- With this being the
last Ganesvoort Street jam and all the
nostalgia that congers up, July 24th
promises to be one of the biggest nights
of the year.
- It will be the night
after the big Admiral/Alta party in the
same location and the jam will be the
icing on the cake of this wonderful
episode of our lives.
- All sorts of special
guests are expected to make their
appearance for this historic last waltz.
Both Andrew Trister and Doug Schmell are
expected to show. Rumors of Fortgang and
others just to name a few. They are all
part of Deadstein history from the SUNY Albany days.
- Sadly it also marks
the end of not only a building, a mere
rehearsal studio, but it marks the end of
our weekly relationship with Dennis and
all the other freaks that surround him.
Riley, Benson, Tony Orlando, Richie, his
brother, just to name a few. These
moments will be dearly missed because
these are situations, conversations and
people we don't run into during our
normal course of business. We luckily
fell into this time warp for several
years and only time will tell if we will
survive in the present.
- It promises to be a
freaky night all around. One, no one
wants to miss.
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An anniversary of sorts
passed us by a few weeks ago that deserves
mention. It was the July 1, 1996
jam that was the first posting of a jam on the
newly formed Deadstein Web Site. Over the past
year this site has facilitated my Internet
development prowess and has given me a forum to
hone whatever latent creative talents I may
possess. I don't why I am seeking to see if I
have any talents like this, but the last year of
this stuff has been educational and I thank all
involved for indulging me. You can see we have
come a long way.
The
final jam at Ganesvoort Street is a relief to me
from at least one perspective. I no longer have
to ponder about the spelling of
"Ganesvoort" or "Gansevoort."
The actual street signs have two different
spellings, so what is a budding web-meister to
do? Move the 38th Street. That's easy to spell.
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- While this night was the
official closing night of Ganesvoort Street and
our existence there, last week was the true final jam. For this
week we played not in the studio but in the
warehouse where we consumed so many a calorie.
Admiral Abatement had their own farewell bash the
night before and it was best that we made due
with the remnants of that experience. The move
out of the studio was
 already well under way. As soon as
you walked in to 60 Ganesvoort you smelled the
remnants of that party. Musty beer spilled on the
floor reminded me of what my house on Hudson
Street in Albany used to smell like after a party
when a vagrant slept in the living room. There
were many kegs at the Admiral party consumed,
spilled and left over. We had access to all the
beer we could drink, but in that environment,
beer was just not appetizing.
- A nice stage was built where
the drummers and keyboards played. In front was a
wall of sound made up by four sets of guitar
amps. It was a very noisy night with the great
wall of sound and the echoing of drum symbols off
of the hallowed concrete walls. While it never
got comfortable, the interchange of sounds
dramatically improved as the night went on. It
was still a very difficult night to comprehend
what was happening to us but, isn't that what it
is all about? This is the morning after that I am
writing this and I am still in a tissy from the
Admiral Party minus seven (-> or -7)
Fare-The-Well Jam.
- We were expecting all sorts of
guests for the night. Some showed, some didn't,
but the important thing is we had a special,
freaky experience to end it all. In the room was
standard Deadstein crew with the conspicuous
absence of Larry M. In addition, very special
guests include Andrew Trister, who played in a
jam early on in the Ganesvoort days. He was not
heard from since until he called me out of the
blue a week ago and made it to the final show. It
was great to see him and certainly hear him. Not
only has he not lost a step, he invested in a
high speed elevator. Unbelievable.
- John Spitz was gracious enough
to show and indulge in the fare-the-well
festivities. It was good to see him part-take. A
relatively new comer to the Deadstein scene, he
seems to have the right tools and spirit to fit
into a bunch of freaks like ourselves..
- Of course Freak-boy himself
was there. Regaled in a super freaky tie-dye
superhero's costume, complete with cape, he
entertained us and himself with
the"Freak-Boy Dance." While Jonathan is
no visual substitute for a well-endowed spinning
Ramble on Rose, when you can't flaunt them, you
might as well freak them. And freak he did,
because I noticed on several occasion Trister
looking bending an eyebrow at the Freak show that
was before him.
- Also in the room was Dave
Schwartz and original Deadstein drummer who was
there at the first jam.
- It was good to see Mike
Katzman who played with Deadstein through many a
rehearsal and through many of our infrequent
gigs. he always provided us with a little
professional help which we sorely lack.
- Finally, Joe, the white haired
friend of Larry M., was there and ready to party.
He brought us back to some of our early days when
we did say NO. That was good to see. It made a
for a viscous fall that he took later on in the
evening. He was one wasted dude who began to
actually rap some ridiculous verses. It was all
in good spirit of course. In the end, I called
him "Vanilla Idiot."
