To all our friends . . . the band (now going under the moniker "alt.sex.dentist") has a gig! Thursday night, December 14, 1995, we're playing three sets between 9:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. at City Lights II located at 1500 S. Clinton Ave., Trenton, NJ (609) 396-2700.

Yes, we know it's a school night. :-) But, if you want to, come on out and have a few beers with us and watch Rosko belt out some tunes.

My attempt at an ascii map (not to scale):

                                @ Rt.                         TrnPk.
                                @ 295                           +
                                @                               +
 @@@             Olden Ave.     @ (Olden Ave. exit)             +
  @@@      ---------------------@---------                      +
   @@@               !          @                               +
    @@@              !                                 #########+ exit
     @@@     St      !                                #  195    +  7A
       @@@  House    !----------------------         #          +
        @@@          !    S. Clinton                #
         @@@@      ==!======================= O ===========
           @@@            S. Broad aka Rt 206  Whitehorse Circle
           @@@@
            @@@@@
               @@@@@        *Note:  S. Clinton is 2 blocks north
                  @@@@@@      of S. Broad; they run parallel
         (Delaware River)

Call or email Jim, Tom, or Ant for more details!

From: "marchese@phoenix.Princeton.EDU" 15-DEC-1995 09:23:15.11
To: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu","rosko@pucc.Princeton.EDU","APotocny@aol.com"

well boys, i have no complaints. over 2 hours of jamming, all you can drink, and 15 bucks on top. clearly, WE were the big winners last night. what a country!

the long term ramifications: for a normal gig we will be able to cut that song list IN HALF. we will be SOLID. and, if it is in the right kind of bar, with like 20 friends to start (if not much more if i get a big princeton turnout and aaron gets a big turnout) and random's who actually might LIKE our music... the second thing that will come out of this that is GOOD is that we HAD to learn more songs. we would have never even tried to learn this many songs if it weren't for this gig. and the more shit you have in your bag of tricks the better,( i.e. we ought to learn a steve miller, since aaron can drum it) also, the more stuff we know the more TYPES of gigs we can get. like, frat house type gigs.

anyway, i have a SPLITTING headache.

also, stay tuned for a gig at the D-bar. i think our getting this gig and me renting the PA will have lit a fire under fielding, and if his band does not get their shit together, we'll do it without him. Just think what that set we did last night would have been like in front of people under 25 as opposed to people over 40!

by the way, i think we started out REALLY tight. first three songs kicked ass. first set in general was pretty good. i ENJOYED the second set, but i guess it was getting ugly. i was pretty drunk, by the way... ("don't let me down...")

ajm

From: "marchese@phoenix.Princeton.EDU" 15-DEC-1995 10:53:18.90
To: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu","rosko@pucc.Princeton.EDU"
Subj: more stuff:

by the way, and we talked about this with respect to lars, we should NEVER under ANY circumstances allow anyone on stage to do a number with us, unless maybe Bruce or Southside drop by the Saint.

Jokko? what the FUCK was that? here's an idea, lets do a song NONE of us know, with a guy we never met (an indian who undoubtedly had dropped acid 15 minutes earlier) and all this after we basically had to beg the bartender to let us play some more. if we had any chance of ever being invited back that fucking Jokko decision sealed our fate. and, although, it is a sucky place to play, i'd do it again in a minute. we could easily get 30 or more people there and change the whole face of that place. and, as i said in the previous message (bar tab, plus 15 bucks to spare, for getting to jam with good equipment. a no brainer. i'd fuckin' play Night Flights).

the three of us have a special correlary of murphy's law when it comes to gigs. it goes something like, "when you gig something will ALWAYS go wrong, ALWAYS."

ajm

From: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu" 15-DEC-1995 11:33:57.73
To: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu","tomclu@aol.com","rosko@pucc.princeton.edu" "marchese@phoenix.princeton.edu"
Subj: the gig

Hello, fellas. I, also, have a splitting headache (but I think it might be ebbing ... I was REALLY bad at about 5:00 this morning when I got woken up by the Rosko/Lawton refrigerator's buzz).

First set: pretty darn good with a few minor bumps.

Second set: one or two bright spots, but going downhill.

Third set: no excuse. :-)

Hey, (1) we can die happy men, (2) we had a hell of a good time, (3) ummm, what else is there to know? nothing; a good time was had by all (of us).

We won't play there again; but that's no problem. I think we have to be more disciplined in the future: e.g., no guest vocals; no getting talked into doing songs we DON'T KNOW. :-)

Who's decision was that to play MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE with Jacko? (Post headline this morning: Jacko, 15 Minutes From Death!) Me'thinks it was Ant's (as egged on my Aaron).

Anyway, if you want to do a person-to-person post-mortem, Tony (Tony? I remember being drunk and calling you Tony and you and me cracking up, Ant), as I said, Saturday 10:00 soccer AND Sunday 11:00 soccer (O'Donahughes on 1st Ave. between Garden and Park). Rosk already said he can't make it, but it's never too late to change your mind . . . :-)

--Jim

P.S. Imagine if Jacko had brought his sitar? Sheesh!

