R.I.P. John Peel

Sad.

***

So, JW and I (...now with Carl O.) did make it to the Mike Watt show on Friday. Openers on the bill were The Nuclears and The Comas. It was a decent show, though due to heavy intoxication*, I may not be the best judge.

Local battle of the bands winner The Nuclears were pretty much standard neo-garage fare, with an occasional guitar solo to punch up the festivities. Lots of youthful exuberance, which raised them from a shoulder shrug (a la The Cuts) to some polite clapping. I'd have them rock a house party.

The Comas were decent, minor chord indie-pop. It, too, had its flashes, and provided some decent comedy ("She is playing the shit out of that triangle!"), but again, they weren't world beaters. Enjoyable, and the record might be worth checking, but it's not high priority.

Mike Watt: I had absolutely no expectations for him. I had not heard the new record (The Secondman's Middle Stand), and had only listened to the previous release sparingly. I was thrown for a loop to see (and had I researched the new album at all, I would have known) that it was just a bass/drums/organ setup. The music was pretty good, as the band was tight (when can't that be said about a Mike Watt musical endeavor) and packed an emotional punch. It was unfortunate that more people weren't there for the show (or "rock oratorio" as CO put it), which surprised me. It wasn't classic by any means, but it was good to see Watt still hanging in there (even if he is looking a bit frailer these days) and laying it down like only he can.


*By the end of the night, I was grabbing JW's lighter, holding it to me sac and yelling "performance art!"