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picture of MikeMike Peters at Bogart's, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 22, 1998

9:00 AM Kellie had to go to back to Youngstown, and Tracy had to go to work, so I ended up trekking to Cincinnati by myself. But Tracy did say I could crash at her place again after the Cincy show. Hooray! She also leant me her CD player with cassette adapter so I could listen to my CD's in the rental car. Double Hooray! So, with the stereo blasting to The Best of the Alarm and Mike Peters, I headed down I-71 towards Cincinnati.

11:00 AM Arrived in Cincinnati WAAY too early to even think about going to the venue! Considered trekking over to Oxford, Ohio (Miami University) because I had a feeling that Mike would be doing some radio promo at WOXY, but I didn't have a map handy and I remember from when I used to live in the area that heading out to Oxford was not easy without a map! So I decided to hang out at the Museum Center and the Cincinnati Zoo for a few hours. Discovered I really hate travelling and sightseeing by myself mostly because there's no one to talk to except yourself! Gets a little strange saying, "oooh, cool ablino alligator!" to no one in particular.

4:30 PM Well, got bored with the Zoo so decided to head up to Clifton, the part of town where Bogart's is located, by the University of Cincinnati. Parked the car by Bogart's and just hung out listening to Red and Blue. Of course, got bored after a little bit, so decided to get some coffee. The coffee shop was a couple doors down from Bogart's and I saw they had some RISE sampler CDs. So the local Velvel crew was doing a great job of promotion. Not that it really did much good....

6:00 PM Went back to the car to drink my coffee and just wait. I noticed no one else was waiting around. Not a good sign. I'm used to at least ONE other person hanging around for soundcheck! Finally saw the Blazer pull into the lot so I hopped out of my car to greet Mike and Jules. I'm beginning to think that they must think that I'm absolutely bonkers!!! Well, maybe a little, but on this trip, just really bored!

Asked Mike and Jules if they managed to get any rest since it was such a short drive from Columbus. They said they had to go to Oxford for some radio promo (damn, I knew I should have gone!!). Asked if they had heard what the advance ticket sales were like for this show, since I didn't see many requests on the bulletin board. Apparently they didn't think there would be a very good turnout at the gig either.

Helped carry some gear to the stage area. They couldn't believe they were playing the Main Bogart's stage! Since the show was billed as Bogart's Front Room we all assumed that there was a separate part of Bogart's for smaller sets. Nope, it was the main stage, which has a capacity of 1400. Helped Jules set up the merchandise table and chatted with a really cool guy from the record label. He told me that he’d been heavily promoting the show for the past month with flyers and the sampler CDs, but it was just hard to get people out in Cincinnati. He was even having trouble GIVING tickets away, and said that there would only be about 25 people at the gig. He asked me if I’d like to go for dinner and drinks with the record/radio folks and Mike and Jules after the show, but I declined. Can’t stand those record/radio schmoozings, and I had to get back to Columbus to crash anyway.

Some guy from Bogart’s was being a Merchandise Nazi and giving Jules a hard time about counting all the merchandise in. Soundcheck was pretty cool, got to hear Kaleidoscope, Festival of Lights, and Mike was working on the guitar part for She Sells Sanctuary—maybe he’ll figure it out in time for one of the later shows. She Sells Sanctuary acoustically would be pretty awesome!

7:30PM Doors opened. Oh boy. Three guys who had just driven for four hours to see Mike ran in and headed for the front of the stage. Uhhh, don’t think there was going to be a problem being in the front for this show!

9:00PM

SET LIST for CINCINNATI BOGART’S
(90 minutes, 25 people in attendance)

  • No Frontiers
  • Unsafe Buildings
  • Rise
  • We Are The Light
  • You Are To Me
  • The Deceiver
  • The Stand
  • Breathe
  • Strength
  • Only The Thunder
  • Ground Zero
  • The Wasting Land
  • A New South Wales (In Welsh)
  • Elders & Folklore
  • Rain In The Summertime
  • Absolute Reality
  • Sixty Eight Guns
  • Spirit of ’76
  • Transcendental
  • Walk Forever By My Side

Well, Mike started out by saying that the show would be very intimate—No Kidding!!! Highlights included The Deceiver which he said he hadn’t played yet on the tour, A New South Wales which was sung in Welsh, Absolute Reality which was a request from Brian--a Scotsman living in Ohio, Only The Thunder which was dedicated to Jay who had driven from Indianapolis and also was requested by me, and of course, Elders and Folklore which is always a treat to hear.

