The North Coast Posse Browns Preview

The North Coast Posse are considered a Top Five Browns follow. Big $ and The Ice Cube can be found on Twitter @northcoastposse

What a difference a year makes. The Browns suddenly have, gulp, expectations. What is a realistic win total for the 2019-20 season? 

The Ice Cube: That’s the key word this year: “expectations.”  Without playing a game, this offseason the Browns have ping-ponged from perennial also-ran to “the World’s Team,” and now they are getting some hate for being overrated.  As a long-suffering fan, despite all the hype, I am cautiously optimistic and not as bullish as the betting action in Vegas. I think 10 wins is a possibility, but the scheduled is rough, with 3 of the first 7 games against the Rams, Seahawks, and Patriots.  If the Browns have a slip up in games they are expected to win early, like the Jets or 49ers, we could be looking at a struggle to hit .500. I am projecting wins in the opener against Tennessee, and other non-division victories against the Jets, 49ers, Bills, Dolphins, and Cardinals.  Throw in a pair of W’s against the Bengals, and you are going to be fighting for a playoff spot at the end of the year, especially if you can get a win of the established NFL elite.

Big $: Let the person who has not downed 7-11 Hilltop Lagers, pulled up the ole schedule and wistfully talked themselves into a 12-4 season cast the first stone. However, upon clarity and sobriety, you see the murderer’s row (Rams, Seahawks, Patriots) mentioned above and are reminded that our divisional foes in Pittsburgh and Baltimore are both accustomed to winning and served us Ls last year. All things considered, the NFL is designed for each team to go 8-8, and the Browns may be good enough to finally bust that bell curve on the right slope and hit 10-6.

What three players need to stay healthy if the Browns are going to be playoff contenders? 

The Ice Cube: Outside of Baker, and hoping not to sound to obvious, but Odell Beckham, Jr., is already starting the year injured.  A nagging hip injury has kept him limited in practice, and he admittedly is not 100% going into the opener. If he can’t stay on the field, the wide receiver corps is going to be thin.  The Browns No. 3 receiver Antonio Calloway is already serving a 4-game suspension to start the year. If OBJ is out to start the year, Hollywood Higgins becomes your No. 2. I’m OK with that given his chemistry with Baker, but the depth behind him is lacking, as shown by the constant roster turnover at the 4th and 5th receiver slots to close out the preseason.

My second pick is Greg Robison, the left tackle.  John Dorsey pulled this former No. 2 overall pick off the scrapheap, and he was the anchor of the line in the second half of last season.  Don’t be surprised if he makes the Pro Bowl this year. The Browns have built more depth on the O-line this year, but not at left tackle. If Robinson goes down, Baker better buckle his chin strap tight.

 Staying on the offensive side of the ball, I am praying Nick Chubb stays off the IR.  Without him, I don’t think the Browns have a running back that can handle the full load of carries per game, and that includes Kareen Hunt when he comes back in Week 10.

 Big $: I’m concerned the Browns have focused too much attention building outside in with the additions of Jarvis and OBJ and have left the team with an OL that leaves much to be desired, Therefore, if Bitonio or Tretter miss significant time we could watch the season go south real quick.

 The other player that must stay healthy is Oliver Vernon. Having him occupy space in opposing team’s heads and game plans will allow Myles, Larry and Sheldon to wreak havoc.

Is Freddy Kitchens up for this job or would he be better suited replacing John Goodman coaching the team in Revenge of the Nerds? 

Big $: This has been an off season like no other here on the North Coast.  Browns fans and media alike have been heaping expectations upon the franchise that are usually felt in Foxboro and Pittsburgh etc. With that said, Freddie has stayed even keeled and dismissed the rat poison. I’m excited to watch him lead this next chapter of Browns football.

The Ice Cube: Freddie may be Goodmanesque in stature but I think that is where the comparison stops.  He has been an assistant in the league a long time and has finally got his shot to be the HC. He seems fully prepared when it comes to handling his team and the media. He is the underdog you want to cheer for, unlike that Coach Harris from Adams College.  I don’t doubt Freddie is the right man to lead the Browns right now, but with every young coach, it seems that clock management can be a challenge. If he can keep that from hampering the team early, I think he will quickly become beloved in Browns Nation.  

What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of this team? 

The Ice Cube: Arguably the greatest strength is going to be the defensive line and pass rush.  With the additions of Vernon and Sheldon Richardson upfront, teaming with Garrett and Genard Avery to bear down on the quarterback, expect more sacks and interceptions this season.  No doubt there should be more explosiveness on offense with the addition of OBJ, especially when Hunt and Calloway get back in the lineup. There is better depth in the defensive secondary, as well.  The weakness I have my eye on is the kicking and punting game. The Browns have been killed in countless games by failures on special teams (second chance field goals because of Browns encroachment penalties, missed FGs, the “Kick Six,” etc.) and they need consistency from their rookie kicker in Austin Siebert, a draft pick out of Oklahoma.  They also cut the excellent Britton Colquitt in favor of their rookie punter Jamie “the Scottish Hammer” Gillan. The former rugby player has a howitzer for a leg, as shown by his 70-yard net punt in the preseason, and he is actually a tackling machine, but he has to learn the ball placement of his predecessor to keep the field tilted in Cleveland’s favor.

