February 1, 2003 - The Thirsty Mind South Hadley, MA
HENNING: Although I was not in tip-top shape for the Thirsty Mind show this past Saturday, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I can only image how much better it would have been if I was not partially sick, fully exhausted, and wanting of a voice. I squeeked and squawked my way through the set, thanking my lucky stars that this was not a room-full-of-smoke. The gig was 5,000 times better than what I imagined. How fun would a tour of places like this be? No cynicism, no pool tables, and neon signs, no angry bar tenders and sound guy, no ringing ears, no swampy restrooms. Just a room full of people who were hanging out enjoying the music. It was gentle and comfortable and casual and friendly, the way I wish life was all the time.  Max, if the rest of the band is in agreement, can we make this an ongoing kind of "regular" gig? I think South Hadley needs us, and I think we need them. KEN: lot of pop music, lot of driving, lot of wet snow falling, lot of friends. our show at the thirsty mind seemed like the first time the band had been together in a room in AGES (just over one month since the last full-band show?). i thought i was getting to south hadley embarrassingly late (7:45 for a scheduled 8 p.m. show), but i walked into the thirsty mind with a backpack and amplifier and saw a coffeshop full of studiers and chatters. no equipment at all, no sign of other band members, no space cleared for Rock Music. "is there a band playing tonight?" i asked the woman behind the counter. "yes!" she said, not seeming very concerned. max and anya showed up very soon after that, followed by henning, and as i went down to grab some "gear" brian and andrea were unloading their vehicle, and then tony crawled by in his just-arriving car, scouting for a good parking space. loud guys were standing on the muddy slushy sidewalk debating about where to go get a bite to eat in town. a gaggle of police officers stood chatting jovially nearby. we set up on the corner window stage, friends arrived, and a LOT of nice people i didn't know sat at tables near the band! it was so great and supportive!...i've been to "in-store" ("in-cafe"?) shows before where people sit as far away from the band as possible, but these folks seemed to care, or at least were willing to give us a shot. after some hestitant glances and admission of embarrassment by our (not so!) fearless leader, the activity pages got passed around to the audience, and i know we're all happy that happened -- there were art majors there in full force or something, we found out later when the pages were collected, wowieee. i bought an oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookie and apparently other folks adopted it, since i left it sad and alone at a table when it came time to play and saw only crumbs on a plate at the end of the night. took my "desperately seeking C" with me, put a thirsty mind lamp next to me on max's bass cab, which made me feel like i was in the scud mountain boys. we didn't have a pre-made set list, but henning had tony's "the-songs-we-play master list" spread out by his feet. we played fairly well. sloppy too, but there were moments when the spirit overcame the stiff musical joints. i loved playing "thug," "photobooth curtain," anything with some velocity behind it. i didn't have a microphone so i felt a little out of it, trying to sing my parts loud enough to be heard. brian threw some choice tasters and clever stuff in there (sneakily working the "nigel" beat into "thug"), max hopped around, tony laid on the floor in the crowd during "rock and roll camper" and sat on a chair facing his amplifier for the noisy end of "omnivore." i hardly looked up during the show, but i wish i had. it's more fun that way. hopefully next time. sal acted like one of "barker's beauties" and showed off our CD to the audience, marching it around the room. lauri made thoughtful, excellent suggestions for future activity pages. rick GdV had very cool eyeglasses. (i've been humming "downtown ladies" a lot lately, rick! i forgot to tell you.) at times there were huge surges of population in the room...i noticed a lot of people that wondered in decided to stay and stand by the counter, watching the majority of the show, which felt great!, though the audience thinned by the last few songs. the crowd was positive but i think we were all a little shy being there. i wish henning had answered the crowdmember's question and given an explanation of the band name. ANY explanation! the resulting silence was awkward...the show for me was a little awkward overall. not bad, i was just sort of disconnected. maybe we all were. or at least on the rusty side. even so the show seemed over too soon. but the thirsty mind was a nice place to play. if we go back someday when the weather's more enticing and we have another couple of microphones, it'll be even better! BRIAN: It felt like forever since we'd played together. Tony and Andrea and I met Ning over at Ning's house. Poor Ning and Lesa had been moving and rearranging their apartment all day and they were all sore and tired. We helped move equipment down the stairs to the cars. Tony lent me the George Harrison "Brainwashed" CD and I listened to it on the drive over with Andrea. The first half is excellent. Haven't gotten to the second half. Once there I was alarmed by the full parking lot, the cops, the humanity. The manatees. I got a complimentary coffee and proceeded to get more hyper as the gig went on, as opposed to the usual beery gig where you get tired. It was high energy. I was loving just being there and playing drums. Having spent 10 hours a day for 7 days playing drums in N. Adams set a new standard. Since then, I hadn't hardly played at all and I was a-itchin'. Ning even caught me smiling as I was putting together the kit. I think everything except Candy Cane sounded good. Candy Cane felt like suddenly everyone started thinking about something else. Maybe it was just me. More coffee!! Young Sal was a great fan club representative and roadie. He helped me take the cymbals down, collapse my cymbal stands and set down the bass drums. I asked him about his band "The Puzzle Pieces" (who recently played their first gig) I complimented him about the name and he said (classic quote) "I've had that name in my head since the day I was born". Are you listening, "Behind the Music"? From S. Hadley, Ken and I drove straight to Greenfield o the People's Pint, where we partook in another live performance of King Radio's "Are You the Sick Passenger". I did my customary tambourine. Ken did his customary keyboards and stuff. Opening for King Radio was Tony Goddess (former Papas Fritas) and Ray Neades (Miss Reed) who now perform together as The Prettiest Girls. After the show I spoke at length with Geoge Lenker and his friend (names!! I know not names!!) who knows Hal Blaine. TONY: MAX:	Set List (not in order) Everybody Loves Martha One Lady Dancing Candy Cane The Wichita Train Whistle Sings Omnivore Pick A Gripe Rock & Roll Camper Thug Overs Soup Of The Moment Day Job Sitcom Theme The Screen Door Talking Back Words Ayla Photobooth Curtain Activity Pages