The Setbacks' Summer Summary (and Fall too)
A Diary Entry by Trevor Kealey

October 17th, 2005

Hola Amigos, I know it's been a long time since we rapped at ya, but The Setbacks have been maximum busy over the summer and fall. So let me take you back for a long recount of recent events.

First stop: the marriage of Paul Townsend to his girlfriend Ingrid in July. All the Setbacks rented tuxes and headed down to the ceremony early for pictures. A cooler with beer was also brought along. It was very hot and I suspect the tuxes Chet picked out were Gortex. Anyway, long story short I ended up 'asleep' in the front seat of a Ford Focus station wagon by about 10pm. I took a lot of ribbing for it, and there are some confused looking pictures of it, but it was all in the name of love. The miracle of love.

Next stop: Zaphod's at the start of August. We were playing with the Bella Bombs and I gotta tell you, it was one hell of a show. They started the night right with their nearly all girl rock assault, and we finished it nicely with our normal shtick of bad jokes and good music. (I'll leave it at that for the sake of brevity, but you'd probably be right in guessing Chris dodged hauling gear).

Late August: the wedding of Chris Saracino to his girlfriend Olivia. This was a "non-traditional wedding" in that we were all invited to Chris' parent's house for cocktails at 5pm. We stood around their backyard, mingling and drinking, until about 9pm when someone said "hey look, a wedding" and suddenly, without any of the usual pomp and circumstance normally associated with weddings, they exchanged their vows in a gazebo. I was actually hired to play a song at the start of the wedding and another in the middle. Picture this: an irish guy and a japanese guy playing guitar while an italian guy sings and italian song that I assume is about love. It was a multicultural miracle.

Early September: Another frigging wedding. This time Steve seals the deal with his long long long long time girlfriend Maritia. Again the Setbacks rent tuxes and drink beer all afternoon. The ceremony goes off without a hitch (except for the wedding hitch) and craziness ensues at the reception. Picture this: bride and groom crowd surfing while cheesy wedding DJ plays yet another Bon Jovi song. It was another miracle.

Mid September: We snagged a sweet opening slot for the C'MON show at Mavericks. Unfortunately we were on so early that only a select few people saw us. Towards the end of our set the club was filling up. But the real bonus was sharing the stage with C'MON. They are amazing. By the end of the night the club was packed and everyone was absolutely blown away. Whitey Houston also played on the bill and dang if they aren't also terrific.

Late September: We were asked to play a private party for a secret organization of Carleton Alumni. Let me set the stage for you. We arrive at the camp site to the smell of cooking pork. Three big meat baskets are cooking on the spit. We set up on the stage, which is more elaborately set up than most permanent stages around town, and then settle in to enjoy some meat and a lot of beer. Chris and Chet are driving for the evening, so it's up to Steve and I to take advantage of the bottomless beer supply. We hit the stage and play for nearly two hours, pulling out all sorts of cover songs and old Setbacks songs that we dropped a long time ago. The crowd eats it up and many drunkenly agree to show up at our next show.

October: We were set for a cross city tour, playing Zaphod's on Friday night and Greenfields on Saturday. Who would have enough balls to show up for both shows? All bets were on Chris Dziwinski, and he did not disappoint, showing up for both shows. The friday night show was a fund raiser for some sort of government office United Way campaign. Chris organized the show, so the rest of us had no idea what was going on. The Red Arrows played too, putting them in the lead for the title of Band We've Played With The Most. The crowd was really into it all night, and we got a sound board tape of the show. We might post some mp3's someday if there are any songs worthwhile.

The second show of the weekend was at Greenfields. We were playing with The Creeps and A Dying Breed. If you haven't seen either of these bands, you really need to. They were tough acts to follow, and the Creeps even called us out during their set. A little friendly ribbing is always appreciated in camp Setbacks. Anyway, we played a couple of old songs for a few diehards in attendance and headed home exhausted from two shows in two nights. I don't know how touring bands do it. Maximum respect for them.

So that's the update. It is by no means a complete account of our wacky adventures, but we've been hassled a lot lately because of the lack of entries and the lameness of the last diary entry. I hereby promise to keep our website up to date (at least in the diary section).

tk