Sunday, July 22, 2001 - Chameleon Club - Furry Friends Network Benefit - Darcie Miner Band, Julian Fist, Pete Palladino, Negative Space, Clove, Emily’s Toybox

Sunday, July 22, 2001
Chameleon Club
Furry Friends Network Benefit
Darcie Miner Band, Julian Fist, Pete Palladino, Negative Space, Clove, Emily’s Toybox

www.darcieminer.com
www.julianfist.com
www.petepalladino.com
www.negativespacerocks.com
www.clovemusic.com
www.emilystoybox.com
www.furryfriendsnetwork.com

Shannon, Melanie, and Shannon’s parents finally made it to the Water St. Garage only to stand in line outside the Chameleon in the hot sun. As promised, the doors opened at four and allowed the waiting line to enter. Seven dollars for the cover and all of it went to the Furry Friends Network. Since we were one of the first hundred to enter, we were the happy recipients of an envelope of goodies. (Clove poster, “Kindly Remove the Stick” by Emily’s Toybox, ETB sticker, Pete Palladino signed July 2001Unsung Hero, Pennsylvania Musician Magazine, Unsung Hero Compilation CD) Climbing the stairs with our manila envelopes we found the main floor and chose a table. Shannon and her mom, led by Melanie, headed back toward the stairs and ran into Kyle of Julian Fist. We had to pee so it was only a quick hello! Afterward, Shannon’s mom asked if she could bring in a cooler of applesauce and water for Shannon’s sore mouth, which was still recovering from Friday’s wisdom teeth operation. She was told as long as there were no drugs or white out in there, it was okay. The white out comment confused her and had to be explained.

The area in front of the stage was filled and we wanted to make sure we had a spot. The Darcie Miner Band opened the evening at five. They performed their rocking folk tunes to the delight of an audience of mostly teens and the musicians scheduled to perform later in the evening. The previous night Darcie had opened for the Go-Gos. You know, they sing "We got the beat!"...one of those songs that never escapes your head once you hear it. Darcie is in the process of signing with Beyond Music. Congrats to her and the band on their record deal!!

Next in line to perform was Julian Fist. We had the chance to chat with Mitch and Scott before the evening began. Mitch had his Creed shirt on and Scott his Batman tee. Both were white! Mitch did change to his black Unsung Hero tee before appearing on stage, but Scott stuck with the white. While Melanie snacked on a Nerd Rope, we talked about the ailing Shannon’s wisdom teeth experience and Scott shared his with us too. That night Julian Fist decided to unveil a new song they had finished two days ago. The guys also performed songs from their self-titled debut EP and both hard and softer rockers off the newly released “Pushing Audio Platinum.”

Performing the next set was Pete Palladino, the-man-who-can-pull-off-wearing-a-hot-pink-shirt (and yes, the guy from the Badlees). Pete, playing solo, performed songs from “Sweet Siren of the Reconnected.” Thinking he was finished, Pete began to make some closing remarks and started to exit the stage. Suddenly a backstage door flung open and a big, bald man asked Pete to PLEASE perform two more songs. Despite his sore throat, Pete happily performed an encore. One song was “Fever” by the Badlees and the other was a cover of “Cruel to be Kind.”

Following Pete was a surprise performance by Far Away Charade, which consisted of Nicole and Kelly. Pete let them borrow his acoustic guitar for a few tunes, while we took this opportunity to have a snack time. Melanie ate s’more Poptarts and Shannon had some berry flavored applesauce. Pete commented that Melanie's Poptarts looked good and he also said that Shannon was probably the only person who ever brought applesauce into the Chameleon before.

Scheduled next was Clove. To everyone’s surprise (and delight), Negative Space took the stage. During the classic devil horns song, “Summer of 69,” Shannon was summoned over to our table. Melanie stayed up front so we would not lose our spot by the stage. After a minute or two, Melanie went back to see what was up. There was Shannon with her parents and Mike and Donna Wise. Shannon's dad had told Mike that his daughter was the one who designed the new ETB T-shirt. Mike was pleased that one of the younger entrees won the contest and he thanked her for the cool design. After chatting with Mike and Donna for a bit, we returned to watch Negative Space tear up the stage like never before.

After Negative Space, Jim from Harrisburg Online asked us i f we had met Clove. We had been chatting with Evelyn, whom we had the privilege of meeting that day. Answering no, he told us to come back and meet them. Walking away from Carrie of Juiced and Evelyn (ETB’s super nice merch gal), we went toward the stage. Jim continued past and to the back stage area. Melanie stopped while Shannon paused then continued onward. Melanie quickly followed. Jim went through one door and seeing Todd from Negative Space we said a quick hello. Jim then invited us into a room marked bands only. He kindly introduced us to some of the Clove members and started to tell Shannon about the Insane Clown Posse hanging out there, but she interrupted him and explained that clowns scared her so the conversation came to somewhat of a halt. We then proceeded to talk to Mike about the Furry Friends benefit and how much we all love our pets. One minute Mike is telling us how much he loves his cute dog, the next he's on stage yelling "My dick smells like chapstick!!!" Although he may seem bipolar, he's just a lovable guy.

Soon we heard Clove on stage so we headed back into the crowd, with the other fans and random band members scattered about. Clove is becoming increasingly popular and if they continue to bash out originals as great as "Backseat" (which can be heard on the Unsung Hero Compilation) they'll be signed and appearing on MTV in no time. Clove's third CD, "Go" is available to purchase now at www.clovemusic.com, so head on over there as soon as possible.

Soon after Clove energized the crowd, Emily's Toybox topped it all off. New bass player, Danny Kamp fit in amazingly well with the band and all of their hilarious antics. Some of the highlights might be a little too X-rated to share, but as a whole their performance was actually more along the PG-13 lines due to the all age crowd. Mike had been joking around with a little boy who he announced as his new friend and drinking buddy, which seemed to make his day. Before playing "I'm the Bomb," Mike announced that it was dedicated to a shy girl out there while he searched for Shannon in the crowd and finally spotted her. That made her day as well! This was our first time we got to see a whole performance of theirs and it was well worth the wait. The crowd participation alone made it an awesome experience…who could resist shouting along to "Bionic"? Both of Shannon's parents loved ETB's performance and by the end of the show they were already asking when they could see them again. Pay attention for new ETB music, which will soon be on its way to the fans.

We took a couple of posse pictures with Emily's Toybox and told them we'd hope to see them soon and then we headed towards the stairs. Josh and Mark from Negative Space were still hanging around (despite someone announcing with a megaphone that everyone except the band had to depart), so Shannon's dad embarrassed her by showing them her T-shirt design for Emily's Toybox which they thought was really cool. We wanted to help pass out flyers for Buzzfest so they gave us a heap of those as well. Shannon's mom took pictures of us with Josh (we weren't aware at the time, but Mark popped in the shot as well) and another one with Mark showing off his wounded arm. While seeing spots from all of the pictures being taken, we walked down the stairs and drove home.