Tracklist:
1. Lyrical Stance (very different new mix from vinyl version)
2. Hotel Senator (new song, with Wilco)
3. Formerly Hail Centurion (same version as vinyl)
4. Film of the Movie (new song)
5. Town That Lost Its Groove Supply (new "electric" version with In Rock line-up)
6. Days of Wine & Booze (fast version, diff. mix/diff. vocal from vinyl version)
7. One More Bottle To Go (diff. mix from vinyl version)
8. Town That Lost Its Groove Supply (QuickTime video)
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So, do you want to know how good Sgt. Major is?
They covered a Led Zepplin song and actually got me into it. And I really hate Zepplin.
That's _good_.
This Saturday (August 14th) was the record release party for the first album by Sgt. Major, "Rich, Creamery Butter". It's actually been out for a week or so before the party, but that's cool. To promote the record's title, the Sgt. Major drum head had a drawing of a stick of butter with a pat being taken from it. This was pretty awesome and distinctive. When Sgt. Major came out, they were all in marching band uniforms (except for Carmella, who was wearing a nice, classy sort of outfit with a pearl chain on her glasses, but she did have a marching-band-skirt and a hat similar to the rest of the band's, except hers had a big feather on it.) When they took the stage, Jim Sangster said "We're the most uncomfortable band in Rock 'n' Roll!" and Kurt adds "But we do it all for you!"
They then go into the first song, "Everything" on the setlist, which I think may have been (I'm writing this a couple days after the fact, actually) "Everything's Gonna Turn Out Great" by the Young Fresh Fellows from Totally Lost -- this sounds about right, and would make sense, since half the band are Fellows (even though Totally Lost was put out before Kurt joined). It was pretty much clear that everyone was On, and the show was going to rock. Next up was Drawing Board, and after that was Erase You, which was dedicated to George W. Bush. The chorus to that one ran along the lines of "We can erase you/we can replace you", which was a pretty good sentiment; at least I thought so, anyway.
After a couple more songs, Kurt and Carmella introduced Mr. John Ramberg on stage to play a couple songs after they talked about the convention of introducing folks on stage with "Mr.". Carmella mentioned that it was out of politeness, since you were asking them to do something. Kurt bought this, and then introduced Mr. Carmella on vocals. The first was "Cheaters", which is on the new Sgt. Major album, and was written (or co-written?) by John, so they figured it made sense to have him play on it, heh. It was a pretty kickass song, too, one that made me think that I should be checking out the Model Rockets as well (a similar thought crossed my mind at the Scott show at Hattie's Hat where he played as well). After that, he did "Methane", which was also really really good, but not on the album.
Then John left the stage, and they called Scott McCaughey up! He refused to play guitar, but mentioned that if they had a Mellotron (one of the earliest sampling keyboards; they're really cool, they're based on having a series of tapeloops of various instruments that play when a key is pressed, they sound really cool!) he'd be all over that. Unfortunately, no one had a Mellotron, so he just sang. The first song he did was "Motor Away" by Guided By Voices. When that one was done, they talked a bit on stage and mentioned that Scott was in the original line up of Sgt. Major, but left the band (though that would have been odd, since Sgt. Major at that point would have been the Fellows minus Tad; which I guess would have solved the problem of Tad apparently not really being into the whole Playing Shows thing as much anymore). Since Scott still refused to play guitar, they called John back on stage, and they all did a really awesome version of the Minus 5's "Lies of the Living Dead" (from In Rock). Everyone sang on the "Lies lies lies of the living dead" part, and it was REALLY COOL. Because everyone really got into it and it was just completely rocking. After that, Carmella mentioned how forward and dangerous they were, considering that they'd come out Strongly Against both Cheaters and Liars.
After that Scott and John left the stage, and Sgt. Major went into "Underneath It", which is a really cool song with a little bit of "Top of the World" by the Carpenters thrown in, which is pretty sweet, since the Carpenters rule. After that, they announced that since it was a record release party, they were going to play some cover songs they don't normally do. The first was "Good Morning" by the Beatles, which they actually did really, really well, and Carmella started doing the animal sounds on the outro. Kurt got in a really good rooster crow, and mentioned that they were thinking about doing that song, but were Chicken.
Next was a song I wasn't realy sure what it was, but it's "Test" on the setlist. Actually, most of the rest, I didn't really recognize. After that was "As You Like" according to the setlist, and then a really awesome version of "Black Dog" by Led Zepplin, where Kurt did a bunch of soloing. It was pretty awesome, actually, even though I am as far as you can get from a Zepplin fan. Next was "Hwy". Around here, the setlist has a slash, and four more songs, but I think they only did two songs in the encore; though I remember them playing "In The Garden" from the new record, so I think that was the second to last song of the main set. At this point, anyway, they called Mike Musberger to come up on stage and drum for Rusty Willoughby, who'd done the rest of the set. (Around this point, too, Jim had a Uniform Failure, and ran off stage for a little bit, and came back on, and Rusty came back and put gaffer's tape around Jim like a belt. Kurt called him the Trouser Tech.) After that was "Paint", and then they left the stage.
