The Big Train Keeps on Rolling

When I heard that Bob Seger was touring recently, I thought back to the only time I had ever seen him which was at Freedom Hall in 1986 (September 16th to be exact – yes, it’s a sickness to remember stuff like this.) I recalled being in high school and how disappointed I was that he had not performed some of the great hits like “Night Moves,” “Rock and Roll Never Forgets” and “Katmandu.” that night. I felt a little cheated.

In September I bought tickets for the 11/4 show in Columbus, Ohio, where I lived for 17 years, only to realize after the fact I was scheduled to be at a conference and I had to give those 8th row seats to a friend there. What was more frustrating was I was also shut out of the Louisville show. My definition of shutout is vastly different now then what it was back then. I could have gotten a nosebleed, but years of seeing shows up close thanks to the greatest network of Tramps has completely spoiled me, so I did not buy one. I would wait for the infamous ticket drop and let the ticket gods do with me as they please.

On the day of the show, at about 11:15, I pulled up a 3rd row seat that was released online!

I was seated on Clarence’s side (a direct nod to my fellow Tramps,) 3 seats in.

The show started off on a bad foot as they built up the momentum of walking out with the crowd cheering only to have a false start with “Roll Me Away” when they had to bring another bass out. The other issue with this opener was when Bob held the microphone out for the fans to sing the refrain. This just does not work well on this song.

“Trying to Live My Life Without You” did not help build the momentum.

“The Fire Down Below” was fairly solid, but it was at this point I was really bothered by the muddy mix. Bob’s voice was also drowned out in the mix. It was lacking strength and it was not loud enough.

Then it sort of came to a halt losing any momentum he gained by sitting down to do “Mainstreet.” But before it could even start, Bob experienced a guitar problem. They had to run out a replacement and Bob joked that it can’t possibly happen a third time [that something needs to be replaced.) I like the song, it just killed the tempo they were trying to build. The vocals were still not strong and I was not into the show at all. People were not engaged and seemed to be chattering quite a bit. Springsteen never has this occur this early. This is why a show should open with 5 to 7 rocking songs.

The show had zero flow at this point.

So the hope would be the “Old Time Rock and Roll” might pick it up. The crowd responded well, but I still had not. What was wrong? The band was not at all tight, vocals were weak, the sound was muddy. I was actually contemplating leaving it was that much of a cluster.

I'm not Mikey. I don't always like everything, but I love live music and almost never say anything negative about an act, but this was that bad. Could it get more detached than what it was?

Yes.

“Little Drummer Boy” brought to an end any momentum that the old war horse had gained. And I just hate the song to begin with. Sigh. It was completely out of place. It also featured a microphone malfunction that delayed the song starting as they brought out a new one.

The show finally took a step in the right direction with “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” although I think Springsteen performed it better when I saw him in Detroit in 2008. Still, I decided I would stay for another song.

The show took a swing for the better with the audible “Long Twin Silver Line,” one of my favorites off “Against The Wind.” It definitely was not on the setlist as someone sent me a photo from the back stage (see below.) The band was more in sync although the sound was still a little muddy, but it seemed improved. I got goosebumps if only because I love the song and never expected him to perform it. I decided I would stay for another song.

“Hey Hey Going Back to Birmingham” rocked. I decided I would stay for another song.

“Travelin’ Man” finally was where the show finally hit its stride. It was awesome. "Beautiful Loser” closed the first set. Overal it was unsatisfying for me. I had seen better performances from opening acts before. I was a little disillusioned.

At one point early in life, I was a bigger fan of Bob Seger than Bruce Springsteen as the songs all seemed to tell stories that had happened to me along the way. I really wanted this to be a good show. Could Bob and the band salvage the night?

The second set was vastly different. The band was tight, the sound was better and Bob finally sounded better as they tore through a set of classics. He must’ve ripped their ass at halftime because they came out and were very solid for the rest of the show.

“Nutbush City Limits” set the tone for the rest of the evening. It’s a favorite of mine and they did it justice.

“Come to Poppa” used a guitar riff that sounded similar to a Kinks riff, but if Jimi Hendrix was playing. It was really cool. Kenny Greenberg was on guitar and was, for me, the exceptional musician on the stage. He is apparently a session player in Nashville and added a lot with his lead guitar to every song.

“Her Strut” was really strong.

“Betty Lou’s Getting Out Tonight” is another favorite and was the best song of the night up to this point. I was immediately transported back to a memory in high school when Tim O'Brien heard the song for the first time when I was driving around and it didn't leave his head for days.

