Yesterday at the Taste of Colorado

September 2, 2003

The street fair has definitely gone downhill.  A big factor in its decline, which may be temporary, was the setting.  Large portions of the park, the prettiest parts, were off limits and there were tall chain link fences everywhere.  Especially after the weekend’s rain, and with the beautiful day, I expected it to be green and sunny as it always was; it was hard to enjoy that feeling on a picnic table in the middle of a road.  Also, everything was much more expensive.

The crowd was more female than male, especially at the concert.

The Gin Blossoms are trying to make it happen, but they have a lot of shortcomings.  I saw them at small, idyllic Copper mountain about five weeks ago and again yesterday at a free concert in downtown Denver.  Yesterday the crowd was much bigger and the band brought them to a slight frenzy.  I felt a few sparks but they were rare.

Jesse Valenzuela, looking like a Mexican preppy, is way too subdued to be a rock show frontman; he looks as if he is scoping for chicks and his energy level is zero.  The lead singer—did he really say his name was Biff?—bounced around and did the best he could.  He seems to have trouble booming, or otherwise dominating, with his voice.  Perhaps the two outdoor venues had something to do with it, but his voice comes across better in recordings.  I find his habit of singing into cell phones provided by the audience annoying.  It is fun to do occasionally but Biff does it constantly; odd that it seems to make him want to yell more forcefully—and better—into the microphone when he has a phone to his mouth.  The drummer on tour this Summer is a fill-in and is okay, but like the rest he fails to show any particularly endearing qualities either in presence or performance.  The lead guitarist (Scott Johnson) is the replacement for the deceased band leader or founder.  In July he appeared technically sound but completely void of spontaneity; he looked like a sixteen year old kid playing his first gig.  Yesterday he was just as precise and much more animated, even making a few jamming forays to the edge of the stage.  It was a big improvement.  Perhaps the odd placement of his much older parents from Sweden, in the back but on top of the stage, helped his performance.

Difficult as it is to achieve playing bass, on yesterday’s big stage and with a decent crowd, Bill Leen performed best.  He seems to have tried the hardest, put the most into it.  At the base of the drums were his customary longnecks.  Maybe it is my familiarity with the band’s history that makes me consider him the most genuine, the best-suited to its current situation.  Thanks, Bill.  Maybe you could give a nudge to your pal Jesse?  I was tempted to yell “Rare Books!” from the audience.

Biff (real name Robin Wilson) tried too and I give him credit for that.  Ever see the band Live live?  The little lead singer belts it out and has a presence that leaves you in awe.  I’m sorry, it is not fair to compare him with someone else and a different band, but such performances do exist.  This guy just doesn’t stir me.  Oh, and he looks better with the hat covering most of his head.  At Copper he made a stupid remark about not being paid enough.  Sometimes he appears disingenuous.  The band is trying but isn’t there.  Yes, most of the songs feature guitarwork but there is still plenty of room for vocals and there is a desperate need for a leader.  If he were to pay attention and relate to his whole audience—certainly not a damned cell phone—he would be much improved as a performer.

A problem with this band live is that they are completely unable or unwilling to improvise.  Most of the time the performers look glued to director’s marks on stage.  Their one set—they also lack enough good material—features no long solos, adapted or altered songs, or new spins on old twists.  The show at Copper included one song, I guess it was new, with dueling Valenzuela/Johnson guitars that was innovative and good.  Yesterday’s show had a new song that was appealing too, sounding like their old radio days.  These concerts could be more of an opportunity to try new things.  There doesn’t appear to be a lot of inspiration.  

The Gin Blossoms are dangerously close to becoming an oldies band.  I believe even potential reemergence is premature.  They have yet to find themselves post Doug Hopkins.

I have liked the Gin Blossoms since New Miserable Experience but didn’t know much about them.  I considered it “Arizona rock,” youthful, renegade, but also laid back.  What is that anything-goes moniker that people used to use about Arizona and Goldwater politics?  I actually went to the Copper show wondering if the original band had reunited; I knew they had broken up but I thought it was just incompatibility.  Just before that show I learned from the most knowledgeable person I could find that this new line-up is because the lead singer, guitarist, and ‘guy who wrote most of the songs’ killed himself.  I also asked the young women selling CDs about the band and they knew nothing at all.  There is probably a lot of ignorance out there.  For the success of the band, I am not sure if not knowing the real story is a good or bad thing.

The Copper concert was enjoyable—it was fun to hear the old songs but it was especially nice to see the people behind the music and witness their attempt to succeed together again.  After the show I looked at a few websites and learned what was actually going on.  The newspaper accounts of Doug Hopkins’ death were particularly revealing.  Thanks to modern media my outlook of the Gin Blossoms changed completely.  I listened to them on radio and CDs for maybe ten years and after an hour of research my perspective was totally different.  It is not the same message about alcohol when someone destroys their career and later kills himself because of it.  Can you imagine creating such a high level of artistic success and then watching it, banished and in an alcoholic stupor, up until you kill yourself?  Cruel as it sounds, that is a powerful—and difficult to overcome—story.

Now I saw that the twang of their success—that little something extra that made them better and different—came from the dark side.  What an amazing line, “She had nothing left to say, so she said she loved me,” but it is followed by “Drunk, drunk, drunk, . . . .”  Songs that I didn’t really understand, even the name of the band, now made sense.  I wondered how many in the crowd, the ones jumping up and down cheering and singing along with the songs, knew that someone died because of the message in those songs.

Alcoholism is tough to shake, and not just for the lout who cannot control him or her self, but for those around them too.  It is not an isolated, individual thing like an auto accident or even cancer.  It tears at everyone and everything, always lurking, always capable of wielding the same destruction or resurrecting the same bad memories.  On a human level I applaud and celebrate the band’s desire to stay together and move forward, but unfortunately, they are linked to this violent past.  After all, those are the songs they sing!

It reminds me of a favorite quote from the movie Chinatown, in the beginning when Gittes comes to see Mr. Mulwray and has iced-tea outside with Mrs. Mulwray instead:

                              GITTES

                    -- Nothing personal, Mrs. Mulwray, 

                    I just --

                              EVELYN

                    It's very personal. It couldn't 

                    be more personal. Is this a 

                    business or an obsession with you?

For the Gin Blossoms the past and the songs are personal.  Having viewed two recent concerts, I have not seen enough new to replace, or even add significantly to, the old.  I’ll keep watching closely because I want to see them do it.

Chinatown scene from http://members.aol.com/rwsmittjr/scripts/chinatown.txt

© 2003 Peter C. Pfeiffer