I Wish I Were Still In Seattle

Here is a link to the rest of the pictures I took in Seattle. What a wonderful city, with wonderful people. Hands down the best city I have ever visited. I had so much fun there and I didn't even get to do all the stuff I wanted to do. That just means I'm going to have to go back. I would recommend visiting this city to anyone. It has breath taking views, it's clean, there is a ton of stuff to do for all ages and outstanding dining establishments. These pictures include pictures from The Pike st Market, The Northwest Folk life festival and other various things around the city that caught my attention. There are also some pictures from the Sasquatch festival at the gorge that I did not include in my Jane's blog. The pictures include stuff from NIN set and sun setting at The Gorge. Thank you Sunshine for making it happen for me.

http://picasaweb.google.com/cosmicfriendjeffrey/SeattleTrip#

Happy Trails

Review: Jane's Addiction Sasquatch Festival @ The Gorge in Washington

Jane's Addiction continues to push past the limits of fans expectations. After almost two decades of being apart, they have reunited and sound as if they've never left the stage. They have all grown musically, except without each other through the years. That's the magic of this band. That is why this band works only with it's original members. This band clearly cannot survive without having each other. These songs were written by them and need to be played by them. Jane's is clearly not the same without Eric Avery.

For weeks before the show I was convinced that Three Days would not be a good opener. However they just continue to raise the bar and defy all thoughts of possible reality. Eric's tedious bass lines, running around like a maniac, Perry chugging his bottle of wine, shaking his shakers, Dave playing an un imaginable guitar solo perfect, and Stephen's tribal drumming in this song are legendary in the Jane's world. I guess they figure what better song to kick it off with and they played it note for crisp note to a T. At one point a few friends and I looked at each other and said this is going a be a magical, epic night. You could just tell that it was special. According to Eric Avery's blog post the next day it was the "best show of the tour so far". They continued on into Whores, Ain't No Right, Pigs in Zen with an awesome new arrangement in the middle of Pigz which I like to call "Pigz jam". At one point Perry told a guy if you're going to throw something up here why don't you throw some drugs. The set ripped on laying into Mountain Song, Been Caught Stealing, Then She Did, Had a Dad.

Perry was in rarest of form talking it up with the crowd bringing up the old days playing in Seattle @ The Paramount while Kurt Cobain was still alive. Then telling the men in the crowd before Summer Time Rolls that they should whip their ****'s out for their women when they get home. (Or something to that effect, I'm paraphrasing). Dave Navarro's fingers find their way up and down the fret board like it's the easiest thing in the world. He practically does it with his eyes closed as he doesn't ever look down at his fingers and is constantly looking at the crowd, Stephen ,Eric or Perry to see what their next move will be. They make you leave wanting more. That is exactly what happened. The crowd at the end was begging for more yelling Jane's, Jane's, Jane's, Jane's, Jane's.

Two younger kids not aware of Jane's Addiction asked me during Mountain Song who the F is this guy ( referring to Perry) I told them Perry Farrell just watch. These two kids got the best 1st Jane's Addiction show, that any old school fan has been begging to see for years. The looks on their faces at the end of the show were priceless. The crowd in the pit was pretty intense with crowd surfers, people jumping around and singing along to just about every song pumping their fist in the air.

One last thought to leave you with. If they are not getting along with each other as it has been rumored, and long time fans fear the most. They are hiding it well, because they looked happier than ever. Smiling at each other through out the set and hugging with each other at the end of the show. I saw no signs of resentment, animosity or bad vibes. It was truly a magical evening with Jane's Addiction at The Gorge for everyone involved. Below is the set list and a link to my Picasa photo album for the show.

http://picasaweb.google.com/cosmicfriendjeffrey/JaneSAddictionTheGorge#


Set List
Three Days
Whores
Ain't No Right
Pigs in Zen
Then She Did...
Mountain Song
Had a Dad
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, Just Admit it...
Ocean Size
Summertime Rolls
Stop!
Jane Says

