Sunday, February 24, 2013

3 Bruthaz, Feb 22..

Once upon a time, in the town square of Murfreesboro, there dwelt a sports bar. A big-azz sports bar, called Sports Planet or some shit. Every few years, the name would change; Red Rooster, Blue Rooster, Purple Rooster, uh, Bluesboro, and most recently,.... Social.
We played there on several occasions, in it's earlier "Bluesboro" incarnation. In fact, it was those shows that played a predominant part in helping us cut our chops in those first 6 months (see earlier blogs and tweets).
The owner of the bar/party complex also owns a pub/cafe on the opposite side of the square, called 3 Brothers Deli. COOL little place, with a nice bar, and great food. We played there late December of last year (See previous blog), and had a killer time with Scott Fernandez and his sick bass fx-wizardry one-man show. Recently the Deli changed locations, moving next to Social and the owner decided to connect the two. Unbeknownst to us, this was the Deli's opening night at the new building.
We'd set up a pretty hefty bill, consisting of four bands: Scott Fernandez, some bass-drum combo whose name I didn't catch, but we came to refer to as "The Geddy Lee Solo Project", and The Former Gentiles, whom we'd played with out in Brentwood last year. Those guys are really good. You should check em out. They'll certainly be opening up for us again soon.
The place filled up pretty damn quick, with the virgin bar struggling to keep up with our lusty, ravenous demands. There were a few sound snafoos, but all in all, what i'd venture to say was a successful night took place, even IF punk-ass MPD kept trollin thru the joint, makin us all like, "Bitch don't kill my vibe". Probably the MOST memorable and note-worthy thing (and I'd like to think this wasn't due to lack of seating) was that, for the first time ever, people were standing right up in front of the stage, before we even started our set. I mean, that's like how REAL bands get treated; bands that are creating and delivering something that sets people in anticipation. It's elusive and rare, but an ABSOLUTE requisite for any successful band: PEOPLE HAVE TO GIVE A SHIT AND WANT TO LISTEN TO YOU.
In those fleeting moments, before we began, while we were plugging in and tuning up, when we felt those warm bodies standing at the ready to get down with us,...
     ....it felt like we were beginning to become one of those bands.

Thank you, for that, all of you who were in attendance. You know who you are.

Of course, our set was slightly abbreviated, due to pushed back start times and an immoveable departure deadline for our next show in Atlanta immediately after, but we still gave it to em, building on the night before, setting our eye on the night that lay ahead.


Saturday, February 23, 2013

SprungWater, baby.

Thursday night, we played at the infamous Springwater Bar, Grill, Supper Club, and Crack Spot. Located right next to Centennial Park, it's kinda like a bus station, with Pool and PBR on tap (also an isolated, mustached gentleman that seemed to be toiling over a rigged-up hotplate kitchen, where he sampled various stews and soups that NOONE else was gonna dare to fuck with).
Not appetizing? Well, let me tell you, IT WAS MAGICAL! The rotten-carpeted stage, often home to super-shitty hipster bands, had JUST enough hipster-glitter on it that, when combined with our swangalangs, became a platform for some pretty epic shit. Right when we started, the too-cools began to migrate over to our side of the bar. Honestly, a couple songs in, shit was feelin pretty special. James was hittin notes longer and clearer than ever before, and actually made it through the Rising Sun solo without stumbling! Things were tight.
More importantly, it should be noted that the band that went on after us was UN-BELIEVABLE. They'd only been together a few months, but DAMN they were tight! Free jazz, like instrumental Steely Dan, called Keepin It Loose. Check em out.
That was the beginning of our 3-day run. Next stop, Murfreesboro, then Atlanta.