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from joe baiza regarding the upcoming tour he's about to sally forth on:
"The intuitive response to something you yourself may have just said about yourself. This, while responding at the same time to what the others are saying. And it's a common and natural thread of logic that weaves an unexpected path.
I like to make sounds on the guitar. Noise, a fragmented unsure melody, a bark, a side comment, a freshly minted harmonic realm, a frustrated tangent, a sentiment of union, of consensus, selfish babbling, brilliant babbling, babbling as textural wallpaper, long sighs, old memories, or just a good riff. I like to make sounds on the guitar with like minded folks. And that's what makes it such a pleasure to play with these guys."
corsano baiza watt trio
"tiny tour 2024"
thu, oct 17 at the sardine
1101 s pacific av, san pedro, ca
fri, oct 18 at strummer's bar & grill
833 e fern av, fresno, ca
sat, oct 19 at winters tavern
1522 francisco bl, pacifica, ca
sun, oct 20 at the miniplex
900 samoa bl, arcata, ca
mon, oct 21 at john henry's
881 willamette st, eugene, or
tue, oct 22 at the shakedown
1212 n state st, bellingham, wa
wed, oct 23 at hero's welcome
3917 main st, vancouver, bc, canada
thu, oct 24 at the vault cafe
499 wallace st, nanaimo, bc, canada
fri, oct 25 at the mint
1414 douglas st, victoria, bc, canada
sat, oct 26 at the chapel space at good shepherd center
4649 sunnyside ave n (4th floor), seattle, wa
sun, oct 27 at the fixin' to
8218 n lombard st, portland, or
mon, oct 28 at blast off vintage
860 high st ne, salem, or
tue, oct 29 at the torch club
904 15th st, sacramento, ca
wed, oct 30 at thee stork club
2330 telegraph av, oakland, ca
thu, oct 31 at method machine lab
226 w ojai av, #102, ojai, ca
fri, nov 1 at zebulon
2478 fletcher dr, silver lake, ca
sat, nov 2 at the annex at giant rock meeting room
1131 old woman springs rd, yucca valley, ca
joe baiza, chris corsano + mike watt (l to r) on dec 21, 2023
get the debut album here at bandcamp, here's marc master's review:
thursday, october 17, 2024 - san pedro, ca
from chris:
from watt:
continuing my recent tradition of starting tours in my pedro town instead of hundreds of miles in somebody else's town, tonight we're at the the sardine... it's so fucking happening that toddski turned the former "ramona's bakery" (where all the bread for our best sandwich pad "busy bee" was made) at pacific and eleventh into a local pad cats can do gigs for real in, much respect to him, truly.
ok, I should give some backstory to this tour since in a way it's fuckin way trippy - drummerman chris corsano, guitarman joe baiza and myself are gonna do a seventeen gig tour w/not one fuckin song cuz it's all improvised, composed in the moment. now me and joe baiza did a saccharine trust album ("worldbroken") this way and of course there's the four unknown instructors albums him and poet dan mcguire (wikipedia has the wrong dan mcguire listed on their page - that doof they point is some politician, crimony!)... last time I toured w/joe baiza was twentysix years ago - he did guitar for three tours of my first opera and was great... chris corsano's the new man but actually me and joe baiza have already recorded an album and done three gigs w/him, it all started around ten months ago when derek monypeny asked him to do an album for his new label w/me aboard, chris then suggested me asking joe baiza and that's how this all got rolling. crimony. actually there's another album which came from our third gig which was at u c san diego last janaury, chris mixed it.
so chris flew from chicago wednesday night and took the bus to pedro from lax via union station in downtown l.a. - took a few hours but he got here safe. miss hiyori arrived from hamburg last week. no prac for this tour - never have done that before! thursday I bring chris over to my prac pad at the angles gate cultural center - I'm the oldest leaseholder there now, coming on thirtyeight years - that pdp kit perk got me years ago from dw in oxnard for the 2014 u.s. il sogno del marinaio tour cuz I figured why rent a kit when I could have one in my prac pad so anyone could just jump on w/out the set up/tear down schlep, correct? crimony. joe baiza's gonna use his squire telecaster guitar through his fender deluxe amp. of course I'm using my bergantino stuff (forte hp2x amp and nxtse 212 speaekerbox) being fed by the latest version of my reverend guitars wattplower mark II bass which is the first one I've had w/a maple fretboard and dave wentz pickup (rio grande pit bull) being replace w/a joe naylor design cuz of us losing dave a couple of years ago... I remember getting to talk to him over the phone once... he was most kind to me, most kind... I never get used to losing people. hey, hodge is here, so glad! he's looking really good, like in happening health and that makes me really happy. can't wait to play w/him this upcoming spring as we bring the next mssv chapter w/mike baggetta.
the 'dine is only like ten blocks from my pad so we head over at six pm. there's a drum kit on stage here so chris decides to use most of what they got - very much dig he ain't too particular that way, focusing more on what he can do as a human and not getting hung up on the fucking "gear fetish" trip so many getting fouled up in and end up creating 'pert-near nothing, capito? crimony. the wrinkling brothers (joe dean and george hurley) were supposed to open but I guess they didn't get the word cuz joe dean is here as a gig-goer but had no idea about sharing the stage w/us! crimony. first big clam of the gig. there a taco truck catty-corner from the gig pad so I get three pastor tacos, real good, love it and I'm ready to go. we hit at nine and it's a great way to start the tour, I get a real good feeling from chris, joe baiza and the gig-goers... my sister melinda's here, yatta! also, I get to konk at my own pad and it ain't even eleven when I'm out!
friday, october 18, 2024 - fresno, ca
from chris:
from watt:
pop at five, we gotta bail early cuz of the today's sitch... I cook up some salmon w/celery, green beans, brussel sprouts and ginger in olive oil for chris, miss hiyori and myself and then we pull anchor at six to get joe baiza who's three blocks east of little tokyo in downtown l.a., we pick him up just after seven and north on the I-5 for fresno. the new boat (2023 ford transit 150) - well, she's fourteen months old now - handles real good and I use my leash as the navigatore through it's electronic stuff via bluetooth, crimony. chris is riding shotgun and keeps me company, very kind of him. the weather is very happening, I'm most grateful for that also. fresno is about 240 miles north of my pedro town... I know the route well cuz my pop moved there after he retired from the navy in the late 70s and I would visit him as much as I could, trying to catch up w/all the time we missed each other cuz of his tours w/the navy when I was little (he was a machinist mate and worked in nuclear engine rooms).
first piss stop of the tour less than a hour from fresno state, I wait in the boat cuz we got plenty of fuel and I ain't gonna pay $5/gallon if I don't have to. we meet professor richard near the music department, very kind man who's bought us chow - he got me pastor tacos w/whole pinto beans, very good. there's a drum kit here so chris uses that. music students give us questions in between "pieces" we create for them in real time. it's very interesting for me to hear bof joe baiza and chris rap about music, improvising and "finding your own voice" via artistic expression. I'm digging. professor richard knows about my pedro town too, he's gotta a family connect there and he's also a standup bassist! crimony. I think the connect for this gig was through mike baggetta, he's done a couple of trips here and he turned chris onto this opportunity, much respect to him. the music students ask some really good stuff, I'm so glad we got to do this.
we finish up and are out about three and head over to the tower district of fresno to a pad called strummer's - actually we're playing the little side-bar next to the venue. it ain't opened so we head over to a nearby record store called ragin records cuz the ownerman paul there is the cat who got this gig together. around five the gig pad's open so we head back over and load in. the gig boss paul and me have a big spiel after at a little table and you ain't gonna believe this: this is the same man that thirtyfour years ago put on the only gig my pop ever saw me play. crimony. it was w/fIREHOSE at a rented-out "spaghetti factory" multipurpose room in this town. my pop really tripped on watching how the whole thing worked, me and my guys in a brand new econoline I'd just built and the do-it-yourself way gig boss paul got hundreds of gig-goers to make this show happen... he invited us to konk at his pad in nearby clovis! crimony. I can't thank paul enough for making that possible and it's bof a total surprise and a mindblow we're here spieling about it now in 2024. crimony. here's another trip: he actually lived in the same navy housing I did in pedro when I first got there from virginia - it was many years later (I moved from there in 1970 when my pop got stationed on the enterprise which was based in alameda) and though we stayed in pedro (my ma was sick of fuckin moving) but had to move these newly-built "park western estates" apartments that were next to this older proj just called "park western" which is where d boon lived and I met him at peck park which connected bof our pads... ain't that a trip? the coincidences of life always amaze me, these connects that can confound you! crimony. now where that navy housing was (across from the boneyard my ma's ashes are now in) has really lame-built over-price crap pads (called "ponte vista") and it's part of something called rancho palos verdes - not san pedro. quote the raven: "nevermore" - correct? it's real good talking w/gig boss paul, man, it's something. I lost my pop to cancer right after that gig, in 1991 and him getting to see me play at least once for me is profound... I'm most indebted to him, truly.
now I got a brother named justin who's thirty years younger than me - same pop but different ma's... he arrives and it's so good to see him again, love him much. coming up on eight, chris says it's show time so we bring it. this improvise way of doing gigs has much surprise for me, I listen real hard to joe baiza and chris so I can try and help build an interesting "conversation" w/them musically. the fresno gig-goers are most kind to us, truly. I speak w/many of them after we're done, very genuine and w/much heart - I am most grateful to them, truly.
we head for my brother justin's pad but of course I fuck up and go to the address he gave me in clovis and not fresno like a fuckin idiot... I get it correct on the second try. it's like eleven bells and everyone's tired but I start talking to him about our pop cuz... well, I can't help it. every time I see him I think of our pop and wanna relate things to him... he was only a couple years old when the cancer killed him and so only has tiny memories, it always hurts me to think about that - the way life can deal you a impossible-to-figure hand. he's gotta konk though cuz him and his family have a trip they got in the morning to ventura so onto the air matress w/watt soon as I hose off. even w/so much to think about I still konk pretty quick now that I got 659 days w/out alcohol - that too is a fuckin mindblow, believe you me. crimony.
saturday, october 19, 2024 - pacifica, ca
from chris:
from watt:
pop at six. like a baka, I spaced on getting coff-making instructs last night from my brother justin so it's like when the power goes off in the bathhouse and you're groping around... "is that you? is that you? whoa, that is you!" - that kind of thing. I find the coff machine, then I find the filters, look for coff... whoa, trippy kind package saying it's got mushrooms to provide more focus - never seen that before. I get it happening and yeah, it gets me going... I then chimp diary for the first two days of the tour.
after a while my brother justin pops and I get to continue talking to him about our pop... he says it's ok to speak of these things cuz I told him I was worried it might be weird but he assures me it's ok and that's a huge relief cuz I feel I really want him to know this stuff but don't wanna foist anything that might feel lame on him. in a trippy way, me telling him about our pop kind of makes it feel like he ain't gone, like he's w/us in a way - it ain't just for my brother justin, it's also for me cuz I miss him much. his boy - my nephew - santi pops and whoa, big man! seven years old now and beautiful. his ma patti pops and she brings from next door where her parents live some chow her ma made up for us: eggs, refried beans, vegetables - really good and so very kind, it's beautiful, truly. my brother justin, patti and santi are gonna visit other members of patti's family in ventura so they gotta bail at nine and a half so we got just their older dog francine to keep us company. I learn some trippy stuff from joe baiza - he actually started on bass when he started playing w/jack brewer which is new to me, even though I've known joe baiza going on fortyfive years is a first for me. crimony. he says he wasn't on bass long though, he switched to guitar... we (minutemen) did our first gig together in backyard in wilmas (where him and jack brewer lived, next door to pedro in wilmington), we bof laugh hard remembering that time back then. trippy how the paths stretching back to yesterday lead to today, crimony.
twenty after twelve, we pull anchor and head north on ca-99 and just before one I pull us over at a "love's" in madera to do this tour's first gas-up, $4.10/gallon... good price for the sitch and cuz of past experiences, I don't like being below a quarter tank. right before chowchilla I take us west towards gilroy on ca-152, the road I get us on in 1989 when that bay area earthquake hit and wrecked downtown santa cruz. this new boat can load mp3s from a usb stick so I put everything from my ipod and shuffle-play the stuff for us, like eight thousand pieces of sound! crimony. I supplement w/stories from my past to chris who seems not to mind. he's a good tour cat, focused yet relaxed and always positive - a real fortifier for watt and I'm most grateful.
