Both Sides Now

I remember the first time I saw Chrissie Hynde as the waitress in the Brass in Pocket video - I was, like, Who the hell is this broad? I mean, she's not exactly a beauty, but she's super compelling to watch. And she's damn sexy as hey-ell.

Great song, really compact, great riff, chorus... it is weird to think that this was when MTV really was Music Video Television. Almost thirty years ago! It's also weird seeing James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon...

Now, I was never a big Pretenders fan, but a few of their songs are really good rock songs (like "The Wait") and pop music gems, and I say that reverently, because I came up on pop inclusive of R&B. And although I have deep love for my jazz/blues roots, there's an unprecedented element that was ushered in post-war with rock n' roll: the show. From the stepping of James Brown and his subsequent "exhaustion" toward the end of his show and the draping of his cape to his miraculous revival (!), to Tina Turner and the Ikettes shimmy shamming in their mini skirts (and giving all the white boys boners while making white girls look on in horror/jealousy at true talent unleashed, among other things) to the pyrotechnics of Jimi at the Monterey Pop Fest, Rock and pop music entertained in a completely different manner. One of the great things was that it blasphemed the establishment in ways that made kids go crazy.

And the volume was an integral part of it (although not as much of an element with R & B): Cerwin Vega had a great slogan on stickers that I plastered on my amp: "Loud is Beautiful, if it's clean." But perhaps the more apt one was, "If it's too loud, you're too old."

The Devil's music, indeed, but what a show.

These days I rarely see live music, having clubbed and arena'd myself a lifetime in my youth. Which is sad, because although I'm old, I still love a good show, as evidenced by my enthusiasm for the Eagle Rock Music Fest. There's nothing like seeing a live show.

That's where I think the kids of today are missing something special. In the 80's, there were so many great shows around, from big arenas to dives and everything in-between. Many of those places - The Masque and The Starwood come to mind - are legendary in the LA scene but are now gone.

Perhaps the best thing about the punk scene was its chill factor. I was once at an informal jam in a house in North Hollywood where D. Boon was playing; he was so loaded he couldn't keep his guitar on right and resorted to wrapping the strap around his neck because it'd come off the back button (near the guitar neck). My buddy Thrust and I were cracking up. I got to talk to Boon a bit and he wrote his name and number on a matchbook which I still have. Years later I saw fIREHOSE and reminisced to Watt about Boon. I showed him the matchbook and he just held it and got all wistful. I kinda regret showing it to him, but he's moved on, now gigging with The Stooges. Good for him.

Today, in the post-MTV era, kids are bombarded in ways we weren't. As a consequence, they have little to no knowledge of underground/indie bands, let alone the presence of mind or wherewithal to withstand the relentless spam of the mega corps.

So in a stylistically jarring roundabout, we're back to The Pretenders. The first time I heard "Kid" I loved its composition and great arrangement. I didn't really identify with the lyrics because I thought it just a "story song" - I don't think Hynde was a parent at that point. Now of course it reminds me of my daughter. So, here's to you, Renee. I know you're going through some teen stuff right now, but guess what? Odds are good you'll come out of it okay. I have pretty good instincts, and when I think of you that's what I feel. Bottom line, your old man loves you, more than you know.


KID WHAT CHANGED YOUR MOOD
YOU'VE GONE ALL SAD SO I FEEL SAD TOO
I THINK I KNOW SOME THINGS WE NEVER OUTGROW
YOU THINK IT'S WRONG
I CAN TELL YOU DO
HOW CAN I EXPLAIN
WHEN YOU DON'T WANT ME TO

KID MY ONLY KID
YOU LOOK SO SMALL YOU'VE GONE SO QUIET
I KNOW YOU KNOW WHAT I'M ABOUT
I WON'T DENY IT
BUT YOU FORGIVE THOUGH YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND
YOU'VE TURNED YOUR HEAD
YOU'VE DROPPED BY HAND

ALL MY SORROW, ALL MY BLUES
ALL MY SORROW

SHUT THE LIGHT, GO AWAY
FULL OF GRACE, YOU COVER YOUR FACE

KID GRACIOUS KID
YOUR EYES ARE BLUE BUT YOU WON'T CRY
I KNOW ANGRY TEARS ARE TOO DEAR
YOU WON'T LET THEM GO

Eagle Rock Music Festival

This past weekend was the 9th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival, and I can say unequivocally that this was the most fun I've had in the longest time and all in all, it was SUPER entertaining.

But that's not even the punch line. Here it is: IT'S FREE, peoples!!!

Now, before I get into more, let me give big ups to the LA denizens. There must have been 100K swarming the fest, in every nook and cranny. Colorado is on a slope, so that when you're at the eastern most portion of it, you can look back down, and it was a teeming swarm of humanity. It looked like a mini Woodstock west!!!

Okay, with that outta da way...

FACTS, HIGHLIGHTS, ETC:

1. It's advertised at 40 bands
2. It covered at least 5 or 6 blocks long
3. There must have been at least 10 stages/music venues. It was unbelievable...
4. Some of the acts JP saw:
a. Dengue Fever
b. Black Shakespeare
c. The Mama Suki
d. Hecuba
e. The Sirens
f. The Curs
g. "Special Guests"

Bummer: I missed Jessica Fichot, but think I might've lost patience with her in the end.

I thought the punk stage was the most entertaining and clearly was my link back to the halcyon LA of the 80's. The Sirens - an all gal Latina band - was kicking it pretty good, and the Curs were the most musically inclined, had the best sense of humor and displayed the most intelligence of the night. Surprisingly (pleasantly so) they were young kids blending punk and rockabilly in a power trio with an upright bass, quasi surf dos and matching blue leotards. But the most fun was watching the mosh pit - the look of glee on their mugs...

There was one lowlight; Dengue Fever is one of those hybridized, LA fusion bands that hipsters fall all out over. I hate "Morning Becomes Eclectic" but imagine they're a big hit there.

They're alright - long on gimmick, short on ... well, you get it. I mean, they're entertaining for about 15 minutes but you definitely get their schtick within seconds, at which point it becomes how much you can tolerate. Hey, I'm Asian, and I can only take so much of tinny, whiny, nasally vocals. I must say though that the contrast between lead singer Chhom Nimol and bass player Senon Williams is a riot - he's about 2 feet taller.

They were one of the headliners on the main stage and were churning ahead, when out of the corner of my eye I saw them: CRAZY WHITE LIBERALS!!!

As DF were in the middle of one of their patented Farfisa-led jams, these stupid broads sashayed across our proscenium, doing this goofy faux belly dancing, mimicking Chhom Nimol's hand movements and the like. Yeah, I called them stupid broads but trust me, I want more.

On a side note, the LA Weekly, that ode to everything "me" that is SO my city, was running on the very same night their own fest in downtown. It looked very mersh, as The Minutemen used to say. (SHOUT OUT: Mike Watt, now with The Stooges!!!) With this one event Eagle Rock, their Center for the Arts and the City of LA supports a lot of indie bands, the local merchants have a field day and the community has a great event.

So, minus the dose of Orientalism, let me say that if you love indie music y'all need to mark your calendars for next year.