Hamell On Trial @ The Hungry Soul Cafe, Friday July 25th, 8 pm / Bonus Content by Ricki C.

So let’s say one day you find yourself thinking, “I wish I could go see the 1978 Clash, only instead of a four-man punk band, they would be rolled into one bald, sweaty guy with a 1937-vintage acoustic guitar.  And instead of being just deadly serious, The Clash would simultaneously be as socially conscious & hilarious as Richard Pryor was at his prime.  I wish I could go see a show like that.”

Well, dear readers, as always Pencilstorm is here to make your wishes come true: This Friday, July 25th, The Hungry Soul Café (downtown at 30 S. Young Street, phone 224-1944) will present Hamell On Trial, a solo acoustic rock & roll act that has been described as “Bill Hicks, Hunter S. Thompson and Joe Strummer all rolled into one” by Philadelphia Weekly and a “one-man Tarantino flick: loud, vicious, luridly hilarious, gleefully & deeply offensive” by New York’s Village Voice.   

Showtime at The Hungry Soul is 8 pm, tickets & reservations are $8 in advance, admission at the door will cost you a laughably minimal $10.  Parking meters around The Hungry Soul need not be fed after 7 pm, so parking is essentially free.  For more info and reservations, visit info@hungrysoulcafe.com.   

Please note: Video is not for the faint of heart. If you are easily offended, you'd best skip it.

Hamell On Trial by Ricki C.

Pencilstorm Conflict of Interest Statement: I served as road manager for Hamell On Trial for 10 years, 2000-2010, before knee surgery for a torn ligament sidelined me and made it infinitely more difficult to traipse around these United States hauling guitars & amps and making nine & ten hour drives between gigs. But make no mistake, boys & girls, for those ten years I worked every night in the presence of greatness, and I would mean every word of this blog whether I had ever traveled & worked with Hamell, or just stared up at him on the stage from the audience, awestruck from the other side of the footlights.

I first encountered the phenomenon that is Hamell On Trial at the South By Southwest Music Convention in Austin, Texas, March 1996, at a huge outdoor Mercury Records showcase – 10,000 people in the street on a gorgeously warm Texas afternoon/evening. Ed was signed to Mercury then, his first record, Big As Life had just been released, and they were using him to keep the crowd occupied between the other performers' sets (God Street Wine, The Refreshments, and Joan Osborne - for those of you scoring at home). While roadies scurried around changing out amps, drums, etc. Ed would play from the very front of the stage, maybe five songs at a time, three sets in all.

From the very first dive-bomber kamikaze guitar strums and the staccato spitting delivery of the best lyrics I had heard in years it was rock & roll love at first sight. The next day I lucked into seeing him at a really, really small coffeehouse in his allotted South By Southwest slot. I was there to see the act following him and had arrived early to snag a good seat. While Ed was setting up I thought to myself, "Cool, this is the guy I saw yesterday at the outdoor show, but how the hell is he going to play this tiny coffeehouse? He'll have to tone the act down so far it won't work."

Only he didn't tone it down. He played a fifty-seat coffeehouse at exactly the same manic intensity and nearly the same volume he played the huge outdoor show. People walked out of the place wincing and holding their ears during the first song. I, on quite the other hand, was in six-string sonic heaven. This was everything I had been looking for since I quit playing in bands and started doing solo acoustic shows: extreme volume and attitude, great lyrics, a sense of humor. This was fiercely intelligent rock & roll played on an acoustic guitar with no hint of lingering folkie kum-ba-yah-ism.

I saw him again in March 1997 at South By Southwest and he had a whole set of new songs potentially even better than the ones I saw him play just a year earlier (including "The Vines," the song that ended my 20-year career of warehouse work and sent me into music full-time.) In August of '97 he played Columbus and I cadged my way onto the bill as the opening act. I got to the club early, watched his soundcheck, screwed up my courage and walked up to him as he was packing up his guitar. I held up my CD covers to Big As Life and The Chord Is Mightier Than The Sword and said, "Hi, I'm your opening act and I just wanted to get the gushing fan stuff out of the way. Could you autograph these for me?"

