BLACKDIAMONDSKYE AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 9/24/10

I felt the same way that I feel when I'm going to see any of my teams play at the Garden-there's half as many people as capacity and everyone's drunk and loud, only the product in front of us all tonight weren't a bunch of sad losers! What goes on people, welcome into the 36th installment of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert series (I'm dead serious about the “Never Ending” part of that if you didn't know by now) which has me feeling a bit sporty I must say. I mean come on, we're at the Mecca of sports-The world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden to check out the legendary Alice In Chains with Deftones and Mastodon rounding out what is billed as the BLACKDIAMONDSKYE tour..Like I said, so happy to be coming here to see something good and not the New York Rangers sad excuse for a hockey team or the dreadful basketball team that plays there who's name is not worth the proverbial ink. But by the looks of the arena, you'd thought something crappy was going on. That place got half full at best. Upon arrived, the early comers were re-routed to different sections leaving a full empty row in between every row. When I made a pit stop during Deftones, event staff was just telling people, and I quote “There's tons of seats, it doesn't matter what your ticket says just find an open seat”.. So I paid $38 plus fees for this thing to not be near capacity? That doesn't make me proud of my NY peers at all. And why not just charge $25 for these seats I'm in now and you'll sell the place out.. We're at least twice the distance I was when I first saw Alice In Chains with DuVall in 2007 at an outdoor venue in NJ that I paid $20 for tickets. It just bewilders me that this thing isn't crammed full-and later when AIC came on and everyone was standing up it looked like the place was packed-trust me when I tell you it was far from that.

Anyway, on to the tunes shall we? Mastodon played from 7PM to about 740PM, they were actually on when we were walking in, so I missed the first tune. They were heavy, they were dredging, did I mention they were heavy? I wondered if the sound got this loud for the first opener how much was it going to elevate throughout this night.. and these guys are REAL metal-they have the duel vocalists going on-the regular singer AND the screaming singer dude.. That's how the real metal acts roll.. their light show (not much bright lighting) vs my camera was a losing battle for us, so I apologize for not putting a crappy picture of nothing up here, as all night I had problems with pics considering the distance..Of the few of us that were there, there was a group of dudes really getting into it-skin head dudes doing heavy metal air guitar-fun from a far, but certainly not a collection of swings I want to get in between.. That's the thing about metal-the fans. I'll be the first to admit that they were a little heavy for me, I mean I enjoyed it but wouldn't blast their records all day long-I'd go deaf... But the thing about metal is the fans. They come out strong every time, they spend money. You know they spend money because they know all the words to all the songs that came off the latest record.. They come to shows, far and wide, rock out they buy albums and shirts and are not afraid to show how into it they are- This is unlike some people, who just find ways to listen to music on the internet without buying/owning it.

Deftones went on shortly before 8PM...Deftones rocked it out... Enjoyed them a little more because, compared to Mastodon, they were at a much more manageable volume. They had the nu metal thing going on-some songs it seemed like they were like a way better version of like, Korn or something and then at times they went to a totally different place..Also, Chino (vocals, guitar sometimes) had this table set up in front of him, that he would climb up and down during portions of songs.. he would jumped up there to do one of his deep screams and then jump down off of it-and hey he does not shy away from the occasional “F” bomb, using occasional in a sarcastic sense of course.... and way more Deftones fans then expected, much like with Mastodon, we had air guitaring skin heads-not the mean skin head tho, I'm just calling them skin heads because they were bald and I don't know their names. I highly doubt any of the fun lovin' Deftones fans beat women or ride Harley's religiously-c'mon now what do you think this is Slayer or something? They worked it til ten minutes before 9, that's when a curtain went up in front of the stage, and the army of roadies began to set up for Alice In Chains..

Let me mention the huge middle finger I gave society by smoking cigarettes right in my seat while ducking event staffers, whom of which the Garden seemed to be light on tonight... pot was being smoked everywhere-it was great. So suck on that James Dolan!

