SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Kingston, ON (July 7, 1991).
Yesterday I wrote a letter to the Rheostatics. In part this was inspired because I just found out that the Rheostatics Live site has added some new concerts for download (and a really fancy one for purchase, which I’m pretty excited about). I thought I had posted about a bunch of the free downloads from Rheostatics Live, but evidently I had only done one or two. And since I’m on an inspired Rheostatics kick, it was time to revisit some of these oldies.
This is the earliest show they have on the site. And it was, until recently, the only one with Dave Clark on drums. (A new set of shows that I haven’t heard yet is from that era as well). I have to admit that I find Dave Clark to be a terribly distracting/borderline really annoying member of the band.
While the Rheostatics songs aren’t “serious,” they are certainly powerful (some of them anyhow). And Dave seems to put all kinds of silly nonsense in them. I don’t mind (and it was probably fun to see live) the goofing between the songs. Like when they begin doing the improv that they call “Jerkin’ Around.” But to interject nonsense during the songs, especially something as intense as “Horses” (which is not great in this rendition anyhow), it’s a major distraction.
This is an otherwise interesting show, as they introduce some “new” songs (ie. ones that would come out on Whale Music). And there are some funny things. Like in the “Green Sprouts” song they throw in some Rush lines (and lines from “Tom Sawyer” in “Jerkin’ Around too). But otherwise this feels like the Dave Clark show. We even get “Dave’s Poetry Moment,” about which, whatever.
The sound quality is good, except for some interruptions in the last two songs and a fade out once Dave asks if someone else can sing “When Winter Comes” because his voice is shot. Overall, this is an interesting historical recording, especially given the era, but it’s not my favorite show to listen to.
[READ: January 29, 2014] “Guy Walks into a Bar”
Simon Rich always makes me laugh. And he often surprises me by making me laugh about things that seem like they couldn’t be funny.
Many years ago in a writing class I wrote a serious story and I ended it with “and then he turned into a bar.” I don’t really know why I threw the lame joke at the end of the story, I think I wanted to see if I could get away with it. (I didn’t). Well this story/joke is based on the old, old joke about a bartender who has a genie and a twelve-inch pianist.
Rich takes that as the foundation for a story and extrapolates it. Of course, the most hilarious thing is that the patron in the bar wishes for world peace (and gets geese). That isn’t funny, but when the bartender reveals what he wished for and then hears that the guy asked for world peace he is ashamed and then says: “I feel that I should explain myself further.”
So we learn about the bartender and why he wished for that particular wish. But Rich doesn’t stop there. We also meet the pianist and learn his story—what it was like to grow up so tiny, with no respect from his father. How he always felt like no one wanted him.
And then he learns that the bartender didn’t want him either. Which takes the whole story in a dark but funny direction. And yet it in no way prepares you for the end of the story which is shocking and very very funny. My word this made me laugh a lot.
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