The Bassist Diaries


As many of you know, I was in a band called “Knockout Mouse” for several years before doing the solo singer-songwriter thing. KM played hundreds of shows between NY, PA, MD, DC, and VA. Anyway, a couple years ago, due to a technical glitch, I lost my list of shows that the band had performed over the years. Being an overly organized–anal retentive–pack rat, this was information I need to have! You never know when you might want to look up what smokey bar you played on a random Friday in November of 2006. Or what if you find yourself in court as a witness to a fight that broke out at your show and you need to look up details of that night?! (I only wish I made up that last one.) I was distraught! But little did I know that Johnny Love (AKA John Jens) was not only playing bass in the band, he was also taking private notes after he got home after every show. He never intended to have anybody read them other than himself (which makes the occasional reference to himself in third person all the more funny). He included info about the crowd, how we sounded, what songs worked, and random observations etc. So when he gave me the list to replace the one I had lost, I REALLY enjoyed reading his descriptions and notes. I have listed some of my favorites, and changed some names to protect the innocent. I present to you “The Bassist Diaries”:

Date, Bar X, _______, MD; 4 sets was tough; ready to pack up after 3; John autographed a couple drunk chick’s backs

Date, Bar X, _______, VA; 9pm; no cover. Had to play inside due to rain; was great show until Joe punched Ken, scrum, Brenda flew into drumset wrestling Ken off Joe, cops, Brenda got tased...oy vey no 3rd set. Packed up early...

Date, Bar X, _______, VA; horrible; we won't be returning; Tom’s a &%@ and doesn't care about live music and will be switching to all comedians...good for him

Date, Private festival, MD Wow. Could write a book about this show. Rainstorms x 4. Rich from the first band, Sampson Road or whatever the %$#! they were called, wanted a stage; demanded a stage. The 30ft trailer they brought was ridiculous; the tent wouldn't fit on top. F the stage! Dave slipped and broke his arm just before the last rain storm finished and we were to do line-check for them. Totally sucks

11 Aug 2007 - Nissan Pavillion VIP Club side stage; Danny & Johnny w/ Mike Jewel - Mike on vaca; partied with Adam and MJ beforehand, place crawling with cops, nice; Dan on crutches; &%@ing hotter than Afrika; "we're opening for DMB!" heh

25 Aug 2007 - Nissan Pavillion VIP Club side stage; hotter than ballz, again; thunderstorms shortened our sets and mad scramble to cover everything with tarp; tons of drunk young girls running around for Kenny Chesney

New Years Eve 2007 Bar X, _______, VA; $10 cover includes champagne toast pretty good turnout though not the largest here; fire marshall made them take down xmas lights on ceiling, waste of at least an hour during setup; 1521s worked fine again; used 15" as rack stand for mixer + combo + just a bit in the PA for good results and lots of compliments on sound;

8 June 2008 - Nissan Pavillion VIP Club side stage; some dude called Tom Petty on the main stage. Hotter than africa hot; markbass DI gave issues; couple cables bad; bad first set sound; worse playing; 2nd better but combo acting weird (heat?)

Date, Private wedding, VA; great time; winning ugly though; Dan stress puppy; Sarah pretty good on cowbell; Sweet Caroline HUGE hit; Safety Dance surprised, too; couple power issues blowing circuits, guess those 2 outlets WERE on the same circuit; hot and humid, showers during setup under huge tent with decent stage; JBLs sounded good, clean, projected nicely; bluegrass band was ok

Date, Bar X, _______, VA; 10pm; no cover; ok turn out, nice weather, lots of ppl outside, not so many inside; long set worked well (100 mins); Shannon the wanna-be bass player was just as bad as could be imagined

10 Aug 2007 - Danny & Johnny w/ Mike Jewel - the Red Horse Tavern (formerly Maxwell's), Middleburg, VA; 9:30pm; no cover sit-down, coffee shop vibe was cool; Dan busted his ankle jumping off a trailer earlier in the week and on crutches

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