I'll Drink To That, etc.

I've gotten several angry letters regarding the fact that nothing has been posted here as of late. My response, obviously, was that Kevin Shea was off galavanting in the Orient and thus we were sort of on hiatus. Taking a break, as it were. Considering the number of shows we've played in the last six months, I think that's pretty fair. He had a good time, if you're wondering. We did have a reunion of sorts on Saturday evening, however.

November 13, 2004 -- Office Ops, Brooklyn
This show was booked quite some time ago, and then I proceeded to hear nothing at all about it until I saw a listing on Tuesday. I noticed that Tunnel Of Love, Breaker! Breaker!, Pterodactyl, La Otracina, and Puttin' On The Ritz were playing on Saturday. Since we were listed (much to my surprise), I figured we had a show to play, despite the fact that I had not seen or spoken to Kevin for almost three weeks. We were seriously considering just giving the show a miss, since we hadn't practiced and I wanted to have some new songs for the next show we played. After some soul searching, I realized that it would be bad form to cancel the show. It is a dangerous precedent, to be frank I've never cancelled a show in my entire life. Not a one. I wasn't about to start here. We turned up to a mostly empty house, and played to one as well. Kevin and I can play to each other and still have fun, so we did. No really, we really did have fun playing. I think sometimes we turn in better sets when no one is around then when we're playing to a full house. Go figure. We were told we were getting a twelve pack and then were handed five beers. I suppose that wasn't too big of a deal, since Kevin wasn't going to drink and I seriously doubt that I needed twelve beers to myself. I gave one to Kyle and drank the other four. Kevin got some money for us and we cut out pretty much right after we played. I felt a little guilty about that, as I know people in some of the other bands. They all admitted to me that they had seriously considered cancelling the show as well, but went through with it because they felt obligated to. I found out it was Todd's (the dude who booked the show) birthday, so I felt relieved that we hadn't bailed. He's been wanting to see us for a while and we would have been total assholes to not play for him on his birthday. While we might be assholes on occasion, we are most certainly not total assholes, despite our best efforts. I went to the show at Mighty Robot and then found myself riding around extensively whilst drunk in the cold quite late in the evening. I watched the sun come up from my new apartment and then passed out.

Someone commented to me recently that "Puttin' On The Ritz is not the sort of band that's going to get you laid." I wish I could remember who it was, as it does seem pretty true. I wonder why that is? Alas, apparently. On a vaguely related note, I think the main misconception people have about us is that we are performance artists. What does that mean, exactly? Are we eating shit on stage or vomiting on our friends or something? We have never gone completely nude, even if I have removed my blouse once or twice. We do play music, remember? I think we do it quite well, even. We are many things to many people. We are romantics, we are punk rockers; we are gentlemen, we are jazz theorists; we are enthusiasts, we are disco dancers. We firmly believe that it is time for another drink, no matter what time it might be.