Sam Shinazzi

Stories

Lou Barlow
Sam Shinazzi
The Basement, Sydney
Sunday June 29th, 2003

During the middle of 2003 I was fortunate enough to be chosen as the lone support for Lou Barlow's only solo Sydney show. He was out here for a national Folk Implosion tour and this was his last show in Australia.

(***As usual with my stories…if you feel like I am bragging or name-dropping and cannot tell that I am just amazed and grateful at these opportunities…stop reading and don't come back***).

I am stating the obvious by saying that I am a huge fan of all of his various musical releases. Sebadoh and Sentridoh most definitely, but also his contributions to Dinosaur Jr and later on as Folk Implosion. The first time I ever heard Sebadoh was on 2SER late one Monday evening. Aaron from the Amplifier program played 'Soul and Fire' and I freaked out for a few different reasons. Obviously, it is an amazingly beautiful song but the stripped back, yet raw sound floored me, as did the honesty in the vocal. The other reason I was somewhat startled was because it sounded very much like the second song I ever wrote, which around that time was probably only one of two songs. I bought 'Bubble and Scrape' and loved it. 'Bakesale' was, is, one of the greatest albums ever made. And there were so many little recordings of Lou's available. Their first tour here was one of the most anticipated that I can remember within the Sydney music scene. It was rough, rockin' and all over the place. At the time, I loved it. Looking back, it probably was the hype more than the performance, because when they returned a few years later they played an amazingly great show at the Metro. It put their first tour to shame.

Having said that, I was lucky enough to be at the Lou Barlow instore at Waterfront which was just incredible. I went with my mate Adam Taylor. We sat in front of these two pretty girls. At the second show that night at the Phoenician Club, Adam had drunk too much goon and he saw the two pretty girls, along with a blonde, on the second level.

He went upstairs to talk to them because he knew that I had a major crush (2 years is forever) on the brown haired girl. As he went up, I whispered something like "Don't go for her"… and he didn't bless him. Then he brought them downstairs and I was SO nervous. I was finally talking to the girl of my dreams. Her name was Alice, she thought my name was Alfred. Long story. They were underage but had organised their way in. Michelle would end up being the love of Adam's life. You can see how the 'Bakesale' tour is looked back upon fondly by the two of us despite the mixed performances.

I have had some people say to me, or hint, that because of my friendship with Aaron from Spunk Records, I always get the great supports. Let me clarify that isn't true. Firstly, compared to many others I haven't supported all that many acts. As for Aaron, I mean, it doesn't hurt. But I met him through sending him demos and my releases. He likes what I do. I also have worked hard to build up some sort of profile all on my own. It's not like I wasn't in a position to support Pernice or Rouse. I play around the eastern states of Australia and release material. And everyone else around here, everyone, has had someone that backs them. It actually is a lovely story. You know, he was the guy I would listen to every Monday on Amplifier. Enough about Aaron, it'll go to his head! I will say though, that I had to FIGHT for the Barlow support. So did the Packers…

Thursday 19th June 2003

I played guitar for Jenny Queen's album launch at Ariel Books in Paddington. Great show. My folks, big brother and sister-in-law came. It was my Dad's first outing since his quadruple bypass. After the show, I remember drinking a fair amount with Beau and Nick from Starky at the Strawberry Hills Hotel. We then walked to the Gaelic Club to see the New Folk Implosion. Great set. Real quiet crowd. I was very drunk by the end. I was riding home with Aaron so I ended up helping pack gear etc. Hung with the band, which was great! I was very drunk though. For some reason, we had two cars and it was just myself, Aaron and the three Folk Implosion guys. I couldn't drive, even the short distance, to their hotel. So I hop into the car with guitarist Imaad, who is driving. Aaron is driving the other car with drummer Russell and Lou. Suddenly, Lou jumps out and hops in with Imaad and myself. "Jeez" I say to myself, I'm in a car with two-thirds of Folk Implosion! Except I say it out loud and they laugh.

Imaad is kinda nervous driving in a foreign country and all. Suddenly a taxi pulls up behind us and he mutters "Shit man, it's a pig". I have no idea what he is talking about until I look behind Lou, who is the back seat, and see a Taxi. "It's just a cab…" I laugh. Imaad drives slow and steady. We follow Aaron to their hotel, except Imaad bumps the car in front of us! We all get out and there is no damage. What a crazy night.
June 29th 2003 : I remember it being nice crisp winters night in Sydney. A Sunday night. I watched the Penrith Panthers beat the Canterbury Bulldogs before I get a ride in with Aaron and his much better half Tanya. There had been dramas because my song 'House Near Bridge' was receiving some airplay on the main radio station throughout Australia, and in return some of their 'workers' had expressed interest in being guests to the show. Except I only had a few guests allowed…guests being close friends. Anyway, we pick up Lou and his wife Kathleen who has ventured out for the last week of the Australian leg, and some New Zealand shows which follow. I re-introduce myself to Lou because of the state we were both separately in the other week.