“We’ve Got Tonight” followed and then the classic “Turn the Page” was actually haunting as the opening sax sent chills down my neck.

“Sunspot Baby” became a sing-a-long with the crowd as they were very engaged at this point.

“Katmandu” ended a very strong 2nd set. It was very clear to me how much Bob really enjoys performing on stage during the entire second set.

The encores were very strong. “Against the Wind” may be my favorite Seger song and it was majestic. The second verse in particular stuck with me tonight.

“Hollywood Nights” was quite awesome.

“Night Moves” was nice.

“Rock and Roll Never Forgets” closed the night and was a powerful anthem, much more so considering how badly the show started. It was actually one of the best closers I've seen outside of a Springsteen show.

His performance was 2 hours and 20 minutes. The lady next to me took some photos I hope to post here after Sunday.

11/17/2011 – Yum! Center

1. Roll me away
2. Trying to live my life w/o you
3. Fire down below
4. Mainstreet
5. Old Time Rock and Roll
6. Little Drummer Boy
7. Ramblin' Gamblin' Man
8. Long Twin Silver Line
9. Hey Hey Going Back to Birmingham
10. Travelin' Man
11. Beautiful Loser



12. Nutbush City Limits
13. Come to Poppa
14. Her Strut
15. Betty Lou’s Getting Out Tonight
16. We've got tonight
17. Turn the Page
18. Sunspot Baby
19. Katmandu



20. Against the Wind
21. Hollywood Nights



22. Night Moves
23. Rock and Roll Never Forgets

A Day at the Races

It was last Monday that I received an email message from my friend Erin.

Hey Bryon,

We are going to Keeneland in Lexington on Friday, Oct 14 for the horse races. The kids have the day off from school and we are taking my parents. I thought maybe you might like to join us.

Erin

What a great idea, I thought! I am behind in getting off my ass in my plan to do new things and a trip to a horse track is something I have never done outside of The Kentucky Derby (which should be on everyone's list if you have never done it.)

I knew Keeneland was the home of The Bluegrass Stakes, but what I learned was Keeneland was rated the #1 thoroughbred track in the country in 2009 and is a National Historic Landmark. It is definitely one place everyone should visit at some point in their life.

Friday was an absolute beautiful day to be at the track. It was partly sunny and 68 degrees. I even felt like I had a slight sunburn on my face sitting out all day in the sun.

Keeneland is very small when comparing it to Churchill Downs and the folks there really dress up for the track. It was also college day and there were a lot of lovely young ladies at the track wearing their dresses.

I met up with Aaron and Erin at the track. They had two of their daughters with them and I got to see Erin's mom and dad for the first time in 20+ years.

Through a "connection," Aaron acquired some "hot tips" and we had a plan for how we'd approach the races.

The first race showed promise as we both hit the winner and the exacta! Woo-hoo!

Turns out that was the only winners he and I had. :(

Erin, however, bet only one race - she played a 10 cent Superfecta, boxed it and won $36.00! :D

It was all good, I got to hang with friends I don't get to see all that often, plus I got to meet her mom and dad again.

They did not initially remember me. In 1989, I was a renter in their apartment up on Irving Avenue in throwing distance of Kramer's and next to Domino's. It was this same apartment where we hosted Erin's infamous 21st birthday party

I had this roommate - Ivan. I have to call him Ivan because he gets mad when I use his given name of Chris Wettle. I just hoped Mr. and Mrs. Duffy didn't remember that I was one of the boys there because Ivan had this cat named Fred who tore the hell up out of the carpet one night.

When I introduced myself, Mr. Duffy asked if he knew me.

"I went to school with Erin at Dayton," I told him.

"Dad, he rented your apartment. He lived with Ivan. Remember Ivan? He was the one who had that cat."

It went from partly sunny to a shit storm really quickly because Erin knew what button to push to fire him up.

"I tell you what, you buy the nicest carpet you can for the tenant and then somebody brings a cat into the apartment!"

"It was Ivan's cat," I quickly blurted out. Yes, all those years ago I agreed to put up with a cat (even though it was a big mistake because my allergies had gotten really bad all those years ago) and here I was, finding myself 22 years later, throwing my friend under the bus.

"Well, why didn't you kick his ass? Couldn't you have done that?"

"There was never a question of that," I assured him with a smile.

He then started telling me the story of some other tenants from a few years later that broke a window at one of his apartments and I was glad when the story changed, shifting the story away from me.

