Dianne Athey gave me some input after my C. Hynde/Pretenders blog. She (kindly) pointed out that Nervus Rex did indeed open for the Pretenders: at Maxwell’s in Hoboken and at the Ritz in NYC. I imagine those places were packed. . . I don’t know how I toughed it out, as I have an aversion to crowds & crowded places.
Maybe that’s why being onstage -- and backstage -- is bearable. You’re not in the crowd, that way! I’m not a tall person, and too much humanity is just too much, dig?
Another thing: it seems that some people have an exaggerated opinion of themselves, and others -- like me -- do the reverse and downplay. I’m hoping to not be boastful, ever, but be “truthin’” on the whole. Always trying to learn how to toot my horn without blowing it. Anyway, yup, we did play on two bills with The Pretenders back in the day!
I’m gonna look for that silly cartoon that Chrissie did of “the Rex” -- you could tell she had a fondness for Dianne & Jon from the way she portrayed them, a tone one step beyond teasing. Shawn and I got off lucky, considering!
(One more thing: Jon Gildersleeve taught me a very valuable thing when I was in my early twenties. I’d arrive late to something he or the band was a part of and start apologizing and making excuses. From the git-go, he cut me off, saying, “Don’t be sorry, just BE THERE. Don’t give me excuses, just BE THERE or don’t be there. No excuses.” Or something along those lines. It made an impression AND it me a much more credible, reliable grown-up to not keep prattling on with babyish explanations and excuses! Thanks, Jonathan . . .wherever you are. . .)
I remember when Jonathan took me to meet Chrissie (the Ritz); her Fender guitart was at his apartment (white).after the show the three of us rode around in her limo, looking for Pizza after 02:00AM, we struck out with the pizza, dropped chrissie off (she was flying out early in the morning to meet ray davies),she told ther driver 'take these guys wherever they want...so we did a little 03:0am shopping before he dropped us off.
ReplyDeletep.s. last saw Dianne @ housing works a year or two ago at a Chrissie solo show