#clutch

August of Metal: Iron Maiden Book of Souls Tour, Dead Cross make their live debut + checking in w/ Primus, Clutch & much more (Aug/2017)

This summer saw the return of some of the biggest names in Rock to the road doing massive tours. As well as the debut of some powerhouses that are sure to keep things rocking for years to come.

Iron Maiden – June 23rd – American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX 

The most amazing thing here that was obvious from the opening notes to the encore is that there are no obvious signs of rust on Iron Maiden. Still one of the world’s most popular bands, with a tour schedule that would give much younger men heart attacks  This latest trek visiited more than 100 cities, and singer Bruce Dickinson is even flying the band between them on their own plane, Ed Force One. At 58, he’s not quite ready for a bus pass, but a brush with cancer seems to have underlined his mortality and rejuvenated the frontman and the band, who perform as if it’s their last but with no end in sight.

Show begins with Dickinson climbing out of a steaming cauldron, leaps off the drum riser & later dons a monkey head mask, battles a giant Ed (the band’s death’s head mascot)

Some songs from 2015’s globally chart-steamrollering The Book of Souls  are so long that it takes the band two hours to play 14. And yet, there’s something touching in Maiden’s relentless rocking and the way bassist Steve Harris and the band’s three guitarists grin at each other while perfecting their “machine gun” poses for the millionth time.

The none-more-rugged singer makes a speech about the “blithering idiots, now running the world, with their fingers on the nuclear button”, and when he points to flags showing where fans have come from, there are people from as far afield as Japan and Argentina. “We don’t care where you come from or what you do in your spare time If you come to an Iron Maiden show, you’re family.”

Impossible to overstate how amazing & just life-affirming this show was. Watching your heroes not as most are but still AS THEY were, at the top of their game, firing on all cylanders & kicking ass the world over.

Who would have thought that in such crazy times a grizzly old rock band in bullet belts singing about demons, warfare, apocalypse and mass murder would emerge as a beacon of unity, peace, love and understanding? Bless them.

Setlist –

If Eternity Should Fail
Speed of Light
Wrathchild
Children of the Damned
Death or Glory
The Red and the Black
The Trooper
Powerslave
The Great Unknown
The Book of Souls
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden

Encore: 

The Number of the Beast
Blood Brothers
Wasted Years

Faster Pussycat 30th Anniversary Tour – July 7th – Trees – Dallas, TX

Earlier in the Summer during 4th of July Weekend the Faster Pussycat 30th Anniversary tour rolled on visiting the DFW area for the third time in less than a year (& no one is complaining). While they too have had their numerous lineup changes over the years & only frontman Taime Downs remains from the bands late 80’s heyday, much like Foreigner above the current lineup has been solid longer than the original one was & this version of Faster Pussycat is still kicking much ass.

Downe’s is no spring chicken from the spandex-wearing, high-hair glory days, but can still sing with the nasally cat-scratch shriek like he did back in the late-’80s. At this point that’s all the fans want, even if they all look like sleazy biker dudes with a million miles on their tires.

Songs like Cathouse and Slip of the Tongue still retain their immature sexed-up charm & power ballad House of Pain (with Downe crouched down on a litup arrow) may have been the best thing heard all night – “Enjoy them while they are here, because when their gone, their gone” – Glad these guys are still here.

Setlist –

Jack the Bastard
Cathouse
Slip of the Tongue
Number 1 With a Bullet
The Power and the Glory Hole
Shooting You Down
Don’t Change That Song
House of Pain
You’re So Vain (Carly Simon cover)
Bathroom Wall (w/Deep in the Heart of Texas – Alvino Rey cover)
Sin City (AC/DC cover) (Chad Stewart on vocals)
Chinese Rocks (The Heartbreakers cover) (Ace Von Johnson on vocals)
Pretty Fucked Up (Supersuckers cover) (Danny Nordhal on vocals)
Shut Up and Fuck (Betty Blowtorch cover)
Babylon

Primus/Clutch – August 6th – South Side Ballroom – Dallas,TX:

Two heavy-hitters, Clutch & Primus, teamed up for a bonkers tour that anyone in attendance won’t forget any time soon.
Clutch, my brothers from Maryland & sometimes tour mates got the party started hitting the stage hard with their profound but yet anything fancy, increasingly blues-rock formula.

“The plan is to record a new record in January,” singer Neil Fallon announced. “We’re gonna practice some for ya … Don’t record it. It’s gonna sound terrible.”  Maybe on your cellphone, not live. The most striking was How to Shake Hands, written from the perspective of a presidential candidate promising to “put Bill Hicks on a five note.” “I don’t need secret service, ‘cause I know how to work a room,” Awesome!

Setlist – 

Cyborg Bette
Crucial Velocity
You Can’t Stop Progress
Power Player
Zep Funk 2x
Passive Restraints
Earth Rocker
Sucker for the Witch
The Face
How to Shake Hands
We Love a Good Fire
A Quick Death in Texas
Your Love Is Incarceration
Vision Quest
Big News I (with Mike Dillon)
D.C. Sound Attack! (with Mike Dillon)
Electric Worry
X-Ray Visions

(Much thanks to Jack & Oscar for the amazing hospitality)

Now let me tell you a little story: It’s called The Curse of Primus – Not because I’m not a fan of Primus, just the opposite but for some reason their odd msyticism has somehow bled into (my) real life as every time I’ve attempted to witness them perform, something bizarre happens to prevent it. While I managed to catch a few shows in the early to mid-90s somewhere around 1995’s Tales From the Punchbowl is where the curse began. It was that tour that Patrick Collins & I arrived so late that we caught the END of the encore due to forces beyond our control. In 22 years I’ve managed to see them only once since that night successfully after SIX failed attempts. I’m pleased to say that thanks to my new love Jocelyn & my brothers Clutch, the curse has finally been lifted.

It started with anti-war anthem Too Many Puppies wrapped around Sgt. Baker, with images of troops marching on screen. Les Claypool showed off his unusual chops early with a solo low on the neck that sounded like a rubbery guitar.

The weirdness carried right into Over the Falls & the hits just kept coming among various dark, sluggish noodling around in the middle.
A long, patient Southbound Pachyderm, sounding like the soundtrack for an apocalyptic Western film and emphasizing why Primus is beloved in the jam as well as the metal scene. The last section was all killer, though, starting with the backwoods bludgeoning of My Name is Mud and the giddy set-closing stomp of Jerry Was a Race Car Driver. 

Both sets featured beloved New Orleans Jack-of-All-trades Mike Dillon sitting in on a few songs on percussion adding his infectious energy & spot-on rhythm giving every song he touched that special feel.

Setlist – 

Too Many Puppies
Sgt. Baker (with “Too Many Puppies” reprise)
Moron TV
Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver
Southbound Pachyderm (with Mike Dillon)
Over the Falls
Lee Van Cleef
Candy Man (Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley cover)
Mr. Krinkle
Welcome to This World (Shortened, into “Mrs. Blaileen)
My Name Is Mud
Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
Harold of the Rocks

Encore: 

The Seven
Mr. Knowitall

Dead Cross – August 14th – Gas Monkey Bar & Grill – Dallas, TX

Ok so just in case you haven’t heard, prolific sound vault Mike Patton has yet another project he is fronting, Dead Cross, this time once again with legendary speed drummer, Slayer’s Dave Lombardo (whom Patton also formed the esoteric project Fantomas at the turn of the millennium). Patton apparently doesn’t know how to say to no & we are all better for it as this LP kicks ass & was ready to see it live.

When Dead Cross’ debut album hit shelves on Aug. 4, its four members had never even all played music together in the same room.

In November 2015, Lombardo — best known as a founding member of Huntington Park thrash-metal juggernaut Slayer — disbanded his longtime side project Philm, but had studio time and SoCal concerts booked for the band. Not one to renege, but with just two weeks before the first show, he desperately needed a fill-in act. When he ran into The Locust/Retox bassist Justin Pearson (with whom he’d toured while drumming for Fantômas) and Retox guitarist Michael Crain at the studio of metal mega-producer Ross Robinson (Korn, At the Drive-In), Lombardo seized the moment.

An album’s worth of Dead Cross material had been recorded and was set to be released on Ipecac Recordings — the label co-founded by Faith No More/Mr. Bungle frontman Mike Patton — when Serbian stepped aside to focus on family, Lombardo’s asked Patton,who is widely regarded as one of hard rock’s most innovative vocalists, to become Dead Cross’ new singer. And here we are on Night #2 of the tour.

