Cooley solo - Philly - July 14

[Clams]

It's about time Cooley got himself to the City of Brotherly Love for a solo show. Who's in?

[Bill in CT]

In

[njMark]

About 3/4 sure I'll be there, seeing Dawes the night before or the night after. Either way potential for a pretty good 2 nights in July

[phungi]

Cooley and Clams in one place? IN!

[Gang Green]

I saw the Hold Steady in that place the Underground Arts a few years ago. I think Underground Arts is a fancy term for a basement. But, we'll be seeing Cooley the next night in DC at the Black Cat. But, if things are slow at work, maybe a trip to Philly will be in order. Cooley two nights in a row?

[Clams]

I think I've got the Philly regulars covered already, but if any of yall are planning on coming to this show, please shoot me a pm or let me know. Planning some festivities and a pregame at my house and wouldn't want any of you to miss it.

[beantownbubba]

In.

[Jonicont]

In.

Me too

[allisonsdc]

In.

Me too

and me too!

[emandrisdad]

In

[Gang Green]

Cooley two nights in a row, I'm in

[Clams]

Tomorrow night is the night. Looking forward to seeing y'all.

[Vincent]

Venue is not well air conditioned and tomorrow is supposed to be a scorcher. Dress accordingly.

[beantownbubba]

Excellent show. Really interesting, varied set list.

Smitty, I wish you could have heard "Pulaski." It might well have brought tears to your eyes.

"Love Like This" was to my ears the best of a very fine bunch of acoustic reworkings. Just incredible, possibly the best version I've heard.

"Birthday Boy" may or may not have been for Clams. No further comment.

More tomorrow.

[uncle rickey]

Self-Destructive Zones
Filthy and Fried
Cartoon Gold
Checkout Time in Vegas
Gravity's Gone
Perfect Timing
Marry Me
Pulaski
Birthday Boy
Eyes Like Glue
Uncle Frank
Women Without Whiskey
72 (This Highway's Mean)
Cottonseed
Shit Shots Count
Made Up English Oceans
Flight 218 to Denver
Love Like This
Encore:
Zip City
Everybody Needs Love

[emandrisdad]

I THANK Clams

[Jonicont]

I THANK Clams

Actually I think the thanks goes to the Mrs. But ok. I Thank Clams

[emandrisdad]

I THANK Clams

Actually I think the thanks goes to the Mrs. But ok. I Thank Clams

Yes. Of course. Mrs Clams too!

[Jonicont]

The Mrs. How did Clams get so lucky

[beantownbubba]

The thing about a Cooley show is that it provides infinite opportunities for Cooley to be Cooley. And like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. Some choice bon bons, or bon mots, or whatever:

"I thought Clams was a girl." Funny enough but then the ensuing half under his breath riffing on how that got his dirty mind churning was not suitable for a family newspaper and just brought it to another level. I'm not shy, I just can't remember it accurately enough to do it justice but oysters were involved.

Before "Everybody Needs Love:" It used to be that everyone was entitled to an opinion. Now it seems that everyone is required to have an opinion whether or not they know what the fuck they're talking about. We need a lot less of that and a lot more of this [i.e. love]... I wish i wrote this song." [quote approximate]

Cooley observed that his 50th bday is following clams's by a couple of months and that cooley's son will turn 13 this year, making it a big milestone year. I asked cooley when the bar mitzvah is going to be and that was all he needed. "If his bday was in December maybe he'd have one. December is the only month I have Jew envy... Being Jewish in December would get me out of a whole lot of obligations I could do without...The rest of the year I'm pretty cool with the whole gentile thing..." [Quotes approximate and just in case: Totally funny and not in any way insulting to anyone] Apparently some in the audience did not hear the question that prompted this response and I have no idea what they thought was going on LOL

[beantownbubba]

For someone who loves music as much as I do, I have remarkably little musical ability. As in "none." I've tried multiple times to learn guitar and piano w/out success and I NEVER sing in public because my efforts are so off key they piss off anyone in hearing distance. So the whole process by which music gets made is miraculous and mysterious to me and hearing acoustic versions of well known and well loved songs really got me thinking about this. What makes a song? What takes it from words on paper to that special thing we call a favorite song? How does singing the same words accompanied by only an acoustic guitar make the song and its meaning different from that song played by a 5 man electric rock band?

