I don’t want to think too hard about the fact that the best post-show compliment we ever received came from someone who probably was not in attendance. It was 26 years ago today. As you may recall, Georgia, me, Stephan and Phil Morrison are making our way west. Having survived a freak ice storm in Dallas, we find ourselves at the improbably perfectly named Fat Chance in Albuquerque. Faced with intra-group and band-on-soundman turmoil, for the first and last time, we switch gears midset and play uninterrupted feedback. It gets mixed reviews. On the one hand, Stephan discovers he has the ability to play bass while simultaneously warding off people trying to unplug us. On the other, after we’re done and I’m outside trying to breathe, a stranger interrupts the guy screaming at me to counter, “That was the best show I’ve ever seen,” (though we’re pretty sure he didn’t see it). “You are as good as the Eagles. You are better than Ace Frehley.” We would later fondly look back on this date by characterizing the live version of “The Evil That Men Do” on President Yo La Tengo as “Pablo’s Version,” named after the angry fellow outside the Fat Chance.
