mike watt, meat puppets

The last time I saw Mike Watt play, I thought my chest would collapse from the sheer clean sound from his bass amp.That was in 1995 on his 'Ball hog or Tug Boat' tour. It was not the house system or the PA, it was straight from his fingers and from his bass amp. He is an American original and still puts on a show that is hard to believe. The sounds, the beats, the lyrics, the song arrangements are like nothing you have ever heard and are comparable to nothing else out there. Stemmed from punk rock, then stewed in hard core and original independent rock. It's hard to imagine chaos that comes together so well. Imagine Les Claypool played punk rock in the 70's, is bigger, deeper voiced and louder, and has a stronger stranger stage presence. When Mike looks at you, It's like he is drawing your energy from you and slamming it into his bass which in turn slams you back in the chest. The Bluebird is a small venue. He played until his bass broke, then asked brother Kirk to bring him a screw driver several times so he could repair his bruised and broken bass in between songs. I walked down to watch them break down their gear on the floor, as you have to do at the bluebird, separated by a single rope.  Mike packed his bass and gear on his back and gingerly stepped over the rope to take a few pictures. One picture with a fans 12-13 year old kid, both adorned in Meat Puppets shirts. Dads eyes were much bigger and more elated than the sons. Not sure that the son had any idea who Mike Watt was, but I saw him swaying and banging his head to their impossible beats. I put out my hand and shook Mikes as he was laboring up the steps I stood on.
"Another great show Mike!" I posed as I grabbed his hand and he pushed all of his weight on my shoulder with his other arm and leveraged his weight up the stairs. He is a much bigger and older man than the Mike I remember from 1995. You cant really see the difference on stage though. If anything, he is more electric now.
"Thank you, brother..." waiting for my response.
"Drew."
"Thank you brother Drew!"
He pushed up and passed me, using me as a handrail to get up the steps, leaving his perspiration all over my already soaked shirt.
I told Ben he had walked through the crowd, bass amp on back, moving to the front door. Ben said,
"He's probably already on the 15 getting off on Broadway and transferring to the 0. "
Probably true.
Always a minuteman.
Always a commoner.
Always a Denverite.
And then there was the Meat Puppets.( See photo two).
Saw them twice in the last year, but never as a headliner, full into their physcodellic power amp, blue grassy, countryish, got all the time in the world( we deserve this), jam crazy, tight,  way far out, adrenaline pumped heavy duty rock and roll. My ears still ring as I type this. A solid reminder of a band that influenced so many and is still touring and evolving every day. A 50 something wasted business type with a flannel wrapped around his waist slid into Ben's spot when he went to smoke, danced for a few minutes, then leaned in to tell me that this is not the Meat Puppets he remembered.
I said, " I know! Isn't it great!"
He slowly backed away from me as I asked him if he knew The Dean Ween Group, that they had previously toured with, and when did he see them last. Still a poser... at 50. Sad.
I spoke to Curt Kirkwood in Aspen after that show. He was sober and driving the van! Blown away. These guys to me are rock gods and have been since I was a long haired teenager. They're still driving themselves around this country to perform live. That is some love and a literal example of music over money. The only reason most have any clue who these guys are came from a certain MTV unplugged show where they were heavily covered by a band of real fans.
These guys still blow the roof off and leave you reeling.
This rock and roll review is brought to you by a drunk guy who has been cut off his pain meds and partially believes or wishes he was writing for the rolling stone.