Once in a great while, we put on a little show that we like to call Clintonsfest.

It happens approximately once every 365 days and comes at a time when great bands and great people come together to form an evening that is nothing but great fun.  Saturday, September 5th, 2009, was such a time.

Dustin Tucker and his killer backing band kicked the night off with a great set that boasted Dustin’s impressive aptitude for writing unique, crowd-pleasing pop-rock and his equally impressive ability to take a popular song and make it his own.  Though the crowd was somewhat sparse for his set, those who were there were very positively receptive to his music.  My personal favorite was his cover of Radiohead’s “Lucky” off of their classic Ok Computer.  If you live in Bozeman, do make sure you go and check him out either with his original group or with the Pink Floyd tribute band, Pinky and the Floyd.  Both projects are extremely awesome and deserve your undivided attention.

Fresh off of a national tour, Goodnight Sunrise took the stage shortly thereafter, and I can’t say anything about these guys that I haven’t said before.  They’re an awesome band and have been since they were kids.  We’ve been watching them perform for the past several years and it’s great to see how much their musicianship and performances have improved with each show.  They followed up their set with a brief appearance by their hip-hop alter egos, Danny Donutz and Sammy Swiss.  Titties were mashed.

And then we took the stage (explosions).  I think we played a pretty solid set that focused on every album equally, except for maybe Kinky.  I don’t think I did that on purpose when writing the setlist; it probably just came out that way.  One of the improvements of this year’s Clintonsfest over last year’s was the venue.  Last year, our outdoor set was cut in half by a freakin’ rain storm, which only affirmed that you can never trust Montana weather.  This year was indoors, and guess what?  Our set didn’t get cut short!  Horray!  As you could probably guess, it didn’t rain outside at all, which is typical.  But I’d like to think that it probably would have if it were outdoors.  Anyway, we had a fairly high-energy set that kept the folks dancing from beginning to end, which is always what we aim to do.  I can only hope and pray that Clintonsfest continues to grow and expand in the years to come.

Highlights:

–Former bassist Kevin Okragly was there, and he got a BIG promotion.  Give him a round of applause.

–The Goodnight Sunrise boys played the riff to “Free Ride” during their set and played it on stage with us during our set.  It was bad ass.

–Would anyone be up for an all-star jam next year?

Setlist:

Free Ride
LMP
Alright Tonight
Bender
Birthday Suit
Friends with Benefits
SDIM
Save the World
Undercover World
Outta Mind
Baltimore
Potion
College
Abercrombie
Jesus
Leave Me Alone

Ah, Rockin’ the Rivers.  How do you rock?  Let me count the ways.

1.  Tesla

2.  Hell’s Belles

3.  Peter Fucking Frampton

4. The Mighty Flick

5.  Sweet (?)

What an awesome time.

This year’s Rockin’ the Rivers was easily 1000 times better than last year’s for several reasons.  For one, the Bullet Boys didn’t perform, weren’t subjected to hearing them scream “Oh YEEEEAAAAHHH!” in between snorting lines of coke.  Secondly, we had our in-ear monitor system on stage, so we could actually hear ourselves play.  (For those of you who don’t know, we basically played the first half of our set last year without being able to hear John’s vocals at all, forcing me and Josh to close our eyes and hope for the best.  It worked out ok, but it isn’t something we really enjoy doing.)  Third, we had our banner up behind us during our set, making us look super-legit.  Fourth…

Look, I could go on for pages and pages about why RTR rocked so much, so I’ll spare you the agony and simply say that it kicked ass.  It really did.  I’ll admit that the four of us were a little worried that we’d be playing to nobody after the rain started fallin’ fallin’ shortly following the conclusion of Tesla’s ass-rocking set, so you can imagine how pleasantly surprised we all were when we looked out from the stage and saw a large crowd.  We were even more surprised that we maintained it for the duration of our set, especially considering how late it was.

