PODCAST: “This Has Been a Disaster - Thanks For Having Us” [MP3]

Published Jun 25 2011, 09:09 AM by David Eisenberg

"We are alarmingly unprepared for this," emcee Ryan Walsh announced to his audience on a Sunday night last month at Toad. As if to prove his point, co-host Steve Almond was still trying to figure out his stage persona mid-show. (He ultimately settled on "nonsexual criminal.") But there's no need to fear catastrophic awkwardness here -- welcome to "This Has Been a Disaster - Thanks For Having Us," a monthly storytelling series devoted to real-life tales of gigs gone wrong.

Walsh (of Hallelujah the Hills) kicked off the night with a mortifying bit about being mistaken for Ryan Adams. After that, dream-folk songwriter Marissa Nadler shared a few of her own horror stories -- about being dropped by a label named after one of her own songs, plus the requisite tales of drunken touring mishaps ("I heard if you're sick on tour, you should drink whiskey," Nadler said. "And I'm an overachiever.) Her hosts pried for even worse, dirtier stories - like when she told
everyone in T.T.'s to fuck off for talking through her set. (Read Liz Pelly's full recap of the night here.)

"This Has Been A Disaster" is a show about music in all its terrifying glory; a night of war stories from folks who've tangled with their fair share of misogynistic guitar jocks, superficial labels, asshole fans, and a whole bunch of other horrific noise that could only come from trying to play music for a living.

Round 2 gets underway Sunday night at Toad in Porter Square, featuring guests Aaron Perinno (Dear Leader/The Sheila Divine), Mark Pearson (Neptune), and Drew O'Doherty. The Chrome Dreams will provide some tunes, too. And it's free. In the meantime, check out the recording from their live (and disaster-free) debut.

DOWNLOAD: "This Has Been A Disaster - Thanks For Having Us" [MP3]