Dumbek's Random Stuff

Holy crap. When did The Slickee Boys start getting so popular? We got to Iota about an hour before they came on and it was already sold out. Crap. The woman at the door told us we could sit in the restaurant and she'd call us if anyone left. We went over there, but the call never came. Dinger kept checking periodically and she finally let me in about 3/4 of the way through the show. Still full-price though, so I think I paid about $1/minute for what I saw.

At least I got to hear the first part - even if I couldn't see it. I got what I was really hoping for though. I got to witness that glorious mess that is Dan covering Alice Cooper's "Eighteen". Typical Dan - throwing his beer all over the crowd, force-feeding Mark some Jim Beam (mostly missing and pouring it all over his face), barely standing up and slobbering his way through the song. Just like the good-old-days.

I would have been pissed about missing the first part, but we're heading up to Baltimore tonight for round 2. We have tickets for that one, so there's no chance we won't get in.

New CD: The Slickee Boys: A Postcard From The Day
24 live tracks from 1980-1982, recorded everywhere from The Psychedelly in Bethesda to CBGB's. A little more raw than their later shows. Most excellent. Your best bet for picking this up is probably via Y&T.

Head Kicked In




Songs are only up for a week or two. You really need to go buy this disk. Get it while you can, because these releases are limited runs and always sellout.

Deciding to be completely lazy this Xmas really paid off. No tree. No decorating. No party. Minimal shopping. It turned out to be the most relaxing and enjoyable Xmas we've had in years. We attended a few parties, caught up with some friends and just had a nice time. Christmas day, itself, was spent driving around Maryland, combining our families and eating a ridiculous amount of food. Later that night we went to yet another gathering at a friend's house. Family, friends and food - and I still got to sleep in my own bed. It was pretty much the perfect holiday. My 4-year-old niece, however, couldn't have been more apathetic towards the bike. Oh well...

Last night was spent celebrating "Jimbo Day" in the smoke-free section of Cobalt. So nice to come home not reeking of cigarette smoke. 4 more days until DC bans smoking in bars. Can't. Wait.

This weekend - Hometown heroes The Slickee Boys are having their annual holiday reunion show. Tonight at Iota. Tomorrow at The Ottobar in Baltimore. 5 bands on that Baltimore bill. Ugh. It'll be worth it though. They never disappoint. DC punk rock royalty. Highly recommended.

The final Bluestate is also tonight. That sucks. I didn't make it to many of those, but they were always a blast. If we get out of Iota early enough tonight, I may try to swing by.

I appear to be one of the few people in the DC area working all week. Drag. I just don't see me burning a week of vacation for no real reason. At least it's an easy week to work. No traffic. Very few annoying co-workers. And now it looks like I may get Tuesday off. Sweet.

No plans for NYE. Metro runs late - Maybe we'll just hit The Eagle. We'll see.

"The Godfather of Soul",
"The Hardest Working Man in Show Business"
"Soul Brother #1"

Wow - Just this weekend we were hanging out with Chris and Glenn, listening to this and talking about what a great showman James Brown was.

His influence was inescapable. Once you listen to and absorb James Brown, you can hear him everywhere. There would be no Funk without him. He embodied Soul music. Bands like P-Funk, Sly and The Family Stone and countless others wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for him. Even today he's one of the most sampled artists in all of hip-hop and rap. Hell...Michael Jackson even stole most of his dance moves.

Yeah - His life turned into a bit of a mess at times, but musically, he had very few peers.

Everybody should own his "20 All-Time Greatest Hits". It's guaranteed to make even your jaded, cranky, old grandmother get up and shake her ass.

"Jump back - I wanna kiss myself - Good Gawd!"

James Brown 1933-2006

Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a 300-pound drag queen throwing a hissy fit.





