I can’t explain why, but I am really excited for this tour. I think part of it is that I haven’t been to a show since 2016, missing everything in 2017. I think part of it is the shitty state of the world these days. Every day some new item appears that just makes me angry. Add in a dose of job dissatisfaction and a few other things and well, four guys playing music for a tens of thousands of hippies brings a genuine smile to my face.
As I’m writing I’m streaming the first set of The Gorge. Streams aren’t always the best way to get a feel for things, but the band sounds good. I hope to watch some of the streams as well, but the tour pass is a little pricy for my budget, sorry to say. I also filled out most of the paperwork to work at Curveball next month, but after the shows were announced in Chicago, that got 86’ed. A personal road trip followed by three home shows doesn’t work in the balance sheet. I’ll put it down right now however, if I make $5,000 from freelance writing, I’m going to a remote show, Dick’s, New Year’s, Vegas, something.
As far as the song rankings are concerned, getting to my major project with the data still hasn’t happened. Blame freelancing and other factors on that. As is the case, the top songs have such a long history that not much is going to change in the Top 20, As the summer rolls on, I might add a thing or two that I’m reporting, but I need to give it some more thought.
The movements that intrigued me the most were the playing of “My Sweet One” so early in the tour. That song has become my white whale. I’ve been going to shows since 1994 and haven’t gotten close. It might come again in the fall, but it doesn’t get many plays in any given year. “Carini” will crack the Top 100 again this tour and “Big Ball Jam” will fall further, eventually out of the Top 100, but probably not this tour. “Martian Monster” has been played 25 times which is a pretty amazing rise for a song that debuted in 2014. “No Men in No Man’s Land” has become quite the jam vehicle and the Tahoe version doesn’t disappoint. Though only played 26 times, it’s such a great sign of a vibrant band that new songs can become launching pads. We all like the classics, but watching the band take on something new is up-lifting.
If you’re out on tour, be safe, be kind and have fun. Your Top 20:
1 You Enjoy Myself – 581
2 Possum – 521
3 Mike’s Song – 494
4 Weekapaug Groove – 463
5 Bouncing Around the Room – 462
6 Golgi Apparatus – 458
7 Chalk Dust Torture – 457
8 Cavern – 445
8 Run Like an Antelope – 445
10 David Bowie – 442
11 Suzy Greenberg – 422
12 Stash – 413
13 Divided Sky – 412
14 Reba – 377
15 Runaway Jim – 376
16 Harry Hood – 372
17 Tweezer – 359
18 The Squirming Coil – 350
19 Foam – 345
20 I Am Hydrogen – 336
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