CONCERT REVIEW: Mike Watt

- P. Nina Ramos

Without so much as a "Hello we are...", Mike Watt and friends went into the first song of their set on their current tour. They started the set with "Big Train", the first track of their CD.

The performance was scattered all over the stage, making it hard to focus on one thing. Mike Watt was set awkwardly in the middle of the stage. To either side of Watt were Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) and Dave Grohl (Nirvana). At the beginning of the show, the group seemed uneasy about moving around. However, once Watt got a feeling for the space, he began to whip around the stage.

The band played very smoothly as a whole. They really seemed to be in touch with both what was going on with the other performances as well as their own. It was suprising that the band was thrown together in four months; bands that play for ten years don't play this well. Each peformer's personality perfectly complemented the other performers. Eddie Vedder maintained his posture and stood fast during his vocal performance of "Against the 70's". Dave Grohl played both guitar and drums with the drumming whipping the crowd in to a frenzy.

After playing a few songs alone, the group was joined by Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum) to perform his piece that appears on the CD. Pat Smear (Germs), looking barefoot and beautiful, had been on and off the stage lending a hand with the backing vocals. During Pirner's performance, Smear picked up Grohl's guitar and started to play along without missing a beat. Not long after, he started to sing his part in "Forever-one Reporter's Opinion", his track on the CD. Watt played furiously behind him, while Smear stroked the mike as if it were an old lover.

Despite popular opinion, Watt did play fIREHOSE songs. "Making the Freeway," and "Walking the Cow" were part of the set. The songs seemed to be a bit heavy for the Pop 'n' Grunge Crowd. But to the true fans, it was icing on the cake.

The performance ran for a while and then seemed to stop dead. They ran backstage to get ready for the encore and when they reemerged, the crowd had wound down a lot. They played the encore and left.

After the performance, a little crowd gathered backstage. Soon after, I got the opportunity to approach Mike Watt. I asked him if his solo career marked the end of fIREHOSE which he denied: "No no...Of course not." Outside, a crowd waited to catch a glimpse of their favorite Pop stars (Like Pop music "Superstars" Eddie Vedder, Dave Pirner, and Dave Grohl) But inside, it was just like a party. I got to see a side of the performers that fans often ignore, these guys are just people. Dave Pirner looked like someone I would hang out with at a party, if it weren't for all that money - and Eddie Vedder is not very impressive in person. All in all though, A good time was had by all.

And, in cyberspace...to check out Mike Watt on the web - with a different take on things - set your World Wide Web browser to http://www.music.sony.com/Music/ArtistInfo/Watt/index.html.