Journal: News & Comment

The audience

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My band played our first show in more than three months on Saturday, and it was fabulous. The best shows happen not because of the band—we try hard to get people to have a good time at every show, since that's all we're there for—but because of the audience. This group, although small (60 people), was open, enthusiastic, willing to be silly, and just generally into it.

It was also the first time we'd played with this particular lineup. For the past three years or so, my old roommate Sebastien (guitar, keyboard, vocals) and I (drums, vocals) have been there for almost every show. We've periodically worked with Doug Elliott (bass, vocals—formerly of the Odds and now usually with Colin James) and Mark Olexson (guitar, keyboards, vocals—most recently with Matthew Good) separately, but they had never both been on the bill with us at the same time. Yet we gelled quickly, and even threw out some songs this act had never played before, which we worked out between sets in the back room.

In general, I've found that commission salespeople—car dealers in particular, for some reason—seem reluctant to really throw themselves into a party and dance. We once had to play for an hour and a half solid just to warm up a bunch of car salesmen enough that they wouldn't leave when we took a break. Medical personnel, on the other hand, and especially those dealing with life and death regularly, practially explode as soon as we play our first note. We'll be performing for two groups of medical staffers next weekend, and I look forward to it.

This past weekend's group were cargo shipping agents. I must infer that they're closer in spirit to cardiologists than car dealers.

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