With or without you

Editor's Note: I had this headline picked out between the two days that appear in this blog because I went to one with 'ark and one solo. But after hearing the sad news that Jimi Hendrix's longtime drummer Mitch Mitchell passed, well it has taken on a different connotation. I just saw Mitchell out and about with the Experience Hendrix crew just a few weeks ago, and he looked as vibrant and enthused as the first go-around a year earlier. He got to do what he loved to the very end, and we couldn't have asked for much more than that for him. So I won't, and I'll just dedicate this week's entry to Mitch.

There were a lot of mid-week events going on this week, New York, baybee! Monday night, I found out that my fave celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver (no, he's not my fave because his name is Jamie! :P) was going to be doing a signing at Borders in early afternoon next day.

Takes a lot to get me up and about at that time of day, so Mr. Oliver apparently is a measuring stick in that regard. I've enjoyed his appearances on Letterman (which often end in the both of them wolfing down something you or I might find inedible -- such as olive oil from the bottle) and even tried one or two of his recipes over the years. I guess I would be the target audience for him on Dave, someone not into cooking who wanted to try it out.

So I dutifully bought my copy of his new book "Jamie at Home" (made with paper from 'sustainable managed forests') and got on the line. Not too long, the holiday might have kept people out of the city and he also was doing a couple of other appearances in times and places I couldn't get to the next two days.

He was running late and one of the girls I was chatting with on the line put it perfectly -- as soon as he gets here, we're going to forget all about the fact he made us wait. And it was totally true. He's got a very effusive personality and greeted us with "Hi guys!" when he finally made his entrance.

I had wanted to tell him something about my "target audience" theory or maybe that I had made my own variation of the sausage meatballs he made on Dave last year, but he distracted me by asking if I was a New Yorker. Now what do I always answer in that circumstance? Well usually, I say yes. But for some reason, I went "I'm a New Jerseyan." Had to think about the "Jerseyan" part. Same thing, he said. I guess it's about the same as someone living in a London suburb being deemed as someone from London. But he can say basically anything he wants with that personable English accent, and it certainly worked here.

One of the people on line took a picture for me, I had promised to do the same for him when we were buying our books since Majeed had taken my photo with Chris Trucks last weekend. Just paying it forward.

Fast forwarding... now 'ark is in tow for the back end of our "Ultimate Rock 'N' Roll Couple" bookend. We saw Derek Trucks and the Gang twice last weekend, now wife Susan Tedeschi and the Funky Bunch appear at Irving Plaza, now tabbed The Fillmore (why bother, since it's bogus and should just be the legendary Irving Plaza instead) I have to admit though, seeing the cool-ass posters from every concert medium is pretty impressive.

Speaking of that, opener James Hunter and his five-piece band did a great job of sending the wayback machine back to the '50s with guitar-driven style. I half-expected to turn back to the rest of the crowd like a scene out of Peggy Sue Got Married or meet my bobbysoxed mom as Michael J. Fox's character did in Back to the Future.

Even better though was Ms. Tedeschi, who manages to have one of the best female voices going and hittin' every note (Allman Brothers Band inside joke!) on the guitar. She has this little speaking voice and this great big beautiful singing style. Her chops on the guitar could slay many as well.

It's not a confrontational style, but it's certainly not a Grateful Dead vibe. It's kind of a soothing rock-out effect. "Back to the River" and "Just Won't Burn" were among the tracks that proved powerful in their ability to draw a mental picture, punctuated by the bluesy vocals and striking notes. The perfect way to wrap up a long summer/fall Park leg of concerts.

So next up, and this is expected to be a doozie. The big trip home for Thanksgiving, although 'ark's gotta depart on Turkey Day :( because of that neither rain, nor sleet, nor overstuffed bellies' mailman mantra. Among the stops Park will be making on a shorter tour almost shorter than Eric Clapton or Lindsey Buckingham's brief forages this year will be -- dinner with Sus, my first college football home game with my Big Bros/Big Sis little sister Jessica (jeez, I don't want to think about how old she is now!~~), Devils hockey with my sis (OK, the guys are coming too), a visit with my favorite -- and only -- nephew and 'ark meets the other two most important people to me, Mom and Jefe. 'ark will get his five minutes to schedule a visit with a friend as well. Back after the trip! Happy T-giving, everyone. :)

Detailing of the Trucks

I'll remember lots of little moments from the past weekend. Making a new friend from Palestine. Meeting Derek Trucks' dad, Chris. Being told by him that "he makes good babies." Paying less for a DTB show poster, but getting an autographed version. The actual blurring of Derek's hand during a song of the scorching first half of the Highline Ballroom show. Having Chris hold up the Derek head on a stick. Then being told that Derek has displayed the head on the stick in various places -- including the bathroom! An even better show at the Blender. Watching his brother, Duane, in the wings with a camera phone snapping pictures. Getting a double-take from opening act lead guitarist Eric Krasno after wailing on the harmonica. Getting a double-take smile from Derek after waving the infamous head on a stick.