The result evokes both classic, pissed-off hardcore punk and its crossover thrash offshoot, all updated with rhythmic about-turns and sonic heft.  Patton’s oft-intertwining layers of eccentric, theatrically unhinged vocals that twist Dead Cross’ instantly familiar instrumental backbone into a defiantly, perversely uncategorizable experience. A restless romp through ADHD rhythms and riffs & carnivalesque air by Patton’s unsettling, multipersonality performances.

Patton’s impressively elastic, immediately recognizable crooning, punctuated with garbled scatting, yelps and rants, will be familiar to anyone aware of his projects from Mr. Bungle’s 1991 debut onward, but he’s never sung atop anything so throat-grabbing and relentlessly aggressive. It was amazing to see Patton re-creating his elaborate studio vocal arrangements onstage, and stretching a sub-28-minute album into a headline-length live set.

Opening was the incomparable Secret Chiefs 3 fronted by Patton co-hort Trey Spruance formerly of also Mr. Bungle & Faith No More.

A rare sighting in these parts & only the second time I’ve ever seen the band live, last time being six years ago in NYC.
Secret Chiefs 3 have existed in various incarnations over the course of the past eight years, and have served as the funnel for Spruance’s remarkably far-flung studies of the hermetic mysteries and musical traditions of unknown and underappreciated subgenres. Live it’s an alchemical fusion of Morricone-esque cinematic grandeur, midnight surf guitar, traditional Middle Eastern rhythms and time signatures, demonic death metal, and electronic deviance that yields a work of undeniable force.

 

Photos – 

Roy Turner
Tony Wann
Steve Principato
Jeremy Williams

Motorhead Day in Austin w/ Clutch & more (March/2011)

Motorhead & Clutch – Stubb’s BBQ – Austin, TX – March 8th

So how do we conclude Birthday Week? By going to see two of my all-time favorite bands, in one of my favorite cities, at one of my favorite venues. I couldn’t have been more looking forward to this.
And this was no ordinary tour stop – something the breathes the very essence of Austin, TX – was the day before, the Mayor had actually (and officially) declared today – to be Motorhead day in Austin – as in like no shit – with an official proclamation – 

So they spelled Lemmy‘s name wrong, (which I heard him laugh at later) but never let it be said that Austin doesn’t have some truly metal moments from time to time.
My history with Clutch both personally and professionally is long lineage that has been well-documented/over-explained in this blog so no need to reiterate that, other than to say, that their invitation as a b-day gift was truly awesome as their Tour Manager Oscar, knows that I’m a huge Motorhead fan.
By the time we got to Austin, parked, got our passes from Will Call and got inside we had missed the first band Valient Thor, which would have been cool to see, but I was so jazzed about seeing Motorhead, it honestly didn’t matter.

Out comes Maryland’s finest

 


 

Their set was freaking awesome as always and they even debuted a new song that sounded really cool. Neil said it was just a work in progress but it sure sounded great.
Setlist :

Gravel Rd.
Child of the City
Nuevo Riffs
50,000 Unstoppable Watts
Struck Down
Cypress Grove
Hobgoblins (new song)
Open up the Border
The Soapmakers
Immortal

Then here comes the bloodstorm that is Motorhead – One of the things that I really appreciate about Austin (especially after living in NYC) is that crowds are fanatical some of the best fans in the world no matter what band it is.
For a band that is known for their sheer power and volume, you could hear the crowd almost as loud.
Starting perfectly with We Are Motorhead it just set the pace and never let up.

 

 

 

Setlist :

We Are Motörhead
Stay Clean
Get Back In Line
Metropolis
I Got Mine
Over the Top
The Chase Is Better Than the Catch
Rock Out
I Know How to Die
In the Name of Tragedy
Just ‘Cos You Got the Power
Killed by Death
Going to Brazil
Ace of Spades

Encore:

Overkill

After the show we head backstage to say hello and thanks to Oscar and the Clutch guys. As we are being let in through the fence, right behind us are three hottie little groupie chicks (not counting the one on my arm) but security is giving static to one of them, so I do my best to rescue her and it actually worked. They were looking at me like “All right cool, who is our new friend here?” but little did they know I was as surprised as them that it worked 🙂
We find Oscar, and of course our smartass rapport ensues instantly – and I thank him for having us – good times.
We go into the hospitality area where Lemmy and Micky Dee are sitting and Lemmy has the proclamation sitting in his lap laughing in disbelief but genuinely flattered at the gesture.
We weren’t in there 2 mins before they are clearing us out. We go out back and the three rocker chicks are still out there and they come to thank me, and ask if we will be here for SXSW.
Before I can get it out about our showcase in the boxing ring, they all three already knew about it and were freaking out excited about it.
Word was starting to spread.

Photos –

Roy Turner
Trent Lesikar

Halloween w/ Helmet, Samhain with Clutch & more (Oct/2010)

Clutch (opening for Black Label Society) – Verizon Theater – Grand Prairie, TX – October 30th

So I checked in with Oscar (Clutch‘s Tour Manager) and the gang the day before the show to see what was what. Tonight, the night of the show was Game 3 of the World Series that was happening just down the street. Since they are from Maryland, I expected they probably hadn’t been to a World Series before either (oooohhhh damn haha) – and I tried in vain to secure three tickets for Neil (Singer), Oscar and I, but no such luck. That plan changed to meeting at a restaurant to watch the game and eat, to simply just watching the first few innings on the bus. Shame too, as it was the only game the Rangers won of the Series.
Now comes showtime, and I take a seat in the front row, dead center. I hadn’t seen the guys in almost 9 months and the last time I did, they seemed pretty road weary (as we all were).
Now they seemed re-energized and as sure as I am that opening for Black Label Society was probably not their first choice, knowing them as I do, they were excited for the chance to play to a larger, different crowd that they could expose to, to their brand of rawk.
This was a good show and their was alot of love for them, and they made some quick converts as well.

 

Setlist

Who’s Been Talking?
Algo Ha Cambiado
Texan Book Of The Dead
Struckdown
The Mob Goes Wild
Big News I
Big News II
Pure Rock Fury
Abraham Lincoln
Burning Beard

After they played I went back to the bus, but to no fault of the bands’, their was a weird scene happening with some people hanging around they were really hard to take. Since I was in my hometown, I knew I had some friends in the audience, so I bailed on the hang and went to go see who I could find. My bff since I was a kid, Chris couldn’t make it, but I thought maybe his brother might have. Instead, I run into his brothers closest friend and his wife, who are huge Clutch fans. I hang with them a bit, and I knew how much it would mean to them to go backstage, so I went back to see if the scene at the bus had dissipated and when in fact, it had only increased. Also security was raking everyone over the coals, so I just decided against putting them thru all of that noise.

Helmet – The Loft – Dallas, TX – October 31st

(Editor’s Note: – much of the following entry originally appeared in my article for Jam Magazine here – )

The first thing we should establish is that you are most likely wrong about Helmet. At least wrong about their current state of existence. Your tendencies to do so are not inaccurate but the results are and here is what I mean:

Usually the formula of band gets real popular, breaks up, only to reform six years later with one sole original member and three new hired hands. They make a record to seem legitimate and that record always sucks, and which they usually ignore in concert anyway like it doesn’t exist, and just play updated versions of the hits and the whole thing has the feel of holding on too tight in a playing at the State Fair sorta way. If this is the conclusion that you have reached about Helmet since their breakup in 1997 and their re-formation in 2004, than yes you are wrong.

It’s okay, I had the same ambivalence – I was excited yet, suspicious because of the aforementioned formula, when they dropped 2004’s Size Matters – but that went away after I heard it, and saw them on tour that year. They followed that with 2006’s Monochrome – which, I know I’ll get a lot of flak for, stands up nicely to anything they did in the 1990’s. Well hell, even that’s been four years, so I was even more surprised by the intensity of this year’s Seeing Eye Dog. Released very quietly just a few weeks ago, to further that wrong impression, I get the feeling that even those interested might not even be aware of the album’s release.

Granted there was a lot going on that night – The Rangers were in their first World Series, and even within the same building, you had the dude from Staind playing a set, and around the corner, there was a certainly befitting of Halloween show by Danzig. But still about 100 people, who most didn’t bother with costumes showed up and they knew ever word, even the new stuff.

