Velvet

I HATE THAT I'M SUCH A COMPUTER IDIOT. I'm no longer one of those morons that's proud of their cyber-ignorance either. Grrrr. Okay, how do I listen to the station? I went there, clicked listen then hit radio joe and opened the file from it's current location or whatever then it asked me what I'm supposed to open it with. Yelling YOUR THE COMPUTER, YOU FIGURE IT OUT didn't help, again.

Anyone?

Funny thing is I have to meet a sanctaury acquaintence about nine times before I can remember who they are. I think this is probably because I expect everybody to actually look like their avatars. After all, when I started posting I only really knew Pablo Sanchez and the Monkey sisters, Rabid and Gentle, and they look like their avatars.

I look a lot like mine when I'm wearing the hat.

Hey, I went to Carleton. Whatcha taking?

Woo-Hoo on the avatar tags! Does this mean I don't have to bring, "Hi my name is" labels?

Damn, if Ween is there I might have to look into going. What's the date again?

How 'bout this. I'll be at the door with 'Hi, my name is!' stickers. When you come in, say the magic word ("Sanctuarian")and give the secret handshake(feel free to make one up, I'll keep up) and you'll get one to fill out with your post name on it. We'll do a New Year countdown and everybody be drunk and wacky! Okay? If you don't post you can write "lurker" on yours.

Y'know a "5...4..3...2...1...Happy New Year!" would actually be pretty clever, 'cuz April Fools day comes from when a new calander was introduced. April 1 used to be the first day of the year, but when it got changed to January 1 some people still celebrated New Years on April 1. These people were called "April Fools" 'cuz people supposed that they forgot about the change. I think it's a funny idea, a bit along the lines of the secret Phish language (whatever happened to that anyway?).

You mean The Immaculate Confection?

Hey Solar, nero will be playing in Calgary on May 5th at Morgan's and May 6th at Charlie's with Recipe From/For a Small Planet. See you there!

I was really upset about the controversy re the Dekcuf and the ban on taping, as were many others. So I went and talked to the guy. Though he had some good points, I explained to him how important taping (either as a taper or a listener) is to this scene, and I also explained to him how proactive the folks in this scene are when it comes to getting out to the shows, staying 'til the end and drinking piles. Then I told him about that post here on the sanctuary and all the negativeness that was being aimed at his bar.

He stuck to his guns.

Then I tried to explain to him how important the sanctuary was to this scene; how most people that come to the shows read the sanctuary posts and actually take it pretty seriously. It pretty much came down to a 'prove it' scenario, and I said, "Look, all I would have to do is make one post on the sanctuary and this place would be full, when's your next opening?"

Here's the post and here's the deal:

nero is playing at the Cafe Dekcuf on Sunday, March 31st. Taping is ALLOWED. If, by making this post on the sanctuary, the place hits legal capacity (which is only 68 believe it or not, it was almost triple that the last time they played there), taping will be allowed at the Dekcuf for any show from now on, so long as you ask first.

Bottom line (figuritively) is that if we show our numbers we can actually change a rule that we want changed. We all know that Dekcuf is a wicked room with great sound, and we also know that there's lots of folks out there who like to tape and lots more who like to download/trade the shows, so grab your DAT's and your mic's and lets make it happen. See you Sunday.

Ps The Dekcuf guy is actually a pretty good guy and is quite reasonable. I think I might imply above that he's a bit nasty, but he ain't.

Wow, sure am looking forward to hearing that show!

Hey Mr. Monkey, when you go and buy a ticket, could you grab me one? Or if you can't make it Monday at 8, let me know and I'll get you one.

Hokay?

Uh, do I win? I ain't already got nothin'!

Cool, I was just wondering if it had anything to do with the drunk glass-smashers. I ignored the situation 'til it was over. Luckily they got booted out.

Now I know why I missed that show. Ten years ago today I was playing in a bar called the Hippodrome in Bangkok. Too far to commute.

