NoMeansNo

We drove down to LA last Wednesday for the first of our 2 NoMeansNo shows. We played the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. Great place and the sound was AMAZING. Best on-stage sound I've ever had. We had the support slot so got 45 minutes and got a great response. Finished our set and sat at the merch table watching NoMeansNo DESTROY. These guys are truly inspiring. I demand you see them if you get the chance.

We got a hotel room and woke up the next morning and hit Cafe Tropical. Probably LA's greatest asset. Espresso con leche, Classic Cuban sandwich and Guava Pie. Tens across the board.

Sunday night was here in SF at Slim's. Due to scheduling problems we got a 2 minute soundcheck. We were opening and had 30 minutes. By the time I was adjusted to the weird on-stage sound the set was over. Good response and KILLER hospitality...It was nice to experience what popular bands do - private back room, great dinner, beer, etc. NMN killed once again. The next time I complain about being too old to lug my gear around I'll remember these guys.

Football thoughts

**REVISED 10/30**

If Denver gets an offense they will be hard to beat. Only allowing 1 TD in the first 5 games is amazing.

* They got an offense but couldn't close the deal with Indy. The playoffs are going to be great this year.

Chargers are looking like the Bears of the AFC.

McNabb could be a problem for the Bears taking the NFC.

* Nevermind.

Saints are for real. They are having the season the Cardinals were supposed to have. Oops!

* They lost, but I still think they will make the playoffs.

NFL replay rocks.

* My chance to watch the Indy - Denver game.

More shows.

I might as well keep up with the show reports since that's all I've been doing lately.

Last Tuesday: Roger Waters at the Shoreline. Since I'm a huge waters nerd this was a big one. First set was a collection of classics - Set the Controls..., Shine on..., Sheep, etc. He also played Southhampton Dock and Fletcher Memorial Home from The Final Cut. Those two surprised me and were nice to see live. The second set was the complete Dark Side of the Moon. The sound was amazing and all the perfomances were killer. Yeah, it's Roger with a backing band, but I don't care, he wrote all those songs and they brought back a ton of memories. I did miss Gilmour during the guitar solos though.

To me, Roger Waters is Pink Floyd. Even more so than Syd. (Yeah, i know, bring it on). You cannot deny the Meddle to Animals string of music.

Last Wednesday: The Pogues at The Fillmore. Another big one as it featured the entire original lineup.. including that bumbling drunk Shane. What a mess that guy is. He stumbled out, really had no idea where he was, and started the "show". The first 5 songs were a trainwreck. They had to start "A Pair of Brown Eyes" over cause he missed the first verse. He finally got it together for the second half of the set and it rocked. Although he kept announcing that "This song is called the Irish Rover" for 4 songs. They finally played it. Highlight for me was him nailing (somehow) "A Rainy Night in Soho".

They played 4 nights and we were there for the 3rd. My friend had seen the two nights before and she said that Shane looked even worse then. Sad, really. Check out the documentary "If I should Fall from Grace with God" for the full lowdown.

All in all a great 2 nights of musicians I thought I would never see live.

Stay Morbid

Saw Celtic Frost last night at the Fillmore. Completely epic. They are still heavy as shit. Sun O))) supported and were amazing - 45 minutes of fog-drenched droning. I think they played 2 chords the whole time. Trust me, it's cool.

We missed the opener 1349 which bummed me out but Ravn the singer came out and sang a song with CF. It killed. Goatwhore played next and were lame.

CF ended the set and finished with the line:

"San Francisco, stay morbid!"
"The Frost bows to you!"

We will stay morbid, Frost...we will.

Rock

The Mass played last night with Triclops! and Grayceon. Grayceon is cello/guitar/drums playing intricate, heavy and pretty cello/guitar/drums music. Pretty awesome. Triclops! were killer as usual, Jon's (the singer) other band Fleshies is on Alternative Tentacles so Jello came to check them out. He ended up staying for our set too then drove off in his gray convertible escort. We played good and my head hurts this morning. Shannon took pictures..I'll post the link when they are up.

Caught the end of the Bears game at the bar. They are the best team in the NFL right now. A lot can change but if they keep it up they will be hard to beat.