Monday, cont’d: Hung around the parsonage that afternoon until it was time to go downtown. We met up at the Muse with Ericka, who had been able to get a ticket as well, and all rode together in my car the few blocks to Mercy Lounge. Sat on the floor next to the stage mere feet away from singing Chan. She was powerful, but an unsteady microphone stand distracted her a bit. She didn’t notice me or Ceejay; didn’t act like it at least. She stopt & started & switched songs halfway thru but it was still amazing to hear & watch. There was this lesbian couple from the ’Boro sitting on the floor next to us who informed me & Ceej that we’re creepy for following Cat Power thru 3 cities of her tour. They also told me they were forming a band cald Mr Mister, and I had to break it to them that the name was already taken (altho, they might have been fucking with me).
That night we stayed in the dorm with Jordan; Sean was with Rachel in Wilkinson Co. We found out everything about Chad & his suicide attempt. That’s what Jordan thinks it was, anyway. No one’s sure. Chad was black-out drunk by 10pm Saturday night—falling all over himself, trying to start fights with random people, the whole deal. Sean & Jordan got back from the SLC to find him passed out in the threshold of the door to his room; they tried to stand him up & help him to his bed; they noticed his shorts were dripping wet. His roommate (whose name escapes me) wasn’t there. An hour later they heard a big ruckus, and upon stepping out to see what it was they saw Tayler down at the end, leaning over the guard rail, trying to hold on to Chad’s shirt collar—but in the next moment the fabric tore and he fell 2 floors, or about 18 feet, to the concrete landing at the base of the stairwell.
Needless to say, emergency services were cald, he was loaded onto a stretcher & ferried over to Vandy Hospital a few blocks away. Campus police showed up to investigate, as well as the sheriff’s department, and Tayler & Keezy were busted for having empty beer cans & a bong in their room. They’re probably getting kickt out of campus housing. The way they tell it, Chad had come to 302 looking for someone named “Lee” and was bumping into shit & causing a scene. Tayler tried to calm him down, with Kenan sort of blocking his path but not really paying enough attention, and when Tayler turned to get some water from the sink Chad bolted, out the door & over the railing. Tho fairly sloshed himself, Tayler (who played baseball growing up and is fast-footed & strong-armed) managed to run after & grab him just as he leapt over the 3-foot rail—but wasn’t able to pull him back, only to delay gravity’s end-game for a few sobering seconds.
They were sure Chad was dead at first. He wasn’t moving. It lookt like he might have landed on his back or neck. Then someone saw his eyelids flutter as they were loading him onto the ambulance. Jordan was telling me this while coming up on some of our leftover acid. He was hyper & Ceejay was struggling to tolerate him. I took some too, even tho my tolerance was up as it had only been 48 hours since Gatlinburg.
We watched Princess Mononoke & the colors were intense. Scored a dub sack thru Blake’s roommate Matt, who was rolling. He’s a little twat, and his friend Ethan is shady too. Blake freakt when he heard we met Dex Romweber. “Do you know who that is?! Without him, there would be no White Stripes! Jack White owes him everything!!” I had no clue.
Jordan also told me Sean was upset because Ceejay had “taken his alcohol & lighter”—but it was all just a big misunderstanding that ended up resolving itself in the end.
Tuesday Ceej & I drove down to Memphis, and found Cat Power at the Hi-Tone on Poplar Avenue. She seemed even moodier than the previous two nights, repeatedly saying into the mic how boring the songs were & even rushing thru them towards the end. We waited forever for her to go on. The crowded room was hot & humid and we had nothing to drink; luckily we were stoned so it was bearable. As she came up to the stage she touched Ceejay on the shoulder & said, “I’m so glad to see you guys, I didn’t think you’d come.” When she finished her set, everyone gave her a standing ovation as she fled to the green room. We tried again to speak with her, but others got there first & then she left ASAP. Dex said she was “going thru an emotional period.” In other words, none of our business. It occurd to us maybe those lesbians were right, maybe we were obsest with Cat Power. So we headed back to Nashville.
Yesterday, Wednesday, besides class I did nothing but rest up (and write).
Today, tonight, we had to play a show at Hair of the Dog. No one came. I ate dinner at home beforehand; I had left some stuff there from Fall Break. The show was shitty. Ceej got hammerd & lockt my keys in my car, and we had to break into the car to get my amp (and my keys). In his drunkenness Ceejay also somehow arranged an acid buy on credit, 3 hits which we were to split, he said. I drove his ass all the way out to some bar in Hermitage to meet Tiger, assuming I was getting half, but upon receiving the tiny strip of paper he proceeded to drop all three on his tongue at once without thinking. “Thorry, dude.” Then he passed out.
A late-nite wreck on I-40 by the airport meant it took way longer to get back here to the dorms than it should’ve. Ceej woke to heavy tracers pushing thru his “beer goggles” & further confusing his field of vision—he keeps saying how weird it is to be tripping while drunk. He can’t see shit & his equilibrium is shot: the first thing he did when he enterd the dorm was knock over Sean’s microwave which sits atop my mini-fridge. I was fuming & embarrast, expecting Sean to be angry, but he wasn’t. He thought the whole situation was hysterical.
And now here we three are sitting in our dingy dorm, stealthily drinking Coronas, talking about Cat Power & whether her eyes are naturally blue or brown (only just now do I realize she was born the same year as my sister—1972) as well as the future of our band & friendships, while laughing at Ceej the chemical injester & perpetual floor-crasher, Ceejay having already apologized profusely to Sean for the microwave, the liquor & the lighter…