This week Les Fat Jones have been coming apart at the seams. In what is becoming a tradition, (twice is a tradition, right?) I was sick on the day of a big show. What started as a sore throat on Monday night ended up with me spending yesterday in bed with a cocktail of painkillers and decongestants. Carlos' van, our trusty steed, gave up the ghost, becoming an expensive pile of useless metal. More tragically, (way to bury the lead, Green!) Victor's grandfather passed away on Wednesday afternoon. My condolences to him and his whole family.
Nevertheless we soldiered on and opened for the Gaslight Anthem last night at Apolo. (Sorry spellcheck. Only one L or it's a chicken.) Victor had to attend the funeral so was unable to play, but we decided to forge ahead with only one guitar. We played on our largest stage to our largest crowd to date, and it went well. People clapped! Not just at the end of songs, but along with a breakdown! We sold merch! I sold merch. Unless you have spent time in 2 Skinnee J's, you're probably like, so? Well, former bandmates will know my allergy to the t-shirt table and my preference for hiding out backstage after shows. I'm far more comfortable relating to hundreds of strangers from the safety of a microphone than one on one. Yet, after we were done, I manned the stand and hawked our wares. It was a record night: one t-shirt, two bags. (Close the deal, Gil!)
As for the headliners, I became a fan of the album American Slang when it was released two years ago. The Joe Strummer meets Bruce Springsteen aesthetic appealed to me, and the songs were good. I have one problem with the band, somewhat with that album, more with the most recent one and quite pronounced at the concert: they have two songs - a fast one and a mid-tempo one. Pretty much their entire oeuvre is a variation on these templates. When I first discovered them, I was willing to put in the time to find the differences that make each song its own, but less so on a subsequent album, and a two hour concert became a bit of an endurance test. Nevertheless, the passion and personality they played with carried the day, and the packed house enjoyed the hell out of them.
So far, it was the pinnacle of our career, and I wish it was a wave we could ride to new shores. However, I know that a lone opening gig doesn't change fates and sadly, we have no shows booked until January. We are trying to book something before the end of the year, so I will keep you updated. In the meantime, here's a video from the show. (I can't embed it cuz stupid Blogger can't find it.)
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