As 'ark was making his way up to the Turnpike, I was at the Highline Ballroom -- around the corner from work, which is always slightly unsettling for some reason until I get in there and totally forget about an outside world. Lots of room up front for the opener Mocean Worker, a jammy jazzy band who introduced all the members as so-and-so Obama. That got the crowd going.

During this time, I met a nice guy (and new Facebook friend) from Palestine named Majeed. He had never seen Derek live before, and took time from his busy thesis schedule to finally catch the band.


I spotted someone with a concert poster and remembering how 'ark didn't manage to get one in New Hampshire after waiting too long as well as the Squeeze/Black Coffee in Bed shirt debacle, I went over to get one from the merch table. And there was Chris Trucks sitting there, selling wares for his son. I brought up writing the article back when Derek's guitar was bigger than he was and Chris chortled "was I drunk at the time?" Due to my rather expensive purchase of one mere alcoholic beverage, I only had a $20 on my person and the posters were $25. Chris sold me one for $20 -- and not just a regular one at that, it had been signed by Derek and two other members of the band. Much joy in the land. We took a picture and those with long Pai history should recognize for its Luongo-like moment.

And then there was much embarrassment in the land... I brought Majeed over to meet him and introduced him as Butch, who of course is Derek's uncle. Chris took it in stride, "I mess up names all the time." He apparently didn't take it too badly, for he was flirty until 'ark got there. Chris: "Is he going to kick my ass? Oh well, it's been kicked before ... and it'll be kicked again."

In the meantime, hundreds of people kept swarming into the general admission room, I wasn't sure Park would be able to stick a big toe in there. But once he arrived we not only got in, but squoze our way all the way up to the front right side of the stage.

The band SCORCHED the first half of the set, beginning with the Bob Dylan cover so applicable in this day and age, "Down in the Flood" aka "Crash on the Levee." 'ark pointed out to me when Derek was playing a solo in which his hand literally was blurred with movement -- I had noticed the very same. The familiarity of a Derek and the Dominos favorite "Anyday," which reminded me of Clapton watching him play the same from offstage at Crossroads, was a treat.

Frankly there was no way to keep up this kind of pace, and -- I want to make sure this is clearly noted, 'cause it is not intended to show displeasure, just a difference of momentum -- the set kind of chilled out about halfway through. The play was still stellar, the vibe was just not as intense. DTB's cover of John Coltrane's version of "My Favorite Things" exemplified that and the keel was evened out.

Now DTB likes to vary their setlist each night, but "My Favorite Things" did make a reappearance at the next show. I don't know if it was because they didn't quite get what they wanted out of the previous night, but it really took flight at the Blender Theater -- which managed to be even smaller and tightly packedier than the Highline.

I digress though, because there was definitely entertainment prior to that. Decided to copy and bring a copy of my early Derek article to Chris, particularly after he did me the solid with the signed poster. Also wanted to get a picture of him holding the infamous "Derek head on a stick" -- I had the idea of him holding it up at the height at which Derek comes up to his dad. After seeing the article, Chris was reminded of the couple of years of heartache his son suffered when Derek was told he could no longer play bars such as Gatorz (the place I first saw him) because of his age. But much more amusingly, the "head on a stick" has been fodder for laughter -- whether on the tour bus, hanging next to Jesus in the home or even right by the toilet in the bathroom.

This night's opener was the band Chapter 2, a great amalgamation of rock and soul. They got us primed and ready for the big event. Guitarist Eric Krasno looked surprised and bemused when heard the legendary Park $3 harmonica tooted during a quiet moment, thought I might have to go up and jam for a second there.

There was a great sit-down set ("Soul of a Man," "Chicken Robber" and "Meet Me at the Bottom") during this show that wasn't done the previous night. And Derek took time out from his busy guitar genius to doubletake for our camera. (It's at about 1:55 in "Meet Me" for those who can't wait that long -- basically everyone that reads this blog, I'm sure.) The head on a stick might have caught his attention, I'm not sure...


