Farmaid 2008

The Essence of Rock and Roll

This past Saturday I had the privilege of attending Farmaid 2008...for those of you who didn't get the chance to enjoy an entire day dedicated to sick tunes and the preservation of American Family farms all I can say is "you blew it".

Some people down wind were skeptical of our operation...

First off, preparations had been in the works for weeks leading up to the fateful day. Coolers had been located, chicken had been marinated in the perfect blend of spices, and leftover beers were horded like cheese by hungry rodents in winter. I gathered all of my Neil Young albums together and kept them in high rotation just to keep my mind sharp and my senses alert. I recollected on Willie Nelson's cameo appearance in "Half Baked", and on the last Dave Mathews Band concert I had attended in High School, where really all there was to recollect was that a girl puked on my leg and I had taken a shit in the woods.





We arrived at the concert in a roundabout way that probably took an hour or two longer than necessary. I cannot stress this enough...always leave adequate time to drive around aimlessly when planning to attend an all day festival of music. Also, you should be prepared to rock out to Pantera at any given moment. This was essential. There were no rookies among us so we arrived safe and sound at the parking lot and promptly set up shop.



The grilling and chilling went into effect early and often. We absorbed the sun and the good vibes and made our way into the concert just in time to catch the end of Kenny Chesney's set (note, this was no accident, I understand that Chesney has a huge following and sure I think his stuff has a time and a place but we weren't there to hook up with high school girls. Seriously, I swear to god.)


Dave Mathews and Tim Reynolds were the first to go on stage once we arrived and they absolutely kicked ass. As I mentioned, I did not have the fondest of memories from my Dave Mathews Band experience 9 years ago. I had been expecting the entire band to be there but the acoustic pairing of Reynolds and Dave proved to be one of the highlights of the night. You couldn't help but be in awe of the sheer musicianship of these two guys. They even played some of the old DMB tunes that have been making high school girls wet for years, and satisfied LaRocque who intermittently burst out yelling "Play Jimi Thing" throughout the set.

And Then...

I've never met Bob Costas, nor do I want to.

Some rules of Rock and Roll:

1) Do not under any circumstances allow Bob Costas to give your intro before a performance.

2) See #1

The only thing more disappointing than having Costas take the stage at a rock show was the way he built up John Mellencamp who went out and returned the favor by not kicking ass at all. That is as nice as I can put it. I can't say that I have ever been a huge fan of Mellencamp's. His cover of Van Morrison's "Wild Night" is about as good as it gets for me when it comes to his stuff. Granted, he had a tough act to follow because Mathews and Reynolds had the place rocking, but his set was very blahhhhh. I looked over at LaRocque at one point and he said to me "Im bobbing my head right now but this isn't good." So true. I dont think many people were into the set, and just as he said, it was as though all the fans in the crowd were nodding their heads, not to encourage his playing but instead willing him on towards the finish.





The man I was there to see was Neil Young, plain and simple. He could have played for three hours and that would have been fine with me. He started his set off with "Love and Only Love" from 'Ragged Glory', an amazing album, and continued with rockers "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", and "Powderfinger" (I never expected to hear this one, so badass). Then came the obligatory Neil Young message song "Mother Earth", with Neil going solo on an organ. All I can say is that even as an enormous fan of Neil's it could have been worse. (Read: the Greendale Album) He then pulled out the acoustic for "Unknown Legend", and "Old Man", before returning to the electric to rock out "Get Back To The Country" and the performance of the night, his cover of the Beatles "A Day in the Life".



I guess Neil had been performing the song on tour in Europe this year...it was a remarkable cover and a very unexpected one at that. By the end of the song Neil had rid his guitar of all its strings and had propped it against his amp like the corpse of a slain enemy. Distortion hung in the air amid the screams of the crazed crowd and I knew then that I had been fortunate enough to drink from the Goblet Of Rock on this night. We had all been fully quenched.



Willie came on to close the show and sounded as good as ever. I don't know how he does it. As you can probably tell, I was there for Neil, but it was a pleasure to see Willie play even late in the night rushed against the dreaded 11 o'clock Comcast center curfew. All I can think of is how much weed and how many hot babes that old guy must have have in his lifetime. Keep rocking old man.


Overall the day was awesome. Great friends, great tunes, great cause. I got a sunburn and a headache and all of the blood in my body was pooled into my feet from standing all day and night on that god forsaken hill they call "the lawn". Lord knows people pissed on that hill, and lord knows that other people unknowingly sat in it. That is rock and roll I suppose, at least as far as I am concerned. If I forgot anything important it is because I am too thoroughly rocked out at the moment.

The Babcock Report: Capitol Punishment

Photo Courtesy of the Babcock Archive

I made the 530 mile trip from Newburyport to Gaithersburg, Maryland this past Tuesday and I have been planning a "Greetings from.." post but decided instead to roll it into my latest Babcock Report. Sometimes these things just come together. Anyway, my first several days down here were uneventful...I managed to catch a nationally televised Celtics game along with Deep Impact, which was playing on Showtime. I actually watched the whole entire movie, even finding myself emotionally invested in the film at a few pivotal moments; namely when Elijah Wood comes riding up to his teen-bride on a dirt bike and rides her and her baby sister to safety only moments ahead of a devastating tidal wave. I'm not recommending this movie, in fact I am not even why I am admitting that I actually watched it. Sometimes you do strange things when you're living in a hotel by yourself in Maryland.

