Rage Against the Machine @ Alpine Valley 8/24

Come wit it now!!!



Those words, and the ensuing bad ass guitar work that followed, drew so much excitement from the crowd of bouncing, sweaty, muddy bodies that I thought for a moment that the whole place might explode. The mosh pits were the scariest I have ever seen. The energy that pulsated throughout that magnifcent rural Wisconsin ampitheatre was electrifying. Rage fans screamed along with every establishment challenging word. And that was only the second song. I had always wondered how exactly those turntable sounds were made. The ones that do, in fact, come from Tom Morello's guitar (the back of the faded red star t-shirt I bought proclaims "all sounds made by guitar, bass, drums and vocals")

Rage Against the Machine broke up in 2000, and although they have only played a handful of shows since, they seemed like had not missed a beat and played together brilliantly. This was the last stop of their ever so brief 6 show tour, and the only appearance not at a festival. Zack's fierce, passionate vocals tore through that crowd of 30,000 plus, and Morello's unique, anthemic riffs kept the place on their toes the entire show. This was as much a political rally as a concert. The only time I have felt so much political energy was at an anti-war march on the capitol of Washington DC to commererate the first anniversary of Paul Wellstone's death in 2003.

On the 6 hour or so drive from Minneapolis to the magical East Troy, WI, we discussed what the demographic of this show would be. Having seen Tom Morello's show (as The Nightwatchman) at the 7th St Entry last month, I assumed that it would be the same crowd, made up overwhemingly of young white men. This was by and large the case here as well, but there were more females around, and a fair amount of Latinos tambien.

Alpine Valley is a magical venue. It is without question the most beautiful place I have ever seen a show, and this was a beautifully show.


"They're scared of YOU!"







It started raining as we were entering the enormous parking lot and getting settled into a nice pre show buzz. The rain came down hard for a solid 45 minutes, never letting up for a second, then gradually went away, leaving everything soaked and covered in mud. The only time i have seen so much mud was at Phish's last stand in rural Vermont, when the show was nearly cancelled due to the ground being so saturated that cars could not safely drive into the venue. That show went on, however, and so did this one. Some normal entrances to the hill were completed blocked off and staffed by security warning people not to attempt to climb the hill, but some rage fans didnt comply. ("Fuck you I wont do what you tell me!") More than one person, including myself, made a feeble attempt to enter the concert through one of these blocked off entrances, but were defeated by slippery mud and steep inclines, and ended up covered in mud.

I heard more than one person say it was the best show they had ever seen. Not the best Rage show, the BEST SHOW THEY HAD EVER SEEN. I don't know that I could ever make that grand declaration, but I do know that this was, without question, one of the best shows I have ever seen. It just absolutely fucking rocked.

Sound Unseen : 7 Nights at the Entry

Last night Brianna and I attended what was my first ever Sound Unseen Film Festival event. The kickoff to the local music and film festival, which is taking place at several theatres all over town, was at the incredibly cool Riverview Theatre in *sexy* South Minneapolis. We saw a film called "7 Nights at the Entry", and it fucking rocked. Shot over seven nights (August 2nd-8th, 1981) at the 7th St. Entry of First Avenue, the film chronicled a dozen bands signed to Minneapolis' Twin Tone records, and it was a brilliantly put together documentary. Each band performed one song at a time in radical 80's fashion. Brightly colored shirts and ties were everywhere. Torn off sleeves, Elvis Costello eyewear, outrageous patterns, and classic 80's hairsyles were all in full effect.

