Do you remember where you were on July 30th, 1994? I do, because it was one of the most epic, one-night adventures I've ever had. It started like many nights back then did: We went to the bar.
Let me back up a sec. I lived in Chicago at the time. I was with my girlfriend and my sister, and it was a hot, humid Saturday night and we were waiting for a pal from out of town to meet us at my apartment. We were supposed to be coming up with ideas on where to take my pal, Derwood, when he arrived. We could do no better than "the bar" when he got there.
Derwood was in town for a bachelor party. A family friend was getting married soon and Derwood, his father and several other blokes played golf and whooped it up at the club, then went to dinner. Derwood escaped to my pad at this point.
There were dozens of bars in our neighborhood, so we tried to figure out one that we hadn't been to recently and that had food. Derwood said he didn't care about food, so we set out on foot for a nice place called "The Jury Room." We chose this because Derwood's father and the rest of the bachelor party was going there after dinner. I knew Derwood's dad and thought it would be nice to see him again.
Halfway there, we saw a poster on a wall announcing a new album by a band we all really liked. "Split" was a new record by Lush. None of us knew of this new release. There was a banner on the poster: "See Lush LIVE at the Vic! 7/31/94!" Sweet! That's tomorrow! There was a banner on the banner: "Sold out." Shit!
We trudged on thrilled about the new record but bummed that we couldn't go to the show the following night. We reached the bar and passed its large front window to reach the door. As I passed the window, I noticed few people in the bar, but sitting at the bar itself were two people. One of them was a young woman with cherry-red hair. I had a thought.
We entered the bar and headed for the tables in the back. Passing the couple sitting at the bar, I heard the cherry-red haired woman speaking to her companion. She had a British accent. I glanced at her and she was, indeed, the guitarist and singer from Lush. We sat down and the waitress came to take our orders. We ordered and asked her to put the couple at the bar's next round on us. She did. We watched as she told them and they both turned to us. We raised our glasses and they sheepishly toasted us back.
A while later the bachelor party arrived. Derwood's dad came over and we chatted a bit. The bachelor came over and we discovered that he was the President and CEO of the hospital that both my girlfriend and my sister worked at. Also that Derwood's dad knew my dad, and that my dad knew the bachelor. The circle was complete. Almost.
That's Miki. Most well-oiled bachelor party attendees would notice a girl like her and a few might attempt to talk to her. Our bachelor party had a few of these fellows. One of them was Derwood's dad. After a bit, he came back and said, "She said thanks for the drink. She's really nice. Do you want to meet her?" We stammered out a "yes."
So, he did what some guys do. He went over to the bar and brought Miki and her companion back to our table. And they sat down.
So for a couple hours we sat and drank with Miki and her friend. And Derwood's dad. And the hospital president. It was quite a group. I have no idea what we talked about.
Later, as she was leaving, she asked if we were going to the show and we said, no. We'd only learned of it earlier that night and also learned that it was sold out. She asked if we wanted to go to the show. We stammered out a "yes, please." She took our names and we said good night.
(The night wasn't over for us: Sans Miki, we went back to the hospital president's SWEET air-conditioned pad. It was in an old Coke bottle factory and it was swank. We drank his expensive booze and stayed up real late.)
The next night we went to the show. It was rad. We had "After Show" privileges, so we got to hang with the band. It was rad.
Lush has recently announced a reunion. They're working on new material and have announced a few live dates in the UK. I hope like hell that they will cross the pond and come to my town.
Tonight - The Phone Booth
(1st-time TNSC visit to this glorious dive)
bye-ee!
whrr ... clik!
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