In the morning, Bill, the harmonica player we met at the Blue Note Grill, came by Alex’s place while Swami Schwarma was leading us in our morning intonations. Bill sat down smilingly. It’s pretty much how he left us the night before in the back room of the Blue Note. I think we was getting used to our tight knit and mysterious ways.
Clifton, Stefan and I got in the car with Bill and we headed to the best music store in the region. Marsh Woodwinds in Raleigh, home of Rodney Marsh. What a great store! Stefan started flipping out almost immediately. He was a kid in a candy store. I sauntered over to the trumpets, Clifton went french horns and Stefan went for an Eb sopranino clarinet. Ultimately we just geeked out for about an hour. Before we even met Rodney.
Have you ever had the following experience, ’cause I think it’s pretty rare. Have you ever stayed in a single retail location for FOUR AND HALF HOURS straight? Shopping, chatting, drinking espresso from the espresso machine, taking a tour of the back of the store, playing music with the owner, meeting everyone on his staff, promising to meet again, telling war stories, swapping dumb jokes, having a beer and some snacks. All this while marching band kids with their parents in tow came and went with little repair issues and accessory purchases. Ultimately, it was an epic hang. Rodney, you are the dude! What a great place. Thanks for the hospitality, it was such a pleasure to meet you and try almost every instrument in your store! I love the little tags on each used instrument that describe what makes it interesting or cool. I love the music hall you have created upstairs. I only wish we had time in the evenings to come hear a concert there. What a vibe. Folks, if you are in Raleigh and need someone to do some repairs, looking for a good horn, or just want to meet some real interesting folks… Marsh Woodwinds. Rodney’s been there for about years in his current location. It used to be a bridal store. Don’t be fooled by the Easter teal awning that says “Mordecai Bridal.”
That was pretty much our whole day. When we got back to town (after stopping for a quick, tiny, delicious pork sandwich at Hog Heaven BBQ) it was time to head out to the evening’s venue. We performed for an over capacity crowd at the Triangle Swing Dance Society. They were expecting 70 people and the turn out was closer to 200! I took this photo during the pre-show dance class. By the end the party was spilling out into the hallways and other rooms in the building. You could hear the band everywhere and everyone was dancing. Big props to Richard Badu for spreading the word about us so well. I think Angela Shek has a lot to do with it too by bringing so many dancers out to the Blue Note Grill the night previous. I’m telling you it was packed.
I also want to give them credit for a very interesting and creative policy they have there. If you are a new dancer they give you a necklace full of bright red raffle tickets. If a member of the Swing Dance Society asks a new person to dance, they both get a chance to enter the raffle. Also, you can tell who is new and there were a lot of them. I like the new dancers. They don’t have many preconceptions or experiences around it so basically they just move around and have fun! Tin Pan loves when you just don’t think and go crazy on the dance floor. It doesn’t matter if you think you are going to look silly. It’s just so joyous it doesn’t matter. I taught about twenty people the “Shy Tuna” dance at the Blue Note and on our song “Shake That Thing” I got a bunch of them to do it. So much fun. The Shy Tuna is the next big craze I’m telling you. At the Blue Note one girl started a different dance and that one is called the “Happy Salmon.” We did the Happy Salmon last night as well.
Ended the night at a bar called The Federal with Alex and Jenny (our hosts in Durham) doing the evening recap and laughing a lot. At one point a incredibly drunk dude just walked out the back door of the bar with a full pitcher of beer. Some girls rushed to the door. “That’s the guy that just puked in the bathroom, he just stole that pitcher of beer.” The dude walked over to his car, peed on it and then got it with his incredible drunk friend in the passenger seat. Alex called the cops. I mean this guy was trashed. Baby Hands – looking full on like a G-man with his grey tight suit and pork pie hat – walks over to the car and converses with them in their native tongue. Spanish. “Are any of you sober?” “Nah” The passenger had the full pitcher of beer sitting in his lap between his legs. Hands: “Listen, the folks inside are calling the cops on you right now. You probably shouldn’t be driving.” “Ok, thanks… Vamos!” Here’s Alex’s conversation with the police station: “Two guys. Yep. No, their wasted! He’s going to his car. He just pissed on his car. No they’re not driving yet. Wait. He started the car. Yes, Alex Maness. We’re at the corner of Albermarle and Main. OK here they go. Oh crap. They just missed a parked car. Oh man. Nope. Their turning right on Main. And there they go. Oh well. Yep… ”
Lastly, Baby Hands fun fact of the day: Ladies, Baby Hands is pretty darn good and making all the breakfast foods you could ever require. Griddle cakes, biscuits, eggs. You need to taste to his sausage.
I think more appropriately you should thank the entire Triangle Swing Dance Society Board of Directors for getting the word out about the dance, as well as the smaller groups that were the driving force behind getting you to play at TSDS and who also marketed the event heavily, such as Hot Club of Durham, RDU Rent Party, and the Raleigh Durham Blues Dancers.
Angela definitely deserves her own shout out. Her enthusiasm about your tour was enough to get people out dancing to you guys on multiple nights – no small feat around here!
Hi Laura, Thanks so much for your feedback. Yes. Absolutely big thanks to all those groups you mentioned and the personalities behind them. I had no idea there were so many people involved and am delighted they all pulled together to make such a great night.