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October 30, 1991 STagpolc.iftagazinc Page 17
Vic Chesnutt
on the Interstate
Last week, a nondescript-looking package was deliv
ered to the office by a strange looking mailman who
reminded me of the assassin in “Three Days of the Condor. "
It's contents? A simple, green spiral notebook, with letter
ing so illegiable that it could only belong to Jimmy Davidson,
drummer for Vic Chesnutt. It read, simply, “MY DIARY.’
Below are the few entries we could decipher. There was
much more, but it was awash with coffee spills, pizza stains,
and something that smelled like old socks. Read at your
own risk.
Monday, October 14
Vic Chesnutt has been wearing his Dashboard Saviours
t-shirt for four days. His wife, Tina, and I have caught up with
him after 15 hours of driving and one speeding ticket from
Milford, New York's fascist...! mean finest. Vic's van broke
down (again) in Albany, and we got a rental car to continue
the tour in. Vic has already missed one show. Last night Vic
stayed with some homeless guys in a mission. He had to go
to church, which he said was entertaining (“the worst
preacher I've ever heard’)- Tonight we are at the Econ-
oLodge with Mr. Paranoid night manager ("Did you guys
see anybody outside? Did you hear anybody banging
around out there 7 What floor are you on? If you see anyone
suspicious up there will you call the desk?")
Tuesday, October 15
The van is fixed, but we leave it in Albany at the garage
Vic and Tina will retrieve it when the tour winds back up to
New York. Today we will be in enemy
territory—Pittsburgh. Pirates: 3,
Braves: 2, at this point. It is an 8-hour-
plus drive to Pittsburgh. We are all
gawking at the amazing colors of the
fall leaves here and listening to a live
broadcast of the final debates of the
Clarence Thomas nomination pro
ceedings. We are saying “goddamn"
a lot in reference to both.
Driving fast in Pennsylvania is pre
carious—signs along the highway let
you know that any speeding ticket is
at least $112.50. It rains for the latter
two thirds of our trip. We hear the
unfortunate news of Thomas' confir
mation.
We arrive at the Graffiti, on Baum
Boulevard, west of downtown Pitts
burgh at 8:45. We think we are 15
minutes late for soundcheck, but it turns out Vic is already
supposed to be on stage. He is out of the car, up the stairs,
and ready to go within three minutes. After being intro
duced as “Dick Chestnut," he opens up with “Speed
Racer." Then he does a bunch of more recent songs and
also a cover of "Wichita Lineman." The audience is large
and appreciative The show is short, due to our tardiness,
but Vic manages to pretty much kick butt. Tina and I sell
CDs in the back. Some people even ask Vic for his auto
graph
Later, Bob Mould takes the stage. Bob puts on a good
show It’s just him and his acoustic-electric 12-strmg,
mostly. I like his new songs, and I’m glad to haar "Hardly
Getting Over It" from his Husker Du days I am also glad he
says a few choice things about the Clarence Thomas nomi
nation. He conducts an informal poll that reveals an audi
ence that is mostly apathetic. It is about evenly divided
among the people that speak up It is a wonder how some
of these young-Republican types accidentally acquire a
taste for progressive music.
After the show we try to sell some more of Vic’s albums,
with no luck We drive to the Motel 6, which turns us away
(no vacancy) We go to a Red Roof Inn instead, where we
watch Flatlmerson their in-house movie channel. “It fuckin’
sucks; Idiots, I died for seven minutes, dammit—I didn’t see
any light," says Vic. I can’t recommend the movie, either.
Wednesday, October 16
We catch up on our sleep by not getting up until after
noon We take the turnpike to Cleveland. Some guy in a van
driving down the highway at a diagonal due to poor
alignment flips Vic off for no apparent reason. We have
potato chips and Kremo cookies for breakfast
You always hear Tom & Ray make fun of Cleveland on
“Car Talk," but it seems like an OK city. Vic, Tina, and I go
down to a dock on Lake Erie and look around. Vic derives
much amusement from sighting a dead rat floating among
some debris. Seeing the little bloated rodent works up our
appetites enough to go eat.
The Empire seems like a good club. There is the most
huge dis^o-light thing I have ever seen hanging from the
ceiling. It looks like a damn U.F.O.
