Are You Dave?

We took our child to the allergist today, and when we introduced ourselves to the Dr. she said “Oh, are you Dave?” The best part was, when she said my name she also made an air-guitar gesture with her hands. I love that. Turns out she’s a Hoboken mom and she’s heard about me and read my posts on the local parenting e-mail group. Always nice to meet a fan.

So, Hoboken parents, if you need an allergist I have a recommendation.

Dave

My wife and I had the day to ourselves for once—she had the day off and the kid is in day care—so we went to the mall. (I know, “whee!” right?) Partly we were school shopping for the squirt, who starts Pre-K on tuesday, but we also wanted to see a movie. And the only movie playing that was of any interest was… you guessed it….

When we bought our tickets there was a sign saying “The A/C in Theater 4 is not working. The temperature is approximately 85 degrees.” Now, that’s a weird number, because it doesn’t seem THAT hot, but would we be able to stand it for a full movie? No one could tell us how the theater actually felt, nor would they let us in without tickets to see for ourselves.

Here’s how much my wife loves me: We dithered for a moment, and then the love of my life said “let’s run down to CVS and get a couple of those little battery-powered fans, maybe even the kind that spray water.” She’s so smart! 

The Clone Wars was fun and the theater wasn’t even that hot. Lots of lightsabers, spaceships and explosions, which is exactly what I’d come to see. I didn’t like the “newsreel” opening in place of the classic “crawl,” and the flamingly gay Uncle Hutt was utterly uncalled for. The animated Star Wars will never match the “real” Star Wars, but then, I feel the same way about the prequel trilogy.

Photo by Jim Greif

The Fuzzy Lemons rocked a new location this week: the Gazebo in Church Square Park. We had a pretty big crowd; some of them were on the benches in front of the gazebo, some of them were over in the “tot lot” to our left, and some of them were in the bigger playground to our right. It was a lot of fun to see kids and parents bobbing their heads to the music in and around the playground equipment. 

Playing in the gazebo was a different experience. On the one hand, it was fun to be elevated several feet above the crowd, gazing down from our musical Olympus like the Rock Deities we truly are. And being in the center of the park meant that no matter where we looked, on the left or on the right, we saw families rockin’ along with us. On the other hand, I think we all felt sort of caged in, and that the distance from the audience kept us from connecting, as if we were playing near some people instead for playing for them.

At the Shipyard (or the Goldhawk) the kids come right up on the stage and touch our gear. There was none of that at Church Square Park, but on the flipside there were drunken bums wandering through, hollering… I dunno, drunken bum things at us.

Sometimes it seems like the band is on fire but the audience is tepid; other times, like tonight, it feels like the band is not at their best but the audience doesn’t care because they’re having fun. We all made little mistakes, but I think overall we put on a good show and people had fun. I wrote extensively about our pre-show sound issues here, but once again I need to point out that Dave Entwistle really proved to the world that he’s a supah-genius behind the sound board. The reviews I’ve received all say we sounded great, and lots of people have said “hi” to me since Wednesday and told me how much they enjoyed the show.

One other note about this event: it was our last gig (for the foreseeable future) with Kimberly on drums. She’s got a teaching job that keeps her super busy–busier than any one human being should be expected to be at that pay scale. As the Lemons are stepping up our rehearsal and performance tempo, she’s decided to step back, at least for now. We love you Kimberly! Her Web site is here, not sure how up-to-date it is but you can drop her a line and wish her well.

Dave

The following is not a Gig Diary. It’s a bit of a vent leading up to a Gig Diary. You may want to skip it.

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We’ve got to buy a P.A. That’s all there is to it. 

We’ve had a great summer, lots of outdoor shows all over Hoboken. The big wrap-up was at Church Square Park, smack in the middle of town, on Wednesday August 27. I’ll blog about the show itself in the next Gig Diary. But there was a lot of other stuff that went on that I’ll complain about here.

This show was Justin’s baby, he came to us in early May with the offer from the city and O’Nieals Bar & Restaurant to do one of the Wednesday night shows in the gazebo. The city would provide the location and the electricity, the bar would provide equipment and a meal, and we’d provide the music. “Heck yes,” said the Lemons. We were originally scheduled to play in early July. But some weather-related postponements pushed us back to August 27, and so the show became our summer swan song.

