Last night’s show was a lot of fun. We played first and shared the bill with primarily more jazz oriented groups. In other words, we were the only group without a horn to be found amongst us.
Gabe and I took the metro into DC around three, while Mike and his friend Joe met up with another friend in College park. Gabe and I had an overpriced, but delicious, late lunch at an open air french place in Dupont Circle. We asked the waitstaff for a place with good beer. The directed us towards a place called the Something-skeller or something like that. After walking around for a while we found it, unfortunately it wasn’t open.
We walked took a cab to the Velvet Lounge, which was also closed, and had a beer at a place we are pretty sure was a gay sports bar. Not in the sense of a derogatorily referred to bar (ala “this place is gay”) but an actual gay sports bar. Interesting. Flat screen tv’s with sports on every wall, sports memorabilia, coupled with seven dollar Stellas, two kinds of toilet paper in a bathroom with fancy fancy fixtures and full-doored bathroom stalls, and a large amount of gay men working and drinking.
We found a dumpster full of broken drum gear and invented a back story involving a drunk and ornery heavy metal drummer who was fired mid-set. Gabe got himself a new drum stool potentially covered with the ass sweat of said heavy metal drummer.
The doors to the bar opened far later than we had hoped, but we got to meet Paul Flagherty and a few members of Fight the Big Bull from Richmond, Virginia while waiting outside.
Our set went real well — especially for my first set with KBD in its “orthodox” trio formation. We set up in front of the stage and played while Marty McCavitt from Fight the Bull fiddled silently with his gear behind me. It was an interesting sensation and caused a bit of welcome urgency and anticipatory expectation to the set (for me, at least).
Fight the Big Bull were monsters. Real interesting big band stuff. Two trombones, two saxes, a drummer, bassist, guitarist (who also appeared to be the band leader), and the afore mentioned keyboardist who, among a gaggle of gear, had a sort of deconstructed autoharp sitting atop his Rhodes.
Next up, was a free improv group with Elliot Levin from Philly. I re-introduced my self to him before the gig and mentioned some common folk we know from Philly. He filled me in on some of the latest from home. The group was the creation of drummer, Scott Verrastro, who also booked the show that evening.
Last up for the evening was the duo of Paul Flaherty and Randall Colbourne. For those who stuck around, they were treated to some real pros of free improv. Just a sax and drums. Real expressive and real cool.
We left the Velvet Lounge following the sets only to have to return in order to rescue Gabe’s forgotten credit card.
Next, off to Bard College.
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