Slam Tour Diary: July 10, 1990-Ann Arbor

Another short drive over to Ann Arbor for a gig at Ricks’s American Cafe tonight and another show in a college town that’s emptied out for the summer. The tour was booked by Frank Riley at High Road Touring (or more likely, by an intern assigned to handle the smaller bands) and they had their work cut out for them. It was still somewhat difficult to put together a nationwide tour for an alternative band back in the late ’80s/early ’90s, (before Tad broke triple-platinum-huge and paved the way for so many smaller bands to tour. I think it was Tad, it was one of those grunge bands, probably Tad), and when you tried to do that in the dog days of summer with little or no college radio support, you were courting disaster.
It raised the question of why we weren’t playing in Detroit, though, just 45 minutes east, where St. Andrews Hall would have been a beautiful place to play. Honestly, though, the fight was out of us and we were all just hoping the tour would be over soon and we could go home. Stefan, the CBS rep for the region showed up, but there was precious little for him to do.
My older sister, Elaine, and her family made the trip down from East Lansing and she brought my school-age nephews and niece to soundcheck, the first time they had seen their Uncle Steve on stage. I remember watching the kids standing at the back of the club, hands covering their ears, lasting less than one song before retreating to the quiet of the parking lot. They bought me a lovely dinner at their favorite place in Ann Arbor, and it was nice to get away from the pressure of the band for a few hours and reconnect with family.
Back at the club, I hope we thought to encore with TV Eye, featuring Jeff on vocals, as a tribute to Iggy, since Ann Arbor was where he got his start in the Iguanas, but I’m at least sure we played ‘Monsters of Jazz’, the Dippah song that always felt to me like we were channeling the Stooges. Tomorrow: I launch my solo career in Columbus, Ohio.