Between Clark and Hillsdale
I went to the Arthur Lee benefit concert at the Whisky a Go Go last night.Arthur Lee, the genius behind 60's psychedelic band Love, is battling leukemia and has no insurance, so a benefit was put together.
The Whisky, where the Doors and hundreds of other bands first played the Sunset Strip, is located "between Clark and Hilldale" Streets, and that is the title of one of Love's songs from the 1967 album "Forever Changes", which is a glorious record.
I was sad to find out that Love afficianados Calexico, Cake, and X were asked but did not agree to participate in last night's benefit.
When Lee got out of prison in 2001 (he had done six years for gun possession), he toured the country with an excellent backup band called Baby Lemonade, who played last night with original Love members Johnny Echols (pictured on the left) and drummer Michael Stuart Ware.
Baby Lemonade were a very tight band, and they even brought along a trumpet player for songs like "Alone Again Or". Seeing Johnny Echols was great, too. He now looks a little bit like a kinder Felix Barbosa from Deep Cover (or Chano from Barney Miller).
The opening band was Vince and the Invincebles. Vince Flaherty fronted the band, which was made up of two older female backup singers, one of whom kept trying to be the yenta for various audience members during the long sessions when the band was getting its shit together onstage, two younger dudes with dreadlocks, a drummer and an older guitar player. The band itself was fairly solid, though, as a unit, their personalities were all over the place.
It was announced that Spencer Davis was in the audience.
"We love you, Spencer," the dreadlock white guy guitarist said, and started to noodle "Gimme Some Lovin'". Embarrassing.
Lead singer Vince Flaherty was a mess. I polled various older folks in the audience, people with gray or white hair and tie-dyes, about who this guy was and what right he had to waste our time.
"I think he knew Arthur before Love, or played on the same bills with him," one man said.
Flaherty dropped the microphone so many times that his younger bandmates started making fun of him. Flaherty was surly and forgot his lyrics. He shambled around the stage. The white-haired sound tech for the Whisky kept crawling onstage to retrieve dropped microphones and stands, looking like he wanted to kill Mr. Invinceble.
Flaherty had the attitude of someone who gets more and more angry with the audience the more he screws up. It was painful.
I'd read that Baby Lemonade announced they would no longer perform with Arthur Lee the crazier he got. I wonder how long the Invincebles will stay around. I saw one of the Invincebles outside.
"We're kind of the de facto backup band for people from the 60s," he said, but was interrupted before I got any more information.
Somebody was videotaping the show for Arthur Lee and the camera would occasionally pan the audience during the numerous breaks in the Invincebles' set. "We're sorry, Arthur," one audience member said.
Baby Lemonade, both by contrast and on their own, were fantastic. They played the entirety of "Forever Changes" and came back for an encore with Echols and Ware.
It was good to be in a truly all-ages audience at the Whisky. I hope Lee recovers, but I hope he doesn't shoot Vince.
UPDATE: Both the sound technician and Mr. Invinceable himself have responded to this post. Vince pointed out that the street in the title does not have an S in it - it's Hilldale, unlike what I originally wrote. I'm leaving the subject line the same because that is how many sites link to each other.
· Arthur Lee
· Arthur Lee fan page
· Love at AMG All Music Guide
posted
by Marty Barrett at Thursday, June 29, 2006
6 Comments:
From: Rick Beck
To: Marty Barrett
Dear Mr. Barrett;
I'm the white haired sound tech that you misrepresented crawling on stage to retrieve Vince's dropped microphones “looking like I wanted to kill Mr. Invincible”. It's funny how a person like yourself with a bigger head than insight spins things. The same problems with the sound board and the microphones continued with Willie Chambers where the double mic fell out of the mount while he was singing.
You must have talked the people I saw who were gaping at Vince and the Invincables as if they had never seen humans. Before the show I heard a lady say that Vince was keeping everyone waitingShe said they missed sound check. Later I found out Vince refused to sign a last minute contract giving the right to control the recording of his band. They were told they would not be performing unless he signed the contract. Cheap last minute music biz trick. It took at least 2 hours to get permission for the Invincables to take the stage and during that time a few people in the audience were understandably. I’ve never seen vibes like that in a pre show audience before. You are right about one thing, Vince was pissed by the time he got on stage. He was demolishing the mics because they were messed up and the audience couldn’t hear the vocals anyway. I thought it was part of the act and it was great. I've been to a lot of concerts and despite the bad vibes this one was one of the best shows I've seen in my life because of the contrast between the style of the two bands. They were both very good. I mean it and that's the truth unlike your silly remarks.
