The Happening
Mrs. Layoutshooter and I were treated to a “Happening” last night.
We went to, what we thought was a “brew pub”, Called the “Mystery Brewing Company” in Hillsborough, NC. We kept driving down a road that was in a not very nice, residential area. Wondering if the Garmin was wrong, again.
We got down to the bottom of the hill and there were a few businesses on the right side, kinda looked like a set for “In the Heat of The Night”, and a gravel parking lot on the left, that was packed with cars.
Two of the places were open, a BBQ place and the “pub”.
People were standing around, leaning on cars, talking. Food was being served at the BBQ joint, on the sidewalk, at rickety tables.
We walked into the pub, it was tiny, there were 5 tables, of which only 4 had chairs, there was a total of 14 chairs and 9 bar stools in the place. It was, shall we say, a dive, not quite dirty, but not clean.
The “beer” menu was on a chalk board, hand written, with detailing information about each beer. We sat at the bar, trying to decide if we were even going to stay.
We asked for the menu, we had come for dinner and the live music they advertised, and the barmaid told us they did not serve food, other than cheeses, salami and bagget bread, but we were welcome to go next door to the BBQ joint, order, and they would bring it over.
By this time we were cracking up, and decided to stay. We orders a sandwich and fries.
The place started to fill up with people, there were about 19 people, two kids and a golden retriever.
The first band, the “opening act” came out, they were the “Raving Knaves”. 3 “guys” one was dirty, one was wearing a white leather coat, with a “Nero collar, but only waist length, “pegged” pants and cowboy boots. The third looked, and dressed, like an Amish man.
They were loud, and bad. They played a mix between metal/punk and crap. It was beyond funny, watching the “Amish” guy playing this kind of music.
We decided to wait to hear the second band, “The Wiley Fosters”.
There were a group of people, playing board games at one of the tables, while the “Knave” were on. There was an old woman, somewhere between the ages of 60 and 129, no teeth, doing the “shimmy” to every song. There were two other women, dancing, one about 30, the other about 60, doing the “twist” completely off the beat, to the “Metal/punk/crap”
The “Knaves” did about 10 songs and left, taking their equipment, to make room for the “Fosters”.
The “Fosters” were two, rather normal looking people, they had a keyboard, guitar, conga drums, a drum set, a guitar and a vibraphone.
They started to play, the guy on the “vibes” was playing them with a violin bow, the drummer, playing the congas lightly. It was straight out of the ‘50’s “beatnik” days, people standing around “nodding” and “grooving”, the old lady doing the “shimmy” and the other two the twist.
They picked up the beat, the guy on the vibes switched to mallets, and the drummer to the drums, the “shimmy and the twist” stayed at the same tempo.
The music was VERY good, not too loud. The tempo picked up and the vibe player started playing the keyboard with one hand and the vibes with the other.
Faster and faster, the “Shimmy and the twist” remained the same.
The “vibe” guy, switched to his guitar, and they broke into some “serious” Detroit style, garage band, rock and roll. This in a dive bar, on a street in NC.
They did songs from the MC5, as in “Kick out the Jams” (the clean words version) Buddy Holly, The Beatles, Stones and Shirley Ellis. (the clap song, you know the monkey went to heaven on a street car), all done with a mix of Detroit garage and metal/punk.
The “shimmy and twist” remained the same.
This could have been a “protest bar”, but we could not tell for sure. There were 3 obviously gay guys, two lesbians, covered in tattoos, a “man” with giant holes in his ear lobes, wearing a ball cap with the “William” rolled up. Several people our age, two kids and a golden retriever. All 14 chairs and the bar stools were full and people were standing around nodding to the music, 4 were playing a board game at one of the tables.
We tried the two of the cheeses and one of the salami choices, they were very good. So was the BBQ.
We stayed for one set from the “Fosters” and I sampled several of their beers. They were all very good as well.
We left around ten, giving up our bar stools to a couple about our age. The “Fosters” were on a break when we left.
The “shimmy and the twist” were still going, at the same tempo.
THAT is the true definition of a “Happening”
http://www.mysterybrewing.com/
