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I feel so up on stage in this brand-new tribe. :)
So, um...it was August 1, 1998. A DJ named Marcus G had put together a band showcase at the Stork Club in Oakland and I was on the bill. Back then the band consisted of me, a bass player, and a drum machine.
We were the last to play of six bands. I don't remember very much about the other bands. There was one that was kind of like the Ramones, and one called Rebecca's Mask that I liked. They were kind of like a super-quirky Fleetwood Mac. Over the course of the night people drained out of the club. By the time we went on, there was darn near nobody left except for the staff and the sound guy and Marcus himself.
Marcus looked like an African-American Charlie Brown. He was really really sweet and very supportive of all the bands. He danced to every one of them and drank heavily...so that by the time we went on, he was three sheets to the wind. There was a woman sitting at the bar dozed off with her head down on her arms.
One of the tunes we played that night was a cover of "One of Our Submarines" by Thomas Dolby. In our version of it, it starts out slow and mournful and atmospheric and then the drum machine kicks in and it's not a slow song anymore (kind of like the Flashdance song, I guess). So at the slow part in the beginning Marcus went and got the woman who was sleeping at the bar and persuaded her to slow dance with him. They kind of staggered around in a circle. Then the drum machine kicked in at the appointment moment and they continued to stagger around in slow motion. It was surreal.
More songs came after that but during the last one, "Aerodynamic", Marcus came over to the edge of the stage, sat down, and fell asleep right there while we finished the song. He sat there sleeping soundly while we struck the gear around him. The sound guy went and got the roses off the club tables and adorned Marcus with them. He continued to sleep soundly. I seem to remember somebody taking digital photos. Finally as we were all leaving we woke him up and gave him a hug.
He was kind of confused and maybe a little embarrassed and I never heard from him again.
I don't think any of y'all were there, except for SG. Did I forget anything? :)
So, um...it was August 1, 1998. A DJ named Marcus G had put together a band showcase at the Stork Club in Oakland and I was on the bill. Back then the band consisted of me, a bass player, and a drum machine.
We were the last to play of six bands. I don't remember very much about the other bands. There was one that was kind of like the Ramones, and one called Rebecca's Mask that I liked. They were kind of like a super-quirky Fleetwood Mac. Over the course of the night people drained out of the club. By the time we went on, there was darn near nobody left except for the staff and the sound guy and Marcus himself.
Marcus looked like an African-American Charlie Brown. He was really really sweet and very supportive of all the bands. He danced to every one of them and drank heavily...so that by the time we went on, he was three sheets to the wind. There was a woman sitting at the bar dozed off with her head down on her arms.
One of the tunes we played that night was a cover of "One of Our Submarines" by Thomas Dolby. In our version of it, it starts out slow and mournful and atmospheric and then the drum machine kicks in and it's not a slow song anymore (kind of like the Flashdance song, I guess). So at the slow part in the beginning Marcus went and got the woman who was sleeping at the bar and persuaded her to slow dance with him. They kind of staggered around in a circle. Then the drum machine kicked in at the appointment moment and they continued to stagger around in slow motion. It was surreal.
More songs came after that but during the last one, "Aerodynamic", Marcus came over to the edge of the stage, sat down, and fell asleep right there while we finished the song. He sat there sleeping soundly while we struck the gear around him. The sound guy went and got the roses off the club tables and adorned Marcus with them. He continued to sleep soundly. I seem to remember somebody taking digital photos. Finally as we were all leaving we woke him up and gave him a hug.
He was kind of confused and maybe a little embarrassed and I never heard from him again.
I don't think any of y'all were there, except for SG. Did I forget anything? :)
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Re: Stork Club gig story
Mon, December 5, 2005 - 9:55 PMNo... I think you've got it all. Except that I seem to remember Marcus' head was right up against the front of the speaker, and he was still asleep. He was *really* passed out. :)
Over all, my memories of that last 45 minutes seem like they are out of some David Lynch film. I felt like we had walked into one of the weird bars that show up in his movies.
The Stork Club has been a fixture in Oakland for 50 years, and its heyday, it attracted a lot of "Rat Pack" era entertainers. There are all these old dusty photos around the place, and it had definitely seen better days. It was quite surreal.
sg
