Another on the spot report filed by Chuck Trend:
I went down to the Blue Flamer to see the Dead End Cruisers. When I arrived, the band was still setting-up, so I went in to the back room to see if anyone was hanging out that I knew. I was kind of drunk and can't see so good without my glasses, so I didn 't see John lurking in a far corner, but he called out to me right as I turned around and was about to leave. I walked over and started talking to John, who despite looking a bit on the scruffy-side with a healthy growth of three-day stubble going, was qu ite polite. Soon thereafter, two punk-rock chicks came up to us and started talking - they were nice as well. Later on, while the band was playing, John - wearing his trademark back-pack - continued in being very polite, and was not causing any trouble at all. John's roommate, Bones, however, was quite the instigator, apparently having 'thrown back a few' during the course of the evening.
He even began shoving John around the room, trying to push him into people, but despite Bones' best efforts, John maintained his politeness. Eventually one of the guitar players in the Cruisers came out into the audience while playing and somehow wound-up falling over, and then the bass player and Bones both fell on top of him as well - Bones wasn't being very polite, I don't think. At one point it even looked like someone was going to throw Bones out, but he decided to chill, and everything was cool. The n, the two guitar players from the Cruisers suddenly quit playing and walked off stage, leaving the bass player standing on stage screaming, "Fuck you!!" Eventually they came back and were going to start playing again, but suddenly the two guitar players started going after each other.
It wasn't very clear how the fight got started, but a near-riot ensued as audience and band members tried to seperate the two. John wasn't involved. Finally, after storming outside briefly, the band resolved their differences and returned to the stage and continued playing, finishing out the rest of their set. I also saw some drunk guy accidentally spill beer on some chick's dress, and they almost got into a fight too. John Motard wasn't involved in that either. John was very polite the entire evening. Co nsidering the general level of drunkness of the audience and all the 'bad vibes' circulating throughout the room.
