i got a text on the drive down the garden state parkway, maybe around exit 150 or so. matt letting me know that the night before they played timmy, spine, queen of everything... i looked at my phone and said "fuck." out loud. yeah, okay, so i had a feeling what that meant. then a 2nd text about a minute later, "oh and meat." ... "FUCK. FUCK FUCK FUCK. FUUUUUUUCK.". i considered turning my car around but didn't. by the time i got to the pony (i missed my exit and matt had to give me alternate directions) and picked up my ticket at the front door, the band was minutes from getting onstage (and i had to pee). i needed a screwdriver and then i needed to find matt and kristin. i got another text, "chuck side head shop." standing at the bar was what could only be described as a "local cougar" (who randomly decided to hit the pony) was asking questions like, "what band is playing? are they good? who??" with that, moe. began, akimbo it was, and i walked outside.
the backyard at the stone pony is basically a giant parking lot that has been fenced off for the summer shows. the club opens up these giant garage doors on the back wall and it opens into the backyard... and a giant bar. the merch table is on the left, there are beer stands along the back wall (and in every corner) and about 20 feet in is the soundboard facing the stage. on the left hand (facing the stage) wall are some t shirt/hippie shit vendors, it smells like incense, and there's an entrance way to the porta-potties if you choose to go that route. and drunk people. lots of drunk people. everywhere. i mean EVERYWHERE. the place gets packed and the packs get drunk. ween played there a few years back and it was absolutely the drunkest concert i've ever seen. everyone was a mess. moe. played there some time ago and there was a monsoon, 3 inches of water onstage, the band almost died, they stopped to squeegee... and in the process everyone got drunker. so you see the pattern. it's inevitable. and i was afeared.
i couldn't spot matt or kristin but i slowly moved up on chuckside keeping my eyes peeled. i figured matt would be wearing a bandana and possibly a tie dyed t shirt. which is great but you try finding that in a sea of fucking hippies. if only i could remember what COLOR bandana it was! "is matt a blood or a crip?" i asked myself. and then finally i spotted him- "HE'S A BLOOD!" i screamed to no one in particular. he spotted me and then escorted me up to the left of the massive mess of a crowd pushing to get to the center. it was great to see kristin again- i totally remembered who she was, so that is always cool.
well, all 4 of my regular readers are probably familiar with the fact that i'm not a huge fan of blue jeans pizza- but i recently had a revelation. something was really bothering me about part of the song. i finally figured out what it was. there's a transition in there that reminds me of a dave matthews band song and it bugs the crap out of me. i can't remember if it was 'ants marching' or 'tripping billies' and to figure it out i would have to listen to the songs and it's just not worth it to me. so since my epiphany i've been able to kind of isolate that portion of the song and find some positives about other parts. whatever man.
rise rocks. always has. big world... what is this the "make lynn really sorry she didn't come last night" set? it was fine. but i was getting nervous that they might break out plane crash and then i would have gotten mad. but instead--- kyle's song, sure, why not?
we hung out during setbreak and watched some whackjobslutwhore try and sleeze her way passed the pony security guard to backstage. it was pretty rancid. who knows- maybe she was going to offer to babysit for the band's wives so they could watch the show? that's sweet. a hooker with a heart of gold. go jersey.
set II began with everyone singing happy birfday to vinnie's daughter madison. she looked impressed. :)
st. augustine was a nice treat, yodelittle was a nicer treat- very psyched to hear that. babitz would have dug that. he would have dug that so much he'd poop in al's f-hole... -> mcbain (with various teases) -> yodelittle. that was a fun sandwich. so long. slowed down the momentum of the set in my opinion- it's a pretty and haunting song, but it can create a weird space in a set. at one point some folks tripping their balls off and wearing all sorts of balloon-hats decided to stand in front of us. wee!
oh but then they FINALLY played rebubula which was very nice to hear. it's quite appropriate for the ocean shore. some drunk white hat plowed right into kristin and matt defended her honor and nearly beat the shit out of a guy twice his size. it was pretty awesome. luckily dude's friend stepped in between and made it "all good". then i started a fight with a 300 lbs man who was trying to get through the crowd and stepped on me. "no, don't put a fucking balloon hat on me, dude- watch where you're fucking going, am i fucking invisible?" he apologized and explained that he was drunk and tripping and please forgive him. "dude, if you're gonna go-- just go... GO NOW! pass!" i was trying really hard not to smile or laugh but as soon as he left i cracked the fuck up.
encore. announcements. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
ZO2- i really like this song. reminds me of zappa. in fact the first time i heard it my ipod was on shuffle and i was confused, "what the fuck zappa song is this???" oh but it wasn't! it was moe.... aww, moe. jim, you freakin' loon. and then nyc. okay, fine, whatever.
on our walk out of the venue we watched a drunk redneck jersey couple get into a fight next to the soundboard. big dude slapped greasy girl across face. girl screams wildly. slaps scumbag back. scumbag storms off. girl runs and jumps on scumbag's back. then they make out. i think jon bon jovi wrote a song about them once. how romantic.
when i got back to my car there was a spider that set up camp on my driver's side mirror. a widow weaving wonders on a (saturday) night in (july). creepy.
it was still on my car the next morning- the fucker had survived the entire drive! ugh.
the way i see it, this show- while it had it's highlights- was just kind of a soundcheck or filler to wet the appetite for moe.down. because how can i truly appreciate and enjoy the best moe. shows if there's nothing to compare them against? the stone pony is always an adventure in the making, so it was nice to see them down there again. let's say 7 HUZZAHS? maybe like 6.8? hm. i think coming off the governor's and highline shows i'm just anticipating moe.down too much. or perhaps just enough. :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnguppy/Moe7508TheStonePonyAsburyParkNj>PICS... um. i kind of forgot to set the ISO on the camera (i'm not used to having the option), so i don't have many good pics. i also set the camera on the rapid-fire-mode, to try that approach. meh. one day i'll get it right.
SET I
Akimbo
Blue Jeans Pizza
Rise
Darkness>
Big World>
Kyle's Song
SET II
St. Augustine
Yodelittle>
McBain>
Yodelittle>
So Long
Rebubula
E:
Zed Naught Z
New York City
download the 7/4 and 7/5 shows from archive!
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