Mike Watt is the Man

I saw Mike Watt last night. Mike Watt was one-third of the Minutemen. Mike Watt is the Mike Watt mentioned in History Lesson Part II ("Me and Mike Watt played for years").

Watt is touring with his new band, The Missing Men. I haven't paid much attention to Watt's solo stuff, really, but he's still a punk rock legend. And he still flies the We Jam Econo flag. There is a line in the song History Lesson Part II that sums up the entire DIY movement: Our band could be your life. The Minutemen always supported people to start bands. D. Boom was this big beefy guy and Watt was a tall skinny guy fron San Pedro. If they could start a band, anyone could. Pick up an instrument and see what happens. "Start your own band" was a common motto.

I had some concerns going in. This is Mike Watt. I love, and I mean love, the Minutemen. Some people accused Watt of selling out. I think one of his later bands signed on a major label. He sold a Minutemen song to a car company for a commercial. (He did it to help out D. Boon's dad. Boon's dad was ill and the money he earned from the royalties was deperately needed. Boon had been dead for years, so Watt thought it was a way Boon could help his dad from the grave.) Would I be disappointed? Would I want to hear someone who isn't D. Boon sing a Minutemen song? Would they pull out the Minutemen?

I wasn't. I did. They did. And you know what? It was great. They rocked the whole set hard and fast--as one would expect from someone like Mike Watt. There were times it got a bit jam bandy for me, but they were still damn good. Watt was all over the little stage. The other guitarist was older, the drummer, who was awesome, was front and center, young, and awesome. They did pull out some Minutemen songs. Ask me which ones and I wouldn't know since I gave up memorizing song titles a long time ago.

I'm glad I went. Every time I go to a live show I am reminded why I love live music--especially in a club. It's intimate. They music is so loud that the bass line makes my clothing move (I love that). And then there is the people in the crowd.

I forget how hipster this town is. It's a mix of hippie and hipster, actually. But this club was hipster. If I'd had my camera I could have supplied Look at this Fucking Hipster with a month of photos. Lots of skinny boys in skinny jeans wearing blazers and headbands. Lots of girls in skirts with spiky hair, lip rings, retro cameras, and lord know what else. Several drunks--one older dude with some badly bleached hair was being a dick and came close to starting a fight. I can honestly say I enjoy old aging drunk hipsters over the chatting sorority girls and fraternity boys who went to shows down south. I expect fights. I expect stupidity. What I don't expect is girls in cocktail dresses gossiping with their friends.

Leaving the club we had to weave our way through the twenty-something hipsters gathering outside the club. An a friend of mine said, "Some places put Chinese dragons at the entrance of their establishments. Some put barely legal girls with cigarettes and cell phones." Awesome.

Anyway... Mike Watt was amazing. He is still jamming econo. They still broke down all their own instruments. They still play fast (the set lasted a little over an hour). He still thanked everyone for being there, supporting him, and being part of the experience. And at the end he yelled, "Start your own band!"

Nice to see that some things never change.