Well, you’re in luck. You can have them all. ALL OF THEM. PLAYING SEPARATELY….AND THEN TOGETHER. AT ONE SHOW.

JASON, BOB AND LOU, are coming to the eastern side of North America with a triple whammy tour of awesome.

You’ll get the following combination: Jason and Bob will  perform as the heavy duty Circle of Buzzards, then there will be Mr. Lou Barlow solo, THEN, as if this wasn’t enough, you’ll get 30+ songs of Sebadoh goodness including JASON, BOB AND LOU.

Says Sebadeth’s Jason Loewenstein of the August tour: “I cannot wait to prove that Sebadoh collectively is the hardest-working band in 21st-century show business”.

You lucky bastards, eastern North America. The West Coast currently hates on you, but whatever, go and enjoy and buy lots of tickets and t-shirts and rock out and swoon and take videos (’specially of any new songs) so the rest of us can live vicariously through you.

Here are the dates:

August 7 – Philadelphia, Union Transfer

August 8 – Boston, Middle East

August 9 – Northampton, Pearl St.

August 10 – Washington, DC, Black Cat

August 11 – Carrboro, NC, Cats Cradle

August 12 – Atlanta, GA,  The Earl

August 14 – Nashville, TN, Mercy Lounge

August 15 – St Louis, MO, Off Broadway

August 16 – Chicago, IL, Schubas

August 17 – Cleveland, OH, Grog Shop

August 18 – Hamilton, ON, Casbah

August 20 – Toronto, ON, Horseshoe Tavern

August 21 – Montreal, QUE, La Sala Rossa

August 22 – New York, NY, Bowery Ballroom

AND IN NEW SEBADOH ALBUM NEWS, Jason and Bob fly out again to Silverlake, CA on May 23 to join up with Lou, who’s been spending the last few weeks fastidiously working on and refining his songs and lyrics from the first batch of recording in March.  They’ll reconvene to continue work on all of the songs recorded in the first go-round, and maybe throw in a few new ones.

With a Dinosaur Jr album out in the autumn, we might not get to hear a full new Sebadoh album until early 2013, but just you wait. The other scoop  is that the band is planning to put out an EP ahead of the tour, with songs that won’t be on the long-player. We’ll let you know more as it takes shape and all the who/what/wheres.

Hold on to your hair. \m/

Musician, video-maker and band friend Adam Harding was there to shoot it, Lou handwrote the titles, and voila, here’s a video from this special performance…freshly uploaded at Lou’s house LAST NIGHT.

Here’s eight tracks from the most excellent Weed Forestin’ album, which Pitchfork recently anointed with an 8.2 rating. Weed Forestin’, it must be said, really is a special album. Go buy it. Watch the majesty here:

In other, ridiculously exciting news for indie rock fans the universe over, Sebadoh have been recording their first new music in 14 years. [Insert Kermit-like arm-waving yelling here.]

Lou, Jason Loewenstein and drummer Bob D’Amico converged last week at Lou’s rehearsal space in Glendale and house in Silverlake, and began to hash out the basics of eleven songs, at Warp Factor Woah This is Going Awesomely Speed.

I’ve been talking to the band throughout the week and without giving anything away, can say that there’s an enormity of exciting things coming down the pipeline. Not the least of which is new Sebadoh music – something I think a lot of us weren’t sure we’d ever see happen again.

On Friday, Lou described the time as one of the most creatively fulfilling weeks in his life. He’s excited about the songs, excited about how well the collaborating has been going. “I can’t tell you how great this week has been,” he wrote. “Actually, I just did.”

Sebadoh will reconvene  in May following Lou’s solo acoustic tour of Australia, to continue work on the new album. Stay tuned here, as always,  for more details on when/where/how etc.

For those of you not following on Twitter (@RealSeBADoh, @TheLouBarlow, @J_Loewenstein), or at Jakerock.com, herewith a roundup of the recording from Lou and Jason…click on the links to see pics that Jason’s taken along the way.

