West Indian Girl

our home away from home 4.23.06

the record bar – normally when you think of clubs in strip malls your smile turns into a frown but not in this case. the record bar is owned and operated by a few guys from the band roman numerals. let me tell ya something, if i could do what they’re doing in la i would do it in a second. they’re doing it all right. who are theses guys you ask? well, billy and shawn are these guys and they totally rule and made west indian girl believe in kansas city. we played the show with a band called anvil chorus and they were pretty damn good. anna cole we love you – i think your guitar player andy is rad. let’s play together again.

as far as the show went. well i kept thinking to myself that i missed the light show we were encased in when we played those dates with bump. i thought the show itself was just ok cos there were a few sound problems on stage. i think the room might have had our sound guy confused for a bit. thus, i feel the burning need to get back to kc and put on a much better show. it was just ok for me and that bugs. who knows maybe it was because i was real tired that night. shit, just look at me. i’m like a haggard old la bitch in some of those pictures. i guess in the end it didnt matter though, by the time we left the majority of us were really wasted. i mixed way too many drinks that night thanx to shawn.

“kansas city here i come baby” thanks to: billy for the many phone calls it took to set this show up, shawn for shooting to the top of our list for dope club owners, ben (golden republic) and katie for being uber cool, kato for the support and last but not least my main man frob and his wife amanda for just being all around great people. frob is one of a kind.

dressing room and rider wrap up: the dressing room at the record bar is basically the bar – they keep it plain and simple here, they give you food and get you drunk with smiles all around. no complaints here.

Mariqueen’s Mind

The City: what a breath of fresh air. we arrived at kansas city and the weather was a little hot and damp. i obviously didn’t see much of it but i definitely want to come back and hang out. the people that i’ve met in this city are, for lack of a better word [or five], the cream of the crop…

The Venue: i wish there were more bars like the record bar. the world would be a better place.

The Show: i was so sketched out because i was still really sick. nathan made me a hot tea elixir of some sort that miraculously caused me to sing fantastic. the man is kind of a genius. i got used to having lights to go with our show [thanks to patrick, currently touring with bump] and was sad that our stage was so naked.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: hory mory, nathan is blirriant.

Interesting Things After The Show: we hung out with chris [thanks for the corkscrew and the cards!] and his wife amanda [thanks for the necklace], ben from the golden republic came out with his wife katie and they stuck around well after three am… mike, one of mark’s friends who i’ve seen at a couple of our troubadour shows apparently has a house or two in the city and came out. we had many a shot and drinks with the anvil chorus [another great band and great new friends… we were really lucky on this tour to play with such dope people… i already miss paucity and the bump guys… sigh.] and shawn [wonderful owner of the record bar]. after awhile we had tony come inside. it was the most fun i’d had on the whole tour.

NATHAN’S NONSENSE

i had heard good things about kansas city before coming here, but i certainly didn’t have my hopes up. for one thing, it was a monday night, and by dusk the clouds would converge in foreboding fashion to unload their great, grey deluge. this aside, my spidey senses began to tingle the moment i walked into the record bar… not only was i having my first “good hair day” out of the whole tour, the venue itself seemed to emanate with a very positive and welcoming energy. the entire night felt like a much needed high for me. we had the pleasure of playing with yet another wonderful opening local act in “anvil chorus.” these guys- and gal- really went all out with promoting the show as well, much to our relief. everyone i met struck me as the kind of people i would love to hang out with on a regular basis. unfortunately, by the end of the evening i was so blasted i couldn’t remember anyone’s name. so, uh… if i happened to talk to you that night, and you’re reading this… feel free to drop me a line as i could use a bit of a refresher. what i do recall is that it seemed like we pulled off an amazing show… great energy, nice full sound… also, the moment i stepped off stage i was inundated with girls offering to buy me shots. i do believe that was a first. yes, the musicians life may have its rough spots, but times like this make it all worth while. i only wish i could remember more of it. weeeeeee…

pre show rituals interruptedwelcome to the darkside aka stage leftyet another classic vocal momentlook! janine from traverse city!rob & kato – a meeting of the mindsmike and mark, great minds that think alikekansas city franwichnathan working on drink number fiveteam frobwe love anvil chorusplayers: Q, ben, katie – status: wastedwest roman republic

-F10