Give me a best case and worst case for the Browns this season. 

Big $: I’m going to be short and sweet here …

Best Case: 1 playoff win

Worst Case: Baker injury

Fickell, improved Bearcats invade the Shoe: Is an upset brewing? Baver answers Colin’s questions – Wk 2

Colin: Week one is in the books. What impressed you about the Buckeyes performance?

Brent: MUCH better on defense. Granted 10 of the 14 teams in the Big Ten are probably better than FAU, but the Buckeye defense appears to be improved in all three groups: DL, LB and DB. We knew what Chase Young was capable of, but Josh Cornell was all over the field. And this team goes 6-deep at DT, even without Cornell who had slide outside with 3 of the top 4 DEs out with injuries. We saw far better play out of the LBs, and Jeff Okudah is starting to look like the 5-star corner Ohio St recruited. 

Yes, there are concerns with Justin Fields, but he showcased the tools that demonstrate what the hype is all about. As for Fields hesitance to throw into coverage, his failure to pitch the ball on the zone-read, and his handful of (safety) slides when running with the ball? I could be wrong, but I think Fields is following the direction of his head coach. No reason to take chances with a big lead, and keeping Fields healthy is a must 

Colin: How do you feel about Ryan Day putting the QB under center? 

Brent: You can’t argue with the results, can you? In theory, you have the same OC this year as you had last year, in Ryan Day. But most OSU fans knew that it was Urban Meyer’s offense every year he was in Columbus. I am not sure how things will ultimately turn out under Coach Day in Columbus, but I have full trust in Ryan Day’s offensive expertise. Not that the things they did with Justin under center were all that sophisticated, but I expect Day to continue to tweak things and make opposing defenses prepare for “more”.  

Colin: What needs improvement? 

Brent: 4.3 yds per carry from your starting tailback just doesn’t cut it...not at Ohio St. OSU was fortunate to overcome their inability to run the football last year in winning the Big Ten for the 2ndstraight year, but don’t count on it happening again. And you can get away with the offensive lull (after the 4 quick-strike TDs) against Florida Atlantic and still win handedly. But if you lose focus like that tomorrow, things could get scary. After the 4-TD explosion to start the game, the OSU numbers on the next 6 drives were: 30 plays, 79 yards, 4 punts, 2 lost fumbles, and no points. Hard to figure.

The new zone coverage scheme looked almost flawless early on. But once FAU adjusted, Ohio St had no answer for either Owl TE, each of whom gashed that zone repeatedly in that second half. Is the D willing to come out of that zone if they have to? I don’t know. Jeff Hafley, OSU’s new secondary coach/co-DC has been getting a lot of praise, but I’m taking a wait-and-see approach with Hafley.

Colin: Cincinnati is going to come into the Shoe with a major chip on their shoulder and a big win already under their belt. How concerned are you the Bearcats can pull the upset?

Brent: Probably more concerned than most. Luke Fickell wasn’t ready for the Ohio State head coaching job in 2011. But Luke has come a long way since then, and is going to have his Bearcats ready tomorrow.

Colin: What does Ohio State have to do to win this game?

Brent: The Buckeye offense cannot get in a rut again. Ex-Buckeye and current Bearcat DC Marcus Freeman is a rising star, and the UC defense is far better than FAU’s. Dobbins and KJ Hill are going to have to dial it up a notch after struggling in the opener. These guys have to bring it tomorrow, and help out their young QB. And the OSU O-line has to be more consistent. I think OSU will be fine on the other side of the ball.

Colin: So how does this game play out?

Baver: I think Cincinnati plays Ohio State tough at a minimum, and has a fair shot at pulling the upset. I expect a lower scoring game, which would make a 16-point spread hard to cover. But I think OSU depth ultimately wears the Bearcats out in the second half. I have Ohio St winning 28-20.

Colin: Any chance Michigan gets upset by Army? What other games and lines will you be keeping an eye on this weekend? 

Brent: Probably not, but UM should have blown Middle Tenn St off the field, and couldn’t do it. Michigan apparently has spent a good amount of time prior to this week preparing for Army’s option attack, so there should be no excuses if they have trouble defending it.

LSU at Texas is a can’t miss game. This is LSU’s best team since they went to the BCS title game in 2011. But going against Tom Herman when he is an underdog is usually suicide. I think LSU is a better team than Texas, especially at this point in the season, but no way would I lay 6½ pts to a Tom Herman-led team on the road. Slight lean toward LSU to win the game, with Texas +6½.

—Brent Baver

On Elliott Murphy's Birthday: The Pencilstorm Interview - by Ricki C.