• Lou: i just realized it’s been 14 , count ‘em, years since sebadoh recorded an album..we start a new one tomorrow..
• Jason: First sebadoh recording session in 13 years begins today! Well.. for me and Bob it does. Me, Bob and the Jakerock Mobile Recording Unit are headed to los angeles to record in lou’s rehearsal spot for the next 10 days… Good times!
• Lou: sebadoh LP day 1:wife and kids airport@4am,set up studio @10, sick bob clinic@1,mudrock’s 4 gear@2 (tnx!), computer
  fucks up@7-no music tday
• Jason: Band Meeting! Discussing a very hands on approach to the release of the recordings now in progress….
• Jason: Day two of tracking / learning lou’s tunes… tech problems first day… now have basics for one song, learning #2…
• Lou: sebadoh new LP day 2 : jake’s presonus fp10 computer recording interface boxes aren’t talking to each other.. help….@ 10 dreaded Guitar Center run t remedy puter prob,@ 1 prob solved!@ 7 my song #1 in place! @8 bob makes delicious dinner
• Lou: sebadoh LP day 3: atwater farmers mkt for papusas,song #2 done by 3, do #1 again-tuned to D#+slower- jason intros #3, epic drop C-done by 6 momentum gained , jason intros #4 @ 6, then across the yard for a Thai New Year feast with @indiegodess
• Jason: Sebadoh recording, day four. We think we have basic tracks for three songs now, and at this pace there should be two more today.  We have benefitted greatly from having toured a bunch last year. Pretty darn efficient, and also we are getting a very “human” vibe. Not going robotic with any aspect. Sounds like much earlier times in the band.
• Lou: sebadoh LP day 4: jake’s #4 is loose math rock but for his soulful vox , Rush is referenced.. my #5 is heavy strumming and pounding toms..#5 finished by 5..then work on my #6..Rush loving bandmates puzzle over -my- odd timing hah! work till 9 then wine
• Jason: Song 5 (lou #3) basics done!
• Jason: Sebadoh day five… good morning rockers! Heading back to the studio… song six was @ 95% when we left last night,  so should get it pretty quick.
• Lou: sebadoh LP day 5: finish my 50’s song #6 jake’s song ‘can’t live without my drugs’ #7 ironic cause this is the first ever sober seb record…#7 killed #8 my flimsiest song idea yet,takes shape in an hour w/ bob and jakes attention-feels miraculous
• Jason: Sebadoh recording session… song #7 basics done! Song #3 from jake
• Lou (to another on Twitter): it’s good that we sober, believe me.. drugs have narrow benefits, best left to the young and healthy who can sustain damage
  
• Lou: sebadoh record day 6:confusing armenian xperience 4 blunch #8 readdressed + done,#9 old jakerock song done , my bass part sucks-fix later
• [BSR note: Lou to me on Twitter: a word for an unofficial brunch @BackstageRider breakfast/lunch BLUNCH!! what people who don't have to get up early eat everyday]
• Jason: Sebadoh recording … day six… backing up song #8! Lou tune. In 6/8!
• Jason: Sebadoh recording… day 7...Left the studio last night with song 10 @90% ready. From today onward Lou’s busy schedule is going to make for some short working hours. I am going to go  find a guru.
• Lou: sebadoh record day 7: hungover from night 6 wineage, retry #10 why are the simplest songs the hardest? gotta get the ‘feel’ right that’s why…we get the feel for #10 at 2 pm ..then we stop so i can practice for my solo show that night at the cemetary
• [BSR note: Jason and Bob go to the comedy/gig... and Jason says he was "proud to know Lou" after seeing him perform solo.]
• Jason: Sebadoh recording: song 10 (jake) in the can. Bob is the man.
• Lou: sebadoh LP day 8: start #11, my only song with a title: ‘let it out’ , it’s quiet, brushes on plastic chair percussion , typical ‘me’ song…jason and bob lock the #11 rhythm/bass down- i shop for easter, wife and kids return today, gotta clean the house.
• Lou: sebadoh LP day 10: we took day 9 off so i could prepare for family arrival , we’re off till session 2 in late may..11 ‘basics’ in the can’

Soon Bob and Jason return to Brooklyn, Lou prepares to fly off to Oz…but next month, oh, next month, Sebadoh starts this new music recording thing all over again. And for that, we’re all thankful. \m/

After a whopping three hours of “sleep” in which MEGABOAT rocks side to side (how is that even possible on a ship this big? Oh Sea, you are a powerful beast and I would bow to you if I didn’t think it would make me puke) and “WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT BANGING AT 9AM WHEN WE ONLY GOT TO BED 3 HOURS AGO?”, Cabinmate Terri and I slowly arise and extricate ourselves from Casa Weezer to go hunting for Breakfast Goods. We wander, then I sit in the sun for a bit contemplating whether my liver will ever recover. At about 1pm we head over to the Lido Deck….

