Enjoy the Baked Potato show!
Andrew Jones
Andrew
--
Buy "None For the Money, Two For The Show" by Jaan Wessman: out 2004
Sheryl W
Andrew Jones wrote
> And tell us what's it like, ok?
>
Yes, you lucky bastages! Tell! Tell all!
Doug Boucher
> Andrew Jones wrote
> > And tell us what's it like, ok?
> >
>
> Yes, you lucky bastages! Tell! Tell all!
And record it! And send me a copy! Make sure the Neil Young cover doesn't
get cut off!
Exclamation!
Dougie!
--
Dougie's Obscenity Of The Day
http://www.geocities.com/eraserhead667/obscenityday.html
Dougie's Bullshit Blog
http://eraserhead667.tblog.com/
"I've got news for you. There's other reasons
to vote against Bush than taxes. The reason
I'm not voting for Bush? Because he's a MASS
MURDERER." - Bill Hicks, on a different yet
much the same Bush.
Sheryl W
noneradio again for another dose o'Mikey. I managed to tune in for the exact
same bit I've heard 3 other times this week, and it still makes me laugh.
If you haven't caught the suggested improvements for American Idol between
songs #38 and #39, please do before the show recycles off the air Monday -
mkay?
Ellen Brenner
news:not.my-0C2ED9....@news.news.demon.net...
> And tell us what's it like, ok?
>
> Andrew
Hmmm, looks like nobody else has sobered up enough yet to report. I'm still
slightly hung over, and am uniformly lousy at setlists, so this will be a
short but sweet report.
The first set (acoustic) was definitely sweet, featuring lovely stuff old
and new, including one piece (Snow Cow) that I hadn't heard Mike do
acoustically before. What else ...? Um, I think Splane was in there, and
Desired Effect, and Uglytown, and arrrg can't remember what else! Oh yeah,
Nick did a couple of songs too--The Water is Wide from his solo album (with
Mike on drums!), and a Spock's Beard song.
The second set seriously kicked into major head-rippage-offage territory,
starting with the Buzzcocks song, during which gear damage was achieved (a
destroyed snare head and a blown-out guitar [fortunately not
Jesse-the-green-Strat]). Reeves Gabrels sat in for a couple of tunes and
extreme ultra-head-rippage-offage-was achieved. Jigsaw Puzzle was a personal
treat for me, being an obscure little Stones song that I've always loved.
The Neil Young was also incredible. Hell, it was all incredible. Nick sang
lead vocal from the drumkit on one song, can no longer remember which--hard
to remember shit after head-rippage-offage. But two things I'll definitely
remember--Mikey leading this phalanx of blaring catharic electric sound, and
me getting a mental/physical/spiritual/auditory virtual massage that I
really really needed.
Oh yeah, and I managed to make it home in one piece. Man, that drive back
from LA-LA to San Diego gets loooooong by 3am! But so worth it.
/the duck
(Hi, Kerry! Give the lion-purse a hug for me!)
--
Ellen "Miz Ducky" Brenner
mizducky "at" drizzle dot com
http://www.mizducky.com
http://www.livejournal.com/users/mizducky/
kErrYKOmpOsT
I'm heading off to the Southern Sierra later this week to attempt to
pull off a fishing 'triple crown': I'll be visiting no less than 4
streams over 5 days in pursuit of 3 different species of trout:
rainbow, german brown, and California golden hybrids. To that end, I
am swamped (pun intended) here at work trying to complete all of my
projects before hitting the highway. If I skim over some stuff about
Saturday's gig, please forgive me -- I have trout in the brain
(literally: I dreamed the other night that I was on a local creek and
saw two really big brown trout lazily swimming in circles in a
shallow, clear pool. I grabbed one of them by the front fins with my
bare hands and the fish turned on me and gave me a total "don't fuck
with ME buddy" look, then swam out of my grasp).
Anyway, Ellen pretty much summed up the evening nicely. During the
first, acoustic set, Nick sang his own "The River is Wide" with a
special guest appearance -- Mike Keneally on drums! Mike rocked (I
caught him spinning the brushes like he was pretending to be Tommy Lee
pretending to be Hal Blaine), but the song was all Nick's, and he
owned it like nobody's business. Nick also performed the Spock's Beard
song "The Bottom Line" from their most recent album "Feel Euphoria",
nailing the detailed guitar riffs note-for-note with Rick Musallem.