The day went on without a hitch otherwise and it was just a terrific day to be outside.

I came home and later called Ivan to tell him I threw him under the bus.

"Hey! It's Bryon. What are you doing?"

"Watching propaganda with my daughter." Yes, he really said this. You have to know him to appreciate his dry sense of humor. His daughter had to write a paper on "Supersize Me" for Health.

"I threw you under the bus today."

"Oh?"

I told him the story of meeting up with the Duffy's at Keeneland he he laughed. He assured me it was OK and told me Mr. Duffy had a lot more reasons than just the cat to dislike him.

The next morning I got a text from Erin thanking me for coming out to Keeneland.

I responded, thanking her for the invite and for her letting the cat out of the bag, so to speak.

My phone rang 20 seconds later and Erin was laughing.

"Bryon, you don't understand! The story about the cat is my dad's favorite story! He has told that story 300 times over the last 20 years! He loves telling that story! Oh my God, I am as guilty as you two because I knew there was a cat and I never told him!"

She totally egged him on and purposely fired him up!

So, not only did I have a great day seeing friends, but I learned I am part of someone's favorite story to be gruff about. :)

Ten Years Later

I originally wasn't going to write something about today's anniversary.  Ten years ago, I sat glued to the radio and television at work, just like everyone else, listening and watching the horror unfold on television.

I decided rather than try and put into words the emotions I felt from that day, I would write about my one trip to the World Trade Center with deepest thanks to two great friends.

It was just sixteen months earlier, in June 2000, I had visited new York to see the last seven shows of the Springsteen tour and I was invited to spend a weekend with Flynn and Claudine in Queens.

They are two wonderful friends that I met from the years of seeing shows and as it turned out, this weekend trip actually was a year in the making going back to when I was hanging in the New Jersey parking lot during the fifteen show stand when Bruce kicked off his US tour.

I happened to notice a woman (Liz) during a pre-show gathering that turned out to be a friend of Claudine's. Liz was attractive and I didn't know if she was part of our group or not at the time.  I remember asking Flynn about her, who at some point said something to Claudine.  Claudine had only nice things to say of her friend.

Fast forward to a year later, I think caught a ride after a show back to Queens with them and Claudine tells me how excited she was to have me meet her friend Liz!  She told me the four of us were going out to dinner the next night.  She was very excited to set me up with her friend.

I was caught off guard by this, a little uneasy, I guess.  I'm an Ohio guy, so I had no idea what I would talk about with someone from New York.  She was just someone I happened to notice from one night, a year earlier, and I knew nothing about her.

The highlight of the night which included getting a tour of New York with Claudine driving like someone from the movie "Bullitt," was dinner at the base of the World Trade Center.  It was a Chinese restaurant and I recall it was good.  It was impressive walking around down there, looking up at the sky, towards the top of the towers and it was a very nice evening as I recall.  Liz worked either for a bank or an insurance company and she worked in the World Trade Center which was kind of fascinating to me.

Well the night ended, Liz and I really did not hit it off very well, but that was because of me.  And it's likely not a surprise for those who do know me and can remember the first time you met me. :)

On that day, ten years ago, I remember emailing Claudine at some point that day, asking if she and Flynn were safe and asking about her friend.  Kind of weird I guess, to be worried about someone I met only once, but she was a part of my only trip there.  I found myself relieved that she had been running late and had not yet gone into the office that day.

Thanks to Flynn and Claudine, I got to see the Towers.  I don't think I ever thanked them in the last ten years for that.  Somehow, I overlooked it, but thanks to both of you for that night in my life.

Lord, I am Old...

It's 3:30 AM in the morning. Grammatical errors do not count after 1:30 AM as I recall.

When I was in college, my friend Ivan (I have to call him that because he gets pissed when I use his given name of Chris Wettle) got me to go see a local band called Government Cheese. For the next 3 years we saw them anywhere from 8 to 12 times at venues like Tewligans and the UD Pub. They were an interesting mix. They had roots in punk, country and rock and roll. Their albums were good, but it was their live shows that were phenomenal.

I often have said, as have others, they are one of the best bands you have never heard of.

It had been 20 years since I saw the boys play and they tore through a set of 38(!) songs tonight that made me feel all 42 years. They were on stage for just over 3 hours, excluding breaks. I am going to feel it tomorrow....

The venue, Headliner's Music Hall, is a hole in the wall with the hardest concrete floor I have ever stood on. It's reminiscent of Columbus's Newport or Cincinnati's Bogart's.

