6:05 -- It's the dinner hour, and Pat generally doesn't like to eat at the venue he is playing so we take a walk toward the lake in search of a suitable restaurant. We peer in a few places, which are surprisingly empty. "I used to do a lot of shows at Hogs and Kisses," McCurdy says, pointing to a popular bar/restaurant. "Some of the people who used to come see me 10 years ago will be at the show tonight. And I did a private party in the Riviera, which is a cool place. It got pretty crazy that night."

6:16 -- We head back toward Main St. and grab a booth in Lake Aire Restaurant. Pat orders a club sandwich and we spend the next 30 minutes catching up and talking about his two sons, religion, politics and the stock market. Pat tells me that his manager's wife was recently a pickpocket victim while vacationing in Paris, which leads to a discussion about vacations. McCurdy doesn't take many. He never has, but the motivation has changed. He used to think, "If I don't work, I won't get work." Now, it's different. "I don't enjoy being waited on hand and foot," he says. "I've become a curmudgeon. That's what Bethany (his wife) calls me now. I couldn't enjoy Mexico, knowing that people are waiting on me and making servant's wages. It's almost like I've been predestined to be middle class. I like eating in nice restaurants, but no matter how much money I have I don't think I'll ever be a 'rich guy.' I think rich people have this sense of ease and confidence and I'll never have that."

6:57 -- We leave the restaurant and Pat makes a phone call during the three blocks back. Once inside Carvetti's, he mingles with fans for a bit. "All these years, I don't think anybody has ever yelled at us for starting late or quitting early," Pipe Jim says.

7:15 pm. -- Pipe Jim plays the "1812 Overture" as the introductory music and Pat straps on one of his two Alvarez acoustic guitar and begins the show. Because it's an adults-only crowd guarantees that the songs and stage patter will be rated R. The third song of the night is "F---buddy Song."

7:18 -- With the area in front of the stage filling up, I take a spot near the front entry door, which is like watching the show from the wings. On a mirror behind me is the message "We have Country Thunder tickets!" A group of about five or six women have set up shop about 10 feet away, right in front of the ladies' restroom.

7:22 -- Pat welcomes the audience and talks about how the name of the bar "Carvetti's" reminds him of Carvelli from "Welcome Back, Kotter." Most of the people in the audience are old enough to have seen the show, but he gets blank stares. "Does anybody know who that actor was?" he asks. More blank stares.

7:30 -- Pat tells a story about a "life-changing" moment at a bar in Watertown, which he calls "H2O Town." "I was at Andy's Uptown -- like there is an uptown and a downtown in Watertown -- and I heard a band play. It was a bunch of old guys. There was a trumpet player, an accordion player, a drummer, a guitar player and another guy I couldn't see and they were playing the worst version of "Hang on, Sloopy," I've ever heard. That's not what changed my life. What changed my life was the 65- or 70-year-old woman holding the bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon and wearing a denim skirt cut up to her ass cheeks that was doing this dance." Pipe hits a cassette of the song and Pat does a crazy dance and asks the audience to participate. It's still early, so there aren't many takers other than a tipsy woman named "Goldy," who is celebrating a birthday.

7:32 -- Pat notices a male fan at the bar who looks a lot like Michael MacDonald from the Doobie Brothers. He breaks into an impromptu version of "Takin' it to the Streets," followed by "What a Fool Believes."

7:38 -- The crowd is starting to loosen up a bit now. Applause breaks after songs are intensifying, which is not unrelated to the fact that the bartenders and wait staff are working at warp speed. As he rolls into the country-tinged song, "Imagine a Picture," Pat rolls into an audience participation segment of his program.

"Raise your hands if you feel you are way more attractive than the people around you," he says. (Virtually every hand goes up.)