This blog chronicles events that took place June 2-3, two shows we did with the Meat Purveyors in St. Louis and Chicago.

So!  Xenia, Mark and I flew into St. Louis the night before our show there, and an old college buddy of Mark's picked us up at the airport and took us to his place.  Not sure if I should mention his name, but I'd sure like to give him credit for his fabulous hosting talents!  Cold beers, tequila, sweet-gorgeous-ultra-cool girlfriend, more friends shuffling in, great tunes, pizza and other goodies.. we were in heaven!

The show in St. Louis (at Off Broadway) was about the most fun I'd had in awhile.  Everyone's spirits were high and we were all high on spirits.  Ear-to-ear smiles all around.  Nice, right?  After the show, I went with Jo (from Meat Purvs) and my Kansas City friend, April, over to Vappa's place.  We stayed up late and got even sillier.  Not sure, but I think I made out with Vappa.  You know, things got a little blurry there at the end. I woke up on the couch in the living room, yet my glasses were in his room, all covered in nose grease.  (I was trying to play it cool in the morning, in an either-way scenario- a talent I'm way-too-good-at, sadly.)  Anyway, if I did actually make out with him, I totally scored.  Cos he was really cool.

Saturday morning we scrambled together and met up with the other Purvs, and organized ourselves for the trek to Chicago.  Xenia and Mark and Shannon (Mark's wife) were on the other side of St. Louis with *Unnamed Host*.. so I just rode with the Purvs and they all went on their own.

Meanwhile, Xenia had woken up feeling a little weak.  She'd been sick the week prior to this trip, so was trying to take care of herself.  Our *Unnamed Host* had a bottle of Echinacea capsules on the counter, so she helped herself- hoping to boost her immune system.

Half-way to Chicago, Xenia started feeling a little funny.  She was back-tracking everything she'd ingested that day, and got to the Echinacea capsules.  That's when *Unnamed Host* said, "Uhhh... that wasn't Echinacea!!!!!"  Turns out, *Unnamed Host* had ground up some psychadelic mushrooms into a fine powder, encapsulated them, and thrown them into an empty bottle marked "Echinacea."  So, Xenia was basically tripping balls at this point.  Nice.

Let me back up and say that our Chicago gig was really important to us.  We broke our backs getting our new CD recorded and ready to go in time for this trip, because some big-wigs from our favorite record label were going to be there.  Okay?.. and now Xenia's accidentally tripping....!... wha?.. you can't make this shit up.

We all met up at the venue in Chicago (Empty Bottle) and that's when I found out about the "Echinacea Incident."  I laughed my ass off at Xenia's dilated pupils for about 10 minutes, until I realized... "fuck, we gotta get on stage and impress people"... yikes!  Meanwhile, we'd been invited to a BBQ hosted by the dude who runs our favorite record label.  Great.

So Bill and Cherylin drove Mark, Xenia and I to this BBQ.  The meat was grilling and some weird spiced rum drinks were pouring.  Xenia was all feeling-the-bark-on-the-trees and other such trippy nonsense... I was just as equally cracking up at her as I was trying to shrink into nothing so as not to call any more attention to my retarded band in front of *Head of Record Label* hosting the BBQ.

*Head of Record Label* gave Xenia the job of carving the brisket.  I can't even go into it.  Let's just say, it took awhile.

Phrase of the night:  GOOOOOD LAWRD!!!!

As it turned out, we played one of our best sets ever.  And yet, no contracts were signed nor offered.  But, hey... I'm sure we impressed the hell out of them!  I mean, really!  (I still try to shrink into nothing when I think about this!)

*Unnamed Host* later mailed us Xenia's shoes, which she'd left behind in his car.  In the package, he sent us some more "Echinacea".. only this time, he labeled the bottle "NOT Echinacea" (see pic).

True Story.

-Camille.

 

 

Which was nice, since my temp job ended up being way shorter than I expected! You know, being a starving musician AND paying the bills can be quite an adventure. But when you make out your budget and then your income suddenly disappears.... ouch!

So, dear sweet Xenia is a self-employed gardener, and she's really good at it. If you ever need a landscape design or other plant-related assistance, you should check her out! Anyway, she put my idle hands to work, which I really appreciate. I also learned a LOT today, as we weeded around the landscaping of some condo-plex in Montclair (or where ever the heck we were). Here's what I learned:

* How to start up a leafblower! I also learned that blowing leaves is harder than it looks. (I SUCK at blowing! But Xenia's really good at it. Ask anyone.)
* Xenia has a least favorite weed. It's called the "pop weed" and features these seed pods that explode and scatter when you touch them. So basically, while you're weeding them, you're creating exponentially more future weeding chores! Hey, I call that JOB SECURITY!
* The Oleander stalks we trimmed are poisonous and you ought not eat them. Not that I was planning to eat them, but thanks for the heads up, Xenia!
* I learned that my normally rock-solid stomach gets a little queazy when I have to handle some dude's used condom. Yes, I was wearing gloves. And yes, I suppose I'm glad the culprit practiced safe sex before hurling his "stuff" into the garden. But come on, guys! Pack it out! (leave only buttprints?) Someone eventually has to touch that thing, right? grody.
* And on that note, I vowed to never toss a cigarette butt into a garden. Never again, promise.

So, thanks, Xenia for throwing me a little cash and teaching me some stuff! It was also nice just hanging out and catching up on our favorite topics: Music, and boys. It was a bit cold and windy, but it was a very nice morning.

xoxo
camille.