well, I sure feel D.U.M.B.er... (part 2)

Welcome back to the next installment of the thrilling, chilling tale of our crazy little weekend mini-tour!

(To read the first part of the story, head here.)

After we bailed on the latter part of the Umphrey's McGee we worked out way into the inside room of the club, known as Heaven. What a bad choice of a name! First of all, the entire place was painted black, and all of the staff were semi-freaky looking goth kids. It was only slightly cooler inside then it was outside, except there was a humidity level of about 99 percent; if you went into the restroom it got considerably worse. Luckily the bars were cash only or I'd still be hungover today; I drank some seriously stiff vodka/sodas up in that place.

Perpetual Groove needed to bring their A-game to this show, and they definitely delivered. I stopped by the merch table to chat with my favorite band manager/generally nice guy Ben (thanks for the t-shirt) who told me that they were ready for the Ruckus.

Perpetual Groove
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

When the band came out it was immediately evident that he was right. Over the PA a majestic fanfare played, and the quartet from Georgia came out and took their places on the small stage. Here's what went down:

I: Teakwood Betz, A Day the Way, TTFPJ*, Save for One, Suburban Speedball, Pepper**, Two Shores, Robot Waltz

Set II: Speed Queen, Diggin' in the Dirt, Occam's Blazer, Under Lock and Key, MOTA, Out Here> Space Paranoids

E: Crapshoot

*With Allen Aucoin on drums and Aron Magner on keys, Disco Biscuits
**With Joel Cummins of Umphrey's Mcgee on keys

The show started strong with Teakwood Betz, one of the group's major tunes that always pleases. Next up was A Day the Way, which is one of their newer songs and one that I have yet had the chance to fully appreciate, perhaps due to its late placement in the two shows I have seen it at. Plus, it is a tad on the slow side. But when they dropped into the funky dance party of TTFPJ the crowd returned to get down mode.

And that was before the special guests took the stage. Aron Magner and Allen Aucion, the keyboardist and drummer from the Disco Biscuits, respectively, joined the band for an extended electronic jam in the middle of the tune. Magner even gets to drop his "wish I was a gangster" line in the middle. There's so good stuff going on here, take a listen:

Perpetual Groove w/Aron Magner & Allen Aucoin - TTFPJ - 6-30-07

After the first guests left the stage pGroove played two of my favorites: the relatively new rocker Save For One and the hauntingly beautiful Suburban Speedball. Next up, they invited Joel Cummins, keyboardist of Umphrey's McGee, onstage for a rousing rendition of the Butthole Surfers' "Pepper". Two Shores followed up before a massive Robot Waltz closed the set.

Disco Biscuits' drummer Allen Aucoin fills the drummer's seat for a tune
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

I would have probably left at this point thinking that the show was over if the keyboardist's lovely wife didn't let me know that they were coming out for a second set. I'm pretty glad that the rest of the crowd did not receive this same heads up, as the crowd thinned out nicely during setbreak.

Bassist Adam Perry celebrates his birthday with some rock star moves
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

When they came back on they wasted no time dropping into the rocker Speed Queen. I could hear some faint teases of Peter Gabriel's "Diggin' in the Dirt", so I has happy when the played the song as their next tune. It happens to be one of my favorite covers that they play, and I haven't heard it for while, so I was happy. Next up was Occam's Blazer, another one of the group's instrumental monsters. Sometimes when the band locks into a good psychedelic groove I lose track of time, and this Occam's could have been 5 minutes long or a half an hour long as far as I could tell. Under Lock and Key is another new one I can't talk to much about, but it gave me a chance to catch my breath before MOTA--another trippy tune--started. Next up the band dropped into the fist-pumping ballad Out Here, which segued into the old school favorite Space Paranoids.

That sexy Matt McDonald
(photo courtesy of Chris Hight)

A quick Crapshoot encore, I said my hellos and goodbyes, and we were out the door. All in all, a great performance from Perpetual Groove, the late addition to the lineup who actually got the opportunity to play longer their either of the more popular bands on the bill. Food for you guys; it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of dudes.

I said a quick goodbye to my lovely lady before jumping in the back seat of the car for the ride back to South Florida. I'm not embarrassed to say that I slept nearly the whole way back.

Next time, the shocking conclusion of the story!