What the hell is going in LA? First everyone around us is up and dancing the entire time at The Police’s Dodger Stadium show last Saturday- wait- make that everyone around us was up and dancing for the Foo Fighters who were OPENING up for The Police, no less… then Les Claypool manages to get the masses out for his Henry Fonda show in Hollywood- on a Wednesday night. I’m certainly not complaining with this new wave of LA concert goers- but it is a shock to the system after living here for 9 years with the LA crowds usually being so hit or miss.
Not only was it a pleasant surprise for all of us, but even Les himself made several comments about the energetic crowd, calling us peppy and even going so far as to say it was one of the best LA audience’s he’s ever had and what a great venue it was. It was the first time Les played at the Henry Fonda and after Wednesday night, I’m sure he will be coming back. Claypool’s most recent side project dubbed his “Fancy Band” consists of Skerik on tenor and baritone sax and Mike Dillon on vibraphone, marimba and percussion (both of Garage a Trois and Critters' Buggin), Cake drummer Paulo Baldi and Gabby La La on sitar, ukulele and theremin.
It was my first time seeing this line-up and I have to say- it totally worked for me. I’ve never been a fan of Gabby La La’s before- in fact, I despised her from the moment I first saw her opening up for Les in 2004 during his Bucket of Bernie Brains shows in Hollywood and San Francisco. But after seeing her in this line-up, all of that changed. I don’t know if it’s because she didn’t open her mouth at all or if she’s finally figured out the right balance as to not overwhelm the audience with the sounds of her unusual yet distinctive instruments, but Wednesday night she completely complimented Les without being distracting or even annoying. In fact- I’ll even go so far as to say she actually threw down the gauntlet challenging Les in some duals and adding a nice texture to the new sound Claypool is forging. As much as it shocks me to say it, there’s no need for a guitar player in this line-up- Gabby’s got it covered. And she wasn’t even the good part about the show. Skerik sounded great and while at certain times in the past I’ve felt like he was sometimes out of place or unintentionally trying to steal the show, he also was a perfect compliment to the Fancy Band. Besides Les, who even from across the room always manages to slap me silly with his bass, Paulo Baldi and Mike Dillon killed it- they were both absolutely on fire the entire night, showcasing their solid playing with a hot drum/percussion solo. Baldi is a monster behind the kit and Dillon adds such a cool layer to the overall sound- at times almost adding an electronica vibe. Playing a variety of older and newer songs from Claypool’s entire catalogue, the band took us from hard pounding bass and drum heavy songs to an almost whimsical circus-like dance club atmosphere. During the encore, Les treated us to a couple solos on the bass banjo, sans band, including a hot version of American Life, and once again proved why he is one of my favorite bass players around. We wouldn’t have known he was playing with 2 screws in one of his fingers after breaking it in May, had he not mentioned it.
One thing I love about Claypool is his innovative style which he consistently pushes forward, staying one step ahead of the latest music trends. He transitioned Primus into a “jamband” after playing with Oysterhead and now he’s worked some insane dance beats and grooves into his latest ensemble. Another trait I’ve become fond of when seeing Claypool perform is that the man is not afraid to speak out when he has something to say, my favorite being when he chastises rude members in the audience with comments like: "hey you! yes, you, in the white shirt. Was your only reason for coming here today so you could walk away knowing that I thought you're kind of dick?" and "Hey asshole… seriously. I'm just trying to do my job here... I don't come to your job and slap the dick out of your mouth...” Wednesday was no exception as we had a very chatty Les on our hands. While most of his comments were in praise of the crowd, he did stop mid-song to call out one very enthusiastic person on the rail who was encroaching on a father and his young daughters space, prompting Les to- in an unusually kind way- ask the guy to move away from his spot saying he appreciated that the guy knew all the words to the song, and he liked his enthusiasm, but he wanted the young girl to enjoy the show as much as he was enjoying it.