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- I think Scarlet was the low
point of the evening. It was from the first
moment that I realized I was not going to be able
to hear myself all night. It was the low point
because that is when I realized this point but,
the combination of excepting this and the
situation improving over time made for an
unbelievable time. I can't believe we were there
for a Scarlet or for six years since June 11,
1991. Trister came
a little late. We didn't start until about 7:30
and Trister began setting up during the beginning
of the Scarlet and joined us by the middle of the
big jam. It was a difficult song to work through
harmonically. There were so many distortions
going on that no one could believe anything they
were playing. It was freaky, no one knew what to
do. It was a time for dismay and disbelief.
- Sugaree was a little better,
there was a little more room. I remember during
it Trister saying to me, "This is the
loudest thing I have ever heard." He was
right except for the fact that the Scarlet was
louder. Anyway, I was thinking "This is
Deadstein, sink or swim," and it was about
that point that he got over the shock of the cold
water and began the back stroke.
- Cassidy was pretty good, very
hot intro into the whip.
- Rooster had some hot leads in
it.
- Big Railroad was very
enjoyable. "The good old 4-4," as
Trister said. He really had the riff down didn't
he.
- The Stranger during the song
was pretty good. Trister has the real deal Mutron
envelope filter and it shined during the
Stranger. The closing whip of the Stranger was
totally flubbed and was one of the worst single
moments of the night.
- We messed up on the structure
of the Franklin's a bit. It got hot. Johnny
thought it was dragging. I admit it dragged a bit
but it also provides a bit more room for all of
use to interweave, bob and shake.
- The Playing started with a
5-6-7-8 when it should be a 7-8-9-10 but who's
counting. Larry B. is and it should be 7-8-9-10.
I personally said NO to the beginning of the
Playing and got into the groove by the turnover.
I really whipped it. It was fun. There is nothing
like a Playing to enjoy a trip down a path
leading to nowhere except where you want to be.
It is magical in that sense. We closed the
Playing with the back into Playing which got
powerful. We took a small break after the
Playing.
- An informal After Midnight was
in progress by the time I came back to the stage.
Mike K. was playing the Hammond, which even I
will miss, and singing. Dave S. was playing my
guitar so I decided to join Scott on the drums.
Although I stink at them I was counting and
keeping a steady beat by hitting a snare on the 2
and 4.
- I remained on drums during the
Shakedown which I really can't comment on since I
was in a strange place. I loved the drumming
though.
- I sat out during the Bertha as
Mike K. picked up the sticks.
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 It was ironic that the place where
we learned to become pigs by eating fine Italian
and French food on top of garbage dumpsters
wouldn't be used to eat a thing during this jam.
The call to play music was too strong.- Larry B. and I had to resort
to going to the Holland Dinner just outside the
tunnel. It took a long time but was worth the
wait. Egg were on order with some good toast,
fries and hash browns. There was nothing wrong
with the chocolate milk and egg creams either.
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- We strayed from the original
second setlist Kevin wrote out for us. Unlike the
first, which untypically, was longer than
proposed. No eating will do that to a setlist.
- Music Never Stopped was hot.
Dave sang and Larry and Andy traded some hot
riffs. Dave thought it was the best one ever and
it may very well have been, but just imagine what
that could sounded like with a little more
coordination and practice. Oi-vey.
- Going Down the Road was a
little too big.
- Brokedown was sweet. It had
some nice harmonies, best of the night. I think
Kevin was playing like Kevin in la-la land quite
a bit during this song.
- Samson and Delilah was really
good. John sang well and we had some hot leads.
Larry B. picked this song to provide Trister a
venue to shine a bit and he did. It was hot and
the little didlies during the verses were just
right. It was fun and fitting as a way to close
out this wonderful studio.
- The impromptu We Bid You
Goodnight was surprising sweet, well done and had
a strong emotional tie to it.
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 It was very cool for the middle of
July. It was blustery outside all day. The rain
was very strong and by the middle of the night,
there was heavy flooding in the back corner of
the studio.- The ride home was through a
consistent torrential down pour. Hydro-planning
many miles at a time was the norm. From a weather
perspective, it was as difficult a ride home as I
have had from a jam.
| Closing
of Ganesvoort Rap-up: |
 It was a shame we had no Dennis to
say good-bye to at the end of the night as he was
sleeping for the last time to the lullabies of
Deadstein. Let us not loose sight of the picture
of a slumbering Dennis is the bowls of the New
York City meat packing district under a dripping
ceiling snuggling in a cover and somehow able to
sleep to the tremendous roar of Deadstein. - Fare-the-Well oh Dennis.
- "Going to leave that
Brokedown Palace. On your hands and knees you
shall roll, roll, roll." No one I fits the
following like you do, "Mama, Mama many
worlds I've come since I first left home. Going
home, going home, by the waterside I will rest my
bones. List to the river sing sweet songs to rock
my soul." So Long Dennis, it's great that
you found a river. It's perfect.
- As for Deadstein, we have our
own new home move into and it's a big move. We
have a little plan for now, it should work for
the foreseeable future but, the future is
unforeseeable. All we know is "The wheel is
turning and it won't slow down." It will
just stop one day and then you will look back and
wish you didn't get get off.
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Ganesvort Street