We waited patiently as the band was strolling through the crowd outside and in the hall talking to family and friends. They came out and launched through their first set playing all original music that focused on lead singer Skot Willis's vocals.

For me the setlist was very strong, but the performance was hit and miss. Some songs were noticeably slower than I remember from 20 years ago, but then again, I am noticeably slower than I was 20 years ago.

This was a band where you listen to the album version of "Before the Battered/Rap For the Battered" and it was a throwaway, but if you saw it live, it was incredible. It was one of the biggest highlights of the night tonight along with a faster version of "No Sleeping at Penn Station" in the first set.

The second set focused on Tommy's vocals and a few songs with Billy's lead vocals. It was highlighted early by an intense "Yellow Cling Peaches," "Sunday Driver," "Cattleprod," and the wonderful "The Shrubbery's Dead (Where Danny Used to Fall.)" And of course, the tongue in cheek "Kentucky Home," with huge apologies to Stephen Foster, was a crowd pleaser. Skot joking referred to it as the story of his life when introducing it.

And some songs missed for me by being played at a slower tempo like "C'mon Back to Bowling Green" and the cover "People Who Died."

For me, I had never seen "Fishstick Day," so it was fun to see and hilarious to learn Tommy Womack wrote it while stoned in his apartment all those years ago (he tells it much better than I.)

Overall, it was quite enjoyable and I encourage anyone who's read this far and has the $20 to buy their 43 song anthology and if they reunite for another show, take the time to go see them.

1. Oh Yeah
2. Rebecca Whitmire
3. Stay With Me
4. Mammaw Drives the Bus
5. I Wanna Be a Man
6. This Life's For Me
7. No Sleeping at Penn Station
8. A Little Bit of Sex
9. Growing Up to Stand Still
10. Fall In Love With You
11. Before the Battered/Rap for the Battered
12. Face to Face
13. The Yuppie is Dead/Nothing Feels Good (featuring the first stage dive by Skot)
14. I Can't Help Myself (cover - Jason and the Scorchers)

(27 minute break)>

15. Single
16. Yellow Cling Peaches
17. Camping on Acid
18. Alpha Male (Tommy Womack solo song)
19. Sunday Driver
20. I Can't Make You Love Me
21. Inside of You
22. Somewhere Between
23. Cattleprod
24. American Band (cover - Grand Funk Railroad)
25. It's Too Late
26. The Shrubbery's Dead (Where Danny Used to Fall)
27. C'mon Back to Bowling Green and Marry Me
28. Fishstick Day
29. Kentucky Home
30. Janie Jones (cover - The Clash)
31. Search and Destroy (cover - Stooges) - two stage dives by Skot

(Encores)

32. The KKK Took My Baby Away
33. Bathtub, She Asked
34. Folsom Prison Blues (cover - Johnny Cash)
35. (Song I did not recognize, I think it was a cover)
36. Pretty Vacant (cover - Sex Pistols)
37. Life During Wartime (cover - Talking Heads)
38. Skinny and Small -> People Who Died (cover - Jim Carroll Band)

Nicolas Cage Must Die

For years, moviegoers have been tricked into think Nicolas Cage was a good actor. Despite years and years of bad movies and bad roles, Hollywood has somehow continued to think that he is a bona fide star.

It's inexplicable to me and I have railed on his lack of acting abilities for years.

So when my sister and the kids visited in 2005, my sister decided to razz me about my hatred for all things related to Nicolas Cage.

Madison was so excited whenever I visited. She was especially excited to watch a movie with me. This goes back to our adventure of watching "Mighty Joe Young."

"Uncle Bryon!" she squealed. "Do you want to watch 'National Treasure?'"

"Uh, no, Madison. I hate Nicolas Cage."

"But mom says you love him!"

My jaw dropped open in surprise. She knew better than that.

"No! Your mom is lying! I hate Nicolas Cage! He's terrible!"

"But mom says you love him!"

"I hate him and do not want to watch this movie." I saw they also had "The Incredibles." "Let's watch this instead!"

"But mom says you like Nicolas Cage!"

"Madison, she is teasing you! I don't like him."

Madison ran from the family room to the kitchen where Stacy was sitting. She was cracking up.

"Mom! Uncle Bryon says he doesn't like Nicolas Cage!"

Stacy laughs and says, "He LOVES Nicolas Cage! He's just teasing you."

I was ready to kill her.

