.the red lady, gogol and mr. claypool.
she's a dollar store virgin mary. and she watches over my toothpaste at night. i've seen a lot of her these days. er. nights.
the semester is almost over. and i couldn't be more unexcited and excited at the same time. i have a lot to do before it's all over with, but two days after it is, i will be on a plane to brooklyn to visit the ol' big sis.
[the stress did not stop me from travelling to berkeley this weekend to see gogol bordello and primus. an incredible show. man. gogol bordello came out with so much energy and seeing them play that gypsy punk live was just what i was hoping it would be. i don't know how there were people in the audience sitting in their seats. i'm hoping to get myself hooked into the eastern european music scene. in that i want to find more of it to listen to. not that i want to move to eastern europe and join a band. i'd love to see them in a small, hole-in-the-wall club packed with people all dancing and flailing themselves about. i think that would've been more appropriate than the big auditorium we saw the show in.
primus. it's hard to put into words what les claypool does. he's a maniac. he's a madman. he kicks ass. throughout the show we saw him in a pig mask. a penguin mask (with a really pointy noise). a monkey mask. and these awesome black sunglasses. he's an amazing musician, he rips on his bass guitar (as well as his stand-up bass and whatever other wierd instrument he brought out) and his band follows right along. at one point the drummer wailed on his drums for ten (?) minutes and i had the thought, "you know.. i always thought that seeing live drum solos that last forever - i.e. john bonham - would've been terrible. but this. this is mesmerizing." at the end of his giant solo, les came back on stage and they got right back to it. their music is strange, experimental, loud but incredible. and it's not like i'm a primus super fan either. i own one les claypool & the frog brigade album. it's my mom who was always the big fan, i think she has all of their albums. i'd heard them, i can recognize their more famous songs. but i will be adding their stuff to my collection, that's for sure. if only to try and relive some of the moments from the show. ha ha.]
back to the grindstone. as they say.
Comments
Apparently its called "Whamola". Here is an article where Les talks about his gear in it he says
“Everyone wants to know about ‘Whamola,’ which is named for the instrument I play on the tune. It was given to me a few years ago in Vermont at 3 am by two guys who had waited at my hotel after a show. It’s a weird washtub bass-type instrument with a single D string on a stick, a pickup, a peg on the bottom like an upright bass, and a big handle that you pull to change pitch. I play it by beating on it with a drumstick. For the track, I sent the Whamola through the SansAmp distortion and the Korg envelope. The Whamola sounds good on tape, but when you hear it live it’s incredible—it’s like your face is melting!”
Google Whamola, its fun and yes inquiring minds of course there is a Wiki entry!
And if you want to see some of the Gogol fun check it out.
I like the old photo's very much. The red one above is very moody.
And the other thing was, I love those moments of trancendace when a good live band is in the house.
(my original comment was much longer, well written, witty, and so forth, but I can't remember it:)