Set list:
  1.Tundra Story
  2.Bluff
  3.Fitter Stoke has a Bath (Hatfield & the North cover)
  4.Forked
  5.The Campers
  6.Bus Wreck
  7.Time Waits
  8.For Seeking Heat (Swervedriver cover)
  9.Package (Mumble & Peg cover)
  10.Sleepboat
  11.The Headmaster Ritual (The Smiths cover)
  12.(Encore 1) Don't Straddle Your Lover (my ex-housemate Larry Tuxbury's tune)
  13.(Encore 2) Duckface is Worse

Notes:
This was Jai Young Kim's first show as booker for the Wednesday slot at the Tip Top. He booked me, but couldn't find anybody else to play the bill. Nobody in their right mind should want to play the Tip Top on a Wednesday night. So be it. I knew everybody in the audience by name: Jenya Chernoff, Jai Young Kim, Ben Lebofsky, Kevin McCarthy, Lehho Rebassoo, and Ben "Jacobs." I haven't seen the latter Ben in many years (we used to play together in the Stevie Blacke band during my Marin County phase) so that was nice.

Set list:
  1. 29
  2. Forked
  3. Kid Sister
  4. The Campers
  5. Rub Alcohol Blues (Horseflies cover)

Notes:
I played a tiny set as part of one of the many Mark Growden Monday night shows during the fall of '00. I only got 15 minutes, and planned to play eight really short tunes, but due to the crappy sound of my classical guitar going through Mark's amp and the weird vibe from the audience, I kept the song count down to five. Next time around I won't attempt the singer/songwriter thing with just guitar/voice. People expect too much or too little.

Set list:
  1. Bus Wreck
  2. Freshly Decapitated Head
  3. Lifespan
  4. Sleepboat

Notes:
A benefit show at the Starry Plough for Mark Growden who needed money to bring home his broken down bus which is still in LA. Lots of solo acts before the Tiger Lillies did a surprise guest segment, and then the Electric Pinata played a full headlining set. I was one of the many entertaining solo acts that started the evening. Others included Gobo Yaya, Deep Fried Happy Family, and Brian Kenney-Fresno, as well as short films here and there. I felt my slot was poorly rehearsed yet well received. Lots of people there who never saw me play solo. So be it. My little sister was in town and she got to see me play in some form or another. After the festivities ended, I had to house Brian who was up from Fresno only for the evening but was locked out of the Nursery so he needed a place to crash. We talked Warr guitar.

Set list:
  1. Tundra Story
  2. Lifespan
  3. The Campers
  4. Forked
  5. Uncorrected Personality Traits (Robyn Hitchcock cover)
  6. Time Zone (a work in progress)

Notes:
The Hitchcock tune was well received and helped prove to me once again that, unlike the many lame covers Mumble & Peg have scraped together over the years, it only helps to do cover tunes if you do them well, and if people actually like the damn song (regardless of whether or not they heard it already, and not just for its kitsch value). One audience member pointed out that penguins don't live in the tundra. Whatever. I should point out Mark Growden's bus is still in LA (see notes from previous show).

Set list:
  1. Baltic Goes to War (JOB cover)
  2. Pear Squisher (improvisation)
  3. Depressing Liquor Store Run (improvisation)
  4. Bus Wreck
  5. Lifespan
  6. Penis or Tree (improvisation)
  7. Making Love to a Policeman
  8. British Throat Singing (improvisation)
  9. March of the Twisted Ankles

Notes:
Unlike all previous shows, this one was more of a "spectacle," as I was frequently playing several instruments simultaneously (and without the use of loops). So it was less about the music, though I tried my hand at some close approximations of "full band arrangements" of previous composed songs. I felt what I did worked well with the other acts, but attendance was relatively poor. It's so hard to be inspired by twenty people in a big, big room. Still, I had fun preparing for it, and fun playing all this material. The hard part was lugging all the equipment and setting up/breaking down by myself.