Unsolicited Opinions On The Yankees' At Bat Music

On Friday, Mark Feinsand of the Daily News talk to scoreboard operator Mike Bonner and wrote a post about the at bat music that each Yankee comes out to. Given how much we use music to enhance and bring life to our coverage of the team, it's only appropriate that we at least touch on it here.

I'm going to reproduce Feinsand's whole list but to add some value, I've linked up each of the songs to a YouTube video and made some snarky comments.

Position Players

Derek Jeter: “Candy” - Cameo

If you only watch one of these videos, make it this one. It looks like a spoof made by Chappelle's Show.

Nick Johnson: “Party in the U.S.A.” - Miley Cyrus

By now, you know that Johnson picked the song because his daughter likes it (and she has shitty taste in music).

Mark Teixeira: “I Wanna Rock” - Twisted Sister

A solid, straight forward classic rock tune. Fits Teixeira to a "T".

Alex Rodriguez: “On to the Next One” - Jay-Z

We used this one for a preview earlier this year mostly because I was stuck for ideas and the video is in black and white. It's alright, but I really don't enjoy what Jay-Z's style has devolved into. It seems like he now ends every line with a forced inflection. He's more about rhyming sounds as opposed to earlier in his career when he had more masterful wordplay and a steady, even-keeled delivery.

Robinson Cano: “Run this Town” - Jay-Z

This one also features Rhianna, Kanye West and some real distorted electric guitar. Better tune than the one A-Rod uses but not something I'm going to put on by choice.

Curtis Granderson: “Lookin’ for the Perfect Beat” - Africa Bambaataa

An old school rap song with a video almost as unintentionally hilarious as the one Jeter uses.

Nick Swisher: “Beat Street” - Grand Master Flash

It's got that typical, choppy, Grandmaster Flash "flow" to it. I would expect Swish to have picked something like Creed or Three Doors Down based on his brotasticness, so he gets bonus points for this choice.

[Update: It has been brought to my attention by Joe from River Ave. Blues that Gardner comes up to Run Like Hell and not On The Run as Feinsand said in his post.]

Brett Gardner: “Run Like Hell” - Pink Floyd

Easily my favorite choice out of all of these. Completely appropriate given Gardner's skill set and coming out to any Pink Floyd song is good by me, even if it is off of The Wall.

Randy Winn: “Just Chill” - Jon Young

Jon Young and J. Cash are apparently the highest selling hip hop act in Central Florida!

Marcus Thames: “You’re a Jerk” - New Boyz

Yeah, Marcus? Well you're a DH.

*Posada and Francisco Cervelli both supplied songs via CD (that are latin-flavored, if I recall correctly) and neither Bonner nor Feinsand were sure what they were called.

Starting Pitchers

CC Sabathia: “Big Poppa” - Notorious B.I.G.

Most obvious choice ever?

A.J. Burnett: “I’m a Man” - Black Strobe

Yes you are, sir. And so is Mike Gundy.

Javier Vazquez: “Until the Whole World Hears” - Casting Crowns

Christian rock. Whatever floats your boat, Javy, just pitch better after it plays.

Andy Pettitte: “La Grange” - ZZ Top

Like Teixeira's choice, this one is a staple of classic rock stations nation wide. Can't really go wrong but it's not exactly original.

Phil Hughes: “King Nothing” - Metallica

Because of Metallica's dickish views on copyright law you have to sit through a 30 second commercial to watch this one. Feel like doing that? I didn't think so.

I've often thought about what my at bat or warm up music would be and the decision becomes infinitely more complicated by the fact that, as Morgan Ensberg pointed out a while back, hitters are limited to 8 seconds. That's nothing. So the question becomes not "What song is going to get you fired up?" but "What 8 second snippet from a song are you not going to get totally sick of by the end of the first homestand?". That really cuts down on the options.

To make it slightly less impossible and pointless, let's assume that you are a pitcher and you get to choose a song or portion of a song to warm up to, but it can't be longer than 5 minutes. Here's a short list of ones that I would have to try extremely hard to decide between and truncate to the appropriate length:

• The version of Soul Serenade the Allman Brothers played in honor of King Curtis back in 1971.

• Derek Trucks' solo during Desdemona at the Beacon in '03.
  
  
• The Fire Inside by Bob Seger because the simple melody in it, and the relentless bass line underneath never fail to stir me up.
  
  
• A Phish song. Punch You in the Eye? Julius?

• This Atmopshere tune because I'm a sucker for hip hop with piano and the outro is awesome.
  
  
• Feel It by Sam Cooke from the famous Live at the Harlem Square Club show.

• Or pretty much any section of this version of Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad that Derek and the Dominoes played at the Filmore East during a two night stand they did there in October of 1970:

Yours in the comments if you so choose.

Keep On Trucks-ing

As Alex Belth pointed out this morning, you can feel baseball getting closer. The air is starting to smell like spring just a little bit. I don't need to turn on my headlights on my drive home from work at the end of the day. Daylight Savings Time begins twelve days from now; the Spring Equinox comes six days later. Spring Training games start tomorrow.

Elsewhere in the world, the other rites of spring are taking place. The NHL trade deadline is tomorrow. NCAA Conference Tournaments begin over the next week and March Madness will soon follow.

For me, another rite of spring is the Allman Brothers Band's annual NYC residency. As we detailed last June, the ABB is vacating the Beacon Theater this year and heading waaaaay uptown to the United Palace Theatre for thirteen shows beginning March 11th.

Derek Trucks will be part of it, as he has been since joining the band at twenty years old following the 1999 Beacon run. We've talked about Derek quite often here, including detailing his family ties to former Tigers, Browns, White Sox, and A's pitcher, as well as the oldest living former Yankee, Virgil Trucks.

