This was my first trip to Iowa, and let me tell you, I was not impressed. The minute we crossed the border (literally) it started pouring snow. Snow is nice to look at, but driving in it is NOT fun. Especially when it’s dark out and there are no street lights. Iowa City was about an hour from the border (I think), and the entire way there I couldn’t see a damn thing. Not fun! Finally we arrived in Iowa City, which seemed thoroughly deserted. We found a parking spot no problem, and walked to the club.There was a big line of kids at the door, and being that it was REALLY cold, Kel and I didn’t want to wait. I asked on kid if there was a back door, and he said there was, so we went around. We went inside, but it was just the downstairs bar. It looked like in order to get to the club we’d have to wait in the long line. Luckily we spotted Joel, and he said to go back out the back door, and up the set of stairs. Sounds easy, but it was actually rather perilous. The set of stairs he referred to were these rickety looking metal stairs, which were covered in icy snow. Yikes! Especially wonderful considering the bands had to load heavy equipment up and down those stairs. But no one ever claimed Iowans (got a better word for people who live in Iowa?) were bright.
The club upstairs was basically a bar, oh boy! At least the show was all ages. It was still not the greatest place for a show. There were all these tables and chairs around, and the place was really crowded, so it made it a challenge getting from one side of the club to another. Oh yeah, and did I mention that the loading stairs led directly on to the stage? That kinda sucked as well. But I don’t mean to imply that the show was bad. Not at all. I had a great time. There were just a lot of aspects of the environment that sucked.
Shortly after Kel and I arrived, the Parasites showed up. I talked to Dave for a little bit, then went to say hello to Jym. He told me that they will hopefully play at the big New Year’s Eve show in San Diego. I was really excited since I’m planning on being there. (Most of it will suck, but the Queers are playing, so hey, it’ll be good. Plus, since I’m stuck in San Diego, I might as well have a little fun.) Unfortunately Frank later told me that they’re more than likely not playing. Damn.
Jon Cougar Concentration Camp was playing that night too, and they were really good. It always surprises me what short sets they play though. I think they play for 15 or 20 minutes, and it always flies by. Kel went to take pictures, while I stayed near the back. It was rather crowded up front, and I was in no rush to get up close and personal with the Iowans (not to over generalize, but most of them looked scary).
A little bit later the Parasites played. I had agreed to watch their merch table during their set, but Dennis wanted me to set up his tape player, so I went with him to the stage to get it. While he was getting it this stupid boy (very trailer trash looking incidentally) kept bugging me. He kept poking me and making eyes at me. He was very scary. I just kinda looked at him really weird and kept backing away (although I couldn’t back away very much because it was crowded). This wasn’t very productive though because each time I backed away resulted in another poke. Needless to say, I was quite relieved when Dennis found his tape player so that I could retreat back to the merch table.
I set up the tape recorder, and the Parasites started playing. They were quite awesome, despite the fact that Dave was really sick. Near the end of their set he was telling the crowd to go buy merchandise, "From our lovely friend Rebekah" Hehe.
After they played, Dave came back to take over the merch duties. I went downstairs to get him some tea, and it turns out that the people downstairs were even scarier than those upstairs. Almost none of them had teeth! I mean, I guess I should’ve expected it, but it was still creepy. After all, what non-creepy person would hang out at a bar in Iowa City on a Saturday night.
When I got back upstairs, I discovered that Joel had left the merch table unattended to go play. Not usually a problem, except that he left the money! Being the responsible person I am, I decided that it would be a bad idea to leave the money there. However, I didn’t want to be walking around with a big wad of money in my pocket either. So I sent Kel to ask Frank what I should do. Since the place was so crowded, neither of them could get to the back of the room (MTX were moments away from playing), so they sent a message with Dennis that I should stay and watch the table during their set. Damn! It wasn’t all bad or anything, but it was the first time ever that I wasn’t right up close for MTX’s set. I couldn’t even see them in fact. Grr! On the upside though, it saved me from having to face that creepy guy (and his no doubt creepy friends).
MTX played a really good set, despite the fact that I couldn’t really see. I talked to Dave a bunch, and Joe came over to talk to me for a while too. Didn’t sell much though. Even after MTX were done it was sort of slow. Eventually it picked up though, and we sold a decent amount of stuff. I was skeptical at first since it was a bar show, and people are more eager to spend their money on beer than shirts and stuff.
I kept selling during the Queers’ set. I really like it, and MTX don’t, so it works out for both of us. While I was sitting there I noticed that the zine someone had left on the table had an interview with my friend Andee’s band A Minor Forest. Both him and the band are really rad. Although I must admit, if you like MTX, you’re probably not gonna like them. (But buy their records anyway!) I was really surprised. I never seem to meet anyone that’s heard of them (outside of the bay area), and here they were in a zine in the middle of Iowa! I thought it was quite exciting.
After the Queers finished (they were fabulous by the way, even though Joe’s voice was sorta going) and most of the people were gone, Jym started selling merch. Everyone was in a hurry to get their stuff loaded out so they could get the hell out of there. After everyone had loaded out Kel and I said goodbye to MTX and the Queers and went to get the car. The Parasites were ever so nice as to let us stay with them, so we drove to where they were parked, then followed them to Des Moines.