ChicagoConcertgoers.com

Top Concerts of 2023

Jehnny Beth
Sept. 16, 2023 @ Douglass Park, Riot Fest

Click here for Dave Miller's Top Concerts of 2023.

Top Concerts of 2022

Kacey Musgraves
Jan. 19, 2022 @ United Center

Click here for Dave Miller's Top Concerts of 2022.

Top Concerts of 2021

St. Vincent
Sept. 11, 2021 @ Union Park, Pitchfork Music Festival

Click here for Dave Miller's Top Concerts of 2021.

Top Concerts of 2020

Grace Potter
February 7, 2020 @ Riviera Theater

Click here for Dave Miller's Top Concerts of 2020.

Top Concerts of 2019

The Rolling Stones
June 21, 2019 @ Soldier Field

Click here for Dave Miller's Top Concerts of 2019.

Top Concerts of 2018

Janelle Monae
July 5, 2018 @ Chicago Theatre

Click here for Dave Miller's Top Concerts of 2018.

Top Concerts of 2017

Roger Waters
July 28, 2017 @ United Center

Click here for Dave Miller's Top Concerts of 2017.

Top Concerts of 2016

Florence + the Machine
June 12, 2016 @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

Click here for Dave Miller's Top Concerts of 2016.

Top 5

Fave Tracks by My Kids:

Wish This World - Mash
How Does it Feel to Be Real? - Abakus
Lust Rush - Lana Davies
Desperate Thirst for a Cigarette - Year Long Disaster
Luv Deluxe - Cinnamon Chasers

- Dave Davies

Songs In My Head Today On Waking Up After 30 Shows in 35 Days:

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) - Four Tops
I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones
Where the Streets Have No Name - U2
One Guitar - Willie Nile

- Willie Nile

Live Shows We've Ever Attended:

Paul Simon - May 19, 2011 - Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tenn. (Everyone)
Wilco - 2002 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot tour - Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis, Minn. (Daniel Ellsworth)
Rage Against The Machine - 2008 - Lollapalooza, Chicago, Ill. (Joel Wren)
Local Natives - 2011 - Cannery Ballroom, Nashville, Tenn. (Marshall Skinner)
Levon Helm Midnight Ramble - 2006 - Woodstock, N.Y. (Timon Lance)

- Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes

French Music Recommendations for Americans:

Camille
Noir Désir
Serge Gainsbourg
Rita Mitsouko
La Mano Negra

- Julie Meckler

Songs I'm Currently Listening To:

Blood Visions - Jay Reatard
As We Enter - Nas
Det Du Tänker Idag Är Du I - Dungen
I Feel Cream - Peaches
Tears Dry on Their Own - Amy Winehouse
Let It Die - Feist
It Takes A Muscle - M.I.A.
Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian - Those Darlins

- Ida Maria

Sixties Garage Hits You Never Knew Were From Chicago:

Gloria - Shadows of Knight
Bend Me, Shape Me - The American Breed
I Lie Awake - The New Colony Six
Kind of a Drag - The Buckinghams
The Sailing Ship - The Cryan' Shames

- Miss Alex White

Funky Grooves To F*ck To:

My Neck, My Back (Lick It) - Khia
T.N.T. - AC/DC
Sweet Leaf - Black Sabbath
Double Team - Tenacious D
Dunwich* - Electric Wizard

- Francis Scott Key White

Songs That Make Me Tingle:

Keep Your Hands Off My Baby - The Orions
The Feeling is Real - "5" Royales
Connection - King Tuff
He is the Boy - Little Eva
Too Much in Love - The King Khan & BBQ Show

- Jessi Darlin

Modern Marvels:

Night Rider - Johnny Corndog
Ohh Basketball - John Wesley Coleman
The One Legged Horse (race) - Puta Madre Brothers
Those Eyes - Natural Child
I Wanna Go Home - Shannon and the Clams

- Nikki Darlin

Songs to Help You Survive a Snowstorm in Minneapolis:

Block of Ice - Thee Oh Sees
Message From the Law - Sic Alps
Hot Wire My Heart - Sonic Youth
Wintertime - Drug Rug
5FT7 - Tonstartssbandht