Divine in John Waters' Female Trouble

We're just not in the Christmas spirit this year. We're not decorating at all - unless you count the Grinch sitting in our living room, or the red and green Lava Lamps in the window. The lamps are in the window year-round, so I don't think they really count. We didn't even get a tree. I've never not had a tree before. Ever. We just don't feel like dealing with it this year.

We decided there will be no big presents this year. No surprises either. We're just going shopping together and saying "Here - You can get this for me."



Everyone else gets gift cards. Well...Everyone except my niece, who gets this bitchin' Barbie bike. We're the best uncles ever.


I have one weakness though - I love Christmas music. It's just impossible to be in a bad mood when I hear Christmas music. It takes me back to being a kid, when life was simpler and all about having fun. Even the bad stuff is so bad it's funny. Therefore, it cheers me up and makes me happy.

So on that note - Here's one of my favorite Xmas songs. Boy, this one takes me back. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas.

Ah, yes... The end of the year brings along with it "Open Season" here at work. The brief period where we're allowed to review our health benefit plans and adjust them accordingly.

It's also the time of year when I'm reminded that my partner isn't seen on an equal level as the spouses of my co-workers, despite the fact that several of them have gone through more than one spouse since they've been here. Or the others, who have been married for about 10 minutes and get full benefits, compared to the 10+ years Dinger and I have been together. Or the ones who just started working here last month, whose spouses are fully included in the plans, compared to the 9+ years I've put in with the company.

"We're considering it."

Gee, thanks.

How much would you pay for the very first Velvet Underground recording?

Somebody was willing to pay $155,401 for it.

Yowza.


(pic taken from the Ebay auction)


UPDATE: The guy who bid on this is a fraud. He doesn't have that kind of money.

"OMG, I’m sooooo sorry," reads the message the seller says he got via eBay. "Seriously, I can barely afford gas for my car to get to work. What should we do? OMG, OMG, OMG. ... What do I do?"

It goes back up for auction today.

12-8-80

(oops - I was supposed to post this yesterday...)


Dinger and I went to see Dark Star Orchestra on Saturday night. DSO is basically a Grateful Dead cover band, but they usually take things a little further than that. A recent Pollstar article describes their schtick pretty well:



For those not familiar with Dark Star Orchestra, the band elevates the concept of a Grateful Dead cover band to high art. DSO recreate Dead shows down to the last tiny detail including set lists, song arrangements, and stage positions.

They even go as far as using musical equipment for each performance based upon the technology that existed at the time of the original Dead show being recreated that night.

Add to this the fact that they're really good musicians and you've got a helluva show. The only problem is...well...when they decide to not do this. They occasionally have "Original Setlist" shows, where they just play whatever Dead songs they feel like playing. They play the songs really well, but it negates just about everything that makes them unique. It completely removes the aspect of transporting you back to a real Grateful Dead show and they just turn into another one of the hundreds of Dead cover bands.

I know it sounds pretty anal, but after listening to hundreds of live shows, hearing "Donna" singing on "Stranger" (a song from the 80s - she left the band in '79), mixed with "Mr. Charlie" (from the 70s) and "Waiting For A Miracle" (a song the Dead never even played, although the Jerry Garcia Band did) in the same set can be a bit jarring. It takes a lot of the fun out of it. After every few songs I couldn't help thinking "they'd never do that."

I guess it's just the luck of the draw. The night before they played a classic '77 show. The following show was a nice '74 gig. I've only seen these guys 3 times and this has happened twice. I'll forgive them for the last time. It was a benefit and the real Donna Jean was there. But this time I was a bit disappointed not to get the full-show treatment.

The music I heard was fantastic. The "Shakedown" was just sick and the "Attics" was absolutely beautiful. These guys are really good and I had a pretty good time. I just wish I had known they weren't going to give us a real show. $24 for just another cover band is a bit steep for me.

