.....in Athens GA on Friday night.

A very fun and interesting night. I drove up late Friday afernoon, met up with Rick Derris, and proceeded downtown for some Taco Stand and beers. Then while waiting in a looooong line for will call tickets we realized that people had traveled from all over the country and possibly the world for this show, OTC's only American date of their 3 show "reunion" Per previous agreement we met up with Drinky Crow (whom I had never met) and his girlfriend, and sold them by two extra tickets. Here are Drinky and Rick at a bar called Room 13 (i think):
[img][650:433]http://img192.echo.cx/img192/7197/roundup1230vh.jpg[/img]

Now onto the show.....Elf Power has gotten really good since the last time I saw them several years ago. I am very interested in picking up their last album. Rock and/or roll. Not a great photo, but..... (thats John Fernandes from OTC on violin):
[img][650:433]http://img222.echo.cx/img222/349/roundup1242ch.jpg[/img]

And then, on to the main course. To say that the Olivia Tremor Control kicked ass on this night would be a gross understatement. They were very well rehearsed, kept the noise to a minimum, and played a spirited set that included songs from both of their full lengths as well as singles. I read an interview with John that said that they had rehearsed and were playing songs that they never been able to live before. I saw the OTC at least 10 times back in the 90's and can't thinking of them ever being better than they were on this night: Another crappy photo (intoxication growing):
[img][650:433]http://img31.echo.cx/img31/4017/roundup1348kj.jpg[/img]

We were also kicking it with our boy Disco Stu and his girl. They, and others had told us about an after party beingDJ'd by one Danger Mouse. Why not? But first, a quick stop by The Grill for a photo with Tiny E:
[img][650:433]http://img148.echo.cx/img148/5016/roundup1365os.jpg[/img]

So Danger Mouse was cool, cut a rug, made vodka drinks out of my trucks "mobile bar" for myself, Derris, Disco, and his girl when the PBR ran out at this party (it was in some barn). Dude played mostly old school R&B.

I'm not really sure what happened next but suffice to say the weekend had peaked out and it was all downhill from there. When I woke up, it was 4:15 pm and I was sleeping, fully clothed on a ratty couch in a cracker jack house on what could only have been Meth Lab Avenue with a guy who had the crazy eyes of an open serial killer and a three hundred pound female junkie staring at me. I woke up Derris, took him to his truck and got the fuck out of town as soon as possible.

Damn. Now I'm wishing I could've stayed and hung out with you guys.

And, yeah, OTC was incredible. I admit to never really having loved their albums outside of a few songs, but I had a feeling they'd be much more fun live. They executed all of the wierd transitions and tempo changes perfectly. It was an amazing show, and they stayed onstage for, what, 2 hours or more?

Why are both of you dressed like me?

Sorry to miss it. Gars.

I can't stop laughing at how incredibly fucked up Chris looks! No wonder poor Tiny was afraid of you boys.

I love stories accompanied by pictures!

And,



hehe

I must apologize for how disgusting I look in that picture. I am not usually so frazzled/tired-looking... I had been running around a grease-soaked restaurant for 5 or so hours already... it was around 3am and by then I was ready to get the hell out of there... though by then I was a little surprised when I heard someone yell out "Tiny E!!". I had a ticket to this show, but then couldn't even PAY a coworker to work for me, so I was unable to go. It made me very sad; to hand my ticket to a friend of mine who had the night off. Then I tried to make it to the afterparty with Danger Mouse, but by the time I was off work, the party had been broken up, and Danger Mouse and his posse were already eating at The Grill.... Anyway, so that's me in that one pic. I do actually exist.

P.S. Yail and Derris are so tall!!

Shit, its only about 2:30 AM or so in that photo. I hadn't even begun to get fucked up yet.

Nice. I see the Grill hasn't changed any. They still serve french fries w/ feta cheese?

Yes. I think the world would explode if we ever quit serving the feta cheese dressing.

Nice pics Bloor.

First off, TinyE sorry for bustin in during the BUSIEST TIME OF THE ENTIRE WEEK. For folks that don't know The Grill is THE late night pit stop for good eatin after some boozin in the downtown Athens area and is usually packed with wait list after the bars close and this night was no different. Thanks for indulging us.


The show was awesome. They were on point for most of the show. There were a couple of technical difficulties at the very beginning but they got ironed out quickly. We ran into some people from all over the country who came in for this show which was surprising to me.

After the show at the Dangermouse gig I ran into one of the guys from OTC there( I think it was Will Cullen) and he said that they were really overwhelmed by the response they got and if at all possible they are really going to look into doing some more gigs because they had such a good time.

So yeah, all in all a damn good time. In typical fashion it all went south sometime around 3-4 am when I was drinking vodka and oj with no ice out of a Crystal Springs water bottle. Woke up at the end of "Shady Lane" on a couch that I'm pretty sure gave me mild case of Parkinson's disease.

In other words another typical Athens adventure. Now let us never speak of it again.

what was with the blazers? was that something special or are you just sharp-looking dudes?

kinda both.

See your work clothes thread for further study

Yeah, surprisingly enough Dave, there were a gang of geniuses attempting to purport themselves in a fine manner icluding the singer for Elf Power. (it was as sad as dudes on MTV wearing cowboy shirts.)

DiscoStu also donned Bennie's blazer at one point (he was cold); his gf was obviously impressed so expect see his style improve a bit.

Is that one of the blazers I gave you Krauth? How are those working out?

Very well now that its spring---they are pretty light weight which makes them great for spring evenings---Thanks again, gar. Oh, and I got ur email about this wknd. Should be cool.

It was 40 degrees and I was wearing a t-shirt. Ok, yeah, I'm a pussy. I can't believe I wasn't drunk enough to not feel the temp.

Always good seeing Derris and Bloor. I think Derris called me 7 times asking for directions to the party. I was drunk and so was he, so that explains that. "YO! It's right up from Weaver D's. Just look for like 200 people outside."

I ended up at The Grill around 5am or so. Hey, Erin, remember meeting me?

Bennie and Chris.... where the hell did ya'll sleep? Damn good hanging with ya, and thanks for the "act right" at about 4:30am.

I got home at 6:00am and passed the fuck out. I had to get a little sleep before Classic City Brewfest which started at 3:00pm.

The musical highlight of the weekend for me was local Athens band Lake City rockin' out at Nuci's Space on Saturday night. Newly transplanted Athenian Jim White opened and was "OK". I only saw him play two songs.

I was still there at 5am... ugh. But yes, I do remember meeting you! I was a little out of it by then; I'm not used to working all night anymore. Did you have fun at BrewFest? I overslept and didn't get in line until 3pm, so it took a little while for me to get in. It was so crowded, it took me an hour just to find some people I knew. Though it was sort of nice just walking around by myself for a while tasting yummy beers.

As much fun as I had at the SXSW Obner All-Skate, you guys absolutely out-mongered us by a country mile! Now, if we can only bring the GA and TX possi (plural for posse, isn't it?) together, it will be an all-time show stopper! I'm telling you guys to come over in August for the Cotton shindig...it will be EPIC!!!