Would I prefer the “classic” lineup and have them do 1992’s entire Meantime? Of course, but don’t count them out man, the new lineup is totally solid and they rolled out over half of the album, like a relevant, current entity and the new stuff sounded fantastic.

In recent shows, I’ve come to the conclusion that 1997’s Aftertaste is founder/main dude Paige Hamilton’s favorite record to play live. It was the final record before the breakup and maybe he feels it’s didn’t get enough attention, as this show also offered over half of that record too. In recent years I’ve seen Helmet perform the record in its entirety.

Hamilton was so polite that he actually apologized for having the show on a Sunday night, then greeted a couple in the crowd who’d followed the band through its shows in Houston and Austin to Dallas. Later he acknowledged an attendee’s costume.

“Are you dressed as Hunter S. Thompson?” he asked, then told the fan he won the prize for costume of the night. Drummer Kyle Stevenson came out in a mask and costume; Hamilton and the rest of the band wore T-shirts and jeans.

Still rocking and still relevant, and I’m proud to say that. I remember worshiping this band in High School and seeing them in much bigger places, but this third act still packs a punch.

Setlist:

So Long
Exactly What You Wanted
Birth Defect
Welcome to Algiers
See You Dead
Ironhead
White City
Street Crab
In Person
Unsung
Seeing Eye Dog
Blacktop
In The Meantime
Milquetoast
Driving Nowhere
Crisis King
It’s Easy to get Bored

Photos –

Roy Turner

On Tour w/ Clutch & Never Got Caught (Dec/2009)

Sun Dec 27th

So it was bittersweet as I said goodbye to my family to fly to Charlotte, NC today. I’m normally home at least until the 30th so it felt strange to be gone so soon cause I knew once I stepped on that plane, essentially for me, the holidays were over.

 Charlotte, NC – Day 1

I landed in Charlotte around 2pm and made my way to our hotel and checked in. The guys in Never Got Caught were driving with the equipment from Boston and would be here in a few hours so I had time to make some calls and send emails.
The band shows up and I’m introduced to the sound and merch dudes that round out our crew. We opt to go ahead and go to the venue, Amos Southend, a few miles away.

We get to the place and load in starts immediately. Alot of touring is the “hurry up and wait” kinda process but we got the ball rolling right away. Their are four bands on this tour so to get everyone loaded in and sound checked is a bit of an undertaking. Here is the lineup:

Never Got Caught
Lionize
Doomriders
Clutch

Now for a bit of a backstory:  Never Got Caught and I have a long storied history with the guys in Clutch, but in two completely seperate capacities. Bryan and Billy Hinkley (singer-guitarist and drummer of NGC respectively) used to be in Boston Hardcore legends, Tree back in the day and toured with Clutch many times under that moniker. That relationship materialized into a Stage Management position for Bryan with Clutch, a position he held for many years, circling the globe with the band just up till last year when he decided to concentrate on NGC full time. Bryan and I actually met at a Clutch show in NYC two years ago and that’s how we started working together ironically.
My tenure however is much less dignafied haha. I was a writer for a publication in Dallas as far back as 1994 when I interviewed their singer Neil Fallon the first time. In the 90’s the band would tour relentlessly and visit Dallas several times a year, usually resulting in me interviewing Neil. Through this he and I formed an odd friendship that was lamented by their legendary manager, Jack Flanagan, who’s folly I became the constant victim of for the remainder of the decade (all in good friendly fun).
I was working at Sony around the time the Elephant Riders came out on that label in 1998 but Neil and I still maintained our once a year interview. By 2003, we had done 11 of them, the fourth of which was the first to feature them on a cover of any publication circulating anywhere in the Southwest (I’ve thought to collect all of these in unedited book form…what do you think?).

So now you know our place here, you will now get to know some of the usual suspects. After meeting the guys in the other two opening bands I see Clutch’s long time tour manager (who shares Mr. Flanagan’s sense of humor) Oscar Hernandez, and the jokes between us immediately begin to fly. Oscar is a king among men and such a pleasure to be working with him so I’m excited about the week ahead.
I’m pulling double duty as Manager/Tour Manager on this trip so their’s alot to do. I get everyone their credentials and help get the merch setup and secure our hospitality rider while the band soundchecks.
Since we are first and this is the first night, their is that jittery feeling of wanting to do well. Another asset on being on this tour is that Clutch’s fans trust and respect them so much that they will get to the shows early to see the openers just because of our involvement by proximity, so the worry of “will anyone show up early to see us” quickly subsided as by the time the doors opened, their was a line stretched around the block.
Now its showtime, and the band is ready to rock:

The pictures you are enjoying are from our merch guy and all around awesome dude, Mike Mancuso, who is also as you can tell a professional photographer, click on his name to check out his site. Well in order for him to take these pics I had to be on merch duty, so after I got the band on stage and no sign of trouble I would relieve him so he could go take pics, and then he would relieve me for load-out after they played.
Their nightly set list was:

Anyway
Pizza Place
Charlotte I
Parasite
Slipping Out
Under Your Skin
Charlotte II

Next up was Lionize, who Tim Sult (guitarist/Clutch) will sit in with when the two bands tour together. Great reggae band also from Washington D.C.

Then after the goodtime feel of some reggae jams, here comes the awesome swagger of Doomriders. Even their crew testing the mic minutes before they went on, was more Metal than most bands you see, as every night when I heard his trademark “HEY!” like a drill sergeant I knew more of the same was soon to folllow. This is the band I got to see the least live as usually during their set I had other pressing matters.

 

So by then I tried to have all of my obligations settled for a bit so I could enjoy Clutch’s set. Though they have done this after-Christmas-to-New Year’s run before, this time they were doing something quite special, by performing their 1995 Self-Titled masterpiece in its entireity. I met people that had literally traveled from all over the world just for a chance to see this, as if your a fan of this band, it really doesn’t get more special than this. In hindsight, I don’t know if it being the first night or what have you, but there seemed to be something really special about this show that other’s, though all had their moments, this night stands out as my favorite. Just the thrill that the machine was moving and we were all together again, and all that we had worked for and had been looking forward to, was finally here.

When Neil grabbed the mic and said “Merry Christmas, how you doing North Carolina?” the crowd let out an emotional release that has stuck with me since that night. They all knew what they were in for and here it was. This band is famous for doing completely different set-lists night after night, but this mini-trek had a mission to deliver the self-titled record while still showcasing their newest effort Strange Cousins from the West. My buddy Will and Agent Ogden were on board filming for the whole tour. They had shot their previous DVD Full Fathom Five  and a finer bunch of gentlemen you would be hard pressed to find. Tim told me later that the idea for this was to capture the “Cousins” record but then the idea of doing alot of the songs from the self-titled was put on the table, then eventually fleshed out to do the whole damn thing. So if the set-list seems similar from night to night this is why, which again for the informed this is not their normal m.o. On this night the set-list if I recall went something like this:

50,000 Unstopable Watts
Struck Down
Minotaur
Let a Poor Man Be
Algo Ha Cambiado

(then the backdrop displaying the Strange Cousins from the West cover, would change to the Self-Titled logo, and the place would go off)

Big News
Big News II
Rock N Roll Outlaw
Texan Book of the Dead
Spacegrass
I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth
Tight Like That
Animal Farm
Droid
The House that Peterbuilt
7 Jam
Tim Sult vs. The Greys

Encore:

10001110101
Abraham Lincoln
Gravel Road

It was alot of music, but the crowd never tired and was really appreciative that what they have come to expect was for certainly this reason. I don’t know if was some unspoken thing of knowing the work we had ahead but this was also the only night on the tour where Oscar and I really made a point to see the whole set and it was great seeing him being such a fan of the music. I’ve been doing this for so long that I have to remain a fan of something or I’ll go crazy, so it was a relief to see that he wasn’t too proud to show his excitement and what a great time it was and he and I stood behind the amps totally rawking out haha.

