Thank You CincinnatiAfter a day long respite necessitated by exhaustion and sickness, I am back to report on the Lookout Boys' journey to Cincinnati. This was an appearance fraught with challenges. First, drummer Rob Logan backed out citing other commitments, and then our trumpet Ryan Dolan was also forced out owing to a tragic circumstance which we'll get to below. And for me, heartbreaking domestic issues took the fore as my own thirteen-year marriage came to an end a week before the gig,
One would think, "Uncle Dave, just throw in the towel." But I had cancelled every other slated appearance I'd set up in the past year owing to various issues, and this time I really wanted to try and make it work. Besides, I had been invited to participate in the Memorial Tribute at the Southgate House for my dear friend Mark Chenault, who died in May from mutiple myeloma. Mark served as drummer for my very first band, Corry's Slug and Snail Death, which was the direct predecessor to the first incarnation of 11,000 Switches, and Tim Schwallie, Todd Witt and Lamb all agreed to participate. No way I was going to miss doing that.
I got hold of Zarleen, a drummer I'd known from the 1980s, to cover for Rob, and my 18-year old niece, Adriane Lewis, plays the trumpet and agreed to cover for Ryan Dolan; this was her first professional gig, though she's been playing for years in high school marching bands. In the last year she has switched to French Horn, but she broke out her trumpet again just to help me out. When I got to Cincinnati I tried to hook up with Zar for a practice, but we kept missing each other - I went to Northside Tavern and ran into Beth Cheek from Fairmount Girls re-introduced me to Chaz, who was once a woman and now is a man - he agreed to drum for us. Zar did get in touch with me finally, and in the show both of them took turns, playing different numbers. Of course, time was short and the only practice the Lookout Boys ultimately got was Alec running through some of the numbers with Adriane. Cesar Perez came up from Louisville to jam with us, and his car died just as he got to Cincinnati. Something just seemed to be going around with this gig!
The Fairmount Girls, by the way, were awesome - they were playing all new songs which were absolutely superb and represents a shift in direction for them. I don't know how long Pat Hennessey has been playing with them, but it really works, and Dana's singing is better than ever - she's really very versatile.
I connected with Alec and Keith at Camp Washington Chili, and they got wait out in the alley while I practiced with the Switches - an uproarious good time. We actually play a little better now than we did in '80, and the simple song structures we developed then still work well to facilitate the noisy improvisations of the kind Tim, Lamb and I were trying to work out in the original group with Mark. After that we went to the Gypsy Hut, started late I guess, and had only done maybe three fifths of the set before realizing we were out of time. Man that time passed fast. With all the replacing and lack of rehearsal I was trying a little overmuch to compensate for this or that inequity, down to the very lyrics I was singing. Owing to a switch of hard drives among our computers, my former wife ended up with my lyric sheets, and I was sitting in the car trying to make up cheat sheets before the show which I wasn't able to read when I got up there! Why don't you memorize 'em Dave? Uh - a lot of my songs are like - long, and have lots of lyrics. The only reason I didn't become an actor was that I couldn't memorize lines.
So I was sweatin' it, but you know, the crowd was very appreciative anyway, gave us a warm reception and it was really a wonderful feeling. Thanks folks! Lovely Crash played and they were rockin' - Beth Cheek again, different band and sound, but still the same high energy, high fashion and great stage presence - Lovely Crash is a good see in addition to being very good music. First timers Magdalena Cruz really impressed me with their stripped down, humble and sincere brand of proto-punk ala Modern Lovers. They had a great drummer too.
Off to the Southgate the next day after a failed golf outing and a futile exercise trying to find a Gold Star Chili. They are all in outlying areas, but Cincinnati changes so fast that I mainly recognize only the main drags. I did drive through Corryville and was mortified at what I saw - except for a few buildings the University has flattened the whole left-hand block along Calhoun from Vine through Dubois bookstore. They have added a big edifice with shops and stuff, not many in them though, on the right side where there was mainly nothing - a chess club which was in a very old, historic building, residence halls, and a path leading down to CCM. They demolished the other side of the street, yet built on the bare ground? I guess there's a phase two involved, but the places that got torn down was a community in itself, including many, many places where I ate, got laid, lived, even made music. I was shocked frankly that there was so little ground underneath the huge number of apartments, shops and restaraunts that UC leveled. Indeed, as my brother once said "Halfway between the "F" and the "K."
The Southgate show for Mark was a truly moving and memorable experience. There were many highlights, but I'll mention a few - Vivian Vinyl singing for the first time in probably 20 years or more, Shari from Perfect Jewish Couple playing a Jewish funeral piece for Mark on her electric violin, Fairmount Girls again, easily as good as the other night, Wolvertons - on fire. I ran into many, many people I hadn't seen in years. And the Switches really rocked - by this time I had done so much singing that my voice had begun to give out, and at the end of the set my fingers were getting sore, so I just started banging my guitar on the floor - Lamb responded by doing the same with his bass. The crowd was greatly amused and sent up big cheers at the end of each song; which really felt good, seeing as the big crowd that saw the original show with Mark mostly just walked out. That's why Mark played with his back to the audience - he knew that was coming and didn't want to see the looks on their faces. His big, green boots were placed onstage on a little stool, and we placed them with the heels facing the crowd before our set.
Anyway - swell time, but all swell times come to an end. I barely got my car out of the parking lot and was the only one left there. Didn't have the right change, so I ended up with five dollars in quarters - okay as I have to take the bus to work all week anyway. I didn't get out of Newport until about 1, so I took it easy - in the early going I stopped frequently, got coffee, made sure I was still paying attention to the road. I didn't stop but once after Tipp City. On my way out of town finally connected with the Gold Star in Covington and got two coneys which I didn't eat until I got to Bowling Green; man were they good!
I love my home town. Thank you Cincinnati for your generosity and kindness to this old fool. Your fool.
Uncle Dave Lewis
Post Script: Ryan Dolan's mom passed away this morning, as per Keith Finke's post here:
Here are the arrangements for Ryan mother Cheryl Dolan:
Visitation:
Tuesday, June 26th at 4:00
A.H. Peters Funeral Home
20705 Mack Ave.
Grosse Point Woods, MI 48236
Service:
Wednesday, June 27th at 10:00
St. Ambrose Church
15020 Hampton
Grosse Point Park, MI 48230
If unable to attend or contact Ryan, hugs will be passed on accordingly by myself or anyone of your chosing.
Very Very sorry that this was the outcome. I never met Mrs. Dolan, but I suspect she must know that she has raised a fine son. My deepst condolences to Ryan and his family.
UD