April 19th, 2003

      Returning to the lovely Old Town Knights of Columbus </sarcasm> early in the afternooon to set up for the show (that we were apparently taking over), we had pseudo high hopes. While we knew we were competing with Maine's very own midcoast punkfest 3 </gentle mocking>, we felt pretty good knowing we were playing with 2 bands closer to our style than we'd played with in a while.
      The bands arrived a few hours later, helped with the tail end of setting up and ran some soundchecks. At 7, A Penny For Lucy went on. Before booking this show, i had never heard of them, and for good reason: this was their first show. This was all i needed to be even more impressed. While still a very young band, they've got some real potential. Think "Aurora Gory Alice"-era Letters To Cleo material. Hopefully we'll hear some more stuff from them in the future. Check out their website to hear their demo.
      We went on next, much to our excitement. Then we started playing, much to our dismay. I don't want to say this was the worst Lowfive show ever, but that didn't stop Jason and Sean from saying it. Now, i've been witness to some rocky lowfive performances in the past, but as far as Jason-era band is concerned, this has probably been our weakest effort yet. And as far as Sean Higgins is concerned, he's missed so many shows that he can't accurately gauge our performance. Heck, i don't know if he's even qualified to play guitar on the songs. But all this aside, a tasty combination of equipment problems, band interaction issues, and my ill-inspired decision to play sideways (translation: i stared at the wall, action-slacked butt to the band for the entire show), we stumbled through our setlist, which DID include the debut of one of our new songs: 1913. I probably sound pretty down on the whole show, but i'm pretty sure this is an accurate reflection of where we all were as a band: definitely not fired up the way we are after we play a show we feel good about.
      But the show must go on. And it did, when the Pawn Shop Caddies staged for their set. Despite all rumours i'd heard about the Caddies, i thought they put on a great show, and (unlike other local bands we've played with) the guys were super nice and generally cool just to hang (and rock) out with.
      At the end of the night, i thought the show was really a good experience. That is, other than the Lowfive element which, according to the audience, sounded great nonetheless - when we were actually playing (in lieu of explaining which equipment was malfunctioning). i loved that all the bands were so cool with each other, and really hope to play more shows with these guys and others like them. This is really how shows should be. Show support for Penny for Lucy and the Pawn Shop Caddies. Also special thanks goes out to our buddies in MINOR SETBACK for making the trek down. And special thanks to those HOULTON fans who came down with the SETBACK - i don't know you guys personally but it was still awesome to see some familiar faces and some old-school support. All of you guys (and the one of you girls) rule.

/caleb


www.pennyforlucy.com
www.pawnshopcaddies.com

SETLIST
Lie Down With Dogs
Prelude
Action, Reaction
1913
Element of Subtlety
Calico
Autumn
Boys Will Be Boys

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