Over the next few months,  a dozen+ alt-rock bands get added to the bill, J Mascis miraculously agrees, and soon I’m booking my berth aboard the Bonkers Boat for the inaugural Weezer Cruise.

Setting sail January 19-23 from Miami to Mexico, the theory was that 2500 indie rock fans and 15 bands would hit the high seas, get drunk, listen and play music and generally party. The reality? Yeah, that. So in order to facilitate, I became Julie Cruise Director for Lou and Sebadoh (Sebadoh had three gigs, Lou SEVEN) and kinda “tour” managed the band’s way onto the ship.

I mean, how could I NOT be on the boat? I’m mates/acquaintances with a third of the bands who’d be on board: Dinosaur Jr, London, England’s Yuck, San Diego’s Nervous Wreckords and Brooklyn’s The Antlers, among ‘em. Plus Boom Bip, Wavves, Free Energy, Ozma, The Knocks, Sleeper Agent AND our friend Andy from Wye Oak, who was coming just for fun? Uh, yeah. This was going to be a boat of such indie-rockness, it’d be amazing if it didn’t sink from awesome.

Let’s set sail, shall we?

We begin, the night before, in ghost-town down-town Miami at a cool club called Grand Central, where Sebadoh are playing. There’s a pre-Cruise party upstairs, and we try to go for food but find out from local bands Plains and Jacuzzi Boys that the next best restaurant is too many blocks away (WTF Miami? You are SO weird), so Lou and my cabin-mate Terri and I have to order in sushi from a local joint. It’s dodgy, but none of us puke on stage or off. Win?

“We haven’t played together in three months” Lou says from the stage, “so welcome to our rehearsal.” But it doesn’t sound like that all – shhh don’t tell anyone, but the Sebadudes are tiiiight. Afterwards I snap the above pic of the band with promoter Mario, then we all bundle into a mini van. Gods bless him, Dinosaur Jr’s tour manager extraordinaire Dan has come to collect us and take us back to the hotel.

Cruise Day. I run into Max Bloom from Yuck ambling past the hotel pool, but my number-one priority is basically getting Lou & Co on the boat. Once I get ‘em on board, I can relax and begin the long, arduous task of getting drunk. I feel like a sheepdog in the lobby trying to herd everyone, including wives and gear, on the Artist Shuttle. BUT WE MAKE IT TO THE CARNIVAL DESTINY. Reeee-zult.

But our rooms aren’t ready yet! Boo! Lou grumbles about how the rest of Dino didn’t have to come until later and I make a joke about the Lou Barlow Jealousy Vortex – the one where he disappears into a hole of envy at his own other band. But we’re all pretty stoked anyway and hang out on the Lido Deck, babbling varieties of “HOLY CRAP! I’M ON A BOAT!!!”, “WHAT THE FUCK?”, “JESUS, I’M HOT”, “UGH, THIS RUM-BASED DRINK IS TOTALLY TOO SWEET” and “CAN YOU WATCH MY STUFF?”. I am in charge of watching stuff. That’s Lou’s bass, above. I’ve got my eye on you, Lou’s Bass. Don’t make any sudden moves, ‘cos I’m really preoccupied by the fact that I’M ON A BOAT!

Soon it’s time to find our rooms. En route, we run into the rest of the lovelies in Yuck who drop their gear to hug us. I adopt them, and they adopt me. We’re a funny-looking family.

Marvel at the splendour of our “stateroom” and bask in its cheap hotel room feel! We do. We also marvel at the fact that right up until push-off, there was a dude outside PAINTING our window and that during the cruise, someone seems to enjoy banging  above or below us at 8am on mornings when we got to bed at 6am. But nevermind. This room will see little action except for towel animals, when I wake up half-naked with my contact lenses in, and when I fall backwards off the bed.

At 4pm sharpish, we’re all supposed to meet at a “Muster Station” – an area we’re assigned to go to in the event of an emergency. Bands, including Weezer, line up next to fans, and we cozy up with Andy from Wye Oak. That’s Andy.

We run into Brian Karscig and his band in the production office . Brian used to be in rad band Louis XIV, and is now the chief of equally rad band Nervous Wreckords. Brian and I go way back to a night in Vancouver when we all got drunk on the tour bus (read about that, here on their blog) and I taught him how to use teh Twitters. He now has a band of good-looking people who make good-sounding rock choons. I’m excited to finally see this incarnation – and I do, twice. That’s Brian on deck in his uniform: black, hat, and beard, as we’re all awaiting…

….WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZER! Holy shit I can’t believe they’re doing “Hash Pipe” first! I can go home now. No wait, I can’t..I’M ON A BOAT!

Would you look at that adorable nerdy guitar solo face? Oh, Rivers. I’m sorry if I ever doubted you and told people I was basically going on the Lou Cruise. Weezer, you’re kind of really good.

This is the new thing. Never mind cam-phones. How about an iPAD in your face, Scott?

Yeah, so Rivers dons a captain’s hat and goes for a walk in the grinning crowd. Did his trousers rip or summat? Check out the little girl’s face behind him. But this is a fun moment. I’m wedged dead centre by the sound tent and Rivers basically straddles his way up the pole while singing the hits. (It was the Hits and Blue show – Pinkerton and rareties would come later.)

And what, pray tell, is Rivers gunning for? THAT. THE GIANT BLUE WATERSLIDE. Which he promptly climbs. (Note the drummer: that’s Josh Freese, who is, basically, the best US rock session drummer everrr. He’s stellar and pinch-hitting so Patrick Wilson can play guitar. Freese is so good that even Murph from Dinosaur Jr  tells me he wants to meet him.)

So Rivers gets to the top of the waterslide, the sun is starting to set on his face, and I’m guessing someone asked him if he could touch his tongue to his nose?

And there’s the sunset. Nice! So long, Vice City! See you in a couple of days! Following Weezer’s set, we wander  trying to get our bearings, and eat the buffet. And in no time, it’s time for….