Hey, thanks for the Hawksley show. I'm listening to it right now. He's such a freakin' rock star!

Hey all. This Saturday, March 23rd, I'll be playing at the Black Sheep in Wakefield with the Jane Radmore Band. We're opening for this solo alt-country guy from the states, Todd Snider.

I've been gigging with Jane on and off for over four years now. She's a singer/songwriter and she plays guitar. She has a beautiful voice and pretty damn good pop/folk tunes and she's only 15 years old.

Anyway, if you're in the 'hood on Saturday, come check it out. I'm gonna be pretty busy with nero stuff so this will be our last gig for a while.

I'm free all day on Sunday methinks, so I could leave anytime. I only have one stipulation: I wanna be at Metropolis when the doors open. I've never gotten a seat there, and I think I would enjoy the show tons more with one of those balcony seats.

No, I don't think I'll be taping it, it's not that kinda thing. What happened to you on Saturday night?

nero @ The Capitol, Fredericton, New Brunswick

Though we were all a bit nervous on whether or not we would make it to Fredericton, much less home after getting the apocalyptic third degree on the vehicular situation from my dad, we were all happy to be back on the bus. Oil pan, gear shift and antifreeze leak all somewhat repaired, we frolicked in the relative roominess of our road-abode all the way down the new highway and found our way to the Capitol. Now, this was an add-on gig that we just booked about four days previous, and the bar isn't usually even open on Sundays. There's your disclaimer.

The place was, and remained, quite barren. The crowd peaked at around ten, and that was when most of Caution Jam showed up ‘cuz they were stuck in town with what turned out to be a blown engine. That said, there were a half dozen or so folks through the door who really liked the show and had a great time, not to mention having one of the nero tour regulars being there to keep me company.

Time and space had a lot to do with the two sets of music that followed. Very different than most nero shows; very loopy, very Tricky-type jammy, very trance-y. Sorry Dave, but I gotta mention the part about Cynthia telling me that she thought your fly was open and how it took about ten minutes to determine that yes indeed your fly was alllll the way down, and had been for some time. I wonder if anybody else had noticed. Everyone sure did when I told you. Living every performers nightmare. Thank ye gods there was hardly a soul there.

Packed up and had a party on the bus with Caution Jam as we drove back to the motel (we were staying in the same place). We joined the band downstairs for a noise complaint around 4:20. I thought it was bad that the four of us were stuck in just one room with a couple of cots...Caution jam is a six piece!

Made it up to the room in time to catch the Miami Vice episode with Frank Zappa as the bad guy and passed out. Jay got up at 5:30 and caught a flight back straight to work. What a trooper. Shane, Dave and I got up at noon and spent the day wondering if the bus was going to make it back. Sure enough it was all just parental propaganda; we made it back without a hitch after another great time out east. Really a bit of training ground. This was nero's longest tour so far, nine shows in eleven days, and a good warmup for the west coast tour which starts in April and will last about six weeks and be about thirty shows. If it's half as much fun and only twice as many hassles, it'll be more than worth it. Shelah.

Quote of the Day: "Keep comin'..a little farther...Okay, whoa. Whoa. WHOA! WHOAWHOAWHOAWH....Pull ahead pull ahead!!! Say nothing!"

I

El Vez

Gordon's Revenge>

Oregano Mice>

Linus & Lucy>

Beaver Carcass>

Centregnome>

Miko Mard

Speed Queen

II

Tonto's Underwater Paradise>

401 Theme

Chocolate Funky Machine

Wata Bug

Howler, Yeah, you're in. Sloth is in on the way home only, right? And I think BB is in. Might like to reserve a spot on that floor, if Sloth and Howler are in...

Dunno. You were the dancing dude with the hat?

Believe it or not, that other guy books the bands at the Comfort Zone. Bit of a freak, eh?

I'll be there. And don't forget, Herbie and the amazing Roy Hargrove will be playing together in Ottawa in late June.

Oh, see, I lost the bet, and had to give the waitress 25 cents. Darn.