Since May 1976, I have written in journals. When I have nothing particularly resonant to say about my own inner turmoil, philosophic ramblings, sexual peccadillos or whining on about the state of the world around me...I have always fallen back on reporting the cultural time consumption that takes up in inordinate portion of my daily goings on.
In the 40+ years since my first concerts seeing Children's Symphony presentations on Sundays at the Pasadena Civic or The Hot Jazz Society's monthly Dixieland romps in an old meeting hall on the edge of the L.A. "River" across from Griffith Park, I have been sold heavily on the magic of live music. As Neil Young so aptly put it, "Live music is better bumper stickers should be issued."
Growing up a few orange groves and canyons length away from Hollywood also contributed greatly to my family's addiction to movie going. From the time I was a small there were weekly trips to the drive-in theaters that dotted the landscape, or the local Temple theater for the Saturday matinees. Once in a while we'd drive the 12 miles into Hollywood and see something in one of the magnificent old movie palaces like Grauman's Chinese, the Egyptian, The Pantages or later the Cinerama Dome. My dad loved Westerns and War movies, as if he didn't get enough shoot-'em-up as an L.A. County Sheriff in his day gig, my mom adored musicals and comedies. My brother and I loved them all.
At SDSU, I played in my first gigging band and began booking concerts on campus as part of the well-funded Cultural Arts Board, kindling for my future life in and around music.
So it's not surprising that my first jobs out of college were working in local video rental places (which were all the rage) or managing a couple of Sam Goody record stores in Mall's on the East Coast where we marveled at the new CD format and sold the first home computers and video games (yes Commodore and Pong and Atari).
So these are really just extensions of all of those journal entries talking about the great new movies I was seeing and LPs/CDs I was listening to.
Though iPODS/iPADs, apps, smart phones and downloads now make music and movies accessible in your own pocket, there is still nothing like sitting in front of a stack of speakers with a room full of people swaying to music created before your eyes. Nor is there anything that works quite so well for me to escape the real world and all of it's pressures just outside than two hours in a dark theater, absorbing the stories flickering across that wide screen as they pull you into their world.
Mike Watt + Missingmen on their recent "2nd heapin' helpin' of 3rd opera tour 2012"
have been performing Jimi Hendrix and Band of Gypsys' classic "MACHINE GUN" as part of their encores. Here's it is in a medley with Wire's "106 Beats That", Minutemen's "Glory of Man" both sung by Watson and "The Glory of Man" Blue Oyster Cult's "The Red & The Black" from October 6, 2012 & The Vaudeville Mews in Des Moines, IA.
Mike Watt: thud staff, vocals / Tom Watson: guitar / Raul Morales: drums...I'm not sure who the two guest guitarists are. Sorry. Nevertheless, crusher.
"START A BAND!!!" Word.
This below is cool too...from earlier in 2011 in Seattle with special guests Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and Eddie Vedder all of whom were in Watt's band in 1997...slamming into Watt's "Big Train" and Iggy & The Stooges "Fun House"...
also a taste of last week's gig in Pedro courtesy of Skipper Jeff.. first covers of Wire's "Three Girl Rhumba" and below that Roky Erickson's "Sweet Honey Pie"... Watt's got it covered.
The incendiary punk grunge trio fIREHOSE reunites for the first time since 1994 for a couple of weeks of dates surrounding their appearances at Coachella in April.
fIREHOSE was getting the push from Columbia Records in the early 90s and I got the chance to see them at the Khyber Pass in Philly in 1992 and about a year later at the Trocadero. An amazing live band powered by the bass drum duo of San Pedro duo Mike Watt and George Hurley from the proto-punk band The Minutemen. When their guitarist/vocalist D. Boon died tragically in a tour bus accident in Dec of 1985, Watt and Hurley hung up the Minutemen handle and thought they wouldn't be regrouping the format. That is until guitarist/vocalist/songwriter/fan Ed (Crawford) fROMOHIO showed up at the door for an audition. Watt and Hurley were impressed and fIREHOSE was born. In short order they were signed to Columbia Records and began recording a series of albums and touring nationwide until they split in 1994. Their recordings are still a joy. Exuberant and refreshing and full of raw energy though Crawford brought a slicker sound than D. Boon's deliciously reckless edge. Watching the Watt/Hurley rhythmic juggernaut in action was one of the great thrills of my concert-going experiences during those years.