Last year we had to play an amazing gig in Helena (Rockin’ the Gulch, anyone?), so we were unable to partake in any of the RTR festivities on Saturday or Sunday.  Thank heavens we had Saturday off this year, because I had a great time.  Kim and I met up with Jawsh and Mama and Papa Keehr for a day chock-full of RTR goodness, which included hanging with Jamie Nova, the lead singer of Hell’s Belles (and Jawsh’s ex-girlfriend.  Awwwkwwaaarrrd!), rocking out to Peter Frampton, watching the guys from Sweet get shitfaced, and beer.  Lots and lots of beer.  It was nice having the VIP treatment that lasted the whole festival.

In all, I had a great time and I hope we play there again next year.  If you live in Montana and you’ve never been to Rockin’ the Rivers, you NEED to go at some point before you die.  Period.  I’ve said countless times that RTR is something that every Montanan should experience at some point in their life.  Even if we don’t perform, you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be a spectator.

Highlights:

–Hell’s Belles–the all-female AC/DC tribute band–were AMAZING.   Adrian/Angus Young, the lead guitar player, perfectly emulated the legendary Aussie ax-slinger in every way, shape, and form.  She kicked ass at guitar, wore a school girl outfit, and sprinted across the stage from beginning to end.  They were my second favorite act, behind a bitchin’ Peter Frampton.

–Speaking of Hell’s Belles, the girls made the mistake of inviting Sweet guitarist Drunky McDrunkerton on stage to play “Back in Black” on guitar.  He did a good job, but once he finished he started playing the opening chords to “You Shook Me All Night Long.”  It was pretty awkward.  Jamie, bless her soul, gave a nervous chuckle and said, “No, not quite yet.”  Some other dude from Sweet came and coaxed Drunky off the stage.  How retarded is that?  I mean, the Hell’s Belles girls didn’t come up on stage to play “Ballroom Blitz.”  I don’t know why anyone would be playing “Ballroom Blitz” in the first place, but still.

–Ok, on to our set.  I put together one of the rockingest setlists EVER.  Just take a gander below and judge for yourself.

Setlist:

Friends w/ Benefits
Bender
Real Man
Outta the Way
Undercover World
Birthday Suit
Little Miss Perfect
Potion
Baltimore
Free Ride
Chimney
Jail
Save the World
Out of Her Mind
Dub-T Bootay
College Daze
Grant
Grinnell
Scotsman
Livin’ Large
Jesus Christ

ENCORE:

Leave Me Alone

Better late than never, eh?

Thursday, August 6th was our first show in Missoula since our Otherside show in late April and our second time performing at Caras Park.  The main difference between this year’s show at Caras Park and last year’s was the heat.  Last year, I swear to got it was about 100 degrees out and that the sun was beating right down on the four of us.  I looked like I was competing in a wet t-shirt contest.  One that I probably would have lost, seeing as to how I’m a boy and everything.  At the beginning of our set, the temperature was maybe 75 degrees and crept toward the mid-eighties, but none of us were in any danger of dying of heat stroke.  We were, however, in danger of being crushed by the tent.  Apparently, many Missoula parents didn’t see anything wrong with letting their children between the ages of 2-6 hang from the ropes and support beams that held up the tent.  Sure, it was a sturdy tent, but still.

It was a bit tamer than some of the other shows we’ve played this summer, but that isn’t saying a whole heck of a lot considering most shows have been pretty damned rowdy (i.e. Bert and Ernie’s, Summercamp, Music on Main, etc.).  That being said, it was still a lot of fun and a good opportunity for us to practice up a couple of the songs for Rockin’ the Rivers (which was awesome).

I hope we get back to Missoula sooner rather than later.  Since I’m now a Missoula resident, I really want to break in my new hometown crowd.  The Otherside no longer houses performing bands, so it’s likely you’ll be seeing us at either the Iron Horse or the Badlander before long.

Highlights:

–Some folks drove all the way from Brainerd, MN to come see us.  That’s one hell of a drive.  How cool is that?

–There were a few moments where our guitars got baked by the sun and went completely out of tune.  Stupid guitar strings.

