John Hendow

Friday night the 1 Uppers performed at Conor Byrne in Ballard. We played last, sharing the bill with The Hilltoppers and Lisa and Her Kin. It was a fun night of good music. We wore our suits, which has become a trademark of the band’s presentation, and several of us wore hats… alas, I am not among the hat-wearers… I looked (in vain) for suitable headwear while in Montana but after test-driving several possibilities it was decreed that I was never meant to wear a cowboy hat. I own perhaps two hats; one is a baseball cap with the Einstürzende Neubauten logo, and the other is a snowboard hat. Neither would probably go well with my cowboy suit.

The gig on Friday was a fun one. When there are three bands on the bill in a small club like this, it guarantees that there will be a big pile of equipment strewn about. I arrived with my gear and discovered there was no space anywhere to put it. Stuff was already piled up in the corners and in front of the stage, as well as the back hallway. I eventually just beached my equipment back in front of the restrooms. It took some wrangling to navigate back to the stage for setup, but it all worked out.

We did a good set of mostly original material with some selected cover songs. We all took turns at the microphone; I sang “Ring of Fire”, with good accompaniment provided by the entire bar. Everyone knows that song, so there was plenty of support during the choruses.
All in all, a fun show. The band sounds good, and every time we play I am reminded how lucky I am to be surrounded by such great musicians. This is a band that consistently improves from gig to gig, and after every show I want to go home and polish up my stuff.