Phil back in the saddle for fall tour

[laughingwillow]

Jackie Greene, Jackie Greene. That's all I've heard about since leaving the riv tonight.

jackie is becoming a dirty hippy as we peak.

Jackie Greene... Jackie Greene

They had a pro side of the stage and an out of control kid's side. Jackie Greene.. Jackie Greene

Molo was the moderator

And there was Phil, on the youngster side of the stage with the kid who looked 12. I think they said his name was jAckie Greene. Anyway, there was my BASS hero up on stage taking down the house whilst this kid crooned old dead tunes like he owned 'em. Half way through the first mississippi up-town and the kid has his arm up around Phil's shoulder and I flash on the fact that while you may not teach an old dog new tricks, you can teACH A YOUNG DAWG OLD SONGS. (I'm not digging the wife's keyboard much.)

ps why did all the beautiful people look so ugly tonight? And what's the deal with those new fangled plastic looking transparent rolling papers, anyway?

lw

[laughingwillow]

Upon further reflection....

The rivera isn't really or favorite venue. Way too hot in that place. We sweat gallons and I ain't exagerating.

We both decided we've been getting spoiled with denver shows. Matter of fact, that's where we'll prolly catch the next tour. Colorado hippies do it up right AND left.

Pretty low-keyed crowd in our opinion. And the night started off strange as hell. Walking into the venue I was frisked by some dude who more or less sexually groped me during the invasive process. This dude stuck his hand up the crack of my ass and then grabbed each ass cheek like he was kneeding dough. At that point I let out a little fake squeal of delight and dude went off on me, screaming in my face that I had to knock it off cause he was just doing his job. Wife thought it was strange as hell, as she watched da dude feeling me up after she went through the woman's line with no hassle or grope-job. We never did figure out if'n he was just joking or not. But I felt physically violated and was yelled at to boot. hehe

Anyway, the place was a sauna and the acoustics left something to be desired. Maybe tonight will be smoother.

We like jackie. He can play and sing and brings some youthful energy to phil's scene. He did one acoustic song in the first set that left the crowd restless but another tune (presumably of his) had laura searching da net after the show in an effort to find it to download.

lw

[laughingwillow]

Howdee-hey, kids.

Phil is still pounding away at his bass as we speak. And we're not losing any sleep over bailing on this one early.

IWhithin five minutes of getting out of the taxi, I was bunked on a ten-strip and had me stash confiscated (read: stolen) by the venue security dousch. hahaha  MANY new or like-new experiences tonight...... Never been stripped of my things. Second time I've been bunked.

We'll never go back to the riviera.

I was talking to Molo before the show and he was complaining about how hot it was the night before. No shite. I've never done a show in those conditions before. Steam bath and bastard security to boot.

Then there was the chicago dead crowd. Half of them had their cell phones to their ear or in their faces the whole show and the rest made endless trips between the bar and bathroom, stepping on toes both ways, every time. Thanks for the beer bath, but I'll skip the cigarette burn next time. hahaha No shite.

Anyway, this was the first show we've ever left early and I can really give a rats ass what we missed. I'll catch it on disc. From the privacy of my air conditioned/centrally heated home where the wife is the only one allowed to stick their finger up my ass crack and even then I don't really like it...

The riviera is lame.

ps: joe: the missus told me to tell you to tell jackie that it wasn't his fault that we left early. He still played and sang and looked purty as ever. And we think maybe phil did turn his bass up a little for tonight's show. We actually heard him a little better, which was little consolation as we fled da scene before losing da soul.

Oh, they're having a HOT time in chicago tonight!

lw

[laughingwillow]

Oh yeah, Laura is calling the chi-town fire marshal tomorrow. She has some experience working with those folks. We doubt they allow as many folks in that venue as we experienced last night. We were packed in like sardines and the isles were jammed full as well. Every seat in the balcony was taken and the isles were full up top, too. (It had to be 120* up there, maybe more.)

There were the first shows in my life that I was able to actually wring large quantities of sweat out of my shirt after exiting the venue. Could have done it to the shorts, too.

The three gumbas on the rail in front of us turned into nine with the help of their cell phones shortly after the gig started. So we ended up in the fifth row behind the rail, getting jostled and sloshed on every time delegates from that fine chicago faction made their way back for beers and bathroom breaks. In between beer and bathroom breaks, those jovially fat fucks regalled each other with the banalities of their day. What a fucking joke. Felt more like a jerry springer show than phil.

Btw, if'n that had been our first dead family experience, we prolly wouldn't go back.  (now I see why straight people stay away. hahahaahahahaha)

[laughingwillow]

On the lighter side....

