Have you ever been to a Sesquicentennial birthday party?
I can barely say the word, but it means 150 years and C L E A R was invited to perform for this special celebration on December 30th in downtown Bristol. The evening started early too – our live set began at 6.30 on the stage of the State Line Bar and Grill and before the night was over, there we plenty of friends, lots of bands, a freaky Warhol-like karaoke party in an old warehouse, great memories and a heck of a birthday party. Here’s to the next 150 years!
Earlier in the year the folks at Bristol Rhythm and Roots had booked us to play the final celebration of city of Bristol’s 150th birthday. The 2006 calendar had plenty of events to commemorate this landmark in time and our place was part of the finale – one night on the state lines of Tennessee and Virginia.
We were scheduled to perform an early set at The State Line Bar and Grill. I left work early to get the stage set and along the way to Bristol I stopped and took a few pictures of the Old Guitar on Interstate 81 near the Bristol exit. This is landmark visible from Interstate 81 and earlier in the week, there was a rumor they were planning to tear the landmark down and fortunately, that turned out to be untrue. The place is live and well and beckons plenty of visitors to the “Birthplace of Country Music.”
Bristol’s downtown culture is easily the most active downtown in the Tri-Cities, especially for night life on the weekends. There are lot of new businesses locating there too including a new restaurant called The Orchid Bistro and they join a popular Chinese Restaurant, a gourmet eatery (KP Duty), a pool hall (Borderline), a coffee shop (Java J’s) and several several other retail shops that stay open well after sunset. One of my friends Kay Davis recently opened another location of Atlantis next to Inari Wines and the coming months will see other memorable businesses open their doors in downtown Bristol.
It was a cloudy on Friday and the streets were busy, but I found a spot in front of the State Line, parked the Jeep and began to unload my keyboards. There were bands all over the street tonight. Ours was the only set at the State Line, but several other bands including Lightnin’ Charlie, Red Riders and Shades of Gray and others were walking the streets preparing to perform at The Paramount, Borderline billiards, O’Mainians and a few other venues.
Jared, Greg, Willie and Lance saved plenty of room for me and it didn’t take long to fill up the little stage at The State Line. It didn’t take long to get everything set up and performance and decent sound check and snuggle up to the bar. We had plenty of friends waiting for us too. Tom Bettini joined me at the bar for a double Tanquerey. Lance McCloud had never met Tom and I introduced them both as Lance was ordering a shot of whiskey. They spent the rest of the night talking “bass-talk” – cabinets, speakers, tones, etc.
Charlene Tipton introduced the band right on schedule at 6.30. She had some flattering things to say and in a moment, Clear was cranking up a 90 minute set starting the show with ‘I Bent Down.’
Earlier, we had set up a small Mp3 recorder and you can now download the entire set by (clicking this link – Coming Soon).
Listening back to the tracks, we had a good show. The crowd was into the new songs and there were a handful of people dancing. We had a good time too, but there was a moment in the show where I remember my something turned for me as a musician.
I was having a great time till I looked back behind us and realized the folks at the State Line had decided to leave the projection screen on with some college football game. It wasn’t like that didn’t have other sets in the room. I counted six others and it seemed disrespectful to the band. Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend at the State Line as they prefer a DJ and karaoke to represent their entertainment for the most part.
Nevertheless, we finished the set and hung around the bar for a while talking with friends. I packed my gear into the car and walked down the street a bit meeting up with Gary Redmond and his wife. Gary is a phenomenal blues guitarist and I still thank him for turning me on to Pinetop Perkins. I also had a chance to talk again to Tom Swaddley and his wife had come to see us at the State Line. Tom is the guitarist for the Celtic band Sigean and this was his first Clear show.He had good things to say and I’m always thankful for other players who support performances – especially talented players like Tom.
We finished up at the State Line and were invited to a private party down the street at an old brick building that will soon be a new Pizza bistro in Bristol. Jared, Stacy, Tom, Greg and Amy and several others were crowded into a small room with plenty of food and drinks. The building was gutted and the brick walls on both sides will make this a great place to hang out. Some guy with a set of those jeweled New Years’s glass was staring at me through the 2-0-0-7 on the front. I found out later he’s the new business owner (a friend of Willie’s) and he was excited about the party the master of ceremonies – his hands on the karaoke machine.
I’m going to admit this was my first karaoke party. After all these years, I’ve managed to stay away from these events because as a player it makes me a little dizzy to hear people sing out of tune. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the entertainment because two gorgeous blondes and a redhead were way beyond their limits, but I confess – their performance of Joan Jett’s ‘I Love Rock and Roll’ was hard surprisingly unforgettable.
We left the karaoke party a little after midnight and stepped into O’Mainians. I was a bit tired from a full 10 hours, but we hung out for a set of a popular cover band in Bristol called Shades of Gray who did a good job performing lots of classic rock songs well into the night and Bristol was in its last days of 2006.
Over the last several months, I’ve enjoyed the city of Bristol more and more. They seem to really have things together in downtown and their music festivals have only just begun. Of course, we’re all excited about Rhythm and Roots 2007, but over the past couple of weeks, it seems we can plan on even more concerts and fun downtown so stay tuned. Our band Clear digs this town so month and consider everyone their our best of friends. That’s why despite the fact we’re all spread out across the Tri-Cities, it’s good to call Bristol home.