January 16th, 2004

      This was kind of a surprise gig in many ways. Let me count them. One: We didn't confirm for the gig until the monday before. Two: we had virtually no info about the show until we got there. Three: it was totally sweet (it, of course, referring to the soda of the Mountain Dew variety, among others - served up with a helping of free pizza!).
      Muscle City invited us to play this show, based likely on the fact that we aren't thrashmo. It was in a small southern Maine villa known to the locals as "Sabattus," and known to the rest of us as "Sabattus, ME". Upon our arrival at the red building across from Steven's Hardware, known to the locals as "the red building across from Steven's Hardware," and unknown to most outsiders, we were pleasantly aggravated that there were so many people crammed into every nook of that place that we barely had room to load in our equipment. We ended up violently seizing control of the toddler's playroom, the blue-skies-painted ceiling of which pleased self-confessed sunshine boy Ian McConnell to no end.
      We missed most of the first band, and were still settling in while thrashmen Stand or Fall belted out a few choice numbers. Quite possibly, our distraction was escalated by the timely arrival of ex-The Match (currently By Misadventure). It had truly been a dog's age since we'd seen these strapping lads, and my how they've grown! Why, it only seems like yesterday when little Jonas Eule was the drummer for The Match!
      Anyhoops, the next band up was the local Missing Direction. I wanted to check these guys out since 1) i booked them for tomorrow's show, and 2) they accosted us upon our arrival claiming intimate knowledge of our past... and future! I was pleased with their existence as a band, as they mixed some screamy (but not quite thrashy) hardcore with some mellow (but not quite weepy) emo stuff. And an extra thumb up for these guys in the future, as they're only boys of 3 and 4 years of age.
      Our set was next, and although we were playing in front of a largely untested crowd (lots of new faces, except for the fat guy from Jolly John, who hates us and apparently yelled at us through the first few songs of our set). Also, still living with the memory of last weekend's Boston excursion, we had yet to redeem ourselves. Until the muses smiled upon us once again for the next half hour. That is to say, i was happy with our set, and i know many of the audience enjoyed it, as evidence by the many post-set conversations that ensued.
      On after us were the Leftovers. I hadn't seen these guys with their permanent lineup yet, although i'd heard their new recordings. Needless to say, they've really stepped it up as of late, and they got very sweaty while playing their music. Congrats to Kurt and Co. I have a Leftovers pin.
      Closing the show were those beloved slacks in ex-The Match (current By Misadventure). By this time the rock juice had nigh been consumed, and the pizza had grown cold, save the slices living in the teepee of my heart. Much like a young boy in the late 70s ventured forth to save earth from alien invaders in the classic arcade game Space Invaders, ex-The Match played their songs and played them with tenacity. I watched this set intently, and at one point narrowly avoided smashing Muscle City Chris' camcorder! Hurrah!
      So this was a good show for us. We seemed to have excercised the demons from 01/09/04-01/10/04, hopefully for good. We talked to lots of cool music enthusiasts, and were treated to much spastic dancing by a few ladies in the audience, including one of the swordfighting chicks from the punx scene. Also, i sold my brown gloves to the singer from ex-The Match for $5! It worked out great for both of us, because he now has a pair of cool brown cotton gloves, and i am now $5 richer, and have less handwear choices, enabling me to wear my army green cotton gloves with more regularity!
      We did this show solo, with just our 5-piece manning the helm. We felt like strangers in a strange land, albeit a magical land with free soda and pizza. We drove the van to Gardiner in preparation for tomorrow's show, and then booked it back to Bangor Maine.

caleb.


SETLIST
Ardent Heart
1913
Stopping Sound (Impossibles cover)
Calico
TNT