Georgetown Orgy

I am loving my new position with the band. The official title ended up being ‘the local area representative’ and it has been so much fun. Even with all my hesitations and nervousness, I quickly overcame my shy demeanor and plunged in head first for the cause of making sure things are running like clockwork for the band. I’m meeting all sorts if interesting people and the manager/owner of Tommy’s continues to be a great ally and source of information when I’m at a loss for what to do to make things better for the band. Jeff has a million ideas which I wish I could take more advantage of. I’m not the manager, but if I was Jeff would have me working in the right direction.
Looking back to my previous post about the band, I realized that I’ve been so caught up with my continuing car situation that I’ve skipped over a lot of stuff from November. They had two different bands “open” for them during the usual Friday night gig at Tommy’s. It was nice to have another band be the warm-up entertainment as well as having a DJ to break it down in the meantime. It was good for the bar because that meant live music was drawing people in off the street earlier in the night, as well as the fan base for that particular band would be there buying drinks and making the place look jumpin’. The problem I saw was the fact that the Friday night gig hadn’t been a hot spot of any sort, and hadn’t been for the last several weeks. One night they pulled in barely ten bucks per person. Having another band to split that kind of profit with, was kind of nerve wracking.
The first band to open for Chela and Georgetown was Natalie Wouldn’t; I thought it was really interesting that they had been playing the local music scene for several years and yet they were opening for a band that had been playing barely seven months. An all male group, they seemed like a strange mish-mosh of people that had gotten together to play a combo of Rock and Ska. The keyboard player was freaking me out because he looked exactly like Donivan who I had met at the Liquid Lounge and had had a disastrous first date with. The worst I’ve ever had as a matter of fact.
The lead singer came out while I was helping Cale load his gear in and tried to help him out instead of me. Cale nicely told the guy that I was perfectly capable of hauling the equipment, but the guy still gave me this really doubtful look and insisted. Again Cale refused and the guy when back inside. That always pisses me off. Just because I’m a girl suddenly I’m too stupid to pick up something without breaking it, or I’m too weak to manage anything heavier than a bass case. Men are so stuck in the dark ages!
Later when the band was performing, we all found it odd that the lead singer seemed to have certain characteristics that would fit right in with the stereotype of someone that was homosexual. (Wow how’s that for a P.C. sentence). What clinched it for me was when he turned his back on the audience and I saw a black handkerchief in his back pocket. A good friend and co-work dressed as a cowboy for Halloween (a nice little nod to “Brokeback Mountain”) and was telling me that when he went to go buy a handkerchief for his costume he had trouble picking one out. There is a code of sorts within the gay community that has to do with the color of the handkerchief and which pocket its place in. This code can say everything from a simple advertisement of being single to the announcement of being into hard core S/M. All of that in the color and whether it’s in the left or right back pocket.
Having just learned that particular information, the sight of that black handkerchief stuck right out. Whispering this to Cale, he returned with the automatic question of whether I could remember what the black meant. I was little afraid to pass on the information, but the more I thought about the incident outside I realized this might mean the singer had been flirting with Cale and not just offering to haul equipment. “It means he likes hard core S/M.”
The rest of the night was just one long joke about Cale’s boyish good looks. I can’t honestly say whether the guy was gay or not, all I knew was when it came time for me to pass on the cash from the door at the end of the night he didn’t seem eager to deal with me at all. I believe he thought Cale was a young little hottie. The rest of the band seemed to like me though. They danced through Chela’s set and I found myself faced with the keyboard player asking me to dance. Then somehow I was sandwiched between the keyboard player and the drummer. How odd a situation to find one's self in and but fun just the same. It was great to not be the only person dancing for my band, like it had been lately. Yet it seemed to be the cardinal rule for opening bands to dance for the other bands. I wish DJ’s would do this more often. If you love the music then dance! You make it on stage, so you should enjoy it while someone else is doing all the hard work of entertaining.
The Royal T’s opened during Apple Cup weekend. Now being so close to one of the schools involved in that rivalry we had all hoped the district would be teaming with people looking to drink and be merry. Much to our dismay it started off very slow. Chela and I couldn’t help being catty when we saw the female lead singer jump on stage and perform in baggy jeans and a sloppy sweatshirt. For all the pressure and angst Chela had gotten from the band over costume and stage presence, it was almost appalling to see someone perform in such casual clothes. The singer then proceeded to spend the rest of the night making sure everyone in the bar knew she was Alumni of the rival school. I thought it was kind of silly but there seemed to be more students from that university drinking at the bar so it worked out either way. By the end of the night we had made a record killing at the door and Jeff had even kicked in another hundred dollars because of the free admission the local university got with their student ID.
