Scott / The Minus 5, Dante’s, Portland,Or
6/25/04
Jason and I got to the venue early enough to catch the end of soundcheck.
Scott was onstage with members of I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House
running through Deep Down and Inbetween, Hillbilly Drummer Girl, and
Tomorrow's Gone (and so are you). It was rather entertaining to see the
Bassist from SOB teaching Scott his own songs.
The first band up that night was Hillstomp. They were really quite good.
There was a slide guitarist and a drummer who played a homemade drum kit
comprised of old laundry detergent buckets. He got a really good sound out
of it too.
Next up was local girl Little Sue. She's amazing. Her songs are soooo
pretty, and we have to get a copy of her record.
Third on the bill was our man Scott. He had forgotten to bring a guitar
strap, so he performed part of his show sitting on a barstool, swinging his
legs back and forth to the beat. He dedicated the frist song to someone who
hadn't made it to the club yet and played Emperor of the Bathroom followed
by sitting on a pitchfork.
Then he called out "The Bison Flavored Minus 5." This evening he was joined
by Brian Berg (guitar, from 44 Long), Jim "Jimmy Talent" Talstra (bass, from
the Maroons), and Eric Bennis (drums, from the Maroons). It was quite the
line-up, and at times you forgot that these guys weren't full-time members
of the Minus 5.
First they played Cigarettes, Coffee and Booze. This was incredible... with
a rawk band behind the song, it wasn't as depressing a song as it is solo.
Brian ripped off some blistering solos.
Scott then said he was going to sing a song about a depressing childhood and
got about two bars into it before he remembered he couldn't remember the
words.So he played I Still Miss Someone instead. Then he launced into a song
called "Aw Shit, Man." Claiming that it was written by Ernest Tubb. The song
is really rawkin'... but really depressing at the same time. At the end of
the tune, Scott said "You know what would be cool? We should do that song
again!"
and they did... all of the song. and it was cool.
Scott tried to get his guitar in tune, and was taking awhile to do so, so
Brian did a song.. however, I don't know what it was. Scott said it might be
a 44 Long song.
Scott found his way back into tune and played The Days of Wine and Blues,
followed by the Night Chicago Died Again.
The Bison Flavored Minus 5 set ended with a new song called "Original Luke."
By the end of the set we had heard at least three new songs from the next
album and they were GOOOOD.
A few minutes later, Scott returned to the stage with members of I Can Lick
Any Sonofabitch In The House. They played Hillbilly Drummer Girl, Deep Down
and In Between (which was dedicated to someone in Brooklyn who was having a
birthday, one of scott's friends called her during the song) and Tomorrow's
Gone (and so are you)
I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House closed out the night. We stayed
through their set, but took off pretty quickly afterward as we were
exhausted.
I know this isn't my best review... but it was two days ago and there was
another show last night which was even cooler... to learn about that one,
read my next thread
- Jane McDonald
Scott Solo at Sam Bond's Garage.
Eugene, Or 6/26/04
Yesterday we made the two hour drive from Portland to Eugene, Oregon to see
Scott do an early set at the wonderful Sam Bond's Garage.
The drive was pretty fun, and took almost no time. We found the super-cool
hotel that had been recommended to us (only $44 a night!), hung out for a
bit, then went over to the venue.
While waiting for the show to start, Scott told me to make him a set list.
This is harder than it seems. You try to pick 20 songs out of a catalog of
around four to five hunded options. We picked some of the usual songs...
ghost tarts, retrieval of you, groove supply and threw in some oddball ones:
a sobering thought, happy for the box, I couldn't spell $&%@.
I went over the list with Scott and he laughed at some of my choices (he
couldn't believe I knew "I couldn't spell $&%@."). He made some suggestions,
I offered my assistance, and we somehow made it onto the topic of the
Emperor of the Bathroom.
Now, I've always had around three theories about the meaning of this song.
1- Its about masturbation
2- Its about the restroom attendants at really fancy places
3- Its about how elvis died in the bathroom
Scott said he just wrote the song, that there's no real meaning to it, but
each of my theories were right in a way.
Scott finally took the stage, and began his show by singing With A Gun, then
Retrieval of You. He stated that was about a kidnapping and he thanked law
enforcement agencies for finding him and airlifting him out, otherwise he'd
still be in that boxcar and be nothing but bones and dust.
Ghost Tarts was next. He said "That song is obviously about the ghost tarts
of stockholm, no one ever asks me what that song is about.
Next up was One Bar At A Time (I don't think I've ever seen this one live
before), followed by The Backroom of the Bar (jason couldn't believe I
forgot this one on the setlist). I Don't Wanna Fuck Off Anymore was next,
followed by The Days of Wine and Booze. I suggested So Much Wine to be the
next song, but Scott played Cigarettes, Coffee, and Booze instead.
Scott then realized he was playing a lot of depressing songs, and decided to
play happy for the box which he introduced as being about the guitar player
from U2. Hank, KAren and Elvis was next.
Scott decided to play emperor of the bathroom next. He dedicated it to Ling,
the woman who didn't show up at Dante's on time the night before. Then Scott
looks at me and says "you're writing down the chords, right janey?" and I
said yes... he said "She's working on my tablature book" and I mentioned
that I only knew 4 chords, he said all the chords that I knew were in the
song. Then, Scott asked me what I thought the song was about and I said to
say my theories very loud and in public... yes, I talked about Masturbation
in public.
