Okay, I have had ENOUGH! This weather is reaching far beyond ridiculous...my body and mind just cant take it anymore. Yesterday was warm, the day before that it was about 15 degrees, the day before that was chilly but not too bad...today it's freakin snowing. What is the deal here? Not only is it snowing, but it's sticking to the ground (not a common occurence in the city)..pardon me, but for fucks sake! Lucky for me, the window was left wide open last nite so my poor computer is frozen.
UKUK had another gig last nite at Finally Fred's. The boy and I had to work til just before 10pm and the band went on at 10. We decided walking would be our best bet so off we went like a flash of light. Ive never seen the boy walk so fast in the year and a half Ive known him. It made me happy to seem him so excited about going to see my brother's show. I tried to keep the pace up, all the way fidgeting with the bandage on my wrist, wondering if people thought I did it on purpose. You see, they put these new locks on the casters (wheels) for the set pieces. They're less obtrusive than the old ones, but they're also a bitch to unlock. I reached under to flip the lock and my wrist slammed into the NOT sanded down ply wood at the bottom of the piece and slit it pretty nicely.
So we walked to the bar thru the Christopher St. area....some may call it the Chrissstopher Ssstreet area (lispy esses). You can come up with your own conclusion on that. I toyed with the idea with getting the band some flowers but the boy put on the pressure for getting there on time so that's a no go. When we finally got to the block that the bar was on, my brother and two of his band mates met us on the street. I thought maybe they had played earlier for some reason or they fucked up the booking again, but no, they were just going to get the car with all their stuff in it. phew.
The boy and I went in to the bar, this time like pros cause ya know, like, we totally know where everything is, ya know? So we went to the stamp guy and handed him our moola stating very clearly that we were there for UKUK and no other. He marked us on the list, stamped our hands and tried to chat with the boy about how funny it was to stamp all the guys on the palm but his voice was lost in the noise of the bar so we just kinda nodded and went down stairs. The bartender(ess?) literally jumped for joy when we asked for beers saying "do you see all these stupid people? They were trying to sit at my bar and they didnt even want a drink?" ...those rat bastards!!... So I with my Corona and him with his Bud, we watched the band move their equipment into the space and laughed to ourselves "we're not helping, we just did that all day at work." Muuuhahahha, we are soooo evil....or somethin.
The turnout was great, people brought all their friends and we were all anxious for the show to start. As soon as they stopped playing the Clash tune over the speakers and I could hear the first few chords of a warm up, I moved my way up to the front to take my place next to an old friend from the hometown (who is often there to help out the band) and we got ready to jump and sing and dance like regular ol' groupies. I wish I could tell you what they opened with and what they closed with and what was in between, but all I can really tell you is I havent had that much fun in a long ass time.
The band began to play and the crowd put all it's attention into the music. So much attention that after a song or two, a couple white collared looking folks got up and left, but it was only a couple so who needs em...go home and listen to Dave Matthew's or something, you wont be hearing that here tonite. The rest of us stayed put and watched as my brother and the rest of the band transformed into their stage presences. (word?) After the first song, the audience told them they sounded great but damnit, turn up those vocals. And so it was. They eventually turned down the guitars a bit and cranked the mic. There's that voice we've been dying to hear. Each song had something new and different to offer. Each song a new riff, a new set of lyrics, a new beat, a new level of energy. They never slowed their pace except for when the guitarist broke his A string and a few people feverishly ran to find him a new one without luck. But that's okay! The audience screamed "Fuck the A string! Down with the god damned A string!" "Up with the G string!" responded the band.... the guitarist re-tuned and off they were again.
Now I can go on and on telling you about how the front man's eyes were once again blazing into the audience, but this time with much more ease and comfort, or how one of the guitarist was a little drunk and kept trying to swipe the mic during the down time between songs, or how the drummer burped a burp like no other into his mic, or how they just plain blew me the fuck away...but the most important point of the evening was the end. Yes, the end. When the band was asked for...an encore!!!!! Yes that's right, we loved what we heard and we wanted more! "One more song!!" we shouted. The band almost looked confused at the request for a brief moment, but quickly got themselves together for one last song, reminding us needlessly that they didnt have an A string.. "fuck the A string" someone shouted again...and off they went. Into an encore. Brilliant...it was an incredible show and these boys are really finding their place on the stage. UKUK...you are my favorite band and Im one of your biggest fans. Keep up the amazing work!