At MLB.com Saturday, Peter Gammons took an extended look at Virgil's career, in a great column that details how Derek's baseball fandom spurred him to seek out the relative he had never met:

Virgil Trucks had just turned 91 two years ago when this boyish kid who looked as if he were 20 showed up at his door. The kid introduced himself as Derek Trucks, Virgil's nephew's son, and they spent the day tying together the frayed generations of Trucks, of baseball stories Derek loved hearing, and music that Virgil says he didn't fully understand.

For years, Derek had Virgil "Fire" Trucks' baseball card on the back of his guitar, with the Allman Brothers or The Derek Trucks Band, with his wife Susan Tedeschi, playing lead on the Eric Clapton tour, backing Buddy Guy. That he told Virgil, and that Derek's uncle Butch, who has been the Allman's drummer since they formed in 1969, has often had another baseball card on his drums. "I haven't listened to the Allman Brothers too much," says Virgil. "They don't play them much on the Birmingham station."

When Virgil was told that Derek has a 1952 Tiger uniform with Virgil's 23 hanging in a trophy case, he said, "maybe I should start listening to the Allmans a little more."

For the Gammons haters out there - and you know I'm not one of them - you can take solace in the fact that Peter incorrectly claims Derek is Virgil's great-nephew. As we posted here in December, with thanks to Derek's cousin Vaylor, Virgil is the first cousin of Derek's grandfather, making them third cousins twice removed. That's the type of hard-hitting analysis you Fackers get here, something a Ford Frick Award winner can't bring you.

That notwithstanding, it's a great column. Head over and give it read. Just be sure to ignore the part about how the family of Derek's wife Susan Tedeschi are long-time Red Sox season ticket holders, or how they're taking their eight year old son to Red Sox camp this week. Hey - nobody's perfect.
As Jay detailed after we attended the Derek Trucks Band's concert at The Egg in December, the dTb is now on an extended hiatus. Derek and Susan are forming a new band, which at present appears to feature a rotating cast of musicians. They have dates scheduled through the spring and into summer, including stops as part of outstanding line ups at the Wanee Music Festival in Florida and the Mountain Jam in Hunter, NY.

Game 115: Going Out West

The Yankees start their second West Coast swing of 2009 tonight, with four against the M's followed by three against the A's. The year's first trip was a bit of an easy one - travel wise at least - as the Yanks left a getaway day matinee in Minneapolis to head to Anaheim for a three game set before a four day All-Star break. We have to hope the results will be better this time, as the Yanks were swept by the Angels, playing bad baseball and seemingly mailing it in before the midseason vacation.

The Yanks have been on fire since then, going 19-6 over that stretch, playing their best baseball of the season, taking a 5.5 game lead in the AL East, and surging to the best record in baseball. That said, the travel itinerary won't be quite as nice this time around. Yesterday's game ended after five o'clock. Rush hour traffic from the Bronx, over the RFK, to LaGuardia couldn't have been pleasant, and I can tell you from making the trip myself several times, the NYC to Seattle flight seems interminable. The team probably did not arrive at their Seattle hotel until around midnight Pacific time - but at least they had all day to rest up while the M's went into extra innings.

Jet lag aside, the Yanks also got a little banged up between the lines yesterday. Jorge Posada had a rough day behind the plate, taking a foul tip off his throwing hand. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez both took nasty HBPs, but neither managed to hurl their helmet. Tonight was going to be a day off for A-Rod anyway. Jeter, per usual, says he'll play. We'll soon find out.

[UPDATE 8:25 PM: Jeter in, Posada out, A-Rod out as scheduled and unavailable]

In the pitching department, Mariano Rivera had a "cranky shoulder" yesterday. Given Alf's marathon appearance Monday, D-Rob and Coke going back-to-back games, and Chad Gaudin's start coming up on Saturday, the pen could also be a bit short tonight.

As for those who will play, CC Sabathia takes the ball for the Yanks. CC had an ugg-lee start against the M's back on July 2nd, getting tagged with the loss, 6 ER, and 10 H in 5.2 innings of work. In seven career starts at Safeco Field, Sabathia is 4-1 with 2.83 ERA. This is his time of year, tough. For his career, Sabathia is 30-9 with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in 48 starts in August.

Sabathia will be opposed by Ian Snell. Snell was acquired with Jack Wilson just prior to the deadline as part of the Pirates' "Everything Must Go" firesale. Snell was pitching at AAA at the time of the trade, as poor performance and axiety issues forced him off the Pirates roster. Snell has made two starts for the M's, covering just 7.1 innings, yielding 5 runs, and 15 baserunners. Amazingly, he hasn't recorded a loss decision.

I really agonized over which video to pick for this song. Here's the original from crazy Tom Waits, which gets bonus points for being black and white, but loses points for being barely listenable - and somewhat disturbing. Here's some cool ones from Gov't Mule, all of which are exceedingly bad ass, including one from the Beacon Theater, and a classic one featuring the late, great Allen Woody. But today's video goes to a vintage Widespread Panic version of the song, featuring the late, great Michael Houser. Enjoy the game; we won't hold it against you if you can't stay awake for the end of it.

I'm going out west where the wind blows tall,
Cause Tony Franciosa used to date my ma,
They got some money out there,
They're giving it away,
Gonna do what I want,
Gonna get paid,
Do what I want,
Gonna get paid.

And I'm going out west,
Where they'll appreciate me,
Going out west,
Going out west.

Game 104: Game Face

If the Yanks are going to salvage a split of this four game set against the White Sox, they'll need to win these next two. Luckily for them they'll have their two best pitchers taking to the hill this weekend, starting with A.J. Burnett this afternoon.

As we've pointed out the last several times through the rotation, A.J. has been on fire of late, 6-1 with a 1.68 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP over his last eight starts, with opponents batting just .193/.295/.271. In five career starts against the White Sox, Burnett is just 2-2, but with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. The Yanks will need him to stay hot today to stop this mini slide.

He'll be opposed by John Danks. Danks had rough start to the year, with a 5.10 ERA through 11 starts. Over his last eight though, he's pitched to a 2.53 ERA and 1.07 WHIP while holding opponents to a .199/.276/.311 batting line. Danks has faced the Yanks twice in his career, going 1-1 with a 6.10 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP.