The rest of the acoustic set was a trademark Keneally blend of
off-the-rails, seat-of-the-pants, crazy-ass guitar stuff, and some
mellower tunage -- The Desired Effect was achieved. Very nice sounds
-- I love Mikey soloing on acoustic, and his voice was sounding great.
Rick Musallem is no slouch on acoustic either, as was evidenced
several times throughout the set. Beyond tasteful, that Rick. Doug
Lunn also joined in on most of the songs, playing 5-string bass --
incredibly so. And D'Virgilio was nothing less than a revelation in
this subdued, quiet, traditional jazz-like setting. Sick musicianship
all 'round.
Ellen wrote:
>>a blown-out guitar [fortunately not Jesse-the-green-Strat]<<
Said blown-out guitar belonged to Reeves Gabrels -- a sweet,
baby-sparkle-blue Fernandez 'explorer' type guitar; duh, I dunno what
model. I saw Mike taking it out of his car during the break and asked
him if he was going to be playing it. Mike only played it on the first
song of the second set (the Buzzcock's tune), then switched to Jesse
for awhile; then he played the balance of the set on one of Gabrels'
Parker Fly guitars. I believe D'Virgilio broke his snare head during
the 'Cocks tune as well -- 'dem boys was rocking, yo yo shiz-ette!
>>Reeves Gabrels sat in for a couple of tunes and extreme
ultra-head-rippage-offage-was achieved<<
After the death of the Fernandez, Mike took a moment to switch guitars
and said to us -- the befondled audience -- "Reeves Gabrels should be
here in a few moments to join us". At that moment, Gabrels walks in
the front door and Mike says "Hey Reeves, we're ready for ya bro."
Gabrels said "Now?" and gave Mike a look that said "Damn, I wanted a
Scotch first." Instead, Mike nodded "yes" and Gabrels headed to the
stage and his waiting rig -- sans Scotch and mumbling something about
"that goddamned 101 freeway".
I don't recall the title of this, the second song of the second set,
but I suspect it might've been either the Fred Frith or the King
Crimson tune (I think Mike took some liberties with the setlist order
that was being circulated around here). Whatever it was, I THINK it
had Nick singing some vocal parts about a gypsy or something -- I
forget. Anyway, Gabrels -- foregoing the Scotch -- straps on one of
whatever it is he plays, and the band launches into this awesome,
incredible tune. Intensity builds like atomic stormclouds. Musallem
was coaxing a synth-like groove out of that monster pedalboard -- the
glue behind the groove. Lunn was rolling; ditto D'Virgilio. Then, out
of the chaos, Mike nods to Gabrels, saying -- with his twinkling blue
eyes -- "take the solo, man, it's all yours."
And then I died.
Fuck my bloody colon raw with a titanium hacksaw -- Gabrels burst into
this fucking INSANE, angular, atonal WACK-ASS solo that he gracefully
terminated with the most dissonant, fucked-up ending slide I've ever
had the good fortune of hearing. Seriously, this solo was
life-changing: completely original, mindblowingly unexpected, beyond
melodic, yet so beautifully fucking musical I cried a little bit. Good
music does that to me; sorry if it makes me look like a fag (as if the
Fuzzy Lion backpack purse I was carrying didn't already give that
impression -- hey, it holds a LOT of CD's [and other goodies, cough
cough]). I recall seeing Mikey just *laughing* when Gabrels was
playing, a look of utter joy on his baby face (all clean-shaven these
days). So cool.
I swear, I've been thinking about that solo -- especially the
dissonant ending slide (which I think I've pretty much figured out how
to play -- don't think for a moment I'm not stealing that fucker) --
almost non-stop since Saturday. My girlfriend finally had to tell me
to "shut the fuck up about Gabrels and that dissonant slide already."
It was, for me anyway, one of "those" moments. I will never, ever
forget what Reeves Gabrels played that night -- off the cuff, just
walking in the door -- on that guitar of his. Unbe-fucking-leiveable.
