On to Sunday and the big trip to the big New York City for the big Knitting Factory show:
- Nate and Mike had traveled down on Saturday to visit friends, so Keith and I hit the road from Boston Sunday afternoon. We were warned repeatedly that we were foolish to try to get into the city at the same time as the Puerto Rican pride parade. "They'll turn your car over, those riled-up Puerto Ricans!" they'd say, "They can lift buses over their heads and crush your skull with their baby fingernail! They're more machine than man!"
Somehow, Keith and I managed to get into the city without any trouble whatsoever. It was actually quite amazing. And we only saw one guy carrying a Puerto Rican flag, leading to the following phone conversation between Keith and Nate:
Keith: I think we found the Puerto Rican pride parade. It's just one guy.
Nate: Actually, there are over a million people.
Keith: Let me look. (pause) Nope, just one guy.
- Even from four hours away, Scamper expanded its reputation as "New England's Most Punctual Band" to the tri-state area by arriving a half hour before the sound girl. While we were waiting, the ceiling started raining. For reals. There was one spot on the ceiling covered with garbage bags and duct tape which started leaking water onto the middle of the floor without warning. When Melanie the sound girl arrived, I told her what happened and she nodded, "Yup. That'll happen." Completely nonplussed.
- Once the show started, the fun really began. The band before us (Alexcalibur) took a solid 50 minutes to set up. That sounds like a lot of time, but it was completely understandable because they had an incredibly complicated "one guitar, one bass, one keyboard" set-up. Really, who could blame them for taking almost an hour?
Luckily, the wait was rendered completely worth it when a shirtless man took the stage with a bicycle lock around his neck holding a bicycle wheel to the back of his head. He lurched around the room and crooned "I'm a speed freak, I'm a speed freak" to which I quipped to Nate, "Clearly, he's not a 'speed setting up' freak." Har har. We all had a good laugh.
As Alexcalibur wowed the crowd with their high energy show, my friend Mary turned to me:
Mary: How are you going to follow this guy?
Me: I figured we'd just play good songs well.
Mary: Wow. New York bands don't usually try that one.
- Surprisingly enough with the small stage and small monitors, the sound on stage was great at the Knitting Factory. Music-wise, Scamper had one of our better shows in recent memory. It's always a great surprise when you go into a show thinking the harmonies are going to sound like you're singing through a bowl of muddy soup and you turn out to be wrong. Really energizing. The crowd was terrific and responsive as well, even though it took a few of the cynical New Yorkers a few songs to realize we weren't being ironic, but actually trying to entertain them.
There was one exception to my great on-stage Knitting Factory experience: my microphone smelled like it had crawled up a llama's ass and died, decomposed for six months and then was reincarnated when the garlic zombie people pooped on it. Every time I'd breathe in during a long note, I felt like my nose hairs were tiny ninjas throwing Chinese stars of stink at my brain. It was almost as bad as sharing a microphone with Harris.
- We were worried that since we rarely get to NYC, there wouldn't be much of a turnout, but we were pleasantly surprised by a lot of our Big Apple friends. MVP definitely goes to our new #1 fan Katy, who not only made the trip all the way from Jersey but also made a special Scamper-lyric t-shirt for the occasion:
Bam! Check that shit out, people! The bar has just been raised around these parts. Scamper now expects more of you.
Overall, we had the exact opposite experience than Homer Simpson did in his trip to New York. Everything went almost creepily well. We hope to get down there again some time soon so that the gods of New York karma can do what they do best - crap all over us.
And we're certainly going to try to make it two solid shows in a row by hitting TT the Bear's this Friday with a veritable all-star line-up of bands: Harris, Taxpayer and Violet Nine. Bada bing.
- Nate and Mike had traveled down on Saturday to visit friends, so Keith and I hit the road from Boston Sunday afternoon. We were warned repeatedly that we were foolish to try to get into the city at the same time as the Puerto Rican pride parade. "They'll turn your car over, those riled-up Puerto Ricans!" they'd say, "They can lift buses over their heads and crush your skull with their baby fingernail! They're more machine than man!"
Somehow, Keith and I managed to get into the city without any trouble whatsoever. It was actually quite amazing. And we only saw one guy carrying a Puerto Rican flag, leading to the following phone conversation between Keith and Nate:
Keith: I think we found the Puerto Rican pride parade. It's just one guy.
Nate: Actually, there are over a million people.
Keith: Let me look. (pause) Nope, just one guy.
- Even from four hours away, Scamper expanded its reputation as "New England's Most Punctual Band" to the tri-state area by arriving a half hour before the sound girl. While we were waiting, the ceiling started raining. For reals. There was one spot on the ceiling covered with garbage bags and duct tape which started leaking water onto the middle of the floor without warning. When Melanie the sound girl arrived, I told her what happened and she nodded, "Yup. That'll happen." Completely nonplussed.
- Once the show started, the fun really began. The band before us (Alexcalibur) took a solid 50 minutes to set up. That sounds like a lot of time, but it was completely understandable because they had an incredibly complicated "one guitar, one bass, one keyboard" set-up. Really, who could blame them for taking almost an hour?
