this
so we all know that i've been friends with him for a few years now, right? (part 1, part 2, part 3, etc...also this). so i knew he was going to be playing there and i had asked if maybe my band could open for them, and he said they already had an opening band touring with them (brothers of brazil) so it would be up to the theatre. i emailed the guy at the theatre and he said that they weren't looking for a third band, but thanks for asking and he would love to have us back. so that was nice. anyway, some time went by and one day i got an email from hugh that was the usual update on his life (which is way cooler than mine) and then he casually mentioned that brothers of brazil dropped off the tour, and maybe my band would like to open the show...?
i nearly died after reading that. he said to wait a few days to contact the theatre, he would put our name forward through the agent, and all that. i immediately texted my band mates to tell them and make sure they would be able to; it was a tuesday night after all. they both said yes. they both know how much i love hugh and the stranglers and i don't know if that's why they made sure it happened, or if they also realized what a huge opportunity it would be for us. either way, it was all looking good for us. in the next couple of days (by the way, it was really difficult not to email the theatre IMMEDIATELY and ask them, but i waited because he said to, and i'm sure he knows what's best) i heard from the guy i had emailed originally and he said all parties involved wanted us to open so he would make it official after i "gave him the good word." i texted my band mates again just to be sure, and they were still going for it so i told him yes, and then i emailed hugh and everything was falling into place. completely unreal. nothing like that has ever happened to me before.
anyway enough of how it happened. it happened. we emailed a bit in between, he wanted to know if i would come see him at any of the other dates leading up to sellersville, because the weekend before he had 2 dates in jersey. one in bordentown friday night, and the brighton bar on saturday. i was totally set on seeing him at the brighton back when the tour dates were first announced, until i found out my best friend's bachelorette party was that night and i might be an asshole but i'm not that much of an asshole that i would miss my friend's party. so i told him i would try for friday night, which was an acoustic show at the record collector. i couldn't get anyone to cover for me at work but once again, my awesome boss let me go because he knows what a freak i am about this guy and didn't want me to miss it. he's really the best. hugh knew i might be coming, since i didn't know until the last minute, but he put my name on the list anyway, just in case. i got there just in time for him to start playing; he was already up there ready to go. phew.
the show was really cool; first, he did one song off of each stranglers album (so, ten songs). let's see if i can remember-
goodbye toulouse (rattus norvegicus)
no more heroes (no more heroes)
nice n sleazy (black & white)
nuclear device (the raven)
thrown away (the gospel according to the meninblack)
golden brown (la folie)
midnight summer dream (feline)
souls (aural sculpture)
mayan skies (dreamtime)
someone like you (10)
and then one song off of each solo album (not including collaborations, such as nosferatu). so that was-
decadance (wolf)
forgive me but i cannot remember for the life of me what song he played off wired...
one burning desire (guilty)
the big sleep (hi-fi)
land of a thousand kisses (beyond elysian fields)
please don't put me on a slow boat to trowbridge (hooverdam)
god is a woman (totem & taboo) (ok, i think that's the song he did...my memory sucks.)
and in between each song he told the story of making the album, specific stories about each song, random things that may have inspired him to write them, that kind of thing. it was really fucking cool. i'd never seen him do an acoustic show before and i really liked it. hearing him talk about that kind of stuff is neat; some of it i already knew from reading his book but it was still cool to actually hear him telling the stories. he's a wealth of information and he also has a really good memory.
anyway- after the show he came off stage and started signing things that people had brought right away, and was getting pictures with people, the usual. he saw me and waved and as soon as he had a chance he came over and hugged me and said he was so glad i made it. it was rainy and shitty that night and the drive there wasn't fun, but it was totally worth it. then he was selling merch and stuff and i was just standing around trying not to get in the way because i knew i was going to get to hang out with him when everyone left so i didn't want to be annoying. but he introduced me to a few people and told them i would be opening for him at the sellersville show, which reminded me i brought him one of my old band tshirts, from before we changed the name. he likes the first name better so he was really excited about the shirt, and proceeded to show it to everyone and say "look at this! isn't it brilliant?" i wouldn't go that far...haha.
after everyone left, i got to have a drink with hugh and the guy who owns the record collector. and also hugh's tour manager and a couple other guys who work there. so that was pretty cool. i could listen to him talk for hours. which i guess technically i did. whatever. and i got to see the back store room with all the records the owner has listed online and stuff...it was incredible. so then i gave hugh a ride to the hotel.
