can't put it more politely than this right now: when life sucks, music saves. tonight's been a bad, bad mo-fo roller coaster. then i picked up my little squire bass & played along w/manuel's CD, which he gave me last wk. carl perkins, bo diddley, down home girl... life was restored as i tried to ape russell scott's bass lines. it reminded me of halloween...here's some pix from that show, including our new bass player scotty. the band was each given a piece of "caveman" fabric & demonstrated awesome creativity, i thought, when ea showed up as 1) "dallas cowboy cheerleader caveman" (what rick called phil, who wore t-shirt, black shorts & cowboy boots, his legs sticking out conspicuously, & who then did a strip tease when his cave bottoms fell off, to hoots & hollers from female audience); 2) hippie caveman (was delighted that scotty was able to wear the tiger-western shirt made by my artist bro-in-law paul in denver -- i've never been able to wear it); & 3) what i call wally wood classic caveman -- rick went full neanderthal, as i kinda hoped he would, looking as goofy nerdy-cool as anything from vintage mad magazine era.
me? i was (of course) sick as a dog from a terrible recent health snag (nothing lethal; i'm ok, but it has been traumatic), so i opted for buried-in-fur freezing cavewoman. unfortunately, i didn't consider that such an outfit would add 40 lbs to my frame!!! oh well.
once we hit the ground playing, i was well for 4 straight hrs... those derby acres folks kept swarming in, many even having come to see us from the taft show w/whiteboy james, & everyone partied cheerfully, loudly, & generously all night long w/us. we received compliments galore, an encore, & more. "you really come alive w/a crowd," said a nice couple. "the more people arrived, the more you lit up." i loved hearing that!! it's true!!
we played better than we ever have; phil debuted his new awesome rockabilly tune; he & i took round after round of improv instrumentals, & phil's always right-there ready to go. it just felt so good -- my fingers were cooperating cause we were all in the glide... unlike tonight, unlike after the show, the rollercoaster of music was absolutely exhilarating! we did werewolves of london (2x; everyone sang along); haunted house (gene simmons/hasil adkins); munsters theme -- only the last had been practiced, but the others came out so fun!
i even received marriage proposals. even w/40 lbs of extra wt from my costume. :)
however, the moment we stopped playing, i felt death coming quickly. it took a good while to say goodbye to folks, get moolah, load up. i wanted so badly to just lie down & rest & die... such a long drive home... just wanted to die... the evening ended up being full-blown horrible, monstrously so, maybe fitting for halloween, but no no no fun, no sir... but the show, the show was tops, one of our ever-loving best! i was amazed by scott, who, w/1 practice w/us, laid down bass for over 4 hrs.
life w/o music is no life at all. thank you to scott, rick, & phil. and big manny, who doesn't even know he saved me this evening. tonight @ the mtg in nearby lake of the woods, a man said, "here [in secret society] i not just found my smile, but the peace that goes behind it." when i am in the music, or around dear friends, i know that feeling. may you have it, too. no arcania for tonight -- just a wish for love & music & friendship & forgiveness to all who read this.
