For as long as I can remember, the bar originally known as Stats, then Gavin's, and now Joxer Daly's, has used ceiling fans to cool the place, rather than air conditioning. As those of you who have visited Matt Welch's website know, we are in the midst of a heat wave in Southern California, so it was pretty much necessary to blast those things all night. When the fans are going full speed at Joxers, they go pretty damn fast.

Well, anyway, after an afternoon of carousing and football-watching in Santa Monica, Saturday night I ventured down to Joxers to see the Samurai Homeboys, and perhaps to do some boozin' with Susan, and toasting Storm Mixalot on his last day in Los Angeles before his big move north, and of course to have a pretty good time. As I mentioned last week, the Homeboys always put on a great show, and I was looking forward to their concert for some time; it had been a year since I last saw them perform, and this was their first time at my home bar. What I couldn't have anticipated was perhaps the most UNFREAKING BELIEVABLE performance by a lead singer in the history of pop music.

In the first set (they did four, and they performed for just under 3 1\2 hours), the aforereferenced singer, the Rev. Carl Roberts, got atop one of the tables just off the stage, and with microphone in hand, balanced himself on a partition that separates the stage area of the bar from the bar area, where patrons sit and watch games. As he's doing this, I'm wondering if he's noticed the ceiling fan right above where his foot is balanced, but when he ducked below it on his first pass, I realized that him being the consummate professional, he obviously had cased the place beforehand, and knew where everything was. So I was relieved, and he continues to sing.

And as he's continuing to sing, I grab the 12 oz. liquid free weight I've been curling for the past hour when suddenly, I feel what appears to be spray hitting my hands and face. I look up, and to my horror saw that the Rev. Carl had miscalculated a bit with the ceiling fan: the right side of his face had been split open, blood gushing out everywhere, as the onlookers at the bar gazed in horror. AND HE CONTINUED TO SING, WITHOUT MISSING A BEAT !!! With his face bleeding like Jerry Quarry in his first fight with Ali, he not only completed the song, but nailed the next song as well before taking a break. After the blood had been wiped away, it was clear what an incredible break he had been given; the ceiling fan had cut him less than an inch from the side of his eye. Nevertheless, he and the band performed three more sets, and by the end of the evening, the joint was packed; apparently the early proceedings had already become part of rock lore.

The Homeboys play at O'Brien's in Venice a week from Saturday, and return to Joxers on the 28th of September. If you want to see a great show, even one without bloody encounters with fans, you would be well-advised to check that band out.