This blog originally ran on Pencil Storm March 16th, 2017, Elliott Murphy’s 68th birthday. Tonight Ricki C. is seeing Murphy in concert at The Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, Long Island, NY. Saturday night Ricki will be catching the show in Roslyn, N.Y. Ricki will report on the shows sometime next week, but hopefully this blog will help explain why he would fly into Newark, New Jersey just to catch two rock & roll shows on Long Island. (Bear in mind that Mr. C. could not be convinced in any way, shape or form to travel to New York City to catch Bruce Springsteen - Ricki’s OTHER mainman rock & roll hero - when he appeared on Broadway for all those months back in 2017 & 2018.) As Cheap Trick is to Colin, Elliott Murphy is to Ricki C.

I bought Elliott Murphy’s debut album – Aquashow – at the Discount Records store across from the Ohio State University campus in late November or early December, 1973, the same week I quit college, moved out of my mother's house and got my first apartment.  I didn’t know it when I bought it, but the first verse of the first song on Aquashow – “Last Of The Rock Stars” – contains the lines, “I got a feeling on my back like an old brown jacket / I’d like to stay in school, but I just can’t hack it.”  It was a rock & roll match made in heaven.

I started buying records in 1964, I continue to buy them now in 2017, and Aquashow remains to this day my favorite album of all time.  I bought Aquashow largely because of the blurb in this article about New York Rock, written by Dave Marsh in the December 1973 issue of Creem magazine, my Rock & Roll Bible of the time……

I conducted the following long-distance interview with Elliott Murphy via e-mail in February, 2017.  We're running it today - March 16th, 2017 - Elliott's 68th birthday.  He will be playing two birthday shows at The New Morning in his adopted home of Paris, France, this Friday & Saturday, March 17th & 18th.  We encourage any of our Continental friends to attend.  (I wish I was.)  Details on those shows, pertinent info about ordering all things Elliott Murphy - CD's, books, etc. - and a host of Elliott's prose writings can be found at www.elliottmurphy.com.  You should check it out at your earliest convenience.

THE PENCILSTORM ELLIOTT MURPHY INTERVIEW, WINTER 2017   

1)    You've recorded 35 albums since your debut, Aquashow, in 1973: do you know how many songs?  Also, what are your five favorite songs you've written, and - in as many words as you want/need - why? 

I don’t really know how many songs I’ve recorded and that’s a job better suited for a true archivist than myself (any volunteers?) but I suppose it’s around 300, and maybe I’ve written another 100 that I never recorded. And the saddest part is that I’ve probably started another 500 that I never finished. When asked about my favorite songs it always comes down to those I’ve written and those I’ve recorded. Songs that stand that test of time like LAST OF THE ROCK STARS are essential to me but there are a few songs from my upcoming album PRODIGAL SON that I’m particularly fond of, such as LET ME IN and ABSALOM, DAVY AND JACKIE O, which is an 11-minute opus of a dozen verses. I think my favorite recorded song is ANASTASIA, because for me the production is as close to perfection as I can imagine. But I’d have to throw COME ON LOUANN in there too, as well as YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU’RE IN FOR..… and on and on.

2)    The first prose piece I ever read by you were the liner notes to the 1969: Velvet Underground Live album, released back in 1974, and still to this day in 2017 I consider it one of the five best essays I have ever read on the subject of rock & roll.  How did your authorship of those notes come about?  (And, while we're on the subject: tell us a Lou Reed story we've never heard before.)

I first met Lou Reed in 1971 at a Mitch Ryder show at the Café au Go Go in NYC. (Mitch had covered Lou’s "Rock and Roll" with his band Detroit.) The Velvet Underground had such an avant-garde reputation and a menacing ambiance of sadomasochism in songs such as "Venus in Furs" that introducing myself to Lou took all the courage this 22-year-old nascent rocker could draw up. But I had just returned from a European sojourn, so I had a certain hip bono fides under my belt, having busked in the Paris Metro and appearing in Fellini’s film Roma. But to see Lou standing there in that Mickey Mouse T-shirt, chatting amiably with music business heavyweights didn’t fit the picture of the legend I had heard about. Come on, this was the composer of "Heroin"! The only thing I remember saying to him was that I too was from Long Island. “Oh really?” was his dead-panned response.

A year later my great discoverer, the late Paul Nelson - legendary rock critic and friend of Bob Dylan - who was then an A&R executive at Mercury Records asked me to write liner notes for Live 1969, the posthumous live VU album. Remember that all of this was months before I even began recording my own first album Aquashow, and still to this day fans bring me that VU album with my “It's one hundred years from today …” notes to sign as if it was my very own record and indeed I’m honored. 

I guess you could say that those liner notes contained hints of the suburban fear & loathing that was apparent all over the lyrics of Aquashow and befittingly, I wrote them on the Long Island Rail Road. Paul Nelson passed on my liner notes to Lou for his approval and - much to my delight - Lou liked them a lot, because shortly thereafter he actually called my mother and had a fairly long chat with her, as I wasn’t home at the time. At the end of the conversation my mom told him how excited I would be to hear from him and Lou asked her why.

“Because he’s a great admirer of yours,” said my mother.
“Isn’t everybody?” Lou responded.

