MAY 9th, 1997
THE HUMPERS
THE LEAVING TRAINS
& RADIO CAROLINE
All Ages @ Safari Nite Club
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OK is there one out there that doesn't know who the Humpers are? If so leave cause you missed the boat. The night before the show Mark called and asked if I could put him up and I sent him to Brain's. He came in early with Cory from Nashville Pussy and we spent the night talking and drinking and catching up.
Radio Caroline opened the show. They are by far the loudest band in Des Moines. A good mix of Stone like Rock and Roll and southern rock. This may have been the first time I have ever seen them sober which makes a hell of a big difference. I listened out back while eating BBQ and damn did they sound good.
This was not the first time I have seen the Leaving Trains. The first time was way the fuck back in 87 or 88 at the URW hall. I think it was the Fuck the World Tour. They were like 3 hours late and we had to sit through 2 hours of the Hollowmen (pure hell) to see them. I remember being so happy by the time they showed, that they could have sucked and I still would have thought they were the greatest band on earth. So when Eric Stoneb(Alone Booking) told me that the Humpers were touring with them I almost wet my pants. To add to this, their dummer is Mad Dog from the old Hollywood band the Controlers. She's been knocking around Hollywood playing with everyone since around 78. James came out and proved that a guy doesn't need to be pertty to wear a dress and worked through a set of songs that could only come from the trash filled streets and clubs of Hollywood and downtown LA.
Then came the main event. Of course, not on time. Mainly because Mark over slept and we had to call Brian's mom and have her wake him up. There was talk of kicking him out by Billy and Scott but nothing came of it. The last delay was Billy couldn't get his guitar case open. So at around 8:27, they set the club a blaze with Plastique Valentine and went on attempting manslaughter with Make-up, Mutate with Me, Wake up and Lose, Sarcasmatron and Apocalypse Girl. I had to wave them off stage 8:55(this was an all age show and the law states that anyone under 21 must be outside the bar by 9pm). Leaving everyone wanting and wishing for more but that's showbiz.