Needless to say, I was really looking forward to the weekend. I put in a long day at work and got into bed early, planning to get an early start and hit all of the token Washington, D.C. tourist attractions. I took the Metro into the city and began walking around aimlessly (I think its the best way to see a city, I can't bring myself to climb my ass into one of those Duckboats). I must've walked a good 20 miles, and I have an ankle blister and the rough-night-in-prison limp to prove it. It was a beautiful day and the city was full of similar tourist types. I haven't been in DC for quite some time. Some of you know that on my last visit to the city I had the distinct pleasure of spending a short stint in a local jail cell after I was hit with an (alleged) open container infraction down at the waterfront. A couple of highlights from that evening included standing by helplessly as Police officers removed a 3 x 5 index card from my cargo shorts that contained a list titled "Worst Athlete Wives" and contained names such as Brenda Warner, Left Eye (not sure if she was actually married to Andre Rison, but close enough) Jason Kidd's wife (I wasn't sure of her name), Adrian Balboa (She never deserved Rocky and it was clearly her fault that their son was a huge pussy), along with a couple of others that escape my mind now. I'm not sure if they found this list amusing or if it made them want to kick my ass. Long story short bail was set at $10, and the next morning I removed the index card from my plastic bag of belongings (shoelaces, etc...) and promptly threw it into the trash.

Since there was about 40,000 other people who had the same idea as me walking around the city I didn't actually go into any buildings or museum, I stuck to the exteriors avoiding lines and possible awkward conversations with other out-of-towners. It was all around a satisfying experience and made me feel somewhat productive. I ended the day with a great Cheeseburger at Clydes, a nice sports bar/restaurant next door to the Verizon center. Capitols fans were starting to pour into Clydes and the surrounding area in preparation for the nights game (which the Capitols won, securing a playoff berth). The only downer of this portion of my day was sitting next to some douchebag who talked too loudly to his friends (three chicks) about three girls he was dating at the moment. The girls, "Punk rock Chick", "Insane lady", and "Former figure skater girl", were all apparently really into this guy, despite the fact that anyone within a 20 foot radius would immediately know that he was a complete tool. I tried hard to watch the Magic-Cavaliers game on TV but couldn't help hearing about his dates (all deriving in some manner from Craigslist personal ads), detailed analysis of the goodnight kisses of each, and how he has decided that he should purchase some new pillows and sheets now that he is dating seriously. Later on I saw this guy in the street trying to scalp tickets to the Capitols game, I wanted to kick him in the shins, but alas, I was also attempting to keep a low profile.

Later in the evening I had the pleasure of meeting up with Ballgame, fellow ROOMOFZEN blogger and all around badass. We watched the final four games and engaged in various excellent conversations. Topics included NBA Jam on Sega Genesis, the most bad ass brands of Malt Liquor (Olde English was held in extremely high regard by all parties), why football is taking over as most popular sport in America, and the evolution of Rock and Roll from Black Blues musicians through Zeppelin and the Stones and the incredible role the Beatles played in transforming rock and roll, popular music, and recording techniques. We also discussed how rock music had generally gone downhill since the 90s, and how badass that period of time was in music. Then this one guy mentioned that he was a fan of the Killers and our music conversation came to a screeching halt. Meanwhile the girls segregated themselves into another room (why does this always happen?) to talk about purses, or perhaps something more intellectually stimulating.

It had already been a great day, but much to my surprise the best still lay ahead. We got back to Ballgame's girlfriends house and it soon became evident that we were going to need to eat something. That's when Ballgame gave me a nod and said, "I know exactly what you need.", and boy was he right.

Heaven on Earth? Quite Possibly.

It is going to be hard to describe how amazing the experience of Steak 'n Egg Kitchen was at 1:35am this morning. To start off the place seats about 12 people inside, and when we got there it was already packed. Being an experienced patron Ballgame immediately noticed a few newbies who were not pure of heart and scared them off by saying that the wait was probably "at least a 1/2 an hour". They left and we walked in, all business. The waiter took our order as we stood against the back wall (approximately 2' away from the 12 seated patrons already inside when we got there. I was feeling saucy so I went with the signature Steak'n Eggs, with french fries and a side of biscuits and gravy. Just as our order was ready two seats opened up for us like clockwork. "Controlled Chaos" Ballgame called it, and he assured me that things always had a way of going as smoothly despite the fact that it is a 24/7 diner with approximately 30 square feet of eating space. I left wholly satisfied and determined to return again. It will not be an experience soon forgotten.

Serving up "Awesome" 24/7

As far as sports go, I couldn't be more excited to watch the NCAA championship game tomorrow night. I had Memphis and Kansas meeting in the finals in my bracket with Memphis winning by 4. These two teams were clearly the best on the court last night and the fact that they both play uptempo on both ends of the court sets the stage for a very exciting game. I have to give the edge to Memphis due to Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts; both these guys were getting to the rim at will last night and are almost impossible to defend 1 on 1. I also have a soft spot for John Calipari, and would really like to see him get a championship. His "Refuse to lose" campaign with UMASS was the last time that a college team in the Commonwealth really had a legit shot at the title. I just really like the style of basketball that both of these teams play, and they both seem to be playing their best ball of the season right now. You really couldn't ask for more out of a National title match up. Vegas has Kansas as a 1/2 point underdog the last time I checked, which speaks to the parity in this game. I can't wait.

One reason to smile.

The Red Sox just got swept by the Blue Jays. Am I worried? No, it is way to early to be worried. It is unfortunate to get swept by anyone, especially someone who will most likely be near the top of the American League at the end of season. But, at the same time I just can't get myself too worked up about baseball with the NBA playoffs only 6 days away. I'm just all about basketball right now. The silver lining of the Red Sox situation is that JD Drew had bounced back from his back injury and has been hitting the ball well. I'm sure that back in Boston people are saying that he's only hitting well now because it doesn't matter. I just have a good feeling about him this year, I think he's going to come into his own and have a very productive season.

Rock and Roll.