For most of the tour, we've been looking to Pendleton to revamp our self-esteem because, as we joked, "Uni is huge in Pendleton". We discovered just how right we were when we rolled up to The Great Pacific aka GP to discover two life-sized posters of her obscuring the diners' view of Main Street. We knew then and there we were destined to fall in love with Pendleton, and vice versa.
"You didn't eat the fudge, did you?"
As usual, we had a bunch of time to kill before our show, so we cruised the main strip. Then we came upon Toy's N' Fudge, a National Fudge Champion's candy and junk store. Uni bought two pairs of jellies for $2. The woman who ran the store demonstrated with great excitement her Dirty Bird, a mechanical filthy mouthed parrot. They also displayed the most glorious collection of My Little Ponies and He Man figurines, a giant rack of decades old spices, and free samplings of fudge. We loved the place, but to our dismay the fudge wasn't quite as fresh as one would want it to be. Every single local we told about our experience had the exact same response, "You didn't eat the fudge, did you?" Appearently the shop keeper who said she wouldn't come to our show because she "didn't get out that far" (we were playing a half a block away) liked to clean the fudge knife after each sampling with her tongue. To the surprise of the locals, none of us have gotten sick. . . Not yet. . . . The death watch is on.
As soon as we walked into The Great Pacific we were taken care of. We were literally waited on hand and foot. The free pizza flowed like the free wine. As far as the eye could see, the room was filled to capacity with everyone from kids to grannies. The man who made it all possible, including the giant posters, which he printed at his day job as a graphic designer for Budweiser, was Peter the King of Pendleton. Any booker who brings his mom, dad and grandma to his shows is cool in our blog book. The P3 set was reserved but intense. It took the Pendletonians a few songs to warm up to their electrocknicing, but by Tater Tot, even the cooks had come out of the kitchen and were happily singing along. Gibberish truly is the international language. Also, a little shout out to our sound guy Steve, who did a five minute stint as a P3 roadie changing P3 Steve's bass string during his trombone solo.
Uni's set was full of hits, banter, and old fashion fun. After every song, Blair (not from the Facts of Life, but a gorgeous GP audience member) stood up and cheered. Peter requested Daniel Johnston's song "True Love Will find You in The End," and then Uni brought the effing house down with her sing along medley "Stand By Me" / "You Are My Sunshine". By the end of the night, Uni had recorded both the first ever standing ovation and the first ever encore in Great Pacific history. Also, the two bands were recorded for their soon to be released CD "Live at Pendleton". Combo deal sales went through the roof, and we were bombarded with autograph requests (seriously). After all of our small but appreciative crowds we had finally found a large but appreciative crowd. Now all we have left to find is a large but unappreciative crowd. Perhaps we should just go back home for that.
After our show, Peter walked us next store to his parent's lovely photography studio, where they already had three air mattresses and two couches for us to slumber upon. Next we rolled down to the Rainbow Café "the real Pendleton" as Peter described it. $2 Budweisers, Pendletons on the rocks and you could smoke inside. The bar was also plastered with neon rainbows and dozens of men in chaps, and featured a lively mustachioed bartender, but it's not a gay bar, we were repeatedly assured.
After failing in our attempts to get Bob Barker iron on T-shirts, we walked a half mile in 103 degree heat in the pursuit of value, the Pioneer humane society thrift store. We were also barked at by some bitch dressed as a turn of the century brothel madame.
Pendleton. Don't worry, we'll be back for the Round-Up, the nation's second largest rodeo. You'll be able to find us on one of the many mechanical bulls that line the streets. We heart Pendleton.
