Happy Thanksgiving—Hope everyone drives safe has a good day. Wayne here and here’s Part 3 to my memories of the year 1999 pertaining to EBLC and the connie dungs. This one is a little short and continues our love affair with DIRT BIKE ANNIE. As I always say, I am not speaking for Chris, Brandon, Dave, or Timbo (ruler of Mutant Pop). Enjoy.
Part 3—A BAND FROM TEXAS HAS A PRE-SHOW DRINK…PARTY ALL NIGHT TIMES 2…ANYONE UP FOR A SWIM?…
Some of you may be wondering what hanging out and drinking with DIRT BIKE ANNIE has to do with Eternal Bad Luck Charm. I guess since it is a dark and, in parts, depressing record; I want people to understand we were not all doom and gloom that year. There was lots of fun times, too.
There was another band from Texas, THE WALLYS, who were on tour and they drove to see our show with in Huntington on one of their days off. One of their band members made the comment they wished they were on the bill and DBA and the dung decided if a member of their band would drink out of a mud puddle—we would add them to the show! Someone did (yuck!) and THE WALLYS got a gig on an off day! Did an awesome job as well if memory serves me correct. There is even video evidence.
When DIRT BIKE ANNIE performed that night, I was in shock. It seemed impossible but they were even better live than on their record. I mean, the songs were the same as the record with more guts. Plus, they had a real show! Choreographed moves, perfect harmonies, and did I mention the smiles? There is no smiling in punk rock…Yes, they smiled and the crowd smiled, too. To this day, I look back fondly at every time I had the pleasure to see them perform.
After the show, we had a good little after party. There was music, alcohol, dancing, shenanigans, puking, and broken glass. All in all, a typical party for us during that time frame. The next day THE WALLYS and DIRT BIKE ANNIE had a chicken eating contest at a local Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Dungs sat that one out…
DBA went to Louisville to play the next day and then had a day off before heading to Pennsylvania for another gig. I convinced them (they were not too hard to convince) to come back to Ashland for another night of debauchery.
The second night—we ended up in our practice room, trading instruments, playing lots of covers. Everyone had a turn on guitar, bass, and vocals. Chris was the constant drummer—and the only one sober. My favorite memory/song of the night was Jeannie, Adam, Dan, and Chris plowing through “Be My Lover” by Alice Cooper. Funniest song was a slow, drunken version of “Where Is My Mind” by The Pixies with Brandon screaming WAY too loudly over the music. It was time to call it a night. When we got back inside, we talked about doing a seven inch together and instead of a split, we would make it a new band…How about Dirt Bike Dungs (my favorite idea) or The Connie Annies? We thought of other dumb names and then I went to bed.
When everyone woke up the next morning, my new friends had a confession for me. It took them a few minutes to compose themselves to tell me. I think it was Adam who said, “We went skinny dipping in your neighbor’s pool after you went to bed”….”Which neighbor?”, I managed to croak out—knowing only one home in the neighborhood had a pool. I still made them tell me JUST to be sure. It was just as I feared…their late night naked dip was in my grandparents pool. With nothing to really say after that, I took everyone out for Shoney’s breakfast bar—my treat.