Setlist:

Birthday Suit
Friends with Benefits
Alright Tonight
Little Miss Perfect
Walkin on Air
I Make My Own Money
Ants Marching
SDIM
Sex on the Radio
Come with Me
Out of Her Mind
Save the World
Potion
Highway
Jail
Outta the Way
Grant
Faith
John and Josh’s acoustic extravaganza
Purple Poppies
Fan of the Bean
Leave Me Alone
Excuse to Jam
Abercrombie Jeans
Jesus Christ

Sweet.

Mother.

Of.

Baby.

Jesus.

Was the first ever Clintons Summercamp successful?  You bet your ass it was.  Holy crap.  I had so much fun that night that it’s difficult for me to compare it to any of the gigs we’ve played so far this summer, and that includes Music on Main and Bert and Ernie’s.  I’m dead serious–it was freakin’ awesome.  For one, the weather was absolutely perfect; in a state where you can’t even count on it to be hot in freakin’ July, the forecast for Saturday, August 1st was everything we hoped it would be and more.  High of 92 degrees, clear skies, and zero chance of showers.  Hell, there may have even been a negative chance of showers.  Is that even possible?  Who knows?!

Everything else–the stage, the venue, the organization, the Lakeside personnell–was fantastic.  I don’t doubt that organizing the event was very stressful for those who put it together (I’m talking to you, Kweej), but everything came together so perfectly and the parties involved were so accomodating and professional that we couldn’t have predicted a better result.

So you may be wondering, “How was the show?”

It kicked ass.  I mean, how could it not kick ass when you have an amazing stage set up (with George Martin doing sound, no less) against the lake in the background with 700 of your rowdiest friends in attendance ready to party?  We had so much fun that we would have played every single song in our catalogue if we could have.  I didn’t want to get off stage and I don’t think John, Josh, or Levi wanted to, either.

I sincerely hope that the Clintons Summercamp becomes an annual event and that it continues to grow.  Even if next year’s is half as good as last Saturday, we’ll be more than happy.

Highlights:

–I was this close to crowd surfing on Saturday night.  Seer!

–We likely set the record for the most on-stage shotskis at a Clintons show, and it’s a record that won’t likely be broken anytime soon.

–Missoula on Thursday, Rockin’ the Rivers on Friday, and Y.V.B.C. in Billings on Monday. Let’s make some more memories, folks!

Setlist:

It was a good one.  I’m in the middle of moving to Missoula right now and it’s lost amongst my crap, but I’ll post it once I find it.  Promise.

I love Robert Redford and Paul Newman.  Is this movie any good?

The four of us weren’t really advocating band togetherness for our Sting gig last Friday in Great Falls.  Levi and Angie took drove the Beamur while Josh, John and I all drove up separately.  Josh drove his Blazer from Lewiston, where he had been hanging out in anticipation of his sister-in-law’s wedding; John probably just felt like giving Tang a spin; and I couldn’t leave work until a while after the caravan left town.  But it all worked out for the best.  We ended up getting there and rocking the heck out, didn’t we?

Yes, we did.  Last year’s show at the Sting was a total blast and it was much of the same this year, too.  There weren’t as many people in attendance as last year, but it was still fun.  (Apparently, Great White was playing a gig in GF too, taking away some of our audience.  Friggin’ Great White.  Those guys suck.)  Also noticeably absent this year were stage lights, cutting our set short at about 9:45 p.m., when we could barely see each other, much less play our instruments.  

Highlights:

–John and I earned our “Best Guitarists of the Year” award that night.  Sheesh.  The delay in the monitors made our precision and timing really rough.

–Talk about packing up like we’re in Great Falls! I was on the road to the Three Forks Rodeo by 10:30!

–A fight broke out outside the Sting grounds while we were playing “Save the World.”  Apparently that song pisses people off.  I don’t know why–it’s in a major key and there isn’t even any swearing unless it’s improvised.