In roster news, Jerry Hairston Jr. is in the house, with Big Ugly Duncan getting optioned back to Scranton. Some will be upset with Cody Ransom's continued presence on the roster, but Ransom has to stick around at least until Brett Gardner returns. Hairston's main function right now is as the back-up CFer, meaning Ransom is still necessary as a utility infielder, particularly with A-Rod still requiring weekly rest. Shelley's righty bat would have been nice to have with southpaws going the next two days, but the Yanks will have little reason to pinch hit anyway, so it shouldn't be a huge loss. Hairston is in the lineup today in left, with Ransom at first and Teix DHing. Johnny Damon and Godzilla get the day off against the southpaw.

The Yanks have lost three of four. While they were firing on all cylinders in Wendesday's win over Tampa, they've looked awfully sloppy in the three losses. That's gonna happen now and again, but it's time to snap out of it. They're facing good pitching the rest of the weekend and need to be on top of their game. Time to put on the game face.

I'll suffer through the first couple innings on Fox this afternoon, then it's off to the beautiful Ives Concert Park in Danbury, CT for the dirty hippy jamband show, as Gov't Mule comes to town. As such, here's "Game Face" from 12/30/06 at the Beacon - another show I attended. It's broken in two parts (part two here), but it's well worth it for the sweet jam that includes "Birdland", "Norwegian Wood", and "Mountain Jam" teases, as well as the start of "Smokestack Lightning" with the Dickinson brothers from the North Mississippi Allstars.

/end music tangent

Enjoy the game.



To be at one with your weakness
Is your greatest strength
Guess you should be proud of your game face

Guess it always was your hallelujah
Guess it was your saving grace

All-Star Game: Night of 1,000 Stars

Or, since the league rosters are capped at 33, maybe it's Night of 66 Stars. But that's only if you believe that the likes of Zach Duke, Andrew Bailey, or Brad Hawpe are actually All-Stars. That isn't to say that those guys aren't having good seasons, just that they aren't the names that first come to mind when thinking of the Mid-Summer Classic.

I've kind of lost interest in the All-Star Game in recent years. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching the MLBN air ASGs from my youth the past several days. Perhaps not coincidentally, my interest has waned as Bud Selig has attempted to force meaning into what was never intended to be anything more than an exhibition game. Our pal Jason at IIATMS has detailed this quite well in recent weeks, pointing out the absurdity of the whole affair. I'll say this much: it was somewhat disappointing to see the 2002 game end in tie, but it didn't ruin my summer. It's a damn exhibition. I'd rather it end tied than have a pitcher from a pennant contending team throw 100 pitches in a meaningless game.

The pitching match-up tonight is a great one, as it usually is for the All-Star Game. On-the-block Roy Halladay will oppose emo-kid-extraordinaire Tim Lincecum. And because the All-Star Game is stupid, the pitchers will bat since the game is being held in an NL park. So Halladay may get some more practice at the plate before he winds up with the Phillies at the end of the month. I've gone back about 30 years and can't find the last time a pitcher that started the All-Star Game was traded mid-season. Halladay would be the first in a long time, if not the first overall.

In another line-up note, Mrs. Tony Parker is a late scratch from the AL line-up, with an infected ring finger. Michael Young replaces him at 3B in the AL line-up, Chone Figgins replaces him on the AL roster. I'm surprised the NL is allowing such a late substitution, because, as you know, this one counts!

For the Yankees, both Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira start, batting second and fourth respectively. Mo is out in the pen to close it out, and if recent history holds, he will. There was a time when the NL absolutley dominated All-Star play, winning all but one ASG from 1963-1982. In reent years however, it's been all AL. Since I began following the game in 1988, the AL has gone 17-3-1. They had a six game winning streak from 1988-93, and have won every ASG since 1997, save for the tie in 2002.

For his career, Jeter is .474/.474/.684 in 19 PA over 9 ASGs, including five starts. He was the 2000 ASG MVP.

Teix has made just one previous ASG appearance, starting at 1B in 2005, going 1 for 3 with a HR.

Mo has made 9 previous All-Star teams, appearing in seven games. He's gone seven innings, giving up just one unearned run and allowing only five hits and no walks. He's fanned four and finished five of those games, picking up saves in '97, '05, and '06.

Tonight's video comes from the Upper West Side's own Beacon Theater and features Phil Lesh and Friends. The video is nearly as long as last night's Home Run Derby, but it comes from a fairly historic performance, as this was filmed at the second to last concert given by the "classic" Phil Lesh and Friends line-up of Lesh, John Molo, Rob Baracco, Jimmy Herring, and Warren Haynes.

Bernie at The Iridium Next Two Mondays

When Bernie Williams became the Yankees' regular centerfielder, he inherited the most storied plot of of land in sports, patrolling the ground once manned by Bobby Murcer and Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, and Earle Combs.

Bernie did quite a job in following those legends. For the next two Monday nights, Bernie will get a chance to fill in for a legend in his second chosen profession. Ninety-four year old Les Paul, the namesake of some of the coolest guitars on the planet, will take a two week sick leave from his Monday night residency at The Iridium and Bernie will pinch hit for him (h/t jambands.com).

The Yankees are off the next two Mondays. For those of you interested in going to see Bernie, you can find information here. Tickets are $35 and there is additional $15 food and drink minimum. There are two shows nightly, at 8:30 and 10:30. The Iridium is located at 51st and Broadway.

Here's hoping Les Paul gets well soon. I had the chance to go see him just after Christmas. Not exactly the best performance I've ever seen, and his age and arthritis have limited his playing, but for sheer historical value it was worth it. He's still very sharp and is certainly cut from the old cloth where he's an entertainer in addition to being a musician. If you're a music fan, it's worth going; it's a lesson in the last 70+ years of music history. And the bassist in his trio is pretty hot.

