Saturday, August 14, 2004
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Stupid Batteries
We had an excellent time yesterday at Revolution (in Bryan, TX). The show went off without a hitch.
Wish we could say as much for the journey, though. As Patrick and I pulled out of Houston, heading north to pick Mike up in The Woodlands, we noticed the van's battry light had come on. No big deal, we thought; the engine started, right? But as we drove, the battery indicator slid steadily into the red. Despite the fact that Patrick and I have about as much collective car knowledge as a barbie doll, we realized that this is a "bad" thing. Fortunately for us, Mike has a pickup truck! So rather than risking it choking half way to Bryan, we made the executive decision to cram (and I do mean cram) our gear into the bed of the truck (thank God for good weather) and wedge ourselves into the front for the 2 hour journey.
Did we make it? Yes. Were we happy? No. Let's just say that we're much closer now.
Gnappy was playing when we arrived, and they kicked ass as usual. Their new material really shines. We are totally psyched to be playing not just one but three gigs with them (and Bagg) in early September.
$tephen, a fan in Bryan, was there to meet us with his video camera when we arrived. He taped the whole show, plus some "behind the scenes" footage including all 3 of us looking silly before and after the show. If you ever get a chance to see it, you'll realize why we stick to playing music and avoid stand up comedy (mostly).
Good looking lady: "My nickname is Mojo."
Ian: "Yeah? Mine is 'the singing duck'."
Good looking lady: (silence)
The set was incredible - 2 sets, actually - and we played till 2am. Everybody was grooving with us - we had a particularly cool run in Melody-Melody, which, even though it's a song we play a lot, never seems to lose its ability to inspire weird tangents and extended jams. We even had a dude get up and rap spontaneously in the middle of one song.
The trip home was ... well ... long. Ian chased some ducks around a Whataburger, Mike had an extended conversation with a hand puppet, and 1-800-MATTRESS was called at least once. We also learned that if Patrick falls asleep, it's best not to wake him up suddenly; he comes up fighting.
After dropping Mike back in the Woodlands, we transferred all the gear back to the van and crossed our fingers for the ride home to Houston. Obviously, we didn't cross them hard enough. 2 hours later, the tow truck driver found Ian and Patrick asleep in the van on the side of I-45, and there was a beautiful sunrise. Stupid car batteries!
Wish we could say as much for the journey, though. As Patrick and I pulled out of Houston, heading north to pick Mike up in The Woodlands, we noticed the van's battry light had come on. No big deal, we thought; the engine started, right? But as we drove, the battery indicator slid steadily into the red. Despite the fact that Patrick and I have about as much collective car knowledge as a barbie doll, we realized that this is a "bad" thing. Fortunately for us, Mike has a pickup truck! So rather than risking it choking half way to Bryan, we made the executive decision to cram (and I do mean cram) our gear into the bed of the truck (thank God for good weather) and wedge ourselves into the front for the 2 hour journey.
Did we make it? Yes. Were we happy? No. Let's just say that we're much closer now.
Gnappy was playing when we arrived, and they kicked ass as usual. Their new material really shines. We are totally psyched to be playing not just one but three gigs with them (and Bagg) in early September.
$tephen, a fan in Bryan, was there to meet us with his video camera when we arrived. He taped the whole show, plus some "behind the scenes" footage including all 3 of us looking silly before and after the show. If you ever get a chance to see it, you'll realize why we stick to playing music and avoid stand up comedy (mostly).
Good looking lady: "My nickname is Mojo."
Ian: "Yeah? Mine is 'the singing duck'."
Good looking lady: (silence)
The set was incredible - 2 sets, actually - and we played till 2am. Everybody was grooving with us - we had a particularly cool run in Melody-Melody, which, even though it's a song we play a lot, never seems to lose its ability to inspire weird tangents and extended jams. We even had a dude get up and rap spontaneously in the middle of one song.
The trip home was ... well ... long. Ian chased some ducks around a Whataburger, Mike had an extended conversation with a hand puppet, and 1-800-MATTRESS was called at least once. We also learned that if Patrick falls asleep, it's best not to wake him up suddenly; he comes up fighting.
After dropping Mike back in the Woodlands, we transferred all the gear back to the van and crossed our fingers for the ride home to Houston. Obviously, we didn't cross them hard enough. 2 hours later, the tow truck driver found Ian and Patrick asleep in the van on the side of I-45, and there was a beautiful sunrise. Stupid car batteries!
