So we went and saw ourselves some Mountain...
Anyone who has seen Thee Knife of Simpson should be able to tell that Leslie West and Mountain is a huge influence on our band's music. (Some might say it's our only influence...) So three of us geared up to see a living legend play at the venerable Abby Pub. We figured that with a band as old and respected as Mountain, the show would be sold out, so we arrived super early. It didn't even come close to selling out, so we were able to catch the entire set from Chicago's The Steepwater Band. This band really had their shit together as far as good tones and a tight and rocking sound. If any readers want to see a great blues-based, old time kinda rock band, check these dudes out. I could have used a bit more variety, but other than that, two thumbs up.
Soon Mountain was ready to go, but something was not right. Leslie was playing JCM 900 stacks, which generally are not the best sounding units. Also, the roadie was soundchecking using one of those lame Peavy Van Halen guitars, and some Steinberger headless things. Plus, it sounded like the guitars were being run through one of those cheap-ass early 80s multi-effect abortions. Out comes Leslie, wearing a red smoking jacket, wearing those old man glasses that have the swivel sun-screens that open outward, and looking not unlike Harvey Firestein. The band got about halfway through a song before Leslie started chewing out the soundman, where we realized that his 'bitching voice' SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE HARVEY FIRESTEIN! Plus, between songs Leslie told long stories that didn't really go anywhere. I'd rather hear him tell those on Stern, and instead focus on rocking us paying customers.
Long story short: Bad tones, bad vibes between Leslie and pretty much everyone else in the room, the bass player barely knew the songs, it sounded like poop. Other than the Steepwater Band, this was a total waste of $20 bucks. I suggest you dig out "Climbing" and "Twin Peaks" and stick with listening to those, but I wouldn't go see them live until Leslie realizes that he needs to reinvest in his 70s era amps and Les Pauls, and hire a bass player who gives a shit about the band's music. It kind of ruined the band's legacy for me. So be warned.
Anyone who has seen Thee Knife of Simpson should be able to tell that Leslie West and Mountain is a huge influence on our band's music. (Some might say it's our only influence...) So three of us geared up to see a living legend play at the venerable Abby Pub. We figured that with a band as old and respected as Mountain, the show would be sold out, so we arrived super early. It didn't even come close to selling out, so we were able to catch the entire set from Chicago's The Steepwater Band. This band really had their shit together as far as good tones and a tight and rocking sound. If any readers want to see a great blues-based, old time kinda rock band, check these dudes out. I could have used a bit more variety, but other than that, two thumbs up.
Soon Mountain was ready to go, but something was not right. Leslie was playing JCM 900 stacks, which generally are not the best sounding units. Also, the roadie was soundchecking using one of those lame Peavy Van Halen guitars, and some Steinberger headless things. Plus, it sounded like the guitars were being run through one of those cheap-ass early 80s multi-effect abortions. Out comes Leslie, wearing a red smoking jacket, wearing those old man glasses that have the swivel sun-screens that open outward, and looking not unlike Harvey Firestein. The band got about halfway through a song before Leslie started chewing out the soundman, where we realized that his 'bitching voice' SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE HARVEY FIRESTEIN! Plus, between songs Leslie told long stories that didn't really go anywhere. I'd rather hear him tell those on Stern, and instead focus on rocking us paying customers.
Long story short: Bad tones, bad vibes between Leslie and pretty much everyone else in the room, the bass player barely knew the songs, it sounded like poop. Other than the Steepwater Band, this was a total waste of $20 bucks. I suggest you dig out "Climbing" and "Twin Peaks" and stick with listening to those, but I wouldn't go see them live until Leslie realizes that he needs to reinvest in his 70s era amps and Les Pauls, and hire a bass player who gives a shit about the band's music. It kind of ruined the band's legacy for me. So be warned.
by at 4:27 PM
al gore has been seen too often this week, as he prepares to travel across the country. and why is he doing this? to start his "gore in '04" campaign? nope! to promote not one, but two new books!
this looks awfully fishy to me. isn't it convenient that his new books hit the shelves right after mid-term elections?
let's see, in the last week, he's been seen on letterman, the today show, charlie rose and the inecitable, incredible larry king. that's too much gore on t.v.