Speaking of rude audience behavior and dicks, we had a similar situation go down next to us during the show and found pure comedy in Les’ reaction as we had just dealt with our own space and respect issues. I’m not exactly sure why some people feel a certain sense of entitlement at concerts but being short does not give you a free pass to stand wherever you want. It’s called get to the show earlier to secure your spot- trying to sneak into a space when the lights go down, that other people have occupied for 20 minutes prior to the show, is not kosher. After one particular short girl’s unsuccessful attempt at doing just that and a surrender to her original spot with a heated debate as to what to do next- I look over at my boyfriend who is practically being grinded from behind by the girl’s boyfriend. Still in the exact same spot we had been in all night, Mike and I continued to get down- Mike being completely aware yet totally unfazed that he had a dude on top of him. When the drunk obnoxious dude started to get into my space however, I quickly responded with some elbow thrusts, which he chose to ignore. Now, had it been a sold out show and if space was totally limited, it would have been one thing. But looking behind this guy- he had 5 feet of space between him and his crew- there was no need for him to be riding on Mike in such a manner but he just wouldn’t back off. We’re not exactly sure what point he was trying to make either, because again, neither of us had moved an inch from our original spots and hey- we had a tall guy in front of us too. After not being able to take it anymore, I leaned over to Mike and asked loud enough for the schmuck to hear: “Is there any reason this guy is on your dick?” and sure enough- not only did he hear it but he flipped out and finally backed the fuck up. After a slight shoving match with Mike, started by the dick’s buddy, wouldn’t you know it, they bailed before the show ended. Hallelujah!
Another brilliant moment of the night took place towards the end of the show when several people pulled out their lighters to sway along with the music. Les informed the crowd that lighters were totally passé and that the newest thing was to point your cell phone at him, queuing about ½ the audience to do just that while designating the song and subsequent actions as the “new Freebird of the millennium”. A classic moment and at least we didn’t hear any of the usual “Primus Sucks” chanting.
I highly recommend checking out the Fancy Band if they come to your town- just make sure not to stand next to any dicks to maximize your experience.
06/27/2007
Henry Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
Setlist:
Up on the Roof
One Better >
Glide >
Tommy the Cat tease >
Glide >
One Better
Rumble of the Diesel
David Makalaster I >
Southbound Pachyderm tease >
David Makalaster
IPrecipitation
Vernon the Company Man
A Shot in the Dark
Drums >
Drum and Whamola Jam
Phantom Patriot
D's Diner
Whamola
Encore:
Master of Puppets tease >
^American Life >
^Iowan Gal
^ Riddles are Abound Tonight
Lust Stings
^ - Les solo on bass banjo
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Bonnaroo.. 3 days, 18 bands...
Ok I know it’s actually 4 days and there were over 80 bands that played at Bonnaroo this year- but for me, 18 bands in 3 days, is pretty damn good.
We kicked the weekend off in style by staying at the Loews in Nashville on Thursday night and after grabbing Lauren at the airport on Friday morning, we were off to Manchester. Upon arrival, first stop was at the local hotel I booked- a very quick stop after checking in and seeing the digs. After experiencing Manchester and the surrounding area last year, I knew it was going to rank high in the “worst hotels ever” list but I had at least hoped for clean sheets and towels. That hope was quickly dashed as we walked into our “suite” – my first thought was why the hell didn’t we grab pillows and towels at the Loews, especially since we were going back there 2 nights later. It was one of the most disgusting places I’ve ever seen, much less stayed at- not to mention it was missing a toilet in one of the bathrooms. I’m kicking myself now for not taking pictures of the “abortion bathroom” complete with a bloody tub- you had to see it to believe it but I’m pretty sure at least one took place there.
After a quick stop we got the hell out of dodge and I headed over to the fest with Andy- my partner in crime for Friday afternoon. After checking out the guest area, we decided to cruise into the Main stage area where we saw a massive amount of people on the other side of the gates. I pointed over at them and said they must be watching a good show, not even realizing they were all waiting to be let in- they hadn’t opened up the gates to the general public yet. Had we wanted to, we could have set up prime real estate on the rail, but instead we decided to hang out by the venders to watch everyone run in. I grabbed my phone and caught video of the “running of the bulls”. It was definitely a “had to be there” moment and a great way to kick off Bonnaroo.
