eekie's Church Excursion -- Part 2 -- Falls Church

Had a nice sleep in Pittsburgh in the nice comfy bed at my hotel. That was a really good thing because I was very tired and sore after that first show -- I actually wondered how I was going to manage the rest of my trip if I was that miserable after just one gig. However, apparently that sleep did wonders for me because I didn't feel that bad on the rest of my trip.

So I checked out of my hotel, loaded up my car, fired up my GPS, and headed out to the next destination -- Falls Church, VA. What a beautiful drive -- I loved all the hills and the trees, just how green and lush it was. And since it only took a bit over four hours I didn't feel at all rushed.

I have to mention my GPS device here -- it is, without a doubt, THE BEST INVENTION EVER!!!! I didn't get lost once -- granted, most of the time I didn't know exactly where I was, but Garmina (that's what I named it) did, and she (this unit has a female voice, so I think of it as a she) always got us where I wanted to go. When I disregarded her instructions (there were times I wasn't comfortable making a turn she suggested, and occasionally I would go left instead of right because I'm hopeless at knowing my right from left) she would simply say "recalculating" and give me new directions. I absolutely love how she says "recalculating!" She gives this little sigh and sounds so disappointed -- did anyone else's mom say "I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed" when you did something stupid? Well, that's how this voice sounds when she says recalculating. I love that -- it always makes me laugh. I hadn't even tried it out until the day I started on my trip, but it's very easy to use and I learned to rely on it very quickly. So I highly recommend a GPS for anyone travelling to unfamiliar locations, or for those, who like me, are directionally challenged. Ask around for which models people like best though -- the band had GPS units in the vans, but those often gave the instructions a bit late and they actually turned the voice prompts off in at least one van. Garmina was good -- she gave me plenty of warning before I'd have to make a turn, etc.

Garmina in action!


So I find the venue and locate a parking lot close by -- there was only one empty space when I pulled in and this huge Ford Expedition was trying to wiggle into it. To my complete joy, however, the Expedition was just too damned big and had to abandon it's quest for the spot and I smugly tucked my little rental into the spot. Nah nah nah nah nah! I head off in what I think is the direction of the venue (I'm thinking "what I need is a GPS unit implanted in my brain...") and I see this little group of people, so I figure "aha! I am going in the right direction!" I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself.

Suddenly I hear this lovely familiar voice call out my name and everyone else in that little group turns and gives me this "who the hell is she?" look. Yep, Steve is holding court behind the venue (and I actually was going in the correct direction! Yay!) -- giving an impromptu yoga lesson (there are a couple of photos on HW). We say our hellos and he continues chatting with the little group, and I hear my name again. This time it's PV! Turns out he's out for a week to video the band and will be at all the rest of "my" shows. I like PV a lot. He's a genuinely nice guy and I've always enjoyed talking to him (a few days later these two things turn out to be VERY good :-) ). He's also the first of my internet Church buddies I met in person.

Steve finishes chatting and heads back inside...suddenly he stops, turns around and says "Holly, c'mon!" Being ever the bright child I say "huh?" lol He says "you want to come upstairs?" Again I see the "who the hell is she" looks (gotta admit that feels kind of cool) as we go in. So was there any big excitement upstairs (the performer lounge area), you ask? Well, of course -- cheesy 80's videos and interviews (including one of SK) on You Tube complete with commentary by Steve! It was just light and fun and pleasant. For me the highlight was the video Steve introduced as "the worst video ever": "Ooh La La, by The Venetians. Click here for the link (sorry, embedding was disabled). Pay particular attention to the drummer. It's Tim. lol! Much laughter.

So, eekie, I hear you ask, how was the actual show?

Fan-fucking-tastic! This was the show I was hoping for. Merch Stephen (as opposed to singer Steven ;-) ) said after the show that he knew right off it was going to be something special when they came out and noodled around a bit (musically) before plowing into Tantalized. You know, I think he was right too...that noodling around was a bit like...well...foreplay. And it's always better to have a bit of foreplay than just your basic wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. :-)

Now none of the shows I saw were bad -- not even Pittsburgh, which was my least favourite -- but during this one they all seemed to be firing on all cylinders. After the show Steve even said it had been his favourite thus far. Yeah, it really was that good. And this was their sixth show in a row, which to me makes it even more impressive. There were a few problems (mostly some tuning issues), but they didn't derail the show -- it had enough momentum to keep going in a good direction. Plus it was a good (appreciative) crowd and a nice venue. That helps too.

This time I made sure to be closer to the front too. I wanted to feel a greater connection than I did at the back of the venue. It was a mostly seated venue (much of it reserved), but there was an open area right in front of the stage. I went there and stood against the railing at the back of it. I was pretty far to Marty's side, but also had a very good view of Steve and Tim and a pretty good view of Peter and Craig (guest keyboard player). Worked for me anyway -- I was grinning like a fool the whole show.

Here's a pic I took of SK during the show. It isn't great, but Falls Church marked the very first time I have ever taken pics at a concert, so I'm showing one. Now you know why I don't take pics at concerts! LOL!



Immeditely after the show I went out and helped Stephen with merch. It was busy! People were buying like crazy. The merch was set up in the lobby as you came in (and went out), there was plenty of room to display it nicely, and there was good light so you could see it well. I think those factors really helped with the sales...and the fabulous show also helped make people more willing to plunk down their money.

Steve and Marty came out to the lobby to meet fans. It was really cool watching -- people were genuinely happy and although I'm not sure Steve is ever completely comfortable (I notice he often slipped behind the merch table when he came out -- I think that functioned a bit as a security blanket for him), he is gracious, sweet and funny. I was really proud of him. Marty, of course, was in his element.