My mother - who is in her nineties - still remembers that conversation and I still remember seeing Lou in the Mickey Mouse T-Shirt at Cafe au Go Go, so I guess you could say that Lou made a big impression on all those he came into contact with. When Aquashow came out critics imagined Dylan's Blonde on Blonde as my great inspiration but the truth was I listened to the Velvet Underground's Loaded over and over before daring to even put my toe in the rock 'n roll sacred waters.......

By the end of that tumultuous year 1974, My life had irrevocably changed; not only had my first album exploded on the scene garnering rave reviews from Rober Christgau (Village Voice) and Bob Hillburn (L.A. Times) and Paul Nelson himself (Rolling Stone) but there was my name for all to see on an actual Velvet Underground album. It was almost too much to handle! Or to quote the title of The New York Dolls’ second album – Too Much Too Soon! 

The last time I really spoke to Lou was when he came to Paris in the early 90’s and called me out of the blue and we had a café and we were crossing one of the bridges of the Seine and it was windy and Lou had his collar up and a passing French woman thought he was a priest! Lou didn’t like that. Then we stood on the bridge and Lou asked me what had happened with my life and career and I told him how it got difficult for me in the US during the 80’s and I moved to France and got married to the love of my life and now we have a son together, Gaspard, and my career took off again in Europe and Lou put his hand on my shoulder and said “So it all worked out okay, eh?” like a benediction from a priest!

3)    Who was the biggest influence on your prose writing? (And, I guess while we're on the subject: on your songwriting?) 

When it comes to songwriting I’m just a product of my generation: step one was watching Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show; step two The Beatles conquered America; and, step three Bob Dylan changed the possibilities of lyrical content in a rock song forever and ever. In my case, my father brought me to a lot of Broadway shows when I was a kid so I was introduced to the story telling aspect of songwriting right away. When it came to prose the first “important” book I read was EAST OF EDEN by John Steinbeck when I was 12. I had seen the James Dean film on TV and then searched out the book and it was such a larger universe than the film. After that there was of course F. Scott Fitzgerald and I related to GATSBY especially because it took place on Long Island where I grew up and also because I shared some of his romanticism, or as Scott said, “Show me a hero and I’ll show you a tragedy.” But there were so many other writers I admire all the way from Graham Greene to Kerouac to Raymond Chandler to Joyce Carol Oates to Hemingway to Wallace Stevens to John Cheever….. the list could go on and on. But honestly, I can’t say that any of them ever consciously influenced my style, they just showed me what great writing could be and how important it was to get it right.

4)    In your early career (circa 1973-1977) you made it a point to dress above/apart from your hippie rabble contemporaries (sharp white suits as opposed to patched bluejeans 'n' plaid flannel shirts): What was the worst fashion mistake you ever made onstage?

I think I avoided the worst mistake when Polydor Records hired an ad agency to promote Aquashow and they came up with the brilliant idea that I was the “prophet of my lost generation” and should wear long robes. I could live without seeing a few of my Miami Vice 1980’s shirts but aside from that I don't have many sartorial regrets. And my boots were always correct, which is the most important thing!

5)    How hard was your decision in 1989 to leave New York for a new home and life in Paris? 

It was more gradual then you would imagine. I first played in Paris in 1979 and by 1989 I’d say most of my career was Europe-based. I had a good record company in France -New Rose - and I was touring all over the continent and in Scandinavia. I didn’t know how long I would last here because there are legal matters like visas and working papers, but then when I married Françoise everything worked out. She has been my guide through the French bureaucracy so it’s been fairly smooth even if I get stressed out like any immigrant. But leaving New York was not so hard; I had a bad memory on every street corner and it was time for a second act. 

6)    Were you already playing guitar when The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in February, 1964?  And what was the very first rock & roll song you sang in front of an audience?

I started playing guitar when I was 12 (around 1961) and the folk boom was happening, so I think the first song I performed in front an audience was "This Little Light of Mine" by the Kingston Trio. When “Murphy went electric” in 1964 my father bought me a Kent guitar (same guitar as Bruce S. had!) and my band did mostly surf music instrumentals. So probably “Walk Don’t Run” or “Wipeout” was the first rock ‘n roll song I sang. For a guy best known for his lyrics it’s ironic wouldn’t you say?

7)    Circa 1975, after the split of Boston bands The Modern Lovers and The Sidewinders, you hired Ernie Brooks, Jerry Harrison and Andy Paley as your backing band: What or who was your Boston connection?

Well, let me see..…when I came back from Europe in 1972 and was hanging around in Max’s Kansas City there was a lot of talk about The Modern Lovers although very few people had actually heard them play because they were really a Boston band. Then they opened for the NY Dolls on New Years Eve at the Mercer Arts Center (I played there a week later) and I think I said hello to Ernie Brooks and we became friends. The touring bands I had for Aquashow and Lost Generation never really worked out because they weren’t the same musicians who were playing on the albums and that was frustrating for everyone. So when I started to plan Night Lights I thought I’d get a band together, do some shows, and then go into the studio, which is kind of what happened. Ernie introduced me to Jerry Harrison (who 10 years later produced some cuts on my album Milwaukee) and also to Andy Paley because, I think, he had gone out with his sister. We opened for Sha Na Na in Canada, which had to be the worst pairing of acts in the history of the music business. But we did go into Electric Lady Studios and record quite a few songs, including "Diamonds By The Yard."

left to right: Elliott Murphy (guitar), Ernie Brooks (bass), Andy Paley (drums), Jerry Harrison (keyboards)

8)    As with Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, your career is no exercise in nostalgia, you’re constantly recording new records and playing shows, what new releases do you have coming up?

