August 13th Shawano, WI Classics Bar

Peter and the Twins “The Dragon in the Mix” 2011 East Coast Summer Tour – 8.13.11 – Shawano, WI

 

It was Saturday night, our third night on tour. We were set to play “Classic’s”—a rockin’ bar in northeast Wisconsin. With rock and roll memorabilia covering the walls and the promise of free Budweisers all night long, we felt we couldn’t fail. We were given a daunting four-hour time slot to fill, so we decided to split our covers and originals into four sets. Before the show, we dove into our free Buds at the bar, anxiously anticipating whatever was to come in the following few hours of our lives.   

A few rounds later, we took the stage. We started off strong, feeling a positive—albeit timid—response from the seated patrons. After two sets, our spirits wavered as the bar remained largely empty…and sober.

During an intermission, Andy puffed a cigarette outside, inspecting the foot traffic situation around the bar. It wasn’t looking good. As he tossed his butt to the wind, he heard the faint sound of a motor, or saw the gleam of headlights in the distance. His eyes sparkled with hope as he turned to the band and pondered… “Party bus?”

The band looked back at him with doubt. “Not likely.”

Distraught and inside the RV, Jerahn, Roger, and Peter vainly attempted to gather songs for the next set. The band’s reservoir of cover songs was quickly running dry. Even worse, Peter’s voice had gone hoarse. Just when it seemed all hope was lost, Andy burst through the door like an action hero and said, “PARTY BUS IS HERE…WE’RE GOING ON NOW!”

We fell out of the RV and there she was…in all her eight-ton, double fuel-injected, black-lighted glory, as if sent by the rock gods themselves—an entire busload of beautiful, shit-faced women, celebrating an epic bachelorette party. They flocked into the bar like lambs to the slaughter. We felt a burning in our loins and our…uh…spirits rose as testosterone magically cured our vocal chords.

As we launched into our third set, the bar erupted into a wild dance party. The rock gods were kind to us as they granted us the supernatural ability to play songs we had never played before. With our new superpowers, we completed the four hours, but were not yet ready to yield. We pressed on deep into the night.

As Roger sensed that the harmonies in Tom Petty’s “Refugee” would be out of reach, a beautiful blonde appeared through the mist of the fog machine. She introduced herself as Kimberly, a professional singer, and timidly asked permission to join us.

Yes. The rock gods are good.

With our new band member, we rocked harder than the Rolling Stones on angel dust. Peter sang with such power that Vince Neil, had he been there, would have needed a diaper change. Jerahn peered to the stage in awe as a faint, yet unmistakable halo appeared over Andy’s head, and his back-up vocals took on the sound of the entire Vienna Boys’ Choir.

Roger played good too.

Countless rounds later, we closed down the bar with rock and roll.

Needless to say, it was an experience of legendary proportions. The Classic’s staff was awesome. They even added us to their Wall of Fame. We all left happy, except for Andy, who was upset, mulling over some bald guy who made fun of his red hair.

“I make eye-contact with a lot of people, and rock out with them for brief minutes.” – A quote by Andy Whittet

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