Debut
of GP3
June 9th, 2007: Art Walk Outdoor Exhibit –
Galveston, Texas
The trio’s debut performance is a road trip to
Galveston, Texas for the annual Art Walk exhibit and
parade on the Strand.
(Note: Even though Lee had
performed with Matthew and George several times
before this event, this was the first performance of
the three as George Poe Trio)
In order to save money on gas, the three meet at
Lee’s place to load in the equipment, and the
madness ensues. Unbeknownst to Matthew and George,
Lee apparently suffers from some rare type of
proportional space deficiency thing; meaning that he
thinks the cargo area of his truck is larger than it
actually is. This becomes a zany “WARNING objects
are larger than they appear in the mirror” moment in
which Lee has to come to terms with the fact that
George’s piano DOES have 88 keys instead of 22 or
23. Fortunately, for the group, Lee has studied the
fine art of bungee cording and has a PHD in tarp
coverings; so this minor oversight is quickly
forgiven as Lee begins to stack all of the band’s
equipment in the bed of the truck. As Matthew
comments about how the truck is beginning to look
like the Beverly Hillbillies pickup with Granny on
top, he is handed another bungee cord from Lee.
To lighten the mood, George follows suit by
secretly emptying the contents of Lee’s garage into
the truck. Everything from Christmas lawn ornaments
to adult pogo sticks make their way into the bed of
the truck before any of this is noticed. Then
Matthew discovers the antlers of lawn reindeer
protruding from a bass drum cover and the prank is
over. As punishment for these crimes, George is
banished to sit in the backseat of the truck with
the 88 keys (not 23) and an amplifier. Since there
is no room on the floorboard for his legs, he is
forced to extend them across the length of the cab
of the truck to the front nearly kicking the radio
knobs off.
A few minutes later, Lee has run out of
bungee cords so he is ready to go. Looking a lot
like the junk truck from the TV show, Sanford and
Son, the vehicle is put in gear, slumps forward and
begins to teeter towards Galveston. Ah, but not so
fast: Despite repeated refusals by Matthew to accept
a beverage from Loretta (Lee’s wife) for the trip,
he is now ready to get one from a neighborhood
convenient store less than 3 blocks from Lee’s
house. The guys make it less than a mile from the
store when they have to stop for a train! At this
point, the three are starting to question if they
will make it to the island before nightfall, but
still they press on.
To pass the time in the hot Houston
traffic, Matthew puts on the recently completed new,
new, ‘new’ demo CD (Lee had not heard the finished
master). It helps the three to focus on the ‘job at
hand’. The trio becomes inspired as they advance
down the highway. Always the prankster, George
decides now is a good time to call Matthew (and then
Lee) on his cell phone from the backseat. He thinks
it’s a hoot to watch them wrestle for their phones
only to see his name on the display. (Even though
this joke gets stale VERY quickly, George will
continue to annoy the other two with this gag for
the remainder of the trip.) The discussion on the
highway ranges from dead rock stars to large
inflatable balloon displays all to the sounds of
Rosanne Cash’s RULES OF TRAVEL
CD.
An hour or so later, all of the blood
has circulated out of George’s elevated legs and the
trio arrive at the Strand in Galveston. While Lee
makes contact with the proprietor of the place the
group is to play in front of he asks George to watch
for an empty parking space to open in front of the
venue. He is told to ‘block it off’ when it becomes
available. A bit of a confrontation ensues when
George faces off with a determined red Cadillac
whose driver REALLY REALLY wants to park in the spot
that George is standing in as Lee brings the truck
around. But George’s determination wins out and the
woman leaves to go harass some other band down the
road somewhere. As the three begin unloading the
equipment, it is quickly discovered that one of the
large orange tarps has frayed and ripped at some
point along the journey. As the torn tarp savagely
beat against the items it was supposed to protect,
fiber particles like a fine dust settle on
everything underneath. All of the equipment looks
like there was a collision with a giant bag of
Cheetos. As George and Matthew ponder as to whether
or not their equipment has more orange dust than the
Mars rover, Lee begins to ‘set up shop’.
The owner of the business has expressed
that the trio must not take up ˝ of the sidewalk
leaving the guys to perform in a 4 x 6 foot sloping
area. While this presents some space obstacles for
Matthew and Lee, George pretty much rode from
Houston to the island in the glove box anyway, so he
is excited about all of the ‘extra’ space he has
acquired. George decides to prank call Matthew and
Lee again.
As Lee is busy trying to fold his drum kit
in half, Matthew and George search for a restroom.
The trio is setting up outside of a novelty photo
house where patrons have portraits made of
themselves wearing vintage Victorian clothing in
front of regal-looking backdrops. The two wander
past the displays up to the top of a rickety
staircase to the toilet. The owner gives some
unusual instructions about using the toilet before
George enters the bathroom. The toilet looks like it
may actually be from the Victorian era and there is
a mysterious sweet potato (and cooker) in the small
room. Later, the two will discuss its significance
to the event. Lee has finally finished setting up,
and confiscated Matthew’s stool in the process to
use as a drum table. George begins to notice the
slight incline of the sidewalk as his chair (on
rollers) keeps making its way to the street. This is
probably karma for all of those prank calls he made
to Matthew and Lee on the way down.