I was actually writing a lot of songs and making demos and about ready to start a new album right before we decided to do AQUASHOW REVISITED (wherein I re-recorded the songs on my first album in a new way and through the ears of my son and producer Gaspard Murphy), so I gently put those songs aside and dug back into my past, like Proust searching for lost time. And then, when I revisited these new songs again after letting them lay dormant for about a year or more they had..… improved! Or at least that was the impression I had when I went back to the demos, and so I thought OK it’s time to put together that album again. I was haunted by this idea of working with a gospel choir and Gaspard found four great singers and a wonderful young piano player by the name of Leo Cotton who played like Leon Russell. We're looking toward a spring release. I don’t know how any artist can live in nostalgia-land.  

9)    Tell us about Jorge Arenillas documentary The Second Act of Elliott Murphy; any idea when we will see it in America?

I first met Jorge Arenillas when he was involved in some kind of futuristic horror film as a writer, I think, and the director wanted me to play a role in the film as a crazy rock star living like a hermit in a haunted house. That film never got made but when Jorge directed his next film - Another Summer – he asked me if he could use my song "Summer House" (from Just A Story From America, 1977) over the end credits, so I went into the studio with my son Gaspard and we made a new version of "Summer House" that went into the film. It’s a great film, by the way, about a haunted man who is trapped in his memory of a summer romance. Anyway, following that Jorge said he wanted to make a film about..…me! I was shocked and doubted that he could pull it off, but you know what? He did! Jorge started following Olivier Durand (my great French guitarist) and myself around on tour in Spain and soon we became used to his presence, almost like he was haunting us. He filmed a concert in Bilbao, where I’ve been playing for over twenty years, and it really was a magic night. So the film was finished and was even shown at one festival in Spain but Jorge said it needed something else. I asked what? He said … Bruce Springsteen. So I called Bruce and asked him if he would agree to be interviewed for the film and being the generous wonderful man that he is, he agreed. And then it just so happened that I was back in touch with Billy Joel around this same time because I came across a photo of Billy, Doctor John, and myself backstage somewhere and sent it to him. So I asked Billy if he would agree to be interviewed as well and being the generous wonderful man that he is too, he agreed. Jorge jumped on a plane and interviewed Bruce in New Jersey and Billy in Florida and voila! 

The film is available on DVD but in PAL, and will have its U.S. premiere at the Stony Brook Film Festival on Long Island this summer. Hopefully a release on Netflix or Amazon will follow…… 

10)    Tell us Ohio boys about a spring Parisian twilight……… 

The best part for me is always to be crossing one of the beautiful bridges that span the Seine on my Vespa scooter at twilight and to see the Eiffel Tower in the distance and all those gold-domed buildings and just the wonderful Parisians themselves all decked out, each in their own universe and to pass all those cafes and think of Hemingway and Fitzgerald and Picasso and even Jim Morrison and to know that you are really at home. At least that’s my story from America.….

Ricki C. formerly ran his own blog - Growing Old With Rock & Roll - from January 1st, 2012 until 11:59 pm December 31st, 2013, and now writes exclusively for Pencilstorm.  He has been involved in rock & roll - as a musician or as a roadie - since he was 16 in 1968.  When not penning prose he deploys a solo singer/songwriter act he dubs action-packed acoustic rock & roll.  He has been employed as a guitar tech for the three W's of Columbus rock & roll - Willie Phoenix, Watershed and The Whiles - and believes he's a better man for having done so. Previous Elliott Murphy blogs by Ricki on Growing Old With Rock & Roll can be found by clicking on How I Spent My Summer Vacation and Elliott Murphy in Piermont, among others.)

Concert Review: Alice Cooper w/ Halestorm and Motionless In White - by JCE

For anyone who has read any of my writings here on Pencilstorm, you might wonder why JCE would go to this concert at all. First off, I hate large venues, and second, I lean a little more punk rock and power pop than this triple bill would imply (but I do like my glam metal). Well here’s the story. I saw this show coming to Jiffy Lube Live, one of your typical outdoor “sheds,” which is located in Bristow, VA only about 50 minutes from where I live. My daughter and I had seen Motionless In White a couple of times, and we have grown to love them. Halestorm is a band that my wife and my daughter and I have enjoyed over the last few years, and Alice Cooper…..well Alice is someone I casually enjoy. My wife had no interest and my daughter really didn’t even know who he was. Still, it seemed like a good outing for our whole family while my daughter was home for the summer. (She’s a college student and away from home 9 months out of the year.) Plus, I have never seen Alice Cooper and I thought I should before he dies: he’s 71 years old. I consider him to have been very influential to a great deal of music that I love. So I bought three tickets for the Tuesday, August 13th show.

