Show #16: April 1, 2005
Columbus
Andyman’s Treehouse
w/ Infinite Number of Sounds
Scotty Boombox
Ocean Ghosts
This is the show that changed everything. I know that sounds overly dramatic and self-important, but ya know, fuck you. I feel like with this show, EG kinda announced its arrival.
J Rhodes had suggested to me that we set up this show, which I then did. It was our first gig with Infinite Number of Sounds, the Cleveland experimental music powerhouse that featured my friend Matt Mansbach, who I knew from my Dunkin’ Donuts days, as well as his brother Dave, Brent Gummow (who also ran the ExBe board), and Ron Tucker. Joining us on the bill were the Ocean Ghosts, the new band from J Rhodes and Scotty Boombox, and Scotty was slated to do a solo set as well.
This show was just a week after the crummy disaster of a gig at Cafe Bourbon Street. That was one advantage to planning so many gigs close together, is that we didn’t allow ourselves the option to quit what we were doing. I don’t remember if I told Mary Alice that I wanted to quit after that last gig, but I probably did. If you’ve ever been in a band, you know about making false promises to quit. I’ve even talked to people who, like me, have falsely promised themselves it would be their last show during the middle of a set. But you just go on, without even knowing what’s still driving you to do it.
But back to the lecture at hand - the show on April 1, 2005, which was 10 years to the day after my near-fatal car accident. I thought it was really cool that I was playing this real boss show with my friends a decade later, like if I could go back and tell myself this would be happening, I could bring myself some comfort. That is kind of how trauma works, come to think of it - it’s a good practice to talk to your old self, and to offer them reassurance. It’s how you begin to heal.
But back to the lecture at hand - EG was on first, and I noticed something strange happening in the venue: People were there. Now, INS had developed a decent following in Columbus, Scotty and J did well locally, but that didn’t account for the density of the crowd. I had done good promotion for the show, but I think it was just one of those nights where things just somehow came together. I think all in all there were a little over 90 people who paid to get in, but at the time I probably thought it was more like 190. There was a sizeable crowd by the time we started - I remember opening with “Hangin’ Out With Mr. Cooper Sucks,” and walking over to turn up the monitor shortly after the beginning of the song. Just one of those things I remember.
This photo sure is special - Josie, myself, and Matt. Looking back, it’s touching to me how faithful Josie was in coming to our shows whenever she could. It’s not the type of thing you really focus on when in the moment. Matt and I are holding pom-poms that we brought, which likely were accompanied by a football, basketball, and whatever else we could buy at Target to throw at the audience.
In the days following the show, someone alerted me to post on a local music message board called Done Waiting, which I had never heard of before then. It was a post titled “ELECTRIC F-ING GRANDMOTHER." Many replies followed, and I joined the board so I could say thank you and hello. It was extremely flattering, and still one of my favorite memories, much like the show itself.