For the rest of the tour the minutiate of the everyday tasks, my routine went something a little like this:

Arrive at venue and check in.
> Help load the gear in and then find the production office.
> Introduce myself and get the band paid its buyout/hospitality and find the dressing room.
> Get the merch table set up, get it counted and up and running.
> Go to production office and create and turn in guest-lists.
> Create and print setlists (when available)
> Go to van and get suits.
> Check in with the sound board and mixing console
> Do a quick check to make sure nothing will be tripped on and disperse drinks and setlists.
> Band on stage
> After a few songs, and no sign of trouble, run to merch booth to relieve Mike the Merch Guy/Photographer
> Engage people and try to sell as much as I could.
> Upon Mike’s return check on load out.
> Get the band fed and hydrated.
> Check on the van.
> Go watch Clutch for 45 mins. Then around “Tight Like That” go settle with the club.
> Filling out paperwork and getting the band its money.
> Return and check on everyone.
> Watch the rest of Clutch. During final number “Gravel Road” go to merch booth.
> Stay there till venue merch collector comes by.
> More counting and more paper work
> Collect the band and head out.
> Get to hotel and check in get everyone their room keys and wake up calls.
> Stay up for extra hour doing more paper work and setting van call times.
> Wake up the next day – Repeat

After everything was set we found this really rad little seafood place right next door to the club and had a nice victory lap of a dinner of getting through the first show and then headed to the hotel, excited about the next day’s show in D.C. which is essentially a hometown show for Clutch and Lionize.

Day 2 – Washington D.C.

So after a long stressfull drive from Charlotte where we were stuck in traffic for most of the time and started to worry if we were gonna make load in time we pull up just in time to the famed 9:30 Club. So much history in this town (musically or otherwise) and so many important moments have happened right in this very venue and as sillly as it sounds you kinda feel that when you walk in. Their was a buzz in the air as this was a hometown show for Clutch and Lionize and since it was over the holidays, everyone was in town, including the band’s families.
Now for anyone that’s every played the 9:30 Club you know that its tradition that when you get to your dressing room their will be a half dozen of the most decadent and god-like cupcakes waiting for you with the club’s name in icing on top. I couldn’t get up those stairs fast
enough.
.

The staff that runs this place are a Class A organization and we couldn’t have been treated better. Everything from the production staff to merch is run like a well-oiled machine. Total class, no bullshit.  The place is pretty huge too, so we were pleased that so many people were there early to see us as it was about 3/4ths full when they hit stage. .

I chatted with Neil (singer/Clutch) briefly and if he was nervous at all about his family being there he certainly wasn’t gonna show it. His sister Mary-Alice has gained some fame recently as she is one of the cake designers featured on the show Ace of Cakes so it was kinda funny watching burly bearded dudes clearly recognizing her and bugging out. If Neil had anything to be nervous about, was not only was he about to perform a 15 year old record of really difficult material, some of which haven’t been referenced since, plus it was all gonna be recorded, filmed and released for prosperity as a future live album. (Update: The recording of this show became the recently released Clutch – Live at the 9:30 – also my buddy Will and his crew professionally filmed this entire tour and made a film that is packaged with aformentioned live album called Fortune Tellers Make a Killing Nowadays – check it out its
killer)

After the show their was a brief reception and then we made our way to our hotel which was about 25 miles north outside of Largo, MD.
The guy at the front desk didn’t have his shit together and fucked up our reservation so I perservered and got us a free extra room for the trouble. Long day and it was almost 4am before I got done with paperwork and went to sleep knowing that we had a long drive to Albany, NY the next day.

Day 3 – Albany,NY

I live to go anywhere I’ve never been before and this was gonna be my first trip to Albany but as someone that despises cold, I was a bit apprhensive as this was late Decemeber. My worst arctic fears were confirmed as we pulled into town and the venue was this bingo looking hall inside a strip mall and the whole place looked like Planet Hoth. Teddy who runs this place is a very nice guy, was very good to us and really into the band, but its shows like this where you sometimes scratch your head and think “am I making the right choices by being here?” haha. I know, I know boo-fucking-hoo I get to tour with these great bands and I love that Clutch is a band of the people that will take their act anywhere, and I respect that and was proud we were there, but fundamentally, this show was fucking miserable.

 Our sound guy we had with us, was more than competent as were all of the other band’s sound techs, but no matter what they could do all the bands sounded like they were playing in a tin can (as we basically were). It was -19 outside with the chill factor, no dressing room to hide from the cold and I had to be an asshole just to get something to drink. It was so cold and out of the way, I couldn’t even get a pizza delivered for us. I couldn’t wait to get out here. This was the “backstage” area and the only place you could get cell reception:

Yet still all the bands brought it as hard as they could to a very appreciative crowd. Check out Neil’s Public Enemy shirt: 

So we orginally were just gonna drive to Boston after the show where the guys live since its not that far by comparison but we did just drive here all the way from Maryland and it was late and freezing. So a descion was made to get hotel rooms, but not before one of those funny tour moments could happen. The night before as I had mentioned we were treated like royalty by the wonderful staff of the 9:30 Club and I wish I had a camera to take a picture of my view from the van of watching the guys standing inside the only gas station that was open eating microwave burritos at 2:30am.

Day 4 – Boston, MA 

So I made my way down to the lobby of this popcicle stand hotel in Albany we were in to check out their version of continental breakfast, now I’m the least spoiled person in the world and I don’t want to sound like I am complaining, I just think this stuff is funny and makes for good stories. But this was the most depressing thing I’ve ever seen it was hysterical. Basically you had stale cereal in leaking paper bowls, with room tempertature milk that you had to eat while sitting at a folding card table that I shared with some newlyweds that had the same look of shame on their face that I probably had. I think the cold was starting to get to all of us: Doesn’t this pic look like we are in the arctic (and doesn’t Bryan seem to be saying “Roy could you please stop talking?”) ?

So we make it to Boston in a few short hours and the excitement among the guys is contagious, as this is not only a hometown show but the largest venue of the whole tour. To go on tour and come home to play a sold out House of Blues to almost 4k people was very excting for these guys, and having all of their friends and families in attendance really felt like a victory lap. The venue is on the famed Lansdowne St literally across the street from the crown jewel of American Baseball – Fenway Park. As we were loading in their was some huge excitement going on at the Park and it being December I was confused as to what was going on. I soon found out, as I know literally nothing of hockey, that a major event was taking place in the form of the NHL Winter Classic. I learned that since 2008 the event is held outdoors at one of the teams Major League Baseball fields. 

  So again this was an important night and felt like a real step up in playing in such a legit venue and were treated very well. We shared a dressing room with our pals in Lionize and let me tell you, those guys smoke more pot than Cypress Hill. Talked with JP for a bit for the first time on this tour and had a few laughs with Dan and Oscar and then since we had some time Mike and I went outside to see them setting up Fenway for the big game in a few days and could see the people already lining up.

  There’s this weird feeling when your in the “tour bubble” that you don’t want to stray too far from the venue or from the comfort of the bubble or things get weird. It’s hard to explain unless you have done it. Anyway so now its showtime, I get the band ready and walk them down the hallway to the massive stage below. I got all their families on the list and have them watching sidestage. Before the show I told Bryan, “when the PA stops, say “We are Never Got Caught from Boston, Massachutsetess” and he balked a little in fear of sounding cheesy, but I just had a feeling that the crowd would pop if he did. Well he relented and when he said it the crowd came alive and the band immediately had everyone’s attention. Being from Texas I can appreciate people really being into where they are from.

  While I was releiving Mike from merch so he could shoot there was some drama, as Mike wasn’t aware of the typical policy that you can only shoot the first three songs and apparently he kept going to the ire of the staff and they came looking for him. They were told he was also working merch so when they came to get him they thought I was him since I was behind the table, but I explained to them what was going on and told them I would handle Mike. I’m used to starting fires not putting them out haha.
Okay so all business was taken care of for the time being and I wanted to see as much of the Clutch show as I could. Their was something in the air tonight and was excited for them. They hit stage and the place explodes. I watched as much as I could before I had to go to production and Mike snapped this pic from where we were standing:

    The show was great and a real sense of triumph enveloped us. Clutch had a party in their dressing room after the show. I only stayed long enough to share a few laughs with Tim as we hadn’t talked yet on this tour, because we had a party of our own a few streets over that the local were throwing for Never Got Caught. Always working, I spent most of the party in the other room having a business meeting with another client that lives in Boston and asked them to meet me there as I knew it would be the only time I had. They guys were staying at home so I headed to my hotel room for about four hours of sleep before having to get up for the drive to New Jersey the next day.

