Friday Night Arrives Without a Suitcase

Friday, October 24, 2003: Club Dada

A lot has changed since Diamondbag's last gig in August. Jay and Jon have sorta switched places on the relationship merry-go-round, I no longer have a job, and Arnold is the now the governor of California. But some things will never change-my Longhorns proved that at the Cotton Bowl on October 11, and we proved it on stage at Club Dada on Friday, October 24. What did this show prove, you ask? Well . . .

1. Jon is one nasty mutha of a guitar player. When he is pissed-and trust me, the kid was in rare form on this night-he makes his guitar squeal louder than Ned Beatty in Deliverance. We opened with "Kentucky Woman," which of course features Jay strumming the familiar intro chords. When Jon hit his first big power chord after the intro, the sheer volume sent me flying forward just like Marty McFly in Back to the Future. It's been three days since the gig as I write this, and I'm just starting to get my hearing back. Rock and roll, indeed.

2. Flu-like symptoms only serve to enhance the Neil. I was sick all week with nasty cold/flu symptoms, and as late as Friday morning I really had no voice. I drank about ten gallons of water, limited my pre-show booze intake to one good-sized shot of Tuaca, and <voila> I made I through the gig with voice intact. For some reason, that gruff Neil voice just really seems to like the extra mucus. Of course, I could barely speak the next day-and then dumb-ass me wore shorts and a t-shirt to the Texas-Baylor game in shockingly frigid Waco that evening. My voice was so far gone that I couldn't sing "The Eyes of Texas" or even cheer for the team, but of course they didn't need my help to thoroughly kick Baylor's butt. Even my 0-7 Plano Wildcats could kick Baylor's butt. So if we beat Baylor 56-0 and OU beat us 65-13, does that mean OU beats Baylor by 108 points when they play in a few weeks?

3. Practice? We don't need no stinkin' practice! The afternoon of the show, we convened at our super-secret rehearsal studio to run over a few of our lesser-played tunes. Unfortunately, only three of us were able to make it. In a way I was almost pleased, as it kept in tact our streak of over 498 days without practicing as a full band. We did manage to work up a Who-like version of the Neil classic "Red Red Wine," which we then played to Eric and Mike over the telephone so that they would have at least some idea of what we were going to unleash upon Club Dada that night. And unleash it we did, to what seemed like a very favorable response. Ain't the modern communication age grand?

4. Dedicating songs to girls only gets you in trouble. At the same pre-gig practice, we worked up a really pretty slow version of "Girl You'll Be a Woman Soon." It featured only Jay's guitar, some piano flourishes from Jon, and my voice. For those who weren't at Dada to hear it, it may make an occasional appearance in the future if I can convince Jay to ever play on it again. But if it does appear in the set, I'll be sure not to dedicate it to anyone, as I made a point of telling the crowd that the song was for Christa-who happened to be outside on Dada's patio at the moment and didn't even hear it. D'oh! No bonus points for me.

5. Our friends suck. It was Curtis' birthday, we hadn't played in two months due to the time off for Jay's wedding, and yet only a handful of our so-called "friends" braved Deep Ellum to see the show. Happily, there were plenty of other non-friends there who seemed to enjoy themselves very much. But please allow me to give special thanks to those who did show up, especially the lovely ladies known as Angela, Tammy, Christa, Tiffiny, and Lori. And although I have no idea who she was, I want to announce for the record that I want to marry the hot girl who danced in front of the stage all night, and even sang along to the obscure Neil classic "Walk On Water." That was truly impressive, and she has gained my respect and admiration for life.

All in all, it was a really great night. We even threw in a version of "Lady Madonna" to help make up for the absence of Hard Night's Day from their usual Friday night Dada slot. Of course, after the show we adjourned to the house for the after-party. My memories of it are hazy, as my pre-show ban on alcohol was quickly forgotten once I got two or three songs into the set. I do remember that at one point, we all joined hands and sang the "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" song. I think we did it because Matt was playing a CD of old TV commercials, but with this crazy gang, you never really know for sure. Still, it was one of those goofy moments that makes life so special. I had another one of those this morning, when my unemployed ass watched the Saved By the Bell gang vacation at the Marriott Resort in Palm Desert. See, Jesse's Dad was going to marry a young aerobics instructor, but of course Jesse was upset about having a stepmom virtually her own age. Kelly and Zack were also rediscovering their love for each other, which helped to make this morning one I will never forget.

Somebody get me a job. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I BEG YOU. I am hurting.

Set List
Kentucky Woman
Solitary Man
Forever In Blue Jeans
Walk On Water
Cracklin' Rosie
Cherry Cherry
Lady Madonna
Girl You'll Be a Woman Soon
America
Red Red Wine
Holly Holy
Love On the Rocks
Sweet Caroline
Brother Love