…SeBADoh to confuse all the mainstream Weezer fans and delight all the hardcore fanboys with their raucous melodipunk! (Or indie rock, whatever.)

This is officially one of my fave pictures of Sebadoh’s Jason Loewenstein, aside from this one with his pet pig Emmett. This is also Jason Loewenstein rocking out. He does that. I mean, seriously, have you HEARD the track “Careful” and all the other ones he belts? Gah. LOVE.

Love this pic of Lou, too, even though he’s already complained to me about the double chin. And the crowd’s pretty ace. You gotta hand it to the devotees for showing up to Seb’s first of three shows on t’boat. Is that Max from Yuck watching? And acclaimed music journo Brian J. Bowe (author of books on Judas Priest, the Ramones AND the Clash, writer/editor for Creem and SO MUCH MORE)? And “the Indie Rock Professor” (no, really, she’s an anthropologist who specializes in indie rock) Wendy Fonorow? YUP, all watching. I mean, seriously, when is this much cool going to be on a ship together again?

Oh hai, Bob D’Amico, drummer and Animal (the Muppet) for Sebadoh! I like to describe him as the punk-rock Marlboro Man. He doesn’t smoke, though. He’s too cool.

But soon! It’s time to pry ourselves from the Lido Deck and go find a bucket of beer in the big venue, the Palladium, where there’s comfy seats, waiters and a ploosh front-row vantage point for these guys:

Oh, Antlers. How I love you and your albums Hospice and Burst Apart. Peter’s voice sounds stunning, per usual. I last saw/met The Antlers at Music Fest Northwest in Portland, where me and the gang were imagining what it’d be like on the Cruise, and if Wavves would be the ones who’d be bringing the pot onboard. (Not saying a word, here.)

Darby Antlers is kind of ridiculously handsome (good ‘boardist too, hell, everything about the Antlers is amazing) but…

…drummer Michael Lerner is my buddy. Also handsome. He gives good drum face. Musically? You can’t really fault anything tonight. Because we have a bucket of beer. And Antlers are like 10 feet in front of me.

Shortly after, with only a half-hour in between sets, Mr. Lou Barlow steps offstage on the Lido Deck with Sebadoh and directly onstage at the Palladium with…

….Dinosaur Jr! Not the tightest musically, but I gotta say, this is the most eventful and rocking Dino show I’ve ever been at. Not only is Barlow playing at Warp Factor Bass God (no, really, everyone’s mouths are hanging open and for a guy who’s JUST PLAYED, he’s going INSANE on stage), but J is throwing some minor rock poses AND HIS HAIR GETS IN HIS FACE! That’s when you know he’s really letting loose (see below). Seriously, this was quite awesome. And he’s even chatty! “I’d like to thank Weezer, ‘cos without them I woulda never met the Fonz”, drawls the White Wizard, while Scott and Patrick from Weezer look on.

… But that’s not all! There’s a drunk/stoned couple next to us throwing shapes in the aisles so emphatically they have to be escorted back to their seats five times by the tolerant security guards. Back at their seats, dude puts his hand in his missus’ shirt and pulls her boob out. Fun! Then he falls on his girlf and they both get gently escorted out. At which point, another dude tries to stagedive during “Feel the Pain” into the 2nd row, lands on the back of the (at least padded) bench, and splits open his face. It’s a MONSTER of a show, and actually one of my faves.

But that’s STILL not all! We all pile backstage after, and Lou’s missus, Kath, is screaming: OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODTHEREWASACOUPLEINROWSIXWHOWEREHAVING…….SEX! We think it’s the same couple from before who’d come back, ‘cos apparently he had her bent over the bench, thrusting during “Forget the Swan.” Kath’s traumatized. Note to self: Do not sit in the sixth row for Weezer’s Pinkerton show. Even J smiles at the news about the audience participation/sexytime.

Then a couple of us head out to the Lido Deck for Brian Bell from Weezer’s Midnight Movie. Young Frankenstein? ALL KINDS OF HELL YES. *Applauds* We hang with Murph, walk past J at the back of the boat looking at the wake of the black water whilst hanging with his band friends, Sweetapple, talk about the show for a bit and admire all the folks in lounge chairs under blankets. Nice one. But by this time we’re drunk and hungry (drunkgry?) and LO AND BEHOLD, the “New York Deli” onboard is open until 3am. I get a sandwich and pile my plate high with pickles, then run into…

…THIS GUY. This is the adorbs Daniel from Yuck, who’s hanging around with bandmates Max and Mariko in the restaurant, where they’re availing themselves of the hot drinks. I tease them mercilessly about being English and needing a cuppa tea, but Daniel insists he’s having coffee. They’re deliciously tipsy and Daniel follows us around. “I”m just going to follow you around,” he says as we walk by Mascis (we do a lot of walking past J Mascis over the course of four days), whom he goes to thank for letting Yuck open for Dino on the return show in Miami. I can’t watch. I have this thing where every time a fan or ANYONE approaches J, I have to look away ‘cos I’m afraid we’ll all die of mutual awkwardness.

As we’re walking around,  plate in hand, we come up on afro’d Yuck drummer Jonny, and Sleeper Agent’s teen singer Alex Kandel. I offer Jonny some of my pickles, which he takes (he’s from Brooklyn, of course!), and Alex slurs at me to come see her band at some point. Uh….whoops.

Soon, it’s time for bed. We get in the room and are greeted by this guy:

Night night, Towel Creature! For tomorrow is another day and I’M ON A BOAT! \m/

STAY TUNED FOR MORE HIJINX ON THE HIGH-SEAS AND DAY 2: “I’m never drinking wine again”.

Last month, Lou Barlow and I sat down over sushi in Seattle – post-soundcheck for Dinosaur Jr – to discuss and chew on what the new year might look like for Sebadoh.

It seems that the trio are actually planning to do some new music. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIRTEEN YEARS.

For those who’ve rediscovered our indie rock heroes and those old songs from the 90s, this is enormous news.