I don’t know all the behind-the-scenes things that Justin worked with O’Nieals, but I do know that Jesse (the manager) and her husband Jeff (the bouncer) are close friends with Justin and his wife (and Jeff plays drums for us at HEFC some Sunday mornings). When it turned out that O’Nieals wasn’t able to provide much in the way of equipment, I lay none of the blame on any of the parties mentioned above. I just wish we’d known in advance. Justin texted me at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday to say we had no P.A. gear for a Wednesday gig–not an auspicious way to prepare for a show!

It was frantic phone-call time. Justin tracked down a guy who could provide a P.A. for $325, but that would have eaten up our entire stipend from O’Nieals, and it would mean that we had to use that guy for sound, not our hero Dave Entwistle. I told Jay-Money to wait while I made another call.

Fortunately, my dear friends Stefanie and Marco of Blue Number Nine were able to help us out. A quick check of Facebook confirmed that they were home from their extensive midwestern tour, so I gave ‘em a shout. Lo and behold, they had a bunch of PA gear sitting in their basement and they were happy to share it. All they asked in return was that I put in a good word with Geri Fallo at City Hall. I’d LOVE to see Blue Number Nine play in Hoboken next summer! Geri are you listening?

Justin and I decided that the rest of the band didn’t need to be dragged into the equipment drama. It’s possible that some of the Lemons will read about it here for the first time. Hi guys! Some decisions require the whole band’s approval, but a fire-fighting situation like this would have just spread panic throughout the band, most likely (Dana thanked us the next day for not telling her that night). I’m pleased to say Justin and I handled it… though it was a close thing.

I woke up Wednesday thinking we were probably 90% covered, equipment-wise; close enough for a gazebo gig, right? Between Blue Number Nine’s gear, some stuff from O’Nieal’s, and our own gear borrowed from our rehearsal space, Justin and I figured we had assembled a pretty good Frankenstein’s Monster of a P.A.

But first we had to get the gear to the stage, hook it up and turn it on. Never as easy as it sounds.

The fun started when Dana drove us up the hill to Stefanie and Marco’s place, only to find an empty house. I almost gave up at that point, ringing their doorbell and re-dialing their phone. But Marco showed up only a few minutes later, toting a replacement bulb for his kitchen ceiling. We were back on the road with an SUV full of gear in no time, and in fact we were back in Hoboken before 5:00.

We unloaded quickly, and Dana and Justin headed off to our rehearsal space to grab the rest of our gear while I started assembling the PA. They were back quickly, and the rest of the band showed up, but by then the next problem had presented itself: No electricity. There are outlets in the gazebo, situated WAY high up near the ceiling, but they weren’t “hot.” Frantic calls to city hall turned up a park worker named Louie (thank you Louie!) who was more than happy to turn the lights and juice on for us.

Meanwhile, no one at O’Nieals had any inkling that they were supposed to be hooking us up with gear for a show that night. In fact one staffer said “No, the live music is on Tuesdays.”

At this point I was stunned. The gig had been on the calendar for months, yet no one seemed to have any clue whatsoever that a band was scheduled to perform in the park that night. Looking back, I have a theory. We showed up before 5:00 for a 7:00 show, and I just think no one was prepared. The proper folks were all happy to help us out, but they didn’t start arriving on the scene until after 6:00. Once Jessie and her helpful crew arrived, things just started rolling. She’s the kind of person who says “no problem!” to just about anything you could ask. Tape? Equipment? A basket of fries and chicken fingers? No problem! And of course Dave Entwistle showed up promptly at 5:30 and got right to work, which is always reassuring.

Ok, that’s the end of my rant and the beginning of the happy part. The official Gig Diary — you know, about the gig itself — will be in the next post.

Your friend and neighbor Music Dave isn’t a wacky cult member. I’m just happy to say I have a great support network that helps me really be who I am, authentically and fearlessly. I went on the New Warrior Training Adventure in 2000, and have been on staff eight times since then, and I love having a circle of men in my life who provide support, encouragement, wisdom and a loving boot-to-the-butt when I need to move forward. 

