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A Bit About A Few Fans ...

See that homely thing next to John? That's me! It was taken outside of the Great American Music Hall right before a show. Isn't it odd that I look pissed off? I mean, I should have been estatic!!! Oh well, let's not dwell on that.
So, this is a section about fans, and because this is my page, I'll be the first fan. I'm changing my Hi-Fives tale. I will tell you the moment I knew The Hi-Fives were my favourite band. It was at a show that is perhaps the best show I've ever witnessed. It was New Years, 1996-97, and Sacramento's ex-premier club BoJangles had a line up that was ace. In addition to The Hi-Fives, there were The Groovie Ghoulies (hometown heroes), The Troublemakers (thee best garage band in Sacramento history not including The Shruggs), and The Shakin Shadows (high school Ramones punk at it's finest!). So I was there, actling like miss cool freshman, cos I was, in my Manic Panic green hair, Hi-Fives tee shirt, and of course worn out black chuch taylor high tops (be proud I matured!). I was the only freaking kid in a Hi-Fives shirt there! I was also the only kid who made the connection that Judy, who was selling merch, was also in Judy and the Loadies. Anyhow, the Shakin' Shadows were amazing (who knew I'd be in a band with one of them? Zack rocks!). The Troublemakers, well, they were themselves (which if you haven't seen them it's sad because they are perhaps the best live band ever in Sac.) But the Hi-Fives, chocked with new stuff, were just great. This was the show were I realized I knew ALL of the words to their songs. When some kid botched the lyrics to "You Can", I knew it, and not many people did. It was also the first show with Steve and Gary, which shocked and saddened me a little (you forget, I was supposed to marry Jesse), but they are good. Afterwards the Ghoulies were gear, and I love those kids, seriously. but I just remember, unloading all of my X-mas dough on Hi-Fives merch, and the way people reacted towards me. It's as if they never saw a kid buy a record, three singles, 6 buttons, 5 stickers, two tee shirts, and junk before! Anyhow, that night, when I was in bed listening to "Whole Lotta You", I told myself "This is the band you're going to follow." Look at me now, sad aint it? Isn't that one cheesy story? Actually, Rebekah has a better one. Read on