The band had a busy year – back-to-back-to-back tours of the US-Canada-Europe-Australia-Asia-US again and now on the Weezer Cruise next week – but they’ve been touring albums that were released when grunge was a real word.

So here we are in 2012 and the scoop is this:  When Lou finishes recording and writing with Dinosaur Jr in February, it’ll be go for Sebadoh.  The re-release/remaster of 1987’s Weed Forestin’ will also hit metaphorical shelves (or mailboxes)….

…and yes, Sebadoh will be recording new music. With  a new drummer (Bob D’Amico) and renewed sense of purpose. The time is right, the tide is high, planets are aligned, the drummer’s an Animal, musicians have been trained on how to use social media, and hey, you know, Sebadoh are really kinda awesome…again.

The details as I know it (which is pretty much as much as the band knows at this point):

• Brooklynites Jason  Loewenstein (who reminded us this past year on tour that the songs he writes are even more ENORMOUS than you ever remembered) and Bob will likely be flying out to L.A. to record with Lou in and around April.
• Though this is still under discussion, the album may be fan-funded (in part at least) with possible help from a label. It’s lo-fi, baby, just the way nature intended it.
• If that’s the route they take, there will be all kindsa awesome incentives for fans: maybe some vinyl, limited edition artwork, credits, signed things, possibly even the stuff that dreams are made of. We’ve been asking fans on Facebook (fb.com/realsebadoh) what they’d like to see (first choice: NEW MUSIC) and have been compiling the votes.
• “This will be a good year for writing…I know that,” Lou told me yesterday. Now that he’s got some time back at home, post-holidays with the family, he’s been sitting in his studio strumming and putting ideas down for both Dino and Sebadoh. This. Bodes. Well.
• We’ll need fans’ help to spread the word – got a couple of bucks to put towards do your mates run some really cool blogs? Know any friends at record stores? Do you know how to retweet or post on your Twitter and Facebook? Every little bit will count.
• Release dates? Likely end of year, beginning of next, and the band is expected to head out on the road again in the summer/fall to try out the new stuff.

This is all good news, right? OH YES. I’ll be sailing the high seas with the boys next week on the Weezer Cruise and maybe between margaritas we might firm up some more details, so stay tuned here as always, on Facebook or via Twitter.com/RealSeBADoh.

Sebadoh AHOY! \m/

Anyway! Onward!

I check out the fab boutique hotel, Hotel Max, in Seattle, and find Lou in the lobby, who I am to meet because my Christmas present has come early: rather than get a stinky shuttle bus back to Canada, I have been invited to ride shotgun on the Dinosaur Jr tour bus across the border and with the lads. HONOURED doesn’t even begin to describe it especially as I think there are day-old Top Pot donuts still on the bus. Woo!

In the lobby, we discover a book on “Grunge” by Michael Lavine, whose pics also cover the doors of the fifth floor of the Hotel (I stayed in a Mudhoney room, yay!) and Lou flips through it. “I think there’s a pic of us in here somewhere,” he says and finds one of the three of ‘em looking ridiculously young and long-hairy. I should have taken a pic of Lou holding the book page up but was, I think, still asleep.

We arrive at the bus, and find Murph and Dino’s tour manager extraordinaire (and I do mean extraordinaire, the man is LOVELY and very funny) Dan Mapp in the front lounge with the rest sleeping. J arrives on board shortly after clutching a bunch of Sub Pop t-shirts and retreats to the back. Lou goes to crash out in his bunk while…

…Murph and Dan and I enter into one of 100 different and fascinating conversations about education, children, the Internet, social skills, addiction and probably the state of both our nations. We also use THE BUS WI-FI, woo! Murph tries to convince me that as I’m a social media-type that “we” (he and I) should invent the new Facebook thing so that we can become rich. Murph is only on LinkedIn – of all things, though never checks it – and after countless conversations about Twitter, declares later that he’s overwhelmed by it all.  I like Murph. Me and Lou want him to go on Twitter so we can retweet his stuff under the heading “Shit Murph Says”.

He and I go for a cigarette break when the bus gets near the border and talk about the process of recording with Dino Jr – they’ll be doing that in February – and how it’s been staying at Lou’s place the last month. “The kids call me Uncle Murph!” he says proudly.

At the border, I am treated to another amazing thing: Tour Man’ Dan collects all our  passports (all labeled, and weirdly/wonderfully Henry Rollins’ passport is BLACK not BLUE) and goes to deal with Customs/Border patrol while we lounge. Murph and crew man Larry have to go out but otherwise, we’re all in the bus CRYING WITH LAUGHTER as Rollins cracks jokes about things the border guards may find wedged in private places.  The rest of the time…

…Henry Rollins sits quietly, reading. About what, I forgot to ask. But he is very serious-looking when he reads. (And apologies for sneaking these two on-board pics of Murph & Rollins. I do realize that what goes on on the road must stay on the road, but I’m kinda geeking out.  I mean, WOULDN’T YOU? Sorry Murph and Henry.)

We arrive in Vancouver and park a block behind the Commodore Ballroom. Lou’s still asleep so I show Murph how to get into the venue, and head home for a quick shower. I come back in time to get my ears pre-blown out during soundcheck and take this camera phone pic from the rafters to prove that J Mascis’ pedals are, uh, numerous. In fact, I walk backstage to see J surfing Ebay for a new pedal. I ask him if he found the one he’d wanted, but “No………”.

Next door, Vancouver cultural icon Nardwuar The Human Serviette about to interview Henry Rollins. “Hullo BackstageRider!” Nard greets me. (The whole fact Nardwuar is interviewing Rollins again is amazing because the last time he did so, in 1988, Rollins nearly chewed him up and spat him out. I tell this story to a fascinated J and Lou in the room next door.) Check out the innervu – all the “recent” pics of Henry et al in this video are by ME!

