mike watt + the secondmen benefit Friday 10/17

watt hit me off with his flow today, including the sweet picture you see of "sunrise in pedro - october 15, 2008" and a mention of a few gigs coming up. tomorrow, friday 10/15, watt + the secondmen (the ORIGINAL secondmen, pete mazich and jerry trebotic) in a benefit for the san pedro skate park. the show is at the old news pilot building, 356 w. seventh in pedro, $5, all ages.

what could be cooler than watt being asked to pitch in to help the kids of pedro to have a place to do their thing? i told watt to think of all the bones that will break there in the future as he plays tomorrow night.

http://www.sanpedroskateparkassociation.org
http://twfps.com

Springsteen at the Super Bowl, Old Dylan Streams A New Bootleg

This week it was announced that Bruce Springsteen, once hailed as "the new Dylan" would be performing during halftime of the Super Bowl. This has become a classic rock slot since Janet Jackson's wardrobe failure, with Prince, U2, the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney jumping in over the past few years.

Prince was typically great, but with Bruce, there may be a need to chime in on the set list. He is one of the greatest live performers in the history of rock, but frequently does massive shows based on his mellower, more serious, less-than-great music from his past few albums. As I have said many times, The Rising was great for its intention, not its execution. At least we can be happy that he put the band back together, and that Magic includes some retro vibes and decent songs.

In order to avoid the horrible results of his appearance at the Harley-Davidson Anniversary, I recommend the following hit-laden set for my Boss. If you really want to split hairs on this topic, hit Ben Lazar's page.

1. Born to Run
2. Radio Nowhere
3. Prove it All Night
4. Dancing in the Dark
5. The Rising

If you want a slow one, how about "I'm on Fire" because it's short (and they can dub in Dominic Barbara too).

Let's assume Obama has just taken office and there is a hopeful vibe in the country at the end of January.

And in case you were wondering why "old Dylan" was mentioned in the title, it was because NPR Music is streaming the new album "The Bootleg Series Volume 8: Tell Tale Signs." How much do we love the Bootleg Series? It's now about 20 years old and has been a big part of Dylan's resurgence. The loosely-based emphasis shifts from out-takes to live shows to unreleased, unfinished. A lot of bands should copy this idea...

For example, if only the Stones could manage to do something like this instead of reissuing the same stuff over and over. I would also love them to do an acoustic, Willie-type show in a stadium, but they don't have the guts. The second half of their 45 year career has been about "milking the kids" (as watt would say). They never listen to me, but the Wingless Angels did.

I'm also looking forward to Prince's collaboration with Randee St. Nicholas, the photo book called 21 Nights that documents his recent performances in London.

They Stole Watt's Bass!

...And the rest of Iggy and the Stooges' equipment on Monday morning in Montreal. Their truck was parked at the hotel, and sometime between 6:30 and 7:30am, thieves stole the vehicle, later recovered empty a few blocks away.

watt checked in to say that the subsequent show at the legendary Massey Hall in Toronto, on rented equipment was a good one, as he felt better by staying focused on the fact that it was 55 years after the "greatest jazz concert" with Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Charles Mingus where Bird himself played a plastic saxophone (see photo above).

watt wails for his 50th:




Here is the email watt sent out:

if anyone has information, ANY INFORMATION!
please, please, PLEASE as soon as possible contact
Eric Fischer at:
nycentral13@gmail.com
cell phone: +1 646 932 1907

PLEASE FORWARD AS FAR AND WIDE AND AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!!!

IGGY AND THE STOOGES
EQUIPMENT STOLEN ON AUGUST 4, 2008
OUTSIDE THE EMBASSY SUITES HOTEL
208 SAINT ANTOINE OUEST,
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA

all equipment was in a rented penske 15 foot yellow truck
with u.s. (michigan) license plate number AC46493
and the theft had to have happened in the morning,
between 6:30 and 7:30 am

there's a web page at:

http://www.hootpage.com/stoogesstolenstuff/stoogesstolenstuff.html

that will soon have pictures and updates to more stuff found missing


Item Country of Origin Serial Number

Red roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Red Gibson 1963 EB-3 bass (this is mike watt's bass!) USA No serial number

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Reverend Flying V guitar - Volcano black USA #08001

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Reverend Orange guitar USA 03416 ZSL7

Black fibre case containg: USA No serial number
Gibson red SG short scale bass USA No serial number

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Marshall Vintage/Modern Amplifier UK M-2007-07-0926-2 RoHS

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Marshall Vintage/Modern Amplifier UK M-2007-07-0927-2 RoHS

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #1 Slant: M-2007-05-0149-0

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #2 Straight: M-2006-49-0380-0

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #3 Slant: M-2007-05-0150-0

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #4 Straight: M-2006-49-0381-0

Orange Calzone road case containing:
Guitar pedal board and pedals USA/Japan No serial number
Assorted leads USA/UK No serial number
2x mic stands Germany No serial number
Assorted strings and spares USA No serial number
plus:
2x Boss TU2 Chromatic Tuner
Boss CH1 Super Chorus
Fulltone OCD Overdrive
Crybaby Wah
Peterson Strobo-Stomp Tuner Pedal
Whirlwind A/B Boxes
Whirlwind Cable Tester
and many many istrument cables
various tools ( screwdrivers, soldering iron, pliers, etc... )
tambourine and maracas

