god street wine, 5/30/09, a love ducharme

god street wine, 5/30/09, a love ducharme
ridgewood & wyckoff, nj


Wow, it's been a loooong while since I've reviewed a GSW show and I couldn't be more thrilled with the opportunity to do it. Winos have been waiting years for God Street Wine to get back together, unfortunately it turned out to be for a pretty shitty reason. Legendary first Wino (and taper) Paul Ducharme passed away in April. Perhaps you have some early GSW tapes from Paul? If not, you should download one and hear what the band sounded like in '89*. Thusly, the one and only God Street Wine got together for the most appropriate tribute to Paul: a full day of GSW that became a reunion on many different levels.

The afternoon started out with a tribute to Paul at Citizen's Park in Ridgewood, NJ, where friends & relatives shared thoughts about him. They played some of his favorite music and the band Native played a set. However, the bomb-diggity happened when God Street Wine gathered from various parts of the globe and made music together again. It's been roughly 8 years since the last reunion happened at Wetlands Preserve before it's doors were closed for good. Too long.


The set was peaceful, beautiful, and sweet. Highlights? Well, pretty much everything- I ain't gonna complain. Shocked to hear Weird Dream, captured by Driving West, 6:15, Borderline. Shit. I wanted to hear the whole thing over again. 8 years? The familiarity came right back. It could have been last week. The audience was a bizarre mix of people which included both friends of Paul's & assorted Winos collected over the years. It was certainly interesting to see band members now with full families (a full soccer team roster of kids), das Bullethead (now a father-- scary), and those who haven't aged a day in 15 years (Dan Pifer).


But there was a little something extra up everyone's sleeve- namely, a full-on Jersey house party complete with GSW show.


What the hell is going on? A few hours later we converged upon the unsuspecting hamlet of Wyckoff, NJ where God Street Wine was about to go back in time and play their friend Steph Rein's basement. Literally- a basement**. Cinderblock, foundation, old fridge, exposed plumbing, B-A-S-E-M-E-N-T. Ohh, what will the neighbors think? Native opened the night with a set of soulful & funky hippie rock. Totally awesome but honestly, I can't remember much because I was incredibly preoccupied with the thought of another GSW show-- 2 in 1 day! In 2009! I had seen Lo & Aaron play during Echofission's set the previous week at Mexicali- but a full GSW show??? AGH!




We all scrambled to get good spots, people fiddled with a/v equipment, smoke filled the air and GSW took the "stage". No lowlights really, but highlights for sure: Gretchen, Pussycat. Other Shore was pure madness, jaws dropped, wide smiles all around, and a surreal feeling overcame us all. I don't know if it was from inhaling the black mold or what, but during the 2nd set- specifically, during Crazy Head, something mysterious happened- the air in the basement actually turned upside-down and then when Henrietta kicked in, every single one of us was transported back in time to the year 1994. I don't know how else to explain it. Something weird happened in that basement and only the witnesses can attest to it. My skin crawled, but it felt warm, exciting, and good.




Hey Joe, Electrocute, Epiphany, Diana-- all of it magical. A few of Paul's friends grabbed some instruments and played St. Stephen as a tribute. Then came the therapeutic chanting- a hypnotic seance of sorts as Aaron told the story of the origin of the chant, and everyone repeated "a Love Ducharme, a Paul Supreme". Wine, smoke, chanting, and a strange energy filled the air. Then, a touching Epilog, a fun & high energy GOTT, and a wailing Into the Sea.





It was amazing to see the guys but even more amazing to hear them after so many years apart- there were moments you couldn't tell the difference- they were rippin'. My ears couldn't have been happier***. Something very special happened in that basement and I'm incredibly fortunate to have been invited to share it. I want to thank all of Paul's friends for organizing such a special day and letting some random Winos (such as myself) crash and feel welcome. It was amazing to see tons of familiar faces and reconnect with such good people after so many years. The entire day embraced the theme of love & celebrating Paul's attitude by sharing some of his favorite music, it will always bring a smile to my face.


I got yelled at for suggesting that the Phish shows were anticlimactic because the GSW show was so mind boggling. You know what? Eff the haters, I'm standing by my words. GSW were back and they rocked my world. No- you cannot have my Phish tickets.