So… then we decided it was time to see some music. Our first act of the day was catching Brazilian Girls where we easily met up with our friends Jen and Alicia under a tree in an attempt to find some shade. We stayed for a couple songs- enough to get a decent feel for them- my verdict is still out while Andy called them “cheesy”. Tortoise was next on our list and they rocked it. I discovered them at Coachella a few years ago and they are just a really solid band to hear live. Playing after Tortoise in the same tent was Hot Chip. Holy shit- these guys threw down. The main comment I kept hearing all weekend about them was- “too bad they had such an early slot” because their tent was going off- just a sick dance party- totally unexpected so early in the day and while their tent was packed, I know a lot of people missed out on that gem of a set. Definitely a new discovery of mine and one of my favorite shows of the whole fest. After Hot Chip we caught a little bit of Manu Chao. I had been hearing great things about him lately but it just wasn’t happening for us so we met up with Lauren who wanted to check out Lily Allen. Miss Allen is another one I’ve been curious to see what all the recent hype is about and I missed her at Coachella so I was psyched to see her in action. Lots of energy and she sounded great.
We had a nice break after her set, grabbed some food and found friends in the bleachers to watch Tool. We also caught Tool at Coachella so I knew what I was in store for. I was a little surprised that everyone around us was sitting on their asses for the entire set- definitely a different vibe than Coachella, but I’ll blame the heat and long day of music for that one. I’m still not familiar with any of Tool’s material but again they had me dancing the whole time and their light show is amazing- definitely one of the best around. We decided to give String Cheese one last shot since this is their last tour and would be our last opportunity to see them before all is said and done. I’m glad I can say I caught SCI in their prime because they were playing no where near that level and it was pretty sad to see them go down so hard, especially after seeing them almost 50 times in the last 9 years. People around us seemed to be having a good time though so we bailed instead of killing their buzz. We definitely found our groove at the SuperJam which consisted of John Paul Jones, Ben Harper and Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, playing Zeppelin and other covers, including a sick version of Superstition. Despite being a fairly short set considering they ended a good hour before allotted, it was a great way to end the night and it was back to the nasty ass hotel for us.
I tried to forget where we were laying our heads and after taking a shower with my flip flops on and using a T-shirt as a pillow cover, I woke up in the morning overhearing people talking outside of our room. I opened the door to find the “maids” talking about towels so I asked if we could get some clean ones. They actually made me hand them the 2 in the room so they could wash them and bring them back. When I explained that there were 3 of us, and we had paid extra for a 3rd person, they finally agreed to bring us 3. Right then we got a call from Lauren and Ash who were staying at one of the “festival run” hotels through The Police and they told us there was an extra room we could stay in over there since some of the bands had already checked out- thank you Kings of Leon!! We quickly packed up and ran out screaming, literally.
After “checking in” to our new room and hitting the Waffle House for a quick bite (ok Ash- you were totally right.. it’s much better than I had thought), our Saturday was off to a good start. A late start, but a good one nonetheless. Our first act of the day was Ween- it was hot and I’m not just talking about the heat. I met Dave, the bassist, the night before so it was cool to see him doing his thing. Even cooler was seeing our friend Chip in action who works for them. Mike met Chip when he and Jay Arch were hitchhiking after the Phish show on 8/10/96 and I met Chip the night Mike and I connected at a show in 2000 so he definitely shares a special in our hearts. I love seeing my friends doing their thing, especially when they do it well. Lauren, Ash and I ducked out of Ween a little early and caught a couple songs of Franz Ferdinand’s set- I’ve yet to actually listen to their catalogue but they are a fun band to see live. After FF, we grabbed a bite and it was time for The Police. The bleachers were packed but Mike managed to grab a spot in the aisle where we enjoyed the show. The Police are one of those bands I never thought I’d have a chance to see live, so despite the nostalgia and Andy Summers forgetting how to play the guitar, it was definitely a great moment in my own personal music going experiences. We were sitting next to some hard core Police fans and it was pretty awesome to hear them call songs and break everything down, including the solos- some of which were cool, some of which we could have down without. It made me realize “other” bands have obsessive fans as well- as Mike likes to say- same amusement park, different ride. Again, I was shocked at the amount of people sitting down for their entire 90 minute set- everyone but a handful. Dodger Stadium last weekend put these people to shame- and no one dances in LA (although LA was a longer and better show).
