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Friday, April 26
The Casbah, San Diego CA Two words. Cracker Barrel. Wait, three - Cracker friggin' BARREL. This potpourri-scented, gift-shoppeed, signature-cheesed, cinnamon-spiced, gingham-aproned, knick-knacked, red-and-white-checked white-hair preserve has got breakfast and a half. Fried apples, homefry casserole, grits, buttermilk biscuits, gravy, pancakes, french toast, eggs, omelets, on and on and on, three pages of menu for the best meal of the day. I'm crushed that we only discovered this now, with only one day left. Go. There. For. Breakfast. The rest of the day passed uneventfully on the road, except that once after leaving my credit card at the register for gas (I hate when I can't pay at the pump, c'mon, it's the American way) I made it 18 miles down the road before realizing that I didn't retrieve it, or sign for the fuel. With visions of a fleet of police cars chasing me down for my 15 dollars of 86, I whipped around the next exit and after an excruciating drive all the way back, I pulled sheepishly under the awning and ran inside - all they said was, "Well, now, how far'd you get?" This is the biggest gig of the tour, and I was nervous. Not just because it was at a great club I've been wanting to play for years, or because it was opening for a huge band in their home territory, but also because it was the last show of this crazy tour. I needed it to be good, to end on an up note, to not have things fall apart like they did at Tacoland. (As if I can even say the name of that pad with a straight face). After finishing our now-routine setlist discussion and showers at the overpriced Econolodge, we left for our early load-in. The Rocket horn section was sound-checking as we walked in, and sounded amazing. After a week of playing at places that are barely up to par in terms of sound reinforcement and basic needs (like a soundperson), it was almost intimidating to be in a venue like this, that has tons of staff including a stage manager (!) and incredible equipment, a big stage, etc. Then we saw these gorgeous silkscreened posters that had been made for the show - they nicely included our name - and the "Sold Out" sign on the door, and I got just a touch more nervous. Okay, I was actually pretty overwhelmed, I mean on one level it's just another show, and an opening slot at that, but when you've been playing gigs on the level of Notsuoh or Tacoland or whatever, and working up slowly in San Francisco for years, it's a big deal to be playing a sold-out gig on a Friday night with a nationally-known band at a well-established club. After setting up on the big stage - Rocket went overtime, so we didn't get a full soundcheck, which just added to my nerves - I walked around for a while in the freezing San Diego night, getting a sandwich to eat later, warming up my voice which was still sore from last night, trying to relax. Soon it was time to head back, and after a quick line check I had a few minutes to drink tea and check out the amazing video game selection - both Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man, hell yeah, plus Berzerk and Centipede - before going onstage to the small crowd that had come early. There were two women who stayed right up front the whole time - much appreciated - the place gradually filled up, but most people stuck to the walls, doorways and the back of the room, so we really needed that presence up front. I think we played well, though the energy didn't happen like it did at Spaceland, probably the other big show of the tour. Nevertheless, it sounded great onstage and we could tell people were listening, though the applause was reserved and nobody else joined our two new friends up front. It was over before I knew it, and Atsushi went to set up the merch stand while EJ and I cleared the gear outside - there was no room to leave the stuff inside, so we had to pack everything into the van right away. We had a little crowd of smokers outside watching us - I know I always stare at bands packing up myself, it's fascinating imagining where they might be going next, checking out the stickers and the mess on the seats. I went back inside to have a celebratory beer and thank the two front-row listeners. I didn't find them until the end of the night, so I just wandered around the rapidly-filling club, realizing that most of the people there missed us completely. It was a depressing feeling, and I retreated to the van to eat my sandwich and come to grips with the end of the gig and the end of the tour. The show was a bit of a let-down, I have to admit, even as we played well and had people watching us, it just wasn't really our crowd and there wasn't the breakthrough in communication that there was last night or even with the handful at the Emerald Lounge. It felt like we'd been doing this forever, this road-gig-diner-hotel dance, and it was odd to think of not having another show the next day. But I suddenly couldn't wait to get home, the exhaustion finally caught up with me and even the excitement of Rocket hitting the stage didn't affect me much. I played a few games of Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man and wandered around the club 'til closing time, making the necessary connections with the booker and other folks because I knew I had to. We went back to the hotel and had a long conversation about the tour and our future plans, and I slept better than any other night in the past two weeks. |