11 HUZZAHS! (yes, it goes to eleven).


DAY SHOW, West Side Presbyterian Church, Ridgewood, NJ
DEFINITELY DL THE AFTERNOON SHOW!
Stranger
Weird Dream
Waiting for the Tide
Driving West
6:15
Imogene
Blackbird
Dear Prudence
Borderline

NIGHT SHOW, Steph Rein's basement, Wyckoff, NJ
AND MOST DEFINITELY DL THE NIGHT SHOW!
SET I
Good Dream
Goodnight Gretchen >
A Love Supreme >
Brand New Pussycat
Fortress Of Solitude
Other Shore >
A Love Supreme >
He's Gone
Home Again
Hellfire->
A Love Supreme

SET II
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Lighthouse
Crazy Head
Princess Henrietta
Hey Joe
Electrocute
Epiphany
Diana
St Stephen #
A Love Ducharme - A Paul Supreme
Death Don't Have No Mercy
Epilog
Get On The Train
Molly
Into The Sea

# w/ Andy Berian on guitar & Roger Sands on drums

SLIDESHOW! & FULL GALLERY!


ADDITIONALLY: Mike Weiss has an assortment of footage up on his youtube page from both the afternoon and night shows- give it a looksy!




*author's note: they sounded much better in '92+ so you may want to DL one of these shows too, the band would probably appreciate it. try THIS ONE or THIS ONE.
** Legend has it that GSW played this very basement in the early days
*** One lone complaint: we were totally gypped out of an encore- not even a Nightingale or Wendy? Hm. Better be saving it for next time. They'd better... (shaking fist angrily)

Umphrey's McGee, 4/11/09, nokia theater, nyc

umphrey's mcgee, 4/11/09, nokia theater, nyc
Seeing as I'm way behind on reviews (work was nuts for a few months, no time for extracurricular writing), this will be short. However, there are some necessary points I gotta make about Umphrey's in general.


I've heard friends describe Umphrey's McGee as a band with "no soul", "no balls", and like "trying to eat an entire peanut butter sandwich without any milk to drink." I really couldn't disagree more. I see (and hear) Umphrey's as a band with meticulously crafted jams and solos that show off their technical flare. In fact, the more I hear them, the more I realize they would not exist without bands like God Street Wine, moe., and Ominous Seapods before them. There is a lot of Chuck Garvey in their sound. Umphrey's represent a generation of guys who grew up listening to Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen- but these dudes happened to form a jam band*. I don't think their music is "cold" or "soulless" at all, quite the opposite actually- rabidly serious musicians who always put on a solid and/or impressive show and have fun doing it. And the kids seem to love 'em.

This Nokia show was no exception. I met up with Hern, Lisa, Brittany, her roommie, & eventually Gullo, and Umphrey's rocked our faces off. The sound was solid, the guitars were screaming, the lights were killer (always are), and they blew the lid off of the Nokia.






In total- 9 HUZZAHS! Fucking great show. I heart Umphrey's McGee and will continue to see them despite the haters!

DL the show, betches: http://www.archive.org/details/um2009-04-11

SLIDESHOW! (and gallery for dl's)



* In fact, I guarantee you at least one of them owns the Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure soundtrack.

moe., 2/13 & 14/09, terminal 5, nyc, ny

moe. (and lynch), 2/13 & 2/14/09, terminal 5, nyc, ny


Let me start off by saying right off the bat that Terminal 5 is the worst venue in the city. Maybe even in the greater Northeast (along with strong contender Tune Inn, in New Haven, CT*). Here is an approximated re-eactment of the IM conversation with el Herno the day these moe. dates were announced:
eh: spring moe. dates- 2 shows in nyc
lg: OOOOOOOH!!!!! awesome!
lg: as long as it's not at terminal 5.
eh: it's at terminal 5.
lg: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
lg: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
lg: NO NO NO!!!!!!
lg: WHYYYYYYYYYYY??????????????
eh: it can't be that bad.
lg: DAMN YOU DERHAK!!!!!!!!!!!! DAAAAMNNN YOUUUUUUU!!!!!
My repulsion of Terminal 5 stems from a Ween show in '07. Since that experience I have actually not seen some acts as they roll through town simply because I hate that venue- that includes the Beastie Boys, Cake, & Les Claypool. I am getting angry just thinking about the place right now.

