Three Times We Almost Destroyed The Orpheum Theater
And a complaint / compliment from another band
Fred: The Orpheum, New Orleans, late ‘90s. I think the “Mercyland” album had either just been released or was about to be.
I seem to remember that being a pretty killer show. I can see my old yellow Pearl brand drum kit on stage. Those were some tough drums. I bought them for $200 off of an opening band from Arkansas that played with us in Lafayette one time. Can’t remember who they were. Good band though. I could (and did) kick those drums all over the place, throw them, cover them in all manner of fluids, and (probably) even set them on fire… And they would still sound the same. I don’t know whatever happened to them…
Looks like we were playing “Drummer Man” when this picture was snapped. We had been playing that song for years but didn’t put it out on an album until the late ‘90s. Good song. Need to revive that one again, I’d say.
We played the show “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee” a couple of weeks later in that same venue and Regis Philbin mentioned how the balcony almost fell down during our show. I was glad it didn’t, but kinda wishing it would have.
We played that same venue again a couple of years later as the second band on a three-band bill. The show was sponsored by the local Alternative Rock station that played us in New Orleans at the time, 106.7 The End. Great station. Very good to us over the years.
Anyway, the headliner band (who shall remain nameless) had to play their set after a particularly raucous and hellacious CM show in front of our hometown audience (the headliner was not from New Orleans, like us) and they were not happy about.
I watched their show from the side of the stage. At the end of their set, the lead singer put down his guitar and walked over to the radio station programmer and said to him, “Don’t ever make us play after Cowboy Mouth ever again.”
I took it as a compliment.
Shows this weekend:
The Colony, TX
Lafayette, LA
Metairie, LA