THE DIZEAZOES #4: THE FIRST SHOW

Though The Dizeazoes existed for three years, they played live on only two occasions, both house parties. The first was a graduation or birthday party for a girl named Jane, or possibly a birthday party for her sister Deb. No one remembers the exact circumstances, but the band was asked to play a few sets to celebrate something one of the Kahn sisters was doing or experiencing or something like that. At the time the band consisted of Wheeler on bass, Dardick on guitar, Garth and Lance Tyson (drums and guitar),and Rosen on vocals. They rehearsed four sets of music, and set up in the house in a room by the kitchen.

"We were ready and rehearsed. Well... rehearsed, anyway," laughs Wheeler. "A good crowd of people arrived and we were told to start playing. I forget how many songs we played, but I know that we carefully selected them and were ready to play four sets of about eight songs each."

A few songs in, however, one of the party goers made a fateful request: "Sweet Jane" by The Velvet Underground.

"We didn't know it, so we went on with our set," says Wheeler. "And not only did everybody at the party quickly move away from the band, all except a very few left the house and either went out on the front lawn or into the backyard.”

Message to young bands today: Know your Lou Reed.

“When we finished the set Garth shoved his drum set out into the middle of the room in a kind of unplanned finale,” continues Wheeler. “Bits and pieces of his drum set littered the floor. For an encore we helped him pick it all up. We were told that the other three sets we had planned would not be necessary.”