D's account for Ruby Tuesday 8-12-05

Ruby Tuesday's - Friday August 12th, 2005
THE PHANTODS - RAMSEY - DEVIL CAKE

The last time we played at Ruby Tuesdays it was my first gig with the band, way back on May 21st 2001. Wow. Not sure why my brain thought it was 2002, but so be it, it was 2001. I barely remember that gig at all now. I remember the excitement of doing my first sound check which is on a camcorder tape somewhere out there. I actually think I have the VHS copy of that show. How about that.

(if you want to get to the gig stuff, jump ahead like 10 paragraphs)

Anyways, this was Devil Cake's show tonight. We were headliners, which usually means we go on really really really late after being there for 6 hours. Tonight would be no exception, and I even left late by my standards. Maryann and I went to BW3s and had some awesome chicken fingers (since I've determined you get more bang for your buck by eating chicken fingers rather than boneless wings). It was good eating and we also played a little NTN trivia while we were at it. Very relaxing. No freaking out, just calm and will a belly full o chicken. Gots home around 7:30. I checked to make sure that the new hi-hat clutch would work (since my originally Yamaha was completely stripped). It did. Yay! That's one less thing I have to worry about. I also installed a new cymbal protector (it prevents keyholing) for Ian's old Sonor stand. That installed with a slight modification as well. Word. With all things in working order, I dismantled the drum kit and got it packed into the car. By 8:15pm, we were on the road.

By 8:40ish, we were driving around the block that Ruby Tuesdays was on. The parking for this place sucks worse than any other bar we have ever played at. They are basically right in the middle of a large area of campus apartments and they have no actual parking lot. (I've heard rumors of a parking lot behind Ruby Tuesdays, but all I saw in the alley was triple deep parking for the apartments). After the 3rd time around the block, I parked and was basically on the opposite end of the block (but still on Summit Ave) that Ruby Tuesdays was on, which was do able since it seemed to be a short block.

I was happy to see that there were actually people at the bar tonight. Seems that RTs was having a lil ol cookout. I did not partake of any said bbq though. So anyhoo, we went in looking around for some of the DC peeps. Mike Bill had mentioned that he would be showing up around that time, as did Ian. However, there were no peeps. I showed Maryann around the bar. It was a little bit cleaner than I remember. Course, then I showed her the basement. When we played there, part of the basement section was still open with a pool table. This was no longer, like due to health violations. And the bathrooms were atrocious. But it is a bar, what the fuck do you want? I picked up a couple of bottles of Miller Light and we sat in the room with the stage, which, while not quiet, was away from the rest of the inhabitants who were drinking away and playing pool.

Ian showed up right around 9pm. It was at this time he informed me that MCB would not be playing with us tonight. Seems he had been puking up his guts for nearly 24 hours. That sounds like fun. We sat around and chatted a bunch about anything that popped into our heads. I believe Gourley showed up next around 9:30 I think. He was helping move in gear for one of the other bands. I thought it was the Phantods, but wtf do I know. *shrug* So anyways, then Steve and Rachel showed up around 10pm. By this time we were worried that Steve wasn't going to show up and pondered how we would go over as an acoustic jazz trio. It actually sounded amusing enough to consider.

Around 10 or 10:15, The Phantods did their sound check. Yay! About this time I put in my ear plugs. After the last Little Brothers gig, where my ears rang or felt muffled for 2 days after, I decided that I needed to protect my hearing a bit better. I already have a little bit of tinitus (rrrriiiiiinnnggg) now, and if music is something that I really enjoy listening to, I need to do what I can to at least slow down the process of me going deaf.

The Phantods took the stage around 11pm. By this time, Ian already wanted to go home. He doesn't do well sitting around for 2 hours doing nothing and also knowing that it will be a miracle if we go on anytime before 1 am. They played their set and I was very pleasantly surprised. Everyone I talked to kept reminding me that this was a big ol hippy bar. And there were a few locals hanging out that would have supported that stereotype. But The Phantods, in my opinion, were not playing hippie music. I don't know what you would call it. The closest I can come is saying that it was like listening to what would happen if members from The Police and Voivod formed a band and hired a female vocalist / keyboard player. I'm sure Ian can actually name a band that they sound like but I am not that well-versed. Their drummer was a frickin' monster on the drums. Kudos to him if he be reading this. The others weren't so bad either. At certain times during the set, when they were just pulling of some insane shit, I looked over at Ian and he was just laughing at the insanity. So was the drunk guy who was practically drinking out of a pitcher. They wrapped up their set around 11:30ish. They had free CDs, but I was not quick enough to nab one, which is too bad 'cause I pretty much liked everything they played.

Ramsey started to set up and that is when I realized that said drunk guy was in the band. And setting up both a keyboard and guitar rig. Then the singer guy was setting up a guitar rig and a keyboard rig as well. And the bassist was sporting dreads and a Soundgarden Badmotorfinger T-shirt. Huh? I dunno. They finished setting up, got more beers and waited for midnight to roll around to get started. What occurred next is really a scarring blur. For the first song, both the singer and drunk due took their places behind their keyboards. The singers keyboard was in tune. The drunk dudes was an old analog Roland. It was not in tune. It's like hearing fingernails across a blackboard. And he had no idea how out of tune he was. After that song, they made an attempt to tune his Roland, which did not go well. They would almost have it and then the guy would crank it way off up or down. It was torture. I don't think his guitar was in tune either, well, at least it didn't seem that way. I believe he could be a decent guitar player if he sobered up. They also played 'Hold On Loosely' by 38 Special which was about the only thing I could remotely stomach, even though some of the singing was strained.

