Tag Archives: Jesse Davidson

Events

NAMM Show: Day 2 (Friday)

by Jesse Davidson

1/23/15

Day 2 (Friday): We all woke up a bit late from the previous day. I was the last one to get ready and was yelled at for not wearing pants yet (thanks Jeff). The first item on my agenda was to meet Henrik Linder, the bass player from Dirty Loops. He was doing a signing at the EBS booth at 1pm. At 12:50, I had already arrived and was waiting to catch the signing. An aisle over, I had heard some jazzy sounding bass playing noticed a big crowd had gathered around the Fodera bass booth to the point where they blocked the entire aisle way. I figured it was probably someone big like Victor Wooten. Well turns out it was Vic. He was doing a signing/product demo and has caused a stir with everyone in the immediate area. I wanted to watch him play and thought it was cool to see him but I encountered a weird feeling. As I searched for a place to stand to watch Victor play, I became kind of turned off by the whole thing. Part of it had to do with wanting to see him play at 4:30 later in the convention. Largely, it was due to the size of the crowd trying to see him. For the time that I was over here, some of the humanity of the situation has been lost. So many people were surrounding him and taking pictures that it was weird to watch. Victor quickly saw this happening, quickly pulled out his phone, and took a quick video of everyone. That made me laugh but then I wandered back over to the EBS booth.

By this point, Henrik had shown up. There was already a decent crowd surrounding him and more people trickled in as they walked by. This was a totally different feeling then standing at the other bass booth. Henrik signed autographs, played a little bit and then opened things up for questions. He signed more autographs and then when there was a lull in the crowd, I asked him about his practice routine. “Do you want me to show you some stuff?” He replied. Of course yes, Henrik. All damn day, yes. He expressed the importance of being a melodic player and practicing things like modes. More than that, he talked about ways of practicing locking in with a drummer to develop feel. Taking a two bar groove and running it for 30 minutes straight. It was amazing. Without hesitation, he picked up a bass and showed me some tips on practicing. It felt like a genuine human moment. I was really excited that a world-class bass player was giving me tips but at the end of the day, he was just a musician I respect who was willing to talk to me about his craft. Totally cool. Victor probably would have been the same way based what I could see. The crowd was just so massive that was really hard to connect with that.

Afterward, I called up a friend of mine working at the show. He told me to meet him in the pro audio hall and I made my way over there. Unless you know pathways less traveled by attendees, making your way anywhere in NAMM is difficult. Its good to assume on Friday and probably Saturday everything will just take longer and be more congested. Eventually I fought through the hair metal people, rappers, and the occasional business persona and made my way to pro audio. As I find our meeting point and begin to wait, humanity is being interesting and is messed with in really subtle ways if you pay attention. It’s prime people watching territory.   Waiting by a booth in NAMM for a friend is one of the best street corners you could ever stand on. More crazy dreadlocked dudes walk by. A punker kid covered patches walks by. He has a sign pinned to his backpack that reads, “I play bass and drums 🙂

” drawn in red Sharpie. A minute later some businessman is angry and mumbling to himself, cursing out someone in the world, calling him or her a fucking asshole and so forth. Not even 30 seconds later, Steven Slate, the Steve Jobs of the pro audio world, is walking by discussing something with a different businessperson that looked less angry. Slate says what’s up to a friend walking by. My friend finally arrives and we chat about the convention and where we want to go next.

As we’re leaving, we see Stevie Wonder and his entourage. He travels with a giant posse of people. Some are security, some I have no clue. “Ay yo man, that’s him” my friend exclaimed. He’s an exclaimer. Does that quite frequently. He had just finished telling me a story about running into him earlier in the day. “Man they said ‘Please no pictures’ and was like ‘Why? He’s not gonna know’” As bad as it sounds, it wasn’t the worst Stevie Wonder joke I heard all day. Regardless, it was timed just right and had me laughing. Some people call it politically incorrect; I call it spending time with dear friends of mine. I included a picture of his entourage in the article. You can’t see Stevie in it. I encountered a strange feeling as he walked by. When I looked at Stevie Wonder, I felt nothing. I literally had no feeling whatsoever. This is odd because when I have seen famous people or musicians, there is some feeling of excitement inside. Externally, I play it cool. Internally, I have a feeling of “Wow! That’s that dude from that band! That’s pretty cool.” For example, on the first day after talking to William DuVall from Alice in Chains, Devin Townsend was standing only a few feet away from me. I’m not even a Devin Townsend fan but I respect him as a musician. Even though I could only name one or two songs of his, internally, I still had an “oh shit” moment. With Stevie, nothing. This is no slight to him at all. Some of the funkiest and most well written tunes I’ve ever heard and played have been Stevie Wonder tunes. His band is an impeccable music-making machine. When I saw him walking by, none of that mattered. When he travels with a giant slew of people around him, it feels like Stevie Wonder on display. It almost doesn’t feel human anymore. A few hours later, we ran into Sinbad. He called my friend “little brotha” which was about as real as it gets. Also, moments where professional musicians would show me stuff or let me play their instruments were amazing experiences. No BS, just two musicians talking. So the day balanced out.