Everyone cheered for more, and so they came out, and Carmella goes "Well, I think there's one other song on the record we can play..." (Even though they actually left off quite a bit of the record, actually!) and played "Destination Venus" by the Rezillos, and ended with "A Battleship Called Greed" from the record.
It was really, really awesome.
After the show, I went up to Kurt, to see about the new record (I saw it in a store a week ago, but I wanted to get it at the show), but he was busy chatting with people, so I just told him the show was awesome (it was), and he said it was really, really fun, but he's surprised he can still stand (he was jumping all over the place and rocking as hard as Kurt always does), and then a couple of other people came by started talking to him, so I left. Pretty much all the bands/guests were hanging out there, including Scott, so I figured it was probably a after-show hang-out with friends kinda thing, so I got out of there. But before that, I saw Jim's setlist still on the stage, so I snagged it (I figured no one would mind). And then my friend Ben told me there were posters over on a table, one of the front cover, and the other of line drawings of band instruments, so I snagged one of each. And it was really awesome.
(consensus decisions unless noted)
MUSIC
Best Show: shortlist = Hideout, both Schubas, Madison and Arlington (note, votes cast before Philadelphia).
And the winner is: The Iota, Arlington VA.
Most Commonly Played Song:
Wes – The Devil In Me
Scott – Aw Shit Man
Dag – Man In The Movie
Wes’ Favourite Performances:
I Am Ready (Dag – Second Scuba’s)
Days of Wine And Booze (Scott – Cleveland)
Scott’s Favourite Performances:
Negative Love (Wes – First Schuba’s)
Can’t Hardly Wait (Dag – Second Schuba’s)
Dag’s Favourite Performances:
Wes – Negative Love (Patio, Indianapolis)
Scott — Days Of Wine And Booze (Scott – Cleveland)
Most Courageous Performance (awarded by Scott):
JWH early afternoon live radio broadcast performance of “Ace In The Spiderhole” and “Sluts” at Harry Carey’s Hell House, Chicago
Best Master of Ceremonies: Eugene Mirman (at Makor)
Most Strings Broken: Wes
Least Strings Broken: Scott
Most Strings Borrowed: Scott
Most Capos Lost: Dag (1, which happened to be the good
one)
Longest Show: The Iota, Arlington
Longest After Show: The Iota, Arlington
Shortest Night’s Sleep: After The Bluebird, Nashville
Best Audience Member: 75 Year Old Irene in Nashville
Worst Audience Member: Incoherent drunk loser at The
Hideout
ON THE ROAD
Finest Hotel: Ruby Marie, Madison WI
Most Problematic Hotel That We Ended Up Having A Great Time In: Lamppost Inn, Ann Arbor MI
Not coincidentally, Least Expensive Hotel: Lamppost Inn,Ann Arbor MI
It Was Certainly A Drive: Nashville to Arlington (no day off)
Best Rest Stop:
Scott and Dag - 1-80 Midway Truck Stop
Wes – Indian BP Station outside Roanoke VA
Worst Bathroom: Indian BP Station outside Roanoke VA
Most Airplay in Van: Strawbs (music), Bob And Ray (comedy), Hallelu – Roger Nusic
Best Road Purchase:
Scott – Iowa Pigs In A Tub Soap Globe
Dag – Jethro Tull “Bursting Out” live 2CD with original
restored running order, and least effective liner notes ever
Wes – Mint copy of Eric von Schmidt/Richard Farina album
and a first edition of The Shrimp And The Anemone by
L.P.Hartley
Worst Road Purchase:
Wes – iTrip and useless Cuticle Scissors ($13.95)
Dag – see worst breakfast
Scott – McDonald’s Filet of Fish
FOOD
Tastiest Breakfast: Lisa’s Paradise Café (Louisville KY) with a very honorable mention to Tre Kroner (Chicago IL)
Worst Breakfast: Summers Sports Bar and Grill, Arlington VA
(Dag notes: “This may also qualify as the worst restaurant on the Eastern Seaboard. Scott and I only found it be being too hungover to care. It was if it was some type of punishment. We left this place and immediately got lost for over an hour. We listened to ‘Tusk’ in its entirety — twice in a row.”)
Best Meal: Tilney Marsh’s home cooked meal, Madison WI
Most Refreshing Drink:
Scott - Blended Mojito at Moe’s on Dekalb, Brooklyn
Wes – Stella Artois, a cold pint on Irving Park on a long hot walk to Wrigley Field.