i wonder how many people he's fooling with this masqueraded campaign blitz.? how much money from his book will be shoved through the back door for his next campaign? he's not fooling this righteous dude, i'll tell you what.
and he's also promoting his new image. yes, al gore has got another image to promote. what's new? he says if (when) he runs, it will be all gore. no more polls, no more consultants, no more flip-flops with the political tide. we're all going to see the unvarnished gore.
dollars to donuts says he discovered this will be the best way to run via poll. or at least listening to the criticisms of his last campaign.
face it gore, you're a rube, and you're not going to fool anybody. please gore, for the sake of the nation, lay down, play dead, and go away once and for all.
this looks awfully fishy to me. isn't it convenient that his new books hit the shelves right after mid-term elections?
let's see, in the last week, he's been seen on letterman, the today show, charlie rose and the inecitable, incredible larry king. that's too much gore on t.v.
i wonder how many people he's fooling with this masqueraded campaign blitz.? how much money from his book will be shoved through the back door for his next campaign? he's not fooling this righteous dude, i'll tell you what.
and he's also promoting his new image. yes, al gore has got another image to promote. what's new? he says if (when) he runs, it will be all gore. no more polls, no more consultants, no more flip-flops with the political tide. we're all going to see the unvarnished gore.
dollars to donuts says he discovered this will be the best way to run via poll. or at least listening to the criticisms of his last campaign.
face it gore, you're a rube, and you're not going to fool anybody. please gore, for the sake of the nation, lay down, play dead, and go away once and for all.
by at 3:13 PM
i already feel safer knowing the homeland security act is all but finalized. eat our bureaucracy terrorist slime!
i'm especially pleased knowing every web site i visit, every bank transaction i make, every library book i check out, every time i use my i-pass, my criminal record and photos taken of me on hidden secutrity cameras will soon be stored on a heavy duty database. you, too, will be included in the database.
this is not an orwellian nightmare. it's all part of the homeland security act.
and guess who gets to oversee it. none other than adm. john poindexter. yes, the adm. poindexter who convicted and sent to prison for his role in the iran-contra affair. but thanks to a generous pardon from bush sr. (as well as pardons to colin powell, oliver north and the other treacherous scum involved in that mess) amd. poindexter has escaped hard time and wil be running the uber database.
the only solace i find in this is that the database will be designed and built by microsoft, so it'll be buggy as hell and probably work only half the time.
the most disturbing thing i find is that the majority of the mainstream media has ignored the uber database as part of its coverage on the bill. the only things i've seen in the mainstream media is a column by bill safire and something on the mcglaughlin group. no shit! john mcglaughlin!
well america, isn't nice to know that we are ALL suspects in the war on terrorism?
peace.
i'm especially pleased knowing every web site i visit, every bank transaction i make, every library book i check out, every time i use my i-pass, my criminal record and photos taken of me on hidden secutrity cameras will soon be stored on a heavy duty database. you, too, will be included in the database.
this is not an orwellian nightmare. it's all part of the homeland security act.
and guess who gets to oversee it. none other than adm. john poindexter. yes, the adm. poindexter who convicted and sent to prison for his role in the iran-contra affair. but thanks to a generous pardon from bush sr. (as well as pardons to colin powell, oliver north and the other treacherous scum involved in that mess) amd. poindexter has escaped hard time and wil be running the uber database.
the only solace i find in this is that the database will be designed and built by microsoft, so it'll be buggy as hell and probably work only half the time.
the most disturbing thing i find is that the majority of the mainstream media has ignored the uber database as part of its coverage on the bill. the only things i've seen in the mainstream media is a column by bill safire and something on the mcglaughlin group. no shit! john mcglaughlin!
well america, isn't nice to know that we are ALL suspects in the war on terrorism?
peace.
by at 3:25 PM
"Sex, Drug... and E-Mail!!!!"
