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It had been 4-years and counting since myself and friends Bruce and Jeff were waiting for the JBC to grace the Lone Star State. Dec. 15, 1989 is a day that shall go down in our personal infamies - but in a good way of course. As always, the JBC's musical performance was top-notch as he jumped from Sex and Travel tunes to Fishcoteque tunes -which was bouncing around the college charts at the time- to the earliest performances (to me anyway) of She's on Drugs and Mr. Odd. However, the highlight of the night was actually meeting the Butcher himself. Whilst a nameless opening band from my hometown did their best to entertain, our trio spotted a tall, darkly clad fellow, a fairly approachable man enjoying a Beck's near the middle of the dancefloor. Being the huge fans we are, our first thought was - "Is that him?" We decided that it was, yes, Pat Fish, in the flesh. Mustering up the courage, we approached our musical messiah and were instantly taken aback by his height - none of being overly altitudinous ourselves. Awkward introductions ensued and to everyone's surprise, young Jeff met the Butcher with a hug. Pat was a good and kind spirit and engaged us conversation for nearly 30-minutes. In the meantime we also had the opportunity to meet the new bass player, Lawrence O'Keefe. He was less forboding as he was closer to our height, but that doesn't make him less of a man. We in that type of annoying hero-worship manner explained to the duo how we had eagerly awaited their arrival - since purchasing copies of Scandal in Bohemia. More thoughtful banter ensued, then it off to the show. Pat then astounded us by dedicating Love Kittens to "Bruce and his cats" during his first encore. Of course, it should be said that Lawrence later pelted us with broccoli and cauliflower during the set as well. Can you taste the love. When all was said and done, Pat signed autographs for each of us with the inscription: "Gentlemen, I do hope it was worth the wait." Well, Pat, is surely was......
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