The sheet that was in front of the stage was used as a prop for Alice In Chains' intro, there was some cool effects going on there, including a beating, blackened throbbing veined heart, like from the front of their record Black Gives Way To Blue.. Roars of the crowd (it's about 9:30 when the intro started ) as you can see the silhouettes coming out on stage. Then the drapes fell, and “Them Bones” was what they chose to kick things off with. Awesome from string one-what makes this band is the professionalism, the musicianship they bring to the table. I mean, I can rave all day about Jerry Cantrell's sick ridiculous guitar skills, as I did back in May (which can be viewed here: http://concertconfessions.com/2010/05/24/mmrbbq/ ). Tonight lets take a look at Sean Kinney, who is drumming in a different league than most others. He's off doing some other stuff over there with free flowing ease that was reminiscent of something out of the Ginger Baker handbook.. His drums were set up a foot or two up from the floor. A screen a few feet high ran effects from one side of the stage to the other, and under his drum kit in the middle... this was attached to a platform where Jerry, DuVall and Mike could climb up and play on during songs, which they did. I just wish one of them would have done the 'Slash' leap off that thing mid-riff. That would've been epic, but it didn't look so high anyway, so maybe it just would have been stupid I guess. And in further comparison to the show in May, DuVall seems to winning over more and more fans every time.. They love him-shit I love him. He rocks. Mid set when I stopped working for a few songs and was sitting back taking it all in, I remember just looking at that stage oh so far away, and thinking about oh how far gone this band was before they found this dude. And Mike keeping it in step over there on bass, with the hair swinging every which way yet always landing down and perfect-maybe I could get whatever shampoo he uses. Also remember, I have Mike and Sean's autographs on a bootleg ticket I bought to an AIC show at Irving Plaza last year, on Sept 9th. (Didn't have a show to “review” for that, but the night's events are here:http://jayporksmusic.blogspot.com/2009/09/ever-scalped-ticket-only-to-find-out-at.html ). Anyway so they felt bad, and signed my ticket that I paid $50 for and turned out to be phony. So not only am I enjoying these tunes but I know these dudes aren't dickheads in real life. Whats better then good people who play great music? And I mean great- I mean you should've heard “Grind”, you would've jumped into the time portal that leads to the fictional 90's neighborhood I spend my life living in too. You'd love ever second of it. There were times where you couldn't help but starting thinking of where you ranking Cantrell among guitar greats... he's amazing with it. Does anyone else stroll around stage like this guy? He doesn't walk back and forth he like power walks. I saw him pass by Mike Inez's microphone to hit the wawa peddle-I guess they got their effects boxes linked up or something. that was really cool..  I like how they had the screens set up playing stuff where, if you didn't know what song was playing you could still sort of figure it out by the images synced with the song. Everything about the set was perfect, besides them running off for the encore at 10:35, roughly an hour after they went on. It must be MSG's ceiling for concerts is 11PM, because BlackDiamondSkye isn't going cross country for tomorrow's show, they're going to New Jersey-no flight to catch. During the few minute break, I see some kid lean over to his friends asking them if they want to stay for the encore-what is that some sort of joke? You're going to leave early? The same way I would leave a football game before my team comes back and scores the winning touchdown. Amazing how some people behave-sickening.. They came back out and played a seven minute “Love, Hate, Love”, then “Man In the Box” and “Would?” to close it out, and were tossing hundreds of guitar picks into the crowd as they thanked everyone and headed off to call it an evening.

And what an evening, glad I could be part of it.. besides the place not filling out. Really disappointed me that this show wasn't long sold out. It was the biggest show in Alice In Chains history-and a lot of the alleged die New Yorkers missed it. But the billed bands delivered big time, and there's nothing more you could really ask from the musicians.

So this was fun right? Hope my Dad thought so, as these tickets were my birthday gift to him back in July, which he is now calling the best birthday present since his Gibson SG when he was a teen...and of course hope you had as good of a time as I did, as I'm one who can never get enough of the Alice In Chains.. I have the set list below, I don't think I missed any but I'm sure if I did It'll be pointed out to me in a rudely stated comment.. Anyway, as for now I'm off to upload some more video, which isn't so good picture wise but the sound is superb, so I felt it was worth adding to my archives. Thanks, for putting up with my non sense for a little while, and I'll see you all October 6th for The Vaselines at Webster Hall.. LATE...

Alice In Chains Setlist:

Them Bones
Dam That River
Rain when I Die
Again
Check My Brain
Your Decision
No Excuses
Down in a hole
Grind
We Die Young
Acid Bubble
Lesson Learned
Rooster
(Encore)
Love hate love
Man in the box
Would?