O and here’s a pic of O, from LA-based band The Makeup Sex, whom Dinosaur Jr. really dig and who O-pened in Vancouver. And when I say O-pened, I mean, only O opened. His drummer and bassist didn’t make it over the border in their rental car on time, so O had to go it O-lone. “I’ve never cancelled a gig,” he said to me and Nard afterwards. O well, was still good.

Soon it was time for the return of the Rollins….INTERVIEW O’CLOCK

There’s more on that exchange here in The Snipe’s coverage, by Rachel Fox.

I think J spotted me taking pictures.

But soon! It was time to rock AND roll on out! Here’s the setlist.

Freak Scene….sorry, not Lou. The song.

Yep, Murph forgot his drum key backstage again. But after a mad scramble by Tour Man Dan, he was keyed up and mouth opened.

AND THE CROWD WENT WILD! No really, this guy was rockhanding it, pounding the stage, singing every mumble that came out of….

…this guy’s mouth. Man, I love shooting Mascis in good light. His hair is AMAZING.

Here is another comprehensive portrait of J Mascis, taken from sidestage where I perched for most of the night. Tinted purple for added J-ness.

And, once again, Henry Rollins and his workboots sit DIRECTLY BEHIND J MASCIS’ WALL OF AMPS either taking notes on something, diairizing or headbanging. At one point, when the crowd started to go a bit moshy, even got up and looked like he was gonna help out by protecting J’s pedals (either that or flinging some bodies back into the crowd, which I would have paid money to view). I love how much Henry loves Dino.

And once again, it was time for someone to close out the tour and sing “Don’t” so that Lou didn’t have to. Enter my friend and  musician Devon Lougheed. Devon plays in several bands in Vancouver including Beekeper, Hey Ocean! and Sidney York, and is a MASSIVE Sebadoh/Dino fan. I’d put the bug in Lou’s ear about Devon as a possibility, and on stage Lou went for it. Devon got up and NAILED IT. Mama was so proud. (That’s me.)

After the show we drank beer and hung out with Nardwuar before leaving out the back to find a good dozen or so fans had waited in the cold to get autographs and take pictures. But soon it was time to leave my new family…whom I will see in just a couple of weeks on the Weezer Cruise, whee! But before we go, Lou Barlow has some very important advice if you’re going to be attending a Dinosaur Jr. show in future….

Remember, kids, ALWAYS WEAR YOUR EARPLUGS!

Thanks again Dinosaur Jr, for letting me tag along. An epic weekend and an epic band. Extra rockhands to you! \m/ \m/ \m/

(And now READ PART ONE, SEATTLE if you haven’t)

So besides being AWESOME to hear the Bug album in full, what else was was particularly awesome about the Seattle and Vancouver shows on December 17 and 18?

I was there.

At the radio station, on the bus, at the hotel, backstage, sidestage and across the border, the BackstageRider tagged along…and Dinosaur Jr and their amazing crew put up with me. Here’s what happened in Seattle. Click on all photos to embiggen the magic.

I arrive in SEA,WA just in time for a Thai lunch with Lou at a restaurant near KEXP, where the band were to perform and be interviewed. The halls were crowded at the radio station, and filled with fan boys plus old friend/VP of SubPop Records, Megan Jasper. Megan’s known the band since almost-literally forever, and it was her mum Maureen who interviewed Joseph Jr. Mascis in this quite-remarkable video.

While the band played four tracks and Henry chatted on-air with the DJ, I stood, nose-pressed to the recording room window. The soundbooth was rammed and, possibly, shaking during that last bit of “Just Like Heaven” so I sought refuge elsewhere, to take the shots. Listen to the whole performance on KEXP’s site.

Afterwards, while Seattle photog Dave Lichterman set up for a photoshoot for the KEXP blog outside, the Three Messedkateers hung around chatting (ie, Murph did all the talking). J had just been to Whole Foods down the street. I knew this even before I saw the bag because a Twitter friend tweeted at me excitedly that his mate had just seen J in the shop. “Whole Foods people are REALLY SERIOUS about Whole Foods”, said Lou with a laugh. I introduce myself to J. His handshake is very light and if I’m not mistaken there might have been a “hi” uttered.

Set up in the parking lot, Henry and the band pose for photos…

…aaaand goof around. J starts slowly pushing imself away, rolling downhill, while the mostly-serious-but-actually-really-fucking-funny-when-he’s-with-the-band Henry Rollins tells some sort of entertaining anecdote. That’s photog Dave in shot. Here’s his set of pics on Flickr, they’re rad:)

Then Rollins and I chat about the first time I met in him in ‘92 when he was out on tour with the Rollins Band and Therapy? in Toronto. “That was ‘94,” he corrects then goes off on a ramble about how he manages to remember certain gigs and tours and festivals. (“There are some festivals where you always see and tip your hat to Paul Weller…”) Rollins likes to ramble – he’s good at it. And very entertaining.

We all head over to Showbox at the Market, a fine venue. At some point, after soundcheck I find myself sitting backstage, silently, with J Mascis, while he eats some Liberte yogurt . A glacial-paced year seems to pass, but everyone knows that J’s not *cough*, a big talker. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about being backstage, it’s that one must blend in with one’s environment. So I also sit silently. But within minutes, I can’t stand it.

Me: “You have to have one of the most healthy riders I’ve seen, ever.”

J: “Huh?”

Me: “Your backstage rider. Yogurt, Perrier, brown Rice Crispies…it’s so healthy. And coconut water is awesome! Lou told me about how it’s good for hangovers.”

J: “Oh……………………….yeah.”

CONVERSATION COMPLETE.

Anyway! Here’s the a pic of the band’s most awesome openers, Pierced Arrows,  in a haze of hair, insanity and sheer amazingness. Backstage Lou tells me their long history about how they used to be known as Dead Moon, and were really popular in Europe, and I marvel at the fact that the drummer, Kelly, sitting down is almost as tall as bassist Toody is when she’s standing up. They’re really, really great. And Toody? An insane bass player, a monster on that thing. “Almost as good as Lou Barlow,” a fan says to me.

