Meanwhile, Back at The Central Tavern

February 18, 1998:

A squeak of feedback greeted Winter as he stepped up to the mike and greeted the crowd: "Hi, everybody! We're The Pace!".

It was our first gig since our New Year's Eve show at the Central Tavern, and we had come quite a way since then. We had added some new songs, kept some favorites, and added a new original instrumental to close the show with. Winter kicked off with the opening riff to the first song, and we were off!

1) Come On Now
2) I Just Wanna Make Love To You

We were going to segue into the next song, like we did the last time. Oh no! My right drumstick broke in half not even a few bars into the song. I kept on the crash/ride cymbal until I could fish myself up another stick during the segue into the next song.

3) I'm Not Talking

Sounds good, we're playing great, but I'm not hearing the vocals at all through the PA. Neither could the other guys, so it wasn't just me.

4) The Nazz Are Blue

When we finished with this one, the only thing missing was the sound of crickets and tumbleweeds. Did the crowd not like that one? We'd better drop that one next time.

5) I'm Talking About You
6) Too Much Monkey Business
7) Daddy Rolling Stone

Still sounds good, maybe just a little too fast for the crowd. When we announced this song and the next one, Tom quipped, "The Kinks are on our side!"

8) I Need You
9) Time Is On My Side
10) I Don't Mind

"And now we're going to go surfing!", Winter announced, and we tore into a cut from the Beatles' Live At The BBC set, only rocked up a little harder.

11) I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (Over You)
12) Circles
13) Fortune Teller
14) Rosalie

Still good, but "Fortune Teller" was too fast. More people were coming in, and they seemed to like what we were doing. One of Tom's friends in the audience was drunkenly howling for us to play The Who song "So Sad About Us", making Tom quip, "You're making me sad!".

15) Take This, Brother, May It Serve You Well

This was an instrumental that we had come up with a few weeks before. Winter started off with a staccato two-note riff, and I lurched it forward with military-like drum rolls. Tom and Lincoln joined in, and then I began with 4/4 on the snare, but with a Bolero-type rhythm on the hi-hat (borrowed again, only this time from the other band after us, the Deadbeats). After two passes, we launched into a heavy, jazzy triple-time signature, with lots of feedback and distortion. I slowed it way down on the drums, and then brought up all the way again, with more feedback and distortion. Bang! All over and done. "Elvis has left the building!", the soundman intoned over the PA system.

As we were packing up our gear to take off the stage, Tom's friend kept pleading for us to play "So Sad About Us", even offering to sing it for us, oblivious to the fact that we had finished our set. Someone else requested Santana's "Soul Sacrifice", which cracked Lincoln up. Listening to the tape I made of the show (on my Realistic microcasette recorder again) at home later on that evening, the vocals were almost inaudible on the tape as they were on stage. So it wasn't just me!

A week later, after we had finished a rehearsal, we went off to a party being thrown by a friend of Tom's, over on the north side of town. We all piled into Tom's van, now up and running, and went to this party. I didn't really know anyone at this get-together, but I tried to enjoy the vibe. Most of the crowd went down into the basement to listen to a band there play, which was good, but the drummer was way too busy on the hi-hat.

Later on, Lincoln visited the bathroom, and noticed there were no drinking glasses in there, but there were some of those darned tea-candles burning away on the counters and shelves. So, he bent down, turned his head in order to drink right from the faucet, and as he was slurping from it, he began to smell something burning! It was a small patch of hair on one side of his head, but thankfully caught it in time before any noticable damage was done.