For good measure, here's Bernie, playing a Gibson Les Paul, on Howlin' Wolf's "Who's Been Talkin'" with the Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon in 2007. There's a second clip here.

Sneakin' Out The Beacon

In case you hadn't noticed, both Jay and I are pretty big music enthusiasts. One band we are both really big on is the Allman Brothers Band and I think the first exchange Jay and I had here on Fack Youk was regarding the annual Beacon run of this past March.

So as the city prepares for the year's first Subway Series, today we report news (h/t jambands.com) about something that is as much a part of New York City to me as the Yankees or Mets. Says founding ABB member Butch Trucks:

"...we won't be at the Beacon anymore. They just announced that Cirque du Soleil is moving in there, sad to say. We'll still do a multi-show thing in New York, but we're looking for another venue. With things the way they are, there's a lot of empty theaters on Broadway."

That's some sad stuff right there, and it's gone relatively unnoticed. After years of freakin' and peakin' at The Beacon, now the ABB is sneakin' out The Beacon. I've gone to at least one show every Beacon Run since 2001. It's every bit as much a right of spring to me as "pitchers and catchers report" and Opening Day. Yet I can't say I'm surprised.

The Beacon came under the control of Cablevision in November 2006. As you may know, everything Cablevision touches - the Knicks, the Rangers, my buddy Art's cable installation - turns to shit. From the time they seized control of The Beacon I suspected this day was coming. Planned renovations nearly derailed the 2008 run, until a last minute deal was reached. In the end, a flare up of Gregg Allman's hepatitis cancelled the 2008 run. Now it's done for good. For Cirque du fucking Soleil. /vomits

Expected or not, it's the end of an era. The Allmans first played The Beacon on September 27, 1989, as part of their 20th Anniversary Reunion Tour. They would play there three more times that month and add 184 more Beacon shows through multishow runs in 1992, 1994, 1996-2007, and 2009. As it stands now, the last ABBeacon show ever was March 28, 2009 - a show I attended - but that's no consolation to the end of this tradition.

The Beacon Run was quintessential ABB. Guests came out of the woodwork to play there. Through the years I've seen Chuck Leavell, Gary Rossington, Peter Frampton, Hubert Sumlin, Bela Fleck, Luther Dickinson, Larry McCray, Dick Griffin, Robert Randolph, Susan Tedeschi, Roy Haynes, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and others. You may not recognize any, or all, of the names, but it was an atmosphere that couldn't be recereated elsewhere.

If 2009 was in fact the final Beacon Run, they went out with a bang. It was the band's 40th Anniversary celebration, and a tribute to the memory of founder Duane Allman. All manner of guests joined in to honor his memory and the history of the band, amongst them: Bonnie Bramlett, the aforementioned Weir and Lesh, John Hammond, Taj Mahal, Levon Helm, Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, Trey Anastasio, Boz Scaggs, Jimmy Herring, and for the first time ever, Eric Clapton.

This won't be the first time the run moves from the Beacon. 1995 saw a six show run at Radio City Music Hall in place of the Beacon. Radio City is also Cablevision controlled, so I doubt that's where they'll go now. Butch mentioned a potential "Broadway Theater", but my guess would be the United Palace Theater up in Washington Heights. It's becoming the new "it" theater in the city, and was the rumored back-up destination had The Beacon fallen through in 2008.

But it won't be the same. Aside from the atmosphere, and the beautiful, classic venue, I'll miss the neighborhood. Brother Jimmy's, Blondie's, the since relocated P&G, the Gin Mill, the Westside Brewing Co. Amsterdam Ale House. And I'll miss the memories; some of the best music I've ever witnessed in person was at The Beacon, and making that annual pilgrimage with lifelong friends was something I looked forward to every year.

This also marks the end of an era for the ABB. Founding members Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, and fellow CT resident Jaimoe are getting old. Guitar slingers Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks both have their own bands, which they have to neglect for large portions of the year while touring with the ABB. Outside of the NYC run next year and perhaps a summer festival or two, it doesn't appear that the band will be touring any more. And that's real sad. I strongly, strongly suggest you get out this summer and catch the ABB - preferably while they're on the road with Widespread Panic.

All good things must come to an end. And it appears that 2009 will mark the end of The Beacon Run and the ABB summer tour. Like Yankeee Stadium closing last year, it's sad. Something that means a lot to me won't be around anymore. But I look forward to what 2010 and beyond holds for Gov't Mule, the Derek Trucks Band, Soul Stew Revival, and whatever Oteil Burbridge is cooking up.

This is, afterall, a baseball blog. So lest we get chastised again, I'll end on a baseball note. Guitarist Derek Trucks is a big baseball fan and is the nephew of drummer Butch Trucks. Butch is the nephew of former Major League pitcher Virgil Trucks. Virgil is one of four men (Nolan Ryan, Johnny Vander Meer, and former Yankee Allie Reynolds) to throw two no hitters in the same season. He finished his 17 year Big League career in 1958 with the World Champion New York Yankees.

See, it all comes back to baseball....

"Soon"

I took this screen shot this morning when I went into do a screen grab recap of the incredible end of the Tigers vs. Blue Jays game. But guess what? I can't because the game isn't available. As I mentioned before, I split the MLB.tv Premium Package with my sister, which should entitle us to watching archived and condensed games.

The archived games are supposed to be up 45 minutes after they end. It's 7:45 the following morning and 5 of the 12 games aren't up at all. How about the condensed games from the day before?

Nada.

None of the main home or away archived audio feeds are up either. (Many of the alternates are in Spanish)

In addition, the in-game DVR functionality is extremely slow and clumsy. Although it tells you what half of the inning you are in, you have to fast forward blindly and guess where you are going to end up. It's not like an actual DVR, where you can see the frames going by.

I'm going to give them a little while to get things sorted out, but this is pretty frustrating. It's $110 and if they are going to charge than kind of money, they should probably have the service in order by the time it goes live.

