Jubal Modine & the Love Handles: "One Nite Only" at the 89'er Club

I don't know that I'm going to continue writing the MySpace blogs for our band...last time I did it was pretty much an out and out plea for Comments and I got none. Zilch. Zero. Nada. I was mainly wanting to see who was reading them, since the counter indicated that several would view it in the period directly after I'd post one (like 30-40 hits). But then again, I also figured that many of those were spammers/hackers or whatever, not interested readers. So I threw out that last blog post fishing for comments and got none whatsoever.
So I really don't feel like wasting my time...not that NOONE is reading it. I'm sure the band members read it and their girlfriends/wives, but they already know all the stuff that I write about there. I had hoped that we would get some folks who weren't directly involved with the band to read it (hopefully regularly).

Anyway, we played last night at a place called the 89'er club in Lexington Oklahoma. It was the furthest we've had to drive to do a show so far. Long ass trip, but it turned out to be well worth it. A crazy night, really.
You see, there's this guy who plays keyboards that we met during one of our jam sessions. His name is Isaac and I guess he knows our guitarist pretty well. He lives in the general area of Lexington, so he asked last week if he could sit in for a couple of sets and that if he did he could bring in several people he knew to the gig. He's played with us, like I said, at the jams and he's not a bad keyboard player, tends to blend in pretty well with what the band's doing. So we were okay with the idea.
So we get there and get all our stuff set up. We're wondering where Isaac is going to sit because the stage they had was very small. So small that our keyboard player and guitarist had to be on the floor and I was in a pretty cramped space on a stage that's just a little bit bigger than a typical drum riser.
But we were starting to think that it wouldn't be an issue because Isaac was nowhere to be seen. He did eventually show up, just before we were about to take the stage, so we were delayed while he started to set his stuff up.
I don't know, maybe he was frustrated because there really wasn't a suitable place for him to be and he tried a couple of spots.
Then, for whatever reason, he made a couple of disparaging remarks (ie. he "popped off") and the next thing you know the club owner, Jerry, is just yelling at him at the top of his lungs. I mean to tell you he was pissed at Isaac and voiced his opinion in no uncertain terms. It turned into a bit of a verbal exchange and Isaac tried to throw some insults around (about the bar, about Jerry, that kind of thing). But he cowered in comparison to Jerry's wrath, which was kinda scary even for us not on the receiving end. When it all started the place turned quiet as a mouse. I don't think I've ever heard a bar get so quiet. I KNOW I haven't.
Well, long story short, Isaac got kicked out of the bar (I'm sure he would tell you he left of his own free will, but anyone who was there knows better). So we didn't have to worry about having an extra man. As soon as Isaac had dragged his last piece of equipment out the door we took the stage and I tried to lighten the situation by singing an a capella version of "Happy Birthday" to Reita, our keyboard player's wife. It seemed to work. It didn't hurt that at that time there weren't that many people there.
And from that point on the evening just got better and better. We got some of the best responses we've ever received with lots of people singing along and making that noise we so like to hear after the songs (that would be "applause"). The place filled up in increments and though it wasn't quite a packed house it was nevertheless respectable. Lots of people wound up using the small dance floor, too. That's always encouraging, to me at least.
There was a police officer who came in and stayed for a little while. I guess he was in charge of booking the bands for the upcoming 89'er Festival (on April 21) and he liked us so much that he asked if we'd be interested in doing the 5:30PM-9:00PM slot that day. The money was good so we all said "yes" and he hired us on the spot.
Then, at the end of the night, besides giving each of us a little bit more cash than we had agreed to, Jerry asked us if we'd come back. We had had such a good time that we said "sure...when do you want us?" We figured it would be next month at the earliest. But he had an open night THIS UPCOMING SATURDAY and wanted us then. Long, long drive notwithstanding, we agreed to do it and I gotta say I'm looking forward to it. Really good crowds like that are hard to come by. I don't mind travelling a bit, as long as it's not every week.
The only thing about playing next Saturday...I know for a fact that my voice is going to be wrecked when it's all over. Plus, being up so late and getting home so early really takes a toll on me (for instance, I am exhausted right now after last night's festivities). So what am I supposed to do when we have a regular weekly jam session at 6:00PM every Sunday? I dunno if I can do it. I guarantee I'm not going to WANT to do it, so not only will I have a ruined voice and be worn out physically, I'll likely be in a pissy mood as well.
I like our guitarist's idea to scale back and only do the jam sessions once a month. I'd even go twice a month. But this every week plan has lost it's novelty, at least as far as I'm concerned. And for the rest of the month we have Saturday night gigs. Hmmph. We shall see what transpires.

I hope everyone is having a nice Easter. I have always loved this holiday, as it reminds me of Jesus' death and resurrection. Plus, we don't have to do a jam session! Whoopee! Surely the club is not open today. Gotta be a lot of bad luck associated with being open on Easter.
That's all for now. See you next time, be it in a couple of days, a couple of weeks, a couple of months or a couple of years.