Friday night early in the first set there were a couple of guys standing next to my wife that were talking up a storm while the band played. Really having an animated conversation. And when the band stopped playing, dudes actually stopped talking. So after observing this phenomona of self-imposed silence for a spell, I finally cleared the air.... "It appears you fellas have this here process ass-backward. When the band plays, we listen. When they stop, we talk. Whaaz-a-fooking-matter, cat got your tongue?" Then we all laughed and the guys allowed us to enjoy our sauna in relative peace.

lw

[JRL]

Sounds like it was brutal, but I'm glad you liked Jackie. Phil seems to think a lot of him. It's starting to look like maybe Jackie has legs, is in for life.

I will tell him why you left the next time I see him, I'm sure it will be a big load off his mind.

[laughingwillow]

After thinking about the past weekend, I've reached a few conclusions that may or may not be accurate......

Phil appeared to concentrate so much energy on jackie that steve and larry seemed to be a little out of the loop, musically, imo. I'm under the impression that phil wants jackie to get a warm reception from Phil's fans. He was almost like a doting father. Don't get me wrong, I like jackies guitar style. However, Larry campbell was a little under utilized and maybe even under amplified for my taste. It kind of seemed to me like jackie was replacing bobby, jerry and at times brent with his guitar, vocals and keyboard work while the "pro's" lurked on the sidelines.  And while that may be good for jackies confidence, it left a little to be desired, musically, imo. Heck, on friday night we heard more than one person complain about how low phil had his bass, and we agreed. He was a little more up front in the mix saturday evening, but I still got the impression that phil was more a sideman for jackie than the guy we all came out to see/hear.

lw

[JRL]

Weird. I was really surprized when Jackie got the gig. I aways have thought of him as a singer/songwriter more than anything. I never really heard him stretch out or play anything other than tight songs or blues.

I first encountered Jackie when he must have been 20 or so. I had a steady Thursday gig with my friend Kentucky Slim. They were basically paid rehearsals because Kentucky also owned the club. But Jackie came in with his keyboard, basically an electronic organ. I was immediattly struck by his talent and soul. After a while I realized he was using the transpose function on his keyboard to put everything in the key of C. I kidded him about it, said he should learn to play all the keys. he came and played with us 5 or 6 times if I remember right, always very pleasant, seemed happy to be playing with us grizzled vets.

Last time I played with him was at the Sacramento Heritage Festival a couple years ago. This time he was headlining on the big stage. I was in kind of a revue on the blues stage, one long set featuring several front people including Kentucky. Jackie set his keys up and played during Kentucky Slim's portion of the set unannounced. He was still the same quiet kid that hung around the Blue Lamp those several years before.

[laughingwillow]

Well, I can see how he got the gig.  Jackie got soul and he can sing.

However, it appears Phil is willing to at least temporarily sacrifice the psychedelic edge we've grown to crave in order to put (and keep) jackie in the limelight....

lw

[JRL]

That was my big puzzlement, Jackie just isn't a jammer. Phil must really like him a lot.

I know this gig will expand Jackie's horizons.

[laughingwillow]

The more I think of it, I'm pretty sure that place was over-booked. Many tickets, like ours, were printed at home after buying on-line. But the riviera wasn't using scanners to track use of tickets. They just tore a hunk out of the ticket portion of the piece of paper. SO anyone with a copier could make up a stack of tickets that would get you in the door. I half-wonder if'n it wasn't the freaking security or venue management that released the extra tickets. They sure made it easy for someone......

lw

[jikuhchagi]

Damn bro, sorry to hear the gigs were such a drag. I am looking forward to this coming Tuesday. I've been listening to a couple shows from this tour I downloaded, and it sounds to me like Phil is definitely focusing more on song than jam.

Might take some getting used to.

[laughingwillow]

Oh, man.....

Don't get me wrong jiku, it wasn't the band we had trouble with. I enjoyed the sacramental aspect of the first show. ANd we prolly wouldn't have gone anywhere early if it wouldn't had been for getting bunked in the lot and then basically rolled of my stash at the front door.

I doubt heat or overbooking of the venue will be such a factor in your experience. Sure was a first for us.

Enjoy the shows. Jackies playing might surprise you and I'm sure they will be tightening up down the stretch.

lw

[jikuhchagi]

I hear you. I definitely hear a different direction in the music, but he also seems to pull it back to 'familiar territory' every so often too. I've the first five shows from this tour on my ipod, and I like it, but I'll be honest, I sort of wish he would get Warren, Jimmy, Rob and John (the Quintet) back again... still, I am STOKED for Tuesday!  :lol:

[laughingwillow]

Enjoy the ride,
ride
ride.

At least we're enjoying the ride......

Will be thinking of you tonight, brotha jiku-bro.

lw