West Indian Girl

joey c… c as in class act 4.14.06

we played the majestic theatre on friday with our friends bump – yorg (pictured), clint, chris and big nadz. i love these guys they are all insane and tons of fun to be around. this show was a resounding success and lord knows we needed one after crap ass traverse city (please refer to that show report if you havent read it yet). the bump fans were out in full force and they were a great bunch of people to play in front of. since we were the middle band on the bill we changed our set up a bit and that seemed to work well. the stage sound sucked at the majestic but that wasnt a surprise…it has always sucked there. when i was up on stage i had sort of an out of body experience. i was looking at rob and q playing and thought to myself “we are getting to be a pretty good band.” it was the first time on stage this tour when i felt like we were finding our comfort zone…especially without an extensive sound check. we just went up there and played. hats off to rob and q for really stepping it up. im proud of the whole band for going up there and giving detroit a great show

big majestic thanx to: jc and joe from maple park media for being a class operation. they did everything possible to make our stay in detroit great. they’re both great guys to have on your team and if i didnt already have a team i would make sure they were on mine. bump is in good hands with mpm. thanx to all my old friends from detroit (all pictured below) for paying the price of admission to see the show, to the metro times for giving us a nice plug as the thing to do that evening and last but not least all the new friends and fans we made that bought our cd. michigan is back in our good graces. the score is now west indian girl 1 – michigan 1

rider and dressing room wrap up: this was one of those shows when we had to share the dressing room with all the bands and their entourages. although this may seem like fun it kind of sucks for q and rob because they like to warm up their voices before they go on and its impossible to do so when you share dressing rooms. one thing i can say is that there was no shortage of beer there and that’s always a plus. the majestic back stage area for bands is far from majestic – they need to spruce that bitch up.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: hi detroit… it’s nice to meet you again, im sorry we started off on the wrong foot… actually im not apologizing to you… the stupid people that i encountered the last time i was there should apologize to you for making my first experience so terrible. im glad i came back because this time around i encountered a bunch of great people… some who i know i will know for the rest of my days.

The Venue: majestic is huge and they gave the boys beer and water but no throat coat and apples for me… i don’t know… i don’t understand why a venue would take the name majestic and serve drinks in plastic cups… it’s like going to a castle and eating cheetos..

The Show: god what fun! i loved every minute of it… even the parts where we screwed up. i think west indian girl is made to play huge stages. it just feels like home. you know? the best part of the show was having hot teenage girls telling me they loved me and wanting to touch me. you are so jealous.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: i thought of jumping into those kids’ arms… i thought of how many people in the audience knew how much i loathed detroit and wondered if they knew that i had changed my mind… i thought of how much i was smiling and how goofy i looked… i thought of how much fun everyone seemed to be having…

Interesting Things After The Show: my friend sergio came out and brought me pocky sticks and chocolate truffles. everything gets a little fuzzy after awhile… i had three grey goose and tonics, two dirty martinis and a swig of jim beam. in the midst of all that mark taught my friend how to properly karate chop someone… i think… i remember getting about ten hugs from JC telling me what a great set it was… that kind of made my night… and then joey c. in a beautiful drunken moment came up to me, spread his arms and said, “on behalf of detroit, this is for you” and proceeded to give me a warm hug. JC & joey choma. don’t ever forget their names. theses men will do great things. before and after the show we all hung out with bump [great band & great new friends]… i felt so at home with them that i went ahead and defaced one of the backstage toilets even while yorg was in the bathroom. can you feel that love?

THE JAMES REPORT

I love Detroit. Our fans were inspired nuggets of pure light…exciting all my neural receptors into frenzied bliss. Mucho thanks to Bump for the hook up. They vaporized all our minds away with their fresh music and joyful energy. Thank you.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

Now it just so happens that Detroit was the first place in the world that I ever lived, albeit only in my first year of infancy. After that, my parents relocated up to a tiny little town called Goodrich, which is about 30 minutes southeast of Flint. So, that being the case, this Michigan Impossible leg of our tour was actually something of a strange homecoming for me. It had been over 20 years since I last set foot in the state I once called home.
I guess we came into Detroit via the back door, along the infamous 8 mile road. Scanning the unfamiliar desolation, I happened to notice an unkempt little marquee in front of some dilapidated night club that read: R.I.P. Proof. I think that might have been the highlight of the Michigan scenery right there.
I was brimming with anticipation as we finally pulled into the venue. Those wiley (not an actual word but I like to use it anyway) Bumpsters were there waiting to greet us. I could tell from the getgo that these guys were going to be trouble… trouble in a good way, that is. A very good way.
Didn’t take long for us to figure out that the Majestic was a great venue, but the hospitality was sorely lacking, i.e. no meal or buyout provided, and the backstage was as big as a shoebox. Despite the cramped conditions, however, this night wins hands down for the wildest night of debaucherous abandon for any of the backstage areas on the entire tour. I’ll just leave the rest to the imagination, and instead move to something wholesome….
On returning from my overpriced dinner, I ran into Ian, our trusty tour manager, who informed me that some of my relatives had come by the merch booth asking for me. My response was something like: What did they look like? You see, I hadn’t seen any of them in well over two decades, so I had no idea what to expect. Luckily, it wasn’t hard to spot my Uncles Mike and Doug along with Aunt Janice cowering in the back, defending themselves as best they could against the aural onslaught of the opening band. We did our best to shout our cordial greetings to each other. Then they called over my cousins Jessica and Kurt, along with their better halves, Matthew and Stephanie, respectively. It was a full scale reunion, only nobody could really hear what anyone was saying unless it was shouted in their ear. Also in attendance that night was my good friend Jason, or J.D., who helped participate in some of the aforementioned debauchery.
Before leaving, my relatives gifted me with a loaf of Nisua bread along with the recipe, such as my dearly departed Grandma Sophie used to make. Jessica’s last words to me I believe were: I was up all last night making this fucking bread for you, so you better damn well eat it! OK Jessica, I ate and shared that wonderful bread. Thank you, relatives, and thank you Detroit for an undeniably kick-ass show!

for great show pictures go to 2SnapsUp
thanks michael spleet for the awesome shots

judd and Qrob, rick and Qgreat picture i took of Q before the show

team lonniesue lott & phil durrthe hamiltonschris varady god bless younathan looks good in greenladies and gentleman, robert james…a majestic bass moment

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