The Toadies-Who knew they were that cool? What goes on, and welcome yourselves to the 33rd edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending concert Series as we begin our “Three Nights of Weirdness” tour at the Gramercy Theater to see the Toadies. Billed as the “Three Nights of Weirdness” because it covers three completely different ends of the music spectrum in three consecutive nights with Cake tomorrow night at Central Park and Ween Friday also in Central Park. This is going to be a blast, lets dance shall we?
I got out front and waited for Pam (Fellow Jay Porks Experiencer) to arrive.. Not much of a line out front as doors open at 7. I did my best to try and get wasted before I got in there- did not want to subject myself to $10 Bud Light. When I got in I went to the will call/information booth thing to check on my allegded photo pass- the girl working that area said that ” There was only one person on the list”, and that person was obviously not me. 
The first opener was a band called ‘The Clox’ (I originally had listed “Clocks” as there name and said they were from London.. Through email from the band, I got the correct spelling of the name and their actual hometown, Brooklyn. Apologies to “The Clox” for that little typo…) They hit the stage shortly after 8pm, working with the 3 piece standard bass, guitar, drums. The drummer looked like the dude from the presidents of the 
united states of America, bald with a white shirt and tie. They did what they could-to all 20 of us. Won the crowd over
Didn’t know there was a second opener, but the dude to my left had said they were selling merchandise for three bands downstairs, this band being “Gringo Star”, went on around 8:40.. They had one more guy than the previous band, opting to go with Two guitars, a drummer with a bassist 
and the second guitarist doubles on keyboard.. They got heavy at times, played a song called “Transmission” towards the end. I got one of their first songs on video, and didn’t plan on uploading it but it’s such a jangly tune. I usually denounce bands with a keyboard but they worked it in. They have a MySpace page and are/have been opening for the Toadies this whole tour…. They went off about 9:15 maybe a little after having entertained most of the room, which is now substantially larger than it was last time I turned around.
Kicked off the set with ‘Backslider’ a few minutes before 10, which I was getting some killer video of until event staff jerk-off tapped me on the shoulder and told me to please stop taking video. All of us concert-goers know this feeling you get when that happens. Don’t you just want to punch that dude in the face? I know the rules of venues and all that and I know I’m breaking them, but I’m just about fed up with this shit- how am I suppose to upload video to YouTube and share my experience if event staff douche bag who has no idea what a freaking guitar is keeps tapping me on the shoulder- not to be a whistle blower, but there are clouds of pot smoke about three heads over from me- why don’t you go do something about that, it’s a fucking fire hazard. Doubt the band cares that much about me taping Backslider- not like it hasn’t been released!
Okay so off my soap box, but that really had me fuming. So seemingly relegated to still frame photos the rest of the night; which isn’t so bad considering the Toadies are up there kicking ass. All their songs so well weaved into one another.. And everyone was into it- like I said before, who knew? Who knew the Toadies kick ass like that? I sure as hell didn’t and I’m suppose to be Mr Music Critic over here..
Possom Kingdom, did they really think I wasn’t going to risk my night by getting that song on tape? I got that, an
awesome version as a matter of fact. Except for the fact that there was one douche in front of me putting his head in my video by jumping up and down like a pansy. Oh, did I forget to mention that this person is the recipient of the “one photo pass” that was issued for tonight’s show. I saw him in front of the barricade five minutes ago-dude what are you doing in front of me right now in the crowd? Being a douche. Still, great times. They got into “Dollskin” after that, an amazing song that I’m glad I came upon during tonight’s set, as Pam tells me they didn’t play it when she saw them at Irving Plaza recently.. I noticed at 10:46 a lit cigarette gets chucked at Clark Vogeler (guitar), and he just keeps whaling out sonnets of feedback without skipping a beat or going Axel Rose on somebody.. He was a beast tonight, we were right in front of him and he was killing it.. the funny thing about this band is that their personality doesn’t reflect their music at all.. Like, in between songs when the band would hear requests being screamed out and cracking jokes-it was a fun atmosphere-when the music played it was gear twisting, heavy, distorted hardcore awesome guitar rock. Then after the song everyone’s in smiles.
A short while after that they tried to go off at 10:57.. They came back like two minutes later and, in a striking turn of events, Todd Lewis says “Okay we’re gonna play a cover song now for you… by a band called the Beatles”.. What! This I have to see. And we did, it was “Don’t let me down”, and it did not let any of us down one bit. This band is so cool! And luckily, that is the 3rd and last full song I got on tape. After that they went into “Got a heart” Awesome song. They ended the show with “I come from the water”, which was a good way to end based on everyone’s enthusiasm. It was rocking in there most of the night-from what I understand not as much as the aforementioned previous Irving show, but Gramercy only hold 600 give or take so take that into consideration. They said their goodnight at about 11:15.. Awesome show-Definitely didn’t let me down one bit..
Amazing show, glad I got to see them.. This was part one of the Jay Porks “Three Nights of Weirdness” tour. Quick turn around, as the 2nd
7 Comments, Comment or Ping
Thomas
Hey Jay, Dude to the left here in the Blue Oyster Cult shirt. I moved up closer to the stage when Gringo Star started their set. It helps when you’re short like me to have either no one in front of you or shorter people in front of you. Since I couldn’t get up front I chose option two. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the band. This is my fifth time seeing them. Saw them three times in 2001 before they broke up once in 2008 and now once in 2010. It was nice to finally hear songs from Feeler. I remember back in 1998 waiting for Feeler. I was an active member on their BBS and people would constantly talk about all the new songs they were playing at their live (Texas only) shows. It was torture to wait until 2001 to finally see them, but I never got to see them play those unreleased songs. The one song I’m dying to see live is Send You To Heaven. Check it out here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAgdqC7QNG0
I was able to record one song on my small camera. It’s not great quality or technique, don’t ask me why I tilted when I panned over to Clark, I know I messed up but at least the sound is pretty good. Pink is one of my favorite songs from Feeler.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nlpL4WjHV0
The Beatles cover song is an I-Tunes only exclusive. You only get ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ if you purchase the whole album from I-Tunes. I hate I-Tunes. If you need any help acquiring their rare songs just ask.
Sep 17th, 2010
Justin
Cake, Ween, and Toadies are all different ends of the musical spectrum? Where are you writing from, 1995?
Sep 18th, 2010
ReverendJustito
While perhaps Cake and Toadies struggled to have successful commercial careers outside of the 1990′s, Ween over the past decade have become far successful then where they were when the 1990′s ended.
So hey, perhaps Jay likes the 90′s jams. Better that than Lady Gaga.
Sep 18th, 2010
Jay Porks
I meant different ends of the spectrum in terms of sound
Sep 19th, 2010
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