Day 8 - Rock City Savannah, Day 2
2/28: In the kitchen of Mimi's friend Rachel's house. Rachel is very hospitable and extremely funny, even though she rarely laughs or smiles and is at first a bit intimidating. She loves kitsch - you should see all the magnets on her fridge (Editor's note: the two photos i took of the aforementioned fridge were lost due to "disk errors") - and she also has great pets, including Vegas the hyperactive pug, and a black cat so big he probably sheds furballs bigger than Euke. We're all still in good moods, even though Jeff has essentially lost his voice (allergies). Last night we crashed the Velvet Elvis - the one good rock club in town, apparently - and begged the bartender for a show. She said okay and paged the soundman. Apparently no one else was scheduled and she seemed happy to have entertainment. We tried rustling up some last second fans, but it was so goddamn cold out, like colder than it's been in NYC all winter. Record setting cold. The place was a ghost town. Anyway, we ended up playing every song we knew - about an hour and 15 minutes - to about 12 people. Perversely, i played by far my best show of the tour (Jeff and Greg had off nites). Also, perversely, w/my unshaven face, my new 'Leo' necklace i bought at South of the Border, and the polyester dice shirt, i looked like a pervert, like someone's unemployed, OTB-going, hooker-hiring uncle that no one wants to talk about. Anyway.
Kinda like this, only at night
The good news is, all 12 fans loved us, as did the bartender. So much so, in fact, that we got invited back to play tonight, sharing the bill with a local band, Mira Flores. One gets the feeling when leaving NYC that people aren't used to hearing actual rock bands, and are very excited when confronted with one. So, today we make flyers and promote the shit out of it.
Yesterday, i took my first nap in the van, and it was actually quite comfortable. We also picked up a book of Bible trivia. I didn't get any right.
Some photos from around town
The Reverend Jimmy Spoiler
GIRL HARBOR's bible trivia champ
I just wish we played here.
Come on, "Soul Wigs" is just funny ...
Greg opted to nap that day.
Later that day: from the Gallery Espresso Coffeehouse. Rachel, Mimi's friend, calls it the Cafe Depresso. Ha ha. I'm tipsy/groggy off of two glasses of wine and a slice of surprisingly good anchovie pizza. So, i've got an hour and a half to kill before going back to the club. The ink from this pen glistens in the lights from the ceiling, and my hand is starting to hurt from writing. It's about 9:30. The other guys are in the van, doing a vocal practice, and are then going to hit some bars to promote. I hate promoting. Sadly, i've been determined to be the second-best promoter in the band - next to Greg, of course - so that means i have a harder time just wussing out of it. Ah well. And, ostensibly, i'm here to promote, but i'm probably just going to drink coffee and try to stay awake. I, in my tipsy-ness, have taken to questioning the direction my life is taking once again, in my advancing age. 31 years old, sitting in a thrift-store suit in a coffeeshop in some town i've never been to, trying to get "the kids" to come see my rock in band. Pretty pathetic, until you consider the options. A very strange version of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven" plays quietly in the background. Some people here look ready to rock, the two guys behind the counter, anyway. We flyered a little bit today, and went to the SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design, which Mimi graduated from) student center to check my e-mail. I feel pretty overdressed right now. The cuffs of the sleeves on my blue shirt overlap over the ends of the sleeves on my jacket. I wish i had a black shirt with me. Brown and blue seems kinda weird, but James reassured my i looked fine. Why i care i don't know. All these coffeeshops are alike, i swear. I don't think i can live anywhere except NYC - Brooklyn - again. I sure hope i have a job again soon. I wonder sometimes if i should be worrying about that more than i have. I can be very Peter Pan-ish. Or is it Pollyann-ish? I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again. Other than that, i could tour forever, i think. I overheard some punk girl with KMFDM painted on her leather jacket mention Kid Rock, and now i belive i haven't yet mentioned that we (Greg) gave a flyer and a CD to the guitarist in Kid Rock's band, as well as his road crew, as Kid is in town tonight. That'd be a trip if they showed up. James and i seem to be responding the lack of sleep better than Jeff and Greg. I kind of enjoy it. You knew that, i guess. I'm looking forward to the gig tonight. I think it's gonna be a good one. Tomorrow we head to Gainesville. We have no show lined up for Saturday after all, so no one knows what the plan should be. This has been quite interesting.
People go out very late here. The crowd last night didn't begin arriving until around 12 or 12:30. Savannah smells strange, apparently due to a nearby paper mill. There's no counter to leave flyers on, and i'm having a difficult time approaching people, strange as that sounds. I'll gladly go on a stage in front of hundreds (well, dozens) of people, but the thought of an audience of one or two people paralyzes me. I guess i should get over that one of these days. I need to cheer up. It's going to be a long night.
Okay, my hand hurts now.
ART CORNER: The youth of Savannah, so creative and bored. I'd handed out our special "CD flyers" at the local hipster pizza shop, and the staff made them the canvas for their fears, hopes, dreams. They were given back to me when we stopped in later for slices. Number 3 is my favorite, in spite of the misused apostrophe.
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