Later, he told me they had accepted the tour and while I still had my reservations about it, I was so happy to think that I would be seeing Rachel Stamp and David again. 3 years had already felt like an eternity, so it was due time.
When the dates for the United II Tour were first released, I was devastated. Portland wasn't anywhere on it. They were set to play the Pound in San Francisco then straight to Seattle the next night before heading out of the Pacific Northwest altogether. I immediately started to express my heartbreak all over the internet, when my friend Billy, who lived in Oakland told me that he would get me down to San Francisco for the Pound show so that I could see David at more than just the Seattle show that I was bound and determined to make it to. I was ecstatic, I trip to the Bay Area and another Stamp show to boot.
As the time drew near, the tour dates changed. Suddenly, now... San Francisco. Portland. Seattle. I called Billy to let him know in case he wanted to withdraw his offer and to my delight, he didn't. So now, THREE shows were in the plans for me. I couldn't wait. One whole weekend of Rachel Stamp, friends, roadtrips, great music.... Couldn't get any better.
So after a couple days hanging with friends in San Francisco and Oakland (still, another story for another time), the night of the show finally came. David texted and told me that they had arrived at the venue so Billy and I headed down. When we got there, there were still people lined up at the door and it didn't appear to be open. Suddenly, I could HEAR Rachel Stamp playing AS people were finally being let in. I was steaming mad as I stood at the back of the line unable to see the band I was actually there for because they waited so long to let the crowd in. When I finally got in, I ran and dodged the scattered crowd to get myself straight up to the front, where I was face to face with David and Rachel Stamp for the first time in three years. I don't remember how long it took David to notice I was there, but I do remember that my eyes welled up with tears at the sheer joy of the moment.
After the set, I hung out with David for a bit until I had to turn in for my early flight back to Portland.
At the Portland show, I got down to the Roseland nice and early and there were rumors abound of a wedding set to take place during the Pigface set and I was asked to go find some flowers. So I packed up some of the band and drove up to Fred Meyer where I picked up the flowers and David's favourite ice cream and took them back to the venue before the show began.
We returned for the show and I was enjoying Rachel Stamp when some douche started to heckle them. I was mortified. I had been telling them all these years how great Portland would be to play and here we were... nearly empty Roseland and a drunk douche heckling the band. But David rolled with the punches quite well and the rest of the set went on just fine. After their set, I took David and Will over to Everyday Music to poke around for some new tunes. David was on a mission to find a rare record by Jobriath and Will just poked around all over the store picking up things here and there. After Dope and Pigface were done, we all decided to roll down to Dante's for their Sinferno "Burlesque" Night. This was the first time I had been to Sinferno so at the time, my idea of what it was... well... it was entirely different from the reality of what Sinferno is. David and I had the idea that it would be a classic burlesque show, but as we sat down, there was a girl sitting naked in a kiddie pool pouring a gallon of milk over her head. We were perplexed as to how that could be considered burlesque. We stayed and watched a few of the firedancers before we decided to call it a night.
I left for Seattle in the late afternoon the next day and got there to the Fenix Underground in time to catch Rachel Stamp's soundcheck. Afterwards, I hung out on the bus while David put his makeup on and got to meet many of the Pigface members for that tour. One of them picked up a copy of the Mercury and started reading some of the funny ads in the Alternative Personals section. She stopped suddenly and started giggling... We all looked at her and she reads the ad that got her laughing... "Do you like to eat ass?"
We all bust up laughing and then David pipes up "They can't print that!..... Can they???" and he gets up to look for himself and we continue to laugh at the ad being read to us. After Rachel Stamp's set, we all joined a friend of Will's at a little diner near by for a meal. We came back in time for Pigface's set and enjoyed the rest of the show. Afterwards, we posed for photos and talked to various folks in the crowd. I had a lengthy conversation with Martin Atkins about the Pacific Northwest and tried to talk up En Esch but gave up after realizing that he intimidated the crap out of me. We all took some photos together (even En Esch literally popped his head into one)
before heading downstairs to play some pool and talk. I had some time to speak to Shaheena for really the first time ever. Got to tell her the story of how we all met and how I came to love Rachel Stamp and we talked about how great it would be if Rachel Stamp could tour the states more often for many reasons. Finally, bus call came and I said a bittersweet farewell to my friends and drove away into the night.
The whole weekend came and went in a blur of happiness and laughter and 7 years later, I still wish I could replay that weekend over and over again.
No comments:
Post a Comment