After the Police, we regrouped in the Artist tent, connected with some new and old friends and then headed over to catch Girl Talk. On the way there we had to cruise by where the Flaming Lips were playing- I saw them open for Beck in 2000 and wasn’t all that impressed, but I hadn’t seen them since. The sound was horrible and you couldn’t see a thing on stage because there was such a huge crowd watching them so we kept cruising to our desired destination. We managed to catch the last 20 minutes of Girl Talk and he was incredible- definitely my new favorite DJ after Coachella and once again he had a ton of fans getting down on stage with him to close his set- the guy knows how to lay it down. Wish we had gotten there earlier and wish he played longer- what can you do? We then closed out the night with Sasha & Digweed who more than made up for some of the other performers short sets as they were still going strong when we walked back to the car around 5:30AM.
Sunday was another late start for us but Lauren and I made it to the festival grounds in time to catch the last acts of the weekend. We started the day by watching Wilco from sidestage- not a bad way to catch a band for the first time. Wilco has always been one of those bands that I’ve had certain friends be really into yet I’ve never heard or even given them a chance. Needless to say, I was impressed and already picked up tickets to their LA show in August.
We cut out of Wilco a bit early to catch Feist. I hadn’t even heard of this band until Ash dubbed them as “vagindy rock” at the beginning of the weekend but it was cool to take in a bit of their set. After a couple songs we snagged a ride on a golf cart (something much easier to do when you’re hanging out with people that work for the fest) and checked out Ornette Coleman. Never in my wildest did I think I’d have the chance to see the living legend perform, much less that I’d catch him at a festival like Bonnaroo. Right before we were about to head out, we witnessed him passing out on stage mid-song. Not that shocking considering he’s 77 years old and was wearing a full suit in the 100 degree weather- but still scary watching him be escorted off- definitely an indicator of how hot it actually was over the weekend. I caught Marc Ribot in the crowd as we were leaving making me wonder if I had missed him playing a set or sitting in with anyone but I have yet to hear otherwise. That’s one of the coolest things I find about Bonnaroo- just randomly seeing musicians, comedians and filmmakers hanging out and catching different acts- from Jim Jarmusch kicking it in the Artists tent to Lewis Black sidestage watching Panic.
The White Stripes were up next and they did not disappoint. We actually caught their set from behind the stage because it was so crowded up front but the sound was surprisingly good since we had monitors facing us. They definitely made me want to see more of them so we’ll hit their LA show in September. And last but not least was Widespread Panic who closed out the fest on the main stage playing 30 minutes over their timeslot. We were also able to watch that show from sidestage and it rocked- the perfect ending to a fantastic weekend.
All in all- an amazing festival and an incredible weekend of music shared with good friends and phenomenal musicians. Once again I left feeling inspired by new discoveries and awakened by old stand-by’s. Only 4 months until Vegoose... I can’t wait.
We kicked the weekend off in style by staying at the Loews in Nashville on Thursday night and after grabbing Lauren at the airport on Friday morning, we were off to Manchester. Upon arrival, first stop was at the local hotel I booked- a very quick stop after checking in and seeing the digs. After experiencing Manchester and the surrounding area last year, I knew it was going to rank high in the “worst hotels ever” list but I had at least hoped for clean sheets and towels. That hope was quickly dashed as we walked into our “suite” – my first thought was why the hell didn’t we grab pillows and towels at the Loews, especially since we were going back there 2 nights later. It was one of the most disgusting places I’ve ever seen, much less stayed at- not to mention it was missing a toilet in one of the bathrooms. I’m kicking myself now for not taking pictures of the “abortion bathroom” complete with a bloody tub- you had to see it to believe it but I’m pretty sure at least one took place there.
