Live: Hellride East with Appomattox @ Mike Watt: On and Off Bass book release party @ Le Poisson Rouge 5.2.12

Watt had mentioned that there was going to be a collection of his tour diaries that had some of his photos incorporated coming out. Turns out that is the case. The book is called Off And On Bass and as such, a book release party/show dubbed Mayday 2 was organized by publisher Three Rooms Press at Le Poisson Rouge featuring a live Watt interview by Forced Exposure dude Byron Coley as well as a Hellride set featuring Watt and J. Mascis and Murph backing a rotating roster of microphone wielders.

After sorting out some lifestyle driven ticket issues, I posted up at LPR what I thought was early to find I had missed Dead Trend. I did catch all of the Appomattox set and was pretty impressed. A Brooklyn three-piece featuring one hell of a drummer, the trio made quite a racket, combining The Minutemen, Wire, Pop Group and a gang of other post-punk influences to generally positive results.

Byron Coley came up and interviewed Watt about On and Off Bass for fifteen minutes (look for YouTube of it) before Watt and Co. got things underway for a royal rumble of Stooges covers. A gang of people took the mike for the proceeding, a lot that included the expected (Don Fleming, Thurston, John Petrovich) combined with some new school eyebrow raisers (Kurt Vile, Sharon Van Etten). It certainly made for a pretty hip room for a bit.

This was a great night for a great man that ended early. This I like, although it was nice to be the young guy at a show for once. Watt is evidently going to make another run through the Northeast this Fall behind the most recent opera, but in the interim pick up Mike Watt: On and Off Bass here from Three Rooms Press. Look for a review soonest and keep track of Watt in the interim at the hootpage here.

R