Thursday 26 July 2001
High Five
DEVILCAKE | MRS CHILDREN | STAINLESS MIND | SALVAGE | AOG
lineup: Mike Gourley, Mike Chuck Bill, Ian Stewart, Todd Skaggs, Darrin Ailes

What a week for rock 'n roll! First Mike Chuck Bill and I drove down to King Crimson to see Bogart's on Monday! Holy shiot!

Then there was our gig on Thursday.

Not forgetting Cradle Of Filth at the Newport on that Friday! What a week for rock 'n roll.

Getting back to our gig on that Thursday...
We swarmed High Five pretty early, somewhere between 8:30 and 9pm. The doors weren't even open yet! And then when the drunk dude who worked there said it was okay for us to load in, we loaded in! Pretty amazing actually.

It was hotter than ass all night in there. We need try to get a group rate on those personal air-conditioning things they sell on cable. That would be sweet.

We got our shit set up fairly quickly, all things considered. And then we kinda lingered and waited for the soundman to show up and turn on some fuckin' lights! That stage is like a dark cave unless you've got some lights on it.

In the meantime we greeted our peeps, who were surprisingly numerous! What up peeps! Oh really, that's amazing, I gotta go do a soundcheck now.

The soundman just kinda set mics up and didn't chit-chat or anything. Which is actually fine. I think I'd rather have a soundman who's clearly indifferent from the beginning than, like, when they ask a bunch of questions while we're setting up as though anything we say is actually going to count for anything later when they do the actual mix during our set. At least this particular night we knew we weren't going to get shit through the monitors. And that's fine. It's just good to know beforehand.

We soundchecked with "Guacamole Damn It" but since everyone was already there and paying attention to us, we just went into the set from there.

In typical High Five fashion, we found out there were going to be a total of FIVE BANDS playing this particular Thursday night. But it didn't matter to us a bit because we were already set up, and we were already planning on playing a 35-minute set. So that's what we did.

Todd got all ghouly on the analog keyz-o-heaven for about a minute before Darrin gave the Final Four count on the cracked China cymbal. That's when we unleashed the first of 4 brand-spanking-fresh tracks on the hoes, "Wienermobile."

We had 2 smoke machines - I got one for my birthday, by the way, thanks to me - and they still weren't enough! We also had 2 strobe lights, which I masterfully (HA!) controlled by switching a powerstrip on and off with my foot. Unfortunately there was no good place to put the Laser Widow, which is the newest member of Devilcake. And though it only weighs around 12 ounces, it works the hardest of us all. Projecting a rotating red penagram inside of which we can all rock. I love you, Laser Widow.

Anyway um. So we rammed "Wienermobile" straight into "Marshmallow" with no stopping, just like we do sometimes. It felt MIGHTY FINE to play. The mix of "Wienermobile," which can safely be called Devilcake's Answer To 'I Can't Drive 55,' basically careens around every curve. Barely controlled fury. And then it rams into a wall at the end... and that's when fuckin' "Marshmallow" comes slamming down on dat azz like a ton of fuckin' marshmallows. It's like getting kicked dead in the mooth by the fuckin' Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. Just like it (kinda) says in the song.

So yeah. It was definitely happenin' from the stage. We were havin' it, and people were clapping and cheering at totally inappropriate moments throughout our set. The more we threw at 'em, the more they dug it.

A lot of this can be attributed to the fact that Devilcake has always been popular among other bands. For some reason other musicians seem to dig our little bullshit maybe a little more than the Average Joe. Not to say the Average Joe doesn't enjoy a bit of Devilcake because he does. But the other musicians in the house always ALWAYS tend to give it up a little more for us.

Same was true at High Five. Whatever it was, there was love in the air. And we gave it back to them.

Todd's analog keys-o-cottage cheese cut through the mix like a swarm of bees. And Darrin's drumming was unusuallly lucid - I could hear everything he was doing, and that doesn't usually happen. But I couldn't hear (let alone FEEL) Chuck Bill's guitar. And my bass sound was fucking pathetic! Let this be a lesson to everyone: if you have a Peavey amp, use it in rehearsal ONLY! Never take it onstage because IT WILL FUCK YOU IN THE EYE EVERY TIME. I couldn't believe how middling and petty and weak and totally un-amazing the bass sound was. It's mostly my fault because I only concern myself with knobs that make the amp LOUDER, not the ones that control how shitty it sounds. I guess I'll have to do my homework before we go back!

But the Anniversary Bass (Yamaha fretless deal given to me by my wife on our second wedding anniversary - cheers mang) made a stunning debut. The only thing keeping that bass from propelling us all to greatness this particular evening was the pathological oversight of the dickhead playing it!

Which is to say that we're trying to get a little arty with it in our old age. We tune down to chuggy drop-D for "Hands Off" and "Chik Nugs." Which is fine.

Except that my dumb ass always forgets to tune back up before launching into "PIzza Party" with Darrin! Fuckin' DUH! It sounded like Todd, Mike Chuck Bill and I were all playing in some secret middle-eastern harmony that no one is supposed to know about.

No big deal really in the scheme of things. In fact I doubt anyone in the audience noticed.

They did, however, notice "Cereal And Beer"! Jesus, when Gourley introduce that mofo the place went nuts! What the hell?!?! At that point we were just kind of confused because, y'know, maybe they think we're talking about a different "Cereal And Beer."

Whatever. It worked. We had fun. They clapped and had fun. And if we didn't have so much gear to pack up after the set, Gourley and I both were going to roll around on the stage - separately, I must stress - and get all GG Allin with it at the end of "Fribble." But we both pussed out and just played the song normally.

What was funny OH HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA was people in the crowd yelling out song titles of songs we don't play anymore. I kinda felt bad. Almost like an explanation was in order. But it wasn't.

And I just want to say for the record that if anyone else ever says "Cibo Matto" in any context while I'm on stage and I hear them, I will personally stop what I'm doing and end their conversation!

For the 10,000th time, Devilcake was started in 1991. We were doing the food thing long before Cibo Matto even thought about being a BAND, let alone having a few songs about food. Fuck that shit. I will kill. I will kill. I will kill and feast upon the remains. And then I'll run back up onstage and finish "Fribble," bitch! I don't give a fuck!

Plus: we sold out of Devilcake t-shirts! Hot shiot! Which is good because now we can have some ghouly ones made!

WE PLAYED:
Wienermobile
Marshmallow
Sacrificial Leg Of Lamb
Hands Off My Oreos
Chicken Nuggets Of Sin
Pizza Party
Cereal And Beer
Deez Nuts
Salad Bar Man
Fribble