West Indian Girl

uhhh, can you repeat the question again?

Fran’s Flashback
our first of 3 shows at sundance was the private party for the launch of film.com. this site is really cool…and it’s not just because of the live video they have of us on their sundance page. the party took place at the star bar which is probably the best bar in town for live music. we played with apples in stereo and they were all great people to hang out with.

dressing room and rider wrap up:
the facilities 12 points. star bar’s lay out is great. the bar never felt like it was oppressively crowded as there were plenty of different places to go to within the venue. great vip areas, big green room, nice bar. the only negs are the parking, bitch of a load-in, lack of a private bathroom, and lack of extra space for our road cases.

rider/amenities 20 points. im talkin socks, towels, tons of food (great food – not just a deli tray but full on vip food), drinks, you name it…even the batteries. this spread was fantastic. top notch. i wish every promoter would take a lesson from geoff who was responsible for this. rarely will you ever see a score of 20 in this category

stage,sound,lights 14 points. i thought the stage was great considering there was other gear on it. it wasnt big but it worked. the system was adequate. the lighting was bright but that was due to filming. i thought the stage sound was fantastic…my bass worked well up there. rob and greg the soundmen were awesome and hooked us up with a check even though they were pressed for time. these guys were good.

promoter 20 points. geoff walker (pictured below with q) is no stranger to this game. the guy knows how to take care of his talent. he was fantastic. everyone at film.com rules. they all treated us incredibly well. special thanks to ted kartzman for making it happen. the promotion for this gig and all the press surrounding it was awesome. bookmark film.com now.

staff 20 points. maxwell morrill wasnt actually running the show tonight but he was somehow involved. maxwell is clutch and the staff at the star bar was right on. the catering staff that was working the event were amazing. everyone there, even security, was a pleasure to deal with.

intangibles 12 points. a free 3 camera video shoot with fully edited fotage available online the next day isnt something to scoff at.

TOTAL OVERALL SCORE = 98. this is my first A+ and has really set the bar high. i wish geoff was in charge of taking care of us from now on (click here for a detailed explanation of my scoring system’s categories).

Mariqueen’s Mind
The City: park city at night is a shock to my tropical blood stream. when we did park city tv it was around 2 in the afternoon and the sun was shining which made the cold weather bearable. tonight was a different story. i stepped out of the van and instantly felt like my nose was going to fall off my face. i should’ve bought that face mask at sport chalet.

The Venue: the star bar lives up to it’s name. the backstage dressing area was wonderul and fully catered with everything we wanted. the staff let me change in their office and their sound man was a total sweetheart. i even met a girl who i later dubbed, my favorite bartender in park city. anyway, out of a possible ten, the star bar gets a nine only because we didnt have our own bathrooms to use. big deal though — after the endless wine, shrimp cocktail and heavenly hors d’ouvres i was put in a magical place and couldnt complain about anything.

The Show: we played a tight and relaxed set. well, that’s what josh and ian said, anyway. i spent most of the show worrying over how i picked fashion over function. before i knew it, our set was over and i didnt have a single britney shot or a janet jackson superbowl mishap. good times.

What Were You Thinking While Playing: please stay inside this dress, please stay inside this dress. repeat in time with mark’s drum beat.

Interesting Things After The Show: well, before the show fran, rob and i got double interviewed by sasha and laremy from film.com. sasha and i seemed to be on the same wavelength when it came to the comfort levels we felt through out the whole process. laremy took over the second half and i basically kept my yapper shut except for when the microphone got put in front of my face and i mustered out, “ditto”. i wish i had gotten to talk to sasha after the interview to apologize about how bad i am at talking with the cameras on. i spoke with laremy about it and he reassured me it was cool, because interviews arent natural conversations. i guess that means im no good at bs’ing. unless i have a drink. or five. after the show i was hanging out at the merch booth and did a very impromptu interview but was actually more relaxed and eloquent. maybe the dewars, grand marnier and vodka tonic helped with the relaxation part, but the eloquence is all me baby.

Nathan’s Nonsense
later that night we were whisked away from our swanky little condo on over to the star bar on main street for the film.com/real networks party. i remember having no idea as to my whereabouts as i had yet to get my bearings. this was an exclusive, private party mostly for industry schmoozers and execs. not a bad show at all on our part, though one thing i didn’t care for was the way the sound was mixed to conversation level in the back of the venue so as to accommodate all the hobnobbers. nothing wrong with a little networking, mind you. we all do it, but when there are clusters of bodies with their backs to the performers, rubbing as many elbows as possible and chatting away, it does not bode very well in my book. apples in stereo suffered from the same pervasive indifference, but you wouldn’t have known it from their performance. they just barreled along with their lilting, sugary pop gems, keeping the portion of the audience that actually gave a damn in motion. it was a special treat to hang out with these guys, especially the venerable mr. snyder. never met such a lovable guy in my life. he’s like this big fluffy-wuffy chipmunk with glasses. and he probably doesn’t appreciate being likened to a skimpering woodland critter, so i’ll stop there. lastly, i was very happy my good friends jeremy and asia from LA could make it down. it just so happened they were both in park city doing hair and makeup, respectively, for the celebs and well-to-do. you’d probably pee yourself if i told you who they had their hands on during the festival. i know i sure did.