I was fully poised, balanced back on my heels, ready to take off if he growled, "Motherfucker, do you think I don't have anything better to do than sign your little CD's?" Instead he smiled and said, "Ah, you got my CD's. Do people know who I am here?" I said, "Yeah, you get airplay on our local NPR station, I think it'll be a good crowd." I thanked him and started to walk away after he signed and he said, "Hey, come on back to the dressing room and we'll talk." I replied, "No, I don't wanna bother you." (First rule of opening acts: Never ever, under any circumstances, bother the headliner.) Ed said, "I'm in that car eight hours a day, every day, by myself, I never get to talk to anybody, come on back." I looked around. "Don't you have a roadie?" I asked. Ed replied, "Do I look like I can afford a roadie?"

It turned out we had bought all the same records in all the same years (Lou Reed, The MC5, The Stooges, Mott The Hoople, The New York Dolls, Patti Smith, Jim Carroll). We'd both witnessed nature’s most perfect rock & roll organism – The Who in 1969 – fifteen days apart: November 1st (me) and November 16th (him) when Keith Moon ruled the universe. We lived very similar rock & roll existences: i.e. played in bands for years, then went solo acoustic. We had the same kind of working class reprobate rocker friends; him in Syracuse, New York, me in Columbus, Ohio. It was like we were brothers who grew up in different zip codes.

When he was going onstage that night I said, "Hey, I've seen you play before, I know you're gonna break strings. Why don't you show me where your extra strings & tuner are and I'll switch them out for you if anything goes wrong." He just stared back at me and said, "Really?" "Yeah," I said, "doesn’t your opening act offer that wherever you go?" Ed replied, "No, nobody ever offers anything, anywhere, anytime."

I played roadie that night. I helped out around the Midwest after that. When tours with Ani Difranco came up in 2000 I got a tryout and made the grade. I stuck around. – Ricki C. / January, 2012

(editor’s note: As always, because it IS Ricki C. after all, this piece has been heavily edited & condensed from the original. For the complete blog, please visit Hamell On Trial, Growing Old With Rock & Roll, January, 2012.)

apropos of not much more than that I got to meet Wayne Kramer of The MC5 last Sunday at a Shadowbox Live gig, here's a bonus encore video of Hamell On Trial.

Colin's Coffee Employee to Ride Greyhound Bus to California and Back.

Annie Deibel isn't your average coffee shop employee. Recently graduated from Upper Arlington High School she will be attending Columbus School of Art & Design this fall. She also is actively pursuing a career in comedy and last spring spent two weeks working with Second City in Chicago.

For her summer vacation she is traveling alone from Columbus to San Francisco via San Diego and then back, all by Greyhound bus. Yeah, the actual Greyhound bus.

"I should meet some interesting people."

The bus leaves from downtown Columbus Sunday July 20th at 7 am.

If you wish to ride shotgun with Annie on her two week adventure, click here for the link to her Facebook page.

Code Reds - Kevin J. Elliott and Ryan Haye Have Your Midseason Report

1) If I somebody told you before the season that Billy Hamilton would lead all rookies in hits & steals and Frazier, Mesorasco and Alfredo Simon would play in the All-Star Game would have believed it?  (questions by Colin Gawel)

Kevin)  No, not a bit. The only thing I predicted was Hamilton's mastery of the base pads. He's been the biggest surprise by far. This is not to mention his excellent defense in CF and that many of those hits have been for extra bases. There's even some power there at times. 

As for Frazier, I always thought he was never playing to his potential, so it's nice to see him have a breakout season. Please keep this up in the second half, dear Toddfather. 
Mesoraco has been called the next Johnny Bench since he was drafted, so it's been another surprise to see him play up to that title this quickly. He'll be a stud behind the plate for many years in a Reds uniform. 

That Simon is pitching like our Number Two guy is just icing on the cake. It's kind of a too good to be true scenario with him. Hard to believe all of them will post the same numbers in the second half, but with that said they are all still rising. If anything this really bodes well for the Reds of the future. 

Ryan) Although I did believe that Hamilton would develop into a solid everyday player, nobody - and I mean nobody - predicted that the dude would become one the best defensive center fielders in the league, or that he would swing the bat with the power that he’s displayed. His home-runs have been bombs. Like I said previously, the comparisons to Henderson were unfair and premature but his play has put him in the running for Rookie of the Year.

