Last night Carole and I went toThe Cobalt for Randomblind's CD release party because, well, because that's what friends do. Besides - it's good music.
Now I know I hyped the Cobalt a few months ago when Scarecrow Balcony played there, but something very strange must have happened since then...
I knew it was going to be a wacko night when we saw a guy smash a beer bottle over his own head on a dare from the freekin' bar staff, but I hardly expected the night to end with Carole and I being chased out of the parking lot by a girl with her pants down and a guy with his dink in his hand. Oh - trust me... those were the TAME parts of the night. In between, we saw two fights, saw a drunk get wheeled in the front door in a shopping cart and dumped on the floor in front of us, and saw some idiot get up on stage, strip naked, piss in a bottle, and then proceed to drink the whole damn thing. Yeah... did I mention I'm too old for this shit?
I'm still totally traumatized from last week's Skid Row show - I just don't need to keep seeing these freaks. I never needed to see these freaks. You know, I didn't even write anything about last weekend because it was just to troubling - but now it's just kinda fitting into the mix. I think there must have been a full moon all month...
Oh, alright - I'll share a little about the Skid Row show. It was all good until the very last song, when we witnessed and extreme act of senseless violence. Brutal. Though I myself was not hurt at all, and Carole and I were in no eminant danger, I was so stunned by what I saw that I actually went into shock. I felt like I was going to throw up after what I saw, so I tried to make my way to the door - I almost made it too - I was about 4 feet from the entrance when (no, I didn't throw up...) I just passed out. Droped right there in a cold sweat. Freakiest thing that has ever happened to me. The bouncer apparently pulled me up to my feet, but I was out cold and dropped right to the floor again. The next thing I knew, he had dragged me outside and left me on the sidewalk. Carole was asking 'what happened? what happened?' and all I could muster was "I think I'm in shock..." - which she heard as "I think I've been shot" and that seriously freaked her out. Anyway, I was fine. I got some air, cooled down and got us home. Barring a juicy bruise on my hip, a sore wrist and a bump on my head, I was no worse for wear... well, except for the damage to my psyche... I mean, it's a totally vulnerable and helpless feeling to realize that you have no control over your own body.
So that night I resolved that I was done with going to crappy bars with crappy patrons - except, we had these Randomblind tickets for the Cobalt... maybe one exception... we've been there a lot and there had never been incidents before...
Yeah. Whatever. These are not the memories I want to have. I was never old enough for that shit. Randomblind, you were great. Your new CD rocks and your show sounded stellar. I won't say that all that other crap was worth it, but I will say you were the highlight of the night.
Posted by Calvin at February 27, 2004 08:11 AMi hear ya, brah, that was horrific last night... i'm kinda hoping that it was an anomaly, coz i wanna see foster kare (formerly karen foster) on saturday... however, i was grossed out from the moment i walked into the club by the stench of raw sewage that was floating around the joint... ashtrey pissing all over the joint didn't help matters... i've been hitting the cobalt at least 20 times a year for the last 5 years and in those 100 cobalt visits, i never saw a fight before last night... i've also never seen a tampon floating in a puddle of puke on the floor in front of the stage, either... joe, shayne and todd all asked me to not book shows there anymore, which kinda sucks, because i like playing for the cobalt's core crowd... they're all pretty discerning music fans and i consider it an honour that they don't boo us off the stage considering that we are decidedly outside their preferred genre... that and the sound in there is kickin'... but, alas, i am also far too old to watch a guy drink his own piss, spit it all over the floor, and then land in it face first when he falls off the table.. i'm also too old to be helping break up fights because the bouncers ain't got if figured out...
glad you like the cd, though... we gotta get another scarecrow balcony/randomblind gig lined up... whaddya say, whoever books it is the headliner? only rule is that it can't be in the city of vancouver..
Posted by: sage at February 27, 2004 12:34 PMand, further to that, thanks so much to you and carole for coming out on yet another school night to watch us play and double dog thanks for the wicked home made treat... it tastes even more wormwoody than the last batch... i can't wait to get home tonight so i can drink a good quantity of it property...
Posted by: sage at February 27, 2004 12:43 PMYou got yo'sef a deal. We'll do some nice show somewhere like City Limits in Abbotsford. The place is always completely devoid of patrons, so unless one of us band members starts a fight with the DJ or waitress, there should be no violence - and much less piss, I can promise you that.
Actually, I think there must have been some of that 'brown acid' floating around last night, or whatever the modern day equivalent is... (pink meth?) 'cause those nuts were just way too weird.
Before the show when you were talking about the troubles you had getting an opening band lined up, I was kinda thinking 'you shoulda asked us!' but honestly, I am so glad you didn't. I would not have gone up on a stage full of piss'n'puke. Not a chance. You're a trooper for singing into that microphone man... had your hep-C shots?
Posted by: Calvin at February 27, 2004 12:47 PMHey - about the treats - my pleasure! There should be exactly the same amount of wormwood, anise, and star aniseed, probably a little less sugar, but definately more alcohol. As for the being at the show, hey - wouldn't have missed it for the world - but don't be upset if we're noteably absent from your next Cobalt show.
Then again, sounds like you might be noteably absent from your next Cobalt show too. You make any money last night?
i insisted upon getting a new mic... john was like, "yah, no doubt!" he's a wicked sound guy... y'know, we were gonna ask you on friday if you would sub in if mr. metaphor bailed on us, but then the elixir thing happened... we weren't actually looking for an opening band, i wanted to leave it as a 2 band bill, i was just thinking that a sub would be a good idea... and i think your band is better than "sub" quality...
did we make any money? well, that depends how you look at is... is the hole $135 less deep than it was on thursday morning? yes... is it still deeper than i want it to be? hell yeah... we sold 7 CDs, though... and that's kickin'... i think we'll do way better at the picadilly on the 11th of march... i'm going to try to get a lot of media to that show... before that, i'm going to drop off CDs at all the local indie stores... i dunno... we'll see what happens... it's all new territory for me...
Posted by: sage at February 27, 2004 01:42 PMso, what was the senseless act of violence that caused you to faint at the skid row concert? was there serious blood involved? you realize, you're coming off as kinda girly, having a hard time killing a rat then passing out and making wee carole play the man as the bouncer drags you out of a bar...
Posted by: sage at March 1, 2004 03:41 PM