In order to boost the sound of the upright
bass, Matthew has borrowed two malfunctioning
microphones (also from the Victorian era) from the
proprietor of the picture place. The group soon
discovers that one of the will mics work, but has a
short that causes it sporadically buzz, crackle,
(and if you’re lucky) go out completely. Matthew
gently shoves the smaller of the two mics into
the…(wait for it…wait for it)… the F-Hole… of the
bass. If he is completely still and aims the neck of
the bass at a slight angle the buzzing sound is
neutralized. About this time, George calls Lee over
to look at the soundboard. For some reason the vocal
channels are not putting any sound through to the
speaker. Is it the cords? Is it the speaker? Is it
the mics? Is it the amplifier? Is it the orange dust
that is covering everything? (George calls Matthew’s
cell). After much deliberation, prayer, unplugging
and plugging cords in, button pushing, and knob
twisting, Lee discovers the source of the problem: A
mysterious button labeled ‘Phantom Power’ had
accidentally been pushed in. Realizing that the guys
are NOT phantoms, but rather live in the material
plane, Lee pushes the button back in and instantly
there is sound again. Lee is quickly appointed by
the other two as head of the ‘Sound Committee’.
The event is good exposure for the band.
Strategically positioned between a few restaurants
and a Star Bucks coffee house, the trio enjoys a lot
of ‘walk through traffic’. There is an artisan
directly (Bonnie Blue) to the right of the band that
paints caricatures on rocks for people. She has
parked her
“Women of Rock” art car
in front our
block, and many people come over to get a closer
look.
It is early evening on a beautiful Saturday
and the temperature is a nice 10,000 degrees. The
three are soaked with sweat which has begun to wash
away some of the orange residue off. The trio begins
the set by playing the Irving Berlin tune
BLUE SKIES. At this point
Matthew realizes that he has positioned himself
facing directly into the sunlight. He doesn’t dare
move though (as if he could anyway) for fear the
bass mic will short out and electrocute him. The
group sounds good. The music delightfully echoes off
the surrounding buildings, and attracts many
passer-bys to come and listen and talk with the
group - Mission Accomplished! Lee makes a connection
with a fellow surfer who originates from his home
town of San Diego. They have a nice chat while Lee
plays. They chat for a few songs. It begins to
appear to be some type of A.A. meeting for surfers.
Nautical terms like ‘Goofy-Foot’ are bantered about.
George and Matthew stare at each other in
bewilderment. As Lee is nominated for the Head of
the Surf committee, George reaches for his cell
phone to prank Lee again. In a moment of weakness he
decides not to. Lee’s newfound friend leaves and the
three continue on. The guys encounter a rollicking
group of Scottish sounding lads that demand that the
Ted Nugent song STRANGLEHOLD
be played. The trio plays Ray Charles’
HALLELUIAH, I LOVE HER SO
instead and it seems to appease the crowd for the
moment. As the sun begins to set (and Matthew
regains his line of sight), the threesome wistfully
performs a number of sun themed songs;
I’LL FOLLOW THE SUN, THAT LUCKY OLD
SUN, etc.
Just about then, Loretta and friends arrive
to offer support. It’s nice to be among friends.
George develops a charlie horse from pushing against
the sidewalk incline for 2 ˝ hours and the band
takes a break. Lee fantasizes about what HIS art car
would be like. He dreams of the money to be made
touring the country in a car that looks like a giant
raven. Matthew examines the blister he’s developed
on his thumb from overplaying. An older gentleman
approaches the group and requests the song
STARDUST. The trio offers
to play STRANGHOLD
instead. After learning the man used to lead his own
big swing band, George convinces him to sit at the
piano and play STARDUST
himself. Matthew and Lee keep up, but this guy is a
master! He leaves after only one song (probably the
agent orange dust residue on everything) and George
resumes his post behind the piano. In a sentimental
moment, George gets the group to play the Beatles’
GOODNIGHT as he sings
the lullaby to his children on his cell phone. Tim &
Cindy slow dance to HAVE I TOLD
YOU LATELY THAT I LOVE YOU? Nathan (the
host of the event) arrives dressed to the nines to
meet the guys. He relays accordion war stories with
George and then he and his date dance away into the
summer moonlight.
The band plays a few more songs, thanks
everyone, and begins to pack up. The loading begins
to resemble a Marx Brothers comedy as one of Lee’s
beloved bungee cords has gone missing. Matthew
immediately jumps into MacGyver mode by using his
cell phone as a flashlight – This inspires George to
get his cell phone and…well, you know the rest.
After searching and searching for the wayward
bungee, Lee devises a different scheme to get the
equipment home that mainly relies on gravity,
driving 30 mph, and asking Matthew to look in the
passenger side mirror for debris every 200 yards.
This becomes increasing complicated as the three
somehow (don’t ask me how) get lost before leaving
the island.
Through some tear in the space/time
continuum, the boys find their way back to the
mainland and the billboards are in English again.
They decide to celebrate by filling up on some
McDonald’s food but can not find one that will let
them in at this hour of night. Finally, George and
Lee trick a worker at the second McDonald’s to let
them in but the beverage and condiment dispensers
are being cleaned. Even so, the group takes the tip
jar cash and feast on pre-made diminutive sized
burgers. Lee wrestles with a ketchup packet until it
squirts on his shirt. At which point, George calls
him on the cell phone under the table. The three
leave the restaurant. Lee does a brief inspection of
the truck’s tarp and bungees, while George assumes
his position in the back (and feet in the front
seat). Matthew comments about he loves road trips as
they head back to Houston.
The conversations are slower now, focused
mostly on music and the beautiful architecture of
the guitar solo to EIGHT MILES
HIGH by the Byrds. Matthew is elated to
learn that Lee has seen live performances of Jimi
Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. The truck rolls to a stop
in the same spot of Lee’s driveway that it had
started 11 hours earlier. It was a good day. Now all
that’s left to…Is that my cell phone ringing?