mike watt and the black gang


"puttin' the opera to bed" tour '98

nels cline - guitar
bob lee - drums
watt - thud staff, spiel

steve reed - soundman, backup singing at the desk

steve kaul - the man outside the van


performing watt's punk opera "contemplating the engine room"  



part two



wednesday, september 23, 1998 - albuquerque, nm


from bob lee:

	the launchpad club here in abq has become one of my favorite places to
play, good sound system, stage is the perfect size, and the folks
running it are very nice. so's the audience, I met some very cool folks
tonight, and saw my friend tim from pennsylvania, who I haven't seen in
ten years. last I saw him, we went to nyc to see pere ubu & john cale,
then completely lost touch with him when I moved to l.a. first band
tonight was fatso, a local metal band, and though I wasn't expecting
much, they rocked my block off. best metal performance I've seen since
nebula/ vengeance bros. "they don't like me/ I don't like them/ fat
chicks with glasses/ I'll kick their asses!" cream of the jest: actual
fat chick with glasses was heard to  yell "fuck you!" when they finished
that one. jack drag had tech problems but were as impressive as always.
a good p. a. really brings out the best in these guys, their material is
very finely textured and the textures can be easily lost. our own show
tonight was really good, by far the best yet, I am finally finding my
stamina to get through these two-hour gigs. laura & gel of the
eyeliners, a wonderful power pop band of three young sisters who I've
seen and met a few times, came out & gave me a single, awww. . . thanks
ladies! I hope they come back to l.a. soon! 


from steve reed:

	Launch Pad, albuquerque N. M. - this is one of my favorite venues in
the world! I love working here with Rick the house soundman who keeps
his system working great. On this show however we had problems with
monitor EQ and volume which frustrated MIKE BE ON BELIEF!!!!!!!!!! SO
RICK ran away from the gig and left me alone, so I just pushed all the
highs and volume to the limit and god willing it seemed to work out. I
guess I didn't need him afterall. Show came off well for both BLACK GANG
and JACK DRAG.


from watt:

	I wake up and damn, was that a heavy nightmare I just had! I was being
fucked w/by some thug types for what seemed like hours and hours or even
days! this sometimes happens to me at beginnings of tours. some kind of
buried insecurities raising their ugly heads and scaring the shit out of
me. the dreams seem so lucid, like it's actually happening and I don't
know what to do next. makes me wake up in a fucking shudder. I get out
the door and start walking it off. down the tiny old downtown of
flagstaff. looks like the babbit family was big here (maybe still is) by
the looks of the buidings names and businesses. the air is thin but
clean and that feels good to a cat from so cal. our lungs end up feeling
like fucking fram auto filters, being there too long. this walk feels
good for both my mind and my body. tour is fully on now, that's for
sure. 

	after stopping at a music store for bob lee (he spaced too like me and
forgot all the extra heads and sticks he had bought for the tour at his
pad in granada hills), we take the I-40 which pretty much is the old
route 66 to albuquerque. nice drive and the boat (van) is running great
- ironed out that heat hell from the first ride. first thing I do when
we get into town is hit the store up the street w/the kachinas and get
one called "longhorn. " he's bad and I dig him much. I try to get one of
these kachina dolls everytime I'm in new mexico. one thing is bugging me
- why did they change the license plates on the cars to read _new mexico
usa_ instead of just the state's name like every other state in the
union? are people that fucking stupid? they had the plates just saying
_new mexico_ for years. I wonder what's up w/that? damn. 

	this is third time in one year we're playing the "launch pad," a pad I
never played before last november but dig very much - the best pad I've
ever done in this town. the folks there are great. they chow us on
lasagna and salad. I check e-mail and then go to the van to konk (drove
the whole way here) but get woke soon by the opening band, _fatso_ who
is wailing through the open alley back door. this band is a band of
zip's who works here and they're happening. sort of melvins thing w/some
big bloat guitar sound. like vince would say, foom. next is our buds
_jack drag_ and they do great. these cats are using samples so it sounds
like there's more than just the three of them on stage. very sweet
people, no 'tude whatsoever and you know that's the best. they also got
their own sound too which is what it's all about. it's great to see
(hear) that tradition carried through the years. I don't why cats would
want a clone of their own band opening for them. damn. just before we go
on, richard fuckin bonney's bro, steve and his cousin tony ulibarri show
up and tony gives me some pictures he took of me and spike jonze making
the "liberty calls!" video. I really dig tony and as so glad he can see
this last run through of the opera. it means a lot to me. we start the
piece and it's going good except the monitors are muffed up and then the
cat who's running them runs away! damn. steve reed gets it together
though and by the end of the piece they're fine. I play my heart out
anyway and nels and bob lee are great. we play and play until again the
lights come on and we have to stop. that's how much shit we have this
time. I wonder if it's gonna be like this all tour. folks are happy
though and that's what counts. 

