Live at Ace of Clubs, NYC
As luck would have it I actually got to Ace of Clubs (9 Great Jones St, formerly Under Acme) early. I can’t stand the new name of this place. I just think it sounds like a cheesy gentlemen’s club or something.
Anyway, it turns out that there was a problem with one of the bands. They lost their bass player … literally. After load-in he apparently went out for something and just never came back. Aside from being a serious situation for that band, it totally messed up the schedule of the night.
Tang’s Elaine greeted me with her beautiful smile and a hug. She tells Kevin (bass) that I was here to write about them. He cracks, “Oh yeah, where’s your notebook?” I reach into my pocket and pull out my little paper companion. He was impressed with my old-school reporter style and bought me a drink. The place had been pretty empty all night but Elaine told me that everyone there now were there to see them. The crowd grew steadily to about thirty or so as they prepared to go on. Reese, Mike and C-Will from Reese Band are here as well. I told Mike how pissed JD was that he missed the party. Of course I confessed that this was a lie and that JD told me to say hi. C-Will and I compared notes on the classic case of being too busy to answer emails in a timely manner.
Tang recently changed their spelling to Tsang due to a complaint from some other band. Elaine told me that they’re considering changing the name completely. As they played I thought to myself, “What else could I possibly write about them?” Funky, hot, hard, sexy and heavy as ever … well, yeah … but instead of just repeating myself, read my review of them from July.
A strange thing happened as I went to get another drink. Without asking for anything, the bartender pours me a Coke and says, “It’s on me.” Not that I was drinking much at all, but was this a sign of some sort telling me to once again cut back on my booze? I decided not to say anything, take the soda and chalk it up to alcohol reduction. I was trying to groove along but thanks to my arthritic genes, the searing pain in my lower back shooting down thru my legs to my heels forced me to sit myself down.
After the band finished their set, I said my goodbyes and made the uncomfortable climb up the stairs and the long walk to the PATH station. Normally walking helps with the pain but tonight it was not clearing up so easily. To sit more I purposely got on the train going to 33rd Street. After all, it goes right back in the direction of Hoboken and getting to sit is worth the extra time. I’m shocked that more people don’t realize this, but I guess when you’re that drunk, thinking clearly is not really an option. Getting off the train I push thru the wall of folks going on to the next stop, hobble up the stairs and maneuver thru the annoyingly boisterous crowd grappling for cabs and wound up having to walk home. It felt good to eat and sleep after all that.
See Also:
My review of Tang from July