The same thing happened trying watch Victor Wooten and Dirty Loops play later in the day. It was so crowded; you had no chance unless you got there early. With a convention that large, it is to be expected. I reflected on this more eating a giant hotdog from “The Viking Truck” parked outside the convention center. While eating, I had the pleasure of watching George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic sound check. I got excited to see George and the band even from hundreds of feet away. A concert to me is designed for that many people. Walking around the convention, it can get a little weird. Having as many people that show up at NAMM is what makes it great and a drag simultaneously. On the plus side, there are so many people to meet, talk to, network with, and run into, its absolutely fantastic. All the products and presentations you can be apart of and try is great thing. Also, being in the drum hall and hearing everyone playing something different at once at once is an incredible sound. However, moments like having to make way for Stevie, being ridiculously packed, and seeing how many musicians and companies are there, can make you feel like you’re lost in the shuffle of things. If this is the center of the music industry and these are my peers, I have a lot of work to do. That being said, I can’t wait to return and see what Saturday has in store for me.

 

Red Robin is the best spot to turn up.

 

 

 

Shows

Show review: Dave Grohl’s Birthday Club

by Jesse Davidson

Show review: Dave Grohl’s Birthday Club

Venue: The Forum

Date: 1/10/15

Tickets: $50 (before service fees)

Setlist

 

“Ladies and Gentlemen…you’re gonna shit.”- Dave Grohl

And I did. Multiple times. This became a reoccurring theme for the week. It started when this show was announced on Tuesday for the following Saturday night. Dave Grohl’s Rock n Roll Birthday Club! Mr. Grohl had summed my experience for the whole week and I didn’t even hear about it until that night. I was on the fence about getting tickets due to budgetary constraints. At least that’s what my head told me. But thankfully my girlfriend made the right decision and bought tickets for the both of us. I shit. Multiple times. It just goes to show that in life, especially in matters related to rock n’ roll, you can’t get wrapped in what your head wants. Fuck your head. If “God Gave Rock n Roll to You”, as a soon to be relevant person once sang, then you should go with your gut. It’s better than sitting at home leading a life of watching cat videos. Kittehs can wait. Rock can’t.

Rain plagued the 405 freeway from the start of it until we parked at the Forum. It’s almost appropriate given Dave’s Seattle roots that we were treated to a slew of Seattle weather. Along with the rain, there also seemed to be a quiet excitement in the air and being carried by each person entering the Forum that night. It could be argued that any arena show has an air of nervous excitement about it. But this is isn’t any arena show. This is the Foo Fighters. Surprise Foo Fighters no less. They are a rock band, in my opinion, that does it right. They follow traditions in rock n’ roll while also being able to do their own thing. Back in the day, Alice Cooper(foreshadowing) released School’s Out . The album folded out into an old-fashioned school desk and record itself was wrapped in a pair of panties. Foo Fighters released Wasting Light in 2011 and included a piece of the master tape in all the initial copies of the album. The Foo Fighters also play for two and a half- three hours at typical shows with no encore and as late as they want to. They only charged $50 for any seat at this show and gave $10 from each ticket to MusiCares, Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, and the Rock School Scholarship Fund. They’re doing it right. People can feel that. When we approached the gate were handed cards that said we are now members of Dave’s Birthday Club, I knew we were in for some of that magic.

 

This anticipation carried over until the start of the show. Given that we had about an hour or show before show time, I started talking with the people next to us. One of whom was also from the Antelope Valley. Small world. During this conversation, I also found out that the Foo Fighters had posted videos from KISS, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, Zakk Wylde, and a few others. The lights go down and the band runs to the stage in the center of the arena and start vamping on an A chord.

“HEYYYYYYY!” Dave Grohl yells. The crowd yells back

“HEYYYYYYY!”

“Welcome to the craziest fucking night of your entire life.”

