Escalator to the Stars
Keegan's Thursday night trivia has slowly, but surely, grown into the best Thursday night party in town. More and more, folks from the local amateur Internet editorializing community have been appearing to attach smiling faces to their URLs. And regularly we're getting attendance from the finest and most affable of mainstream media types, politicians, political operatives, and trademark image thieves in the business. The crowd even includes at least a semblance of ideological diversity, with a few self selected token liberals making regular appearances. And, much to our surprise, they don't have horns and hooves and try to stick us with the tab every time (they only stick us with the tab some of the time).
The attraction for all, I think, is the purely social context. Despite all of our great political interest, there are no presentations, no speeches, no calls to action, no pretentious common cause. Most of the time no politics at all intrude. It's drinking and talking and laughing, the most universal common causes of all.
The pre-trivia banter, the during trivia scheming, ciphering, and vicious backstabbing, and the post-trivia celebration of the winners and consoling of the losers, it's all good stuff. Being among the gainfully employed demographic, most folks don't stick around too long after the pub quiz ends at 9 PM. Understandable, but those who leave don't know what they're missing. A chance to see the performance of, perhaps, the next Michael Hutchence.
No, I'm not about to make a tasteless Marty Neumann autoerotic asphyxiation joke. (Or did I just make one?) Instead I refer to Keegan's regular Nathan Anderson. He's not theone who used to be on the Real World (that guy used to play on Tuesday nights). Nathan Anderson is the talented singer/songwriter/guitar player often seen on Thursday nights. And perhaps appearing soon on a TV screen near you.
There's a new reality TV series in production, called Rock Star. Based on the Marky Mark Wahlberg (sans Funky Bunch) vehicle of a few years ago, its mission is to cast the new lead singer of INXS via a national talent show search. The producers of said program showed up at 1st Avenue this week and, according to the Pioneer Press, came across this aspirant:
Nathan Anderson, 27, does contracting work during the day and plays clubs by night. Wearing standard street clothes and his company's hat, Anderson played an original, "Sweet Misery," in a breathy voice that suggested light-rock crooner John Mayer.
"I blew off a 9 a.m. appointment to be here," Anderson said. "They're having callbacks on Thursday, and I think I've got better odds here than with a record label."
I'm not sure Terry Keegan is going to appreciate his weekly wardrobe and hairstyling consultation being so cavalierly dismissed. But a guy's got to do what a guy's got to do. And Nathan has the talent, the drive, and a dream. And, as he says:
"It seems like anyone can make it as long as the right opportunity comes along," said Anderson, as he grabbed his guitar and headed to his 9 a.m. appointment five hours late.
Well, almost anyone can make it.
Let's not be too hard on the ol' Nihilist in Golf Pants. He certainly tries hard enough and he's got a dream too. It just happens to be limited to having a few drinks and performing Elvis Presley impersonations at public functions (wedding receptions, bar mitzvahs, Irish wakes, traffic court, it doesn't matter). But maybe his dreams aren't so limited after all. Again, from Nathan Anderson:
My musical life started when my mother bought a karaoke machine. She purchased only Elvis tapes and insisted that I "sing like the king," which was consequently the name of the tapes. I practiced and got enough courage to enter the school talent show. So I sang "In The Ghetto" and won. It was an awesome feeling being in front of all those people.
If Nathan Anderson becomes the next Michael Hutchence, maybe the Nihilist in Golfpants can become the next Nathan Anderson? That would be Thursday night entertainment worth sticking around for. And Lordy, what Terry Keegan could do with his hair and wardrobe.
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