Saturday, November 10, 2007

A local drug and alcohol rehabilitation center is having a fund raising rock show. My nephew's band shows up to perform but all of their songs have titles and lyrics making fun of the patients: '12 Days and I Still Want a Drink', 'We Love Drugs', 'Give Me More Booze'. I pull him aside in horror and say their shtick is in awful taste and immature. His singer -- a fat biker-type dude in his mid 40's with a beard, beer gut and bandanna on -- tells me that people are 'digging it man, so back off'.

I go into the kitchen where the rehab patients are baking bread. Suddenly everyone runs to the main stage where a reunited King Face are about to perform. I head over to see Andy and his crew all dressed in blue pinstripe suits, wearing large afro wigs and sunglasses. Andy's bass guitar is made out of balsa wood and has nylon strings. The singer starts doing splits and screaming 'Far Out!' as Andy starts finger-styling a bass line.

As he plays, the bass bends forward and backward as if made of rubber. I yell to him 'I think it's out of tune!' just as the band kicks into the first song. Everyone in the band appears to be playing a different song and people begin to boo. One man starts crying: 'I've waited years for this reunion and they won't even show their real hair!'