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Submitted By: Mark Ward
Date: 11/13/2002
It was a typical Tuesday afternoon at work. I was sitting in my cubicle working on some technical requirements for a client system when I checked my e-mail and there was a message from my good friend whom we call Kaiser Sose! The e-mail reads:
"Ward, Groovatron is playing at the Bell's Brewery this Saturday. Want to go?"
My eyes lite up at this prospect. How did I not realize that the show up in Kalamazoo was at the Bell's Brewery, a personal favorite beer of mine, sooner. I run a freakin fan web site for the guys and this somehow slipped past me. Prehaps my brains truly is nothing more than just malted hops and bong resin these days!
Anyway, I called my buddy Kaiser Sose and we decided that yes indeed we would make the trek to Kalamazoo to see our favorite brewery finally and of course to catch another Groovatron performance. We got our other buddy Cliffy to join us and decided that rather than risk a DUI we should just stay in Kalamazoo overnight. The only downtown hotel near the venue is a Radisson, so we decided to stay there. The drive to Kalamazoo is as boring as any in America. Dull, flat, harvested corn fields for as far as the eye can see but it's only a 2 hour ride up there so it's not so bad.
We arrived in Kalamazoo around 3 PM and the show wasn't starting until 9:30 so we had alot of time. The brewery gives free tours on Saturday with the last one being at 4 PM so after checking in to our hotel and getting settled in we head directly to the Bell's brewery to catch the last tour.
When we arrived at the Brew Pub we were amazed by how small it is. I mean, Bell's produces 29,000 barrels now and ships to 8 states in the midwest so they aren't exactly a small unknown microbrewery. We took the tour and it was very enlightening and enjoyable. Of course, after we finished we proceeded to sit in the brew pub, where later that night Groovatron would perform, and start drinking all the different selections of Bell's beers that were on tap this evening.
One great thing about the Bell's Brew Pub is the prices! Kalamazoo is where Western Michigan University is located so in order to attract the college kids they offer very good prices. It was only $3.50 for a 20 oz. glass of all their beers. $3.50! Shit, that's the cost of a Bud Light bottle in Chicago on a Friday and Saturday night!
Well, afternoon gave way to night time as we got our buzz on at the brew pub and the band arrived and started setting up everything. We chatted for awhile and drank some beers with the guys. Talked about how their past week of touring had gone since I had seen them in Bloomington the Friday before.
After a few hours, and several more beers, the show was set to begin. The inside of the brew pub is quite small actually and there was not a very large crowd on hand this evening for the entire show. Probably no more than 30-40 people at most. I'd really like to see Groovatron go back and play this place in the summer as the brew pub has an amazing fenced in outside stage with enough room for 500-1000 people I would imagine. It would be kick ass to see that happen in the future.
Set I:
This night would be something different from Groovaton. Little did any of us know but a musician friend of the band, a guy named Kevin, was there and had his trumpet and would be joining Groovatron on various songs throughout the night. The band opened with a nice Shaunza. Great harmony in that tune makes it so enjoyable when the band is on and they were on tonight!
Kevin joined the band for a very spacy and jammed out Holdin' Out and El Guapo. It was apparent that Kevin obviously knew Groovatron's style well as he fit right in with the band and added a very pleasing element to the band and created an additional sound within these tunes that made it even more enjoyable than usual.
Now, the highlight of this show by far was what would come next! Shining Black Pearl > Erotic > Hey You > Erotic > Shining Black Pearl!!!!!!! This was INCREDIBLE. By far, the best improvisational jamming and seguing I had ever seen from Groovatron. The jams flowed very smoothly from one to the other with Quag's playin some really sick guitar rifts during the Shining Black Pearl jam.
The remainder of the first set was very enjoyable with the band playing what they called, "The Greatest Rock n' Roll Song Ever Written" and launching in Good Times Bad Times. Steve does an awesome job on the vocals when they play this tune but I might have some disagreement as to whether it's the greatest rock n' roll song ever! Anyhow, Bone Diggin and Outcome SOS lead to a much needed set break to have a smoke and relax.
Set II:
The brew pub was a non-smoking venue so I was outside chillin and chatting with Kaiser Sose and Cliffy when the band came back on so I missed the "Technical Difficulties Jam" and the beginning of Hole In The Fish Tank but the latter half of Hole into Skitz was really funky. Tony Mac and Tony Q were laying down some heavy jams that the small audience was really getting in to.
The rest of the set was a bit of a blur. All the Bell's beer was taking full effect now and we were dancin and enjoying some great jams such as Eyes of The World and Boom Doom.
While the show had ended, our drunken Kalamazoo adventure hadn't. We hitched a ride with some students to another bar, of which I can't remember the name. We hung out at this college bar for awhile, played some pool, and drank more beer. Afterwards, we decided we were hungry and ready to head back.
On the walk back to the hotel, we passed a greasy spoon diner and decided to stop in for a late night bite to eat. Well, you know you are drunk when you order Nachos as an appetizer and then get Biscuits & Gravy for an entree which is what Cliffy, Kaiser Sose, and I did. Well, it wouldn't be a trip to a college town without some hardass student mouthing off.
Now, I'll admit we were drunk, but we were simply minding our own business and chatting with some people that came in when some dumbass from across the diner yelled over some thing in an attempt to start pickin a fight. Now, with a system full of alcohol, I was ready to go over there and break a chair over these idiots heads but we restrained ourselves, finished out food and headed back to our hotel to cap off another fun and wild night on the road catching Groovatron.