Book your own shows. Make them the way you want. You will feel happy inside.
Great show the other night at the Temple Bar. It was one of those nights that had a lot of meaning. Most times should have meaning I guess but this was really cool. It just stressed the importance to me of doing something yourself. The idea for the show came came from talking to Wayne Krantz after we had shared a night with him in New York a few months back at the Knitting Factory. That night turned out really well. Both bands fit well on the bill together. For us it’s always really special to be able to share a night with other groups we like. It always ends up being really inspiring. After that gig we told Wayne that if he ever came to LA to let us know and that we would love to set something up with him out here. It was great that he ended up calling a few weeks later telling us that he was coming out. We chose to do the night at the Temple Bar because that’s a place that we’ve been playing at since they opened. Louie, Netty, and Dexter there have always been so generous and welcoming and it really has been a home for us musically over the years. Once we proposed the show, they suggested the idea of adding another band on the bill. We thought instantly of Nels doing a solo set. Fortunately he was free! He’s always so busy. And when he’s not, he’s always into doing something cool! Endless energy I guess. Anyway, the day of the show, Nels mentioned that Norton Wisdom, the painter would be available and would be into performing as well. He and Nels have a duo together. Anyway the night was amazing I thought. Not sure if I could give a rundown of the music on Wednesday or if it’s really necessary to but I guess I could say that it had all of the elements that I used to love putting into the radio show I used to do back in Denver. Nels and Norton played some brilliant stuff. I walked into the club and everyone was close to the stage while more people were coming into the club from outside. It was a perfect start to the night and I was honored to go on after them.. We rocked I thought. We were Shane less for the first time! That was crazy. He had some important family business to attend to and was missed! At the same time, there was interesting space in the group that we were all not used to that made for some crazy moments! It had the feel of the other “quartet kneebody” gigs. Frantic town! Like the time I was lying in a fever behind the curtain of the stage in South Dakota or when Adam was upstairs from the club puking after spending time in the emergency room in Bologna… It was a blast rehearsing for that night. The guys in the band are truly my musical brothers. Sometimes I don’t realize how much I miss playing with them until we play. Wayne played later and the band played great great great. Sonic relentless sounds. Very loud and wonderful and dynamic!!! Nels ran up to Wayne afterwards and said “Thank God for Rhythm!”. Thank you so much to everyone who made it out. I really feel thankful that you all came and also thankful to Nels, Wayne and the other performers for making it. Thanks to Swan for being a wonderful accomodating (ALWAYS HAS BEEN) sound engineer and a sweet person. And thanks to the very tall woman who was dancing like a maniac while Wayne was playing! That’s really what it is all about sometimes! You were the shit! I love things like that. You never imagined them happening and there they are happening. I’m really glad it happened. It could have not happened, but it did.