The band did another song with Gabrels, I think, then he took a break
(I took note of him heading out the back door -- Scotch firmly in
hand). Mike then went on to do a little guitar soloing of his own,
taking the reins in a most breathtaking fashion on the classic Jeff
Beck version of Stevie Wonder's "Cause We've Ended as Lovers". If
you're a fan of Jeff Beck's version, you'd have been in tears at what
Mike did with that song: tender-furious melodic Mike-isms splashed
like limedrops in mirrored-glass rooms full of orange acid jellybeans.
Life doesn't always hand you golden retrievers; sometimes you get a
schnauzer. This song was a golden retriever.
/confession mode
I've never been the biggest Neil Young fan. Sure, I adored "Rust Never
Sleeps" back in high school (I'm making heavy metal devil horns with
my left hand right now), and some of Neil's songs were among the very
first chord progressions I learned way back when I was a little tiny
baby guitar player, but I've never considered myself a fan of his
guitar soloing. A great fucking songwriter, yes, but someone on a
technical par with Keneally? Thanks, no. One time, a friend and I were
high on m*shr**ms, trying to play acoustic guitars, and my friend said
"Dude, I'm so wasted I can't even play Neil Young." We both laughed
hysterically, wrapped the sofa in Saran Wrap(tm), then microwaved a
pair of dirty gym socks.
/end confession mode
However, what Keneally did with Young's "When You Dance I Can Really
Love" had me crying in my beer -- again. Jesus Christ of the Ohio!
Keneally's loving version revealed the underlying melodic-ness of the
song -- something I'd never really *heard* in the original -- and
brought me to a new understanding of why Mike loves Neil Young so
much. Also, it had never occurred to me before that Neil Young's
(relatively) simple songs could be fantastic backdrops for Keneally's
spectacular soloing -- as he did with "When You Dance". Goddamn,
Keneally ROARED over that track; I've never seen him so furious with
the notes before. Total clinic. Awesome.
At this point, I HAD to rush out back to pay a little respect to Mr.
Gabrels (his opening solo was on my mind the way Oxycontin is on
Courtney Love's). There he was, outside, hanging with the Potato's
bartender (I should know this guy's name by now, he's taken more money
from me than the government). I walked up to Gabrels, said "I hope you
don't take this the wrong way", then dropped to the ground before him
in a Wayne's World "we're not worthy" worship pose. He laughed --
thank god. He even remembered meeting me before at another Keneally
gig, and we chatted for a few moments before I told him that I needed
to return to Mike. He said "Yes, goddamn boy, go back in and see Mike,
by all means. Hurry!"
So I did, and the rest of the set was awesome. Reeves joined ‘em all
for a big finale, and everyone rocked harder than Jack Black AND Jack
White, together, sexually. During the finale (I think), Mike
orchestrated a little ‘guitar showdown' between Gabrels and Musallem,
and they BOTH kicked so much ass it hurt my tonsils.
Anyone who reads my blog knows I recently bought a black Danelectro U2
reissue. Anyway, I brought it to the gig Saturday night in the hopes
of asking Mike to sign the binding (on the outside edge) for me. By
the end of the night, I was having second thoughts about asking Mike
to sign it -- I mean, come on, it's a guitar I plan on playing a LOT,
and I'd think most autographed guitars are keepsakes, not meant to be
played so much as admired. But I wanted Mike to sign something I
actually use -- I was hoping it might somehow inspire me someday. I
consulted with a few friends at the show and decided, fuck it, I'm
asking Mike. Of course, being the gracious soul he is, he said "Sure,
bring it in." So I grabbed the guitar out of my trunk and brought it
to Mike, who proceeded to autograph it, date it, and draw a cute
little picture of himself wearing what appears to be a HUGE sweater --
too cool! Thank you SO MUCH, Mike, for personalizing my guitar in such
a fun and cool fashion. (BTW, I'm a lefty, and I asked Mike to sign it
on the binding inside of the cutaway, where it HOPEFULLY won't make
too much damaging contact with my hands.)
Later, I got Reeves to sign the guitar as well, opposite of where
Mike's signature was. So what if I looked like a total dork, hanging
around the Baked Potato, post-show, with my guitar? It was worth it!
