What an April Fool's day!; I thought it was going to be all bad after not doing so hot on my auto midterm (the answers aren't really wrong, it's just a joke see), but when I got home to my copies of Spiels of a Minutemen that finally arrived I took it as a sign to make the 3 hour trek to Sac and see my very first Watt show ever.  Man, was I ever excited, and boy did I have great time!  Old Ironsides was a laid-back place (yahoo maps directed me to get lost first though!), met some cool folks to talk music with, and the show....I have to say that this was the most inspirational show I've been to yet in my young years-my mouth was in a constant smile or just open, dumbfounded at the amazing bass playing I was seeing (remember, it was my first time).  I couldn't keep from moving-a total driving beat.  And then a powerful slow number followed quickly by another driver.  Good to keep energy up, and actually I could have done with some more energy from the crowd.  I don't mean craziness, just a bit more responsive-I think I was just way into it and excited :) 

Being new to the scene I only recognized with a name Walkin the Cow, One Reporter's Opinion, Red and The Black, Big Bang Theory, Chinese Firedrill, and Velvet Underground's Sister Ray which just knocked me out!  The organ was awesome too-interesting to hear the difference from the guitar I was familiar with.  I was definitely loving it, especially some of the soloing and Pete's got a definite groove rock style; I saw some karate chopping motions at one point and some multiple octave sweeping of the wrists.  New but same kind of groove going on.  Again, I keep thinking about the bass (back of Watt's flannel said Bass=Love) and the energy that I saw behind it-totally mind blowing to me.  I'm definitely going to see the SF show at the end of the tour, and from now on whenever I can, and I know it's going to be even more together then!  Is it possible? The swag was cool too-shirts too big for me, but the Pettibone posters looked beautiful and I did have enough to swing a 7inch "li'l pit" which has Watt on an upright and woman singing "Feeling Good", which I first heard done by Nina Simone.  Many thanks and praise to Mr. Watt, and Pete and Jerry for the excellent music that night-can't wait till next time and I love the group for the sharing of interest.  I had brought my camera, but didn't want to miss anything so did not use it, and I looked on maximum wattage today to find me mug in the crowd.  Very cool!!

The first nite of Watt's 50th(!) tour, on what would have been D. Boon's 45th birthday... I couldn't resist driving 1.5 hours for this show.

And wow... what a great show!  This was my first time seeing the Secondmen, so I was very psyched to see Pete on organ, and I wasn't dissapointed.  Pete's playing is just great on all these songs.  I love the way the organ sounds, and after just one night of hearing it, it's almost hard to image these songs with guitar...  the keys sound that perfect!

Watt and Jerry were both great, too. Watt was playing like a madman (especially during one solo near the end of the show... Sister Ray, maybe?), and the Secondmen were really grooving as a unit. Loose, yet tight (or is that "tight, yet loose"? you get the idea...).

The setlist was pretty much the same as the prior tour, which was a bit of a bummer for me. I love the songs they've been playing, but was hoping for some new songs. They started the night with the same three new songs as on last tour, but that was it (maybe some additional lyrics since last tour, though I could be wrong about that). The plan is to roll out a few more new songs as the tour progresses, so maybe some of you will get a nice surprise or two! They'll be back in San Francisco right after the tour ends, so maybe I'll get lucky and hear the whole piece before they go into the studio.

On the plus side, they were completely on top of the songs they played. The pacing was perfect, the tunes flowed seamlessly from one to the next, and the band was in a complete groove.

Thanks to Mike, Jerry and Pete for a great show!