Pouring My Art Out

And so did my friend Bryan Kehoe. Their show was awesome. And free tickets and a wristband for the after party didn’t hurt either…

What does hurt is my head. I drank a little too many beers. I took that picture just a few minutes ago, and the sun was really bright. So, for the people who just see this post on the topic walls that I tag it for, let me give you a little background as I show the pictures. Oh, and I apologize for the quality of the pictures. I wasn’t supposed to bring a camera in, so I didn’t use the flash.

See. That isn’t a very clear picture. But you get the idea. We had awesome seats. The band was called Duo De Twang. It is just one of many bands that Les Claypool has. Obviously the most famous band he is in is Primus. But he has all these side projects. Les is also famous for doing the theme song for the TV show South Park, and the show Robot Chicken. You may just have to Google a lot of stuff.

This two-man show featured Les and Bryan in a sort of acoustic mode. I mean they were plugged in, but… I don’t even know how to explain it. Les was playing an acoustic guitar strung as a bass… does that make any sense?

Still not a very good picture. I will try to work my way closer. Les is also famous because he is constantly voted the best bass player in a lot of musical categories. He tried out for Metallica and they told him he was too good, and he should do his own thing. If it was anybody else but Les, that story would sound like an urban legend. And Les knew he wouldn’t really fit in with those guys.

I should go back to the beginning, I guess. Bryan and I went to high school together. A few years after that, I met Les at some party somewhere. Les was playing with a band called Blind Illusion. I ended up as a roadie for the band, and then I did security and stage bouncing. That is where you get to toss drunk guys off the stage when they jump up there to act like idiots. If they were really obnoxious, like trying to grab the guys in the band or the instruments, we would give a special sign to the crowd, and when we tossed the drunks off the stage, everybody would move back and not catch them.

I seem to rambling more than usual. Maybe doing a post with a hangover was not a good idea. But anyway, because I know these guys, and because Bryan was at my mom’s 90th birthday party and he mentioned they were playing in San Diego soon, we ended up with 4 tickets. Once again, you should Google Bryan Kehoe. He is also a legend in the Bay Area music scene. He plays with M.I.R.V. and he has the Kehoe Nation thing going on. And a lot of other things. You might remember the pictures a long while back where me and some friends went and saw Bryan’s ZZ Top tribute band.

We got to hang out with the guys backstage after the show. There is my buddy Kehoe.

 He likes to do the ‘mean face’ in pictures.

I tried to do the mean face, but I couldn’t stop smiling.

There is my brother Henry, who you may remember is in a band with me. I had to cut my wife out of these pictures. She doesn’t want to be on the blog.

Brian… stop doing the mean face…

And there is a picture of me and Les. It was fun to catch up and reminisce about old times. And he has his box of lobster tacos… because you can’t come to San Diego and not eat lobster tacos.

I took this picture of the giant shark with glowing red eyes that hangs in the Belly Up Bar. I took that picture as we were leaving. We were the last ones out. Because that is how we roll. Oh, a quick bit about the opening act. If you ever get a chance to see the Reformed Whores, you should go. They are two adorable young ladies that dress in country dresses and then sing the nastiest, filthiest songs you ever heard.

It is where Hee Haw meets Hoo Haw. Yeah, I made that up. I told them they could use it if they want to.

That was an awesome night. Thanks, guys. Now, I need to go take some Ibuprofen…