I have always loved Frazier, and, like Kevin, I felt he was underachieving mostly due to his complete lack of awareness of the strike zone, but here we are now and Frazier is an All-Star and is currently the best bat on the team…

…Except for Mezz. Last year my brother (a Pirates fan and a big fat jerk) sent me a text saying that Mezz was a bust. I struggled to defend him. Perhaps Mezz intercepted that text because the dude has been huge this year. He calls a great game, his defense is solid and he’s hitting the ball, and he’s hitting it when it matters. I love this guy and I can’t wait to see what he can do now that he has (hopefully) his injuries behind him.

2) Conversely, what would you have guessed to be the Reds record at the break if I told you Jay Bruce was hitting.229, Joey Votto would only have have 23 RBI and Mat Latos 2 wins?

Kevin) Let us not forget the "dream" season of 2012 -- the last time we won the Division -- Votto left the team in July and the team played their best baseball of the season in his absence. For now, we just have put Votto in the rearview and not worry too much about not having him in the line-up. As for Bruce, I think he will make up for a weak first half, especially when the team is playing well. And Latos, well, the pitching staff has been the brightest spot so far, and in his return he's been very consistent, so having him around can only make more ticks in the win column in the second half. 

Ryan) I came into the season thinking this team couldn’t hit and part of me still thinks that. I was sure they would compete because of their pitching but with Latos going down and Chapman going down, coupled with Cingrani’s bad start I had all but lost hope. Who knew Simon would do what he’s doing. Guessing them to be .500 based on your scenario would have been foolishly optimistic.

3) So sitting at a very respectable 51-44 at the break, is this Reds glass half full of Hudepohl or half empty? 
 

Kevin) Half Full. This is certainly a team without its core (and half their payroll) in the line-up, but they've been scrappy, full of heart, and able to come back from big deficits -- something that wasn't happening at the beginning of the season. Here are some numbers to ponder -- the Reds are 28-17 vs. NL Central opponents in the first half -- that's best in the Division. We have 30 games remaining against the Central, including most of September which ends with series against the Brewers, Cards, and Pirates. I like those odds when it's crunch time.

Ryan) I’m a fan so I will say half full but there’s a big part of me that worries about their inability to beat the Cardinals, and there’s no way they can continue to dominate the Brewers. I mean right? 

The more objective side of me says that glass is half-empty. Can we expect the frail Hamilton to hold up? Bruce is hitting .229. Will Frazier revert back to a strike zone the size of Pangea? And what of Simon? Simon is quickly reaching his high water mark in total innings in a season, and anyone that follows baseball knows that that’s an issue. Dead arm happens to the best of them, except oddly enough Homer Bailey who seems to get stronger as the year goes, there’s no reason to think it’s not going to happen with Simon. Want proof? Generally speaking, a pitcher’s opening day fastball is the fastball we see at the All-Star break: however, Simon’s fastball is -0.6 off his opening day mark (redlegnation.com). Is he getting tired, or is he just learning how to pitch, thus saving his arm? That’s a question that will only be answered as the season progresses. Added to that is the effect Votto’s injury is having on defense. Recently, the Reds put Bruce on first base which means they removed a gold glover from his position and placed him in a position that he’s never played before—and he quickly made a costly error. If Price keeps up that kind of lunacy it will start costing them games.

4)The Reds four game sweep of the Giants in Frisco followed by being swept by the Padres sums up what it has been like to be a fan of the 2014 Reds. What is your first half moment where you felt best about this team? At what point did you wonder if the wheels were going to come completely off? 

Kevin) I guess I would have to go with this last home stand and only losing two games. They did this with no Votto and no Phillips -- and with guys like Ramon Santiago and Kris Negron coming off of the bench to produce big. Of course that's not going to happen consistently, but we can dream. I'll have to go with that series against the Padres as the point where I almost gave up and packed it in for the season. Or pretty much any time Homer Bailey takes the mound. That we are talking Reds in the middle of July is glorious. 

Ryan) I was sure the West Coast swing was going to do them in—like it does almost every year. I was also sure three or four other times during the first half. Let’s face it, the wheels may not have been off before July but they were close.

