When I was in 6th grade, I liked the New Kids on the Block like all tween girls did. When I was on a family vacation in Texas the summer before 6th grade, I played my NKOTB cassette tape so many times that it broke in the San Antonio SeaWorld parking lot.
During the summer before 7th grade, I found (the) Pixies. My world changed completely.
In 1992 or 1993 (whenever the Pixies opened for U2), I was offered tickets to go. My parents said no. (I didn't see the Pixies until they reunited in 2004.)
So, if I couldn't see the Pixies, I was dead set on seeing Frank Black open for They Might Be Giants. Frank Black played an acoustic set and ripped through the best of Teenager of the Year. A couple of dumbpants in front of us kept on screaming "Debaser," but I'm pretty sure Frank Black couldn't hear them. And, if he could hear them, he sure as hell wasn't going to play any Pixies songs at that time. (When I saw Frank Black at Southpaw more than a decade later, he had no qualms about pandering to the crowd and playing three or four Pixies songs.)
Frank Black sat all alone, on a wooden stool, on the Count Basie Theater stage. The same stage that I had my ballet recitals on. He seemed pissed and played quickly.
A few songs into the They Might Be Giants set, Sara, Jamie (a co-worker from Bob's Stores), and I decided to leave. We sat in the Count Basie parking lot while someone (not me!) smoked a cigarette. While we were chatting, we saw a white Ford Taurus rental driving toward us. It was driven by Mr. Frank Black. We waved and he beeped at us and I died a thousand times.
(p.s.--A few weeks after the show, a dude came into Bob's asking if we sold batteries. He was wearing a Frank Black t-shirt. After I told him that we didn't sell batteries, I mentioned the dumpants in front of me screaming "Debaser" throughout Frank Black's set at the Count Basie. His eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "THAT WAS ME!")
Haha! Busted!
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