The Tao of Wu
The Big "wu" Year.
by Jason Fladager - flash@cabooze.com -
http://www.thebigwu.com
1998 turned out to be a great year for us in general. We were
fortunate enough to
travel around a bit and get used to what road-trippin' is all about. We
were able to get the business side of things in order for future
touring; and man, that's important. I think
someone in the Temptations said that in show business there is the show,
and then the
business, and both have to be at their best. We met tons of great
people and great
bands...bear with me, its hard for me to be in a conversation that is
all me talking about
me. I'm a better listener that talker! In this issue, I just wanted to
talk about a few of the
highlights of 1998 for The Big Wu.
One of the things that I am extra proud of is our "once a month"
National show.
To setcha up, we play at the Cabooze in Minneapolis almost every
Wednesday. Once a
month we play host to a nationally touring jamband. Our goal is to
provide these artists
with a venue, an audience that appreciates "kind" music, lodging,
laundry (PU!), meals,
and good pay for the night. Sometimes when your breakin' into a new
venue, you end up
playing for peanuts, staying in cheap hotels, eatin' McDonald's, and not
sellin' shit! Our
goal is to sorta make the Minneapolis stop hassle free environment for
our colleagues on
the road. This year we were FORTUNATE enough to play with The Disco
Biscuits,
Percy Hill, Moe, Hello Dave, Hypnotic Clambake, SCI, Chief Broom,
Domestic Problems, and many more! We had the Seapods in here one night
and got Max Verna to come up and jam a tune. Great slide guitar player
folks!!!! We hope to continue building
relationships and networking with the great musicians in the jamband
community. The
audience in Minneapolis loves great music.
This year also was the year we starting gaining national recognition.
Party due to
the touring but mostly due to tapetrading on the Internet. I can't tell
ya how much trading
has helped us. I get emails every day from people around the country
saying how they just scored a tape and can't wait 'til we get out
there. That's too cool! Where are you,
Sarasota FL? Last year at this time I bet nobody heard of the band
outside of
Minneapolis. Check out http://www.tapetrading.com for a trader's
paradise!
Another fun and creative thing that happened this year was we starting
having our
own little "private" +21 functions. In April we had the "Family
Reunion," in August we
had "Camp Winnemukwu" and on NYE we had the "Monkeyshine Masquerade",
which
was ultimately busted! Our engineer/producer owns a warehouse in an
industrial park in a
suburb of St. Paul. Our good friend and artist, Beth Benedict,
decorated the place to a
hilt! We printed and sold out of 400 tickets to the event. We supplied
the venue, the
music ('til 5:30 am twice!), the kegs, the security, the food, smoking
lounges, ...you name
it. Our goal was to party HARDY but safely....in an environment where
you didn't have
to go home at 1am. Ultimately at 2:30am on NYE the police busted the
doors down and
sent everyone on their way, probably ending the run of private parties
at Latch Lake.
Apparently there was too much wretching going on in the street and it
just got outta hand.
But I tell ya, 'til then...it was ragin'. We had this huge-ass pinata
in the shape of a cows
utter that was filled with noise-makers, hats, silly putty, and even 100
class AA rolled Zig
Zags. I watched from the stage as that thing was busted wide open
amidst a crowd of 500 friends and the celebration of the New Year
began. All the lights were out except for the disco ball and a
spotlight on the pinata. I won't forget that image ever. This family
that grew up around us! Too humbling...
My favorite shows were the ones where the audience, the band, and the
music all came
together and I'd like to tip the hat to all the people who made it so.
Thanks for a great
year!!!