5)The team has been ravaged by injuries. Should the front office look to make a move to sure up the line-up for a deep playoff run? What would you like to see added and who do you think is expendable? Or do we stand pat? 
 

Kevin) I think the front office will need to be very aggressive in filling the holes. At the start of the season it was LF and the front of the bullpen -- while those remain, we also need to think about 2B (and 1B for that matter).  It was the New Radicals guy who said "You only get what you give" -- so ideally I'd love to see a blockbuster trade. Can I offer this up? How about Brandon Phillips, Alfredo Simon, Sean Marshall, and Tucker Barnhart for Troy Tulowiski? I'm thinking despite the tanking Rockies, Tulo likes the weed in Denver too much to leave. But that's an offer Colorado would be silly to refuse, right? 

Starting pitching is something we have plenty of....including our top prospect Robert Stephenson pitching lights-out in the minors and the recently signed Cuban phenom Raisel Iglesias. So I can see the Reds dealing a solid starter like Simon or Leake in order to get something we can use NOW. Trends show us they like to go for guys in slumps looking for a second life (i.e. Rolen, Ludwick, Schumaker). I suspect we will have someone like Ben Zobrist or Josh Willingham (who are already in the trade rumors). I just hope it's not another former Card. 

Or what about convincing Adam Dunn to split sometime between LF and 1B for his twilight years? The guy loves hitting HRs in GABP. 

Ryan) They should make a move but don’t hold your breath. Jocketty slept through the off-season and, honestly, who’s out there? Stanton? And what do you give up for a Zobrist or Willingham? No way the Rockies take that trade, Phillips’ salary is too big and his best days are behind him, Simon is still unproven at this point, and Marshall is ALWAYS hurt, but I guess it never hurts to ask. 

I mostly look for the Reds to stay pat save a small move here or there. I don’t like it, but it’s what I’ve been conditioned to believe.

6) The Reds win the division if…
 

Kevin) We dominate the Central for the remainder of the season. Especially in September, with a healthy Votto and Phillips and a "just getting hot" Bruce putting in most of the work. Remember, as I type this, we are only 1.5 games out of 1st place. We could be in 1st with a sweep of the Yankees this weekend. Hold on hope. It's definitely possible, especially if Milwaukee and St. Louis take a well-needed dive. 

Ryan) This question is as easy to hit out of the park as an Ondrusek fast ball…To win the division you have to figure out a way to beat the Cardinals. Easy peasy. 

 7) The Reds sneak into the wild card if… 

Kevin) The current situation holds. I can't see THIS team, the one currently on the field, as going too far in the playoffs, but can see them winning just enough to sneak in. That would be a triumph. This is the scenario I likely see. With our pitching staff healthy, it's hard for us to lose too many games. I'll take a wild card given all this team has been through. Oh, and give Bryan Price the NL Manager of the Year for making it so. 

Ryan) No question the Reds have the best rotation in the division, so I agree with Kevin on this one. Even if Simon comes back to earth a little (which he will) and Cueto coming back to earth a little (which he will), I see this rotation keeping them in most games. The Reds formula must be to stay close and let the back end of the bullpen shut teams down. 

8) The Reds are golfing the first week of October if..

Kevin) We lose any of our starters to injury and/or don't make a move before the trade deadline. I have faith this team has been dealt the ungrateful hand of fate too much already this season, so I don't see this last scenario happening. We will be playing October baseball. But if it does come down to this, my wish is that the Pirates are the only team from this Division that survives. 

Ryan)They don’t win the division. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if a wild-card does come out of this division it will be the Cards or Brewers. 

Ryan Haye and Kevin J. Elliott are both widely respected musicians and writers. More importantly, they know a shit ton about baseball and specifically, the Cincinnati Reds. 

Shadowbox Live Presents "Louder Than Love" (Grande Ballroom documentary) Sunday, July 20, 7 pm / Bonus Content by Mike Parks & Ricki C.

First the details, below that some great MC5 readin' from Ricki C. & Mike Parks. 

