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On the Grandaddy reunion and indie rock karaoke

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Under the red western lights of Merced, CA: Grandaddy at The Partisan Bar, 8/07/12. (Photo by Matt Orme)

When it comes to the legendary indie rock group Grandaddy, I’ve always found myself stuck somewhere between fawning journalist and fanboy collector. The Modesto boys definitely qualify as the band that has most changed my life. So, I was beyond excited when Grandaddy decided to reunite onstage this summer after a six-year hiatus. Thanks to shitty cell phone videos that keep on trickling in, the Internet has so far provided terrific lo-fi documentation of my favorite lo-fi band’s short 2012 tour.

Arm of Roger’s 2000 LP “The Ham and its Lily.”

My wife and I were lucky to catch Grandaddy at The Partisan Bar in Merced, CA on Aug. 7, at the start of their reunion. The show was billed as a performance by Arm of Roger, the screwball alter-egos of Grandaddy that put out one glorious LP in 2000 called “The Ham and its Lily.” The possibilities were tantalizing. Would the members of Grandaddy come out to play as Arm of Roger, and perform only foul-mouthed, nonsensical Arm of Roger originals like “Down With the Animals,” “One Time They Called and Asked for Freddy,” or “The Pussy Song”? Would they come out to play, in character, as Arm of Roger, but only perform fucked-up Grandaddy covers? Or would Grandaddy play as good ol’ Grandaddy after all, but maybe slip in a cover of an Arm of Roger classic like “Robot Escort” along the way?

More on all that in a minute.

First, allow me a trip down memory lane. I first discovered Grandaddy in the summer of 2000. Their sprawling second album, “The Sophtware Slump,” had just come out, and I was living in the band’s hometown of Modesto, CA. Hardly anybody I knew in Modesto seemed to care about Grandaddy, even though the boys were selling out shows all over Europe. But I immediately was hooked by the record’s melodic, dreamy first single, “The Crystal Lake.” I then spent hours and hours studying every word and every note of the full album, which felt to me then (and still feels to me now) like a consciously dazed, earnestly forlorn embrace of– and eulogy for– technology in modern life. For someone like me, who grew up in the same rich/poor central San Joaquin Valley that the band did, I could relate to it all.

My ticket stub from the 2000 Elliott Smith show at The Warfield in SF, where Grandaddy opened.

I then began my Grandaddy collecting binge, which includes all of their albums and EPs, nearly all of their singles and compilation appearances, and a random assortment of knickknack ephemera that includes stickers, patches, hats, T-shirts, posters, and even a bottle opener. I first saw them in 2000 at the Capitol Garage in Sacramento, where they covered 10cc and George Jones, and I picked up a rare copy of “The Windfall Varietal” after the show. I saw them later in 2000 at the Warfield in San Francisco opening for Elliott Smith, who died (way too soon) just a couple years later. And, I saw them on a scorching hot day in 2001 at the X Fest in downtown Modesto, where they covered the Pavement classic “Here” to my screeching delight. Later, in 2003, I reviewed Grandaddy’s third album, “Sumday,” for The Modesto Bee newspaper– my first ever published music review. (Regarding the album’s second single, “El Caminos in the West,” I wrote that the band had penned its “newest summertime jam” and that the song “promises to be a trademark Grandaddy singalong number.”)

In recent years, I saw Jim Fairchild perform in 2007 with his band All Smiles, opening for Menomena at the Cellar Door in Visalia. I saw Jason Lytle perform twice on his 2009 solo tour– first as the headliner at The Partisan in Merced, and a few days later as the opener for Neko Case at The Warfield in San Francisco. And in 2010, I got the chance to do a phone interview with Lytle and Aaron Espinoza on the eve of their show as supergroup Admiral Radley at the historic Star Palace in downtown Fresno. (I will never forget drummer Aaron Burtch pedaling his bicycle through the crowd that was gathered on the checkerboard dance floor, as local band Rademacher covered the Panty Lions classic “Herndon and 99” on stage behind him.)

I tell you all of that to tell you this: I believe that I am well-qualified to conclude that the Grandaddy reunion show in Merced on Aug. 7, 2012, was absolutely flawless. The set list was a fan’s dream– heavy on “The Sophtware Slump” and “Sumday,” but packed with early and obscure gems from throughout the band’s catalog. Arm of Roger didn’t show up after all, but nobody seemed to mind.

Grandaddy reunion set list 8/07/12
The Partisan Bar in Merced, CA
1. El Caminos in the West
2. Now It’s On
3. Yeah is What We Had
4. Our Dying Brains
5. The Crystal Lake
6. A.M. 180
7. Lost On Yer Merry Way
8. Laughing Stock
9. My Small Love
10. Levitz (Birdless)
11. Chartsengrafs
12. Fare Thee Not Well Mutineer
13. The Go in the Go For It
14. Jed’s Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)
15. Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake
16. Hewlett’s Daughter
17. Summer Here Kids
18. He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot
19. Here [Pavement cover]

The first six songs went by in a blur: Every song was a singalong, and every song was a dance party. After the band played “A.M. 180,” Lytle quipped: “Pretty impressive, this karaoke business.” I can only imagine how surreal the karaoke business must have been to these five musicians– small-town guys who seldom got the time of day from hometown crowds in the days they were “popular,” but who were now surrounded by a hundred or so dedicated locals pressing in on them on the tiny stage at The Partisan, reciting every “doo-doo, doooo, duh-doo” that came out of their mouths. (The fit was so tight that I didn’t realize until seeing photos the day after the show that keyboardist Tim Dryden was actually onstage with the band; he was hunkered down in the far corner.)

