Sonic Youth and the Feelies vs. A Giant Hole of Suck
Photo of the Day, November 23, 2009: Stark
Where Should You Eat? A Fast Food Flowchart
Sports Redux: One Goal, And One Goal Only
Sunday Happenings
If Our Band Could Be Your Life is the bible for American indie and punk rock, then Wednesday night at TT the Bear's was a genuine second coming. After all, the title of Michael Azerrad's book was swiped from a lyric written by Mike Watt while he was in the seminal oddball-punk trio the Minutemen. As Watt stopped in town for the "Prac'n the 3rd Opera" tour, it was something akin to Jesus being in the building; lifelong punks with greying hair and Black Flag t-shirts anxiously waited in TTs for the man himself to appear, counting down the seconds to the Watt's first local solo gig in years by trying to act normal and not draw attention Mission of Burma's Roger Miller standing in the corner, or by simply watching the opening bands.
Luckily, local rockers Ketman made the wait that much easier, with a eardrum-smashing set that more than proved all the hubbub surrounding the group. Unfortunately, Bostonist missed the beginning of the group's performance, and the band's stage presence imprinted an important message in Bostonist's mind: show up early. Perhaps it was the fact that they were opening for an icon who's work they clearly admired, but whatever the case, Ketman were on, each fuzzy guitar lick spewing forth with an acid-punk blast that would seem fit in late 80s Seattle, but without any nostalgic tinge.
Come a quarter to eleven, and the crowd packed in to get a good view of the econo-jammer himself, Mike Watt. Though they weren't the Minutemen, Watt's Missingmen (drummer Raul Morales and guitarist Tom Watson) were perfectly in synch, right down to their shared love of flannel shirts. The trio kicked out the jams with a fluid, bass-fueled mix of jazz, funk, and manic punk rock, and performed with an adrenaline that seemed to eliminate the grey hairs that populated portions of the crowd and musicians alike.
While Watt's solo material certainly provided for an enlivened evening, it was the covers that really got the crowd moving. Toss in a pinch of Minutemen and a couple of Wire tunes and suddenly every mouth in the crowd was moving in sync, head bobbing in time. Though it doesn't diminish the fact that Watt and the Missingmen wove together a solid set of unclassifiable-weirdo-punk that remains anomalous in today's indie rock scene, but one must wonder why Watt's solo music doesn't get the same recognition as his Minutemen material; after playing in several influential punk acts (Bosonist cannot forget Watt's stint in the reunited Stooges), indie rockers should be all over Watt's solo material and belting out every lyric at a live set as if it were written decades ago.
Still, it was clear that most gig-goers enjoyed the set, even if they could not reciprocate the feeling through an intimate knowledge of the music being performed. As Watt dragged a garbage bag filled with t-shirts to the front of the stage at the end of the set, it was a great sight to witness the man himself chat up the doe-eyed fans in a remarkably friendly manner. There he was, still performing the same great caterwauling, bass-booming post-punk, still jamming econo, and his followers wouldn't have it any other way.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
I so wish I was there. Last time I saw Watt play was with firehose opening Beastie's on the Check Your Head tour at the old Avalon in '91.
I so wish I was there. Last time I saw Watt play was with firehose opening for Beastie's Check Your Head tour at Avalon in '92. About due for another one...