Yum! It’s Yuck! Again! This is kinda the gig I wanted to see most because I was having a really hard time fathoming how the spindly Brits (and my new adopted family) would fare in the SUNLIGHT ON A CRUISE SHIP AT ONE PM. But nobody exploded! Turns out Yuck aren’t vampires after all.

I need to say this: Max Bloom is made out of all kindsa shades of wonderful. He rocks way more than that guy in the shorts and pointy cap to the left of him, which goes without saying, but hey. In case there’s any doubt, here’s more on WHY I LOVE YUCK.

Obligatory Mariko Doi is Effortlessly Stylish pic. And you know what else is cool? Embiggen the photo (by making to click on it) and you can see the crowd in her sunglasses. But hers aren’t the only retro shades…

Wow, people still wear Ray Bans? Here’s my new cousin Daniel Blumberg. A cousin, because he’s wearing the Canadian tuxedo of jeans and a jeanshirt. On stage, Daniel announces that it’s sound guy Lewis Lovely’s birthday and that if the audience just turns around to the booth, they’ll see a guy who looks like “Korean Jesus”. And that they should all buy him a drink. And as there are few Korean Jesuses on the boat, Lewis fares well and ends up getting fucking hammered.

But let’s not abandon the retro shades discussion. Here’s Jonny’s awesome wood-framed ones. I remember at some point hearing someone blather to Jonny about how rad his afro is. “It should be,” he said, “I’ve been working on it for 21 years…” But enough about Yuck’s fashion style…”Georgia”, “Get Away” and b-side “Cousin Corona” sound perfect in the sun. If you haven’t heard Yuck, there’s still a stream of their self-titled debut here.

Meanwhile in the peanut gallery, the White Wizard, looking a spot more tanned than white from recent tours to Australia and a few days on t’boat, checks out the young English folk he’s going to have open for him the next day in Miami at Grand Central. Oh J Mascis, you look a bit sweet here. And I also Heart Tony Harrison.

But for soon! It’s time for the Nervous Wreckords!

The NWs were one of the surprise highlights of the Cruise for a lot of people. Freed from the side-kick role in LouisXIV, Brian’s a great lead, and the songs fall in nicely with the onboard party vibe. Plus, every time I looked him, I thought “finally, someone else on the boat IS WEARING ALL BLACK. EVERYDAY. HE MUST BE AS HOT AS I AM!” Also hot in the hot tub, were these two….

Here’s Kel with Day 4’s ridiculous Daily Special: a blow-fish filled with sugary alcohol. Yesterday’s was in a fake coconut, but we gave up on the drinks specials after going into a Diabetic coma from the pink sludge from Day 1. Also, this is Matt, in process of unfurling his rockhands. They’re both chilling out, while rocking behind the Lido Deck stage, in what I liked to call the Spunk Bath.  More about this shortly. BUT SPEAKING OF ROCK….

Here’s Brian Karscig from Nervous Wreckords again, being a rockstar. The BackstageRider approves. Of the music and The Beard. Although I have come to learn recently that Mr. Karscig has, after many years, shaved said Beard off. So rides the amazing dimple chin again! Awaiting proof, though. Stay tuned.

Anyway, back to the Spunk Bath.

I call it that,’cos the jacuzzi at stage right, behind the Lido Deck stage, was the “Party Jacuzzi”. And on Sunday, the crusin’ Weezer fans decided it was also New Year’s Eve. After every song they’d countdown from 10 and scream Happy New Year. This was fun the first of  the 100 times they did this.

But whatevs, we had places to be, and Weezers to see. See, ‘cos Weezer’s “people” slipped a note under our door (technically to the bands and crew, with us being CREW) saying that they’d not had enough time to hang with the bands and did we all want to come to the Criterion Lounge to say howdy and for a group pic? Uh, how about FULL OF YES. So off we went.

Meanwhile, my favourite camera lens (the “Nifty 50″) was starting to lose its will to live. Something about carrying it around drunkenly out of its bag for four days.  So everything from above until “now on” will have a fuzzy glow or be from my phone. Anyway! This was fun. Here’s Weezer’s Rivers and Pat chatting with Dinosaur Jr (that’s Murph in the purple, Sophie Trudeau in the jean vest, and J Mascis sitting down with the hair). Later, Dinosaur Jr poses for a pic with them. Which I find kind of entertaining.

Then I see that Rivers is alone for a split second.MY WINDOW! You snooze you lose, suckers! I approach. Rivers is an oddball, but kinda lovely. We talk about how I’m “with Sebadoh” and he wonders where Lou is. “Soundchecking for tonight’s Palladium show” I say, then gesture towards our booth of totally unimportant non-band people.  ”You should come and hang out with us, I think you knew Ramona from back in the day in Boston.” “Oh yeah,” says Rivers, cheerfully, “Let’s go over there.”