Yes, it was THE show! (Photo by Tracy Stuntz)

Other highlights:
• In the middle of the set, the band thundered into the b-side “Chartsengrafs” but the song fell apart after the first part. They shrugged, laughed, and picked it up again right where it had fallen apart.
• They played rare track “Fare Thee Not Well Mutineer” for the first time live. Lytle confirmed the occasion, saying: “Take that to the bank and cash it for two dollars and twelve cents.”
• At the stroke of midnight, after playing for 90+ minutes, Lytle joked: “I think we’ve got one more left in us.” Then Grandaddy audaciously launched into the 9-minute deep cut “He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot.” Brilliant.
• The band covered Pavement’s “Here” as the encore, giving a shout-out to their college rock brethren formerly of Stockton, and featuring Kevin Garcia on backing vocals.

There was a moment late in the set, during the singalong to “Beautiful Ground,” when my good friend and Fresno musician James Brittain-Gore came up to me and gave me a hug, and we stood there together while the audience sang along with the band about their iconic robot, Jed. (“You said I’d wake up dead drunk, alone in the park. I called you a liar, but how right you were.”) For just an instant, I felt very old. I must admit, I had a bad thought: With all the indie rock karaoke and nostalgia in the air, I flashed forward to a vision of Grandaddy playing another reunion tour many, many years from now at the Stanislaus County Fair in Turlock. They were older, they were more grizzled, and they were still playing their sweet, sad little songs about the 2000 Man being adrift again.

I decided that I would like that feeling anyway.

Movie review: “Bernie”

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“Bernie”
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Format: Big screen
Viewed: Wednesday 8/08/2012 with my wife at the Regal Manchester Stadium 16 in Fresno

As a longtime fan of independent filmmaker Richard Linklater, I was beyond stoked to hear that his latest movie, “Bernie,” was scheduled for a Fresno Filmworks screening. I’ve been hooked on Linklater since I first saw his nonlinear indie classic “Slacker” back in the day.

Regular readers of this blog know all about my love and loyalty for Filmworks and the great job they do consistently bringing indie movies to a town that’s mostly devoid of indie movies. But I was disappointed when the movie’s distributors forced Filmworks to pull the screening just days before it was scheduled to play at the Tower Theatre, only to turn around a couple days later and try to restore the screening after they had already botched the deal with Filmworks in favor of a deal with Regal Cinemas. Luckily, despite the booking controversy, my wife and I had just enough time to catch “Bernie” at one of Regal’s multiplexes before it slipped out of town after a short one-week run.

Local theater politics aside, “Bernie” was a terrific film, and it showed Linklater in top directorial form. The movie, a dark comedy adapted from a real-life Texas Monthly magazine article by journalist Skip Hollandsworth, tells the story of a funeral director named Bernie Tiede and his unusual connection to a cranky, rich widow. Jack Black, who starred in Linklater’s blockbuster “School of Rock,” delivers a perfect performance as the protagonist, a guy that everybody in the small town of Carthage, TX adores to a fault. I’m not at all a big Jack Black fan, but it would be impossible to imagine anybody in the role of Bernie Tiede but him. He laughs, he cries, he dances, he prays, and most of all, Black delivers a flawless interpretation of Bernie’s remorse after shooting the widow (played wonderfully by Shirley MacLaine) in the back.

The movie also features a funny character performance by Matthew McConaughey, who got his first big break in Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused” in 1993. Oversized glasses and all, McConaughey plays the blustery district attorney who prosecutes Bernie. Despite the great acting of his three main actors, Linklater’s master stroke in this film is the onscreen presence of the local townspeople, many of whom star as themselves throughout the movie. Linklater films them talking about Bernie, the widow, and the D.A. in documentary-style interviews, lending a real feel of authenticity to the grand story played out by Black, MacLaine, and McConaughey. As the townspeople show up time and time again in unusual places throughout the movie, Linklater keeps you guessing about what’s real and what’s fiction, which is a delightful feeling for a movie whose characters are often asking the same questions.

Movie review: “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

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“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Directed by: Benh Zeitlin
Format: Big screen
Viewed: Friday 7/27/2012 with my wife at the Edwards Fresno Stadium 22

Sometimes, when I hear a certain poem read aloud or when I see a certain film trailer, I discover that I am holding my breath. The occasions are rare, and they always take me by surprise.

