I got back in town after our long creative session in the castle. A friend is also in town this week which means I’m out doing things I don’t usually do because I live here year –round. Here, by the way, is Boulder Colorado. The things I’m doing are exploring the mountains, drinking during the week and generally being an idiot. OK the last part I can’t help, I’m pretty much an idiot all the time. It’s not like the early days of Guy Pulaski and The Roaming Nomads (GPATRN) when I was young and on the road without a care in the world; the women, the drugs and the alcohol where always around in those early days. Sometimes we would sell out the VFW hall two nights in a row. Who can take that kind of none stop? It was a dizzying experience.
Today the band members are much more sedate in their afterhour’s activities. It’s hard to believe that we have settled down, some with kids and some with girl friends. Don’t get me wrong, when we’re out on the road, life still gets pretty crazy but we’re much more conscience of what we’re doing and much more dedicated to the quality of the show we’re putting on. So this week while it has been good and brings back a lot of memories from the past, it has been a little hard on me.
Monday my friend and I were at the Catacombs in Boulder. This place is known for letting local’s play. They often have obscure bands that turn out to be pretty good. We were down there for about two hours when I decided to play a few songs for the crowd. Maybe I was too drunk to realize what I was doing, or maybe I’m just that good, either way, I know now that I should stick to the big venues with security.
The previous act just packed up their stuff so the stage was empty. I happen to have an electric accordion in the trunk of my care with a small marshal amp. I talked to the owner, who did his best to act like he didn’t know who I was, into letting me play. I quickly set up my equipment and started to jam. Before you know it, it’s midnight, I’m drunker than I have been in years, the crowd is out of control and the police are escorting me past them. I still don’t know why the handcuffed me but they insisted. The crowd was crazy. They were yelling Boring, a hit of ours from the early eighties and Boo Boo, another great hit from the early 90’s. They were throwing beer everywhere, cheering me, jumping up and down, and tearing at my clothes. It was like the early days. One guy actually gave me a black eye he was so excited. He accidentally hit me in the face several times trying to snatch the Polish flag medallion hanging from my neck. Luckily for me, he never got it. I forgot how fun it was to play a small venue like that.
The police had to hold me overnight to be sure the crowd outside dissipated enough for me to leave. The police told me that manager asked that I never come back. Obviously, the fans were out of control and he can’t take the risk of me coming in there again. Really, would Bono form U2 get the same reaction? Probably, but you would never see the police go out of their way for him like they did for me.
It was 4:00 am when I signed for my stuff and called my friend to ensure him that the coast was clear and he could come get me. I gave the cops a $300 tip for taking care of me. Now the night is nothing but a memory. Maybe next year instead of playing an impromptu gig at the catacombs, I’ll see if I can get the band to play the Mile High Music Festival.
Pavel
