Our previous post about the rigors of major label life garnered a lively and lengthy discussion. One of the highlights was this anecdote by Kevin, which he has been good enough to augment with some Flickr photos (taken by either Ken Kelly or Patti Torno; he wasn’t sure which).
The stories of end of gig mayhem reminded me of one of my favorite Puppet shows. It was the “Forbidden Places” tour in Athens Ga at the new big 40 Watt Club. This may have even been the first big show there. They came out blazing, absolutely tearing it up. Everyone in the place seemed to be knocked back by the force of the music, literally. I’d already seen them many times before and this was shaping up to be the best show I’d ever seen.
Unfortunately the new PA could not handle it and it cut out completely. As the soundmen worked frantically to fix the problem the Puppets tried to soldier on, playing instrumentals with their amps turned up. Maybe “Six Gallon Pie” or “Flight of the Fire Weasel,” those kinds of guitar solo pieces. After a few minutes they realized it wasn’t working (no drums!) and completely devolved into noise. Curt threw his Les Paul into the crowd, turned up his amp and went to work on his Morely echo pedal. You know the sound. Cris, of course, went crazy throwing his bass around and eventually smashing it on the ceiling, shattering the flourescent lights above the stage. At that point he gave up on the bass and shakily climbed his amps, ending up swinging from the stage lighting truss directly above our hero Derrick. Derrick had been pounding out a nice beat behind the noise, but at this point he saw Cris dangling above him and ran out front. Smart considering what happened to Curtis Mayfield. If I remember correctly Derrick then grabbed the guitar or operated the pedals, he continued to make a contribution at any rate. At some point a couple of streakers ran out, hugged the band and then dashed off. The crowd was screaming the whole time, completely caught up in the chaos.
Finally the club workers ushered the band off stage to deal with the problem. Cris came back out with a cooler from backstage and started to hand out the contents. Eventually the PA was restored to a semi functional state and the band came back out, playing a more standard set ending with an “I Wanna Be Your Dog” jam with the openers Scrawl onstage.
Not a bad way to usher in the start of the major label Puppets, at least for fans like us.
Attending that particular Athens show was famous actress, local celebrity and girlfriend of Batman, Kim Bassinger. She was also friends with one of the owners of the club, REM’s Pete Buck. I introduced myself to her before the gig and thanked her for coming. However, she was forced to flee the premisis in the ensuing mele. As Kevin remembers it, “She took off in a hurry. I was at the side of the stage (stage left) and saw her being ushered out like it was a terrorist attack.”
Hey derrick, what kinda bass does cris have? it doesnt even have a headstock!
and another way to save bandwidth, is to use a free, no signup website called imageshack.us
thanks
Check it out:
http://www.gibson.com/products/steinberger/
And thanks for the tip!
This website gets better every time I check back.
holy smokes, Cris’s steinerger bass is one of the worst looking basses ever. Thank God that boy could play like nobody else. Kudos Bostrom.
Thanks!
Thanks for linking to the photos Derrick. I must point out that they were taken either by Ken Kelly or Patti Torno, both local (at that time) photographers.
The next night my friends and I went to see a much more subdued Meat Puppets at the Cotton Club in Atlanta. We went early to catch the soundcheck and said hello to Cris and Curt, thanking them for the wild show in Athens. Cris said “I broke my bass,” as if it was suprising to him. That night he played with his blue Fender Precision bass, which I preferred anyway.
now see, that looks like fun. that’s what i mean when i say that the meat puppets look liek the most fun to be in.
That picture of Cris is how all bartenders should look – an urgent sort of crazed look on their face as they foist a beer upon you!
I’ve become quite interested in the Meat Puppets since Curt Kirkwood has spent the better part of a year or more posting 24-7 just about on an internet message board I frequent.
It’s amazing he can be such an artist considering such prolific posting even to include wifi-ing posts off to his favorite posters between songs at current gigs. It’s nice to know that such an exciting musician makes a few old women on a message board such a top priority in his life.
Wow
How eerie can you get? I graduated high school in Athens Georgia in 1983. My dad blew his brains out in Athens in 1997. I wrote a poem that I now consider the inverse of Lake of fire in 2002. Pasted below. GO PUPPETS:
Where Angels and Devils Collide
Show me a place where Angels and Devils collide
And I’ll show you space, where there is nowhere to hide
Through exposure comes freedom, at the cost of a life
Through exposure comes thirst, like a desert, bone dry
As we traverse and travail on the outskirts of time
We philosophize and postulate about the sublime
Do not look for rest in the illusion of land
For on land one may fall, at the first slight of hand
Those who find peace, find it not within man
Those who find peace, find it in the one,
“I AM”
(C)2002 Ken Holbert
I’d like to add that I was born on the 4th of July, and wrote my inverse poem having never heard of the Meat Puppets or Lake of Fire at the time. Also, Athens in 1983 was a lot different than Athens now. R.E.M. gave free concerts at a place called legion field. A man called sky owned the fifth quarter, and Playboy magazine did not rank UGA in their college party school list because UGA students idered professionals at the time. It was were the alternative poeple went to hear alternative music. How I will miss the old 40watt club.
Have just downloaded the interviews to listen to on the way to work tomorrow morning..thanks Derrick.
I remember the first uk gig in years, at The Mean Fiddler, London, 30 Jan ’92. Not quite as wild as Athens sounded, but still pretty awesome, and you played so fast! Cris drew me a picture back stage, and I remember him saying it was meant to be Kim Basingers mum, who’d been to see them play at a gig with Kim. Nice to have the complete story now! Still got the picture, and some great memories.
Good to know the mighty Pups played at the 40 Watt. My band is just starting out and we played there…its good to know that I have stood in the same spot as you guys, and hopefully rocked as hard(yeah right).
when i first heard the meat puppets i ran to my local store 24, bought the most rugged meat on the shelf, and immedeatly put the meat onto my face in a puppet like manner, then i grabed a bowl of capin crunch and tried to srart a riot at the nearby ymca, in results i spilt my bowl of ceral and got a concussion, ever since then i wear a helmit and eat cereal out of a canteen while i listen to the puppets performance
Sorry to bug you Derrick, but could you please tell me what Curt’s main distortion pedal was, if you know anyway. Thanks in advance. Josh
I can’t remember the specifics of Curt’s rig any more, but I’m pretty sure it was just one of those standard stomp boxes you can get at any music store.
I read on a site that it was some sort of big muff? But I wasnt sure, so I asked you. Thanks anyway, and thanks for making music.
Found it again, yeah, It says he used an electro harmonix big muff, but, it was for his solo stuff. http://www.guitargeek.com/rigview/596/
Big Muff sounds right I guess.
http://www.ehx.com/ehx2/images/e_BigMuffPi.jpg
which website does curt frequent? i don’t believe you
I was at this show at the watt! The funniest part was when Kurt smashed a 1/2 gallon of orange juice against his forehead. It was worth being there just for the spectecal but it was a pitty since the show was off to such an awsome start. I never did get to see the Meat Puppets again.
you don’t believe her because curt doesn’t frequent that site. what cool rock star would need to meet people online????
Hey Derrick, Cris and Curt, this is a shout out from ur # fan formerly from Madison, WI. I”m living in Scottsdale now. Ironic. Yeah, I,m old too but thankfully the Scottsdale vibe has not infected me by needing to get ginormous breast implants like a large portion of women here. I wanted to contact you so I could laugh about life and congratulate you on the new album. i hope to hear from you. We met in Milwaukee, SF, Madtown. you guys usuallly parked at my apt and used my shower. etc. just want to see how you are… Carole, one of ur first fans