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DEVILCAKE | Tom Foolery & The Mistakes | two other bands
Bernie's
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
This was a stripped-down, pared-down, sectioned-off, cordoned, abbreviated, obliterated reprise of our last Bernie's appearance, in December 2002. Similarly reprised was the concept of the Summer Set from last year. Which in this case entails only the most sprightly and lively numbers from our catalog.

It was strange before it even began, due to the noticable absence of Michael Bill, who was unable to break free from work. It's the first Devilcake show he hasn't played at since the reunion in 2000. So the guitar sound was thinned out a bit. Otherwise it was business as usual. I got there late, blah blah, soundman was running behind, blah blah, we started late blah blah and played for half an hour or so.

And the main lights were off when we played - and we rocked the tits off the place. See, I told ya. Give us some darkness to play in, and we'll turn this sombitch out.

I thought Todd was going to have an episode when one of the strap buttons on the Keyz O Death broke off completely. But what seemed like a real pisser when it happened turned into a really cool thing that kind of set the tone for the rest of the set. And indeed our approach to the set itself. Which was to duct-tape the fuck out of the Keyz O. Rather than not playing the Keyz, Todd was able to tape the sombitch up, and actually improve upon it by doing so. It's wounded, it's vilified, it's had its ass kicked, and now it can rise like a Phoenix. To the extent that the Keyz O were louder in the final mix than the bass. My fucking bass amp was the weak link last night.

We had a partial-band practice/cookout last week and it was determined that the stupidest song we could possibly open with is Red Pop. The idea being that the idiotic, three-chord song would be the worst choice to start with because it is in no way indicative of the band's sound or interests or tastes or anything really. It's just this song - half a song, really - that we wrote in 1992 that continues to haunt us.

So it was good to have another "first" onstage last night, it's been a while.

Red Pop to open with. Bah. It was hysterical and awesome and I don't think anyone apart from Darrin and maybe Steve saw it coming. But once they heard the strained bass notes at the wrong tempo, they knew ... it was on... OOF!

Red Pop into Salad Bar Man... ehhhh.. Salad Bar Man was maybe not the perfect choice for the second song. We should've splatted into Flesh Feast there, to keep the momentum up. Oh well. It's okay to get our glam rock on too, I suppose.

Steve stepped up his guitar game to fill in the vacant frequencies and extra bit of stage space left by MCB's absence with verve. Steve is the quiet, cool, level headed, subdued dominator onstage, as he skilfully and stealthily snuck into "Hands Off My Oreos." Oh! My skull!

We could've just as easily done the other 1-2 punch, Pie Hair Pie into I Want A Big Mac. But instead we went with Marshmallow/Wienermobile.

I didn't spend too much extra time hovering around the mic, so I must've been more relaxed than the last show. The whole set was just like when we played there in December, it was short, abrupt, slappy and to the point. I thought the set ended nicely after Wienermobile, but the peeps demanded one more song. In return, I demanded that they name the song they wanted us to play. They demanded Sacrificial Leg Of Lamb. And it was served - sacrificially.

In that situation, I want to try to reason with people. I want to say - "look, Sacrficial Leg Of Lamb is a slow, grinding, epic metal monster masterpiece. You don't really want that right now, at the end of the set, hovering over you for five minutes like a storm cloud. Think about what you're asking for. Search your hearts, I think you know you really would rather hear Flesh Feast."

But it seemed like it would be quicker to just play Sacrificial. So we did. More or less. I don't usually sing backups on Sac-Leg either, but what the hell. Sometimes my voice surprises me coming through the PA. In my mind I have a low voice, something like Billy Idol. But when it comes blasting out of the speakers it's all high and crackly and demented.

I probably always say this in gig diereearrrys too, but I would always prefer to leave the audience wanting more Devilcake than to overstay our welcome. I know what it's like to have a short attention span, and I hate it too when boring-ass bands get up and play forever. I also know that, no matter what, we're always going to be that boring-ass band to somebody else - so I want to minimize their suffering. I'd rather have our set be like a quick chat in passing than an hour-long lecture. And we definitely had that last night.

Leave the audience yelling for more, not yelling at you and flipping you off and telling you you suck!

Red Pop
Salad Bar Man
Hands Off My Oreos
Cereal And Beer
Marshmallow
Wienermobile
Sacrificial Leg Of Lamb

DEVILCAKE | TOM FOOLERY AND THE MISTAKES | MARVIN THE ROBOT | SUBURBAN FABULOUS
Wednesday April 30th, 2003
Bernie's Bagels and Distillery

Kid Chill, KeyZ O playah checking in.

Wow. There's something about rocking out in a basement that should be condemned that is beyond words.

other than, Word.

We were Devilcake Minus Two tonight (MCB had to work and Nancy stayed home). We decided early on that we were going first and secured our spot by setting up on stage. As I was fiddling with the strap, the Keys O Death slipped free and plummeted to the stage. The strap bolt and a good chunk of the case at the end cracked and that was the end of the strap.

Luckily Darrin had some duck tape in his bass drum (don't ask) and in a Punk Rock meets Dusenbury-inspired moment, the keys were again ready to rock.

but enough about me.

The sound man apparently had issues..of the psychological kind which culminated in him asking us to check a mic that he had not yet provided. No problem. Two vocal mics is all Devilcake really needs. We (Ian, Steve, and I) each rocked through our respective amps.

Ian led the attack with Red Pop...an XTC inspired ditty that we hadn't rocked on stage since Carter carried his own clubs.

Then came Salad Bar man...and the sweat onslaught had begun.
Ian and I shared the second mic while Gourley worked the other one like a college kid at a high school prom.

The set as I remember went a little like this:

RED POP
SALAD BAR MAN
HANDS OFF MY OREOS
CEREAL AND BEER
MARSHMALLOW
WEINERMOBILE
(shouts for more)
SACRIFICIAL LEG OF LAMB

I'm sure I'm missing one.
Afterwards we gathered our shit up and got the hell out.

The vibe was decidedly better this time 'round at Bernie's.
The whole vibe of the set was just balls to the wall-sweat overload-fuck you we're rocking here, but thanks for letting us...kind of thing.

It was a good show...and the keys'O actually sounded better tonight than they have in the past year. Partly because I was rocking straight out of the amp...but I think the duck tape helped a little.

Hell, everything sounded good tonight.

I was just jazzed that the show went so well.

If you're keeping score, the next confirmed Devilcake Show is July 3rd at Little Brothers.