Friday, May 09, 2008
Sokol Underground
peformed with: "Blucymon" and "Kyle Harvey"Setlist:
(It was written in pictorial hyroglyphics, so I'll scan that in first chance I get.)
Review:
Well really, where do you begin with this show. How about at the beginning...
We showed up at 6:45, ready to start loading onstage and begin a soundcheck. Then things went awry. We were told that we were supposed to play first, up promptly at 8pm for the early show, but when we got there they told us that we'd be playing last...headlining a show that we didn't book or promote as our show. I mean it was Blucymon's CD release party for crying out loud. But, whatever, headlining meant playing at 10:15, so it wasn't that big of a deal...we called the people we knew were coming and told them to delay their arrival. Unfortunately Todd didn't get that message and spent $10 to walk in the door and then walk back out...we owe you many many beers, buddy.
Now, for a tense change...
So we unload the gear, setup the merch, and then head to Burger King for a quick bite. When we make our way back, it's close to 8pm, and we expect to hear music from Kyle Harvey, who is not playing music because there's no one at the venue. Now, this doesn't bother us because almost everytime we've ever played Sokol, there has been no one there, but Blucymon swears that they've never played to less than 150 people at Sokol. There are a lot of numbers between zero and 150. But, we find out that Harvey is only doing a half-hour, acoustic set...so start time is now 8:30pm. So we head over to the bar and watch the NBA playoffs for 30 minutes...still no people...still no music.
Start time is pushed back to 9pm, you know, when a real show usually starts. A few dozen people roll in, so Harvey takes the stage. But, a song and a half in he stops playing because "something's just not right with his guitar." So after a 10 minute break that somehow fixed the string buzzing, he plays three more songs and gets off the stage.
Now Blucymon is up and they play their "classic rock" music that sounds eerily similar to real classic rock music...like same chord progressions verbatium to Stairway to Heaven, All Along The Watchtower and The Devil Went Down To Georgia. But whatever...they brought about 70 people, which is more than we usually pull there. So they get done and thank the crowd for being oh-so-very-awesome...keep this in mind as you read on...
I head back stage to start bringing my drums up and they decide to do an "unplanned" encore...which is totally fine, it's their CD release and they brought a lot of people. So now we're all backstage, waiting to go up next, Blucymon gets done with their encore and says, "We'll be back here July xx with Swizzle Tree...hope to see you then." Not once did we get a "stick around, Ten O'Clock Scholars are up next," or a "thanks to Kyle Harvey and Ten O'Clock Scholars for playing tonight." We can feel it...no one knows there's another band about to play...and why would they, they came out for Blucymon's CD release party...why on earth would there be a band after them?...
So we try to setup as fast as possible...then the house lights kick on...a sure sign that music is over, right? The people that were there head for the door and as we're setting up we know that we're getting Omaha'd like never before. But this is the best part of the story...one of the Blucymon guys goes up to our buddy, and former bass player, Derek and asks him what he thought of the show. Derek's response, and I quote..."I think it's pretty shitty that you didn't thank the other bands who played with you tonight." Classic.
So now, the Blucymon guys, realizing that they f'ed up, are kissing our asses, apologizing and buying us beers and shots to make up for it. (They really wanted us to party with them down on 16th and Leavenworth too, which was a bit strange.) It wasn't the end of the world, so we were cool about it. The show actually went well...a glorified practice for 12 of our friends and family...which turned into 4 of our friends and family...but we did bust out some new stuff and had a killer setlist...not in terms of songs, in terms of penmenship. Ryan and Connealy decided to make pictorial hyroglyphics for all the songs...so if you can figure out the setlist, then you're a better band member than I.