Anyways, those fucking assholes decided to play 2 shows at Terminal 5 and I considered going to Denver to see the Fillmore shows instead. But I bought the damn tickets, cuz it's moe. and how can I miss an nyc show? So, moe.'s return from hiatus for me was bittersweet: excited to see them for the first time since moe.down, but had to deal with Terminal 5 to do it. I went between giddiness and disgust for months and had severe bouts of nausea as the dates approached. The only plus to Terminal 5's location in the middle of nowhere (or as Lisa described it, "this is where people disappear from"), is it's proximity to Fusion, a chill little bar that serves fresh cocktails and has a back patio- making pregame moe.jitos totally possible. So fuck yeah on that.

night.One:
I met up with the running crew [el Herno, Lisa, Melissa, her friend Dave (Dan?), and Craig (his first moe. show! He was rightly scared as we had told him that moe. were going to gang rape him.).] and quickly downed 2 moe.jitos. Really quickly. Way too quickly. We sang "Do the Hustle" and headed on over to the venue. Craig saw two undercovers busting two hippies across the street and we got on line. The security people have gotten much nicer since the nazi search and seizure days of the Ween show when I had an Advil confiscated, but they are definitely still there to drive the cattle through the front doors. Let's talk a little bit about logistics here for a second- when setting up a bar or a venue, what would be a convenient location for a coat-check? Up a narrow staircase on the 2nd floor on the other side of the bar and bathrooms? Yes, that makes perfect sense. Okay! They did add a few flat panel screens that hang above the railing which I suppose helps if you want to watch the band you went to see live on a tv screen. Also, I would imagine they block some of the taller patrons' views.





We ran right into Pete and his wife Sara who had scored some rail space which was totally sweet, but those fucking "cutout" tables they have against the rails are just a tease. Like, "you're here, you're at the rail, but you still can't see, you must just love sucking my cock." It was nice to see the boys, but the show started out pretty slowly. They got NYC out of the way immediately, All Roads Lead to Home, Moth... Let's get right to this SOMP -> Spine transition- it didn't work so much. They should seriously consider not doing that again. Sometime around now is when the two kids next to us turned and said, "are you on anything because the lights are doing something really weird right now." "I'm high on Rob Derhak", was my response. During setbreak we ran into Matt Campbell but he had to jet to go defend their rail space so we would try and meet up Saturday night.





The second set is when the evil started coming out, they needed it now more than ever. Gullo also found us but not after standing on the floor and taking some awesome pics. It was a pretty solid set with some of the heavier tunes like McBain, SOMP, Timmy- but a really nice surprise was Widespread Panic's, "Space Wrangler" which everyone seemed to enjoy. Vinnie was fucking slamming and Al was going pretty nuts too- though we couldn't see him unless we leaned over the railing. The Meat encore was fantastic. It was amateur hour upstairs with the crowd though, there were some real assholes that kind of invaded our area and they were pretty rude taboot. The general consensus seemed to be set 1: mediocre at best / set 2: getting there. We hoped the momentum would carry through to the 2nd night. And we were headed down to the floor in an attempt to get a better view. On the walk out of the venue there were- no joke- 3 or 4 tanks set up along 56th street. Are you fucking kidding me? Craig survived, we're not sure if he liked it though.




crowd pic by gullo, click here for his gallery... I'm on the upper left balcony about 4 people in, green shirt.
Right after the show we headed down to the Ace of Clubs to see Lynch play their cd-release party. These guys are totes solid and I picked up the new album. They were rockin' out and everyone in the crowd was lit the fuck up- wow. We're talking dangerous territory about an hour in. It was around then I decided I needed food badly enough to leave... and also when the bathroom was being used primarily for coke rather than peeing. "TAKE YOUR DIRTY HABIT INTO PUBLIC" I announced, "I NEED TO FUCKING PEE!!!"


lynch at the Ace of Clubs
night.Two:

Started off similarly at Fusion, where we were joined by Stacey, and due to our determination to stake out territory on the floor, time constraints would limit me to 1 moe.jito before we trekked over to the venue. We scored some land near the stage, al.side and sent Hern upstairs with our coats. We would bust heads to stay close if we had to. Lisa had barely seen al. the night before and she was in a vicious fucking mood. Also, we had Pete the Enforcer with us and worked out a hand-signal to flash if we needed help- the 'batoosey'. We made friends with the people around us and formed alliances to help keep our ground safe for short people. We never found Matt and his crew.


Pete the Enforcer
They definitely carried the momentum of the night before's set 2 & encore. It was pretty awesome. There were some dicks in the crowd but for the most part everyone was cool and more importantly Lisa was able to watch the vein in al.'s head pulsate every time he got really going- which was a lot, cuz he was on FIYE-YAH for both these shows! I may have liked Blue Jeans Pizza, but I'm still not completely sure. Waiting for the Punchline was especially appropriate as we were mere blocks from Sony's old offices and they kicked it's ass upside down and backwards!