The Hi-Fives, hmm, where to start. An absolutely fantastic band, but I'm sure you already knew that. I guess the most interesting story involving me and the Hi-Fives is also the most negative one. Not that it was entirely negative, it was mostly really great. You'll understand if you read on. It was back in the summer of '97, and it was the third time I'd seen the Hi-Fives. (The other two were in California about 6 months before.) They were doing a month-long U.S. tour, and, of course, they weren't coming to my home town of Detroit. Well, being that it was my second favorite band (surpassed only by the fabulous Mr. T Experience), I had no problem making the trek to Cleveland, Ohio to see the show. But like everything in my life, it wasn't that simple.
The show was only a couple months after my 16th birthday (yeah yeah, I know, I'm really young, what of it?), so my parents were not exactly thrilled with the idea of me driving to Cleveland (a 4 hour drive) by myself. I convinced a friend of mine to go with me, and my parents were fine with that. But just my luck, my friend got stranded out of town with her family. I found she couldn't go the day before the show, so what was I to do? None of my friends at the time were into the Hi-Fives, so finding someone else to go with me was not exactly easy. And besides that, my friends' parents were not exactly as lenient as mine. I finally found someone else willing and able to go, but he backed out about an hour before we were supposed to leave!!! The bastard...
I was left with quite a dilemma. Long road trip by myself vs. staying home and missing the Hi-Fives. I figured, what the hell, and left for Cleveland by myself (although I neglected to mention that little detail to my parents). The traffic on the way to Cleveland was TERRIBLE. It took me a good two hours to get out of Detroit, which should be about a half hour drive. I had no clue what time the show was supposed to start, so I was pretty nervous that I was going to miss the Hi-Fives. Luckily, the show was a late one, and I not only made it on time, but early!
This was my first trip to a club that I'm now quite familiar with, the Euclid Tavern. When I arrived, the Hi-Fives were no where to be found, so I just kinda sat around by myself for a while. During the first band, I noticed Chris walking around, but I didn't really know him at the time, so I didn't go talk to him. I went outside in hopes of finding John, the only Hi-Five I had talked to before. Much to my surprise, he actually remembered me! Since I didn't know anyone else at the show, I pretty much stuck to him the rest of the night.
We went inside, and I talked to John while he sold merch. He had some other stuff to do, so after a little bit I took over the merch selling duties. There were a few boys from Cincinnati at the show, and they recognized me from a J-Church (my other favorite band) show I attended in their town a month or so before. They were certainly mega Hi-Fives fans, and they were all wearing a different Hi-Fives related shirt. (One in each Hi-Fives shirt, and one in a Shatners shirt.) We struck up a conversation, and I talked to them while I sat at the merch table (not much selling was going on).
A little later, John came back to make the set list. I requested a number of things, but to tell you the truth, I don't remember which ones they actually played. I was able to get more of my requests than at the previous shows though, because John could no longer use the new rhythm section as an excuse. When it was almost time for them to play, I packed up the merch (you're crazy if you think I'd miss their set just to sell stuff!) and went to get a spot right in front. It didn't prove to be very difficult.
The Hi-Fives played, and it was absolutely AMAZING. I suppose it wasn't the greatest show in terms of the crowd and stuff, but I certainly enjoyed it. John even dedicated one of my favorite songs, "You Can," to me. Which I thought was really great. It was certainly one of the best nights ever for me. For those of you who have never seen the Hi-Fives live, you've gotta find a way to soon, 'cause they're just so amazing.
After they played I ended up talking to Chris, Steve, and Gary a little bit. It was pretty late, so John said I could stay wherever they ended up staying (I was still pretty new to driving, and all night drives were definitely not my thing). We hung out at the club for a while, and John and Chris met a girl who offered to let them stay at her house. They asked if I could stay there too, and her reaction was [directed at me], "How old are you?!" [me], "16" [her to John and Chris], "She's not even legal!" I didn't really understand her point, so I was just thinking "yeah, I'm not legal, what of it?" Chris got her drift though, and was like, "No, no. She's just a friend. Geez, no." (Apparently she thought I was a groupie, how nice...)
That little misunderstanding having been cleared up, the Hi-Fives started loading out there stuff. I don't remember exactly how it started, but it was around this point that they got into an argument. I felt really bad and awkward, so I just kind of left everyone alone until it sort of blew over. Finally they were ready to leave, so I got in my van and followed the girl to her house. It turned out to be in not the nicest of areas, which as you will see ended up causing problems later.
Steve, the girl, and I went inside the house, while Gary, John, and Chris had a little "discussion" in the van. After a while they finally came inside, the argument basically worked out. Steve and I were promptly kicked out of the girl's room (where we'd been sitting), so we went into the living room. John and the girl (sorry to keep referring to her as "the girl," but I honestly can't remember her name) hung out in her room, while the rest of us stayed in the living room. The four of us talked for quite a while, and later John came and joined us. He left fairly shortly though due to Chris' merciless teasing (it was pretty funny though). Shortly after that we all went to sleep.
The next morning was when the real trouble started. I got up and took a shower, and when I came out, no one was in the house! I had no idea what was going on, so I decided to go outside and look for everyone. On my way out, I ran into Steve coming back inside. I asked him where everyone was, and he told me that the van had been broken into. SHIT! It was pretty damn scary, and I felt really bad for all of them. (I've had my car stolen, with most of my possessions in it, so I know just how lousy something like that feels.)
I went outside, and they were all trying to figure out what exactly was missing. It was all pretty fucked up. The thieves were obviously not very together, and we all came to the conclusion that it was probably junkies. Some of the things missing included Gary's clothes, a box of t-shirts, the money from the cash box, and a bunch of other stuff. Oh yeah, they also stole the pop out of the cooler. Fortunately they didn't take all the equipment, and they left behind the cds and stuff (why they stole t-shirts over cds, I don't know), but it was still pretty devastating.
Instead of spending the day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as planned, we had to go get the window replaced in their van. First we went inside while John called the police. He had to go to the police station in order to file a report, so I'm not sure that they actually ever did. They found a place to replace the window, so we all piled into their van and went. We dropped off the van at the repair place, then went down the street to get something to eat. We went to this little diner type place, and I sat with Gary and Steve.
After we ate, we went back to the repair shop and waited for the van to be finished. They made big plans for how to improve the safety of the van so that it wouldn't happen again, but to this day I don't think they've been implemented.(Kendra's Note- Aparently they put a padlock on the van now. Steve said they noticed the padlock on The Make-Up's van, and went out and bought one just like it.) Once the van was done, we went back to the girl's house. I said goodbye to everyone and followed them back to the freeway. Thus my (mis)adventure with the Hi-Fives drew to a close.
By Rebekah Leslie

Here's Pat's!
"Rebekah learned that I was ordering stuff from Lookout and told me to order 'Get Down!' or else, and said it was good. So I ordered it, and it was good just like she said it was. The end." By Patrick Smith

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