Just for example, take 2 songs that I love: "Marry Me" and "Gravity's Gone." Both are full of "cooleyisms" and both have let's call them propulsive rock arrangements in the versions we know. Last night, I thought Gravity elevated to a whole new level that really hit me hard yet Marry Me was "just" a really good song that I like. I truly don't know why or how that happens but I find it fascinating.

Some of the songs that really stood out to me as bringing a very different perspective were "Self Destructive Zones," "Uncle Frank" and "WWW." "Cottonseed" didn't sound all that different but was very powerful. Just 'cause I cant resist, "Cartoon Gold" was missing a verse. As I said before Pulaski and Love Like This really resonated with me. There wasn't a clunker in the bunch but those are some of the ones that stood out for me.

A really really great evening. Thanks to Mrs. Clams, Clams, Cooley and all the usual suspects, especially my personal navigator and DJ.

[beantownbubba]

Whoops. Double post.

[Cubfan06]

Every time I see Clams and his wife on the book of Face, I wonder if Clams is really Tommy Lee in disguise.

[countfeed]

My review and photos are up at Philly Voice here: http://www.phillyvoice.com/concert-revi ... ound-arts/

[Clams]

Last night was fan-fucking-tastic. My awesome wife used the occasion of the hometown Cooley show to throw me a 50th birthday bash, which included hosting a big pregame dinner at our house and then going into the city and taking everyone to see Cooley at Underground Arts. We had a star studded guest list of trucker friends from NC, DC, Delaware, PA, NJ, CT and Mass, not to mention family and good friends from elementary school, college, and pretty much every other stage of my life – which made for a very humbling and awesome night.

As for the show, this was my first time seeing Cooley solo and he didn’t disappoint. He was chatty and loose, having fun and throwing out one liners and some pointed commentary. The birthday shout out was the icing on the cake. He played the Wes Freed acoustic the entire show and if I’m not mistaken he finger picked every song – I don’t believe he used a guitar pick the entire night. It's crazy how his solo songs sound so different from the DBT versions. Usually I can ID any trucker song after like two or three notes but last night I couldn’t figure out most of his songs until he would start with the lyrics. Highlights for me were Self Destructive Zones to open, Checkout Time in Vegas, Pulaski, Love Like This and fucking Cottonseed which I’d never heard live until last night and was absolutely mesmerizing.

The show was seated which I normally don’t like but fortunately there was lots of room to roam. By the latter part of the show, I found myself on the far side of the room and wound up sitting next to Nutfat. The two of us sat there completely entranced while Cooley, 20 feet in front of us, played Zip City. Eventually my wife wandered over and when the song was over, this exchange took place:
Nutfat: Would you like my seat, Mrs Clams?
Mrs Clams: No thank you, Nutfat
Maybe you had to be there but that was so fucking funny. I'm still laughing about it.

So anyway, hometown shows are always great and this one might have been the best - it was intimate and fun and full of people I love. My thanks to Cooley and to everyone who came, yall made it a night I will always remember.

[guitarmanmcs]

Anyone record this one?

[Jonicont]

Anyone record this one?

Yep. I'll get a copy eventually

[guitarmanmcs]

Anyone record this one?

Yep. I'll get a copy eventually

Awesome. I wasn't sure if you'd be at the DC show. I didn't see you there. I still owe you a beer for the Paypal mixup.

[Focker]

I posted a link to the bit torrent under the live recordings sub...enjoy!

[BigTom]

I posted a link to the bit torrent under the live recordings sub...enjoy!

Nice...thought you had retired from taping. Thanks