On Friday Oct. 16, we played at Headliner’s in Ames for ISU’s homecoming. What ensued was to be one of the most unforgettable and unpredictable concerts experiences in history.
The Show
We arrived in Ames around 7 and after some Jeff’s pizza in the basement of Headliner’s, we waited around for another band to finish so we could set up. It was early in the night, but the place was already buzzing. As we learned from our trip to Ames on VEISHIA weekend (as you might recall), ISU gets up for its big events. We didn’t expect them to disappoint on homecoming. A couple hours later we were onstage setting up. By the time we started, the bar was packed tight. Ripe for a good show.
It was a long couple sets of music, so we got to most of our strongest stuff. ‘Professional’ felt great. Some of the crowd dug deep into the archives for their requests, including ‘Up and Down’ and ‘Malaga’. ‘Too Close’ made an appearance after at least a few months off, and someone in attendance told me that we turned in the greatest ‘Pride and Prejudice’ performance ever. That’s a strong statement, but who are we to condemn a man’s informed opinion? Of course, we had plenty of time for a little Mayer (Clarity) and it seemed like most of Ames joined in for the ending of ‘Viva la Vida’. We’ve come to love playing at Headliner’s and this last trip may have been the best.
The Melee
The crowd was unreal all night long. We broke into our Rap Medley (start with Nelly’s ‘Ride Wit Me’) and the place blew up. We were planning on ripping straight through some Snoop, Dr. Dre and then into Montell Jordan, but right in the middle of Nelly the Iowa State Marching Band lined up at the door. I was warned this would happen. I was told they would come around to play the fight song in the middle of night, and to take a quick break when they did. So I introduced the marching band once we quit the beat, and they broke out the fight song. And then, a fight broke out.
Ya see, most of the bar loved the marching band. However, there was a certain group of folk up by the stage that didn’t. So right after the fight song ended, that group starting chanting “Let’s go Hawks!” (cheering ISU’s in-state rival, the Iowa Hawkeyes). Probably not a good thing to do in the middle of Ames, in the middle of their homecoming. Shockingly, the rest of the crowd didn’t take it well. Beer and ice started flying in the direction of the Hawk fans, as did some choice words. Pretty soon, it seemed like everyone around me was pushing everyone around them in a vicious cycle of shoving. Right then, somebody jumped onstage, grabbed the mic and starting yelling ‘I, O, W, A!’ (another Hawks chant). Safe to say that pretty much sent it over the top. A few people grabbed the guy onstage and violently started ripping him down. Someone close to me turned around jacked some random guy in the jaw. Add to this a deluge of flying beer, whiskey and ice, most of it landing on our equipment or on the girls in the front row, and add to that the fact that most of the people in the bar were screaming and cussing at the person next to them, and you have a good old fashioned free-for-all. I half expected a mustachioed John Wayne type to open the swinging wooden doors of the Saloon and start firing a couple of six shooters into the hootenanny that was.
Only at a TS3 show.
After the smoke cleared, and a few of the guilty parties were expelled from the premises, we tried starting the party up again, but it was kinda like Daddy hit Mommy at the dinner table, and nobody was feeling it at first. In fact, I was getting yelled at by employees and patrons alike who thought I was the one chanting for the Hawks (I wasn’t). The vitriol wore off after a few songs, and the concert ended a success, but I’ll never forget Headliner’s 10.16.09 as the Night of the Marching Band Melee.
The Snorgy
We headed to the hotel (a decent change of pace from the floors on which we usually sleep) to try to get some rest before the 6 hour drive to another show we faced the next morning. Justin, our drummer, was not successful in this endeavor. He described to me the rare phenomenon he experienced that kept him from sleep. Michael, our guitarist, and Seville, our keyboardist/bassist, both have a knack for snoring. Intermittently throughout the night, they will set to sawing logs for a certain amount of time. Generally, it will happen here and there, with periods of silence filling the gaps. On this night, something very strange indeed happened.
The typical snore has two parts. First, there is actual ‘snore’, the inhalation that produces the wretched sound that we all associate with snoring. Second, there is the exhalation, which grants a momentary break in the annoyance. Somehow, unmercifully, Michael and Seville had synchronized their snoring such that there was no break. In a horrible symphony of noise, one would exhale while the other snored, and then snore while the other exhaled, and so on for the duration of the ghastly night. It was an unholy orgy of snore. A Snorgy.
The ‘Two Y’ Theory
On our drive to Joliet, we discussed a number scholarly things, one of which was orthography. Justin wondered if he had spelled the word right when he wrote ‘pteradactyl’, and lauded himself on the inclusion of the silent ‘p’ at the beginning of the word. Rightfully so. However, I claimed that it was, in fact, spelled ‘pterodactyl’. I wasn’t sure though. Seville, a very studious and bright man and thus a credible source in such discussions, countered us both, confidently asserting that the correcting spelling was ‘pterydactyl’. This quickly become known as the ‘Two Y’ theory. Justin and I were both incredulous upon hearing his claim, and set straight away to debunking the theory. In the process, I flip-flopped on my feelings on the theory, ultimately standing by my answer. Thankfully, the omniscient internet came through and proved that the correct spelling was ‘pterodactyl’. Just having had his ‘Two Y’ theory debunked, Seville sunk into a deep depression, a spiral of despair, since the theory was his life’s greatest work.
While writing this blog, however, I did more research and found that many people do actually use two y’s in spelling pterodactyl.
There is hope for the Two Y theory yet.