Dag – Pre-show Guinness in Des Moines English pub, washing down my first ever Scotch Egg
Worst Wine: A Tie! Between White ‘Zinfandel’ in Sports Bar in Pittsburgh, and the White at Makor.
Least Effective Clubs Drink Policy: The Bluebird, Nashville
Most Effective Clubs Drink Policy: The Tin Angel, Philadelphia, and The Iota, Arlington.
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Scott’s first EVER U.S. tour with NO Taco Bell
SUNDRY AWARDS
Eponymous Nusic Award for Christian New Wave: Roger Nusic
Best Gig Seen On Tour: Strawbs @ Joe’s Pub (plus an honourable mention to last ten mins of Los Lobos show seen from side of stage.)
Best Surprise At Gig Attended: Steve Ferguson in Lousiville KY (due to absence of scheduled artiste.)
Celebrity Run Ins:
Cyril Vecht (renowned forensic pathologist – Pittsburgh)
David Hidalgo (Guitar Emporium, Louisville)
Cracker (over breakfast in Des Moines hotel)
Hobie Hubbard (from Sawyer Brown in Nashville)
Dave Cousins (of Strawbs – and we have the pictures to
prove it.)
Best Baseball Moment(s):
Dag & Scott ineffectively pursue Coco Crisp home run ball, captured on Fox TV in Cleveland
JWH & “L’il Scott McCaughey”’s names emblazoned on giant scoreboard at Wrigley during Cubs/Cards showdown
Over and Out from JWH's AM3!
Scott was up first and started the evening with If Only You Were Lonely by the Replacements, or Paul Westerberg... the lines get blurred according to Scott. The second song was introduced as a Young Fresh Fellows song, or rather a Scott McCaughey song as the lines got blurred there too.
Courage is the Smallest bird was next (yay!) and was dedicated to Kelly Hogan and her beautiful soprano voice, who sang that song with him the first time he played it.
Scott decided that he should promote his latest release next, and do a song from Down With Wilco... even if it wasn't his latest release. He played Retrieval Of You saying it was about a man who kidnaps a former bandmate, takes him to a boxcar in the middle of nowhere, tying him up, regaling him with stories of failure, and leaving him there to die.
Scott then asked the audience for a request, any request, any request at all... and waited for someone to say something... and waited, and waited... then someone called out for the Amazing Dolphin Boy, which Scott played... but wondered what he was thinking about when he wrote the instrumental section.
One Bar At A Time was next followed by Cigarettes, Coffee, and Booze. I love that song. I think its one of the best ones Scott has written. Aw Shit Man was played, Scott said he throught of calling it the "The Ballad of Aw, Shit Man." (Jason sugggested the "Aw Shit Man Theme"). Every time I hear this song I am floored by it... I found myself singing it at work today (not the best thing to do in public). So, yeah... I need to find copies of thsoe two songs
Scott called Carolyn Mark, Phil Wandscher, and someone else whose name I don't remember to the stage for the last song... a cover of So Much Wine by the Handsome Family.
There was a brief intermission, then Carolyn Mark took the stage with her band... and Scott. She was really, really good. Halfway through the set, Carolyn passed out Pirate eyepatches to members of her band. Scott put his over his glasses... then repositioned it over his glasses, in the middle (I have a picture of it... I think).
Langford and the Sexy were up next and they were amazing. I really hadn't heard anything of his before, but all his songs were so good I wished I knew them so I could sing along. I started dancing with my friends, wound up falling on the floor (it ain't a trip to Lola's room if I don't wind up on my ass), wound up with the world famous Texas Pete hat, and a grin a mile wide.
all in all, a great show
-Jane McDonald
Carolyn Mark was up next and proceeded to soil the still-innocent evening by telling the story of how she jerked off in her mother's car earlier that day. I'm not sure if jerked off is a euphemism for something else in Canada, but no one wanted to get too close to the stage after that. She was very giddy, and sang lots of her story songs and then split.
Jon Langford & the Sexy were up next, looking particularly sexy with Scott stage right on acoustic guitar. He only played one chord the whole set, but it must have been the correct one. The rest of the Sexy were John "Grandpa" Rauhouse on pedal steel, Bill Herzog on bass, Graham Johnson guitar and a drummer whose name I didn't catch. They rolled through a bunch of Jon's songs from his last couple solo albums on Bloodshot (both recommended), a number of Mekons songs, and a smokin cover of Big River to close the show.
This same sexy revue will play the China Clipper in Olympia tonight, and Portland tomorrow night. Don't miss it.
-Jason
October 1 Philadelphia, PA (All venues TBA)
October 2 Cleveland, OH
October 3 Ann Arbor, MI
October 5 Minneapolis, MN
October 8 Orlando, FL
More dates to follow later, check remHQ for up-to-date info