Setlist:

Three Day Bender
Real Man
Undercover World
Free Ride/Cop Car
Friends w/ Benefits
Suit of Birthday
Lil’ Miss Perfect-o
Outta The Way
Save World
Potion
Come with Me
Fan of Bean
 Baltimore
Outta Mind
College
Ab Jeans
Jesus Christ, Get Me Out Of This One NOW 

Freedom isn’t free.  It costs folks like you and me.
And if we don’t all chip in, we’ll never pay that bill.
Freedom isn’t free.  No, there’s a hefty fuckin’ fee.
And if you don’t throw in your buck-o-five, who will? 

If you don’t throw in your buck-o-five, who will?
Ooh, buck-o-five.
Freedom costs a buck-o-five.

What did you do for America day?  Did you light up the Christmas tree?  Read your favorite story about Christopher Columbus discovering America?  Did you get a basket filled with Cadburry Creme Eggs, Peeps, and a chocolate bunny?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, you’re an idiot.  Everyone knows that you save all three of those activities for St. Patrick’s Day.  Dur.

Our America Day was an action-packed exercise in patriotism, anti-terrorism, and abidition.  Leading up to the gig, we were a little curious as to what the crowd would be expecting of us.  For example, the press release in the entertainment section of the local newspaper tagged us as a country band and described how excited the promoters were to book a country band for their America event.  In that same article, they also mentioned how we sound like Barenaked Ladies, RHCP, and Maroon 5–three not country bands.

I’ll admit that while we do have some country sounding songs (“Abercrombie,” “Alright Tonight,” “I Make My Own Money,” etc.), I don’t think we could solely be labeled as a country group.  But that’s just me.  Therefore, we were a little worried that the Pavillion Park crowd were anticipating a bit more Brooks & Dunn and a little less Dave Matthews Band.

Boy, were we wrong.  While it wasn’t the typical crowd you’d find at a Clintons show, the audience was very participatory and extremely receptive to our music.  A big part of that can and should be attributed to John’s uncanny ability to get little children to do pretty much whatever he says.  He started it off by inviting a slew (and I do mean a SLEW) of children between the ages of 3-9 to come up onstage and play Josh’s instruments for “Grant.”  After that, they were putty in his hands.  Here are a few of his priceless quotes:

“Alright, now run around!  Burn calories!”

“All the girls stand on this side and the boys stand on the other side.  Now run towards each other and give each other high-fives!”

“Ok, now everybody yell out your favorite swear word!”  (Shouts of “Poop,” “Pee,” and “Butt” soon followed.)

“Go check in with your parents, kids!  And give them high-fives!”

The best one was during Billie Jean, when he told the kids to do the following:

“Now drop to the ground and slowly rise up like you’re zombies from the ‘Thriller’ video.”  (I will gladly take credit for that one.)

Even though it was a very different from the gigs we’re used to playing, the four of us had a total blast.  The sound engineer was very good at what he did;  the four of us could actually hear ourselves.  How often does that happen?

After our set, we were treated to a grand fireworks show.  Watching the fireworks made me think of all the real heroes of our country.  I’m not talking about doctors, lawyers, or tax collectors.  Oh, no.  I’m talking about people like Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber, Dolph Lundgren, Anne Coulter, and Nelson Mandela.  Without them, where would we be?

That’s right.  F**ked.

“…from sea to shining sea.”

Highlights:

–One of John’s ill-received orders to the kids!  ”Alright, kids, now eat a big old hamburger!  You done yet?  Great! Now go swimming.  Done swimming?  Fantastic!  Now go get a pair of scissors and run around!”

–A big red thanks to Big Red Barn for starting the night off right.  You guys are a couple of mother pluckers.

–Angie and I serenaded everybody with our beautiful patriotic hymns.  It was very American.

Setlist:

The order is somewhat skewed, but I think it’s close.