At 12:30, while they were still playing, Ian and I left to go load up the drum gear. It was a much needed break. I pulled the car up to the bar and we unloaded. By the time the last drum was loaded into the building, they were done. Thank goodness. It took a while for the drummer to take his stuff down. He seemed nice enough (and appeared sober enough) and was very apologetic about taking so long. I told him not to sweat since I too was a drummer and understood that it is almost always the drummer that takes the longer to set up and tear down. We just have more shit to deal with.

By 1am, it was our time to rock. I changed into the killer black Kiss 'Creatures of the Night' bootleg t-shirt that my wife bought for me, and took the stage. We kicked it off with a couple of new MCB tunes 'Burn Sandwich Burn' and 'That's When The Onions Attack'. Those actually went fairly well. Up next was another new one that I wrote called 'Peaches and Cream'. So far so good. I was trying to stay loose and not flail around a bunch since we had 11 MORE SONGS TO PLAY. Yeah, it was a long setlist since we were the 'headliners'.

'Pizza Party' and 'Salad Bar Man' were up next. Those didn't go too badly I don't think. Then came 'Fribble' in the middle of the set. It officially has been everywhere in the set (the usual closer, the opener at the last gig, and solidly in the middle of the set for this gig) which is amusing. I was also starting to get a bit tired and fuzzy minded by this point. I sorta forgot the beginning of Fribble but quickly recovered after a few bars. Up next was 'Hands Off My Oreos'. Good think I didn't have to start this song 'cause my memory was getting fuzzier. Steve kicked in the initial guitar riff (which I don't have to play during) and it all came back to me. Halfway done, and already on shaky ground.

Up next was 'Marshmallow' which was the first real train wreck. I remembered the initial cymbal roll part and that was it. I counted off 4 and... had no idea where I was or how the song went. I was looking a Steve to try to desperately remember how the song went. This is a song that has been included in practically every set I have every played and I drew a complete blank. After the gig, when I was talking to Steve, it turns out he was completely lost. He was looking to ME to remember how to play it as well. By the second verse, I finally figured out what the fuck I was doing, but it dealt a severe blow to my confidence in completing the friggin show and we were only half done.

Up next was 'Wienermobile'. I did an okay job of staying relaxed during that song. Only the fills at the end of the song were completely cruddy, but decent considering how tired I was feeling. After that was another new one I wrote called 'Primavera Primadonna' which went okay. After that was the fast and always crowd pleaser, especially at bars, 'Cereal N Beer'. Somehow, regardless of how fast that song is, it tends to loosen me up for some reason. I don't know why.

Then came 'Red Pop', another blistering song. There is one part where I get to just hammer on the cymbal like it was a ride. Tonight it decided that it would start spin like a wounded UFO. Eventually the nut came off and at the last crash of Red Pop, the cymbal nearly fell off the stand. I got up from behind he drums to reposition the cymbal and realized that I had no idea where the nut was. Without it, the cymbal can practically fall right off the stand.

The next thing I know, Gourley is introducing 'Sacrificial Leg Of Lamb', so get back behind the kit. For some reason, as of late, I cannot seem to play this song to save my life. And the sad thing is that I'm the person who wrote it. I don't know why, but I just can't seem to wrap my head around the drum part. I am just clueless. It's fairly simple, just keep time with the high hat until the second part of the verse. How hard can that be? Well, tonight, it was impossible. I had no idea what I was doing and it was one of the most horrible sounding things I have ever heard me play. Horrible. I can't express my frustration with not being able to play this fucking song. It's a fucking Devilcake song. It's not quantum physics.

After the destruction of that song was over, I was looking around to see if I could find that fucking nut for the cymbal stand. I leaned over my drum kit to see if it fell in front of the drums. The next thing I know, I have a big ol' face full of Gourley ass. He can't see for shit without his glasses, so he was bending over to read the set list. Steve was video taping this show, so I am sure that moment looks, well, interesting. Finally we capped off the night with 'Pilot Light' which went fairly well, I think. I was a bit hindered since I was worried about the other cymbal flying off, but overall, it well alright. And like that it was over around 2am.

I have to say, I'm not fond of Pilot Light being the closer. I was never fond of ending the set with Fribble either. The final song, to me, should have that thing at the end where everyone holds the last note and basically beats the crap out of their instruments which the singer says, 'We are Devilcake. Thanks for showing up and not throwing shit at us. Goodnight!'.

So back to the evening, Maryann went and moved the car to the side of the bar. I was breaking down the set when Ian said, 'Hey, your wife pulled up the car around back. I'm fucking outta here'. Ok... that's not a direct quote, but I do appreciate that he came in and told me my wife was waiting on me. He could have just fecked off like I know he wanted to. Gourley and Steve helped take the rest o the shit out the car. We hung out a little bit and talked about the $37 dollars we made that night. (Actually, I think the owner or the singer from Ramsey or someone said that it was $37 for everyone, meaning that the 37 dollars would be split three ways, but Gourley insisted that it was $37 dollars for us. Oh well, as we discussed, it'll be money for printing up a new batch of t-shirts. Gourley had an idea where the pentagram would have a bite out of it. I think that is frigggin hilarious.

They we all said 'Later!'. Maryann and I stopped in at ol' White Castles and picked up a #1 combo each. When we got home I realized the motherfucker didn't pack my onion chips. Oh well. I didn't need them anyways. We ate, starting watching Iron Chef @ 3am, but soon the exhaustion set in and we went to bed.

The set list, in case you didn't piece it together (you lazy punk) was:
Burn Sandwich Burn
Onions (s.o.s.o.n.i.o.n.s)
Peaches N Cream
Pizza Party
Salad Bar Man (Fuckin eh, dude)
Fribble
Hands Off My Oreos
Marshmallow
Weinermobile
Primavera Prima Donna
Cereal N Beer
Red Pop
Sacrificial Leg of Lamb
Pilot Light

THE END. (pictures soon to follow)