A very strange thing happened during Happy Hour Hero, which was I was grabbed on both upper arms by a tweaked out gobi carrying a fly swatter trying to push past me, to which I said, "get your fucking hands off me." "chill, babe" was his reply. "No, seriously dude. Get your fucking hands off me right now." but he wouldn't let go, so I quickly made a judgement call which was "is this guy tweaked out enough to hit a girl? and how many of the boys standing here will hold him back if he tries to?". I was indeed in a hell-raising mood when I walked through those front doors that night... I gave him a shove backwards. Which was exactly about when he flipped his lid, got quite animated, and started calling me a bitch, etc. As he got in my face both Lisa and I frantically started flashing the "batoosey" sign in the air trying to catch Pete the Enforcer's eyes, but it was NO USE! There were just too many people separating us at that point. So I'm standing there as this guy is screaming at me and I realize a giant circle has cleared around us, he's jumpy & tweaked and I'm staring & laughing a little wondering why I had to fuck with him but at least it was an entertaining story-- and this gobi is IN THE RED (never turn your back on a wook gone rabid)- luckily & happily, some dudes that we were standing near grabbed the guy (who says chivalry is dead? thanks, boys.) before he was escorted out by security who would pounce upon him like SPIDER MONKEYS... And Lisa and I are just standing there, staring at each other before we bust out laughing hysterically, as did al. who enjoyed the entire scene taking place at his feet.

Now, in honor of this very special episode of a moe. show with lynn, lynnguppy.blogspot.com is proud to present this...

Public Service Announcement.



KNOW YOUR WOOK
There are certain things all wooks have in common but sizing up identifying factors in the confronting wook can be essential to your survival. Their eyes are always tweaked and their stench might be identifying but try your best to ignore it- you must go beyond these basics to assess the situation-at-hand. These four steps may one day save your life:

1. Hair: is it trim? dreads? recently washed? Lack of hygiene can indicate a death wish and financial situation. Is there product in that hair?
   
2. Weapon: a balloon? a glowstick? a broken bottle of jack daniels? Wicker basket (can indicate goo-ball supplies)? If Hunter S. Thompson has taught me anything it's that a flyswatter might indicate Mescaline.
   
3. Missing Clothes: No shirt? No pants? No Shoes? Sometimes lack of clothes will make them more aerodynamic and/or infectious, take this into consideration before altercation.
   
4. Glisten: Have they recently showered? (probably not) Does their skin have more of a glossy or matte finish? Are there stickers (this could also indicate goo-ball supplies)? Homeless or just on tour? (good indication of fragility/state of mind)
   

So, remember kiddies- those 4 factors: H.W.M.G. or Just remember this easy phrase: Horrible Wooks & Mega Gobis... It could save your life!
... this has been a Public Service Announcement brought to you by lynnguppy.blogspot.com
... the more you know!
She Sends Me & Yodelittle were awesome. I really enjoyed Faker--- I heart Faker- though, Rob really might consider learning the lyrics already. Is this when the disco ball came on or was that Kids? Whichever one that was- it was an odd and awkward moment for the giant disco ball. I got a larf out of that. For the encore al. sang After Hours (a Velvet Underground song) solo which I have to admit I don't remember... and Mexico, which I do remember, because it was fabulous. Mexico always gives me such an uplifting feeling and I've got good memories associated with it, so it made me smile. Actually, I don't think I stopped smiling most of the night- including the gobi-attack. Man I'm glad he wasn't a chimp. He totally could have been. That would have been bad but I probably wouldn't have fucked with a chimp. You just don't fuck with a chimp.


look at those vicious feet!
After the show we went to use the bathrooms upstairs which was around the time some douchebag started smoking a cigarette and blowing the smoke directly into the fire alarm. Oddly enough, we had been talking about what a death trap Terminal 5 is and that there aren't enough exits- AT ALL. Like, in a really really bad way- the place is dangerous. We hoped with all our hearts that it wasn't a real fire and peed anyway. Of course when we went to find Hern he was gone, he had trampled about 30 people on his push out the door when the alarm went off. I found $10 on the stairs, gave $5 to the guy directly in back of me and then went and put it towards a poster. As we walked towards 11th ave the FDNY showed up. Not bad but I think they could do a lot better. Oh, and also, the tourscum element on the sidewalks was really just lame. Those people should go achieve bisco elsewhere.


moe. 2/13 & 2/14,Terminal 5, NYC. There are a lot of factors in this one and actually the fair way to do this would be to do band and venue separately, but T5 is just gonna get a 2 huzzahs... instead of a 0, only cuz I didn't get my ass beat down by some rabid fucking wook douchebag. The place reminds me of a County Correctional Facility. The band- 8.75 HUZZAHS- cuz the 2nd night was super fucking strong and it was great to see them chillaxed.

