If the Shoe Fits
Sunday, September 9th,
To celebrate the
anniversary of the opening of Footsies Shoe store,
Joyce and JaRue have hired GP3 to perform outside of
their store on Galveston Island. This is the trio’s
third visit to this location, but the first time for
an afternoon session. Previous engagements here have
begun around 6:00 PM. and gone a little past 9:00.
Today, the boys will play from 3:00 – 7:00, and it’s
a scorcher. Lee and George struggle with the little
blue tent
that the ladies offer. In these conditions
the blue tent = life. The Footsies crew keep the
guys loaded up on water (probably to avoid a
heat-exhaustion law suit from Matthew or George).
Despite the temperature, the band is pleased to be here celebrating with them. At the end of the street, Lee can see a cruise ship docked and loading. This thing is huge! George says that it must be as tall as a six-story building. The three briefly imagine what the music on the cruise must be like. Maybe they have karaoke, a DJ, or someone singing MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS, or something really special like a husband and wife dressed to the nines in sequins and polyester singing the hits of Captain and Tennille (with a big MUSKRAT LOVE finale). “Those cruises are air-conditioned, right?”
In an unexpected and magnanimous gesture, Lee has brought George a hat for the occasion. George is grateful. This will help to keep the sun out of his eyes, and maybe act as a disguise from…oh, too late...Here comes that woman that IS NOT a groupie or stalker- even though she manages to find them every month. She claims to have just been passing by. But she is not a stalker and definitely not a groupie. Just a coincidence. Serendipity if you will. The guys still do not know this lady’s name, but they have crossed the point of no return to where they can not admit that they don’t know it. So there is a lot of “Oh hey you.” “How are you doing there?” “Hey, now there’s a familiar face”, etc.
It’s 3:00, and the band starts strong. After a few solid faithful songs, George takes the guys ‘off-road’ as he calls it to perform a few outside of the main list. The first is a touching song written by Eric Clapton, TEARS IN HEAVEN. The mark of a good tune is when someone other than the writer can perform it and it stir up similar feelings. That‘s exactly what occurs with this one; even though this is the first time for the trio to play it, the song still carries an emotional impact.
At that moment,
an inebriated biker from the
biker bar
across the
street approaches the group and asks about the
specials inside. Matthew and George attempt to
diplomatically explain that “It’s a shoe store, not
a bar.” “They don’t have drinks inside? Is it,
like…topless in there or something?” “No,” Matthew
replies, “They only have shoes. I mean they only
SELL shoes in there-no drinks.” George jumps in
“Yeah, fully clothed people selling shoes to other
fully clothed people.” The man incredulously looks
past the band into the store windows. “Not even
Bloody Marys?” “No!” reply the guys in unison.
Disappointed, the man wobbles away. They watch as he
heads back to the direction of the
biker bar (where
he was undoubtedly cut off from drinking).
Across the street from Footsies, there is a Segway rental company called Big Hummer.com. Segways are essentially pogo sticks with oversized wheels. They are marketed to people who are either too lazy to walk, or can not afford a seat (making it a moped). This company rents the ‘pogo sticks’ and gives Segway historical guided tours through the streets of Galveston. Today they have many participants eager to explore the area while standing completely stationary.
These ‘Segwaians’ mount their scooters as the trio begins to play the song HOLDING BACK THE YEARS. The riders roll across the street in a perfect line that would please any marching band drum major. But as they whiz by the Footsies’ band stand, a rider falls off, tumbling down at a break neck speed of say 1.6 MPH or so. He crash lands right in front of the band. “Man down! Man down!” yells George into the mic as the song continues to play. “Oooh, not getting the deposit back on that one.” George quickly changes the words of the song from “I’ll keep holding on” to “I can’t Keep holding on” (which is basically all you do on these things). The guys feel that they’re safe from any retribution from this guy since he is either remarkably uncoordinated, or too drunk to stand still on a Segway. Instantly, the entire Segway hive has surrounded the fallen rider, and is attempting to lift him back on to his ‘pogo stick’ without leaving their own sticks. Apparently, these scooters are so valuable that if left unattended even for a few seconds to help a fallen rider, the transport would be in jeopardy of being hi-jacked by a pedestrian looking to upgrade his ‘sidewalk status’ (probably a drunk from the biker bar). As the song ends, the Segway riders buzz away to continue their adventure.
