So last night we moved out of Barbeau’s practice space and back into the basement at Richard’s house. Except the place we came back to wasn’t the place that was there when we left.

The basement’s just about finished. Instead of painted cinder-block walls, there are freshly painted real walls with warmth- and sound-trapping insulation behind them. The concrete floor with the pick-swallowing area rugs has been replaced with luxurious patterned wall-to-wall carpeting. The visible plumbing, rafters, and ductwork have been hidden by a ceiling with tasteful recessed lighting (and soon track lighting above the “stage” area). Miles of extension cord have given way to numerous and conveniently placed wall outlets. It’s sweet. Plus we’ve pretty much talked Richard into getting the Krakathoom logo painted on the back wall. How cool would that be?

After we got set up, it didn’t take us long to figure out the right levels for what amounts to a totally new space, acoustically. Pete had to mute his cymbals a bit and there was some jockeying with the volumes of our amps. But before long we had, as Richard put it, “our groove back.” See what I’m saying about it taking less time to recover? Even the vocals were coming through loud and clear, which was basically a good thing until we got to “Boomtown.” That song is such a drama queen. If you don’t pay it enough attention it becomes impossible.

I don’t know if I ever explained this, but the practice space we were renting is right next to Uptown Pizza’s basement. Remember how last week I said I’d miss the pizza smell? That’s what I was talking about. Except I don’t miss it yet. After two months marinating in the dense atmosphere of planet Pizzar, our equipment has become thoroughly infused with pizza aroma. This became apparent last night when we started playing and the familiar odor drifted up to us as our speaker cones shook off pizza molecules in perceptible waves. It was kind of nostalgic, in a way. That probably happens to Barbeau when they play out as well. I’ll have to ask them.

Again, I want to say how grateful we are to Barbeau for their hospitality, and we wish them luck in finding a new space. You see, it turns out that the new owner of the shop next door is going to be expanding, and the practice space will be a practice space no more. As we’ve recently discovered, the place has some history; Richard recently found out that someone he knows used to be in a band that practiced down there years ago. And in the years before that, the space played host to such local artists as the Gear Daddies, the Suburbs, Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, Prince, and Bob Dylan.

Okay, not really, but wouldn’t that be cool?