Straight off the train that brought me back home from Amsterdam were I went to see
Jerry Lee Lewis. A weird night for sure, as on arriving I learned that JLL's flight was delayed and I had about three hours to kill in a city that's all but dead on a Monday night. After spendin' way too long in a bar sippin' wine 'n readin' the dailies, I still arrived at the Paradiso well before showtime. So much so, that I had to watch this guy called
Blondell, who seemed to be Jerry's support act on this tour. And what aural torture it was; think of a ABC (remember them?) lookalike doin' al the worst Elvis tunes you can think of and who rounds up his set with a U2 cover, get the picture?.
Finally, on comes Jerry Lee. And no matter the fact that he plays a short set, is backed by a band that couldn't hold a candle to the Nashville Teens
and that he looks like he's just suffered a stroke, seein' the man up on stage from up close is one of those things that makes life worth living. The way he pounds those 88s is way beyond compare, and his voice is still, uh, kill, no, make that deadly. The crowd was a weird mix of aging rockers, chain-smoking housewives and Hell's Angels... all of 'm bein' in obvious awe of bein' in the pressence of one of the last real icons left on this planetseein' the man up on stage alive 'n well. Counting my change afterwards, I noticed the whole thing cost me well over a buck a minute, but it was sure worth it, 'cause when it comes down to it; no one or nothing beats Jerry Lee, so I just skipped figurin' out what was left of my petty cash and counted my blessings, and hey....
Afterwards I caught a couple o' tunes by
Mr Airplane Man at the upstairs bar. These Boston gals do a White Stripes kinda thing, but with a more Oblivians-kinda weight to it. It was cool to note that after touring Euroland for only several days, they had attracted a number o' guys following them and handing over presents before showtime.
