Staying In The Scene

      Happy new month! I know it’s been a couple of days, but it’s still new to me. And it felt fitting, considering this is the first one of this month. I’m excited, this will be my third practice this week. Although, tonight is JoZ, instead of Eruption, I’m still glad to get to play. I thought it was funny, last week, after Eruption practice, our drummer informed us that he would not be available tonight. Once he left, and we were going over each other’s schedules, I asked the other two if they wanted to do JoZ this week, since the three of us were still available. Wagz said: “Oh, that’s right, I forgot about JoZ.” It hasn’t been that long. And, he’s the one, who just a little while ago, suggested that JoZ might be ready for their own show. That seemed odd to me. But, when I asked earlier this week, if we were still on for tonight, I got two yeses. Also, just to sum up last Thursday, we killed it! We’ve been working on these three new songs for quite a while. They’d be shocked if they actually knew how old they were. But, no one has heard them, so they’re still “new.” We haven’t worked on them in a while. E, our drummer, was hurt for almost a year. Then, we were getting ready for a show. After that we were working on the Miller’s Dairy stuff. So, it has been a while. Much to my great pleasure, it was like no time had passed. I couldn’t believe it! They sounded better than they ever had. I was so happy. Especially the next day, when I checked the rehearsal recording, and it sounded as good as I thought it did the night before. We try to get the mix the same every time, but it’s almost impossible. This was the best we ever sounded, in the rehearsal space. We played and sounded awesome! It was a great relief. I guess sometimes, leaving things on the back burner can let them marinate into maturation.

     Last Saturday, my wife and I went to see our friend’s band at the Ken Club. It was Inciting Riots’ last show. One of the guitar players is moving, and I guess the rest don’t want to deal with having to find a new one. I get it. After 25 years, no one really “wants” to do that. They’d already cut back on gigging quite a bit. However, they did just record an album. So, we were all caught a little off guard when they announced they were hanging it up. There was another show I wanted to go to that night also. This band I really like called Spider were playing the Tower Bar, but I couldn’t make both. I didn’t realize until FB told me I had replied “going” to 2 shows the same night. I had to make a decision, and a friend’s farewell show takes precedence over someone I can see in 2 weeks every time. That’s one of the things now, so many things going on, on the same day. Last Saturday there were two shows, this Saturday there are two shows, it’s becoming crazy. Especially because, as I was at the Inciting Riots show, I kept wondering where everyone was at. My wife kept telling me: “This is everyone.” There were people there, don’t get me wrong. But it felt to me like there should have been more. These guys have been a big part of the scene for a long time. It made me wonder how attendance was at the Tower Bar. And, as I scanned through social media, in the days after, I saw a lot of posts about the Ken Club show. Many videos were shared. I have yet to see one single video, or photo, of what happened at the Tower Bar that night. It makes me wonder, because I did see a lot of people at the Ken. People I hadn’t seen in years. The most popular question of the night: “When are the Calvins playing again.” It felt good, but at the same time, I don’t like telling the same story over and over.

     Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one trying to keep the Calvins in the scene. They really don’t care. I can’t even get them to go to a show, let alone play one. I don’t understand why they’re not chomping at the bit. And, the more I kept telling the “story,” the more I realized I pretty much always refer to the Calvins as “they.” We’re definitely masculine, and that may have been the only statement in which I refer to myself as part of “them.” At practice, I always say “we.” But outside of that, it’s always: “They” don’t like to play too many shows. “They” don’t like to gig when we’re writing. I think it might make people wonder why I say it like that. However, being in multiple bands, there needs to be a way to differentiate them in your head. And, it may come out sounding funny sometimes. Especially when, I’m answering for people that I don’t necessarily think like. I would play more often. I think we can write and gig. Our gig is only 30 minutes! We can rehearse and then still have 2 hours to “write.” So, I guess I feel, when I’m giving someone else’s answer, it is “they.” Who ever thought “they” would be such a confusing word. Oh well, I’m not getting into that right now. This Saturday I’m trying to make both shows. In the afternoon on Saturday, it’s the Whatever68 Radio’s 13^th anniversary show at the Bancroft. We got to play last year, and were asked to play this year but “they” said “no.” A band I really like called Carpit are playing. They’re from Long Beach, so I don’t get to see them very often. Plus, I want to make an appearance, to stay in the mind of the scenesters. Then, another band I really like called Gentroside are playing the Tower Bar later that night. They are from Oceanside, so I don’t get to see them very much either. See what I mean!? So, I’m going to attempt to see two shows on Saturday, afternoon, and evening. Wish me luck!