The Right Stuff on upcoming Monster Magnet?

[Jon Jarrett]

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003, Ductor, Dan [NEUUS] wrote:

> The new MM album
>
> Just heard on a Swedish radio show that there will be a cover
> of Captain Lockhead & the Starfighter's song "The right stuff"
> on the new album.
>
> Maybe this is old news.  Anyone hear it at the Astoria show?

        I was there and I heard it. I meant to post a review but there
hasn't been time to get round to it. The essentials of the show
as I got it were:

Dave Wyndorf is bloody good at his job;

Ed Mundell can play a bit but still mostly just widdles for MM compared to
his stuff for The Atomic Bitchwax;

the new rhythm section I thought were a bit rough at the edges but my
companion, who was wearing earplugs and thus getting a different idea of
the show from me thought they were spot on, and as she is herself both a
bassist and drummer she was probably more right than I was;

there was nothing played frm _Superjudge_ and I think only `Negasonic
Teenage Warhead' from _Dopes_;

the new stuff seemed more like _Powertrip_ stuff than _God Says No_ stuff,
which I mean to mean kind of generic loud Dave Wyndorf shouts about sex
and power a lot, not too much variation, but you know, I'll still buy the
album when I can;

and rather than burning a guitar, Dave smashed one on-stage during a huge
long version of `Spine of God' which was one of the two encore tracks
(the other was `Space Lord'), starting the whole routine with a speech
about how everybody had to sacrifice something in these difficult days and
how his girlfriend had given him this for Christmas... Someone in the
audience got the plastic sheathing strap which came away from the body,
better than a drumstick I reckon...

        There were two other things about the show worth mentioning, and
one was this excellent version of `The Right Stuff', though as others have
said he did miss out `and my eyes are eagle-sharp'... But it was very
good, didn't half blanga, and was more fun than that interpolation of
`Brainstorm' into `Dinosaur Vacume' (which was not played) they've been
doing in previous years. Then of course a week later I saw Hawkwind play
`Right Stuff' in the same venue, and then shortly after that Litmus and
Spacehead together minus a few musicians also did it... I think the MM
version just about did it best for me but largely because I'd not heard
the song live for so long (ever?) and when the others came along they
didn't have that shock value.

        The other thing was an extra verse Dave put into `Spine of God'
before the final `centre of the universe' bit. Its lyrics were oddly
familiar :-) They went, in the same tune as `Spine's other verses: `Bye
bye, Miss American Pie, Drove my Chevy to the levee But the levee was dry,
Them good old boys were drinking whisky and rye And singing "this'll be
the day that I *DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE...*"

        This was very very good :-) Yours,
                                           Jon (who is sorry to be such a
desultory contributor these days)
--
                Jonathan Jarrett, Birkbeck College, London
    jjarrett at chiark.greenend.org.uk/ejarr01 at students.bbk.ac.uk
  "As much as the vision of the blind man improves with the rising sun,
       So too does the intelligence of the fool after good advice."
       (Bishop Theodulf of Orleans, late-eight/early-ninth century)