DOWNLOAD: Harry & The Potters and Uncle Monsterface, "(Everybody Loves) Pillows" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Harry & the Potters and Uncle Monsterface, "Andy Manowarhol" (mp3)
Days 11 and 12:Repressing the urge to fight with the good lightsabers; the non-non-smoking section of the Barking Spider; a party at Marti’s.
Paul: I’m in Matt’s basement. These lightsabers are pretty cool. There’s a Jedi and a Sith one. They’re the real expensive kind. They make the wooshing sound when you wave them around. It is hard to resist the urge to crash them together. Jesse is still talking about those lightsabers. He is in love.
Joe: We’re in Cleveland! Tonight we play at the Barking Spider. It’s on the Case Western campus in a tucked away building that looks like it used to be a barn or a carriage house or something. When we roll in, the grizzly bearded men who run the joint greet us and let us push some tables around so that there’s some space for people to dance up front. Maybe 10 people can fit where this table used to be. Cool.
Jesse: I'm surprised and dismayed when a large family shows up, staking out a table by the puppet theater. “Oh good, they got ashtrays on the table!” mom says, overjoyed as she and I think a couple of the kids light up. The puppets stink for days after.
Paul: Uncle Monsterface is playing now. I ask Martin, the grizzled bartender, if he’s ever had puppet shows in his bar before. He tells me they’ve had a few.
Marty Allen: Ayup, Cleveland rocks. What a crowd, what a show. As the tour rolls on, there are less and less crazy incidents to report, yet it just feels better and better. I hit a turning point today with my voice and throat. I've been really worried about totally destroying myself, but trying all along to take better care of my yellbox has apparently worked, and I suddenly feel like I could scream through our set three times while jumping through fiery hoops and fighting bears.
Paul: We like to rock, so we crank up the meager PA system. It’s peaking out all over the place, but no one cares because this is what rock is all about! It’s not about having fancy equipment or big speakers. It’s about getting together and having a good time and singing along with your friends and with people you’ve never met. This is what we have in common. We don’t care about our differences. Tonight, we’ll sing our hearts out together.
Marty Allen: This was the best Potter audience I've yet seen. Sometimes these boys really do make magic. They had the whole place on its feet, kids singing their songs at the top of their lungs and dancing their wizard-loving hearts out. Just beautiful stuff, really. The audience begged for an encore and they delivered. So great to be a part of this.
Jesse: We don't have anywhere to stay in town, but by the end of the night Paul's convinced two Potters fans, Marti and her friend Michelle, to put us up for the night.