After a quick stop we got the hell out of dodge and I headed over to the fest with Andy- my partner in crime for Friday afternoon. After checking out the guest area, we decided to cruise into the Main stage area where we saw a massive amount of people on the other side of the gates. I pointed over at them and said they must be watching a good show, not even realizing they were all waiting to be let in- they hadn’t opened up the gates to the general public yet. Had we wanted to, we could have set up prime real estate on the rail, but instead we decided to hang out by the venders to watch everyone run in. I grabbed my phone and caught video of the “running of the bulls”. It was definitely a “had to be there” moment and a great way to kick off Bonnaroo.
So… then we decided it was time to see some music. Our first act of the day was catching Brazilian Girls where we easily met up with our friends Jen and Alicia under a tree in an attempt to find some shade. We stayed for a couple songs- enough to get a decent feel for them- my verdict is still out while Andy called them “cheesy”. Tortoise was next on our list and they rocked it. I discovered them at Coachella a few years ago and they are just a really solid band to hear live. Playing after Tortoise in the same tent was Hot Chip. Holy shit- these guys threw down. The main comment I kept hearing all weekend about them was- “too bad they had such an early slot” because their tent was going off- just a sick dance party- totally unexpected so early in the day and while their tent was packed, I know a lot of people missed out on that gem of a set. Definitely a new discovery of mine and one of my favorite shows of the whole fest. After Hot Chip we caught a little bit of Manu Chao. I had been hearing great things about him lately but it just wasn’t happening for us so we met up with Lauren who wanted to check out Lily Allen. Miss Allen is another one I’ve been curious to see what all the recent hype is about and I missed her at Coachella so I was psyched to see her in action. Lots of energy and she sounded great.
We had a nice break after her set, grabbed some food and found friends in the bleachers to watch Tool. We also caught Tool at Coachella so I knew what I was in store for. I was a little surprised that everyone around us was sitting on their asses for the entire set- definitely a different vibe than Coachella, but I’ll blame the heat and long day of music for that one. I’m still not familiar with any of Tool’s material but again they had me dancing the whole time and their light show is amazing- definitely one of the best around. We decided to give String Cheese one last shot since this is their last tour and would be our last opportunity to see them before all is said and done. I’m glad I can say I caught SCI in their prime because they were playing no where near that level and it was pretty sad to see them go down so hard, especially after seeing them almost 50 times in the last 9 years. People around us seemed to be having a good time though so we bailed instead of killing their buzz. We definitely found our groove at the SuperJam which consisted of John Paul Jones, Ben Harper and Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, playing Zeppelin and other covers, including a sick version of Superstition. Despite being a fairly short set considering they ended a good hour before allotted, it was a great way to end the night and it was back to the nasty ass hotel for us.
I tried to forget where we were laying our heads and after taking a shower with my flip flops on and using a T-shirt as a pillow cover, I woke up in the morning overhearing people talking outside of our room. I opened the door to find the “maids” talking about towels so I asked if we could get some clean ones. They actually made me hand them the 2 in the room so they could wash them and bring them back. When I explained that there were 3 of us, and we had paid extra for a 3rd person, they finally agreed to bring us 3. Right then we got a call from Lauren and Ash who were staying at one of the “festival run” hotels through The Police and they told us there was an extra room we could stay in over there since some of the bands had already checked out- thank you Kings of Leon!! We quickly packed up and ran out screaming, literally.
