The Drams in San Francisco Pt II

The Drams - San Francisco, CA - 1/27/07

First, from The Drams email list:

The Drams are pulling out of the last three shows of the current tour due to unforseen circumstances. Urbana Il, Columbia Mo, & Louisville KY. So sorry to the people who were coming out to see us for those shows.

Don't panic. Everythings alright. Here's some future shows (we promise to make)
2/16 Doublewide, Dallas
2/17 Dan's Silverleaf, Denton
2/23 Casbeer's, San Antonio
3/14 Mother Egan's Ausitn, SXSW
3/16 Parish, Austin SXSW
3/17 Idle Rich, Dallas

______

Good music everynight, yeah
Friends in every town.

'I got down last(two) Saturday night(s ago)'

Left SLO 7:00 a.m. .... got back into San Francisco around 10:30 a.m. ..... must of still been drunk as no hangover effects were noticeable. Just a ringing in my ear and a pleasant fog enveloping my brain.

Drove back through Steinbeck country and we felt very Grapes of Wrathish .... and gassy.

Back home by noon. Jammies on to get some shut eye before The Drams show that night. Can't sleep 'cause the after-effects of the SLO festivies are clawing their way to center stage.

I stare at the TV for the next 4 hours. Get up, wash my ass and head over to Rich's. Similar situation at Rich's. It ain't pretty.

By 6:oo p.m. we pull ourselves together and go downstairs to hail a cab for the half a mile trek to the club. While waiting on said cab I get a call from Keith and apparently the boys were a bit off the beaten path in San Francisco and were down by the warf. After a quicky direction correction the van was pointed south as were we in the cab.

Standing in front of the venue the van pulls up, parks, and 5 very road weary rock warriors stumble out of the van. We help the boys load in the equipment, then while they are taking care of business and filling their bellys with food supplied by the bar for the bands, Rich and I head down the street to a dive bar called Lucky 13 Club. Our intention was to eat dinner but the siren call of alcohol as a hangover cure was too tempting to resist.

We ordered one of the twenty beers on tap.... grimacing with the first couple of sips.... Decided that, hell, this wasn't going to do it so we got a couple of shots of Jameson. We stared at those for a few minutes before slamming them to the back of our throats. My esophogas put up a valiant battle but I finally showed it who's who.

Cell phone rang and it was Tony wondering where we were. We skipped back to the venue and got the crew and took them back to Lucky 13's. Hell, the seats were already warm.

PBRs were 2 bucks a pop so the first round was on me. (When the drinks are on special, that's the time to buy a round). PBRs felt kinda nekkid so we got a few more shots of Jameson.

Brent and I started to discuss all sorts of things. We shed a layman's perspective on quantum physics and string theory. Don't ask.

We got into a solo tour Brent did in Ireland that sounded like a green, green heaven. I've never been to Ireland but have roots there and desparately wish to go someday. Hearing Brents recollection made me yearn even more.

This led us into Larry Brown. I purchased a couple of LB books a few months ago but I haven't gotten around to reading them. I soon will once I finish my latest series.

As all Slobberbone fans know Larry was a big fan of the band and Brent. Brent is a big fan of Larry. Must be weird to be a fan of someone's work and have them be a fan of yours too. If I have this tale correct, a few years back, Larry invited Brent down to (or I guess up to if you're traveling from Denton) Oxford MS for a literay conference at the UofM where Brent played some shows.

Larry passed a couple of years ago and this conference, called The Oxford Conference for the Book, is honoring Larry Brown this year. In his honor they compiled a CD of Larry's favorite musicians. Brent informed me that he did a studio recording for this CD of Robert Cole. This is an amazing song and story and I can't wait to hear the studio version. Here's a link to a live version The Drams played in Europe recently.

Here are two links for this conference. I'll certainly post something here when the CD is available.

Oxford Conference for the Book

Ole Miss Lit Department

From this point the rest gets hazy so I'll insert random rememberances betwix the pix...

Tony thinks pro sports are better than college. Whatever, Tony, whatever.

Brent and I both have seen C.K. Louis' comedy special on HBO called 'Shameless'. Hysterical. Watch it. He calls his 4 year old daughter an asshole.

See the box that says Will Hoge? That's Will Hoge's box. You know what he keeps in that box? Love. He keeps Love in that box. And let me tell you somethin'.... Love ain't doin' so hot.....

