Fear is a Man's Best Friend

The comp ticket fairy visited again this weekend, allowing me to catch John Cale at the Bluebird free of charge last night. Once again, this was something I was already planning on attending, so the freebie was just a bonus. We stopped beforehand at the Atomic Cowboy for a few cold brews (and to laugh at the Guns & Roses pinball machine - how lame!), and thanks to the slowness of the staff made it into the Bluebird right before Cale hit the stage (good thing we didn't order another round!). He and his band opened with the Velvet Underground tune Venus in Furs. This was the only tune of the evening in which Cale played viola, the rest of the time he switched between guitar and keyboards. I'm only marginally familiar with Cale's solo material, but I did recognize a few of the tunes: Guts, Dirty Ass Rock n' Roll, Helen of Troy, Momamma Scuba. He played a cover of Warren Zeavon's Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, and he closed with a terrific rendition of Jonathan Richman's Pablo Picasso. The tunes were great (for a guy with such an avant-garde reputation, he has some surprisingly melodic and beautiful songs), his band was rocking, and Cale was a very gracious performer. A great concert, and I wouldn't hesitate to catch him again - freebie ticket or not.

Last night got me thinking about all of the concerts I've attended for free since my move back to Denver nearly three years ago (I rarely got into a show for free in Seattle – on occasion, we might get put on a guest list). For the most part, every show I've used a comp ticket for has been something I was already planning on going to. I can count three shows (Dwarves, Caesars, Bobby Bare Jr.) that I probably wouldn't have gone to without the freebie. And even those were all people I was at least marginally interested in - there have been tons of freebies that I've passed on. Even free admission isn't enough for me to subject myself to something I'm not going to enjoy! Well, except for that Jackyl show. But at least that one was funny…kind of…

Down on the Farm

Another late weeknight at notorious craphole the Lion’s Lair…could it be another geezer punk show? Yep, last week I missed out on some sleep and caught the UK Subs. I figured it would be worthwhile, seeing as this time around the band featured ¾ of its “classic” lineup – vocalist Charlie Harper, guitarist Nicky Garratt, and bassist Alvin Gibbs. This was the same lineup I saw about a year ago, so the show was more or less the same as that time. If you’re familiar with the Subs, you know the drill: C.I.D., I Live In a Car, Tomorrow’s Girls, Warhead, Stranglehold, Emotional Blackmail, Organized Crime, Rockers, etc. The only tune that really caught me off guard was Sensitive Boys, which was a nice surprise. I set a new record for leaving late – I think it was 11:25 before I left the house. I timed it just about right, as I only caught about one and a half tunes from the stink city warm-up act. A pretty obnoxious crowd this time around. I got kicked walking to the restroom, and an irritating drunk girl decided to help herself to my beer. Sadly, this is a pretty typical crowd for the Lion’s Lair – I don’t think that many people there even show up for the music, they’re just there to get drunk and try to act “punk.”

After the set, I bought a CD from the band. Charlie Harper (a very friendly guy, I must add) noticed my Fastbacks t-shirt, and asked me how I knew about them. I explained that I used to live in Seattle, and had followed the band closely for many years. Charlie then asked if I knew any of them, and I confirmed that I did. He then said “well, if you ever talk to them, tell them that I still think their tracks are better than ours!” (A few years ago, the Fastbacks recorded some Subs covers that were released on a single put out by Gearhead magazine – fun stuff; track it down if you can.) So, there you have it – straight from the Harper’s mouth!

In a totally different vein, I saw some local pop acts on Saturday evening – the Maybellines, Thank God For Astronauts, and the Breezy Porticos. The Breezies are always a fun time, and would be reason enough to attend. The Maybellines have a sound that reminded me of Stereolab, and TGFA were also very good – much more “rock” than I recall from seeing them a year or so ago, but very enjoyable and impressive nonetheless. It was a solid lineup, and a good time was had by all. I didn’t get kicked on my way to the restroom, nor did anyone steal my beer. Nice!

Damaged?

