We like to try to document our experiences each time we play a gig as Fight Nice.  Playing live means a whole lot to the three of us, and comparing notes after the shows helps us learn from the event and to better comprehend what just happened.  Our Saturday night set at Lilly’s was a bizarre adventure that might be called a head scratcher, if you were trying to be nice.  The setup was 6 bands each playing totally different styles. (contrasting and clashing styles really)  The entrance fee was a hefty $15, which is out of whack for unknown bands.  I am trying really hard to tell this story without complaining, because we played well and received a decent amount of nice cheers from the crowd.

I tested my microphone by singing “(Oh, I Wanna Dance With) Somebody Who Loves Me” by Whitney Houston who had just passed that day.  I was met with a spontaneous chorus of many voices singing with me in unison.   The crowd had become aware of the news during the evening, and joined right in with me.  It was either ironic or cathartic, depending on each individual, I guess.  This was our second time playing Lilly’s, and we were going to play for 30 minutes.  The sheer schizophrenia of following a female soul singer and a Cleveland hardcore band meant that we would be the musical equivalent of wearing two different colored socks.  Still, there were some very kind people in the crowd who filtered in (?) while we were playing.

Then after not enough time had elapsed, we were told to wrap it up in five minutes.  We knew that we were being pushed off the stage, and that is the establishment’s right- there was still one act after us to squeeze in.  This was odd, since they had let some other acts push past the agreed 30 minutes- again- not an issue to get upset about.  We knew that we were being punished for not selling (??) tickets to the show.  This was ok, we still had fun belting out a few of our tunes.  Then, after “I Guess I Thought I Was Lonely” sounded decent, we were asked to play one more song.  That was surprising and cool, considering they cut our set short, and our friends had to pay too much to get in.  Thank you guys so much for supporting us there.  This is the point in the story where, “if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” ………………………………