The crowd was dead. Not literally, but almost.

Last night was one of the most bizarre shows I've ever been to. The crowd was - without a doubt - the worst I have ever seen in my entire live concert experience. They were practically comatose. It was like nobody ever taught these people how to clap or cheer. The performance was great -- it's just that the crowd was so DEAD.

Some soundbites from last night's show:

ARI
Let's hear it for Rob Calder on the bass!!

SILENCE.

ARI
Ouch. Rejection.
----------
SCOTT (into his mic)
I feel like I'm at a funeral.

SILENCE.

The only thing that could have topped it all off would have been a cricket or two in the background. What impressed me the most was that although the crowd wasn't into it, the guys didn't let it stop them from playing their hearts out and putting forth a quality show. If it were me, I probably would have cut the setlist short and walked off the stage without so much as a "thank you" or "goodnight." But Ari and the guys played the whole show.

Today was a little off too. Schedule-wise, Ari had a Borders in-store scheduled for 6 p.m. The problem is that we were scheduled to unload our stuff at the college at 7 p.m. and the Borders was 40 miles from the school. We arrived at the college to unload early, and Ari and I rushed off to Borders for the in-store.

Usually it's just me and Ari who go to the in-stores. The band and tour manager usually stay behind to set up things for the gig -- we're usually on a tight schedule for these things.

We arrived at Borders right at 6 p.m., but we had to set up first. I waited for a manager to help get us set up while Ari made use of the facilities. As I was waiting, I heard an announcement over the intercom.

"Join us in the café tonight at 7 p.m. when Airy Heist will be performing songs from his new album. That's tonight at 7. Airy Heist. Heist."

Unbelievable. Not only had they mispronounced Ari's name, but they got the time wrong for the performance. When Ari returned from doing his business, I notified him of the change in plans.

JAMES
Apparently some guy named Airy Heist is playing at 7 p.m.

ARI
Yeah, I know. Let's get set up.

JAMES
We've got almost an hour. They said 7 p.m.

ARI
They said SEVEN?! Unbelievable. Can I borrow your phone?

JAMES
Yeah, here.

A few minutes later another announcement came over the intercom.

"Borders customers, join us in five minutes for a performance by singer/songwriter Ari HEST. The performance will be in the café, so get your seats now!"

It was clear by this point that no preparation was put into this by the Borders store. There was no manager ready to greet us, they didn't bother to learn how to say Ari's name, they got the time wrong and didn't provide Sharpies for the signing. There was no sound system, so Ari had to perform completely unplugged. Of course, because the store had misinformed its customers, there were people who showed up just as we were leaving, at 7 p.m. I just hope Ari didn't lose any fans because of their screwup.

When we got back to the college, we discovered that the sound system provided was insufficient to support a drumset. So we disassembled the drumset and packed it up. Scott still got to play on one song, on guitar. Still, the duo show with Ari and Rob sounded great, and the crowd was 10 times better than the one last night.