Music (11)

Do you remember what you were doing the night of 3/1/95? If you had asked me this the other night, I wouldn't have had any idea. Digging through old clothes that I had stored away a long time ago, I came across quite a prized possession.

For the longest time, people never believed me when I said that the Dave Matthews Band played at the Michigan State Auditorium in the early 90s and I never had proof because I didn't have any ticket stubs or pictures from the show. The auditorium is tiny, which lends itself to intimate shows. I love small venue shows, and I tend to avoid enormo-dome shows like the plague because they seem so impersonal.

The prized possession I found was the RHASE 'STAFF' shirt from the show. RHASE stands for "Residence Halls Association Special Events". I had friends who organized these shows so I ended up working pretty much any show that came through East Lansing, even if I didn't particularly like the band.

I remember seeing Widespread Panic, Phish, and a bunch of other bands that I wasn't particularly a fan of, but always had a good time.
DMB were on tour for 'Under the Table and Dreaming', Big Head Todd and the Monsters were on tour for 'Strategem' and Ugly Americans were on tour for their self-titled debut. I was blown away by how good the Ugly Americans were.

Bob Schneider, their singer, is still out and about in Texas making music now. I ended up picking up their album soon after. I was mainly at the show that night to see Big Head Todd and they didn't disappoint.

I was pretty impressed by DMB too.
Honestly, working those shows were a music lover's dream because you would see shows for free, get to arrive early and see the soundchecks, which typically resulted in hearing new songs or skeletons of songs that would be released later. During the DMB soundcheck, we ended up hearing songs that would end up on 'Crash'.

Everyone who worked the RHASE shows would get a unique shirt from the concert. Typically, you either ripped tickets or showed people to their seats, and didn't get paid, but we didn't really care about that. A lot of the same people would work the RHASE shows so it ended up becoming a fun social event.

I remember lots of people during the Phish show tried to buy my shirt.
The same friends that were part of RHASE also worked at Impact 89FM, so through a strange chain of events, I ended up being able to DJ the station one night for about an hour. I have a recording of it somewhere and I was truly awful on the air, but at least I was able to play some Ramones, Reverend Horton Heat, Skunk, and a few other bands.

It is surprising how finding one shirt can trigger so many memories.
I still listen to all of Ugly American's CDs, and the same can be said for Big Head Todd. I still think his cover of Eric Clapton's "Forever Man" is better than the original.

I'm a sucker for rock, especially guitar rock that has actual guitar solos and attitude. You might remember them for their infamous "I love the Rogaine! I love the Rogaine!

" song from years ago but their new album is 3x better than their debut. I saw them open up for Monster Magnet right before Buckcherry imploded after 'Timebomb' and Dreamworks Records fizzled.
I've got the Japan release of '15' that came out late last year and the album is finally reaching the states as a non-import this upcoming month.

Not a bad track on the whole album, and that is rare these days.
I'm not getting anything out of this, heck, I don't even know if I'd be able to go to the show, but any band that does 'guitar rock' needs all the help they can get these days to stay signed on a label and supported. I would hate to see this band go down in flames like Injected did when Island Records refused to release their followup to 'Burn it Black'.

I'm still bummed about that one. They are another great band that deserves a lot of airplay, and to be played loud.
Anyway, here is the link:
I really hope and wish they come to the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.

I would be able to go for sure that way. The closest tour date is in Detroit at the very unsafe Harpo's.
This just isn't Mike Farris' day.

His band, the Nashville-based Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies, has arrived late in Seattle and their hotel has jumbled up their reservations. He is forced to use a streetside phone booth to talk about his favorite subject, the Wheelies' second Atlantic album, "Magnolia."
He nearly chokes up recalling a fan who came to a show and delivered him a poem.

"He had written it telling us how our first album helped him through some hard times, that he had lost his wife," Farris said. "I just wanted to sit him down and let him know me as a friend and not feel weird about talking to a singer in a rock 'n' roll band."
Farris' tender moment is interrupted by a woman who demands to use the phone.

