Right before
Thanksgiving of 1998,
Wesley Willis came to Detroit to play a show at the
Viper Room - quite possibly the crappiest place any
band could play. It was a dim little
bar. My
boyfriend at the time and I went to see the show, I was
geeked beyond belief, I worked in a
record store at the time and played
The Chickencow on repeat to get rid of customers. We saw the show, and
afterwards, we met
Wesley.
Bump me on my head and say rawk.
There is a
callous from head butts. I gently nudge him on the head and say "rawk." The man is
massive.
Bump me on my head and say row.
"Row."
After many
photo opportunities, Wesley said "Scott and Jen, you are nice. If I come up to Detroit, I stay with you?"
YES.
So we give him our phone number in
Detroit - 313
240-vdho... and about a week later, we get a call from
Dan. Dan was looking out for Wes, making sure he wasn't
spending all his money on things he didn't need, and that he was
taking his medication. Dan says, "You guys weren't serious, were you?"
YES.
So
Wesley Willis took the
Amtrak from Chicago to Detroit to stay with us for nearly two weeks. Wesley was a challenge to live with, neither
Scott nor I had really thought out the
ramifications of having a 320 lb paranoid schizophrenic about the house - it's not quite like having a
kitten, you know.
Scott had to help him shower, and I reminded him about his medication and soothed him when his
demons started giving him a
hellride - he would nearly cry while telling me, "Jen, my demons are calling me an asshole. They're telling me that my
music sucks!!"
It was a supreme experience- not for the
kitsch factor but for what I learned about accepting people with
mental illnesses, and I
hope good for him too. I would have him over again
any day.