Rock show

Wednsday night Wendell and I headed out to the Visulite and met up with James and Sam for the Knitters show. Until just a couple of months ago I had never heard of the Knitters. Oh sure, I had heard of X and I am a huge fan of Dave Alvin but who knew they had such a great side project?

I've never been a huge X fan. I do have the album Los Angeles and I consider the title track one of the great rock songs. I knew they were good but some groups just don't grab you, you know? Now Dave Alvin, that's a whole different story. I think we all know how much I love his music. How could I turn down a chance to see what is essentially X, one of the great early punk bands, with Dave Alvin blazing away on his gorgeous beat up vanilla colored Stratocaster?

A folk singer from 'Frisco named Phranc opened the show with a solo acoustic set. She was really fun and I think she may be a lesbian. I have that suspicion because she said she was between almost every song. With her haircut and outfit her proclamations were redundant. She did a nice sing along with the crowd on the song "Mrs. Brown you have a lovely Daughter." I guess this is a comeback for her. Her last album came out in 1998. If she comes out with a new one I might get it.

The show was superb. The Knitters were tight but loose and they were having a great time. I had no idea Exene was such a hoot. She really commanded the stage. She and John Doe were doing that off key harmony thing they do so well all night. Dave Alvin played the shit out of his guitar and he seemed to be enjoying being the guitar player in a band instead of the focus of the show. I stood in front of him for a while and being that close the sound from his amp was drowning out everything else and was like a little private Dave Alvin demonstration for about fifteen minutes. It was too loud to stand in front of for too long and moved back to the middle. He didn't sing at all, which I expected but it would have been nice if he sang one song. The only way the show could have been better is if Mojo Nixon had been there drunk and nekkid.

I didn't take that many pictures or try all that hard for good shots. The show was too good to bother with all that but here's a couple.

Phranc


John Doe and Exene


The awesome Dave Alvin