The show must go onMason plays bass for a couple of popular local bands here in Santa Cruz. His bands, Pterodactobot and Vox Jaguars, were both scheduled to play Friday night at the Brookdale Lodge, a venue with a colourful history... lots of famous musicians have played there, and everyone in both bands was stoked to be playing at such a high-profile venue.
Then, on Thursday morning, on his way to school, Mason wrecked on his bike and took the brunt of the fall on his hands... most of it on his left, fretting hand. He didn't know whether or not it was broken, and he went on to school. In the afternoon, he rode his bike home. The left hand was extremely swollen and colourful, but Mason was not convinced that he had broken any bones. It was swollen, and he was in a lot of pain, but had pretty good mobility in all his fingers.
The Vox Jaguars had two shows scheduled on Friday. The first was at school for the Battle of the Bands competition which they decided to postpone in hopes that Mason would be in better shape for their other show later that night at Brookdale Lodge. He kept his hand on ice as much as possible on Thursday and pretty much all day Friday too. The drive to Brookdale takes about twenty minutes from Santa Cruz as Highway 9 winds through the Redwoods, and small mountain communities.
As we approached the door, we were met by a straight-faced, militant-looking man in an electric wheelchair with a little built-in cover top. The man informed us that there were two bands playing, one older than the other. I was curious what he meant by that, but didn't inquire, and walked through the big wooden door. The lobby was rustic, and featured old photos, and news paper headlines from days gone by...
The show hadn't begun, and there were people going in and out of another room, so we figured that is where the stage and theater must be. As we entered, we could hear King Crimson music being played as the guys prepared their various instruments and performed sound checks. Mason still had his hand on ice when we saw him in the crowd. His palm was now even more bruised, bluish green, and still swollen and sore, but he planned to play. It seemed nothing was going to sway him. Everyone seemed genuinely concerned, and offered their own flavours of advice. By this time, we suspected it may indeed be broken.
Finally Pterodactobot was ready to begin, and the house music volume was increased to inform everyone socializing outside that the show was about to start. A plethora of mostly teens and a few twenty-something's poured into the theater as Crimson's Dinosaur boomed over the house speakers.
I've been to so many rock shows, I couldn't begin to number them, and I know when something remarkable is happening on stage. Pterodactobot nailed it to perfection, their best show yet, and Mason played as if nothing was wrong with his hand. At one point vocalist, and Pterodactobot brainchild Stephan Laser-Smith announced that Mason was playing with a broken hand, and everyone cheered for him as his band members looked on with pleasant dispositions of rock-on amazement. Pterodactobot music is complex, and could be described as funky-metal-meets-Pokemon, and certainly wasn't appreciated by everyone there. One local stump dragger playing pool, was overheard to say, "This is the worst music I've ever heard." and someone else said, "Im glad that's over," when they finished their set. Not for the weak-hearted, but most everyone was really impressed with the music and the delivery.
Everyone was praising Mason... I must have heard "Mason is awesome!" twenty times. Next came more Crimson music as the Vox Jaguars set up their equipment in preparation for their set. I spoke to the sound guy and found out that he's a big King Crimson fan from way back, and had seen them 20 times. Wow! (I didn't tell him that I could count the times I'd seen them on one finger). "That explains the house music," I thought to myself. We discussed Adrian Belew's Sides, and confirmed each other's suspicions that they are brilliant works... perhaps his best... yet. Satisfied that the sound guy was competent, I took my seat next to the big center fireplace, and waited for the VJ's.
Jordy created the Vox Jaguars a couple of years ago, and the band has matured and evolved. VJ's current incarnation is a power trio with Trevor on drums, and Mason on bass. Jordy plays guitar and does vocals. Their music is straightforward, honest and powerful. Trevor is an excellent jazz drummer, who's clever and reliable beats, blended with Mason's powerful bass lines, perfectly support Jordy's brand of singing, and guitarwerk. This was the seventh time I'd seen the Vox Jags perform publicly, so I pretty much knew what to expect. As the guys took the stage, and began playing, the people poured back into the theater.
This was one of the largest crowds I had seen gathered to see the Vox Jaguars, and I was surprised to see how many of them knew the lyrics, and were singing along. The Vox Jaguars don't even have a record out, and these kids know all the songs. Even though they had a small technical problem, and a bassist with a broken hand, the Vox Jaguars sounded great, and pulled off a great show. At one point between songs, Mason looked at his hand, and he seemed a bit worried, but began right on cue for the next song. Again, praises to Mason were heard everywhere.
The next day, Mason finally went to see a doctor about his hand. After a general examination, the doctor didn't really believe it was broken, but said they should x-ray it anyway, because if it was broken by chance, it would change the way he would immobilize it. When the x-ray films came back, it revealed that he had indeed broken a metacarpal - showing a very distinct spiral fracture, and had his hand set in a splint, which he must wear consistently for 4 weeks, and then can temporarily remove it for showering, and then replace it. He was told he must wear the splint for approximately 6 weeks.
Today, Mason and Mr. Laser-Smith were sitting on the floor playing video games, when I held up a bag of frozen tater tots and inquired, "Tots for Bots?" Mason responded, "Yes" and Laser-Smith said, "That would be awesome." They were.
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