north on us-101 and then to I-280 and finally pch for a bit 'til we get into pacifica
("there's the pacific ocean!") and arrive at winters tavern (tonight's gig pad) a little after four. we gotta wait around a little before a truck moves and we can get the boat anchored. miss hiyori goes and gets me some carnitas tacos from "taqueria pacifica" and man are these bambinos something else, really really fucking and stuffed-up big time, grande! I chimp diary after two more moves w/the boat cuz of vehicles bailing and offering opportunities, we get as close to the hatch that's gotta smoove sidewalk leading to it versus rough beaten up asphalt in the rear of the pad. the gig boss ceej shows up pedaling his bike, so good to see him again, I think I've played here now 'pert-near five times... brother steve (stooges sax man) lived his last years in pacifica so I think of him always when I'm here.
first konk in the boat of the tour and I fuckin konk hard. no soundcheck - this sitch has none of that, especially w/our sitch itself! there's two openers but I miss them cuz of my way-heavy konk. crimony. chris rousts me at one of eleven... hate when bands stall and don't think of the cats after - I can tell they left already cuz one of the coches was parked in front of the boat and now it's gone... some shit never changes, huh? whatev... thirtythree after when we hit - I make sure I'm real close on chris cuz I really dig getting in w/him - my thinking is my boomstick ain't a four-string guitar but rather a four-string drum set! damn right. the pacifica gig-goers are beautiful and encourage us big time... gotta say that so far this gig ends up my favorite of the tour. it's kind of like the three gigs we did before this tour (that's how new this band is), the third one (the one chris mixed and made a cd of)... ain't that a trip? I am most grateful joe baiza and chris, most grateful - also to the pacifica gig-goers cuz they brought their own "components" to the whole enchilada. I love how music is still such a powerful dealio on the reality in my life, love it... gets me so excited to realize I am alive and part of such creative stuff that is way happening. this "improvised chapter" in my journey is bringing me such mindblow surprises and twists/turns - in the fucking moment! crimony.
gig boss ceej helps me w/the schlep w/my stuff which I try do soon as possible when the gig's done, he's most kind, love bringing it for him. first though I spiel w/la-ni - so good to see her again. there's also a cat name joe who's from pittsburgh and we talk of richard mckenna's "the sand pebbles" which is where I found that book the morning after a porno for pyros gig I helped them w/in 1996. most interesting! I can't tell you the impact that book has on my life... the movie version was me and d boon's favorite movie when we were boys but the actual book - something I learned about later when I found it in pittsburgh really was fuckin something on me... love it big time. lots of other good words from gig-goers, thank you much.
we're konking w/dr ray and dr robbin in oak-town so I wheel us there (along the way thanking big time joe baiza and chris much for bringing me such a good time on stage tonight) and we have a real good time w/them at their pad which I dig much, air mattress in "my chamber" part I've dubbed cuz of the bitchin spirit there I always feel. it makes me konk just like that, feeling safe and all. me and dr ray have a real good spiel about all kinds of stuff interesting and then I hose off, get in my nightwear and then am out, just like that. crimony, it's two and a half in the fuckin morning!
sunday, october 20, 2024 - arcata, ca
from watt:
pop at nine! crimony, that's how late last night was. for the first time in this pad, I venture upstairs and see doctor ray's music room, crimony! it is something else, wow. much respect. we all join together in a real good spiel 'til it's time to act like shepherds ("and get the flock out of here!")... we pull anchor at eleven-forty, bye bye doctors ray + robbin, see you again in nine days!
I get us on I-580 west, passing san quentin (johnny cash had a gig there, correct?) to us-101 north and the last of the camino real once we pass santa rosa. more great spiel from chris, respect. skies are clear, weather happening: thank you from most grateful watt for bof that and our happening drummerman/tour boss, truly.
quarter of two I yank the boat over in ukiah for a piss stop at a convenience store/gas pump pad - we're good so only pump out (piss) and no pump in for the boat... I don't dig the vibe and damn if joe baiza gets treated real bad by this pad's counter man - well, fuck that. further down, or is it further up? at three and a half I pull us over at a gas place w/a name I ain't mentioning cuz I don't want to ("q: what did they find in the captain's head? a: the capatian's log") and am only getting five gallons cuz I don't like the boat having less than a quarter tank (did I chimp this already this tour?) - fuckin $5.40/gallon, that's why only five gallons and we're only eighty-something miles from where we need to be.
I get us into arcata twenty after five... drop anchor temporarily outside the miniplex (tonight's venue) for the load-in w/the flashers going in the bike lane... I ain't leaving the wheel, scary sitch. gig boss merrick is there to let us in to a chamber on the side of this bar w/maybe "the goat" as its name? I'm not sure but the chamber we're working tonight feels real good. a local cat is gonna record the gig and I rap w/him while setting my stuff up - so happening I can do that sitting in a chair I'm gonna use, love my bergantino stuff - just one of the reasons but a most happening one. very nice man... a good sign about maybe cats who're gonna be here later at show time? I think so... trippy, we're gonna do two sets, I 'pert-near never do these. they're kind of hard cuz I ain't used to how to "pace" myself, you know? I'm up for the challenge though, especially w/joe baiza and chris involved!
well, eight pm comes and goes (that was supposed to be the go-time for the first set) and I'm wondering if this tour's gonna be like this every night... we get underway and it's way happening, bof from the arcata gig-goers and the cats I'm playing w/, I really enjoy it, really do. ok, a break now 'til the second round... I stay in my chair on stage, fuck it. chris got us chow from a pad nearby called "bencharong thai house" and I have soup that's really good, lots of fresh vegetables along w/shrimp. I feel good and healthy from it. usually I cannot chow before a gig but this soup is light enough not to hurt me or weigh me down. happening. ok, it's been decided we get to start at nine and a half now... yes! I try hard to make my stuff this time around be different than round one, digging the challenge but it ain't just me which helps big time - it's joe baiza and chris aiding and abetting plus the happening arcata gig-goers, thank you thank you thank you from watt, truly!
I get my stuff together when we finish, rapping w/many of the most gig-goers as I do - lots of bass workers, in fact! outside the boat I have a big spiel w/a couple also, we rap on some heavy connects I feel bass has in the world and why I'm so glad d boon's ma put me on this thudstaff so long ago, man am I grateful - I shit thee not.
we follow chris' bud ethan to his pad in nearby eureka and there's a little pad in his back yard that's fucking happening to konk in, love it... thank you much, brother ethan. shower ain't working he says so no hose off tonight but I ain't really sweaty. I do konk like that though, really digging that it's just after eleven. man, can I konk easy these days, w/in minutes. man, my first arcata gig was most happening, truly.
monday, october 21, 2024 - eugene, or
from watt:
pop at seven, very comfortable in this little back yard pad ethan and raeni have, much respect to them for providing such a happening place to konk, truly. last night ethan brought coff machine too w/filtered water from the well they got here and it makes for real good coff, many thanks from most grateful watt.
we pull anchor at noon and from suggest from ethan we fuel the boat up at a little pad w/a real old timey one pump w/the tank right behind it called the "indianola market" at $5.00/gallon which he says is the cheapest around. it sure is one of the most unique gas pads I've been to, the cash lady at a counter behind a swinging window-hatch, trippy. brother ethan made me a sandwich w/ham and mustard which is good but I ain't much used to bread these days, chowing it 'pert-near only on sundays when I chow breakfast w/my sister melinda at her pad in our pedro town and that's some trippy "sprouts" kind so I'm a little worried about blowing it out in my levis but nature relents and I keep things "tight" down there or whatever, praise be. I roll us up past coast w/surf of california parts I've never seen before... we leave the coast for the beautiful hilly forest (love the smell coming through the boat's vents) and there's some winding road that thank god has turn-outs cuz there's also lots of tailgating pendejos being the reckless cabrons I guess they feel they gotta be. fucking lames me out but whatev... we "swerve to avoid" and "live to tell the tale" (thank you ishmael), correct? twenty of two we come up on a wreck that just happened, car up on its side in the middle of the road... hope no one's hurt... it looks bad though... looks like an over-correction result... consequences - why can't us humans learn?
at crescent city we leave us-101 for us-199 (the redwood highway), my first time ever crossing from cali into oregon this way. trippy thing near this junction, somewhere called "organ donor's grove" - crimony! makes you think a little bit, huh? traveling w/chris in the navigatore's chair (shotgun, starboard bow) reminds of doing an mssv tour in a way, especially the first ones cuz I spiel w/him kind of like w/mike baggetta - telling him all kinds of stories in my life and how it relates to who I am now. I dearly hope I ain't boring the fuck out of him... it does help me focus w/being on the rudder, believe or not cuz it channels my thoughts as I keep aware of "road dangers" or whatever you wanna call this way of sharing these "channel ways" w/other boats and the other pendejos manning them. crimony.
just before three joe baiza calls out for a piss stop and damn if there ain't a rest area sign that just then appears - we got nostradamus on guitar! that's courtesy of chris, not my invention, I gotta give credit where credit's due. back on the curvy-curvy road (many times having to use the turnouts to let pendjos blow by), this whole ride it looks like it rained all night but I'm so glad we got none to deal w/besides the other assholes rolling the dice on the "random misfortune" NOT crap. crimony. seven after three and it's the first time I've crossed into oregon from cali this way, NOT via the siskiyou pass. first town in oregon is cave junction - my second time through but from the other end (off I-5) to play bruno's cavern (I guess now closed? damn!) on the mssv aki tour 2023... for buttloads of years I've been searching for gigs bewteen nor cal and central oregon cuz it's a fuckin hellride and the shit beats you up. you would think ashland w/its shakespeare festival would have something, huh? well, the search keeps going... there's some rain on the way up the I-5 but not heavy, most grateful for that.
twenty after six I reach the gig pad in downtown eugene, john henry's and drop anchor right behind the same selfish pendeja who cut us off making a u-turn and then taking the better spot... well, at least we arrived alive after hours of other pendejos endangering everyone's futures - remember that wreck we came on just before the border? this calms me enough to laugh at yet more examples of human folly and am so glad I'm w/these compadres in the boat and able to create and have good time, yatta!
anyway, fuck that shit - we're here to get to share in some freak flying in eugene tonight! up on stage doing check is human dinosaur - I've had austin on my show many times and hope to have on more. his bandmate xeres brings me music of his - whoa, we go to the new boat to stow it... I get a seat to put right up to witness them (they'll be first). next I meet randolf, I've had him on even more and in fact him and graham will be on the first twfps edition I do when this tour gets done. he's involved w/this bitchin music trip called the eugene difficult music ensemble which blows my mind big time w/all they bring, a beautiful thing. he's hear adrian who's also been on and they'll be second tonight w/their #@*! trio which I can't wait to witness also. this is my first time meeting randolf in person... reminds me of the old days when you knew cats through only their fanzines and they you'd be playing on tour in their towns, set up by them, having them open and konking at their pads. crimony. janys the bookerman here's been on my show also, crimony!
miss hiyori got me some tonkatsu along w/some kaiso (w/goma) and miso from a nearby chow pad called "tokyo sushi" which I dig much. tonkatsu is not so easy to find in the u.s. and I'm so glad she found it. on the way to the head to go dump I 'pert-near do a "down goes frazier" cuz of a piece of the deck that's raised but the crutch I used saves me from the tumble. crimony. a gig-goers witnesses it... I tell him "like ishmael, I alone live to tell the tale" while inside I feel so fucking very lucky. the worst thing for us who are less-younger is to take a fall, really something to avoid, truly.