We easily parked and found our seats. As it turns out, Alice Cooper on a Tuesday night does not apparently make for a sellout crowd. They didn’t even have the lawn area open, which is a good thing because there was thunder and lightning and it rained its ass off. Motionless In White hit the stage and my family - along with a totally punked-out Motionless fan sitting next to us - were practically the only people who immediately jumped to our feet. An usher took notice and gave us four tickets to move two sections forward, instantly transforming my overpriced seats in Section 301 in the back to great seats in Section 101 in the front. Nice. Motionless In White played eight very good, crisp, hard-rocking songs, including several of our favorites. This is a band I once dismissed as “scream-o” noise that has progressed and matured into a really polished act, in my opinion. My daughter and I could have left then and been happy.

Motionless In White

Next up: Halestorm. This is a metal outfit from Philadelphia featuring a female vocalist named Lizzy Hale. They have some great records and some great songs. Unfortunately, this was not their night. Their most current record, called “Vicious,” is a total clunker in my opinion. The one song I like on it is called “Skulls” and they did not play it. They have a brand new single called “Chemicals” which is good and was the highlight of the night for me. The older songs that they did play were marred by too much guitar noodling and drum soloing and I thought the whole set was a mess.

Lizzy Hale

Alice Cooper was next up. The night was getting long and we all had previously agreed to watch some Alice Cooper, but maybe not the whole set. After setting up his haunted castle stage, Alice came on and started strong. Here is a 71 year old man wearing leather pants, prowling the stage and not looking too silly at all. He opened with a good tune called “Feed My Frankenstein” and then really got my attention with “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” I love that one. “Bed of Nails” was great and Ashley and I got a kick out of “Fallen in Love” which featured the chorus “I’ve fallen in love and I can’t get up.” That one is on his latest record which isn’t half bad. I had insisted we stay to hear “I’m Eighteen” unless it was all the way at the end, but it was the seventh song, so we easily made it to that one. We walked out to the car at some point mid-set while listening to “Billion Dollar Babies.” Of all the songs on the setlist, the only ones I missed that he eventually played and I wish I had heard were “Under My Wheels” and “School’s Out.” Nevertheless, I can now say I saw Alice Cooper, and if I’m being honest, I enjoyed him as much as Motionless and far more than Halestorm. Way to go Alice! Here’s the most important thing I can say about this concert: the reason the guy was awesome at age 71 is that he picked the most spectacular, melt your face off touring band imaginable. He had two lead guitar players that I had heard of and have even listened to in the past. I didn’t recognize who they were until I had to look them up the morning after the show. The first was Ryan Roxie, who has some great songs of his own and looks a little like Johnny Thunders reincarnated. The second was Nita Strauss; who is a renowned guitar slinger, had so much energy and looked so cool. The two of them were great, but Nita was spinning, racing from one side of the stage to the other and just killing it. Alice had some very good hired guns to make this a really decent rock n roll show. The proof is in the pictures (which by the way are pictures of a big video screen, I wasn’t that close to the stage):

Alice Cooper, same as ever…

Ryan Roxie and Nita Strauss

Nita Strauss

Nita Strauss

Ryan and Nita, who stole the show as far as I’m concerned…..

Is all well with our new QB Justin Fields? Baver answers Colin's questions as a new Day dawns

Colin: Not to put you on the spot right out of the gate, but I've heard some rumors Justin Fields has been struggling a little bit. What are realistic expectations for him in 2019?

Baver: Yeah, word is things haven’t gone as smoothly as expected with Fields, and I do think the coaches sent Fields a wakeup call in not naming him the starter until well into fall camp. Still, a healthy Justin Fields was going to be the guy (almost) no matter what. And Ryan Day knows a thing or two about coaching QB’s, so I think Fields is going to get there eventually. Realistic expectations? Without injuries: 3,200 yds & 32 TDs, 400 yds & 9 TDs on the ground.

Colin: What kind of offense do you expect Ryan Day to run with Fields under center?

Baver: They will still want to spread defenses out, same as they did under Urban, and the same as they did with both Haskins and Barrett. With Fields’ athleticism, you’ll see the zone read more than last season, but not as much as when Barrett ran the show. And they will again line up in the shotgun on pretty much every play. Still, they can’t have Fields average 14 carries a game like JT did in 2017, as the lack of depth at the QB position is well documented.

Colin: Where would you rank JK Dobbins among the starting running backs for Ohio State in the past 20 years? Can he put the team on his back if the young QB struggles?

Baver: In ‘19, Dobbins was the first starting Buckeye tailback to average less than 5 yards per carry since 2004. Some of that was on the O-line, some of it because OSU lacked a mobile QB, and some of that was on Dobbins. Still, Dobbins has dropped a good amount of body fat in the offseason and this is a contract year for him. But no, he cannot put this Buckeye offense on his back. And with backs like Clarrett, Beanie, Hyde and Zeke coming through here over the past 20 seasons, JKD would need a big effort this year to rank up there with those guys. 

Colin: Without record setting numbers from Haskins bailing them out, the defense is going to have to play much better this season. Are they up for the task? Where do you see room for improvement?