So, Cabinmate Terri, Awesome Ramona, Weezer Rivers and Giant-Headed Mikala  hang out. We talk about a lot of things. “Remind me more about what we did in Boston?” Rivers asks Ramona, and she obliges. He looked relieved to not be paraded around like a show pony and stays at our table for a bit. I told him how Lou had been rocking out during the Pinkerton show the night before and he grins. “Is it true there’s a Barlow Island on the album art for Pinkerton?,” I ask Rivers. “Oh yeah,” he says, smiling. “I hope Lou can really hear how influential he was on the lyrics of that album.” Ramona and I make a mental note to tell Lou this. BECAUSE IT IS A BIT MIND-BLOWING.

Daniel and Max from Yuck also join us at our table and I introduce them to Rivers, because somebody has to. “Oh! I didn’t know you guys weren’t American!” Rivers says to the Brits. We laugh. Daniel tells Rivers about his friends’ band Fanzine and Rivers mentions Male Bonding. “I love those guys!” I chirp. (Later, Max will tell me that meeting the Weezer King was kinda nerve-wracking: “I was all cool on the outside, but I was really freaking out inside.” It’s sweet.)

Then we posed for the group pic:

It’s easy to spot the Yacht Rock Revue guys in blue and white – I’m behind the strawberry blonde girl in the grey dress, about two or three people away from Weezer’s Pat Wilson, on the left side. Throwin’ the horns of course! Also there are Sleeper Agent, Ozma, Daniel, Mariko and Lewis Lovely from Yuck, Dinosaur Jr’s tour manager Dan Mapp, and Tim & Michael from Antlers.

Soon it’s time for Rivers to press on and be Cap’n of the Boat. After all, there’s another group photo to take part in!

We all gather on the Lido for the big Weezer group photo, with everyone throwin’ the W’s. I admire a band that has its own rockhands.

Here’s the finished picture, thanks to Cherrie, Wendy L and Marie for sending on. Still, even if you embiggen, you won’t see me or anyone, really, for that matter. We are all but specks on the sea of life…or something. But enough of that silly sunshine, it’s time to go back into the dark of the Criterion Lounge for the final Antlers show!

Peter and Darby, being rather quite good….

…and Peter and Tim being even more goodlier. I stand off to the side, with Lou, who’s just arrived for his following set. He’s enormously hungover and has shaved his stubble away so that he’s got a sort of mustache because it’s Mustache Night on the boat. Joy. Lou Barlow must never, ever again, wear a mustache.

Lou’s second solo show is also full up. Word has spread and this time, Barlow’s brought his uke. His hangover, a gift from our epic partying the night before, is massive, and he seems a bit raw. The songs are still predictably beautiful. Daniel from Yuck, Ramona and I sit quaffing the bottle of champers I’d brought from Miami. Rivers slips in quietly in the back to watch a bit of the set. NOT beautiful is the girl who drunkenly believes that she’s having a private conversation with her hero on stage, and who smothers him loudly with her love between every song. “You’re not making any friends,” Lou says gently, as her mate literally puts a hand over her mouth.

After the set, a few of us chill at the table while Keepaway set up and go, but Lou’s exhausted, rattled, and goes to hang in his room for a bit, before this….

Battling monumental indifference, sadly overlooked as creatively inferior bands are basically treated like geniuses and receive enormous recording budgets. Buns up to corporate waste mongers, IT’S SEBADOH!

Yeah, it’s Lou’s SEVENTH and last show on the boat (he’ll still play a Miami club date with Dinosaur Jr and Yuck the next night, though) and he sort of grumbles through “Freed Pig”. The show’s fraught with buzzing, technical difficulties but then, as Jason Loewenstein says afterwards, it’s “finally, a proper Sebadoh show….we felt right at home!”. And they press on and and nail it anyway. We all rock out in the front row. That makes it my 12th Sebadoh show in 365 days.

Afterwards, and backstage, we sit around, tired. Lou’s wife Kath calls time and we all hug and say our farewells. Cabinmate Terri, Awesome Ramona and I wander up to what is now party central in the Casino and take one last pic with the gang. It’s been like Summer Camp, actually… minus the broken arm, hair burning and barbecuing of frogs (that’s what my Summer Camp was like.) L-R is Kel, me, Brett, Ramona and Matt and Terri down front.