A pic of Steve behind the merch table (right beside me, hence the pic. Sorry it's so dark) in Falls Church.



Helped pack up and drag merch out to the vehicles at the back of the venue. One of the venue staff said she was pretty sure the amount of merch they had to sell was a record for the venue. There certainly was a whole lot of it (something like 84 different items at the beginning)!

Here's a pic of the boxes of merch that we had just dragged out of the venue (the girl in the pic was venue staff). There was still more (extras) in the trailer. When they started on the tour, that trailer was completely full of merch.

eekie's Church Excursion -- Part 1 -- Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh was the first stop on my Church excursion and as the days wound down to it, I couldn't help wish it was still a few weeks off. I'd just moved into a new place the Tuesday before and was still trying to figure out where everything was (I'm still working on that actually!). I was tired and cranky and hadn't had time to really get in the mood for this. But I knew I'd be unhappy if I didn't go, so I went anyway.

There was a vague plan to meet up with a few people (Ann -- CouldBeAnyone on HW, John, Freida (posts as Freddie on SK blog comments), Noel, and also Kim from SK's exhibition) before the show, but nothing definite had been set up. I was a couple hours late getting started and then hit a traffic jam going into the city (baseball game, I think), so by the time I get checked into my hotel and walked to the venue (about 1/2 mile away) the doors had been open a little while.

Both Steve and Marty had told me Do. Not. Buy. Tickets., and Tiare had emailed to ask which shows I was planning on attending so I could be put on the guest list, so I fought my complusion to buy tickets and went up to the box office and said "I should be on the guest list" and sure enough I was! Whew! In one of my email replies to Steve about not buying tickets I wrote something like "Ok, I won't buy any. But, just so you know, I'll have nightmares about not being on the list and being refused entry!" lol!

That over (whew!), I went in, checked out the merch table and said hi to Stephen (Second Motion Records) there. There had been an email sent out asking for volunteers to help him with the merch and I had said I would at the shows I attended. He said he didn't need help during the shows, but might immediately after when a lot of people buy things, and also with tearing down and loading out. I'm just weird enough to think that would be pretty fun. :-) After the show John and I helped Stephen count t-shirts (the venue took a cut of all t-shirt sales) and then carry boxes out to the van/trailer. Marty also helped load out the merch. I'm not sure I helped a whole lot this time, but I got better at it on subsequent days.

Tiare took me upstairs to say hi to everyone. Got a big hug from Marty -- I can't help it, Marty almost always makes me smile. He's such an exuberant guy. Got a hug from Steve and then we talked art business for a bit. I didn't stay up there too long because they need some time to prepare for the show and didn't need me hanging around. One of the best things to know is when to leave. As I was leaving though I saw Terri! Denise and Staci -- remember her from Chicago (and also Milwaukee for Staci)? I didn't really expect her to be in Pittsburgh, so that was a nice surprise.

I'm much more comfortable with them in person this time than I was during the last tour. I think more years of dealing with Steve and now also Marty has really helped with my confidence level. Plus I was really busy leading up to the tour and simply didn't have time to work myself into a panic. While I would like to have been more excited about the start of the tour, in a way it really helped me be more calm about many things which in turn actually increased my enjoyment.

The show itself.... I have to admit I wasn't really in the right mood for it. I was tired and still thinking of the people I was supposed to meet with and found it hard to focus on the show. I stood at the back of the room because I just didn't want to deal with the crowd. I did enjoy the show, and the band certainly performed well, but I wasn't into it as much as I could have been and I found the sound very echo-y which I think also helped keep me from being able to get into it that much. I've read some glowing reviews of the gig (the people that wrote at least two of them were right up front, so maybe the sound was better there. And I'm also guessing they were in a more receptive mood for the show than I was.), but it wasn't all that great for me.

For me the most enjoyable part of Pittsburgh was meeting and talking to so many people. I still had a wonderful time, but I was very happy I would be seeing more shows. I most certainly wanted a show to soar for me.

I cried

when I read SK's blog today.

Yeah, yeah, I know to many people that cements me as a pathetic sycophant, but I just couldn't help it. I realise part of SK's melancholia is because the tour is ending and always happens after a tour, but what he wrote about their last show -- them playing a great gig and most people just drifting away -- I just found very sad. Steve's hurt is just so palpable as he keeps repeating that the audience just left. It was almost like a sad, sad mantra. So much of the reason they tried playing festivals is to try to garner new fans, but they just don't seem to be able to convert many people -- even when they play a scorching set. To play your heart out and have most of the crowd just leave...that has to really hurt. And I also think Steve (and I'm sure the rest too) had thought/hoped the overwhelmingly positive reviews for Untitled #23 would help generate a larger than usual buzz for them, but it just doesn't seem to have done that.

I don't think I've ever left a show during a band's set, even if I hated them. I've just not been able to walk out on someone when they are playing no matter how bad they are. It has always seemed like such a personal rejection to me, and I know I'd be hurt if people did it to me. I don't even like to do bathroom or drink breaks during gigs for much the same reason. I guess I'm weird though.

And of course the rest of the blog was pretty damned downbeat too. The tax issue, the lower than hoped for merch sales (even though they were generally good overall), the smaller turnout.... I really enjoyed the shows I saw, but they had quite a few support people along this time around, and as I looked around at the crowds I couldn't help but think they couldn't be making a whole hell of a lot of profit.

The Church makes the music I love the most, and I like them (well, mostly Steve, because he's the one I know best) as people too. So it hurts to see them not only scraping by, but also ignored.