Fortune Cookie = No Lie

As predicted by "Fortune Cookie" it did turn out to be a very interesting gig at Neisen’s Brothers Sports Bar. Neisen’s is a large bar with plenty of seating, a high ceiling and adequate stage. So far in our short history this is probably the best single indoor venue we have ever played actually. The bartenders and bouncers were all very accommodating. (oops we found out the hard way that the door next to the stage is the door to the liquor bottle stash so I guess we won’t park our lights and equipment in front of that again). Neisen’s also has a very large main hall in the back much like a legion hall. On the night of our gig there was another band playing the back hall. I believe the name of the band was “La Maquina”. The posters, graphics on the trailer parked out front were all in Spanish of course. La Maquina (or maybe they were a La Maquina cover band ????) played some very energetic mix of latino hip hop, rap, reggaeton, ROCK….anyway they really had it going on back there and 250 people at $30 each to get in. The one bartender thought they were originating from some other country. Must be on a US tour ? They had some serious sound and light show going on. It was pretty entertaining to see many from that crowd come check us out during breaks in their action and leave shaking their heads as we were doing Jimi Hendrix or Black Sabbath’s Fairy’s Wear Boots. Pretty funny.

Our new Lava Lords banner looked great. Really cool and a nice job by the CUZ on getting this finished. Everyone who commented thought the “bell bottom” font was a perfect fit for our vibe. Way cool. We really have to say thanks to Dave Hart for acting as sound manager, roadie, critic, and inspiration during this gig. Although Dave probably won’t admit it, it is a lot of pressure to set up / run sound on a board you have never laid hands on before for a band that….let’s face it, we are not PRO’s. Overall the sound was probably the best ever. Thanks Dave!! U ROCK!!!! It is so nice for us to not have to worry about “how it sounds out there”. If you have ever played “out” you know that sound can be a tricky deal and can really crush you if it gets out of control.

It was nice seeing Pete’s ex college roomie Hutch again. Hutch’s son Grant was having a blast and helped keep everyone entertained. Kudo’s to the “Best Buy” crew who came out to support Andy and also to Pete’s wife Dawn and Lonzo’s bro Todd for taking pictures, video, helping with load out and baby sitting gear. U ALL ROCK !!!

Overall it was an awesome gig once again. No one fell off stage. No one broke any strings. We did not have any hardware failures. None of the songs ended up as train wrecks. (although we had the usual couple faux pas) It was a good crowd. We gave it our best shot. Kinger managed to “gut it out”. Kinger had been ill the whole day but survived until the very end when he was just too spent to close out the night with the usual Free Bird. Way to hang in there Kinger!

We also got to use our new mic cord snake. (used, but new to us) This one is overkill for what we need, but the price was right. It is a 24 channel, 100 footer and it’s got a mind of its own. Think of trying to wrap up an extension cord multiplied by 100. No, think of trying to wrap up a 100 foot garden hose with a Hydra head on it. (you know the 9 headed Hydra from Greek mythology) It was the last thing we stuffed in the van at the end of the night and no it was not wrapped up cleanly. (somehow, the stuff just doesn’t seem to pack as well after the gig) When we finally got back to Kinger’s at 3:15 a.m. and he popped open the rear van door that thing sprung out onto Kinger like an escaped convict. He grappled with it on the ground like Hercules for about 30 seconds before he could evict himself from it’s wrath, meanwhile Lonzo laughing hysterically. We have only had that thing one gig and it already paid for itself as a stress reliever. What a riot!!!

We really are hoping to gig again at Neisen’s this fall. We will keep you posted.