MY POOR GENERATION

The following was written at about 1:30 am on 10/26/07 in reference to the show of 10/25/07

I showed up at about 10:35. Laz & Dom were @ the corner of the bar. Apparently the 2nd set was just beginning and they seemed to acknowledge that me showing up at that time might do some good. Apparently, the first set was a "tragedy" according to people whose name shan't be named here. I guess I missed very little.

Glenn started playing a bit with the band, but then quickly stopped when distracted by a couple near the jukebox. He then began singing an old hymn and even invited 'sister Schwartz' (my nickname for her) to the microphone to sing with him. This was a very bizarre moment in the show as he had his arm around her and they shared the vocals. The rest of the 2nd set was a battle between the crowd (many of whom I'd never seen before) and GS. Before the closing of the set, GS did tear up some 12 bar tunes. The setbreak was welcomed by all.

At the break, Laz asked me when the last time was I heard Glenn play My Poor Generation. I guessed and said:

"Maybe 10 or 11 months ago??"

I talked to my friend Damian at the break and Laz decided to chat w/GS. This apparently was a good decision.

As the 3rd set began, Glenn took the stage and began strumming a few chords. Then he began singing:

"My poor generation, laments and wails..crowds the institutions..overruns the jails.

"Sing and moan they play their guitars, hustle whores they live in the bars"

He chose to repeat the "hustle whores" line about 4 times in a row. It was good.

Then Paul took to the drums, Gene followed quickly and put on the bass. GS was on the next verse:

"Puffin pot, they live in slop. Break the laws they kill the cops
Go to school they learn no rule. Call the wise old man a fool. "

By now the whole band was behind the song. After GS sang this verse, he said,

"I'm not old !! "

"talk of action, sit on a stool. My poor generation"

Then a beautiful instrumental break. Very pretty, cascading, flowing. BEAUTIFUL. GS was enjoying himself, we were near bliss. It was about 2 minutes in...

"criticize the fellowship
use LSD and take a trip,
while the world rolls on by

get off the trike and get on a (jap) bike
grow a beard, they're really weird
like little children out to play"

Another instrumental break. At this point, I was worried a bit because GS was playing a solo and then turned to the band and played what COULD have been the signal for the end of the song, fortunately it was not.

"Sit and mope they have no hope
forget the soap...nothing can be clean
and they don't want Jesus to be real
no they don't want Jesus to be real"

We were at about the 7 minute mark now (I guess...time was pretty meaningless right then) and we FINALLY had a complete MPG. The 1st one I'd heard in a LONG time. It was gorgeous. More solo, more verses. When all was said & done, we got about a 10 minute version (mind you, the original recording is 2 minutes & 2 seconds long !!!) . Glenn really enjoyed playing this and when the song finally wound down he repeated :

"sit and mope you have no hope"

about 5 times or so.

Fortunately he did not get distracted following MPG and slipped right into CHICAGO. A nice version, not completely insane, but it's ALWAYS nice to hear a non-blues tune. What a pleasant surprise.

This was followed by a nice "Mountaintop," which was a mid-tempo version, and very groovy. After this, GS went on a small tirade about how people laugh. He gave about 15 different examples of how people laugh. It was a really odd point in the show. I felt kind of self-conscious at this point, and Dom turned to me and said:

"he's doing you!!" (when GS was saying "Yeah maaan!").

I never noticed that I said "yeah maaan" a lot, but perhaps I do. I was pretty excited the 3rd set and maybe my emotions took me over. Whatever it was, it sure was weird.

Following that, he proceeded to play a massive version of "your close friend" and pretty much tore the roof off the place. The folks up front were standing like it was midnight mass on Xmas eve.

All in all a great 3rd set, a fair 2nd set, and according to others, a disaster of a 1st set.

Epilogue: written 10/31/07

I've had about a week to reflect on this show and the thing that stands out most was Glenn's very odd demonstration on how "some people laugh." I think he did at least 15 different examples of how people laugh. BY FAR the strangest thing (aside from that duet w/Sr. Schwartz) that I'd ever seen Glenn do. Hence, this show will be remembered not only for a monster 3rd set, but for these 2 oddities in Glenn's behavior. Weird stuff, but good as always.