My favorite of the bunch by far was The Replacements. It was the first time I had seen any footage of that quintesential Minneapolis band live, and they blew me away. Their energy was incredible. Their intesity was stupifying. I had heard tales of their reckless and sometimes train-wreck style live shows, as in here, where Brianna and Jim Walsh are quoted in a New York Times article:

http://paulwesterberg.proboards107.com/index.cgi?board=generalpw&action=display&thread=1150781309

It's hard to imagine what the music scene was like here in Minneapolis when I was but a toddler, but this was a fantastic snapshot. For the first time, I was able to grasp, to hear and see even, what that "Minneapolis Sound" was. The Mats embodied it, and perhaps perfected it. Maybe they imperfected it, who knows. In any case, they are generally regarded as an important influence on just about every punk band that came along after them, from Minneapolis or not. Kurt Cobain, for example, was a big fan of The Replacements. The Mats were known to frequent the CC Club, and this album cover was shot at a house no more than a few blocks from where we live.



The other bands represented in the film were Husker Du, Fine Art, The Dads, Things That Fall Down, Hypstrz, The Neglectors, Rusty Jones & The Generals, The Situation, Wilma and The Wilburs, Stagger Lee, and Peer Group.

Several of them were absolutely great, others not so much. Stagger Lee, a trio of high energy rockabilly punk, was amazing. Wilma and The Wilburs were clearly big fans of Blondie, and they were great as well. Fine Art gets the award for most awesome 80's outfits and dancing. The Dads performed an outstanding super fast punk rock version of "Funkytown", and there seemed to be an underlying Talking Heads art school vibe to a lot of the music, which was pretty fucking sweet. It was a really cool film, and there are lots more intruiging things taking place as part of this festival that goes through Aug 28. check it out at soundunseen.com.

Matisyahu & 311 @ the Roy 8/12

Matisyahu, the first ever Hasidic Reggae superstar, can ryhme as fast as anyone out there nowadays, and his lyrics are more intelligent and uplifting to boot. He sings about his faith, to be sure, (he converted to the traditional and strict Hasidic sect only within the past few years) but his lyrics are not exclusively Jewish, even though he does at times rock the Hebrew. He conveys a sense of spirituality that people can relate to, even if they do not consider themselves religious, and I think that has a lot to do with why he has become so popular in the last couple of years.

Matis, which is the Hebrew translation for Matthew, came through Minneapolis with 311 as part of te "Unity Tour" last Sunday night, and although he was the opening act, I was just as excited to see Matis as I was about 311. He has non-faith specific lyrics that at times seem to be as much Rastafarian as Jewish. Old Testament imagery abounds, with Temples, Mt. Zion, fire, Babylon, and the struggle against opression all recurring themes in his lyrics. It is all very positive, which is what instantly turned me on to it when my youngest brither Colin gave me the CD "Live at Stubbs" (Austin TX baby!!). Unfortunately, a positive and hopeful message is a rarity in today's self-indulgent bling hip-hop culture. Matis is actually younger than I am and, oddly enough, is a former Phish tourkid. I remember reading a while back about his conversion, which was in part brought on by a feeling of emptiness and confusion associated with living on the road.

Out in the audience at the show, we happened to be right next to Mark Murphy from Wookiefoot, who was looking on in obvious admiration at Matis. I was about to ask him if he was gonna hop onstage and do a song with Matis, but I didn't. Turns out, Mark and JoJo (the other Wookie frontman) will be heading to Red Rocks outdoor ampithatre in Colorado to perform with Matis. Fortunately, one local artist did participate in the evening's show. Yoni, a very talented MC, of the fantastic but now defunct Minneapolis band Pleasure Pause did a verse or two on one of the songs, and he also threw down on some beatboxing and rhymes on the "Live at Stubbs" CD.

When Bri and I went to Lollapalooza in Chicago last summer (also early August), one of the shows we were most excited for was Matisyahu, and he did not dissapoint. it was clear then that he had established himself as a powerful voice in the music scene when thousands upon thousands of people showed up to his show one the biggest stage of the festival. here he is signing autographs after the Lollapalooza show. I thought that was a pretty fucking righteous thing to do. There were hundreds of kids waiting to get his autograph, but we just took his picture instead.



Here are the lyrics to Matis' first hit song, "King Without a Crown". It seemingly came out of nowhere, taking everyone by surprise, then it blew up on MTV2 and put him on the map.


