An Elvis Costello show I really didn't see...

[Finch Platte]

Got to see Elvis C. last night in a small venue. There were folding chairs set up haphazardly around the room, and not many people were there. My friend Jim and I sat close to the middle of the room and waited for the show to begin.

The band had called me earlier that day and asked if they could borrow my drum set. My Tama set was now onstage, but they had set it up to the right on the foot-high stage, out in front of the band, and facing the rear of the stage!

I haven't been an EC fan for a while, and they started w/ 3 songs I didn't know. The songs sounded pretty strange- almost with a jazz-noodling improvisational vibe. After the 3rd song was done, the band walked off the stage, and someone started up a Pink Floyd disc thru the PA. I started to get bored, so after a while I just got up onstage & started playing the drums along w/ the music. Not hitting them hard or anything, just kind of hitting a cymbal every now & then, or a well-placed rimshot. When the song was over, I turned to go back to my seat, and faced a pretty hostile crowd. (When I say crowd, I'm probably talking 15 people at the most.) I went back to my seat. One of the band members came out and started talking sh!t about me over the PA. The guy to my left scowled at me and gave me the finger. I felt pretty bad about going up there after that.

The band came back onto the stage & tried to start up again, but the PA was giving them fits (my fault? Maybe I tripped over an extension cord & pulled it out?). Elvis began to get really pissed and finally stormed offstage. The rest of the band soon followed, and roadies began taking all the gear off the stage. "Did I piss them off so much that they quit?" I wondered. The people around us were still giving me grief, blaming me for the crappy show. I cowered.

Jim and I sat around for a little while, hoping something musical would happen, but people started to leave. Finally, one of the guys from the band came out and bent over to talk in my ear. He whispered, "Elvis & one of the other guys are really mad at you, but the rest of the band wants you to have these." With that, he dumped about 6 pills in my hand.

"What are these?" I asked.

"They're fun," he replied. Actually, I didn't hear what he said, I just got the impression that they would make me feel good. I hesitated, but when I offered one to Jim, he took it w/out missing a beat. So I gobbled one down, too. What the hey.

The band member motioned for us to follow him, and we left out a side door, exiting onto grass. I realized we were on school grounds somewhere. To my right was a classroom, and we followed the band guy into the room. Everyone from the club was seated there, the band gear was set up in the middle and they were going to carry on with the concert! I somehow knew they had done this so they could use the room's PA for the band to sing thru.

The pill had started to hit me & I felt pretty good. The band was about to start and then...

...I woke up.

Aww, man!

fp

[bobsticks]

Chronic spliff

[ForeverAutumn]

You should really stop eating those fried bat wing sandwiches so close to bed time.