Northwest Folklife Festival Seattle

Saturday in Seattle was the Northwest Folk life festival at the Seattle Center, actually it goes on all weekend. What a great day of good music, friendly people, good food and good vibes. I have never seen such a diverse crowd of people attend one event. Hippies, punk rockers, elderly, families with children and dogs all getting along and having a great time in one place. Where I come from this type of crowd is just begging for trouble, but like I said in yesterday's post everyone seems to be accepted for who they are and not pre judged. What a great feeling. The range of musical genres was diverse as well, there was bluegrass, country, folk, celtic, drum circles, and plenty of side shows, just gatherings of people who don't even know each other pickin away at their banjos, mandolins, guitars, just singin old traditional tunes and having a good ole time. I wanted to go check out my friends band Panda Conspiracy at 8 but our dinner went a little long and I missed them. All in all a great day. On to of that we have had just outstanding weather, which is not really the norm so we were fortunate. Today looks like rain but we are heading two hours east for Sasquatch at The Gorge. The weather says 70 degrees and sunny. The countdown for Jane's Addiction is now 12 hours and counting. The road trip begins now. I will post pictures from the entire weekend soon. I got some real good ones and I'm sure today there will be a ton more to take today. Here we go.

The Freaks Come Out At Night!

Seattle: Friday walked around for a few hours while waiting for my friend to get out of work, drinking different types of north west microbrews along the way. Checked out the pike st market, tons of seafood, produce, craft shops of all types from different countries and cultures. People watching and getting aggravated at slow, non caring tourists. Took a break at a beautiful water side park with a view of the city and had some roasted corn on the cob, which was out of this world. The evening was the more interesting part for me. We went to The Crocodile to see a great bass player who is a friend of Janes, Mike Watt. Going in I wasn't sure what type of music it would be, but I wanted to support. It turned to be a punk show which is not my scene but I did enjoy it. Seattle at night is a different place than the day time, piercings, tattoos, scantily clad women and men, gays and lesbians out in full force, and all types seem to be accepted and not pre judged . I wish it could be like that everywhere. After that we checked out a burlesque show at noc noc. Again not my scene but I'm always interested in seeing the alternative lifestyles and the shenanigans that people are up to. The phrase "The freaks come out at night" is an understatement in Seattle.

Jane's Addiction Tour recap

Here is the info that I have gathered from set lists. I have listened to West Palm, Tampa, and Austin shows so far and they seem to be getting better as each night goes on. They are really powerful and tight, they sound better than ever, Dave's guitar work is nothing short of a masterpiece, and Perry is up to his old antics of dressing like the rock star that he knows how to be and interacting heavily with the crowd. He seems to be focusing a lot on death during his Then She Did mid song rant and partying and having fun in his others. Signing off in West Palm telling the crowd to continue the party, telling the crowd in Austin they need to get there butts up to Chicago for a party similar to there's ( Austin City Limits) in trying to rally troops to his Lollapalooza festival in August which Jane's will be one of he headliners. You can tell there is also a lot of energy inside that venue in Austin. Huge crowd reaction to Perry and lots of out loud singing by the crowd as well. It really gave me the feeling that I was actually there.


Here is a recent interview with Perry where he's sounding happy about the present and optimistic about the future.
http://www.spinner.com/2009/05/18/perry-farrell-recovering-from-tour-injury-with-meds-and-tlc/

Looks like they have been making some changes to the sets. One song missing from a couple nights probably due to a curfew. 1%, Summertime Rolls, Had a Dad,, and Up the Beach seem to be the rotators. There is also a new very cool post at http://www.janesaddiction.com/ from Perkins. That reads the following

"first week- west palm:

hang, sleep, play my drums, tan poolside, ocean swims with a sting ray,sea turtle and little fishies. oh yea-Practice went great! we sound thick like water

*second week- gigs and travel:

on stage and loving it-

back on the bus and laughing with the fellas-

meeting new people and forgetting their names-

back on stage and loving it

*Arizona,Cali. and Nevada shows-

Playing better than ever- oh yea, tuning up some other songs for possible set ideas- N.O.L. and O. maybe soon

back to the front-

PERKINS"

NOL is referring to No One's Leaving and O is reffering to Obvious

5/8/09 Jane's Addiction, West Palm Beach, Fl show # 1

set list

three days
whores
ain't no right
pigs in zen
then she did
1%
been caught stealing
ted, just admit it...
mountain song
oceansize
up the beach
stop!
jane says