Day 5 – Sayerville, NJ – New Year’s Eve

     So we leave Boston to head for Sayerville, NJ which is about 90 min by car from NYC. We basically sat in traffic all day as a 4 hour trip was turning into a 7 hour one and for whatever reason the good cheer we were sharing from the hometown victory lap was nowhere to be seen while we coasted at 30 miles an hour. When we finally pull up to the Starland Ballroom it was already dark and cold, I could see Jack Flanagan’s caddilac with his dog tied to the driver’s side door handle.
Tonight was going to be the last show with Clutch on this special little holiday run of them doing all of the self-titled record. It was also the last day of the year and of the decade and though I was directly dialed into the beverity of this, I seemed to be alone in my excitement, which soon gave way to a feeling of bittesweet surrealism. As on one hand I’m on tour with bands I deeply respect and enjoy, and on the other, I was in this cave of a building out in the woods of New Jersey on New Year’s Eve, arguing with the staff just to simply get towels.
To make it even more special, two more bands were added just for tonight. I don’t remember the name of the first band, but the second was Murder One, which is fronted by Weathermaker Music label manager, Jon Nardachone. Weathermaker is the label that Clutch started in 2008 to house their own projects. While acknowledging the specialness of the evening, Tim and I were smoking on the dock he was telling me hilarious stories of some early Clutch shows at this venue where they would pack the shows with like 6 openers of teenage bands creating Scream-o-Palooza and then Clutch.
As if this night wasn’t special enough, always a band of the people, Clutch had it set up that the first 1k people would receive a free Full Fathom Five dvd, a special commerative t-shirt AND a free shot of whiskey. The next 1k would get the shirt and the shot and then everyone else would still get a shot. How cool is that? The merch table was right by the entrance so I enjoyed seeing everyone’s excitement. I got with Shawn, Clutch’s merch guy and said “dude save me one in small” which being the awesome guy he is, totally delivered.
Now the fundamentals of this show were aggrivating. No internet, printer, our rider was ignored, and shit was just not on point from their side of things. As I was standing by the soundboard with two songs to go, someone yells angrily at me “they’ve got two minutes!!”. As they finish the song, and as murphy’s law would have it, because Bryan barely talks ever, he decides to break that habit by engaging the crowd with a monologue, unbeknownst of the time strain.  I’m screaming “start the next song!!” right as the dude from before says “oh yeah? do they have a 90 sec song?! cause that’s all the time they got!!” Will and Agent were doing a B-Roll of us and we needed this time so Bryan went ahead and they finished the set.
We lost our merch guy in Boston due to some prior commitments, I had’nt realized that was the plan all along and hadn’t prepared for complete double duty.
This proved to be more troublesome than I could have prepared for, as not only was it about a zillion degrees below zero outside and the merch table was right by the entrance so everytime the door opened it was like being hit with an ice blast from Sub-Zero of Mortal Kombat.
Maybe I was just being idealistic, but spending New Year’s Eve with bands I respect and know immensely depsite the New Jersey and cold factors should have been more, I don’t know….awesome. Again how can I complain and maybe since I was in “work mode” and so many responsibilites but in terms of a festive vibe it just wasn’t there. There was a misdunderstanding right before midnight where the club wanted to go ahead and settle so they could usher in the New Year uniterrupted so I had to have Doomriders merch guy look after I stuff so I could go take care of this. So when I returned from the production office  I head Neil on stage actually acknowledge New Year’s Eve during Spacegrass saying “Happy New Year everybody” during the non-lyrical breakdown.
This was kinda par for the course for some reason, so no toast, no Happy New Year amongst friends, but I did manage to catch a bit of the end of Clutch’s set.
                                                                                                                              
and for the New Year they added to the set:Witchdoctor
Sleestak Lightening
Slow Hole to ChinaAfter the show their was a party upstairs in Clutch’s two-room suite dressing room. Now this was fun. A great vibe that we had pulled something off and a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and commaraderie. Oscar pulled me into a sideroom and graciously offered me a toast of some very expensive tequila that was a sign of respect and gratitude that I greatly appeciated. It was funny because unbeknownst to him, I’m not a big drinker at all, but of course there was no way I was gonna refuse his gesture so he said “now this is the good stuff, you don’t shoot this stuff like any old swill” and what do I do?, I down it like it was fucking peach schnapps or something and he looks at me dumbfounded and says “Roy…what part of don’t shoot this stuff did you not understand?” haha. Again par the course I guess.
So we had a good time with the Clutch guys and it was a good way to end the run. At the end of the night Jack asked me if we were staying at the same hotel and if so could we take this couple that he was friends with whom the male half played in Murder One earlier in the evening. Speaking for everyone since he asked me I of course accepted. Well by this time everyone but me was really good and loaded so when everyone got in the van and saw our new companions there was a bit of confusion.
We get to the hotel and most everyone was joined by their wives/girlfriends that had come to spend New Year’s Eve, except for me, so Paul my normal roommate on the tour had his own room, so it was an odd feeling to be sitting alone in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere New Jersey on New Year’s Eve and I couldn’t help but feel a little sad, but as I mentioned before, I’m sure it could have been a whole lot worse.

Day 6 – Jersey City, New Jersey – New Year’s Day

We spent most of the day at a pub watching the hockey game on tv that we saw them assembling in Boston at Fenway Park, since we only had a short drive to the gig that night. Since we were already in New Jersey and tonight was a Saturday I booked a solo club date for Never Got Caught with another Trickykid band who are from Jeresy City, the band Kilsy, to take advantage of the Saturday and having to travel that way anyway. This proved to be a huge mistake and certainly not the way I or anyone would want to start their New Year. Or how the band wanted to end such a succesful run that ended on such a high the night before.
The show was booked at Sinners and Saints and there were problems from the second we got there. I was excited to see the Kilsy guys (and girl) as their drummer Pete is one of my closest friends and the drummer for Trickykid alumni Amandla with Claude from Ween. The band is rounded out by other close friends and ballbusters Dan Riorda formerly of Buzzkill and Dan Green formerly of Amandla and currently with The Honey Brothers with Adrian Grenier, and of course Kilsy.
The chemistry was just totally wrong as the NGC are all business all the time and the Kilsy guys are just very freewheeling, good time party people. Not to mention that this club was a joke that did’nt have their shit together at all. I think the main issue was that going from playing with Clutch in your hometown two nights prior in front of 3,000 people to dealing with such amateurish bullshit was too much reality too soon. It caused me to have a total existential crisis. as I found myself standing outside a shithole in New Jersey on New Year’s Day dealing with some of the stupidest shit I’ve ever had to deal with in my life, having conversations I never want to have again, and never should have had to have in the first place, thinking about that line in Why Georgia Why that says “am I living it right?” .

So after the show I said goodbye to the guys as they made their way back to Boston, and too tired to trek back to Brooklyn, Dan Green graciously offered me to stay at his place for the night, where we stayed up talking and catching up and listening to the Bill Withers remasters he had just got and old Stax stuff. Good times.Photos –

Roy Turner

Austin City Limits Fest 2009

Wed Sept 30th

Made my way to Dallas and out to Fort Worth to catch the Amtrak train to Austin, TX for this year’s big 3 day Austin City Limits Festival. It didn’t start till Friday but I got there a few days early because Them Crooked Vultures were doing a couple of special shows prior to the festival. If you don’t already know (see the August/Lollapalooza entry below for more) that they are a three-piece comprised of Josh Homme (Kyuss/QOTSA), Dave Grohl and freaking John Paul Jones.
The first show was a taping for the legendary TV show (and the festival’s namesake) Austin City Limits. I’ve always wanted to attend one of these unforgettable performances that I’ve always admired no matter who was playing, but this was not to be believed. (thank you Leslie for the hookup).

  I was surprised that alot of people expected them to actually do songs from their other respective bands, and were disappointed when they didn’t. This was a new band making a new statement (their record wasn’t even out yet) and some people still just wanted to hear the same ol, same ol.

Thurs Oct 1st

Back for round two (three if you count Chicago) as now Them Crooked Vultures were doing a public show at Stubb’s as a warmup to their big coming out at the festival on Friday. This was a fun show and a testament to the legendary careers that all three have had, cause no one had even heard a note of this new music and the show sold out in minutes based upon the member’s collective reputations. That was a neat thing to witness and be a part of. Unbearably packed (but thankfully well mannered) and hot in there, the anticipation was huge and when they took the stage the noise was deafening.
This show was identical to the first show in Chicago.

 A big difference and nothing against Chicago but this crowd was so appreciative that it made you proud to be there. Homme who is known for his quips had a great line when JPJ changed from bass to keytar ” Only John Paul Jones could make the keytar look badass”. Here is the set-list from the show:

Fri Oct 2nd

The first day of the festival was here and I tried to prepare myself for the heat and the crowds. I had a late night the night before as after the TCV show at Stubb’s I went to a party at the Beauty Bar which is basically across the street. Made it downtown to Artist Pickup and got my wristbands and finally got to the festival a little after 5pm.

