"The Friends of Mr. Byro – Byro – Byro!!"

Saturday, March 1, 2003: Lakewood Bar & Grill

There were a lot of great things about our gig last Saturday at the Lakewood Bar & Grill, but the absolute best part was having Eric back with us. The show was the first time many of us have seen him since his (quite serious) auto accident, and having Eric on stage with us again gave the entire gig a bit of a celebratory air. Or maybe it was the fact that the LBG has apparently decided to tell Laura Miller to stick it and allow smoking . . .

Either way, a splendid time was had by all. We played well, we got drunk, and everyone made it home in one piece—I'd call that a successful show. Here's a list of the 10 best moments of the evening:

10. "Pink Cadillac." Since I was traveling to Austin on Sunday for my tenth (!!!!!!) Bruce Springsteen concert, I had The Boss on my mind all night. Apparently Jon did too, as "Thank the Lord For the Night Time" turned into a slow blues version of the classic "Dancing In the Dark" B-side. I was just happy to remember all the words, if you wanna know the truth. And it was close—the last verse came to me with about two seconds to spare. A Bruce nut like me would have been too ashamed to ever show his face in public again if I had botched it. And yeah, Bruce kicked ass in Austin the next night.

09. Danny from A Hard Night's Day. It was great to see Danny from the awesome Beatles tribute band A Hard Night's Day in the crowd, and it made perfect sense to bring him up for a couple Beatle tunes during the always-unpredictable third set. Danny grabbed Jon's guitar and the band ripped through "Lady Madonna" and the obscure-but-awesome "One After 909," although unfortunately Jon's guitar apparently got pissy about being touched by someone other than Jon and proceeded to bust a string. Which leads us to the #8 moment of the evening . . .

08. Emergency Guitar Surgery. Jon apparently had not broken a string in a year or so, but luckily still had some extras in his case. Only one problem: Who's gonna fix it? It was already 1:15 and we didn't really have time to stop playing. So with Jon on the keys and every other band member frantically trying to assist in re-stringing Jon's guitar, I sang "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with the lovely Stephanie Vakser providing the Barbara for the evening. Steph wasn't sure if she remembered the words, but she came through in the clutch (with only very minor cueing from me). Thanks Steph!

07. Nipples. Apparently my new sparkly blue shirt is a bit see-through, especially when it's soaked with sweat (it was pretty toasty inside the LBG on Saturday). A few of the ladies in our group mentioned to me after the show that they enjoyed my "sometimes hard nipples." It was very embarrassing. And now I'm writing about it on the web—what the hell is wrong with me anyway? At the next show, I'll be sure to wear my lucky Sammy Hagar "Three Lock Box" tour shirt underneath the sparkles, so you little pervs will have to get your jollies elsewhere.

06. "Rock Me Gently." This tune has really turned into quite a showcase for the band, and it isn't even a Neil song. I always introduce the guys in the middle of the tune and everyone take a little solo, and you never know who is going to play what. Even Jay has gotten into the act as of late. This song was written and performed by Andy Kim, and it went Top 5 in 1974. Of course, it happens to sound exactly like a Neil song (remember, Neil was KING in 1974). Kim also wrote the Archies' classic "Sugar Sugar," which you may have noticed is the exact same song as "Rock Me Gently." Anyway, this song kicks ass. I just thought you should know that.

05. Shannon. Wow, where to begin on this one? It's a long, twisted, and hysterical tale—and one that is best saved for another time. Let me just say that anyone who drives out from Fort Worth to watch us play gets the big thumbs-up from me. Shannon, you're probably reading this, as you may be the only person besides webmaster John (and myself) who actually reads these journals. So thanks for travelling so far to watch us play, and thank you for begging for that last version of "Cracklin' Rosie."

04. "Hey Jon, this ain't the Barley House." You had to be there to understand. :)

03. The After Party. A new tradition is born. After the last four or five shows, we always wind up back at (it's still weird for me to write this) Matt's place*. I think that I will have to use the asterisk whenever I discuss Matt's Place*, as for some reason that house will always be the House That Gary Built. It's been over nine months since I moved out, but it still feels like home. Anyway, the after-party is always a blast (unless you're Pino and you're trying to sleep). Nothing ends an evening of Diamondbag craziness like some peanuts, a cold Blackthorn, Ivan the Terrible, and a good game of Donkey Kong. Matt's Place* rules.

02. Amanda pukes. My girlfriend drank SEVEN vodka sours. I know this because I had to pay the tab. She also had a few rounds of shots with the girls (yeah, I paid for one of those rounds as well). Aren't I supposed to MAKE money at these gigs? Anyway, back at the aforementioned after-party, Amanda was starting to sway. "You're going to vomit," I said. "No, I'm not," she said. Five minutes later, she was passed out on the couch. That marked the end of my tenure at the after-party. I got her back to my place, where she got into bed . . . for about 5 minutes. You already KNOW what happened next. We could blame it on the booze, but more than likely it was the nauseating combination of Diamondbag's world-famous "Porcupine Pie/Margaritaville" medley that we played late in the third set by request. Better than a nice pork sandwich served in a dirty ash tray . . .

01. Eric's back! We love ya buddy.

Special thanks to everyone at the LBG for taking such great care of us as always, and to all of you freaks for spending your Saturday night with us. We'll hopefully see all of see back at the LBG on March 28th. Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

Set One
Cherry Cherry
Shilo
Kentucky Woman
Solitary Man
If You Know What I Mean
Cracklin' Rosie
I'm a Believer
Walk on Water
Forever in Blue Jeans
Rock Me Gently
Sweet Caroline

Set Two
Jambalaya (Jon)
Supersitious (Jon)
Rocket Man (Jon)
America
Desiree
I Am . . . I Said
Girl You'll Be a Woman Soon
Holly Holy
The Only One (Steph)
Love on the Rocks
Brother Love

Set Three
Black Friday (Jon)
Lady Madonna (Jon & Danny)
One After 909 (Jon & Danny)
You Don't Bring Me Flowers (with Steph)
Cherry Cherry
I Can't Explain
Creep
Thank the Lord for the Night Time
Pink Cadillac
Song Sung Blue
Porcupine Pie/Margaritaville
Sweet Caroline
Cracklin' Rosie