Dave Grohl promised he had friends stopping by and he didn’t disappoint. “Ladies and gentlemen, PAUL STANLEY FROM KISS!” Not bad before the show has even started. His hair was majestic as the spotlight operators seated at the end of my section hit him with a blinding light. He sauntered up to the microphone like his usual Stanley self. “HOW YOU DOIN?! ITS DAVE’S BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!” And then proceeded give the crowd jazz hands then to go into Detroit Rock City. I’m not a KISS fan but that is a pretty badass way to start a show. After the song, the band immediately transitions into a vamp. Taylor Hawkins pounding away on the stadium backbeat. Paul Stanley does his thing, “COME ON! ARE YOU READAAAAAAAY! I want you to go HEYYYYY HEY HEY HEEEEEEY YEAH!” I’m not a KISS fan but I’ve always wanted the big stadium rock moment led by Paul and I got it. No disappointments. After the vamp, they transitioned into “Do You Love Me”.

At the beginning ,Dave Grohl said we weren’t getting a Foo Fighters show. As the night went on this simply wasn’t the case. The Foos played a variety of their own original material including most of their big hits. Songs like “All My Life”, “The Pretender”, “My Hero”, “Times Like These”, “Learn to Fly”, “Everlong“ and “Monkey Wrench”. They also played a fair amount of tunes from Wasting Light including “Rope”, “Arlandria”, and “White Limo”. Two songs that caught me off guard were “Cold Day in the Sun” written by Taylor Hawkins and “This is a Call” off the self-titled first album. All of these songs plus new tunes from Sonic Highways make for a great concert by itself. When you ad in the numerous guests playing at the show, it makes for something incredibly special. During one of their original tunes, Dave asked everyone light up the band with their phones. Everyone either turned the flashlight function on their phone or simply held it up. Then made everyone turn them off and back on again. Not only was it a great visual but also in a subtle way, it made cell phones at concerts, usually a distraction and disconnect for an audience use this same device to make everyone participate in the show. Fantastic.

Dave’s Birthday Club continued in full swing cycling back and forth between original Foos tunes and an epic Chevy Metal cover set. The whole night was like The Blob of rock n’ roll. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any bigger, it did. The next special guest was Tenacious D and Slash. The only thing more majestic than Paul Stanley’s hair that night was Jack Black’s tie die t-shirt with a giant tiger smack dab in the middle of it. He then proceeded to serenade Dave, followed by thousands concert goers, in singing Happy Birthday to Mr. Grohl. Hundreds of balloons fell from the ceiling and flooded the stage. The band counted off and went into the first four bars of “Immigrant Song”. Jack Black provided vocal styling over the top the Led Zeppelin classic in a rendition that hadn’t been heard that beautifully since he sang it in School of Rock. The next special guest was Alice Cooper. This was an artist that touched a nerve. He was one of my earliest inspirations as a musician and one of my favorite concerts of all time. Seeing him come out and sing “School’s Out” and “I’m Eighteen” brought back a nostalgic feeling I haven’t felt in a long time. Continuing with special guests was Nick Oliveri singing the Roky Erickson song “Two Headed Dog”, which was also featured in the Austin episode of Sonic Highways. Zakk Wylde was the next special guest to lead the charge. This gave lead guitarist Chris Shiflett, bassist Nate Mendel, and guitarist Pat Smear a chance to have a quick break after about an hour and a half of performing. The new power trio of Taylor Hawkins on drums, Dave Grohl on bass, and Zakk Wylde on guitar and vocals emerged and pounded the classic Sabbath tunes “N.I.B” and “Faries Wear Boots”. A few songs later Perry Farrell ran his way to the stage like a gazelle and sand a fantastic version of “Mountain Song” and an improvised version of “Miss You”. I say improvised because there seemed to be some confusion on stage over who would sing The Rolling Stones classic. This was a minor detail because I was too busy dancing along to care about lyrical misunderstandings.

 

These performances we’re awesome moments but the next guest defined the show for me. The band starts jamming on New Orleans style riff. Dave says, “This is my friend Troy!” and look down to see Trombone Shorty walking out on the runway. I had only recently become familiar with his playing on Sonic Highways. He came out, walked out to the mic, and started playing. It was something really special. It wasn’t just a great artist playing classic songs. He was crafting something out of thin air. He weaved a piece of music from nothing. At one point, it seemed as though he lost himself and began to fire audible missiles of soul from his trombone directly at the audience. Aimed at the hearts and minds of everyone in the arena. Toward the end of his performance, he held out a note for a minute and a half, continuously breathing and playing leaving everyone including the Foo Fighters in awe. I think this was his way to come back to Earth. It was just something truly unique was literally a magic moment.

