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The Church, March 15th
The Hurricane, Kansas City, MO

The Fans-I met with Random Pan for coffee at the Broadway Caf in the afternoon. As I made my way from the counter to the table, the womber known as Severian introduced himself to me. The three of us enjoyed hot mochas and chatted about this and that. Eventually, I received the expected call from miloguidosmom, who would be somewhat delayed due to the weather. We took the opportunity to visit an old friend at a local rare bookstore. Apparently Severian had been there earlier and shelled out a few bucks on a vintage volume. Afterwards we perused the racks of two local used record shops. The first shop, Recycled Sounds, possessed vinyl copies of Remote Luxury and the Constant in Opal 12 inch. Interesting enough. However, the second shop, The Music Exchange, possess three vinyl copies of SA (Id never seen vinyl copies of SA), a signed copy of Earthed, and a copy of SKs Transaction, an ep I was unaware of until yesterday. Among other things, each of us left with a copy of the Shes King cd single. When miloguidosmom arrived we picked her up from her hotel and headed for a local tavern, but not before viewing some of SKs original artwork. BTW, I think he needs someone to rep this stuff for him. Its that fucking good!

The Libations-Started with a Fat Tire at Daves Stagecoach Inn, half a block from the venue. Afterwards, at McCoys Public House, I took in several delicious Czech Pilsners, a brown ale, and a few heady little raspberry brews. It all went well with roast turkey on fresh foccacia.

The Venue-This place sold out, which delighted my heart. Moreover, no one called out for UTMW or Reptile and the band obliged by playing the hell out of both. The first band consisted of local musicians, old acquaintances of my wife and I, who played note perfect Joy Division covers. This seemed to prime the crowd for Sea Ray, who simply devastated me. They are a very good band and I hope to hear them again. As mentioned, the Church did encounter a disconcerting problem with bass in the monitors. Apparently a problem with the venue PA. Due to the inclement weather between Minneapolis and Kansas City, they could not complete a sound check. Also, the start was delayed by some covetous prick who lifted a sheet of technical notes from the stage, with which the band could not effectively function. Steve appealed to the audience, which got surly quickly. The notes were returned in short order. Overall the audience was quite responsive. No drunk fucks. Just a few overzealous church fans, one waving a copy of Hindsight and the other screaming so loud the band registered it in their monitors. Steve jestfully called him a fucking idiot and pretended to hack at him with his bass. At one point someone up front told Steve he had been a fan for twenty years and that it, among other things, had cost him his marriage. Steve replied You should have left us and stayed with her! I believe Tim followed with, I hope were taping this one. Also, someone offered Marty her bra. It was a black one. He accepted it gleefully.

The Band-I should mention that we were in very close proximity to the band. The club is rather small compared to places in which the band has played on this and previous tours. The stage is merely a foot or so above the floor. Tim sounded really good under these circumstances. Numbers, See your Lights, Song in Space, Telepath and others really exploded into the room. Peter was the picture of calm, even as he realized during Sea Line that his mic was hot and might possibly shock him. He escaped unharmed, mesmerized everyone with his ebow work on UTMW, and provided one of the evenings high lights with his rendition of Appalatia. The harmonies sounded great. Marty played as if possessed. His first highlight came with his work on the Theater and Its Double. See Your Lights smoked. Reptile featured one of his many space/time fabric-shredding solos during the evening. However, it was on Tantalized that something transcendent happened. My ears, in fact, are still ringing. After the bridge solo that I cannot begin to describe he let go of the black Ric and let it hang at his waist as Steve resumed the lyrics. Feedback was still roaring from the amp as Marty lifted both arms, palms up, his eyes wild, as he joined his voice with the feedback! It reminded of the great line from Coleridge

Beware, beware
his glowing eyes,
his floating hair.
Weave a circle round him thrice
and look on him with holy dread.
For he on honeydew hath fed
and drank the milk of paradise.

Steve probably fed it to him. During the impromptu sound check Steve promised the band would rock out. With Sea Line he quickly delivered on that promise and did not quit until the outro of You Took. Excellent fretwork on that last song, btw. He sang a few bars of Kansas City (Theyve got the crazy little women there and Im gonna get me one) He also slipped in a few lines from I Only Have Eyes for You at the end of one number. The highlight of the night for Steve was clearly Cantilever. A very complex piece.

I hope too it was being taped.

This was my third Church gig. All have been stellar, but this one was special. Thanks to Random Pan, Severian, and Miloguidosmom for sharing it with me.