"What's this feeling?
My love will rip a hole in the ceiling
Givin' myself to you from the essence of my being
Sing to my God all these songs of love and healing
Want Moshiach now so it's time we start revealing

You're all that I have and you're all that I need
Each and every day I pray to get to know you please
I want to be close to you, yes I'm so hungry
You're like water for my soul when it gets thirsty
Without you there's no me
You're the air that I breathe
Sometimes the world is dark and I just can't see
With these, demons surround all around to bring me down to negativity
But I believe, yes I believe, I said I believe
I'll stand on my own two feet
Won't be brought down on one knee
Fight with all of my might and get these demons to flee
Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Out of darkness comes light, twilight unto the heights
Crown Heights burnin' up all through till twilight
Said, thank you to my God, now I finally got it right
And I'll fight with all of my heart, and all a' my soul, and all a' my might


Me no want no sinsemilla.
That would only bring me down
Burn away my brain no way my brain is to compound
Torah food for my brain let it rain till I drown
Thunder!
Let the blessings come down

Strip away the layers and reveal your soul
Got to give yourself up and then you become whole
You're a slave to yourself and you don't even know
You want to live the fast life but your brain moves slow
If you're trying to stay high then you're bound to stay low
You want God but you can't deflate your ego
If you're already there then there's nowhere to go
If you're cup's already full then its bound to overflow
If you're drowning in the water's and you can't stay afloat
Ask Hashem for mercy and he'll throw you a rope
You're looking for help from God you say he couldn't be found
Searching up to the sky and looking beneath the ground
Like a King without his Crown
Yes, you keep fallin' down
You really want to live but can't get rid of your frown
Tried to reach unto the heights and wound bound down on the ground
Given up your pride and the you heard a sound
Out of night comes day and out of day comes light
Nullified to the One like sunlight in a ray,
Makin' room for his love and a fire gone blaze


Reelin' him in
Where ya been
Where ya been
Where ya been for so long
It's hard to stay strong been livin' in galus (exile) for 2000 years strong
Where ya been for so long
Been livin in this exhile for too long."



(Personally, I'd take the sinsemillia over the Torah, but to each Hasidic rapper his own.)







311 has one of the most loyal and serious fan bases of any band I have ever seen. My brother Kevin has been one of these fans for many years. In fact, Rage Against the Machine and 311 are his favorites, and I am lucky to get to see both of tose bands with him this very month.

I saw them once at the second or third 10,000 Lakes Festival, and once at The Roy Wilkins Auditorium when my brother Kevin had an extra ticket at the last minute. I was amazed at how much of their set I was familiar with-they have a lot of hit songs! Many that I could never tell you the name of, but most of the show was familiar to me, which was cool. Every time I have seen them, they do not take a set break, they do what I think is about the coolest goddamn thing you can do to give some of the band a brief break, whilst keeping the music going - a monstrous drum jam. Everyone but the drummer leaves the stage, then slowly returns to join in the percussive festivites. They really put on an amazing show. I espescially love their cover of The Cure's "Love Song", which was the first song my bro and his wife danced to at their wedding last month.

Patti Smith @ The State 8/6

Patti Smith is old school punk rock royalty, having made a name for herself at the infamously gritty CBGBs nightclub decades ago, and was tapped to be one of the final performers when that legendary spot closed for good last year. She was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this past March by none other than Zack De La Rocha.

Having a limited amount of familiarity with Smith's music was not an issue on this particular tour, as she recently released and album of cover songs that everyone is familar with. Still, I had no idea what was on that album, so that made for a fun night of "OMG, she's playing ??"

