized for your actions. This of course completely backfired. Roger ended up drinking two of the shots himself. He gave one shot to the horn player that was on stage for a few songs. Then he just pissed me off. He picked up a shot and handed it to none other than Hola Lola. Bitch. This was even before Roger got the wise idea that Hola Lola should come up on stage and "throw her hair around". And to think, it was almost a perfect night. My whole outlook on giving has now been altered. From now on anytime I give something, I am going to jump up and down and scream, "Look at me! I am a giver!!"
Last show I went to was right after "No More Beautiful World" came out and he played all but one song on the entire album that night. The more I have listened to the album, the more I liked it, but I was still sour that during that particular concert he didn't play a single song from "Americano". Thankfully this show he played a pretty good mix from both Peacemakers albums and Refreshments albums. (The Refreshments were his old band. I know you know the song Banditos. ) After playing several songs that they wanted to play, they took some requests, although paid no attention to Greg yelling out his song. Then they were back into Mekong for a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Roger partly made up for irritating me with that little stunt he pulled with that shot of tequila by reaching out and taking my hand during the song. He sang and looked deep into my eyes like I was a super model. Uh huh. When they went off the stage at the end of their set, everyone started chanting "Uno más! Uno más! Uno más!" Despite the fact that a lot of their lyrics are in Spanish and I sing along, I don't know Spanish and don't know what I am singing. I also did not know what I was chanting for but it surely sounded like something I wanted! (Greg informed me that I was yelling out, "One more! One more! One more!") They came back on stage and treated us with tres más. They probably could have picked a little bit better of a show stopper for their final song than Nada, but I'll take it.
When they finished their last song I reached up and got a handshake from Roger. Then the band started leaving the stage so I jumped my little 5'2 self onto the edge of the stage and took a set list that was taped to the speaker. With the help of the set list, this is pretty much how the night went down:
Wanted
I Know You Know(from Turbo Ocho)
Hello New Day
I Speak Your Language
Mexico
Maybe We Should Fall in Love
Americano
Mercy (from Turbo Ocho)
Banditos
I Can Drink the Water (from Turbo Ocho)
Lemons
Mañana (from Turbo Ocho)
Beautiful Disaster (on the set list but they didn't play it)
Noisy Head
Tell Your Momma (on the set list but they didn't play it)
Contraband
State of the Art (from Turbo Ocho)
Your Name on a Grain of Rice (on the set list but they didn't play it)
No More Beautiful World
Jack vs. Jose (by request)
Wake Up Call (by request)
Broken Record (by request)
I Don't Need Another Thrill (by request)
Mexican Moonshine (by request)
Green and Dumb (by request)
Mekong
Counterclockwise (on the set list by they didn't play it)
Girly
I Do (from Turbo Ocho)
Nada
This morning while my kids beat each other up, I laid on the floor pretty worn out and listened to Turbo Ocho. I really love this album. I don't normally love any album the first listen through but for some reason, this one just really did it for me. There are actually 11 songs on the album and it includes some sort of DVD of making the album too which I'll have to watch.
In conclusion, damn good times and damn good music all around. It isn't that often that I am able to really live in the moment but when hanging out with Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers on stage, being right there in that moment is really the only place to be.
posted by Annie and Greg @ 12:48 PM
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