Stevil’s KUSF Page

I was super tired all day yesterday because my downstairs neighbor had a party on Friday night that lasted until 3:00 a.m. and I had to get up early on Saturday to get my hair cut.  So, I was sitting around my apartment yesterday evening and I had a sudden urge to go see some live music and get the hell out of the house.  So I checked the internet to see what was going on.  I found that last night was the final night of the SF Bluegrass Festival and there were a couple of shows at the Café du Nord and Swedish American Hall.  I jumped on the 24 Divisadero bus, got off on 15^th Street and walked down to Market Street where those clubs are located.

The show at the Swedish Hall was sold out, so I went to next door to the Café du Nord where there was a short line to get in.  Some people in line in front of me where drinking beer in plastic cups and the doorman told them that they had better get rid of them quick because the cops could bust them.   They tossed there cups in the garbage can, but one guy missed his beer went all over the ground surrounding the doorman (and I think some may have hit him).

I entered the club and, after I bought some earplugs (always a good idea, even with bluegrass, which is acoustic music), they started a short film about local bluegrass in the Bay Area called “New Grass.”  I glad to be able to sit down on the floor where some other people had done so, to watch to the movie.  It focused on the alternative bluegrass scene in SF and interviewed two bands that were playing that night: Kemo Sabe and The Pine Box Boys.  It was short and intriguing.

A little while after the film, Kemo Sabe came on and they were very entertaining and played cool songs.  They are ex-punkers (I gathered from the film) who discovered bluegrass and started doing their own hybrid style of it, and it works.  It is sort of like country based music, with punk influenced style – it reminded (just a bit) of The Knitters (members of X and the Blasters side project), but less polished and no as many solos.  It also reminded me a bit of a group called The Swamp Zombies from Southern California.  Kemo Sabe were good.  I tried to buy their CD but it was sold out by the time I got there.

Next came The Earl Brothers, and they were more traditional style bluegrass.  I admit that I don’t know anything about them, but that didn’t matter.  It’s like they opened up their living room and invited you in to hang out and watch them perform.  They were friendly and funny (which was in contract with the songs that were sad and all boozed up).  The crowd was really digging the band and many of them were in their 20s and 30s, which surprised me.  I was expecting an older crowd.

I couldn’t stand for another band (in fact, I barely made it through the Earl Brothers’ set) so I made my way home without seeing The Pine Box Boys.  I’ll have to catch them next time.

I saw The Blow last night at the Great American Music Hall. The Blow – as much as I can gather – is a one woman show (and her name is Khaela). I think there is another member who does some or all of the music but doesn’t tour. I guess I could find out easily enough on the internet. Perhaps later.

So I left my apartment at 9:00 and walked through the freezing rain to the Geary Street bus stop. Luckily a bus came within five minutes. I rode it down to the Great American and stood in the freezing line, getting mooked by all the panhandlers and not sure if the club would honor my comp ticket since it was a sold out show. But they did.

I walked in and the place was freakin’ packed – to the gills! I was unwilling and unable to push my way forward to get a good view, so I stayed at the back. Kaitlyn was on stage already and telling a story about something to do with belonging to a group (perhaps a recovery group – I should probably look that up too). It was funny – like a stand up act – but I wanted to hear music. I figured I didn’t have to hang around too long if this was how the show was going to be.

Well, she went into a song and it was good. Her singing was a bit off –key (compared to her records) but her performance more than made up for that. She acted out a lot of the lyrics and added bits of irony here and there, which made it more interesting.

Somewhere along the line – and I don’t quite know where or when – she was talking about her heart (and how it has the bloodlust) and, without going into the details, I felt like I understood (but not the bloodlust part).

After she left the stage I took the freezing trek back to my apartment – which didn’t take too long. I was, in fact, home by 10:20. Hi ho!

I saw OM with Lichens last Friday - 1/18/08 – at the Independent and it was a cool show. I went by myself and didn’t see anyone I knew there, but that was cool.

Lichens came on first and really tripped me out. It’s just one guy who samples himself making noises, playing guitar and singing (or chanting). It started out with him making whistling sounds and built its way up to an orchestra of sound and trippy vocals. He made the craziest facial expressions along with it. I wonder how it looked to all those stoners in the audience who kept lighting up?

OM came out while Lichens was still on the stage and sort of took the stage. Their music was BIG, though the instrumentation is just electric bass and drums. They used to be the rhythm section of the band Sleep (from San Jose, I think). The bass player sings sort of like Ozzy with Black Sabbath and the lyrics – at least of what I was able to discern with all the effects – were all about unicorns and the like. Their sound is sort of stoner rock meets metal meets experimental. It’s a trip.

OM played for almost two hours and it was intense the whole time. Many of their songs go from loud to soft and back to loud. I was lucky enough to have scored one of the side seats so I was able to sit for a lot of the show and, when people stood in front of the seats I could stand on my seat and see over heir heads.

OM, check ‘em out. I’ve playing them on the radio ever since the show.