- Kelley Darlin

The Teej, the Wood and Snowman 2011

(If you ever meet that faceless devil of the highway sometimes called "Black Ice", make sure you've got at least a couple of these babies in your back pocket. Surefire killer of the yips and other mentally deteriorative diseases caused by 360s, tailspins and backseat white-knuckling.):

Slip Away - Clarence Carter
Strawberry Letter 23 - Shuggie Otis
Action Speaks Louder Than Words - Rueben Bell
Cryin' in the Streets (Part 1) - George Perkins and The Silver Stars
Uptown Top Ranking - Althea & Donna

- Linwood Regensburg

Songs:

Angel of the Morning - Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts
Fire - The Pointer Sisters
These Days - Jackson Browne
Will It Go Round in Circles - Billy Preston
American Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

- Grace Potter

Worst Things about Traveling on Tour:

Arriving to the first show on a UK tour to promote a new album and
Host housing that smells like cat pee, with slugs on the kitchen floor and spiders.
Explaining to the condescending airport check-in agent that the upright bass flew with us on the outbound leg of the trip, and that yes, in fact, it will fit on the plane, but having it accidentally go to Karachi, Pakistan by mistake anyway.
When the soundman rides the knobs on the soundboard all night and then saturates my violin in reverb during a ballad.
Putting on high heels and ball gown in a porta potty on a sweltering hot day.

- Elana James

Dressing Rooms in American "ClubLand":

The Mohawk Place, Buffalo, N.Y. - Totally punk rock, looks like the Fight Club house...couch/coffee table room upstairs with a frat house fridge, ashtrays and eclectic, velvet bullfighter artwork on the walls.
The Bottle Tree, Birmingham, Ala. - Hard to recall but it has an old 50s/early 60s AirStream Trailer for pre-game hang, Christmas lights, vintage lamps and an old Hi-Fi record player.
Smith's Olde Bar, Atlanta, Ga. - Despite one of the worst load-ins in "ClubLand," Smith's dressing room spills right onto the stage, which is encased in a drawstring curtain. This means you can be a train wreck right up till showtime. The "poop" graffiti is a little much, however.
The Duck Room at Blueberry Hill, St. Louis, Mo. - Rich with the spirit of Chuck Berry, who forever seems to have played there the night before, this dressing room is well stocked, permits smoking and has a lockable bathroom...It's the little things that make life on the road livable. Brian Henneman from St. Louis' own Bottle Rockets has a great story about the mysterious door backstage at the Duck Room. Ask him sometime.
400 Bar, Minneapolis, Minn. - This basement green room is private and very un-policied, smoke yes, drinking fine, sign the walls, pee in a strange hole in the cement OK...Best of all down here you can feel the weight of the crowd and watch the floor sag and bounce to the support band...It's fun to imagine all the great rock 'n' rollers who collapsed sweaty and proud on the old sofas down here. Go Twins.

- Dave Bielanko

Worst Gigs I've Ever Played:

Volleyball game at a Catholic college in Schenectady, N.Y. (1992) - For some reason they wanted entertainment during the game. No one paid
Trailer park in Adams, Mass. (1993) - This was sold as a hipster love fest but it was just an "activities" part of the scheduled events, which also included a sack race. They passed around a coffee can and along with the $13 someone deposited a chewing gum wrapper.
Tipitina's, New Orleans, La. (1997) - By union law supposedly the world famous Tipitina's has to have entertainment seven nights a week. I was touring through and they booked me on a Monday for fair money despite the fact they they were closed. Closed. I played to no one for four hours, got paid and left.
Opening for Echo & the Bunnymen, at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England (2003) - The first 50 rows were beautiful Asian teenage girls who hadn't a clue what I was saying. I have never heard such quiet, polite applause from thousands of people. Weirdly eerie.
Unnamed location, Madison, Wis. (2003) - I used to play this great place in Madison, which is a really cool town for music. The name escapes me. The woman that owned the place was working really hard to make a go of it. She worked 80 hours a week and had great bands. She hired a "shady" manager who I caught dealing blow over by the soundboard to college girls and I knew it was the beginning of the end. Sure enough next time through it was gone.

