Ramblings of Reuben

What a Saturday!
Where should I begin?
I’ll just take us through the day as it went.

Ry called me about nine and asked me to join them for breakfast. I rode over to Waffles Plus and met him and his girlfriend for a good ol’ home town breakfast. After which we headed to the Tattoo Expo.
The Expo was a blast, lots of great artists showing their work. It gave me a lot of ideas for my next few pieces. The hum of the tattoo guns could be heard coming from every direction. The artist Enigma was there, it was cool to see his puzzle pieces and the horns were neat. Rob Hill was there too, but we were not able to stay late enough to see his sideshow, but I hear he can spit a bad ass flame ball!
Hot Rod Tattoo had a booth set up. I was able to meet Alx and see some of his other work. He does nice work. I am going to have him do my arm band. I’m going to try to get it next week.

I took Ry to P.F. Chang’s for dinner before the show. I made reservations about a week early, which I am glad I did because it was packed, but we got right in. The waitress was excellent as she even knew how to mix the sauce! The food was great too. I had the salmon and Ry a vegan dish. It was Ry’s first time there and im sure it won’t be his last.

We walked from P.F.C over to The Big Easy. It’s only about 4 blocks. As we cross the street and walk in front of The Bing there was a guy standing outside his car with a huge bouquet of flowers, his sweet looking little convertible Mercedes with the top down blasting The Smiths. I believe he was playing Boy with a Thorn. Ry and I commented on the music, and the guy excitedly said “You know he is here tonight.” To which I pulled out our tickets and flashed them as Ry boasted “Hell yeah! We are going!” Then with a quick “We will see you inside” we were off to the show.

The Big Easy was setup like I had not seen it before. The Under 21 crowd was shuffled up to the top floor. This left the dance floor open to the adults and we were able to take our drinks wherever we wanted on the bottom floor.
Two huge pictures of James Dean filled the back wall. There was a big gong behind the main drum, which I couldn’t wait to hear them use.

Opening act was a gal named Kristeen Young. She stood at her keyboard with one single mic and called us “SpoCandy”, and a young guy sat at a small drum set. He started to bang away at those drums and she played her keyboard and sang. Interesting mix she played. The keyboard sounded gruff and meaty, some kind of piano punk I would call it. The drum beats were smashing and blended will with her pounding of the keys. She was a pretty good act. I am checking out more of her stuff for sure. Some cheese ball on the floor yelled out “We love you, Tori Amos” to which many of the others in the joint did not appreciate. I think it was the same moron who yelled out and asked her name. She pointed to the flashy stickers on her keyboard that said spelled out Kristeen Young with another sticker that said “Rude Girl”, to which the fellow replied “I can’t read.” What a moron! Kristeen took it all in stride and put on a great opening act. I sure see why Morrissey picked her!

Morrissey came to the floor and the joint went nuts. His opening line when he hit the mic was “I’ve come prepared for the execution.” We were about 2 or 3 semi rows of people in front of the stage, so we were up close to see the man enter. Each time we went back to the bar for another drink, which was way too many, we would lose our spot and get pushed back a few more rows of people.
Morrissey was dressed in a Brown shirt and Brown pants with a red tie, the rest of the band all in black shirts and pants. The tie lasted through the first song then was put into his pocket hanging out and used to dab the sweat from his brow. He changed shirts into a Navy blue shirt, and then he changed again this time into a peach colored number. I swear this man.

I vaguely remember his saying something about Wichita, but some parts of the night are a little fuzzy. Some of the witty things that Morrissey said during the show were:

“The drunker you get, the better the songs will sound”
“Let’s go out hunting…Let’s shoot us some hunters” in a funny Englishman’s version of a Hick voice.
“Spokane, my face is leaving in 10 minutes…and you’d better be on it.”

And here is what he played:

The Queen Is Dead / First Of The Gang To Die / You Have Killed Me / Disappointed / The Youngest Was The Most Loved / All You Need Is Me / Ganglord / The National Front Disco / Lucky Lisp / The Boy With The Thorn In His Side / Irish Blood, English Heart / I Will See You In Far Off Places / Everyday Is Like Sunday / Let Me Kiss You / Life Is A Pigsty / How Soon Is Now? / In The Future When All’s Well / I Just Want To See The Boy Happy // You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side

For the die hard Morrissey fans this venue is a pain for the simple fact that the stage is so high that it’s almost impossible to get up there and give him a hug. Not to mention the over populated security staff that The Big Easy has. One gal tried but missed and was carried away seemingly unconscious. Morrissey had a very concerned look on his face and shook his head but continued to sing, it just goes to show how much compassion that man has.
Toward the end of the night the man we saw outside The Bing was making his way to the front with his flowers. He gave them to Morrissey on the side of the stage, and got a hand shake. Then Morrissey stuck the flowers into the center of the bass drum, until they fell on the floor.

For my first Morrissey show I was really impressed. Even if it was at that dive they call The Big Easy. I will be sure to catch him next time!

After the show was finished we called and had my wife come pick us up. Good things that we had a ride, we were shitfaced! I got in the car and went on a rant about Morrissey’s sweat pattern on his back. I swear that man sweats in the shape of a heart! No wonder I felt the need to give him a hug!

I spent the next few hours passed out on the bathroom floor. That’s when you know you had a great night!

TTFN.