  This was my third year to attend the festival but strangely the first time in five years. Since then I had been to all of the Coachellas and a few of the Lollapalooza‘s and Bonnaroos, but this is a really nice one to attend. Its put on by C3presents (the same company that does Lollapalooza) and its in Austin and who doesn’t love Austin, Texas?
The Artist van drops me off in front of the artists lounge and the great people that do the nationwide free ice cream campaign are the first people I see with their truck parked right at the front of the lounge. Some of the best people you will ever meet, check out his site, its so awesome – icecreamman.com

  So after getting settled and embarrassing myself with a few rounds of the new Beatles Rock Band, I meet a rad local girl (who ironically was the singer in my newly formed fab four) and we head out to see our first band of the day, Thievery Corporation.

They were really good and I had always wanted to see them. Now some will fault me as the festival started at 11am and I didn’t see a band till 630pm but it was hot and admittedly more comfortable in the back with the free food so sue me 🙂
As soon as they ended we had our shuttle driver haul ass to the other side of the festival to see (you guessed it) Them Crooked Vultures. How’s this for obsessive? – This was only their fourth show in the US ever at this point and at that time I had seen ALL of them and three times in as many days. All of those shows had been club shows or other special events but this really the FIRST show in front of a huge crowd and it had that feel to it. If I had had thought the crowd was loud the night before, it paled in comparison to this ovation. It was interesting to see the appeal that John Paul Jones had on the crowd. Though the majority of the this crowd was the young and hip culture that Austin is known for, it was neat to see that some people had come to see JPJ solely and actually didn’t know who the other two people in the band were. That’s dedication.

    This show was identical to the television taping just a few days prior. Though I had it pretty much down at this point, this is a great new exciting thing that must be witnessed.
My new Austin friend was chomping at the bit to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs who were thankfully playing on the adjacent stage right after. We scrambled around to watch from backstage but couldn’t really see anything so we got as close as we could up front. Now I don’t really have anything to add to my previous and recent description of their performance at Lollapalooza (see previous entry) and I’m of course biased.
But they were replacing the Beastie Boys again just like this past August but this time they didn’t make the nod to them like that show. They did however put on a very powerful and visually entertaining show as always.
 So after they played my new friend and I walk out of Zilker Park and you can see that this festival has just taken over the whole town. This city is always alive with young, progressive people, but this was total meltdown and all the vendors had lined the streets with tents selling their wares, apparently the demographic is alot of tie-dye and bong hits. Good times though as we danced in the streets with everyone else and made our way to get something to eat.
Her and I had different agendas however as she had a birthday to attend so I had her drop me off at Emo’s where some friends of mine from Brooklyn,  !!! (pronounced chk chk chk) where doing a warm up gig of their own before playing the festival tomorrow. For those not familiar, they are one of the most fun and energetic live shows you will ever witness. They have reached beloved status because of their legendary live show and when they hit stage around midnight people were ready to get down!
I have seen a half a dozen of theirs shows or so and I say this every time I see them but this was one of the best ever. The energy and momentum is incomparable. (Editor’s Note: Since this time and now drummer Jerry Fuchs died in a freak accident in Brooklyn- We miss you Jerry R.I.P.)

 I danced my ass off and had a great time as the ended with the one-two punch of Intensify and Heart of Hearts. Got out of the show around 2am and waited to meet a friend who was coming from Round Rock to have a late night meal with me. She finally shows up around 3am and we go to Austin staple Kerbey Lane by the University. A bit of a wait even at this late hour because of the festival so after we eat and talk and she drops me off its after 6am.

Sat Oct 3rd

The night before Nic (chk chk chk) said that since they are going on at 2pm that if I came to the Emo’s gig I didn’t have to show up early. I wanted to prove him wrong but alas I didn’t get into bed until 7am. I didn’t even wake up till after 2pm and when I did it was really gross and rainy outside. Not the ideal setting for a mass outdoor event (more on this later).
I met up and had lunch with Nic and Paul from (chk chk chk) and I asked them how their set was despite the gross conditions and early start time. Those guys could throw a party anywhere.
Then I ventured out to catch the last half of Trail of Dead, another Austin mainstay that are always great live. It wasn’t just raining, it was a freaking buzzkill. Lightening and misery just made everyone and everything seem gross. I did stick it out to see the first couple of songs from Mos Def, who seemed totally unaffected by the rain and brought a huge posse of dancers and a live band. This would have killed in a club and I was disappointed that the conditions made me just want to be a big wuss and retreat to the comfort in the Artists Lounge.

  One of the things I was most looking forward to today was the arrival of my oldest friend Chris Todd and his wife Tammy. They weren’t getting in till after Day 2 of music was over so I promised him I would check out Devotchka. I know I sound so spoiled but wait till you see the pics of the fucking mudpeople, I hold no since of nostalgia for Woodstock nor a need to recreate it, but I kept my word and checked out a bit of their set, and I’m glad I did, they were fantastic.

Now that the rain had cleared and it was night-time (always a bit of an incentive as far as mood goes) I was ready to experience another Austin export that I’ve hearing about from everywhere, Ghostland Observatory. The cool thing about this was that I literally had NO idea what they were about period. Even based on what I heard they were totally (and refreshingly) different. I thought I was gonna be in for like a Radiohead clone (to illustrate just how removed I was from them) but just as I got up to the scaffolding side stage, these two freaks (that being a Texas native, these two could ONLY have come from the Lone Star State) come walking out, one wearing a Tron/Dr. Who looking electric cape and the other was a cross between Richard Petty and any cast member of Easy Rider. So what is THIS gonna sound like? The crowd is already going crazy and then here it comes: This dancy wailing banshee freak show complete with laser light show, just fucking awesome. It occurred to me however what a feat that they had brought this to such a high-profile level, cause being in this business as long as I have and being from Texas I could easily see this just being something that 50 people in Austin care about (but those 50 would REALLY freaking care).  From my perspective I was able to get a small shot of Mos Def who was dancing a jig behind the drum riser that was completely obscured to the audience.

Then has the show had reached such a high momentum, they did a fun smart thing, that dials right into that Texas local pride by bringing out the UT Austin Longhorns Marching Band to join them for a few songs.

Sun Oct 4th

No sleeping in today, as it was the last day of the festival, and I had to meet with my com padres Clutch who got a shitty time slot of 2pm. However the weather did take a nice sunny turn, but when I got to the site, holy shit, yesterday’s monsoon had just the sheer power of the foot traffic had turned the general population area into mushy peat bog about a foot deep. You could literally smell the ooze in the air, probably because as always there are some good-natured folks who embrace this sort of thing and can’t resist saying “fuck it, let’s become Swamp Thing“.

   So after hitting the Lounge for an early lunch I went to meet up with Clutch, whom I’ve had a long history with throughout the years. It was cool watching them rehearse out in the open and so early in the day down beneath the stage. Now it was showtime and they were all business, so I bid them a good show and took my place sidestage. Obviously given the short set-time they wanted to showcase their newest record Strange Cousins from the West as seven of their nine songs were from that record. For a band I’ve come to know so well, it was great to see them so out of their element which is completely what they strive for and deliver every time.

    

   Next up was time for some other old friends of mine from Fort Worth, the Toadies.  Hadn’t seen them since London over the Summer. They are like the equivalent of Classic Rock in Texas, just perfect for a sunny day in Austin who gave them a hero’s welcome. They played exactly what you would expect in a festival set, right to the hits, no bullshit, and then whipped out Got a Heart, which was a nice surprise.

