Our first real show! Unlike Geekfest, there was actually liquid available, in the form of pineapple-orange concoctions.... mmm mmm! The Stork Club's perennial Christmas decor was quite welcoming to us (and incidentally fits nicely with the green and red decor of our website.)
Despite arriving "early" for soundcheck, we still didn't hit the stage until a bit after 10:30 pm. There was some confusion as to where "Sage Gentle Wing" was, but it turned out it was just one guy (as opposed to a large band) and we agreed that we would take the stage first.
The set started off with the demo opener, Carolina Daze, and careened into somber territory from there: Dead Weight, Chinese Puzzle Box / The Watchdog Song, and a new song, April 22. The only light moment during that section was in the mid-song break to Dead Weight, during which not only did John accidentally turn off the GP100 and had to wait as it went through its start-up cycle again, but Kerwin was attacked by the large plastic Santa standing behind him! Said Santa knocked the boom mike into the cymbals, but our heroes got their act together in time to kick in the last bracing measures of the song. Whoo!
Aside from the much feared and reviled "Band Anagram Game", the abrupt breaking point of the tension came with the opening assault of "Hawaii Five-O", during which Eric successfully surfed a guitar amp and landed safely back on the stage-- in time, of course, for the Mary Margaret O'Hara song. After which Kerwin convinced everyone that all was lost by belting out the Ballad of the Hungry Hungry Hippeaux.
In case there was any doubt, after Killing Time we launched into an all-too-raucous version of the Evil Ska/Chicken Sandwich Medley, complete with a near on-stage fatality! (and I'm not talking about the inflatable guitar, either....:P)
Um, what was after that... uh, lessee.... Unbearable Spy, So Soon (a danceable new ditty!), an impressive request medley including "We are the World", "Purple Rain", and "Solidarity Forever," 867-5309/Jenny (perhaps our best-received number), and the Yngwie song, during which everyone turned up everything at the expense of the audience!
Afterwards a mass exodus took place, leaving Sage Gentle Wing to literally fend for himself. On the strength of one show we were able to wangle another show out of the Stork Club. Taking the money we pilfered from our friends, we quickly headed for the non-discriminatory doors of Denny's....
Pictures from this show:
