The Nightwatchman, the alter ego of Tom Morello, the man responsible for the furious and distinctive guitar sound of Rage Against the Machine, was to headline the Entry, and several hundred mostly young white men waited with reverence and excitement to see one of their musical/political heroes take the stage.
Ike is clearly not used to playing in front of this kind of crowd. The Ike Reilly Assassanation is a good timin rock and roll band that normally has the audience hooting and hollering in a drunken sing along frenzy, but there was no IRA tonight, and no drinks being served. This was a serious, intimate affair. Much of what Ike played was from his brand new album 'We Belong to the Staggering Evening' and was outstanding. All of the songs he played translated very well to that atmosphere-I suppose most of his songs begin that way-just Ike and an acoustic guitar, and the band comes in later. Nevertheless Ike seemed a bit uneasy with all the quiet from the audience, and on numerous occasions attempted to lighten the mood and get poeple to shout a little bit. Valentine's Day in Juarez was the last song he did, and everyone got their chance to sing along with the chorus of that number.
It was an all ages show, meaning you could only get drinks next door in first ave's mainroom, so thats where we were after Ike finished his set. Running into Jim Walsh, Bri and I and our friend Craig had a drink and tried to shout over the really loud hardcore metalish band that was playing. suddenly Ike (who is a good friend of Bri) came over and whisked us all away with him to hang out backsage back at the entry.
This was the first time i had been backstage at either the entry or the mainroom, and it was absolutely stunning to think of all the people who had come through that room over the years since first ave open as a music venue in 1970.
So we were invited to help ourselves to the refreshments, and I helped myself to what I later found out was Tom Morello's Jameson. I felt pretty goddamn cool.
We enjoyed Ike's company and the muffled sound of Morello singing from downstairs for a bit before heading upstairs to catch most of The Nighwatchman's set. Now, I am skeptical of anyone who claims to be a 'One Man Revolution', as this tour was billed, but I gotta say, Morello really struck a chord with me and his songs were simple, direct, and well, revolutionary. You could tell he has a genuine desire to see change in this country, and he has a strong following from his years as the second (and only?) name people know when they think of R.A.T.M.
The last song The Nighwatchman played was Woodie Guthrie's 'This land is you land', and while it is a decades old folk song, the entire audience, with a little encouragement from the 'One Man Revolution', was literally jumping up and down as we helped him sing the chorus. He (of course) sang the censored lyrics to the song, which are unmistakably revolutionary and socialist in nature. that was fucking spectacular. dig it:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land is made for you and me.
As I go walking this ribbon of highway
I see above me the endless skyway
And all around me the wind keeps saying:
This land is made for you and me.
I roam and I ramble and I follow my footsteps
Till I come to the sands of her mineral desert
The mist is lifting and the voice is saying:
This land is made for you and me.
Where the wind is blowing I go a strolling
The wheat field waving and the dust a rolling
The fog is lifting and the wind is saying:
This land is made for you and me.
Nobody living can ever stop me
As I go walking my freedom highway
Nobody living can make me turn back
This land is made for you and me.
In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
As I went walking, I saw a sign there;
And on the sign there, it said, 'No Trespassing.'
But on the other side; it didn't say nothing!
That side was made for you and me.
Damn. Thats good folk music right there.
The music ended with Ike accompanying Morello onstage for an encore, wherein they played John Fogerty's 'Fortunate Son' togeher. it absolutely brought the house down.
after the show we went over to O'Donovan's, across the street, and met Ike and a few other peeps for some beers. Before long, Reilly's highschool classmate and friend Tom Morello showed up with a very humble entourage and took over a small private room where we had plenty of space to lounge. Also in attendance was Babes in Toyland drummer Lori Barbero, who was very sweet and started talking to me before I knew that she was a prominent local rockstar.
One of the guys from Boiled in Lead, the minneapolis institution of a celtic punk band, happened to be playing solo at O'Donovan's, and by the nights end, Morello had gone over to the stage to voice his approval and purchase a CD. Nice.
At the end of the night, Bri and I had a chance to meet Mr. Morello and walk him and Ike back to their fancy hotel a few blocks down the street. He was a very down to earth guy, and i was surprisingly comfortable talking to him. I was happy to have the chance to tell him that i thought the show was very well done, inspiring even, and that it was pretty goddamn impressive to see so many people jumping up and down to woody g like that. He was a truly nice guy, appeciative of my compliments, and at the end of the night when he bid us farewell, he said 'see you at alpine valley!' remembering that i had told him earlier that I was excited to see Rage for the first time ever, at the majestic outdoor Wisconsin ampitheatre next month. I doubt I will see him quite as close up, but I will certainly be showing off these pictures:
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