The Kitchen Sink Stayed Home

It didn’t rain. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that for the past year, it has seemed the skies have been holding back until we have a show. Okay, I’m not narcissistic enough to believe in some sort of divine conspiracy, but when it isn’t raining, I take note. It was cold as all holy hell, but you take what you get. And, I suppose you northerners wouldn’t call 50 degrees all that cold.

We made it to Winston-Salem with relative ease. To my surprise, Darby didn’t bring the kitchen sink. She and Kim accused me of shaming them into traveling lighter. I know they were just trying to economize last time. I have just been such a drifter, packing light is second nature. For years, I owned nothing more than what could fit in my car. Durham has settled me a bit. Though, I do wonder if I will ever stop getting the urge to try new places.

We were a bit nervous to play Elliot’s Revue because we had heard they have issues with noise. Knowing that we like it as loud as possible, we lightened the load a little bit more by taking smaller amps. It was really an exercise in self-restraint.

From the moment we walked in, Jack, the bartender, made us feel at home. He immediately gave me the lowdown on the night’s proceedings and handed me a beer. Less than ½ hour after arriving, Mike, the soundman, showed up with a huge smile. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever met such a nice soundperson. He was very conscious of what we needed and really stayed on top of things. Even as we were sound checking, the crowd was talking to us and the majority of those folks stuck around.

It was a new experience in a way that we were the only band playing that night. We had 2 hours to use as we wished. It was also very strange to me because I couldn’t really read the crowd. They seemed like they were hanging out in their living room. At one point, I began to wonder if they were even listening. I really try hard to be involved with the audience, but they seemed happy doing what they were doing and nodding their heads. But, as soon as we finished each set, they really friendly and we unloaded quite a bit of merch. . It’s not often that we play a place and hang out to drink afterwards. Given that we were away from home, it was even more shocking.

Elliot’s Revue, in someway, made us feel as though we were in our living rooms too.