Getting started/Plan B:
A little late going to SF on Friday. Our normal mode of transportation was on the fritz, so we drove my car (XB) and Bob’s car (Prius) to our show in SF.
As usual, Flanders met us in SF (due to his job and fear of driving), so it was the 4 of us on our at about, oh, 12ish PM. Like I said, a little late but not necessarily dangerously late as long as everything went smoothly.
Bob’s Leap Year
Typically, our first stop is the In n’ Out Burger in Valencia. Today would be different. Call it a combination of not being afraid to break tradition as well as respecting the grumbling wishes of an unsatiated vegetarian.
So, I started a new tradition known as Bob’s leap year. This is where, every 4th trip to SF we’ll stop some place wholesome and balanced with plenty of plant food lover’s options.
That place was Whole Foods in Valencia.
The most annoying thing about this little city to the north of LA is everything is so far apart. I was given instructions: “It’s just past the hospital.” Well, just past in Valencia can be 5 fricking miles! Found it finally, and the myriad of choices inside this vegan/health nut’s paradise was soon on wide display.
So, we were on the road by 1 PM. Steve accompanied Bob, and Mike rode shotgun with me. It was sunny, partly cloudy, and effectively “damn hot”, skippy.
A Sea of Red Bell Pepper
All was well til about 3:30. On the way, we listened to a couple of CDs I burned for the drive (via iTune’s heartless burning tool, which always seems to add tons of hi-end.) The playlist included: Shiner, Built to Spill, Broken Social Scene, The Andrews Sisters, Little Walter, Cheap Trick, Bruce Springsteen and the Almighty Van Halen.
We were knee-deep into an ELO retrospective that Mike gave me when, the traffic ground to a halt. I mean, not a temporary one: a HALT. The time creeped by. Bob cellularr’ed in:
“Can you see what’s happening?”
“Nope, I replied.
“Hmm; ok,” Bob said, provocatively.
The time ticked away: 1/2 hour….1 hour… Moved maybe a mile. 1 hour 15…. 1 hour and a half.
And then, there it was:
Well, no. first there was the smell, surprisingly nice in spite of its odd placement.
Then, we saw it:
A mass genocide of Red Bell Peppers, as far as the eye could see. To the left, 20 massively wide open crates with maybe 10% of their original load inside. Just past it, the truck with, I must assume a most embarrassed driver near by. I say that because I believe that on this day, there was no death; no human casualty.
Just the sad demise of a million and one Capsicum Annuums.
No Dinner/Yes Dinner?
So, what should have put us into SF for dinner with the boys in Recliner, became arriving 20 minutes before our load in, quickly loading in and running across the street for some long overdue grub. Restaurant was called “Java” and was indonesian fare. Good stuff. Not the best I’ve had but good… We ate dinner with two Friends of Chance, Vicky (or Vicki, I’m not quite sure) from the good ol’ US, and Sky (or Skye, I’m not quite sure) from Australia. Vicky not only is good friend of Bob, she is his fricking doppelganger.
The show, and how bumps in the road can equal a good time nonetheless
After eating, we almost had no time to set up, get dressed, and begin the countdown to the rock. Given our car issues (above), we were so very fortunate to have Recliner lend us their gear (that saved space on the trip up.) So, we got up on stage, got ready to go and off we went.
First song:
Taste of the Good Life. The stage was crowded, there was gear from the other bands and an old stand up piano that had no business being on stage making it just so. So, Bob and I were stepping on each other’s feet; Steve was hamstringing me from the right (haha) and it was just tight up there!
But then, I look back, and Flanders has this big ol’ nervous smile on his face as his eyes motioned toward the kick drum. The kick drum, he was trying to point out to me, was inching along the floor with every thump of the beat. By the solo, the thing was at a 45 degree angle counter clockwise to where it started, and so I moved it back. But it kept on moving.
2nd song:
Forgive+Forget.
Kick drum still giving him problems. During the solo, I grabbed Steve’s mic, and his monitor, and moved it over to give me room. It was pretty funny and we just both started laughing. Crowd was into it all in spite of our tech glitches, so we carried on.
5th song:
Time Travel.
At this point, I just had to ask the soundman if he had something to lock down the kick! He comes up and help, and so I told the crowd about the bell pepper incident of 2007. Hilarity ensued.
This is where I think we loosened up. Throwing caution to the wind, and Man on a Mission under a bus (haha), I fulfilled (yet again) the request of a fan that we play Milkshake. But only on the condition that members of the crowd join us on stage. Most of Recliner was up there, and probably a good ten other people.
We closed with Independent, and hip hip hurray, got through the set! Thanks again to the good eggs that make up Recliner. Those guys are just amazing. Hopefully do another show with them very soon.
Pizza, and another traffic incident, unrelated
Later, after the show, we found a pizza by the slice joint oh maybe 5 blocks walk away, and scarfed thick sicilian style pizza. An old episode of Cheers played on the TV above the counter, and I gleefully reminisced.
Our great friend Talmage let us stay on his couch, double bed and floor. On the way to his house in Alameda, we got caught AGAIN behind traffic …on the bay bridge! I must confess that while it wasn’t an hour and a half, when you’re tired and it’s 3:30 in the morning, half an hour feels like an hour ad a half.
We left later that morning (I should say early in the morning) and we were back in LA– incident free — by 3 PM.
Note: due to length, this post was not edited or proofed. Just a stream of conscious, tippity tappity tap…on this sweet laptop computer keyboard o’ mine.
Apple Valley next Saturday. Til then!
Chance
