***
All Saints Day actually had started off pretty well, especially considering I woke up with a headache and that sick feeling in your gut that inevitably coincides with heartache.
As it turned out, WBRW was the perfect antidote. I had recalled Morgan telling me that the infamous Halloween show could kick-start our band’s 15 minutes of fame, and I was curious to hear what the station was saying the next day on the air. So I flipped on the clock radio as I lay in bed and listened to the morning DJs. Morgan didn’t work the morning shift. After suffering through a traffic report and several commercials, the morning duo of Seth and Scarlett provided the first dose of a recap.
“For those of you hoping to see The Afterglows at the WBRW Halloween show last night at Heartbreak Lounge in Providence, the Heartbreak is bringing back just them on November 12th for a free show so you can see them then,” Seth said. “For those who didn’t hear what happened last night, all I can say is you better never miss another WBRW Halloween show for as long as you live, right Scarlett?”
“Pretty much Seth,” Scarlett said. “Because you never know what’s going to happen. We were there. We saw it all. The ProJo (newspaper) has an article about it, there’s videos all over YouTube this morning. Freeway & the Vin Numbers — the same crazy guys Morgan and Ryan had on the air two days ago, the band that took the stage before The Afterglows — stole the show and then they literally stole the show away from The Afterglows.”
“That’s right, Scarlett,” Seth chimed in. “Not only did they wear a bunch of afro wigs in honor of their front man Freeway and their late hero Jimi Hendrix, but they also tore the place up, literally and figuratively. They opened their set with Hendrix covers of ‘Wind Cries Mary’ and ‘Fire,’ and then they played all originals. These guys don’t even have a CD out yet, but they’ve got some great songs.”
“Yeah, wicked good,” Scarlett said. “My only complaint was the butt hole song. Not cool.”
“And apparently that’s what led to the melee that ended the whole night early, the cops shut the place down, but more on that later,” Seth said.
“Yeah, that sucked big time,” Scarlett said.
“But for those who weren’t there last night, let me just say Freeway & the Vin Numbers did some crazy stuff before it all ended … and I’m not talking about music,” Seth said. “They brought the most boring fan out of the crowd as chosen by the audience, suckered him into a game of Twister with some hot chick and then pulled the old bait and switch on the poor kid.”
“I’m actually watching video of that right now on YouTube and it is friggin’ hilarious,” Scarlett said.
“Just when the kid was thinking he was going to score with this chick, somebody comes running on stage wearing a ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ mask and brandishing a real chainsaw on full throttle …”
“And he just completely scared the crap out of the kid … he wasn’t bored anymore,” Scarlett added. “He must’ve pissed his pants. I would have if I were in his shoes.”
“Me, too. He just dove headfirst into the crowd and never looked back,” Seth said. “It was complete insanity.”
“To put it mildly,” Scarlett said. “Right now we’ve got to take another short commercial break, but when we come back, we’ve got a caller lined up who says she got serenaded by Vin from Freeway & the Vin Numbers outside the Providence police station after the show. She’s going to tell us all about it after this on 95.5-WBRW.”
I was cracking up listening to these two rattle on about the show and I couldn’t wait to hear my “after show” review. Who was the caller? Angel or Pauline? The Devil or Snookie?
“We’re back,” Scarlett said. “We’ve got Angel from Cranston on the line (fist pump!) and she says Vin from Freeway & the Vin Numbers was hanging out outside the Providence police station after their show got cut short at the Heartbreak. And that makes sense because the ProJo story says one of the band members or a member of their entourage got arrested for pulling a gun.”
“Yeah, apparently somebody rushed the stage, started a fight and showed a gun,” Seth said. “Like we said, it was a crazy, bizarre scene.”
“Not a night out at the Brown University library, let’s put it that way,” Scarlett said with a chuckle.
“No, and we don’t mean to put all this too lightly, because we’re glad no one got hurt,” Seth said.
“True. So Angel from Cranston,” Scarlett said, “what can you tell us? You met Vin outside the Providence police station, right?”
“Yeah, my friend Pauline and I were walking there because her car got towed for illegal parking,” the familiar, sexy voice of Angel magically emerged from my bedside radio.
“Been there, done that,” Scarlett chirped.
“Yeah, right?” Angel said. “But we totally recognized Vin because we’ve seen that band twice now. He was really cool in person.”
“Did he say what the hell happened with the show?” Seth asked.
“No, not really,” Angel replied. “He did say the guy with the chainsaw got arrested for showing a gun.”
“Oh OK, Angel, well that certainly seems fitting,” Seth said. “Maybe he got arrested for the chainsaw stunt, too.”
“Not sure,” Angel said. “But to tell you the truth, most of the conversation wasn’t even about the show. Vin told us his girlfriend had just dumped him after the show.”
“Really?” Scarlett prodded her.
“Yeah, he was pretty bummed out,” Angel said. “He said he kissed some other girl after the show and she cut him to the curb right at the police station.”
“Ouch!” Seth said.
“Good for her,” Scarlett jumped in.
“He also said she told him she was too old for him because he’s only like 18 and she was 22, 23 or something like that,” Angel said.
“Wow, Angel, you’re really good at digging up dirt,” Seth said.
“Yeah, you should be like a gossip columnist or something,” Scarlett said, making them all laugh.
“So, Angel, did you console Vin in his hour of grief?” Seth asked. “Did you seize the moment?”
“Yeah, a little,” Angel said. “He’s pretty hot. My friend Pauline practically jumped him. But not really. It was just cool to hang out with him and talk. I was surprised he was so open about all of that and then he sang us a song he had just come up with. He had the words written in ink on his hands. It was pretty cool because we were the only ones there to hear it.”
“What was the song called … ‘Apology to The Afterglows?’” Scarlett asked. “Or was it ‘Apology to The Heartbreak’ for trashing the place?”
Seth and Angel cracked up. So did I.
“Good one,” Angel said. “No, I think he called it, ‘Police Station Blues.’ I don’t really remember the words this morning, but we loved it. You had to be there.”
“Well thanks, Angel, for all the info,” Scarlett said.
“Yeah, we’ll have to make you our unofficial Freeway & the Vin Numbers correspondent from now on … if another venue allows them to perform that is,” Seth said.
“Yeah, right,” Angel said. “Sounds good to me.”
“Thanks for calling in,” Scarlett said.
“You’re welcome,” Angel said, signing off.