"An Evening with Ween!" Central Park Summer Stage 9/17/10

Stop what you're doing right now and Google “Ween”. Then check and see when they're coming to your town, or contact them and beg them to come to your town, because if you don't see Ween live in concert, then you just don't know what living is about. What goes on... Lets get into the 35th edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series and the completion of our “Three Nights of Weirdness” tour, which brings us back to the Central Park Summerstage, only tonight to see the immortal Ween.. And it's not raining! It's actually pretty nice out- sun is shining and everything. I'm going to try and show up as early as I can, as I have no idea what kind of turnout we're looking at and I'd love to get a better spot than last night.. 'Doors' are at 7, and my ticket is at will call.. Will this be the same set up as last night where there is no opening acts and we get two hours of Ween? That would be awesome, but let's not get our hopes up..

Stepped out of the cab at 6:30, I'm here way earlier than last night and there are tons of Ween fans everywhere-it was so different then last night, like it was in an entirely different place..I know Ween has a following, but you would've thought Phish was playing or something the way everyone came out tonight. The crowd was one of the best I've ever experienced.

As I was on a line to get Pizza I turned and noticed the smoke machines starting to get going. Got my slice, pounded two beers and headed towards the stage to try and get a good spot. I stationed myself on the same side as last night, but substantially closer.. I almost was along the railing, I was this close to offering the girl who was there $20 bucks for her spot.. The smoke is everywhere, I look at my phone and it's 7:30, and the a huge roar from the crowd as Ween hits the stage, at seven freaking thirty! So another night of no openers as “An Evening with Ween” begins at 7:30

“Buckingham Green” was what they kicked it off with... The stage is electric from the first chorus break with the lights going crazy. Ween has a much more extravagant light show then Cake last night-not comparing the two bands but differentiating the two nights at the same venue.. . Times of continuous strobe lights bouncing off smoke during in-song jam sessions made you just look up to the stage and take it all in- there are no inhibitions at that time.

There's probably twice as many people as there were for last nights evening with Cake- That sort of surprised me as I waited on one of the longest lines I've ever seen to get in. So many people were pumped for this in the hour before they went on, and we are definitely getting more than our money's worth."She Wanted to Leave", “Bananas and Blow" followed, and I am amazed that I was able to get any sort of set list going here. I was scribbling down the lyrics to songs and just spent the last hour googling them to get the titles. Again, so worth it though, as Ween is relentless up there getting into "Learnin' to Love" and then the epic “Transdermal Celebration”... some others were(in this order) “Take me Away”, Don't Get 2 Close","Even if you Don't", “Push Th' Little Daises" which I was able to tape unlike the following “Sorry Charlie"or an amazing version of “Voodoo Lady” which I was so pissed I didn't get... That was the song in my head all freaking day! I didn't recognize it until it was too late, still great though and they were at that song for like what seemed like 15 minutes-in the middle they got into a jam of some sort, one involving the Deaner and his amazing riffs .. dude could really shred.. . Later “Happy Colored Marbles, “The Stallion Pt. 3","Your Party", The awesome Bowie cover “Let's Dance”.. these guys are so cool!.. my new favorite song came next-" You Fucked up" followed by "Hey There Fancy Pants"," The Goin Gets Tough From The Getgo”", “I'll be your Johnny on The Spot”, “The Mollusk", “Spinal Meningitis","Mister Will You Please Help My Pony," Roses are Free".. and then they ducked off stage at 9:48.. I'll now assume that Central Park Summer Stage has a 10pm end time for all shows.. .

Returned to the stage at 9:50, and Dean gets on the mic to say " we only got ten minutes to do our thing here".. With everyone in uncontrollable screams- they jumped into "Fiesta".. Then, another song I picked up on during my week and a half of doing Ween research- "Mr. Richard Smoker" as I smoked my last cig. Then it was nearing 10, and they played the only song they could play after 2 and a half hours of straight rocking- "Dr Rock".. a song that makes you just wanna scream, and we did! Well, I didn't because I was recording, but amazing... I am completely blown away-Blown! I knew Ween rocked, but I wasn't aware of the magnitude of their rockin'. That was one for the record books.