I managed to catch a few shows in the last week, here’s the rundown:

The Eyeliners – I got an email freebie for this one. I had planned on going anyway, so that just freed up some money to buy a CD. The Eyeliners are a trio of cute sisters (Gel, Laura, and Lisa) from New Mexico who play pretty cool sugary punk music. Nothing all that incredibly original, but a good time nonetheless. Laura drums and sings lead, so they bring along a drummer on tour nowadays so that she can be more of a front woman (she did drum for the first couple of numbers and on the encore). The real focal point, however, is guitarist Gel. She is a constant blur of energy – pogoing around in circles, playing on her knees, going into the splits, playing with one hand while drinking a beer with the other, playing behind her back…the woman never stops moving! Overall, a very fun show, and I’m glad I caught them again. The only downer was a drunken dude in a backwards baseball cap who felt the need to get onstage and sing a few times (which was painful, as he apparently didn’t know the words), the rest of the time he was throwing his faux gang signs in time to the music (my number one pet peeve – white homeboys). Security, very politely I might add, made him leave the stage (they could have thrown his stupid ass out). After the show, he was ranting to the band in the lobby that they “need to do something about your security.” Oh, and he was having the band sign a shirt – not a shirt he bought, just his grimy white undershirt. After Gel politely signed, he thrust it back at her and rudely demanded “you have to write a message.” It makes you realize the kind of crap a small level touring band has to deal with sometimes, and I have no doubt that it’s even worse when the band is comprised of young women.

Sleater-Kinney – One of the biggest turnouts I’ve ever seen at the Gothic in Engleweed. This band hasn’t played D-town since I moved back, so I was extremely excited to see them. The show was good, very good, if not as terrific as the other times I’ve seen them. Like their latest release, The Woods, their sound was really loud, dirty, and overdriven this time around. That album was hit heavily, and older tunes were played in the same style. Definitely the loudest show I’ve ever seen them play! After the set, drummer Janet came out and asked if anyone had any Benadryl – guitarist Carrie was having an allergic reaction to something, and was breaking out. Nobody had any, so Janet said she’d be right back. Then she and Corin came out and performed an encore tune as a duo – Carrie was being taken somewhere to get an allergy shot. This was perhaps the strangest ending to a concert that I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed (every other time I’ve seen Sleater-Kinney they’ve done multiple encores), but it didn’t sound like the premature ending could be avoided. Corin and Janet both seemed a little bummed about the whole thing.

The Gore Gore Girls – With the Sleater-Kinney show ending so early, I didn’t really feel like I’d had a proper night out. After running the li’l woman home, I rushed over to the Hi-Dive to catch these Detroit garage femmes. I got there just as they were starting their set, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I had a few cold brews and ran into a few friends, so I was glad I showed up. Still, they played a pretty short set as well – I guess I just wasn’t destined for a long night of rock on this particular evening. There was nothing left to do but go home and laugh at Ernest Borgnine and William Shatner in The Devil’s Rain – what jackasses!

Gang of Four – Okay, this one exceeded my already high expectations - an amazing show by this recently reunited British post-punk band. Singer Jon King stalked the stage like a man possessed, flailing madly while his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Guitarist Andy Gill laid down sheets of mad noise and feedback, reminding everyone who did this sort of thing first and best. All the while bassist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham anchored things with their solid, funky rhythms. Needless to say, they hit their influential debut album Entertainment! pretty hard. Another big turnout at the Gothic, with so many terrific tunes: Natural’s Not In It, Damaged Goods, At Home He’s a Tourist, Guns Before Butter, To Hell With Poverty, I Love a Man in Uniform, among many others. The feedback Gill produced during Anthrax was mind blowing, and King “played” a microwave oven (with a baseball bat!) during He’d Send the Army. And check out this encore – Gang of Four was joined by opening act Men Women and Children (who played fun disco tunes with noisy guitars) for a cover of Parliament’s Flashlight. Gill chanted the verses in monotone, and then everyone (including the audience) sang along on the chorus. I was disappointed that they didn’t play I Found That Essence Rare (my personal fave), but I really can’t complain when a show is this good.

Last week I was listening to KVCU, the commercial free station from Boulder. It was their pledge drive, and one of the premiums they were giving away was tickets to see Henry Rollins. The announcer called him “the guy who used to sing for the Misfits who now does spoken word.” The Misfits??!!?? Geez, these kids nowadays…

Good Times - Eight Oldies!

