I set up this show as a challenge to myself, since when I attempted to play here a little over a year ago things went very, very poorly. Since then, I’ve come to realize that more shameful than the fact that, IMHO, the Buzz Cafe doesn’t really care about music (and probably shouldn’t ever host it) is how, at my first appearance there, I huffed out without playing a full set. Sure, I had technical difficulties, and I chose to play on Halloween for some reason, and some guy sitting near me told me, sans prompting, that I looked like Kevin Smith (a detail I’d blacked out from my original recall). So there were extenuating circumstances that couldn’t be laid at the feet of the venue, that were just random…erm…happenstances. But then by playing just four songs and splitting, I merely became one more contributing factor to the hellishness, yes? The fact is, if one is going to play places cold, one is going to have Bad Shows. And in those situations, the challenge is to Avoid Piling On To The Fiasco by playing well in spite of it all. True, that kind of evening is nowhere near as fun as Connecting With An Audience…but in the grand scheme of things, it does trump staying home and watching TV, I think.
--Pic by Amy--
The Buzz is insanely convenient to our house, just four blocks west and across the Ike. It’s the requisite indie coffee shop anchoring the “arts district” of Oak Park. The plan was that Amy and Jill, both of them in the middle of a crazy work schedule, would come out to the early show, and afterward (it being a Friday and all), we’d go back to our place and watch scary movies and have this kick-ass soup Amy made the night before.
We rolled up on the Buzz at about 7:00, fifteen minutes before I was meant to play. Aside from the teenage staff, no-one was there. Literally. My name was spelled “Zander Point” on the chalkboard. Years ago, when booking a show over the phone, I’d mistakenly made flyers for my band’s Chicago debut as taking place at “Fireside Bulls.” (It’s “Fireside Bowls.”) But in this day and age, when shows like this one are booked via email… Anyway, no biggie. In fact, I just smiled with every hiccup. I was Challenging Myself. I was Righting The Wrong.
I set up in the corner, had a cup of coffee, and in came Jenn and Ada! In an instant, the crowd was doubled. And then who should I see in the back but Mark! Mark’s the brother of Greg, my former fellow-bandmate. He’s planning on moving to Chicago from Columbus and was moving some stuff up here when he thought he’d catch the show. Hadn’t seen him in years, so we caught up a bit. A couple other tables filled up, and then I started. I did it like this:
She Thinks I Still Care [George Jones] / The Next Thing You Know / Jay / True or Lonely / Where You’ll Find Me Now [Neutral Milk Hotel] / Bury the Lead / Get on With It / Good as Gold / The Ballad of Roy G. Biv / When You Were Young [The Killers] / I Still Miss Someone [Johnny Cash] / Everybody Looks Like Somebody Else / Cure for Insulin / Johnny Without June / West of Western / The Short List / Soda and Sympathy / The Condensation
I did the George Jones a capella. I did the Killers cover faster than I usually do, because folks were talking loudly towards the front of the place, and I wanted to take a break from hearing them. (More on that later.) “Bury the Lead” and “Get on With It” were in-front-of-people premieres. I was emotionally side-swiped by the Neutral Milk Hotel song, as it reminds me of suburbia, and I could see the streetlamps through the windows… As you can see, there was a painting of Rush Limbaugh looming over me the whole time, which was pretty surreal. Before the last song, the staff turned on the house music, which we (me, Amy, Jill, Jenn, Ada, Mark) took to mean they were ready for me to stop. But then they turned it off again. Very confusing.
There were a fair number of people towards the front, hiding from our happy little group in the back and chatting, chatting. Like other coffee shops I’ve played before, of course. Still, I totally soldiered on, and in my head I was letting them go: So this is the kind of place where people talk, okay, not their fault, don’t have to play here again after this, and their kids are actually kinda cute, so what the hell, just sing well anyway and keep the grudge off your face, okay, alright… I did a pretty good job of looking at people, which is something I’ve been training myself to do. It helps, actually. If you don’t do that, the performer / audience divide sort of yawns. I’m writing this off the top of my head, but it’s kind of like…you can’t “retreat within yourself” without the audience’s permission. I mean, if you want to get that intense, you can’t just barge in and start doing it — you have to wait until they “say” it’s okay… So looking at people when I feel like I’m getting too self-serious (or whatever) is a way of saying, “Hey, can we start over?” Hmm. That theory might need to cook a little longer. Anyway, looking at people when you play: It’s A Kick!
All in all, a good set. Hardly any mistakes. And hey — Jenn can’t take Ada to bars, obviously (she’s 4), so it’s good to play these TYPES of venues, right? Keep it on the sunny side. It was good to play for them and Mark and Amy and Jill. Yes! I came, I conquered, and some friends (and strangers, one hopes) got to enjoy themselves.
And yes, we went home, ate soup, and watched a zombie movie.
Now I gotta get some more shows. Hmm.