I'm not a whiner in general. I paid the full $125 for Moogis (a lot more than my $55 share of MLB.tv) so I could watch the Allman Brothers play live at the Beacon Theater, and didn't complain at all, because, you know, it actually worked and delivered what it promised.

I wish I could say the same for MLB.tv.

Guitar Solo Sunday (03/29/09)

I swear there are some original guitar solos in the works by friends/readers, but I'm operating with the mental acuity of a gerbil right now, and therefore am just going to call on the honorable Derek Trucks to keep this tradition alive. It only violates one of the founding principles this feature was built upon. This version of Desdemona is from the Beacon in 2004. It also appears on One Way Out.

Moogis!

One of the reasons content has been a little abbreviated/slow around here lately is that after work, instead of queuing up a post or two for the following day, I've been watching the Allman Brothers' shows live on Moogis. (The name comes from drummer Butch Trucks' kids' mispronunciation of "music" when they were young.)

I mentioned it in a previous post, but for $125, you can watch all of the shows from this run at the Beacon as they are occurring or archived up to six months from now. There are also some older performances archived, which might be useful for nights like last night when there was no show or some Monday evening when the Yankees aren't playing a few months from now. I'm obviously a pretty big ABB fan so maybe I'm not speaking for everyone, but its pretty amazing to be able to cook dinner (or just sit on the couch) and watch the set lists as they are unfolding right around the block.

Nothing can replace the energy (or people watching) you experience at a live show. However, you still get the same feeling when a band whose catalog you know intimately goes into a song you love. Two nights ago, they launched into Desdemona, which I heard live at the Beacon the last time I saw them there. I wasn't any less excited this time around. Of course, there are other things you can do in the comfort of your own home that you can't do very freely at a newly renovated venue. Plus, you can drink good beer at grocery store prices and don't have to wait for the bathroom!

Another benefit is that the views from the eight cameras that Moogis uses are much better than anywhere in the venue. It's not perfect video quality, but the camera work is comparable to most concert DVDs that get produced. They zoom in during guitar solos, which is especially interesting to me since I could clearly use some schooling on the axe.

The only drawback I've noticed so far is that the sound mix isn't that great. It doesn't seem to be constantly adjusted throughout the show by their sound guy like what you would hear if you were there. It must be a direct feed to the interwebs. As a result, Warren's guitar is too loud which is extremely awesome when he is blazing through a solo, but when he is playing rythym, Derek's guitar and the vocals sometimes get drowned out. The last time I was at the Beacon (before the renovation) the sound quality in the balcony wasn't great either, so maybe it's not a colossal drop off.

Moogis is going to be especially awesome tonight and tomorrow, as it seems Eric Clapton is almost certain to make an couple of appearances. The slideshows to Little Martha they have played during this 40th Anniversary run have focused more on Duane than the nearly 38 years they have been playing since his death (for good reason).

Consequently, I'm expecting that the sets with Clapton will be fairly Derek and the Dominoes heavy, considering Duane sat in on the sessions for the album. Furthermore, Derek Trucks went on tour with Clapton in 2006 & 2007, filling in Duane's parts on those tunes. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is probably my favorite album of all time, so they really can't do wrong by me. (But Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad would be sensational. Please?)

Here are some screen shots I nabbed off of Moogis over the past few nights:

Greg towards the end of Soulshine

Trey having a guitargasm during In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed
(my favorite song of the run so far)

Warren and Derek ripping through the Desdemona jam

Derek and Tommy Talton playing Please Be With Me

John Hammond starting up So Many Roads, So Many Trains

The Weight, featuring Bonnie & Bekka Bramlett and Derek's Wife Susan Tedeschi

A picture of Duane from the Little Martha slide show

The cheapest ticket on StubHub for tonight is $469 (tomorrow - $417, which is only headed up).

I've got my seat. (There may still be a few available...)

Second Thoughts...

While Syracuse and UCONN rocked the sports world with their epic six overtime clash, right around the corner from my apartment, a much smaller number of attendees were rocked in a much different way.

Yesterday, Fat Jon informed me via text message of an internet rumor that Trey Anastasio and Paige McConnell from Phish might be joining the Allmans on stage at the Beacon Theater that night (part of their 40th Anniversary Run). I took this pretty seriously because Trey lives on the Upper West Side and I've had the chance to chat with him before at a street fair (extremely cool). Phish had just wrapped up Hampton and it seemed to make sense.

If you have been reading this site carefully, you could have probably guessed that this was right up my alley.

Allmans + Phish + Beacon = Me

I left work and walked right over to the Theater and check out the ticket scene. It was about 7:00 and the show didn't start 'til 8, but there were far fewer scalpers out front than usual. Since Fairway is right across the street, on my way to get groceries, I'll get caught in the crossfire if there is a show that night. As a result, I've got a pretty good feel for the atmosphere despite not going to all that many shows there.

The mix of scalpers outside of the Beacon is always a treat. There are the stereotypical skeevy-looking, quasi-homeless fat old white dudes with tattered jackets on. You could pick these creepers out of a scalper line up in a heartbeat. They tend to cluster towards the corner of 75th and Broadway, while the black dudes stay closer to 74th. They are the characters. They also look about one bender from being a full blown vagrant, but unlike the standoffish white guys, they are more friendly and engaging.

Within 12 seconds of walking up alongside Beacon Wine & Spirits, one of the guys was grumbled, "Do you need any BUD maaaaaaan?". Yes. This is how I would like to acquire some drugs. Right on a crowded street corner in Manhattan. Don't worry, there aren't six cops within 50 feet of us. All set in that department, champ. Do you have any tickets?

He directed to a bearded gentleman in a camouflage coat with the hood up who informed me that he had one ticket in the Orchestra, Row 9, for $175. I didn't even bother to bargain with him since it was so far out of my price range. I scoured around for a little while longer to no avail, and went back to my apartment to regroup.

I re-emerged at 7:30, hit the ATM and decided I would be willing to push my budget to about $100 or so to adjust to the sellers market I detected. When I got back, it was even worse. The buyer to seller ratio was roughly 50:0. No joke. I walked around until 8:15 and did not see one ticket change hands, at any price.