Best Gigs I've Ever Played:

Opening for Ani DiFranco at Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles, Calif. (2000) - Eight thousand people, totally in the zone the night they were recording my live album. Some nights the stars are aligned.
SXSW at Electric Lounge, Austin, Texas (1996) - Got signed to Mercury Records with a stellar gig, packed house, David Fricke was there, my A&R guy Peter Lubin bought the deal. My experience with Mercury was actually very good, learned a lot, got my touring started, unlike a lot of acts I got no complaints. It was cool. As a matter of fact all my label deals have been pretty great.
Reading and Leeds Fest, England (2002?) - I played a small side tent to a couple thousand people and it went stellar. My friend Kimya Dawson, who was playing there with the Moldy Peaches, said because I had a laminate I could go backstage on the mainstage where Iggy was playing. The Strokes, Run DMC, The Donnas, PJ Harvey, Green Day and Travis were all playing but Iggy stole the show. Murdered it. It could be the greatest show I've ever seen in my life and I've seen The Who with Keith Moon, Hendrix and The Replacements in their prime.
Opening for Jim Carroll at Maxwell's, Hoboken, N.J. (2004-5?) - Always great to meet a hero, twice as great when they're really cool people.
Any gig at Dan's Silverleaf, Denton, Texas - One of the greatest places for live music on the planet. Smart, awesome, unpretentious people, great sound, astonishing book-and-record store nearby and invariably some Texas swing, rockabilly band or hardcore act on the same bill that will blow your mind.

- Ed Hamell

Favorite Elvis Presley Songs:

Like a Baby
She's Not You
One Night
Trying to Get to You
A Mess of Blues

- Wanda Jackson

Annoying Things Said to Me on Tour:

(From a club owner) "It's very nice music. But can you make it a bit more funky?"
(From an audience member) "Nice music. But you should ditch that upright bass, ya know, make it a bit more funky."
(From a former bandmate) "You know I like your singing, but can we start doing vocal warm-ups?"
(From the promoter) "Stage plot?! Who reads that shit?"
(From the sound guy, before hearing us play a single note) "Your drummer's going to have to play brushes on everything, and your guitar player needs to turn his amp way down."

- Eilen Jewell

Reasons to See Webb Wilder:

Every time you don't...an angel dies.
He is an electrifying artist.
Like Elvis and Muddy Waters...he's from Mississippi.
He can sing low and LOUD.
He plays rock and roll!

- Webb Wilder

Worn-Out Radio Songs I Will Never Turn Off:

Lola - The Kinks
It Never Rains in Southern California - Albert Hammond
Maggie May - Rod Stewart
Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney
Heart of Gold - Neil Young

Worn-Out Radio Songs I Will Always Turn Off:

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
All Right Now - Free
New Year's Day - U2
Some Kind of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad

- Brian Henneman

Uses of "Fuzz Bass" in a Soul/Funk/Rhythm & Blues Song:

Two Sisters of Mystery - Mandrill
(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going To Go - Curtis Mayfield
(tie) Dance to the Music - Sly and the Family Stone / Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today) - The Temptations
Showstopper - Iron Knowledge
Past, Present and Future - Demon Fuzz

- Velcro Lewis

Rain Songs (in Honor of the Crazy Amount of Rain We've Been Getting in Nashville):

Can't Stand the Rain - Lowell George (Tina Turner's version rocks too!)
The Rain Song - Led Zeppelin (melancholy high school days)
MacArthur Park - Jimmy Webb (Lots of us in Nashville didn't even leave it out in the rain and it's soggy anyway)
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall - Bob Dylan (Love Edie Brickell's version)
Who'll Stop the Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival (I know John Fogerty lost a bunch of guitars in the flood...Bless his heart, love him so)

- Suzy Bogguss

Songs About Days of the Week:

Manic Monday - The Bangles
Tuesday's Gone - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Friday I'm in Love - The Cure
Saturday Night - Bay City Rollers
Easy (Like Sunday Morning) - The Commodores

- Leilani Frey

Songs That Could Cheer Me Up Even If My Cat Just Died, My Boyfriend Just Dumped Me, I Just Got Fired and My Band Just Broke Up:

It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls
Tonight It's You - Cheap Trick
Hot Blooded - Foreigner
I Was Made For Loving You - KISS
Sixty Minute Man - The Dominoes

