The following was written a while ago, but I haven't gotten around to posting it until now.  It's a review of M!SS CRAZY's last Iowa Show that I was able to attend.

 

Tequila Tom's has an outdoor stage.  I've seen the place, but never been to a show there.  I was curious what the Court Ave. area of downtown Des Moines would be like for bands, especially when you have loud rock n roll going on outside.

 

What an experience!  I'm impressed and hope to see more live shows outdoor in Des Moines!

 

Tequila Tom's sits at probably the busiest corner of Court Avenue.  There are several pubs up and down the street and a few live music joints, but they all occur indoor and I haven't heard of many having bands I'd like to see.  The outdoor stage is adequate and there is a truss for lighting and plenty of room to set speakers to the side of the stage.  The trick is managing the volume in this heavily populated area.

 

M!SS CRAZY showed up without a sound system, but had a few people say they were bringing equipment so that there would be a show.  It turned out that only two people showed up with any equipment and they were unsure how the show would go on.  We happened to find a closet inside Tequila Tom's that had several huge speaker cabinets with a power amp to go with them.  They used a sound board and mics from openers Standing Damaged and made due with just putting the vocals and drums through the system while turning up the instruments.  Markus was amazing dialing in the right sound for this place with such limited equipment.  It was more than adequate as the police asked them to "turn it down just a tad" to stay within the noise limits.  I was shocked because I saw the equipment and was sure it wouldn't be enough.  Sure enough, Markus dialed it in with his incredible ear for sound!

 

Standing Damaged went on first.  They played several covers while I was setting up the merch table.  I had talked to their singer, Chris, before the show and told him I'd love to get up and do a song with them sometime.  He got through half their set and called me up to do Whitesnake's Slide It In.  I told him before the show that I couldn't remember all of the lyrics, but I made due and did hit all the notes!  I couldn't believe that after all these year I still had a little fire in me to do this and I did a pretty good job!  Standing Damaged took over and got the growing crowd pumped and ready for M!SS CRAZY.

 

When M!SS CRAZY hit the stage, most everyone left their seat to head toward the stage.  I was greatly impressed at their drawing power to a place they hadn't played before.  All of their Des Moines friends were out and several that traveled in addition to a huge amount of people that hadn't heard them before.  It was an incredible night!

 

M!SS CRAZY played through most of their songs including their covers of Motley Crue and AC/DC, but it was their own music that really put the crowd over the top in going CRAZY for them.  You could see many singing along to the choruses and several singing the verses.  People were having an incredible time having a true party with the band.

 

I took special pride in Markus mentioning their thanks to me for doing what little bit I can this summer.  I really haven't done much except let them stay at my place and help them when I can on My Space and booking a few shows.  I'm glad they appreciate it and I'm glad I can help out in some small way.  Now when I win the lottery, we are gonna tour the world because I'm going with them and going to make it happen!  Ok, someone pinched me, so back to the rest of the story...

 

The police that were patrolling the area caught most of the show and the three of them all bought CD's and got them autographed after the show.  They were completely impressed with the professionalism of the band and couldn't wait to rock out in their cars with the new M!SS CRAZY CD.

 

There was a soldier from our US Military there who made sure to buy a CD, get it autographed, take pictures with the band, and let them know that when he was going back to Iraq a couple weeks after the show that M!SS CRAZY would be cranked up overseas.

 

It sprinkled a little this night, but nobody cared and nobody's spirit was dampened.  The crowd grew all night and there were a lot of people on the sidewalk outside the fence stopping to watch and many of them bought CD's, too.

 

After the show, the band hung out for quite some time signing everything they were asked to and visiting with their fans and friends.  Kim was even climbing the fence just to be with those that couldn't come inside due to their being too young.  She was taking pictures with them and signing autographs.  Markus, Tom, and Jimmy all hung out near the merch table to take care of every last person.

 

This was an incredible way to end this part of their run in the area before heading to KC the next day and then to play for HempFest two days after Tequila Tom's.  I've had a blast getting to know the band and having them around most of the summer.  Hope they return soon for more shows!  We fans are demanding it!