Recap of the Lizard Lounge show
Another successful show despite the universe conspiring against us. Here’s how it all went down…
- Around 10am, I get a call from Tim “The Chef” Delaney informing me of the unfortunate fact that vomit was leaving his body with the speed and frequency of an Epcot Center supertram. (Remember? Because he was at Disney? No?) Although he was going to try to muscle through, the Chef was a very strong “probably not” for the show. Add this develepmont to the fact that KenDo was in Vegas this weekend and you’ve got yourself a bit of a crisis.
- Luckily, the multi-talented Jason Dunn of The Luxury and Will Dailey were on board to be special guests, so they were about to pull more duty than for which they had bargained. Will handled the news with his characteristic laid back aplomb while Jason freaked out for a few hours and then decided to kick all kinds of ass and perhaps take a few names. Like Irving. He might, for instance, take that name.
- With all this adversity in front of us, we had two choices – throw in the towel or continue to rock. I picked the third option: drink heavily on the Lizard Lounge’s tab! During soundcheck, I took advantage of the kindness of the bartender and gulped my problems away! Who says alcohol doesn’t magically solve everything? Liars, that’s who.
- Right before show time, The Chef informed us that not only was he not any better, but he had successfully infected his wife as well. That’s good strong work there, Chefsie. We made a few last minute adjustments to the set and (more importantly) had a few more bottles of liquid courage and prepared to bring the noise all “unprepared”-style.
- The evening began with the great Paul Melancon from Atlanta with his all-star Boston-based band. They absolutely blew the doors off the place. Many of the (by then almost sold-out) audience hadn’t seen them before, so I was getting a lot of “Who are these guys? They’re amazing! Why haven’t I’ve seen them before?” I of course informed these people that my restraining order against Paul was only recently lifted by the courts. Because fuck that guy for being so good.
- Around 10pm, it was our turn to rock the house in whatever way we could muster. We started out a little bit soft and sweet with an acoustic duet with Will and myself. I swear, when you look into that man’s eyes… it’s like a Bing Crosby Christmas in your mother’s womb. His talent simultaneously thrilling and soothing. Viola player extraordinaire Beth Holub then joined us for ”February” and a cover of Dire Straits’ “So Far Away” with some impromptu bass and guitar from Will and Jason.
Then, it was time to bring Jason up for some loud rock and some say fucking roll. Knowing KenDo was going to be out of town, we had rehearsed with the foursome of me, Justin, Tim, and Jason for a few weeks. I’m not going to lie to you – we were sounding goooooood. Jason wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to handle both guitar parts on all the songs because he’s, you know, not in the band. But he’s an annoyingly talented motherfucker and hit it out of the park. Everyone was coming up to me afterward and talking about what great musical chemistry we had. They should have seen our smoldering gaga eyes in the green room. HeyOH!
- After we managed to put together a good set with only chutzpah and metaphorical duct tape, it was time for The Motion Sick. They absolutely ripped through a chaotic, high energy set featuring Patrick taking a header into the drum kit and Travis ripping his thumb open and spraying gore everywhere. You think I’m exaggerating? Take a look at the aftermath:
Rock and roll, goddamnit.
- The night was closed out by Oranjuly. They’re a relatively new band in town, but they’re quickly making a name for themselves with excellent songwriting and killer musicianship in their performances. At the end of their set, they were kind enough to invite Paul and myself on stage for a version of the Wonders’ “That Thing You Do.” At that point, I was drunk enough to tell the entire audience that Mike Viola was a douchebag for not paying me when I opened for him several months ago. And now, I’m apparently drunk enough to post it on my website for all the world to see! I’m terrific!
You know, creating great nights of rock music isn’t rocket science. You just get a bunch of great bands who are also really nice people and you throw a party. Saturday night was one of the more fun parties I’ve thrown in a while. So thanks to the sold-out audience for making yet another magical night at the Lizard Lounge.
Tags: blog, blood and gore, Oranjuly, Paul Melancon, recap, shows, The Motion Sick