The Mankind Project itself is a non-profit, non-denominational network for men. MKP puts on weekend retreats (called “The New Warrior Training Adventure”) for men who are ready for a life-changing adventure. It’s not an Outward-Bound type of thing; the adventure is inward–the staff creates a safe place for men to take a long, hard look in the mirror, and provides some tools for dealing with whatever may pop up there. 

There are usually about 40 men on staff, and about 30 new men, which tells you two things: 

In NJ.com’s review of the Lemons at the spring Arts & Music Fest (read it here), blogger Amy writes: “While The Fuzzy Lemons are sweet and folksy, StarFish… rocked out like Zeppelin.”

Clearly we’re doing something wrong. In all of our conversations about the band, I don’t think “sweet and folksy” ever came up. Attention Lemons! We must rock harder!

(And yes, I came across that quote while I was Googling my own band. Anyone got a problem with that?)

Photo by Jim Greif

You saw it here first, folks! Sorry it’s so small; Wordpress won’t let me upload a bigger image. When I figure out how to host a bigger version I’ll post it.

Dave

In the last 24 hours I’ve received the following links in my inbox:
Sci-Fi Haiku
Songs in Haiku

I started this blog yesterday, with eight posts that I’d written over the course of the last week (while my wife researched Wordpress and did the set-up and design work for me). So far, it’s a pretty incoherent blog, but that’s ok. Oh, and I hope no one thinks I ‘m cheating by back-dating posts so that they fall chronologically.

I think a few things are going to happen as I roll forward.

1. I’ll find more of a “voice” — I used to be a writer, and I think I can be again. Writing a little every day will help that develop in me.
2. I’ll get up-to-date on the backlog of Gig Diaries, so that I can write about current events, instead of stuff that happened months ago.
3. The Fuzzy Lemons will take off and become world-famous, and as I’m thrust into the national spotlight this blog will suddenly become of paramount importance to my screaming throngs of fans. I’ll find my audience, in other words.

There are a few things that are NOT going to happen here, as well.

1. I’m not going to write about my wife and kid. Friends and family know how to follow their adventures elsewhere on the internet, and they’re not for public consumption.
2. I’m going to keep it clean. As much fun as it would be to keep a salacious journal like Kevin Smith, I aspire to be a family-friendly entertainer. Maybe if my band were a goth-death-metal outfit named “The Flaming Pus Nozzles” I could go into all the sticky details of my life. But no, we’re called “The Fuzzy Lemons,” so I’ll be writing mainly about our adventures trying to get a video on Noggin.

Off to teach Music Together, have a good day!

Dave

While I don’t have Olympic Fever this year (you should have seen me 4 years ago, I was gonzo for Michael Phelps) it turns out I’ve got some stuff to say about it. (Hey, this is a blog, aren’t I supposed to be topical and stuff?)

I keep hearing that people are “boycotting” the Olympics. I feel that boycotting the event is a moronic, insipid and ultimately meaningless form of protest against China. You’re turning off your TV? Oooh, that’s got ‘em quaking in Shanghai. 

It would be a lot more meaningful if everyone boycotted, say, the millions of toys, clothing and appliances that come from China. Or better yet, write your congressperson and demand that your government take action (I’m pretty confident that the folks who are boycotting the Olympics are the folks who voted for Bill Clinton, who gave China “Most Favored Nation” status back in the wild-n-crazy ’90s). 

I’m thinking about a certain other Olympiad that took place in a questionable country: the Berlin games in Hitler’s Germany, where a young African-American runner named Jesse Owens won Olympic Gold in a shattering refutation of Hitler’s belief in the inferiority of non-whites. He became a folk hero, standing tall on the podium as the Fürher refused to acknowledge his presence.

Now we have a new crop of young (and not-so-young!) athletes in China, and suddenly we’re noticing that China has an outrageously bad human rights record, and we’re responding by turning off our TVs? Personally I think we should watch every event, every medal ceremony. The world’s next hero might be doing some warm-up stretches right now. 

Just a thought.

Oh, and Michael Phelps is still awesome.