The song was very good (and I think I kinda got the chords to it). Scott
introduced the next song by saying he liked it so much that he played it
twice in a row the night before, but he was only going to play it once. So,
he played Aw Shit, Man. Followed by Hang Out Right, which was dedicated to
all the Oregon State students in attendance (Eugene being the home to Oregon
State University)
Scott veered off the setlist next, playing Be Not So Fearful by Bill Fey. It
was beautiful.
At the conclusion of the song, he wondered aloud "What song should I play
next?" and I called out for The Town That Lost Its Groove Supply. He
strummed a few chords, then stopped and said "Are you going to do this with
me?" So, I got onstage, scott shifted on his barstool to allow me access to
the microphone, and he started the song.
I was nervous, really really nervous. So I just closed my eyes and just
sorta sang along. We got to the break and he says "You wanna take this one?"
so I wound up singing the "You'll never know if she's in order" part of the
song. My nervousness subsided a little (although I was afraid that I was
totally out of key) and I was able to make it through the song, adding
backgrond and singing the "bah bah bah bah" parts with scott.
The song ended and I took my seat. Jason was smiling widely as well as my
other friends in attendance. It was really really cool. I thanked Scott for
letting me sing with him.
A few other bands were playing that night, but I spent most of the rest of
the night on the patio of the bar. jason and I won a t-shirt from one of the
other bands by playing Chicken Shit bingo. We eventually left and headed
back to our hotel, where we ate sun chips and had gin & tonics outside our
room until the lady that ran the hotel chased us inside.
It was a great time. And a great show... I just wish I had brought my camera
- Jane McDonald
It’s only fitting that a band that’s appeared on as many tribute albums as the Young Fresh Fellows finally should get the tribute treatment themselves. It’s like Don Rickles getting a celebrity roast after years of firing caustic zingers at Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson, etc.
“After all the tribute albums I’ve taken part in, it was pretty great to have someone else do all the work, and the Fellows got all the pleasure,” says singer-songwriter Scott McCaughey. “It felt great to have friends and fans put so much effort into the album.”
The album to which he refers is “This One’s for the Fellows” (Blue Disguise Records), a near-flawless collection of cheeky power pop torn from the lengthy set list of the Young Fresh Fellows, a criminally overlooked Seattle band that McCaughey (pronounced like McCoy) has led since the early ’80s.
During that time, in addition to their own tasty records, the Young Fresh Fellows have appeared on numerous tribute albums celebrating the music of artists as far-flung as Donovan, the Damned, the Zombies, the Banana Splits, the Sonics and even the late Sonny Bono (surely you must remember the immortal “Pammie’s on a Bummer”?).
On “This One’s for the Fellows” we get reacquainted with a whole slew of terrific songs from the band’s hefty songbook, and therein lies the beauty of this record. Hearing prime Fellows tunes such as “Rock & Roll Pest Control,” “Teenage Dogs in Trouble” and “Get Outta My Cave” is like having beers with old college buddies and finding out that not a single one of them has grown old and boring.
“I loved all of them, honestly,” McCaughey says of the songs on the tribute album. “I practically cried when I heard the Makers doing ‘Don’t You Wonder How It Ends.’ ”
And the album clearly is a labor of love. Band pals Robyn Hitchcock, Visqueen, the Mono Men and Presidents of the United States all acquit themselves nicely.
On the local front, the Maroons — with Steve Malkmus — cover “No One Really Knows” while I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House weigh in with a white-lightning version of “Hillbilly Drummer Girl.” Really, there’s not a duff cut in sight.
Over the years, McCaughey has sprouted more creative branches than a gnarly oak tree dosed with Miracle-Gro. But the Fellows remain close to his heart, despite not putting out a record in three years. Perhaps the band is done, perhaps not.
“I think the Young Fresh Fellows were a great band,” he says. “Maybe we still are. … Our records stand up pretty well, and I know at our peak, I felt like we were the best band in the world every night. As to being an institution, it’s probably closer to say that we belong in one.”
As for his other jobs, McCaughey is the leader of the Minus 5, a fine band that includes R.E.M.’s Peter Buck. He’s also an auxiliary member of R.E.M., touring with the band and playing on its last few records. No doubt being a husband and father keeps him busy as well. (McCaughey’s wife, singer Christy McWilson, also is on the record.)
“Really it’s all the same,” McCaughey says of his various projects. “It’s just me playing music.
“In the YFF and Minus 5, I’m sort of a frontman, so I behave accordingly — I hope. This means keeping up a torrent of witty yammering between songs, to keep everyone interested.
“In R.E.M. I jump around similarly, having a great time, but I try to stay away from the mike as much as possible. Michael Stipe does not need my assistance in that regard.”
Even as a hired hand with the most high profile of all his bands, McCaughey definitely qualifies as an unsung hero of Northwest rock. And with “This One’s for the Fellows,” those overdue praises finally are sung.
-Scott
Scott performs some Minus 5 songs during The Strange tour
in croatia.
Don't forget, Down With Wilco is out on vinyl since this week, you can find it in the better record shop or at the YepRoc store.
The Minus 5 shirt
Scott played a couple songs himself and mid-song during a YFF song Tadd Hutchinson and Kurt Bloch ran up to the foot of the stage with 2 drums and a cymbal. Tadd finished the song on drums and proceded to play the whole set with Scott. After a couple songs Scott said, "What are you doing here?" so I think that this was all unexpected. It was great. I'm sure someone else kept a set list but I didn't, sorry.
-Zach
Don’t forget, Ken’s new album ‘Soft Commands’ is out July 13 on YepRoc Records.
© Christophe Claessens 2003-2004.