Alright Tonight
Walkin’ on Air
Birthday Suit
Potion
Kinky
Fishin’ in the Dark
Baltimore
Little Miss Perfect
Grant Wants to Be A Pirate
Magic Carpet Medley
-Magic Carpet
-Too Much
-Billie Jean (with zombie kids)
-Let’s Get It Started
-Jump Around
-Ice Ice Baby
-Seasons of the Abyss
Spiderman
Chimney
Out of Her Mind
Come with Me
I Make My Own Money
Fan of the Bean
Abercrombie
Jesus Jones

The second show of our three-day marathon weekend was in downtown Helena for the 35th annual Bert and Ernie’s birthday bash.  It was our first real show in Helena since, oh, December of 2008, when we rocked the pants off the Civic Center for their annual festival of trees banquet.  

When I first played the B & E gig with the boys in June 2007, the stage and vendors were set up in the restaurant’s back parking lot instead of the city street for reasons I don’t really understand.  Don’t get me wrong, it was a cool gig, but I know that the sound didn’t travel across the subtle incline of the lot very well.  You can imagine my relief and my unexpected excitement when I arrived in downtown to see the street blocked off with a ginormous, miniature Rockin’ the Rivers stage set up toward the south end with people packed cheek to cheek.  

We were the fourth band out of four.  I must admit that I did not catch Seattle-based pop/punk band The Real You because I was a bit late to the party, but I heard very good things about them from my band members who were in attendance.  Helena’s very own Goodnight Sunrise took the stage soon thereafter and rocked everyone’s pants off.  It’s no secret that the four of us are totally gaga for these youngsters.  Their sound and work ethic is well beyond their years and we can’t say enough good things about them.   Their new EP, Stop, Drop, and Roll is now available on iTunes for a mere $4.99.  It’s worth every penny.  Rockslyde, another Helena rock band, warmed up the stage and the crowd for us before we started our set; so by the time we were ready to go, everyone was all loosey-goosey and ready to drop it like it’s hot.

As soon as Rockslyde struck the last power chord of their last power ballad, we were ready to rock and roll.  We were originally slated to play a three-hour set, but due to setbacks and time restraints, our set was cut in half.  Normally we’d be pissed, but it ended up being the perfect amount of time for several reasons.  For one, the setlist I composed was pretty bad ass.  Secondly, we weren’t in any danger of getting arrested, unlike 2007.  Three, my first two fingers on my right hand were horribly, horribly blistered, which made playing my bass torture for me and for those listening to me.  

In my opinion, it was the perfect show:  the weather held up beautifully, the opening bands were amazing, and the crowd was one for the ages.  It was great to be in Helena again.  We don’t play there very often, but when we do, it seriously kicks total ass.  Thanks for being so great to us, Helena.

Highlights:

–Danny Donuts from GNSR helped me out on the backup vocals to “Billie Jean,” which was our little tribute to the late King of Pop.  R.I.P., M.J.

–I liked the packed-like-sardines-in-a-tin-can arrangement for this year’s party.  They should really consider sticking with that layout.

–Apparently everyone and their mother thought they had free reign to join us onstage.

Setlist:

Free Ride
Friends with Benefits
Alright Tonight
Birthday Suit
LMP
Save the World
Baltimore
Real Man
Chimney
Magic Carpet/Too Much/Billie Jean/Black Eyed Peas
Spiderman
White Trash Booty
Fan of the Bean
College Daze
Abercrombie Jeans
Sweet Jesus in a Chicken Basket

I’m the type of guy who gets totally fed up with Montana’s bullshit perpetual winter.  The clouds come out in October and stick around till mid to late June, and it’s extremely irritating.  Our precarious and unpredictable weather patterns make it very difficult to make outdoor plans on any weekend from early fall to the beginning of summer.  Remember when we used to have spring?  Ah, those were the days.

One would think that the weather would be pretty consistently hot come July, but that isn’t so.  Last Thursday afternoon was particularly warm for most of the day; and then, at about 4:30 p.m., a black, ominous cloud came out of nowhere and hovered over Bozeman.  I thought the first Music on Main of the summer would be canceled, and I was wicked pissed.  It’s been one of my favorite shows to play since way back in 2007, when I was but a naive 22-year-old recent college graduate.  Luckily enough, the cloud passed right over us and went down into Big Sky, giving them rich folk all the shitty weather.  Heh!

