Tommy Can You Hear Me?

Loading in at ATP in Minehead, the rock festival at a Butlins Holiday Camp. Sounds silly and it kinda is but also a lot of fun. Dinosaur played tonight and will again tomorrow. Some good bands here, Broken Social Scene, Animal Collective. 

Played at Koko last night in London. Great show. Koko is a really good venue. The place was packed and the kids loved it. Finally got our bus back. 

Goin' Down

Did two Dinosaur Jr shows in Ireland, Dublin and Belfast. The Dublin show was really great, excellent PA and the room was nicely tuned. Belfast, same PA but the room was bare, hard walls. The difference in sound was huge. Belfast was a tough mix. The crowds for both were fantastic.

We left Belfast for London Tuesday night. The bus broke down 100 miles from London, brake disc broke. We ended up taking a car service to London. Nice to be able to do things like that.

Gig at Coco in London tomorrow and two shows at ATP over the weekend. Should be fun.

Help I'm a Rock

Still on vacation in Dublin. This is the Temple Bar area, a neighborhood of bars, boutiques and other such fun stuff. When I lived here it was pretty much abandoned. The whole thing is kinda like Soho in New York but not yet as ritzy. It's sorta suffering from the same disease as NYC's Lower East Side/East Village. Artists are priced out and the booze merchants take over. 

The Dinosaur Jr gang gets in tomorrow so it's work time. There's a show on Monday in Dublin and Tuesday in Belfast. 

I like Ireland, maybe I'll move back here. 

Hall of Mirrors

I arrived in Dublin today, Dinosaur Jr tour starts Sunday. I lived in Dublin in the '7o's and haven't been back since. It was a lovely time of my life and I've been greatly anticipating a return. It looks pretty much the same at a glance but upon closer inspection, it's a different place. Lots more stores now, luckily there are a ton of record shops here. The usual results of globalization are evident, people wear the same clothes as New York, London and every other place I've been in the last year. Lot's of lattes available. I truly miss the individuality one used to see in Europe.

The picture is Trinity College Dublin, the hall where concerts used to be held. I helped out with the shows and I guess that was my first rock gig. I mostly remember  smoking hash with the bands, different days.

War Across the USA

I just got back from a premiere showing of Sex: The Revolution. It's a 4 part series that will air in May on VH1 and Sundance Channel. It's good, you should watch it, especially if you weren't around for it. I was, sorta. Sex, Free Love and all that. My family moved to Ireland in 1970. This was a country with more government control over sex than even the USA. Still, you could have sex in Ireland. It was easiest if you could meet a European or American tourist as they likely were on the pill. All contraceptives were illegal in Ireland then. I returned to  the US in 1974 and  hippie free love had spread into the general population. To my eye, it wasn't such a pretty sight. Lots of "Looking For Love in all the Wrong Places" and "Looking For Mr. Goodbar. A bit tawdry really.

If you are interested in any of this read Legs McNeils book "The Other Hollywood". It's an excellent oral history of the porn business from the late '60's on. Legs is also in Sex: The Revolution and was a panelist at the screening. He's still a punk.

I  met the Hart Perry, producer/director or Sex, who also  filmed Hendrix at Woodstock. He did the nude and mud scenes as well. The best parts of the movie really.

No Pussyfooting

Josh from The Secret Machines. Just finished a short tour with TSM. They are a cool band, jammin'  psychedelic rock and truly lovely pop songs. This is a great band to do sound for. I also tour managed which was a bit more demanding than I thought it would be, even with the band doing many  things for themselves. Great guys to work for and they are truly a band. They like hanging out with each other just dig everything involved in making music for a living.

A Gun That Didn't Make Any Noise

Been reading this book. It's pretty good. I like that it doesn't end in 1969. Lots of really weird stuff went down in the early '70's. The book has got me pulling out some old music and getting some new things, such as;

There's A Riot Going On- Sly and the Family Stone

Pretty obvious but it's a really great album. Stand as well.

On The Corner - Miles Davis

I got the 6 cd box set. Some pretty weird stuff, I like it.

Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys - Traffic

What those of us who didn't think much of that revolution stuff listened to while we smoked lots of hash.

Shaft In Africa - Original Soundtrack

Just an awesome album.

Let It Be - The Replacements

The revolution would have probably gone done heavier if they'd  had  this to listen to. One of the best albums ever made.

The only band that I've come across recently that seem to have some of the anger that was all over back in the day is Grand Buffet, from Pittsburgh. Rap and poetry over beats with some Cheech and Chong thrown in. Good stuff.