P.P.S. Yeah, at least Jen wasn't TOO drunk! %-P

From: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu" 15-DEC-1995 11:50:21.95
To: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu","tomclu@aol.com","rosko@pucc.princeton.edu", MX"marchese@phoenix.princeton.edu"
Subj: gig

Some blow-by-blow:

SET ONE:

1. My Street (good)
2. instrumental E (good)
3. Hazel Eyes (good transition into, but Rosk, you've GOTTA come right in with the words; that song just CANNOT be variable there, us three were scratching our asses
4. American Girl (not bad)
5. Monkey Gone to Heaven (not bad)
6. Lorain (I thought pretty good)
7. Paint It Black (a little rough on the transitions from verse to chorus; we didn't always know when we were going there; also awkward ending)
8. Sorry Somehow (not bad; perhaps also a bad ending)
9. QWERTY (pretty good for Aaron not knowing it; recall some iffy leads by Ant--broken string?)
10. Pearl (good)

SET TWO:

1. Taxman (stretched too long; no good ending)
2. L.N.E. (way too fast; my fault)
3. Large Bird (we tried to stretch and got lost--we flubbed a few verse to chorus transitions; also I didn't know we were ending when we did and the transition to Driver 8 didn't come off well; oh, we also had a false start that Ant had to audible an abort on)
4. Driver 8 (otherwise good)
5. Verdict: Guilty (instrumental) (not bad ... though a little slow paced; also started with a wimper)
6. Garden St. Bldg. (besides the false start ...)
7. Roseland (not bad; though I know I was a little rough on a few of the transitions)
8. Dead Am. Heroes (hmmm ... a little lifeless, I think)
9. Don't Let Me Down (audibled in here; not bad, but we stretched it a little, and boy-oh-boy, did we fuck up that B7 part when Ant tried to sing; a keeper, though)
10. Don't Pass Me By (things are falling apart here, Ant and I were out of sync more than a few times)
11. Pump It Up (all hell breaks loose; many missed transitions and stuff, oh well)

SET THREE:

1. Message in a Bottle (a sham, a travesty of a sham . . . of the shell of the man I one was)

From: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu" 15-DEC-1995 15:32:33.50
To: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu","apotocny@aol.com","tomclu@aol.com", "rosk@pucc.princeton.edu","marchese@phoenix.princeton.edu"
Subj: hello band!

Hey fellas,

Good time last night. First set was very good, second set was weaker, and third set was horrible, but . . . hey, we were trying to fill a LOT of time. All in all, a pretty good first gig for us.

And, very good news. Last night when Lisa got home there was a message from John at Love Sexy (in Hoboken) on my answering machine. He called us about a gig! Yeah! (I had dropped off a tape and talked briefly with him about a week ago.)

So . . . I will give him a call back.

Now, next weekend (23/24) I'll be out of town; the following weekend I think I'll still be out of town (I'm not sure when our flight back is) plus it is New Year's weekend and things are most likely booked anyway. But, then again, if he wants us that weekend, I might be back in time; just not sure yet. (Also, that means no Tuesday night jam on the 26th). So . . . what I'll try to do when I talk with John is to set up a gig for early January. First weekend in is 5th/6th; next on is 12th/13th, etc.

Are you guys going to be available for those dates? Any other vacation/travel/holiday plans I should know about?

Let me know!

--Jim

P.S. Ant, Lisa said she left a message on your answering machine late last night when she got home (12:45 am) and got the message. Did you not check your machine? I would have thought you'd have mentioned it on email today.

P.P.S. "Rock n' roll!" :-)

From: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu" 15-DEC-1995 15:55:11.90
To: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu","tomclu@aol.com","rosko@pucc.princeton.edu" "marchese@phoenix.princeton.edu"
Subj: Lorain

Hey, just as DON'T LET ME DOWN was my "head song" for the previous few days, today's song has been LORAIN.

What a great song. I think we played it best last night. Nice vox work, Ant. Nice short-notice supporting vox work, Rosk. I think LORIAN is all there, now.

Also, I really feel that I "know" the song now. Not, just know the chords and changes, but really "know" its ins and outs. Also, probably because of the lyric info I've now got, I feel a lot "closer" to it now.

I think well-done. A definite top-shelf-er.

--Jim

P.S. Ant, did you notice the little bass dronish thing I snuck into the end? I probably did it before in practice once or twice, but I think I found its proper place last night.

P.P.S. Oh, by the way, please pass on my kudos to your wives for trudging out and sticking around last night! :-) And thanks for your hospitality, Tom.

. . . And we now return you to your regularly-scheduled life . . .

From: "marchese@phoenix.Princeton.EDU" 18-DEC-1995 10:55:42.27
To: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu","rosko@pucc.Princeton.EDU"

lorrain: i have not idea what anyone else was doing or what my vocals sounded like. i was in a zone. but, i think the feedback has been good. i think, actually, out of everyone i like it least. its growing on me. oh, i do now remember the middle bass/drums/sans guitar was nice, nice and tight. and it comes back in with the screaming vocals.

on rosko: let me preface this by calling your attention to my staunch record of strict heterosexuality, but i loved you last night rosko. i mean, i hate to admit it, but after all the hard work me and jim put in, you were still probably best of show. cock. seriously, i even enjoyed your screw ups.

large bird: couldn't you have thought of at least one word in the english language to say during the second verse? i mean, that was the most pathetic attempt at covering up forgettting the words. strike that, it was a blatent attempt to NOT cover up the fact that you forgot the words.

driver 8: and while we are throwing around the blame, about that intro.....i told you so.

finally, a corrolary to the corrolary of murphy's law for gigs: "we play 'til we get kicked off the stage!"

lets see them try to get us off the stage at lovesexy.

ajm

From: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu" 20-DEC-1995 16:29:21.39
To: "robertson@tesla.njit.edu","tomclu@aol.com","rosko@pucc.princeton.edu", "marchese@phoenix.princeton.edu"
Subj: gig

Fellas,

We must REALLY have been drunk. I did not remember until late last night (about a WEEK after the gig) that we actually did I, ALONE. !!!!!

Never rehersed, but what the hell, we'll show those drunk cover-loving barfly's we can play some (fuck up some) top 40 song! :-)

I think we must have done it right at the end of the 2nd set. After we audibled in DON'T LET ME DOWN to complete the Beatles trilogy, we audibled into I, ALONE (and I, AM DRUNK).

--Jim