Karl's Corner - 08/25/2000

...Asbury Park Madness!!! There were so many things going against this show, its a happy little miracle that it ended up rocking out so hard. First of all the New Jersey Dept. of the Treasury showed up and threatened to stop the show because we didnt have a NJ tax ID number (which was a scam because our federal number overrides any state one)...Then our bus was surrounded by police cars while going around the block to re-park. The officers were demanding that they impound the bus because they didn't like the looks of our (perfectly in order) registration! Then I, after a big pile of guitar work was squared away, decided to check out the Stone Pony's outdoor section, complete with... skateboard ramps?!? Well, with 5 minutes to kill before soundcheck I couldn't resist, and in fact had fun for about 90 seconds... UNTILL... I backed out of an ollie, stepping onto the ramps surface- which turned out to be teflon-slick from having been deteriorating in the salty air- and instantly fell flat on my face, breaking off one of my teeth! A three hour emergency dental surgery situation ensued, at the end of which I returned to the club with a whole new fake tooth and a very empty stomach... did you ever not eat till 8 PM, and when you do you cant have solids? Sheesh!.... And it didnt stop there! The Stone Pony's barricade was too small, and so our guitar tech area was nearly destroyed by the crush of fans. One big lunkhead decided to do a crowd surf right next to my workstation, practically killing the people beneath him. I shouted for him to be removed, at which he exposed his mindless true self, and yelled at me like a wild beast, informing me that i'd better go "dig my hole"......Nice guy. Later, after threatening everyone in the band and crew with bodily harm, and continuing his "beast wars" thing, he was spotted being dragged across the parking lot by 3 security guards. Some folks just dont know how to enjoy a show... And finally, to cap it all off, someone decided to try and steal Brian's guitar right after the show ended. It turns out that he never got it outside of the club , thanks to the efforts of our crew and the Stone Pony's security crew, and some helpful fans. Unfortunately (and unbelievably) the guy got away, escaping what would have been intense retribution and jail time.

Good Greif....cant we all just get along? ...and not fall on our faces while skateboarding?

I write this right after the Axis show in Boston, and it was a winner- lines around the block and smiling faces everywhere. cool. Like last night, the boys busted out with "Only In Dreams" to an attentive and stoked crowd. So many people came up to me afterwards asking me to thank the guys for playing it. Well, consider them thanked!

...My email has gotten a bit out of control, Im slowly catching up..I'm sorry if you were really expecting or needing a reply and I didnt. Ill try to keep up on it as best as I can, but its hard when 200 come in per day. I know that many of you arent expecting a response, but some do, and i hate to blow anyone off...