I witness human dinosaur opening the gig, I get a seat right up front (put one right up front) and love what they bring. fucking bravo big time. it's like a mind movie, reminds me a little of that zbs stuff I got into as a teenager listening to kpfk but it's its own world, it's own time and own journey and I got carried away w/them. much respect to austin and xeres, they got the show lit! right after this gig-goer introduces me to his three children he brought - he tells me one learned my "history lesson - part II" for his fifty bday. crimony. music does stuff like and my heart feels it. another gig-goer tells me he lived in pedro in the early 80s and knew us minutemen and here for me. very dear.
the #@*! trio is next and they're actually a sextet. adrian cervantes (who's on cello tonight) gives me a copy of the score, whoa! I think it was randolf's but he drops out of the performance to make them a quintet due to tech probs w/his mixer/mike, damn. beautiful score though - it's going on my bulkhead back in pedro! don haugen's part of the ensemble (we're konking at his pad tonight) and so is randolf plus three others I have yet to meet... the surprise of what they could be reminds me of the old days in the 70s when I never knew what was gonna happen at a punk gig... love it!
we're on at ten and a half and damn me for bogarting the fucking sound... I took wrong direction from joe baiza but I think even more responsible for this was me not checking w/the sound cat (so sorry not to get his name cuz he was very cool people) when joe baiza and chris did after our load-in, I have no idea why I didn't do that but now am (along w/my two bandmates) realizing the consequences. chris tells me he can't hear joe baiza and I feel like the hugest pendejo for that. crimony. I take action though to reconcile things and joe baiza repositions the angle of his amp and I do the same, so glad I put wheels on my bergantino speakerbox - not just for the schleps but for stuff like this, especially w/me planted in a chair. I feel a little beat down by my own stupidity but try to overcome that so the eugene gig-goers can get a good show, despite this fucking huge-ass clam from the pinche bass player. I do think we bring a gig w/something though right after behind the curtain us three have a powwow to "debrief" the sitch w/me apologizing and then getting advice from bof joe baiza and chris that I'm gonna use on the future gigs... for watt, gigs ain't just for working, they're also for learning - it's always been this way... maybe not a bad thing? I think so... I'm most grateful for joe baiza and chris bearing w/my slow-learner self.
we load-out and say bye, don's pad is about twenty minutes southeast of eugene and we actually arrive before him and his partner vanessa but there is one big sheep there to "greet" us - we get the word from vanessa via chris' leash to NOT let the sheep out. so I drop anchor and soon they arrive to make things happening by shooing the sheep down the road/path, "bah bah" all the way I hear it sing to us. a table-move to make space for the air matrress and soon as I can I get into my nightwear and konk cuz I am fucking beat... so glad konking comes easy to me these days, I'm as glad as I am to be get to play w/joe baiza and chris, truly.
tuesday, october 22, 2024 - bellingham, wa
from chris:
from watt:
pop at quarter of eight, fuck was I tuckered... them curvy roads wore watt witless! don and vanessa put their coff machine on auto so it's brewed - I can smell it, yatta! I start chimping diary 'til I finished yesterday and then hose off cuz it's been two fucking days since the last one. crimony. brush the teef too and drag a razor across my face. happening. also happening is don cooking up some scrambled eggs, potatoes and sausage where vanessa says she had the pork ground and then added her own spices. oishii. most kind people to us, truly.
pull anchor at twenty after eleven, twenty minutes late but fuck it cuz it's great spieling w/don and vanessa and we had get that tied up proper, it was about some heavy probs. speaking of jack flanders ('member me mentioning zbs in my yesterday's chimping?) - the random shuffle trip this boat's sound system does w/all those thousands of mp3s on this stick brings up part one of "the incredible adventures of" - ain't that a trip or what?! the weather goes from gray to all sunny also, crimony. before getting on I-5 north, we gas up the boat at a "union 76" for $3.36/gallon... later talk about how trippy it is bof him (chris) and mike baggetta are western mass but didn't really know each other though they shared the same time... we get through portland w/out much plug, yatta! cross into washington state just after four and a half and pass into vancouver - their vancouver and not the canadian one we're suppose to play tomorrow. coming on quarter after two, joe baiza calls for a piss stop and I make it be so at a "shell" station in castle rock, no prob... I never want anyone I'm sailing w/to suffer cuz of me being a fuckin idiot. big plug at seattle, hurry up and wait. just wanna be safe. whoa, what's this? I feel something in my mouf that ain't some of the peanuts I was putting in it... it's a toof! I think wisdom one cuz it was sideways inside my upper starboard aft part of the gum and you can see it never chewed... I was wondering about this bump I was feeling lately... thought it was a hunk of gum flesh... thought it was fucking cacojates but nope, it's a fucking toof and I drop it in a napkin miss hiyori has. there's no pain, no blood... 'pert-near like my body "shed" the fucking thing - I think it was a "wisdom" kind cuz it was sideways and not exposed. crimony. I feel better about not having that strange thing and knowing what it was/is. life is a trip. we need fuel, I pull us off at "river rock tobacco & fuel" in arlington, $3.34/gallon, which is prolly a good idea w/three gigs in canada coming up next...
good thing for that carpool lane that helped us but whoa, six and a half when we roll into bellingham and to the shakedown, which is where we're playing tonight. whoa, that was a seven hour hellride... big reason cuz of that plug in seattle and actually a lot of it was north of there... a few wrecks and not enough road for the amount of cars, the math ain't too hard. lucky for watt though is having chris aboard to hear my stories - lots of minutemen ones today. no time for soundcheck but I got a good feel from soundman wyatt... he tells me he had a big spiel w/sonic youth soundman terry pearson, an old friend and did some fIREHOSE tours doing sound too. damn me for missing him, maybe he'll be here later? very nice people working at this pad, very kind. up first at eight are locals mogons and they don't stall and don't bogart and are beautiful for doing that. thank you. I trip on the drums while chowing a falafel sandwich they gave me here at the pad. next is disaster queen who we meet when arrived cuz they were loading in... whoa, they tear it up. bof bands got some bellingham energy to share w/us, most kind.
no one bogarted, no one stalled so we can go on at the agreed nine and a half start time, so kind of the cats we get to share the stage w/tonight, you can't know how grateful I am to them for that, truly. soundman wyatt, being on our fourth man tonight gets our sound w/our first piece and doesn't have to that stupid linecheck shit in front of a paying audience - I really really hate the fuckin kind of shit, really do. I ain't total "showbiz" but for that kind of stuff I am, I just fucking hate it and am so grateful for brother soundman wyatt being w/us on this matter. the bellingham gig-goers are most kind to us, most kind... very good gig for us from them but for me some difficulties w/the "feeling" of chris' drums (he's using the pdp kit we brought) cuz there's only tiny "punch" cuz of the room's acoustics - it's not terrible but I've been digging being right in there w/his hits where I'm "feeling it" as much as I'm "hearing it" if you know what I mean... I'm trying to let his drum hits flow through my body just as much as my brain being feed by what my ears are getting to work the fingers on my bass. remember, we're "composing in the moment" so that's a trip for me in itself - a challenge but I'm digging it. now I kind of fuck up cuz of this by being distracted by the "lack of thud" in regards to taking cues from joe baiza cuz he'd cue me on when to solo instead of end when he'd stroll (lay out) - damn me for that... I'm gonna try real hard to be better than that tomorrow night. fuckin slow-learner watt. happening gig though, really is.
disaster queen bassman scott helps me w/the schlep w/my stuff to the boat, so kind of him. gig boss zach comes to give more zeni for the gig, that's real kind too, whoa. he's arranged for us to konk at a buddy of his, I'm most grateful for this also. good people of bellingham for sure! you know, bernie worrell spent his last years here, I can see why. much respect.
we head over to the pad of ryan and his partner meta lica (I shit thee not, her parents named that) which is not far from town but out of the woods. I spiel w/them a little bit before hosing and hitting the air mattress, they're bof really kind. I tell them about the story behind my second opera... a little bit, not the big windbag version. konk comes real quick to me after when they scissor the lights. thank you much, ryan and meta lica.
wednesday, october 23, 2024 - vancouver, bc, canada
from watt:
pop at five of eight, whoa for watt but damn I wasn't tuckered from yesterday's shift on the conn... great spirit/feel in this pad too which I think helped w/getting such a long konk, most grateful to ryan and meta lica, truly... she goes to work but he's gonna take the day off to keep us company, righteous dude. ryan's great to rap w/also, we have a good time while I also chimp diary. we get to do laundry here too, yatta! all my soiled stuff gets kirei ("clean" in jap), most grateful to miss hiyori.
two bells and we're off for canada... this pad's a little of bellingham but still it's only like forty miles to the border BUT it's been a good while since I've played british columbia so I am unfamiliar w/the setup now... damn if I get in the wrong lane and we go into canada - real butter happening w/a very kind border man but I didn't get our music stuff registered on the u.s. side like a fucking idiot. so I gotta flip a u-ey, drop anchor and then hobble around to see how things work here. I get a real new border person at the counter when I do find where I gotta be and he has me start writing all equipment on some forms instead of how I did stuff in the old days which was give them a list of our stuff that would be attached and stamped... the boss border lady is most kind and helps out, I figure she wants him to learn so ain't barking orders but rather give advice and hints - he told me he was gonna search the boat to make sure the list I had was kosher and of course outside I said sure but inside... crimony but why make things difficult w/whining and actually he really wants to help and does, actually very kind - the border boss lady tells the new man: "here's your dude" when I hobble in after move the boat cuz actually I docked it on the canada side (just a little bit but enough cuz he pointed out the obelisk marker) like a fuckin idiot. ok, it takes time though but I get what we need done and for the second time today we enter canada - bof times very kind border men w/us... thank you merci.
just over a "hollywood" (our pedrospeak for "thirty miles" cuz that's the distance from there from our pedro town - where we saw most our punk gigs in the 70s) to vancouver and there's got a buttload of traff but we make it in time for load-in by fifteen minutes: five and a half... smart to budget in "border crossing time, huh? we luckily find parking right in front of the gig pad, hero's welcome and I am most grateful. two sets tonight like in arcata - this tour has two of these trips... usually I am really NOT into that but not for this tour cuz you ain't repeating the same "songs" or whatever, just another opportunity to "compose" on the spot. I stay in boat cuz of the parking sitch... need to sit it for half an hour to get the meter's most for us... hell, I stay in the boat to chimp diary... miss hiyori gets from a chow pad across the street called "ramen kounotori" some "tori paitan" ramen - I really dig it, lots of good stuff like a whole soft-boiled egg, chicken, pork, negi, great broth - only the noodles are a little mersh but man, it's a good shovel for watt.
eight bells and after a short spiel from the gig boss tim, we bring it - maybe my first 'couv gig in thirteen years? crimony. the 'couv gig-goers are most kind w/the focus and the spirit, really helps us three here in front of them, I'm thinking. two sets so I'm thinking to pace myself, think about the other two-set one in arcata... joe baiza and chris are playing so good - all fuckin tour they've been bringing it and I'm trying my hardest to pull what I can in myself to aid and abet. the 'couv gig-goers are sitting down at tables... I don't think one person is standing but that's ok, you "work the room," correct? I got nothing but respect for everyone here, again merci thank you good people of vancouver for having us aboard.
we get done just before ten (about a forty minute break in between the two sets maybe?) and most kind people come up to give me the good word. one cat is convinced at least some of our set is composed or scripted ahead of time... I try to explain that NONE of it is, he's very nice about it - no heavy stuff - but maybe some of it sounds like what he suggested, huh? don't know why... but no, none of this tour, I shit thee not. wow, I get to meet tim from kingfisher bluez which is a happening label from here, he put out a seven inch by a proj s. howe has w/me called "the island" six years ago... so glad to meet him in person, so glad!
my old bassbuddy barry from doers (his current one-man band here) has offered up his pad to konk in... twenty-something years ago he did the same thing - so kind of him, truly - big merci to him for his kindness all this time. his partner wendy's sewing room is just big enough for the air mattress, most happening! I'll hose off in the morning, time to konk now for watt cuz I'm way tuckered.
