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Sunday, September 14, 2008

Musical Interlude c/o RCPM

Greg and I took the night off last night from all things moving related to attend possibly the best concert of the year. Grandma came in to do some babysitting and Greg and I headed down to Altar in the The Strip to watch/listen to Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers (RCPM) do what they do best. We were planning on meeting up with a friend of mine and her boyfriend but they decided to be lazy and stay home. Mostly I was shocked and befuddled as to why my concertBFF had chosen to be completely lame and not even desire to attend the concert with yours truly. It was nice to get to do something with just Greg so all was well.

Greg and I got to the venue about an hour early. Oops. The man at the door said we would have to come back so we went for a walk to find some place to hang out. We located a sports bar and sat down to talk. Hmm... Just me and Greg... alone. What in the world do we talk about? As we were pondering a subject for discussion, in walked Steve Larson, the lead guitarist for RCPM. He sat at the bar and ate a sandwich while reading a magazine, you know, like he was a normal person. That is probably because he really is a normal person. Greg ordered us up a couple of drinks to pass the time.

Annie sent the following txt msg sent to concertBFF at 8:33 pm – Doors open at 9. You coming?

After we finished our beverages, it was back to Altar. Being veterans of RCPM shows, we have come to recognize a few faces in the crowd. Allow me to introduce you to the cast. First we eyed up Old Couple. Last RCPM show we attended at Altar we ended up standing next to them and chatting with them quite a bit. We like Old Couple. They are probably about 15-20 years older than us. We spent the evening hanging out by them again, chatting a bit. We were looking for Amazon Woman and Hola Lola but didn’t locate them until later in the night. Twice at RCPM concerts in Cleveland Amazon Woman and her boyfriend decided it was necessary to try to push their way in front of us and then make out during the concert. Thankfully they kept mostly to the themselves over on the side of the stage. They were hanging out with the bathroom attendant lady who kept feeling up the bass players legs during the concert. (Every part of that last sentence is just weird.) You can check out the full story on Hola Lola by clicking here. Last time I found Hola Lola merely insanely irritating. Greg kept commenting previously about how ugly she was. Last night the only thing I found irritating about her was how ugly she was. Greg said, “Looking at her is like a punch to the face – and not in a good way.”

ConcertBFF sent the following txt msg to Annie at 9:43 pm – nah seeing how its 943. enjoying ohio state getting whipped on too much. go trojans!

Annie sent the following txt msg sent to concertBFF at 9:44 pm – The game is on here & opener just started. You have time!

The opener, Cowboy Mouth, came on around 10:00. I had heard the name of the band before but knew nothing about them. Wow were they fun! The lead singer was also the drummer. He didn’t look like he was part of a band. He was wearing a generic sports jersey and short running shorts. He was a rather portly man. Only about a minute into the set and the singer/drummer abandoned his drums and grabbed his cordless mic. He was out in the audience telling everyone to get closer to the stage, rounding up the crowd and demanding they have a good time. Old Couple, Greg, and I got shoed away from the bar by the singer/drummer and found ourselves forced to participate. And participate we all did! Once the singer/drummer got back to his drums, he told us all when to yell, when to cheer, when to shout so loud that we scared the people who worked there. And he was funny too!

ConcertBFF sent the following txt msg to Annie at 10:09 pm – you going to come get me?

Annie sent the following txt msg sent to concertBFF at 10:10 pm – Hell no. I can’t believe you aren’t here. Opener is incredible. I’m not missing it.

Everyone in that entire place was into the show. When the singer/drummer told us to scream, every person in there screamed. At one point he told us to get down on the ground. Every single person in that place was crouched down to the floor. When they started playing one song, several people in the crowd pulled out red plastic spoons and were dancing while holding them up in the air. One lady had a whole handful of spoons and was eagerly passing them out to people. I was confused. I tried listening to the lyrics and heard something about a red house and something else that was red. Then at one point in the song I finally heard the words “red spoon”. As soon as it was said, everyone in the audience threw their red spoons at the drummer.

Cowboy Mouth was absolutely entertaining. They were loud. They were funny. Half of the Old Couple commented that she thought the drummer was irritating. Most of all they were energetic. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would have to say their energy level was a 65. Maybe even 66.

Annie sent the following txt msg sent to concertBFF at 10:49 pm – Title revoked for not being here. Holy [beep] [beep] awesome night. Probably email you when I get home’

ConcertBFF sent the following txt msg to Annie at 11:01 pm - i thought we established i was amanda and therefore a hater of fun. why are you surprised?