Jess is about to cut somebody's ass, too.

And just so everybody knows when buying the band shots... Tony drinks Jager not whiskey. Everybody else will take whiskey. I mean, Brent sips Jim Beam outside of a bar, but don't be a cheap bastard if you're buying. Jamesons or Jack... Maker's Mark are greatly appreciated. Wait! Jubilee Dive... J.D. ... Jack Daniels... J.D. coincidence?

Jess Barr is one of the most interesting-to-watch guitar players I've ever witness. And it's not that he does much. I mean, he's ripping up the guitar so he is doing much there but.... Sometimes he looks as if he's doing really hard math in his head and is so, so close to a big answer. I have heard of the "#1 finger twirl" after a smoking solo but I've never witness it. I'm requesting it next go around.

Also, Jess and gravey don't mix.

Notice Rich filming in this frame. He's not on his knees to get a shot. He's on his knees because he can't get up. You can't really tell in this picture but he's got the camera backwards. We've got twenty minutes of footage of Rich's eyeball.

Here are some additional pictures from the San Luis Obispo show:

It is funny getting to know the band as The Drams. I backed into Slobberbone only learning of them a month or so after they broke up. Slobberbone is like crack to me but I really never studied the history of the band until I was putting this post together the last couple of weeks. Jenn B. told me plenty of tale and I've read and heard other accounts from other folks who retell those tales with a look of religious ecstacy.

But, Slobberbone is a glorious past. The Drams are the exciting future. Both have the same great musicians. The Drams just added to that stellar roster with the addition of Chad and Keith. At the core of both lies, IMO, one of the best song writers and probably the best lyricist walking on this dirt ball we call earth. That's no joke.

I'm goddamn excited for the future of this band. Right now they are probably a little ahead of everybody with their tunes. Watch out when folks catch up, though.

Also, and this may be a bit out of line, but it is my personal opinion based upon what I'm seeing or not seeing and nothing else, IMO ok? but....., whoever is managing this band.... get off your ass. Do more. Go to work. Where is the press?

My personal rallying cry for The Drams in 2007 is.... THE FILLMORE!!!

To the boys, if they are reading, thanks for the great time and great music. It is always such a pleasure to hang out and catch up with every single one of you. If I ever needed a Rock n Roll weekend to repair a few things in my heart and soul it was the 26th and 27th of January and you guys came through in spades. I thank you.

Brent, again, thanks for "Make a Book".

You should be home in the Denton/Dallas area by now. Rest up... then start writing. :-D

Looking forward to the next tour.

I'm going to end this post with something Brad Proctor wrote on the DBT board the other day. Sometimes I read something and I think "That's exactly how I feel but if I lived to be 100 I'd never be able to express it as perfectly as this person just did. I do not and will not ever have that capability".

Brad's post was focused on Centro-Matic's latest album and he brings Jubilee Dive into his argument.

Here's what Brad wrote:

dbts : Message: [dbts] Tale of Two Albums

The other album I’ve been listening to is “FtRecovery” by Centro-matic, and it is the best sounding album I’ve heard since the Drams “Jubilee Drive” –maybe even better. As Matt Pence (Centro-matic’s drummer) engineered both, I would argue that he hasthe best ears in the music business. The drums, not surprisingly, are particularly gorgeous. Their music is really dense – there are so many levels going on that I haven’t absorbed nearly half of what is going on. The arrangements and rhythms are complex, and I couldn’t tell you what most of the songs are about. But that’s pretty much beside the point. They songs are about the textures, the space in the songs to explore the tones they hear in their heads, the melding of words and sounds. That sounds a little crazy; I don’t have the skill to describe – or even understand – all that’s going on. I can just say that while it has a steep learning curve, once you get a taste for it you can’t shake it. I keep listening over and over to it – in particular “Patience for the Ride”, “Monument Sails”, and “In Such Crooked Time”.

So these are two very different albums that might ostensibly be put into one genre. One is sparse while the other is lush, one is accessible while another is opaque. But both are good, and I can’t imagine a Truckers fan not liking either one.

Amen, Brad. Amen

Good music everynight, yeah
Friends in every town.

My house, Sunday, 1-28-07

_____
___
_

Oh, one last thing......

and.....

If Brent Best were a shetland ponie....