thursday, october 24, 2024 - nanaimo, bc, canada
from chris:
from watt:
pop at seven and a half... still dark cuz we're way up north (compared to pedro), I hose off and then dring french press style coff miss hiyori cooks up. barry and wendy soon join me and we talk bass cuz me and barry are bass brothers but he's also been doing drums, yes! I sincerely believe if you can do drums then you can do any of the other musical instruments better, I do. I hip him to one of the most econo bass parts ever, pylon's "dub" which I love since I got it back in 1979... anything more would've been a bogart I believe, absolute! wendy shows us the coat she made - we konked in her sewing room and man, is it made real good, crimony! another mindblow is hearing barry's been hip to sugar poisoning since the 90s, whoa! I sure am late to the party about that but it's helped me so much to cut that amount I've been poisoning myself w/since I was a boy... I just didn't know... and I am a slow learner.
wish I could spiel w/him longer but tour duty calls... it's about twentyone miles northwest to horseshoe bay where the ferry to nanaimo departs. barry's advice is most accurate and we have plenty of time to get in line w/out any fucking panic shit, thank you brother barry! sitting in the boat waiting to board, we chow banh mi sandwiches chris got for us earlier - barry and wendy live in a vietnam neighborhood, I really dig these. we shove off at six past one, sitting up on the bow as close as I can (inside though, ain't that balls-out), eyeballs full of beautiful b.c. as we're under way. there's a whale blowing its spout far off to the port at one point and I see its fluke, tiny view but still something for me... you know we got whale-watching boats that go out from pedro and in the fiftyseven years of living there I have never been on one? damn me for that. crimony. very smoov voyage and much sun.
the ferry (never got its name, damn me) gets into twenty of three and it ain't far to the gig pad the vault cafe and damn if we don't luck out w/good park when a camper pulls out. really good feel when I hobble in, dig it much here already... a standup bassman named alex has me sign his copy of "double nickels on the dime" - whoa... I tell him about raymond taking me to see mr ray brown - raymond in fact sends me an email just then about where this tour is and it kind of bums me it's only the west side cuz he's in new york city, damn. chris introduces me to jeremy who runs a shop upstairs and also plays in earthball and also like me has played w/the representative from corwood industries - as has chris, crimony! I ask him what is the work here and he says coal mining and also fishing. I think about coal-powered plants in china having their effect on the air during that one china tour me and my missingmen did in 2017... crimony. the next cat chris introduces me to is the gig boss jack who is very cool people, so grateful to have him make it possible for me to do my first nanaimo gig ever, thank you jack!
lots of the crew here help us w/the load-in, most kind of them. I meet the cat sharing the stage w/us, dave of el hombre al auga who is also very cool people... listening the his music via the internet, I invite him on my show and he's into it, righteous. we spiel for a bit - he's a bassman also and asks about my bergantino stuff, I give him my email address and he recognizes the old mindsring.com domain, yes. soundman gabe is into being our fourth man which is really happening, can't tell you how important that is even if it's just for one night, capito? damn straight. we check w/him real quick and I'm digging that he says that's fine, says also he's glad to be our fourth man, yes. the gig boss jack gets me "cheddar burger" where they cook the cheese on the grill and that's got a trippy thing going... lots greens w/it and miss hiyori also puts on my plate some of her huge salad that's got goma, very good. there's some guy here to record us and I'm glad he ditches the mic he's got on my speakerbox when I ask him to and instead uses my d.i. out from my finally box (from shushi box fx, I have the version one) which I really dig and in fact, I'm turning up the gain on it tonight for some more grind, let's try that w/this trio cuz I got the feeling it might be happening... let's see.
showtime is eight bells and dave brings his set as one big tune, I move way up as close as I can, by the hatch so I get wind blasts every time it opens but it's worth it cuz I'm digging what he brings. "man overboard" en espanol, you know? yep. he got me lit for our turn, thanks dave, merci. I feel there's no great gift a music cat can do for another than to get them lit, yes.
we hit at nine after a little spiel from gig boss jack and it is a little one, very kind. now after last night's debriefing, I take joe baiza's words to heart and there's no mantras from me tonight, more small phrases all the way through. shit, at one point, I let my nervous starboard leg start bouncing the wattplower bass w/blows under the lower frets which gets chris lit and then bring bof hands but w/no plucking or fingers, more like working fuckin congas, capito? I have never done that before, ever. well... I've never been to nanaimo either, correct? so fucking why not? crimony.
at the boat, me and joe baiza have a little debriefing and we're interrupted by a gig-goers who tells us "you gave birth to a weird little thing" and that stops our spieling, joe baiza leaves me at the boat to hit the head. I remember in eugene after the gig when we had a debriefing he said he liked talking about the gigs after but it wasn't his fault we got bumrushed, even if it was w/kind words. oh well! still love the man much. I'm thinking about another thing regarding this gig, it's the most north one of the tour - that's true but why the fuck am I thinking about that now? fucking baka watt, huh? crimony.
load-out done, we follow gig boss jack to his pad not far and man, it is very very distinctive - I love it! you know he's from the old days of the movement, you know it! the air mattress goes into the chamber w/the "fun house" pinball machine while chris spiels w/jack (they're old buds) in the chamber w/the barber chairs - jack says he got haircuts in them when he was a boy (he grew up in nanaimo)... now usually these days I konk pretty quick but tonight joe baiza comes in to rap w/me, telling me stories of when he worked at an oil refinery in the 70s, really interesting and sometimes scary stuff, whoa! I've know him 'pert-near fortyfive years but this tour really has me learning new things from him, I really dig and konk very happy, 'round midnight. thank you joe baiza, thank you, truly.
friday, october 25, 2024 - victoria, bc, canada
from watt:
pop at seven and a half but stay prone 'til eight. I keep staring at the "fun house" pin ball machine here in this front chamber of jack's... damn if during our last go last night that I did a small quote from the stooges very own "fun house" tune to get it lit after quoting what I call "stooges philosophy" in my book: "we came to play!" (ok I changed "we" to "I" cuz I thought in our case it was a little more appropriate). crimony, what a trippy coincidence, very trippy. jack's up and we have a big huge spiel about all kinds of stuff music, especially regarding his (and my) buddy byron coley - love byron much and I can tell jack does too. jack is deep into the record stuff, crimony... downstairs he's got lots of good stuff and it's a joy hearing him share his knowledge of such stuff w/me, truly.
jack cooks up these happening tacos w/tomatoes and veggies from his garden plus some avocado, really good, thank you jack! on the bulkhead in his head he's got a strange flyer for a showing of "if footmen tire you, what will horses do?"- what does this remind you of these days, I wonder... get me a fuckin shovel! I hose off and chimp diary, we pull anchor at twenty of one...
twenty after two I get us to tonight's gig boss don - met him at last night's gig... nevada's here (also at that gig) and I meet mihkel, guitarman for cosmic foam (nevada's drumming for them) who we are sharing the stage w/tonight. he tells us phil lesh passed away today... I don't know his band(s) so much but we lost a bass brother.
don's partner judy has cooked up pasta/sausage, broiled chicken and a great arugula salad, very good, very good. mihkel's saxman shane joins us, the band's all here! real good shovel, real good shovel. then most of us go into the living room to talk about music - don's got the aiden levy's sonny rollins bio and so we go to town - bof shane and mihkel know a bunch and so does don... I'm way WAY into it - thank you, gentlemen!
don ain't just the gig boss, he's also the bassman for mihkel's band! crimony. I didn't know BUT... a gig run by the bassman, I can dig it! we've had a good spiel but there's another reason we came to victoria, correct? he calls for us to make like shepherds and get the flock out of here... ten of six we get to the mint which is tonight's gig pad. whoa, parking opens up right in front for us. it's down some stairs but not too bad a schlep... the doorman keith seen me many times, he goes down the list - so many times in different parts of canada, much respect to him. soundman kent says he's way into being our fourth man.
in the back of the pad I help joe baiza string up two thinnest strings on his guitar cuz of his eyes these days giving him trouble, the reason you see a light on a stand on stage w/him... cosmic foam goes on at eight-ten and they get things happening, much respect! our turn is at nine and damn this piano on stage behind me... only cuz I can't get as close on chris as I like but it does provide him w/another thing to improvise along w/, yes! the victoria gig-goers are way happening, my first gig in this town and last canadian one for this tour. I try my hardest for the nomeansno town, my hardest! again, it's a challenge cuz of the "geography" of where I got my culo planted but you "work the room" in this endeavor, correct? fuck yeah. we get an encore, whoa. thank you so much merci good people of victoria!
I get the good word from many most-kind cats and sign their stuff. a comedian-man named evan thanks me for being a minuteman, I tell him he is most welcome. so much kindness, truly... bassbrother matt (his band from here slugger) helps me schlep my speakerbox up the stairs and load into the boat, great cat - he gets big hug from most grateful watt, beautiful. I get in the front wheelhouse of the boat like I usually do once the my bass stuff is stowed to wait of the team and jason has me sign this book he wrote on righteous band nomeansno (big inspiration to us minutemen!), so glad to meet him in person and dig much him having me aboard. finally nevada tells me about his band w/mini called small pleasures and their upcoming japan tour... he also raps to me about this gig pad in london, ontario I've worked called call the office that had a big effect on him... there's gonna be a doc on it he says and wants me part, "yes" I say, "yes, yes!"
we shove off in some rain for don's pad... maybe a storm coming? life deals you hand, correct and we deal w/it, correct? "steady as she goes" - just be safe is the main commandment, I gotta get everyone home safe is my main priority, second one is play is good as I can for the gig-goers and then everything else is after. tonight I hose off before konking instead of in the morning - good policy for watt and damn me for not doing that the last two gigs. I konk real grateful for these three canadian gigs I just did, most grateful, truly.
saturday, october 26, 2024 - seattle, wa
from chris:
from watt:
pop at seven... soon don's up and he cooks me up over-medium fried eggs (my favorite way!), tiny pork sausages and a piece of toast, most kind of him. he makes up some good espresso coff too, I have three rounds which is my max and I only do it after I pop in the morning, most I never do during the rest of the day. I chimp diary as he yammers w/miss hiyori in his kitchen. ahead is border for back home so I shave. I will never have another beard or mustache again but I don't really dig shaving either... it is a dilemma for me but in the big picture of things? us humans are strange species about so much stuff, huh? I'm a fuckin baka. twenty after nine we pull anchor... bye bye don and judy, bye bye... they're bof so very kind.
we get to the ferry station at swartz bay just before ten (great navigation assist from chris), yatta. mihkel last night told me last night that even if you have bought a ticket, they can refuse you... is that bullshit or what? crimony. whatev though, if that's the sitch, that's the sitch and we gotta deal. we're put in lane one so I think we're safe. another good think is the weather, real sunny out - that storm last night blew out, so glad! joe baiza and chris get out while I chimp diary... they go to some pad here called "land's end cafe" which reminds me of how me and d boon made a connect w/georgie to become reactionaries in 1978... there was an apartment building on the east side of pacific avenue in my pedro town at its most south point, where it "ends" w/a two hundred foot cliff overlooking catalina island and the pacific ocean, hence this pad's name. one time me and d boon are there having fun w/some cats we knew from san pedro high... also there a very popular cat "on campus" (we were the class of '76) and me and d boon knew him but I don't think he knew us - not yet but he would that night cuz like a cabron I drink a bottle mezcal (yeah, chowed the gusano) and I fucked up and locked myself in the head and passed out... georgie had to bust in to get me and then drove me to my pad on gaffey near twentysecond (I moved from my ma's when I was eighteen) and even though I was borracho out of my head I was conscious enough to understand georgie wanted to trade making surfboards in the shed in the back of his pad to playing drums and bingo! I ask him if me and d boon can jam w/him cuz we never had a pad where we could do that w/a drummer... georgie is so key to not only while we were minutemen but also in our beginnings even though the first two minutemen gigs were w/another drummer. it is so trippy how the paths that lead to the now are, huh? I am so grateful to georgie for so many reasons. I even jammed w/joe baiza and jack brewer once in that shed of his, I shit thee not!
