Boys and Girls (and Tainted Hummus) in America

Back in July, I wrote that J3K, Rob, and I had formed a band, Tainted Hummus (24 July post). Anywho, we'd set 04 OCT as the date that we'd play at the EARL. Things were looking pretty grim that we'd actually meet the date. In addition to not practicing, we didn't get any sort of billing for the night's show at the EARL featuring The Hold Steady. It seemed a that Tainted Hummus would not be performing.

Walking up to the EARL, I mentioned to my wife and Rob that I had a good feeling about the show. I thought that we'd meet the band or something. Once inside, we parked it right in front of the stage about three feet from the microphone and held our ground. The Hold Steady came on and just ripped the roof off the place. They wowed me back in February and far surpassed themselves with this show. What a fantastic band. At one point, Craig Finn, the lead singer, says "I feel sorry for all you people who have to go to work tomorrow; we're going to have a good time tonight." Man, he was right.

I had one drunk kid to my right who couldn't stand up. After he continued to fall up against me, I just started to step out of his way and let him land on the floor. He looked a little puzzled, bent down to tie his shoes, and assured me that he'd just "put double knots in them" so he wouldn't be falling down anymore. The next time he fell on his ass, I suggested that he should probably look into triple or quadruple knots.

After what was an utterly amazing show, the band came out for a couple of encores. To our surprise, we got called up on stage along with several other folks in the front row to help close out the final song of the second encore. Amazing! Technically, Tainted Hummus joined The Hold Steady on-stage for their encore. We did, in fact, keep our promise to play on that night although only 2/3 of the band was there. Pretty good, I'd say. I got home about 1:30am and went to bed happy and with ringing ears.

As fate would have it, though, 2/3 of the band joined The Hold Steady on stage at the end of the second encore to help them close out the show. Technically, we did perform on the date we'd selected. I love keeping my word.

If you get the chance, do whatever it takes to see them. Do not miss their show. Wear earplugs and take the next day off. You'll be happy you did.