I was pretty disappointed, but just headed over to Fairway and picked up two crab cakes and a sirloin that was sliced off the ol' block 10 seconds before my boy Ralph the butcher bagged it for me. It was a decent consolation prize.

I checked the setlist after the 'Cuse game and indeed, Trey and Paige showed up (along with Buddy Guy).

Set 1
Little Martha
Trouble No More
Leave My Blues at Home
Who’s Been Talking (old Howling Wolf Song)
Black Hearted Woman
You Can’t Lose What You Never Had
The Sky Is Crying (with Buddy Guy)
You Don’t Love Me (with Buddy Guy)
Southbound (Buddy Guy/Page/Trey)

Set 2
I Know You Rider (w/Trey & Page)
In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed (w/Trey & Page)
Dreams
Jessica

Encore
Statesboro Blues (extended version)

Here is an awesome review of the show (where I pulled the pics from).

$175 for 9th row seats doesn't seem like that bad of an investment anymore. This post would have been roughly 2000 times better. There is an unoffical guest list floating around that details who is going to be playing with them at the Beacon, and so far it has been pretty close. Boz Scaggs is up tonight (Loan Me A Dime?) and Clapton is playing on the 19th & 20th (Mean Old World?).

Well, since I probably won't be able to get tickets to any of those without falling into a never ending spiral of credit card debt, I think I'm going to have to settle for Moogis. For $125, you can watch every one of the shows live or on demand. It's not just confined to the Beacon run, you can watch performances from 2007 at Piedmont Park. They claim to be adding more shows as well.

Who wants to have a simulcast party???

Requiem For A Restaurant

The absolute best part of living in Manhattan is the preponderance of awesome things within walking distance from your apartment. I have accounts with two different banks, both of whom have a location within two blocks from my place. We have two grocery stores within the same distance. I can walk to work in just about the time it takes to listen to Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts I & II, and Central Park is under 5 minutes away. I've mentioned the Beacon and Fairway, both of which I wouldn't swap for another theater/grocery store.

Another thing that makes the location of our apartment so perfect is (was) Westside Brewing Co. When we first moved down here, we used to go there every Sunday night in addition to the impromptu visits during the week. If I had anyone came into town, it was the first place I thought to bring them.

I would place their wings in my top five of all time, with some serious consideration for the #1 spot. I'm probably biased, but trust me, these were not your ordinary orangey, fake-looking, limp dick wings you get at TGIFriday's. The sauce wasn't sweet like a BBQ and didn't really have a buffalo twang. They never detailed any of the ingredients on the menu, and I'm not much of a gourmand, so if you've never had the pleasure, you are going to have to use your imagination a little bit. They were a deep maroon color, subtly smoky, hot, but not lingering, and... did I mention they were fucking amazing?

Westside stopped brewing their own beer long before I moved down to the city, but they kept a rotating selection of ten taps to make up for that fact. They centered on local brews like Captain Lawrence, Chelsea and Blue Point, but also drew from across and the country and world. Last time I was there, they had Green Flash Le Freak on tap and around Easter-time last year they had an incredible Rauchbier (smoked beer) from Germany.

The had a pretty fervent staff turnover, but managed to keep a cute girl hostessing with remarkable consistency. One time Sampson and I walked in, and were making some offhand comment about work, and the cutest of the hostesses smiles and says "Are you guys in the movie industry?" Sampson immediately goes "Yeah, I'm a director and he is a producer". Her eyes light right up, so we had to let her down gently. She's was like, "Oh, it seems like everyone is in the movie business around here". After we sat down, I went to Sampson, "They aren't really in the movie business sweetie, they just want to have sex with you".

The place wasn't without it's faults. For one, it was closed for strange reasons way too often. Too many times someone came into town and wanted a fairly cheap, relaxed meal, I couldn't wait to take them to WSBC. I would hype up the wings and promise I could pick them out a great beer, only to roll up to the place and see a note scrawled on the door explaining some strange circumstance which precluding them from being open.

About a year and a half ago construction began on The Harrison, which took up most of the block between 76th and 77th & Amsterdam and Broadway. It was well boarded off, but through the slats, you could catch a glimpse of the cavernous void that claimed Amsterdam Billiards.

One night I walked in to the bathroom and in the corner underneath the urinal there was a gigantic hole, looking right down into a 25 foot deep rubble-filled pit. That must have violated the health code, because two nights later they embarked a a little hiatus for a month or two.

In the three years we've been going there, they never changed their menu. It's not like it diverted us from stopping by, but as a place that had a pretty large regular customer base, you'd think they'd have wanted to switch it up a little bit.

It is also extremely close to The Beacon and it gets a lot of spillover, which can be annoying if you want to get a seat at the bar. They occasionally even play the music of the act that is on that night. One night Kelly Clarkston was in town and we got sat down right next to a table full of pre-teen girls who knew the words to every single song, and weren't afraid to sing along at full roar.

Sometime last year, our friend Ian was around and we popped into Westside to grab some food. We got the wings (as always) I ordered a Hawaiian pizza, Sampson got a burger and Ian got the tuna melt. The pizza always takes longer to begin with, but at one point I glanced over my shoulder and happen to spot the our waitress and my pizza in mid-air headed towards an inevitable demise.

She didn't think we saw it happen and about two minutes later, after the mess had been cleaned up, she came over and said "Sorry guys, your food will be up in like 5 minutes. Want another beer?" We didn't feel like correcting her just yet, and let it slide.

She eventually brought us over the food and as she's sliding the pizza in front of me, I go, "Round two on this one, huh?" She stopped for a second and goes, "Yeah, I was kinda hoping you guys didn't see that". She was cute and we laughed it off. When Ian got terrible food poisoning an hour later, he wasn't laughing. There's not way of telling, but I'm pretty sure the 20 minutes that tuna melt spent under the lamps didn't help. That didn't stop us from going back either.

