[LEMONS] 1.29.2002
There's only one kind of banter I want to hear. - Jeff Saunders
I went to see My Morning Jacket, Mike Watt, and Eyes Adrift last night at Slims. My Morning Jacket was spectacular. When they started, and I first heard Jim James' voice, my initial reaction was "oh no, not another Grandaddy clone." This was completely unfounded. Although James voice is similar to Grandaddy's Jason Lytle, or Neil Young, it ends there. MMJ is a melange of 70s inspired rock sounds, everything from country rock to arena rock to reggae. I'm not doing them justice, I never am able to describe bands I like well. Go see them.
Watt was, as always, amazing and inspirational. He's one of the greatest musicians, songwriters, and performers drawing breath today. That this man's talent isn't universally recognized is a travesty. Whenever I see him, I feel like I'm watching Coltrane or Mingus at a small venue somewhere. You're glad to see him somewhere small, but you feel guilty because you know he should be playing at Shoreline.
Eyes Adrift was one of the mot inconsistent acts I've ever seen, perhaps they haven't played together enough yet. It took Curt Kirkwood a couple of songs to get warmed up, but when he did he was on fire. His performance was top notch. The songs were beautiful, one was immediately haunting. I was incredibly impressed. They had a few songs they should ditch, but they'll figure that out. Bud Gaugh is an amazing drummer, he's really tight and really talented. He actually reminds me a lot of kool bobby, both in the way he sounds and the way he moves. And then there was Krist Novaselic. Novaselic had some good songs, the lyrics were kind of funny, even. But Eyes Adrift suffered horribly from witty stage banter. Perhaps because they're new, Eyes Adrift took a lot of time between each song. This time tended to be filled with Novaselic's interminable yapping. When I saw Nirvana, one thing I remember about the show was coming away thinking "Man, Krist Novaselic should really just shut-up." This was much worse. Not that Kirkwood's banter was much better. But... Sheesh. (Bud, meanwhile, had great banter. Spectacular. He didn't say a word.)
Admittedly, I'm from the no-banter school of music fandom. The best banter I've ever heard came from Bob Mould, who said "Hi, I'm Bob Mould. Thank you, goodnight." In between he gave one hell of an intense performance. Every time I'd start to get into Eyes Adrift, the song would end, and the banter would begin. Krist, save the banter for the courtroom, brah.
- l i n k -
