Tight Scenes, Tears, Loud Bikes and a Small World.

Personally, I enjoy seeing how different cities we visit throughout the country compare in regards to their “Music Scene.”  Being from Chicago, I have seen that “scene” go through many different changes; some for the better and definitely some for the worst.  Whether you thoroughly enjoy it or not, Indianapolis has a “scene” on the rise and hopefully we can continue to see that “scene” flourish as we continue to visit. A couple of weeks ago we played Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana; we found it to be a joyous trip filled with surprises at every turn.

Indianapolis still proves to be one of the most tight-knit musical communities (no matter how large or small).  I feel that is in partial effect to the people of Lazy Hawk Promotions. No matter how you spin it, Will and his wife BeBe (Lazy Hawk Promotions) are in it for the music. That is something that is near non-existent in the music industry of today. Lazy Hawk, in addition to the dozens of bands that compose the live music scene of Indianapolis, has one-collaborative-agenda: go support live-original music. What more could you ask for? Granted, the grass is always greener on the other side; some people may want more all-ages-shows, some people may want only metal or punk shows… Whatever the case, the reality stands, the Indianapolis “scene” tries to put as many asses in the seats and actually listen to the live music being performed in their city. Chicago has seen better days, as we are still trying to crawl out from the sludge-of-an-era peppered with cover bands.  But there is light on the horizon. Original-live music isn’t going to disappear anytime soon, so hopefully the youthful enthusiasm of Indianapolis can infect their neighboring cities. We see a beautiful thing in Indy and hopefully it will be there the next time we roll through.  It was definitely prominent during our most recent visit for the Lazy Hawk Anniversary show. I guess it didn’t hurt that we played an in-your-face set with foot stompers the whole way through, with the exception of one tune J. We ended up doing some research and discovered the wedding song for the Lazy Hawk promoters, “Do You Realize” by The Flaming Lips. I was happy to see the shock-and-awe that came to their faces, not so much the tears to their eyes, just the utter sense of surprise, as we struck into the song. It was a magical night.

But, the magic had to stop as we were slotted in Fort Wayne the following night. The club we played was directly across the street from The Outlaws (motorcycle club) Club House… All that kept running through my head was episodes of “Gangland.”  I mean it was a rough looking spot. However, the staff at the club and the other bands on the bill couldn’t have been nicer. As the night progressed we felt at ease and played another set packed with our rockers. When I saw some of the Outlaws come in the club I was happily surprised to hear that they “enjoyed the tunes.”  Post show we grabbed a beer with a local friend at another club down the street. 

We sat at the bar nursing our beers as our eyes were glued to the TV’s above the bar. Visions of silly animals and nut-shots filled the boob tubes. We later found out that the one of the owners was behind the compilations of random awesomeness; he finds it to be a hobby… and I am fond of his hobby. I was just happy to be watching that ridiculousness while enjoying a beer when a fellow walked up to me and Stephen.

“Hey, do I know you? My friend thought you were my friends…”

“Uh, I don’t think so man,” I sputtered.

“Well, he thought that you were my friends because you are wearing hats and have tattoos.”

Turned out that we actually did have a lot of common acquaintances and he was a proprietor of the booking company for the club. We chatted for the next hour or two about our common friends, like and dislikes. I’ve said it thousands of times, however, it’s true; one of the best parts about being on the road is meeting and building relationships with people whom paths you were meant to cross. We were singled out because of my Stetson, Stephen’s bowler and our tattoos; and we ended up making a nice friend out of it.

Fairytales,

 VJ