ok, hang on. so my car is a twenty something year old honda and i love that car more than i love some people; it's taken me many places over the years and has only broken down a few times, but even still, it's always been good to me. it has over 200,000 miles on it so you can't blame it for having problems sometimes. that being said, it looks kind of sad if you don't know it's history. it's been backed into and smashed into a couple of times and has a few dents and weird spray paint over the rust and the lining of the door hangs out of the door sometimes because it's come unglued. so here is this legendary musician getting into my old car like it's no big deal and i'm like "this can't be happening...isn't he too good for this?" but he's not. he's just cool. and he liked my car so there you go. he invited me into his hotel room and we had green tea and he checked the cricket score and we talked. he asked about my band and stuff, and i told him about what's going on with the guys in my band and how i'm playing with another band now, too, but that i'm weird about playing in front of people i don't know really well, and that you're supposed to be friends with the people in your band. and he told me about his experiences playing with people (so like he mentioned some stranglers stuff which is kind of a big deal, since talking about that stuff is boring for him; he's been talking about a band he's not in anymore for the past 20 or so years). and how he wouldn't have been friends with the guys he plays with now if he wasn't in a band with them; the only reason they're friends is because he hired them to play music with him and they've gotten to know each other now. and he's just a really cool guy. i can't say that enough. i told him again that i was sorry i couldn't be at the show the next night, but at least i was going to see him tuesday. and he was going to see me play on tuesday too! he was as excited to see me as i was to see him, if you can believe that. i still can't.
the days leading up to tuesday turned me into more and more of a nervous wreck. i was trying to be cool about it but i couldn't. we had to be there at 5:30 to load in and the whole time leading up to it i tried to stay busy. oh and did i mention it fucking snowed like a bitch all morning, up until sometime in the afternoon? i was freaking out that it was going to be cancelled, and when i saw that it was still going as planned, then i started freaking out that no one was going to come to it because no one likes driving in snow. it was not a good feeling, but i was glad it was happening at least. so i drummed for about an hour and then packed up my stuff and headed over to the theatre. my band mates had just got there and i could hear hugh and his band sound checking. holy shit. i was like "THEY'RE GOING TO PLAY WALK ON BY TONIGHT YOU GUYS OH MY GOD," and they laughed at how excited i was. so i checked in with the manager, got my parking pass, and then we stood around for a little while until i decided i wanted to go in and watch the sound check. my bass player had to go first because i was being so weird. i turn into an idiot sometimes. anyway, they were just finishing up, everything sounded fucking badass, and then hugh must have seen me come in because as soon as they were done, he came off the stage and right to the back of the theatre. i introduced him to my band mates. and it was all happening. i was still in denial a little bit. so we were allowed to start loading our stuff in and i saw hugh wandering around while i was setting up my drums, then they all went out to dinner while we finished setting up. he said "have a good sound check, i'll see you later!" aww.
we sound checked and i thought we sounded pretty great. the sound in the theatre is out of this world. they recently upgraded everything and the guy they have doing sound there is phenomenal. we love being able to hear each other on stage. it's a great feeling.
ok, so we go to our dressing room, which is upstairs; hugh and his band are in the one next to the stage. we were up there for a little bit when i realized we didn't have a set list written out and i knew i wouldn't be able to remember what songs we were doing once we started, so i went downstairs to get paper. as i was walking back across the lobby, i saw hugh come in, so he came over and invited me to his dressing room. so i said that i was going back to mine to make up the set list. i was being SO WEIRD; like all jumpy and stuff. and he was like "are you ok? you seem a bit nervous." me: "oh, um yeah, i'm a little nervous, i guess. sorry." so he said to go take a deep breath and count to ten and then when i felt better to come to his dressing room where he would be watching cricket (of course). i never made it there. i made up the set list and then couldn't hang out with my band mates anymore because they were talking like nothing was happening and also they were being boring, and i was freaking out. i love them to death, don't get me wrong, but sometimes i just need a break. so i went down to the lobby again where i saw a guy i know, who is an usher there, so we talked and i felt a little bit better. then people started showing up and i got sidetracked talking to everyone and the next thing i knew it was 8:00 and we were supposed to go on at 8:10.
the manager walked us to the side of the stage, and we stood there talking and i was trying to fucking RELAX. then hugh heard me talking, i guess, and came out of the room to say hi and that he'll be right there, listening to everything. which is completely awesome, obviously, but also the reason that i couldn't fucking calm down. if i suck he is going to hear it and then what? ugh. i saw his bass player, steve, and said hi, he remembers me (probably as that weird chick who shows up everywhere). so the sound guy started making announcements and that's when we were allowed to go up and start plugging in (or in my case sitting down and chugging some more beer). and then we started playing. and everything was fine. the lights were so bright that i couldn't see the audience. i couldn't see hugh. i knew he could hear us, but i couldn't see him. it helped a little bit. and by the end of the second song i was fine. we only had time for five songs, and it flew by, but i felt incredible. i couldn't stop smiling. so we packed our stuff up and i had time to take my drums out to my car so i didn't have to worry about it later. i went out to the lobby and was talking but really wanted to get back in because i didn't want to miss anything. when i heard what sounded like intro music start i was like "BYE" to whoever i was talking to and ran in to the front row and sat down, where i realized i knew the guy sitting a few seats down from me. he said he felt weird sitting and i said "i'll go stand up front when they start," and so as soon as they walked out on stage we were up there. and then hugh started motioning for everyone to come forward. hehe.