Then it’s time for the Henry Rollins interview. On stage, you can tell Rollins takes his interviewing job seriously. (Fuck, man, he seems to take EVERYTHING seriously, bless him) and takes care to ask different questions each night to keep things well-paced. “They’re not the most loquacious” he’d said earlier in the day at KEXP to the DJ, and he’s right. It’s kinda amazing, the whole Interview-Three-Dinosaurs concept, and a cool twist to the usual. I like me some cool twists. I also like Black Flag. Double win!

During the interview, though, J is positively chatty (at least a dozen words!) and very dryly funny. There are jokes about the old days. Lou refers to having to wait for J to finish watching All My Children (which J’s watched since he was about 12 years old) so they could practice. All laugh. I admit that the image of J, wrapt in front of soap operas is a rather quite entertaining picture to rest on.

Backstage, Murph and I joke about how his non-alcoholic beers tend to disappear because folks see the Beck’s labels and grab ‘em thinking they’re “real”. A clear-eyed Murph is lovely to see. The crew recall other times when Murph played the Shoebox and was, uh, a little worse for wear. But that was then, and this is now. Perrier and N.A. beer, hell yeah!

Before go-time, I ask Henry about his acting career and if there’s any plans to return to it (I’m pointing at you, rather quite disturbingly good stint on Sons of Anarchy). Not at the moment, he says, he’s busy concentrating on his series Animal Underworld for National Geographic, which has taken him to a shopping list of cool international enclaves. But, he concedes, “I’ve been in a lot of straight-to-DVD movies, because at this stage of my career, I kind of almost say yes to anything that I get offered and I’m very fortunate. But I don’t NEED to do the acting. I have lots of other things going on.”

A few minutes after wrap with Henry, it’s time for Dino. Sir Ampsalot earns his nickname by walling himself in among a stack of six Marshall amps, which, Lou says, is entirely unnecessary… but we all know adds to the mystique and enormousness, right?  I am thankful for my heavy-duty earplugs….in fact, me, Murph and Lou all spend a lot of time going “WHAT? SORRY? WHAT??? to each other.

Pictured: White Wizard. Not pictured underfoot: Three square blocks worth of pedals, including J’s own purple (what else?) Fuzz Munchkin. Not to be confused with Fuzzy Lumpkins from the Powerpuff Girls.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Murph runs over to me during a break in a song, and asks me: “Can you get my drum key out of my jeans back pocket?” I go backstage, rifle through his jeans, delete everything in his phone, steal his credit cards and find the drum key. (Okay, the last bit was true.) SEATTLE, THE REASON MURPH COULD KEEP DRUMMING WELL WAS BECAUSE OF ME. YOU’RE WELCOME. #NoactuallyitwasbecauseofMurphwhoisagreatdrummerbutwhatevs

Fact: Lou Barlow wears his shoes on stage for only one or two songs then goes be-socked. His socks are from Marks & Spencer in England. The trousers were new from Portland (he made a resolution to not look shleppy on stage), and the glow is the radiation of his AWESOME PLAYING WITHIN DINOSAUR JR. To wit: here’s the setlist of that night.

You know what else was mind-bendingly amazing to watch? Henry Rollins (who is, it must be said, AN ENORMOUS DINO JR FAN) sitting directly behind J’s amps EVERY NIGHT and, in between jotting notes on whatever into a notebook, HEADBANGING, AIR PUNCHING, PURSING HIS LIPS, SINGING OR NODDING ALONG along to all the songs. Beautiful to see Dinosaur Jr’s own hero sitting behind them so dedicated.

And as the theme here has been focused around awesome…let me introduce you to Shannon, k?

This is Shannon. You know the last song on Bug called “Don’t”? The one song that Lou sings? That was written for Lou about Lou?  The one everyone talks about because its five words “WHYYYYYY! WHYYYYY DON”T YOU LIKE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?” was screamed so strongly and repeatedly during recording that it caused Lou to hork up a few bits of blood? Well, understandably, Lou doesn’t like to bloody his vocal chords much anymore, so he invites audience members sometimes to scream in his stead. Shannon’s apparently a drummer in a heavy metal band…who also didn’t know the song at all. None of the words. None of all five of the words. “I went to tell her how the song went,” said Lou afterwards,”but she was, like, ‘yeah, whatever’ and just went for it.” Instead she just screamed great big guttural howls. BRILLIANT!

Also awesome? Her stagediving and the parts when her skirt just rode up over her leggings and she didn’t pull it down, and when she sat down on the stage just screaming, and when she was generally all I don’t give a fuck. Yeah, this pic sorta sums up how I felt about the night, too, trying not to give a fuck, having fun in the moment, ‘cos, really, there ain’t much else more awesome than hanging out with Dinosaur Jr. and Henry Rollins. Except for maybe coconut water after a hangover. \m/

NOW READ: On the Road with Dinosaur Jr and Henry Rollins: Part 2, Vancouver

Missed the first two installments? Go here for Part 1 and Part 2 of my road-trippin’, German-stylee with Sebadoh.

August 10: All good things must come to an end, and I’m getting spoiled by travelling with friends to cities I’ve never been, then hearing 32 of my favourite songs at the end of it. This is my last day with Sebadoh, and it’s starting out hysterically.

The lads have allowed me along for the ride in the SebaVan, a sexy Benz Sprinter that holds their gear and my ass. (Click on all photos to embiggen.)

We had to get going early (10am) and so Jason and I are outside chatting and having a smoke. There’s no sign of Lou. “Do you know what room Lou’s in?” Bob asks. I shake my head, no. “I have to give him back his pants.”

“What the fuck?” I ask, laughing. Turns out that late last night, Lou put his jeans on an open window sill and they blew out of it. Conveniently Jason, Bob and Mattias were outside chatting when the trousers fell from above, and behind them. “We thought it was a body or something and didn’t wanna touch them,” said Jason “but then we walked over and saw that there was a Sebadoh pass attached to them!”.