By the time we were all set up and ready to play, it was so nice out that people were still wearing sunglasses.  Sure, it was a little bit on the cooler side, but the four of us were completely fine with having to suffer through 75-degree weather instead of the usual 85-90-degree weather.  Especially Josh’s sweaty, sweaty ass.  But seriously, folks–the Bozemanites showed up in droves to the first Music on Main of the year and the first without our beloved R-Bar.  As always, John made a point to invite everyone to take several steps toward the stage, thus minimizing the abyss of concrete and sparse amount of strange dancers that usually occupy the space between us and the crowd.  I have no idea how many people were in attendance, but odds are I’d have to use all my fingers, toes, and the fingers and toes of several hundred of my friends.  Facebook friends, that is.

Normally I try to cater the setlist more toward the songs on our most recent record, but since our crowd had a great number of young and old fans alike, I did my best to make the setlist a miniature retrospective of the band’s career thus far.  We played a few off of Kinky, some off of Roger, a healthy dose from Mexico, one or two from E.P., and maybe three or four off each of our most recent albums, Not Fighters and Have Another.  So really, there was something for everybody there.  Granted, it’s a bit difficult to make a 90-minute setlist when we’re used to playing for approximately two-and-a-half to three hours, but I think I did a pretty good job.  Take a gander and tell me what you think.

In short, the weather held up, the crowd kept dancing, and we closed our set leaving everyone wanting more.  We all played great, except for the end when my right index finger started to blister up from the dead strings on Pearl.  (More on this development to follow!)  Seeing downtown Bozeman have so much fun, especially in the wake of what happened in early March, was very rewarding and made the four of us feel very fortunate to be doing what we do.

Highlights:

–Big thanks to Kris and Josh from Ten Foot Tall & 80 Proof for running our merchandise stand.  They’re playing at the Belgrade Lounge this Friday and Saturday night.  I might have to be there.

–I gotta say, Thursday night felt like a great “Let’s go to the R Bar!” night.  I think Bozeman is really starting to realize just how much we miss that place.

–It’s safe to say that I didn’t hear one “Free Bird!” or “More cowbell!” on Thursday night.  Are people possibly catching on that those trite phrases haven’t been funny since, I don’t know, ever?

Setlist:

Birthday Suit
Real Man
Out of Her Mind
Free Ride
Lil’ Miss Perfect
Friends w/Benefits
Potion
Come with Me
Alright Tonight
Save the World
Excuse to Jam
Bender
Baltimore
Dub-T
Fan of the Bean
Leave Me Alone
College Daze
Abercrombie Jeans
Jesus Christ

Body paint.

Tequila.

Pasties.

My mom freaking out at the 95% naked cocktail waitresses walking around.

Had you gone to the industry party at Bones Brewery in Billings on Sunday (yes, Sunday) night, you would have seen or partaken in every single one of these.  The most entertaining, of course, was my mom freaking out at the mostly-naked cocktail waitresses–sporting pasties, body paint, and a smile…kind of–prancing around in their pert near birthday suits serving tequila to every Peter, Paul, and Mary in the place.   It’s something you don’t see in Montana too often.  Wait, scratch that–it’s something you don’t EVER see in Montana.

The party was sponsored by Hornitos, a tequila owned by Jim Beam.  It was obvious that the planning committee had put a lot of time and effort into decorating the venue with the green from the Hornitos label to coincide with the brand.  Everything looked great.  Granted, it initially felt like we were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day instead of a tequila, but that wore off as the night went on.  We took the stage shortly after some fat beats delivered by Bozeman’s DJ Bones.  Our setlist was probably one of the more danceable collections of songs I’ve put together recently, as was evident by the scores of folks on the dance floor.  After a raging “Jesus, If You…”, we tore down our equipment in record time so that DJ Bones could finish off the evening with Drew, drummer from Eight Track Mind.  If you’ve never seen this duo perform, then do yourself a favor and catch one of their gigs.  It’s extremely unique and it definitely keeps the party going.

