Sunday, December 22, 2013

Tales from the Devolver Side: November 22 & 23, 2001

      Hello everyone. Hope you have been enjoying the holiday season. Things got started off right with the return of Devolver to the realm of performing live and my 41st birthday. It was great to see so many familiar faces out and about. And all that celebration got me thinking about another time in the history of Devolver, way back in November of 2001. The boys were still rocking in the free world after the attacks of 9/11 and the sudden and shocking passing of Terry Bowden. All of the planets aligned over that Thanksgiving weekend for some truly historic events. So without further ado, Kempepedia is proud to present another installment of everyone's favorite way back machine, Tales from the Devolver Side Nov. 22nd through November 24th.
      Things were going good for the band. Gigs had been steady and they had a pretty good local schedule. About once a month you could count on gigs at the Old Mill, Kclinger's, Lupita's and The Depot. It allowed them to pay off their new PA and there was even talk of buying a van as opposed to destroying their parent's. You can read about that particular adventure here:
      Devolver had a tradition of letting a family member write the set list for their birthday show. My birthday is November 28th and Wendy's is December 4th. So we decided to combine our superpowers and celebrate both our birthday's at the Lupita's show.
      They had a show at Micheal’s on November 22nd, which was Thanksgiving that year. Michael' is the restaurant on 116 as you descend down the long hill on the way to Goofy's. It closed down along time ago. Kyle came down with the flu which was a major problem. He sang many of the leads and they had another show on Friday at Lupita's. He was unable to perform at the Micheal’s show but the rest of the band rose to the occasion.
11/22/01

Set 1

01. Sneakin' Sally, El Nino, Glasshawk, Sunday Paper, Crosseyed and Painless, Bogey>Tangled Up in Blue>Bogey, Side of a Mountain, Golden Years, Looking Blind

Set 2

Cafe Latte, Miss You, Turnaround, Coming Home, Edge Of Town>Looking Blind Reprise>Edge Reprise (with Can't You Hear Me Knockin' teases), Psycho Killer/> (tape flip)Drumz>Shakedown St., Waiting by the Sand (instrumental version)>I'm A Man

You can stream it here

      How good were they? Zach was jamming so hard through the Edge>Looking Blind Reprise>Edge Reprise segment he lost his glasses! The Waiting is interesting as there is no singing. The Bogey sandwich is also quite tasty.
      Kyle had recovered enough to perform the following night but you can hear on the tapes he is still a little under the weather. Before the show, Andy and myself were writing down the lyrics to China Cat. Kyle strolls over and announces he thinks the band should stop letting people write the set lists for their birthday shows. Wow, kind of awkward to bring that up at the show that myself and Wendy wrote. But as they say, the show must go on and did it ever.

11/23/01
Set 1

Bogey>Everything Comes Around, Glasshawk, Thread, Marina, Cafe Latte, Laughing Clown, Waiting by the Sand, Jam>My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama, China Cat>Bogey

Set 2
Happy Birthday Song, Looking Blind, Bubblespeak>Dehydration Jam>I Know You Rider, Rockin' in the Free World, Edge of Town, Not Fade Away>Drumz> Kesey Rap*>Funk II, Coming Home, Pedalic Sax *with Dan Wildasin

You can stream it here

      This show is one of my all time favorites and somewhat of a peak performance of the Golden Age of Devolver. Rich would leave the band in a few weeks and Ben had been sitting in with the band for a month and was getting a hang of the songs and his place in them. If memory serves me correct, we had rented a mic specifically for a sax, which it why it sounds so good on 11/22 and 11/23.
      And since it was my birthday show, I was feeling no pain. Pretty sure I was an MX missile that night (look it up) and dancing my ass off. Dan did a shot with me during Drumz, which was really weird because he doesn't really drink. And then he dons his Uncle Sam hat and strolls to the mike. The first part of his performance is actually about me. The “Many years ago, a warrior came down from the hills of NE PA...” part, well I was that warrior. I turned Dan onto the “Electric Kool Aid Acid Test”, which is the book that got me interested into the Grateful Dead, and the rest is history. Too say my mind was blown may be Understatement of the Century. In an incredible moment of synchronicity, I actually had a copy of The Acid Test with me because I was giving it to Kim Wilt to read.


      One bizarre denouement to this story. On November 24th was my 10th high school class reunion. I got to roll in there and when people asked me what I was up to, I could honestly reply “ Not much, just managing one of the greatest bands I have ever had the privilege to witness”.
      I had to leave early because the band's lawyer, who I'll just refer to as JK was having a holiday party and invited the whole Devolver family to attend. He also invited all of his lawyer colleagues. To say it was a clash of cultures is a bit of an understatement. He kept the Devolver kids downstairs and all his professional friends upstairs. Only other memory of that night I have is chilling out in someone's car in JK's driveway. At least if anything bad had happened, we would have had legal representation pretty damn quick.
      So there you have it. A trip back down memory lane. I hope you all enjoy listening to classic Devolver as much as I do and hope your Christmas and NYE are a safe and happy one.

Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll
  

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