Sunday, March 22, 2009
Today, I attempted to play a singing saw. It was quite my luck that there was one lying around the house; I’ve wanted to learn to play saw for a while now.
Steven showed me the basic idea (“curve it into an S-shape”), and I gave it the old college try. I managed to get a few good sounds out of it.
Later, Marcus (another member of Pineapple Explode) played the saw while Morgan played his guitar. It was strange to hear Morgan’s songs with that instrument, but it was nice.
Eventually, we mustered enough wherewithal to drag ourselves out of the house and to a Nashville neighborhood known as The Five Points. It was centered around a five-way intersection, and was comprised of restaurants and bars, record and natural food stores, and a hot dog wagon dubbed “I Dream of Weenie.” We got our lunch from the natural market, The Turnip Truck; they had some really tasty jalapeno hummus. We consumed said lunch back at the house, and departed for downtown shortly thereafter.
Morgan and I spent the remainder of the afternoon in Centennial Park, which contains a replica of the Athenian Parthenon.
We were caught by surprise by a pillow fight flash mob, which lasted for quite some time and was eventually disbanded by police.
Participants of all ages were eagerly involved. Silly garb abounded, from wigs to Viking hats, ponchos to this guy:
At any rate, the event certainly brightened our day. Around 7 pm, we left Nashville for Murfreesboro, for a last-minute gig with Spiritual Family Reunion, TenderBear, and Kids Are Goats.
The crowd was one of the best I’ve ever seen interact with Morgan. Everyone was eager to sing along and even dance, and there was one guy who sang in a sort of Cookie Monster-meets-Louis Armstrong voice that I thought was hysterical. Morgan flourishes with audiences like this; they allow him to boost his showmanship while still seeming in-context. So, Morgan was able to go an extra mile tonight, and it was great to see him allow himself to go over the top.