In all, it was a very exciting and fun-filled Sunday evening.  Now why can’t my other Sunday nights be that crazy?

Highlights:

–I broke a string right after I started playing “Pride and Joy,” forcing me to switch over to Leon, Josh’s Gretsch.  If that guitar stays in tune for more than one song, I’ll eat my shoes.

–They had a naughty photo booth.  It was probably the coolest thing ever.

–We hung out at the party till 1 a.m., then we all drove back to Bozeman.  It wasn’t one of our finer moments.

Setlist:

Three Day Bender
Alright Tonight
Mexico
Little Miss Perfect
That Girl
Jail
321
Free Ride
Potion
Pride and Joy
Save the World
Chimney
Booty
Beaner
Highway
Alabama
Stripes
Spiderman
Baltimore
Jesus

Hey folks.  Sorry about the delay in this blog posting.  I’ve been putting in 12+hour days in Butte on business and have had very little time to sleep, let alone blog.  My apologies.  

There’s something strangly exciting about playing in small towns.  (And for clarification, I mean small by Montana standards and microscopic for everywhere else.)  Last year, we had one weekend in early May where we bathed in Glendive’s salad fountain (I went back for seconds!) on Friday and drank ourselves drunk in Glasgow on Saturday.  It was certainly a podunk weekend, but we had a great time at both performances.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that those two towns rarely have concerts coming through town, so whenever one does, everybody and their mothers come out and dance the night away or rock the fuck out.  Plain and simple.  They’ll party if there’s partying to do.

Case and point:  this year’s Blues and Brews Fest in Glasgow, MT, where the beer flows like beer.  I didn’t engage in too many of the activities earlier in the day because I was busy driving across the 360 miles of nothingness, but from what I could smell on Josh’s breath and from what I could hear when he was talking on the mic during our set, it appeared that a good time was had by all.

There were three bands.  The openers, a Helena-based band whose names I cannot recall because I was still en route, received high praise from Josh, John and Levi.  They were followed by a stripped down version of the Dan Purser Band, starring Dan Purser on vocals/guitar and Leif…Smith (?) on percussion.  Dan’s set is very unique because he plays a good collection of originals and cover songs, but with the cover songs so altered that they only share the lyrics and a little bit of the melody of the version done by the original artists.  He plays in Billings quite often, and I highly recommend you go see him the next chance that you get, regardless of whether or not you live in Billings.

Our set was a lot of fun.  Although the crowd wasn’t as rowdy as it was last year, mainly because a wedding was taking place at the exact same time, the dance floor was still fairly crowded the entire time with people who were familiar with most of our songs.  There were a few times where our stage was commandeered by a handful of good looking girls eager to dance the night away with the three handsome gentlemen displayed before them with the musical instruments, which was quite nice.  I’ve never been one to turn down a dance with a good looking girl.  Unless, of course, she turns out to be a guy.

After our set, we had an encore with Dan and Leif from Dan Purser band, where the six of us essentially played a funky groove on a loop while Dan and John incorporated both improvised and well-known lyrics from popular songs.  It was like taking a musical trip through the late 90′s and early 00′s.  Now, an impromptu jam session such as that one could either end up great or totally shitty.  There’s no in between.  I remember when we did an all-star jam of “Hands To Yourself” with Wang Diddle Daddy for one of the M.A.P.S. shows back in 2007.  It consisted of four guitar players, two bass players, a couple of singers, and I think two drummers.  Cool sounding, right?  Wrong.  None of us could hear each other in our monitors, so it turned out to be the biggest clusterf**k of crap that I think any of us had been involved in at that point in time.

This jam session, however, was quite the opposite.  We had a solid groove, Dan and John sang their asses off, and the crowd didn’t stop dancing.  It was comforting to know that it wasn’t a total train wreck.

Highlights:

–Good work on the glow stick cups, Glasgow.  Those were super legit.

–Josh rocked the vote like it had never been rocked before.

