Team Band played at Ronny's last Friday. It was a cassette release show, as Team Band now has a cassette through Fast Geek Empire, limited to 100 copies...we wanted to mark the event with some rowdiness.
Ronny's is one of those small Chicago venues which doesn't even register for some people because they rarely have "bigger" shows. Ronny's bar is run by the eponymous Ronny and his wife, who blast Spanish language soap operas, sell only PBR, and are generally rather cranky and tired-looking. However, it's a lovely place to play, a converted garage with no stage and monitors strapped to cinder blocks. A ceiling fan creaks and dangles dangerously low over the crowd--I once saw a guy being body passed whose leg almost knocked the whole apparatus down--and the soundboard is covered by a tropical-looking thatched roof. Ronny's is a place that you don't mind getting a little crazy at.
The Cathy Santonies opened with a fast-paced and intense set, featuring what I thought were some interesting leads by the lead guitarist. True to form, the sound bounced all over the walls of the garage and made the music even more cacauphanous than it already was. Next came Rooftop Vigilantes from Lawrence, Kansas, featuring a beautiful red Farfisa and two riotous guitarist/bassists who managed to combine extreme intensity and theatrics with pretty accurate playing--something I certainly value. Oscar--I think it was Oscar--fell into the drum set at the end of the show.
We opened our set by offering a free case of PBR (bought at a discount from Ronny) to the crowd. It was devoured instantly and we were off. Highlights included--Greg being tackled by a few audience members while singing--me wrestling mid-song with Evan--the usual audience-played percussion. Then the strap lock somehow slipped off my guitar strap, leaving the guitar more or less unstrapped, even while motionless. In addition, I had decided to use pedals during this show, and they predictably became a mess of overturned and unplugged objects, so I yanked the cable and plugged directly into my guitar amp, trying to find the right volume level. This didn't happen and I erred on the side of being too loud, so I abandoned the guitar, sang "Fight Song" with Greg, kicked over an auxiliary drum, and then attempted to play the final tune, a cover of "Any Way You Want It" incorporating "Three Day Weekend." Greg knocked that one out of the park, I think.
All in all...a success, minus some bruising and my bleeding toe from kicking the drum. And people kept referring to me all night as the "new guitarist" in Team Band...