Fucking Ween- kicking ass every song of the entire set.. I was getting into songs that I didn't even know yet halfway through I'm singing along with everyone.. And the Deaner- can't say enough about the Deaner. Now I can see how the Meat Puppets and Ween are apples from trees located on similar farms in far away towns. Completely tearing it apart on every song. They played non-stop for two and a half hours. What more could you ask for.. the professionalism that comes with putting on a show rides a thin line between being cool and being pretentious- Ween sums up what the “Being cool” side of that line is all about... Amazing, can't say enough about it. And to top it off, on the way out there were dudes selling balloons filled with Nitrous Oxide (Whip-Its) three for $20... I could not resist and it was awesome.. I sat myself on a rather large rock and while finishing off the balloon I notice there was a field of people who just enjoyed Ween, sitting on the grass, benches and floor doing Whip-its... What a night... On the way out I grabbed myself a Ween 2010 tour tee shirt.. awesome

It was without a doubt “Three nights of Wierdness”, and it was worth every penny I spent this week and the 3 hours of sleep I've gotten since Wednesday.... but now I have a full week to rest up and I'm going to need it because the next stop on the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series is the BLACKDIAMONDSKYE tour @ Madison Square Garden Featuring Alice in Chains, Deftones and Mastodon … I'm going with Pam. My Father will be along for the ride too, as these tickets are his birthday gift this year. Come on now am I the greatest son ever or what? Anyway, thanks if you made it this far... LATE.

Ween setlist
Buckingham Green
She Wanted To Leave
Bananas & Blow
Learnin' to Love
Transdermal Celebration
Up On The Hill
Take Me Away
Dont' Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)
Even If You Don't
Push The Little Daisies
Sorry Charlie
Voodoo Lady
Happy Colored Marbles
Stallion pt. 3, Ice Castles
Final Alarm, With My Own Bare Hands
Your Party, Let's Dance
Touch My Tooter, You Fucked Up
Stroker Ace
Wavin' My Dick In the Wind
Fancy Pants, Going Gets Tough
Waynes Pet Youngin'
Jonny On th' spot
The Mollusk
Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)
Roses Are Free
Encore:
Fiesta
Mr. Richard Smoker
Dr. Rock

An Evening with Cake @ Cental Park Summerstage 9/16/10

Someone needs to buy me one of those things John McCrea is rolling around with-I could probably learn how to play it.. unlike guitar, an instrument I've had since I was 7.  Anyway, what goes on ...Everybody welcome themselves  to The 34th installment of the Jay Porks never ending concert series and the 2nd of our "Three Nights of Weirdness" tour, tonight bringing us to see the band Cake at the Central Park Summerstage...

This show comes with a slight backstory. Back in March 2009 I had tickets to see Cake at Terminal 5.. Up the street before doors opened, a friend and we took it upon ourselves to participate in the recreational use of Marijuana. The police, safe to say were not too thrilled and put us in jail- hence us missing the show. From then on when I listened to any Cake song I would be reminded of sitting in a cell until roughly 1:30AM being made fun of by police who didn't believe that we "found the stuff on the floor". So since I heard they were coming back I got on it- and tonight is the night. And I will not go to jail tonight! I am finally going to see Cake...

After the riding the Ferry through a “tornado watch” with sideways rain, I made it to theentrance of Central Park on 5^th ave and 69^th st slightly before 8PM- 'Doors' opened at 7, and their were herds of people filing into the park. Ticketmaster had this billed as " An Evening with Cake", their were no openers listed.

Walked into this epic park that is Central Park(you know a park is huge when you each entrance is in a different neighborhood), and found my way to Rumsey Playfield, where there was a ginormous stage set up, with surrounding concessions. Have to mention I had a kick ass slice of Pizza on the way out.. Who would've thought the best things in life are served outside. The ground is covered with what looks and feels like a carpet- it's some sort of comfy tarp. I guess it's there because of the afternoons heavy rainfall, to protect us from the mud.. Shortly after 8 I notice the stage looks to be set up for Cake already-really? There really are no openers? This is awesome!

Stormed into the set with “Building a Religion”, I heard it as I was buying a water.. I still couldn't believe there wasn't an opener-how late can they run this? Moving along, “Sad songs and Waltzes” was the 2nd song they played. Something far from sad was when they got into 'Wheels' and couldn't pretend it wasn't there- somebody is smoking some pot somewhere near me and I have to find out who. Then I thought to myself “Stay focused- eyes on the prize, don't do it" . So I investigated no further and went back to taping... Started enjoying myself to the point where I forgot to take notes for a few minutes, which is odd for me. But somewhere before they went into "Frank Sinatra", John McCrea was lamenting about how the rain(which was at it's heaviest a hour to two earlier in the day) had finally stopped. Way to jinx it, halfway through “Frank Sinatra” I looked up at the lights and noticed the rainfall.. Wasn't raining hard but it was steady, really steady. All of us with cameras started a " No Um-brellas!" chant for all the people who needed to shelter themselves from the rain hence putting another annoyance in front of those who are taking pictures for the various websites we all contribute to.. Next was "Love you madly", and they ended the first half of their set with “Sheep go to Heaven” which I was really getting into.. Looked at my phone and it was 8:58..