Lou is reunited with his pants (“Bell-bottoms! Do you know how hard it is to find proper bell-bottoms?”) and comes down to the van, hair scruffy and laughing. We load up the van and head off. Lou picks up a conversation we’d started the day before, about the Muppets. He loves the Muppets, Grover in particular. We get into a friendly argument over the name of the guy who wears a salsa outfit, and hits fuzzy animals to make noise. Lou tries to insist it’s Pepe Prawn and I insist that it’s just a normal name, not an animal muppet. (I win: it’s Marvin Suggs) It’s no wonder Bob and Jason plug themselves into their iPods/computers.

We make a couple of roadside stops. At one of the petrol stations, an American guy starts chatting to Lou. He’s driving to Köln…for the Sebadoh show, and has been at the previous two in Germany. It’s a nice moment and underscores the new/enduring interest in the band. He’s not the only one, several fans are driving across Germany to see ‘em.

Lou and Jason hang out, waiting for us all to reassemble. A vast discussion about moldy water ensues.

We head off again to our next stop: the backline rental company, Gate to Hell. Located near Dortmund in Lünen, Gate to Hell has a huge warehouse that’s probably like a candy store to musicians. Sebadoh’s been having trouble with their twin reverb amp (turns out you can just pull a plug out a bit more – who knew?) and want to give back a few things they’re not using. And they’d like a new drum carpet,  thanks very much. So they unpack the van and go in to test out the amp.

While the guys are standing around being nerdly musicians and talking shop, I wander over to Gate to Hell’s neighbouring store, Novum Fachmarkt…

….Not to be confused with Novum Fuckmarket, which it pretty much what it should be called. It’s a GREAT enormous and random-Canadian-girl-friendly erotic sex shop. Of course, the guys all want to check it out, but they’re pros. And nice. Decent. Plus, they’re not here to fuck about. Me? Not so much. I, uh, check out the wares. The girl on her knees on the sign outside LOOKS SO INVITING!

Anyway.

The van is loaded back up and off we head to GEBÄUDE 9 in Köln. It’s a sparse cement-y room with a back bar in some cool grafitti’d area, near some highway overpasses. I’m getting a good tour of Germany’s warehouse districts. The views are incredible!  This what I saw of Hamburg to Köln:

We arrive in Köln about 5 or 6 hours after setting off. At the venue, we meet a Canadian security guard originally from Ottawa.  He tells us a joke while we all eat our faux-Vietnamese meals (half have tasteless neon yellow tofu stuff, the rest of us have tasteless brown stuff): Q: “How many Canadians does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” A: “None. Canadians don’t change light bulbs, we accept them as they are.” The Americans laugh. The Canadian laughs. #Funnycosit’strue

After an al fresco dinner on picnic tables in the alley by the venue, the band do another photoshoot with Jens. Seems “the Australians” want some exclusive shots for the band’s upcoming tour. So they head out to find a good backdrop. Jens discovers a log upon which the three can perch. Jens is very professional…and bendy.

While Jens is all business with the snapping, I snap in between snaps. “I never know what the hell to do with my hands” one of the guys says…and the band laugh and relax. It’s nice to see. There’s some good chemistry now in Sebadoh 5.0.

Jens walks the band down to another part of the alleyway to shoot ‘em in front of a new wall. It’s kinda rad, so I beg the pro to take one of me with ‘em. He obliges, as do the band, because they’re nice like that. See the pic at the beginning of this War & Peace? Rilly cute, right? I keep snapping the inbetweeners. In this photo, they’re looking at me! (Not really. They’re looking at graffiti and posters on the walls. Apparently Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is coming soon!)

Following the photoshoot, Lou and I go ’round the corner to record a wee video that I promised to the team at the Edinburgh Edge Festival where the band play this week. Here it is. (Though they edited out the bit where Lou says he can’t understand a word that Scottish people say. If you wanna see the whole thing, go here.) And while I’ve got the camera, time to get goofy:

Let it be said: Lou Barlow is a very honest man.

Anyway! The show is strange. The room is filled, which reassures Lou, who’s played there solo, to a much emptier space. The crowd seems totally wrapt, but utterly silent and are clapping politely in between songs. It’s not that Sebadoh aren’t connecting – all shows have been super-tight, and epic in their own ways – but the vibe is odd. The band are working hard. “What day is it?” Lou asks out loud, wondering if the day of the week is having any affect on the crowd, and gets the answer that it’s der Mittwoch. “It feels like Monday at 8am” jokes Jason.

And things get even more silly….

…when Jason decides that for fun, he’s going to wear Lou’s glasses through “Two Years Two Days”. Like me, Lou’s pretty blind, so he doesn’t notice. But Jake does – he has to play most of the song with his eyes closed. We spring the surprise on Lou after the show and all have a good guffaw. As we do when Jason and Lou fling open the door from backstage onto the alley as people are leaving…

“Goodnight!” they chirp cheerfully.”Thanks for coming!” they wave as the crowd leaves. It’s funny. Nobody in the band knows what to make of the show itself but then,  suddenly, the guys are approached by countless fanboys at the door, asking for autographs, holding merch. “Maybe it was just that their heads were exploding internally with your awesome,” I suggest. “You never know.”

Oh and by fanboys, I mean fanBOYS. The above pic is of my fave one-of-three boys who had driven 300km from “nowhere, it’s a cow town” they told me, to see Sebadoh. They looked like they were 12 years old and we all kinda fall in love with them. “So, do you have to come into Köln normally to see shows?” I ask. “No, just for Sebadoh”, they say, starstruck and I take a pic of them with Jason and Lou. It’s astoundingly sweet. Next generation, and all that.

Oh! Here’s another bumps on a log pic! Hey Lou! Over here!

