Having packed up the tent and said goodbye to Lambchop in late March 2000, we made our way to the midwest and seven shows with Quickspace, the last one occurring on this date fourteen years ago, at Shank Hall in Milwaukee (considerably smaller than its This Is Spinal Tap namesake). Tom Cullinan agrees to play Th’ Faith Healers’ “This Time” with us, and by the time we wrap up the first encore with “Group Grope,” every member of the band has joined in. Things are not quite so hunky-dory on our 1992 tour. Our inability to keep our soundman from playing the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack and Sha-Na-Na before we go on (among other things) is fraying the nerves. On the drive from Carrboro to Atlanta, we stop at the Beacon Drive-In. The second we enter, Soundman says “This place is great,” which I understand may appear fairly innocuous to you the reader. But after only four days with him, there’s really nothing he could say except “I quit” that would mollify us. “How do you know?” I snap, and then we enjoy a delicious lunch. The owner spots us for out-of-towners, and brings us complimentary t-shirts and an entire strawberry shortcake, which we serve to the stragglers at the conclusion of that night’s show at The Point.
