This is the second month we’ve been on Little Steven’s Underground Garage Rolling Rock and Roll tour. Three years ago when I was Sylvain’s beer frau (drink fetcher in case you don’t do german) at a Boston club gig he did with his solo band, I didn’t think that we’d end up on tour with the New York Dolls. Then again, it doesn’t seem that strange because we’re the Charms. Not that everything’s easy for us all the time, believe me, but a lot of interesting things happen.
The latest exciting thing happening for us is that we’ve been out for about three weeks with The NY Dolls, The Supersuckers, and the Chesterfield Kings. We now have a caravan of three lavishly decorated buses, one more than last month. Pretty much every show has been sold out or close to it. Last night we were in Washington DC and the night before in Philly.
I don’t know if we hit some kind of new high in our own delivery or if audiences in those cities are just more into live music but they were two of the best crowds so far. I have to say that the crowd in Portland really knocked our socks off, too, and that was almost three weeks ago.
I guess that’s what makes rock and roll exciting…it’s a little bit dangerous. You don’t really know what’s going to happen in any city, at any show, with any audience, because you’re playing real instruments and wearing high heels and it happens in real time so there’s an element of chance, like when Ethan dropped the farfisa on the monitors during a solo.
The first time I saw it happen, I thought, “That looks so rock!” The second time I saw it happen, I thought, “Well, at least our good pals The Chesterfield Kings have a Vox Continental with them that we could ask to borrow!”
Every night, after our set we go to the merchandise table and hang out with Erica (the merch director) and meet fans. Eddie Spaghetti comes at the end of his set and sometimes convinces me to climb up on tabletops with him so we are more visible. Talk about taking chances: high heels, table top, big dude with sunglasses and a hat up there too, and we’re leaning over to shake hands with people.
The other thing that makes rock and roll tours exciting is truck stop gambling. Ethan and I have discovered the falling quarters game. We are getting pretty skilled at it and we think we could make some cash on the side by getting one for the band house and inviting friends who aren’t so skilled over to play their quarters in our own personal gambling machine. Ties in nicely with the whole idea of playing rock and roll for a living, I guess.
The Charms
Three years ago when I was Sylvain's beer frau (drink fetcher in case you don't do german) at a Boston club gig he did with his solo band, I didn't think that we'd end up on tour with the New York…