        After their set I hung out with Mark (drummer) and his wife for a bit catching up and debating if we all wanted to eat or go see the Dirty Projectors. The heat was taking its toll, so food it is (Nourishment 1 – Indie – Trust Fund Rock 0) but the shuttles were so congested we had to wait forever for one (which became the theme of the day,so it made the decision of how bad you wanted something interesting), so we just split up and met back up in the catering tent.
Their merch guy Tony used to be in a Dallas band Hagfish, along with their new bass player Donni Blair and his brother Zach who is now in Rise Against, who joined us for lunch but I don’t know if he was playing that day or not. After eating I took as much juice/soda/water I can carry out to the general population to find Chris and his wife and some other friends of mine to offer them something that no doubt being overcharged for, when I made it about 5 yards in and I literally started to sink. I felt guilty about it but I was getting the fuck out of that mess!
   Now it was time for something I was greatly anticipating, The Dead Weather. To know me is to know my complete and utter devotion to the music of Jack White, and now that would take on yet a different form as he has yet another new band where this time he is playing drums. Another cool thing (and a testament to our friendship) is that although Chris and I haven’t any contact whatsoever is over five years, during that time he had developed a similar obsession, so it was great to share this excitement with him.
Besides Jack White the band is rounded out by Alison Mosshart ( The Kills) , Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) Jack Lawrence who is White’s partner in crime in his other band The Raconteurs.
This is designed to go down in a small, dark, smokey club around 1am but they killed! My fave set all weekend and perhaps one of the best of the year.

    Now this next part requires a little bit of explaining and a backstory if you like. I was prepared to make an effort right after the Dead Weather finished to go to the other side of the festival to see Girl Talk. As a DJ and a fan of music and a marveler of mashups and as someone who is pretty dialed in to popular culture this was something intriguing to me. I’ve heard everyone back in Brooklyn talking about him, I’ve heard and downloaded his stuff and was very impressed, enjoyed the backstory of this guy being some mad scientist who quit his career as a bio-mechanics engineer to rock the house etc.. I bought it, I was in, let’s go.
Now for this space I’m not gonna lead a pretentious type of discussion about what is truly a DJ, should they be looked at as musicians etc…all that crap you have heard before. I have my own ideas about all of that, none probably original so I’ll spare you and just talk about the experience.
The shuttle driver drops me off behind the stage where there is already a mob of people trying to get a glimpse. I had seen pictures of his performances and it looks like New Year’s Eve everytime so I get the hype. He’s got his finger on the pulse of that FIT, NYLON Magazine reading, 18-20 female crowd, that brings dudes of all ages around as well, so he really can’t do no wrong here.
However, what I witnessed was absolute shit. Call me an old curmudgeon who’s lost the plot but this whole thing had no place for me and I can’t help but feel all the better for it.  As so super lame as it sounds and I hate it myself when I hear people say this, but the entire time I was witnessing it I could hear a little voice of reason saying “This is exactly what’s wrong with everything, this is the defining example of where everything went to shit”.
Now having said that, he played, people danced and smiled (a few even got naked) and I’m sure a majority of people left that with a feeling of a good time and that’s great they should. My problem lies not in the absurdity of its popularity but its power. From behind the stage I could hear people chanting stuff in unison but didn’t know what was leading the charge. I learned later it was the screen they were facing (that I was behind) and all of the requests no matter how preposterous (like…”throw money in mud” ..and a few questionable ones)  were fulfilled.
As I watched this from sidestage, all these people were onstage dancing with him to make it a party, and everyone else was trying to get onstage to join them.  And the admittance regardless of credentials was some super lame velvet rope thing a la Studio 54, with some intern in shades (it was 8pm at night) making the selection. “what the fuck am I doing here?” I exclaimed and the problems only begin with the social aspects of this travesty.
Now again, if you go to FIT, read NYLON and you are reading this you will probably say “Dude, relax and dance” and you will probably be right and if you are everyone else you should criticize me for having waaay too much to say on something so insignificant.

      Now another surprise came but this time from some familiar faces. In the early 90’s I got to experience as a very young person, the great boom of new music that came out of Seattle, that everyone still talks about and makes silly claims about its importance or non-importance. Great time to be a young person and I was right in the middle of it, but because of my punk/metal/thrash tastes at the time I had to be a convert. I liked the heaviness of Nirvana and Soundgarden and my age would dictate that I enjoyed belonging to the something from its beginning. You really couldn’t be into just one of these bands, even though they were sold separately, they may as well just bundled them because once you had Nevermind or Badmotorfinger surely you had to buy Ten to complete the set.  Much like growing up in the 80’s you were surely into G.I. Joe , Transformers, and He-Man, but someone had to be number three.
For me, this is where Pearl Jam has always stood. I really enjoyed them, think they are an incredible band, one of the best live bands I still have ever seen to this day (hell I even worked at Stone Gossard‘s label Loosegroove for a period) but the interest somehow didn’t come as natural after somewhere around that third record.  Working in music I was aware of their subsequent releases, and even if you didn’t who could forget their headline-grabbing (and at times…temple-scratching) decisions like battling Ticketmaster and releasing their entire tours live to diffuse the bootleggers of their profit.
Since I was caring less about the music I was caring less about the cause so eventually I tuned out completely. So that’s why although their popularity hasn’t waned, I really had no idea that since 1996 when I last gave a fuck that this band had become this generation’s Grateful Dead.  Seems that everyone I spoke to only came on Sunday and only to see them. Everywhere you looked on Sunday it was the Pearl Jam nation.
So I thought I should check some of this out, and what followed was a two hour + marathon that would make anyone a believer. I knew that this was a high-profile gig and it has that potential of something special happening, but it was so effortless that it gave me the impression that this is what happens at all of their gigs, hence the cult like following.
I saw Perry Farrell backstage shortly before they hit stage, struck by inspiration going on about how he wanted to get up and do his own band’s Mountain Song and how unforgettable it would be.
Here is the setlist and pics from the show: (including a great pic of when Eddie Vedder joined the mud-people)

 

Setlist –
   1.Why Go
2.Corduroy
3.Got Some
4.Not For You
5.Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
6.Given To Fly
7.World Wide Suicide
8.Even Flow
9.Unthought Known
10.Daughter
11.Hail Hail
12.Insignificance
13.Present Tense
14.State Of Love And Trust
15.The Fixer
16.GoEncore:17.Jazz Odyssey
18.Red Mosquito (with Ben Harper)
19.Do The Evolution
20.The Real Me (The Who cover)
21.AliveEncore 2:22.Mountain Song (Jane’s Addiction cover w/ Perry Farrell)
23.Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young cover)
   I mean fan or not who could fuck with this?, my goodness. What other band could put an exclamation point on the weekend as being the last band on the last day in this fashion? Now I get it, fucking legendary.
I made my way back to the Lounge to catch the shuttle back to downtown. Chris and his wife had made an early exit to get cleaned up from all of the mud and we had planned to meet up a bit later to go to another party. The next two hours became very social, I don’t because if it was the end but everyone was talking to everybody. I first ran into my good friend Sam from LA (who was working the event and ironically was my assigned shuttle driver) as I was taking the golf cart back to pickup I rode with this couple who were on something of a third date and I turned on the cut-through-the-bullshit mode that I’m known for and started asking questions that clearly they were both afraid to ask each other. An hour later they came to find me to tell me that they had decided to make their relationship official and it was because of what I said and they were thanking me profusely. Good times.
As I was walking out some of the guys in Pearl Jam were coming in namely Jeff Ament, and behind him I see Doug Pinnick (King’s X)  & he came up and we had a nice chat.  I knew that he had some correlation to Jeff Ament as its seems every interview I’ve read over the years Jeff has found someone way to talk about King’s X and I think they are working on a project together, so it wasn’t a surprise to see him hanging with PJ, but as any performer who is not scheduled to play its surprising and exciting to see them.
So after I talked to Doug for awhile, Sam told me the van was ready and it was time to go. So I and a few of the performers climbed into the van, and here is where things come full circle. I was to be the last stop as I was going to the farthest and so I could hang with Sam for a bit, and the last two people were me and this other dude who were both going to the same place (Beauty Bar) and as we are talking its starting to occur to me that this is the Girl Talk dude. Greg I believe his name was, was totally cool and really funny and I kinda felt bad for talking shit earlier (but not really haha). He’s telling me that he wants to do a gig right now at the Beauty Bar since no one knows anything about it. All I can think of is the walls caving in with throngs of girls from American Apparel ads (not such a bad thought) besieging the place as their cool status couldn’t sustain the notion of missing something so hush hush once word got around.
I thought now to have Sam take me somewhere else but this is where I was to meet Chris and his wife and my oldest friends works here too who I hadn’t had the chance to say hello to yet. Girl Talk dude and I go into the Beauty Bar and within minutes I’m hearing that the place is not prepared for the headache of what would happen once word got out, so they put the kibosh on it and I saw him leave shortly after.
Two girls from San Francisco were chatting me up and dancing and as the place was closing they asked if I knew of any other after-parties.
I had heard that something was going on at the Congress Bridge, but those things usually get busted and in a hurry, but these girls were anxious to make their last night continue, so into a cab and off to the bridge we go. As we walk up their is Greg Girl Talk dude…again (someone is following somebody).  I had to admire him for wanting to rawk it here as this was about as real deal as it gets, open and to the public.
As expected, he hadn’t got two bars into the first track and here come the police:

 

UK Adventures: Return of Faith No More + Clutch & Anthrax rawk the HMS & more (July/2009)

I hadn’t been to London in almost 5 years, and this one my first time over there as a new business owner. I have friends there that I hadn’t seen in way too long, so the work kept mounting, and the pressing need to do some biz over there became too much and off went, to the allure of fresh fish and alot of great shows.