My playing has improved 100% since the guitar was signed -- I swear by
it! ;)
What a great night -- BIG thanks to Mike, Reeves, Rick Musallem, Nick
D'Virgilio, and of course the brilliant Doug Lunn (who I MUST make
mention of, as he played 2 or 3 incredible bass solos at Mike's
insistence). Thank you for an incredibly fun, blissful evening of
music. You are all so stupid-talented, it's ridiculous. I'm STILL
smiling, inside -- thank you.
By the way, hi Ellen! Glad you made it home safe and sound. I had a
blast sharing a table with you -- again. A tradition is born! Thank
you for saving me a seat. Let's hook up the next time L.A. beckons
you. Rich Pike, nice to see you too, and Kathleen the Kripple, and
Wayne Perez, and GODDAMN what about that Drew Barrymore-meets-Charlize
Theron-looking waitress? She said she loved my Fuzzy Lion backpack
purse -- I was convinced she was flirting with me, but, then again,
I'm delusional.
Thigh deep in a Sierra stream, mentally,
kErrY kOMpOsT
www.abelincolnstory.com (swing-punk-soul project)
www.kompost.blogspot.com (weekly blog)
www.soundclick.com/kompost (solo project)
www.tribecamusic.net (pop-fusion project)
P.S. By the way, I met a fan at the gig who was out here on business
from Chicago and decided to catch the show. He said he last saw MK/BFD
back in '95. He said that the band on Saturday night sounded way more
amazing than when he had last seen them back in '95. More "refined and
musical", were his words. In particular, he mentioned how much
musicality Rick Musallem added to the band. Rick, if you're reading
this, that guy thought you were the shit! He's not alone, I might
add...
P.S.S. I just realized -- I never asked Mike about the Andy Partridge
collaboration!!! How beautifully sad -- I'll have to wait until June
1st to ask him at the Sam Ash Canoga Park Taylor guitar clinic. :)
Hagrinas Mivali
"kErrYKOmpOsT" <Kerry_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:5805951c.0405...@posting.google.com...
> /confession mode
>
> I've never been the biggest Neil Young fan. Sure, I adored "Rust Never
> Sleeps"
>
> /end confession mode
>
> However, what Keneally did with Young's "When You Dance I Can Really
> Love" had me crying in my beer -- again. Jesus Christ of the Ohio!
> Keneally's loving version revealed the underlying melodic-ness of the
> song -- something I'd never really *heard* in the original -- and
> brought me to a new understanding of why Mike loves Neil Young so
> much.
I've always loved Neil Young not for being a brilliant player who can fly
around the fretboard but as an individual who can get more music out of
three notes than just about anybody. He's the Count Basie of guitar. Not
everybody gets him, but those who do really do.
Mike's done really good arrangements of a few of his songs already. I once
asked Mike to work on Powderfinger, so Mike, if you're listening, try to get
to it before your next Berkeley/ SF show.
Doug Boucher
> Fuck my bloody colon raw with a titanium hacksaw
I'm stealing that.
-- Gabrels burst into
> this fucking INSANE, angular, atonal WACK-ASS solo that he gracefully
> terminated with the most dissonant, fucked-up ending slide I've ever
> had the good fortune of hearing.
So, ya liked it?
> taking the reins in a most breathtaking fashion on the classic Jeff
> Beck version of Stevie Wonder's "Cause We've Ended as Lovers". If
> you're a fan of Jeff Beck's version, you'd have been in tears at what
> Mike did with that song: tender-furious melodic Mike-isms splashed
> like limedrops in mirrored-glass rooms full of orange acid jellybeans.
> Life doesn't always hand you golden retrievers; sometimes you get a
> schnauzer. This song was a golden retriever.
Kerry, you are my fucking hero.
> I've never been the biggest Neil Young fan. Sure, I adored "Rust Never
> Sleeps" back in high school (I'm making heavy metal devil horns with
> my left hand right now), and some of Neil's songs were among the very
> first chord progressions I learned way back when I was a little tiny
> baby guitar player, but I've never considered myself a fan of his
> guitar soloing. A great fucking songwriter, yes, but someone on a
> technical par with Keneally? Thanks, no.
