On Thursday Gabe and I went to The Studio to see Richard Lloyd. Here's what Gabe had to say about the show.
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I was at home cramping a frightening amount of recording gear into my shoebox-size room when I got a text from Matt.
“Richard Lloyd 2nite?”
“Recording a new song tonite. Whos that?
…“Television”
The amount of time between my message and his, along with the one-word pithiness of his response had a subtext of, “Dude…really?”
“Oh right.”
Television is one of those bands that don’t really need an introduction. The scope of their influence on rock and roll is pretty massive. At least the rock and roll I like. So if you don’t know, betta axe somebody.
Music snobbery aside though, they are personally one of my favorite bands of all time. The recording of my shitty shit could wait.
“When and where?”
“Studio at Webster Hall. I got a +1”
Great. Free to boot. I finished up a vocal take and geared up to leave. Shoes, jacket, iPod, crossword puzzle, and one last gulp of wine for the road.
When I got there, Matt was waiting outside. We showed our ID’s to the bouncer and walked downstairs to the girl with the list.
“Matt K. I’m on the list. This is my plus one.”
It’s a good feeling to get in somewhere for free when other people are paying. Especially when you’re on “The List.”
First thing we did was weave our way to the bar. Matt and I seem to think alike in many ways. I noticed a sign with drink specials on it.
“$3 PBR’s”
“Yeah, I saw that”
Not a bad price for a place like that. But if I had my druthers, PBR would be free. Like ice water at a restaurant. Standard. You walk into a bar and the first thing the bartender does is crack you open a PBR and say, “What else you havin?”
The opening band was playing. Hey Battlefield I think they were called. A three-piece standard rock outfit. Unremarkable. Not bad really, just unremarkable. Nice little songs. They didn’t move much and neither did we. One woman called for an encore. Must’ve been one of their girlfriends or something. It was funny when they actually did it.
A long time passed between them and Lloyd. Matt and I compared iPhones. Lame, I know, except for the fact that I got mine for free. Finders keepers, right? Everybody follows that rule, right?
Lloyd’s drummer (JP, of Dictators fame) put his cymbals about 6 feet off the ground. They were really fucking high. And he played huge sticks. Must be a Bonham fan.
His bass player looked strangely familiar. A chubby little guy with shaggy red hair. He looked like a kid in high school at his first Battle-of-the-Bands.
They played a few songs I didn’t recognize, but if I had to guess, I’d say they were post-Television originals of Lloyd’s. Then they played a Television song. And he did it well. He’s still a damn good guitar player. But he had more of a squishy, bluesy feel to his playing. Much different from the choppy and angular stabs I recognize as the Television “sound.” It was Television played as a power trio, a la the Hendrix Experience.
Then Lloyd went to the mic and said a few words.
“This next song is the 5th symphony from Beethoven. One of my favorite composers.”
Then they started the “Dumm DAH Dumm DAH Dumm DAH Dumm DAH” octave riff. You know the one. The fuckin PURPLE HAZE intro, brah!
I think I let out an audible “huh” in puzzlement. Ok. He’s doing a Hendrix cover. That’s cool I guess. Then he did another Hendrix cover. And then another. And then a-fucking-NOTHER. He did 4 in the middle. Then he played a few more Television songs I think. But then he went back into MORE Hendrix covers. “What the fuck?” I thought.
It turns out he’s promoting an album of Hendrix covers. I was unaware. And, according to his Wikipedia page, he claims to have gotten guitar lessons from a guy who got guitar lesson from Jimi. AND, Matt says he read somewhere online that Lloyd claims that Jimi once WEPT into his hands. Apparently, they’d had a fight and Jimi felt bad about it. Bad enough to weep into another man’s hands. But hey, it was the 60’s. Love and openness all around. And mind-altering and emotion-oscillating LSD. That too.
Could be true I guess. Or he could be making it up to help promote an indulgent album of fanboy cover songs.
During an awkward rendition of “Are You Experienced?” I went to the bathroom. There were a group of 6 or 7 clubbing-type dudes in there smoking weed. Apparently, they thought enough Axe body spray would mask the smell. They did not look like Television fans. Well, television maybe, but not “Television.”
When I got back, Matt walked up to me excitedly with a smile on his face.
“Dude, he just introduced his band. You know who the bass player is?”
“Who?”
“Danny Tamberelli!”
“Who’s that?”
“Little Pete from Pete and Pete!”
With that, we had a good laugh and left.
