Monday 12 December 2011

Vince and the Watchmen

No! Not those Watchmen!  These guys:

Although I am not sure about dude in hat.  Unless they have hired Burton Cummings to play bass for them.  (Oh, and yes, I am very computerically skilled, as can be seen by my photoshop magic here.  When I was young I used to love figuring out how stuff worked. Now...who's got the fucking time?  Just work already!!!!!! Then I shake my cane at it.)

The Watchmen are originally from Winnipeg.  But since have moved to ole' Hogtown.  The lead singer even owned a restaurant.  The "Lakeview".  We have been a couple of times.  I had a burger.  It blew.  We moved on.  It's dead to me.  Plus...you know what?  Do. Not. Be. Fooled. No view of any lake...whatsoever. 

I saw the lead singer's short-lived new band around 2005 at a place called "The Horsehoe Tavern"  Gollee Gosh, I love that place. Especially bearded bartender dude.  He's awesome.  But the band was terrible.  In my opinion.  What am I, a critic? I am  a guy who willingly purchased the cassette single for Paula Abdul's "Rush, Rush" for eff's sake. 

But I don't want to talk about later Watchmen, I wanna talk about early Watchmen!  And the first time I saw them.

What got me thinking of it was on the ole' FB I got a friend invite from my bro's high school friend Vince.  Vince, what can I say about Vince? He was always a very funny guy.  But (and especially after high school) what I really dug about Vince was that he was "free". 

Don't know how to explain it exactly, but I have just always been so fucking repressed, worrying what people think of me (which of course the best part of just leads people to say "what's up with that dude?  I think he's fucked!"), that watching a guy like Vince Honey Badger his way around was kinda inspiring.  Especially because he wasn't like a dick or nothing, he was like a hippie.  Good natured. Just seeing where the day took him. Friend to all.

So, anyways, one afternoon, out of the blue, Vince just shows up at JJ's family homestead.  Pulls up in this squarish american car.  Old.  Big. The car, not Vince.  Both my bro and I are home and we all just hang out for the afternoon.  Then he is like "hey, we should go to the Spectrum tonight!"  I can't remember if he said the Watchmen were playing or not.  It was before "McLaren Furnace Room", so they weren't too big.  I kinda think he didn't know they were playing. But maybe he did. What do I know? Paula Abdul!

Bro and I? "Uhhhh, well, we dunno, I guess that's ok..." I am about 20 I think, but had never been to the Spectrum.  Mr. Adventure!  Although I did manage to make it to the "Big A" 2 times a week because that's where my friends went.  All those historic cover bands. "Regrets...I've had a few..."




Off we go to the Spectrum.  And it was soooo great! And the Watchmen were sooo great! Although the only song I can remember at all was some environmental song about dolphins? But it rocked, man!

Then we go out the back door and over to the Windsor! Blues! God damn! So fucking cool.  What a place! So cool that I didn't go back for prob 10 years! No time! Had to go to the "A"!

Then off home! Where I discover, after I plop down on my bed, that it must have somehow been attached to a helicopter rotor because it just starts spinning like CRAZY!

Now, to set the scene: at the time, I had a habit of: 1. reading the newspaper in bed (don't get me wrong, I wasn't gettin' learned or nothin', just the sports pages) and 2. being a massive slob (pretty sure I have not let that one go).  As a result, the floor of my bedroom by my bed was covered in newspaper. 

So I am laying peacefully in my bed minding my own business (as it rotates wildly around the room) when for some reason my stomach starts to get a bit upset. Who can say why?  But my legs seemed to have lost all power.  So I just leaned over the bed and let loose.  So.  Much. Vomit.  Then...blissful darkness.

Morning time...pry my eyes open.  Shaking bad hangover.  Look over the side of my bed.  Massive gross pile of puke.  Sitting on a pile of newspaper.  Make a "game time" decision..."I'll deal with this later."  Just slowly sliiiide the newspapers under the bed.  And head on downstairs to watch tv until I can face cleaning up the pile. 

Go downstairs.  Vince had slept over on the couch downstairs. His comment : "Glad to see my car outside this morning, as I was pretty sure I tipped the bartender with my keys."

Around three p.m. I get up the gumption to face puke clean-up duty. Head upstairs.  Slowly sliiiiide the newspaper out from under the bed.  The gross pile of puke?

Gone.  All gone.

Just a wet circle on the newspaper. Eaten...then licked clean by the family dog.  Pandora, I am sooo sorry.  And bro, if she licked your face that day, I'm sorry too.

Never shared that one with the parents (or bro!). 

This entry feels like it should have a moral or a point, but can't think of one.  So, you know, JJ out!



I tried to find a pic of the Spectrum on the Net and this is what I got. Yikes. Brad! I am ok with the tiny piano, but what's with the crazy eyes!?

4 comments:

  1. Saw the band. Had a band shirt with a quote from one of their songs on the back. Loved. That. Shirt. Can't for the life of me remember what the quote was. All I can remember is "in my mind I'm running for the door." but I'm pretty sure that is not it. I hate getting old!

    E.

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  2. Hate to say it, E, but I think the chances of getting a replacement shirt are pretty low.although for what its worth I can not think of a time where I EVER saw you. Wear a band shirt. Except for your Pantera shirt anyways.

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  3. Ha ha. And you with your Spice Girls....what a pair we made!

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  4. Oh, how I loved them spice girls!

    Tell me what you want, what you really really want!

    ReplyDelete