June 12th 2005
Annabella Beams!
Annabella, Leigh, Phil & Co. met up at the delightfully civilized Burbank Airport at the uncivilized hour of 8.20 am to catch a flight to San Jose, where they met up with Adrian who was already up North, having played in the Bay Area with his pals Bing Ji Ling a couple of nights before.
Frank, our wonderful driver for the day, met us at San Jose Airport and drove us past the Pride Parade to our hotel. Annabella, who’d sensibly made some rather nice tuna & sweet corn and egg sandwiches (at the not-so-sensible hour of 3 am!) to munch on the flight, went straight to her room, while Leigh, Phil and the crew grabbed a bite to eat at a Thai restaurant around the corner. After eating and thoroughly discussing their new My Space obsession and how popular Tom the professional MySpace friend was, they returned to the hotel for a disco kip before the show.
The boys left the hotel early, so they could load-in the gear and set up, before having a quick run through with Adrian (who was sporting a lovely “I Love To Fart” T-shirt). After dropping the band off, Frank returned to the hotel for Annabella, who had elaborate rainbow-themed make up to do and her feathered costumes to put on. She joined the boys backstage at around 5.30 pm.
Once at the venue, it became apparent that the preceding artist, Jodie Watley, who should have already come off stage, hadn’t arrived yet, forcing the crowd to wait in the afternoon heat for over an hour and a quarter between sets. She eventually ran on stage at just past six o’ clock – at which point BWW should have been on stage.
Bow Wow Wow 1000 Tears
Not wanting to keep the exhausted crowd waiting any longer, BWW set up in no time, and bounded onto the stage at just past 6.30 pm, , the boys sporting Mexican wrestling masks for the first song. The delightful Gay Pride Hostesses, Lucy Manhattan & Ms. Jean, introduced the band, drawing much deserved attention to Adrian’s very stylish bright pink Y-fronts that his wife Nina had kindly bought especially for the occasion (he’s normally strictly a boxer boy these days). Lucy & Jean also extended a special invitation to Adrian to check out their dressing room, which the “ladies” insisted was the most luxurious to be found backstage.
The performance was quite nerve-wracking for the band. It was the first time Annabella, Leigh, Adrian and Phil had done a show together without doing some kind of soundcheck, which wasn’t an option due to the packed festival schedule. To compound the situation, our usual soundman, Chris “Hoover” Rankin, had been invited to tour with his old pals Crosby, Stills & Nash, which meant his replacement, Mike Harrison, was really thrown in at the deep end. The band (and Mike) prevailed though, delivering an energetic set despite the still punishing heat.
Phil in Action
Afterwards the band hung around to catch the first couple of songs from local singer/songwriter, Lisa Dewey, who closed the show. Frank then arrived with our van – and three bottles of bubbly to start our afterparty at the hotel off with a bang. We loaded our gear along with a case of Red Bull and a case of Cypress Vineyard Cabernet and Chardonnay that the Gay Pride production crew had kindly donated to the cause. Once back at the hotel, our crew carefully delivered our beverages to the band’s designated party room, the now infamous Suite 1715.
What ensued in 1715 once the wine started flowing is probably best left to the imagination – suffice to say it involved new friends (you Myspacers know who you are) and lots of ice.
The next morning wouldn’t have happened without Starbucks and Red Bull. It’s a testament to the strength of caffeine that we all made our various flights.
BWW would like to thank Gary Walker and all his fabulous production crew for looking after us so well. Respect also goes out to our website guru, David Holleman, who drove up overnight to make the gig with three other hardcore Wowsers, with the tunes cranking in his stylish ‘78 Lincoln Town Car.
Photography: David Holleman
Gina and Waylon