Surprise show surprisingly bad

sara armijo took it.

The Nuts + Berries rollercoaster played something between an open rehearsal and a morgue tonight. The “little surprise show” scheduled for Quixote’s True Blue got inexplicably moved at the last minute to Dulcinea’s 100th Monkey. Madness ensued. Many fans got lost along the way. The new venue was a charming bar next to a porn shop and a block away from a Korn concert at the Fillmore. I saw no perverts or Korn fans at Dulcinea’s.

I made quick work of the hippies in the bar, driving most of the patrons out the front door by the end of the second song. And there was a large “Bitches Brew” mural by the toilets. I guess it was an OK night after all.

Thanks to Superfan Sara Armijo for being there. She got to hear this setlist: Edgar Song/The 1st Year Sex Didn’t Sell/Dayglo Cowtown/A Good Friend is Hard to Find/Feet in the Snow/Li’l Fingers/A Better Mousetrap/Meth Mouth.

“Meth Mouth” is a weird set closer but at some point you have to take the horse out behind the barn and shoot it.

The Quentin Young Band turned in a nice set, though. Their sound man amused himself by running Quentin’s vocals through about 10 seconds of delay.

Next week’s big show at the Oriental Theater should be exciting. I am prepared for anything after tonight.

Setlist, 1/2/09

The Nuts + Berries setlist from the Friday night show at the Old Curtis Street Bar:

Mooncalf / Look at all the Progress / A Good Friend is Hard to Find/ Feet in the Snow/ Dayglo Cowtown / Arch Deluxxx / Flevoland / The Edgar Song / Your Whole Garden Sprouts / Forgive Your Hometown / The 1st Year Sex Didn’t Sell / The Boco Song

Good times

Friday’s show with Nuts + Berries, The Bedsit Infamy and Hideaway Folk Family was a blast.

HAFF played a set that was almost eerily quiet, and opened with an a capella tune. They brought a ton of people with them to the Old Curtis Steet Bar and had a solid first show, wearing (mostly) matching tops. It was exciting to hear the songs in person after listening to them on lo-fi demos and Internet video.

During my Nuts + Berries set, lots of exciting stuff happened. One woman plugged her ears and walked out in disgust. Some people from the HAFF gang hopped up and started dancing during the last third of the set. At one point, a basehead came to the stage mid-set, told me he understood how hard it was to play music by yourself, and offered me a hit of crack after the show. He returned at the end of the set, admitted he had smoked the rock during the final song and handed me a Pabst instead. I didn’t drink it. A lot of people seemed to like “The Edgar Song,” which I have to start recording soon. And I played “Forgive Your Hometown” live for the first time.

The Bedsit set