36 Hours in the Life of a Rock Star Dreamer (Part Deux)

(If you are just joining us, scroll down and read Part 1.) (Click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.)

9:20 PM - With my coat and jacket in hand, I make it to the club, get my VIP pass and enter the club. . . And Bone Thugs N Harmony are well into their set. Yeah, B.B. Kings booked two shows that night. Bones at 8 and us at 11:30. One of the managers escorts Mike, the keyboard player, and I around the crowd and into the back towards our dressing room. As we enter the glorified closet that is our dressing room we hear the crowd sing with Bones Thugs N Harmony "Nigga, Nigga. . . Nigga!"

Joy.

9:25PM - Nicole is the dressing room with her two sisters. Her older sister, whose name escapes me at the moment but is an incredibly nice woman, is a hair dresser and helping Nicole get ready with her hair and makeup. Jasmine is there, Jay and Mike, and one of our biggest and coolest fans, Laura. Laura and Alex, Nicole's younger sister, will be singing back up for us during one of our songs during the acoustic set. Keyboard Mike was out in the hall trying to work through some confusion over the backstage pass for his girlfriend.

While getting her hair done, Nicole was being her usually stressed out diva self (and I say that in the most loving of ways). Everyone was excited to be there and we chated away as we ordered food.

(On a side note: B.B.'s didn't have the AC on in our dressing room so it was uncomfortably warm.)

9:30-10:00PM - Jay and I were in and out of the dressing room. Besides the heat, there was quite a bit of estrogen in there. Also, jay nened to put on the Excuse Me drum head on his bass drum.

We're able to hear B,T,&H's music clearly in the back hall and dressing room. The crowd sings along loudly as they cover that classic rap anthem, "Fuck the Police!"

10:005PM - B,T,&H are still on stage. I'm getting a tad nervous as we were supposed to be sound checking by now. But I'm not surprised, I've rarely played a gig that ran on time. 10:10PM - Nicole is still in make-up mode her sister are going through the large amount of clothes that Nicole brought. I'm all for outfit changes during a show, but part of me is thinking, "Gah! (to quote my Canadian friends) She'll stand there with a closet, full of options saying, 'Ohmigod! There's nothing for me to wear!' "

It's times like those that I am glad I'm a man. How many outfits did I bring? One.
(Plus a dry shirt to change into after the show.) And if this wasn't a No Doubt tribute band, I may have gone topless.







10:30-45PM - B,T,&H are finally off the stage and we start getting stuff ready. Drums are setup first, then bass and guitar, followed by keyboards. Vocals are last. Soundcheck goes well, and I really like the Sound-man, Stage Manager and Monitor Mixer. I have found that it is key to be friendly to these people. They control how you sound. Plus, when you need to ask for something, honey works better than vinegar.





11:15PM - We finish soundcheck. I think Nicole still had curlers in her hair. We practice the song "Bathwater because we're going to have 3 dancers performing with us. (No, that is not me in the background of that picture checking out the dancers' asses!)

Right after we finish soundcheck, the doors open and our fans, No Doubt fans and Gwen fans enter. Jasmine goes to the work with the Soundman to set up a photo slideshow that will be played later.



11:20PM-12:00AM - This is the time I spend warming up my hands and body. I have learned that I need at least 30 minutes of guitar warms ups before a show so my hands will be where I need them. I don't want the first 2-3 songs of the set to be the warm-up. Also, with my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome I have learned that I have to give some time to massage and stretching my arms. (Know I really don't have anymore pain. When I do, I know how to massage it out.)

And moreso with this band than any other I have been with, I have to stretch my legs. We do a LOT of dancing and jumping around.

12:02AM - We hit the stage, in front of a really good size crowd for a Tuesday night (400 people). I do my last ritual before playing, which is to take off my watch and place on the same place on my amp that I always do. Jay kicks off into the beat and we rock into "Hella Good."

12:02AM-1:30AM - The show flys by!! And with the exceptions of a few mistakes that I made, it's ranks so close to the top of my list of best shows I've done. (My senior recital, April 5, 1997 at Greensboro College still is number 1.) Rather that try to write about the show, I'll just include the set list and some pictures.

Hella Good
SundayMorning
Ex-Girlfriend
Happy Now?
Different People
Total Hate
Just a Girl
Underneath It All
New
Bathwater (with dancers)
Hey Baby (with dancers, and Brick Mason to do the rap part)
Simple Kind of Life (Acoustic)










Running (Acoustic with, back up singers)








It's My Life
What You Waiting For?

Encore
Spiderwebs
Don't Speak
Excuse Me!!

1:35AM -The show ends, the crowd goes nuts like they have been doing the entire night. We take a few minutes before packing up to talk to our friends and new fans. What a night!! I had some random Oriental Girl from France come up and tell me, in an accent I couldn't understand, how she thought I was so cute and that she wanted to take me home. Her French guy friends proceeded to tell me stuff that I didn't understand at all and take pictures with me.

Actually, I had quite a few girls come up to me. Yes, MCG, as we've discussed on your blog, it's one of the benefits of being a guitarist. That's the thing with Excuse Me shows. There are more girls, hot girls, coming to our shows than any other band I have been in. And they are all in the front row, jumping up and down, and singing every word. I love that!! Now, it's not like I could take any of them home that night because I had a Metro full of gear. lol. (Funny story regarding one of the women in the crowd coming up.)


(This picture could be a punchline to a joke, "How many Hispanics does it take to pack a Metro?" P.S. Don't get offended by that, I'm 1/2 Puerto Rican.)




2:30-2:45AM - We, meaning the band and our friends, are all outside deciding what to do. We still want to hang out, but we don't want to go to a bar. Thirty five minutes later, we decide to go to a diner near Washington Sqaure. Why it took so long to figure out what we were doing is beyond me!

3:45AM - We get to Soup & Burger. The person leading the convoy of cars to get to the diner when around their ass to get to their elbow. But enough complaining, let's eat. I didn't realize how hungry I was. I just knew that I was tired and needed coffee. The discussion in the diner was hilarious as many in the group are drunk, and like most converstaions it turned to the topic of sex. We did discuss the show of course, and this is where that funny story about one of the women in the crowd come in.

All of us, Jasmine and Nicole included were talking about the fine looking women in the crowd. (Nicole doesn't go that way, but she's a photographer and brings A LOT of hot friends to the show. Thank you, Nicole!) Our friend, John, says, "Yeah, and there was there really fine woman who had a rack that wouldn't quit and she was dancing around to the music like nobody's business! Then she turned around and saw that she had an erection stick out from her skirt!"

EWWWW!

4:30AM - We leave the diner and Jay and I head to his house in East New York, Brooklyn. Both of us are just exhausted as we unload his drums.

5:30AM - I make it back to my house and unload my equipment. I am tired and hurting. I take a few minutes to wash up, clean the make up from my eyes. I then check the Excuse Me Myspace Page, to see the comments about the show. (Scroll down on that page for comments dated Nov 1. and Nov. 2.)


6:05AM - I collape in my bed and sleep the hardest 9 hours of sleep I have had in the longest time.