August 2nd: Cappy’s Pub Night 1

August 2nd has finally arrived. To add to the excitement of the day, John rips off half his fingernail on his right-hand pointer finger when the handle of his tool case breaks. John says it should be O.K. because there is so much pain his finger is numb. Dave has a sore shoulder from setting up the night before. Kevin’s back is improving daily but will be wearing the brace on stage tonight. With this in mind, we think of changing our name to Sicks Shooter. The band is excited.

Dave has a big banner made in the Graphic Enterprises copy center and later adds foil to the letters. It looks pretty cool. The band tacks this to the stage.

Kevin is approached by “Mike the DJ” who asks when the band is starting tonight. He inquires to see if we’re going on 10:00 normal time or “bar time” (which is about 20 minutes fast). Mike DJ’s from 9:30 until 10:00. It’s time. The band takes the stage. Dave wonders into his corner and says a quick prayer. A calm mind will help focus on the task at hand (Kicking Ass). Kevin looks at the band and announces, “here we go” and the band launches into Honkey Tonk Attitude.

Much like the December 22 VFW appearance, the first set is used to get the sound set. Chuck is doing his best to feed John with information, and actually helping tune the knobs. While Chuck is not a musician, he listens to music most of the day. By the end of the first set, except for Dave’s guitar being too soft, the sound is set.

A large Graphic crowd has shown up including: Jeff Aul, Trisha Berger, Bob and Lori Corrigan, Karen Sarvis, April Long, Kim Allen, Jeff Johns, Kristy Yeager, and Jim Lowder. While this is great, it did add a certain amount of pressure to make a good first impression. With this in mind, Dave is glad his guitar wasn’t quite loud enough as he pulled off one of the worst performances to date. What guitar work he could remember his fingers wouldn’t play, and he seemed to being drawing a few too many blanks on stage. This is especially noticeable on Burn that Bridge. Luckily, the band seems to be developing a skill at covering up each other’s mistakes Set one consisted of:

SET ONE

1. HONKY TONK ATTITUDE

2. BIG OL’ TRUCK

3. DUMMAS WALKER

4. THINKIN PROBLEM

5. LIFESTYLES OF THE NOT SO RICH AND FAMOUS

6. TWO OF A KIND

7. AINT NOTHIN’ WRONG WITH THE RADIO

8. BURN THAT BRIDGE

9. PICK UP MAN

10. TRASHY WOMEN

11. WHISKEY AINT WORKIN’

12. TEXAS TORNADO

13. MERCURY BLUES

14. STICKS AND STONES

15. BORN TO BOOGIE

16. MARRIED TO A WAITRESS

.

Set one showed the rustiness of Six Shooter. The in-between song banter was rough around the edges. Dave (feeling silly) announces to the crowd “Everybody have fun tonight- Everybody WANG CHUNG TONIGHT.” While it got the laugh he was looking for, it also left many persons asking, “Whaaa???”.

Set two found a band whose nerves had settled, a guitar player pissed at his performance and determined to redeem himself (he had to play good now, we had turned up his guitar). The boys saddled up and launched into 3rd Rock from the Sun. The rest of the set included:

1. 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN

2. WATERMELON CRAWL

3. I LIKE IT I LOVE IT

4. BEER N BONES

5. GOD BLESS TEXAS

6. AINT MUCH FUN SINCE I QUIT DRINKIN

7. HERE’S A QUARTER

8. SO HELP ME GIRL

9. WHAT MIGHT’VE BEEN

10. WALK SOFTLY

11. BUBBA HYDE

12. ROCK MY WORLD

13. SHE’S GOT THE RHYTHM

14. THE RACE IS ON

15. GRUNDY COUNTY AUCTION

Again, the band’s beginning are a little shaky. However, Kevin has loosened up, and now is getting the crowd completely involved, as he elicits “YEE-HAWS” from the crowd. Except for a near fatal beginning of Bubba Hyde that was just pure ugly, the band is hitting their stride, and firing on all cylinders. The monitor mix is missing, but luckily everything out front sounds good (even if we can’t hear what’s going on on stage). Dave knocks a ceiling tile with his guitar as he struts out to the front of the stage during “Walk Softly.”

