Upon arrival, a few of us went directly to The Yacht Club, a very cool bar we played at about a year ago. They keep an electric griddle behind the bar and serve grilled cheese sandwiches off of it. These aren’t like the grilled cheese your mom used to make… well, I don’t know your mom… maybe they are. If they are like hers, your mom is cool. The Yacht Club’s specialty sandwiches are stuffed with things like Jamaican jerk chicken, BBQ brisket, or pesto and tomatoes. You can check out their menu here.
While a few of us were enjoying sandwiches, Tony (trombone) ran over to Record Collector and snagged an original pressing of Bob Marley’s Catch A Fire. It was in the original zippo packaging, which I’ve long thought to be one of the coolest LP packages of all time!
Eventually we made our way over to The Englert Theater, a beautiful 725 cap theater that has been thoughtfully restored. Depsite the fact that the rain had picked up a bit, it was one of the most simple load ins of all time. The door in the alley goes right to the back of the stage. It’s also a straight shot to the basement green room area (which was top notch). We tore through sound check and spent a few minutes tightening up something on a new tune.
Next we walked over to the Sheridan and checked in. I can’t tell you how much I love it when the hotel is walking distance from the venue. This was a cool walk as well. The city has a very cool mall in which no cars are allowed. We would later discover that it becomes packed with people at night.
Showtime came a bit sooner that we expected. While we were hanging out in the green room, someone from the theater popped in and asked if we could go on 30 minutes early. It mades no real difference to us. In fact, Cole (sax) was itching to get back to the room ASAP to stream the big fight in Vegas.
We wound up hitting the stage about 15 minutes early. The large crowd had already filled in, and they were ready for a show (made evident by the woman who shouted, “finally!” as we took the stage…15 minutes early) . Playing theaters can be a little daunting when you play dance music. It’s not always easy to get butts out of those seats. But, Sonny was in rare form this night, and the crowd was in very good spirits. He hit the stage with more gusto than I’ve seen in while. He’s gotten very good at utilizing all the space given on a large stage like that. He worked the room running from one end of the stage to the other. He lovingly taunted all the members of band, pushing us each further and further. He definitely got people up and dancing. It was great.
For the last few months, we haven’t really been doing encores very often. We used to them just about every night. It’s a lot more fun to do only every once in while… when the night really demands one. This was very clearly one of those nights. We kicked off with a new ballad by Nick (bass), and then launched into Fannie Mae, an old blues shuffle we like to play around with. People go nuts for that damn song! I think the hard driving four on the floor shuffle thing is just very easy for people to move to.
After the show we packed up quickly and went back (in the rain) to the hotel to watch the UFC fight with Cole on his laptop. We got there in time to check out the fight before the headliner. Most of us had never watched one of these things before. It was crazy… and lots of fun in a room full of your pals. Apparently this was the highest grossing UFC fight ever. Thousands of people traveled to Vegas from Ireland to watch their fighter. There was so much anticipation. Then, in about 13 seconds it was over. I couldn’t even believe it. That was it…. done…. over. After the fight, the mall filled with wasted 20 somethings that were all jacked up from watching the fights. Sensing it really wasn’t my scene, I retired to my room and listened to the first episode of Serial Season 2. Some of the other guys went back to The Yacht Club where they met a gentleman that claimed to be political assassin for the US military. Let’s just say I feel very good about my decision to stay in.
Even though it was still raining, the next morning half of us walked to El Banditos Mexican restaurant for breakfast. The food was extremely good, and I’m told the Bloody Marys and Micheladas were excellent as well. After filling up, we walked back over to the venue, loaded out, and hit the road. It was about two hours to Des Moines.
We got to town a bit early so most of us checked in to The Hotel Des Lux. Man, this place is cool! If you’re ever in Des Moines and want some place nice to stay, definitely check this place out. We hung out by the fire in the lobby for a while and then eventually made our way over to The Des Moines Social Club for load in.
