Shipping Off To Boston

The Nomad clan are up in Boston checking out the sites and catching a Red Sox game. Nazz junior took the punk rock aesthetic to heart and long ago chose the Sawx as his favorite team. This of course was driven by the frontrunning a pre-teen (circa the dreaded year of 2004) will do as well as his opportunity to f#ck with Dad, as I root for the Noo Yawk Mets and Yankees (yeah, I'm bi-teamal).
But that's cool. As Bobby D sang "Your Sons and Your daughters are beyond your command". Hey, Nazz Junior... reject all that is good and pure and go to the dark side by casting aside your parent's values, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
Hey, at least Fenway is a cool stadium... not as cool as Wrigley Field, but pretty cool nonetheless. They got a kick ass brew pub with-in staggering distance of the Park, so I'm set.
I am leaving all my Yankee shwag at home; as I promised Mrs. Nomad that there will be no fisticuffs. Oops, better leave my Giants stuff home too! Methinks I'll be dropping a nice amount at the Fenway souvenir stands and Filene's Basement for junior and the princess however!
Hey Red Sox fans- remember this?

And mmm... Harpoon and Sammy A's!

But I love Boston for one reason:
JONATHAN RICHMAN!
Has there ever been a more unlikely proto-punk? The guy is some sort of prepped out mutant and he comes up with Roadrunner? I'm Straight?? She Cracked??? Astral Plane???? Pablo Picasso (was never called an asshole)?????

Yeah, Boston's got Aerosmith, J Geils, the Dropkick Murphys and all those silly straight edge bands from my youth (This is Boston Not L.A. still makes me giggle).

But what do you say Modern Lovers????? RADIO ON!!!!!!!!!!!

Toonage:
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - She Cracked
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso (was never called an asshole)
Jonathan Richman - Stop Your Sobbing

Hey Fella's Have You Heard The News?

The women in this town have been misused.



Yeah, leavin' here, ya gonna leave all here now

Toonage:
The Who- Leaving Here
Pearl Jam - Leaving Here
Motorhead - Leaving Here
Eddie Holland - Leaving Here (the original!)

2 Minute Thrills

So, is it a crime against nature and the godz of rawk to miss band practice because you are going to see this guy? Yes, I would say so. For the next gig we play, our erstwhile guitar player will be forced to wear a dress. And not in a fashionable way like this guy used to.
I mean, jeezus... the guy doesn't even drink, so the lure of free booze isn't even an excuse!

Ah, whatever, nevermind, it don't matter anyway.


Not when I can still find bands like The Flakes out there. Holy crap! These guys sound like British Invasion 33 1/3 rekkids played at 45 rpm speed! Me likey The Flakes.


And me likey The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs too. Yeah, they got their name from Iggy's classic Search And Destroy. Coolsville. Punk fukkin rawk.


And, what record collection would be complete without some of New Hampshire's finest, The Queers. 20 years and three chords. The perfect ratio.

Shit, it beats Valium.

Toonage:
The Flakes - Shake/Hold On I'm Coming
The StreetWalkin' Cheetahs - 1968 (Bobby Caught One In The Head)
The Queers - Stupid Fuckin' Vegan
George Michael - Freedom '90

Are Ya Gonna Be There?

At the Love-In, baby!



Toonage:
Chocolate Watchband - Are You Gonna Be There?
Slickee Boys - Are You Gonna Be There?
Chesterfield Kings - Are You Gonna Be There?

OMG WTF Etc

Feel like opening up a vein and, well, Bleedin' Out. A serious case of ennui as of late. Pressures of the job and worries about the economy are really doing a job on my psyche.

And it's affecting my desire for the rawk.

Blew off free tix for these guys, these guys, these guys and this guy, all in the past week. Yeah, I wouldn't see at least one of them without an ample supply of free booze (which was actually going to happen in skybox suites). But I just haven't had the head lately for anything but heavy duty PUNK RAWK.

However, I get to wake up at 3:30 am tomorrow and take my daughter (Princess Nomad) to see this chick perform a 7 am show. Yeah, 3:30 am. For teen pop. I'll be the guy in the Ramones shirt and the perpetual scowl.

So, basically, my life as I knew it is over.

Time to hit the bar...

Toonage:

Descendents - When I Get Old

The Kinks - I'm In Disgrace

Against Me! - Thrash Unreal

Redd Kross - Heaven Only Knows

Sonny And Cher - The Beat Goes On

Broken Glass & Razor Wire

The dichotomy of a weekend. Went to see the Circle Jerks and Dillinger Four Saturday night. Two old (In the Circle Jerks case- really old) school punk bands. And then last nite, I was planning on seeing Phil Lesh and Friends.

