{"id":378,"date":"2023-06-27T01:00:49","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T06:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/?p=378"},"modified":"2024-02-10T10:23:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T16:23:02","slug":"barstools-and-bad-decisions-the-dive-bar-debacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/barstools-and-bad-decisions-the-dive-bar-debacle\/","title":{"rendered":"Barstools and Bad Decisions: The Dive Bar Debacle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The GPS said \u201cDanny\u2019s Barrelhouse.\u201d<\/em> The sign out front said \u201cD\u2019Nys.\u201d<\/em> Half the bulbs were out. One flickered like it was dying of embarrassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel peered through the bug-smeared van window. \u201cThis place looks like it got condemned and just didn\u2019t notice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark gave a slow blink from the passenger seat. \u201cI\u2019ve been in worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane grunted from the driver\u2019s seat, pulling into the gravel lot with a crunch. \u201cName two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dive bar sat between a pawn shop and a taxidermy place that proudly advertised \u201cWe Mount Anything.\u201d<\/em> A lone neon sign buzzed over the front door, casting a radioactive green glow on a pair of tipped-over barstools and what was either an opossum or a very drunk cat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie stepped out and sniffed the air. \u201cSmells like regret and pickle juice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside, the bar was dim, humid, and full of character\u2014if the character in question was a whiskey-soaked cryptid who played darts with switchblades. The stage was barely big enough for a drum kit and a bad attitude. The sound system looked like it had been built during the Cold War, and someone had clearly spilled a drink on it in every decade since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bartender with half a mohawk and a full neck tattoo waved them in. \u201cYou the band?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel smiled. \u201cYes, sir. Feral Eclipse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCool. Set up fast. The bingo crowd\u2019s still in the parking lot, and they get mean<\/em> when the jukebox stops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Thane unloaded cables and gear like a man preparing for war, Jonah wandered toward the stage and poked at a speaker that gave off an ominous wheeze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPretty sure this thing just said a racial slur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rico stepped over a puddle that may have been beer or ammonia. \u201cIf I get electrocuted tonight, I\u2019m haunting Gabriel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maya shot a glance around the bar. \u201cYou sure we\u2019re not in a Quentin Tarantino movie?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m almost sure,\u201d Thane muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They managed to wedge themselves onto the stage, Mark doing his lighting magic with three clamp lights and a prayer. The bar regulars stared with a mix of suspicion and mild amusement. One man in a \u201cBorn to Fish, Forced to Work\u201d tank top raised his beer and nodded at Thane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNice boots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane looked down at his bare clawed feet, then back up. \u201cThanks. Yours are… consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first song blasted through the space like a sonic cleansing. Gabriel\u2019s bass lines cracked a pint glass. Maya’s riffs scared off the jukebox entirely\u2014it sparked and died in the corner. Cassie\u2019s voice melted the wax off a decorative deer skull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah went full animal behind the kit, launching into his fills with the grace of a caffeinated bear. Rico\u2019s solos carved holes in the cigarette haze, each note daring the crowd to look away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the crowd?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They loved it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One woman tossed her bra at Cassie and missed by four feet, hitting Mark in the face. He didn\u2019t even flinch. Another guy tried to mosh with a barstool and immediately got ejected by the bartender, who high-fived Gabriel on his way back behind the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the second set, people were dancing. Not well. Not in time. But with wild, drunken joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane worked the soundboard like it owed him money, drenched in sweat, barely keeping the system from exploding. At one point he smacked the compressor with a flashlight, and it started working better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie leaned into her mic between songs. \u201cWe\u2019re Feral Eclipse. We love you weirdos.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A guy screamed, \u201cI WANNA BE A WEREWOLF!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark just muttered, \u201cNo, you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the show, they got paid in mostly cash and half a gift card to a gas station that might not exist anymore. The bartender slid Thane a paper envelope and said, \u201cThat was the loudest this place has ever been without police showing up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane smirked. \u201cGive it time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the van, everyone collapsed into their usual piles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat wasn\u2019t entirely<\/em> awful,\u201d Jonah offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was half-awful,\u201d Rico corrected. \u201cWith a chaser of almost-fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel grinned, fangy and delighted. \u201cI\u2019d play there again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie threw a towel at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane leaned his head against the window, eyes closed, voice low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe survive everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark, already dozing in the back, cracked one eye open. \u201cEven this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the van rolled into the night, chasing the next disaster with claws, chords, and caffeine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The GPS said \u201cDanny\u2019s Barrelhouse.\u201d The sign out front said \u201cD\u2019Nys.\u201d Half the bulbs were out. One flickered like it was dying of embarrassment. Gabriel peered through the bug-smeared van window. \u201cThis place looks like it got condemned and just didn\u2019t notice.\u201d Mark gave a slow blink from the passenger seat. \u201cI\u2019ve been in worse.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3234,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions\/3234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}