During the little intermission I guess we'll call it an intermission, I looked down to notice the mud is seeping through the carpet..looks like there's puddles of coffee all over the place. Everywhere I stepped it's like quicksand-only real, and disgusting. Not the fashion connoisseur, but consider these sneaker done for. Also, there was a tree on the side of the stage that McCrea had some fun with. It's one of those trees you buy in the stores with the promise that you'll plant it somewhere and help earth blah blah blah.. He grabbed it and put it in the middle of the stage- saying it looked better there. There was many funny moments the lead singer granted us tonight.. from conducting  sing alongs from the stage, having different sides of the crowd sing different parts of the chorus to the continuous banter about the store bought tree. Think about it, Central Park-a place full of trees-when to Home Depot's home and garden dept. and bought a tree. It is truly a crazy world. Believe it was a figi apple tree, but not well versed in botany so I would double check that if you really care.

Came back out at 9:14 and played "Shadow Stabbing" and I have say for lack of a better term- it's getting pretty funky out here. Every Cake song comes equipped with a kick ass baseline that you wish you could insert into all your favorite songs. And how could you not be diggin' that trumpet action. Amazing.... Now, on to a not-Cake song, Black Sabbaths "War Pigs", which has been a staple of Cake's live set for a number of years...then an odd one- the lyric-less "Arco Arena”., a song where McCrea kills it playing lead... Jay- Z actually uses this song as the instrumental for a song on The Blueprint 2 called "Guns & Roses".. The 'vibraslap' wielding McCrea is credited for songwriting on The Blueprint 2's inner sleeve- odd facts that I know.. hey it was in my album collection in high school. Anyway on to "Jolene" the extended version I guess, as I turned to Pam and said “Wait, still Jolene right?”.. after which they play "Pentagram". Then, in a shocking turn of events-they played a new song off an upcoming new album! It was awesome. I stuck my camera in my pocket for this one. They made me like “Stick shifts and safety belts”, where as I was never that big a fan of the song. But they sucked me in tonight.. They then followed with “Never There” and tried to go off 9:54..

When they ran back out at 10 o'clock, I turned to Pam and said “ Short skirt Long Jacket and the Distance then home”. Well I was right on two of those three. As the got back on McCrea said something to the effect of “we're being told we need to get this one song done quickly and get outta here” before jumping into the one, the only, “The Distance”.. Show over roughly 10:05...

Besides no Short Skirt Long Jacket and some other obscure covers, cannot be disappointed with a full Evening with Cake.. had the little break in between and everything.. it was awesome and the best part was I didn't go to jail! So I can now listen to Cake's music with better memories.  

It also completes the 2^nd night of the Jay Porks “Three Nights of Weirdness”. Tomorrow night, at the same destination we will be rocking out to the music of Ween. Attending this show on high recommendation from people I know and people I don't know. Should be awesome-going to show up extremely early and try and get some better pics and videos for everyone, as tonight could been better in the sightlines category. Well, I'm tapped out for now, thanks for putting up with this non sense for a few minutes.. LATE..

Toadies LIVE at Gramercy Theater 9/15/10

The Toadies-Who knew they were that cool? What goes on, and welcome yourselves to the 33rd edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending concert Series as we begin our "Three Nights of Weirdness" tour at the Gramercy Theater to see the Toadies. Billed as the "Three Nights of Weirdness" because it covers three completely different ends of the music spectrum in three consecutive nights with Cake tomorrow night at Central Park and Ween Friday also in Central Park. This is going to be a blast, lets dance shall we?

I got out front and waited for Pam (Fellow Jay Porks Experiencer) to arrive.. Not much of a line out front as doors open at 7. I did my best to try and get wasted before I got in there- did not want to subject myself to $10 Bud Light. When I got in I went to the will call/information booth thing to check on my allegded photo pass- the girl working that area said that " There was only one person on the list", and that person was obviously not me. She then told me that I shouldn't have a problem considering I don't have one of those thousand dollar cameras with a removable lense. So we made our way to the main floor- the main flood which I came to realize is slightly slanted so it's as of you're walking downhill towards the stage. I can get on board with this... We leaned up against the right side railing ( to paint the picture, for the Local H show May 18th-reviewed right here on this website- I was on the far left, the opposite of tonight)