Around 6:30pm we enter an empty Basement in Circular Quay. For those who haven't been there, it is more of a club than pub. Mostly it hosts jazz acts, acoustic and roots kinda thing. It's 'classy'. You can sit down and have a meal etc… It is a world famous venue and indeed, a hard place for someone like myself, no matter how well suited, to play. Lou soundchecks and sounds great. He has a nice little nylon string acoustic. He sings and plays really quietly. We hang with Kathleen, who for that past hour, has convinced herself that I am American! Apparently I sound like someone she knows… Kinda funny. Later on, I dedicate my song 'Wyoming' to her… (Not Wyoming USA but the Central Coast of Australia"). I have a quick soundcheck and it is amazing to be up there on that stage. I have seen some killer shows here including Will Oldham, Buffalo Tom acoustic and one of the most amazing things ever…Ron Sexsmith solo on his third tour. Alice and I had a table right in front of him). Lou, Kathleen, Aaron, Tanya, Chris Wu and myself sit down for a meal. Doors open and I notice people noticing Lou. He is a fairly quiet fella, very friendly though. Kathleen tells stories and Aaron tries to match her with his own. I end up going backstage followed shortly by Lou and we talk generally. Rob Cranny comes back to say hi. I start getting pretty nervous. Why I am not sure? It is a big crowd but that's not it. I start wishing Alice was here, but she is in America for a while.

I end up playing from about 9pm and am in disbelief how wide that little stage seems! The crowd is chatty but not in a disrespectful way or anything. I heckled for perhaps the first time in my musical life! Actually, twice in a minute I was heckled. I am not sure if it was the same guy or not. I introduce myself, and I must have mumbled because he said "What did you say?"… so I repeated it. Then the next one happened, it's a good one though. After like my first line or something, some guy to my left yells out "You're not Lou" which makes me smile. I mean, we look like twins and I sound like him when I sing in a lower register. And we sing about girls. So I lost my nerves then and just got on with it. The setlist was something like : You Better Stop Breaking My Heart / Town Where You Were Born / Goofy / Wyoming / My Darling (Juliana Hatfield cover) / House Near Bridge plus two more I can't recall. There is a MD recording floating around but I am yet to hear it. I dedicate 'House Near Bridge' and tell the crowd about meeting Alice at a Sebadoh show. I looked to the side a few times and Lou was sitting there watching and listening which was just an unbelievable feeling. He was visible to some, and a few friends said he looked into it. The show flew by, and I remember not being entirely happy with it. I got a big cheer and everything, so it wasn't that the crowd wasn't it into it. I think I could have played better, and usually, or lately, I haven't felt that way. I usually feel like I have given it my all. I go backstage and Aaron and Lou were there. "Tough crowd" I said to Lou…"Good luck". I was joking of course. He would go on to kill them!

I started on the beers as Lou was only into the wine. He was on pretty much straight after me, so I grabbed some more beers and headed out to Aaron's table with Rob. Well wishers on the way said I did good which is always a good sign, eh? Lou was amazing. Really quiet, and the crowd was totally into it so it's not like he had to fight them. And he played a long, beautiful set from his entire career. He even did 'Bubble and Scrape' material such as 'Soul and Fire' and 'Two Years…' which were written when he and Kathleen had been separated. (Keep in mind she was there, at the front. For those who didn't know, he even pointed her out!
The new songs were great, especially the one about their cat. He was chatty onstage too, telling stories about songs and his wild years with Evan D. and the like… After a few encores, the house lights came on and the show was over. I sat around for a while and chatted with friends etc.

I had to go backstage to get something and Lou was just sitting there on his own in the room. I told him it was a beautiful set and we just started talking about things. Lou's a really friendly guy; I think he's a bit like me, in that he might be a little difficult to crack but once you do, he's a great conversationalist. For the record, I am not declaring by any means that I am a great conversationalist. I ask him about LA, and tell him about my obsession with Boston music. Infact we end up talking about Boston music for a while, which was great. Maybe its because I am on the drink, or maybe its because we are getting along pretty good, but I do the unthinkable ask about Dinosaur Jr. I bring them up through that book 'Our Band Could Be Your Life'. He says it paints J.Mascis in a fairly unflattering way, but then goes on to say most of it was true. "So he did hit you in the head with the guitar at your last show huh" I stupidly ask to which he laughs. He then goes onto to tell me he had some sort of lunch with him recently, and that it was the first time they had spoken since he left the band pretty much. It was pretty surreal, hearing Lou talking about J to little ol' me but I wasn't about to stop him. We swap CD's. After a while I head out again to chat with mates. I kiss Scotty on his shaven head.

Eventually, we leave as we came. Ace, Tan, Lou, Kathleen and myself. We drop the visitors back to their hotel and get out to say goodbye. I tell Lou how much it meant to play with him and we shake on it. I think I semi-hug him actually.