Madison came running in again and pleaded that I do love Nicolas Cage, so we should watch it. She was in tears at this point because she wanted to watch the movie with Uncle Bryon.

Being the great uncle I am, I responded, "Stop lying Stacy!" She just laughed at me even harder, knowing she sentenced me to two hours of watching a mannequin with an expression of "Duh" on his face. To say his expression on his face looks dumber than a box of rocks is an insult to rocks.

I pleaded with Madison that I really hated him and she just cried harder. She really wanted me to watch the movie with her.

So, I did.

At least Julia Roberts wasn't in it. Same for Vince Vaughn.

The story and adventure weren't too bad, but it would've been so much better with someone else, like a soiled sock puppet missing an eye, playing the lead.

Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?

After I completed a certification test on 5/15, I walked next door to my cousin's office building to tell him I passed. I love getting the results back immediately in this day and age.

As I walked in, a large lady standing at the doorway asks me, "You retard?"

That's a weird question, not to mention it's not very nice, so I stopped and thought out what she said. My first thought went to Magenta who keeps hitting me every time I use that word. It's not my fault though. My coworker Kristy uses it at least once a week and I've picked up on it.

After some more thought, I concluded she asked, "You retired?" That made more sense as I was rather disheveled and had not shaved for several days. I was actually looking quite ragged and it made sense that I looked like I wasn't working. I always get that way before a big test; during both my undergraduate days and my recent masters program.

I responded, "Huh?" Not sure why that was my reaction as this entire course of thought occurred in about three seconds. I was thinking in my head, "No, I work for a living. I'm not retired."

She then spoke slowly and clearly without the Kentucky accent that seems so foreign to my ears after 22 years in exile.

"You with TARC?" TARC stand for Transit Authority of River City. She thought I looked like a city bus driver. I must've looked even worse than I thought!

She then started complaining to me because she was " ... tired of waiting for the #$%^ing bus." For an older, heavy lady, she swore like a sailor.

"No, I don't work for TARC." I walked away.

Fifteen minutes later, I am back in the lobby with my dad's cousin and she was still waiting for the bus. I loudly said goodbye to him and told him to be careful driving the bus and I walked out before he had a chance to ask me what I was talking about.

Maybe you had to be there?

McIdiots

It's a growing trend. When I walk into a fast food restaurant, the bottleneck is no longer the slow service the bottleneck is the customers.

There are three types of McIdiots I have observed in the wild.

Unus Magnus Plumbeus (One Largely Stupid Person)

There is no reason whatsoever that a grown adult needs three minutes to place an order for breakfast at McDonald's. The menu itself seldom changes year to year. Is it really that complex of a question - "What do you want for breakfast?"

One McIdiot can make ten people run late because they stand there hemming and hawing over what to order. Three McIdiots in the same line can actually have economic ramifications making twenty people late for work causing a $300 drop in productive work for that city.

I wondered if this person was an illegal alien from someplace that did not have a McDonald's thus the confusion. If Arizona implemented a "Take a traffic stop to McDonald's test" to see how long it took a perp to order to determine their citizenship, would the federal government block it as well?

Unus Magnus Plumbeus Abbas (One Largely Stupid Parent)

I went into Wendy's a week ago and stood there while a father passed down to his son the McIdiot gene. Four minutes asking the brat what he wanted. Get out of the way McIdiot! You are holding up those of us who can place orders in under twenty seconds. Order for your kid or ask him before you get there! Is it rocket science here? No!!!!

Duo Plumbeus Feminas (Two Stupid Women)

It wasn't enough that I was waiting in line for 15 minutes to get food, but I heard the inane chatter of two particular women the entire time. Everyone else was silent and I think they were plotting how to kill these two chatterboxes. They were ahead of me and when it became their turn one of these McIdiots actually said, "Hmmmm. What do I want?"

What does she mean? She's been in line for 15 minutes and she has no frakking clue what she wants? She should lose her place in line and go to the end or be drawn and quartered for adding to our wait time.

Demand McIdiots get out of your way. It's time to take back out fast food restaurants. Just don't start the fight with a pregnant McIdiot as my friend Patty once did.

This particular McIdiot took exception to Patty telling her to hurry up while trying to wrangle the three kids running around. She got in Patty's face to get off her back and about how she was probably the most educated person in that restaurant, so Patty needed to back off.

Patty pointed out that apparently that education did not include knowing how to read a frakking menu and it went downhill from there. Even though Patty was in the right, public sentiment seems to side with the child carrying McIdiot now matter what kind of idiot she is.