11-22-2025, 02:15 AM
I got a couple tix cause I was curious after seeing the Dig doc (see my review here). I invited my son. We met up at the Crepe Place I had my go to dishes: steamed artichoke and chicken strips. It was very loud in there by the bar, but that used to be my Cheers and it was nice to see some of the old faces, watch an old B/W Gamera flick on the teles while eating…
Went over to the Rio…this event sold out. Found some seats easily. The opener was The Federales from Portland - Six member band, country leaning. They had a pedal steel player who was carrying the band a lot, even though he was too quiet. They were Ok, but really needed some dynamics…
BJM came on…they just kinda wandered out on stage, plugged in and then started tuning. The venue started to fill, with a majority moving in front of the stage rather than taking seats. They are a 7-piece band: drummer, bass, guitar, guitar, multi-instrumentalist (mostly keyboard, but some guitar), a tambourine player, and singer Anton, also playing guitar.
There were 6 sets of sunglasses, 3 pairs od huge sideburns. One of the guitar players had a western shirt and sunglasses and was a dead ringer for Michael Nesmith.
![[Image: mike-nesmith-1730830434556.jpg]](https://media.distractify.com/brand-img/cXkxbOsDG/0x0/mike-nesmith-1730830434556.jpg)
For the first song, all 3 guitarists were playing 12-string hollowbody electrics. They seemed to swap out guitars almost every song, and with every swap, they spent a very long time tuning. Almost every song sounded like a variation of the Boardwalk Empire theme.
Plodding…so much plodding. Only singer Anton spoke to the audience (actually, Joel, the tambourine player spoke briefly to say that he was drunk/hungover because it was his birthday and couldn’t say no when people bought him drinks). Anton was having a hard time stringing words together. If I was an officer, at this point, I would have had him step out of the car. There was one episode where Michael Nesmith swapped out guitars between songs and then had a heck of a time tuning it…like over 5 minutes. They never played any songs I recognized. I didnt recognize anyone in the band from the Dig! doc. One time, the roadie came to bring Anton a different guitar and Anton gave him a huge, long hug. I came because I was curious, but the place was full and we couldn’t all be curious…some people must actually know these songs and can tell them apart.
The tambouring player was f’ing awesome, in spite of his condition. I wonder if he makes the same as the other band members.
—tg
Went over to the Rio…this event sold out. Found some seats easily. The opener was The Federales from Portland - Six member band, country leaning. They had a pedal steel player who was carrying the band a lot, even though he was too quiet. They were Ok, but really needed some dynamics…
BJM came on…they just kinda wandered out on stage, plugged in and then started tuning. The venue started to fill, with a majority moving in front of the stage rather than taking seats. They are a 7-piece band: drummer, bass, guitar, guitar, multi-instrumentalist (mostly keyboard, but some guitar), a tambourine player, and singer Anton, also playing guitar.
There were 6 sets of sunglasses, 3 pairs od huge sideburns. One of the guitar players had a western shirt and sunglasses and was a dead ringer for Michael Nesmith.
For the first song, all 3 guitarists were playing 12-string hollowbody electrics. They seemed to swap out guitars almost every song, and with every swap, they spent a very long time tuning. Almost every song sounded like a variation of the Boardwalk Empire theme.
Plodding…so much plodding. Only singer Anton spoke to the audience (actually, Joel, the tambourine player spoke briefly to say that he was drunk/hungover because it was his birthday and couldn’t say no when people bought him drinks). Anton was having a hard time stringing words together. If I was an officer, at this point, I would have had him step out of the car. There was one episode where Michael Nesmith swapped out guitars between songs and then had a heck of a time tuning it…like over 5 minutes. They never played any songs I recognized. I didnt recognize anyone in the band from the Dig! doc. One time, the roadie came to bring Anton a different guitar and Anton gave him a huge, long hug. I came because I was curious, but the place was full and we couldn’t all be curious…some people must actually know these songs and can tell them apart.
The tambouring player was f’ing awesome, in spite of his condition. I wonder if he makes the same as the other band members.
—tg