we roll onto the "spirit of vancouver island" ferry ten of eleven and damn if we don't clear the overhead by mere inches, crimony! deck four again like wednesday's ferry ride but this time I get the closest seat to the bow a deck above. my last view of victoria island, many pretty pine trees fill the windows, love it. I chimp diary... we drop anchor at tsawwassen on the mainland (part of vancouver) just after twelve and a half... very smoov ride, we get to the "peace arch" border crossing to get back home at one... this process takes two hours, no snags - it's just a lot of vehicles and then process of having the boat checked out - first time a search for me w/out me witnessing it, trippy. the border lady though is very kind - calls me "mike" after prolly looking me up on the internet after asking for our band name... I've never had a border sitch w/that form of my name being used, whoa. next we head for meta lica and ryan's pad just south of bellingham to get what we left there, rain's coming now but for the first time every I use the manual gears on the boat to get up their unpaved driveway that's got a grade... it's got gravel also but watt like a fucking doof misses w/the starboard side but not total doof cuz I focus hard not to spin the tires... everyone works real hard to get the stuff in quick, way happening and much respect to the from me. thank you so much ryan and meta lica, thank you so much! I fuel up the boat more south on the I-5 just before four at "the sagit" casino which has lower prices prolly to get you to the casino maybe? $3.44/gallon... this new boat gets much better mpg compared w/the old boat, we did all three canada gigs w/out any gas stops... by the way, all three canada gigs were "clean" (old vaudeville slang for "sold-out"), thank you much for having us aboard, good people of canada!
the traff is fucking way stau north of seattle so we slow to a crawl to get to where we need to be... chris calls up a pho pad near the gig pad we get it on the way... we arrive at this old religious pad (sandy later tells me it was a girls reform school) called the good shepherd center and we're playing "the chapel" part up on the fourth floor... just after six, load-in w/rain (but not too heavy) and dark, we get lots of help from the very happening cats not only putting on the show but opening it up. one of them is al who was a submariner for twentyfive years and gives me his "fish" (what my pop called them) - the dolphins badge those very brave cats wear, crimony! he tells me he was a sonar man but was close w/engine room cats (what my pop was), this is a huge honor to me, huge. so kind of him - I will play tonight's gig for brother al. he knows about the uss sperry which was the last boat my pop served on, a sub tender (works on subs) in san diego. crimony again. I got a plaque my pop gave me of that boat at my pad. man, is it a small world sometimes or fuckin what? crimony. tonight watt works for brother al.
no soundcheck cuz there's no p.a. - we're just using the stuff we brought and so do the openers "whatxcstmr" which is actually two bands (what and cstmr)combining to be one tonight. one of the drummers (casey) is also the gig boss, yes - so much like the old days, love it! this gig is part of the wayward music series which is another I dig: community. I chow the pho chris got us in a back dressing room (obviously this part has been re-purposed), man, is it fucking good and I feel so much stronger now, so much... I get to spiel much w/joe baiza also... old so cal guitarman michael whitmore comes to visit us, lives on nearby vashon island (like old friend sandy who's also got a pad near pioneer square where we're konking tonight)... I actually got to do an album w/michael but he did drums and percussion, it was for heather and lyman's band listing ship (album was called "time to dream" 'pert-near twenty years ago where I learned their tunes real quick cuz of fucking drama where the cat I replaced stole all their shit, can you believe that? good to see michael again, really is.
the gig kicks things off just after eight and watch/hear the whole piece, two drummers (dave's the other one besides gig boss casey, very nice cat), a guitar man I never got to meet and brother al doing trippy electronic sounds, beautiful and most inspiring. love it. our turn next and I really enjoy the gig. I get to be right in there next to chris (no piano in the way!) and the chamber has a trippy thing going w/the real-high overhead. you know you gotta create every gig on this tour, not re-create but playing w/these two cats I find really an opportunity to launch myself into that instead of being all afraid and shit though that does exist, just try to keep it stomped down. the seattle gig-goers are fucking happening even if the sitch has like "a moat of space" between us and them, fucking happening focus they share w/us... the stage is only inches high and really big w/no real sides or anything, a really interesting sitch that I dig much. we finish one minute before the curfew, crimony - how does that happen?
brother al and actually his boss at work over at bremerton (big ship/sup builder town) help me down the 'vator and then a gig-goer named jeremy helps me the schlep cuz I got the boat in the wrong lot, natalia along w/them does the last move w/the hatch slam, big thank you to them bof. first u.s. gig back is a real good one, yatta!
I wheel us maybe five miles south near the water and pioneer square part of downtown seattle where my old friend sandy has a pad that's like her office but it's big enough for us to konk in... a nearby parking pad is kind enough to once again have us aboard (sandy makes that happen) and it's so good to see her again when I hobble the few blocks... she missed the gig (was on the island) cuz of calendar fuckup, damn me for not making sure shit was ship shape. we have a real good rap and so big her pit bull meatball is now, crimony! it's a one room pad (except) for the head but we all can konk here, no prob, very good feel here and I am tuckered, so grateful for this haven of sandy's, so grateful and her herself also. lucky fuckin watt for fuckin sure, absolute.
sunday, october 27, 2024 - portland, or
from chris:
"Stuck on the I-5 aka The Plugged Nickel" - chris
"No set lists to write down for an improvising band, just chow orders." - chris
from watt:
pop at eight... a little there's a niji out the window the window, yatta! ohayo niji!
it's good to see this cuz I'm thinking of my ma now... on tour I would call my ma when I could - when I was in our pedro town, I would chow sunday breakfast w/her and my sister melinda at her pad. the fifth anniversary of us losing her was four days ago - I'm remembering that now cuz I lost in the moments of tour then but maybe that ain't a bad thing. I miss my ma but she was really hurting at the end there, from copd... from cigarettes - so glad I've been done w/them twelve years come january. my ma always called michael watt, always gave me levis for my bday... and xmas (five days apart). my sister melinda did too, I got a buttload I've never put on... that's all I wear. I miss my ma, thank god I still got my slster melinda. sandy cooks us up scrambled eggs w/asparagus w/slices of strawberries and blueberries on the side and gives me a plate w/a glass of beet juice, love it! she has many stories to share w/us, she reminds joe baiza about saccharine trust singer jack brewer writing her into one of thier tunes... she didn't know either 'til years later jack told her. lots of meat puppets stories too, very interesting. also new for chris and joe baiza is stuff about her sin n linen company, much respect to her!
we pull anchor at twenty of one, the kind parking lot man from last night just started today's his shift for today and makes it be so we can easy start for our next gig tonight in portland. bye bye 'til next time sandy! things are ok 'til just north of the sea-tac airport when we get caught in one massive stau, crimony. get this: four tenths of a mile in a 140 minutes, I shit thee not. one motherfucker 'pert-near plows us from the port in the crawl and gives me the middle finger (it's a coche designed for england w/the steering wheel on the wrong side) when I alert the pendejo to avast w/the boat's trumpet blast. well, he ends up w/a karma "withdrawal" (I've found karma com comes in two kinds: deposits and withdrawals) cuz all that maneuvering/bumrushing to get to the shoulder providing nothing but more plug for them and when things shake loose for us, a look in the rearview mirror shows nothing but parking lot from them. one lady must've used a leash to call someone going north cuz she jumps out her ride and rides across to switch places w/another clown... other pendejos going the wrong way on the shoulder - for what? to make their wait longer, fuckin stupid motherfuckers - what does it get them? oh yeah, they get to make it more dangerous for all of us, what a deal: it's not just them who has to pay for their selfish shit... "puny humans" as marvin would say, correct?
we clear the fuckin plug and joe baiza needs to piss (he ain't watt w/his jug) so I get us off right past fort lewis in dupont. I use my jug and remain at the wheel. lance bangs wanted to see me at soundcheck but it ain't gonna happen w/what happened w/us on the road so see out word to him saying I'm sorry. back on I-5 south, we plow into some major rain but this boat handles really well and I take it real careful... the pummeling is in patches so it ain't just total downpour carpet bomb and gives us some relief.
cross the columbia just before seven - bye bye washington state and hi once again to oregon... arrive at the gig pad fifteen minutes later, it's the fixin to and these parts are new for me: the saint john part of north portland. flashers on the boat as the rest of unload it - I gotta make for the head quick (so cal trumpet man dan clucas directs me to where I should bring the soil - grateful for the help and so glad to see him) and blow out like a third of my body weight maybe (these days I'm in my low 160s) in one big time move. I meet creative music guild boss mike gamble who's putting on this improvisation summit of portland 2024 and we're day thirteen of fifteen - he helps me dock the boat about a block away and is most happening... he says we shared the stage together once at a mssv portland gig, much respect! just before getting here, chris did what he did last night for chow and ordered something on the way that was close to the gig pad but chow from india instead of vietnam, I get what I always get from these pads: saag panear and garlic nan - love the way they all go together to make a symphony in my mouf! I am very happy, thank you chris so much... it's really good.
now ilyas ahmed was supposed be the opening act tonight but can't make it so maxx katz takes his place and I am blown away by her performance: solo lady on electric guitar, flute and voice along w/effects for this one-piece-set that kicks up much dust in watt's head, crimony! I am really inspired for our turn, really inspired! whoa.
our turn just after nine - really happening I get to set up again close on chris, like last night (again, no piano in the way) though here in portland the gig-goers ain't sitting down like last night and there's no "moat" of space between us and them, they're right up to the stage's "lip" or whatever - much respect to them. I really dig what happens tonight, joe baiza and chris really bring it out of me tonight, bof are really learning me how to be "more fluid" w/my expression and they bring many ideas to inspire likewise in myself. there's points where I stroll (lay out, not play) and just watch bof of them like I was one of the portland gig-goers also, crimony! I am most grateful to everyone in this pad for tonight, most grateful!
I pack up my stuff and many most kind cats give me the good word and take photos w/me, have me sign things - I wish people would understand I use my own writing instrument and don't open-shake hands cuz I don't wanna get them sick, it's not a sign of disrespect but I know it works cuz since I've been doing it (2019 fall missingmen tour), I have NOT been ill from gig-goer/whoever infect I absolutely have not. the shit works, just like cutting down sugar w/my way less joint pain, it's about results and not "philosophy" things - hard fact results/evidence, I shit thee not! a drummerman from athens, ga is most kind to me - saw him before the gig and told him I wanted to good for him... more inspiration for tonight. I meet a couple of people from near pedro (up on the hill, pv) - another expat from so cal, I meet the bassman from a band he had w/michael whitmore (remember him from backstage last night?) called kubis tier and tells me as a teenager he was in a band that played nothing but blue oyster cult at parties... plus he only knew that band up to their fifth album so I guess he's kind a hindered spirit cuz I only really knew that much of them also BUT I really knew about those records... I test him w/some lyric and riff quotes and damn right, he certainly is. respect. later joe baiza tells me kubist tier had a huge effect on him and saccharine trust.
I push my stuff to the boat (it was a block away) and then bring it around but pull it over cuz I see two hombre coches w/their lights flashing xmas-style near the gig pad's load hatch... let's wait for that to clear, huh? maxx katz comes up to me w/the boat's window rolled down and we have a real good spiel about stuff... from music to health to... I defeat some memory loss by recalling harold bloom calling walt whitman "an evasive onanist" - took a while but for some reason I wanted to "retrieve" that. crimony. I invite on to my show for january... she's into it, alright! most kind, can't wait to let her "wax poetic" (her words).
w/the boat packed, we pull anchor and head for most kind eric and tamara and their always-evolving righteous pad, konked here so many times - love it. eric and bill at their sightworks company host my show - twentythree years five months now, MUCH respect to them. I am really tuckered from that stau "driving" ("crawling") and so glad it's right before I konk - oh yeah, the captain here has passed but there's a new wanko name "toker" I get to meet, most happening! he gives the ok so soon I'm konked, most grateful.
monday, october 28, 2024 - salem, or
from chris:
from watt:
pop at seven and a half... butter in the coff - first time I ever did this on tour, do it in my pedro time not as much as I used to but see the hunk of "kerrygold" (butter grass-fed cow) and whoa, my mine is cooked up... I start thinking this real trippy dream I just pop fro - ig was in it... I was describing something to him very intense, something that had me kind upset cuz I could not understand why things had to be fucked-up about what I was trying to get together, why there was this whatever opposed and determined to bust up what I was trying to get so together, me trying to figure a reason that was good enough for them - the "they" that was so cocksure my shit was lame and not worth a pot to piss in, something faulty and weak and it made me sad, really bummed but then ig - in the dream - told me not to worry cuz what was at the bottom of what was happening was ok, he look straight at me and said, "it' about love, mike and that's good enough." damn if I didn't feel relieved, like a buttload of forever-heavy got yanked off me. crimony. I was so relieved. I do another cup of coff w/that butter in it and then chimp diary.