–Even though I drove back to Bozeman separately, I think the guys will agree with me when I say that driving down US 191 with a slight hangover is one of the worst things in the world.

Setlist:

I’m getting bad at keeping track of these.  I have it in one of my suitcases at home somewhere.  I’m not sure where, though.  But I’ll find it!

May 14th marked another epic entry into the Clintons’ history book for several reasons: first, it was the maiden voyage of the Beamur, our newly decked-out Clintons/Jim Beamobile (which looks very badass, might I add); and second, it was our first (and hopefully not last) time performing at the Bucking Horse Sale in beautiful Miles City, Montuckett.  We had no idea what to expect.  Like our 2007 performance at Knievel Days in Butte, we had heard so many stories about the madness that usually ensued that we were kind of ambivalent about whether or not that performance would mark not only our final show, but our final evening altogether.  That’s right–we thought we were going to die.  

Good news–we didn’t!

We rolled into the Miles City fairgrounds at about 4 p.m. and promptly set up our equipment.  After a tear-jerking vocal check courtesy of yours truly, we got some grub, mingled with the locals, and popped open a couple of beers.  Josh and I did, anyway.  I don’t know about Levi and John.  Our short performance began at 7 p.m. with a thunderous “Three Day Bender” and didn’t let up until the last guitar squeal of “Jesus.”  Personally, I enjoy short sets because I feel as if we have a bigger impact on the crowd and leave them wanting more.  You know, just like a comedian who leaves after the final and oftentimes best joke of his or her routine.  (Note: not like Dane Cook, whose routine doesn’t contain any jokes.)  We played 13 songs, rocked them all, and left something to be desired–just like gentlemen always do.

Soon thereafter, the great Darryl Worley took the stage.  In case you haven’t heard of him, Darryl Worley is a country star whose patriotic ode to the victims of 9/11, “Have You Forgotten?”, was #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country chart for an unprecedented seven weeks.  I guarantee you’ve heard that song before.  His first song was very energetic and catchy and quickly roused the crowd into party mode.  

And then disaster struck.

(Note: Don’t see this.)

During his second song, Mr. Worley was rocking out on his Fender Stratocaster guitar, minding his own country business.  And then, all of the sudden, a lid from an offstage Tupperware bin got picked up by the wind and was guided directly into Mr. Worley’s forehead, knocking him to the ground.  As he rolled around on the ground, no doubt dazed and a little dizzy from getting clocked in the noggin, his band quickly put down their instruments and escorted the injured Mr. Worley to the local hospital to stitch up the fairly decent-sized gash on his forehead.  

Understandingly, the crowd was fairly worried that Worley’s departure marked the end of the show.  It’s safe to say that a lot of people would totally say, “F**k this,” after getting pelted in the forehead with a whatever-the-hell-it-was.  That’s probably what I would’ve done.  But about an hour and a half later, Worley showed just how much of a high-class gentlemen and performer he is by returning to the stage–with a smile on his face and a large bandage on his forehead–and giving the Miles City crowd one hell of a show.  ”‘Rub some dirt on it.’ Isn’t that what they say around here?”  he asked the crowed.

They responded, “Yes, that’s what they say around here, Darryl Worley,” in the form of raising their glasses and shouting incessantly.  

After his show, the four of us went downtown with some friends of ours and tied one on like it was nobody’s business.  What happened after that is confidential, but I can tell you that we all had a great time.

Highlights:

–Our barmaid, Andrea, bared a striking resemblance to American Idol and country star Carrie Underwood.  I think I pissed her off by continuously asking her to sing Kelly Clarkson songs.

–You remember Josh’s description on the old site, where it said, “Many have tried to go drink for drink with THE DAWG only to wind up in the hospital or dead”?  Well, I didn’t go to the hospital and I ain’t dead, bitches! HEH!

–For some reason, John thought it was hilarious that I went to the vending machine at our hotel wearing nothing but my boxers and my boots.  My feet were cold!  What the hell was I supposed to do?

Setlist:

I’ll post it once I find it!