Second Pre-IPO Warm-up
How can I begin to describe the insanity of our second Pre-IPO extravaganza? With the musical variety, ~100 people through the front door, the return of old friends and seeing new faces, this show was the most outrageous event that has ever rolled through MyDiningRoom. Perhaps the best place to start is at the beginning:
When the afternoon's first band, Moon Over Hicksville, arrived and introduced themselves, I found myself shaking hands with their drummer,
Jurgen. As he looked familiar, I asked if he'd been in any other bands. "Many," was his reply. "The Cucumbers?" I queried. "Yes," came his answer.
To this I responded, "I saw you play 16 years ago in Philadelphia." I then brought out the album that he had signed for me at The Chestnut Cabaret in 1986. Now, my memory isn't that great, but as it happens, I dragged that
same album out when The Cucumbers played two years ago (different drummer), so the memory was relatively fresh.
When The Catholic Girls arrived, it was Jurgen's turn to shake up memories. He asked them if they'd played at a particular club in Trenton. "Many
times," replied The CGs. I think that we (The Cucumbers) opened for you once. Another loop closed. As The CGs were playing without a drummer,
Jurgen volunteered to sit in. In doing so, he not only allowed them to play a set more like their regular electric offering, but also became the ugliest
Catholic Girl that I'd ever seen (he took it as a complement).
The coincidences continued.
We knew that The Rosenbergs and Michael Giblin (Parallax Project) would be returning, however, we were in for a surprise when Joe Mannix and the
Choking Victim arrived. As they entered the house and introduced themselves, their bassist said, "I know Ira, I'm Mike - I used to play with
The Grip Weeds." The light bulb went on over my head as I welcomed him in for a return engagement.
The musical community of which we've become a part is not as large as it might seem.
As good as the stories were, the music was better. Though all the artists put on great sets, the biggest surprises came from the first two bands, Moon
Over Hicksville and Orange Park. I had only heard their tracks on-line, so I had a limited impression of their music. Their sets included some of the greatest music of the day.
The music built to a fever pitch as we approached dinner - during The Rosenbergs set (which, unfortunately did not include Natasha joining the
band to sing "Sucking on a Plum" - stubborn kid!).
After dinner, the scene relaxed a bit through the solo performers, but heated up just a bit after the music with a great discussion between the
remaining audience and Mr. Giblin about the music scene, music unions (prompted by an NY Times article on the subject in which I was quoted), and recording company economics.
By 9:15, I was cleaning up, secure in the knowledge that we had had a great day, and no one had taken the good silver.
Moon Over Hicksville
Orange Park
The Catholic Girls
The Suggestions
Joe Mannix and the Choking Victim
The Rosenbergs
Saul Zonana
Michael Giblin
Shy Nobleman