- Ellie Maybe

Songs That Make Me Feel Like a Bad Feminist:

Cuddly Toy - The Monkees
Johnny Get Angry - Joanie Sommers
I Gotcha - Joe Tex
He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss) - The Crystals
Run For Your Life - The Beatles

- Emily Agustin

Oldies That Are About Stalking or Killing:

I Like It - Gerry and the Pacemakers
I'm Your Puppet - James & Bobby Purify
Little Blue Man - Betty Johnson
I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March
Goodbye Cruel World - James Darren

- Vee Sonnets

Guitars in My Arsenal:

'59 Supro DualTone
'73 Fender Strat
'95 Martin HD-28 acoustic
Gibson Chet Atkins acoustic electric
Hamer DuoTone with P90s electric and acoustic

- Michelle Malone

Labor Protest Songs:

I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister - Written by coal miner Jim Garland in 1932.
Union Maid - Woody Guthrie's 1941 classic always gets an audience singing.
Which Side Are You On? - Florence Reece, wife of a blacklisted coal miner, wrote this during a 1931 strike in "Bloody, Harlan County," Kentucky.
Bourgoeis Blues - Leadbelly's clever attack on racisim and the ruling elite.
Dump the Bosses - An old IWW (Wobbly) tune that isn't well known, but is pointed and even soulful, with the right arrangement.
The Pennsylvania Miner - A Phillips Thompson no-nonsense ballad from an 1886 Pennsylvania strike. As far as I know, I'm the only person who sings or recorded this song, which is too bad.
The Preacher and the Slave - Wobbly Joe Hill rewrote an old Protestant hymn in this attack on those who preach about heaven as the reward for your suffering on earth.
The Dying Miner - A recounting of the Centralia, Illinois mining accident in 1947 that Woody Guthrie pasted together from notes written by miners before they died.
London Calling - Who wouldn't want to get into the streets when hearing this Clash anthem?
Stockyard Blues - A 1947, slice-of-life blues tune from Chicago's Floyd Jones.

- Bucky Halker

Tearjerkers:

Possession - Sarah McLachlan
Into Temptation - Crowded House
I Can't Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt
Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys

- Jane Wiedlin

Albums:

Elvis' Golden Records Volume 1 - Elvis Presley
Truth - Jeff Beck
Abbey Road - The Beatles
Johnny Cash's Greatest Hits - Johnny Cash
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols - Sex Pistols
Steppin' Out - Gary Stewart
Byrds - The Byrds
Aftermath - The Rolling Stones
Bringing It All Back Home - Bob Dylan
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Lucinda Williams

- Rosie Flores

Rock-and-Roll Bars:

The Decade in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. It was the "unk" infunk. This was my home turf for many a year. The list of bands that played there was incredible. There was great music, food and beer seven nights a week for years on end. Dom, the owner, was Godfather, and the bar, musicians and patrons were family. Our soundman was even buried underneath the stage!
The Tombstone Club in Terrassa (Barcelona), Spain. A gig we played there in 1996 is still the most memorable bar gig of all time. Packed house, dancing on tables and chairs, football chants, the bartenders quit serving to dance on top of the bars, 7 encores. What a friggin' night!
The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J. New Jersey has always had tons of great musicians and bands. You play right on the ocean. There is nothing like it especially in the summertime. I feel like we have been adopted like native sons there.
Inn Men Square Club in Cambridge, Mass. I loved playing there. It was about as big as my living room. Marshall, the owner-bartender, was about as entertaining a man as I have ever met. I did a live radio broadcast there in 1981 that is probably the best live recording I ever made.
The Bottom Line in New York City. Playing on the same stage that was witness to so many great acts and musical history was always an honor to me. (Owner) Alan Pepper is a class act all the way. I played there with The Iron City Houserockers, my current band, solo, and as a guest for Vin Scelsa's 50th birthday party. The hospitality was as legendary as the club: a banana, a couple of Oreos and oranges, and a pitcher of New York City tap water on ice.

