Almost Famous

I had a pretty surreal weekend. On Saturday, Alyssa and I sat in some mean traffic to get to Richmond, where she was acting as the horn section for The Walkmen on "Louisiana." (To answer your questions, they put out a call on their website for horn players in the cities they're playing, she's done it before, and we met them at Macrock before that, so it wasn't out of the clear blue sky.) I've never really done the whole backstage thing, so I had no idea really what to make of this evening that was upon us. We made the most of our Richmond afternoon, eating about 7 times, hangin out with Tim and some other friends, and finally making our way over to the Canal Club so Alyssa could sound check. After she and Paul practiced, we made our way to their little backstage room -- emphasis on little. With two bands, a manager and two girls in a tiny two love seat room, we made pretty quick with the bonding. Everyone shared their favorite tricks for opening and pouring beers, and a lot of time was spent on you tube. I started to geek out a bit when we walked down with the band before they went on stage, and my mind was filled with visions of Almost Famous. They played a set which they all thought sucked, but I rather enjoyed, and Alyssa KILLED it on the trumpet.

They weren't ready to wind things down, though bar hours in Virginia were, so after loading out and playing for a while, it started to feel like a high school party in the weirdest and funniest way. We hung out in parking lots, trying to figure out where to go, and ended up on Alyssa's old rooftop with about six beers. At one point late late at night, I looked over and realized I was smooshed in the back seat of Alyssa's Rodeo with one of my very favorite bands. I was sharing a seat with this dude that I've screamed for in many a live show, and pasing around a box of cheezits. So, the moral of the story is that Richmond is, was, and forever shall be a sunny place for shady people, and rock stars are people too. People who REALLY like Mike & Ikes.