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Am I black enough for you?
This Cinco de Mayo saw me at a musical event; an event I
was quite excited about. Yes, it was the Beck/Cafe
Tacuba show at the Greek. Now, I've been preaching the
merits of Cafe Tacuba for years now, and seeing them live
lead me to one conclusion: They are the most
important, vital and exciting band right now. Imagine
Devo circa 1976 as a group of long haired, dope-smoking
Mexicans with a drum machine. If that doesn't
work for you, just imagine near perfection, folks.
They create songs that are at one time challenging and yet strangely familiar and inviting. They're all over the map: traditional, ethereal and/or funky. You can't explain why it works, but BOY does it. Their stage presence is phenomenal and they seemed to enjoy themselves as much as the crowd did. The end of their set elicited only one line from my mouth: "Greatest thing on the planet Earth." What a shame that the headliner killed my buzz. Okay, we all know that Beck can make better Prince records than Prince can now, and while "Midnite Vultures" has essentially tanked - it's still a great platter. Unfortunately, Mr. Hansen's fascination with Mr. Nelson has hit an uneasy peak. I think he thinks he's Prince now. He started the show in a hood much like Prince wore to the Oscars (yeesh, remember that getup?), and tore it off to start shuffling across the stage, calling out for the band to "Break It Down" and count off the evening's annoyingly overused "3...4...<huuuh>"'s. The band was certainly "Revolution"-ized, with each member in their own distinctive outfit. (Sometimes Todd sideman Lyle Workman was dressed as Superman, and Roger Joseph Manning did an annoying Roxy-era Eno rip-off on keyboards). Of course, the band was hot & tight (not Soft & Wet, tee hee). But poor lil' Beck doesn't seem to realize that Prince is cool, because he's funky, sexy and - well, cool. Not because he's black. Beck has adopted that wigger aesthetic that should be saved for losers like Eminem, Fred Durst and Tommy Lee - who wear it much better than someone with some talent does. But the Prince-isms didn't stop. He flew a bed down (a la "International Lover" on the 1999 tour) for "Debra", and at one point even changed into a sequined jumpsuit. Yes, it was purple. After all of this crap, he still tried to do the acoustic set (which is usually a high point of the show), but after the embarrassing 70 minute setup and annoying "yo-yo-yo" show - it simply fell flat. Thank God he brought out Cafe Tacuba for a few tunes during that. I kept thinking that there would be a payoff for all of the fauxPrince I kept noticing during the show. No such luck. It could have been a fun "act" of the show - Act 1: Prince rip-off, Act 2: Acoustic Merriment, Act 3: Geekywhiteboywhocanreallygetdown Show. If not that, at least closing the show with the bed/"Debra" combo would have been the way to go. Well, considering how bad it all was, it's probably better that he did that bit before I started nodding off from boredom. Maybe the fact that they stopped serving beer at 9:30 was the problem... If this tour hits your town, find someone to split the tix with, go in and watch Cafe Tacuba - then leave and let the other suckers suffer through Prince. I mean, the Artist. I mean Beck.
Favorite Song Of All Time This Weekİ: "Don't
Call Me Nigger, Whitey" - Sly & The Family Stone
Kiss Me DeadLEE A Year Ago This Weekİ:
Saul Steinberg, 84. Illustrator for The New
Yorker. May 12.
A couple weeks ago, I forgot the Kiss Me DeadLEE segment
of the mail. Well it's kinda good that I did, since
one of the folks I missed was Oliver Reed, 61. May 02.
While it's not good that he died, it's good that he died
while filming Gladiator, which I saw this week.
(And also the star of one of last week's "Worst
Picture/Best Soundtrack answers: Tommy) Wait, you
know what I mean, it's not good that he died; it's just
apropos that I can bring it up now, you morbid fucks.
Oh yeah, Gladiator. Well, if you see one Lots
Of People Getting Their Heads Cut Off For 2 & A
Half Hoursİ movie this summer, make it Gladiator.
I felt strangely Roman while watching it. There I was
- cheering for people, innocent people, to get killed.
In the long run, it does get a little too arty for its own
good in a few spaces, but it's a great way to spend an
afternoon. And see lots of people get killed in
air-conditioned comfort. And have nachos. Oooh,
nachos...
I also saw American Psycho this week, and just
about laughed myself silly. This is a great
movie, kids. But, I'll warn you - it ain't the Texas
Chainsaw Massacre or anything like that. The
violence is only part of the story. The real story
(and a lot of fun) comes in putting your own personal
identities on the vacuous, faceless executives who inhabit American
Psycho. Jolly good fun. And if you see one Decapitated
Heads (not cut off by Romans) In The Freezerİ movie
this summer, see this one. Oh yeah, while I'm
definitely a fan of Mr. DiCaprio - there's no way he could
have pulled this one off.
Favorite Album Of All Time This Weekİ: Duke -
Genesis. Just see American Psycho...
Another great record that slipped through my crack for a
couple weeks is the new one from Nash Kato: Debutante
[Will/Loosegroove]. National is back, folks.
Now, Urge Overkill shoulda been huge and Mr. Kato has
crafted the same, irresistible power pop you know and
love - but with enough of a difference to separate him from
UO's shadow, and enough UO in the mix to make the people who
cried when they broke up stop for 50 minutes and listen.
And smile. And rock. Still more hooks and riffs
than you can shake a stick at and choruses that you'll be
singing along with before the song is over. And a
dead-fucking-on cover of Steely Dan's "Dirty Work"
(which will not be featured on the soundtrack to Me,
Myself & Irene.) Best Lyric Of The Year This
Weekİ: (from the title cut) "You don't know just how
fucked up I am, so don't blame me when I fuck you up."
Saturate this, you muthas.
Happy Birthday To Thee From LEE This Weekİ:
05/12/28 Burt Bacharach
05/12/48 Steve Winwood
05/13/41 Ritchie Valens
("I'm a star, and stars don't fall from the
sky..." Wanna bet?! Oh Donna, indeed!)
05/13/43 Mary Wells
05/13/50 Stevie Wonder
05/14/36 Bobby Darin
05/14/52 David Byrne
05/16/51 Jonathan Richman
05/18/34 Dwayne Hickman
Question Of The Weekİ: Who is the most
disappointing live act you've seen? (Remember, kids,
the key word here is "disappointing"...)
İ2000 Lee M. Lodyga
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