OK,
delilahbowie picked me up at 7:30, and off we went. Life has intruded on both our lives lately, so it was good to get to see her and hang out for a while. Gave us a chance to kinda catch up and talk, and for all that we were only in the car a total of an hour all night, we did manage to get in a lot of convo, so that was just cool.Anyway, off we went, into downtown Portland, ended up parking in the same area as the band's van! OK, just a minor coolness, but whatever. In we went, the place not full yet, got drinks and a great table, and settled in. The boys came and did a (not-so) quick soundcheck, and then reappeared, ready to go. Flamboyant as always, Igor strode to centre mic wearing a suit that appeared to be made of stuffed-animal-tiger plush, Oleg picked up his balalaika wearing a shiny red suit. Oleg (other one) walked over to his keyboard in a three-piece suit of black flames over red, and Adam took the drum kit in a red sequinned jacket. With no further ado, they launched into 'Lovepipe', and the spectacle began. Somewhere in the middle of the first or second song,
leshrac showed up, which was cool, since we've been meaning to hook up for a year, give or take, and just never managed to do it. At some point, the band played 'This Music Is Wasted (If We Don't Dance)', and he and Rachel managed to get me to move my fat ass up to the dance floor to throw down...fun times.Highlights of the night included
- Oleg dragging a good 8 or 9 ladies (and one chunky, pencil-moustached asian guy) up on stage for 'I Wanna See You Bellydance'
- Accordion solos
- Crowd participation on 'Sex In Paradise'
- a 5-minute drum solo which consisted of the rest of the band putting up their instruments, grabbing drumsticks, and proceeding to gather around the drum kit, all playing in unison with the drummer...now THAT'S a drum solo! They then left Adam there to pull off a drum solo of his own which was amazing.
- Igor's dancing and Elvis impersonations
- Being told that the audience screaming on the opening of 'Roketman' sounded so cool, they were gonna start over again, just to hear it again
As for my own side experience, as mentioned, I was supposed to hook up with Oleg about potentially doing some graphic work for them. I approached him between sets, and introduced myself, and we talked for a little bit about a couple things they wanted to do. It was way cool just to chat with him, much less to think that I may be working for them soon (freelance, of course, I'm not being hired by the band or something!). We talked a little while longer, and I got he and Igor to autograph a poster for me:
Happy as a clam, I returned to our table for the second half of the show, which was just as kick-ass as the first half. Man, adrenaline pumping, bopping and dancing, having a blast. Couldn't have asked for a better show...just wish
zombiedip hadn't been sick and could have been with me. All good things must come to an end eventually, though, and they finally left (after a single encore song). We considered hanging around afterwards to try and get a pic with them or something, but it was pretty obvious to me that they were gonna be mobbed, and I didn't know how long it would have taken, so we opted to go ahead and get outta there. Still, before we went our separate ways, we did manage to get one pic in, thanks to a helpful guy from the car next to us:Rachel and I drove back towards my place, stopping at Burger King for onion rings, as they sounded good, and it dawned on me that, other than a couple drinks at the show, I hadn't had anything in my stomach since 11 o'clock that morning. Returning to the house, I found Di still up, which was cool, so we all hung out for a little before Rachel finally struck out for home. We have plans, though to go out Friday night, as I understand that David J is playing, and I'd love to see him live.