On a recommendation from my cousin Juan earlier this summer, I watched the trailer for the fantasy drama “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and it immediately stole my breath. The movie tells the story of Hushpuppy, a six-year-old who lives with her father and a patchwork of poor neighbors who have become their family. They learn to survive together on a bayou island called “The Bathtub” that has been cut off from the rest of New Orleans by a manmade levee. The film is heavily influenced by the social injustices and racial inequalities of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history.

For this, his first ever feature, director Benh Zeitlin has so far won two of the movie industry’s biggest awards: the Caméra d’Or at Cannes and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. They are well deserved. Every frame of “Beasts of the Southern Wild” brims with energy and truth– no matter how ugly or uncomfortable those energies and truths may be. Through her thoughts and deeds, Hushpuppy shows an uncanny fearlessness throughout the movie that communicates the most resilient and the very best of the human spirit. And like the best poetry, this film forces us to face our flaws and consider how to imagine a life that’s better.

Movie reviews: a cat burglar, two dancers, and a very long argument

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At the first of the year, I made a goal to watch an average of one movie per week and then review the films here on my blog. I never stopped watching the movies, but I did go through a two-month blogging drought. So, I’m happy (and a little bit relieved) to say that as of this week, my reviews have finally caught up with my movie watching! Here are a few short reviews of three very different films I saw early this month.

“A Cat in Paris”
Directed by: Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol
Format: Big screen
Viewed: Wednesday 7/11/2012 with my friends Judi and Mark at the Opera Plaza Cinema in San Francisco
Even though I make a pretty boring date, I still insist on catching an indie film every time I go to San Francisco. When I visited the city for a couple days in early July, my longtime friends Judi and Mark took me to see the animated French drama “A Cat in Paris” at Opera Plaza. The film, which tells the story of an enterprising feline who naps in the lap of a little girl by day and then roams the city as a burglar’s assistant by night, was a New York Times critics pick. I loved the pulsing and angular animation, and I enjoyed the storyline even if it was pretty predictable. But I was disappointed that the film had been translated into English for U.S. audiences. The translation revealed flat and overly simple writing, which I thought detracted from the movie’s magic. If you have a chance to see the film in French, I’d recommend it.

“Rumba”
Directed by: Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, and Bruno Romy
Format: DVD from the public library
Viewed: Thursday 7/05/2012 with my wife at home
Thanks to the Fresno Film Festival, I’ve gotten to know two terrific comedic films — “L’iceberg” and “The Fairy” — from the kooky Belgian director trio of Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, and Bruno Romy. So I was happy to see their sophomore film, “Rumba,” available from the Fresno County Public Library. In this movie, Dom and Fiona play a couple obsessed with Latin dancing, but when a depressed man (Bruno) who they’ve never met causes them to have a car accident, their dancing days are forever changed. Some of the gags in this movie were pretty inappropriate considering some of the heavy subject matter after the crash, but I thought the filmmaking whimsy of the trio still made the movie a delight. Lots of fun.

“Carnage”
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Format: DVD from Redbox
Viewed: Sunday 7/01/2012 with my wife at home
Filmmaker Roman Polanski can be a creepy guy. Some of that creepiness seeps into his latest movie, the black comedy “Carnage,” which takes a very long argument and turns it into a squirming, ugly character study. The film stars Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly as one couple and Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz as the other. Most of the 80 minute movie is a real-time angry volley between these privileged parents of two kids who assaulted each other at school. I sat amazed as these “civilized” adults tore each other apart, and Polanski’s dialogue and staging made me feel uncomfortable throughout– a terrific effect from a small, well-executed idea.

On composing a new landscape

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For the third assignment in my Photo 6 Digital Camera Fundamentals class this past spring, the instructor asked us to practice the main principles of photographic composition. We had to choose a single subject and then make two images each that described each of the following composition choices: spot, line, shape, pattern, emphasis, balance, contrast of sharpness, contrast of light and dark, horizontal rule of thirds, and vertical rule of thirds. The purpose of the assignment was to extend the camera basics that we learned in assignment one and assignment two, and apply those basics to really make specific, deliberate choices while looking through the viewfinder.

I decided to make photographs of my wife’s beautiful landscaping and flowers around our front and back yards. We just celebrated my 10th anniversary of living in this home, and my wife and I have spent a lot of time in the last two years especially upgrading the yards. Each weekend, we’ve torn out sections of grass and worked up the barren stretches of hardpan one small area at a time, planting a patchwork of low-water plants, vegetables and herbs, and even a few dwarf citrus trees. The resulting photo set is far from comprehensive, in terms of all the small wonders we’ve managed to grow, but I think it captures a snapshot of where the yards had evolved in April 2012.

To make the photos, I used my Nikon D50 digital SLR camera and Nikkor AF-S 35mm f/1.8 prime lens. I made the photos entirely with manual settings. As I reflect on the set now, a couple months later, I love studying all the imperfections in our yard. Living in a sprawling suburban city like Fresno, many homeowners tend to favor lots of straight lines and perfectly manicured lawns. We have composed an area that is much more irregular, much more of a mishmash, which I think reflects the way a landscape was meant to be.