She calls him several derogatory names and even takes a swing at him. Her boyfriend considers stepping in, but by then, Farris has already left and says he will call back.
Minutes later, Farris sneaks into a Moose Lodge nearby to use the phone.

With his long, stringy hair, he stands out like a sore thumb. Unfazed by all that has happened in the past 20 minutes, he reveals the inspiration behind the album's first single, "Hello From Venus."
"I went home and found out they were going to build a car plant on farmland I was raised on," Farris said.

"All my friends kept saying, 'Things are changing around here.' But people were strung out on crank, nothing had changed. I'm thinking, 'It's only going to get worse.

'
"I was upset they were doing this to my old neighborhood. A whole flood of emotions came out. When something like that happens, it's like some part of you is dying.

It makes you wonder, 'What are we doing? We're destroying everything.' "
Farris felt isolated, uneasy that his friends were treating him differently ever since the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies' 1993 self-titled debut album.

"I wrote ('Hello From Venus') partly through the eyes of a person praying to God like a friend, an intimate conversation," he said. "It just breaks my heart to see what's happened in my hometown."
The gutsy rock quintet has learned a lot since its first album, Farris said, mainly to be patient.

"We didn't know what was going on the first time around," he said. "We just wanted to do our songs, and the label said we'd be stars. I learned not to take it too seriously.

That doesn't feed me; I don't thrive off being successful. We're just out doing what we do best."
One of my favorite albums from the 90s is playing right now on my laptop.

It makes me incredibly sad how the music business can let a very talented band die on the vine, while Kelly Osborne is still putting out albums. I followed the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies ever since I first heard 'Shakin' the Blues' on a local radio station. They had a sound of their own, and most importantly, were playing music for the right reason.

They played because they liked to play. A true plug and play band. Awesome live shows.

They finally threw in the towel last year when Mike Farris decided to leave "the business". I can't blame him. Left behind are the albums and the live shows, if you can find them.

He was going to be the new singer for Double Trouble at one point and also put out a great solo CD.
So, if you are looking for some 'new' music, pick up Magnolia. It will rock you.

Listen to it a few times before giving up, and it will make sense. You can still get it from Amazon.
Somewhere I still have my SCW 24-7-365 shirt from the Magnolia tour.

Class act bunch of guys. Easy to talk to before and after a show. If anyone has any live shows, please get in contact with me, I'm seriously lacking.

I'm particularly looking for their version of Black Sabbath's "Wizard" and a good live version of "Rubbermaid Fiance"
10. Used to Love Her
13. Mr.

Brownstone (not aired - booooo!)
14. Negative Creep (not aired)
I still need to see this band live, in person, before they break up and/or die.

Finally hooked up the Sony Linear amp I got from Wally. I used to marvel at the items in his house way back when, and now whenever he wants to see what his old house looked like, he can simply stop over for a visit. It's truely become one of my prized possessions after listening to it for the past 4 hours.

Why is it so special? It's a DC amp. Simply put, and that also explains why it weights so much.

I even ran new speaker cable to all the speakers in the house so it wouldn't be using old cable.
So, while waiting for my family to come back from Troy, I've been rocking out to the new King's X (very good), Injected, and a whole bunch of Letters to Cleo. It was weird seeing Kay Hanley on Leno in a Starbucks a few weeks ago.

I remember seeing a show in Royal Oak around 1995 or so right after 'Wholesale Meats and Fish' came out. I picked up a shirt that looked like the AC/DC logo but said CL/EO instead. I think the AC/DC lawyers caught wind of it and only a few of them were made.

I could be wrong, but I never saw them for sale again.
I just have a soft spot for rock chicks, especially ones that take the time to cheer on the opening band in the audience. Totally unassuming, and totally cool.

That band was always so nice to their fans.
People just remember them for 'Here and Now' and maybe their Cheap Trick cover from 10 things..

but there was some seriously good guitar rock on those albums. I miss that band.