The usual “venturing into the crowd” takes place. Kevin sings the slow songs on the dance floor, and Dave runs clear into the pool room during “Bubba Hyde.” Things are going so good Dave forgets his age and decides to relive his high school years as he attempts his first “Knee Slide” in 13 years across the wide open dance floor. Upon hitting the floor Dave’s knees do anything but slide. Much like hitting a brick wall, Dave’s knees come to an absolute stop. Kevin blurts out an “ouch” over the P.A. The momentum from running is now throwing Dave forward. Dave takes a few steps “Walking on his knees” and manages to stand up and jump back on stage. While this was completely planned, it sure appeared as Dave almost fell on his face. Dave is just happy he can still walk (mental note: YOU’RE 31 YEARS OLD). Dave trying to cover his ass announces that some more wax is need on the dance floor. Dave later finds out that the bar uses sawdust to wax the floor. That must explain that lovely shine. At 12:30 the band takes another break and passes on performing “Aint Goin’ Down Till the Sun Comes Up.”

Again improvising comes into play as the band turns “Rock My World” into a sing-along. This turned out fairly well. For a small crowd, they made enough noise to be heard on the stage.

In between sets, it is becoming apparent to Dave and Kevin that the “better halves” may be hitting the sauce a little hard.

Set three finds much of the band ready for a nap. The excitement and the crowd provide the needed adrenaline to get back in the spirit. The band launches into Cowboy Love. The rest of set three went like this:

1. COWBOY LOVE

2. DUST ON THE BOTTLE

3. BOOT SCOOTIN BOOGIE

4. CHATTAHOOCHIE

5. THAT’S COUNTRY

6. WORKIN MAN’S PHD

7. GOOD-BYE SAYS IT ALL

8. IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES

9. ANYMORE

10. KEEPER OF THE STARS

11. WHERE AM I GONNA LIVE

12. KEEPER OF THE STARS

13. MARAGARITTAVILLE

14. PUT SOME DRIVE IN YOUR COUNTRY

15. TROUBLE

16. FAST AS YOU

As the set winds on, the band is horrified to figure out that there are numerous slow paced songs in the 3rd set. The temptation to yawn is building. Set three finds the band’s mix still getting better (still no stage monitors to really shout about). The stage bantering is much better, and the night is flying by quickly. The band skips the song “Keeper of the Stars,” and finds that “Where am I gonna live” to be a crowd favorite. A group of young rednecks gathers at the front of the stage to sing along with the band. This song combined with Margaritaville (changed to here in Louisville) gets a good crowd reaction. The band ends with the traditional “no holds barred “ version of “Fast as You” as Dave takes another tour around the bar (as Kevin introduces the band). The band belts out the final notes, and the first appearances in the books.

The band reviews their performance and decides to move the soundboard out front so Chuck can adjust as needed. Depending on the song, vocals and guitars are always in need of adjustment. We also find out that we blew a speaker in one of the bass bins. It was determined that Mike the DJ will fill in the spots between sets. When announcing that Mike will be “performing” tomorrow night, a huge amount of applause is provided. This leaves the band thinking that Mike has brought his entire family tree into the bar to scream for him. Whatever, Mike is pretty much Baby Huey with a cowboy hat on. He seems like a nice enough guy.

As suspected, Dave and Kevin find out the “better halves” have been hitting the sauce pretty hard. Dave is pooped (a case of nervousness had him up late the night before), his feet are killing him, so he does his best “Ebeneezer Scrooge” routine and scolds his wife for drinking away most of what he had earned that night (a move he would later pay deeply for). Being this was in front of the band, this earns Dave the “Dick of the Night” award. Maria giggles and announces “We in fffffuckin’ trouble.”