Ice Cream Man

I had been on the road for over 3 months when I realized the day that I’d be back home, before leaving for Texas, was my birthday. Since I can’t remember the last time I partied on my birthday we started discussing what would be fun. It just so happened that Art Brut was playing that night at the Key Club and Kelly, who runs the show there, invited us to stop by. Once I informed her it was my birthday she replied “We would love if you wanted to come and since it’s your b-day we could give you a free guest-list to bring any friends, workers, etc!”

Wow… I’ve been added to a guest list once before as “Ice Cream Man + Party” but this was going to take the cake (get it… bday… cake)! Jeremiah made up a killer flyer and Dave worked on the logistics. Best yet, Dave offered to be the designated driver which was good – Yay, I can get drunk, and bad – I ended up passing out on the floor of Bessie on the way home between a freezer and a wheel well. Since I didn’t want the list to get too excessive, I first sent invites to the crew then, near the last minute, sent out an email blast to everyone on the mailing list. It all worked out perfectly and most everyone that wanted to come got in.

The bouncers greeted us with smiles and once inside, I was given a PBR and an envelope with a dozen drink tickets in it. What more could you ask for? My brothers even made the journey up to LA on a weeknight. I felt like I was a host at a Hollywood party, which I guess in some ways I was. But it was with friends so everyone was relaxed and looking forward to Art Brut. The DJ duo The Young Americans started the night but their high energy set prolly woulda been better in an afterparty setting once people had loosened up a bit. Whispertown2000 fall into the Topanga Canyon/Freak folk scene which made them a bit of a tough sell to people ready to ROCK, but they pulled it off with their catchy, poppy, folk numbers.

The Key Club is a well laid out venue. There’s a good sized dancefloor right in front of the stage and a few steps up toward the back there’s a bar where you can see and hear everything. There’s another set of stairs in the far back that take you to balcony with a full restaurant menu, a bar, and tables with stage views. Kelly reserved us a few prime tables and we chilled there til Art Brut went on. Once that happened we tried to make our way to the main dancefloor only to realize it was packed. Squeezing in a handful of us wasn’t going to happen so we went back upstairs and pushed the tables to the side so we could have our own little dance party.

I think this is the part of the review where I’m supposed to be telling you about the show and all the songs. Instead I’ll tell you about the shots I got corralled into taking. For the record, I don’t do shots, or drink hard alcohol for that matter. I was a bit tipsy from numerous PBRs when Vanessa informed me everyone was going to take “a” shot. I figured I’d just play along. After the bartender lined up 8 or 9 shots for us, he poured one more, Rumplemintz, and informed me I had to take that before everyone else got theirs. Then… I had to drink the other one too. It didn’t take long ’til I was, without-a-doubt, drunk. I kept jumping around and remembered hearing my favorite song, “Post Soothing Out.” Outside of that I’m pretty sure they played their single, “Direct Hit” and I can’t imagine they could ever play a gig in LA without “Moving to L.A.” Art Brut always puts a great live show and no one left disappointed.

After the show I wasn’t exactly sure what to do because I don’t like being around the truck when I’m “not myself.” It’s the last image I want stuck in people’s heads, “I got some free ice cream from some drunk dude on Sunset last night.” Dave took care of the cream slinging and I sorta just hung out mumbling about how awesome everything was. Well… awesome until I woke up puking the next morning and had to drive 1300 miles to Texas.

Thanks to Kelly and everyone at the Key Club for their gracious and overabundant hospitality. Here’s to a good year ahead. cheers!