Soon it’s time head back to the Holiday Inn Express and we all huddle in the lobby where there’s free wi-fi. It’s my last night with the band and we celebrate a late check out the next day by drinking beers and surfing the web. RAWK! But soon, it’s bed. After check out, I get a ride with the band to the main train station, near Köln’s massive cathedral. Bob is starving so off they go for lunch. I bid them all farewell and wheel my bag towards the great big church….I suppose I should do some sightseeing, right?

Thanks for the beauty of the ride, Sebadoh, you’re made of amazing.\m/

NOW READ PART 1: BERLIN!

NOW READ PART 2: HAMBURG!

2011 is the band’s year, as far as I’m concerned, and all the hubbub around Bakesale’s stellar reissue and the groovy reviews, is warranted. They’re better, faster, more. And I’ve been proud to be along for much of the ride in my official capacity as press robot/soshul meejah irritant/cheerleader. Plus, they’re my friends. I’m kinda ridiculously lucky to know ‘em.

So for three days in August I took time away from family bonding in Copenhagen and flew down to neighbouring Germany to tag along with Jason Loewenstein, Lou Barlow and Bob D’Amico as they made their way through Berlin, Hamburg and Köln.  The enormity of awesome enjoyed cannot be explained with mere vowels and consonants.

BUT… herewith Part 1 of 3, as I hang with Sebadoh in Berlin. Join us on the trip and click on the pics – proper and via iPhone -to embiggen them!

August 8: I show up at the venue around 6ish after a day and a half of partying, sightseeing and checking out Destroyer in Berlin. Festaal Kreuzberg is a cool live music place in Berlin’s hipster ‘hood, near some great Turkish bakeries and donair huts (Lou calls falafel “feelawful”). There’s great little outside beergarden/smokery at the venue, too. And I like imaging what those weird words in German actually mean. Besides “7Up” of course. Oh and “Backstage”.

As Lou and I return from a surprisingly good and simple alfresco meal at a fish place around the corner from FK, he is immediately approached by two fans/also musicians – Micah and Tommy – who quietly ask if I can take their pic with Lou. I do. See? (Important tour secret: the bag he’s holding? It has TOOTHPASTE IN IT.)

But jetlag is hitting. The band’s been overseas for three days yet traveled back from Poland earlier in the day, where they played their first show of the Yurp tour at the Off Festival. I’m expecting a party backstage. The band is expecting naps.

I tiptoe downstairs to find Lou, Jason and Bob being all slumberly on the sofas. It’s kinda sweet.  Tour manager Mattias quietly shuts the door so the boys aren’t disturbed…about 38 seconds before the loud opening act starts banging away upstairs. Whoops.

…So the boys get up, to adjust straps. Jason wants not to lose his pants, while Lou wants not to lose his guitar.

Live, of course, the band are spot on. Lou asks if people wanna hear “Together or Alone” and the crowd’s kinda quiet. So I blurt out “Forced Love”…twice. I mean, I started to panic they’d dropped it from the set. This would not do!  It is my fave track, and sounds more and more muscular each time. Hear the song from the Berlin show, brilliantly, (and me, stupidly) here.

“Wow, they’re so much better than we expected” said David Phu, guitarist with Vancouver band (now living in Berlin) City of Glass, who came to the gig as my guests. “So tight!” Which is…right. A modern Sebadoh playing classic songs. Nice. Now, where’s the funding for ‘em to make new music, hey?

“That pic’s cool,” said Lou when I showed him some of these in the van, a few days later, “it’s kinda a muso shot.” Jason hates seeing pictures of himself, apparently. And has thusly and rightly learned to ignore me every time I wander around snapping.

But still, there he is, being all handsome and rockstarry. With a beer. Sebadoh generally request Beck’s on their rider, though we put away some Kölsch in Köln. (A fan of the band, Karsten, who travelled to be at all three German gigs, said that the locals called the Cologne beer “piss”. We all kinda liked it. Jason said that was because he was used to drinking crappy American beer and so this “pissed” all over that.) Lou doesn’t drink beer on tour. In fact, he rarely drinks at all…and in extra fact, Jason and Bob weren’t drinking much either. So I didn’t. *tap tap tap* HATH HELL FROZEN OVER?

Towards the end of the set, the aforementioned fan Tommy asked if he could take the band’s ONE setlist, written out on a piece of ragged cardboard. Like, even more lo-fi than paper, right? Jason was concerned,’cos it was their only one. But Lou reassured him that Mattias their tour manager had transferred it all to his laptop, so they were okay to give it away. Bless. The fan stood proudly with it afterwards as fans snapped pics of it. Why? BECAUSE IT IS A MIGHTY SETLIST. So….

WAY TO GO! GOOD SHOW SEBADOH! \m/

NOW READ PART 2: HAMBURG!

NOW READ PART 3: KÖLN

What could possibly be more bonkers wonderful than the idea of a bunch of pasty indie rockers and tons of their fans aboard a cruise? Probably nothing. I have never wanted to bear witness to – and write about – anything more in my life.

Weezer and theme-cruise kings Sixthman have teamed up for THE WEEZER CRUISE – a four-day floating festival that’ll sail from Miami to Cozumel on January 19-23. More info at
www.theweezercruise.com.

But lest you think that “Hey, I’d really like to hear Weezer (“The Blue Album”) and Pinkerton in their entireties, as well as b-sides and greatest hits while drinking cocktails on the Carnvial Destiny ship sailing the Caribbean, but IS THAT ENOUGH?”, Rivers & Co. have searched land and sea and tour schedules to bring together a ton of bands including a ton of Lou Barlow: Lou will be doing TRIPLE duty on board playing sets with Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr, as well as solo stuffs. And J. Mascis will also be going solo! That’s right, Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr will be ON THE SAME BOAT TOGETHER FOR FOUR DAYS. *head explodes*

In fact, Lou said it the whole thing was “some signs of the apocalypse shit, right there” on Facebook, but then proceeded to tell me after that he’s actually kinda excited by the idea. SO. AM. I.
Also joining the bill is - YAYYYYYYYYYYY! (waves arms about like Kermit the Frog on the Muppets) – UK band and my faves, Yuck, Gene Ween (and Ween bassist Dave Dreiwitz), The Antlers, as well as Wavves (I mean, with a name like that?), and friends to the BackstageRider, The Nervous Wreckords (Brian Karscig from LouisXIV’s band). Boom Bip, Free Energy, Ozma, The Knocks, Sleeper Agent, Yacht Rock Revue and Keepaway will also be rockin’ the poopdeck.

