We opened the set with "Adopt-A-Highway" to let the crowd know exactly what they were in for. Not 30 seconds into the song did the sound tech realize what he was in for as he turned us down (John...again thanks for the great job). The third song in the set was the debut of our newest song, "Watermark". This one is slight departure from our earlier tunes that went over quite nicely if I do say so myself. Then after a few more songs, the dreaded cover song...

To tell you the truth no one except Doug even wanted to play this song (it was a personal dedication from Doug to a few people in the crowd). Even though I love The Cure, I was damn tired of playing "Jumping Someone Else's Train" and I wanted to concentrate more on our original material. I thought it sounded like crap for the most part when we were rehearsing it, but again...no one was into the rehearsals lately. I have to admit though, it sounded great when we played it live. I was a little disappointed at first to get the best response from the crowd after that song, but that was just on a creative level. In performing it however, we had as much fun playing it as any of our original songs. Love is love, and we appreciate it wherever it comes from.

We closed the set with the song that was a total question up until we got on the stage. "Walk, Don't Run" has had its hardships lately. We tried revamping it over the last few weeks and although I did like the new feel the song had, something was just not right. We decided to get up there and play it one last time in its original form. The much heavier and faster version went over pretty well and the song can be retired (at least for now) with fond memories.

We then went back up to play the first of our three-song encore, "Angels Don't Write Things Down". I forget how awesome this song is live. In the basement, it's not the most fun song to play at times. It's slow, it's repetitive, and sometimes it can be emotionally draining. Maybe it is the chemistry with the crowd that makes it such an incredible experience to perform. After that was another set filler, but this time a cover from one of our own old bands, Someplace Quiet. The Static. This song surprisingly went over really well and I had a lot of fun playing it even though we only tried playing it once or twice since like 1998. The final song was "The Dolls"...as energetic as it is fun to play. I am hoping to post this version on our mp3.com site as soon as I get word from Doug (who is in D.C. right now). As it turns out the show was a success...a nice turnout was there to see another (re-)incarnation of {public-domain}. It was well worth it.

I want to take this time to apologize to the band that went on immediately following us. Red Man Walking came all the way from Scotland for the first time to play the States. Unfortunately it had to be on the same night as our performance. I soon realized while we were at the bar following our set, no one was watching them. As a matter of fact, they played one song and then stopped to go outside and have a cigarette because not a single person in the place was sitting there watching them. Everyone who saw us was at the bar with us. Before we left I coaxed about 8 people to go watch at least one song with me. I felt so terrible. I have been there and so has the rest of the band...its basically live rehearsal in front of bar staff. When we left, so did everyone in the bar other than the people obligated to their duties at the bar.

About 20 of us decided to continue on to Kenny's Castaway's...another famed local spot for bands that don't play too loud. I swear to god the freaks were definitely out that night (that means a lot considering I was born and raised right here in N.Y.C.) in full force. I swear we were all taking turns getting drinks, watching bags, fending off drunken Irish tourists who were hitting on every girlfriend, wife and friend of the band. I mean when one was successfully deflected, another would sneak in from the left and start all over again.

We went there to see an all female (except the drummer) Rolling Stones tribute band called Some Girls. They were really good not to mention pretty damn hot doing their ass-kicking tribute to the Stones. Did I mention that they were also hot? Although I wasn't yet there, Doug was already up on stage singing along with them in true Doug fashion. I was talking to some people way back at the bar (if you haven't followed by now, most of us embarked on a mission to get drunk that night) so I missed it. When I heard him over the P.A. I was not surprised in the least. I was surprised to be called upon myself to play "Sympathy for the Devil" with a cover band that came on next (it was the same drummer and bass player from Some Girls). I had no idea what the hell I was doing, so I just played the rim and floor tom of the drum set while he rocked the rest of the kit. I had a lot of fun up there and whoever you are (I was a little drunk at that point to remember his name), thanks again.

I also want to thank the taxi & limo drivers of NYC for their sometimes-unknowing participation in promoting {public-domain}. Doug and Anthony unleashed most of our sticker supply on the streets of Manhattan. It was so great to see cabs returning to the same spot they were tagged earlier with a sticker on a bumper. There is only one picture of this occurring that I got from that evening. I swear if anyone got or can get one I swear we will give you stuff.

If anyone got this far through my rambling, then let some of the images from the evening speak for themselves.

Bonez