Top of the Hilltop

The Dancing Instigator
Our touted Hilltop Tavern gig on Friday didn't exactly leave them screaming for more. But no one was screaming for less, either. We had the most dancers ever in KDOG History, largely thanks to the efforts of the evening's "Dancing Instigator." The DI breaks the ice. Every successful gig has a DI. Usually it's a voluntary position, often filled by one or two drunk women. Other times, it's an energetic couple. Smart bands will sometimes import a ringer as a dancing instigator. The Muffins, a band in my hometown of Springfield, Ill., used this technique the first time I saw them on the porch of the snack shack at Illini Country Club. The DI was Jeff Horne, who had long uncombed hair and danced like a wild man. Jeff's dance moves can still be seen at jam band concerts and films of old Grateful Dead shows. I call it the "hippie dance." Later, the State Journal Register published a picture of the Muffins at a different gig, with Jeff in the foreground. The caption identified Jeff as the Dancing Instigator, which is where I picked up the term. The Long Suffering Mrs. Chance and her friend Natalie served this function at the Stoney Inn with modest success at times. (They weren't drunk. They're just want to see everybody having fun, like attentive moms at a kids birthday party.) At the Hilltop, our DI was a gentleman with a back-length mane of hair and a beard. He looked like an elderly member of Lynnard Skynnard or an Allman Brothers roadie. He played air guitar during the warm up and sound check and started dancing by himself right away, which is unusual for a man at a club. He'd been at the Hilltop since at least 4 p.m., when we arrived to set up the gear. As the dance floor filled, he danced with groups of women, couples and by himself. We owe this man a debt, if not of money, then of genunine respect. The DI is a sacred position.
Take That, Jimi!
Tommy called me Saturday morning with a positive review. The top line is that is sounded good. Now, while Tommy's opinion counts, since he's a professional musician, I was really thrilled when Tommy told me Aunt Brenda's review. "She said it really sounded a lot better," Tommy told me. "She said 'Hey, it really sounds like Dean worked out some new guitar parts on a lot of that stuff.'"
Now Brenda is a person who, while watching Jimi Hendrix on the Woodstock DVD, simply got up and left after dropping this bomb: "This is horrible. He can't even sing. It's not in tune. Why do people even think THIS is good?" You're not dealing with a person who is going give you a spoonful of sugar with the medicine or simply go along with the crowd. I got a better review than Hendrix at Woodstock. This is a moment to cherish.
In general, several people who hadn't seen us since before Thanksgiving, said the band sounded much tighter. I credit Player X with this effect. Player X also sang some new tunes for the first time at this show, including "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Got My Mojo Workin'," a kind of tribute to the Mojo Dojo Rehearsal Space and Hair Care Products Storage Facility.
The Volume Wars
We're definitely an "earplug" band. (Kenton had a great idea: pass out our own customed designed foam earplugs that are shaped like dog bones.) Conversation is impossible during the set if you're anywhere near the band. Even screaming won't work. The volume level is not popular with women, who want to be able to talk and share their spontaneous feelings. One of the moms who came to the show simply stayed in the Hilltop's bar area, explaining that "I'm not going in there, it's just too loud." Now, if a lot of women think you're too loud, it's a potential problem, since club owners will tell you that women are the most important component of you're fan base. "One women brings in two men," is how it's been explained to me. The blues guitarist and singer Little Milton told Mojo magazine that he based his career on this idea.
"When I got into what music was all about, I catered to women in my songs," Milton said. "I sing about the goodness women have done for me, and how much I love her. I knew if I draw 20 women, I'm going to draw 40 men, see?"
Tommy told me that he didn't think the show was too loud or out of balance. "You're guitar solos could even have been a tad louder at times," he said. "And I can't see how KDOG could have played any quieter."
I know that Nick and Player X think we put out too much sound. It's subjective. Men tend not to complain, even if their ear drums rupture and cerebral fluid stars leaking out of their tear ducts. Rock is supposed to be loud, for God's sake. You'd think our fan base would be asking us to turn it up, since their hearing is starting to go. But, since rock music is about cutting loose, the constant struggle to hold back feels wrong. Also: if you start out loud, the music has no where to go. You can't build. The concept of dynamics is lost. Player X started out the gig by admonishing the band to turn down two notches, so that later in the evening, we could build a little excitement. Not fitting in to the expected volume level could hurt our ability to get gigs. I know we only want to play twice a month, but it need to be at the right places.
