Damien 'Jr Gong' Marley

[Drunk Monk]

at Warfield 2/11/6

I got to SF around 1:30 and hit Wonder Con at Moscone Center.  It was the first time I'd been to a comic show since I worked APE 5 years ago for the mag.  As a publisher, I get in free.  It was fun.  I hooked up with our Senior Graphic Artist Plugo and his friends.  Hilarious.  Two of his buddies had to buy bokken and Plugo and I just rolled eyes.  Made a few fun business connects and saw Kevin Smith present his preview for CLERKS 2 with this hilarious nerd argument scene: Star Wars vs. LotR.  It's got the new Brent Spiner in an "I speak for the nerds' role model - Kevin Wiesman (Marshall on Alias).  It looks promising, if you like Smith's work.  Picked up LEGEND OF THE SACRED STONE, that Korean puppet sworplay thing I think I mentioned I was looking for.  It's a boot.  Hope it's good.

Then I hit the Chinese New Year Parade - caught a great rudimentary drum duel at the front - Drumline and hip hop sensiblities have hit rudimentary drumming and it's booming live in the reverb of downtown.  I walked through the parade queue so I saw all the floats, just not moving, but real close because you can just walk through them while they're queued.  At one point, someone set off this outrageuse firework cannon in the middle of the street that shot full on fireworks into the over Market.  Low intense fireworks.  It probably wasn't safe, but it was sure cool.  

Why did I start this post?  Oh right, Marley.  

I ended up at the Warfield for Damien again -  http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=78  - he did a very similar set to last time I saw him, but it was enjoyalbe.  The crowd was bouncing.  Damien was solid - riding those two grammies he got earlier this week.  It was a fine Dancehall night.  Didn't work too hard, just picked up a few fainted dancehall girls.  And I still love that Jamrock song.  Nthing satisfies like Jamrock.  A Shaolin Rasta member loaned me his DVD of STONER - been looking forward to that one.  George 'Bond' Lazenby meets Sammo Hung, Angela Mao and Betty Ting Pei - it's the uncut version.  I'll let you know...

Dang, my legs are beat...

[Drunk Monk]

@Fillmore 10/11/17

Irie. Busy. Babs, my RM guru & supe, is on evac standby due to the fires, so I went up to cover for her. 

At one point, after doing a casual save, two divas started groping me and wanted to buy me a drink. But I tell you about that later. Tomorrow ... today is a work day. Finish nitecap & Sleep now.

[Drunk Monk]

So there I was at my usual spot at the 'Mo, in the hallway, near the Women's restroom.  I was in front of the Tom Petty altar when a lovely lady comes up to me and hands me her iPhone, saying she can't hear it.  She's tipsy, but not shit-faced, and leaning in way close as she's getting me to try to hear her friend and communicate her location.  It's really loud in the 'Mo.  That house has awesome acoustics for big bass.  Soon her friend shows up and they are both ecstatic, and the first gal is so happy, she's hugging me and rubbing me and even insists on getting a selfie with me with her hanging off me (I must be getting old because I was too bowled over by it all to grab a selfie myself).  Both women are probably in their 30s, clean SF types, well dressed and groomed but not excessively made-up nor decked in reggae wear - they look like nice gals.  The ladies huddle around me snugly and say they want to party with me and ask me if they can buy me a drink.  But I flash my lammies, tell them I'm working, and off they dance into the crowd, never to be seen again.  I quickly check to make sure I didn't get pick-pocketed and praise JAH & Jr. Gong for the irie niceness.

So yeah, I had a good night.

The show was sold out.  Kabaka Pyramid opened but I only caught the last song or two because we got there late. Jr. Gong was solid as always, although I'm not too smitten with his new album cuts.  Maybe they will grow on me.

[Greg]

No picture? Didn't happen.

Those are the rules.

[Drunk Monk]

It may have been an irie illusion but you'd think they'd have been dancehall divas if it was. Still kicking myself for not grabbing my own selfie, but there was a moment when I was wondering if it was going to be one of those nights when evidence should not be kept...

[Drunk Monk]

@Catalyst 11/17/17

Great show. Gotta jump back in the commute in 5 hours so I'll tell about it later. Need sleep now.

---

Tweakin to hard to sleep and it's too late to take a sedative without it affecting me waking up this morning. This is yet another reason why I should avoid weekday shows. You'd think I'd learn by now.

[Drunk Monk]

Sometimes I think I'm getting too old for weekday shows.  It's been a constant issue - our area is a 'tweener town' for the music industry, meaning bands can play midweek and still fill a house, so it's a good way to make a little more while on the road.  A Tuesday night show?  Ouch.  

I walked down to the Cat - one of my delights of living in that tiny bungalow is that it's only a 15 min walk and very pleasant.  Met some random reggae friends outside while waiting for my padawan Edgar, who so kindly bought a ticket for me.  He was with another JNK noob, Jenn, and the three of us are rather nefarious for enabling each other.  The house was packed.  Rasta Cruz was out in full force.  SRO and very tight, even in the very back.  It was a mostly 20s-30s crowd, not as well groomed as the SF show the week prior, and far more stony (note that the name of Jr Gong's new album is Stony Hill).  You thought last week's fire smoke was bad?  The Cat was thick, so thick that 2nd hand contact highs were unavoidable (the Cat has crappy ventilation anyways).  And everyone was being neighborly, puffin & passin.  

I actually disdain the Cat.  It's such a dive.  I saw a lot of great acts there 30 years ago, and they still haven't cleaned the place.  The bouncers and barkeeps are rude.  The place stinks and in shows like this, they oversell so tight that it's a hazard.  But they get the better acts that come through, so what can ya do?

Kabaka Pyramid was really good.  He's a local fav and brought it.  Good to see him shine.  Quick rapping hip hop along with more traditional dancehall chants and call backs.  The audience was dialed for the call backs with Jr next.

Jr was solid.  It was delightful to just watch a whole show, despite the packed crowd.  His call backs, well, when he's doing his father's music, it's a given.  I'm still not sold on his new stuff, and he only glanced over Mek It Bun Dem (my ringtone, which I'm thinking of changing soon) as a jam in the middle of his finale song, Jamrock, of course.  Good show overall, very satisfying, quite irie.  

It's actually a deadline crunch now, and I'm taking the next few days off for UCSD family weekend, so I'm rather under the gun at work, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be after a Tuesday show.  I've developed lots of survival strategies over the years (had to) and it was strangely refreshing to shave at work before anyone else got there.