The Casino feels a bit feral with a last-night sorta desperate vibe. Mariko from Yuck is hanging around looking for the others, and so am I. I wander over to the Criterion to catch the last song of Ozma and instead run into a suitably refreshed Michael Lerner from the Antlers. He’s got two beers and gives me one. Guess I’m not going to bed? So we hang out chatting and drinking in the hallway, and I make a joke about not seeing them enough because I was way too in demand. “Yes, you were certainly popular on the boat,” he says. I LOVE MICHAEL.

But yes, all good things must come to an end. I say more goodbyes, and head back to the room. Cabinmate Terri shows up a half-hour later telling me she was trying to convince Daniel and Max from Yuck to come to ours. We could have all fit on the single bed, no problem.

The next morning, we grab coffees and run into Nervous Wreckords and a hoarse Jonny, Max and Mariko from Yuck. The Sebadudes join us, and we – sans Lou who’s staying with Dino – head down to the shuttle buses.  But before I go, I nab a few of these. I’m saving them for special occasions…

So thanks a lot Weezer! Thanks for inviting the most unlikely of Cruisers, Sebadoh, on the boat, so I could get involved. And thanks for convincing J Mascis (with a nicely fat incentive) to hit the high seas. And thanks for hooking me back up with my boys (and girl) in Yuck, whom I never get to see enough. And thanks for letting me FINALLY see my old friend Brian’s new joint Nervous Wreckords. And thanks for making my ears happy by having the Antlers around. And thanks for letting me get away from a Vancouver snowstorm. And thanks for letting me talk to Rivers about Pinkerton. And thanks for having some really decent fans so I could meet a lot of rad people, and make new friends.

Thanks a lot, Weezer. My liver hates you, but the rest of me thanks you for that truly one-of-a-kind adventure.\m/

READ WEEZER CRUISE DIARY DAY 1

READ WEEZER CRUISE DIARY DAY 2

READ WEEZER CRUISE DIARY DAY 3

That’s the motherfunking size of our motherfunking boat. It’s enormous and so is my “I am no longer 18″ hangover. Terri can do nothing to soothe this savage beast and I am a totally miserable bitch. LIKE AN ANGEL, she goes to fetch brekkie for us and I instruct/grunt something like “French toast and bacon” at her. But there is none of the delectable French Toast to be had. So she brings other bread-like substances and I inhale. FOR TODAY IS COZUMEL AND I MUST LEAVE A BOAT AND WALK ON MEXICAN LAND.

The last time I was in Cozumel, I took a ferry over from the rad resort town of Playa Del Carmen and hung out at Chankanaab National Park, a weird man-made tourist beach thing with snorkeling by some concrete slabs.  THIS TIME, though, we have a different rock ‘n roll sorta plan.

For weeks, Lou Barlow’s childhood friend Mark and I have been planning a meet (he’s coming from Playa where he’s on vacay!) at Paradise Beach, a cheap but nice beach with waiter service, activities, a sandy beach and  ”amenities”. On the boat, I invite only the sexy people: I tell Antlers, Nervous Wreckords and Yuck where we’re gon’ be. So on docking day, Cabinmate Terri and I hightail it out of “Buy Something Now, Tourist!land” and cab it to Paradise. Where these guys also join us…

WHEEE! Andy from Wye Oak and Ashley check out the trampoline but get whistled at. ONLY FOR KEEDS! someone official yells. LOOK AT THEM! I yell back: “They’re only little!” Later, leashed, actual children will bounce on this. Then it starts to rain and we all seek cover. WTF MEXICO?  But what’s a little water? Me, Lou Barlow, the Wife (Hey Kath!) and Lou’s friend Ramona go swimming. “It’s okay, it’ll be done in 20 minutes. We may as well get wet,” I say, and run down into the water. Coming outta there I run into the Nervous Wreckords who also have taken my advice and are sunning themselves on “our” beach.

Niiice. Beach sexy has improved +100.

Soon all the cool kids show up for today’s prescribed chill out on dry-ish land. Herewith A MEETING OF INDIE ROCK DRUMMERS: Sebadoh’s Bob D’Amico and Dinosaur Jr’s Murph discuss shorts, and possibly why that guy in the background looks so goddamned miserable.

