Tastes Like Chicken

Friday, 17 March 2006
One of my co-workers at Wick’s Organ Company is Darin Meskil, guitar player for the Highland IL area band called Double Ds. He has been asking me for some time now to sit in with them for gigs when someone in the band cannot play. All of the dates about which he had previously queried had been already booked as BenWahBob dates, so it hadn’t yet happened. When he told me about a week ago that they needed a bass player for the 17th at Wings To Go in Highland IL, I checked and found that I was not booked that night and would be glad to sit in with them. He and his singer printed out set lists and burned CDs for me, and I was on my way. It is no secret that I have long been not a fan of sitting in with other bands. It is a lot of work to learn a bunch of songs just for one or two nights, and interferes with my grand design to take over the world via progressive rock music. But, what the heck, eh? It might actually be fun.

These guys have a reputation for being a party band, and always garner a large turnout for their gigs. Their set lists are a reflection of that; a nice mix of danceable party tunes ranging from Garth Brooks to Van Halen. One look at the list, though, and I was almost ill. I have always loathed country music – it’s right up there with Rap and Opera – and this list was loaded with it. But, I am a professional, and as such am capable of rising above such pettiness…at least for one night anyway. Besides, this place has some of the best hot wings I’ve ever eaten.

I went home after work, loaded my amp, and dropped it off at the bar about 15:30. They were already there setting up their gear when I arrived. I chatted a bit and left to go run some Friday night errands. Dawna came by after work and we grabbed a couple of cod sammiches from The Dew Drop Inn (no – I’m not kidding) here in St. Jacob. I headed to the gig around 20:30 and she freshened up and met me there later, as she was not planning on staying long. When I got there, the place was already getting crowded. The rest of the band had met at E.L. Flannigan’s for pre-game drinks, and were well on their way for the night.

We coasted into the first set with Take It Easy by the Eagles, and then kicked it up from there. There was definitely a party atmosphere present; we had dancers almost immediately, and they stayed on the dance floor pretty much all night. I have to admit that as much as I hate Country music, it sure does get the tails swaying. It did get a little better from time to time with tunes like SRV’s Tight Rope, Kenny Wayne Shepperd’s Deja Voodoo, the Doobie Brothers’ Long Train, Fleetwood Mac’s Oh, Well (not The Rockets’ version, though), and VH’s Ice Cream Man. I’m not suggesting that everything else was awful. As I said before, I’m just not a fan of this kind of music. That didn’t, however, keep me from having a great time. I finally got to play with Darin, and I finally got to hear his new Mesa Road King guitar amp live. We had gotten together the previous Wednesday for a quick rehearsal, but that really didn’t do it justice. That amp really sings, and he didn’t even push it hard.

We got through the night just fine, with only minor blemishes that most people don’t even notice on some of the songs. Nothing crashed and burned, so that was good. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, as did I. I don’t think I could do that all the time, but it was fun that night. I must here extend my thanks to all the guys in the band for being so kind about my playing. It wasn’t spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, but they made me feel right at home. A special thanks goes to Matt Basler, who decided to take a vacation that weekend, allowing me the opportunity to play (even though he actually showed up that night).

I must also apologize to Jake, who is normally the bass player but decided to play guitar this night instead. I have long thought that Dale, the singer for BenWahBob, would be the first to get smacked upside the head with the giant headstock on my bass. However, Jake beat him to it. As Darin and I were playing rock star with headstocks pointed forward in classic rock star poses, Jake came up on my left to join us. With my hair thrashing around in my face, I didn’t notice him there until I quickly rose up to find the side of his face planted firmly against the back of my headstock. Ouch! That had to hurt. The expression on his face was similar to those still photos of a boxer who has just been punched squarely on the cheek. Sorry, Jake.

Of course, with a name like Double Ds, they are all about the breasts. This night was no exception. Unfortunately, the breasts that were exhibited were, unlike the rest of the night, very forgettable. There were some attractive women present. So why these were the ones offered remains a mystery to me. Oh, well…c’est la vie.

At the end of the night, I tore down my small rig, collected my compensation, thanked the band for the opportunity to play with them, and headed back to my home where Dawna was already sound asleep. I think I was listening to a CD of organ music recorded on a Wick’s instrument for the short drive home, but I cannot be certain at this point.

Saturday, 18 March 2006
This was turning into another one of those really long and busy weekends. Dawna’s youngest son Samuel was having a birthday party at a roller skating rink in Breese IL at 14:00. Since we didn’t even get up until around 10:30 (slackers!), and wanted to get over to Taussig Violin Shop in Chesterfield MO to pick up her newly re-haired violin bow, time was suddenly getting short. We opted to forgo the drive to Missouri in favor of a long late breakfast. It wouldn’t look too good if we were late for her son’s party. So we headed to Denny’s in Collinsville and stuffed ourselves silly.

Rusty’s in Edwardsville IL has become a PA gig for me since the departure Eddie Christ, the latest BWB soundman for smaller gigs like this. So after the skating party, I loaded the van and headed out. I wanted some extra time to change some speaker cable connectors during the set up, so I arrived there around 19:30. Bobby had just finished loading in his drums, and was planning on a meal in the restaurant. I set up most of the PA, with help from Bobby, changed the connectors, and pumped some Spock’s Beard through the system to test it. Surprisingly, everyone seemed to kind of like these guys. They are one of those bands who are legendary in the progressive rock community, but virtually unknown to main stream music fans. That’s too bad – they’re a really great band.

I had also planned on the early to allow myself plenty of time to enjoy some of the bar’s fine offering of chicken strips. So, after I inhaled them (I hadn’t eaten since breakfast), we launched into the standard BenWahBob paid rehearsal. For the first couple of sets, that’s exactly what it was, too. We had a small crowd, but they pretty much stayed back by the bar. After awhile, though, things started to pick up a bit. We had a nice mix of people for the rest of the night, and they seemed to be having fun. There were several groups of younger people who seemed to be “living it up.” One was a table of 20-ish young ladies who seemed to have removed any limitations on how much they would be drinking that night. At one point, they even grabbed an older woman who had been dancing with her husband and gave her the sandwich treatment, much to the enjoyment of a group at another table who were hooting loudly about it. These girls even played like naughty little pretend-lesbians on the dance floor, trying to invoke a response from the band. What they apparently didn’t realize was the fact that we’ve been doing this for a long time, and can tell real from pretend almost instantly. That’s not to say that we didn’t enjoy watching them play around, but I don’t think they got the response they were seeking. We’re hardened professionals, ladies. You’ll have to do better than that.

The night went pretty well, and was over before I knew it. We tore everything down, loaded out to our vehicles, had a productive conversation about direction and new tunes, and then headed to our respective homes. Mine, unfortunately, was empty this night, as Dawna had her eldest son for the weekend. I listened to some Kansas for the drive home, from a double CD of their “greatest hits” that I had been playing between sets, which has some really great stuff on it. After playing songs like Mustang Sally, it was a welcome decompression…kind of a cleansing of the palate.