Shortly after 11, RCPM took the stage. Steve, the guitarist, had changed out of his reading magazines and eating a sandwich clothes and was in his ready to rock it out clothes. They kicked it off with Contraband and went right into Maybe We Should Fall in Love. When Greg and I go to concerts, we play this game and pick the one song that we really want to hear. Greg decided to ditch his normal pick for RCPM shows since it hasn’t been on the setlist for years. Instead he picked Maybe We Should Fall in Love. I had the hardest time picking one song. So I didn’t I picked two. They didn’t play Love, Come Lighten my Load which was depressing but they did play Mañana which was my other pick. I posted a totally out of order setlist below for myself just in case anyone cares.

Annie sent the following picture via txt msg sent to concertBFF at 12:01 am –


ConcertBFF sent the following txt msg to Annie at 12:03 am – so you were far away, then? ps going to bed now.

After playing lots of songs on their setlist, Roger called out for requests. Not really sure it was an actual request, but they started playing Tell Your Momma. Total awesomeness. They started it off a capella in four-part harmony. Sweet. The song ended the same way. Then they played Noisy Head and Captain Suburbia, and I am really not sure who would like either of those songs enough to request them when they have so many more songs that are far more entertaining. Not that I shouted out any requests so it wasn’t like I put any effort into choosing something better.

There was a setlist taped to a speaker right in front of me. Usually I try to grab them at the end of the show. Mostly this show I was interested in grabbing one of Roger’s guitar picks. He had four of them tucked in the pick guard of his electric guitar and I was so waiting for him to drop one. The picks had the little RCPM swirly logo on it. He never dropped one.

The band took the shortest encore break in the history of music. When they came back on the stage, the owner of the venue called Roger over and said something to him. Roger got on the mic and announced that the owner – who was apparently having as good of a time last night as the rest of us – was buying everyone in the place a drink! Neither Greg nor I capitalized on it but lots of other people were off to the bar.

Last show we went to, I was wondering out loud just how many shots of tequila Roger drinks during a show. People are always buying him shots and handing them to him on stage. He drinks some and gives some away. I had a feeling it was rather deceiving how much he actually drinks. Turns out, he does way more talking and singing about drinking tequila than he does actual drinking it. He only drank 2 ½ shots the whole show (he shared one shot with someone in the audience, thus, only drinking half). At one point he had five shots in his hand and passed out every single one of them to people in the audience. At the end of the show there was one shot of tequila left on the stage. Roger picked it up and handed it to me between shaking hands. I didn’t get a handshake. I didn’t get the setlist. I didn’t get a guitar pick that I wanted oh so badly. So, I accepted the tequila.

Totally awesome show. Totally awesome night. Totally awesome audience since not a single person annoyed me. Band probably could have picked a better last song (they played Nada) but the rest of the setlist was pretty solid so I can’t even really complain about that. I really wish I would be able to make it to their show in Cleveland next week but even wish more that I was able to make it for their show down in Mexico in October. Some day Greg and I will make the pilgrimage to Mexico. The only downer I can really think of about the whole night is that all of you missed it!

SUBJECT: cough cough LOSER cough cough
FROM: Annie
TO: concertBFF

After the final song of the night my good buddy Roger had a shot of tequila left on the stage and handed it to me. So... well, HAD to drink it. Really, would have been a crime and a disgrace to music if I hadn't. Therefore, short email here.

You are totally Amanda now - a hater of fun and coolness. And to think that today I happened to stumble upon an email where for some reason you were claiming that I hated puppies. And rainbows. And lollipops.

The only disappointment of the entire night was that I was really eying up one of Roger's guitar picks. The dude had four of them tucked in the pick guard of his guitar yet didn't drop a single one. Jerk. Therefore, didn't get am official RCPM guitar pick. I got a shot of tequila though. I much would have preferred the pick. Someone also beat me to the setlist but I have snagged setlists from the past two RCPM concerts I have been to so no big deal there.

Anyway, I'll try to tell you later in more detail how incredibly lame you are for not being there. Off to bed.


Setlist in random order:
Contraband
Maybe We Should Fall in Love
State of the Art
Lemons
Mañana
Noisy Head
Wanted
I Know
Tell Your Momma
Leaky Little Boat
Americano
Banditos
Mekong
Green and Dumb
Captain Suburbia
Counterclockwise
I Speak Your Language
Mexico
World Ain't Gone Crazy
Your Name on a Grain of Rice
Nada

1 Comments:
At 8:39 AM, Blogger Amanda said...

I am so honored to be the definition of lameness and anti-fun.

 

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