Oh, and by the way, they just spent three long days in the studio mixing and slicing and burning up a new album...interested? Just contact me or head over to their site which you can find over there in the left hand nav bar.
weeeee
UKUK had another gig last nite at Finally Fred's. The boy and I had to work til just before 10pm and the band went on at 10. We decided walking would be our best bet so off we went like a flash of light. Ive never seen the boy walk so fast in the year and a half Ive known him. It made me happy to seem him so excited about going to see my brother's show. I tried to keep the pace up, all the way fidgeting with the bandage on my wrist, wondering if people thought I did it on purpose. You see, they put these new locks on the casters (wheels) for the set pieces. They're less obtrusive than the old ones, but they're also a bitch to unlock. I reached under to flip the lock and my wrist slammed into the NOT sanded down ply wood at the bottom of the piece and slit it pretty nicely.
So we walked to the bar thru the Christopher St. area....some may call it the Chrissstopher Ssstreet area (lispy esses). You can come up with your own conclusion on that. I toyed with the idea with getting the band some flowers but the boy put on the pressure for getting there on time so that's a no go. When we finally got to the block that the bar was on, my brother and two of his band mates met us on the street. I thought maybe they had played earlier for some reason or they fucked up the booking again, but no, they were just going to get the car with all their stuff in it. phew.
The boy and I went in to the bar, this time like pros cause ya know, like, we totally know where everything is, ya know? So we went to the stamp guy and handed him our moola stating very clearly that we were there for UKUK and no other. He marked us on the list, stamped our hands and tried to chat with the boy about how funny it was to stamp all the guys on the palm but his voice was lost in the noise of the bar so we just kinda nodded and went down stairs. The bartender(ess?) literally jumped for joy when we asked for beers saying "do you see all these stupid people? They were trying to sit at my bar and they didnt even want a drink?" ...those rat bastards!!... So I with my Corona and him with his Bud, we watched the band move their equipment into the space and laughed to ourselves "we're not helping, we just did that all day at work." Muuuhahahha, we are soooo evil....or somethin.
The turnout was great, people brought all their friends and we were all anxious for the show to start. As soon as they stopped playing the Clash tune over the speakers and I could hear the first few chords of a warm up, I moved my way up to the front to take my place next to an old friend from the hometown (who is often there to help out the band) and we got ready to jump and sing and dance like regular ol' groupies. I wish I could tell you what they opened with and what they closed with and what was in between, but all I can really tell you is I havent had that much fun in a long ass time.
The band began to play and the crowd put all it's attention into the music. So much attention that after a song or two, a couple white collared looking folks got up and left, but it was only a couple so who needs em...go home and listen to Dave Matthew's or something, you wont be hearing that here tonite. The rest of us stayed put and watched as my brother and the rest of the band transformed into their stage presences. (word?) After the first song, the audience told them they sounded great but damnit, turn up those vocals. And so it was. They eventually turned down the guitars a bit and cranked the mic. There's that voice we've been dying to hear. Each song had something new and different to offer. Each song a new riff, a new set of lyrics, a new beat, a new level of energy. They never slowed their pace except for when the guitarist broke his A string and a few people feverishly ran to find him a new one without luck. But that's okay! The audience screamed "Fuck the A string! Down with the god damned A string!" "Up with the G string!" responded the band.... the guitarist re-tuned and off they were again.
Now I can go on and on telling you about how the front man's eyes were once again blazing into the audience, but this time with much more ease and comfort, or how one of the guitarist was a little drunk and kept trying to swipe the mic during the down time between songs, or how the drummer burped a burp like no other into his mic, or how they just plain blew me the fuck away...but the most important point of the evening was the end. Yes, the end. When the band was asked for...an encore!!!!! Yes that's right, we loved what we heard and we wanted more! "One more song!!" we shouted. The band almost looked confused at the request for a brief moment, but quickly got themselves together for one last song, reminding us needlessly that they didnt have an A string.. "fuck the A string" someone shouted again...and off they went. Into an encore. Brilliant...it was an incredible show and these boys are really finding their place on the stage. UKUK...you are my favorite band and Im one of your biggest fans. Keep up the amazing work!
Oh, and by the way, they just spent three long days in the studio mixing and slicing and burning up a new album...interested? Just contact me or head over to their site which you can find over there in the left hand nav bar.
weeeee
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