Fireside Bowl, Chicago, IL

with Dead Letter Auction, Cataract Falls, Rom and Lazarus Plot. Setlist: Appolonia James, Nowhere In Line, Water Carrier, False Witness, It Won't Be Long, Now I Disappear.

It might be a good time to describe the Jumping Bomb Angel live show routine, now that we've been playing out for a while and have the system down pretty well. It starts on the last night of practice before the show, which in this case was a Friday. We run through the set a couple of times, take innumerable breaks (!) and iron out any last-minute confusion. About a half hour before practice ends, we take down all the equipment and load it into my car. This in itself does not seem like a difficult job, but we manage to find some new way to run out of room each time we play out. The rack toms on Amy's drum kit were the culprits this time, so we threw them in the back seat and considered our problem solved. The equipment then sits in my car for as many as 2-3 days, depending on how far away the show is.

I'd never actually been to the Fireside Bowl before, though I had accidentally found it last December on my all-too-confusing adventure to Thurston's. We went on first and played a half-hour set that was solid all around. All I could hear onstage were bass and vocals, which reminded me of the show we played last May (though fortunately the PA never lost power!). My distortion pedal decided to protest Melodie's and my jumping by cutting out if we shook the stage too much, so I had to be pretty stationary. The soundguy liked us and said we were "a good show". And that's what it's all about for us- keeping the soundguys entertained. Mostly so if we do come back, they don't sabotage our set.