Paw Paw
I wasn't feeling the groove of this one Species Being national tour until we hit Kalamazoo, MI, of all places. We played a good set, the other band was pretty cool, the venue treated us well, and the small audience was super appreciative (unlike all the jaded audiences in the big cities). Then I was told we scored a place to stay tonight.
What place? Well, I'm a total introvert so I'm never part of the wheeling and dealing to coerce strangers to let me and a pack of fellow smelly men stay at their house. I usually just get in the van and go wherever everybody else is for the evening. Tonight our destination happened to be in the nearby town of Paw Paw.
I didn't question anything until we arrived. It was a party house. The average age of the residents and their increasing numbers of friends was 20. The decoration was archetypical of a late 90's college age shared living situation: Ironic photos on the fridge. Random dusty, uncomfortable furniture. Pictures clipped out of magazines all over the bathroom walls. A communal cigarette lighter dangling from the ceiling via duct tape and curly phone wire.
As the house filled I coerced myself to chat with these youngsters. Pretty soon it became clear that nobody here actually attended our show tonight. So.. how is it that we came to be invited to this shindig? Or are we just crashing it? This was never clearly answered. I did have a embarrassingly geeky discussion with one nerdy guy about SETI@home, so it turns out I had a fan of sorts here. I guess.
I was really hoping for sleep, but that wasn't gonna happen. Some of us older rocker dudes took over a couch and just sat there watching the festivities unfold. I came to learn the main reason for this party was one kid's 21st birthday party. He and all his cronies were snorting ritalin then freaking out dancing to the soundtrack of Trainspotting. This tomfoolery was hilarious and entertaining but I desperately needed z's.
Things eventually settled down by 4:00am. Somebody put in a videotape of The Outsiders. Given I was 50% older than most everybody here it was an apt flick, at least in title. I tried to close my eyes and maybe snooze but I gave up and went to try to sleep in the van. I walked outside.
Oh shit - the sun already rose. I woke up poor Mitch (already in the van) as I maneuvered into a barely comfortable position on one of the seats. Then Eli woke me up a half hour later as he attempted the same. I got maybe 30 minutes of shuteye before the rest of the band appeared because we had to hit the road for the next gig, which was tonight and all the way in frickin' Minneapolis..
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