10.28.98 Fayetteville AR: Mike Watt outside the boat (his Econoline van) spielin’ for the dudes on the “puttin’ the opera to bed” tour
If you are even remotely a fan of the Minutemen you owe it to yourself to pick up the new DVD, We Jam Econo. Never before have there been so many spiels available so cheap. A documentary film, outtakes, and three live gigs. It’s the version of Tour Spiel in the cable access acoustic show that really tugs at my heart.
Krista pointed me at some fun stuff from Rollins’ book about Black Flag that just made me roll:
2.5.83 Philadelphia PA: Picked up the Minutemen. Ten people in this van now. We are packed in like sardines. The drives are going to be hell, but that’s okay because get to play. . . . Tomorrow we leave with the Minutemen for England. I hope the plane doesn’t crash into the sea. . . .
2.7.83 London UK: Landed okay. Now at some lady’s house. . . . I don’t like touring with other bands but I guess it’s cool that the Minutemen are here with us. Everybody should get a chance to see them. . . .
2.12.83 Amsterdam, Holland: Didn’t get much sleep because of Mugger and Co. It’s 7am and we’re docked in Holland. It’s dark outside. Mike Watt sure talks a lot of shit. Sure would be great to get some sleep before the show. . . .
2.13.83 German/Dutch Border: About last night. . .One asshole was swinging a mic stand at Mugger’s head. The Minutemen were freaking out before they went on. They thought that they were going to be killed It just made me mad. I wanted to kill those fuckers. . . .
2.15.83 Koln Germany . . . Mike Watt never stops talking. It’s not like there’s any place I can go hang out in here. The room is small and we’re all stuck in here and I think I’m going to punch Watt’s fucking lights out before this is all over. Fuck it. Maybe I should get a job in a library, live in a cave . . .
2.21.83 Somewhere: Last night in Vienna was real bad for me. A guy took the microphone from me, called me a pig and bashed me in the mouth with it. People spat on me, hit me in the face. . . . During the Minutemen’s set, someone hit D. Boon with a trash can. It bounced off. . . .
2.22.83 Milan Italy: The drive was long. We went through the Alps. The night came and we climbed and climbed. . .A few times I thought Dukowski was going to dump us off the side and down into hell. Mike Watt of course would not shut up. He’s a one man freakout. At one point, I thought Duke was going to pull over and punch him out.
2.27.83 Osnabruck Germany: Richard Hell played here tonight and let us and the Minutemen open up. We went off. I got all cut up. . . .While we were playing D. Boon was in the crowd and gvave me a glass of beer. I broke the glass over my head. I am all cut up. Hell went on and told the crowd that Black Flag kills. No shit. . . .
2.28.83 Copenhagen Denmark . . . We have found a way to get Watt so pissed off that he might have a cardiac arrest. It’s simple. We start telling him that his girlfriend is with some punker with a Mohawk now that he’s away from home. He always goes for it and gets mad and calls us all a bunch of motherfuckers. Another thing to do to pass the time is to get Watt and D. Boon in one of their epic arguments. It’s easy—set up any topic. Chances are they already disagree. When one of the guys says something, anything, just say to the other: “Are you going to let him say that kind of shit to you? Don’t take that shit from him unless you’re just scared of him, Well I guess I see who REALLY runs this band.” After that you just get out of the way. Boon and Watt will go at it like Siamese fighting fish.
We have been listening to Mike’s tapes because he gets so freaked out about who gets to play what and he starts talking about fascism when someone puts something on the deck. He has been put in charge of playing all the music just to shut him up. He has turned me onto some cool stuff—James Blood Ulmer, Albert Ayler, this really cool live Curtis Mayfield album— all kinds of shit. It’s worth putting up with because he’s such a great bass player and the Minutemen are so amazing.
Henry Rollins, Get in the Van (59-68)
