Tribute to Tony Cavagnaro: one of the best live music events i've been to in forever
I tend to think of live music as being a little like sex. It is invigorating, exciting, physically exerting, intense, and passionate. Also there is foreplay, build ups, and climaxes. Well, this was a multiple orgasm kind of night.
When I arrived at Waterstreet, the Druids were just beginning to play one of my favorite Dead songs: Box of Rain. I was surprised to find I was the only one who sang along. "Such a long long time to be gone, and a short time to be there." the lyrics seemed fitting.
After that, I wandered around a bit and looked at some collages they had up of pictures of Tony. At some point, There was a reggae-ish band that did a nice rendition of Rivers of Babylon. There was definitely way too much going on to remember it all.
My friend Rose arrived in time for Hypnotic Clambake, which is a very fun dance-y funk type of band. I was trying to conserve energy for the Buddhahood, but each band would have their intense moments where the music would just draw me in and I couldn't help but dance. The mysterious blues band was one of those, bringing classic rock inspired songs infused with some fantasitc guitar riffs.
Rose and I were given a bunch of glo-bracelets by the Juggler dude, to pass around to other random people. I gave one to Dave, of the Buddhahood. (I also later gave one to this girl who I made friends with there who apparently also got chills when the Buddhahood played On My Way Home) And in the bathroom, I told this lady I liked her pin (which was of Tony Cavagnaro's face) and she told me she had made it herself, and gave me one. Seriously, the Buddhahood crowd are some of the most awesome people you will ever meet. But on with the concert...
The Peachy Neatchies were a zydeco band, and as that isn't really my kind of music, I wasn't especially into it, until they got to their last song. The guy mentioned that if anyone had children, they should take them outside for this song. So the song was moving along at it's quirky little pace and then all of a sudden, in the midst of the music he says into the microphone something like "Ladies and gentleman... I have a plan.. to KILL the President of the United States.." some of us cheered. Then he went on to say stuff like "seriously, if I said that on TV do you think I'd be arrested?" and then "but really, if only (something about explosives blah blah) and blow up that fucking little monkey's head..." there was a lot more and I was definitely quite amused, and by the time he was done, he had most of the audience singing "Fuck the Man! Fuck the Man!" over and over, right along with him. It was fun, and different.
And finally, the Buddhahood played. Sleeping Giant played some songs with them, and they played really well together. The Buddhahood played for a very long time, with a revolving set of lots of people coming in and out, and many other people joining them. There was way too much awesomeness to describe it all. There were definitely some times when I really missed Tony's vocals, and there was some crying (but not much), but all in all they were still the Buddhahood, and they still brought us joy (and it was mentioned during the set that even in the sad times they wanted to bring us joy, and Tony would want us to have fun). It was still possible to reach Buddhahood while dancing at their show. (I think of reaching Buddhahood as getting into that zone, where it's just like the entire world is unified and joyful and I'm sure the endorphins probably help, but so does everything about it, the way the entire crowd gets so into it, the throng of smiling people joyously dancing as the superficiality of society and self consciousness melts away and you sorta become a part of the music and the crowd and lose your ego..) The last song was the kicker: three belly dancers came out, and the song evolved into one of their epic drum circle jams. It was classic Buddhahood.
Even though there was much more to come, I left soon after the Buddhahood ended, as I was exhausted. And I must say I am really happy, because even though Tony will be very missed, the Buddhahood is still a delight.
When I arrived at Waterstreet, the Druids were just beginning to play one of my favorite Dead songs: Box of Rain. I was surprised to find I was the only one who sang along. "Such a long long time to be gone, and a short time to be there." the lyrics seemed fitting.
After that, I wandered around a bit and looked at some collages they had up of pictures of Tony. At some point, There was a reggae-ish band that did a nice rendition of Rivers of Babylon. There was definitely way too much going on to remember it all.
My friend Rose arrived in time for Hypnotic Clambake, which is a very fun dance-y funk type of band. I was trying to conserve energy for the Buddhahood, but each band would have their intense moments where the music would just draw me in and I couldn't help but dance. The mysterious blues band was one of those, bringing classic rock inspired songs infused with some fantasitc guitar riffs.
Rose and I were given a bunch of glo-bracelets by the Juggler dude, to pass around to other random people. I gave one to Dave, of the Buddhahood. (I also later gave one to this girl who I made friends with there who apparently also got chills when the Buddhahood played On My Way Home) And in the bathroom, I told this lady I liked her pin (which was of Tony Cavagnaro's face) and she told me she had made it herself, and gave me one. Seriously, the Buddhahood crowd are some of the most awesome people you will ever meet. But on with the concert...
The Peachy Neatchies were a zydeco band, and as that isn't really my kind of music, I wasn't especially into it, until they got to their last song. The guy mentioned that if anyone had children, they should take them outside for this song. So the song was moving along at it's quirky little pace and then all of a sudden, in the midst of the music he says into the microphone something like "Ladies and gentleman... I have a plan.. to KILL the President of the United States.." some of us cheered. Then he went on to say stuff like "seriously, if I said that on TV do you think I'd be arrested?" and then "but really, if only (something about explosives blah blah) and blow up that fucking little monkey's head..." there was a lot more and I was definitely quite amused, and by the time he was done, he had most of the audience singing "Fuck the Man! Fuck the Man!" over and over, right along with him. It was fun, and different.
And finally, the Buddhahood played. Sleeping Giant played some songs with them, and they played really well together. The Buddhahood played for a very long time, with a revolving set of lots of people coming in and out, and many other people joining them. There was way too much awesomeness to describe it all. There were definitely some times when I really missed Tony's vocals, and there was some crying (but not much), but all in all they were still the Buddhahood, and they still brought us joy (and it was mentioned during the set that even in the sad times they wanted to bring us joy, and Tony would want us to have fun). It was still possible to reach Buddhahood while dancing at their show. (I think of reaching Buddhahood as getting into that zone, where it's just like the entire world is unified and joyful and I'm sure the endorphins probably help, but so does everything about it, the way the entire crowd gets so into it, the throng of smiling people joyously dancing as the superficiality of society and self consciousness melts away and you sorta become a part of the music and the crowd and lose your ego..) The last song was the kicker: three belly dancers came out, and the song evolved into one of their epic drum circle jams. It was classic Buddhahood.
Even though there was much more to come, I left soon after the Buddhahood ended, as I was exhausted. And I must say I am really happy, because even though Tony will be very missed, the Buddhahood is still a delight.