Weed, Whites, And Wine

I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty, don't ya know,
And I'm still willin'

Out on the road late last night,
Seen my pretty Alice in every head light
Alice, Dallas Alice

I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
I've driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed

If you give me: weed, whites, and wine
And you show me a sign
I'll be willin' to be movin'

I've been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet
Had my head stoved in, but I'm still on my feet
And I'm still... willin'

Now I smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico
Baked by the sun,
every time I go to Mexico

And I been from Tuscon to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah
I've driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
I've driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed

And if you give me: weed, whites, and wine
And you show me a sign I'll be willin' to be movin'


Bookage:

The Road - Cormac McCarthy


Toonage:
Little Feat - Willin'
Lowell George w/ Linda Ronstadt - Willin'
Phil Lesh & Friends - Willin' (live 10-22-99)
Uncle Tupelo - Willin'
Steve Earle - Willin'
Black Crowes - Willin'



----------------
Now playing: The Clash - Straight To Hell (unedited version)
via FoxyTunes

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)

Compare and Contrast

I spent the past week going to shows performed by two of the alumni of that august institution known as the Grateful Dead.

Bob Weir's Ratdog performed on Halloween and the following night I saw Phil Lesh & Friends. Having seen a ridiculous amount of Dead shows in my time as well as virtually all incarnations of the band since the death of Jerry, I was surprised by the performances this time around.

Lesh was always the avant garde, jazzy and spacey influence in the Dead, while Bobby was the four on the floor rockin' cowboy.

Well campers, things have changed. Ratdog, having the benefit of a tried and true veteran line-up who have been with him for many years was the jam band and Phil & Friends were the more conventional bar band.

Will wonders never cease. Ratdog played several extended pieces, including Weather Report Suite and the St Stephen/William Tell/Eleven troika and stretched out nicely on several other tunes. Additionally, the band played four (count em, four!) Bob Dylan songs. Weir is in bad need of some facial grooming (that long ass beard makes him look like August West) but the band is terrific.

The Lesh show was more concise, many of the songs were stripped down (especially during the first set). The second set brought a bit more development with some jam's intersperesed in China Cat Sunflower, Cumberland Blues and the Help On The Way>Slipknot>Franklin's Tower set-ender. The band's focal point seems to be guitar player/vocalist Jackie Greene, who looks to be about 15 years old. Lesh seems to be having a great time; but I miss the band when Warren Haynes was around.

And of course, both bands are sorely lacking a certain guitar player, who could cut through the haze with a plaintive guitar lick.

A broken angel sings
from a guitar
In the end there's just a song
comes crying like the wind
through all the broken dreams

You can find (for purcha$e) a ton of Ratdog live shows here, and a boatload of Phil & Friends shows here.
Oh, and for those on a budget, you can find lots of shows for free here and here and here and here and here.

So, with all that being said,

Toonage:
Phil & Friends - The Weight (2-18-06 NYC)
Phil & Friends - Wharf Rat (7-16-05 Red Rocks (w/ Ryan Adams)
Ratdog - The Other One (3-8-07)
Ratdog - Jack Straw - 8-19-06 (New York)
Grateful Dead - St. Stephen (5-8-77 Cornell)
Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station (3-18-77 Winterland)