The allure was obviously the beers, for me personally. It was always crowded, so I don't think I'm alone in that respect. They absolutely always had a high quality Double IPA on tap, whose hoppy character was an unlikely match for the wings. Ten beers every week allows for some pretty serious breadth and they did a pretty good job of managing the selection.

I really don't go out to dinner than much because we have a grill and SeamlessWeb (and I have no money), so I'm probably the last person who is going to get sentimental about an eatery closing it's doors. Evelyn Lounge... now that was a tragedy. But wow, this sucks a fucking lot. I was moving my car the other night, saw the papered up windows and went out of my typical loop so I could email Sampson a picture with the caption "RIP Westside Brew Co." from my iPhone.

It's not all doom and gloom though. I was trawling the message boards over at Beer Advocate and found this little gem:

I have an infallible source telling me this place will be re-opened under new management in a few weeks. And by new management, I mean guys who know how to run an outstanding beer bar. UWSers should be psyched. More to follow.

It's a message board, so I'm not going to get my hopes up, but please, please, please almighty Beer Gods, get something in there soon. It's not fair. I'm dying inside.


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I just went out to take the daytime pictures above and as I was standing there, a guy with one of those chest baby pouch/carriers and his wife walk up. The dude was probably in his 30's and with a forlorn look on his face he said "It's like, closed, man."

5 x 81 = 405

I know lots of people were up in arms about the obstructed view bleacher seats at The New Yankee Stadium when they were still being sold for full price. Now they are $5, and I really can't think of a better value in all of sports, and possibly all of life.

Here is a short list of other things that cost $5:

1. Half of a shitty beer at the New Stadium
2. A pint of shitty light beer elsewhere in the city
3. Two slices at Freddie & Pepper's (one cheese and one white slice with broccoli, zucchini and ricotta on whole wheat crust or a buffalo chicken with cross-checked bleu cheese)
4. A foot-long sandwich from Subway
5. Two Olde English 40oz (paper bags included)
6. Roughly 12 cigarettes
7. A 10 block cab ride with tip (estimated)
8. A shoe shine (plus tip)
9. 2 1/2 subway rides
10. A small frozen yogurt at Pinkberry with three toppings
11. The Sunday NYT
12. One share of GE stock, 2 shares of GM, or 3 1/3 of CitiGroup
13. 2 pairs of socks at a street fair
14. One Titleist Pro-V1
15. A NYS Lottery Win For Life scratch-off
16. A program at the Saratoga Race Track
17. One pound of sirloin at Fairway
18. A shot of Jameson

I'd rather have a ticket to a Yankee game at the New Stadium than any three of those, regardless of how bad the view is. Well, depending on how the scratch-off turned out, I might have to take that plus two shots of Jameson.

Last year, our Saturday Package was about $330, for Tier Reserved Section 7 Row M. That put us between home and first, with a view of the whole field, but pretty far up there. Not exactly a location that was going to impress anyone, but there was a bathroom and a beer dispensary right at the entrance to our section. That's only 13 games, though.

Yes, the seats are obstructed view, but unlike the Old Stadium, you aren't sequestered like you are in a leper colony in out centerfield. You have access to the rest of the park, and although you can't take beers back to your seat, you can certainly drink them walking around.

It's basically a Standing Room Only ticket. Back when the Beacon Theater wasn't owned by MSG/Cablevision and diabolically corporatized, they used to have SRO tix for the mezzanine level. The sound was 100 times better than the balcony, and who cares if you don't have your own seat? Sitting down at a concert in not in my playbook.

Granted, standing for an entire baseball game would kind of suck, but if that picture above is anywhere near accurate you'll be able to see everything except left-center and over. I can live with that. Plus, you can always watch on the monitors on the side of the sports bar. It's better than your couch, right? Hell, you can just go in the sports bar.

After the initial rush of everyone wanting to get out to the Stadium for the first time, you are going to be able to spot some empties in the upper deck and park it there for a while too. And of course, I'll try to sneak into better seats than that and document the escapades for this here cyberblogsite.

I don't know how gestapo-like the security is going to be at The Structure That Mariano Rivera Erected, but the concourses are supposed to be more open and have better views of the field. I wouldn't mind crusing around, sipping on a really expensive beer (or ginger ale I spiked with my flask of Johnny Red) and taking in the different vantage points. I can understand if you wouldn't do it because are older or have kids, that sounds like a pretty fantastic deal to me.

Just to recap, you could (theoretically) get full season tickets for the New Yankee Stadium for $75 more than we paid for our Saturday package last year. If I wanted to wait on hold for an hour and then be told to go fuck myself, I'd look into this right now.

All I wanna know is... Who's coming with me?

Jan, thank you Jan!

[Sorry, but that abomination was the only version I could find. God, I don't know why the fuck that person felt the need to remix, edit and thereby bastardize such a brilliant cinematic moment, but I'll bet you anything Jim Bruer would like to stub his joint out in their eye]

This Sky [Music] [Non-Sports]

What were you doing with your life when you were 11 years old?

I was in sixth grade and age 11 actually marked the apex of my athletic career. That summer was the only year I played football, and as an undersized offensive lineman by default, I carried my Jr. Plainsmen team (not really) to an undefeated season. It was also the only year I made a CYO Basketball team (St. Edwards Gold, baby) and we won our Diocesan Championship on a still legendary buzzer beater by Ange Michael. I played the crucial role of 7th man, coming off the bench for 6 points in the championship game against St. Paul's. For that one year, I was like the David Eckstein of Clifton Park, except I couldn't use being short as an excuse for why I sucked.

I only ask because at 11 years of age, Derek Trucks was already doing shows with the Allman Brothers Band. It probably helped that his uncle, Butch Trucks, was an original member of the Allmans, but they weren't going to throw the kid on stage if he wasn't something truly special.