Hurley has played very little over the ensuing years while Watt has become the go-to guy for edgy, propulsive and furiously hip prog-punk thud staff duties. He not only has released numerous albums under his own name, but toured in Porno for Pyros, Iggy + The Stooges, and as leader of Mike Watt + Missingmen and the Secondmen and as member of Banyan, Wylde Ratttz, the bass duo dos with ex-wife and former Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler; and appearances on record and/or live with J. Mascis, Hellride, Black Gang, Floored by Four, No Age and Unknown Instructors. Watt's 2011 album Hyphenated-Man with the Missingmen made my Top CDs of 2011 list.
Coming out this week is Spielgusher featuring Watt, drummer Yuko Araki, guitarist Hirotaka "Shimmy" Shimizu and influential rock/punk journalist Richard Meltzer'swords and voice.
Where: TriArt Fest, Ports o' Call, San Pedro, CA
When: Sunday, September 25
Mike Watt + The Missingmen with Norton Wisdom at TriArt Fest 9/25/11. Photo by Skipper Jeff
You know, I been hooked on the thud staff since I heard the MINUTEMEN for the first time back in the early 80s, saw the Ball Hog or Tugboat tour date in Philly at the Troc and many firehose and Watt shows since. But digging into his third punk opera, hyphenated-man (clenchedwrench) has been a brain shank of wondrous weirdness. Every time I tackle it again something else resonates wildly. As one who was a longtime BoschHead and near the same age as Watt this concept really feels thumpy, close to chest bone.
photo by Skipper Jeff
"This is based on the little creatures in Hieronymus Bosch's painting. The songs are the little creatures," Watt explained to fans in the parking lot of the TriArt Fest just after he and THE MISSING MEN finished their first local performance of the opera in Watt's long-time home town of San Pedro, California. Pedro is the working class town at the port of Los Angeles where Watt has been a leader of the local music scene for two decades now. He's staged shows to help raise funds for a community p.a. system shared by the local punk bands and performs free whenever he can generally on bills that help draw attention to the phalanx of talented bands from Pedro and surrounding beach communities.
This was my second live exposure to the full hyphenated-man. I'd been tingly when I heard Watt was heading out for the 51-gigs-in-52-days tour this past Spring. I was only able to grab a ducat for the 2nd show of the tour on March 11 in Echo Park but it was worth the haul down the hill. That gig was pumped and miles fun if a tad clammy so early in the trek. The vibe was deep, the fans crunchy into it and the Echo as always a great spot for a gig. And check out the vids of Le Butcherettes -- a crusher opener. You must catch this band too. Wild energy and muscle tight.
Yesterday, Watt + The Missingmen commandeered the second day of the free TriArt Fest on the lawn at the south end of the Ports O' Call village Pedro. Thanks to Greg Iberra and peeps the fest was typically econo with a simple canopy over a
slab of concrete on the lawn at the end of the Ports O' Call shopping
village on the waterfront. A handful of vendors of handcrafted wares,
CDs and buttons, a handful of old metal folding chairs, two portable
construction light rigs and the community p.a. Even the volume level of
the music was amazingly controlled compared to the usual high test
spleen shaking of the usual bar and hall scene. You could carry on a
conversation within ten feet of the stage while still hearing every
note. Not the usual ferocious punk face peeling assault. Not lessening the impact of the music much but keeping the non-festers from recoiling. Consequently
there were families picnicking, shoppers and after-dinner strollers
stopping by to check out the commotion and fans surrounding the stage
digging in deep.
We missed Saccharine Trust (I was cranky at that) but heard The Last before Watt launched the whole of hyphenated-man shortly after 7pm. The 45+ minute piece of music flowed powerfully, much tighter than at The Echo. The roadwork paid off heavily. A few lyric babbles but all smiles. This is difficult shit to spew out. Fast and complex. Pedro's own Raul Morales was especially torched on drums, so sharp and propulsive playing for the pack. Tom Watson's guitar punctuations synced perfectly with Morales machine gun delivery and Watt's thud was pervasive, the homey crowd was right there with them. Two little girls waltzed together on a platform behind the stage area and Norton Wisdom's provocative real-time paintings behind the band were propelled by his familiarity with the material and band and his ability to shred the moment into spontaneous liquid vision.
Underground Railroad To Candyland closed the fest with a scorching set in the cool fall evening. Perfect Pedro day.
A photo gallery from Skipper Jeff (unless noted) from the TriArt Fest...
Raul Morales & Tom Watson
art by Norton Wisdom from Watt set 9/2511 (photo courtesy Norton Wisdom - find him on Facebook)
Skipper Jeff and Watt
Watt, Tsau & Bsau
Watt & Wisdom
econo dash
Below is the entire opera from the national tour in the spring. This show is from April 23rd at the Complex in Salt Lake City, UT. The 47th of 51 gigs in 52 days. Ball hog AND tugboat. No prisoners.
