The Gods of Now On Tour – Day 4

The Osbourn Village Hotel is VERY rock ‘n roll. (see vid)Aside from the Hotel part there is a restaurant (hamburgers and fries type deal) and two salle de spectac. The small one is called Ozzy’s and the big one is called The Zoo. The big room is where the whole complex gets it’s name.

Zasta is sick. He hates being sick and he wears it very plainly. His throat is a mess. Alex has a pretty good headache but it goes away fast. The miracle of drinking Jack. Jon is fine. I’m simmering. We go to a breakfast place called Stella’s. This is a good place. Not only is the Bread Pudding AMAZING but the breakfasts are good. We eat and feel better. We want to rehearse so we do it with just our axes, Zasta plays a chair which actually is quite musical. He bows out for a moment to see if a clinic can check his throat. He comes back soon after without having seen anyone because they didn’t seem to think that Quebec was still part of the Medicare system. So we started playing again. There was a knock at the door and the maids came in. Cute. Hollie wanted to hear the band so we played MAN In A Car. She said that she doesn’t like heavy music but she loved this song.

We go to an internet café. The reception sucks man ass so I can’t do anything. I leave a little after Alex. He’s restless to find out when we load into Ozzy’s, the bar we’re playing tonight. As he leaves the café, a car stops and asks him what time we go on tonight. A good sign. I leave soon after him and go back to the hotel. I stop by a curio shop. There was sooo much junk in it. Marilyn Monroe pictures, Elvis movie posters, old sailor hats and that musty basement smell that goes along with stuff we don’t need anymore. There’s an old guy bring some of the old stuff out to the curb. Irony. Anyway I walk by the till and there’s this red headed girl curling her hair with a curling iron. I connect the two with Schrecker reasoning. Thus the Irony. I go back to the hotel.

I try to sleep a bit. I’m tired – and simmering. It’s about 6 o’clock and time for supper. Subway sandwiches. Not for me. I don’t eat before I play. Never have.

At the Subway a Girl comes out of the back with purple streaks in her hair and a pierced upper lip. Nice body. Later I find out she dances at some club named Sin City. Wow! Making sandwiches and Stripping. Life can be unfair. Poor girl shouldn’t have to be made to make sandwiches for a living.

We go to see what’s happening at Ozzy’s. A band is there all right. But they insist that we’re not playing with them. We go and find out what the hell is going on. There’s some dude who reminds me of a stoned pumpkin standing outside who says “You guys are in TGON! You rock! We’re playing with you tonight!” I ask him where. He says “The Zoo”. We get the big room. Nice – but it is a Tuesday night.

We load in.
Our good friend and collective wingman Tom walks up. Great to see the guy. He’s always a good guy to have around.

Tom helps us set up on stage. It all goes well. Mike the sound guy does a good job. He’s stand off-ish but that doesn’t matter. We check with our usual Wrong But In Throes. It’s huge and sounds like a 747 taking off – excellent!! We clear off for the other bands to do their thing.

I notice there are two woman dressed like they’d be in a Motley Crue video being introduced to TGON by Tom. Kristi and Angie. I say hello, especially to Kristi. Little darlin’. (see pic)

We set up the merch and quickly sell the girls a couple of stickers – one of which is applied very nicely to Kristi’s ass (see pic). I like this girl.

At this point I’m simmering. The show is going to be highly aggressive – I know it. I’m controlling that. I’m waiting… I’m not good company at the moment so the Alex takes the girls up to our room and I stay with Tom and the merch. (see pics)

After a while I need to grab something from upstairs so I go to the room. There are two new girls along with Angie and Kristi now. Juice and Tara (see pic) (this is the girl who asked Alex what time the show was earlier today in her car). I stop in and grab what I need and leave after saying the hellos.

I’m back down at the merch. People are coming in and buying stuff – black TGON hot shorts (I think the guy wants them for himself – whatever) .

I talk to a girl about Footlong hot dogs from a restaurant called Skinners in Lockport MB and not being a slut like she used too be. It’s surreal. In my head I’m battling dreams of apocalypse, holding back the tide that will sweep away everything in a torrent of nothingness. A guy keeps shaking my hand – giving me the devil metal sign and telling me he’s got the hook up for what ever I need. He gives me his number. He tells me we’re now good friends. Wow.

I’m sitting through the worst band I’ve ever heard. You don’t understand – they were like retarded monkeys who were given instruments. They could not play. Everyone around me was rolling eyes. I stop the simmer and yell “Get the fuck off the stage you pansies!” . The sad thing is – they love TGON. They are amazed they should be on the same bill with us. I know this because they told me. I’m amazed they should be on the same bill with us too. But for an entirely different reason.

The next band goes on. Older guys who play Megadeth/Metallica style stuff. They’re derivative. But they at least can play.

The third band goes up and by this time I have to take a wild piss. Where are the fucking guys?? Fucking, I suppose. Anyway they come down finally and I take a very cathartic leak. I come back and right away go to grab a coffee at the Subway – this is when I find out blue streaked hair girl is a stripper.

I walk back and take my spot in the middle of the girls and TGON by our merch table. I’m sure, to them, I seem totally coked out. I’m twitchy and compulsive. But I know what’s coming. Kristi tunes into my manic energy and says “I’m totally excited!”. I know, I know. You’re so sexy too. I know.