	when eveything's done, we connect w/the cat who traded me for a string
bass name jeff. he's got a pad east of b'urque and we head there. what a
hell-ride, it must've taken almost an hour! well, it's on the way to
austin so no harm, no foul - no blood, no ambulance like chic would say.
I'm so beat I konk right there on the deck w/just an indian blanket.
fuck it, sueno. 
	



thursday, september 24, 1998 - sweetwater, tx


from bob lee:

	we had apalling meals at cline's corners famous truck stop, and a
smartassed sandwich artist at subway today. somehow I mentioned that we
were a band and he said,"you should play in lubbock, the audience goes
wild even if you suck. " yeah pal, we suck, that's why we're on tour and
you're making sandwiches. otherwise, not much to report. 


from steve reed:

	driving through  New Mexico for show in Austin on friday, went to FORT
SUMNER and saw Billy the Kids grave. We stayed outside of Abilene, Texas
in a Motel-6.


from watt:

	no gig tonight. just drive and drive. laying on jeff's floor was a
trip, hearing all them outside sounds. crickets chirping and dogs
howling plus all kinds of sounds I'm not used to in pedro. weird sounds.
jeff's not got much curtains in his pad yet (sort of like a long thin
trailer house merged w/a living room kitchen, this pad is still a work
in progress) so when the sun came up, it blasted me in the eye and
headed for the van and spent the rest of my konk on the bench w/an
indian blanket over my head. something about sunlight - it's hard as
hell for me to stay konked when the light is on me. one reason I'm up at
the crack. about eleven I roust the cats - everyone scared to use the
head that jeff has. looks like a giant garbage disposal/trash compactor
when some all along where the rim meets the hatch. no one has the nerve
to even open it, even though jeff left detailed directions to get it
happening. somethings are just too heavy and we just piss in bottles and
the turds are happy to remain w/us until the next gas stop up the road.
such is the reality of some situations. big thanks to jeff though. 

	we bail and head east on the I-40. only a little while though cuz
there's no direct interstate going from b'urque to austin. instead we
head southwest on us-84 which gets us to clovis and then into texas
towards lubbock. on the way near fort sumner, we stop at the site of
billy the kid's grave and take some pictures. all of us pause and think
about richard fuckin bonney. his people are from santa rosa which isn't
far from here. funny how the gravestone is shackled to the ground cuz
motherfuckers have stolen it twice. damn. from there it's onward to
abielene but before we get there we stop about forty miles short in a
town called sweetwater and stop at our first (of many) motel-six for the
tour. damn, it's the end of september and still hot as hell. I drive the
whole way, flannel shorn and the grease caking up on the skin. small
hell though cu I really dig hearing nels spiel his history of his
personal journey through music and how he got to where he is now - which
is rolling w/the hell-ride along w/us! damn, am I a lucky man. I kind of
started him off by telling him how joe baiza was tripping that nels
would be into our scene cuz when joe baiza first met him, it seemed he
hated the whole rock thing then. well, nels wanted to fill us on in on
where he'd been from the mid sixties to now. we also listened close and
then bob lee and steve reed chime in too w/their tales and I figure what
a trip it is that all our lives brought us to this mission to deliver
the piece. 

	like an idiot, I forget to wear my baseball hat (a dinsoaur one mascis
gave me) and my yellow cop glasses when I go to check in and due to the
fact my sister melinda cut my hair kind of short and I ain't shaved
since the first opera performance (septemer 5, 1997), I guess I look
like a crazed whatever foreign threat and scare the desk lady. last time
I do that. have to look safe, like a nut trucker. whatever. after some
beam, I konk on the motel-six floor, good and tired. 




