So I went down to Sol Grill last night for the open mic that Dusty runs. It’s a really cool restaurant with a nice atmosphere. I had convinced myself that with my Spanish guitar and some more ballady songs, I’d do fine. But I was out of my element and the crowd was super sparse so I doubt I’ll play there again.
I have all sorts of frustrations and doubts when I don’t feel like I played up to my standards. This morning, I thought so much has to do with that audience factor. If I’d have had anyone to laugh with me when I flubbed the lyrics, it would have been a fun experience we all share. But when you flub lyrics and no one cares, it’s tough.
I went to Viento y Agua Coffee House last night for their open mic. It was amazing. It’s a medium-sized coffee shop and it was packed — standing-room only and a crowd hanging out the door. The talent was extremely diverse. Hip hop, ukulele soul, emo, indie, spoken word, poetry. It was really incredible and run very smoothly which required some juggling with such different types of participants. I was impressed.
I was a bit disappointed that it was a 1 song limit. It’s hard to feel comfortable in that brief time. But the limit was just as strict on spoken-word performances: 3 minutes. So it underscores the intent of the evening to be a creative showcase and not a songwriters’ night. Great experience and a great venue.
I played “Let’s Stay Together for the Dog” and messed the chords up in the same place I always do. So I might be re-retiring that one for a while. It’s a great song but I rarely pull it off perfectly. And that’s frustrating.
Over the past couple of weeks, I read Mickey Leigh’s I Slept With Joey Ramone. Mickey is Joey’s brother and his story gives Ramones’ legends a dimension that they’ve sorely needed — that inside look at Joey.
Like all Ramones bios, it’s full of tragedy. Leigh doesn’t wallow in the trash-talk but he doesn’t pull any punches either. Johnny is, of course, portrayed as a bully but Leigh talks about Joey’s moodswings and bad behavior just as openly.
One detail that doesn’t get a lot of attention but really stuck in my mind was Leigh’s statement that without the Ramones, Joey might not have been anything, almost literally. It was being in that band that gave him the stability just to survive. Without that structure his OCD and health problems and general social awkwardness might have confined him to life as a shut-in. That fact also paints Johnny’s behavior in a harsher light. When you know how much Joey was suffering, Johnny’s actions cross the line into real compassionless cruelty.
One of my favorite quotes in the book comes when the band is touring with Talking Heads. Someone describes it this way: “The Talking Heads were a band who loved enjoying things and the Ramones were a band who enjoyed hating absolutely everything.” That description right there tells so much of the story. It sounds like a miserable way to spend your life especially when you’re professionally making music.
I’d still like to hear Johnny’s story from the inside.
