From The Gutters Of NYC W/Love

George Tabb benefit @ the Continental, 8/20/06

Furious George was the first band I saw at the Continental. They opened for Doc Hopper and Boris The Sprinkler. (Who I gave my panties to. You were encouraged to. You give them your panties and in return you get a pin that says I Gave Boris My Panties.) All these bands that are the first one that I saw at all these venues don't exist anymore, and neither do the venues. Or, almost. (NY Loose was the 1st band I saw at Coney Island High.) Furious George also played with the Groovie Ghoulies at Coney a few times. He also used to write for the Press and that's how I heard of Blanks 77.

I wanted to get there earlier, but I just couldn't. And not because that meant I'd have to see Charm School or spend way too long in the place. I got up late and it took me a while to get moving. Plus I had a lot of writing to do. And try to find a job. So while I did want to see the Bullys, I've been seeing them a lot recently and it wasn't the end of the world if I got there late. I had a major wait at Jackson Heights and I thought the F was still going over the E line. Nope. There were all these weird, see-thru beverage containers with handles floating around the place. I did catch some of the Bullys, and the Bullitts were great. Their singer told everyone to buy George's "Jew books." (Playing Right Field: A Jew grows in Greenwich.) But he said he could say that because he's half-Jewish and had a Bar Mitzvah. He and George used to talk about it all the time and compare circumcisions. He's got George beat by a few inches.

It was kinda hard to pass on Dick Army, who were after Blackout Shoppers (who took like an extra 15 mins to get onstage. And, let's face it, if you're reading this you either A) Already know Blackout Shoppers, or 2) Are in Blackout Shoppers) and not just because of the whole reuniting after 10 years thing. (Heh heh, you said "Dick Army.") And of course I was too broke to buy/use film. "Set the way-back machine to Tuesday March 16, 1996!" Though they blamed a broken pedal ("It was broken before we got onstage.") and "released the bats" (blowing your nose on your T-shirt) I thought it was fine. "Y'know what? We still don't got it." "That's it. It doesn't get better, it just gets different." "You're the only guitar player I know who's been playing for 10 years and gets worse each year." Their bass player, wrapping a bandana around his wrist: "If this is going to involve chafing, it better be for a good reason. And this ain't it." Their drummer: "You know, I'm 36 years old and this is it." The bass player, again, looking for members of his other former band, Four Deadly questions: "Is there anyone here from Four Deadly Questions? Is there any doubt why I quit both bands?" I can also see why George liked them. They're regular guys and real people. "This band never really got anywhere, but wherever we did get, it was because of George." They did Betty Crocker Punk Rocker better than Furious George. (That's the name of the song. If they actually did Betty Crocker punk rocker, well, I haven't read the book yet so I don't know about that.) And, apparently, George Tabb has a small part in the new Oliver Stone movie.

So even though I thought I'd catch the last R out, since I got there at 20 to midnite and the N went by, I figgered, There could be another train right behind that, which would be the R. Yeah, right. I should've seen that coming. Actually I did, but I was trying to think positive. I considered getting on the F at Herald Square, but I figured if I had to end up on the E, get on the E in the first place. The car barely had any A/C, but, of course, the one to the left was packed, sed the guy who griped about his friend wanting to move. See, that's why I stay put.