Look away, kids. The conference of shirtless, pale indie rockers continues. Here’s Lou, Andy Wye Oak and Ramona (and if I had a buck for every Dinosaur Jr story Ramona could tell – she helped fund the original Deep Wound demo back in the day – I’d have at least maybe $367. Additional fact: she used to hang out with Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo in Boston, knew Elliott Smith and is, fundamentally, MADE OF THE AWESOME. So she will now be known as Awesome Ramona. Lying down next to us? Dino’s Murph. Drummers need to be horizontal sometimes, apparently.

Oh yeah, did I mention we went parasailing BECAUSE WE ARE ALSO AWESOME? It all started with Awesome Ramona trying to convince Lou to go up in a tandem harness but he blanches at the thought and instead Ramona goes up (much to Lou’s nervousness) with the wife of his two children. Deciding that this year should mark the Year of Not Being a Chicken Shit, I enlist Cabinmate Terri (who’s scared of heights) to go with me and also do something stupid. Lou and Murph join us on the boat (did you know that Murph’s dad used to have a 30-footer and so Murph’s comfortable on the water? No? Now you do.) It’s awesome except that I want to puke into the turquoise Mexican sea. We get up there for a few minutes but it’s a windy day. I am being strangled by my lifejacket but Cabinmate Terri is throwing the rockhands LIKE A BOSS. \m/ \m/

“You were just begining your ascent at this point,” said Lou, taking the pictures. “I can tell because the line is fairly slack…you went way higher. When they pulled you back the line was taut.” Ah yes, when they pulled us back. They pulled us back because an up-draft (it was quite windy out) sent us a bit wonky sideways and Terri decided that she was still afraid of heights, and I was not going to argue. Let’s be honest: was kinda nerve-wracking. Down we came, mission accomplished, into the boat filled with 2/3rds of Dinosaur Jr, two enormously cool women, and our sense of achievement.

Back on dry land, and coming down off the high with the help of a bucket of Corona, I see the leanest, whitest man alive, my boy Daniel Blumberg of Yuck. “I MISSED YOU” he says, and comes and joins our sand party. We order lunch – veggie fajitas for the underfed rock star, chicken fajitas for the overfed me – and we huddle together to feed. Look at that pretty face.

So pensive! Weight of the world on that bonce. We natter about everything. It is not lost on me that I am suddenly in Mexico with members of five of my favourite bands. In my head, I high-five myself. Outwardly, I grin like a loon:

Mariko, Max and Jonny Yuck also wander over. Once again, I present: the most effortlessly stylish woman from Hiroshima ever to be in a band that’s based in London on a cruise from Miami to Mexico. La swoon. I then witness a truly meta moment – the SPIN magazine I’d brought with me to the beach has a double-page spread of who else? Yuck! So I hangout with Yuck, while they’re looking at pictures of Yuck. In SPIN. Wish I’d taken a pic of Yuck looking at pics of Yuck, but hey ho. Yum!

And let me introduce’s Mark. Mark has known Lou Barlow since Grade 4, when, as Lou describes it, Big Mark sort of adopted/looked out for Little Lou. We’d been online buddies for a while, and I regret not spending more time talking to him. He’s good people. And good people bring water bottles filled with tequila. Which in a roundabout way, lead to this photo:

Awww, yeah, double branding for the BackstageRider! BUT SOON! We must flee teh Mexicos! The Dinosaur Jr boys (Murph and Lou) have to be back on the ship early because they’re playing the “Sail Away Show” on the Lido Deck and need to get sorted. Something to do with having to find space on stage next to this many Marshall stacks for J Mascis:

Yeah. Undeniable: Dinosaur Jr. do rock. In fact, they rock so much that only this kid had the right idea:

He’s not misguided, this small person. Dinosaur Jr’s sound is so enormous, as per usual, that the massive cruise ship docked next to us (let’s call it the Geezer Cruise), is pissed off to have to listen to the racket from our boat. Sail Away Show? More like, “Deafen the Other Boat Next To Us While We All Stay Dry-Docked Show”. But who cares? Turn your hearing aids down, grandpas!  One of the best things I get on the boat is a fan-made pin that says “Dinosaur Jr made me deaf”. They have. Repeatedly.

Sometimes, even as Lou’s wife is yelling “SLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDGEFEAST!” and you’re rocking out next to Awesome Ramona, you gotta take time to stop and remember that you’re but a drop in the ocean. Sigh.

Okay, poignant moment over, phew. Would you look at this fucking awesome picture of J Mascis?

Yeah, I took that. And it’s J. Utterly lost in the music and his own shredding. And this is a beautiful pic for exactly that reason.