Derek was born in 1979 and named after the Eric Clapton-led group Derek and the Dominoes. He bought his first acoustic guitar at a garage sale at the age of 9 for $5. Learning to play the guitar at any age takes a toll on the tips of your fingers, but young Derek simply couldn't put enough pressure on the strings of a $5 acoustic to play it. Since his Uncle was in the Allman Brothers, and he had grown up listening to his parents' LPs of Eat A Peach and Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, he decided to circumvent traditional playing and try the slide or "bottleneck" like his idol, Duane Allman.

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A slide is a tube-shaped device made of glass, metal, plastic or ceramics that totally transforms how the guitar is played. In a pinch, a Zippo or even a plastic lighter isn't that bad of an option. The slide has to be applied with enough pressure to keep the strings from buzzing when picked, but not so much as to make the strings touch the frets. I'm guessing the $5 guitar he bought had considerable space the between the strings and the fingerboard (action), which would make it very difficult to play normally, but perfect for slide.

When playing slide, the frets are only useful as a frame of reference as to where to position the slide itself. In that way, playing slide guitar is similar to the violin in that you don't have frets to land the note on. You have to find the notes yourself, which is done almost exclusively with your ear.

The modern incarnation of the technique is said to have come from Hawaiian guitarist named Joseph Kekuku.

He was walking along a road in Honolulu, holding an old Spanish guitar when he saw a rusty bolt on the ground. As he picked it up, the bolt accidentally vibrated one of the strings and produced a new tone that was rather pleasing. After practicing for a time with the metal bolt, Joe experimented with the back of a pocket knife, then with the back of a steel comb and still later on with a highly polished steel (bar) very similar to the sort that is used today.

Hawaii had already set a precedent for developing unique guitar traditions, inventing slack key in the late 19th century. The technique involves tuning the guitar down to form open chords, creating the mellow trademark Hawaiian sound you instantly associate with leis and luaus.

At 30 years old, Kekuku left O'ahu to pursue a recording career on the mainland, never to return to Hawaii. He spent the next 28 years touring the U.S. and Europe performing, teaching and popularizing the steel and slide guitar.

In Sub-Saharan African there were and still are one-stringed bowed instruments that are played using a smooth stone or piece of bone as a slide. This is thought to have carried over during the slave trade and morphed into a similar contraption called the Jitterbug that surfaced in the South in the 1800's.

In the early 1900's, guitars had begun to be manufactured instead of handcrafted, and this made them far more available to the masses. The reason it's also called "bottleneck", is that some of the original slides were parts of discarded broken bottles which were carefully cut with a heated blade at just the right point so they wouldn't shatter.

The confluence of these forces lead to the ubiquitization of slide guitar in blues and later country and rock music. Mississippi Delta Blues legends Willy Brown, Blind Willie McTell, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Son House, and the King, Robert Johnson (right) were among the first well known practitioners of the trade.

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When Trucks was 12 years old he got his first major gig, opening for Bob Dylan in Clearwater, Florida. He played "Highway 61 Revisited" and later recalled:

I remember leaving the show and I ran into Dylan, I was on my way out and he asked me if I wanted to stick around and sit in with him. I was only 12, but I knew how much weight he carried, I remember my dad being completely freaked out. He was much more nervous than me.

Derek Trucks was officially made a member of the Allman Brothers band in 1999 at the age of 19 and has been touring with them full-time ever since. Luckily for Sampson and I, we live a block away from the (recently restored) Beacon Theatre where the Allmans play 14 shows over a three week period every - well - every year that Gregg Allman's Hep C doesn't decide to flare up.

Another amazing thing about Derek is his stage presence. He's got a young-looking face and a long blond pony tail, and doesn't typically say much during his shows. He is also probably one of the least demonstrative lead guitarists you will ever see. He doesn't feel the need skip around the stage and bang his head or play to the crowd in any way. Instead, he stands there like a monk transfixed in prayer. Check out the clip of Desdemona below from the Beacon and you'll see what I mean. He rips an incredibly moving solo, but simply stands there without even much of a facial expression (and busts out the slide at the 2:10 mark with the sleight of hand of a magician).



Trucks met Eric Clapton backstage at a Folk Festival in 2003. Without warning two years later, he called Derek and asked him to contribute to his album with J.J. Cale, Road to Escondido. Two days into the recording, Clapton asked Trucks to go on tour with him. Having Derek along allowed Clapton to start playing more Derek and the Dominoes tunes including Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad, and Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out (both recent YouTubes from the tour).

His own group, The Derek Trucks Band came together when Trucks was 15 years old and they have been recording and experimenting ever since. In spite of his Southern blues and rock roots, the band is extremely eclectic, also drawing on jazz, funk, Latin, Indian & Pakistani, and classical music to form their own very unique sound.

The video below is a one minute excerpt from Sahib Teri Bandi Maki Madni.



Even without the imagery I've added, you can clearly hear the Hindu influence in the song. The inspiration for this was the time DT spent studying at the Ali Akbar College of Music. The song is actually a combination of two Punjabi folk classics, "Sahib Teri Bandi" and "Maki Madni", written by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, into one song. What you heard in the beginning is called the "raga"; a section that sounds like improvisation, but is actually a composed segue to the scale the musician will be using. The melody established in the second half of the clip is "Sahib Teri Bandi". If you listen to the full version (the album cut is 9:54 long), you'll hear the "Maki Madni" melody line introduce itself about 3/4 of the way through.

Not everything they do is so musically advanced and intricate. Songs like Sailing On, I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free), Joyful Noise and Get What You Deserve have a more typical rock/blues flavor and less of a world music influence.

Trucks' wife is singer Susan Tedeschi, and they have two children, a boy named Charlie after legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker and daughter Sophie, who takes her middle name, Naima, from a John Coltrane song. In addition to his duties with The Allmans, Clapton, and theDTB, Trucks and Tedeschi occasionally merge their bands into a group called Soul Stew Revival.

The title track of this post is obviously This Sky. It's the last track off the album Songlines, but never gets played live for one reason or another. It's and laid back, soothing and almost ethereal. Without further adieu: