People often question my sanity when they hear how many times I've seen Jackshit live in concert. I don't blame them, as sometimes I do the questioning myself. Saturday night I saw Jackshit for the twenty-fifth time, a number that kinda calls for a celebration, yet I will remember the evening for a different milestone.
Saturday night I brought along my Jackshit Guest No. 100. That's right, over the years I have brought with me one hundred otherwise sane folks to see a band no one has ever heard of. So how did I manage the feat? Hard work, that's how. I spent countless hours spreading the word, burning sampler CDs, emailing friends, reminding friends, in a nut-shell, pestering friends, but I did it in good faith, in an attempt to give them the same musical pleasures I have been getting from this unbelievable trio.
Many of my guests have become regular attendees - Steve, the Other Steve, John, Sean, Tony and others - and I could not be happier for having introduced them to the wonderful world of Jackshit.
The honor of being my "Jackshit Guest No. 100" went to Eric E, a friend and co-worker who had resisted my relentless "sales pitches" for about five years. Scroll down to see a photo of Eric at McCabe's, waiting for the band to come out.
About the show: it was one of the best Jackshit concerts I've ever seen, and there haven't been any bad ones. Val McCallum was on fire - I thought his guitar playing was better than ever, exceptionally inventive and powerful. Dave Faragher's one-liners were some of his finest and he played his bass like no one else. The usually more reserved Pete Thomas was in a giggly mood and I enjoyed watching him having a good time. His drumming on "I'm Coming Home" made me scream, but then what else is new?
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| Beau & Shorty at McCabe's (February 11, 2012) |
There were a few new songs, among them "Good Morning", the Sgt. Pepper gem, and "Those Were The Days", the old Cream song, delivered by the band during their two-song encore with some twisted lyrics of their own. Both sounded great. "Pretty Polly" came back after a long absence - the extended instrumental ending of the song was one of the highlights of the show. Pete sang "Older Guys".
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| The set list (not followed to the letter) |
The Boys From Cochtotin did not play "2x4" nor "Long Black Veil", a slight detour from their own printed set list.
Once again, the band had a surprise guest. Inexplicably introduced as "Christina", the guest turned out to be the lovely Susanna Hoffs, the main voice of the Bangles, who - by the way - are still active. Susanna sang Lulu's "To Sir With Love" and Prince's "Manic Monday". Surprisingly, the former sounded better than the latter. Susanna's presence on the stage gave all of us a massive thrill.
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| Unannounced guest Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles |
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| Val McCallum & Susanna Hoffs |
Once again, the Shit Horns came out of the blue to help out on "Ring Of Fire" and "The Lonely Bull". They are always fun to watch. I laughed out loud when Val introduced the male half of the trumpet-wielding duo as "Horny Shit".
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| Shorty & the female half of the Shit Horns |
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| Beau & the male half of the Shit Horns |
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| Eric, my Jackshit-Guest-No. 100 (left) & repeat-customer Sean |
Jackshit will be back at McCabe's on April 1st and, at the risk of sounding redundant, let me tell you that I'll be there.
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