Faith No More – July 10th – Brixton Academy – London, England U.K.

Well I slept in pretty late as you can imagine, but then I got it together to make my way to Brixton for something I’ve been greatly anticipating, the Faith No More reunion. This was their first show anywhere in 11 years, and also the venue from their much beloved  Live at the Brixton Academy LP.  The show was incredible and I was totally in awe of getting to see these guys again. I haven’t felt compelled to let it all hang out like that in some time, but I went ballistic and was one of the wilder ones down front. Bonded with these three rad Polish girls, who kept looking over at me to see if I knew the words, and when I consistently did, apparently I had passed initiation. I can’t remember the last time I was this excited. Felt good. Afterwards, my new Polish crew invited me to have some post-show drinks with them. Took a bus to Liverpool St. in the constant rain, and then caught the overground back to Eric Clapton.
The show was unbelievable without any kind of partisan. There was just something in the air, and the crowd was so appreciative and grateful that I (along with the band was taken aback) this went very very well.

Setlist –

Reunited (Peaches & Herb cover)
The Real Thing
From Out of Nowhere
Land of Sunshine
Caffeine
Evidence
Chinese Arithmetic
Surprise! You’re Dead!
Easy (Commodores cover)
Last Cup of Sorrow
Midlife Crisis
Cuckoo for Caca
The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
RV
King for a Day
Malpractice/Jizzlobber
Be Aggressive
Epic
Mark Bowen

Encore:

Stripsearch (Chariots of Fire Intro)
Just a Man

Encore 2:

I Started a Joke (Bee Gees cover)
Pristina

I had wished I had remembered to take a pic of the marquee at Brixton, as I logged into Blabbermouth the next day that problem was solved and I was even in the pic. How embarassing?

 

Metal Hammer Cruise w/ Clutch & Anthrax – July 15 – River Thames – London, England U.K.

This day will go do in history as one of the best musical days of my entire life. Had meetings all morning with Rough Trade, but then I made my way to the pier for the Metal Hammer Cruise with Clutch and Anthrax. I arrived and barely made it on the boat in time before it sailed. To gain access to the boat, everyone was given samurai headbands and you’ve not lived until you’ve seen 300 metalheads banging their heads while looking like Daniel Laruso. This was incredible. floating down the River Thames on a boat seeing my old friends do their thing, and I hadn’t seen an Anthrax show in over 10 years so that was fun too.

 

After a three hour tour (see what I did there?) it docks at the 02 Arena for that night’s Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. It was cool see this already famed arena from the outside, where Prince did his 21 night run, Led Zeppelin had their reunion and to see all of the hoopla for the upcoming unthinkable 50 date run from Michael Jackson (R.I.P. MJ WE LOVE YOU)
I had an invitation and would normally have attended but I had bigger fish to fry.

( Tues July 15th

Still in utter disbelief over the events of the previous day, I set out to continue the adventure. I had meeting in Knightsbridge in the morning and then I made my way to the University of London Union, where I met with the professors of their Music Business Program. Given the current state of the Music Industry, the old model as we now understand is obsolete and the students of these Universities who have been studying the old model for the last several years need to be re-educated via crash course. I’ve spent the last year and a half speaking at Universities and at Music Conferences around the world speaking on a variety of specific topics as well as the Music Industry as a whole. ((for more info and how you can book Roy Turner for a speaking engagement you can click here)
Unexpectedly they gave me a full tour of the campus, treated me to a generous lunch , and even introduced me to a Summer session in progress and I spoke to the class unscheduled (and unprepared) briefly, as I will be back in London in the Fall to speak formally and conduct a few workshops there and other Universities all over Europe.
Now, back to the Rock N Roll, also at their invitation, Anthrax was playing on campus that evening. This was one of their first shows featuring their new singer and he totally sucked (UPDATE: APPARENTLY THEY THOUGHT SO TOO, AND HE HAS SINCE BEEN Fired

 

 

 

 

 I had a few hours to kill before the show started, and I had promised my new Irish friend that we would get together at some point and I was within walking distance of her place of employment. So I go over and pick her up, and she is a delight.  I always the class act, take her to a sweaty metal show at a college campus with cheap beer and even cheaper Chinese food afterwards. Ran into this guy who had the entire Faith No More King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime cover tattooed into an entire sleeve. Although not perhaps her first choice of musical fare, Irish girl is a total trooper, and was totally down and we had a great time.

Setlist –

Indians
Got the Time (Joe Jackson cover)
Madhouse
Antisocial (Trust cover)
Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t
Caught in a Mosh
Safe Home
Room for One More
Only
What Doesn’t Die
I Am the Law
Whole Lotta Rosie (AC/DC cover)
Earth On Hell

After we ate she gave me a nice tour around Soho London before we called it a night. It takes forever to get anywhere in this town and the cabs are just too outrageous and the subway stops running at 11pm and only has routes in less than 10% of the city, so its another hour + bus ride back to Eric Clapton.

So tonight it was back to the rock n roll, as I made my way to Queen Elizabeth’s Hall to see a rare Mike Patton performance as part of the Meltdown Festival. On a night off from the Faith No More reunion (see above) the alway prolific Patton decided to spend his doing a one-off with Fred Frith. the show was really bizarre as expected; and a real treat. The were almost upstaged when they were joined by the U.K Beatboxing Champ, Shlomo After the show, I started chatting with some Italianl that had come over 2 hours by train just for this show (for the uniniatiated, Patton fans tend to be obsessive) and they were showing me the pics they took, that later they were kind enough to email to me (thanks Liu).

 

It was a great night and again I was facing the River Thames. I went inside to see the Patti Smith film Dream of Life, which was really interesting. I’ve never been an obsessive over her, and the film was as abstract and uncomfortable as she comes off sometimes. These old punks from waaaay back chatted me up after the movie and invited me to go have some tea across the bridge. After two glasses and a nice conversation discussing the film, at an outdoor cafe I headed to the bus stop. What I thought would be a routine ride back to the Clapton actually turned violent and could have been alot worse.
I tend to have more than my fair share of inherent male bullshit, where I think I’m exempt from most things. Pickpocketing and flat out mugging seem to be at the top of my male Darwinian mind. I had been warned about the violence in London, especially in the neighborhood where I was currently presiding. However in NYC I just put in my Ipod and let shuffle shield me from harm or direct eye contact. I was on the top level of a double-decker bus rocking the fuck out, when I looked to my right and saw a young vargrant mocking my enthusiasm. Innocently I took my earphones out and embarrasingly asked if he could hear it. Right then, a much older, much scarier vagrant pops up from the seat behind me. I realize I am on the only one up here besides my now potential assailants. He answers for the other by threateningly saying in thick cockney accent (right into my )ear ” If we could fooking hear it, I would tell you to turn it off because it sounds like doo doo” Its then I realize their’s a third stick-up kid who is now blocking my path to exit/safety. I stood up and right then, scary guy behind me grabs the cord to my earphones that thankfullly were under my shirt. I instictively pulled away, and just bamboozled the kid in my way by pushing him as hard as I could, as I ran down the stairs like a little bitch. If you know me, you know that I’m a skinny bitch, with a big mouth, who does dumb shit like this often as I prob should have just handed it over and saved the risk, but I just got the new Atmosphere album uploaded and wasn’t ready to part with it 🙂 I run toward the busdriver and cool it as the bus rolls to a stop. The Boondock Saints upstairs come running down and out the bus to catch me, not realizing I’m still on the bus as we roll away. They yell to stop the bus as I yell even louder not to and off we go. One problem, THAT WAS MY STOP. So I had to get off at the next one, double back and hope I didn’t run into them. Thankfully I didn’t and I and my Ipod lived to rock another day.

Thanks London, Ill be back soon.

Photos –

Roy Turner