The concert was at the historic Breese Stevens Field, located just a few blocks from the State Capitol building. We met up with a couple of friends who found a good spot on the bleachers to the side of the stage. The guys headed down to the grass to be near the stage once Queens of the Stone Age started playing; I chose to stay bleacher-beached because the dude-brah level at a QOTSA show is way too high for my palate.

To the story! Homme mentioned that he recently turned 45 (so he’s just about 2 years younger than me) and when he was about 18 he lived in Madison and recalled playing shows here with Ween (whether he opened for them or sat in during their performance wasn’t obvious – Homme was clearly, and self-admittedly, wasted last night so not all of his crowd banter was coherent). He then said he bartended at O’Cayz Corral (a bar that I saw many shows at, when I lived in Madison between ‘89-’93 and then later through the 90′s before it burned down in 2001, shows including Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Murder City Devils, Nashville Pussy, and many many more; it’s entirely possible that at one point Josh Homme served me a drink) and “I slept with at least 5 of you. At the same time. This next song is about that,” and launched into “No One Knows.” “No One Knows” was the first single released from Songs for the Deaf which became a huge hit, making it to #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart and #1 on the Alternative Songs chart. It was nominated for a Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy (losing, kinda ironically, to Foo Fighters’ “All My Life” – Dave Grohl drummed for QOTSA on Songs for the Deaf) and Rolling Stone placed it at #97 in their list of Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. That’s a lot of acclaim given to an experience at a 150-capacity shitty (but awesome!) club in Madison, Wisconsin.

The post Queens of the Stone Age “Songs for the Deaf” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Recorded live at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, it’s a surprisingly high quality recording with very little background/crowd noise (or the crowd was really tiny and/or really quiet). When Jon Spencer screams out “Mr. Judah Bauer! Mr. Judah Bauer!” prior to Judah’s harmonica solo on “Feeling of Love,” barely a peep of acknowledgement can be heard from the audience – and it’s a really killer solo. “Soul Typecast” sets the funky groove for the show, followed by rumpshaker “Afro.” Spencer hollers and growls brilliantly on “Blues Explosion Man” and you can almost feel the sweat of the Blues Explosion from an all-out performance on “Sweat.” “Bell Bottoms” is gloriously messy, topped off with a taste of theremin on the barely-a-song that ends the show “Finale of Loneliness.”

I attended a JSBX show earlier that year, in May of ‘93, in Madison WI at O’Cayz Corral and the crowd was pretty small there as well. I probably knew about half the people in the bar (and about all of them originally from the Appleton area, there to see hometown kid Judah). Guessing the tracklist on this LP is close to that setlist, maybe with less from Orange.

The post Jon Spencer Blues Explosion “Blues Explosion Live!! 11-23-93″ appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

We saw Nashville Pussy several times in the late 90′s, all unforgettable shows. The first time was at O’Cayz in Madison and holy shit, mind blown insanity: bassist Corey Parks was still in the band and scared the crap out of the crowd in the small club with her signature fire breathing act. Probably a few months later we saw them play in Green Bay at some warehouse-y venue, likely now gone, and my friends and I spent much of the show distracted by a very large girl with a teeny tiny Hello Kitty backpack who danced maniacally and allegedly hooked up with Parks after the show. [Hilarious to me sidenote: a year or so later, Hello Kitty girl was one of the manicurists doing nails for those same friends before my wedding.] [I did not tell Hello Kitty girl about the Nashville Pussy connection.] We attended another concert in Milwaukee at Shank Hall (notable for its Spinal Tap association). Which is all a long way around to when we saw Nashville Pussy open for Motorhead at The Rave – the only time I saw Lemmy play live. Perfect pairing of bands for noise, debauchery and growling speed. The Rave’s acoustics suck, so badly that singer/guitarist Blaine Cartwright stopped NP’s performance to scream “What’s that noise??!! What’s that fucking noise? Does everyone hear that?” It was the sound of another band playing in another area of the club, its music bleeding through the walls. [Someone in the audience said it was barroom country rockers Commander Cody of “Hot Rod Lincoln” fame, but I think that may have just been a coverup for the awful acoustics because I have a really hard time believing that CC could match, much less overpower, the brute aural fury of NP.] Cartwright, pissed as hell, offered free tickets to audience members the next time NP played Milwaukee. We never took him up on that offer. Motorhead, surprisingly, were much more congenial to the shitty sound, or drunk enough to just not care.

The post Nashville Pussy “Snake Eyes” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

We’re seeing them play this summer in Madison, WI at the High Noon Saloon and I’m excited to dance my behind off. I’ve seen JSBX perform many times over the years, the first time was in May of ‘93 at O’Cayz Corral, probably days after the release of “Extra Width.” Very small venue and small show: the band wasn’t well-known at this point. Lots of Judah’s family and friends were there, including his brother Donovan, who I hung out with at the bar.  After the show Russell came over by us and was looking for a place to crash for the night so I introduced to him to a friend of mine who had an extra couch (whispering to me the query “Is this guy OK, like not weird?”); he stayed there and I popped over in the morning, I think to bring breakfast and nab a copy of the new album. The other recollections I have from JSBX shows (having a few opportunities to be backstage or in the case of the O’Cayz show – no backstage, just a little recombobulation corner) are noticing Spencer’s extreme quiet and reserve offstage, basically looking exactly like the cover of “Extra Width,” but given the guy’s amazing stage energy and outlandish bravado, I’m guessing he saves it all for the audience. THE BLUES IS #1!

The post The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion “Freedom Tower No Wave Dance Party 2015″ appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

We saw Murder City Devils play at O’Cayz Corral* in Madison, WI on July 3rd, 1999 and it is in the top 5 shows I’ve ever seen. The date is memorable for two reasons: 1. Joe and I had just gotten married and 2. we had to decide whether to head to Madison for this show or stay in Milwaukee and see Joe Strummer at SummerFest. We didn’t know at the time it would be one of our last opportunities to see Joe Strummer live. Still, there are few regrets to this day about that decision.

It was probably about 98 degrees that night and inside O’Cayz it had to have been topping 120 degrees. The Murder City Devils played with the Black Halos, I don’t remember who opened for who. I do remember sweat pouring, a sea of people in the small club (likely over-capacity) and fighting for a place to stand. I cannot put into words the massive energy of the show or the blistering sound and heat. I could not find many online links that give the live performances of the album’s tracks justice, though this one for “Dance Hall Music” is pretty good. “Boom Swagger Boom” is probably the catchiest track and “Broken Glass” one of the best tributes to Iggy Pop ever.

*I saw a lot of shows at O’Cayz Corral while I lived in Madison and later after moving to Milwaukee. Seemingly like most of the great venues for rock, punk, garage, etc., it was destroyed by a fire, in 2001.

The post Murder City Devils “Murder City Devils” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.