OK OK... SO I'M LATE.
It's a tough world, alright?
"A big mean nasty world with a lot of unfairness."
... at least that's what my mom told me when I was pissed at having to go to
bed as a child... and she was right...
There just hasn't been much to observe about the human condition or life on
the road lately that I feel has been worthy of wasting your time (or your
boss' - many of you have confessed to reading my stuff AT WORK, and I'm
flattered that you consider me an alternative to your primary respons-
ibilities)... the shows have been good but then you've been there, so
you know all that...
I've been waiting for something to inspire me...
You wouldn't want to turn here for the average run-down of a show, right? I
owe it to you to make you laugh or think when you turn here to my little
corner of the website (or newsletter as now the case might be)... this is
where you come to get a piece of our life OFF stage... or to relive the funny
or messed up stuff that DOES happen to us from time to time, venue to venue,
onstage...
TAKE KNOXVILLE FOR INSTANCE...
Ugh.
Y'know...
Did that really happen?
I'm sure Mike Maraat is STILL wondering... see, we were doing a 1973 show and
"Jack Straw" had come and gone in the first set and the band was headed into
"Looks Like Rain"...
That's what the BAND was doing.
Then Maraat started singing...
"We can share the women we can share the w-"
The band stopped dead in it's tracks, if you'll forgive the pun... I thought
the damned PA had crapped out! It was without a DOUBT one of my favorite
moments in recent history... PRIME STUFF... Mike had forgot that he had sung
the tune, I guess... and to be fair, the two songs DO start remarkably
similarly during this period of the Dead's history...
Mike flopped around in embarrassment and I don't think the red went out of
his face until he got to his hotel room later that night...
It was classic... and some of you were there... for those who weren't, THIS
is what Road Rash is all about... cataloging band history we'd sometimes just
as soon forget...
The show in Knoxville was the first of the tour and we were doing a single
drummer show for the first time with Dino anchoring the band by himself as
Rob Koritz our other drummer was at a wedding...
NOT PLAYING... standing up, smart-ass... we haven't fired him... buuuuuut...
After tonight's show in Asheville I'm sold.
Stay home, Koritz.
I'm KIDDING... KIIIIIIIDDDING...
We miss you, Rob.
But Dino IS doing a great job... and it's interesting mixing only one drum
kit... I'm not USED to it...
(Ed. note - Cam has mixed only 11 one-drummer shows out of 244 total shows)
Quick Dark Star Engineering Lesson:
For a single-drummer show with the kit, bass, two guitars, keys, and three
vocals I'm using a grand total of thirteen channels - six for the kit, one
for each guitar, bass, keys and each vocal... thirteen.
On a 'Brent Show' (or Vince for that matter) I use fourteen channels on the
drum kits ALONE... so in one respect it's a blessing for me, less stuff to
keep track of, right? But at the same time now I (and Dino) need to make one
drummer fill the space of two... just like the Dead had to for the period...
we ALL had to shift gears to perform 1973-style... Mike playing his
hollow-body that has perfect tuning problems... Scott is working with piano
and Fender Rhodes... John is depending more on what's coming out of his hands
and his mind than an effects box, and Hazdra...
... well, Hazdra just keeps chuggin'.
1973 was a jammin' year for the Dead, and it's not treating Dark Star
Orchestra too bad these days... the jams are nothing short of stellar, with
the band reaching zero gravity several times in the first sets alone, but
maaaaannn... when that second set gets bubbling there's no telling where the
room's gonna take off for...
Yeah... I know the grammar isn't correct on that last statement. Sue me.
I'm not going to review Knoxville too much here, except to comment on the
centerpiece of the evening... the second set 'opener' (if that's what you
call it) of "Playin->UJB->Morning Dew->UJB->Playin" made me want the night to
stand still...
Yes, it was THAT good. I can't put into words how that bunch of music went
down... Get the tape. I'm gonna. The oasis of "Dew" in the middle of huge
spinning jams... Finest-Kind...
But you're not reading this for the show review, it's mundane and we need to
remember that, so back to "As The Van Turns"...
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