Whither Evel Karaoke?
The Story of a Mock 'n' Roll Band
The story continues...
Chapter 4: Hallo Shrewsbury!
From that single flash of inspiration, it was just a simple matter of plotting a kidnapping, booking a sensory deprivation tank, and triggering that same psyche-shattering prenatal memory in his erstwhile recruit. Upon emerging from the tank, the man is dazed and confused, to be sure, but dead certain of two things: he and his abductor/saviour go back much further than he'd previously believed; and the eleventh commandment, "Though shalt not suffer overplayed pop music to live." Nineteen tequilas later, they had a deal: "You like to play dat? I like to sing dat!" And the ranks of Evel Karaoke swelled onefold. Doubled, even! A force of two.
Their first gig/assault took place in April '99 at an open mic night at a Bennigan's in Framingham, Massachusetts, on the strength of an hour's rehearsal, before a small and uncomprehending crowd composed largely of students from the state college down the road. They came for peace, love, and phish food; they got sweetbreads and gerbils. An utter trainwreck. Which, oddly enough, they were invited back to repeat a few weeks later, before the MANagement banned them from the room.
Convinced, now, that they were on the true path, Evel Karaoke wheedled yet another gig out of their kindly padrone, the MC of Bill McCarthy's Open Mike World. On Tuesday, the first of June (a day which will live in infamy), Evel Karaoke closed the Tuesday night open mic at Shrewsbury's "Black Orchid"...
...and killed. Totally, completely, dead-bang killed.
Who could imagine (to coin a phrase), going in, that a legend would be born that night? Certainly not the boys in the band...having witnessed three or four singer-songwriterly types doin' their thang ahead of them, their consensus was: "This will be a kamikaze mission, won't it? Oh, well. BLAZE O' GLORY, Sidney!" And into the breach.
Blaze o' glory, indeed! The Shrewsbury World Tour '99 had begun.
By September, Evel Karaoke owned the closing slot at the Orchid on Tuesday nights. Swimming against the mainstream, flying in the face of convention, meeting massive indifference head-on, they gained a small but appreciative following through their sublime lyrical stylings and tight-but-loose musicality, their smooth dispatch with the occasional heckler, and their willingness to give fans, literally, the shirt off their back. As the year, century, and/or millennium (take your pick) drew to a close, the band (and I use the term loosely) was riding high on the strength of "Having Relatives Over," their contribution to Bill McCarthy's "Local Artists' Christmas Collection." Little did they know that the forces of mediocrity were about to rise against them...
A series of increasingly successful gigs ground to a screeching halt in February of the new year, century, and/or millennium (again, take your pick). The misguided management of the Black Orchid demanded that Evel Karaoke tone their act down to PG-13 at best after a couple left the club "without touching their drinks" during the show. (Obviously, they weren't from the side of the room that was hootin' and hollerin' and calling out requests...) Fuming all the while, an angry EK planned a farewell clean leap day set, just to rub noses in it; it was cancelled by the Goode Doktor the night before in a fit of artistic integrity.
This is the way the tour ends—not with a bang or a whimper, but with silence?
Hell, NO!
Indeed, our heroes were missed (as well as dissed) at the Orchid and, days later, were invited to perform an impromptu set on a Saturday "Band Night" at G. Willicker's. Borrowing gear (and, by the end of the show, musicians) from their pals, Flophouse, they turned in an utterly unrehearsed, shambolic half-hour set. Total trainwreckosity. In short, a blast. True, they played to more roaches than people, but a good time was had by all.
And the hits just keep on comin'...their old home town of Waltham fell before the EK juggernaut with a show at the semi-legendary Rendezvous, opening for Space'n. Further assaults on the public consciousness are in the works while the band plans its debut disc. It's all just dominos, people—more steps down the long and winding yellow brick road...spreading the disease...consolidating the power base...manifesting the destiny...conquering the world...yep, it's all in a day's work for Evel Karaoke...
(...just don't mention "the Tammany Incident"...)
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