The first opener was a band called  ‘The Clox’ (I originally had listed “Clocks” as there name and said they were from London.. Through email from the band, I got the correct spelling of the name and their actual hometown, Brooklyn. Apologies to “The Clox” for that little typo…). They hit the stage shortly after 8pm, working with the 3 piece standard bass, guitar, drums. The drummer looked like the dude from the presidents of the united states of America, bald with a white shirt and tie. They did what they could-to all 20 of us. Won the crowd over by the end of the set, I didn't know the name of the band until I caught the drummer outside. He was making hand signals to me, didn't know what he was doing til everyone else starting pointing at my cigarette-I had it hanging out of my mouth backwards. So I flipped it over, and found out the name of the band, I thought he said the Clucks until I looked it up-must be the accent(The drummer is originally from Kazakhstan) .

Didn't know there was a second opener, but the dude to my left had said they were selling merchandise for three bands downstairs, this band being “Gringo Star”, went on around 8:40.. They had one more guy than the previous band, opting to go with Two guitars, a drummer with a bassist and the second guitarist doubles on keyboard.. They got heavy at times, played a song called “Transmission” towards the end. I got one of their first songs on video, and didn't plan on uploading it but it's such a jangly tune. I usually denounce bands with a keyboard but they worked it in. They have a MySpace page and are/have been opening for the Toadies this whole tour.... They went off about 9:15 maybe a little after having entertained most of the room, which is now substantially larger than it was last time I turned around.

Who would've thought? The freaking Toadies.. Going into this set with the knowledge only stretching as far Possom Kingdom, you could understand my skepticism.. But I was way more than impressed a few songs in.. Where have they been? I mean, they were in Texas I know where they were-but where have they been this decade? Their sound folds in so nicely with the rest of my musical taste..

Kicked off the set with 'Backslider' a few minutes before 10, which I was getting some killer video of until event staff jerk-off tapped me on the shoulder and told me to please stop taking video. All of us concert-goers know this feeling you get when that happens. Don't you just want to punch that dude in the face? I know the rules of venues and all that and I know I'm breaking them, but I'm just about fed up with this shit- how am I suppose to upload video to YouTube and share my experience if event staff douche bag who has no idea what a freaking guitar is keeps tapping me on the shoulder- not to be a whistle blower, but there are clouds of pot smoke about three heads over from me- why don't you go do something about that, it's a fucking fire hazard. Doubt the band cares that much about me taping Backslider- not like it hasn't been released!

Okay so off my soap box, but that really had me fuming. So seemingly relegated to still frame photos the rest of the night; which isn't so bad considering the Toadies are up there kicking ass. All their songs so well weaved into one another.. And everyone was into it- like I said before, who knew? Who knew the Toadies kick ass like that? I sure as hell didn't and I'm suppose to be Mr Music Critic over here..

Possom Kingdom, did they really think I wasn't going to risk my night by getting that song on tape? I got that, an awesome version as a matter of fact. Except for the fact that there was one douche in front of me putting his head in my video by jumping up and down like a pansy. Oh, did I forget to mention that this person is the recipient of the “one photo pass” that was issued for tonight's show. I saw him in front of the barricade five minutes ago-dude what are you doing in front of me right now in the crowd? Being a douche. Still, great times. They got into “Dollskin” after that, an amazing song that I'm glad I came upon during tonight's set, as Pam tells me they didn't play it when she saw them at Irving Plaza recently.. I noticed at 10:46 a lit cigarette gets chucked at Clark Vogeler (guitar), and he just keeps whaling out sonnets of feedback without skipping a beat or going Axel Rose on somebody.. He was a beast tonight, we were right in front of him and he was killing it.. the funny thing about this band is that their personality doesn't reflect their music at all.. Like, in between songs when the band would hear requests being screamed out and cracking jokes-it was a fun atmosphere-when the music played it was gear twisting, heavy, distorted hardcore awesome guitar rock. Then after the song everyone's in smiles.

A short while after that they tried to go off at 10:57.. They came back like two minutes later and, in a striking turn of events, Todd Lewis says “Okay we're gonna play a cover song now for you... by a band called the Beatles”.. What! This I have to see. And we did, it was “Don't let me down”, and it did not let any of us down one bit. This band is so cool! And luckily, that is the 3^rd and last full song I got on tape. After that they went into “Got a heart” Awesome song. They ended the show with “I come from the water”, which was a good way to end based on everyone's enthusiasm. It was rocking in there most of the night-from what I understand not as much as the aforementioned previous Irving show, but Gramercy only hold 600 give or take so take that into consideration. They said their goodnight at about 11:15.. Awesome show-Definitely didn't let me down one bit..

