[drumming diary] Jedi Mind Tricks

As usual, we had to wait for Cullen's to clear out the tables nearest the window before we could load our gear in, so Tony and I just set up camp in the valet loading zone with our hazards on and he, Avi and I hung out on the sidewalk.

Once we were clear to go, we asked the valet if we could stay parked there. For whatever reason, said valet insisted he needed the entirety of the three storefronts as a staging area. Tony moved his SUV, but with the smaller car and about half a car's length of space behind the no parking sign, I very matter-of-factly told said valet I was just going to back up and leave it there.

No further problems. These are not the droids you're looking for.

Funniest part of the evening was probably Avi leading a stunning rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Tony, but articulating himself in such a way that most of the crowd right up front thought his name was "Charlie."

Other than that, the gig itself was mostly uneventful, if you overlook the Ripleys/Diver debut of yours truly on vocals. A friend wanted to hear "Clocks," and Tony didn't know the words. I've forgotten how much of a pain in the ass it is just to keep my mouth right on the microphone while drumming. Obviously, it didn't serve as much of a deterrent, as I grabbed the mic again for an evening-closing rendition of "Times Like These," again because I'm usually shouting the next line to Tony when we're playing it anyway.

Naturally, I totally blanked on the second half of the first verse. I don't know why, but that "I'm a street light shining" line always eludes me. It's uncanny.