The D4 are midwestern (Minneapolis to be exact) punk rock motherfuckers. Fat, old and kick ass. Perfect. The between songs snappy patter was great (as their lead singer stated "I'm fat and I'm 36, I need to rest") and the kids were moshing and diving. What a beautiful thing.

The Circle Jerks were very good, not great. Whaddya expect, they're in their 50's! But after a 23 year break from seeing em, it was wonderful. Lead singer Keith Morris has got long ass dreads and a nice bald spot. And he is quite the Alter Kocker at this point! Between songs, asking the crowd to not hurt anyone and to be careful. Oy vey!

The train ride home sorta sucked, since the train was packed full of drunken assholes who went to see this douchebag at Central Park. Yecch. But I was good, I did NOT get into a fight on the train.

And then yesterday I was gonna go see Phil Lesh And Friends at the Beach. I got all the way to the parking lot figuring I'd buy a ticket off some head, but it was such a nice day (and the amphitheater at Jones Beach sucks such huge balls) that I ended up hanging in the lot and listening from there. I ran into a couple who had tickets and, after hearing my reasons for not going in, decided to join me outside! And they HAD tickets! They even asked me if I wanted to have one for nothing and I decided against it.

Ah well, the setlist looked great, lots of old Dead tunes, but I just couldn't get my head into walking into such an oppressive venue.

Part of that decision was due to the early afternoon rehearsal for the reformation of my old Punk Band. Yep, we're gonna get together and play some shows and maybe even do a live DVD (this of course, according to our insane guitar player... we'll see!). And I was amazed how quickly the songs came back to me. The Rush tune was a little flaky, as I was trying to teach em the Overture to 2112! What's more Punk Rock than 2112? Um... I guess everything. But that's what makes it Punk Rock!

So after a nite of Punk and an afternoon of Punk, I was a little too full of three chords to sit in a seat and listen to long jams. Especially in a Nazi Police state.

So... old school Punk Rock wins over old school Dead. Again!

Toonage:

Circle Jerks - I Just Want Some Skank

Circle Jerks - Stars And Stripes

Dillinger Four - DoubleWhiskeyNoIce

Dillinger Four - How Many Punks

Dillinger Four - Let Them Eat Thomas Paine

Phil Lesh And Friends - Cold Rain And Snow (Live Warfield May 13 2008)

What A Fucking Asshole

First Hymietown. Now this.
Just shut the fuck up Jesse, you are not helping things.



Toonage:
Replacements - Shut Up (demo)
Angry Samoans - You Stupid Asshole
Dillinger Four - Shut Your Little Trap, Inc

Time For Decisions To Be Made

Razzle, dazzle, drazzle, drone, time for this one to come home

Hungry Freaks, Daddy

Crawlin' everywhere. Nameless, shapeless dread. They're distorted, like thru a fun house mirror. Bunch of freakin' monsters. Buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. Gettting closer. There's an itch I can't scratch...

Toonage:

Swell Maps - Blam

Nick Lowe -Marie Provost

Pink Floyd - Waiting For The Worms (The Wall demo's)

X- Under The Big Black Sun

Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns and Money (Live)

America, Fuck Yeah!

Coming up on the Fourth of July. Despite all of our problems, America is still the greatest country on the planet.
Is that blatant nationalism? Fuck yeah!
This weekend, raise a glass to our founding fathers, who devised an experiment that has proved successful even 232 years later. We can differ on the direction of the country and other political matters. In fact, we should differ.
But, we should all be able to agree that the U.S.A. still kicks ass.
(Deity of your choice) Bless America!

Toonage:
Team America - America, Fuck Yeah
Elvis Presley - An American Trilogy (Live Madison Square Garden)
Simon & Garfunkel - America (live Hollywood Bowl 1968)
Bad Religion - American Jesus (Peel Sessions 1993)
John Wayne - The Good Things

Old And Insane

This guy is bad news. Our country is totally fucked and McCain is gonna do his best to keep it in a downward spiral. Wanna keep the war going? Vote McCain! Wanna ban abortion? Vote McCain! Wanna kill free speech? Vote McCain! Wanna keep assault weapons legal? Vote McCain!

Back in 2000, McCain seemed to be a great candidate for the Republikkkans. But after Bush/Rove destroyed his rep, it seemed he was a done deal. 8 years later, he is fellating Dubya and courting the asshole half of Amerikkka.

4 years of McCain = another four of Bush.

And here's something, courtesy of Inspiration, Move Me Brightly.



Toonage:
Kraut - Kill For Cash
Pink Floyd - The Gunner's Dream
Ramones - Street Fighting Man
Stiff Little Fingers - Tin Soldier
The Knack - Good Girls Don't