Amazing show, glad I got to see them.. This was part one of the Jay Porks “Three Nights of Weirdness” tour. Quick turn around, as the 2^nd night of this brings us to Central Park tomorrow to see a band called 'Cake'.. There's a Jay Porks backstory to making attempts at seeing this band that we'll get into tomorrow, for now.. Thanks for putting up with my non sense for a little while-Late.

Mudhoney LIVE at Bowery Ballroom 9/04/10

Just as that slightly overweight chick dove off stage right into an unsuccessful crowd surf that landed her on the floor-I realized that there's truly nothing pretty about Grunge.. except the sounds.

Welcome back, and come take a stroll along the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series in it's 32^nd edition as this night takes us to the Bowery Ballroom to see none other than Mudhoney: The ONLY grunge band. Other bands use elements of grunge in their music, but there is no other band without an added sub-genre. Anyway, the doors open at 8PM and the only opener I heard about was 'Pissed Jeans' as per the 'Bowery Presents' website. I step out of the cab and on to the sidewalk, take a look across the street to check out how the line is doing.. there is none, BECAUSE IS NOT EVEN 6PM-mistimed my trip a bit, so found a some bar around the corner to duck into until it was remotely close to doors opening..

Headed back to Bowery Ballroom at about 7:15pm to stand in front and I hear through the walls there's a band doing soundcheck- Probably one of the openers.. Walked past a sign outside that said Mudhoney will be going on at 11PM.. Had to show up early to reserve my spot by the stage.. Myself and about six other people are here sitting at the bar.. Got acquainted with my friend Jack(and Coke) and started chatting with a girl visiting from Argentina. Nice girl, we shared a mutual interest in Iggy Pop, and being at shows by ourselves...

I think Mudhoney's playing a set in Upstate New York at the All Tomorrows Parties festival (A festival featuring the likes of The Stooges and Sonic Youth) in the afternoon- so are they even here yet is the question. Anyway, also came to find out there's a 2^nd opener-name “White Hills”, and they're about to go on.

White Hills went on about 9:05.. They had two hot chicks in the band(the more prominent one on bass, sporting a red dress and the other on keys) they played some heavy tunes.. They're set up with a guitarist, drummer, and the two aforementioned ladies. Bassist also sang(screamed) on some songs and the effects keyboard seems to be incorporating heavy experimental noise into there sound.. They did not suck at all.. I'm actually getting into some of this stuff.. And the hot blonde was playing a clear transparent bass.. It was pretty cool.. .. I was nodding my head Half was through.. It was during this set I realized actually how bad I needed to get to a men's room, as my bladder had held all it is able to- so I hit the head.. As I came back I realize that this band gets into extended noise jams inside or in between songs.. Can't understand one lyric but I'm loving this.. So heavy yet not death metal.. Gotta love to meet you half way... They went off at about ten to 10.. And I met a friend to save my upstairs seat.. Oh did I mention? There's a 2^nd floor with tables set up with two chairs at each overlooking the stage, and these seats are a first come, first serve basis: Consider me served.... This is working out well.. Dropped 6 bucks outside - someone returned it to me.. Nice guy- I gave him the Jay Porks Experience business card and told him to visit ConcertConfessions.com as well.. Still not sober enough where people can understand what I'm saying but I'm hoping by the time Mudhoney gets on I'll be good to go- but 'Pissed Jeans' hits the stage at 10 or so the flyer says..

Pissed Jeans hit the stage a little after 10.... I read that they were experimental/ noise rock.. Sounded like a harder version of Mudhoney.. Got some slam dancing going on downstairs and my ears are already shot first song in.. They're set up with the traditional bass, guitar and drummer with the lead singer strutting no instrument but his vocal chords.. Lead singer made a joke " you know what the problem with tight jeans is you can tell what cell phone everyone has".. Yea, I know I'm also waiting for the punchline-but attempts at humor get points in my book- but these guys rock really hard.. Like the type of hard that makes you wanna check and see if their music is available on iTunes.. Gotta love when you see the lead singer of an opener wearing a 21wristband.. The bar knows as much about this band as I do- but Pissed Jeans seemed to be drowning in the aesthetic of Punk rock- at 10:16 the lead singer removed his shirt Iggy Pop style.. Looks like the guitar player is playing a Fender Jaguar.. That's pretty cool.. These guys got harder and louder as the set progressed. And I started to noticed some of the photographers (hot chicks who own cameras), focusing on the insane slam dancing that was taking place.. I saw one girl get pissed and go after some of these dudes.. Must be her first show- if you get slammed into, you slam back- don't get all serious. We're at a rock show for Christ sake...Anyway Pissed Jeans rocked it til about 10:35.. Now we await- the only true grunge band to ever exist- MUDHONEY