* "It's like watching a show inside a gigantic metal turd." - ??? Who said this? Marty?

SETLISTS & LINKIES!
-------------------------
2/13/09
Set 1
Kick Out The Jams ^
New York City
All Roads Lead To Home
Moth
Deep This Time ->
Seat Of My Pants ->
Spine Of A Dog * ->
Looney Tunes theme

Set 2
McBain ->
Skrunk
Seat Of My Pants (reprise)
Letter Home
Space Wrangler -> ^
Timmy Tucker ->
Tailspin
E:
Meat

* = inverted (end jam at beginning, vocal jam at end)
^ = 1st time played

DOWNLOAD OR STREAM THIS SHOW

-------------------------

2/14/09
Set 1
Sticks & Stones ->
Blue Jeans Pizza
Bullet
Spaz Medicine ->
Darkness ->
It ->
Waiting For The Punchline

Set 2
Happy Hour Hero ->
She Sends Me
Yodelittle
Gone ->
Wind it Up
The Faker ->
Kids
E:
After Hours *
Mexico

* = Velvet Underground song (Al solo)

DOWNLOAD OR STREAM THIS SHOW

-------------------------

SLIDESHOW and GALLERY

hot day at the zoo, 1/16 & 1/20/09

Hot Day at the Zoo, 1/16/09, the Matterhorn, Stowe, VT
2 Fridays ago I decided to test out the new Impreza with it's first road trip: we needed to bond. Appropriately enough, my destinations would include live music, cold weather, and skiing: I headed North to the old stomping grounds of VT (the snow looks happier up there) and made pretty good time til hitting a jam of black icy goodness on 89, but still managed to make it to the Alchemist where Sara, Bill, the Bourbon Cowboy, Leeeza, and I waited for 2 fucking hours to eat!!! Sweet baby Cheesus, I could have been drunk at the venue by then. We scarfed dinner, hauled ass over to Stowe, and got inside the Matterhorn just as Hot Day at the Zoo were doing their soundcheck. We expected wall-to-wall rowdy drinker types (ala the Currently Nameless nights at Mad Mountain Tavern), but the place was surprisingly empty which we chalked up to the -10 temps (flat-landers can't handle REAL winter). The balmy weather didn't stop Amy, her boy, and a handful of other local music-lovers who were recruited by various members of our party from showing up (and some other random locals taboot) to enjoy some bluegrass.



Hot Day at the Zoo are a 4-piece string band out of Lowell, MA, (guitar, banjo, upright bass, mandolin), they play situational and character driven originals splattered with literary references, covers that range from Electric Company songs to Nirvana, you name it- they'll celebrate it and they're not afraid to make it loud. The first time I saw them was at a snoe.down in the Vodka room and then possibly a moe.down too? Or not? Foggy, foggy recollections of good, good times. So it goes. Regardless, Hot Day at the Zoo are fun. Really fun. PLENTY fun. They always manage to put a smile on my face and they've got a wicked kazoo player, so really- how can you go wrong*? One thing that's changed about the band since I last saw them is the Mandolin player- he's completely different (not like sex-change different, but a different person entirely). Their original guy definitely had his own stage presence, but new guy, JT, is quickly becoming the perfect fit- he's awesome, a great musician, plays along with the music to create it- not fight it or muddle it (this is really important) and with every jam they seem to explore the new band dynamic, finding and opening up the right spaces to let the music breathe. It's working.

Whoa, that was intense. Anyways, they didn't do an encore so we booed them.

----------

1/20/09, Tupelo Music Hall, Londonderry, NH
Iyeoka Okoawo & The Rock by Funk Tribe
Hot Day at the Zoo
Rockspring

After a moderately successful day at Sugarbush I hit a giant frost-heave and ended up at Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry**, NH for another night of zootastical (zooriffic?) live music madness on their Inaugural Celebration*** Night. Why the fuck not, eh? This place is supercool, it's a gorgeous room, the soundproofing is spot-on, it's BYOB (or BYOS... the 'S' is for "screwdriver"), and it's in the middle of fucking nowhere. Seriously, you're on a road with NH strip malls and you pass the Outback Steakhouse and slam on the brakes cuz the Tupelo is on the right. The sign out front said Joe Piscopo is playing there in a few weeks- good for him. The only thing I found really distracting were the tables set up against 2/3 of the front/center of the stage and the random gobi screaming Barack Obama's name and waving in imaginary wind a bedazzled American Flag he occasionally rubbed his face on****.