After “checking in” to our new room and hitting the Waffle House for a quick bite (ok Ash- you were totally right.. it’s much better than I had thought), our Saturday was off to a good start. A late start, but a good one nonetheless. Our first act of the day was Ween- it was hot and I’m not just talking about the heat. I met Dave, the bassist, the night before so it was cool to see him doing his thing. Even cooler was seeing our friend Chip in action who works for them. Mike met Chip when he and Jay Arch were hitchhiking after the Phish show on 8/10/96 and I met Chip the night Mike and I connected at a show in 2000 so he definitely shares a special in our hearts. I love seeing my friends doing their thing, especially when they do it well. Lauren, Ash and I ducked out of Ween a little early and caught a couple songs of Franz Ferdinand’s set- I’ve yet to actually listen to their catalogue but they are a fun band to see live. After FF, we grabbed a bite and it was time for The Police. The bleachers were packed but Mike managed to grab a spot in the aisle where we enjoyed the show. The Police are one of those bands I never thought I’d have a chance to see live, so despite the nostalgia and Andy Summers forgetting how to play the guitar, it was definitely a great moment in my own personal music going experiences. We were sitting next to some hard core Police fans and it was pretty awesome to hear them call songs and break everything down, including the solos- some of which were cool, some of which we could have down without. It made me realize “other” bands have obsessive fans as well- as Mike likes to say- same amusement park, different ride. Again, I was shocked at the amount of people sitting down for their entire 90 minute set- everyone but a handful. Dodger Stadium last weekend put these people to shame- and no one dances in LA (although LA was a longer and better show).
After the Police, we regrouped in the Artist tent, connected with some new and old friends and then headed over to catch Girl Talk. On the way there we had to cruise by where the Flaming Lips were playing- I saw them open for Beck in 2000 and wasn’t all that impressed, but I hadn’t seen them since. The sound was horrible and you couldn’t see a thing on stage because there was such a huge crowd watching them so we kept cruising to our desired destination. We managed to catch the last 20 minutes of Girl Talk and he was incredible- definitely my new favorite DJ after Coachella and once again he had a ton of fans getting down on stage with him to close his set- the guy knows how to lay it down. Wish we had gotten there earlier and wish he played longer- what can you do? We then closed out the night with Sasha & Digweed who more than made up for some of the other performers short sets as they were still going strong when we walked back to the car around 5:30AM.
Sunday was another late start for us but Lauren and I made it to the festival grounds in time to catch the last acts of the weekend. We started the day by watching Wilco from sidestage- not a bad way to catch a band for the first time. Wilco has always been one of those bands that I’ve had certain friends be really into yet I’ve never heard or even given them a chance. Needless to say, I was impressed and already picked up tickets to their LA show in August.
We cut out of Wilco a bit early to catch Feist. I hadn’t even heard of this band until Ash dubbed them as “vagindy rock” at the beginning of the weekend but it was cool to take in a bit of their set. After a couple songs we snagged a ride on a golf cart (something much easier to do when you’re hanging out with people that work for the fest) and checked out Ornette Coleman. Never in my wildest did I think I’d have the chance to see the living legend perform, much less that I’d catch him at a festival like Bonnaroo. Right before we were about to head out, we witnessed him passing out on stage mid-song. Not that shocking considering he’s 77 years old and was wearing a full suit in the 100 degree weather- but still scary watching him be escorted off- definitely an indicator of how hot it actually was over the weekend. I caught Marc Ribot in the crowd as we were leaving making me wonder if I had missed him playing a set or sitting in with anyone but I have yet to hear otherwise. That’s one of the coolest things I find about Bonnaroo- just randomly seeing musicians, comedians and filmmakers hanging out and catching different acts- from Jim Jarmusch kicking it in the Artists tent to Lewis Black sidestage watching Panic.
The White Stripes were up next and they did not disappoint. We actually caught their set from behind the stage because it was so crowded up front but the sound was surprisingly good since we had monitors facing us. They definitely made me want to see more of them so we’ll hit their LA show in September. And last but not least was Widespread Panic who closed out the fest on the main stage playing 30 minutes over their timeslot. We were also able to watch that show from sidestage and it rocked- the perfect ending to a fantastic weekend.
All in all- an amazing festival and an incredible weekend of music shared with good friends and phenomenal musicians. Once again I left feeling inspired by new discoveries and awakened by old stand-by’s. Only 4 months until Vegoose... I can’t wait.
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