GIG REPORT - Slightly Offensive NYE BASH

This past Friday night NYE my band SLIGHTLY OFFENSIVE played @ Jack Desmonds (Chicago Ridge IL). This was our first time playing here & when we had band practice on Wed night in my basement. We were joking that the basement was bigger than the room we were going to play...and there was some truth to that. My basement is longer but the room is definitely WIDER :D We heard that because it was such a small room that prior to our gig, the bar only had acoustic solo/duo acts play (and they told THEM to turn down), so we decided to use an electronic drum kit to keep the volume down. During practice on Wed night we played about ½ volume and Jennie said “I think we're still too loud” so we figured we'd just see how it was on Friday night and make adjustments then. I ‘m thinking to myself...if that's the case WHY did we even book it???

So my wife and our best friends all went out for Prime Rib dinner before the gig and convoyed over to the gig together. The parking lot only had about 15 spaces for cars to park because the railroad tracks are right in front of the bar so not a lot of room for parking. Cory & Jennie said it's a “young crowd” & it was pretty busy (and LOUD) when I loaded in (w/30ppl) or so, so I wasn't worried about the volume issues anymore. We had 1 table in front of the stage area w/about 8 ppl (in their mid 20's) so I was hopeful for the night. We were supposed to play from 9pm-1am but the bar wanted us to wait for the crowd to build up a little so we started at 10pm. Ok, no problem.

Boy were THEY in for a surprise!!! The bar only has 2 people working (short handed tonight), one of them is the mgr & there is a section in the back w/a DJ & those people were coming into our room to get drinks all night too. It was pretty tight on the stage but with the electronic kit Cory or Jennie could stand on the stage (but only one at a time). So I'm setting up my gear and a girl w/a short skirt comes over stretching over my amp to put money in the jukebox behind it. She says “sorry...I'll just be a minute”...it's ok, take your time. :D We didn't have time for a sound check, just trying to figure out where everyone's amp was going and where we were going to stand burned up all our time (and we use small amps). So we just started playing @ 10pm and we had about 50 people by now. We played 2 sets, the first one was a LONG set till about 11:30 and by then the crowd swelled to about 150 people and the bartenders just couldn't keep up (w/2-3 deep) all around the bar. It was definitely a young crowd (mid 20's) and I've never seen that many girls in mini skirts in my life. :D The weather was unseasonably warm that afternoon (50's) & dropped to the 20's by midnight. The bartenders were going through so many shots of Yager (Yager Bombs) that I think they ran out, & empty beer bottles were just piling up everywhere it was just nuts.

So we finished the first set and we were all in the crowd when the ball dropped, I kissed my wife and we were back on stage within about 5 min. NOW the crowd is primed and we're breaking out all the popular “sing a long” songs. Girls came up on the (1 ft) stage dancing w/each other during Def Leppard's “Pour Some Sugar On Me” which was funny b/c when the first time the girls came up, one of them used her boobs to push Cory out of the way to the side of the drum kit. He just put his hands up in the air like “I'm not touching her...I'm not touching her”. I'm looking out into the crowd & in the back I see girls up dancing on the tables. I look to my right and there's girls trying to keep their skirts down, one girl keeps pulling her top up so she doesn't flash everyone. Crowd is having a LOT of fun tonight!!! When we finished the last set they kept asking us to play so we did I think 3 encores and finished with Bon Jovi's “Livin On A Prayer” (which we butchered the ending last time we did an encore) & Neil Diamond's “Sweet Caroline” which we NEVER played as a band before. I just followed the other guitar player. Crowd didn't care, they just didn't want the party to stop. So now Cory heads to the bathroom and the mgr comes over and says “Man, I didn't think it was going to be like THIS!!!” & Cory with his quick wit says shaking his head...“I told you it was going to be like this man!!!” (...like we draw this many people all the time :D ) I went over to the bar to get a beer & there are 2 girls sitting there and 1 of them says to her friend “this band is just AWESOME!!!” So I say “THANKS” and we make some small talk. I found out that they're from the west coast & I gave them our business card. That was a pretty cool experience, get done playing & getting a chance to talk with new fans of the band.

After that I started breaking down my gear & I hear “dude...use this!!!” and one of the staff slides a garbage can across the floor over to one of the booths where this guy is sitting, head down, just holding his hand up like “don't talk to me”. I guess he got sick once over there & they were coaxing him to drink some water. Took about a ½ hour but they got him outside without further issues. During one of my trips out to load the band gear there were 3 or 4 girls sitting on a parking barrier & the one on the end was texting and S-L-O-W-L-Y tilts and falls over into Cory's tire. She didn't hurt herself (other than her pride) but it was pretty comical in a “Jersey Shore” kind of way. Also during one of my trips 1 guy comments on the shirt I was wearing, it says “iRock”. He shouts “DUDE!!! THAT'S the best shirt EVER!!!” That was pretty cool too!!! :D
When the mgr paid us said he wanted us to play there on a monthly basis which I don't know if that would be a good idea. Playing the same venue that often would REALLY dilute the crowd you draw...but we'll see what everybody thinks. Looking forward to NEXT YEARS NYE BASH!!!

Pics are up on my Facebook page (Tom McLaughlin) & on MySpace (Tommy Gunz) and I'm sure they will be up soon on the band's Facebook page “Rock Slightly Offensive Band” & at slightlyoffensiveband.com. Also check us out on MySpace too!!!

Next Gig 1/15/11 – We're @ Barcode 99 (9906 Southwest Hwy, Oak Lawn IL). About ½ mile away from our NYE gig. Fun starts at 10pm ANOTHER NEW ROOM FOR US TO ROCK OUT AT!!! :D