Jesse Malin + Trapper Schoepp - The Garage, London 17/02/2023
The Garage in London’s Highbury area is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, and there are few better places to see a live band in the capital. Originally a Temperance Billiard Hall, the venue supposedly served great pies but was typical of such establishments back in the day attracted an interestingly varied clientele (In my head, I’m picturing a scene from Get Carter or The Krays). It became a venue in 1993, hence the anniversary, with Pulp as one of the first big-name acts to appear. On my arrival, a decent-sized, yet orderly, queue is snaking its way down the street, but I’m still able to get in for an unfathomable, to me, early start to find Trapper Schoepp is already in full swing. I’d forgotten how good The Garage was until this evening, as it’s been a few years since we’ve crossed paths, but with friendly door staff and clear as a bell sound, things are definitely looking good.
Trapper Schoepp
Trapper Schoepp hails from the beer capital of the world Milwaukee Wisconsin, immortalised in popular culture by, of all things, the TV show Happy Days and an Alice Cooper lesson in pronunciation. Trapper, with impressive support from Carter Shilts' mandolin, is an old-school storyteller regaling us with tales of the dangers of black ice in a town called ‘Ogallala’ and of his ‘Oh, Wisconsin' co-writing credit with some bloke called Bob Dylan (it worked out well for Old Crow Medicine Show, so Trapper is in good company). I was especially taken with a tune from the ‘Bay Beach Amusement Park’ EP ‘The Scat’ about an obscure amusement park ride. An EP of - you guessed it - songs about amusement park rides, which made me smile. I look forward, to delving deeper into Trapper’s back catalogue, which is what a live show should make you want to do.
Jesse Malin
No stranger to the UK, Jesse Malin is immediately among friends, six hundred of them (to be honest, anyone who has Fred Neil’s, ‘Everybody’s Talkin’ as his intro music is alright in my book). Three songs into the set, including the gorgeously reflective ‘Room 13’, surely one of Jesse’s finest songs, the singer takes a breath to introduce the reason for the tour, namely ‘The Fine Art Of Self Destruction' his debut solo album has turned twenty (there’s a nice new two-disc LP/Digital release, but sadly no CD as yet, to mark the occasion). Jesse’s strength as a writer and performer is his ability to merge his background in punk bands, “It was hard to get people to listen to the lyrics” as he puts it, with an ability to craft a song that compares favourably with the likes of Springsteen and Michael McDermott. Backed by an excellent band: Derek Cruz (guitar), Rob Clores (keys), James Cruz (bass) and drummer Paul Garisto (Paul played on the original album sessions) with the capability to switch effortlessly from the more laidback ‘Queen of the Underworld’ to the punchy ‘TKO’, driven by James’ finger-style bass playing and Derek’s ringing guitar tones, to the raucous ‘Wendy’. Along the way, Jesse recounted the story of the album, a record financed by his landlord paying him to move out of his apartment! ‘Fine Art’ was completed in a mere six days, with Jesse and producer Ryan Adams discussing who they might get to record the guitars before Ryan took it upon himself to polish them off in just one day. By the time we reach the graceful piano/organ based ‘Brooklyn’, Jesse is off on one of his famed walkabouts (Jesse obviously has shares in a company that makes industrial strength, extra-long microphone leads as the stage to a long way from the top of the bar at The Garage).
Jesse Malin
Jesse ventures away from TFAOSD for a brief musical interlude with a rousing cover of ‘Bastards Of Young’ dedicated to Tommy Stinson, who missed the tour due to hip surgery, and ‘Broken Radio’ from the ‘Glitter In The Gutter’ record. Returning to TFAOSD, Derek’s guitars are again to the fore on the title track, a groovin’ ‘Riding on the Subway’ is another gem, while ‘Solitaire’ is surely the perfect vehicle for Jesse’s voice and a little audience participation. ‘Xmas’ is an undiscovered jewel of a seasonally themed song, “I made my baby cry, I made her say goodbye”. With the show curfew fast approaching, there was still plenty of time for an incendiary cover of ‘Russian Roulette’ by The Lords Of The New Church, a burst of The Clash's “Rudie” and a couple of tunes from Jesse’s Saint Marks Social project including a pounding ‘All The Way From Moscow’. I very much doubt that Jesse expected to be celebrating TFAOSD twenty years on, but it feels like a timeless record, “You write about what you know”, as Jesse puts it. On tonight’s showing, there’s so much more to Jesse Malin, who came, was seen and definitely conquered. Jesse also made the time after the show to sign everything thrust in front of him, take plenty of selfies and chat with a very long line of folks. ‘The Fine Art Of Self Destruction’ is the perfect gateway into the world of Jesse Malin and should be in every record collection that appreciates quality songwriting.
I don’t get to many metal shows these days, so I jumped at the opportunity to visit North London for a rare UK visit from Kamelot. The Florida-born but now multi-national act are deep into their ‘Awaken The World’ tour with impressive looking support from Ad Infinitum, Blackbriar and Frozen Crown. I’m, unusually for me, bright and early for the start of tonight’s proceedings and expecting good things.