Multiple stages, Weezer-themed games (“Quick, everyone, let’s play Destroy The Sweater! Hold this thread and then walk away!”), and the potential for seeing Rivers Cuomo playing Bingo, J. Masics at the buffet table, Lou Barlow lounging by the pool, and the poor, spindly, translucent Brits in Yuck hiding in shadows whilst trying not to burn? I cannot type this enough: THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME.

Now I just have to find a way to get there. UPDATE, JULY 21: I AM GOING TO BE ON THE BOAT. I will also be bankrupt. But I WILL BE ON THE BOAT. BOOKED!

If YOU want to go, tickets start at $799/per person for a double cabin or $599 for four friends travelling together. Sign up for pre-sale info at www.theweezercruise.com. Pre-sale will begin on July 21 and cabins will go on sale to the general public on August 3.

And in the meantime….Hi! I’m Mikala! I’ll be your Cruise Director on this (I) Love (Indie) Boat! I’m here to present:

The BackstageRider Imaginary Soundtrack EP to the Weezer Cruise:

• Weezer – Islands in the Sun (I couldn’t find a playable link for “The Cruise” but, duh, that’s obvious)
• Dinosaur Jr – Does It Float?
• Sebadoh – Drama Mine (or Ride the Darker Wave or yeah, Ocean, o’course)
• Yuck – Cousin Corona (‘cos the boat’s going to Mexico, geddit?)
• The Nervous Wreckords – Doin’ it to Do It
• Wavvves – King of the Beach
• Ween – Ocean Man

Dinosaur Jr pic by Chris Gersbeck and Gene Ween pic by Kris Krug.

On the first night of Dinosaur Jr.’s short, East-Coast Bug tour in Portland, Maine on June 20, Lou Barlow stepped up to the mic for the final song of the run-through of their classic 1988 album, “Don’t”. And then he screamed. It’s a scream that was made famous in Michael Azerrad’s book Our Band Could Be Your Life, and it’s this repeated scream -only five words- of “WHY DON’T YOU LIKE ME?” that caused Barlow to spit up blood when he recorded it. Or so the story goes. This time, in Maine, on the first night of the band’s tour, the song caused Barlow to lose his voice entirely.

“It’s really cathartic”, he joked the next day, croaking. “But if I keep doing it, I may lose my voice permanently.” Then he set about trying to find someone, via his Facebook page and via folks like me over Twitter,who would take over the wails at the Northampton show that night. “I think we’ve got a guy who works at Home Depot,” Barlow told me.”We should get him to wear his apron.”

Four shows in finds us (well, rather, photog and friend to the BackstageRider, Chris Gersbeck) at New York City’s Terminal 5, with Henry Rollins interviewing the band, and Fucked Up and OFF! opening. Chris, who runs the fab NYC music blog FuckingNostalgic.com, offered to shoot the show that Barlow would later call “ferocious.”  With Barlow’s voice still hoarse and it seeming to work with having fans screech through “Don’t”, the set ended with random hairy guy belting out those five painful words.

Check out the grand Marshall stacks action of the deafeningly amazing Dinosaur Jr:  J. Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph, live in the Big Apple on June 23. All photos with thanks and gratitude to Chris Gersbeck.

And don’t forget to click here for Part 1…even MORE pics of Dinosaur Jr, Fucked Up!, OFF! and Henry Rollins from this show.

Plus, as an added bonus, for entirely different pics and a full review and the lowdown, surf on over to Fucking Nostalgic. \m/

UPDATE AUGUST 22: NEW U.S. TOURDATES ANNOUNCED

A few European tour dates for Sebadoh are trickling out onto the Interwebs faster than Lou Barlow hisself can gather ‘em and get them to me. There will be more, rest assured, my indie rock friends!

The reenergized Sebadoh (Lou Barlow, Jason Loewenstein and Bob D’Amico) will be touring the following dates. Will add more and details soon as I have them.

AUGUST 7,  KATOWICE, Poland – OFF! Festival Katowice

AUGUST 8 – BERLIN, Germany - Festsaal Kreuzberg

AUGUST 9 – HAMBURG, Germany – Knust

AUGUST 10 – COLOGNE, Germany – Gebäude 9

AUGUST 11 – LUXEMBOURG – Den Atelier – CANCELLED

AUGUST 12 – SAINT-MALO, France – La Route Du Rock

AUGUST 13 – BURGOS, Spain – Sonorama Festival CANCELLED

AUGUST 13 – Norway, Øya Festival

AUGUST 15 – ZURICH, Switzerland – Abart

AUGUST 17 – NIJMEGEN, Netherlands – Doornroosje

AUGUST 18 – GRONIGEN, Netherlands – Vera

AUGUST 19 – EINDHOVEN, Netherlands – De Effenaar

AUGUST 20 – HASSLET, Belgium – Pukkelpop – CANCELLED

AUGUST 20 – GHENT, BELGIUM – Benefit show for PukkelPop2011 at DokStrand

AUGUST 21 – BRIGHTON, UK – Benefit show for PIAS at Coalition

AUGUST 22 – LONDON, UK – Electric Ballroom

AUGUST 23 – MANCHESTER, UK – Manchester Academy 3

AUGUST 24 – EDINBURGH, Scotland – Cabaret Voltaire

Sebadoh’s classic album Bakesale has been reissued and is available in Europe on Domino Records now. Sebadoh can be found on Facebook and on Twitter! For more awesome Seba-stories, including my four-pack from the West Coast tour, click on the links below! \m/