This show was definately "special." Things started out as usual. We took the stage first, started rocking out to "Second Best," and everyone was getting into it. All of a sudden, the owner of Cafe Latte (whom we hadn't met up until this point) stopped us in the middle of the song. Not very kosher. He yelled at us and told us that we always come and play these shows, and all these people come to watch but don't buy drinks. Let's review some basic principles here, some of which we tried to explain to him:
1. You don't just stop a band during their first song.
2. At EVERY show, we've always encouraged the crowd to support the business that supports us by buying drinks from them.
3. Although not everyone who comes buys a drink, many do. If the bands didn't play these shows, many of the people who do buy drinks wouldn't have come at all.
4. We have no direct control over who does buy drinks.
5. See principle #1.

He didn't listen to reason, however, and said that before the music started again, everyone had to sit down (oh yeah, cuz that's what rock's all about) and that 90%, not [his estimated] 10% of the people there had to purchase drinks. We even took up a collection of money and offered it to him, but that wasn't good enough. We waited around until he was satisfied, and started up again, having to abridge our set to 5 songs. Instead, we just packed the energy of 8 songs into 5.

After us, Hope for August pulled off their set as fast as they could. Good job as usual. And then, Dot. played their first show with their new lineup. As you may or may not remember, Dot. had supposedly broken up. They decided, however, to regroup and start again. This involved taking in a new female lead singer. Seems to be the trend these days, as demonstrated through Hope for August, Ettison Clio, etc. It sure was great to hear all the old favorites from Dot., as well as a couple new ones.

That pretty much sums things up. To those of you who may have been a little miffed at the events of the evening, please don't let this deter you from continuing to rock out with us at the Latte. A deal has been worked out with the management so that from now on, there will be a $3 cover, and you get a free drink ticket with that. So, consider it a free show with a 1-drink minimum. Not a bad deal for these days. We'll see you guys soon!

-Once a Hero