Patti Smith is a fantastic performer. I have seen few rock stars of her caliber that interact with the audience in such an easygoing, fun way. Perhaps it is because of all those times playing at CBGBs that she has no problem being shouted at from the crowd. This crowd though, I can only imagine, was far from what you would have found at CBGBs. The State Theatre was in an attentive hush when we came in midway through Bob Dylan's "Changing of the Gaurds", and she seemed to welcome some heckling (and/or life) from the mostly middleaged and older fans. At one point, when the band was tuning up and getting ready for the next song, and when Patti couldn't stall anymore with talk of her shoe size, one woman in the audience asked "Do you wanna rock and roll?"

"Do I wanna rock and roll??" she responded defensively, "You're the one watching me like you're in a fucking movie theatre!" With that, she left the stage, and I thought she was pissed. I don't think she was mad tho, because a moment later, Ms. Smith came strolling down the center aisle from the Theatre entrance, casually walking right past me and inviting her guests to get up and act like we were in fact at a fucking rock and roll show. I think that was the end of sitting down for the night. From then on, everyone was on their feet, acting like rock and roll fans and not moviegoers. (Btw, when we were outside the theatre, an old frined of Brianna's told her we had just missed Patti Smith waltzing in the front door of the place like everybody else.)



After a difficult to follow rant about a giant rat on the streets of Minneapolis last time she was here, and a story about how she drank a bunch of wine with her friend when she was real young and hearing the song for the first time, she did Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". Also played were The Doors' "Soul Kitchen", The Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider", Neil Young's "Helpless" and The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter".


There was a Tribute(?) to Jerry Garcia, wherein she declared it to be "Jerry Week" because he was born 8/1 and died 8/9, and was always too stoned to know what day of the week it was, so he deserves a little leeway in the form of a nine day week. Apparently he gave her a guitar lesson once, suggesting "Get yourself a man who plays guitar and don't worry about it." No thanks to Jerry, she can and did play guitar on maybe half the songs, and rocked out with an electric guitar on her intense finale, "Rock and Roll Nigger"


My favorite part of the show was when Patti, surrounded by seven or eight other people on stage, covered Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", super slowed down and prominently featuring a banjo player they picked up off the street sometime that very day. That song, and numerous others, also were boosted by guest performers Dave Pirner and Dan Murphy of Soul Asylum, and Tony Glover, harmonica player extraordinaire and cohort of Dave Snaker Ray and Spider John Koerner.

The only Patti Smith orginals she did were "People have the Power", which I know only from Brianna's blog, and "Because the Night", which has got to be here most popular song. I know Bri was a bit disapponted with all the covers, but it was an excellent primer for me on Patti's style and infectious optimism about the ability of people to get together, love one another, communicate, and fucking start a revolution already.







The number that brought the house down:
Also Patti's Mom's favorite song:

Baby was a black sheep. Baby was a whore.
Baby got big and baby get bigger.
Baby get something. Baby get more.
Baby, baby, baby was a rock-and-roll nigger.
Oh, look around you, all around you,
riding on a copper wave.
Do you like the world around you?
Are you ready to behave?

Outside of society, they're waitin' for me.
Outside of society, that's where I want to be.

Baby was a black sheep. Baby was a whore.
You know she got big. Well, she's gonna get bigger.
Baby got a hand; got a finger on the trigger.
Baby, baby, baby is a rock-and-roll nigger.

Outside of society, that's where I want to be.
Outside of society, they're waitin' for me.

(those who have suffered, understand suffering,
and thereby extend their hand
the storm that brings harm
also makes fertile
blessed is the grass
and herb and the true thorn and light)

I was lost in a valley of pleasure.
I was lost in the infinite sea.
I was lost, and measure for measure,
love spewed from the heart of me.
I was lost, and the cost,
and the cost didn't matter to me.
I was lost, and the cost
was to be outside society.

Jimi Hendrix was a nigger.
Jesus Christ and Grandma, too.
Jackson Pollock was a nigger.
Nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger,
nigger, nigger, nigger.

Outside of society, they're waitin' for me.
Outside of society, if you're looking,
that's where you'll find me.
Outside of society, they're waitin' for me.
Outside of society.