New Orleans funk machine, Galactic, is, without question, one of my favorite groups ever. Someone recommended “Coolin’ Off” to me back in 1998 and it changed my life. I’ve seen them live at least ten times since and have enjoyed the subtle changes the band has taken on over the years in perfecting their sound. Last night I discovered that I am Galactic’s biggest fan. I’m not joking. I know I am their biggest fan because, despite my incredible hatred of the typical jam band audience member, I still go to just about every show that comes near me. Seriously, those jam band kids make me miserable.
I’ll come back to that, though.
In case you have never heard them, Galactic is not one of those instrumental bands that blow you out of the water with a lot of chops or shredding. They don’t have a cool image or kitschy gimick or political agenda, either. They’re just dudes playing hard-driving funk and having a good time. No matter what turns their music makes, the play of the right stuff the right time and, you may or may not agree that almost NO BAND does that anymore.
Still, it takes all I got to deal with all of the puka shell necklace wearing meatheads in ballcaps, trustfund hippies with hemp bracelets and tie dye shirts noodle-dancing awkwardly out of time and with false confidence. Were it not for the band kicking so much ass to keep me in a good mood, I am sure I would have throttled the necks of every last dirt-eating, fratboy ganja troll in there. Fortunately, VIP passes allowed me access to the upper level of the Norva, and therefor gave me a way of escaping these dumbasses as well as achieving a better vantage point of Bobby Mack’s 1963 Precision Bass and Stanton Moore’s 28 inch bass drum setup (he got rid of the old marching drum and now has a custom sparkle Gretsch… bad ass).
They started off the show with a song they called “FEMA” which apparently summarizes the group’s feelings about the Katrina Disaster, as it was the most aggressive and diabolically ferocious beginning for a Galactic show I have ever heard. They also performed an encore which featured a haunting rendition of Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks” (sharing the vocal melody between Richard Vogel on B3 and Ben Ellman on harmonica). It gave me chills.
On Monday, I interviewed for the MIS workstudy position on campus and was given the job. The manager and I ended up talking about music for about an hour (and computers for a few minutes at the beginning). So, I start on Friday. I decided against that YWCA position for two main reasons: One, well, they never called me back (ha ha). Two, I had a bad feeling about where the situation was going and didn’t think I was really going to get anything out of it. I am a firm believer in trusting your instincts, and my gut was telling me that situation was going to be a total disaster. However, I thought about it so much that I came to the conclusion that the only real reason I was interested in taking the position was that I liked the idea of working for a non-profit and helping those less fortunate in the community (like setting up networks for safehouses). I think I would like to volunteer for something like that after I get a little more practical experience. Maybe even with the YWCA, I could probably assemble so friends and knock something like that out in a few days.
I have a headache. A really bad headache.