Baver: Call my crazy, but I think this Buckeye D makes significant strides this year. Greg Schiano was handed the best DC job on the planet....the D-coordinator job for the Patriots, and he walked away from it. I really have to wonder what Schiano had going on in his personal life last fall. That Ohio St D had elite talent stacked three-deep and they went from giving up 300 yds a game in ’17 to 400 YPG a year ago. I think the LBs and DBs will be significantly better this fall, especially the DBs. The back 7 is certainly where the room is for improvement.

Colin: I think I ask this every year, but how good is this D line?

Baver: They have great depth, but lack a second elite guy to take heat off Chase Young. Still should be a top 3 unit in the Big Ten.

Colin: Florida Atlantic is the new 2nd chance U and has some serious talent. Could an upset be brewing and how would you bet this game?

Baver: If FAU clicks and Ohio State is out of sync, you could see a tight game. If that happens, I think OSU will eventually impose their will on FAU and wear them out. Oklahoma thrashed Lane Kiffin’s squad 63-14 a year ago, where it was 42-scratch at the half. It was a big drop-off for their offense when OC Kendal Briles left after the ’17 season. The Owls still run plays at a blazing pace, and yes, they indeed have a lot more talent than most non-Power conference teams. Keep an eye on #40 tight end Harrison Bryant for FAU, a kid that should play on Sundays a year from now. I have Ohio State winning 45-16, so I’ve got OSU covering the 27½, but the spread seems about right to me. If I’m a bettor, I’d shy away from this one.

Colin: Following a legend is never easy. What record and wins does Ryan Day need in 2019 to keep the dogs at bay?

Baver: 10-2 or better in the regular season WITH a win over Michigan. Is that fair? Nope. But it is what it is.

Colin: Looking around this opening weekend, what other games and lines will you be keeping an eye on?

Baver: UM is overrated yet again this year, but they will ransack Middle Tennessee. Spread opened at 29½ and was up to 34½ last I checked. UM has to answer for their humiliating end to the ’18 season, and they are the best play I see on Saturday. It’s a tough call in the biggest game of the day tomorrow, Auburn-Oregon. I guess I wouldn’t want to lay pts in this one, so I’d if I had to play it, I’d take the Ducks getting 4. Auburn’s D-line vs Oregon’s O-line is one of the best trench matchups you will see all season. 

Let’s get it on, shall we?

—Brent Baver

75 Songs in 3 Days! Watershed Hullabaloo Recap - by Colin Gawel

Listen while you read! Spotify Playlist of the Watershed Hullabaloo. 

Watershed Hullabaloo / Spotify Playlist

As crazy as this sounds, I think the recent Watershed shows as part of the Hullabaloo were the highlight of our...ahem…“Career.” Joe and I were celebrating our 50th birthdays and our 36th year playing together with Herb and our leader, Biggie. (And Rick Kinsinger of course, but he hasn’t put in 36 years yet.) The idea was to play three very different shows on consecutive days with very little overlap. In the end we played 75 different songs in less than 40 hours. so that’s a pretty good effort. I’m confident in saying a good time was had by all.

Natalie’s Friday August 9th.

Either people confused us with the Rolling Stones or Natalie’s has a hardcore following but this date sold out so fast even my family couldn’t get a table. We had never done a “storyteller” type of show before so I was a little nervous we could deliver the goods. Luckily, we pulled an ace out of the deck with the legend Dave Masica joining us on drums for the first time in many years.

Dave’s drumming and rock n roll attitude saved Watershed, as he was the motor behind the glory years of The More It Hurts and 5th of July. If you want to hear a master at work, listen to Dave on the live record Three Chords and a Cloud of Dust 2. That record is basically a drum clinic with a band thrown in for good measure.

In fact, the whole theme of the Natalie’s show was paying tribute to the people who have kept the band going. We talked about the importance of Willie Phoenix, Slim Dunlap, Dave Masica, Pooch, Mike Landolt, Joe Peppercorn, Tim Patalan and the COTA #2 bus. I’m sure some others too but whatever. It was really fun to play some songs that had remained unplayed since Dave retired from full time drumming. 

Click here for the full set-list from Natalie’s

Ace of Cups Saturday August 10th

Speaking of people that help Watershed, Biggie is the real MVP of the Hullabaloo (with a big assist from Ricki C.). Not only was the artwork for each show of a collector’s quality, but he designed three different stage sets for all the shows. Friday was a laid-back, cheap college apartment look for the laid-back vibe at Natalie’s. The Coleman cooler strategically placed between Joe and I was all the rage. 

Since Saturday was the big rock show, Biggie had fashioned a bright red background with a 3D style Watershed sign hanging over Herb. The kicker was it didn’t reveal itself until after the first song. Ah yes, the double beginning. An arena rock classic executed in a club. Ace of Cups is pretty much the perfect venue for us. It feels big and small at the same time. Sorta like Watershed itself I suppose. I don’t know if it was the fact that it was sold out in advance or having Earwig on the bill got everyone extra stoked, but that was the best crowd we had ever played to. People were singing along to parts of songs I barely knew. Having Mark “Pooch” Borror join us on Anniversary and Can’t Be Myself didn’t hurt either. Slim Dunlop once said, “Musicians get gifts all the time, you just have to look for them.” I didn’t have to look very hard to appreciate what was happening at Ace of Cups. 99.999999% of all the bands on Earth never get to experience a night like this. Very humbling indeed. We are lucky guys. 

