On Monday May 19th, 2008 I played at Smith's Olde Bar in midtown with Sean Thomason & The Halls Of Jupiter. We/they opened up for Jimmy's Chicken Shack.
For those of you that don't know, Sean is the lead singer in my regular band(s), Stone Cold Fox, Electric Boogaloo, The Dock Martins, and Rock mafia. Unfortunately, his Bass Player, Mahlin, had a family emergency to tend to and was unable to play. Sean asked me if I could help out and fill in and I agreed to do the gig.
So, preparing for the gig was an interesting, strange and fun process. I decided that right on, since I am not all that familiar with Sean's songs, it would be best to actually transcribe the bass parts, meaning to write then down in Bass clef notation. Normally when making a cheat sheet, I would write down the chords or a number chart, just cause it is easier and I am familiar with the song and can play the part, but maybe I need a road map. With this stuff I figure I should have it all written out so there is no question.
Now some out there are very against having any kind of music/cheat sheet on the stage. They say it doesn't look professional. I'm sorry, but before telepromters, I saw Prince, Sting, even Paul McCartney with some form of Cheat in front of them in concert, whether on a music stand or (in prince's case, a giant Ten Commandments tablet shaped book that was flipped by a hand from beneath the stage). I guess if those guys are being "unprofessional" I'm gonna be ok with it. Besides most of the people that I find complain about this sort of thing are the ones that can't read music and are generally insecure about themselves anyway. Enough of that, let's move on to the next thing.
The Halls of Jupiter have a rehearsal space. One of those big ass warehouses where the have put up a lot of dry-wall and sound proofing and made a maze of practice rooms. You walk in and you can hear the muffled sound of several bands practicing all at once.
The first practice was Monday. We went over the first 6 songs or so. Wednesday we went over everything else.
Now the only people I have told about this next part are Sean (and the rest of the band was in the room too) and Krista.
On Wednesday after the first run through we took a break, and I venture out to find the bathroom. As I am going through the maze looking for the bathroom, A guy walks by. This guy was wearing a suit. An older looking suit like something out of the 50's. It was brown and he had a skinny black tie. A black man with a goatee and a moustache. Totally didn't fit with ay of the bands you see roaming the halls while they're practicing.
Now I don't know whether or not I believe in ghosts. Honestly, I have never had any reason to not believe in them.
Anyhoo, when I realized that the guy that walked buy was the spitting image of James Jamerson, the greatest Bass Player ever, I looked back....... he was gone. Was it a ghost? Or just a guy that looks like Jamerson? Regardless, if it were a ghost visiting me, could there be any cooler ghost than James Jamerson?
Ok, enough of that, for more watch Ghost Hunters.
So Monday rolls around. I get off work around 4pm and have to haul ass home to let the bass out and get my dog. Wait a minute, let the dog out and get my bass. I also have to change into jeans and grab my "Rock Mafia" black shirt and head towards midtown.
On my way to Smith's, I call Sean and he delivers the best news I have heard all day.... the guys from Jimmy's Chicken Shack would prefer that we use their speaker cabinets. Woohoo! So all I have to carry up those damn stairs is my bass, my amp head, and my bag of cords and such.
When I got up there, I met all the guys from the Chicken Shack. Probably the nicest band I have ever opened for.
We get sound check out of the way and I have to get my charts tabbed in order of the setlist so I can get to them quickly between songs. Special thanks to Krista for bringing me some PostIt tabs and helping me write numbers on them.
So, 9pm rolls around and it's show time. It was cool. Granted I am not that familiar with Sean's songs so I was glued to my charts and it kept me from interacting with the guys in the band on a visual level, but I think the musical interaction was there. The crowd was great.
About half way through the show, a group of folks started chanting, "OJJ! OJJ! OJJ!". I haven't admitted it until now (in fact I've kind of down played it), but it really made my night. Any of you that were chanting (and you know who you are), that read this....thank you, your support is humbling and much appreciated.
After the show, I watched a little JCS, then headed downstairs and hung out with Krista, Angela, Lisa, Yoga-MD, Metal J, and Kevin. We stood around talking for a long time till I finally expressed my desire to have dindin. We grabbed a table and ordered food.
Smith's Olde Bar, Home of one of the best burgers I have ever had. It's no Ted's, but it was yummytime none the less.
After that, we all went upstairs and hung out in the back room with Jimmy (yes, of Chicken Shack fame). There we enjoyed the infamous poop wall at Smith's. Basically it is a wall covered with stickers of Bands and graffiti, but all stickers and band/artists names have been changed to reflect poop. Example, Emmilou Harris, is now Emmipoo Harris. Or Rage Against The Machine is now Rage Against The Latrine. Pretty funny stuff, especially the fact that Jimmy wrote "Jimmy's Poop Shat with Sean Thomason and The Balls Of Poopiter". hahaha.
After that, there was just nothing more that could top the night. After loading my stuff in the truck we hung out in the parking lot talking for a while.
Overall a fun experience. I would probably do it again if called upon. Again, to those that came out to support the band, or that came out for my sake, I thank you. It humbles me no matter the band or place.
j