- Joe Grushecky

Country Music's Coolest:

Coolest car - Hank Williams Sr.'s powder blue Cadillac convertible (the one in which he died) at the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, Ala. I didn't stay in the back seat very long. Something's still going on in there.
Coolest cat in California - Merle Haggard. Go hang out with him, you'll see. In case you can't get to him, listen to his recordings.
Coolest steel guitar player in the world - Ralph Mooney in Kenney, Texas. His pedigree includes: a. Playboy - Wynn Stewart b. Above and Beyond - Buck Owens c. Swinging Doors/The Bottle Let Me Down - Merle Haggard d. Rainy Day Woman/ Lonesome On'ry and Mean/Good Hearted Woman - Waylon Jennings e. Branded/Drifting Apart - Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives
Coolest record store - Ernest Tubb Record Shop No. 1, Lower Broadway, Nashville, Tenn. A must for any hillbilly music connoisseur. If they don't have it, you probably don't need it.
Coolest authentic country recording so far this decade - Marty Stuart's Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions. Ain't bragging, just telling it like it is.

- Marty Stuart

Dumb Pre-Show Questions (and a Post-Show One):

"Are you gonna rock tonight?" I wasn't going to but since you brought it up, I suppose that I WILL!
"Where's Ray?" (Referring to Ray Manzarek, who produced the first four X records & played on four songs on the first one.) This question was usually asked by a drunken oldster in Pittsburg or an even smaller town on a Tuesday.
"Are you gonna play Los Angeles?" Usually asked @ an X show (it is our best known song, so...) but also asked @ solo acoustic shows. Somehow this song never struck me as a good candidate for a rendition on acoustic guitar.
"I have a really big house, do you wanna stay on our couch?" Hmmm...maybe 30 years ago, but...actually not even then.
"Where's your Dad?" Asked of me while touring with the Wallflowers @ Bogart's in Cincinnati. Somehow this extremely high dude had mistaken me for Jakob Dylan.
A Post-Show One: "When are you gonna play here again?" I/We just played, how should we know when we'll be back?

- John Doe

Reasons I Got Kicked Out of a Rock Club:

Making out in the photobooth
Grabbing the doorman's crotch
Getting on stage and singing with the band (wasn't mine)
Smoking pot backstage
I don't remember - ha!

- Traci Trouble

Odd Gigs I Have Played:

The Cow Chip Festival. Yes, people fling poo in a contest.
On a float with Goofy standing next to me for the Disney Mag Mile Lights Parade.
With a set-up that consisted of a Rubbermaid 50-gallon trash can, pots, pans, brass railing and metal ladder. No, I was not a child.
The band and I being wheeled out on a flatbed trailer around a minor league baseball field and parked at second base where they hooked up a generator for power. We performed the post-game show.
Hispanic transvestite bar. Nothing against it.

- Meg Thomas

Musicians to Cook Dinner with:

Courtney Love - although it may be more of a drug cocktail than anything
Dolly Parton
Roky Erickson
Lead Belly
GG Allin

- Inga Olson

People I'd Put on My Bowling Team:

Jimi Hendrix
Tommy Lee
Joan Jett
Weird Al
The Dude

- Susie Q

Weirdest Things That Happened Onstage During Love, Janis:

One of the theaters had a hotel in the building and it used to get complaints from the guests about the incessant rocking. I'm not sure if it was revenge or just old plumbing, but one night a sewer pipe broke in one of the rooms upstairs and it began literally raining on the audience. "It's just like Woodstock!" I exclaimed. It happened on a weekend so there were several performances where they just roped off those rows and it rained toilet water continuously throughout the show.
A male senior citizen ran up to the stage at the last song of the show. He had a cane and was wearing a white shirt and tie so I thought he might be an usher as I ran over to sing to him and then I saw he looked upset in some way and was yelling something like "Get off the stage" so I thought maybe the theater was on fire and he was trying to warn me but I had already reached out my hand which he was now squeezing as hard as he could, digging his long old-man nails into my skin, trying to pull me off the stage and seeming generally psychotic so now I was scared that he was trying not to save my life but perhaps rather to kill me and as he did not let go and the song was ending, I finally ripped my hand away as hard as I could, which drew blood and left me scarred for life (emotionally, of course).
There's a scene where the unattended mic stand is lit dramatically in a single spotlight. One night, the mic clearly decided to take advantage of this opportunity for stardom. I watched as the mic popped out of its clip, and with the cable slung over the clip and its own weight as ballast, lowered itself in slow motion about 15 inches and then stopped and hung there suspended.
Julie Andrews gave me a standing ovation...at the end of the first act.
I busted my pants open singing "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)." I held them up with one hand and cued the band with the other. (That's actually more pathetic than weird, hence its #5 position.)