5/9/09 Jane's Addiction Tampa Fl. show # 2

setlist
Three Days
Whores
Ain't No Right
Pigs in Zen
Then She Did
Standing in the Shower, Thinking
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, Just Admit It
Mountain Song
Ocean Size
Stop!
Jane Says

5/10/09 Jane's Addiction Atlanta, Ga. Show # 3

set list
Three Days
Whores
Ain't No Right
Pigs in Zen
Then She Did
Mountain Song
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, Just Admit It
Had a Dad
Ocean Size
Summertime Rolls
Stop!
Jane Says

5/12/09 Jane's Addiction Austin Tx. Show # 4

setlist
Three Days
Whores
Ain't No Right
Pigs in Zen
Then She Did
Mountain Song
1%
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, Just Admit It
Ocean Size
Summertime Rolls
Stop!
Jane Says

5/14/09 jane's Addiction, Albuquerque. NM Show # 5

setlist
Three Days
Whores
Ain't No Right
Pigs In Zen
Then She Did...
Mountain Song
1%
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, Just Admit It...
Ocean Size
Stop!
Jane Says

5/15/09 Jane's Addiction Phoenix. AZ Show # 6

setlist
Three Days
Whores
Pigs in Zen
Ain't No Right
Then She Did...
Mountain Song
1%
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, just admit it...
Ocean Size
Summertime Rolls
Stop!
Jane Says

5/16/09 Jane's Addiction Chula Vista, Ca. Show # 7

setlist
Three Days
Whores
Ain't No Right
Pigs in Zen
Then She Did
Mountain Song
Standing in the Shower... Thinking...
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, Just Admit It
Ocean Size
Summertime Rolls
Stop!
Jane Says

Cosmic Chili

Yesterday I made a visit to the Falls Church Farmers Market again. Due to the nice weather it has expanded quite a bit. Lot's of produce and plant vendors. Just a great place to spend a Saturday morning. Lots of friendly people. I always walk out of there inspired to make something. This time I was visiting Atwater bakery and saw a delicious looking loaf of cheddar chili bread. Also having in mind the the DC chili cook off going on this weekend @ RFK stadium I decided what a great time to create a recipe for chili. Now I've made chili many times and I always make it different. I never write it down I just make it as I go and then that's it. This time I decided I would write it down as I go and actually write a recipe. So here it is for you to try.

Ingredients:
Organic olive oil
5 garlic heads
3 Tomatoes from the vine
2 lg jalapeno peppers
1 Orange bell pepper
1 Red onion
4 15oz can organic tomato sauce
2 15 oz can organic Diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can great northern white beans
1 15 oz can red kidney beans
1 15 oz can whole kernel corn
5 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp sugar in the raw
1 lg boneless chicken breast
1 lb ground turkey breast

Instructions:
In a large sauce pot cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil. Take 3 or 4 tomatoes, dice them up and add them in. Dice up up your 5 heads of garlic and after that your jalapenos and add them in to the pot as well. I left the seeds from both peppers, you don't have to if you don't want to depending on how hot you like it. Get this simmering for a bit and let all the flavor from the garlic, and the hotness of the pepper seeds mix in with all those tomatoes and oil. After that cut up the rest of the vegetables and add them in. Let this stuff to get going for about 5 to 10 minutes, not super hot boiling just rolling a little.
The next step while that is going is to open all the cans of sauce and tomatoes, add them in and just go down the list with the rest of the cans of beans and corn. Let this simmer for a few minutes and get it all mixed in good. Now you can start adding your spices. Take your spices and add them in. The spices quantities are what I put in mine. You can adjust this to your taste and liking. That's what is the fun thing about cooking, you can adjust any recipe to how you want it to taste. I did not include salt in my recipe. I try to stay away from salt for to reasons. One is that there is already enough salt in all of the other things that we eat with out needing to add more. We just do it because it tastes good, but it's actually bad. The other is that there is enough flavor in the rest of the other ingredients that I think it is not necessary. You can put it if you want. Stir that all up real good and let that simmer for a bit while you cook up your meat. I added a little old bay spice to the meat while cooking just because I always think it's important to add a little something to meat while it is cooking. Then when it's finished drain the grease and add it to the sauce. Let that simmer for a bit and you're ready to add it to your favorite, bread, hot dog, pasta or just have it in a bowl with some cheddar and sour cream on top.