I didn't hose off last night cuz I knew wash was coming so do that while miss hiyori gets that happening at a laundromat eric tells her about - him and tamara bail for chow and when they return we all have a good spiel about stuff - I've been konk w/eric either at his pad or the company place for 'pert-near twnetyfive years, much respect to him! also of course for the host of my watt from pedro, so very kind of him and bill. so glad I got to meet new shipmate "toker" - he makes real good friends w/joe baiza... kind of bummed we gotta bail on him but salem awaits... our last monday night gig of the tour there!
there's big puffy clouds above but no rain, yes, safer on the road. before getting out of portland, we get over to "ritual" drum shop so chris can get a kick drum head. hodge know the boss jose and I've chowed w/him before, real nice cat. so glad so many cats connected in this world that can seem too big and unconnected at other times, huh?
mission competed, south on the I-5 after I fucked up an on-ramp try, second try works though. only like an hour, only spiel in the boat w/out help from the tunes from the usb stick... my first gig ever in salem... arrive at the gig pad blast off (appears apparently to be primary a used clothes store - am digging that!) just before four and the pad boss peter comes up to my window as I get righteous parking right out front, yatta!
there's a chow pad/bar next door and miss hiyori gets us bof salads w/chicken in it for dinner. there's sacks and sacks of "treats" at the venue but that stuff now days kind of hurts my gut, just getting used to not shoveling it much any more. real kind of the folks here, truly. done w/chowing in the boat, I have a good spiel w/xerex (finally I learn to pronounce his name the way he likes, idiot fucking slow learner watt) and then later austin (other human dinosaur member), bof of them in the side room w/me about all kinds of "human folly things" like the development of two wheel non-motorized vehicles but main human folly in different expressions. xerex is two months younger than me so pretty much from the same page, era-wise.
we listen to obadiah and his band _desperate strangers_ start the gig at seven and a half. very nice sounds - he tells me it's his first gig, him and his wife own a book store here and one in corvalis. I love book stores... richie west runs one in l.a. and I'm planning to record a improvised album w/him and peetzo in january... human dinosaur is on next - we played w/them last monday in eugene, one of the member austin set this gig up... instead of witnessing though - I'm a part, they got a mic by where I'm watching them and have me do this spiel I gave them last time about the word "saur" meaning "lizard" is fucked up cuz the evidence now shows they were actually more related to birds and not lizards. I got "improvise" on the spo (you can watch/hear the whole set here) - like I do w/joe baiza and chris, crimony! I end w/something per taught me when I first went to aukland in zealand to help him, perk and peter in 1996...
our turn just after nine and I'm digging the "basement feel" especially w/the drums but also the guitar - there's something about a gig down below, you know? the salem gig-goers have that "moat thing" going between us and them but that's cuz I think of the unused monitors setting up some kind of "perimeter" type of trip - even the spiel chris does at the end of our gigs w/gig-goers, he'd rather do w/out a mic - but maybe it's better perspective to get "the whole enchilada" effect of what we're bringing. I definitely think between us three we got a dialogue going between us three... oh yeah, being on a deck w/out a stage that and w/bulkheads and an overheard made of the same thing gigs this a certain thing making this gig singular for this tour - it's not just watt's firss salem gig!
a most kind man I didn't get the name of schleps my speakerbox up the stairs. I thank as many people as I can for being so kind to us. randolf carter's here from eugene, yes! well, he told me he was gonna try but you know how things can go... so glad to see him again, so glad he got two doses of this trio! prolly every gig is different? oh, I just remembered correctly that blue oyster cult chorus - like a fucking idiot, I've been quoted it to people wrong this tour... it goes:
history shows again and again
how nature points out the folly of men
tonight's konk pad is obadiah and kat's pad not too far and very comfortable beautiful - they are most cool people, truly but crimony... speaking of folly, I 'pert-near fuck up the tour w/raising my voice in the most stupid way... my fault, I was wrong and admit it, not needing nature to point that out... I'm glad joe baiza did - not in the moment but now reflecting back on it. it shuts my fuckin self up. I have the most restless konk of the tour, really upset w/myself w/buttloads of kvetch. crimony.
tuesday, october 29, 2024 - sacramento, ca
from chris:
from watt:
pop at six and a half... mostly silent ealry morning for watt, obadiah gives me one of the sandwich halves kati at the gig last night had in the dressing room to go w/the coff kat already brought me - very kind people and dig their pad much, these book-selling folks are most kind!
pull anchor at eight on the dot... buttloads of fog but no rain, yatta!
twenty minutes later I get suckered into taking us miles to fuel the boat at a "union 76" at $3.40/gallon but I do not like rolling w/less than quarter a tank and that's what we're at. we got 536 miles to hoe today, the longest hellride of the tour... I have chris check on sisikyou pass... he says the forecast is for our time of crossing is "sunny" and that makes me feel good... especially since most of this ride, at least to eugene is way foggy. I keep safe distance from other motherfuckers on the freeway, if the same don't happen behind me, I get the fuck out of the pendejo's way. it's stupid beyond belief to tailgate even in good weather, correct? I wonder if I would consider another opinion about that. bof the usb stick w/all the pieces in random order and chris w/most interesting spiel helps make the 'pert-near eighteen "hollywoods" (pedro to hollywood is thirty miles, old tour slang for minutemen - we saw most all our first punk gigs in hollywood in the late 70s) go by good/easier and the lack of rain and icy roads help also - last night was my lamest konk of the tour part cuz of anxiety about this ride and part cuz of regrets for one of the last events of last night I was involved in... I was so relieved when I saw joe baiza this morning but still for me took some inside healing and getting it the fuck together.
it's noon and I wanna get oregon-priced gas at our last chance here in ashland, the same "arco" I've used buttloads of times, $3.40/gallon. we fuel up quick (you can pump your own now in oregon) but there's some head-drama w/someone who's barricaded themself but it turns out to be a workplace-drama w/an employee! it's resolved though... actually I'm spared the whole thing cuz of having a piss-bottle in my hatch's side-pouch, no prob. yes, also no prob w/getting over sisikyou pass (4410 feet, highest point on I-5) cuz of bitchin weather, praise be, truly and I let out a sigh bigger than our fuckin boat. she handles real good w/these curves and grades, much respect. we can see some of mount shasta too - usually the clouds are too much for such a vista. very nice conditons to drive in: no big winds and actually not a lot of traff, I'm digging it. water-line pretty low as we cross turntable bay... you know us in cali need the water, correct? we pass through weed - my pop worked here one summer as a teenager and I won't get into here but he told me that was one reason he got into the navy so young... from redding we pass into the sacramento valley - georgie's old girlfriend mary end up here - real good people... you can hear her w/spotski on our "toe jam" - good times, crimony... we made that record for $50, I shit thee not.
just before three I get off us off at red bluff - not cuz we need fuel (only a third down but we get it full at $4.30/gallon to avoid bay area prices for the next two days) but cuz my pop grew up here. I always try to do this on my tours, came here twice as a boy to visit my grandparents and my sister melinda was born here, named after the nurse who helped my ma give birth cuz the doctor was a thug and brutal w/her (what my ma told me). there's a big oak tree in front of the "arco" and I think of my pop. miss hiyori brings me a frio "topo chico" and that is most happening cuz I was parched and that is the number one beverage in my book these days. never w/flavor though - I hate anything sparkling w/flavor unless it's a real piece of lime or lemon. I'm speaking just for me, no one else.
back on I-5 south, the closer to our destination, the more the traff (one of the lame things about trying to get in at four or five pm) but that's today's sitch and in the big picture, we had some righteous luck w/today's voyage, I'm thinking. twenty after five in downtown sac-town and I honk the horn at someone trying to hoist our spot in front of the gig pad and damn if it ain't the gig boss brian! I've been doing gigs w/him thirtyfive years now, crimony.
I can drop anchor and it's the torch club that he's got me at tonight, new for me. the pad boss mark is cool people, respect. it was near a horse track so bettors were here and then they did blues - buttloads of photos are backstage, a neat one of john lee hooker's son here:
I get to have a real good spiel w/joe baiza about stuff, feel real glad to have this chance to do that. some stuff is heavy but him letting me rap w/him really helps me emotionally, really does. thank you so much joe baiza... kind of like w/chris helping me while at the wheel - all these cats help me so much, I can't tell you. for me it's always been about people w/working w/music, always has and I think always will. crimony. chris goes to a pad called "buddha bowls and rolls" and gets us chow - I have a banh mi sandwich that is fuckin happening, wow! love it. gig boss brian brought a box of topo chico too, even more righteous!
opening act _grovv_ is a trio led by drummerman jon bafus that gets things lit starting at eight, he blasts w/his guys straight through, one piece, I'm inspired... thank you much brother jon!
our turn right at nine, chris using the house drum kit and the sac-town gig-goers being most kind to us. even w/all that time in the wheel house, bof the good chow and the good respect from the house buoys me up to kick it up w/joe baiza and chris... we take it down too - our gigs aren't "one piece" deals but more like five or seven maybe? I feel they each got their own trajectory: beginning/middle/end, their own "life" as it were (I learned that in england!) and it all goes together to make the set. I really enjoyed this - played especially for old friend and gig boss brian and all the happening times we've had.
I get lots of good word from the gig goers, gig boss brian loading my speakerbox into the boat, he does great. at the drivers hatch, cats come up to my window to bring more kindness - kevin rudd from the cleve animation is here, yes! I forgot to say that while bundling up my stuff on stage (love how folks let me do that now and then rap to me), longtime gig-goer also named mike tells me he's got sixteen years sin alcohol, yatta! it's important for me to remember stuff like that.
I wheel us not too far away to concepcion's pad, she's one of the original pedro punks and hasn't seen joe baiza in like thirty years! crimony, glad I could be a part of making that happen. I am beat from the day's events so konk soon as the air mattress is filled and hose off in her newly-built shower where an old time tub used to be... good to hear she's got that old tub in a room in the back functioning but this is great for what I need now. I hear her and joe baiza catching up along w/some other folks including her sister cuz I'm in the room over and there's no hatch but it don't keep me awake cuz I'm conditioned by many many tours... the pad's full of good feel and that actually makes it easier to konk! I'm out quick...
wednesday, october 30, 2024 - oakland, ca
from chris:
from watt:
pop at eight... concepcion has gone to get stuff so miss hiyori makes up the coff and it's good... I don't think she got instructions either, happening. concepcion returns w/stuff for making desayuno and it's real good potato (purple ones also) chunks w/eggs scrambled up and big bowl of fruit everyone can spoon out of. joe baiza's still konked cuz she said him, her friends and sister stayed up 'til three catching up - she hadn't seen joe baiza in thirty years, so a lot of catch-up involved, correct? even though I was in the next room, my konk was so sudden I missed every bit of it but then I know bof for so long already and damn if I didn't need the konk pad. these days w/out "the brown going down" soon as I'm safe at the konk pad usually ends up little spiel from me anyway, mostly I hose off and then konk... sometimes this tour I don't even hose off! 'pert-near the first thing I do when I get in the hatch is to look for enough deck-space for the air mattress (length and width mostly like a queen-size bed) and then an electrical outlet to get its pump able to inflate it. obvious what's next, I don't really spiel cuz I'm really trying to take care of my health... seems to be working! different parts life I'm learning require different strategies I'm learning... so be it. watt's here to learn. I get an email from richard hell, whoa - one happy watt! love hearing from richard, love it. that man has inspired me second to maybe only d boon and raymond, I shit thee not, love him.