The shows for December at Tommy’s have been dismal so far. Finals have something to do with it as well as the horribly cold weather. No one wants to venture out of their warm dorm rooms to hang out in a bar. The bar itself was damn chilly too. I was dressing up for a night out and having to stay in my jacket for most of the night anyway. Wind just seemed to cut right through the place, especially since they kept the doors wide open to check ID’s and take cover charge. I wasn’t even sitting at the bar; I was freezing my ass off sitting well in the corner by the sound board.
John was at it again with miscommunication issues. The first night that the band loaded in and found no DJ waiting to play music before the set was embarrassing. Jeff was losing money because there was no music to pull people in early in the night, and the band itself had no pre-show hype or sense of energy before walking on stage. Besides the terrible unprofessional issues that it raised; I don’t think any of them knew how important that music had been in order to get them mentally ready to perform. Walking on stage to a mostly silent bar and suddenly cranking out music was like trying to run a marathon without stretching.
The second time it happened, and there was no DJ, I was determined it never would again. I was embarrassed for myself since I hadn’t solved the situation and it was my job to make sure this sort of thing didn’t happen. Singe ended up playing some CD’s and that had to do for the band to get ready to perform. Not that there was anyone to perform to. Some nights have been better but most of them were just Chela’s family sitting around watching.
That has been coupled with the continuing unhappiness within the band. It had its ups and downs but the band has definitely developed a split when it comes to J.C. and Leo. They continue to go back and forth between being completely cooperative to totally belligerent when they felt wronged. Through out all of this I’ve been nothing but concerned for the two of them. I don’t want them to be fired from the band over such a silly roller coaster of appreciation. Why can’t Lynval take a moment and really show interest? They would be so happy to be involved with him if the “Rock Star” would just lead the way. The whole thing makes me sad.
In lieu of such dismal crowd attendance and the fact that the band was getting restless with Tommy’s as a venue I really wanted to do something to make the upcoming show with The Georgetown Orbits as successful as possible. Both bands have wanted to do shows together since the Studio 7 gig back in October. The idea we had been kicking around was doing several shows double billed with the Orbits as well as a single vinyl release with Chela and Georgetown on one side and The Georgetown Orbits on the other. Everyone had been calling it the “Georgetown Orgy” especially since John had just landed sponsorship from the Georgetown Brewery. It would be the ultimate way to build a fan base and hang with another very talented band. Now all of these ideas have been on our side only. I’m pretty sure nothing has been passed on to the Orbits.
After talking with Jeff the weekend before the show, I set out with the idea of making a flyer and papering the city with them. I wasn’t going to ask permission from the band because I didn’t want them arguing over style or content. This had to be done ASAP and I didn’t want any slow downs. If it got more people to the show then I figured they could all forgive me later. It only took a day to design a postcard sized flyer that was totally awesome. Simply designed in black and white, we made them to look like an old time boxing match up in order to advertise the Georgetown Orgy. Even though we had the concept done, we had to get it printed and Cale and I had a couple false starts with the flyer-ing itself.
Tuesday ended up being a pretend run through the city, because we never left the car. All the places that I use to party at had empty parking lots. (Damn depressing I tell ya!) Wednesday was freezing but we actually got out of the car this time and worked our way over three or four blocks of the surrounding area of Tommy’s. I’m not really sure if it made a difference but the show was definitely more successful attendance wise than the week before. The Orbits came with their own crowd of fans and that made the place bigger I think. It drew people in off the street because the music was good and it looked busy. Everyone including the band stayed to dance for Chela and Georgetown. The combination of the two bands in one show was really great, which just reaffirmed our wish for a real ‘Georgetown Orgy” double billing.
Last night was another trip on the ferry over to Bremerton where the Manette Saloon welcomed them with open arms yet again. I’m not sure what is up with Bremerton but they all LOVE Chela and Georgetown over there. Thankfully this is also the spot that they’re playing at for New Years Eve. No matter what happens with that band, the venue just eats them up and cries for more. The New Year’s event was being called the Black and White Ball and this was really my first chance to start piecing together the details of what I needed to know for the band’s sake.
