The pleasure of mixed company!

We drove down to Providence on Saturday night for a bday party/Rockabilly show. The drive down was nice and we had just one small cock-up which consisted of us driving right past the venue without noticing it and getting a tad-bit lost. We finally managed to get back on track and found the place, parked and ran-inside. I was wearing a dress and it was about 30 degrees outside so the running was necessary to generate some body heat.

(SIDE NOTE: When exactly will Spring get here?)

The club/bar/restaurant/what-have-you was cute and cozy. We chatted with some friends, grabbed some drinks and sat down near the side of the stage not far from the DJ booth.

I started to look around the club and take in the new sites. It’s always fun to go to new places and soak in a different atmosphere. I noticed there were some portraits of famous singers/musicians hanging behind the stage. They all appeared to be painted by the same person and it was an incredibly odd mix. From left to right hung Biggie Smalls, Billie Holiday, Bob Marley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Strummer, Shane MacGowan, and Janis Joplin. Let me just say that the portrait of Janis Joplin was THE most flattering picture I have EVER seen of her. She almost looked like a supermodel.

I remember commenting on the odd mix and then sort shrugged my shoulders and had another drink. The night progressed and the crowd grew and some people we didn’t know sat at and around our little table. A drunken frat guy and his date or sister or both, who knows, pulled some chairs up to our table and started bobbing their heads, off-beat natch, to the band. Suddenly the guy whipped his head around to us and the following exchange occurred:

DRUNKEN FRAT GUY: (pointing at the portraits hanging behind the stage) “I was wondering if you know who that is …the guy there…with the hat and big ears.”

ME: “Yeah….it’s Shane MacGowan from the Pogues.”

DRUNKEN FRAT GUY: (staring blankly) “The what? Who is it?”

ME: “Shane! MacGowan! The! Pogues!”

DRUNKEN FRAT GUY: “You got anything else for me? I don’t get it?”

ME: (Quickly thinking that I could possibly mention the Nips or The Popes, but figuring if he didn’t get the Pogues reference I should probably leave it were Jesus flung it) “Umm, yeah guy…I don’t know what else to tell you……It’s Shane MacGowan from the Pogues!!! That’s all I got! “

Ahh mixed crowds ——gotta love ’em!