The first band up were Iyeoka Okoawo & The Rock by Funk Tribe, a hip-hop-funk-soul-poetry joint out of Boston. Think Lauren Hill, Jill Scott, unplugged-Jay-Z vibe, with both a female and male vocalist and fucking solid rest of the band (drums, keys, screaming guitar, slappy bass-- YES, YES.)- they each held it down tight. They had the place grooving. I felt culturally blessed to have been a part of this experience in Londonderry, NH.



Next up, our string-pickin' heroes HDATZ (that's what the kids on the interwebs call them) and even on a Tuesday night, they brought it. There was more of a dancing crowd at this show so it was nice to see so many people getting down (for all the bands), the energy levels were upped from the Stowe show, the room was also much warmer in sound & vibe which absolutely contributed to the performance. All 4 guys shined, their harmonies were hypnotizing, and it was pretty awesome to watch the new lineup keep evolving (even over a matter of days), ripping shit up, and complimenting each other. You could also feel the relief in the air that Barack Obama was finally sworn in as President of the United States of America (the heavens shined down upon us and a chorus of cherubs praised cheesus, amen- whadya know? Hilary's speech was right...). FINALLY!




Thirdly, Rockspring, another great bluegrass band from the area- their music was sweet, pretty, and badass all at once. Also, they all had good hats. ALL OF THEM! I'd love to see them again. These guys (HDATZ and Rockspring) should play NYC together so I can go see them... Just sayin'.


It was a red hot night of music at a random spot in New England and it couldn't have left me happier. I walked outside, shuffled around on the ice covered pavement, inhaled the cold NH air, and thought to myself - there are people who go their entire lives without experiencing such a diverse, beautiful, soul-satisfying night of music... and fuck those people because they should get out more...

Cold New England Musical Binge Weekend/day Adventure: 9 HUZZAHS!!! Points taken off for no encore Friday night and the incident where Red Sox fans tried to poison me. It didn't work for the KGB and it won't work for you, Theo Epstein- so back off, guy.

gallery link and SLIDESHOW!





* Hot Day at the Zoo makes me want to drink beer... it's some sort of sweet thirst from within.
** what the fuck am I doing here?
*** did anyone else catch Will.I.Am drop the n-bomb in front of the entire first family and WORLD at that Lincoln Memorial concert???
**** free pink-eye, anyone?

camper van beethoven, 1/10/09, the Bowery Ballroom, NYC

Camper Van Beethoven, 1/10/09, the Bowery Ballroom, NYC
Lucky for us, the heavily feared BLIZZARD OF '09 was a total fucking dud and we easily made it out for this show. By "us" and "we", I mean, Hern, Lisa (on the 6th Anniversary of their first date which was at a Camper Van Beethoven show- Happy Anniversary you crazy kids!), and myself. I haven't been to the Bowery Ballroom in years, it's still a fun place to see a show and as a matter of fact, "fun" was the descriptive word of the evening.

Camper Van Beethoven were really fucking fun. It was their 25th Anniversary show and the 2nd of a 2-night-stand at the Bowery Ballroom. I was only introduced to CVB after being a devoted Cracker fan for years (early members of CVB eventually became members of Cracker)- many friends would provide me with mix tapes of an obsessive nature which I always appreciated and enjoyed, but never really pursued them much further than that. A few years back Cracker played at moe.down but I think that was technically considered a co-mingled "Cracker Van Beethoven" show. If anyone can answer that for me so I don't have to look it up, it'd be much appreciated.

Not being rabidly devoted like so many of their fans, I didn't have the option of picking apart the tunes or scrutinizing the setlist in any way (recognized many tunes, didn't know all of 'em), which is one of the reasons this show was so damn fun. It was straight up ROCK led by David Lowery's distinct voice, Greg Lisher's wailing guitar, and Jonathan Segel's scorching violin work. Absolutely slamming. There was a woman wearing all pink, with a Macbook, holding a key-tar up in the balcony who was running the footage on the giant screen in back of the band. I just like saying "key-tar".




The opening band was Wormburner who we were enjoying down in the lounge and finally hauled our asses upstairs only to be mesmerized by the kinetic lead singer. I would call it narrative-art-house-loud-rock's-hyperactive-cousin*. The lead singer was shouting the story of two kids in love while video of Sega's Out Run ran on the big screen- wind waving in the hair of the two convertible passengers. It was very fun and truly an entertaining time.