Last night proved that rock and roll in America is on life support, clinging meekly to soiled bed sheets with gnarled gangrenous fingers. In case you missed it (which you probably did), Electric Eel Shock of Tokyo, Japan, laid absolute waste to the Beat Kitchen, doing things & playing things & saying things I haven't seen or heard much less thought of in literal ages. Those three young fellers should be residents of a Yokohama mental hospital rather than touring the fuck out of a bored-stiff Etats-Unis. For the sake of our children, their drummer should not see the light of day ever again-- I mean, playing traps with four drumsticks and banging his head with his fist between beats?! Ludichrist, mang! Catch 'em next time or they'll perm your hair.
In the meanwhile, America needs to step up to the plate. The Rising Sun has come for our rock and roll and they are beating us senselessly with it while we tinker with "vocal-less background music for a shitty independent film" or skronk out lame jazz mayhem that even Cecil Taylor is bored with. Let's cut the crap, people! Start with the vote that all mook rock bands relocate to Florida, then force the Sunshine State to secede to the providence of Cuba. Perhaps then we can move forward.
Back to work.
Last night proved that rock and roll in America is on life support, clinging meekly to soiled bed sheets with gnarled gangrenous fingers. In case you missed it (which you probably did), Electric Eel Shock of Tokyo, Japan, laid absolute waste to the Beat Kitchen, doing things & playing things & saying things I haven't seen or heard much less thought of in literal ages. Those three young fellers should be residents of a Yokohama mental hospital rather than touring the fuck out of a bored-stiff Etats-Unis. For the sake of our children, their drummer should not see the light of day ever again-- I mean, playing traps with four drumsticks and banging his head with his fist between beats?! Ludichrist, mang! Catch 'em next time or they'll perm your hair.
In the meanwhile, America needs to step up to the plate. The Rising Sun has come for our rock and roll and they are beating us senselessly with it while we tinker with "vocal-less background music for a shitty independent film" or skronk out lame jazz mayhem that even Cecil Taylor is bored with. Let's cut the crap, people! Start with the vote that all mook rock bands relocate to Florida, then force the Sunshine State to secede to the providence of Cuba. Perhaps then we can move forward.
Back to work.
by at 2:03 PM
Eh, what are you going to do about those elections? Perhaps the Dems could not get the support they needed because they're not really acting like Dems, are they? Unfortunately, I'm falling into the category of voter that really has to feel strongly about a candidate to actually give them a vote. Maybe the Dems will dig in and actually stop pandering to the Bush regime. We can only hope. Other than that, it's time to party, be a nusiance to the man, and avoid taxes.
There's always the world of entertainment. I've been listening to commercial radio a lot lately. Has anyone noticed that the new Disturbed single cops the melody from "Livin' La Vida Loca?" Other than that, 90% of the other songs seem to sound like Alice in Chains. Go figure, one of the most non-essential Seattle-era bands is the most influential. Forget that, how about the non mook-rock? Then you have the Vines, filling the Nirvana gap. Granted, they're better than that band Bush, but if I want to hear derivative rock, I'd rather it be from 30 years ago than 8. Queens of the Stone Age is great to hear, but it's the same song every time. I'm really sick of that Strokes record, it's been out for like 7 years and they keep shitting singles off it. White Stripes? Not bad, I like 'em, even though I'd rather turn on a Wasteoid album. Oops, almost forgot the Hives. Again, I'm sick of hearing their single "Song No. 3." They must have more (and better) songs. Turbonegro would eat them for lunch, if compared side to side. There's always that new Pearl Jam record. I think it's going to be called "Riot Around the Campfire," if I'm not mistaken.
As for me, now that I'm good and drunk, I'm going to get on the train and go back to the protests in Chicago right now. Why, you ask? I'm protesting the Wynona Ryder's guilty verdict, of course! They're always trying to put the white celebrities down! I want her free, maybe she'll ruin Ryan Adams' career next.
