Last night's Cowboy Junkies show at Indianapolis, Indiana's Birdy's nightclub was an unusual appearance. Very.
My first clue that it was gonna be a weird night was when we stopped for gas. The guy behind the counter was wearing a turban and was arguing Middle Eastern politics with the normally silent bassist, Alan Anton. Alan was so passionate about Pakistani politics, he was like a speed freak. That's different. (He's right about building a coalition- it's the ONLY way.) When we arrived at the venue, there were broken flower vases all OVER the parking lot. Inside the front door, Pete was collect signatures for an anti-war petition. He rewarded each signer with one of Margo's flowers, bowed gracefully, and planted a light kiss on the back of the right hand. The normally refined and gracious Jeff Bird was trying to pick a fight with a bouncer over a parking spot, threatening to never return to "a fascist, rule-based country like Amerika". Strange times. In the end it was the wallflower, the reluctant star, the retiring songwriter who made the whole night. Mike spun amazingly clever and detailed yarns about the inspiration behind each song. At one point, he climbed a light tower and proclaimed, "I'm free! People love me! It really *IS* *OKAY*!!" He was unstoppable but the lack of attention seemed to catapult his sister into a drunken rage. Poor Margo. She was slugging Jack Daniels straight from the bottle most of the night. At one point she pulled "a Joni Mitchell", screaming at the Geese, "You're too RUDE to deserve this music! SHU--UU-UT THE HELL UUU-UUUU-UP!!!!" Ultimately, Mike had to pull her off the front row; she was clawing the face of some pregnant woman wearing Dutch shoes. After that, Management threw them out so we had the meet-and-greet in the parking lot, where it all started. Birdy's sold their equipment from the stage entrance. I got Michael's teal Gretch for $50. You should'a been there. It was a night for the ages. Lamadoo Unless this is a late April Fools's post.
