My Supergrassy Weekend (Seattle, WA)

In Seattle, my Supergrass weekend started off with an almost run-in with Gaz Coombes at Pike Place Market. My husband and I had been wondering around the shops, and there was one that I had been trying to find all afternoon—a shop that I remembered from awhile back that sold scented oils, candles, etc. As I was searching for the shop with that single-minded goal, apparently I walked right past Gaz without even seeing him! My husband did see him, however, and as I passed him by, my husband called out to me, “Are you blind?”

I turned around and said, “What…?”

He said, “Turn around…that’s Gaz isn’t it?”

I turned around, and saw the back of Gaz from about 50 feet away. “Oh my god, yes, that’s definitely him.” I recognized the cowboy hat I’d seen him wearing in the Monkeybasket photos. He was standing in front of a donut stand. I gasped and said, “No way! When did you spot him?”

My husband said, “You walked right past him! I thought you were just being all cool pretending not to notice!”

I started laughing. My husband had seen his face, and knew for sure that it was Gaz, but I only saw him from the back. Sometimes I can’t believe what absolute tunnel vision I’m capable of having. For a minute I thought it would be interesting to follow him from a distance to see where he went, but then I decided that he might notice and get the impression that I was a stalker. Anyway, I turned around after a moment, and he was gone without a trace. Maybe he has a sixth-sense about when crazy fans have spotted him, and he can flee in time for a potential run-in. The funniest part is, just 30 minutes earlier I thought it would be fun to get my fortune from a silly Elvis fortune machine, and my fortune happened to say I would have a surprise meeting with someone special that day. How did Elvis know?

Finally the time came for the concert at Showbox. I was absolutely giddy. I really, really wanted a drink before the show, but I can’t have one because I’m trying to get pregnant, so there’s a small possibility right now that I could be pregnant without knowing for certain. Anyway, I didn’t try to get a spot in the very front because I was worried about getting pushed around. We ended up in a spot with around the third row.

Gaz alone, and then Gaz and Mick started out with some great acoustic numbers, including “Caught By the Fuzz.” When the whole band came out, and they started playing “Tales of Endurance,” I knew for sure that this was going to be an amazing show. Mick played the slide guitar, and I love slide guitar, and then when they got to the second part of the song, they slowed down the groove a bit compared to the version on the album. It sounded great. I liked that song before, but I LOVE this new version, and it’s been in my head for the past few days. Other notable songs included a modified version of “Sun Hits the Sky,” which had a groovier guitar riff that sounded awesome, and of course, “Rush Hour Soul,” which they totally rocked out on as usual. I wasn’t sure whether I liked the new version of Mary. The vocal parts were a bit too mono-toned, but speeded up it sounded like a totally different song. My idea for shouting out a request for “Coffee In the Pot” (for a laugh) was carried out by some other people who must have read my message board posting (or else it was just a coincidence). The Seattle show was wonderful, but as I'll go into later, the show in Vancouver was ten times better. It was the most incredible concert I've ever attended.

The only annoying part of the Seattle show was when two very drunk girls managed to push their way in front of us, then they started flailing their arms around and pushing into people. I decided I was not about to put up with this, so finally I just pushed my way in front of them, pulling my husband with me in. They looked all astonished when I turned around and said, “You can stand behind us, thank you very much.” As the show went on, the two of them talked throughout, including the quiet “Roxy” number, basically spoiling the song for everyone around them. When the show ended, one of the girls actually tried to start a fight with me. She started calling me names, and saying I sucked and whatever. I don’t recall exactly what I said to her in response, but I remember saying something like, “This is my favorite band and I wasn’t about to let you ruin my time. So go ahead and call me a bitch. I don’t care.”

After the show we went back to the car (which was parked around the corner) so that I could pick up my special early birthday gift for Gaz. I’ve sort of started this new hobby recently of making mix music DVDs for friends just for fun. I came up with the idea of making one for Gaz because I thought he might get a kick out of it, and could watch it on the road. Then when I saw on TV the classic, 1970s “BBC In Concert” acoustic performances (with Neil Young, Cat Stevens, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, etc.), they immediately reminded me of the new, mellow stuff that Supergrass is doing now, so I thought I’d make a copy of the concerts for Gaz, in case he didn’t already have copies of them. It might sound totally dorky to be giving a gift to a rock star, but I just wanted to show my appreciation, and let him know that he has adoring fans here in the States.

I wandered near the tour bus to have a look, and I didn’t see anyone except a homeless guy sitting right behind it and doing a #2. I must have startled him somewhat. Anyway, I hope no one stepped in his business. Eventually a few people gathered around the door of the bus. They all looked middle-aged, and one woman claimed to be there to get an autograph for her teenage daughter (yeah, right!) She was being quite pushy with the road manager, so I decided to stay away from those people. Then I bumped into a girl from France who was waiting to meet the band. She was very nice, and we started talking a bit. My husband went to see if the band was hanging out in the Greenroom next to the club, but he returned to say they weren’t there. I was prepared to be patient, and it paid off because eventually Gaz and his brother Charlie came around to drop some stuff off in the bus.

The middle-aged people quickly crowded around the two of them asking for photos and autographs. I waited for everyone else to get their fill, and then I approached Gaz to introduce myself. I was a complete dweeb, of course, but at least I got up the courage to speak to him. I asked for his autograph, and then I handed him the gift. I told him I made it for him, and hoped he could watch it. He smiled a lot and said, “That’s really sweet of you. Thanks a lot”… etc. (I’m still a little concerned that there might be some compatibility issues with European DVD players or TVs, but hopefully they worked in the case that he actually tried to watch them.) I couldn’t think of anything interesting to say at that moment, as my mind had gone totally blank. I could have talked about the time I lived in Oxford in the mid-90s and how a friend of mine had seen one of their early shows at the Jericho Tavern, but I was tongue-tied. I can’t even remember if I looked him directly in the eye. But he was wearing his cowboy hat and a green corduroy jacket, and he looked really good.

As he wandered toward the tour bus, I called out, “I’ll see you at the show tomorrow!” And I explained to him that we would be going to the concert in Vancouver. He said, “Okay. See you there!”

I forgot to mention that I didn't ask to have my picture taken with Gaz (because I always end up looking retarded in those kinds of photos), but my husband took a couple of pictures of Gaz talking to a group of fans. As I discovered later, he also made a movie (with the digital camera) of me talking to Gaz and giving him the gift. Watching this footage it was confirmed to me that I really sound like a dork when I talk to famous people.

I met Danny a few minutes later, as he was headed for the tour bus. He was extremely friendly, and said that he had been a bit tired during the performance, and he apologized. I hadn't noticed that he was tired. I told him that he was my "favorite drummer" (which is true), and he said, "Oh, really? What about John Bonham?"

My husband then said (jokingly), "Well the order goes, first you, then Keith Moon, then John Bonham."

Danny laughed and said that made him feel really good.

There is more to come including details about the mind-blowing Vancouver show, and eventually even photos!