Exposure

Wednesday, July 28th
Before hitting the pillow in the wee hours, I find a little prezzie from Heather resting upon said pillow: a card and a Fran’s salted caramel. For it is my birthday, my friends. In the late late morning I arise and indulge in some strong black tea and some vocal and cardio warm-ups. Thus fortified I’m ready to face my year. I work for a while on some lyrics for a new song called, “Absolute Zero”. I receive birthday calls from friends & family. Meanwhile, as the afternoon wears on, aromas of the most appetizing nature are wafting about causing much growling in my stomach. Andrew is frying up his famous Bacon bacon fried chicken, Gary is baking his famous chili-cheese cornbread, and Heather is roasting organic veggies famously. YUM! Soon we eat, joined by my Tennesse friend, Anne Turpin, who now lives in Tacoma! There is also birthday cake and good cheer, and a lovely and filling time is had by all.

Happy birthday to ME—nevermind Candace.

Thursday July 29th
We arrive at 4th Ave Tavern not knowing who, when, how, which, wherefore, or moreover. The club booked us and Gina Belliveau originally, but then added a burlesque show to the evening. Do we go first? Does the burlesque show include ponies? Is Andrew going to be asked to play rimshots while dancers expose body parts? The suspense is soon to end. We bring in the gear and Ben the good-natured (and we will soon learn talented) sound-guy spells out his plan to mesh the two shows by alternating sets—a sandwich , if you will. We get set up on our quadrant—well, almost half, really--of the stage. The other section will have the risqué dancers prancing naughtily. Or nicely, or both, depending on your proclivities.

Soon enough the crowd arrives--rather dressed up in evening-ish wear and looking eagerish in their dresses and fancy pants. People like near-nudity, it’s a well-worn fact. The show commences with Gina Belliveau accompanied on some songs by her friend Claire. They play a set of super-sweet tunes that is well-received by the filling house.



Then the burlesque players shake their moneymakers, strut, and grind with a healthy dose of humor and to great approbation of the audience. We follow their set with a short but sassy set of our own, closing with "MAKE THEM BEG" (which feels particularly apt tonight). This is, in turn, followed by more nearly-nude dancing. One dancer does her bit to Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls, an arresting performance which climaxes when she dislodges two cheese burgers from her loincloth/pants and eats them (except for the portions that are mischievously spat out upon the startled but very amused crowd).

Then the dancers turn the stage over to us (in the name of rock) for the rest of the evening and we set forth on a journey that takes us well past midnight. There’s a changing of the guard with the rock-hungry crowd filtering in while the burlesque-satiated crowd filters out. Amongst those with an appetite for both shows I see the nodding and smiling woman from the Jazzbones show—nodding and smiling once again (sweet)! At one point a posse of women arrives that exhibit some enthused dancing while we play. I mention that we are from San Francisco and they all holler and hoot and laugh—it turns out they too are from the bay area! They particularly dig “500 Years” , and during the 7/8 section as the piano and bass accents are thundering, and the drums shatter the sound barrier, they throw cash at us—fives and ones go swirling about mingling with all the eighth notes, generally filling the air with anarchy and love. Whoa.

After the gig we hit King Solomon’s Reef next door. We are joined at the diner by she who nods and smiles (we are then properly introduced and I learn that she is Cat). Josh, who really dug the set and thus bought our CD, also comes along; and (in a rare co-mingling of the burlesuque and rock camps of the evening) Janine, the burlesque troupe’s fearless leader also joins our table for some food and chatter. We all get tasty snacks in the genre of burgers, tater tots (deep-fried, mind you), grilled cheese and tomato soup, and such.

Giving and receiving exposure is strenuous and we are hungry--and the food tastes divine.