Lee has started to get under the blue tent after every song. This is worth noting because Lee’s occupation (working on roofs in Houston) requires him to be out in the sun quite a bit, but this heat even tests his resolve. During one of his visits under the tent, he notices that the cruise ship is no longer at the dock. It left without a sound, disappearing like some David Copperfield trick. George suggests that maybe it was just a mirage, or a hallucination brought on by the heat.
Speaking of heat, George realizes that due to the left side of his body only being partially covered by the magical blue tent, he now has a sunburn. Now the heat is radiating from outside and within. But his burn is just on the left arm, and on the left side of his face and neck. Good thing he had the hat from Lee or his entire face would be the same color. He wonders if it’s karma for making fun of the uncoordinated Segway rider. Nevertheless, he thinks that he must look like the Two-Face, the villain from the Batman comics. In the end, he chalks it up as an occupational hazard when playing outside.
When GP3 was
invited to play this event, Footsies’ owners Joyce
and JaRue had asked the trio to perform songs that
have a shoe theme. George and Matthew joyously
committed to this, before realizing they only knew
3-4 shoe songs. The medley of viable shoe songs that
they came up with only included
BLUE SUEDE SHOES
and
THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR WALKIN’.
Understanding the basic dynamics of performing, the
trio was forced to admit that you can only play
these two songs for a limited duration before
someone catches on that you’re out of shoe
songs.
The solution is song parodies. Matthew and
George ‘moonlight’ with a few other guys in a
seasonal group known as
Camryn Manheim Steamroller. This comedy band
performs during the holiday months, and is known for
changing classic rock songs into Christmas tunes.
George asks Matthew to write some parody songs to
accommodate the shoe request. Between the two they
come up with
ONLY SHOE (Only
You by the Platters),
YOU
WERE ALWAYS ON MY FEET
(Always on My Mind-Elvis & Willie Nelson),
MY SHOES (My Girl by The
Temptations),
SHOE SIZE
(Blue Skies by Irving Berlin),
I LIKE TO WEAR PUMPS (I'll
Follow the Sun by The Beatles). And they finish with
a special song about Footsies to the tune of
TEA FOR TWO. <Click
here to see the lyrics>
As the trio concludes the Footsies tribute, several charter buses arrive across the street and begin unloading passengers. The guys quickly discover that the convention center is hosting a real estate seminar this weekend. The street is filled with salespeople eager to spend their sightseeing money at the strand. George’s mind immediately runs through a mental list of songs that would comically appeal to this new group of listeners. Tunes like PINK HOUSES, OUR HOUSE, HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, etc. race across his brain. But alas, the boys have done their duty today…he suspects there will be other opportunities. For now the trio settles for ending with the Beatles OH, DARLING dedicated to the ladies of Footsies. The three pound it out with a zeal that would make Sir Paul proud. “Well that certainly was…” Oh wait, that’s not the final song, a lady and friend passing by requests that the guys play “one more little song” so she can dance. Her friend scolds her, and reminds her of how silly she’ll look. “I don’t care!” I want to dance.” Upon hearing this, Matthew and George decide to play one more. Who are they, to deprive this request? The three finish with a swing version of I’M LOOKING THROUGH YOU.
Whew, The guys
are tired, but in a good way. They begin break the
gear down. Lee and George pause a moment look at the
check this time. The bittersweet relationship
the two have with the blue tent
continues: But being
weary from the heat, slippery hands from sweat, and
George’s ½ burn, the tent has the advantage. The two
struggle to shove it back into the case. They even
enlist Matthew’s help this time, to no avail. It’s
like trying to shove a polar bear into a file
cabinet. “Did the heat make this thing expand? Uugggh!” There it goes!” (Elapsed
time: 7 ½ minutes). Lee gratefully returns
the tent to the ladies inside. Matthew and George
follow. “Hey there’s cake in here!” The three
present Joyce and JaRue (and the rest of the crew)
an anniversary gift. Pictures are taken,
refreshments are offered. Eight to nine cups of
lemonade later they say their farewells. Thanks for
having George Poe Trio, Happy anniversary Footsies.
< Previous Back to Main Blog Page Next >