This man was also rockin’ out, hardcore. Lou’s in a great mood when he gets off stage, and we share drinks from the band’s rider. With only one show today (versus the 2-3 of all other days), it’s kinda his day off and he’s ready to party.  Fact: Lou ready to party is fun Lou. But first, we need food!

Lou, Kath and I go for dinner in the private dining room (because we can!) and run into Scott and Brian Weezer, each at separate tables. Brian’s eating with his mum and girlfriend, awww. And as we’re leaving, I drunkenly ensure that Scott knows when the next Sebadoh gig is so that he won’t miss it (he asked me about it on the first night). Kath rolls off to bed (too much parasailing and an adrenaline crash) and Lou, Awesome Ramona and I decide to go and cheer on Mr. Mascis in his acoustic solo endeavours.

By the time we get to the Criterion Lounge, we’re a bit happy tipsy. We enjoy J’s set, and he sounds great. “Why’s he singing about his mama?” I ask Lou. “It’s AMMA,” Lou says. “That’s his guru”. And by “guru” he doesn’t mean “guitar effects pedal supplier.” He means, like, actual guru, Amma, the Hindu Hugging Saint.  We kinda watch, mouth-opened as amazing acoustic guitar and looping pedals suddenly fade into what seems like 20-minute long AMAZING ACOUSTIC GUITAR SOLOS. Oh, J, only you could wail on an acoustic.

J’s joined by violinist Sophie Trudeau. Sophie’s played with Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Arcade Fire and is in Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. Stunning sounds grace the stage. I drool a little.

But enough of this crazy highbrow! It’s time for WEEZER! Time for PINKERTON! Lou, Awesome Ramona and I sneak off to the reserved areas of the balconies at the second Weezer Pinkerton & B-Sides show in the grand Palladium Ballroom. We’re all stoked (and whiskey’d/beer’d).  We sit next to Brian’s mum and girlfriend again, Murph joins us, the camera guy spills a whole pint of beer on me accidentally, so I look like I’ve peed myself, then we rock out enromously.

Pinkerton’s a fascinating album, written at a difficult time in Rivers’ life. Most critics/fans loathe it – even Rivers did at one point – but in later years came around to it. But it’s the kind of thing I really dig – it’s awkward, a bit raw, ugly in spots and undeniably well-written in others. I love the slack of “Tired of Sex” and the rest of the pop songs that pour from it. And at that moment, live, it sounded great.

Lo! Pat Wilson has gone back on drums! Much as we love Josh Freese, hey look! Pat has gone back on drums!

Then Rivers heads down into the audience, wearing his ironic KISS tee and synthetic fabric jacket. Oh Rivers, I kind of have a ton of like for you. Lou is singing along and almost air drumming to “Why Bother?”, Jonny Yuck, sitting a row or two behind us, is totally mouthing all the words to “El Scorchio” and we’re all singing “LEZZZZZZZZZZZZBEEEEEYUNNNNNN” in “Pink Triangle”. In fact, the whole place is erupting. Just like this guy:

This picture is not the best picture. This picture is not in focus. But this picture sums up why I do BackstageRider. It’s a  pure and amazing moment of live music, captured. It’s Rivers, in the crowd, surrounded by ecstatic fans, with one lucky mega fan, who’s having the moment of his LIFE as Rivers sings to him. This is why I have the “rockhands” for my logo. It’s about loving a moment in music so much you want to punch the sky, throw a cheesy ’80s heavy metal sign, or whatever. And this to me makes Weezer, at the moment of this photo, the best band in the universe. Why? Because they are to THIS GUY.

Between sets, the band takes a break from all the excitement, and Karl Koch – band friend, tech, webmaster et al – takes us through a visual feast of entertaining old Weezer stories. Here’s the ad for the first Weezer tour van. MARVEL AT ITS BEAUTY.

Costume change! Rivers is back and getting everyone to sing along. We do. Look at his happy little face.

Then, the end. It’s the last of the three shows Weezer has done and they bow out, happily. We do as well. This guy throws the =W=….

Suitably refreshed (ie, on the road to lightly drunk), Lou, Awesome Ramona and I wander along to check out the ’80s-themed prom and run into Wendy The Indie Professor and her mate Brian, who have picked a PRIME people-watching spot right outside the disco. We hunker down and eyeball the amazing costumes – folks have actually really put a lot of thought into their 80s prom wear, and the parade of polyester and fluorescent is brilliant.

Dude in background was dressed as PeeWee!

Mmmm…poofy!