Rick Beck
Rick, I'm glad you didn't want to kill Mr. Invinceable; you've probably dealt with far worse on stage.
But what I said wasn't spin, it was an observation. I was there as a paying audience member. You were not the only person who looked frustrated in that room.
As a veteran sound technician, your judgment of what constitutes a bad show might be far more tolerant than mine. Perhaps it would take that Who show in Cincinnati or the White Lion show in Rhode Island, or maybe an Altamont or two to ruffle your feathers.
I was there to be entertained, but instead I was treated to an unprofessional, often-hostile performance by someone who didn't have his shit together for a paying audience. It does not matter what the reason was.
I've had bad nights on stage myself, but I don't take it out on the crowd that paid to see me (I usually take it out on plants).
You're right about one thing - the second band (Baby Lemonade) was excellent. If Vince et al were two hours late getting to the stage (that didn't bother me - I went and had a snack), then Baby Lemonade were also late. Yet they didn't take the stage pissed. They didn't mangle the equipment. Each of them knew which mic to use. They remembered the lyrics.
Most people in that audience were older than me, and were part of a generation that has seen hundreds of rock shows. They were not gaping at the first band because they hadn't seen humans before - they were gaping because they couldn't believe they had just spent 30 bucks for such a sub-par performance.
You were crawling on the floor a lot, Rick. Did any of the microphones fall on your head? That is the only way I can imagine you thought the first show was worthwhile. But I admit you might have higher tolerance for such things than I.
Luckily, the second band made up for it.
I appreciate your writing in. Thank you. And I apologize that my observation about you was wrong. I also appreciate hearing what might have been the source of Vince's suckiness that night, but it was only a reason, and not an excuse for his abysmal performance.
Yes. There was some negative stuff happening that I couldn’t shrug. Like Jimmy McHugh said, “when you’re similin, the whole world smiles with you” and that’s so true for the vice versa.
So the audience and I were somewhat of a reflection of each other but it wasn’t hostility. I was sad inside, and I only took it out on a couple of people who had it coming. Not the whole crowd like you said. Wish I knew you were there though. In the old days if I was in a mood like that I we wouldn’t have played or I would have hung out behind the amps or something but there were people there who came a long way to see us for a worthy cause.
Oh…, Hilldale, Hilldale… Not Hillsdale... and what possessed you to Babylon about Calexico and X allegedly being approached to do the show but declining. Nothing like that happened around the Whisky show. Some names like Blue Cheer wanted to play but the Whisky is a small venue and Echols and JJ wanted it to be a family affair with friends from the day.
So what if one of our backup singers chummed the audience. That makes her a Yenta? If you had half the brain of an ostrich rolling around inside your vacant melon you might have heard her acknowledging 3 fighter pilots who had paid to see us and contribute to Arthur’s cause before leaving for the mid east. And you say you were embarrassed by good natured way we introduced Spencer Davis to the audience too?
I was goofing on some other articles on your meaningless web site and found them equally mindless and devoid of all practical taste, but comparing the Invincebles performance at the Los Angeles Arthur Lee Benefit Concert to the likes of the Who show in Cincinnati, the White Lion show in Rhode Island, or Altamont , all of which took peoples lives, is not humorous. It belies a lame sense of humour and a distinct lack of character. I can always work on my relationships with microphones but you sir are a first class pipsqueak and no amount of putting people down or standing on their shoulders to seem clever can ever change that.
Sincerely,
Vince
The Invincebles W.L.A
How about this: say "I know the show was bad and I apologize; I shortchanged the people who'd paid to see me."
No refund necessary.
Thanks for the Hilldale correction, as well as your thoughtful critique of my work.
Mr. Invinceable could have gone on stage and done buffalo farts for all I cared. I was there for a bigger issue. Worrying about being entertained seems a shallow goal when we were all there to benefit Arthur Lee. Helping an artist that has brought joy to many people. How many of us can say we've done that? My 30 bucks was well spent.
...as was my 30 bucks. Baby Lemonade gave an unforgettable performance with Johnny Echols. The Invinceables provided an unforgettable performance as well, but for different reasons. I think "buffalo farts" is apt.
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