"One more time, baby, one more time..."

I always hear music in my head when I write the titles to these blog posts, hence the rather obscure reference to a rather obscure song on a rather obscure Lemonheads record. (Editor's Note: I'm not sure what it says about my pop culture acumen that it took several reads to recall the strikingly similar-themed Britney Spears' lyric.) Well, as I ponder the imminent relegation of The Central Standards to relatively obscure footnote-status in the long, fabled history of Memphis-based rock bands, it's hard to know exactly what to say. Except that it's been more fun than four 30/40-something-year-old guys should be allowed to have. I take that back. It's been the kind of incredibly rewarding collaborative human experience that I wish for everyone to have at some point in his/her life. For seven years, Ted and I had the privilege of working as friends and partners in an artistic endeavor that we shared an equal passion for. For the last five years, we were even more privileged to expand that out to include two of Memphis' finest musicians, and downright righteous dudes, in Marty and Casey. And, naturally, we were helped along at every step of the way by some really incredible people. So, as you might expect, the finality of our last show together as a band on Saturday night felt pretty special...and emotional...and overwhelming.

As mentioned previously, Ted and I opened with a 45-minute or so acoustic set featuring songs that span that entire seven-year period. It was great fun to play many of these songs just as we did sitting on the couch in Ted's apartment back in 2001. Here's what we played:

T-HO'S BROKEN RADIO
SIMON SAYS
MY FRIENDS TOO
STRIKE
PERPETUAL AFTERNOON
WHAT THEY MEAN
BUNCH OF SCREWBALLS
BOB NELSON
STILL STAY

I'M ON FIRE
OTIS REDDING SONG
SINGING YOU A SONG

After a break that was intended to be short, but lengthened greatly due to the huge crowd that was present (thank you SO much to all of you...we even had a fan who traveled from St. Louis to be there!), we took the stage one more time as a band. Here's how it went:

SINCE I'VE BEEN GONE

KEEPING STILL

GUMBALL MACHINE DIAMOND RING

THANK YOU, HERMAN MANKIEWICZ

HEAVYWEIGHT

HARD TO FALL

WHAT MAKES YOU THINK

GREAT BIG COSMIC

CHANGED

HOLLOW MOON

REAL LIVE SUBURBAN ROCK 'N ROLL DAD

BACK FROM LITTLE ROCK

YEAR 55

SO MUCH CLEARER

PEARL OF A GIRL

JAY-C'S BROKEN RADIO (1st encore)

DON'T YOU STARE (2nd encore)

Yes, I believe those are the first (and last) encores that we've ever played. I have to admit--it felt pretty darn good to be wanted that much! The show ended relatively early, so we were able to hang out for quite awhile and just enjoy being with the friends and family who were there. It was a great evening. We were thrilled to see some folks who have been with us since the very beginning, including some of our former students who saw us play our very first shows together! Of course, major props go to our wives for putting up with all of this nonsense for years. I probably shouldn't start singling people out, but special thanks must go to Amber, who did the graphic design for all three of our records, created countless fliers and postcards, designed our first Web site, lugged sound gear out of smoky bars at 3 a.m., hosted numerous pre- and post-practice dinners, etc, etc. In all honesty, she has believed in this as much as all of us. THANK YOU.

So, that's it. For now. No regrets. No tears (post-Saturday night). Just sweet memories to play alongside (what we hope to be) an enduring bunch of songs. And, of course, an incredible amount of gratitude to all of you who made it so much fun.

Tons of love,

Jeff, Ted, Marty and Casey