Upset Goes Back To School

UPSET

ECHOPLEX, LA

21 NOVEMBER, 2013

Thursday night saw the return of Upset to the Echoplex, not a month after their last appearance here, but with a difference: more shows under their belt, and in good company, touring with label mates/label anchor Screaming Females. It was a more assured Upset that hit the stage, spinning through the same set in different order, (from their debut LP She's Gone), plus their Guided By Voices cover. The crucial difference was the mood, at once looser and more ferocious. "Oxfords and Wingtips", (below), remains their signature song, and "Never Wanna" and "You And I" retained their double-timed thrash. Jenn Prince took the spotlight for her "Game Over", and Ali shed her guitar for the aforementioned GBV cover, "Chasing Heather Crazy", putting full focus on the vocal. As always, the powerhouse rhythm section of Rachel Haden and Patty Schemel carried the day, with Haden's melodic touch shining on "She's Gone", and Schemel, frankly, turbocharged every song. While the tag of 'supergroup' gets tossed their way because of the players' diverse backgrounds, the tricky part is growing up the band in public, and the key to their success at this point would appear to be their chemistry. Hopefully it won't be too far down the road when we check in again with Upset...the status report for now is full steam ahead.

How The Meat Puppets Won The West

MEAT PUPPETS

SLO BREW

09 NOVEMBER, 2013

Interesting historical fact: when I first moved to the great state of Arizona in the late '80's, practically the only things I knew about it were Barry Goldwater and the Meat Puppets, and in the case of the latter, that was enough. A trio of the Kirkwood Brothers and Derrick Bostrom in their initial incarnation, the band upon rebirth is now a quartet, sans Bostrom and anchored by the brothers. Dogged by more than enough travails to fill an episode of Behind The Music, including label issues and drug shenanigans, the band seemingly never met a bridge it didn't burn. For me they were always a talisman, helping to pave a brave new post-hardcore world by helping to lay the groundwork for what would become Americana, and it's hard to imagine the current San Francisco psych scene without their trailblazing. Their legacy is secure from their early 80's run on SST Records that influenced many, including a young man named Cobain, who repaid the debt by featuring a cycle of their songs during Nirvana's Unplugged performance.
On this night, it was back to basics, as two albums into their resurrection, the band is on the road working its way back up, shining a light for those not fortunate enough to catch them the first time, or gray vets looking for that taste, trying to recapture that first vivid high. While mixing in new tunes, they didn't ignore the old, working in SST-era material, including a handful from high water mark Meat Puppets II, including "Oh Me", "Plateau", and "Lake Of Fire" to much thrashing from the assembled. Audience response seemed heaviest for songs from Too High To Die and a high octane cruise through early classic "Lost", but the high point of the night, and the moment where the set elevated for keeps was a burning take on Freddie Fender's "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" into "Que Paso", investing them both with the Meat Puppets own brand of badassery. Based on the number of fresh faces in the audience, it looks like the Meat Puppets are building a new bridge.