"I'm spinning round the room in awe" ryan adams

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

GBF showcase and other adventures

This past Tuesday, Gran Bel Fisher showcased at the Mercury Lounge. Thanks to all of you who came out, it was an awesome evening.

Dan and I hung out at the (open) bar as I mentally noted who was walking through the door and being checked off the list. Judy, Angela, Steve, Scott, and Laura joined shortly after Dan and I had our second drinks. Socializing and rock ensued and texting is better than walkie talkies. It sounded fantastic and the room was hot and packed.

The Merc has cider on tap, so of course I bypassed the PBR on tap for that. This guy standing next to me had ordered a vodka tonic, saw the bartender pouring my cider, then asked if that was cider to me. I said yes and was asking if he was making fun of me. He said no, that he loves cider and that he didn’t want his vodka tonic anymore. I noticed that he had a wristband on, which meant he was a part of our party. I introduced myself to him and realized that I’ve heard his name and have talked to him on the phone before. So we chatted it up and he brought me onto the floor to meet some of his colleagues.



I went back to my friends and continued talking when J.A. came back to me and invited me to a model party (it was also fashion week). I asked if I could bring Dan, Steve, and Scott and we all met outside. I met some more of J.A.'s co-workers, who told me that I need to get out to L.A. – ha! We said goodbye to Rich and headed off to Prince St.

We dodged the long line and velvet rope. J.A. talked to the doorman, grabbed my hand, and I grabbed my friends’ hands to drag them in while the doorman was trying to get our attention. We did a walk around, lost the Windswept guys, and headed to the open bar. We lasted about 20 minutes until it became boring. Our group reconvened and decided to hit up the Sanctuary Management party at the Down Time (it was also CMJ week). We all pile in a cab, until the cabbie told me to get off of Dan’s lap and someone had to get out – so I did, and hopped into the cab behind us. I had no idea who the guys in the cab were but they were going to the same party we were. They were also at the GBF show. It was a semi-long drive uptown, so I entertained them with my babbling. At a stop light we saw the guys ahead of us all smoosh towards Dan and take a picture. Good stuff.

We got out, walked in front of the velvet rope, and strolled right on in. I found out later that this was one of the hottest parties of the night and apparently exclusive and a lot of people got turned away. Nice. This place was a sauna and plenty of good sights all around. I heard that George Clinton was there, but I didn’t see him. Dan and I saw people that we recognized, but I forget now. We missed the open bar here, but took advantage of one last beer for the evening. There was live music and indie DJs spinning throughout the building. We caught the last few songs of Say Anything. Idlewild was to play after and I love me some Idlewild. I made it to the front and we stayed for enough songs to make me content before we left for the PATH since both of us had to work the next day.

On the walk back to the PATH I could barely walk since my sandals were not conducive to gallivanting on city streets. I weighed the options of walking on hurt feet in uncomfortable shoes, or walking barefoot. The shoes won out. On the way, Two college DJs were lost and we escorted them back to the PATH. On the subway we all talked about music and wawa – a great combination.