October 7th, 2002 — Ocean Thunder, Monterey CA
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On to Monterey for the big show at
Ocean Thunder - our first of five with
The Infrareds. I loaded the drums through the gradually increasing crowd to
the patio area in back & began to set up; the rest of the Nebulas stowed
their gear in the front for easy stage access. Then The Infrareds hit the
stage. I remember hearing some of their CD they released as a trio a few
years ago, but now they had Derek - the Farfisa Compact / Mosrite- wielding
maniac playing through either a Showman or - his personal favorite - the
Gibson Titan - joining Rory, Keegan and Matt for total onstage mayhem and
insanity which left a stunned Nebulas speechless with freshly grown tails of
glee - "oh shit," we thought, "now we're going to have to really work hard
every night to keep up with these crazy f*cks" And it proved to be true -
these guys absolutely rawked every single night with unbridled enthusiasm
and antics & still had enough juice left over to go completely apeshit
during our sets, particularly during "Nebula One" and "Vendetta."
We were
planning on about an 80% intensity level for a Monday night show in Monterey
(that's what The Nebulas Touring Manual recommended), but after being blown
away by The Infrareds, we had to jack it up to about 110- Rudy told me, "I
had better live up to my name." Donning flight suits for the first time on
the tour, The Nebulas hit the stage for the fifth time in four days -
phasers on "kill" for the full-on one hour set. We played "Cecelia Ann" by
request for Stretch Reidle from the Submersians who came out again after
seeing us the day before. My finger was ripped through three layers of skin,
so I patched with duct tape midset - Rudy broke a string during Da Kat, but
made a great recovery. Back to Rancho Relaxo for the last time & last good
night's sleep of the tour, but not before stopping at Jack in the Box for
some late night shit burgers at Rudy's insistence.
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