Too Much, Too Soon

Somebody recently emailed me (I’m pretty sure it was Dee, the sassy younger sister of Raj on What’s Happening!!), and asked me when I would be updating my blog. I checked, and realized I haven’t posted anything for over two months. Not that I haven’t been doing anything - I guess I just haven’t had the time, or inspiration, to write lately.

I did make it to a noteworthy show earlier this month, during our Seattle visit. It was the latest installment of Little Steven’s Underground Garage tour, and it was pretty cool. Here’s the rundown:

The Greatest Hits – In every city, a local band was chosen via an online poll to open up the show. All I can say, after catching the last 2 or 3 songs by this band, is that they must have an awful lot of friends with nothing better to do than go online and vote over and over. To start with, these guys looked ridiculous - like rejects from a Poison tribute band audition. Their music was the typical unoriginal pop/punk/glam blend, nothing too offensive in itself. The band was passable, but the singer was terrible. I’m glad we didn’t get there any earlier! Considering how many great garage bands have come from Seattle, it’s a shame that these guys were chosen to represent the Jet City. The go-go dancers were onstage the entire time I saw them play – probably to distract everyone from the band’s weak performance.

Oh yeah, there were go-go dancers that night. With the exception of the first act, their time was usually restricted to one song per band. In between acts a curtain would be pulled across the stage, and the girls would dance while the next band would set up. This was amusing for about, oh, two minutes. After that it seemed kind of silly. Outside of a few yahoos up front yelling for them, I don’t think anyone paid them much attention.

The Charms – A pretty decent set from this Boston band. I’m only familiar with a few of their tunes from Little Steven’s radio program. They sounded a little more “hard rock” than the recordings, and they won the crowd over with their high energy performance. Their pintsized front woman, in particular, was a lot of fun to watch. Their last song went on way too long and got a bit boring, but I’d see ‘em again.

The Chesterfield Kings – If I had seen these guys when I was 17 or 18 years old, I would’ve been thrilled. I spun their first two albums, Here Are… and Stop!, constantly during my senior year of high school when I was going through my “60’s garage punk” phase. I find it pretty amazing that they’re still going, to be honest, even if the singer and bassist are the only original members. The only song I recognized was their opener, a cover of the Yardbirds’ (which in turn was a cover of Mose Allison’s) I’m Not Talking. For the rest of their set, my buddy Big Joe Bloggs and I played the game “what Rolling Stones song does this sound like?” I thought they were cool, although I must say that the singer isn’t very good. He’s attempting a Mick Jagger/Phil May punk snarl, but it doesn’t always work that well. One thing he did do well was hit the metal post on the side of the stage over and over again with his microphone stand. We were just waiting for him to miss the pole and brain somebody! A stagehand took away the mike stand a few times, only for him to find it again and resume his attack. The pinging sound of metal on metal had my ears buzzing.

The Supersuckers – Another Seattle band, but they were actually part of the tour. Many years ago, the li’l woman and I would go catch these guys at least once a month. I got pretty burned out on them, however, and it’s been a good 5 years since I last saw them. Funnily enough, they really haven’t changed any in that time. Talking to an acquaintance I ran into, he commented “I always want to hate these guys, but I just can’t because they don’t take themselves seriously.” We did agree that it’s more the crowd they attract that we can’t stand – a bit too “frat boy” for our liking. I enjoyed their set, even if I did spend a large part of it in the beer line…

Did I mention the beer lines yet? I don’t think I’ve ever seen such long lines at a bar in my life. El Corazon (formerly Graceland, formerly the Off Ramp), the club where the show took place, was packed beyond belief. The lines for the outside bar went all the way to the front door, and the showroom bar had a line that snaked through the crowd. By the end of the evening, the woman (yes, just one person) running the showroom bar was almost in tears. Bad planning on the part of the club – they must’ve known that this show was going to be a big draw; they should have had more staff manning the bars. Maybe they were more concerned with the leaking ceiling. Strategically placed buckets were filling up in the showroom, as we tried not to get splashed while standing in line for beer. Downright Dickensian! All was forgotten, however, when the headliners finally hit the stage.

The New York Dolls – Naysayer hipsters will say that this isn’t the “real” New York Dolls, and they’d have a point seeing as the only original members are David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain. (Of course, it must be pointed out that these two are the only surviving members.) That out of the way, I don’t see how anyone could hold onto any negative feelings after seeing them perform. To put it simply, they were amazing. Sylvain led the new lineup through ragged and faithful renditions of the classics (Trash, Jet Boy, Lonely Planet Boy, and Pills among them), and tore it up on the songs from the new album (including Dance Like a Monkey, Fishnets & Cigarettes, and We’re All In Love) . Johansen was a joy to behold – singing, strutting, encouraging the audience to sing along, and having a great time. Most of all, it was wonderful seeing him finally embrace his glam rock past after dismissing it for so many years. The packed crowd went absolutely nuts, dancing and shouting along for the entire set. I was thrilled to be there, and I still can’t help but smile when I think back on it. Hopefully they’ll do some more touring in the new year, and make a pass through D-town. We could use that kind of fun around here.

On a side note, after the show Todd and I went back to his house and turned on the TV. The movie Clerks was on Comedy Central. Now, if you’re about my age, you’ll remember how this movie was such a touchstone in the mid 90’s. I remember many people talking about how much they related to it - how it was so much like their lives. It fit in really well with the whole “Generation X / Slacker” mentality of that time. Watching it now, I still find the film to be pretty amusing. However, I think Todd summed it up best: “Nobody really talks like that.” Did any of us really go on and on about stuff that really didn’t matter? Come to think of it, I probably did…and still do. I’d like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for anyone’s time I may have wasted back then. Or in the future, for that matter…