Camper Van Beethoven's 25th Anniversary show, 1/10/09, the Bowery Ballroom, NYC: 9 HUZZAHS! So much fun!!! (Also the place wasn't a total clusterfuck which helps- don't think it was sold out and the weather-scare probably kept people from showing).

CVB is taper-friendly and wouldn't you know it, we spotted a taper in the balcony (step 1, we know the tapes exist). The following day Joe Madonna sent me the link to the Friday night show and with a little patience, eventually the Saturday show also appeared! WOOT. Awesome to have a copy of this for the ipod:

1/9/09, Friday night's show for DL
FRIDAY SETLIST
All Her Favorite Fruit
Sweethearts
Waka
Pictures Of Matchstick Men
Mao Reminisces About His Days In Southern China
The History of Utah
The Long Plastic Hallway
Circles
Cowboys from Hollywood
Sad Lovers Waltz
Tania
Eye Of Fatima Part 1
Eye Of Fatima Part 2
New Roman Times
Unabomber Song
White Riot
Wasted
Shut Us Down
R ‘N’ R Uzbekistan
The Poppies of Balmorhea
One Of These Days
Ambiguity Song
Take The Skinheads Bowling
L’Aguardiente
Cattle (Reversed)
Club Med Sucks
Interstellar Overdrive
E:
When I Win the Lottery
Seven Languages

1/10/09, Saturday night's show for DL
SATURDAY SETLIST
ZZ Top Goes to Egypt
Flowers
Waka
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Mao Reminisces About His Days In Southern China
Turquoise Jewelry
Tania
Eye of Fatima Part 1
Eye of Fatima Part 2
New Roman Times
Balalaika Gap
Tina
Good Guys and Bad Guys
Joe Stalin’s Cadillac
R n R Uzbekistan
All Her Favorite Fruit
She Divines Water
Seven Languages
The History of Utah
Abundance
Payed Vacation: Greece
Where the Hell is Bill?
Ambiguity Song
Take The Skinheads Bowling
Skinhead Stomp
Might Makes Right
Hippy Chix
The Day Lassie Went to the Moon
Club Med Sucks
E:
White Riot
Wasted
Shut Us Down
We’re a Bad Trip

Didn't get many pics cuz I was distracted but here's a small, shitty gallery and SLIDESHOW!




* I don't know what that means but they were good.

neil young & wilco, 12/16/08, msg, nyc

neil young & wilco, 12/16/08, madison square garden, nyc, ny
I knew about this concert months ago- it was a dream lineup, but the ticket prices were pretty obscene and I decided if it was meant to be, it would happen. Oddly enough, due to a very abrupt change of plans (I actually heard brakes screeching in my head-- that was odd) I found myself in front of MSG on a nasty, precipitous Tuesday night, bargaining down scalpers* with an intoxicated Caroline who had somehow made her way there from a company holiday party (open bar from 3pm-7pm, what kind of sick joke is that?) where she had the misfortune of losing her glasses. We got our tickets for $70 each (1/2 the face value, believe it or not) which is exactly how much I originally was willing to pay to see this show (not including "convenience" fees, so this was actually kind of a bargain) of Wilco opening for Neil frickin' Young.


We walked in during Wilco's first song and the music instantly soothed my soul. I needed something noisy that week and the Gene Ween Band gig at Highline Ballroom had been cancelled. While this was less drunk and less ruckus than the Gener would have been, it was fucking Wilco, so I was psyched (even though it was a total freakin' tease of a set). My friends that had seen the previous night's show had the same complaint- just not enough Wilco. We knew what to expect, but it didn't make it less of a shock to the system. At one point some women came on to help sing Jesus, etc. which was really pretty (we later found out one of them was Norah Jones, very cool!). Jeff Tweedy had the Garden sing Happy Birthday to his son, Spencer. He also announced it was their last night on the tour and thanked Neil Young, the bands, the crew, etc. They rocked for the entire short set and when it had to end we were sad, but everyone got over it cuz Neil Young was up next.

Let me pause here to update Caroline's condition because this was a key role in the night's adventure. She had either napped off or was just closing her eyes (because apparently she is blind without her glasses) for a portion of Wilco's set. Thus began the evolving stages of sobriety: SLEEPY. Then ANGER, "I can't believe I lost my fucking glasses!!!" Next was HUNGER, but possibly only cuz I thought that was a good idea, as in, "you should probably eat something." -> Hot Dog, Popcorn, and the bizarro setting of the MSG hallways during setbreak**. But back to the show INSIDE the arena.



