I spent Saturday night at the release-CD show of the band called The Diplomat. The show took place at The Saint that ‘s located in Asbury Park, NJ and looks anything but the place where saints live. The GPS girl in our car has announced that we “ve arrived to our destination right by the sign The Saint. The heavy bass and drums sounds were shaking the building. A small door revealed the staircase to the second floor. Oops, sorry. This is a rental place located right above the club. The thunder of music is tearing these tiny apartments apart. I wonder how much the landlord pays the tenants for living here? Are they deaf?

This brings back my memories. More than twenty years ago, when Yuri Fain , the leader of The Diplomat, was born, we were renting an apartment in a building standing by the railroad, which became pretty noisy each time when a train was passing by. Initially this building was erected for deaf people, but right after they moved in, it was discovered that the vibration caused by the train affects deaf as bad as others.

I ‘m sure you ‘ve guessed by now that the only reason I went to this show was the fact that it was my son “s band.

The real entrance to the club was around the corner. The band and their friends were waiting outside while the opening bands would finish their sets. One of the guy suggested, that next time we come here, we “d better rent a car. Makes sense, makes sense hellip;

The opening band was good but extremely noisy. For your convenience, the bartender sells ear plugs for a dollar, but I did not need them. Small stage. People are standing in front of it drinking beer and other adult beverages while listening to the band playing.

I went to the bar counter.

“One beer and one Cosmopolitan rdquo; ndash; my wife does not like beer (can you believe this?)

The girl goes, “If you know the ingredients, I “ll make it for you rdquo;.

“No problem. Forget about it. Do you have red wine? rdquo;

“Sure rdquo;. And she disappears. In a couple of minutes, she comes back saying She had two news for me, and I ‘ll start with the bad one.

“Sorry, we could not find the cork opener. But I “ll give you a discount on your drinks rdquo;.

“OK, get me a beer and a cocktail you know rdquo;

She smiles to me, “Sure. I “ll make you one. Trust me, you “ll like it rdquo;.

The lesson learned: you came to listen to the music ndash; enjoy the show and drink what other people do. Don “t be an asshole trying to impress someone with your knowledge of fancy cocktails names. Especially if you do not know the ingredients.

The Diplomat performed really well. Needless to say, I knew all the songs, have a CD and the basement in our house was shaking for a while as the band was rehearsing. BTW, these are a couple of photos from the rehearsal. Here ‘s Yuri singing:

And this is another one. Son, if you ‘ll work hard like your daddy, you ‘ll also will be able to afford good beer (I recommend Leffe from Belgium). But Yuengling is an OK beer too.

I “m sure this music set can and will be a hit in Manhattan “s Greenwich Village clubs soon. And trust me, I “ll blog about the MTV awards party too when the time comes and The Diplomat will be on stage. At this point of his music career, my son is indie, which has nothing to do with the country I visited in May . Indy means independent . But his favorite group Radiohead, that has also moved from the indie to mainstream or vice-versa?

These are some of the pictures I “ve taken at the show:

Here ‘s The Diplomat on stage at The Saint:

And these are the band ‘s fans. I ‘m sure you ‘ve recognized Tim Rowan from the Time Out New York magazine:

Joe Spinelli, the man who put this show together, is selling the “This is my mountain ” CD by The Diplomat.

If you “d like to listen to some of the Diplomat “s songs, purchase the CD, or find out the schedule of the upcoming shows, visit this page.

Good luck, The Diplomat!