It's All Happening - Part I

The chronicles of SuperDee continue with a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat and I didn't get up until the next morning when the world went shopping and I came back to Brooklyn. After reading an homage or two on the 30th anniversary of The Last Waltz, the only thing to do that afternoon was put the DVD on and relish in the true rockness of the film. Seeing all of these musicians in their young and crazy days is so mind boggling. Like myself and my friends now, they were at a time in their lives when they believed they had all the answers - most of 'em, anyway. Most of life's little tricks could be expressed and explained with song. During the rousing chorus at the end, the film scans the faces of rock legends, realized and otherwise, and you get a mixed sense of power, insecurity, and just plain ol' good entertainment.

Friday night kicked off a week that we should just call Super. I've got a handful of my top 5 favorites comin' at me all week and it started out with a holiday Bisco run at the Hammerstein. "The Overture" was a super way to open the run but I didn't quite get my groove into perfection until the "Shimmy" in the second set. Dripping with sensuality the "Shimmy" sandwiched the "Ladies" and the place was going wild. The encore on night one was sick - Magner's "Spy" gave way to a pretty huge jam which lead into some familiar territory... A melody began to emerge and synapses were firing trying to put a name to that sound. Before you know it we are amidst the ending of G'n'R's "November Rain" which they rocked out to completion in a style that could have put Axl and crew themselves to shame. Fists pumping and the crowd singing along: "Don't ya think that you need somebody / Don't ya think that you need someone / Everybody needs somebody / You're not the only one / You're not the only one!" Ah yes, good times.

The show was followed by your general meeting up with friends in town at random bars and filling up jukeboxes with gratifying sing-along tunes. DB, in for the holiday weekend for T-day, came to stay with me in Brooklyn for the night so we stayed up a while longer to watch the new My Morning Jacket DVD, Okonokos. Oh my gosh.... this is the greatest thing anyone will ever have in a living room. I love that there's sort of a story line running throughout. There's a man from the 30's that is at a fancy party. A llama type thing walks into the party and the man, mesmerized, takes the llama by the leash and walks with him out into the woods. Through the drooping leaves, they find themselves in a very magical place... The Fillmore! I was lucky to be there live - and an amazing experience that was - but reliving it in on my couch staring with awe at the glowing box is another experience altogether. Amazing...

On Saturday we had a lovely walk through Prospect Park and a poke through the Slope. Then it was time to go back to the Hammerstein. After stashing contraband in my shoes, I entered the room into the "ooooooh ooooooh oooooh" part of "Basis" - hot! A romp through "Spacebirdmatingcall" and back into "Basis" before they meandered into Pink Floyd land with "Echoes." I was standing in the drinks line at the beginning and just had to duck back in before I got served to hear Barber's soaring guitar solo. The set ended with the middle spacey section looping over the PA and the lights gradually came on for setbreak. The loop continued through the break and sure enough, they launched right back into "Echoes" to start the second set. The peak of the night was absolutely when "M.E.M.P.H.I.S." just POPPED out of nowhere and the crowd went berserk. The end had this visceral rock section that came from the gut instead of their warped brains. Brilliant. We got a Habber and a Dribble and some other goodness, but the moment of the night came for me from a spot nestled in the corner of southwestern Tennessee.

Post show silliness ensued... and that was pretty much that for Thanksgiving weekend!