A long week of shows Pt. 1- Zappa and Deep Purple

So last week was pretty crazy in terms of the rock and roll.

Monday- Zappa Plays Zappa at Westbury Music Fair. Decent setlist. The addition of the video screens where daddy Zappa was projected and shown playing and singing was a nice touch. I don't think Dweezil would be able to sing low enough to hit Cosmik Debris without the assistance. The rotating stage at Westbury is a trip. The band was a bit freaked out as well. It was frustrating that the whole experience was very all or nothing. Either you saw the whole band or you saw the whole bands' backs. Ray White was a great guest but I missed Bozzio and Vai.

Tuesday- Deep Purple at Radio City Music Hall. Great set, mediocre show. That band is *old* and although Ian Paice is still a drumming whiz, this was an oldies show for an oldies crowd. Ian Gillian's voice is pretty blah at this point and there is not nearly as much of the biting rock energy that made me fall in love with this band in the first place. Your best bet is to stick with the records and archival dvds. Deep Purple in 2007 is just not a great show.

Wednesday- Kristin had to cancel plans, the subways stopped running, so I stayed in Brooklyn and spent my first good chunk of quality time with the Wii. I recommend everyone who owns one to pick up Paper Mario. It has some of the best art direction I have ever seen in a video game. It is like Dali and The Residents tried to put together a surrealist mash-up of classic 80's Nintendo platformers. I have never seen characters or locations look quite like this. Absolutely amazing. Beautiful and breathtaking.

Got my ass kicked by a fairy......

The Green Fairy that is.......

Jon brought us back a few bottles of real Absinthe, wormwood, thujones and all.

It was a pretty fantastic evening, about 7 or 8 of us celebrating the return of Jon and Chris to America. Jon brought the Wii over, and we all had quite a blast.

Absinthe is a trip. Not literally, the hallucinogenic thing is a myth. However it is almost 70% alcohol, ie: 140 proof. It is practically licorice flavored moonshine.

The drunk is nothing I have experienced before. I was completely wasted, but my mind was 100% clear. So was my body. We were competing at Wii sports and everyone was doing quite well, despite the amount of alcohol in our systems. There was definitely a communal hive feeling. I guess that is why everything felt like a trip.

Everything was going well until we decided around 1:30 to hit the bars. The delicate balance of pretzels and absinthe in my system was working really well. I can only imagine if I had abstained from further alcoholic exploration where my night could have gone. I felt like a goddamned king and my confidence was through the roof.

However, three sips of beer and two drags from a cigarette I really should not have bummed outside changed everything. The room started spinning and all the drunk in my system changed from elegant to disastrous. I quickly said my goodbyes and rushed the first empty cab.

I woke up this morning at a quarter after ten and didn't like it. I woke up again at 12:45, popped Tylenol more for my aching neck and back and lay in bed watching a movie (Grandma's Boy, kinda funny but would never have watched it if I wasn't too hungover to find the remote) before I finally got myself motivated to do everything I need to get done today.

I am curious about everyone else's hangovers/experiences after I left. I wish we had a control case who only drank absinthe but everyone got beers at the bar, and Chris and Heidi mixed beer and absinthe all night.

Thank God I don't have plans to see the special friend for a few days. Right now I can barely look down without a world of pain. Is there a stretch you can do to prevent hurting yourself head banging? Does anyone know? I went full out at practice yesterday and I am in a world of pain. I have exercises to stretch my muscles and protect every part of my body from jumps, thrusts, lunges, even the repetitive stress of fretting a guitar. But every time I rock too hard my neck and upper back get FUCKED UP for about two days. What can I do?

Anyway. I'm off topic. Absinthe. I'm a fan. Jon is getting me a bottle of my own. I will see that fairy again and this time it is her ass that will be bloody and raw. mmmmmm bloody and raw..............

Alternate post title: Fairies Wear Boots (Why all the Sabbath on the brain lately?)