As 11:04 hit- I was starting to realize that I'm about to see frickin Mudhoney- .. Is anyone as pumped as me? Well, besides this dude sitting next to me who is equally pumped- I can't see anyone in the building more excited than I.

At about 11:15 or so Mudhoney hits the stage and jumps right into “The Money Will Roll Right In”, a 'Fang' song they've been covering for years.. Mark Arm started the set not playing guitar, opting to go for his Iggy Pop gyrations.. A few songs in he grabbed his guitar and added to the madness. I started recording and never looked back.. I had a great view of the stage without having to zoom in.. “Next Time” off their latest effort 'The Lucky Ones'.followed not far behind... and by the time we got passed “ Inside out over you” the energy began to feed off the band into the crowd.. During songs like “Suck You Dry” people would try to climb on stage to crowd surf.. there was a roadie pushing everyone back into the crowd-or if they made it on stage walking them off stage.. So the jumpers would have to be quick.. when they dove, they were rarely caught.. I saw some chick get up there (not the thinnest of women) and take a jump and disappear into the floor quickly-there was nothing pretty about it: The essence of grunge. She didn't care that she looked like an Asshole-she's rocking out. And we all salute her(and chuckle).

Mudhoney was too busy kicking ass to pay attention to this stuff, as they were showing  that they without a doubt still had it. I mean think about it, they played a set 2 hours away earlier on this same day and came to play this one and didn't sit there and mail it in. Steve Turner's tight riffs along with Dan Peters and bassist Guy Maddison keeping the solid rhythm section going-put aside the notion of possible fatigue or lack of interest.. I mean the stuff Turner would do on songs like “Sweet Young Thing” was awesome ..by the time they got into “Let it slide” it was already an awesome set, and I hadn't even heard my favorite Mudhoney song yet.. “Blinding Sun” showed up in there eventually, along with the title track from 'The Lucky Ones'.... “Inside Job” and “Good Enough” both had me turn to the dude who I was sitting next too (took turns saving each others seats on beer and cigarette runs) in giddy excitement.. felt like a child.. more than this was wanted this was needed.. That fact especially was pointed out when right after they played 'Good Enough' they jumped in probably their biggest hit and my favorite song “Touch Me I'm Sick” which was the loudest that place got tonight. I can't believe the camera's microphone didn't pick up me screaming like a little school girl when I heard the riff..So Awesome.... they followed it with “This Gift” and then “F.D.K”-which was another crowd pleaser.. “Hard on for War” had people holding up peace signs seriously. Good song and everything but lets not get corny about it.. they played a few more before playing the energetic “Hate the Police” running off stage like 12:20ish.. Chants of “MUDHONEY-MUDHONEY-MUDHONEY” went on for a good ten minutes before they came back out and played few more ending the night with “Here comes Sickness”.. they thanked the us along with White Hills and Pissed Jeans and called it an evening..

Lights came on as my new buddy and I exchanged in a high five as we got up from the table and headed outside.. when I hit the street I looked at my phone and it was 12:43AM.. that's what I call a rock concert. Going on at 11 as oppose to ENDING before that time.. What a night.. I've got all these songs on video.. a few songs I need to decipher what is what-song titles and what not.. and some videos are two songs but it'll all be up on my YouTube channel.. Mudhoney fails to disappoint-and give them all the credit in the world. 2 sets in one day 2 hours away from each other.. So worth it, even if I did get home at 3 o clock in the morning.. Well, if you made it this far, then why don't you come back soon? How's September 15^th sound? I will be checking out the 'Toadies' with a good friend of mine.. word on the street is that I may get to take some great pictures-it's at Gramercy, which is a tiny place.. Love it.. Thanks for listening to my non-sense for a little while..Late.

r 15^th sound? I will be checking out the 'Toadies' with a good friend of mine.. word on the street is that I may get to take some great pictures-it's at Gramercy, which is a tiny place.. Love it.. Thanks for listening to my non-sense for a little while..Late.