And of course, the obligatory rockhands are thrown, Dio-style. Sitting just to my left is Lou Barlow with one Wendy and one Wendi. Thanks for the pic, Danielle Fontaine!

Something else endearing happened as we sat getting drunk by the disco. A LOT of fans approached Lou. But rather than just sorta drunkenly “yo dude”ing him (the guys) or shyly asking for photos (the girls), the myriad fans who approached did so with WONDERFUL things to say to him. Things about how many times they’d seen him play live, where and when, about which songs they loved, WHY they loved his music, and so on. Spurred on by Dutch courage, they asked questions, engaged and then BEAMED when he’d oblige the countless requests. These connections were remarkable to watch, even if our own coversations were constantly being cut short or interrupted.

And these guys above? How can you not like ADORABLE SPANIARDS?  By this time, even Lou – often self-deprecating – was (rightly) feeling pretty awesome about his place in the universe. Didn’t hurt that these countless fans were a) generally cute girls and/or b) buying him drinks.

Meanwhile, Weezer was coming to the prom!

Dashing Brian came out for a wander and posed with fans. And then this guy came along, Captain Cuomo or summat…

En route to check out the prom and disco, Rivers walked by our peanut gallery – which included a few people he knew, like Lou, Wendy the Indie Professor and Awesome Ramona  - and because we were tipsy, we all yelled at him. RIVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRS! we bleated. He looked over, I snapped this. Then he disappeared into the disco. A few minutes later, I trotted in and found him overlooking the dancefloor. “Hey Rivers!” I yelled from behind him…”THANKS FOR BRINGING SEBADOH ON THIS THING”. “OH! MY PLEASURE,” he yelled back over the loud music, smiling.

And since everyone was having a good time…

…and we were drunk, annnnnd it was about 2am, a few of us dragged Lou Barlow barefoot, onto the dance floor. I mean, why not? This was already the most surreal experience of many people’s lives, so why not dance with the your best friend the rock guy, the guy you’d least expect to be on a cruise with?  AND WHY NOT DANCE TO….”Pump Up the Jam”? “Baby Got Back?” “IT TAKES TWO”???

WHAT THE FUCK????

This seems to be a good time to talk about the music. It was supposed to be an 80s prom, right? Soooo….John Hughes film soundtracks, Duran Duran, New Order’s “Blue Monday”, Cyndi Lauper, “Axel F”, “Rock Me Amadeus”, or maybe even some Gary Numan “Cars”, right? That kind of stuff? WRONG. DJ was likely born in 1990 and had a predilection for late mostly late-80/early 90s hiphop, so the choons mostly reflected his limited knowledge of “retro.” Still, Lou was 1,346 double whiskeys in, I was drinking Corona from some weird moulded plastic bottle, and our gang were gleefully letting loose.

AND THEN BACKSTREET BOYS CAME ON.

Historical sidebar: back in November, 1999 – the same month I was going to gigs with Fatboy Slim, Luna, Death in Vegas and Luke Vibert –  I also went to see the Backstreet Boys live. “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” is a brilliant pop song and even as a snobby indie/electro kid, I was totally out about my love for this song. So of course, at 3am, in a purple disco on a big boat, with Lou Barlow, I lost my shit. We all kind of did, really. Dancing like loons, we sang along…

Now, this isn’t our circle’s group – this is Minta Daniel from Lawrenceburg and her friends – but somewhere around 0:08 or so, behind them, you can see a guy with a checkered shirt dancing. That’s Brian. And to his right, with her hand in the air briefly, is me…oh yes.

Sadly, there are no pictures of Lou Barlow dancing barefoot to the Backstreet Boys. No PROOF, as it were. Just this sneaky pic of Minta’s (with Wendi’s shimmering blue back), of him on the dancefloor, having a tremendous time. As were we all.

But all good things must come to an over-tox’d, pre-dawn end. Around 4am, a few of us bid goodbye to the last remaining disco hardcore, I found Lou his flip-flops in a corner – “ahhhhhrrrghfucklezjustforgetaboutem,” he slurred – and put him in an elevator home to his wife.

Then I found my room, collapsed on the bed, buzzing, and content in the knowledge that I had just had one of the best and most epic days of my life.\m/

READ WEEZER CRUISE DIARY DAY 1

READ WEEZER CRUISE DIARY DAY 2

READ WEEZER CRUISE DIARY DAY 4

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/

READ WEEZER CRUISE DIARY DAY 2

READ WEEZER CRUISE DIARY DAY 3

READ WEEZER CRUISE DIARY DAY 4

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!