final set

The venue itself was reminiscent of the U-Club, VZD, and Subterranea in that it was small and intimate with a stage only about waist high. Also it was spare to say the least without chairs and little other comforts. I erroneously thought the club had only just opened and then only for this one show - with all the lights and few amenities moved in at the last second. Basically it was a warehouse with a rudimentry bar and stage.

I arrived about 2 hours early and after looking the place over seeked out a few older more comfortable haunts until showtime. About a half-hour before showtime the sparse crowd of about 150 - 200 trickled in. A few old faces from many years before were in evidence but what was surprising was how many of the "regulars" who resided right in Norman never showed. Strange.

Among the notables who did show was Wayne Coyne, the head Lip himself, being unobtrusive and low key yet still attracting a small crowd of hangers-on nonetheless. Nice that he was in evidence and paying honor to the band and nice too that most of the crowd left him alone to enjoy the show. One of the regulars I recognized was Bill Blanchard - former Owl House denizen and as far as I know the only video chronicler of the band. He caught the band in its infancy for a college project. Tonight was no exception. He had come from as far away as Arizona to be here and was well armed with his camcorder. I too was ready with my (t)rusty Pentax K-1000 to catch the band in action. We exchanged hellos and got primed for the show. The feeling was edgy as we waited - as I would have expected but also it was queer and creepy. Something didn't feel quite right, something was out its orbit, something was strange and it was going to get stranger.

Next to me at the edge of the stage (where I expected everyone to be before too long) was perhaps the youngest fan of the band. She was about 12-years-old and dressed out just for the occasion. I asked if her parents were fans of the group and if she had been dragged there. No - she was the fan who had dragged mom and dad there. Oh yeah - what's your favorite song? She proceeded to give me a discourse on the merits of her favorite and not-so-favorite songs by the group. Strange...I wanted to ask just how she came by the knowledge but just then the lights went down.

Finally the band appeared mounting the stage without a warmup group and no fanfare. Tyson looked tired and drawn. He was in fact coming down with the flu and had an evil sore throat but he soldiered on. That cast a pall on the proceedings. Chris Royse looked as though he hadn't aged a day and I was hoping he'd buoy up the spirit a little with his smiling banter as he had done so many years before. However he not only didn't banter, he didn't even smile. In fact he looked as though someone had keyraked his car or was playing with splinters under his fingernails. As the show progressed I'd hoped his mood might improve - but it never did. Very strange.

Todd Walker played well, was enthusiastic and fairly dragged the band through its very abbreviated set. Only in the last song did the band actually gel and we got that glimpse of what we had all seen so many years before and what we had waited 17 years to see again - and it was magic. But before we knew it - it was all over - just like that. What I thought was the end of the first set was the end of the entire show. Eight songs. Barely a half hour and that was it. Okay - well afterwards it'll be nice to say hellos and watch them wade through the crowd of well-wishers. But no they headed directly to the side exit. I was lucky enough to grab the setlist and to thank them for the show as they headed out the door. No high fives, no riotous yelling, no hugs all around - just see ya later.

Well that's how it ended - like we never expected it would. Not with a bang, not with a whimper but with a shrug. Maybe that is why it has taken me 5 years to write it all down.

And that was it - really it and I didn't realize just how over it was until a few days later. I had asked Bill if I could get a copy of his tape. Unfortunately he said just as the band mounted the stage his battery died. No video. Oh - nooo. That was awful but not to worry I had taken about 32 shots of the group and I'd be glad to share. But it was not to be. Unbeknownst to me my flash had screwed up (or I screwed it up) and the photos that came out were the most over-exposed offal I have ever seen. Nothing went right and now it was really over and the only thing there was to look foward to was a long cold drive home.

aftermath

all text and images © defenestrationfan all rights reserved