So back to "My Favorite Things," I'm not sure how to do either version justice because it didn't suck Thursday and it just went off to another stratosphere Friday. During this time caught a glimpse of another Facebook friend, Derek's brother Duane, standing off stage and watching the magic. At one point, he funnily tried to block out the noise and several times he whipped out the camera phone and recorded the moment just like the fans at the front of the stage.

A novel concept: members of Chapter 2 (get it? novel... chapter...) came back for the final two songs of the set and it was ignition and take off for "Get Out of My Life, Woman" and "Joyful Noise." It was great fun watching the keyboardists and the drummers switching places and not missing a beat. I was hoping Duane would get to join the party on drums, but I think the stage was in danger of being shut down by the fire department -- either for reaching capacity and/or dangerously raising room temperature levels. After a quick break, there was a third extended jam on "Freddie's Dead," which ordinarily I would have loved but well ... it felt OVERextended to me. But hey, if that's the only thing I have to complain about, well, there's absolutely nothing to complain about.

By the way, I was just FULL of Trucks faux pas this weekend, 'cause Duane messaged me this: "Sorry man, but i wish i was there in new york to see those guys play but that was somebody else. I got a good laugh though i actually thought it was me there for a second."

Blogging under the influence

You know how people turn off the light and go to sleep when it's dark out? Well, I've only been able to do that ONCE in the past THREE days. Feeling kinda out of sorts, so what better time could there be to blog? I was hoping it would up the blog interest level for a more sedate weekend, but so far I'm maintaining an even keel (sorry!).

So this weekend, Park wound up concertless, but that didn't mean there wasn't mayhem to follow. We planned to be part of a Halloween party taking place Nov. 1 in Virginia.

We got all tricked out... my original plan was for a lighter costume, but the colder temperatures from the past week made me do an audible to more weather-specific apparel. I geared up to be Patrik Elias, down to the red/white mouthguard and the black eye so familiar from his beach wedding photo. Had the knee pads, the shin guards, the jox sox, game-worn Mogilny sox to go over the pads, my Easton undershirt, Elias overshirt and a Devils-helmet shaped tuque my co-worker gave me last holiday. Even chopped one red and one white mouthguard in half to create the Elias' custom one.

Meanwhile, 'Ark went to a store, picked up at inmate costume and put it on. What a strain! Don't feel bad for him though, he won second prize in the adult costume competition!! (Personally I think it's because he runs the jail mail route through town -- delivering letters to and from those in local prisons. Well that AND there's no hockey team around!!)

There was a funny moment before getting to the party, when we went off to find 'ark's friend at a Civil War re-enactment. From the tents, we could hear young "soldiers" calling in our direction "Halloween was YESTERDAY!" Oh yeah?? Well, the Civil War was centuries ago!

Not wanting to wear out our welcome/nor start Civil War Part Deux we went off to the party. The adult/kid musical chair game definitely had its moments. I was able to make the group laugh by forcibly ejecting one man from his chair by spilling him out of it. The look on his face when he fell to the ground was priceless, and he slunk away. The rest of the night was fraught with warnings such as "Watch out for the hockey mom!" Guess I'm the most famous Democratic hockey mom now. ;)

Back to the big musical chairs contest, because I know you're falling out of your own proverbial one -- It wound up down to me and another kid... and with the competitive juices flowing... I of course took a dive by spinning dizzily out of control and falling to the ground. But seriously, how long could I walk around in circles?

The other moment that seemed to gain appreciation was during the hay ride. With the air dark and disorienting and a tractor seemingly pulling you in any direction, the remaining adults jump out and try to scare the kids on the ride. Which gave me the brilliant idea of sneaking up behind the scarers and scaring them. That was a lot of fun too.

There was also some fine eats, from stew and chili to Tootsie Rolls and toasted marshmallows. A lot of fun was had by all -- except maybe for the crying Spider-man, who wept when he was overly scared on the hay ride and then bawled again when he lost at musical chairs. I haven't seen so much unnecessary crying since Madden's kid at the 2003 Stanley Cup celebration.

Next week's gonna be a BIG music week. The early part of the schedule has us at two Derek Trucks Band shows in the big city and then in the middle of the week Derek's wife, Susan, is in town too. Not exactly the coveted Soul Stew Revival from earlier this year, but we'll take what we can get!! Hopefully I can even out the sleep ratio before that.