friday, september 25, 1998 - austin, tx


from bob lee:

	played at stubb's bbq, which was a good thing as I was unable to eat
the beef bowl I got from magic dragon, chinese fast food in the flying j
truck stop- avoid at all costs - and hit town starving. one soundcheck
and one giant sandwich later, I walked up and down 6th street. it seems
to me that there was even more live music on this strip when I first
came here, maybe fifteen blues clubs was too many for a one-mile stretch
of road. but there's still plenty of action, I saw a few moments of a
play and a couple mediocre blues bands through the front windows of
clubs, but was real impressed at a spray can artist who created a
psychedelic landscape outside on the street in about 5 minutes. glad to
see that emo's is still happening, although it no longer has the
monopoly on good rock shows it once did. too bad, cos in those days
(around 1992-94) you could see the likes of L7, rev. horton heat,
killdozer etc. for free, and the bands got paid their usual fee out of
the bar proceeds. from what our friend john lambert told us that was a
little too ambitious and the owner couldn't support himself from what
was left over. well here's to a great idea! killdozer once said they
wouldn't tour again till emo's opened chains across america like k-mart.
not to run down stubb's, which was a very hospitable venue with a nice,
helpful staff and good chow. local veterans peglegasus opened the show,
as impressive as always, fast spidery licks bouncing off weird rhythms,
still sunny & melodic enough to be a considerable pop band. great
version of the who's "sparks" closed it out. our friend dan, who I last
saw in salt lake city, showed up too - I have enough trouble remembering
people I meet on tour, but when they show up in different cities I get
cognitive dissonance. I enjoyed our show tonight a lot, mike seemed to
be highly caffeinated as we played (what seemed to me) a really fast
version of the opera and I was later corrected for playing too slow!
more likely he drank half the bottle of dave's insanity sauce before
hitting the stage and every cell in his body was screaming for
vengeance. 


from steve reed:

	Stubbs Bar-B-Q. I liked this venue because the help their was very
helpfull to both groups. It was a good show - sound system pretty good
and Dave the house soundman worked with me the whole night. I like it
when the house soundman stick around because they know their system
better than me the visitor.


from watt:

	ten in the morning texas time and we're up at going again. looks I'm
driving this whole leg too (did yesterday). it's good for my sore ass
joints, the ache and hurt much and the vibrations from the steering
wheel help big time. another nightmare again last night, one where I've
lost my cat and can't find him. the man lost and all I keep seeing is
these tabby like cats but they got long bent necks - sort of like that
kokopelli cat you see in the indian petroglyphs. he's the hunchback
always playing the flute. in the nightmare, his back looks like these
cats' necks. then there's this one mountain lion - scared the shit out
of me big time. I also lose my wallet and the van in the fucking dream
and I'm a wit's end to what to do. thank god I finally rolled into the
clothes dryer rack and it fell on me, yanking me into this world where I
found these profound problems and worries were only in the dream. two
nightmare hell-rides almost back to back. damn. this is the way it is
w/me. hopefully the shit got wrangled out of my system, whatever it is
but I kind of doubt it. well, onward, forward and w/more vigor as
someone once said. 

	this pad is called "stubb's" and it's a new one for me, never played
here. they serve ribs upstairs and we play downstairs. our good buds
_peglegasus_ are opening up in fron of _jack drag_ so it's a family
affair. very cool folks, these peglegs and we're glad and hear all of
them: pete, burke, john and new bass man bryan who has a picture of me
to sign. damn, it's from a while ago cuz there's no gray in the beard!
other pals show up, like paul leary, curt kirkwood, spot and john
lambert from dallas who's got a happening beefheart boot (roxy '75) I
want taped. I tell him so. spot's been to every opera performance in
austin but it's the first time for paul and curt and I'm real glad I get
to play it for them. means a lot to me. I eve got curt (and spot's) name
in "topsiders. " the piece is really for us cats from that place and
those days. it makes it real for me to be doing it for them. I'm a lucky
man. 

	it's too sweaty everywhere (this is texas) and where there is a.c.,
there's a big old mold smell so I just sweat it out in the van which is
at this point a shvitz. kind of a reverse boat, more moisture inside
than outside. I just keep perfectly still. the que (bar-b-) here is ok
but it's no _brohter in law's #2_ (up by the _church of saint john
coltrane_ on divisadero in san francisco). fact is, I think it was heavy
and made everyone kind of play tire. me and steve reed immediately blow
it out but I think nels and bob lee hung on to there and got weighed
down by the extra ballast. the set was good but kind of tired
(especailly in the encores) until I said "hey, we're playing tired" then
things got going for the last tune "we are time. " I did feel real good
about doing the roky erickson and daniel johnson song cuz they're from 
austin and this is their town even if they weren't there to see it. the
folks working here were great too and we all laughed and laughed while
we were loading out. on long talk w/spot (he's got a house now and is
starting a small sound company) and then we're off to the mo-six. I am
soaked w/sweat so I strip down and konk on the deck, naked. 



end of part two