Well, our first 40watt gig went really fucking well. Click the pix on the right for larger versions.
The toilet worked perfectly. We sat it on stage right, on a short table right at the edge, with toilet paper piled around it. I had a cooler full of dry ice that we dumped in it every now and then, so that fog boiled out of it. A green light from below gave it the proper mood.
We began with a selection of schoolhouse rock songs over the PA; after "conjunction junction" we then entered to the battlestar galactica theme. Bo Bender came galloping in on a stick horse made from a broom and a sock, while Snake (or Bear) crept on stage in one of those towel-hood things that makes kids look like a bear when they get out of the shower. The rest of us rowed on in a cardboard canoe (labeled "CANOE" in big letters to prevent confusion), across the front of the stage and then up the stairs on stage right. For lack of anything better to do, the Reaver beat the Bear to death with his paddle.
Hatchet paged Dr. Ass, and Bo began a recorder solo. We all kind of took our places, and launched into "Panflutin'", hard and heavy.
Dr. Ass wore his usual scrubs; the Reaver was in a stupid hawaiian shirt, Snake was wearing the bear hood, Hatchet was in his usual, Willi Skillz had this fantastic judo costume from Disneyland, complete with hershey's-kiss-shaped wicker hat. Bo Bender wore jeans and a t-shirt, that rock star. And Soo... well... Soo was sporting a fishnet dress over black lingerie, which was really something else.
Lessee... Hatchet demanded before each song that someone in the audience remove an article of clothing before we would continue playing. Both men and women complied; towards the end Skillz was swinging two (2) bras and a pair of panties on the tip of his hat. No one was actually naked; the underwear was removed in the usual mysterious fashion women have.
Willi Skillz was sporting his new instrument, the "One Man Jam 2", available at Toys-R-Us for $19.95. That thing is really cool - makes all sorts of dumb rap noises. The Reaver got to play through this fantastic amp, belonging to the bass player from SMO. He never sounded so good - boomy and crunchy, with just enough spank to keep it from sounding muddy. The sound was nigh-perfect; Sgt. Reacharound was doing a great job on the boards. Skillz' beat boxing was particularly wonderful during sound check.
The debut of "El Camino" was a drunken rampage of goodness. As Snake (or Bear) said, a whole bottle of rock just handed out to the audience. We'd written the lyrics at 8 p.m. that same night over beer and Fawlty Towers, then added more at the bar just before the set.
We now have a roadie, a 17-year-old we've dubbed Heinrich Von Totensheissen.
We threw rolls of toilet paper into the audience during the set; the place looked pretty damn trashed when we were through.
Other than that, a pretty typical gig. We should have a good recording of it, which we will most likely release as the next album. Jimmy (manager for SMO, former manager for Deacon Brody) took most of the pix on his digital camera; the others were shot by a fan (whose name I need to put here). Muchos Gracias to both of them. Of course, as usual we can't allow classified photos out on the Internet without censoring for content, so many have been subtly retouched to protect our identities.
SMO played a tight set. Those guys can really play their instruments - the bass player pulled off a great version of Primus' "Tommy the Cat", and they just rocked hard and solid. Hatchet staggered up for one song, but he was far too blitzed to make any real sense - a 40 Watt tradition, the drunken walk-on.
Response was good; I got the usual "Y'all are much better than I expected" comment from Paul Tod Rieger, who supposedly knows something of music.
In the back was tater tots with salsa. We also gave away Snake (or Bear)'s childhood desk (he's had it since he was 8 years old) to the first person to buy a t-shirt; the girl that did was really excited (she was a student who needed some decent furniture, and was short, so the size was good for her).
125 people came overall; 17 people left with toilet paper stuck to their shoes.