Neil Young is Grandpa Rock n' Roll and when he hit the stage it was clear we were watching a legend. Well, I was watching a legend, Caroline couldn't even see the big screens on either side of the stage. BELLIGERENCE: popcorn was raining down on me for a while there.
Neil Young was wearing a splatter painted sport-coat (because he's Neil Young) and lookin' grizzled***. The stage was set up sort of like a movie or tv set with giant fixed spots facing the band and a staff of unlit letters in a random order hanging in back of them, it was a cool look. Dig it. There was also a ton of unmanned instruments scattered around the stage that band members slowly rotated around to. There was a painter working on a canvas with flourescent paints in back of the drums (he went all set). A giant music-video-type fan was slowly cycling behind the backup singers which was making me laugh for some reason. Totes dramz, Neil. Totes dramz.




He sang some old stuff, a bunch of new stuff. More folksy than loud for the most part, much mellower than I was expecting. There were a lot of songs about cars, but not so much the journey, more about the actual car. I guess when you quit the junk you have to turn your focus elsewhere. Whatever- it was a great fucking show. For the most part it was Neil Young, the legend before us. He was awesome and hell YES I was psyched when he did Heart of Gold and Rockin' In the Free World! Wilco actually came on and stood in as backup singers on Free World before taking a bow with Neil & his band. The painter's end product was some sort of cycloptic-sasquatch creature... Sure, why the fuck not? The random letters above the stage that had finally lit up during Rockin' In the Free World went dark when the bands walked off, except for a scattered N-E-I-L, a pretty cool effect.




Around this time we were in the midst of, PHILISOPHICAL: reminiscing about the Ominous Seapods and what could have been. The "Looking for Answers?****" years. Good times.

They did A Day In The Life as one of the encores which was a great cover and all-- but... God Street Wine's version is waaay better... cuz that one was the bomb-diggity. To sprinkle a little authenticity on it, Neil totally fucked up the first verse and started over, so that's one thing it had in common with GSW's version.

Anyways, Neil Young & Wilco, 12/16/08: 8.25 HUZZAHS! I can cross off Neil's name on my list of artists to see before they die. In the realm of legends of rock who I've had the pleasure of seeing in the past few years, Neil's show was cool, but I definitely enjoyed Eric Clapton (w/ Derek Trucks!) a lot more (even though I had to sit through Tears In Heaven- ugh, gag me*****.). Neil does get points for having Wilco as an opening act. Bruce Springsteen's crowd was a lot more raucous- more drinkers, less smokers, more crowd participation, more Jersey. Not sure which of those two I preferred, but I do know I've gotta see a full length Wilco show very soon, cuz they left me jonesin'.

Wilco (and the crazy fansite that I got this setlist from-- well done, wackos!)
You Are My Face
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Handshake Drugs
A Shot In The Arm
Impossible Germany
Jesus, Etc. (w/ Norah Jones, Catherine Popper and Sasha Dobson on background vocals)
Happy Birthday (crowd sings happy birthday to Spencer Tweedy)
The Late Greats (w/Spencer Tweedy on drums; Glenn played either maracas or a shaker)
Hate It Here
Walken
I'm The Man Who Loves You

Neil Young (same setlist the entire tour)
Love And Only Love
Hey Hey, My My
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Powderfinger
Spirit Road
Cortez The Killer
Cinnamon Girl
Oh, Lonesome Me
Mother Earth
The Needle And The Damage Done
Light A Candle
Cough Up The Bucks
Fuel Line
Hit The Road
Get Around
Unknown Legend
Heart Of Gold
Old Man
Get Back To The Country
Off The Road
When Worlds Collide
Just Singing A Song
Cowgirl In The Sand
Rockin' In The Free World

Encore:
Get Behind The Wheel
A Day In The Life

Gallery... and SLIDESHOW!


* I rarely purchase tickets from scalpers. In fact, in my non-scalper-bid I had found some dude from Alaska with 1 extra, but we needed 2!
** You're not at a sporting event, but you feel like you're at a sporting event
*** Not as grizzled as Clint Eastwood
**** The "Looking for Answers?" Tour was a 1996 Rock the Vote sponsored 4 city show musical marathon fantasy of rotating sets, full band switch-offs, and guest musicians with: Ominous Seapods, moe., Moon Boot Lover, and Yolk. This was truly some sort of North Country traveling musical circus... and for some reason there was a question mark at the end of the name- we still don't know why.
SYRACUSE: moe., Ominous Seapods
***** Yeah, I read the book and I still said it.