SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-3rd Annual Green Sprouts Music Week Night 2 (Ultrasound Showbar, Toronto Ontario September 19 1995).
It has been a while since I’ve listened to a live Rheostatics show. Darrin at Rheostatics Live has added a number of new shows including this entire week from 1995.
Second night of the third annual Green Sprouts Music Week held at Ultrasound Showbar September 18-23 1995. This show is much tighter than the first night. Of note this is the third show that Martin played his double neck guitar (the second being the night before). First live performance of Feed Yourself, An Offer and My First Rock Concert. I believe this is the first time Stolen Car made a live appearance as a verse in the middle of Dope Fiends and Boozehounds. Also Farm Fresh from Brandon Manitoba opened all the shows this week and guested on an amazing version of Fat which had also only been played live a couple times.
“Digital Beach” is a quiet opening and I’m glad the crowd are pretty respectful It segues into “Earth with its “Monstrous Hummingbird” crashing end and a pretty guitar trilling at end the song.
“Aliens” has a middle slow down part which is pretty unusual–the music cuts back to a simple groove.
Dave notes that “the one wearing the Green Sprouts jersey is the first to start the mosh pit. Then he addresses Dale the Rooster. More about Dale later in the week. But Dave says they don’t allow chickens in the mosh pit. Dale the rooster has seen five shows.
A swinging “All the Same Eyes” is followed by “Four Little Songs.” They coordinate ahead of time but they get the countdown perfect. After the “can’t go wrong” but Dave prepares us for the next verse with a scary “UNLESS!” And in what would be a weeklong thing Dave starts picking a different Neil whose kitchen he was in. Tonight it’s Neal Schon’s kitchen.
At the end of the song Tim says “We got the 1234 right–nothing can be harder than that.”
Dave: This is the second night of our residency. Of the third Green Sprouts week. There’s an all ages matinee saturday at 6. Three years old? We’ve had younger than 3. We birthed a baby onstage at last GSMW and they named it Green Sprouts Music Week.
MT: [“Sweet Rich Beautiful Mine”] is a song I wrote the chorus to [not true, so I must have misheard]. He messes up the chord, which leads to a “Capo Problems” reprise this time with an avant garde solo by Dave. He wonders, was the person who invented the capo named Capo? Don: Victor Capo. MT corrects: this is a song I stole from Mrs. Torrance.
Mrs. Torrance is here every Tuesday in September. And Farm Fresh drove all the way from Brandon, Manitoba. They play dope shit or is it shit dope?
“Fan Letter” gives another shout out to Farm Fresh instead of Michael Jackson. Dave says “we just re-recorded that song and are selling it on white vinyl. Two sides of the record have music–quite an idea. Side 1 is the Springfield Duff mix and side two is the Shelbyville Fudd mix.
Up next is a song about Etobicoke: “Dope Fiends and Boozehounds” gets a big reaction, then Don throws ina drums solo and the song segues into “Stolen Car” (sung by Dave!).
Don tells a story about the first time he tried to smoke a joint. It was in Etobicoke at a condominium complex on Islington and Dixon called Fortuna 2000 MT: He once saw a girl going in there with Simon Le Bon. Don: That’s who I was with!
Up next is “Desert Island Poem” or “Drumheller” (name undecided as of yet) a “happy song about cannibalism.”
Dave says tonight’s show is better than last night–suckers who paid last night got a bad show.
It’s the first time they’re playing “An Offer,” in which Tim sings in a major falsetto, they play a rocking “Feed Yourself.” This is the first time they’re playing it as well and Dave is still tinkering with the words, instead of “sucking his thumb,” he sings “fucking his mom” (!). The end is chaos. Tim says we’ve haven’t even done it yet and we’re trying to change it.
Dave: We’ll play a few old ones now–sweatin’ to the oldies tonight.
Dave asks about Martin’s double neck guitar. Martin: I’m getting used to its weight. Dave: I’m a little afraid that you’re gonna be buff like Thor. Tim: It’s only the third show you’ve used it in, and you brought it out and it didn’t get a laugh. It got a laugh the night before because Tyler was there–everything is funny when Tyler Stewart (from Barenaked Lades) is there.
A solid “Northern Wish” (Martin forgets a line but it’s fine) is followed by a really funky “Soul Glue” in which Dave plays a great scratching sound for “Dragged the bottom of the lake.”
Drum roll ladies and gentlemen for “My First Rock Concert” (the first time Dave played it live). Some of it is different–the Joe Jackson part is more improv sounding. Martin: that’s a song we’re just gonna learn on stage.
Dave says he tried to fit in a verse about Tim passing out at a Devo concert. Tim: in the early 80s when everyone was wearing those big heavy winter overcoats. Tim wore it to Massey Hall. Devo were marching on treadmills and it freaked him out and he passed out and thought he was going to hell.
A delightful “Introducing Happiness” is followed by “Fat.” They call Farm Fresh up to rap. They say that really nice people come to see the Rheostatics because people actually listen to the music. Tim: I heard 18 Farm Fresh tapes were sold last night is that true?
Farm Fresh do a freestyle over an awesome intro jam (there’s lots and lots of “shit” and “fuck” in it). Although the refrain of “when I say ‘What do you think of Farm Fresh’ you say ‘they suck'” will appear throughout the week. “Fat” sounds great with a lengthy jam at the end and some more freestyling that you can’t really hear.
They end the set with a combo of “Legal Age Life at Variety Store” and “Bread Meat Peas and Rice.”
Tim: I know it’s time for us to go because the bartender has put on Conan O’Brien. Dave: We have commemorative T-shirts for sale, as well as pamphlets and biscuits and bowling shoes–we got all kinds of stuff.
They end the night with a two part–“The Royal Albert” and “Record Body Count” which get a huge reaction. This is a really solid set and a great sounding recording.
[READ: February 10, 2021] Tsukuyumi
I found this book at work and thought it looked really interesting.
Then I saw that it was all in German. But when I flipped through it, it didn’t seem like there was all that much dialogue. So I thought I’d translate it for myself. This took longer than I anticipated it would and no doubt I missed a lot, but it was still fun.
It turns out that this book was created to go along with a board game of the same name. This book came with certain pledge levels. There was an English version that came with a lesser level. but i’m not sure if it’s the same story.
Felix Mertikat did all of the drawings in the book and there is a different author for each story. All of the stories seem to be setting up something bigger, like this is the first intro part to a much larger saga.
The general idea: Man lives in fear all the time–fear that his creators could destroy him just as easily as they once created him. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 