The Des Moines Social Club is righteous! They have two buildings. One houses a little market that has a coffee shop, comic book shop, art gallery, and more. The other has a 400 cap theater on the 1st floor, and a small night club in the basement (maybe 150 cap). We played in the basement. I think we pretty much all love playing small stages in small rooms. The band sounds great when we aren’t relying so much on sound reinforcement. We just point the amps at each other and play. We listen to each other and play according to what everyone else is doing. There’s never anyone on stage who just decides he needs to be heard and cranks his rig up to 10. We try and be mindful of the other players, each of our individual roles in the music, and of course the audience. I love playing theaters, festivals, and big rock rooms… but I’ll always have a sweet spot for small rooms like this. It feels much more natural to me (and I think most of the others in the band as well). Also, the energy in a small room full of people who can physically reach out and touch you on stage is pretty freakin’ awesome. I think we’re lucky that we get to do both large and small rooms. Doing one makes you appreciate the other.
Anyhow…. we loaded in and sound checked quickly. Then we went over to Fong’s Pizza for a crab rangoon and a sesame chicken pizza. It was AWESOME! The rangoon pizza was impressive as hell. They basically use the rangoon filling as a spread that goes under the cheese. The top is covered in little pieces of fried wanton wrapper. The sesame chicken pizza was also incredible. I would totally recommend this place if you’re looking for an affordable, fun place to eat. Also, it looks like it is in a very cool part of town. In fact, I must say, we were all very surprised at how much we dug Des Moines. I don’t think anyone had any ill will towards the town or anything before, but we just hadn’t heard much about the culture there. The hotel was cool, Fong’s was cool, the Des Moines Social Club was cool, all the people were cool, the beer was good…. I could go on and on. Basically, we’re all looking forward to going back soon!
So… after dinner we went back to the club where the Capital City Steppers would warm up the room for us. They were AWESOME! It was a group of maybe a dozen or so people who did Chicago style step dancing. They strutted their stuff to some slamming tracks played by a DJ. It’s a much more contemporary R&B thing than we play, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t thoroughly enjoy it. Also, it was cool because they didn’t perform on stage. They just hit the dance floor. I think it really got people loosened up and ready to move.
The venue had an upright piano on the ground off to stage right. We rolled it up against the stage, stuck a mic in it, and Sam played it for the show. It sounded awesome. It also altered our layout on stage. We wound up doing something very different than normal, and I loved it. It put me all the way on the end of stage left. I was having tons of fun with a group sitting (well, mostly dancing) right next to me.
The show was a riot. Small rooms, man… We played our asses off. We were originally scheduled for 60 minutes, but they said it’d be fine if we played longer. We gave ’em the whole 90 minute show plus Fannie Mae as an encore. We dialed up the tempo on that one a little bit and it really cooked.
After the show a few of the guys drove back home to Minneapolis. The rest of us stayed at the club and met lots of great people. I should say a special thanks to Surly Brewing who sponsored the event. That was super cooling since they’re based up here in the Twin Cities. It’s very exciting to see their rapid expansion. Also, they make kick ass beer! Additionally, 98.3 The Vibe covered the show heavily. It’s a throwback hip hop station that was incredibly supportive of the event. Many thanks to them for their support! We hung out until they locked up the building and then walked back (in the rain) to Hotel Des Lux. Nothing too exciting happened there. The next day we woke up and made the 3.5 hour drive home (in the rain).
It was an awesome weekend. Iowa City proved once again to be a super fun town. Des Moines impressed the hell out of us. Both rooms were tons of fun and I really hope we get to go back again sometime soon.
One last thing… Nick, our bassist, was unable to come out for this run. He brought in a sub named Dan Carpel who proved to be one hell of a bass player, and an all around excellent dude. Many thanks to Dan for stepping in and helping us out. I hope it’s not the last time I play with him.
-Eric (drums)