It was a dark and stormy night....
or at least, drizzly.
It would take something powerful to lure me out of my self-imposed lethargy to a bar in a neighborhood I have never even driven through...and that was Kayo Dot. I had waited all summer for this and even though only the day before I had learned my car had a cracked engine block or blown head gasket, I was going to be there.
My son Noah and I took the bus downtown and then transfered up High Street to....the High Five Bar.
We were early, but that was okay. The High Five is a rectangular room with the stage at one of the narrow ends.
One of the long ends of the room fronts onto High Street and is completely a wall of glass. Kind of a cool environment as if in a fishbowl, but also allowing the fish to watch the activity outside.
We drank soda and then....I glanced out the windows and....there went the locomotive van and trailer!! the wrong way! but no worries, it came around the block.
Forbes and Ryan came in and I said hi. Then Toby, and Greg, and Mia, we recognized each other and it was good. I told them they could pull around to the back of the bar to unload so they did.
The bill also included two local bands, Silencio and Mouth of the Architect. Silencio set up, did their sound check, and then went into a three minute jam ~~and then stopped, and began tearing down their gear. Toby was like, WTF, and Greg sauntered over with a drink and said, WTF, is that it?? Apparently they were going to record some stuff live, and wanted to go last, but the entire night's lineup was static to begin with, constant dialogue going back and forth, "do you want to play 2nd? Do you want to go last?"
Mouth of the Architect set up and they were good, although I personally thought their grindy/death Triple-Growl attack could have used some variation. The few passages of quieter, melodic stuff kinda proved my point.
*A note to my readers not already bored with my dialogue...photo threads usually include the de rigeur (sp) "I suck as a photographer" disclaimer....as you will see well justified. The crowd was thick, at least 200 people, making it hard to move about, and I gave my flash WAY too much credit, leading to any attempts at the people on the far endo of the stage in total darkness. For the people not included in the pics, it wasn't intentional, merely ineptitude.
Oh...Toby traded me a Pilot G-2 gel pen for a govt. Skilkraft gel pen. And Mia and Toby shared this strange hybrid beer which smelled of rasberries. And I listened to Toby and Greg discus familiarity vs. fantasy, and their effect on duration of the sexual experience. I did not contribute, due to the presence of my son.
Altogether, a rewarding experience. I also scored a tee and Toby's new CD.It was already about 1130 and suddenly, Toby said, "We're next!" which was cool.
anyway....the band in sound check.
and then...
I enjoyed the new tunes tremendously! By the end it was closing in on 1245 or thereabouts and I was not willing to wait for Silencio, so I said goodbye to everyone I could find and we left. I called a taxi and ran into Greg out front, who was on the prowl for cigs. He went down the street and was soon back, puffing merrily away. We chatted for a bit and then Toby came out, and then DJ, and we met (missed him at the beginning). I was perfectly willing to wait for the cab but Greg waded out into the street and flagged me down one, which was cool.
If I was female I would have doffed knickers right there
A rewarding evening, and one which I would gladly repeat.
