I was so scared that I wouldn't get into this show, being that it's 21+. It's never been a problem for me to get into MTX's other 21+ shows, but this place is tiny, and supposedly really strict. In fact, when the Groovie Ghoulies played there, the club made Jaz (their drummer) sit outside except during their set! All my worrying was for nothing though. Kelley and I got there before MTX, so when they arrived and the bar gave them all "band stamps," they just stamped us too, without even bothering to check ID. Phew! And actually, some other under age kids got in, just 'cause they got there early and avoided the bar people. (One of them kept announcing he wasn't 21 though, which everyone thought was pretty idiotic.)The Hi-Fives got there a little while later, and Kel and I went outside to find Gary. We talked to him for a little bit, then headed back inside. I was really excited about this show. Not only was it the amazing Hi-Fives and MTX, but the really great Thee Impossibles played too. They're the band whose record Joel produced (I heard it, and it's really good!). The show started pretty late, so I just sat around talking to everyone. I have to say that this was by far my favorite bar show of theirs ever. Normally at the bar shows I get really bored, but that wasn't the case at all.
John and I were talking about their set list with this guy Jackson, and he agreed to play Hypnotizer! I was really excited! I love that song, and I'd only heard them play it once before. He also agreed that they'd try and learn "Back Again" (this really good song off "Get Down") for the CD release show, since they weren't prepared to play it then. Woohoo!
I found out later in the evening that Frank almost produced the Hi-Fives album. Wow! That would've SO cool. Not that it needed any improvement. Then Joel said, "Hey, since I'm a producer now, I can produce your next album!" Haha. Let the guy produce one album, and all of the sudden he's a big shot!
A little later, Thee Impossibles were ready to go. It was the first time I'd seen them play, and boy was it super! I think this has to be one of the only MTX shows ever where I've actually really liked ALL of the bands playing. WOW. They played a pretty short set, which was too bad, but it was definitely cool.
Next up was the always exciting Hi-Fives. While we were waiting, Pete from Thee Impossibles showed me his Game Boy camera! What a cool toy! It takes a picture of someone, and then you can do stuff to it. I couldn't see too well, cuz it was dark. It looked quite exciting though. It was a really tiny "stage" (the place has a capacity of 68, if that gives you any idea of just how small it was, and it wasn't really a stage, rather just a corner on the same level as the audience), so they couldn't move around as much as usual, but it was still AWESOME! They played all the usual favorites, plus Hypnotizer! Yay! It rocked!
The only bad thing was these really stupid people at the bar. This one girl was standing at the end of the bar, with her back to the stage, right in the spot that would've been really good for Kelley to take pictures. So in the politest way possible, I asked the lady to move. (Something along the lines of, "Hi, um, my friend kind of wanted to take pictures, so um, could you please, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you mind moving over just a little bit please so she could stand there?") To which the lady's boyfriend replied, "So basically what you're trying to say is, 'Get the fuck out of the way.'" "Um, no, I was just wondering if she would mind moving just a little bit" To which he repeated his previous statement many times. Needless to say, the lady did not move. Stupid bar jerks. Despite the lame people though, I had a great time.
Next of course was MTX. They set up in a different way, and I didn't really like the set-up, but I guess it was the better of the two options. They set up with Jym in the corner, and Frank and Joel facing outwards (the club was kind of an L shape, so Frank faced one side of the L, and Joel the other). Which left Jym facing the bar. It was cool in a way though, because I was actually at eye level with Frank. While we were waiting, this girl and I noticed this crazy guy on Joel's side of the stage. He had this psychotic murderous look in his eye, and he kept stroking his beard (like Dr. Claw or something). It was creepy! He saw that I was wearing a Screeching Weasel shirt, so he was pointing at me and singing or something. I don't know. It was weird. And later he started acting even more crazy...
MTX's set was AWESOME. They played "Deep Deep Down" which is always cool, but something about this time was extra cool. Frank just had this tone in his voice or something that totally added to the song. They also played "She Said Yeah" (by the Rip Offs) and "Whistle Bait" (by the Collins Kids) which are my two favorite covers they do. It's kind of hard to get them to play "She Said Yeah" too, so I was very excited. They played "God Bless America" which was great, and "When I Lost You," which is another less frequent one, so that was really great.
The only bad thing about when they played "God Bless America" was that this other crazy drunk guy (yeah, it was a bar, so I should've expected it, but it still sucked) started waving his beer (nearly drenching me many times) and doing your typical drunk crazy guy stuff. Then, after the last song was over, the crazy guys really went to work. The psychotic guy was yelling for "Spiderman" and "Up and Down," and the drunk guy was yelling for "Book of Revelation." The psychotic guy even yelled out, "You're not leaving here if you don't play 'Spiderman'!" Yikes!!! Thankfully, MTX decided to play "Spiderman." They played "Book of Revelation" too, which was awesome, and "BBC," which is always great.
Oh yeah! I almost forgot to mention the best thing that happened all night! For Frank's birthday, these kids Pat, Ryan and I bought Frank an honorary doctorate. Which means that he is now legally a "Doctor of Divinity." Well, during the set, Frank said, "Let me introduce the band. Jym meet Joel. And I'm Frank." Someone yelled out "DOCTOR Frank" and everyone cheered. So Frank said, "Yes, Dr. Frank. Doctor of Divinity. I condemn you all to hell!" It ROCKED! I'm sure no one except Kel and I (and the band) got it, but it was still awesome.
Kelley and I stayed for quite a while afterwards, and unlike the usual bar shows, it was really fun! Jym gave me one of the biggest compliments possible, too. (Although it was unintentional.) He and I were talking to this girl (I forget her name), and he was talking about how young the other kids that got into the show were. Then he said to me, "How old are you again? 20?" I laughed and then he said, "No wait, 18?" And I said, no, 17. It was really cool though, because usually I have people guessing my age as 14. The stupid thing is, random strangers feel the need to tell me I look 14, or worse, 12. What the hell?! Like I don't know I look young?! Give it a rest! Sheesh! Um, anyway, back to the story, sorry about that...
After that I went back inside and found Frank hanging out in the corner with a couple guys. This one guy said to Frank, "Hey! I was watching her during your set! She knew EVERY word that came out of your mouth!" Frank agreed, and told the guy that I'm their number one fan and stuff. Then this other guy, Danny, said, "I know this other girl who thinks she's your number one fan." Frank asked him who he meant, and it was some girl Frank knows I guess, and then he said, "Well, she's quite the fan, but Rebekah here is definitely number one" or something like that. It was really cool. He also said I have the most elaborate website. Woohoo! (Not that it's a competition, blah blah blah).
I talked to Frank and Danny for quite a while then went back outside. I caught the end of the X-tra Magazine's interview with Gary and Steve, which was pretty neat. Then Lisa (from Thee Impossibles crew and X-tra) had the Hi-Fives record an answering machine for her store. It came out kind of screwed up, but it was funny. Not too long after that, Kelley and I decided to leave. We said goodbye to everyone and headed on our way. The freeway was kind of hard to find, because there was a big detour, but once we found it we were at Kelley's relatives' in no time. This was definitely way up there on the list of best MTX shows ever!