Vic takes the stage with a large Old Crow on the rocks
He starts out with “Speed Racer" again and follows it with
"Mr. Reilly." Another good audience tonight. “Harvest Moon"
is a highlight. Vic prefaces "Danny Carlisle" with a warning
about the foul language it contains. He says that if he didn’t
warn the audience, the new Supreme Court justice would
have to give him a blow job. Well, I thought it was funny.
Bob’s show is good, too. Vic stays near the 'tage,
writing in his notebook, because the crowd is too thick for
him to wheel through unarmed. By the time Bob :s done and
the crowd clears out, Vic has managed to drink himself into
an early second childhood. Tina and I play babysitter.
After acquiring a scary sub sandwich from a Shell
station, we get a room at a Red Roof.
Thursday, October 17
They tell us the reason we didn’t get our wake-up call is
because our phone was off the hook, which is not true, as
far as we can tell, but it doesn’t really matter—it doesn’t take
us as long to get to Detroit as we thought.
Not far away, we see where
someone has planted their front yard
with a couple hundred little white
crosses and a sign that says some
thing about how abortion kills so
many "babies’ every so many min
utes. Yeah, “babies." Tina and I take
pictures for historical purposes—
the display may be deemed unnec
essary after a few years with Clar
ence Thomas on the court. Scary.
We listen to 98X, a commercial
progressive station. They mention
Bob’s show tonight, but there is no
mention of Vic. We get off the high
way and go down Cass St. through
a rather seedy section of town until
we find the club, which is called
Alvin’s.
Tina and I make flyers while Vic
soundchecks. A homeless man gives us directions to a
Kmko’s. There are a lot of homeless in Detroit, which is a
particularly depressing thought with it being so cold here
Later we all chat with Bob and this guy named Jim from
some band called "Goober and the Peas " We eat—Vic has
a steamed cheese and sauerkraut sandwich.
Vic goes on at 9:30. The audience is a rowdy Detroit
crowd, but he handles them well Some patrons remember
Vic from a show with Bob in Ann Arbor a while back. They
are yelling out “Knuckles on a Cheese Grater," so Vic
indulges them Aside from a few short Styx covers, the
show is great. Crowd reaction is mixed, but mostly positive.
I hear “Vic sucks," but also "I thought he was really good "
Detroit is kind of creepy, so we drive to Ann Arbor where
Tina uses her charm to get us a cut rate at the Knights Inn
The wrappers on the soap say “comfort rules " Dude Nice
purple velour bedcover, too.
Friday, October 18
We drive around Ann Arbor and over to family housing
on the north campus of the University of Michigan. I played
on the playground here until I was four years old. After
feeding my nostalgia, we feed ourselves with some serious
Indian food at a restaurant downtown.
Today is a day off. We drive to Chicago and visit my
brother for a bit Driving through north Chinatown, we see
at least two stores called “Plastic Bag."
Later we visit our friends Gwen and Beverly and go out
to a country and western bar. The band is fairly adept at
doing country covers Vic goes off and talks to one of the
guitar players, who looks like Waylon Jennings. He comes
back snickering about this guy’s Yankee accent.
Jimmy Davidson
LOOKING FOR
A PLACE TO GO
TONIGHT?
Wednesday
GENE COOK
$1.25 WELL BRANDS
Thursday
HALLOWEEN PARTY
CASH PRIZE
JOHN & WES
SHOOTER SPECIAL
Saturday
GENE COOK
$1.25 GENESEE ALE
Monday
LIVE JAZZ
$1.25 WELL BRANDS
Tuesday
INTERNATIONAL TUESDAY
”SALSA*
A
YOU ARE A RAPIST
• If YOU don't stop when she says stop
• It doesn t matter what she said before
• It doesn t matter how much either of you has had to drink
• No means No If You don't stop,
IT IS RAPE!
• Even if she doesn't say no.
• If you use coercion, intimidation, physical threats or
• If she is unable to say no because of drugs or alcohol
• It is RAPE
IF YOU RAPE A WOMEN, YOU CAN GO TO JAIL!
YOU HAVE BEEN RAPED
• If you have been forced to have sex
without your willing consent
IF YOU HAVE BEEN RAPED
• Call 911 and report it to the police
• Call the Rape Crisis Center. 353-1912,
for support and information
• Go to the hospital or the Student Health Center