Outside of a concert yesterday evening, I was chatting with an acquaintance that is a bit of a musical scholar. In response to something I said, he jokingly responded “good times…great oldies.” This is the slogan of KOOL, the local “oldies” radio station (come to think of it, it was also the slogan for the oldies station in Seattle – they probably use it everywhere because they’re all owned by Clear Channel or some other media conglomerate). I misheard what he said, and responded “good times, eight oldies?” This struck me as particularly funny, and we started rattling off this very limited play list. We came up with the first four, and I’ve taken the liberty of completing the list:

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones
Twist and Shout – The Beatles
(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Oh, Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison
My Girl – The Temptations
You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling – The Righteous Brothers
(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman – Aretha Franklin

If you tune into KOOL and listen for an hour, chances are you’re going to hear one or more of these songs. There are a few tunes on this list that I don’t feel the need to seek out (Beatles, Stones, Otis), but will likely continue to hear now and again listening to albums I still enjoy. The rest of the tunes I’ve grown to dislike over the years from hearing them too many times, with one being an overwrought piece of crap I’ve always hated (yeah, I’m talking about you, not-so-Righteous Brothers!). I’m sure anyone could come up with their own list of oldies that they think are overplayed, songs that they wish they never had to hear again for the rest of their lives.

I actually remember a time before oldies radio. When I was really young, I listened to AM hits radio, and once something was no longer a hit it was rarely heard. Eventually, there was a Sunday night oldies program in Houston that I listened to religiously – it was mostly 50’s music, with a bit of early 60’s mixed in. At the time it seemed incredibly novel. The first exclusively oldies station I ever heard was KRZN, an AM station in D-town. As I hated most of the popular music that was on the radio when I was in high school, KRZN seemed like a real godsend. They pretty much played anything that had been a hit, and it wasn’t the same old stuff over and over. Sure, there were heavy doses of the usual suspects – Beatles, Stones, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Motown… But I also remember hearing garage bands like the Music Machine and Standells, which I loved. Bubblegum was in pretty heavy rotation – the Archies, Monkees, 1910 Fruitgum Company, Ohio Express, and Crazy Elephant all come to mind. The timeline ran the gamut from the mid-50’s to early 70’s, and they tended to vary things a bit. They even played requests. Eventually the station really went downhill – I remember them making a “no more bubblegum” proclamation, at which point I decided it was time to stop listening. They were talking themselves too damn seriously.

KRZN is long gone, and the big FM oldies station in Denver for nearly 20 years has been KOOL. I’ll occasionally listen in the car or in the box office at work, but it’s a bit of a drag. As the years have gone by, their play list has gotten more and more restrictive. Nowadays, they only play 60’s and 70’s music – songs from the 50’s have been relegated to a few hours in the evenings. They never really seem to add any songs to the mixture; it’s just the same tunes over and over. It wouldn't surpise me to find out that they had been removing songs from their play list. Even worse, several times a day they feel the need to play an irritating patriotic tune while testifying about what a great country it is we live in. I even heard them play a recording of little kids reciting the pledge of allegiance a few days ago. I think they should just go to the “good times, eight oldies” format, with the occasional patriotic message to liven things up. Not that I’ll be tuned in – I’ll be too busy listening to my 1910 Fruitgum albums. Among other things...

Girl Free Birthday!

In the lobby at work yesterday, a birthday party was gathering that was waiting for the room they booked. Eventually, there was a small mob of about 10 boys, all around 6 or 7 years of age. Several of the boys were pretty unruly – lots of chasing, fighting, and wrestling. At one point, they all pressed together and started chanting “Girl Free Birthday! Girl Free Birthday! Girl Free Birthday!” This chant went on for about 2 or 3 minutes. Since that time yesterday, several of us will start chanting that when it gets slow. I guess you had to be there…