I saw Jadek on Saturday January 12, 2008 at the Swedish American Hall above Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco and it was an interesting blend of many different types of insanity.

Jandek is the enigmatic outsider of mainstream music who has created 45 albums since 1978 through his company called Corwood Industries. He never does interviews, admits that he’s Jandek or gives any information about who he is. He is probably the opposite of every known musician (cult or icon) in the entire music industry. A DJ at KUSF referred to Jandek as the “Uni-bomber of outsider music.” My friend Flubber, who came up from LA to see the show, said that Jandek was “More like the Colonel Kurtz of outsider music.”

The anticipation of the crowd before Jandek came out was very apparent. I talked with several people and they all seemed charged up and excited. I myself was feeling nervous for some reason. All around me, before the show, people were drinking coffee and smiling.

The lights went out and Jandek came out austerely along the edge of the club wearing all black, including a black hat that covered a lot of his head and part of his face. He kept his back to the audience at the beginning (and for much of the entire show) while he, Ches Smith (the drummer) and Tom Carter (the bassist) prepared to perform.

When it came, it was like an explosion of sound in that off-key Jandek style. Tom Carter followed Jandek with heavy bass rhythms and Ches Smith was all over the map with his drumming and facial expressions. As Jandek approached the mic to sing/recite his lyrics, he seemed to be far away from the audience.

The show, in my opinion, was set up in approximately four sections of mood enhancing themes. The first was a step into sadness; the second was life-hating despair; the third clinically diagnosed depression; and the fourth, a sort of Samuel Becket type of theme of “I can’t go on, I must go on.”

The sadness theme was sort of an introduction to Jandek’s world. Most of the lyrics were observations that people often make about things they see, though these were of a personal nature. This theme peaked with images that might be interpreted as drug induced hallucinations or the onset of schizophrenia.

It was obvious to me when the second theme came into play because many people walked out, including my buddy Luigi who was new to Jandek. The lyrics of songs went from contemplative (and rockin’) to the opening line “I hate my life.” This part of the show was tortured sadness and included many references to coffins and lost love. The words were extremely personal and very uncomfortable for me (and others too, I think).

After people began to walk out, and the lady next to me was tapping her leg in a manic pattern that tried to keep time with the music, I found another spot a little closer to the stage. I noticed many different types of reactions. Many people were sitting there motionless, others seemed to be fidgeting a lot, some were bouncing their heads to the drum beat, some were swaying to the guitar and others were just laughing hysterically.

The third theme, the diagnosed depression theme, turned from suicidal thoughts to questions along the lines of “What did I do wrong?” Although it was sad, it seemed to me that author was aware that his feelings were out of control and that there was a problem.

The final theme brought everything to a new place, but it was not necessarily a better place (or even the starting point). Jandek seemed to be leading the listener down a path that had no light at the end, no safety rail to hold on to and guarantees of any kind.

Jandek never said a word to the crowd. He just came out, performed for about two hours, and walked off stage, his persona remaining a mystery.

A guy in the audience was telling DJ Schmeejay and I that he saw Jandek on Haight Street the night before the show. He approached him and asked, “Excuse me, are you a representative from Corwood Industries?” Jandek smirked and said, “Why yes I am.”

I saw the Tubes on Saturday night at the Independent. It was cool for me because, as a representative of KUSF, I was given a upstairs pass. This allowed me to have the best seat in the house. I had a raised chair on the balcony and only one or two other people who stopped by every now and then to take pictures. I felt like I was in the Elvis room, or perhaps the Boy in the Plastic Bubble.

I’ll begin by saying that the opening band was Triple Cobra and I was not expecting much from them (I didn’t care for their new CD). But they were pretty good. They all wore Louis XIV outfits and there were two beautiful amazon dancers who had choreographed dance steps that were quite amazing to watch. The music rocked too. I may revisit their CD.

Now for the Tubes. They are not young, but they really seem to enjoy what they’re doing - and what they’re doing is rockin’ (mostly) in the same way they always rocked.

I remember my friend’s aunt telling me that she saw the Tubes in 1973 and they kept leaving the stage and coming back in different costumes, and that each costume represented a group of songs. Well, now it’s just Fee Waybill who changes costumes. The band plays on while leaves, does a quick change and returns for the next group of songs. The costumes became more and more outrageous until he was just wearing chaps and male thong underwear (and this is a 59 year old man!).

The songs were mostly good. I say mostly because I don’t really like the slow dance (or power ballad tunes) - except for “Don’t Touch Me There” which they didn’t do. I also didn’t really care for the hits from the 80s that popular on MTV. But they did an incredible version of “White Punks on Dope” and “What Do You Want From Life.”

Fee Waybill is a great entertainer, and very accessible too. He sort treats the audience like a bunch of old friends, and tells a lot of stories. After the show he, and the rest of the band, came out to the T-Shirt stand to meet the audience and sign records.

All in all it was a great show and I’m glad I went. I would recommend it if you ever liked any of their songs - be it the 70s or the 80s - you won’t be disappointed.

