day five - san francisco

~or~

"i can't believe you got that parking spot here!"

the last show of the tour can be a very telling display of a band's professional prowess. i've found that it can be either the best or worst show of the run. the band is either on fire because they've honed their chops during the previous gigs of the run, or the band is so tired and antsy that they can't really focus. they can't sing as well because they've neglected hydration (or have had too much booze). they can't play as well because they're exhausted (or have had too much booze). they miss their families and beds at home. the reasons are many. i sure miss my son a lot when i'm away, so i can relate.

sometimes, the good and bad vibes come together and create an extraodinary performance.

woke up some time in the early afternoon, after going to bed at around 4am. we all decided to take it easy, as we wanted the last show (san francisco) to be killer. we said goodbye to naomi and left at 4:30.

the makeout room is in the mission, the oldest town in san francisco. i love the mission. dirty and nasty like downtown los angeles. crime everywhere. panhandlers everywhere. hey, i never said i'd live there, people.

we pulled into town at around 8pm, and found a parking spot right in front of the venue.

read the last half of that sentence again. now read it again. if your mouth isn't hanging agape, then you just don't know how nearly impossible it is to find parking in san francisco. especially right in front of your destination. especially in a 15-foot econoline like maggie.

right in front.

anyway, we had originally been scheduled to take the stage at 9(ish), but someone at the club decided to change that. we had been unable to reach the promoter, so we didn't know until we arrived what the revised set time was.

11.

so, the flurry of phone calls began. both omarr and myself had friends in the area coming out to see us, so we of course had to inform them of the change. one of my friends was to drive all the way out from brentwood (about 90 minutes in normal traffic) after getting a sitter for her two kids. that's dedication! obviously, we knew that we were just about to lose some of our draw, but as it was completely out of our hands, we put on our game faces and trudged ahead. in the meantime, we took some band photos.

during the first band's set, we found out that the sound guy was going to do a solo set at 10. very politely, omarr asked him if we could possibly switch set times with him. sound guy looks at omarr like he's covered in something and says, "um, no." 11 it is. cinch the game faces a little tighter, boys.

in the meantime, my good friend phil came out, and that really lifted my spirits. he's a wonderful guy, fellow drummer, and like a brother to me.

11pm. we took the stage to 30 some-odd people. from the first downbeat, i knew something was afoot. it might have been the "f*** you" attitude we wanted the sound dickhead to feel, or possibly just a by-product of the solidarity that you build with your bandmates when you're on the road. whatever it was, it was there in droves.

omarr was stellar, and his singing went above and beyond what i thought he was previously capable of. we were tight. we were powerful. we were on fire. i don't know what it was, but it was unreal. i couldn't help but have this enormous grin on my face for just about the entire set. hell, strangers were smiling out in the audience. people were dancing, clapping along, singing along to our marvin cover. and they bought cd's.

and, amazingly enough, sound dick gave us good sound.

this was, by far, the best gig slow car crash has ever played. and we still can't quite figure out why.

brian decided to roll home tonight with dan and trish, so omarr and i are at a motel in hayward. i get a bed again!

posted on monday night, cause there ain't no dsl line in a hayward motel room.