September 1 2007: Drew Hickum Band - Elks Lodge Pavillion, West Springfield MA
West Springfield...Western Massachusetts...Western New England...the Elks Lodge's Country West Fest...goddamn am I glad I live in the west.
So Drew was supposed to drink a beer with me last night but instead he called to say he was, quote, "running a little behind on the dinner cleanup." I informed him that I was sure he doesn't need friends so long as he has clean dishes. And predictably he didn't have much to say in response. But he did offer me a free ticket to Country West Fest. And I took him up on said offer. Because what else is a guy to do?
And so it came to pass that at 6pm I picked Caitlin up and we drove ourselves to the West Springfield Elks Lodge. Where there was no one in the parking lot. And just as we were starting to laugh our collective asses off that we were going to be the sole audience members at the Country West Fest we noticed a couple of high school-age kids pointing our auto to a long driveway that eventually led us to what we later learned is technically termed the Elks Lodge Pavillion, aka a tent with a stage in the middle of a field that sells draft Budweiser for $2.
So we drank $2 Buds with Drew and Lisa and Matt and their girlfriends (sans Mariah, who was in Worcester) for a couple hours (the Hickum Band was supposed to go on at 7pm but, seriously, one cannot expect the Country West Fest to stay on schedule, what with the crowd control required by the DOZENS of people who showed up) and had some laughs and I had a good time with Matt's friend Mya (I think that's her name?) talking about Portland and Sleater-Kinney and Slabtown and stuff of that nature.
And then, after the 16-year-old girl who sang a set of tunes with only a CD to back her (i.e., um, KARAOKE) finally finished, it was time to rock and roll. And as such the announcer says, fucking QUOTE, "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Drew Hickman and the Mystery of Funk." I shit nobody not. That's what the dude said. And they went straight into "1872." Beautiful.
And it really was a great night - no haze, no humidity, the perfect night for $2 swill beer and quality laughs and country music in the great out of doors. I can't imagine what else I might have rather done.
So Drew was supposed to drink a beer with me last night but instead he called to say he was, quote, "running a little behind on the dinner cleanup." I informed him that I was sure he doesn't need friends so long as he has clean dishes. And predictably he didn't have much to say in response. But he did offer me a free ticket to Country West Fest. And I took him up on said offer. Because what else is a guy to do?
And so it came to pass that at 6pm I picked Caitlin up and we drove ourselves to the West Springfield Elks Lodge. Where there was no one in the parking lot. And just as we were starting to laugh our collective asses off that we were going to be the sole audience members at the Country West Fest we noticed a couple of high school-age kids pointing our auto to a long driveway that eventually led us to what we later learned is technically termed the Elks Lodge Pavillion, aka a tent with a stage in the middle of a field that sells draft Budweiser for $2.
So we drank $2 Buds with Drew and Lisa and Matt and their girlfriends (sans Mariah, who was in Worcester) for a couple hours (the Hickum Band was supposed to go on at 7pm but, seriously, one cannot expect the Country West Fest to stay on schedule, what with the crowd control required by the DOZENS of people who showed up) and had some laughs and I had a good time with Matt's friend Mya (I think that's her name?) talking about Portland and Sleater-Kinney and Slabtown and stuff of that nature.
And then, after the 16-year-old girl who sang a set of tunes with only a CD to back her (i.e., um, KARAOKE) finally finished, it was time to rock and roll. And as such the announcer says, fucking QUOTE, "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Drew Hickman and the Mystery of Funk." I shit nobody not. That's what the dude said. And they went straight into "1872." Beautiful.
And it really was a great night - no haze, no humidity, the perfect night for $2 swill beer and quality laughs and country music in the great out of doors. I can't imagine what else I might have rather done.
posted by Peter Sohriakoff | 11:58 PM
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