October 2000
The Friday before Halloween was the big COME ON show at CBGB. The theme, since COME ON was one of only two bands that night not too jaded to wear Halloween costumes at a rock show (i probably don’t have to tell you that Robin’s band was the other), was, as you can see, "Classic Halloween Costumes". Jeff came as a cape-less DRACULA, James was a scary-in-all-the-wrong-ways DEVIL, Mishka sported a very effective WOLF-MAN outfit, and yours truly took GHOST, a disguise i haven’t used since attending a ROBERT PALMER show in 1988, the one where i got screwed out of the $500 "Best Costume" contest, even though i was the only ghost in the WHOLE building. But i’m over that now.
Anyway don’t ever let anyone tell you playing drums dressed as a ghost is easy. In spite of my well-thought-out jury-rigging, with copious use of duct tape, the eyeholes managed to stay aligned with my eyes for about ½ of one song. And since we’re the sort of band that runs all of our songs back-to-back, i never really got a chance to fix my outfit, and therefore was drumming blind for about three songs. Not to mention it was about 200 degrees under that thing (shoulda paid the extra coupla bucks for the more breathe-able Martha Stewart Collection brand sheets). I finally ditched the whole thing completely, just like i swore i wouldn’t, and drummed the remainder of the set in my underpants, much to the delight/chagrin of my girlfriend. Basically, the picture above must’ve been taken about 30 seconds into our show.
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Rumor has it the show is going to be webcast. Then you’ll see what i’m talking about...
Then there was actual Halloween, with my first ever participation in NYC’s HALLOWEEN PARADE. I was the bass player for the Pop-Up Video float band (which also featured COVER ME BADDers Greg on drums and Ryan on trombone, amongst others). Our repertoire consisted of "haunting" cover tunes ("Don’t Fear the Reaper", "Thriller", "Highway to Hell" was a huge hit, et al), peppered with about 20 up-tempo renditions of the Pop-Up Video theme (those who watched the coverage on the Sci-Fi channel may have heard a few seconds of my Jack-Bruce-toned Les Paul bass hammering out "The Monster Mash" right after a commercial). All this action while high atop a rented float that herked and jerked its way up 6th Avenue (i almost fell onto the drum kit about 12 times), amidst a crowd of around 2 million people. Yikes. We were sandwiched between the Squirrel Nut Zippers float, and some float with DJs and dancers. All around us were work-mates and friends in white haz-mat jumpsuits, running around with foam-core "pops" that read things like "Gay" or "Lost", pointing to unsuspecting people in the crowd. My pal MARTIN was on hand with the pop "Was probed by aliens", and at one point, was decended upon by a bunch of guys in suits and monkey masks with rolled up newspapers. A pretty freaky scene, but aside from someone throwing a stink-bomb around Houston St. which quickly dissipated, the whole thing was incident-free. Afterward, we all retired to the office, where the bunch of us quickly finished off 7 pizzas and countless beers, and watched ourselves on television. Great fun, even though we never got to play "Boris the Spider." I even managed to avoid getting egged on the way home.
Because you’re never too old to make prank calls: During one boring stretch at work, we decided it would be a good idea to call downtown Brooklyn’s "prestigious" Chinese food restaurant, Me & My Eggroll (if you ask me, this is the sort of thing you’re inviting when you name your restaurant "Me & My Eggroll"). Our researcher "researched" the number out of the phone book and called them up. The other end picks up. A pause. Amid barely suppressed giggles from the staff, and not knowing what to say, our hero asks, in a low shifty voice, "You got the chicken?"
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Overheard conversation: Imagine the following in a fairly thick, rapid Brooklyn accent, one guy talking to his buddy... "Look at yer shoulders, you got real broad shoulders, yer like that wrestler...you know that wrestler, what’s his name, that wrestler...oh yeah, Sid Vicious!" |
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Unknown
by Unknown
"nope, it was just lying here."
"Its really nice" he said, seemingly ambivalent to what my previous response was going to be. Then he scooted off.
"I like it, too."
I got one shot, then continued my quest for baseball cards. I came up empty, but i kept thinking about the painting. I decided i should go get it; it was certain to still be there. And no wonder. When i got there, it was still sitting there, next to a very nice abandoned armchair that we have no room for in our apt. I picked up the painting and, being painted or printed on masonite rather than canvas, it was unusually heavy, like a table top. Its also about 4 feet tall, tall enough for it to be a struggle to carry it home without scraping it along the ground. But, i did, all nine blocks, and brought it upstairs and put it in our hallway. Of course theres no room on any of our walls anymore to support such fine art, but it was mine, darn it, and i liked it.
Of course, Robin came home and said "dammit, that things hideous."
Maybe i can make it into a nice table. Of course, we already have too many of those as well...
(Incidentally, it's now hanging in our outside hallway, an arrangement everyone seems content with ...)