For me, though, this was a very special show. While I was waiting for Mike and Jules in my car earlier that afternoon, I wrote a request detailing a tragic time in my life. Back in 1994, I used to manage a 24 hour convenience store. I was supposed to work an overnight shift with a 19 year old clerk named Brian. But I had already been at the store 12 hours, so Brian suggested that I go home and go to bed. So I did. One hour later I received a call from the police saying that the store had been robbed and Brian had been shot and killed. For quite a while I blamed myself for what happened, blamed myself for leaving that night. And I couldn’t understand why this 19 year old kid who was so full of life was gone, and I was still alive since I was in a really bad marriage, a dead end job, and had pretty much given up all hope. Well, after listening to "Only The Thunder" a few times, I slowly realized that it what happened wasn’t my fault and that maybe I was meant to get through this for a reason. And now today I’ve got my dream job, a wonderful new husband, and I’ve rediscovered old friends, made new friends, and have found Mike’s music again. Anyway, Mike read the request, said he was also glad that I was alive, and boy were my eyes moist as he played the song! I was definitely touched by that moment.

I was a little annoyed with myself, though--I was trying to bootleg the show, but forgot to take my tape recorder of PAUSE. AAAARGHH!!!! Well, that's what I get for not figuring the thing out BEFORE I got the gig!

After the set, Mike didn’t even bother to walk off stage—he just jumped off the stage into the crowd (ok, so 25 people doesn’t really make a crowd!!) to talk with everyone. I was busy selling a surprising amount of stuff at the merchandise table. People were actually coming up to me and hugging me because of my request. I was again, really moved by the fellow fans.

Eventually, Mike managed to work his way through the picture taking and autograph signing, and came up to the merch table. He leaned over the table to give me a great big hug, telling me how he didn't know about what had happened to me (well, duh, that's why I wrote the request!), and I thanked him from the bottom of my heart for playing the song for me. Being able to thank Mike for one moment what was the sum of all that the music meant to me, how the music pretty much saved my life, was unbelievably special to me. The whole evening was special.

Well, as I after packing up the merchandise for Jules, I wandered over to where Mike was talking to the Velvel folks. Some woman from Velvel was commenting about a wacky fanzine woman at a Hothouse Flowers show at Bogart's years ago, and Mike and I looked at each other and said "Kellie!" Ha, ha--her reputation really gets around!

Followed Mike and Jules back to the dressing room. I must have really still been looking pretty emotional and worn out because Mike asked me if I was feeling all right. It was so nice of him to be concerned. Kinda felt like a fly on the wall, leaning against the doorway in the dressing room as Mike and Jules were packing up the gear. They offered me a few beers out of the fridge, but I just settled for a can of diet coke since I was driving. Mike asked me where I was staying that night (how nice of him to ask!) and I told him that I had to drive back up to Columbus to crash at Tracy's, but I was really glad that the gig was over early (it was still only 11PM) and that I could get back there at a reasonable hour. Geez, why can't all gigs end at 11PM??? If I knew I could get home at a reasonable hour after all the gigs, I would have gone to the Asbury Park and Hoboken gigs in New Jersey, but when you rely on public transportation, well anyway, I digress.....

One of the guys who worked at Bogart's (who kept calling Mike Mr. Peters, which I just thought was plain weird) came into the dressing room and apologized profusely for not many people being at the show. He kept asking what it was like to play for so few people when he'd played to so many in the past. Mike was very good natured about it, and said that it's just part of the business and it happens sometimes. He went on to comment about U2's famous Under A Blood Red Sky Red Rocks gig--apparently the next two shows after that one had to be cancelled for lack of ticket sales! Jules commented that as long as your ego doesn't get in the way, it really doesn't matter how many people are there. I commented that he could have had us all sit on the stage with him, or better yet, he could do a tour of people's living rooms!

Mike and Jules asked the Bogart's guy if he could help them with the gear, but he said he couldn't on account of the fact that he'd already clocked out for the night and he could get in trouble because he would be liable if anything happened. So he went to look for someone. I commented about how America is a country run by lawyers, and Mike agreed. Finally the Bogart's guy came back and said everyone had gone home, so he would help. So I grabbed a guitar (how come I always end up with the cumbersome one with no handle? That thing is bigger than I am!) to help them pack up.

As we were walking to the parking lot, the Bogart's guy was asking me if I was traveling with Mike. I said no, I was just taking a little vacation and helping out on the road. I had to get back to real life in a few days! Mike laughed when he heard that! What is real life anyway?

Gave Mike and Jules a big hug before I headed down the road. Wished I could have stayed for dinner and drinks, but sheesh, I must be getting old or something, because I was sooooo tired. Mike told me to drive carefully and I told him I'd see him the next day in Cleveland.

The ride back to Tracy's was an uneventful two hours, with Red and Blue blasting on the car stereo. Although I did get horribly lost when I tried to get to Tracy's house--why do all those developments have to look exactly the same anyway?? So ended up calling the poor girl at 1AM, wish she could have been at the gig with me!

But tomorrow was a new day---CLEVELAND!