Line Out - Comments on Roky Erickson at B'shoot - opinions from the peanut gallery? http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th Did anyone else catch Roky Erickson's early evening performance yesterday? Given the man's colorful psychological past, I wasn't sure what to expect. But the only truly unsettling thing about his performance was the way he said "thank you!" after... Copyright 2008 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:32:46 -0800 Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:08:21 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by PMcG Although he only did a couple of 13 Floor songs, his set was a great return to form and a triumph of the human spirit. There were all kinds of surprises (hot blues!), the best being that inimitable voice of his. After all these years it was still there, one of the sleaziest, hair-raising timbres in rock. Considering that the man has been at the absolute bottom at times, seeing him on stage playing fantastic rock n’ roll was very moving for this longtime fan. His lead guitarist and band leader is Cam King, who I thought was one of the most tasteful guitarist I heard all weekend. He was flawless in the best sense of the word.

]]> PMcG http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th#c796008 http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th#c796008 Bumbershoot Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:15:17 -0800 Comment by martin Highlights for this die hard fan were “Bloody Hammer” and “Two Headed Dog”, though “Splash 1” and “You’re Gonna Miss Me” from his days in the 13th Floor Elevators were pretty stunning. The guitar sound was amazing, even if one is not a fan of guitar rock they’d have to concede this band is as good as the genre gets.
This was not a revival show, he's been playing off and on for years since his time in the mental hospital, but 2007 seems be the year that his mental and physical health is allowing him to play all the places he never got to before.
I could gush all night about the show, but really all I have to say is that this was a once in a lifetime show, the lucky ones went.

]]> martin http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th#c796315 http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th#c796315 Bumbershoot Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:47:31 -0800 Comment by ross I consider myself fortunate and privileged as a long time Elevators fan and journeyman garage-o-phile to have seen last night's historic event. History carries different meanings for all of us, but for me to witness Roky's set was, as eloquently stated by another commenter, a triumph of the human spirit. Roky's story up the first chord he played serves as a reminder to us of life's accidents, hypocrisies, and errant victories. Yes, I was imagining the weird warblings of the jug during the few Elevators songs, but its absence clearly reminded me that this guy reveled in his own spine-tingling vocal, dirty, and enduring legacy, "Two Headed Dog," "Bermuda"(covered by the Minutemen)to name a few, post Elevators with the Aliens and Explosives. Not your typical back-from-the-grave wheelchair tour victory lap thing like so many of his contemporaries who charge triple digits for tickets while we all smugly clap for what was rather than what is.

The Explosives lived up to their name indeed, and what touched me the most was the mutual respect and adulation between grinning bandmates who knew that the set was something special, tight, energized, and steeped in the same raw and frenetic r&b infused psychedelia wherever Roky left off. Thus erased was any notion we had of an obliging and tolerant band with Roky being dissheveled or manifesting signs of his past mental diagnoses on stage. While we as two fans were expecting to be rife with cynicism or hypercritical rockandroll critical pretention, we were humbled by the sincerity of it all. Roky himself seemed surprised and truly grateful to all of us with each "Thank You" after each and every song. Perhaps a poignant, better-late-than never comeuppance for many years of being gypped out of fame, respect, and royalties for his Elevators efforts. Three encores later, and a loving handshake from this fan to a tired but smiling guy who just rocked my world and signed my disc, I am left to look forward to the future, as his guitarist said, "This has been the Year of Roky Erickson." Welcome back, our brother, welcome back.

]]> ross http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th#c796362 http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th#c796362 Bumbershoot Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:55:42 -0800 Comment by Chrispo A few years ago I never dreamed that I would see this man perform. He was a total lost soul, somewhat akin to Syd Barrett's situation. I was fortunate to see him a couple of times before the Bumbershoot show (in Austin & Coachella)and each time walked away with hope that Roky was truly back for good (which is sadly not the case with half the reunions or "long awaited returns" I've seen). The show on Monday surpassed my expectations. As someone mentioned earlier, it's a bit disappointing to only hear him do 2 Elevators songs (plus the old blues number "Before You Accuse Me" which was an Elevators staple), but the later tunes were great to experience as well. According to his road manager, they are gradually adding more songs to the set list, so maybe someday we'll get to hear more of the 60's material. Nevertheless, the band was tight, Roky was in wonderful spirits and I am truly honored to have been in attendance and to get a chance to meet the man. I think every record geek in Seattle was there. I loved seeing all the adulation for him. Long live Roky Erickson!

]]> Chrispo http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th#c796519 http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th#c796519 Bumbershoot Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:26:01 -0800 Comment by bunnypuncher One of the other highlights of the set that no one's mentioned yet: when Cam King broke a string, tried to replace it mid-song, but then decided that ripping the song a couple new assholes via guitar solos was more important than that one string. Inspirational.

]]> bunnypuncher http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th#c798226 http://lineout.thestranger.com/2007/09/roky_erickson_at_bshoot_opinions_from_th#c798226 Bumbershoot Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:08:21 -0800