is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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Camper and Cracker in a Band Blizzard.
More band nostalgia: a couple of nights ago Heidi and I went to see Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker at the Independent in San Francisco. We go to this show pretty much every year. I�ve known all these guys forever now, and it is always good to see them and catch up. It is also always great to see them play--they�re all great musicians combined into some really good bands, playing songs I�ve loved forever. And� if anything would proved how good they are at what they do, it would be last night, when all this was behind what was going on on-stage:
David broke his hand in London, so his ability to play his guitar parts was limited. Frank and Sol (drummer and bassist for Cracker) were stuck in NY due to the blizzard. Frank is also the drummer for CVB. So both bands were missing members. The show started late because David�s plane was delayed a day and then landed late. (I texted him when I got to the venue saying �I�m here but I�ll wait until after the CVB set to say hi since I know you�re about to go on.� He replied: �Joke�s on you. I�M NOT THERE YET!� Ha.)
They didn�t cancel the show. Each band played three 30-minute sets, alternating bands, with 10-minute breaks between. Cracker played first with a David/Johnny duo set, which was awesome�Dr. Bernice and etc. Then CVB played a set using a drummer (Andy Griffin) that Jonathan and Victor had been rehearsing with recently for an upcoming performance of Key Lime Pie in New York. So he knew some of the Key Lime Pie songs and nothing else. Watching the substitute-drummer thumb through his notes to himself about the songs as the set was about to start, I felt so much anxiety on behalf of the rest of the band, but they did not need my sympathy. They sounded great!
Then Cracker played a couple of sets with the drummer they toured with and recorded with for the Kerosene Hat album� I think they hadn�t played together since then, and that was 1993. And it sounded great.
CVB returned for more. Jonathan Segel was dressed like a mad scientist whose laboratory instrument is the VIOLIN. Victor Krummenacher was wearing Erik Estrada sunglasses and a Peter Sellers circa 1962 suit. David Lowery had on ombre fade blue sunglasses� because he lost his regular glasses, not because he�s corey hart. David Immergluck looked crazy playing a mandolin because he is a large man making crazy guitar faces while playing a tiny instrument.
After the first set Heidi and I went backstage and said hi and caught up on the history of the last year. It�s always funny to compare backstage now (water, sodas, not much beer, food, undrunk people) with backstage back in the day (bourbon, beer, drunk people). I don�t miss the old days. But I�m glad I had them.
I�m still wondering whether I should have lied when someone asked me about June. CVB performed �June� from Key Lime Pie for the first time in forever (probably since way back when they toured in support of KLP and then broke up), and, well, it wasn�t terrible. It just wasn�t up to the high standard all the unyoung dudes have set for themselves and their audiences over the years. Someone from the band asked me how I liked that particular set and I said, �June wasn�t my favorite but everything else sounded GREAT.� I don�t know. Maybe I should have lied. What does one flubbed song performance matter in a night like that? �I think I wasn�t able to lie because I was asked the question in the context of someone else bringing up THAT very song. Oh well.
And then there�s Johnny Hickman, guitarist for Cracker. Such an awesome guy. He melted my heart when he told me how excited he was to hear some of the Key Lime Pie songs that CVB hadn�t played in awhile. I love it when a guy from a band admits to loving the songs from another band with no trace of competition over it all. He told me an anecdote about the first time he heard the KLP songs when David was first writing most of that album. So of course I told the anecdote about the time when David had just finished recording �Low� from Kerosene Hat (with Johnny, et al) and drove a rental car over to my place and made me close my eyes and listen to it full volume in the car two times. (And it was and still is a favorite song of mine.)
The main point of all this: two great bands overcame great obstacles and put on an awesome show in conditions that would have ruined lesser men.
12:48 p.m. - December 29, 2010
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