The Killdevils
January 10: Heading South on Route 146
A Description of the Aftermath by Jacob Haller
Phew, it's been a while since I've done one of these, isn't it?
The Killdevils played at the Java Hut this evening.
It was fun! There were a lot of people there, many of whom I didn't know, which is always nice. (Those of you who have been in bands may be familiar with the unpleasantness of showing up at a coffeehouse or other venue and having it be virtually empty except for a few of your friends.) Also, a few Providence folks did make the trip up and applauded us very enthusiastically, and a friend and high school bandmate of mine, Jason Welch, showed up with his wife and son and sat in for a few songs in the second set, which was great -- I thought that on the first song we did together in particular (the old Bo Diddley tune Before You Accuse Me) we really gelled. And finally, we actually got some pretty decent tip money, which always is greatly appreciated. I hope that if any of the people reading this were there you enjoyed the show.
Afterwards, we spent a fairly relaxed hour packing up and loading up the cars (the cold made us even less in a hurry to carry large objects outside than usual), and then we took our separate cars back down Route 146 to our homes in Providence, RI.
As I was driving along, I noticed that a cop had pulled someone over, so I switched lanes to be as far from the breakdown lane as possible and checked to make sure I wasn't speeding, which I wasn't. I didn't give it any more thought, but a few minutes later I looked in my rear-view mirror and, damn, flashing lights.
The road was curving, so I drove on a little while longer until we were at a straightaway, thinking, basically, Ah, hell.
(Well, perhaps something a bit stronger.) After stopping my car, my attention turned to my stereo, which happened to be playing the Afroman song 'Because I Got High'. I quickly decided that this might not be the best sound to greet the nice policeman when he came to my car and turned it off.
After a minute or two, he walked over. He said, You weren't really staying in your lane back there. Can I see your license and registration?
(I'm not sure if this referred to my changing lanes when I passed him earlier or if I had actually strayed into another lane; since moving to Providence I've become a lot more casual about lanes when there isn't any danger of causing an accident, which is admittedly not the best habit.) As I started to produce the documents in question, he paused and then asked, Hey, you aren't with the other guy I just stopped with all the music equipment, are you?
I admitted that I quite possibly was and handed over my papers.
He took them back to his car and did whatever it is cops do under these circumstances, then came back and told me that I was all set, that they were looking out for drunk drivers and that he would appreciate it if I would pay a little more attention to the lanes. The exact mechanism he used to determine that I wasn't drunk remains a mystery.
I tried calling Chris to see if he was, in fact, the other guy who was pulled over, but he didn't answer his cell phone. Oh well. Whoever it was, I hope he didn't get a ticket either.
Set lists
I made up set lists in advance, but we ended up not following them that much, especially in the second set, so some of this is probably inaccurate.
The owner of the Java Hut seemed to be pretty happy about our playing The Band's The Weight and Bob Dylan's It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry.
First set
- Sinner's Prayer
- The Weight
- Bright Lights, Big City
- It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
- Low Land
- Milk Cow Blues
- Shortnin' Bread
- Folsom Prison Blues
- Big Road Blues
- Mighty Long Time
Second Set
- Dire Wolf
- Dead Flowers
- Before You Accuse Me (with special guest Killdevil Jason Welch on harmonica)
- Early in the Morning (with Jason Welch)
- Midnight Special (with Jason Welch)
- Helpless
- Dear Someone
- Mick McGuire
- Anabelle
- Me & Curby
- Sweet Home Chicago
- Gypsy Woman
- Johnny B. Goode
- Kind Hearted Woman