I have some catching up to do w/concepcion and do that after chow. she hasn't seen me since sin alcohol and wants to know why I look like I do... first she was worried cuz of the weight loss but then she said the color of my skin said different, said it said "healthy" all over it. I told her it did, told her also scissoring way down on the sugar has helped me buttloads and not w/just weight but w/inflammation w/the joints, especially in my hands. old friends have been asking me about this cuz I guess they notice good changes in my... I fucking FEEL them, especially in the hands when working bass, especially on tour. crimony. what's neat for me to see here w/her pad really being made the way she wants it, much respect, lots of good work done, she's very productive. daughter carmella w/her cello and branching out to ukulele, wnoa. I see the music stand and the music and tell her how music's been such a "lifeline" in my word, from being w/d boon to this very moment where I'm konking in her pad cuz of gig I just worked in her town! she's already got things like that happening - not tours yet maybe but like her ma says, "getting to make a life out of what you love?" crimony!
it's very relaxed time here at her pad which is so happening after that long haul yesterday. today's only eightythree miles to oak-town in the east bay so we wait for three bells to shove off. the traff ain't that bad but there are some pendejos who fucking do the stupidest selfish shit to make things dangerous, crimony! it's some real horse shit but we survive. happened last night on the way to concepcion's too, bof a car and a bicycle ran a stop sign in front of us. horn was blasted then, horn was blast now - my only defense 'cept for the swerve to avoid last gasp. crimony. anyway, the weather's nice and calm - california like! we pass vacaville... drummerman jim gordon had a place here 'til recently, correct? it's always really tripped me out, the "gulf" that sometimes can between art and the person making it. I ain't saying it's always that way but sometime if fucking totally is. bof ways too. fuckin trips me out and I can't fathom it, just can not.
we get to downtown oak-town at four and a half and - I shit thee not - I park us on (not next to but ON) a traffic island in front of thee stork club which is tonight's gig pad. my first time here - the pad, not oak-town. no load-in 'til six so chris goes and gets himself, miss hiyori and me some ethiopian chow (didn't find out the name) nearby that's got stuff I've never had but dig it much: this kind of thin bread-foam covering pureed lentis and squash plus a salad and a jalapeno stuffed w/some kind of stuff that's real good. some kind of kale/spinach diced-up leaves, all covered w/the thin bread-foam. trippy but it feels healthy and tastes happening. first time for me, alright.
chris is gonna use the house drums (like last night in sac-town) so load-in is easy when it does happen. I stay in the boat and chimp diary... I get an email from victoria shen saying she just finished her japan tour so I invite her to be part of the gig.
I ain't gonna say anything about the person at the hatch. I get to meet the soundlady marta and she's rapping w/chris, we ask her to be our fifth person tonight - never have asked that before, usually it's fourth person. she's into it and seems very nice. victoria asked to use a direct box cuz of having no amp. I'm pretty excited to see what develops - first quartet version of the _corsano baiza watt trio_ is gonna be in oak-town!
before us at eight and a half are gumby's junk - yeah, prolly refering to that gumby... actually raymond had a "gumby phase" w/his art I love so much and we bof have spieled about him buttloads of times. once I saw art clokey at the vista theatre up in east hollywood do a q and a along w/a showing of some of his work... I love his 50s stuff and saw the 60s stuff as it was happening when I was a kid. there was a horrible moment when some pedndejo asked him some real fucked thing just to try and embarrass him and I felt so bad for mr clokey, so bad... I wanted to 'pert-near knock the fuck out this douche, sitting right in front of me and giggle at his own stupid shit. crimony. like marvin says, "puny humans" - huh? anyway, I give respect to all three big time playas when they finish, much respect. whoa. big thanks to them for getting watt lit, big thanks.
soundlady marta helps me w/getting a chair and setting up, our turn next. we think joe baiza donated the clip-on light he uses on a mic stand at gigs last night sac-town, damn. soundlady marta comes through though w/one for him to use tonight, yatta! victoria arrives and has this whole setup I've never seen before even though I've had her aboard many times... we're a quartet for the only time this tour... I had suggested just a tune or two cuz she wrote me after the invite:
"I have to lecture pretty early in the morning so I might have to bounce before the last song but I can at least do the first! On my way!"
but damn if she don't the whole enchilada! really interesting, the improv sitchs she provokes amongst us, I dig it much. also the oak-town gig-goers, they are big time most happening, much encouragement - one cat before we hit shows me his shirt - it's got "rock action" shirt from scotty, crimony. I'm really fired up now. we bring it... really happening gig, love it - thank you joe bazia, thank you chris, thank you victoria, thank you soundlady marta and thank you oak-town gig-goers so much! la-ni's here (second time this tour, first was in pacifica) to see again, she christened the gig w/a "happy halloween" even though it's a night early... actually right after she did that, a gig-goers up front hollers he digs reading the tour diary... crimony! I'm remembering that now cuz later in the boat la-ni will tell me the same thing!
a few bassbrothers rap w/me about bass as I pack up my stuff - I let one play my wattplower since he has a mark I and has never tried a mark II, let alone these new ones w/the maple fretboards. another one helps me w/getting the speakerbox off stage and enlightens me to this band nine dog dick who he says is most happening... he's a friend of grux who I know since he was a teenager (interviewed the minutemen even!) but he's in hide-from-watt mode I guess so I never see him... anyway, I wanna find out more about this band... there's a cat who's a dj at kusf named pepe that's from chile who actually gets my speakerbox into the boat and at the same time invites me for a spiel on his show... can't wait to do it, just need some time! I rap w/another long-time bassman when I get in the boat and am the tiller... he says he has trouble finding people to play w/that really listen - man, I can feel for him and I big time realize how lucky I am to find righteous cats to make music w/and that goes back to d boon's ma putting me on bass to doing my latest tour here w/chris... crimony am I lucky! I thank the bookerman tony for having us aboard - he booked dos at the hemlock way back... brother steve (la-ni spoke w/me very kindly of him w/me just before about his spirit for making music as a positive force in this world) did it w/us! man, I dug that gig. oh, speaking of brother steve, an old buddy of his, loren gives me something regarding him, so kind - loren's always been so kind, ever since I spent a big bus ride w/him back when I got to help the stooges. big love to brother loren.
dr ray and dr robbin's pad is like three miles away, the sprinkling rain that came during our set has now stopped... the chamber where I konk is ready and I get out the air mattress, dr robbin wants to know what kind cuz she's had terrible luck w/way fuckin lame ones... the brand is the name "truaire" but I think intex is the company... boy, has it held up for many tours now. respect. dr ray comes to rap w/me about music and stuff like mel blanc and what an incredible cat he was w/his amazing skills. his buddy lenny joins us, really happening cat w/the knowledge... wish I could spiel w/them bof but I am tuckered and there's still three more gigs for the tour... so I'm out and on the next train to sleepytown, just after midnight...
thursday, october 31, 2024 - ojai, ca
from watt:
pop at seven and a half and go piss... read that the dodgers won the world series, yatta! I believe shohei ohtani was a big reason but it took the whole team (including freddie freeman) to do it - something to learn from, I saw that in basketball all the time... raymond and me would see MUCH summer league in the old days and I loved it, loved being there w/him, 'pert-near like when we to the old beboppers do gigs or watch the ponies... loved being w/raymond - "man alone" was/not my only mode! crimony.
ten and a half is shove-off time (glad chris calculated our last four last night) and we say bye bye to doctors ray and robbin, so kind of them to us, truly - gave us some fresh kaki right off the limb even!
I hope I get to see them again in spring 2025 when I'll be helping mike bagetta w/his next mssv tour...
I get us on I-580 east and this time we do pass livermore and altamont, not like my fucked up misinformation I fouled us w/yesterday. we make the altamont pass (some history there?) just before on and a half... and like on our way from salem to sac-town, I take off my apple green coat cuz too hot for watt but obviously not for joe baiza (he's got a blankie on him) and I want him happy... I never wear anything under the green jacket, people, never. up front in the boat is different too, a strong sun can make it feel way warmer than behind these bow seats. we hit I-5 and I take us south, chris being a real good listener - not just to me but also w/the boat's music (it uses the usb stick that's got all the stuff from my ipod)... he tells me it's the first time he's heard lord buckly (we hear the nazz) - well, there's lots he's heard I ain't so that's why it's happening I think for cats to share what they know w/each other - remember it's raymond who turns me on to john coltrane, crimony! twenty after one around coalinga I get us to the cheapest gas around, an "arco" at $4.90/gallon that's got a chow pad called "chalio's #5" where miss hiyori gets me three tacos while I first fill my piss jug and then wash the windshield. man, these are happening tacos, pork chucks w/salsa verde, cilantro and onions - real good in the mouf! happening cuz I chowed nada at doctors ray and robbin's pad cuz of no time... diary must be chimped - a person's got have their priorities!
up the grapevine, we pass a car on fire at the side of the road, start of the grade... of course it helps that people help w/their ojos - "puny humans" again I'm thinking. crimony. the weather is most mild so the only real danger for us is the pendejos who drive just like that: like pendejos, selfish fuckers. we survive so I can chimp about it later in this diary. I feel real bad for the cat standing there w/the hombre, watching his coche blaze while a bombero tries his best to put it out. crimony. at santa clarita I get us off of I-5 and west towards ojai, first though we stop at "frank's hardware" in downtown santa paula to get a light to replace the one joe baiza apparently donated in sac-town. the mission is a success and soon we're about fifteen miles of one-lane-each-curvy road... only have to pull into a turnout once cuz of tailgating pendejo so pretty good, I feel fortunate. we get into ojai at five and half, before going the venue we stop at a thai chow pad to get stuff to go... chris gets me the same thing I had in arcata, long long ago when the tour first started...
from there I get us to the gig pad, a little less than a mile further, in a little industrial-kind-of park, it's called method machine lab (the sign over the hatch though says "kim maxwell studio") and I drop anchor there a quarter of six, whoa... seven hours but we arrive alive and that means victory in my book. everyone but me goes inside to chow but me - I wanna chow in the boat where I dig being, the center of my touring universe!
no soundcheck, no p.a., no opening act so I wait for after ten after eight to go set up, don the tiger head and ten minutes later, chris in a "goofy" (the cartoon dog character) neck-up get-up gives us the go w/joe baiza in an orange wig - this is the halloween gig of the tour! trippy in the tiger head w/the sound but not lame, actually interesting sense of "perspective" or whatever I don't have w/out. I enjoy the gig very much. hope the ojai gig-goers did as well cuz I couldn't see them. very singular gig for me - that's what halloween's for, correct? only day of the year we don't pretend we wear costumes!
