Calvin's Weblog

Just In: Scarecrow Blows the roof off of Pub 340

Last night was more fun that a big ol' barrell 'o' monkeys. This Pub 340 place really surprised me - I had no idea that this unassuming little hole in the wall had such a cool bar behind it's doors. And being right next to the Cambie mean that the drop-in rate was huge... there was no cover charge, so if people are on their way to or from the Cambie, and they hear live music they like, they can just walk on in. It's a brilliant idea, and it totally worked for the bar - they said that this weekend was their best two days of sales all year, and they owe it all to their brand new "live local bands" idea. I suppose the key is to have GOOD bands that people want to hear more of... when they tried cover bands earlier in the year, the results were apparently disasterous. So, being the first heavy band to play Pub 340, there were a few growing pains, but it was definetely all good. The manager just kept bringing us jugs of beer all night, I lost count after my 3rd pitcher, but managed to keep pretty clear headed... that's the one good/bad thing about pub draft ... not a lot of alcohol in it.
Anyway, back to the growing pains - the sound techs were just finishing the installation of the new PA system as we were loading in, so sound check was a little long as they figured out which cables went to which mikes and which amp channels went to which mixer channels, but all in all they got a pretty good sound going in short order. Rain Spider played first, and lots of people streamed into the bar to dance to the funky stylin's of Danny, Wayne and stand-in drummer Ron. After the set, their set the place cleared out a bit as the patrons continued on to wherever they were headed (of course, after enjoying some tasty pints and funky jamz) - but as soon as Scarecrow Balcony started playing, the place started filling up again - did I mention that I think this 'no cover, share the bar profit with the band' idea is brilliant? If we had charge $3 or $5 or $8 all we'd get in the place would be our friends and steady fans... it's hard to convince somone to shell out money to see a band they've never heard of... but last night (actually, the same was true of the Marine Club) we got so many new people cheering and dancing and complimenting us that going home with thirty-five bucks and three pitchers of beer, knowing that another 50 - 100 people really enjoyed us and will now be keeping their eyes out for Scaarecrow Balcony, was by far more rewarding than even our most profitable gigs have ever been.
Um, back to the growing pains. I guess, being the first heavy band to play there, the sound guy wanted to find out how hot he could get the PA before hitting it's limits... as it turns out, the old building's fuse panel has a lower threshold than the mixing board. We blew out half the bar. Our guitar and bass amp still had power, and a light over the bar was still on, but everything else fried - it was awesome. Seriously. We jammed and made shit up for about ten minutes which the pub staff and sound guys frantically ran around with flashlights replacing those big old 'stick' fuses that look like a sausage with metal sticking out of both ends.... eventually they got all the power back, and we did our last three songs.
The crowd wanted more, and it was only 12:30 so the bar wanted more too - but Ron and Wayne were pretty spent from doing back to back shows, so we ended on a kinda lame note by doing something that Wayne swore (and we all agreed) that we'd never, ever do again... Paranoid. It took 3 false starts, and didn't end very well, but was still a lot of fun, as people I didn't know were coming up on stage to scream the lyrics into the mics. I think if I had my druthers, I would have like to leave the crowd with one of our best songs fresh in their memory, but you just can't plan a night like this - and besides, it was a totally awesome night - no complaints, just RAWKINROLL!!!