Shadowbox Live (503 S. Front Street, phone 416-7625) will present Louder Than Love, the acclaimed documentary about Detroit’s legendary Grande Ballroom this Sunday, July 20th, at 7 pm.  The Grande (pronounced Gran-DEE) was Detroit’s version of the Fillmore East and West, Chicago’s Kinetic Playground or the Boston Tea Party, the great rock & roll ballrooms of the 1960’s.  Produced & directed by filmmaker Tony D’Annunzio, Louder Than Love won Best Documentary Award at the Las Vegas Film Festival, Best Independent Standout Award at Hell's Half Mile Movie & Music Festival, and has had 16 consecutive sold-out screenings. 

Shadowbox Live plans to provide a true Grande Ballroom experience with the award-winning film interlaced with authentic light shows, original poster art and artists.

Legendary MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer will join Shadowbox house band Bill Who? as they kick out the jams on tunes by not only The MC5, but also Led Zeppelin, The Who and more.

Some of the greatest bands in the world got their start or made their name at the Grande Ballroom in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  Louder Than Love is the greatest untold story in rock & roll history as revealed by the musicians, artists and people who lived it.

Schedule of Events:

4:00pm – Doors Open to the Backstage Bistro.  There will be a gallery and sale showcasing authentic rock art and photography

6:30pm – Doors Open to Shadowbox Live

7:00pm – Louder Than Love Begins

For ticket prices and more information on Louder Than Love, Sunday July 20th, please visit www.shadowboxlive.com.

The MC5 and The Grande Ballroom by Mike Parks 

The MC5/Grande Ballroom symbiotic relationship: linked together forever. 

Detroit and Ann Arbor in the late 1960’s were violent, high-voltage and dangerous.  The MC5 was the response, referred to as “The fathers of metal & punk,” but they were in a category by themselves. 

My involvement in the 5’s story happened by accident: a fork in the road.  To celebrate my expulsion the last day of my senior year of high school, my hitchhiking partner and fellow musician Phil Stokes and I decided to go to Chicago to a Spooky Tooth and Bo Diddley concert.  En route we were tossed off the Ohio turnpike by a patrolman who suggested we go to Detroit where we might find satisfaction. 

That night we ended up on the doorstep of the Grande Ballroom, where the MC5 were playing.  This was a pivotal moment.  After the show we met the sole member of the road crew who offered us a road gig and a floor to sleep on at the MC5’s Hill Street house.  We accepted and turned one night into a summer of electrifying shows. 

Fred “Sonic” Smith and Wayne Kramer were two of rockdom’s best dual guitarists – tight and damaging.  Rob Tyner was a fearless front-man.  The rhythm section of Dennis Thompson and Michael Davis: NUCLEAR.  Each live show outperformed the last, and obliterated the politics and bad management that surrounded them. 

The MC5 was like no other band. 

A True Testimonial.  - Mike Parks / July 17th, 2014

THE MC5 IN 1968 by Ricki C.

“I was 16 in 1968 the first time I heard The MC5
Rock & roll was, at that point, the only thing keeping me alive”

Ricki C. / “If All My Heroes Are Losers” / © 2000

I first heard of The MC5 sometime in 1968.  I can’t remember exactly how, it was just part of that Teenage Jungle Telegraph that existed back in those days.  There was no real Rock Press to speak of back then, Rolling Stone had just started publishing, and you could only buy it in head shops on campus, not in every Meijers and Kroger’s.  There was certainly no internet or YouTube.  If you wanted to see a band you had to GET IN YOUR CAR, DRIVE TO A VENUE AND PAY MONEY TO WATCH THEM.  (How very quaint.)  And there were no Smartphones, Spotify and Rhapsody: if you wanted to hear a band you had to go downtown to Marco Records or Lazarus and BUY A SLAB OF VINYL.  (Grandpa, what was vinyl?)

Anyway my rock & roll best friend Dave Blackburn and I somehow discovered The MC5 (I’m betting by some connection to The Who) and became Instant Raving Fans.  We were lower-middle class West Side boys – although attending a rather genteel Catholic high school, I must admit – who had mortal blows delivered to our beloved jagged-edge Power Rock & Roll by the Summer Of Love bands in 1967.  I mean, I’m sure Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead meant well, but let’s face facts, they were hardly delivering the likes of “My Generation” or “Get Off My Cloud.”  (And indeed, it was during soundcheck at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom that The MC5 – who were opening that night for rather lightweight Boston folk-rockers The Beacon Street Union – first issued the timeless invocation “Kick out the jams, motherfuckers.”)

