Eric J. Lubbers Sings His Hits

Above: Sweet B rocks a hot American Apparel pose in the Look Of The Future: The Pee Pee Tank.

Sarah and I hadn’t looked forward to a concert this much since Jonathan Richman was in town.

Who: Pee Pee, New Denver Orchestra, Paper Bird, The Quee Quegs

What: Pee Pee CD release party

Where: The eclectic near-vegetarian speakeasy that is the Mercury Cafe

When: May 24. 11ish.

Why: Because the world can occasionally be an unquestionably awesome place

Sarah and I consider ourselves unoffical members of Pee Pee, because we’ve seen more of their shows than some members of the band itself, I’m pretty sure. And considering the collective has never committed more than a demo’s worth of material to record, we’ve still managed to learn all the words to all their songs.

It was a perfect storm of awesomeness, then, when we heard that they were finally putting some tracks on wax and we were finally going to be able to listen to Pee Pee in the car. And not only that, they were having a sweet huge concert chock full of bands I’ve been dying to see live (and the Quee Quegs *oh snap* but seriously, they were pretty great).

I labored over the decision about taking my sweet new video camera to record the no-doubt-soon-to-be-epic performance, but in the end, my desire to not be Camera Guy won out. I regret it, because when we got to the near-fire-code-breaking packed second floor of the Merc, not only would no one have noticed the Ex-F1 around my neck, I would have been the last member of a long camera-toting fraternity to arrive.

We showed up for the last song of the New Denver Orchestra, which I’m sad I missed, especially after I read/edited this interview with Laura Goldhamer by John Zwick. What we could hear while shuffling through the crowd around the tiny back bar and finding standing room amongst the tables sounded great.

A note about the layout: I’m not sure why, but the entire dance floor was blanketed with tables and chairs, making it nearly impossible to create a workable concert, especially with the bands on the bill. The hardcore fans (and we ended up joining them for Pee Pee) congregated in a mass at front stage left, while the surprisingly older crowd sat stoically at their tables in the dead center. It created a weird impromptu caste system that was hard to ignore, at least, until you plunge into the mass of hippies and emerge at the front of the stage.

Paper Bird was up next, and they were exactly as adorable as they sound on the record. I like them.

As Pee Pee tuned their guitars/boxes/cowbells/saxophones/violins/french horns, the Quee Quegs, a band apparently made up of local pirateers, planted themselves in front of the curtains and serenaded the crowd with some raucous sea shanties, including several rounds of “What Do You Do With A Drunken Hipster?” (A: Punch him in the neck and take his scooter) much to the delight of the now-standing audience that had sprung up in the front.

Pee Pee was finally ready to play, and … holy shit! It’s Holly! Remember when I said that the band’s powerhouse singer was leaving forever for the wilds of Tampa, Fla.? Well, I was right, but she flew back just for this concert. How fucking great is that? They played all of our favorite songs, including and extra-freaky freakout before “The Pee Pee Song” and a bonus-awesome version of “O Little Boy,” all the while continuing to be the coolest bunch of musicians in this or any other state.

There was a crazy-intense fan next to us at the front row, and he was finding any and all excuse to mosh like hell to even the most benign songs. I was going to make fun of him, but hell, I was practically doing it myself. I was just more careful about my elbows.

By the end of the set, most of the kinda-square sit-down crowd had left, and it was just a room full of 10% Old People Who Get It, 55% Hippies, 34% Hipsters and 1% Cool Little Kid:

The coolest child ever @ Pee Pee from Brofax on Vimeo.
Seriously, that kid was amazing. He planted himself front row center and was totally captivated by the music, unaware of the horde of hipsters dancing frantically around him. I really wish I would have taken my big camera in, just to document that.

In the end, we got to leave with a sweet hand-packaged CD from Pee Pee, with the promise of a second volume being mailed to us in the coming days and weeks, and a bitchin’ tank top that is Sweet B’s new favorite shirt (see above).

Oh, if you haven’t heard Pee Pee yet, here’s “O Little Boy” off of the new CD, but seriously, go to their MySpace page and buy the whole thing. For me, for them, and most importantly, that part of your brain that likes awesome things:

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