Adventures in Rock n Roll (Part 2 in a series)

I feel like writing something, and dammit, I'm gonna do it. I could write about moments in music that have affected me. Yes, that's what I'll write about. By no means will this be a comprehensive list of key moments, because there was a time when I might've been a bit of a drinker. And, of course, almost every time I've ever walked into Pine Knob, I was high. These moments also will not be listed in chronological order because of my altered memory due to the aforementioned indulgences.

Speaking of Pine Knob, that brings to mind one of my favorites. It was one of the Lollapallooza festivals. The second stage was off to the side in a forested area. It had been raining for awhile. I have no idea what time it was, I was suffering from a bit of heat stroke due to dehydration from drinking and smoking too much. The sky was overcast and gray, and it seemed like the rain would never stop. I was standing in front of the second stage, and I think I was by myself. No clue where my friends were. I was standing there waiting for the Verve to play. They finally came out onstage. A guitar made the first sound, and as soon as his fingers hit the strings, I swear, the clouds opened up, sun spilled down, and the rain stopped. Considering the celestial sound of the Verve (around the time just before the second album), this made them seem heavenly. Like they were sent from heaven. Crazy shit.

Here's another one. I think it was 1998 or 1999. It was a Saturday night, I was DJing at the Garden Bowl. I think I was playing the song "Nothing" from Negative Approach, so I was definitely on a hardcore punk tangent. The next song was already cued up. It was "Attitude" from the Misfits. "Nothing" was getting towards the end, and I looked over into the lounge because I heard a commotion. There was an all-out brawl going on in there. I saw barstools flying, blood, the whole deal, it was insane. So, not knowing what to do, I went to turn down the music, thinking it might be encouraging them. Ginger, the manager who was also bartending that night turned to me and said, "keep it going, keep it going!" She didn't want customers in the bowling alley to think anything was wrong. Her version of crowd control, I guess. So, I went ahead and turned it back up, hit 'play', and just smiled. That Misfits song is like an anthem for fighting. How appropriate.

Summer of '96. St. Andrew's Hall. The show was Ben Harper and the Fugees. This was back before the Fugees put out there multi-platinum second album "The Score." Ben Harper was good, he always is, but we were really there to see the Fugees. I was with my friend Buddy, and we knew of the Fugees because I was on the college radio station in Port Huron (MI) at the time, and we were playing a lot of lesser-known hip hop back then. The Fugees opened the show, and closed their set with 20 minutes of freestyle. No joke. I admit, I haven't seen many hip-hop shows, but that was pure and real.

Don't ask exactly when, because I'm really not sure. The band was the Greenhornes (from Cincinnati), the event was a free show on the bowling lanes at the Garden Bowl in Detroit. I think it was three years ago, it would have to be because it was right before they put out their second album (the third came out last year). These guys are known for being perfectionists onstage and in the studio. If something goes wrong, they get pissed. They're also known for being a little stiff onstage. Not much movement going on here. So, there was a platform set-up that sprawled across lanes 12 through 14. The opener was Jack White and Brendan Benson doing a set together. That was good, but I wasn't there to see them wank around. I wanted to see somethin' rockin'. Of course, the Greenhornes rocked, but halfway through, they ran into a problem. The big drums from the beginning of "How Does It Feel" from Creation had just started, and Craig, the singer/guitarist fried his guitar amp. First of all, the Greenhornes (at that point in time) didn't play many covers of well-known songs. They always kept it obscure. So, this was a treat. Second, a blown amp is a problem. It looked like he was so pissed, he wanted to stop the song, but he didn't. Instead, he put down his guitar, grabbed the mic and actually jumped off the stage into the crowd and sang the song from there (where everyone was dancing). Best cover I've ever heard of that song, and it was made even better by seeing a normally stiff singer loosen up and get into it.

There's one more I want to tell you right now, but it's actually a small part of a much bigger story. This one involves a band from Sweden, hot sauce from New Orleans, and a lot of pot. I'll save that for the next installment of Adventures in Rock n Roll.

rock and roll ain't noise pollution