Psycho Depot Issue 415 May 25, 2005 Current # of subscribers: 187 (daily and digest) Subjects in this issue: Re: woxy.com webcast dots weekend RE: Psycho Daily: dots weekend Rob and Chris appear ++ psychodots ++ Date: 13 May 2005 08:50:36 -0700 From: Jeff Elbel Subject: Re: woxy.com webcast If anyone records today's webcast, I'd love to trade something for it. Counting down the minutes to tomorrow night's show in Chicago! See some of you there ... Jeff Elbel * http://www.marathonrecords.com 212 W. Indiana St., Wheaton, IL 60187-5206 ++ psychodots + Date: 16 May 2005 20:15:17 -0700 From: Raindog222@aol.com Subject: dots weekend Hi Just wanted to pass along a quick note about the psychodots shows over the weekend. Fred Saturday Martyr's in Chicago The Psychodots Simply put, the trio ("featuring members of The Bears," according to a poster in the the club's window) TORE IT UP. They brought it, they lit it up and they let it out. They practically levitated themselves in a Chicagoland zone of rarified air, ungodly power and heavenly light. They snatched the collective heart of the seemingly able-enough opening act, Epicycle, ripped it in two, pulverized the remnants and tossed 'em under a steamroller. Will Epicycle ever caress their vintage Teisco guitars the same way? I think not. Will they ever perform 'So Cool' again? Doubtful. Chris, Rob and Bob were unequivocally, absolutely and positively ON IT in the Windy City. For 64 minutes they presented a well-paced, focused and, undeniably incredible show. In some ways, it was as if they decided to distill the elements of their usual two and a half hour concert into some wondrously shimmering essence. It other ways, it wasn't so different at all: Jaw-dropping musicians hip all around. Killer songwriting. Some indescribable blend of ease, joy, humor, and holy fucking trinity. Lots of sweat. The guys made some converts, too. Judging by the variety and number of fine acts booked by Martyr's, their usual clientele had seen it all, and were by all appearances fairly determined not let themselves by impressed by a band from Cincinnati. Like where is that, anyway, Iowa? As the set progressed, more and more tables were vacated to opt for a space on the dance floor. Not so much to dance, though there was a bit of that, but more to bask. Soak it in. Let it wash over. Like a wave of pop genius crashing on stupified, smiling skulls. The sound system was like a set of silky Sennheisers powered by a monster 1984 Sansui G-9000 twisted to rumble. Was "History" ever this engaging? Could "Open Window" have ever have been this infectious? Was "Livin' in a Lincoln" ever so completely together? Did "Mattress" ever get this blistering? Was Rob finally going to remember where he put his slide? A crowd of maybe 150 -- the great majority of whom were standing in somewhat staggered appreciation by the set's end -- included a nice Cincinnati contingent. Here's how it happened: History Sad Little Monkeys Big Love Now Clive Fear is Never Boring You Will Never Be Satisfied Moaner Open Window Hope It Works Out Clown Freak Livin' in a Lincoln Mattress Enough A sure indicator of music appreciation manifested itself after set's end as a steady stream headed for the merchandise area, keeping a beaming Laura busy by purchasing, among the Dots stuff, Chris Arduser's new solo CD, "The Celebrity Motorcade" and Rob Fetters' new disc, "Musician." Bad Bob Nyswonger, ' how long are you going to make us wait? Oh, and the headliners? Swinger. Well, it just really didn't matter anymore at that point. Sorry. Sunday Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Psychodots A bit of night and day, yin and yang, sturm und drang going on here. It was cold. It was cloudy. It was windy. There were people with no teeth. About 30,000 people were milling about, most them wearing shirts with pictures of cars on them. Signed. Thunderous noises occurred with an odd irregularity, like an airport with an SST landing every three minutes. You could toss a carburetor from the entertainment stage to the storied oval track that's been traversed by the likes of Parnelli Jones, AJ Foyt, Del Unser and Danica Patrick. And, uh, Anna Kournikova. Yep, she was there. No shit. Her husband's a driver or something. Anyway, nobody was doing any carburetor-tossing -- probably because no one even uses them anymore. And all the while the eardrum-piercing whine of these time-qualifying cars -- more like 21st century sarcophagi