RTP-area local music and culture

[Bis "sp�ter" <thebackyardbbq AT yahoo.com>]

--- Rawls <jcmidrange AT yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> >DKT/MC5 reunites the 3 surviving members of the
> Motor
> >Maybe _____ will tell
> >me how it was.
> 
> I did not go to this show (I saw the Nein, Figga
> 4, and Data Hata that night who were all great).

I *did* go to the {(MC5-2) + [1+(1+(1-1))]} show.  

[(1-1)= Evan Dando, in case yr wonderin']

{...I also went to Go for J.Page [that new band from
Florida that has the recently Gainesville-relocated
Mike Magarelli (Scaries)], and also to DeLaLuz for The
Honored Guests and Fashion Design.  I managed to catch
a little SNMNM at the start of my evening at the Go
show, too.}

  
> [...] one huge MC 5 fan who went and didn't really
> like it, especially the parts where Evan Dando
> sang.  

Yeah he seemed to be doing the more ballady things.

Whether it was a factor of tunage or god-given talent,
Mark Arm definitely had the most commanding vocals. 
And his screaming/shouting was excellent.  Since we're
talking by-gone eras for the most part, I unabashedly
compare Arm's performance to any of the best Daltrey
may have managed, say 1972-1974.  I'm having to judge
based on audio and visual recordings, not live
performance, but I'd still put Arm in Daltrey's
company.


> main complaint was the drumming was a bit slow 

Huh.  Interesting.  I didn't find the percussion
lacking, and in fact, a couple of times, I *did*
notice it was pretty fucking awesome.  But then, I've
never seen the MC5 before, not even in film or video,
so it's not like I really have anything to compare,
regarding their previous tours.

> Someone I know in one
> of the opening bands loved it (but getting paid to
> be there and paying $18 to be there can alter your
> opinion).  

It was $15 in advance.  And honestly, I think it was
worth every dollar.  

With an aluminum baseball bat, the butt of a .44
Magnum, bare fists and feet, it beat the living hell
out of that pitiful crap Todd Rundgren sloshed out a
few weeks back.  I mean, yeah sure, Todd brought the
pretty lights, but come on, people--that show woulda
been a total snoozer, were it not so painfully
*boring* and pedestrian to the point it ignited my
flight response and made me want to run as far away
from it as I could.  Todd even ruined his big top 40
hit, "Hello It's Me," in the encore by slowing it down
to what I'd call a "managed-care" tempo.  Someone
earlier wrote something about "it was like being in
church."  Boy, you sure got that right.  There's a
reason I don't go to church anymore, and I'll be
damned if that's the experience I'm looking for at a
rock show...  ...and imagine, all this vitriol for a
show I *did* have a free pass for.  I think Rundgren
pinched something like $25 a hit from the proletariat.
  Sheesh.

...but I digress.


> I also heard the turn out for the MC5 wasn't so hot
> either.

Many people were snubbing this [(MC5-2)+2], aka DKT,
show in the weeks before it arrived.  In fact, the
aspersions almost poisoned me, and I came very close
to not going, myself.  Man, would that have been a
*huge* mistake. 
 
DKT definitely brought the rock; I left feeling
electrified and satisfied.  (Valient Thorr will be
pleased to know sweat figured into this disposition.)

Since I'm not an MC5 afficionado, I wanted to grab the
set list, but someone else (who probably deserved it
more) beat me to it.  I don't know and can't remember
everything they played, but I know they did "Call me
Animal," "the American Ruse," "Teenage Lust," "Sister
Anne," "Rama Lama Fafafa," "Starship," "I Want You
Right Now," not at all in that order, and I can't
remember what their encore set was, period--just that
it was fucking sweet.  

...that is, up until the "cool" dood next to me at the
front of the stage decided it was time to roll a
doobie in a dollar bill and smoke it--I mean, I'm
sorry, but I do NOT want to come out of a show
smelling like dope.  I quit smoking dope when I was
16, so I'm not interested in that anymore, I think of
it as total high school, and I especially don't like
the stench.  Since the Cradle is now non-smoking,
you'd think this wouldn't be a problem.  Anyway, the
dope-smoking dood really ruined *my* buzz, but once I
got away from him, it was all good.  I had to leave my
happy place in front of Wayne Kramer, and go back to
the middle behind the handful of people yet rocking,
but the music was still excellent, and I still had
plenty of dance left.  I'd been up front for most of
it, so it wasn't the end of the world; but I did
really enjoy being right in front of Wayne Kramer, and
I'm slightly bitter I had to choose between watching
rock riffs from heaven vs. smelling like marijuana for
the rest of the night.

As for Marshall Crenshaw, he had the most strikingly
beautiful Fender Strat I've ever seen.  I'm not sure
if it's that elusive "Dakota Red," but it was a
satiny, seductive shade of subtle (crimson) red, with
a black pickguard (& off-white pick-ups), matching
headstock, and I never got close enough to be able to
tell, but either the fretboard was some deep shade of
mahogany, or it had exactly the same finish as the
body and headstock.  I could barely take my eyes off
it.  You shoulda seen it.  I don't usually have dreams
about guitars, but that thing was *hot*.  Baby. 
Mmm-hmmm.

So, if you're willing to take the word of someone who
only knows half the words to Kick Out the Jams, and
bits of the chorus of Teenage Lust, the show was a
rocker, indisputably worth the price (tho' I heard
Cobra Verde wasn't so hot--fortunately, I was over at
DeLaLuz watching Fashion Design do that 80's-kinda
near-goth rock they're so freakin' good at during that
part--yeah!).  

...so if you got that time machine operational, go
back and catch what you missed.  (I'll join ya, and
then just hang out, so maybe the second time around I
*won't* miss Fire Parade at Go Sunday night, damn it.)
 

> Anyone know why the Kiss Army cancelled on
> Friday night?  

Not me; the show Friday night was TOTALLY at King's
with Valient Thorr and Sentinel.  Word.  I wondered
where you were.


E.

About Sunday at Go, I did manage to catch Amish Jihad
on Sunday, since they closed.  They are getting
dangerously virulent (in terms of their infectious
potency), while maintaining their foot-loose
beer-here-now jocularity.  Bill, Lyle, and Russell are
definitely ready to take it nationwide.  Their last
two shows have somehow managed to surpass every other
show I can ever remember seeing--it's scary(!). 
Prepare, ye infidels, for the imminent rapture...