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just got back home last night
after a triple of shows in the midwest.
1 in peoria, IL
2 in oh to the hi to the oh.
chrissie hynde, from the pretenders, has vegetarian restaurant
in akron. it was pretty rad.
aaron, a man who is not one with eating the animals, was over the tofu moon…

he had crispy gnocchi. and vichyssoise.
paul, a devout carnivore, rocked the non-burger.
and fries. (which were fucking awesome)
here he is making the-this is what soy does to me before i destroy the toilet-face.

and i had a faux cheese caprese salad.

with some sweet/spicy broccoli
and some asparagus.
oh hells yes stinky pee!

there were pictures of famous vegetarians lining the walls.
my fav was paul mccartney bottle feeding a goat…
go macca!
and who knew alec baldwin was a veggie?
i guess when he called his daughter a pig that time, that was a term
of endearment… cause he respects her enough to not eat her.
R.E.L.I.E.F.

the place looked very dwell magazine.
exposed air-ducts. steel table tops…
sexy stuff.
and ice in the urinals.
which must be so old school that it’s modern again.
i like peeing on ice.
it feels primal, like…
.. i was about to say, ‘like hunting your own dinner’
but that would go against the PETA spirit of this….
so i’ll just say primal… like fire.

unfortunately, no sign of chrissie.
she is probably on tour.
i was singing ‘my city is gone’ the whole time we were there.
aaron was hoping she would be waiting tables when we walked in.
like she did in the ‘brass in pocket’ video.
no go.
but i did pick up the menu, and point to it and sing ’special’ to the waiter.
and he sang it back.

on the bus.
post show. post shower.
watching the elvis ‘68 comeback special.
‘a glorious mess’… to quote aaron.
he said they shot something like 19 hours of footage.
elvis is an engine.
sweating and karate kicking his way through every song.
i mean, the production value of this is awful….
‘lawrence welk’ meets ‘hair’ meets adam west ‘batman.’
cheesy camera moves, skits, belly dancers, jean tuxedos, ascots,
full on dance numbers…
and the whole time, elvis just digs in and delivers.
smiling, laughing and throwing black leather shapes.
literally every woman in the audience is ready
to devour his sweaty, greasy ass.
they look possessed.
and he just owns all of it.
our friend jessie is riding with us for a few days,
and i have never seen her so transfixed.
she’s just sitting on the couch, quiet and grinning,
eyes pinned to the t.v.
it’s wild.
41 years later, elvis still makes the ladies go all melty melts.

tonight was the second show of o.a.r. tour.
it was great.
nice to be back out with them again after about 5 years.
such good guys.
and it’s real fun to play amphitheaters with the band.
big stages… nice outdoor, summertime sheds.
this is gonna be a good few weeks….

but back to the elvis special…
this must have been a total revolution.
watching this when it was first broadcast in 1968.
people must have FLIPPED THEIR SHIT!
after 30-something mostly unwatchable movies,
and having been out of the performing loop for 7 years…
elvis shows up on everyones TV and decimates.
approachable. and untouchable.

trends are cyclical. we know this.
we have a new britney to replace the old britney
a new n’sync to replace the old n’sync.
bands are constantly being celebrated for ripping
off joy division, springsteen, u2…
and people who sing karaoke on TV, and are lauded as
the next great hope.

but we haven’t seen another frank sinatra.
and we will never see another michael jackson.
and no one, in 4 decades, has ever been able to come within
spitting distance of the king. no one.
elvis is effortless.
no pretension.
i mean, he hams it up for sure….
but he performs and sings with such ease. and confidence.
it’s just an extension of who he is.
pure.
like breathing.