June 07, 2004 - 22:57
Oh my god, the show was fucking awesome. The band was so nice and friendly and cool and, of course, the music was great.
Rebekah came to pick me up at one, and we stayed at her house until Blake called from Pauley's Island, so we went to her house and watched Hocus Pocus and then she came and we left and the drive to Charlotte was about four hours long and they played at Tremont Music Hall. We went to the merch tables first and the band came on and it was like a cult or when people jump up and scream or start speaking in tongues during church. Edward Ka-Spel, the singer/songwriter, was barefoot and wearing a purple shirt and red or brown pants and this skinny blue scarf. He had short brown hair and was about 5'8" maybe and he wore sunglasses. Rebekah took some pictures of his feet. The saxophone/horn player, Niels van Hoorn (he's from Holland) was in a blue/gray/black/purple suit, strange dress shoes, and an orange shirt. The jacket was buttoned up. He was so awesome. And he was bald. Bald. And he wore glasses. And god, he played the sax. Why, why didn't I buy his solo album. So I could eat later? Yeah, well, Blake has a copy I can burn, I guess. In case you're wondering I'm not into fashion at all and it doesn't really matter but it kind of helps put the picture together. The synthesizer/keyboards guy, Phil Knight/The Silver Man has kind of long, grizzled-looking hair and wore jeans or khakis and a yellowish Hawaiian shirt, I think. We couldn't really see him because he was behind his keyboards and I can't remember what he was wearing when he talked to us the second night..Wow. The guitarist, Erik Drost, wore glasses and jeans and a red band shirt one night and a black one that said "big black" another and he was really tall and skinny. Erik and Niels are from Holland and had thick accents. The Silver Man and Edward are from England, I think. I'm pretty sure, or anyway they're native English speakers. Edward, Niels, and The Silver Man looked like they were in their late thirties, early to mid forties and Erik looked like he was in his twenties. And was incredibly tall, yes!
Ahhhh..So, talking to the band. After the first show Rebekah got some stuff signed and had her picture taken with Edward Ka-Spel. The next day we went to Chapel Hill and I said we should go to Nice Price, a used book/music/movie store around the corner from the club, GO! Room Four. After about half an hour the band came in! And Edward was wearing shoes! And we were shopping in the same store as them! And we weren't stalking them because we were there first! Then later when we went back to the car we went by their tour bus and Edward said hello.
After the second concert we were the last people to leave. Blake and Rebekah traded e-mail addresses with Niels and Edward said he didn't know who Rasputina was so Rebekah showed him some pictures and a video on her camera and Niels gave Blake his solo CD. Ahhh. Then the Silver Man came down from the stage and we walked out with them and he talked about getting arrested and Edward and Niels talked about the time they played to 29 people five years ago at The House of Blues in Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach! They said their smallest crowd was nine (in Europe) and their biggest was twenty-five hundred (in Mexico City). And they haven't been to Mexico in a long, long time (they've been together twenty-five years) so that's why so many Mexicans are coming to the states. Eh, sounds right.
Well, we walked out with the band and talked to them near their bus and Silverman talked about getting arrested for speeding on tour by a hot female cop and being upset that she didn't handcuff him. Then we said goodbye and went to the car and Rebekah tossed a drink into the dumpster and Blake wanted it so we were climbing on the side of the dumpster trying to find it and Silverman ran up whistling like a traffic cop and tried to help us find it but it was way in the back of the dumpster and then a bat was in the car but it flew out on its own and Erik came over to see what was going on. And then we went to a hotel like the first night and went to sleep, and jesus, we hung out with The Dots, man! They were all so cool and nice and friendly and ahhh, we might go see them in Georgia with Raspy! Yes!