I even pack my stuff up w/the tiger head on, it's the last thing I pack (in the paper sack miss hiyori put it in - I'm gonna bring it back to pedro and keep it in my pad!)... naomi petersen's brother chris is here and helps me put my speakerbox and bajo (I can handle the amp in its purse - jim bergantino's stuff is so happening in so many ways!)... I have a talk w/him about how his sister's helping me big time w/my alcohol wrestling - the stuff that killed her in late 30s, I loved her then and I love her now - I tell chris that and am glad I could tell him right here in person, just the bof of us cuz that's how much she means to me, it's very personal.
not too far is grady's pad, very cool people and damn if it ain't even eleven yet, love it. I don't realize (like a fuckin idiot) his wife's konked and has to teach in the morning so my mouf is too loud but zip that shit up quick once he gives me the word, hose off and get my ass konked. thank you so much, brother grady from fuckin slow-learner watt!
friday, november 1, 2024 - silver lake, ca
from watt:
pop at quarter after six - prolly cuz I konked before eleven pm, huh? think so. grady's up and makes me some real happening coff, respect. we have some real good spiel, him telling about his band liquorball (here them here) had versions w/brother steve on sax and he tells me how honored he was to have him aboard. we talk about tom smith, another brother we lost too soon... I got to even make an album w/him remotely... damn, I gotta make sure that comes out... _vaguely noble_ was the proj name... never got to meet him person though - met him through him being on my show. crimony. he sent me an email just before he died, the reality of that was big time heavy on me cuz it came out of nowhere... I never get used to losing people, never... crimony. grady's most kind and makes me scrambled eggs and sourdough toast. he's got a shop nearby in ventura I really wanna check out when I get the chance... he plays me this happening record by a riverside band called the sacred souls and I dig it much... reminds me a little of chicano batman who I really love, great band. he walks to clear his and also has important phone call so I chimp diary 'til time to shove off at one... thank you much, brother grady!
we leave ojai from opposite side from whence we came, westwarde heading towards the pacific ocean 'til w/hit us-101 (in older days, el camino real and take it to los angeles...
two and a half I pull us off to fuel up, $4.10/gallon at a "union 76" at the same offramp I would take here in the val (coming the other way though, not from the west) to go to perk's pad when he lived around here... thirtyeight mile hellride to/from pedro but it was worth it, love that man. no head here and one of us need (wheel man no need, he has piss-bottle in hatch's side pocket) so I find a "gleason's" that joe baiza says might work? I don't know cuz I don't know of those pads but I sure think it's fucked people don't let people piss if they gotta - a real prob in so cal... new york city too I remember when I used to visit (kim and thurst would let me stay at their pad to explore their town for five days - week)... fucked up sitch cuz walking around w/a piss-bottle is kind of awkward. back on the freeway, the traffic starts to plug up soon enough, crimony. anyway, a good reason for allowing w/a buffer of time to cushion just in case helps keep the stress down I've found... we work our way through the stau onto ca-134, on to ca-2 and on to surface streets to get cross the l.a. river in the frogtown part of silver lake to zebulon which is tonight's gig pad, twenty minutes ahead of the load-in time. yatta. manager man burgers guides me into one of the best sitchs a gig-pad can provide for your boat: fenced in and w/the culo on their hatch, respect. joe baiza's friend/neighbor warde's here and I get to talk to him some, my first real time. I'm so glad he's here to help joe baiza cuz w/the eyes going bad, warde can help w/rides - he said in the old days when they bof worked at an art place where they shipped paintings and stuff, joe baiza would give him rides so now he's returning the favor, I think that's beautiful, I really do. what a good man... I wish I could help joe baiza more but pedro ain't close to where he lives two blocks (I thought it was three but he learned me correct) east of little tokyo in downtown l.a. thank you so much, brother warde.
pad boss joce gets me a topo chico, much respect. he's always so kind w/me and it's really good to see him again. we do the soundcheck w/soundlady lisa real quick and then I go to the boat and chow carne asada tacos that are made here in their kitchen. real good. I then chimp diary while listening to the cats on youtube.com I usually do that rap on their wrestling w/alcohol, haven't done this since tour started but I do tonight while chimping diary... I do however have a peek at the bbc news page... and... crimony! oh no, the reason I use "chimp" as a verb to mean "write diary" has been put in jeopardy by this australian reseacher who says the "infinite monkey theorem" is bunk! crimony. what to do? well, how much stuff that's part of me windbagging is accurate anyway? I try to be accurate or at least not so much in "sugar bowl" or "tea pot" mode... I do use "bad" in a slang way at times... arrrrghhhh, maybe a drama point, maybe not. show to go you w/thinking you're always standing on terre firma, huh? maybe this is healthy in a way, who knows? I will for further developments before any more freaking out, gotta focus on the final parts of this tour cuz I do believe a tour ain't over 'til it's actually over.
derek monypeny will open up tonight in man-alone mode and his trippy electric droning string instrument he got from india - I think it's called a bulbul tarang and he kicks off the gig at eight. I've gotten to a few duets w/him, one live at a library in torrance which is a mindblow cuz derek's a librarian himself, crimony! he also got this _corsano baiza watt trio_ going, I shit thee not - he got it lit! only appropriate his w/us on this gig, correct? I think so! on behalf of the band I thank you so much, brother derek!
our turn is at nine. we're all set up, derek made use of a space on the stage (it's really wide at this pad, lots of space) where none of us had to move our stuff. petra was gonna be w/us - joe baiza asked for her when we found out dan clucas was still up north and couldn't make it - I had asked for him, have never played w/him and hope some day I will - so I kind of do the gig like she was right there by me... last time at this pad (last year w/mssv she in fact was for our encore! of course I'm real close on chris (he's using the house kit mostly) and giving lots of ojos to joe baiza, also using my orejas on him much as possible... it's a weird blend of imagination and reality, huh?
I'm also trying to acknowledging the silver lake gig-goers cuz I've noticed photos of me not doing that enough I feel, damn me for that: not showing the gig-goers enough watt face. crimony. derek monypenny joins us for the last piece, he does good to kick things up for the once more, respect!
brother steve reed comes up on stage to tell me "now I understand" - we got a duet proj we're cooking up w/early pracs called _steel sense_ and he tells me he's been working hard on his end on it, he's the drummerman, me on bass and we bof are gonna sing EVERY word together. fuck yeah. I love this man. a cat I know via nels, bassist steuart hops up on stage while I'm packing up stuff... great to see him again - I heard he's been playing w/most happening reed man vinny golia and can't wait to hear what they got going, it's w/some drummer I'm not familiar w/but I ask him to please let me hear soon as he can make that happen... he says he's really curious about my bergantino stuff cuz he's been experiencing a bunch now and I tell him it's the best stuff I've used since the david nordschow days but also more practical now w/my fucked-up port-side knee stuff and also several innovations mr jim has come up w/and really has happening. someone like steuart asking me about that carries a lot of fucking in my book let me tell you, respect. damn me for forgetting richie west came up on stage and I directed him to chris cuz damn if they ain't bof so creative drums stuff - early next year I plan to do an improvised album w/him and peetzo at _casa hanzo_ called _great stories of all nations_ I'm really look forward to... last month was our first time playing together since we recorded "heartbeat" from my wrestling album back in 1996. crimony!
pad boss joce helps me w/the schlep of my speakerbox into the boat (first lets me use it as a walker on our way there) and does real good, merci frere to him from me! I gotta play more often here for him, gotta! joe baiza will go to his pad via our old buddy marty while chris and miss hiyori will go w/me to pedro to konk at my pad... first I gotta say thanks to brother warde for all the help he gives joe baiza - love him for that, truly, brother warde! he's been helping joe baiza tonight but he tells me in the middle of our gig another buddy had an "episode" that's demanded immediate helps from him - that's what we're hear for, I think = to help each other when we're down, correct? big respect to brother warde!
very light traff prolly cuz of the dodgers parade stuff earlier today... am glad for that. we're at my pad a minute before eleven, yatta! there's beeping in my pad and like a baka I think it's the smoke alarms - nope, it's the methane alarm that just got installed. chris reattaches the stuff I fucked up, most grateful watt, konk comes soon to familiar deck after hosing off.
saturday, november 2, 2024 - yucca valley, ca
from watt:
pop at quarter of six - hey, I'm back in my pedro pad! I get the coff going, put some cacao nibs (one part out of five) and grass-fed cow butter in the cup... my usual cooking is saute-style so I start w/olive oil getting hot in the pad, add this "foundation" I 'pert-near always use: (of course olive oil 'paternna' first), fresh onions, ginger, garlic, celery, and either zuchhini or mexican sausage diced up. while that's getting brown, I added this morning from the frezzer ground turkey, green beans and brussels sprouts. oh, of course black pepper was also involved but I scissored the onions this morning cuz chris says they do not agree w/him.
the ballot in the mail (my sister melinda was beautiful to get my mail when I was gone) says I can vote today so, that's what I do when they open - my polling place was the italian-american club... same pad I had my pop be my best-man 'pert-near thirtyseven years ago! crimony if life ain't a trip. I had never seen my pop nervous and he was when I handed him that ring. that marriage w/k lasted as long as the minutemen did ('pert-near six years) but please don't fret cuz actually me and her are way tighter than back then, I shit thee not!
I get yesterday's diary up and we pull anchor at one to go get joe baiza at his pad... we grab him and then get on ca-60 east towards riverside, of course some stau but that's the way it is the inland empire - fuck, that's the way it is in all of so cal, like five hundred miles of fuckin plug usually. crimony. quarter after three joe baiza needs piss stop so I get off immediately - look like an "insta-burb" is being built... the gas station ain't done but the strip-mall-village habitrail is and I drop anchor while joe baiza and chris search for somewhere to foul and soil. time means nothing to me on the last gig of a tour - nothing means nothing (also title of a great alley cats tune). onward, I get us north on ca-62 after merging for a bit onto I-10... four and half we get into yucca valley and twenty minutes later we're at this house derek (same cat who opened up for us last night, he lives out this way) has made available to us, looks like it was just built, a simple trip w/no curtains in the windows (grady's pad in ojai had no curtains - I can dig it!)... derek has us come get the keys cuz he says it's "hard to find in the dark" ??? ok... whatev, it's very kind of him to provide instead of the 140 miles it is back to pedro, thank you much brother derek!
a quarter after five we get to the gig pad, it's called the giant rock meeting room - damn if neil cloaca young is here to meet us - he's part of the opening act tonight, muscle beach. I saw mr cloaca w/his bromp treb in our pedro town (yes, a couple years ago he moved here from west mass) at a pad called collage and right away asked him if we could make a proj called _the twofer whofer_ and damn if he ain't into, yatta! so glad to be sharing the stage w/him and checking out what's going w/this group... one of the members, jane, she tells me she lived in italy ten years. crimony. she helps me get a pizza - I don't usually chow pizza on tour any more (not u.s. pizza... I got no prob w/pizza over in italy - love that stuff!) but I will tonight cuz "nothing can go wrong on the last gig of a tour" my personal philosophy, I ain't trying to speak for anyone else. she also talks to me about stuff that weighs on me w/struggles w/old and dear connects and new ways of living healthy I'm trying to do in the now. oh, the pad boss linus is cool people, glad to him having us here - he says derek (remember last night) is actually working the door. hey, harout's doing the sound - recording our first album - eleven months ago now! I chimp diary and then who comes up to say hi? victoria williams and john from the flyboys - what a very nice surprise! they heard bout the gig via drummerman joe berardi (I got to be on a emma goldman bust-out brigade album recorded at _casa hanzo_ w/bassman devin hoff in 2015)... people ask me about what the "old days" were about and I always tell them that they were about people - I think the "now days" are about people too - I believe it's always gonna be about people! kim white and bob lawton come to visit me and I spiel big time w/them about all kinds of stuff, especially seandy (was a roommate of kim's) who I dug very very big time. it's very hard on me, losing people... always is. so glad kim and bob are here w/me tonight.
muscle beach starts off the gig at eight and they are a trip, am into them lots! jane is great dancer and front woman but so are bof guitarists and neil the stickman w/the beat in his hands, chokes up big time on those sticks, crimony! I wanna work w/him even more now, yes! what a way to get the gig lit, love it!
our turn and this pad is in development so not close enough ac power for my little pedalboard but remember what I said about nothing being able to wrong on the last of gig of the tour? I ain't gonna use it, it'll be just mr jim's amp tonight. chris is on my pdp kit that perk got for me, joe baiza's on his stuff though he's having trouble finding his glasses again - happens to me too - but he soldiers on whatev and we bring it one last time. I enjoy the gig much, trippy how each time this tour the gig's a world of its own... I think it's the gig-goers that help w/that but also the adventurousness of joe baiza and chris, bof factors help watt bof in wrestling insecurities and in creating trippy levels of "dialogue" in a unexpected ways, I'm way into it. funny thing is we're a quartet for a little bit at the end when the derek asks to make announcement - it's a little voice coming from behind me and to my port - at first I thought I was imagining it! I actually turned off the amp, thought we were done but realize there one more go and join in for our last piece of the tour... we did it, the tour's done!
I get my stuff the boat myself after putting the culo on the hatch, no prob... the pad boss linus asks and gets a good report from me about playing here - he informs me mssv will be here in the spring 2025, yatta! also yatta that joe baiza finds his glasses! we go to that pad we were at earlier that derek's provided w/us to konk at... one final spiel - it's about the screamers a hollywood band from the old days me and joe baiza really dug... great way to end the tour!
another great thing is even though the tour's over, we get to play tomorrow in my pedro town at _casa hanzo_ cuz we're gonna make an album as a quartet w/a cat I've been always interested in, dan clucas on coronet, yes! not only is my secondmen organman peetzo's gonna record us (he built the studio w/help from svetko and boro) he's also agreed to "give it a shot" on a four-way too for the session's final piece. fuck yeah!
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