Set Length
Player X, our new bassist, is a fan of strict 45-minute sets with 15-minute breaks. Club owners expect or even insist on this discipline, he says. It gives the audience a break to socialize and buy more drinks. In fact, the audience needs a break more than the band does. Kenton insists on one-hour sets. He says it distinguishes us from hack bar bands. I think Kenton is just horny to play and would simply never stop. "I see potential," Player X told me after the secone set. "But I've played at a lot of places. Some of these places that we want to get into expect 45-minute sets." I shrugged. "You know who you've got to convince," I said.
Bing Crosby - In Person!
I haven't seen any pictures from the gig. But my new look seemed to go over well. I call it "Dad" or "Geezer." I had the whole schmeer - right down to the pipe, white belt and white shoes. People said I looked like either Fred MacMurray or Bing Crosby. I made an impression doing back-up vocals with the pipe clenched in my teeth. My last purchase for the evening invovled a visit to The Villiage Hat Shop in old Sac. The lady who helped me seemed only mildly amused by my request to look at stupid as possible. I purchased a Burberry-style tweed old guy hat, which clashed gloriously with my vintage seersucker sportcoat. Many of the younger patrons seemed confused. Whas this "camp" or what? One accidently paid me the ultimate compliment: "Are you Kenton's DAD?" Success!
The Set List
Although the rule is that people don't dance to original material, people got up and shook it vigorously to several of Nick's originals, especially in the second and third sets, when the alcohol really started to take hold. One guy tried to give the woman he was dancing with a tango-style dip, but lost control and dropped her on the concrete floor and then fell heavily right on top of her. She smacked her head hard. Later, I saw her with an ice pack on her sore skull. The guy danced with like 10 different women, so I gather they didn't know each other well.
The Venue
An overlooked aspect of gigging is power. Not ever bar is set up to run a massive amount of electtrical gear. At the Hilltop, we had to run a cord into the liquor room and use the 220 outlets they run the refrigerators that hold the kegs. Otherwise, we would've blown the main circuit breaker, which has to handle the entire electrical load for the rest of the bar. I gathered that they've had problems with that in the past.
Timing is Everything.
The Hilltop shows start and end early - 8 to 10 p.m. This is the perfect schedule, since the boomers can come early and leave before 10 p.m., but there's still two hours of entertainment for the hip young people who don't even show up until 10. But we have to quit at midnight to placate the grumpy neighbors, who have probably had to put up with a lot of nonsense over the years, I imagine.
Next Show: March 10.
The Hilltop owner wasn't present. I have no idea if our scheduled second show is still on, but we definitely brought in a lot of people. I'm already hearing from a lot of people who missed the show that they're coming to the next one. Plus, we've got some people who say they're coming back. Could it be that we're finally building a fan base?

Comments

[Tommy Stiletto]

You guys were great!!!! The band was tight and the sound balance was very good. The overall sound level may have been a bit too high at first (when the room did not have that many people in it). However, after the room filled up the sound level was perfect. The band had a very good energy all night and the interaction between band members was fun (try to do more of it).

Regarding women and the sound level - Women are always saying the band's sound level is too high. I know that women want to talk to their friends during the show, but you guys are not up there playing background music. Tell them to go to the restroom if they want to talk to a friend. When they are in the big room watching the show, tell them to shut up and enjoy the music (I nearly told this to my wife, but I'm afraid of her.)

Just a couple of comments for what its worth: 1. It seems like the tempo to "Born Blind" is too fast. Nick is rushing the lyrics. 2. Please do not do the tempo change in "Urban Spawning". This is a beautiful slow song, so please do not try to change it into something else.

[Jim Andrews]

Great Show - a lot of sound for a single guitar combo. Glad to see some Hendrix in the mix - well done.

Quoting our Gov - "Ill be bach"