Yet you'll never hear Mike play something quite like the solo on Cinnamon
Girl, which is so utterly appropriate in its mongoloid way that everybody
knows it. Oh, they may make fun of it, they make think it sucks spam-laced
donkey cock but they KNOW it. It makes an IMPRESSION. And if you ever hear
Mikey play Like A Hurricane, I'm sure he'll play some incredibly fuckin'
stuff, and I'd REALLY like to hear him tackle that one, but I bet he won't
create the same kind of glorious shitstorm that Neil does, that Neil can do
with just a few notes, turning those notes into...well, a glorious
shitstorm. He gets INSIDE those notes. He BECOMES those notes. He IS the
music he plays. All the things "wrong" with his music are the things that
are wrong with him, and the things that are wrong with most of us, but most
of us don't throw it out there and turn it into hairy god nuggets like that.
"There is no space at all between what Young feels, what he plays, and what
he conveys." Musician magazine said that several years ago. They were right.
You can say a lot of the same stuff about Mike. But he's a totally different
person. And I think that's cool.
> However, what Keneally did with Young's "When You Dance I Can Really
> Love" had me crying in my beer -- again. Jesus Christ of the Ohio!
> Keneally's loving version revealed the underlying melodic-ness of the
> song -- something I'd never really *heard* in the original --
I wish Neil still wrote songs like that. I love what he's been up to lately,
but he used to do some very nice progressions and things that aren't
difficult, but are unique. Expecting To Fly comes to mind too. These dyas,
he plays open-G chords they way Metallica plays low open-E strings. You
know, like 80% of the time. Somehow he still manages to get great songs out
of it (because he IS Neil Young, a twisted freak of a guy who can sound like
nobody else in the world but himself even when playing the most obvious
stuff in the world) but it is very noticable.
and
> brought me to a new understanding of why Mike loves Neil Young so
> much.
Ya know why I love him? Because as I said, he sounds like nobody other than
himself. You're not going to mistake him for anybody other than that hulking
loveable goof he is. And it resonates inside me like all holy fuck. People
look at me like I'm out of my mind when I say this, but my two favorite
guitar players on the planet are Neil Young and Frank Zappa. And I think I
love them for a lot of the same reasons. They supposedly have nothing to do
with each other, but who the fuck else do they sound like but their own
gnaarly fuckin' selves? THAT is what makes music, and I suck at it like
Jenna Jameson at a biker rally. Goddammit.
Also, it had never occurred to me before that Neil Young's
> (relatively) simple songs could be fantastic backdrops for Keneally's
> spectacular soloing -- as he did with "When You Dance". Goddamn,
> Keneally ROARED over that track; I've never seen him so furious with
> the notes before. Total clinic. Awesome.
Goddammit. I'm taking a bus to California now!
> At this point, I HAD to rush out back to pay a little respect to Mr.
> Gabrels (his opening solo was on my mind the way Oxycontin is on
> Courtney Love's).
Have I mentioned that you're my fucking hero?
Dougie
--
Dougie's Obscenity Of The Day
http://www.geocities.com/eraserhead667/obscenityday.html
Dougie's Bullshit Blog
http://eraserhead667.tblog.com/
"They're trying to build a prison for you
and me to live in." - System Of A Down
Doug Boucher
most
> of us don't throw it out there and turn it into hairy god nuggets like
that.
I meant to say hairy GOLD nuggets, but I like my typo even more.
Terry W.
> I wish I had more time to go into detail about Saturday's show...
wha?? you don't think your review was detailed?
thanks for the great read, Kerry. Very enjoyable.
Terry
Terry W.
>> turn it into hairy god nuggets like that.
>
> I meant to say hairy GOLD nuggets, but I like my typo even more.
>
> Dougie
You know, Dougie, I didn't even flinch when I read your typo the first
time. Sounded fine to me. In fact, I may steal it.
Terry
Scott
>long, detailed event description snipped<
Ya know, I have this dream where I finally come into enough money to pay off
my bills and relocate to the West and when I get there, I discover MK and
everyone else I never get to see have simultaneously moved to the East
Coast.
And THEY can get tickets to the Red Sox, (whereas I cannot).
damnit.
sv
Fastbulb
Pardon me. I'll be leaving now, to go form a band so I can name it this.
d9