I did make it out to a couple of shows last week. Last Monday I caught the New Pornographers at the beautiful Gothic Theater (one of my fave venues in town, located in the heart of old Engleweed). This was the second time I’d seen them, and I loved them the first time, so my expectations were high. This show was even better than last time, and it was good to see a big turnout for a change. If you aren’t familiar with the band, they’re a Canadian collective who’ve put out some incredible pop music. Seeing the band live is a joy – they’re just about the geekiest looking bunch you’ve ever seen, and they appear to having a great time on stage. Their leader is Carl Newman (ex-Zumpano, who put out the excellent The Slow Wonder billed as A.C. Newman last year), the other members are from various indie bands that I know next to nothing about, and their secret weapon is amazing vocalist (and lone non-Canuck) Neko Case. (Neko had on a really weird dress – it looked like the kind of dress of dress you’d give a little girl and tell her “wear this, you’ll look like a princess.” It was long and chiffon looking, and it had butterflies on it – with her pale skin, she looked a bit ghostlike! But in a good way…) The band blasted through a terrific set of their up-tempo tunes (Mass Romantic, The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism, Letter From an Occupant, Sing Me Spanish Techno, oh-so-many more) that had the crowd singing along and applause doubling after each number. Good singin’, good playin’ (if I may quote Grand Funk Railroad), and fun opening sets from Destroyer (whose leader is a part time Pornographer on record, and joined them onstage for a few numbers) and Immaculate Machine (their keyboardist is Newman’s niece, and also a Pornographer). An incredibly good show, nights out don’t get much better.

On Wednesday I went to see Les Hell on Heels, an all girl band from Arizona. I had never heard them before, but they record for the Bomp! label so I thought I’d give them a try. I’m glad I did – while nothing all that original, their snotty garage tunes were pretty fun. Kind of a weird show– for whatever reason, they were the only band playing that night. After they played, some sort of snowboarding movie was being shown. When I left the showroom and walked through the outside bar, I found it full of dorks in sideways baseball caps waiting for the band to be done. They were probably wondering why the bar hadn’t booked a more “extreme” band, duuuuuuuuude…

After a slow weekend (we just had the entry/dining/living room floors refinished, and the house is in utter chaos and kept me from getting out), I’m hoping to make it out a few times this week. At some point, I’m hoping to get a chant of “Girl Free Birthday!” started. Now, that would be extreme!

4 Easy Installments of $29.99 (plus shipping and handling)

After watching the Herschell Gordon Lewis crapfest Just For the Hell Of It on Saturday evening, I found myself totally hypnotized by an infomercial. It was an ad for a Time-Life CD collection entitled 70's Music Explosion, hosted by Barry "Greg Brady" Williams and some hot lady whose name I can't remember. It was the typical spiel - "Didn't the 70's produce the greatest hits ever? Time-Life has collected them all, digitally remastered them, and compiled them on 10 CD's. Do you know how MUCH it would cost to try and collect all of these great old songs on your own?" Blah blah blah, you know the drill... During the ad, they would show an old film clip of some long forgotten artist performing their big hit - a few seconds later, they'd put the name of the artist and the song on the screen. As the ad proceeded I found that I was able to name the artist as soon as the film clip and music started, before they revealed who was performing. And we're not talking big acts here: Pilot, Alan O'Day, Jigsaw, Starbuck, Rupert Holmes, Blue Swede, Albert Hammond, First Class, Starland Vocal Band, Stories, Paper Lace, and Terry Jacks to name just a few. Most of these artists had one hit tune I remember from AM radio when I was a kid - hardly great stuff, but apparently it made some sort of impression on me. Oh, and I was pretty much batting 1000 as I kept playing this little game. When I saw the same Captain and Tennille clip for the third time I realized it was time to go to bed. The whole experience led me to two conclusions regarding myself - I have way too much useless trivia cluttering up my brain, and I am way too easily entertained by this same useless trivia. Oh well, at least I finally know what the Bellamy Brothers look like, and it beats watching reality television.

On a side note, I was a bit confused by the claim that the 70's had the best music ever. I was led to believe by Davy Jones and some hot lady whose name I can't remember in a different Time-Life infomercial I saw a year or so ago that it was the 60's that had the best music ever. Who should I trust more - a Monkee or a Brady? That decision isn't made any easier by the fact that the Monkee in question once made a guest appearance on The Brady Bunch…