- Cathy Richardson

Worst After-Show Compliments:

I saw you on Austin City Limits. It was awesome but what happened with your record?
You've gotten so much better!
I love you guys! Are you in Wilco?
There's a guy here in town that you would just love. Now, he's an incredible player.
Tie: (a) How long you been playing roughly? (b) I can't tell you how great that was.

- Susan Voelz

Defunct Chicago Venues:

The Cellar
Beginnings
London House
Mister Kelly's
Thirsty Whale

- Jim Peterik

Fiddle Players:

Joe Thompson
Mark O'Connor
Liz Carroll
Regina Carter
Kala Ramnath

- Anne Harris

Drum Songs:

Skin Deep - Louie Bellson with Duke Ellington and his orchestra
Channel 1 Suite - Buddy Rich with The Buddy Rich Big Band
Aja - Steve Gadd with Steely Dan
Toad - Ginger Baker with Cream
Moby Dick - John Bonham with Led Zeppelin

- Kenny Aronoff

CDs of 2009:

Pizza Box - Danny Barnes
Cotton - Sam Baker
Acquired Taste - Delbert McClinton
Electric Dirt - Levon Helm
Somedays the Song Writes You - Guy Clark

- Gurf Morlix

Breakup Songs:

Can't Let Go - Lucinda Williams
Don't Answer Me - The Alan Parsons Project
The Loneliest Guy - David Bowie
Down to You - Joni Mitchell
Sometimes It Snows in April - Prince

- Jann Klose

iPod Songs:

Little Glass Folk - Anoushka Shankar
Blood Red Sky - Seth Lakeman
Ninth Symphony - Beethoven
Safe As Milk - Captain Beefheart
Dirty Love - Frank Zappa

- Ian Anderson

Songs for a Gloomy Day:

Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine - The Ronettes
I Will Always Love You - Dolly Parton
The River - Bruce Springsteen
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams

- Sune Rose Wagner

Parenthetical Song Titles:

Anna (Go to Him) - Arthur Alexander
(I Know) I'm Losing You - The Temptations
Remember (Walking in the Sand) - The Shangri-Las
Dawn (Go Away) - The Four Seasons
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding

- Dennis Diken

Songs for Protest and Demonstration:

Dancing in the Street - Martha and the Vandellas
Southern Man - Neil Young
Chimes of Freedom - Bob Dylan
The Bourgeois Blues - Lead Belly
I Don't Care - Judy Garland

- Stan Ridgway

Awkward Moments in My Musical Life:

Realizing mid-song that my fly was down when I played the Letterman show in John Doe's band.
Discovering that the beautiful French woman, who had been telling me for over an hour I was a genius and that Americans could never appreciate my brilliance, had actually mistaken me for Boxcar Willie.
Eating breakfast next to Tom Waits at the counter of the old Tropicana Motel in 1985. He put so much ketchup on his eggs and Potatoes O'Brian that you could no longer even see the food on the plate, and for some reason it forever diminished "The Mystique" for me. I dunno. It's hard to explain. I mean, he's still a genius and all, yet somehow the whole thing...I dunno. Let's move on.
Being asked to leave the listening party for The Replacements' Pleased To Meet Me for being "too drunk and making a scene." Now, while I confess I don't remember exactly what transpired, it just seems like...I mean, c'mon, it's THE REPLACEMENTS for chrissakes. Define "too drunk" to me in the context of a Replacements party...Is such a thing even physically POSSIBLE?!?
While recording with Toni Price at Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studio, I mistook Willie for the maintenance guy and told him that the handle on the hallway toilet kept sticking and you had to jiggle it or else it would just keep running...I told him he oughta take a look at it, it's an easy thing to fix. It was dark, it was late, I was tired and he was wearing coveralls and a gimme cap...You can see how that could happen. He said, "I'll git right on that," and sorta ambled away. That was pretty awkward.

- Jon Dee Graham

Music DVDs: