Clackamas Print
Entertainment
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
9
Highball with Les Claypool
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fiyo Stalnaker
By Jeff Sorensen
I^E Editor
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On the evening of Friday, June
I sat in the bar at the Roseland
beater in downtown Portland with
»partner in hedonism, E.E. West
ejust finished a shot of Bushmills
¡th a Fat Tire chaser and were
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jting for the concert to begin.
ie concert was none other than
5 Claypool (of Primus fame),
e of the greatest bass players of
time.
While in the bar, West and I
;re surrounded by freaks, goons,
[[oom-heads, tweekers, stoners
(¡belligerent drunks. They too
je waiting for Claypool’s pat
ted bass grooves and narrative
ii-talk lyrics. We fit right in,
dally West. He was adorned
a hat that looked like a cross
ween something one might find
a Dr. Suess book and a giant
alius.
Suddenly, after an attractive 39-
ar-old married woman told me
® sexy but I needed to lose
:ight, the concert began. West
il quickly went upstairs to the
¡yhem. He was still laughing
out my awkward flirtations with
married woman and I was still
ling from it.
The concert floor was packed
id filled with the scents of
ichouli, sweat and pot smoke,
¡st and I maneuvered our way
ough the crowd to get closer
the stage and witness the Bass
aster General firsthand.
There Claypool was, slapping his
il Thompson piccolo bass amidst
Internet Graphic
Les Claypool’s latest album is “Of Whales and Woe.” Claypool played at the Roseland Theater
on June 2 as part of the album tour. More information can be found at www.lesclaypool.com.
two percussionists, a saxophonist
and a sitar player. They were play
ing “Highball with the Devil” from
Claypool’s first solo record of the
same name. The music sent a wave
of euphoria through me like inhal
ing a cigarette for the first time ...
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or it just could have been the booze
I had earlier. Whatever it was, the
music sounded brilliant and I knew
the best was yet to come. Also,
West and I needed another beer.
While chugging down more Fat
Tire, West and I watched and lis
tened to Claypool on the projection
screen conveniently placed in the
bar. He was playing songs from his
new album “Of Whales and Woe.”
I must say I was impressed. While
they weren’t as good as the songs
on his “Live Frogs” albums, they
were still a pleasure to listen to.
These songs, and the rest of the
set, sounded like a mixture of neo
psychedelic prog-rock, jazz fusion
and p-funk with a taste of India
(courtesy of the sitar).
What happened next was sim
ply stunning. West and I sat in
awe as the two percussionists went
head to head in a battle for eternal
glory. One of them had a full drum
kit with a double-bass pedal and
the other had a smaller drum kit
with marimbas, congo drums and
a xylophone. The sound they were
creating was very tribal and per
fectly timed. After a few minutes
of watching this epic showdown,
West and I decided to head back
upstairs.
We made it back just in time to
see the percussion battle’s finale.
Claypool came back on stage while
the crowd roared. West and I were
applauding as well and decided
to join the mosh pit - which was
later dubbed the “love pit” by a
fan that we believe had too much
hallucinogens for the evening... or
not enough.
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After knocking each other
senseless in the “love pit” for a
few songs, West and I headed back
downstairs to take some interviews
... and more booze.
West and I sat down with our
drinks and spoke to Lindsay, a
concert-goer who was enjoying the
show but was upset that the open
ing act Rasputina, a “cello-rock”
trio, didn’t show up.
“There is something terribly
wrong when an opening act doesn’t
show up and nobody says any
thing,” Lindsay said in-between
drags of a cigarette she bummed
from me.
After speaking with the dejected
Lindsay we spoke with the grinning
Beth seated at the table behind us.
Beth was sporting a Buckethead
t-shirt and eyes more glazed then a
box of Krispy Kremes.
“I love it! It’s great!” she said
smiling widely. “Primus was my
first concert ever — Lollapalooza
’93 in Minneapolis!”
Once the show was over, West
and I-headed outside to meet up
with our fellow Clackamas Print
writer N.P. Delzell, who was pick
ing us up. We almost walked over
to a felony police stop that was in
progress. Our journalistic instincts
told us we should, but the alcohol in
our heads said it was a bad idea.
On the way home, when Delzell
wasn’t holla’n at girls standing out
side of The Voodoo Lounge and
The Noche, I couldn’t stop thinking
about how amazing -the concert was
or staring at West’s hat. It wasn’t
the greatest concert experience I’ve
ever had, but it comes damn close.
Stereotypes come in all
shapes and sizes. Men are
arrogant and stupid, women
are shallow and vain, African
Americans are good at bas
ketball and white people can’t
dance unless they’re gay.
The stereotype about video
gamers is that we’re all great at
math, socially clueless, vastly
overweight and can’t attract a
woman to save our lives. Well,
as a video gamer myself that
notion is very offensive. The
stereotypes just aren’t true at
all ... it so happens I hate
math!
I believe that many stereo
types can be overcome if a
person is willing to work to
correct them. So with that in
mind, I want to offer to my
gaming friends a few good
ways to get off their butts and
come out of their dungeons
during the summer months
while thane’s plenty of free
time and dry weather
The arcade, for starters,
seems like the perfect place for
some social interaction without
taking the gamer too for out of
his comfortable environment
(well'... minus the broadband
and a headset). And the cost
of most of the local arcades
is pretty minimal, so a decent
gamer would be able to kill a
good few hours on only $5 or
less. The “social interaction”
part is important though, so
make sure you bring a friend,
cousin, little sibling—anybody,
really, that counts as a warm,
intelligent human being. The
value of human interaction
does not have to be lost on a
person just because they play
video games, and although
I’m not offended by that ste
reotype, it’s still, like, really
dumb.
The movies are another
great way to get in some qual
ity human-to-human time
without having to stretch too
far out of a gamer’s own com
fort zone. Most movie theaters
in the area have a student rate,
so it doesn’t cost as much to
see a flick if you have your
student ID card bandy. Again,
the “social” part is important,
so be sure to IM some friends
or leave a message on their
MySpace inviting them to join
in the adventures outside of
the cave. Movie theaters mean
dark rooms, large high-resolu
tion screens and funny smells
... it’s just like home.
My whole point here is
that nobody has to conform
to a stereotype if they don’t
want to. Once a gamer realizes
which stereotypes are true of
them, it becomes a personal
decision to remain a part of that
stereotype or to step outside of
what’s expected of them and
do something they know is
healthy. Something like going
outside, talking to girls, getting
a job (or showering) ... some
thing that lets the world know
“Yes, I play video games, but
I’m a person too!”
There are lots of new expe
riences available to gamers this
summer, and it’s important that
we, as a people, do everything
we can to make sure we don’t
become just another stereo
type. So - for God’s sake - get
up, turn off the console every
couple days and go outside.
Nerd.
thedpad@gmail.com
CLAYPOOL