There's always the world of entertainment. I've been listening to commercial radio a lot lately. Has anyone noticed that the new Disturbed single cops the melody from "Livin' La Vida Loca?" Other than that, 90% of the other songs seem to sound like Alice in Chains. Go figure, one of the most non-essential Seattle-era bands is the most influential. Forget that, how about the non mook-rock? Then you have the Vines, filling the Nirvana gap. Granted, they're better than that band Bush, but if I want to hear derivative rock, I'd rather it be from 30 years ago than 8. Queens of the Stone Age is great to hear, but it's the same song every time. I'm really sick of that Strokes record, it's been out for like 7 years and they keep shitting singles off it. White Stripes? Not bad, I like 'em, even though I'd rather turn on a Wasteoid album. Oops, almost forgot the Hives. Again, I'm sick of hearing their single "Song No. 3." They must have more (and better) songs. Turbonegro would eat them for lunch, if compared side to side. There's always that new Pearl Jam record. I think it's going to be called "Riot Around the Campfire," if I'm not mistaken.
As for me, now that I'm good and drunk, I'm going to get on the train and go back to the protests in Chicago right now. Why, you ask? I'm protesting the Wynona Ryder's guilty verdict, of course! They're always trying to put the white celebrities down! I want her free, maybe she'll ruin Ryan Adams' career next.
by at 3:00 PM
Congratulations, America! Now that the midterm elections are over, you're the proud papa of a bouncing unilateral conservative government! For the first time since Dwight Eisenhower-- Ike, fer crissakes!-- you've ushered & sat & punched the tickets of Stupid White Men into the stately & now sniperless D of C. Executive branch? Yup, the smirking struck-dumb-with-a-Texas-Ranger-baseball-bat-and-four-too-many-lines-of-krell ranchhand with the surprisingly ecologically sound bunker in Texas is dancing on the furniture in the Oval Office. Legislative? Yup, though good luck gettin' that 60% vote in Senate. Judicial? Still 5-4 but 5-4 ain't pretty so long as Justice Scalia is cramming bananas into that fat sweaty smarmy dunderhead of his. Thanks to you people like Wayne Allard of Colorado will publicly persecute anyone with an idea of political compassion not congruent with "Compassionate Conservatism"-- mark my words, watch out for this hombre.
Congratulations, America. In effect you've patted the bony back of Dubya and said, "Swell job, jackass! Here are my elected officials to kneel before ye & serve your naive, erroneous & anachronistic agenda. Here's $1000 (McCain-Feingold went into effect today) to make sure I have enough cheap gasoline for my (insert formal name of gas-honking four-wheeled Detroit mayhem here) & to make sure that my non-questioning corporate self can pollute the few free things in life that I happen to need to biologically survive (air, water). Thanks for keeping the brown ones down & out of my neighborhood (unless they're there to trim the hedges) and thank you for keeping Allah twenty steps in the rear view mirror. Oh yeah, please don't send the CIA-directed killer drones after me (is anyone else astounded by these relatively new killer machines & their recent deployment in Yemen?)."
And Governor Blagojevich? Ugh. Though I'm happy to have voted libertarian in that race, maybe I should have voted for (bite lip) Jim Ryan. By the end of his term in four years, Blago's gonna be an appellate court away from serving time. I just feel it in my bones.
Time to go home.
Congratulations, America. In effect you've patted the bony back of Dubya and said, "Swell job, jackass! Here are my elected officials to kneel before ye & serve your naive, erroneous & anachronistic agenda. Here's $1000 (McCain-Feingold went into effect today) to make sure I have enough cheap gasoline for my (insert formal name of gas-honking four-wheeled Detroit mayhem here) & to make sure that my non-questioning corporate self can pollute the few free things in life that I happen to need to biologically survive (air, water). Thanks for keeping the brown ones down & out of my neighborhood (unless they're there to trim the hedges) and thank you for keeping Allah twenty steps in the rear view mirror. Oh yeah, please don't send the CIA-directed killer drones after me (is anyone else astounded by these relatively new killer machines & their recent deployment in Yemen?)."
And Governor Blagojevich? Ugh. Though I'm happy to have voted libertarian in that race, maybe I should have voted for (bite lip) Jim Ryan. By the end of his term in four years, Blago's gonna be an appellate court away from serving time. I just feel it in my bones.
Time to go home.
by at 7:56 PM
thanks to all who came out to spend halloween with vietnambla at the subterranean. i hope you all had at least half as much fun as i did. so here's a shout out to YOU! hope to see you again real soon.
peace!
peace!
by at 3:25 PM