Three Fish played pretty early. I think doors opened at 6:30 or something close to that. It was still daylight as i recall. The show was amazing. To see Jeff play in such an intimate setting was so inspiring. He really does feel the music. As incredible as the show was, it was afterwards when the evening's highlight came about.
I was taking my newly purchased Three Fish shirt to the car when I saw Robbi standing on the sidewalk in front of the club. I rushed to the car ahead of my friend, Matt so that I could get back in time to speak to Robbi. Matt and I met in the place where he had been but it was too late. Then, as we looked towards the side door of the club, we noticed someone else. I bet you're thinking it was Jeff, right? Wrong. It was Chris Thorn from Blind Melon. It turns out he was playing there the next night with a cat named Gus. So they were there to set up the night before. Chris had grown up in the same town as Matt and I so we had a bit to talk about. He was a roomate of my old guitar teacher. Chris and Matt and I talked for a while, mostly about York, PA and Jeff Buckley. During our conversation, I happened to look up and, as if from out of nowhere, Jeff Ament had joined in our conversation. I hadn't even noticed him come up to us.
I told him how well the set sounded. He said that the night before, in New York, the sound quality was really poor. The four of us chatted for a while and Gus came up as well. The subject turned to basketball when Matt asked Jeff what he thought about Charles Barkley going to the rockets. He knew Jeff was a big fan of Chucky. By the way, Jeff was dressed in black basketball shorts and a Gary Payton t-shirt. He mentioned his big dislike for Shaq and that Eddie owed their manager money from the Bulls series.
After ten or fifteen minutes, people started to gather, so I asked Jeff to sign the Three Fish flat that I had taken off the wall inside and we were on our way home.
It was such a great experience. With all of the fame and money that Jeff has collected, he still seemed like he was probably the same way he was ten years ago. Just a simple, genuine, guy. That's refreshing in such a corrupt industry.
Steven Seighman
Jeff Ament art by Steven Seighman
