Hey there...
Day 10. Into double digits and that has to be a good thing. Monday here, so NFL day for me.
Betty had some Indian food delivered for me last night. It was delicious and there is a perfect amount for round two tonight. One note for future quarantineers...Indian food is not easy to serve in a hotel room. Splashed all over and Indian curry sticks to stuff like paint. Worth it, but still.
I figure since I am highly distracted, will pound out everyone's favorite. Rock and Roll recap.The good thing to report about every single show attended was that proof of vaccination was required. Masks were also required inside, but as alcohol is sold at all of them, a lot of fresh freckled faces in the neighborhood. Regardless of the venue, you will be in close contact with humanity.
I wouldn't say there were slim pickings, but it was lean to start. Not everyone was going out full bore and later in the summer as Delta took hold, a bunch of bands called off their tours. Still think I did a decent job of getting that sweet electricity between my ears.
First show was a surprise. Looking at the local city paper, they said a pick of the week was Kendall Rae Jones, which was that night. An all-time favorite band of mine was Fishbone, and they disintegrated in the 90's as the guitarist (Kendall) lost his mom, then entered a "demonic' cult with his dad, and then the bassist Norwood got arrested trying to kidnap Kendall. And then Kendall did some kidnapping of his own...something about burning a prostitute with cigarettes to exorcise the demons from her. And you can guess that drugs were part of the mix. So it was with surprise to see him playing. It was at a venue that I'd never heard of before (The Clock Out Lounge) and was 8 minutes from our place. As a bonus, the place also happens to be a deep dish pizza joint and made a pleasant return for one of those later in the summer. It was also the places first show since covid started. This was a weird transition time in the States for sure.
Kendall was rough. He didn't look great and am still unclear as to what he was going for musically. R&B riffs that just sorta repeated. Brilliant to see him upright and seemingly in a coherent space, but rough.
Solo keyboardist who is also blind. Her set was fun and the crowd at that point consisted of me and her family. They were all into it and was infectious. Hope we cross paths again.
A few days later, an old friend from school (AU), who I had last seen playing on his couch in a dumpy LA apartment in the early 90's, played at another venue I had never been to...some honky tonk thing in the industrial area south of downtown. Mike Stinson. He's been beating the boards in Texas for years and this was his first time playing in Seattle. He is a super guy and really should have made it bigger. This night, he was with a guitarist and they were very good. Not much to find from him on Spotify, but dial up Square With The World, which is a beautiful song.
Was in DC for a few days and that coincided with a show by a band I have enjoyed for a while and had never seen...Cloud Nothings. They rocked really hard. Got real sweaty this evening.
Next up was Squeeze. I have a long history with this band as they were favorites of my crew in High School, saw them many many times way back then and since, and they were also the soundtrack with my very first special lady friend. One thing about them was that their shows were never what some would call incendiary. They play their hits just like the records and that's it. I invested some decent money to get great seats, and ended up bailing about half way through. They weren't bad, just boring. And the show was seated. Big venues, seated shows, bands 30-40 years past their golden age...just pass next time, will ya Gomez? You know better.
Was starting to get a bit concerned. Were the shows not great cause of the state of the world? Was I getting too old for this shit? Modest Mouse were playing at a shed venue that I had never been...Marymoor. Shed shows are usually bummers cause it is typically seating up front, and the lawn is so far back that you might as well be in the parking lot, and the sound is lower than Betty approves of in the car. I kept getting alerts about the show so knew it wasn't selling out and made a game time decision to go.
Really liked the venue, mainly cause it was all GA and could get into my comfy spot. And the sound up there was plenty loud. On the way in, they handed out this flyer.
Now ya tells me. I take up position for the show after the opening band ends, and am standing behind a couple of teeny bopper girls. From right behind me, an older lady leans past and tells one of the girls that if she loses her phone to meet after the show at the merch table and then adds, "you're not going to lose your phone again, are you? You've lost your phone before.". Ouch. A few minutes later, the lady's friend comes back and asks how she is doing and she says that she hopes she isn't being too much of a helicopter mom. I resisted commenting.
During the show, there is this hippie chick in our little area and she is dancing a bit more enthusiastically than the space we all had would comfortably allow, but she is into in and have no problem with a little mosh pitting. In fact, at one point during a particularly boppin' part of the show, I found myself pogoing. Yes, with my new knee I can pogo! What the problem with hippie chick was that she had a low slung bag that would swing about kept hitting me in the nuts. I asked her to watch her bag please to no avail, so had to tell her a bit more emphatically. I believe I said. "Stop swinging your bag into my balls!" although I think I yelled it and add 'fucking' in front of bag. By the look on her face, pretty sure I scared her. I hate harshing on folks at a show, but they're my balls.
Modest Mouse were excellent. The main Mouse grew up in Issaquah, which is about 5 miles from this venue, and he says during the show that it was his first time there ever. Me too! They have a ton of great songs and play them with gusto, and the stuff from the record that just came out were really interestingly played too. They certainly proved their mousey worth.
The problem with these bigger venues is that one is far from the performers even in the front row.
Next up was Mdou Moctar (spelling correct). Cannot remember where he came into my consciousness, but was excited to see him. From Niger from a Tuareg Muslim family, his parents disapproved of music, but the kid had it in his blood and fashioned his first guitar out of a box with bicycle cables for strings and taught himself to play in his own style. There is more to it, but a really interesting story of how he came to be...his music is funky and African and groovy. Have never seen anyone play guitar quite like it and it was amazing. Amazing.
Another show on my radar was Bob Mould and made a late call to get a ticket at the door. This was at Neumo's on Capitol Hill, which is also about 10 minutes from home. You're picking up a theme here I presume.
I got there a bit early so headed across the street to The Comet Tavern for a drinky-poo and watch the end of the Dodger playoff game. The Comet is an institution and it feels exactly the same as it did before Nirvana took over the world. Was sitting there with some new friends and we can see the venue across the street. People start coming out so we figure the opener was done and we should settle up our tabs and head over. But there were way too many people coming out, and then firetrucks arrived. A lady from Neumo's came over and asked the Comet people for some buckets. She said someone blew up a toilet with a firework and it caused a flood in the club. We all had some more drinks and in about an hour, the firemen came out with all their squeegy equipment and the show could go on. THe firemen received a huge round of applause from all of us on Pine St.
Have seen Bob Mould a lot and is one of those acts whose music I love, but have always walked away feeling lukewarm about the show, and tonight was no exception. He plays loud and angry, which I like, but there is simply no nuance from song to song. After about 45 minutes, I'd had enough.
One more...Rose City Band. Ripley Johnson is the leader of a couple of hard driving psychedelic bands (Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo), but a couple years ago started making records under the Rose City Band moniker. These records were recorded exclusively by him on all instruments and they are fantastic records. I can put them on for virtually anyone and heads will start moving. They added a show at the tiny Tractor Tavern a few days in advance (for 10 bucks) so of course had to see that. Turns out he recently put some friends together to play the songs live and this was their second ever show. Damn good.
Did I say one more? Well I do not consider seeing Yo La Tengo to be a rock show and saw them 5 times in October. I'm gonna mull over what to call a Yo La Tengo show and get back to you tomorrow.
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