Then there was David Lee Roth. This is not a slight on Mr. Roth in any way shape or form. He just happened to be the next special guest after Trombone Shorty. Whether you like him or not, Diamond Dave gets his own category. Whether it’s good or bad is a matter of opinion. Of course after Dave announced Dave, the crowd went wild. Diamond Dave comes strutting out in semi-cheetah jeans yelling “CAN YOU HEAR ME!” He kept pointing at Taylor seemingly wanting him to kick off the first song. Eventually Dave just yells, “MOVES LIKE JAGGER, MOTHAFUCKA! PLAY THE SOOOOOOOOOONG!” Which sends the Foos into “Panama”. In Southern California, Van Halen tunes are like old hymns everyone knows. They are also hymns best sung in giant arenas. So when the two are combined and sung by the man who helped pen them, you could feel the air of the Forum change. After fierce guitar playing, karate kicks supplied by Mr. Roth, and joy had by all, Diamond Dave set up the next song.

“Can we take it away one more time? Its kind of a theme song and we’ll pass the torch on to because I think everybody here tonight wants just a little bit if not the whole ballgame, Everybody Wants SOOOOOOOOOOME!” The band looks slightly confused as Grohl replied, “I don’t know Dave, I Ain’t Talkin’ About Love” With the usual Roth wisdom he replied, “It’s all pizza babe. It doesn’t matter what’s on top. Its all fucking great.” When the band went into “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love” as planned, Roth subtly threw in, “You don’t pay me to remember the words baby.”

After Roth left the stage the brought up an all star ending with Lemmy, Slash, and Zakk Wylde to play a Chuck Berry classic “Let it Rock” It was good to see Lemmy in rocking form again after his health scares in the past few years. Although the song started off somewhat shaky, I don’t think it was anybody’s fault. The night was about jamming and having fun playing music with friends. These friends just happen to play in some of the biggest rock bands of all time. So little mistakes like that are inconsequential compared to the bigger picture of the evening. Grohl even joked it felt like a giant keg party and that feeling couldn’t be more accurate.

This was truly one of the most incredible shows I’ve ever attended. The Foos started at 8:30 and ended a few minutes after midnight. No intermission. Dave Grohl screamed until his voice was hoarse. The band put their all into it and pulled out all the stops to create a great experience. The best part about it was that there were no huge sets, special effects, giant screens, back up dancers, or any other nonsense. The draw was no frills rock and roll. The special guests weren’t announced. Just the promise of a great, loud rock show. Of course I’d be a fool to sit here and critique all the singing and playing because something else struck more of a chord in me. This show really took me through the paces of my musical evolution. Alice Cooper, one of my first influences when I was little kid. Slash, Tenacious D, and Van Halen for my middle school/early band years. Black Sabbath/Zakk Wylde for my high school metal years. Jane’s Addiction for my discovery of 90’s music in my senor year. Lastly, Trombone Shorty for my delving into Soul and Jazz during my college years.

Of course, no show is without its downsides. As amazing of a show as we experienced, you would still find people who don’t have the rock n’ roll spirit. How anyone could sit and be on various social media while all this happens in front of you? Apparently the gentleman in front of me could. The worst (unfortunately) was a young kid sitting behind me. He looked as though he wasn’t enjoying himself at all. Arms crossed. Complaining about his seat and where he and his parents would sit next time. As a young kid, I would have lost my shit if I saw this show. I’m a grown man and I still lost my shit. Multiple times. The majority of people looked as though they did as well. This negative spirit doesn’t help rock n’ roll in anyway shape or form. I hope bands from the Foo Fighters to local DIY rock groups bring rise to a new renaissance bringing the importance back on the music. Sending this texting entitlement away. I dance at shows, I sweat at shows, I’ll smell worse than you, and I’m not afraid to have fun.

 

Happy Birthday Dave.

 

 

 

 

Shows

Show Review: End of the Year Winter Blast 2014

3 Comments

by Jesse Davidson

Bands: Wile, How Scandinavian, OG Dino, Patella

Date: 12/27/14

Cost: Free

Leaving my house in a post Christmas haze, I was headed to an event on the night of December 27th that I rarely attend, a garage house show. My experience with attending shows is wide and vast. Everything from arena shows, bar gigs on the floor, college open mic nights with no mics, and everything in between. Although many differences exist between these shows, there is a huge detail underneath it all. Depending on your event, live events offer a varying element of danger. In a giant sports center, little danger. These waters have been charted before. Bar/club gigs, the terrain gets rockier. You’ve been in these woods. Just be careful you don’t become surrounded by wolves. When you go to a house show, you’re going off the edge of the map. Sure there’s probably going to be land where you’re going, but who knows what else? Simply put, you truly have no idea what is going to happen. Will your night be pure magic or pure hell? Maybe just a lukewarm experience. It all depends on your personality and the circumstances you were thrown in.