Cardboard box containing:
Assorted replacement drum heads USA No serial number

Gretsch Silver Sparkle Catalina drum kit USA No serial number
26" Kick Drum No serial number
13" Rack Tom No serial number
18" Floor Tom No serial number
4x Cymbal Stands No serial number
1x Snare Stand No serial number
1x Hi Hat Stand No serial number
1x Drum Throne No serial number

Eden D810 Bass cabinet USA D810RP4 0703E5001

Eden D810 Bass cabinet USA D810RP4 0703E5002

Cardboard box containg:
Eden VT300 Bass amplifier USA 0601E5115

Cardboard box containg:
Eden VT300 Bass amplifier USA 0507E5033

Floor Fan CHINA No serial number

Floor Fan CHINA No serial number

Green clamshell suitcase containing:
Yamaha snare drum JAPAN No serial number
Yahama kick pedal JAPAN No serial number
Zildjian Mega Bell cymbal USA No serial number
Zildjian 15" Hi-Hats USA No serial number
3x Zildjian 18" 19" 20" crash medium cymbals USA No serial number

Brown Epiphone guitar case:
Black Epiphone EB3 short scale bass KOREA F300503


PLEASE FORWARD AS FAR AND WIDE AND AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!!!


if anyone has information, ANY INFORMATION!
please, please, PLEASE as soon as possible contact
Eric Fischer at:
nycentral13@gmail.com
cell phone: +1 646 932 1907




can you believe this shit?

The Championship of Advertisements

Birth of The Rosenfelder Index

earbender is about two months old and hopefully after about 25 posts, there are some noticeable trends in my observations and interests. Namely, music, sports, culture, news, exercise/health and the media. Some recent benchmarks include Martin Luther King day, Sundance, Super Bowl Whatever, Bob Marley's birthday and more.

The Rosenfelder Index is the amount it would cost to buy one unit of everything advertised during the Super Bowl. I believe you can tell a lot about the economy and our culture by what is advertised (Remember the burst of www's around 1998? Most of those companies are gone now, even massive ones like go.com.). I named it after myself and this year's findings will be released on earbender.com on January 28.

Incidentally, during the recent LSU-Ohio State Game at the Superdome, I remembered watching the Cowboys-Broncos Super Bowl in 1979 or so when the building was pretty new, state of the art and SO huge. Who could have imagined then that it would be the site of perhaps the greatest disaster relief disaster in U.S. history?

Although I am pleased to see the Superdome back in action, I am very worried about New Orleans and what that Katrina still says about our country. My suggestion: everyone should go to JazzFest sometime in life, and why not 2008? It's an important one, there is still a lot of recovery yet to happen in New Orleans. We can all pitch in by going there and partying like a young W. (except with less coke).

Congrats to former Island artist (and close personal friend) Shelby Lynne who received a massive story in the NY Times Magazine. I'll have some further comments after I read the whole thing, but considering Shelvis was #4 most searched on Yahoo yesterday, she retains the ability to take a nerdy rock critic to the stratosphere.

Willie Nelson is about to drop a new album, coinciding with an appearance on the Super Bowl. The Bowl has been good to Willie, and with a new tour and the album getting good reviews, the run-up to his 75th birthday in April should be fun for us fans. He won't have a wardrobe malfunction but if Trigger makes a funny silhouette like Prince did last year, I'll faint. His new video "Gravedigger" was shot at the cemetery near the graves of Herman Melville and the Great Gildersleeve, and hundreds more, some with familiar names like "Ziegler," "Benson" and "Stewart." And it was a Tuesday!

Speaking of birthdays, Mike Watt sent the video below of him wailing on his 50th. Stand back, it's amazing. Like Rakim says, Watt gets stronger as he gets older!

I happened to space mentioning that earbender client Leonard Cohen made the Rock Hall of Fame. Mazel tov to say the least. Speaking of brushes with fame, vibes to WUSB founder Norm Prusslin on the passing of his friend Johnny Podres, who carried him on his shoulders in the Brooklyn Dodgers' World Series victory parade in 1955.

Also around 1955, Ian Fleming sat at his desk in Oracabessa Jamaica and wrote the incredible 007 stories. In honour of the author's 100th birthday, The UK just issued some pretty nice James Bond stamps, especially if you love vintage book cover art.

In addition to thanking everyone for visiting earbender, I was especially pleased to host our first two visitors from the Southern Hemisphere. Please come back sometime or send me a link to your site. As the man himself would say, "if watt can do it, you can do it!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WATT!

our beloved friend mike watt hit 50 today. at right, watt and i hang at NYU in Oct. '07. here's a poem he sent to his flow today:



funny
line in the sand
I
tripped over and
fell
gravity decidin' where
my
face met the surf
all wet
w/fifty



- watt