April 24 , 2003 - Little City Cafe - Middletown, CT
BRIAN: Here's my brief gig diary: I had almost forgotten what it was like to have 2 beers and then play drums loudly. Last night brought it back. It was a ton of fun. MAX: My gig diary: Well, everyone has covered the generals (and majors) nicely, so I'll just note a few things. I think this was the first show in which Henning and I have both worn red pants. Luckily there were red pens handed out for the activity pages so people could draw us true-to-life. On the ride down Brian was kind enough to let me listen to his solo record. It's going to know your socks *and* underpants off. On the ride home Tony kept me awake with sparkling conversation. The show itself seemed kind of like a scuffy little dog who kept chomping at my ankle on a nice sunny day. In other words, I enjoyed the driving and hanging out, but not so much the playing. Chalk that up to me still getting used to my bass, as well as feeling a little worn out from seeing Yo La Tengo the night before. TONY: For a show that was booked only days ago, it came off very well. We were a 4-piece minus Ken (there was another Ken present at the bar as it turns out but he didn't bring his sax with him) and the trick was to pick songs that would sound okay sans Maiuri. His absence was felt very much at times (I don't know the words to Taking Over so I didn't cover Ken's harmonies there and not hearing his solos in Photobooth was a shame) but overall, the band just morphed into something slightly different. How so? Well, Henning and I both played electric guitars and something about Henning's new Telecaster in the mid-range (because he uses capos so frequently) and me in the lower range made us superjangly. Using my own Crate amp, I used a RAT pedal for distortion and set up a third guitar tone on the second channel on the amp to be slightly overdriven and it sounded wonderful. I could be George Harrison Rubber Soul jangly on one channel and then with a flick of the switch, be Alex Chilton Big Star jangly on the other. All the while, Henning was providing a sumptious bed of ringing chords for my tones to dance upon. With a keyboard in the same range, it may have all been too much mids there and start mucking with the vocals. But it's worth a try in the future. Henning and I just can't be as loud overall if we do. Speaking of which, it was fun to crank up and be loud after a run of quieter shows. And the louder we got, the more people seemed to like us. And speaking of the people, it was a small but appreciative crowd. Henning was accosted by a gang of about four or five college-age (it seemed) women as soon as we finished our set. The ringleader referred to him as The Professor (because they were handing in their activity sheets). I spoke with a gal named Ashwanta (sorry if I have mangled the name in my memory). She was the one who yelled out "Andy Partridge is my god" when Henning was introducing the XTC tribute Thug. She and her friends genuinely dug our set and their enthusiasm showed. Anyway, although I was digging the guitar sounds, I found myself not in particularly good voice last night. My throat just didn't want to hit notes properly that it usually has in the past. Nonetheless, I tried to sing as many of Ken's harmonies as I could and since they were provided with mikes as well, Max and Brian jumped in on some vocalizing too. Brian in particular found an incredible harmony for the last chorus of the Translator song. I'm sure Henning must've noticed it because he extended the coda a bit just to soak it up. Nice job. What's up with the end to Something's Taking Over? Is this a new thing now? It's a trifle silly but I like it. Maybe we could find a way to medley it into Thug. That's the only song I can think of right now that starts on that final chord. I couldn't stay for Holiday Rain. Max and I, the working stiffs who have to get up at 6 am on Fridays, needed to hit the road. But the first two songs I heard whilst packing up confirmed Brian's previous raves. I was not very impressed, however, with any of the Indian food treats I procured from the restaurant across the way before the show. Much as I enjoyed interacting with the 3-year old-ish Indian boy as Henning and I waited at the counter, his folks' food was dishearteningly bland. You win some, you lose some. You dim sum, you lump sum. HENNING: Man, sometimes people complain to me about how Harry's is uncomfortable or lacks character. These people have obviously never been to the Little City Cafe. That place had more brightly colored advertisements littering it than a Nascar Jumpsuit. Everywhere you looked, there was some free beer paraphernalia. Televisions were brightly blaring sports, news, and talk shows and cheesy neon and mirrors were everywhere. The door guy was super scary and the manager super unfriendly but the bartender was nice. Despite all that, a small group of music lovers turned the place into a fairly hip feeling venue for a few hours. Tony and I pulled in to a spot directly in front of the place. The last time that happened we were at Albany's Fuze Box - and we were the only ones at Albany's Fuze Box. This time, however, the open spot was not foreshadowing a desolate room, as we walked in we were greeted by the friendly faces of Holiday Rain and pals. Feeling a bit peckish and slightly excited by being in a new town to explore, Tony and I took a walk up and down Main Street in search of snacks. Tiny went into an indian place and I ran across the street to a bagel bakery. When I got back to the Indian restaurant, I found Tiny sitting in there making faces at a small boy behind the counter. I sat down and waited with Tony and the kid walked around the corner and jumped around and gave us the thumbs up and high fives and all the little kid stuff. Back at the club, we settled down to make a set list while Tony ate and I walked over to the pool tables to say hi to the Bourgeoise Heroes. Yes, they came out to another show. In fact, while driving down to the show, Tony and I listened to the B.H. CD that they gave me last time. It's pretty cool. We played a fun set. I enjoyed playing electric guitar and I think in the future I am going to work out some more definate parts and sounds. Maybe Tony and I will work on that a little bit. People sang along to Translator and Photobooth. Brian did some super cool amazing drummin' in Omnivore and I was really digging his harmonies. After the show, everyone ran up and handed in their Activity Pages, each pointing out what they had done, and Brian and I glanced through them (the Acitivity Pages, not the people) while listening to Holiday Rain (who again were really cool). They pulled out a few covers of their own by Big Star, The Kinks, the Beatles, some guy with a weird name who Brian Sinclair was horrified that I didn't know, and a few others. They also gave me a CD but I haven't had a chance to listen yet. I hope we can get them up to Northampton some time soon. Brian and I had fun sticking around, goofing around with the folks in the crowd. It felt a little like a Steamtrain out-of-town gig at that point. I gave out three T-Shirts to three rambunctious ladies and Brian Sinclair introduced us to "Mr. Middletown Music Scene". On the ride home Brian told me exciting secrets that are going to change everybody's life hugely.	Uncomfortable Soup Of The Moment Something's Taking Over Overs Rock & Roll Camper Sitcom Theme Everybody Loves Martha 1,000 Times Everywhere I'm Not (Translator cover) The Wichita Train Whistle Sings Photobooth Curtain Thug Omnivore Activity Pages