Enjoy

All Good day schedules and stages.

Here is the announcement of the days of which bands will play what days at this years http://www.allgoodfestival.com/


Come on out to West Virginia for some fun in the sun with tons of good bands

Friday Night:
All Good Stage:
moe. *Late Night*
Bob Weir & Ratdog
Les Claypool
Robert Randolph & the Family Band
Galactic
Jackie Greene
Hill Country Revue

Golden Crane Stage:
BASSNECTAR *Late Night*
Todd Snider
That 1 Guy
Big Nazo

Saturday Night:
All Good Stage:
Umphrey's McGee *Late Night*
Ben Harper and RELENTLESS7
STS9
Yonder Mountain String Band
Buckethead
Steve Kimock Crazy Engine
The Bridge
Cornmeal
Fear Nuttin' Band

Golden Crane Stage:
SOJA *Late Night*
Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk
Lake Trout
AOD
Jeff Austin and Brendan Bayliss
Big Nazo

Sunday:
All Good Stage
Dark Star Orchestra
Tea Leaf Green
Donna the Buffalo
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

Golden Crane Stage:
BK3 featuring Bill Kreutzmann
Rex Jam

The Dead @ Philly Spectrum 5/1 and 5/2

What a wonderful weekend with good friends and great music. The Philadelphia Spectrum hosted it's last Grateful Dead show ever before they tear it down. The boys came out in full force. After seeing a somewhat slow show at the Verizon Center in DC two weeks ago, they really redeemed themselves in my opinion. Sometimes it just takes half the tour to get in the groove and lock down the songs. It's understandable. That being said they came out strong to a tired crowd on Friday night, not quite sold out but pretty full. Here is the set list from 5/1.

The Dead :: 05.01.09 :: Wachovia Spectrum :: Philadelphia, PA

The Dead (Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Warren Haynes and Jeff Chimenti) played the fourteenth show of their Spring Tour last night (05/01) at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA.

Set I: Playing In The Band, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo, New Speedway Boogie, Shakedown Street, Dupree's Diamond Blues, Hard To Handle, Friend Of The Devil*, Playing (Reprise)
Set II: Jack Straw, Alligator > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks), Drums > Space, Loose Lucy, Comes A Time, Cold Rain And Snow, Sugar Magnolia
Encore: Box Of Rain

Saturday night on the other hand was rockin right out of the gate to a completely sold out crowd. Unfortunately there were not tickets available for quite a few fans in the lot. When we arrived at the parking lot it had that vibe in the lot that it was just destined to be a great night. It did indeed turn out to be a great night. What a smokin second show. I've often been asked why I would go to two consecutive shows of the same band. Well Saturday night proved to me once again that any band on any given night can be off or completely on. Saturday night they were on fire. Had I not gotten to see both shows I would not have seen or been a part of this magical evening. Of course they did it in true creative fashion opening the saturday night show with "One more Saturday Night" and a killer "Samson and Delilah" for the encore with the emphasis on the words "I will tear this whole building down"

Here is the set list for Saturday 5/2.

The Dead (Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Warren Haynes and Jeff Chimenti) played the fifteenth show of their Spring Tour last night (05/02) at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA.

Set I: One More Saturday Night, Brown Eyed Women, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Althea, He's Gone, Uncle John's Band, Mason's Children
Set II: Good Lovin', Cumberland Blues, Cryptical Envelopment, The Other One. Drums > Space, Morning Dew, St. Stephen, Revolution, Help On The Way> Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower
Encore: Samson And Delilah

So long Spectrum the memories will live on without you.

Here is a link to my Spectrum photo album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/cosmicfriendjeffrey/TheDeadPhillySpectrum#

Emergence audio from Dogwood Tavern Falls Church Va.

Here is a link to the audio from our first gig at Dogwood Tavern from 4/18/09. Just click the link below, save files as, then you should just be able to open them and it will play in your media player.

http://home.comcast.net/~antshawog/Emergence/Emergence__Live @ Dogwood Tavern 4-18-09.zip

I hope you enjoy the music and come out to see us on 5/16/09 at http://www.ragtimerestaurant.com/