Dave & I and our West Side compadres were hippies for about 20 minutes, but even as early as ’68 we were looking for something a little wilder and a lot louder & harder, ya know?  And The MC5 and all the other Detroit bands fit that bill to a tee.  Plus they were only one state over from Ohio, so they played the Midwest like the local bands that they were.  (I saw the Bob Seger System at the Sugar Shack on 4th Street more times than I can count.)  

And then in February 1969 the first MC5 album – Kick Out The Jams – was released and OUR FUCKING BRAINS EXPLODED!  Really, I can’t overestimate to you the effect that album had on our teenage psyches.  From the very first moments of Brother J.C. Crawford’s intro straight through to the last outer-space noises of “Starship” this record is one for the ages.  (Is it the Greatest Live Rock & Roll Record of All Time?  It was until the expanded version of The Who’s “Live At Leeds” was released in the CD era.  And some nights at my house even now, 45 years later, the original vinyl edition of “Kick Out The Jams” still kicks Pete & the boys’ asses.)

Okay, okay, okay, I promised I’d keep this at 500 words, we’re rapidly headed for 900 and I could go on like this all night, so let me just say this: The MC5 were one of the five greatest bands EVER on this planet.  They kicked out a truly fearsome noise, they had killer stage outfits and they did unison dance steps, like a punk/metal Temptations or Four Tops (they were from Motown after all).  In some ways they were like James Brown backed by The Who, and what more could you ask for in a rock & roll band?  The MC5 never made it big because they were just too loud, too smart, too uncompromising, too political, just flat-out too bad-ass to play The Great American Entertainment Game and become Big Stars.  (It’s widely held that The MC5 were the target/inspiration for The Beatles couplet:  “And if you go carryin’ pictures of Chairman Mao / You ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow” in the song “Revolution.”  For a West Side boy like me, those whiny limey bastards putting down my Midwest crew was just too hard to stomach.)  (sidenote – It was only five years from The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show to The MC5 at the Grande, five years from “I Want To Hold Your Hand” to “Kick Out The Jams.”  Where have we gone in the last five years in what is today laughingly referred to as rock & roll: from Mumford & Sons to Imagine Dragons?  God help us.)

The MC5 were, in many ways, their own worst enemies: they refused to play by the rules, refused to keep their mouths shut, made their fair share of bad decisions, managed to alienate both the Straight AND the Hip Worlds (The Velvet Underground in particular) and eventually tumbled down into Street Drug Hell.  Does any of that make me love them less?  No, it just makes me respect them more: because we were all lower middle-class boys and we were all supposed to be in this together.  Kick out the jams, motherfuckers.

(ps. The MC5 is not in The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.  And that is why I do not go there.) – Ricki C. / July 15th, 2014. 

Mick Jagger Introduces Monty Python. "The Best One Died Years Ago."

Though almost a million people have already seen this clip of Mick Jagger (and Charlie Watts) introducing Monty Python via video, I just saw it recently so maybe you missed it, too. Thanks to Steve Quinn for recommendation. Good stuff. Enjoy! - Colin

Subscribe to the Official Monty Python Channel here - http://smarturl.it/SubscribeToPython Mick Jagger introduces the Monty Python Live (mostly) Press Conference Welcome to the official Monty Python YouTube channel. This is the place to find top quality classic Python videos, as well as some special stuff that you'll only find here - such as interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from our live shows.

The infamous Pet Shop (sometimes known as the Dead Parrot sketch) scene originally performed by Monty Python in Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Brian Phillips Explains Why You Need to See "Hype" @ the Gateway Film Center this Wednesday

Our monthly movie series "Reelin and Rockin' @ The Gateway Film Center" returns Wednesday July 16th with the movie "Hype". CD1025 jock and Pacific Northwest native Brian Phillips explains why this is a must see movie for all fans of the Seattle music scene. Click here to read his CD1025 blog about the movie.

Click here to learn more about the history of the Reelin and Rockin movie series and to see what you have missed.