I FORGOT to mention that on Friday at Natalie’s I was talking about Slim and musicians getting gifts and I shared a story of playing a show in Wisconsin years ago. The crowd was kind of light and we had driven a long way so it would have been easy to feel bummed out. Towards the end of the set I noticed a guy standing down front singing along knowing every word to a song. Suddenly I heard Slim in my ear, “Here you are, 600 miles from home and a guy you have never met is singing along to a song you wrote alone on your bed years ago. That’s pretty cool.” And I thought to myself, that is pretty cool. This is a gift. 

After the show at Natalie’s a guy came up to me and said, “That story you told: that was me and the song was Sad Drive.” Damn. That was the song. He was the guy. He had driven down from Wisconsin for the Hullabaloo and we were meeting for the first time. How cool is that?  

Click here for the full set-list at Ace of Cups. / Visit the Watershed Facebook page for video. 

Sunday August 11th. Little Rock Bar 

So this show was the X-factor. The show smart bands don’t schedule. The show that takes the weekend from good to great or puts the shit in show. Biggie had a sweet backdrop of the #2 COTA bus behind our gear jammed into the corner of Quinn Fallon’s excellent Little Rock Bar. The setting was the exact opposite of the night before. No stage, no lights, no room to move. 

This gig turned out to be the most fun of all. It was billed as Watershed & friends and that is what it was. Jim Johnson, Dan Cochran, Mike Sammons and Marcy Mays crashed the “stage” as we played songs from The League Bowlers, The Lonely Bones, Why Isn’t Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? and all sorts of Watershed deep cuts. Plus the loose setting allowed plenty of time for catching up with friends who had traveled in from near and far. SO MUCH FUN.

Click here for the setlist for Little Rock Bar

Watershed Hullabaloo Box Score August 9-11th

68 Original Songs Performed: (in order)

Sensational Things (new)

Laundromat

Chemotherapy (Colin Gawel)

Cracking Up

We Don’t Get Hurt (new)

Dad Can’t Help You Now (Colin Gawel)

Mercurochrome

My Lucky Day

New Life

Good Day

Romantic Noise

American Muscle

Set the World on Fire

On a Broken Radio

Manifesto

Over Too Soon

Slowly Then Suddenly

The Best is Yet to Come

---

You Need Me

Obvious

The Habit

Suckerpunch

Best Worst Night

Black Concert T Shirt

How Do You Feel

Broken

If That’s How You Want It

Hey Lydia

Blow it Up Before it Breaks (new)

Eyes of Fire (out of print)

Little Mistakes

Nightshade

Another Night in the Ruts (new)

New Depression

Laundromat (x2)

Superstressed

Anniversary (w/ Pooch)

Can’t Be Myself (w/ Pooch)

Star Vehicle

5th of July

The Best is Yet to Come (x2)

Sad Drive

Mercurochrome (x2)

I’ve Been Looking Everywhere

---

Healthy Rivalry (The League Bowlers) w/ Jim Johnson

Two Sets of Rules (TLB) w/ Jim Johnson

Kids Down South (TLB) w/ Jim Johnson & Dan Cochran

Saturday Night There’s A Party (TLB) w/ Jim Johnson & Dan Cochran

Something Wrong

Everywhere I Turn

Easy Way Out

She Picks the Songs

Waiting For the Greatest w/ Mike Sammons

AM Boy 

Superior (Colin Gawel) w/ Dan Cochran

Consolation Prize

Twister

Give a Little Bit

Wallflower Child 

Half of Me

Another Night in the Ruts (x2)

I Deserve You

The Best is Yet to Come (x3)

Black Concert T Shirt (x2)

7 Covers:

Hey Little Girl - Willie Phoenix

I Wish You Were My Girl (w/ Jim Johnson) - Willie Phoenix

Downed / If You Want My Love / High Roller (w/ Marcy Mays) - Cheap Trick

Battleship Chains (w/ Jim Johnson & Dan Cochran) - Terry Anderson & Georgia Satellites

Let it Rock (w/ Jim Johnson & Dan Cochran) - Chuck Berry

Below are the final two songs from Ace of Cups

Watershed- performs Mercurochrome/I've Been Looking Everywhere @ Ace of Cups August 10th 2019

(By the way, that’s Watershed guitar tech Ricki C. and frequent Pencil Storm contributor Scott Carr - drafted in for extra roadie duties on Saturday night - wrangling mic stands at the 9-minute mark. Scott’s in the Johnny Thunders t-shirt. At the 7:05 mark you can see Ricki telling Scott, “These guys are possibly just crazy enough to try to pull off the ‘Taking the mics out in the audience’ stage bit in a place this crowded. If they do, get out there in the middle and hand ‘em back to me.” That’s our crew.)