so the set was a mix of songs off totem & taboo and stranglers songs. i loved t&t from the first time i listened to it, and hearing the songs live was really fucking cool. steve's bass is SO CHUNKY. i love it so much. and this time it wasn't clem drumming, it was darius from the posies. hugh was telling me in emails that darius was doing a great job and how much he liked him (except for a little mishap he had with the van...haha...it's ok it all got fixed). and i really, really love the way he plays. they were all fun to watch and hugh is very funny on stage with in between song banter and it was really just a fucking great, solid show. he said later he messed up a few times but i can never tell. also it may have been because i was on steve's side of the stage and i was hearing A LOT of that chunky bass so maybe it covered up his mistakes. hehe. ahhh it was so good. they ended with "in the dead of night" which is such a good song; it's really slow though, but groovy. anyway, i was glad they played it but it was weird song to end with. but i could see the set list and that there were three more songs to do, if they came back out. which they did. but it took FOREVER. haha. so they did "walk on by" then so yay for that. and i think the last song was "no more heroes." fuck yeah. so good. it was awesome.
i saw hugh walk off the stage and then i assumed he went out to the lobby. i started to walk that way so i could sit at the table and sell cds we brought when i was stopped by a couple of guys who were like "you were awesome! we love you! can we get some pictures with you?" and i was totally thrown off guard. i said "me? you want your picture...with me? are you sure?" and they said yeah, so i said ok. so now somewhere there are guys with pictures of themselves with me; it was such a bizarre feeling, and now i have a taste of what it's like for people who are actually famous who get their picture with people all the time. what a strange feeling! it was cool though, i was glad that people liked us. so i went out to the lobby then, and people actually bought some cds from us! so great! including the picture guys. and also the guy who was at the record collector show, we remembered each other from that, and he bought the cds as well. oh, and they all asked me to SIGN THE CDS too. fucking surreal shit. i don't even know how to do that. haha. so hugh saw me across the lobby when there was a break in his line and he waved at me. so cute.
anyway...so it cleared out a bit and he started packing up his merch, so i went over and said hi, and then turned and introduced him to my mom and my sister. he was so happy to meet them. it was totally adorable. and then i said "so, we've hung out all these times, but we don't have any pictures together, so i thought we could do that?" and he said of course. so my mom and sister took pictures of me and hugh together and they turned out pretty great. it was funny. the whole thing was still not quite sinking in yet. so they all left, and then we started walking back to his dressing room, but got sidetracked and started talking with a bunch of the people who work there, who are all really awesome. we finally walked back to the dressing room, i met darius, who is really nice, and hung out there with him and steve while hugh went out with the tour manager to smoke a cigarette.
then i gave hugh a ride to the hotel again. hehe. except i wanted to take my drums home first because i didn't want them sitting out in the cold any longer than they had to, and also i don't like driving around with them if i don't have to. they're my babies. hugh scraped off my windshield (this is the kind of thing that i just can't make up; this actually happened, and i felt bad but he insisted). ok, so i drove to my place and then he helped me unload my shit into my garage. IS THIS REAL LIFE? it totally is. that happened. fucking crazy. ok, so i drive to the hotel which is not too far, about a half hour drive. and i asked if he wanted to listen to any music and he said he would just talk to me the whole time. fantastic. he told me about who prefers kmart and target, between him and someone he tours with (i'm not telling) (but i was cracking up). and he asked what i thought of darius, so i said "he's great! i really like him a lot!" and he says "do you like him better than clem?" and i said "damn it, i knew you were going to ask me that!" and he laughed, but i wasn't off the hook. i told him the truth: "i like him better in some ways, but i like clem better in other ways." and he said he felt exactly the same way. one of these days maybe he'll ask me to be his drummer...haha. yeah right.
so at the hotel he shared his fancy champagne with me and we talked. he is FASCINATING. but what's really weird is how much he cares about my life. here is a guy who has lived an exciting, full life, but he wants to talk about my friend who's getting married, and my band, and my family, and my job; my life. my life that pales in comparison to his. but that's the kind of guy he is. he asks a lot of questions and really listens to what you say to him. he's great.
there you have it: i'm still in a daze. it's like when you're a little kid and christmas happens and it's the greatest thing in the world but it's over and then you have nothing to look forward to. well, except christmas next year. but i don't have that. i feel like i have nothing to look forward to. but it was such an amazing experience and i am so grateful to him for giving me and my band this opportunity. for real. i know some people might read this and think "so what?" and yeah, i know. i know there are some bands out there who get to open for cool people all the time. but this was a first for me, and it happened to be for not only a guy that was in one of my favorite bands of all time who i totally respect and admire, but he's also my friend. and that made it so much better.
