I haven't slept in a bed in awhile but the road, the music and the
scenery is always changing so it ain't boring. By the time we started our second set around
1:00 am the crowd had grown. Some of the Chukker crew had gone down the street to the other
bar and brought people back to hear us. We like that.
You know I have to write twice and that kinda sucks. I'm having a blast although not that
much sleep. The van seems to have got more uncomfortable and the humor more crude but a week
in a van will do that to you. No one has got laid. Okay I said it. Someone should have, but
technically Snakeboy is the only one who could without repercussions. Anyway I wouldn't tell
if someone did cause, how could I. Not that we would, because we're good boys and girls.
The band is really good. Playing this music every day has turned us in to an exciting band that gets people out of their seats. Paul Page rule of the road: Don't let band members run tabs at the bar. Paul is a road warrior and we take his word for it.
thanks phil rob, rock-n-roll karma points. see ya next time
dreamland b-ham!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
pile a bones pile a bones pile a bones (s.zimmerman 3/96)
chukkers rocked - liles drank some beer & played some drums
maxx played rock solos from hell
great bar. dripping rock-n-roll
drank a whole lot a coffee and drove tuscaloosa to baton rouge
overnight style, the "kernel" of my inspiration.
god i love show bizz
pp
We dipped into Tuscaloosa like an old cracker into peanut butter. Two days of
downtime had taken it's toll, and given the fact that we had four hours to kill before playing
a near empty room, we were not exactly feeling groovy.
When the dart tournament was finally winding down, we hit expecting the worst. But
surprise - we rocked! It was amazing, just one song into the set we shed all the road
shit and lo and behold, corn (we're talking pure, organic, 100% natural corn) was harvested.
The all night haul afterwards left us stiff and squinty but energized nonetheless.
P.S. I would just like to let you all know that the Van Boys' quote of the day yesterday
in my diary entry was CENSORED! The quote that was left intact was actually part deux of a
truly twisted outburst now lost to posterity. :-( Well, hopefully they'll allow the
Van Boys quote today. It's less twisted, but gives the flavor of our Cracker Barrel
morning chat: "If you really want to drive me crazy, handcuff me and lick my
nipples. Please."
baton rouge wacky cabernet barefoot free-for-all naptime in the van
last night was my night in the pickle barrel - no big problems, but my fitful
hallucination of a night of sleep really intensified my hangover,
cracker barrel fixed it for me as we pulled into baton rouge - red stick, louisiana
(indian name i guess)
beautiful day for napping - there's an ice-cream truck whistling on the next block
and kelly told me she doesn't want the rest of this bottle of cabernet
worries of regular fips are in capable hands in nyc
and we're chillin' in louisiana
It's funny with all that happens to try and sit down in a moment of downtime and say a few
concise sentences about what's going down.
Hours and hours in a van with 5 other people. Hours of slightly awkward downtime after load out and before the first set. Where do you go in Tuscaloosa if you've got 5 or six hours to kill and all you want to do is sit in a room in your own house and do something vaguely familiar. Damn, listen to that fucking guitarist whine about his lot in life, huh? In fact I've been having a ball. After getting an extremely satisfying voyeuristic glimpse into the lives and intrigue of the friends of Dave Liles in Asheville (Wow, small town life) I find myself on top of Red Mountain in Birmingham in this giant house overlooking the city. Then we're in Tuscaloosa in a rock club that reminded me of CBGB's in NYC (Chukker's). Touring is a very social experience. In a way it's like cocktail party-hopping. Some folks might be surprised to find I'm enjoying this aspect of it. I'm surprised.
Thanks to Phil for
allowing us to barge in on his life in Birmingham and taking us to all the various places we
needed and wanted to go in town. I had my first authentic Alabama BBQ Ribs experience at
Dreamland and loved it. Total carnivorous hedonism and absolutely delicious. We spoke with
the manager of the place who hinted they were thinking of opening a place in NYC and we
encouraged the idea for strictly selfish motives. Our waitress, who was both friendly and
informative, not to mention not-lo-fi, seemed quite intrigued by the on-line tour concept.
For a Northerner like myself it's a real pleasure to come down here and see that, while the
culture is different (and distinctive), the better aspects of human nature are in evidence
everywhere.
Ok, this is the first morning of the tour where I feel officially burnt. Load out of The
Chukker in Tuscaloosa at 3:30 am, and then a straight drive to Baton Rouge. The Addams Family
and Dr. Who pinball tables sucked and our bartender Cindy ("It's a real bimbo name, the first
chick to get killed in any slasher movie") was only slipping us the beers when the club owner
wasn't hovering over the bar. The redeeming note is we're finally into the single layer
clothes weather, so it's kind of rock-n-roll quaint sitting in the back of the van at noon
feeling a little too warm, a little too crusted in yesterday's sweat and club smoke, drinking
red wine and cracking lo-fi jokes. Supposedly our destination after the show tonight is a
house in the last leper colony in North America. Stay tuned.
...the next day