We are the leaders of the Renegade Soundsystem!

Hey friends!

So last night we played at a new venue in St Louis called the Bluebird, which is just your stereotypical rock club, except for the fact that they have gourmet food. I was starving after load in, and Marshall had the good fortitude and wherewithall to ask the friendly barmaid for a menu. I rapidly spun around on the couch (yes they even had a couch) and said "DID I HEAR MENU?" Now, she brought out these little one-page-under-plastic menues, and I immediately cringe and begin having fitfull recollections of my fried salad debacle in Middle-o-nowhere Pennsylvania. A glance around the room seemed to verify my Spidey-sense, things seemed a bit amiss, with the doorway to the kitchen that was really just a huge hole in the wall where someone had probably driven their car through there.  They had put a sliding door over the gaping void, which itself was actually just the section of wall that had been knocked down....I kid, I kid. 

Browsing the list of available faire, my fears were momentarily calmed by the first item up for bid.  Toasted ravioli in homemade marinara.  Hey, not so bad, there was hope! But the thing took a nose dive from there.  Down through the list of fried goods, breaded goods, etc etc. I play it safe and order the turkey sammich and a side of steak fries.  Marsh goes with the burger, as does Tour Manager Jay.  Derek, not seeing a choice of Veggie Burger ANYWHERE on the menu's list of 9 available items, goes ahead and orders the Veggie Burger. I start chuckling. The waitress shakes her head in a motion that indicates she does not have a Veggie Burger.  I tell her I'd like to change my order, and pointing to a blank spot on the menu, I say, "Please bring me your Beef Wellington, as well as a side of the Pad Thai Noodles in the home made Peanut Curry sauce....see, it's a $19.95 combo deal right here under the Veggie Buger."

She walks away.  Marshall and Jay (forever now known as TMJ) are laughing.  Derek is chastizing me, alluding to the fact that though the menu said burger, it didn't say explicitly that they were beef.  I point out that banks don't have signs that explicitly say you can't rob them and walk away from the conversation to set up my gear.

The fellas in Push Play (an amazing group of guys, and a heck of a good band) are setting up on stage at this point.  They have a huge fanbase of underage girls, and there is a Beatles-esque mobscene brewing outside the door. I step out for a second to ascertain the whereabouts of the van so I can get my tool kit, and with a series of shrills screams a swarm of no less than 14 girls descended on me and ripped my shirt and one of my shoes clean off, vanishing into the surroundings just as quickly.  I dart back into the door, checking myself for scratches or loss of limbs.  CJ, the singer of Push Play, feigns a nod of "I told you so man..."  Back in the early days of Absentstar, we played for some crowds that had similar scenes, only instead of high school girls clawing at us, it was one drunk man wearing a leather doo-rag named Tuna.  My how times change.

Shirtless but otherwise unscathed, I spy my turkey sando across the room.  Now, based on my knowledge of bar food, I was thinking that my sando would be the type of non-edible turkey-smeat that you get in the little plastic baggie at the Shell station.  However, this thing looked like it had been sliced right off a succulent Thanksgiving bird! Oh my! All I needed now was a pair of sweat pants, a recliner, and the Chicago Bears to go ahead and pay Brett Favre to come to QB the team next year for the Thanksgiving game, and the rest of the season.  It was top notch.  In fact it was so good, that I went to find the chef and tell him so.  He said it was an Amish recipe.

So we played our show, a stripped down set, for a hundred or so screaming kids.  From somewhere on the far left of the stage right after the third song, tiny voices ring out "WE LOVE YOU HEATH!!"  The band members all turn to look at me with faces of disgust and respect, before Derek scolds them, saying that I already have trouble finding hats that fit properly without them swelling my head any larger!

And now, just like Paul Harvey....is the rest of the story.

Earlier in the evening an amazing band called One Lone Car (Check them out!) is onstage playing.  I see a few girls sitting on one of the nearby sofas, and being the good Absentstar ambassador that I am, I amble over to make pleasantries with with, or otherwise say hello.  I ask them if they were planning to sit through our entire set too, or if they could maybe just watch a few songs.  They giggle, and say they will watch.  Then I get this idea.  I tell them "Well, if you really want to be cool, sometime in the middle of our show, during a quiet part, yell out "WE LOVE YOU HEATH!!!"  More giggles. They said they would do it, and they delieverd.  And that, my friends, is the rest of the story.  It was a pretty funny moment!

So after the show, I'm walking around, making all manner of small talk with the crowd, trying to turn on another fan or two, and I realize just how amazing all these STL kids really are.  It's always so amazing to see kids that are enamored with rock music.  Later, outside, I stood around for a good half an hour, talking with a group of about 10 kids and one ultra-cool Mom.  We talked music, music industry, candy, jewelry, etc.  I traded some pieces of my flair to them in exchange for some of theirs.  It was a really amazing experience, and hopefully we made some life-long Absentstar fans of them.  Can't wait to get back to STL and see them again!! I know I'm forgetting names, but I think it was like, Melanie, Jessica, Spencer, Casey.....ummm. I'm sorry.  I feel like I'm at the oscars and I've just won the award for best actor in a foreign cartoon, and I've lost my notes.  Only instead of just acting like I can't remember everyone's name, I actually can't.  But I remember you all!  I know I took pictures with most of you, so post them up on our comment page!!

Seriously though, St Louis has a lot of really amazing kids, who want me to pass this little tidbit of info on to all other touring bands "Stop passing STL up on your way to another city! Play shows in STL!"  There, I said it.

So with that, it's on to Chicago.  Metro show Friday night.  Can't wait. I want to see everyone there! Then another Absentstar/Push Play show in Grand Rapid MI on Saturday.

See you soon!!!

Heath.absentstar