I didn’t print directions or put the address in my phone. I just reviewed the route and remembered the address in case I made a wrong turn. Driving to the show was interesting. Slightly more eager to leave for this one. It would be a small departure away from the mass of Christmas that had just ended. Not that my holiday wasn’t good but I needed a break. Almost there. I approached a crossroad. The mall on one side. My route on the other. What a better way to depart than go the opposite direction. Drove slow through the neighborhood, looking for signs of this house. Bingo. Cars and young people. I make a U-turn and parked at the end of the street in the opposite direction. Waiting for my friend to show up, I text my girlfriend I love her. Stepped out of the car, I could hear the music being mechanically thrown in the air. Only two houses away now. Weird vibes growing stronger as I approached the house. It was like a mix between Halloween and gloom. I paralleled the closed garaged door moving toward the back gate, which was left open. I was then smacked over the head by some of the strangest music I’ve ever heard in my life. Metallic droning sounds. Audible recordings of despair. Industrial noises falling into blackness. A snare drum that sounded like machine gunfire randomly interrupting the music. At the forefront, a man screaming that sounded like his body was being pulled in two different directions.

I was frozen solid. I had an equal amount of curiosity and desire to leave immediately. One thing was for sure. I wasn’t going in without Soul Brother backup. David Hodrick, drummer for This Place is a Zoo and wearer of funny hats, would be supplying that. Once he arrived, we made our way in. I was bracing for the weirdest show I’d ever see. My imagination began painting an image from when I first heard the screams. Surely there would be madness at the highest level. Fear and Loathing in Garage. Outside was reality. Inside was Odd. As we entered the show, it was Odd but not for reasons expected. There was no cloud of smoke. No bottles being passed around. No drugs being shared. We walk in and find about 25 people watching a man scream into a mic, nodding their heads to drone music. That may sound somewhat pretentious but still, I was pleasantly surprised and happy that these kids showed up just to hear the music with no other motive. Part of the show was still odd for reasons I expected. There was still a man three feet in front of me screaming his guts out to soundtrack that would be playing as you wandered through the gates of hell. Behind him a projector played film of images and visuals I can’t accurately describe. It like a combination the film playing during the tunnel scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and black and white footage that would be used at the beginning of a horror movie.After about 10-15 minutes of watching him, his set ended. I found out afterward, his name was Wile. Everyone then dispersed. Some gathered in groups to quietly discuss music. Most wanted some fresh air. A few new people arrived. One of them with In-N-Out and promptly planted himself on the couch in the back of the garage. The next band was How Scandinavian. Their guitarist and singer Bryan, also the one in charge of this show, introduced the band and thanked everyone for coming. This was the first of two sets, this one being a covers set. The first kick hits. The mood changes. We’ve moved from a dark room lit up by a creepy film to Christmas lights creating a parameter around the band and drum kit. I’m not sure how it was created but these lights would flash on and off in time with the music. Darkness. Light. Darkness Light. It was slowly mesmerizing. I don’t remember what songs they played or could really recognize any of them. I just remember at one point it felt like time stopped. I looked over the crowd all transfixed on the band. Dark. Light. Dark. Light. Everyone had a different face. Some more weathered than others. Some as fresh as the previous day. Everyone tuned in to what was happening. For a split second, everyone was unified. Different faces and all. Dark. Light. Dark. Light. Over the top of all this, the band played spacey music and Bryan sang, “The Party is Over…” while the lights, continued to flash. Then it was over

Again the routine continued. Fresh air. Conversations. New people. Also, just like the mood changed with How Scandinavian. The next group was OG Dino. I don’t know how to describe this and I don’t think I really could. I guess it could be considered “Free Comedy Rap”. I say free because in between each rap segment one of the duo of OG would bang on a cymbals while the other would play the recorder. Then they would interject lyrics about having sex with pregnant women really hard, eczema goat cheese, and yelling about how his girlfriend was a bitch at top volume. The beats changed rhythmically and frequently. All while a single strobe illuminated above the band only added to the weirdness. Hodrick and I were both surprised to learn their CDs were for sale at the low price of $1 USD. After the assault that was OG Dino, Hodrick and I left to a 24-hour diner where I had the worst fucking eggs of my entire life.

This type of show is certainly not for everyone but everyone should attend a show like this at least once. It is one of the rawest types of performances you’ll ever see. The sound won’t be that great. It will be cramped and hot. But that’s kind of the point. No matter what happens, you won’t forget what you’ve experienced.