Luckily, the wait was rendered completely worth it when a shirtless man took the stage with a bicycle lock around his neck holding a bicycle wheel to the back of his head. He lurched around the room and crooned "I'm a speed freak, I'm a speed freak" to which I quipped to Nate, "Clearly, he's not a 'speed setting up' freak." Har har. We all had a good laugh.
As Alexcalibur wowed the crowd with their high energy show, my friend Mary turned to me:
Mary: How are you going to follow this guy?
Me: I figured we'd just play good songs well.
Mary: Wow. New York bands don't usually try that one.
- Surprisingly enough with the small stage and small monitors, the sound on stage was great at the Knitting Factory. Music-wise, Scamper had one of our better shows in recent memory. It's always a great surprise when you go into a show thinking the harmonies are going to sound like you're singing through a bowl of muddy soup and you turn out to be wrong. Really energizing. The crowd was terrific and responsive as well, even though it took a few of the cynical New Yorkers a few songs to realize we weren't being ironic, but actually trying to entertain them.
There was one exception to my great on-stage Knitting Factory experience: my microphone smelled like it had crawled up a llama's ass and died, decomposed for six months and then was reincarnated when the garlic zombie people pooped on it. Every time I'd breathe in during a long note, I felt like my nose hairs were tiny ninjas throwing Chinese stars of stink at my brain. It was almost as bad as sharing a microphone with Harris.
- We were worried that since we rarely get to NYC, there wouldn't be much of a turnout, but we were pleasantly surprised by a lot of our Big Apple friends. MVP definitely goes to our new #1 fan Katy, who not only made the trip all the way from Jersey but also made a special Scamper-lyric t-shirt for the occasion:
Bam! Check that shit out, people! The bar has just been raised around these parts. Scamper now expects more of you.
Overall, we had the exact opposite experience than Homer Simpson did in his trip to New York. Everything went almost creepily well. We hope to get down there again some time soon so that the gods of New York karma can do what they do best - crap all over us.
And we're certainly going to try to make it two solid shows in a row by hitting TT the Bear's this Friday with a veritable all-star line-up of bands: Harris, Taxpayer and Violet Nine. Bada bing.
16 Comments:
my microphone smelled like it had crawled up a llama's ass and died, decomposed for six months and then was reincarnated when the garlic zombie people pooped on it.
Ew, yeah, that's not an image I need...
there is no way that's the "full story"
and actually, that microphone is just what you smell like after a show, darlin.
i love the exchange between keith and nate though. i can hear that one happening.
did you and keith encounter any "rotaries" on your adventure?
Completely nonplussed.
Ah, nonplussed. Poor, misunderstood, abused nonplussed.
I suppose we're getting close to the point where it actually means "unimpressed or unconcerned," seeing as how the masses all seem to use it this way, and this is how language evolves. But the word means "confused or bewildered," dammit, and until the powers of Webster and Merriam break down and allow this alternate meaning, I shall stand in defense of nonplussed!
Nate, Nate, Naaaaaaate...
Sets U Str8!
^^Yeah, he's got a point there.
Yes, I knew Nate had a thing about "nonplussed" but I chose to use it anyway. Because I'm an adult.
there is no way that's the "full story"
did you and keith encounter any "rotaries" on your adventure?
Okay, I'll admit it. I'm completely stumped. I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about.
Okay, I'll admit it. I'm completely stumped. I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about.
what? no "you crazy bitch!" comment.
think about the lovely bicker trip to bill's bar.
think fenway area rotaries
Okay, I'll admit it. I'm completely stumped. I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about.
You are, in fact, nonplussed.
think about the lovely bicker trip to bill's bar.
think fenway area rotaries
Yes, but what does that have to do with... you know what? Never mind.
Sounds like you guys had a terrific trip! :-)
"my microphone smelled like it..."
This almost made me pee my pants at work and when I'm not wearing my Depends, that's just not cool Brendamous!
Maybe now that you're a real rock band with hot groupies, you should really think about buying your own mics.
---==> Chris-to-bal
Yes, but what does that have to do with... you know what? Never mind.
I was simply asking if you hit any rotaries or things that YOU call rotaries and keith does not.
goodness gracious.
This seems like an logical juncture to get the last word in on an argument that Brendan started with me on the way to Bill's Bar.
He was telling me that the traffic organization outside the Fenway theaters was a rotary ("just not the kind of rotary that you're used to"). When I told him he was wrong, he got all defensive and played his "oh Keith can't ever be wrong" card... again.
The collective knowledge of the world over at Wikipedia can back me up on this, with the definition of a rotary (from the British roundabout), and how a rotary clearly differs from a traffic circle, which is what exists outside the Fenway 13.
The short story:
In a rotary, all entering vehicles yield. In a traffic circle, a stop sign or stop signal gives priority to entering vehicles.
Sigh. Can't we just go back to talking about cute girls in homemade t-shirts?
Sigh. Can't we just go back to talking about cute girls in homemade t-shirts?
Groin punchers, the whole lot of 'em.
Sigh. Can't we just go back to talking about cute girls in homemade t-shirts?
Only if you appologize to Harris.
-> C.
They're circles. Not rotaries.
Sigh. Can't we just go back to talking about cute girls in homemade t-shirts?
Absolutely, I enjoy the attention. ;)
Absolutely, I enjoy the attention. ;)
All you have to do is post more pics of yourself. That should do the trick.
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