There's this really great song by The Reverend, one of my personal favorites, which really has this fabulous, swanky rhythm. It's called "In Your Wildest Dreams" and it's on the Liquor In The Front CD. I really wish I could do audio on this site so that you could fully experience it but I can't...yet.

Anyway, listening to it you absolutely must move your hips. It's almost a hips-only song. Plant your feet together and move the rest of your body, your hips and shoulders going opposite and your feet taking only the tiniest back and forth steps. Snakelike. It goes like this:

Late at night, and you're sleeping
You'll hear my lonesome call
And you'll feel my waning lips
barely touching you at all.

But, it's only as real
as any dream can seem...
I'll see you... In your wildest dream.

Well, the song goes on in this way and the ending absolutely requires a little something special. So, Chelsea and I (college roommates) would blast this song, takin' it home with a hearty, "cha-cha-chaaa!"

It just had to be done.

So, we go to the Salem concert which was absolutely weird. When we got there the first band was on and there was only around a dozen people milling about near the stage. The lead singer had this little white hat on that sort of tied under his chin and it had long black ears. We assumed - dog. In the middle of a very impassioned tune I took out my ticket and we discovered this band had nothing to do with dogs, but cows. They were The Mad Cows. So, for the rest of their set Chels and I made what metal-heads would call the sign of the devil, but for us became the sign of the cows. Ya know, horns and whatnot, and screaming, "MAAAAAD COWS!" I'm sure they thought we were real fans.

Eventually, the crowd thickened and the Reverend started playing. Chels and I got prime real estate on the left side of the stage right in front of the Rev. The crowd seemed to consist of hicks, retro-swingers and skinheads. The crowd was rude and the five skinheads made it worse for everybody there. There was a mosh circle, that is, the crowd left an open space even when no one was moshing as the moshers were total jerks. Now, I'm not saying that you can't mosh to The Reverend Hortan Heat but moshing to their music just seems silly to me. It's groovy rocka-billy, not head-banging speed-metal.

Anyway, the skinheads at one point were even sieg heiling the Rev which I think he appreciated none too much. However, I do believe that Chelsea and I were among the handful of people there to really enjoy the show. We were singing and dancing and cheering... the works. Let me tell ya, the Rev smiled at us...three times.

At one point a fight even broke out. While I was watching the bouncers attempt to break it up Chelsea kept yanking on my sleeve and I turned to catch her locked in a gaze with the Rev while he tongued his guitar strings. Giddy we were.

Well, by the time "In Your Wildest Dreams" came around we were in high frenzy mode. At the end of the song, at the last note, Chelsea and I belted out "Cha-cha-chaa!" The Reverend smiled.

So, fast-forward about a year and I'm at the Wild Duck for the show in Eugene. The Rev starts talking about "In Your Wildest Dreams."

"So, we're going to do this little song and at the end I want you all to do something for me. At the finish I want to hear everybody go 'Cha-cha-chaa'."

Afterwards I couldn't help but bring it up with Jimbo in the bar. He said that it was indeed possible that Chelsea and I had influenced them. He said that the cha-cha-cha was something that was sort of an inside joke between he and the Reverend but that it had only been recently and very rarely when he brought it up with the audience.

I am a rock-and/or-roll influence. Truly. I believe it - don't you?

Anyway, that's a sidebar. Everybody now, Cha-cha-chaa!