The third band finishes. I go up to set my mic and my gtr pedal. All good. I go back down and sit with the girls while Zasta and Jon finish the set up and come down too. Alex, I see, decided to stay on the stage. He’s crouched down, holding his bass on one knee. He scans the room as if looking for someone who might leave, and if they do – KERPLOW!! He’ll shot them with his bass. It’s highly intense. (see pic)

TGON communicates. Tonight we’re all manic. We all need to do this. We all feel an energy coursing. Our intro song Die Ganze ShiessVelt starts. That means “The Whole Fucking World” by the way. It’s a song off our new record. (Out in October).

Everyone there knows that something is going on. Zasta takes the stage. Now they’re two. Kristi says “Whoa, this is really crazy”, I say “You think? Check out Zasta.” And right on cue Zasta starts with the thunder. I watched all the girls faces change – this is out of control. Zasta is pulling down lightening, he’s grinding tectonic plates. (see pic or vid)

I need to do something. I need to scream, I need to kick, I need to feel, I need to love, I need to fuck, I need to…

…I run back stage. I look at the entire stage in front of me. That’s it. That’s what I need.

Closest to me Jon is putting on his guitar.

Suddenly Alex smashes the subsonic barrier with the touch of a hand. He hammers the riff and it cracks reality in two smithereens. This is sin, this lust, this fucking life and she just loves it like the whore she is!

White light as Jon collapses the PornoZING!!! riff on itself with knife speed entry. I can’t take it. I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this anymore…

-Time dies-
(see pic)
I find myself suspended in mid-air over the stage. I look slowly around me. The void in front of me where shapes and flashes and something I think might be an audience is waiting. Wondering.

I see Zasta, he knows where this is going. He smiles and says “This is being one with the world. You have to do it.”. I tell him “I know. Can I think about it a little more though? Maybe I should do something else.” Alex huffs, “Ambivalent! Look at you pal, you’re suspended in mid-air about to crash land on Jon. You can’t even stop that. You made the choice.” Jon looks up, “What?! What’s going on?”

-Time start-

I smash full on into Jon. I run to the mic and scream “This is fucking The Gods Of Now!!!!” I fall to the floor and crawl to my guitar. I scream in pain and in performance.

We start the show.

It’s our show – out of control energy and wicked, heavy, badass music.

Lobotomatronic hits. We’re killing everything that has ears. The end of the song is here. This is where I once again clash with Alex. I do. And then out of the void a fan jumps on stage and crashes the mic. He fucking grabs my mic and starts screaming into it.

I’m singing Lobotomatronic. This is a song about being wired wrong. Demons screaming so loud that you cannot do anything but what they say. You are numb to everything. You have nothing. You are dead inside.

My Lobotomatronic eyes see the back of this microphone hijacker. Reflex. I grab him and kick his ass off my stage. He trips over the monitor and goes flying into the void. Return to my senses. What happening? Oh yeah. We’re doing a show. Next song.

We end on Broken. This was a great version we played. Huge solo in the middle. Reminded me of great dreams that you always remember.

We finish.

I see Zasta, Alex and Jon walk off. The hangers on back stage are shaking Jon, Alex and Zasta’s hands saying “Awesome” and “Great show”. The usual. I towel off and walk off stage. The stragglers step back. On guy passes by and says “Great set”. I don’t have time to say “Thanks” before he runs off.

I go to the girls at the merch table. Kristi is impressed she says. All the girls are. I’m happy about that. There’s something about satisfying a woman musically that totally gets me high. I suppose it does that for all of us. Which is why we love playing to them so much.

Then this guy comes up to me and say “Great show man.” I say thanks. Then he says, “I’m the guy you threw off stage. I’m thinking of getting a tattoo of the mark your boot made on my ass.”

His name is Sean. He’s a good guy who says he crashes the stage whenever he can. He says I’m the first guy to ever do anything about it. He did it to Pantera and they just stood by and looked at each other not knowing what to do until one of the bouncers got rid of him. Yeah, I tell him that no one takes my mic. It’s mine.

I go back on stage to unplug my stuff and do a weak pack. We’ll take the stuff out tomorrow. As I’m up there, Dork the Clown comes up and says that it was a good show and he liked it. He gives me a preamble about how he’s some critic for some music mag or something. He says we’re good but he felt that me throwing the fan off the stage was “A little harsh don’t you think?”. I say no. He stares at me with his big cow eyes. “Come on,” he says “…don’t you think it was harsh? I mean, come on.”. I don’t like this guy. He smells bad. He smells like mediocrity. I tell him. “I don’t regret it.” He repeats what I say as if he doesn’t know what the words are. He waddles off the stage. I shake my head.

I finish up and go to the merch table. Girls are still there with the boys in the band. Where else would they be? Dork the Clown is there and so is Sean. I shake hands with Sean and thank him for coming to the show. He walks away with an EP. He’s happy.

It’s time for me to go into solitude. I’m onto something and I can’t put it aside right now. Not even for girls, J.D. or a sleepless night. Everyone pushes into the elevator. I’m crammed next to Kristi – nice feeling. Another life maybe. And earlier one. And some cute girl who I’ve never seen before suddenly says “Yeah, they have bed bugs here – I’ve seen ‘em.” I say “Well, don’t tell me that now. I’m going to bed.” The door opens and they pile into the other room. I go to mine with Alex so he can collect his stuff. Funny. This is the first time when I’ve asked to be alone and people actually left me alone. No cute little knock on the door. I don’t know if I’m happy about this. I’m so fucking ambivalent. Well, starting tomorrow I won’t be! Maybe. No! Yes! Fuck!

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