Yeah, so like I’m in LA, right? And I used to go to Safari Sam’s when it was in Huntington Beach in the 80s, dig? So I went to the latest incarnation of Safari Sam’s last night to see the Knitters (John Doe, Exene, DJ Bonebrake, Dave Alvin and Jonny Ray Bartel) and they were pretty cool.

I have seen the Knitter a couple of times in the last like two or three years, but last night they were fan-freakin’-tastic by comparison. Dave Alvin was particularly great, and funny too. He never said a word, but his performance was quite entertaining.

Perhaps it was the LA crowd and the fact that they are from LA? Who the hell knows. All I know is that they kicked ass.

I saw Busdriver last night, Saturday November 24, 2007, at the Great American Music Hall and it was a mind blowing experience. He (Busdriver) is a trippy cat from Los Angeles doing experimental hip-hop of a sort that is not completely uncommon. He raps really freakin’ fast and his words are reminiscent of James Joyce’s Ulysses - very stream-of-consciousness. He also has crazy gesticulations to go along with his words and rap style, so he is as interesting to watch as he is to listen to.

I’ve enjoyed his records since I first heard him but, now that I have seen him perform his songs, I think it’s better live.

Greats American was not too packed, but it was Thanksgiving Weekend. There was something cool about the intimacy of the event.

The opening acts were AnticMC, instrumental electronic music (though he said that many of his songs have rappers on them on his albums), and Dedalus (a character from Joyce’s Ulysses). They were okay, but I think Busdriver stole the show.

Dig.

On October 28, 2007 I saw a living jazz legend - and he delivered the goods. Ornette Coleman played for close to two hours and he ran the spectrum from the melodic to the “way out.” His band was hot too, their timing was mind blowing and you could feel that there were many improvisational parts written into the tunes. Even though I was extremely tired, I was captivated by the sounds and screaming between songs.

The Masonic Auditorium was packed with fans and my friend Ezra (who joined me for the show) and I heard people whisting and humming the tunes all over the streets and we walked back to his car.

Friday night, October 26, 2007 I went to Annie’s Social Club to see Joey’s band XXX - they are an X cover band and they were good. It was only their second show and it seems like they need to tighten things up a bit (or at least get someone to crank up the monitors so they can harmonize better). It was a decent show, but I was too tired to stay for the headliner: Bitchfits, an all female Misfits cover band.

Saturday October 27, 2007 my friend Mark came up from LA and we went to see the Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline Amphitheater. We went primarily to see Tom Waits perform with the Kronos Quartet and that was incredible. The rest of the bands/performers were cool, but not as important to us. There was Metallica, Neil Young, Jerry Lee Lewis, R. Kelly, John Mayer and Teegan & Sarah.

There were many drunk and stoned people at this event. As the night progressed, we noticed that things were starting to get ugly. People yelling at each other and guys pissing along the fence where others were walking and/or milling around. The line for coffee was longer than any of the other lines, so at least they all knew that they needed to sober up.

After the show, Mark and I wanted to get a bite to eat. It was 2:00 am so we decided to try Denny’s on Post and Laguna in Japantown. The restaurant was full of drunken people in Halloween costumes. We decided to go somewhere else when a drunk guy (who looked over 30) puked on himself and the floor while he was walking passed our table, probably on his way to the bathroom. It was bad, but what made it worse was that no one seemed to be making any move to clean up the barf on the floor near our seats. So, we went to Mel’s Diner and found more drunk people in costumes but no pukers.

Tonight I am going to see Ornette Coleman at the Masonic Auditorium - more on that later.

So, I went and saw Q-Tip (formerly of A Tribe Called Quest) last night (October 10, 2007)…

I scored the only staff ticket at KUSF (which included a VIP pass!!!) and talked a couple of friends into getting tickets and we met at Little Star Pizza for dinner.  The dinner, by the way, was tasty (x3).

We arrived at the club around 8:45 and one of the DJs from a KUSF cultural show called Beatsauce (I can’t remember his name now) was spinning.  We found a seat on the side (it was at the Independent) and waited.  My friend Ezra felt sick and decided to leave early - bummer for him.  It turned out to be a really great show.

The opening act was a local hip-hop dude from Oakland - can’t recall his name off hand - who was a real crowd pleaser.  He broke up a fight on the dance floor by stopping the music and telling everyone to take a deep breath.  Then he went into a human beat-box bit that left us all speechless.

Q-Tip, however, stole the show.  I have to admit that my expectations were quite low.  I heard that Q-Tip was doing more mainstream hip-hop these days, but that was not the case.  He did more Tribe Called Quest songs that I thought he would and his new stuff did not seem out of place.  His band - yes, he had a real band - was hot hot hot.  DJ Scratch manned the turntables (and he was mind-blowing amazing.  His solo was surreal and a cornucopia of sound), and there was also a pianist, a guitarist and a bass player.

I watched Q-Tip from the VIP area (upstairs) and the guy really put his soul into the show and I left there feeling happy and satisfied.

Now I wish that I had seen A Tribe Called Quest back in the day.

I’m out.