The dance floor has never been empty which is awesome for me. I’m dancing to the band on a floor full of people instead of all by myself. I never mind but the energy just makes everything more fun. There was this particularly intoxicated guy that stood at the front of the stage most of the night, his arm around a girl and his beer in the air, shouting stupid things in his best Jamaican accent. Being white the guy was just sounding like the drunken idiot he was. “Everytin’ isss irie!” I’m sure the guy was feeling irie, but the rest of us just wanted him to shut up. Lynval ended up creating lyrics for one of the instrumental songs around the guy; it was a very cool bit of improvisation. At the end of the show the guy asked for one of the set lists and wanted everyone in the band to sign it. Everyone started joking about the fact that they’d better get use to signing stuff. This was just the beginning.
As the band hung out after the show Chela took me aside and in her usual manner told me that she wasn’t actually telling me but, there was talk of firing John and making me the actual manager. I was totally blown away. Apparently I had impressed Lynval with my appearance and professional demeanor. I was young and had “the look”. I also had an understanding of the night life within the city that the band was working in. I was willing to learn and that was the best thing of all. I was totally excited at the idea of being taken under his wing and groomed for success. On the other hand I didn’t want to be required to think his way all the time. I had a slight worry concerning his power to get rid of those that don’t fall in line with his leadership. What was I getting myself into? Then again I wasn’t hearing this from Lynval so nothing was official.
I hung out with Cale, J.C., and Leo for a while as they sat on the edge of the stage and talked. They proposed the idea that Tommy’s needed to be a once a month gig and that more shows in other venues should be booked in that void. I agreed with them. Every Friday was getting to be over-kill and no one was winning by playing to an empty room. They needed to get themselves out into the scene in order to develop a strong and sizable fan base. They had done well so far as evidence of the ladies from the Tacoma show who were still finding time to visit them all the way north. These were the sort of fans they needed to keep reaching.
Then suddenly I got pulled into a conversation with Chela and Lynval. Out of the blue Lynval was making every move to put me as the woman in charge. I was half way between shocked and trying to come off as if I had always been in charge. I was doing something I never did: successful small talk. The guy that was at the center of this whirl wind was a lawyer that was already in-love with the band, he just wanted to talk to Lynval and get on the mailing list. Chela was right there for me, notebook of contacts out and handing me the guy’s business card.
The next person to get the royal treatment was someone associated with the Pearl Jam camp. Several months ago when John had booked the first gig at the Saloon, he made some grand statement that Pearl Jam was doing a charity event in January and was looking for band to open for them. It was suppose to be some hush-hush deal that the general public would find out about the day of the event. Apparently the Saloon loved Chela’s demo so much Kim the owner wanted them to be the official opening band. The night of the last gig, everyone had met this guy who claimed to be the graphic designer for Pearl Jam. We all hoped he had been sent by the band to scope out the band and had liked what he heard. When he seemed to never leave Lynval’s side we all figured that was a good sign. Since then nothing has been said about the whole deal and honestly I doubted that it was ever in the works. Yet here was this guy again. Mister Graphic Designer that was so tight with the band. At least he seemed to like the music.
The rest of the night I spent sitting on a bass cabinet waiting for the door guy to give me the money from the night. This guy always reminded me of the spastic work-out friend from “Night at the Roxbury”. He looked and sounded like the actor and I always expected him to make some mention of power bars whenever I talked with the guy. Well after one in the morning and the show long over, he stood at the door doing nothing while four pairs of eyes stared him down. When the guys started bitching about getting their money and the fact that the guy wasn’t doing anything while it got later at night, I stood up in a huff and marched off to see what the hell was going on. As soon as I got to the door he immediately turned around and said, “There you are! I have your money.” Here I am? What the fuck dude? I’ve been sitting across the room staring at you for the last half hour, with you looking right at me several times. Man this guy was weird!
He also passed on the great news that the Saloon was doing a dinner and dancing sort of deal with the Black and White Ball. Members of the band would get the dinner package for free. He just wanted me to round up the orders for the specific meals a week prior to the event. Easy enough! What a great addition. The Manette Saloon continues to be an awesome place to play at. I look forward to more nights at this place.
Well so far so good really. We have a thousand dollar guarantee from the Saloon for New Year’s and Lynval made sure I got twenty dollars for the work I did last night. Things were definitely looking up from my end of it. How awesome would it be to have that extra little bit of income for something I was doing anyway? Very awesome!