Setlist:

1: Feel Like A Stranger, Mississippi Half-Step, Me & My Uncle> Big River, They Love Each Other, Cassidy, Mr. Charlie, Waiting for a Miracle, Lazy Lightning>Supplication, Touch of Grey
2: Blow Away, Shakedown, Sailor > Saint, Crazy Fingers> Playin> Drums >Space> Attics of My Life> Throwing Stones> NFA
Encore: King Solomon Marbles> Revolution

Anyway - Here's what the real Grateful Dead were doing 35 years ago tonight. I was probably playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey somewhere.

12-5-71 Felt Forum New York, NY

Dark Star ->
Me & My Uncle ->
Dark Star ->
Sitting On Top Of The World

Dinger was over there talking to him. I just stayed back a bit. I really didn't have much to say and I wasn't particularly interested in meeting him. But, eventually, I saw them both looking at me. Dinger was pointing at me and motioning for me to come over. So I walk over and Dinger introduces me.

"This is my partner, Jim."

The guy sticks out his hand and introduces himself.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Tucker Carlson."


sigh....Why couldn't it have been Anderson Cooper?

hmm... You know you probably drank too much when you run into a friend a week later and he says "Well...You look a lot more sober than the last time I saw you." Yeah...well...there's no denying that. I started way too early on Saturday. A few at The Science Club and a few too many at The Hold Steady show. Damn bartenders and their free drinks. :-)

The opener on Saturday was a band called Statehood. I went to see them completely cold and was pretty impressed. There was something very familiar about them, but I couldn't quite place it. I kept thinking "Q and not U", but that wasn't quite right. Eventually, I realized that Statehood was made up of a good chunk of Dismemberment Plan. That explained it. They're playing tonight with Radio 4 at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Check 'em out.

The Hold Steady were terrific. Craig has turned into a very convincing front man, belting out the songs with abandon. The band was tight and looked like they were having a great time. Almost too great. It was kind of weird seeing Craig smiling while singing these rather dark, depressing tunes. If you weren't paying attention to the lyrics (which can fly by like a jet plane) it would be rocktastic.
I found it a little disturbing though. Killer show though...ending with 50 or so people on stage dancing around. Can't wait to see them when I've had a few less beers and can pay closer attention.


Back to The Cat on Sunday for Little Steven's Underground Garage show thingy. Now THIS is how a show should be run. I got there in the middle of The Chesterfield Kings, who look like punks, but sound like a Nuggets-type band. And they're not some new garage-band bandwagoners. They've been around since the late 70s. Fantastic. It's a shame most of their stuff seems to be out of print. I've got to track down some of their stuff.

As The Kings were playing their last song, 3 go-go girls (looking like they came straight out of Laugh-In) came on stage and started dancing with them. The curtain closed after the band finished, but the girls kept dancing. Within 15 minutes the curtain opened again and the next band (The Supersuckers) were ready to go.

I only knew these guys by name, but they have a great rep as a live band. Quite a few people were there just to see them. They did not disappoint. They reminded me a bit of Social D mixed with The Eagles of Death Metal, but with a bit more twang. They almost sounded like your basic country/roadhouse band that discovered punk along the way. Rockin' country with a lot of swagger. Helluva show. Same closing deal as above. The go-go girls came out during the last song and danced throughout the 15 minute set change.

Next up were The New York F-cking Dolls. They were terrific, as usual. I had spent the afternoon watching this, so I was ready to be a little let down, realizing it was never going to be the same. I wasn't disappointed at all though. They sounded great and were a perfect mix of sloppines, silliness and rock 'n' roll fun. My only complaint is that considering the abbreviated set time they played too much new stuff. I really like the new record, but we all know why we were there. We wanted more classic Dolls. Really nice show though. I'll see them anytime.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. We went to The Lantern last night, where it was impossible to have a conversation with anyone, so a few of the regulars headed over to The Eagle, where we could actually hang out and talk. Ended up being kind of a nice, quiet night.

We're heading to 9:30 on Saturday to catch Dark Star Orchestra. Stop laughing. They're really good.

I took today off, so my weekend has already started. WOOHOO!