with tires the size of bagels for William Refrigerator Perry -- is punctuating the air like feedback from God. Surreal, to be sure, but somehow Rob, Bob and Chris made it work. It may not have been magical, but it was at least sleight of hand. The first set went this way: Rabbit Manor Clive Open Window Moaner Exaggeration Big Love Now Creature of Habit I Didn't Want to Kill You (I've forgotten a couple, but there were 10 songs) The Second Set Something heavenly happened for the second set: The sun came out. Coats came off. Beer popped tops. Babies laughed. All was, if not right, at least a lot righter, in the world. In the crowd, a father stretched a blanket near the stage so that he and his young son could sit and enjoy. A grandmother danced with abandon. A Cincinnati couple grooved with their two young kids. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters. Families. Two pre-teen girls presented their bouncy routine throughout the last half of the set. A mother held the hand of her toddler son as they slowly made their way toward the stage as he stood, transfixed, eyes like saucers. All the while, the stream of multigenerational gearheads ambled by. Some paused, looked up with a start, did a little unselfconscious dance, paused, moved on, danced, paused, moved on, moved on. Some stayed, awe and appreciation frozen on visages. Some arrived like moths to a flame, drawn from the vast expanses of the infield. Some wore leather. The Cincinnati audience members smiled knowingly. Things then took a few odd turns when, in a matter of minutes, Bob broke a string, and then a small man -- who according to reports was friends with the drummer from Black Oak Arkansas -- crawled onto the back of the stage, lay on his back, and proceeded to wave a live cell phone near Chris. And then, beyond all comprehension, an obese person of indeterminate age, but of a definite alcoholic vintage, rushed the stage with middle fingers all awaggle. Suddenly it was like Diane Arbus, Cirque du Soleil, and Quentin Tarantino were working together behind the scenes for an off-off-off Broadway production. The next song, coincidentally or not, was Freak. The Cincinnati audience members laughed it up. Through it all, the Dots, as always, turned in a couple of fine sets, and were, and as always, professional, skewed, edgy and their usual good ol' wonderful selves. Great stuff. And just way way way too short a tour. As always. It wrapped up kind of like this: Zero Hope It Works Out Walk Through the Garden Fear is Never Boring Master of Disaster Roscoe Disposable Man Freak Copy Machine Sad Little Monkeys History Mattress (I missed a couple in this one as well). Side note: A million billion thanks go out to the Indianapolis angel who made this gig happen. He and a friend set up the Dots show at Clancy's in Indianapolis a couple of summers ago. Hope this Speedway show becomes an annual event. And there was some public mention of a possible new Dots recording. All I got. Fred ++ psychodots ++ Date: 17 May 2005 19:08:33 -0700 From: "Nick Carrico" Subject: RE: Psycho Daily: dots weekend Wow... great post, thanks! I would have been there but my band was playing at the Maifest in Covington ++ psychodots ++ Date: 22 May 2005 08:36:04 -0700 From: "Kevin McKeehan" Subject: Rob and Chris appear Hey Folks, From: http://www.thebearsmusic.com/ ROB & CHRIS @ EVERYBODY'S RECORDS On Saturday, May 28th at 3pm, Rob Fetters and Chris Arduser will be at Everybody's Records in Pleasant Ridge, OH acoustically promoting their new solo records. For more information, please visit http://www.everybodysrecords.net/ ++ psychodots ++ End of Psycho Depot 415 May 25, 2005 Comments, suggestions, postings, and administrative or the switch between digest and daily versions of the Depot (or be on both!): Mike Brown depot @ psychodots.com To order psychodot merchandise: contact Stan Hertzman of Umbrella Artists and Strugglebaby Records shertzman@cinci.rr.com 513 871-1500 Voice 513 871-1510 Fax and Hal Bernard Enterprises, Inc., 2612 Erie Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45208 For back issues (2 ways): Email: Tony Nowikowski tony@nowikowski.com or Web Site: http://home.insightbb.com/~p-dots/ Check out the psychodot Home Page at: http://www.psychodots.com Check out the graveblankets Home Page at: http://graveblankets.com Check out the Bears Home Page at: http://www.thebearsmusic.com Check out the Ricky Nye Home Page at: http://www.rickynye.com