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Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir said on Instagram last week, “Phil [Lesh] wasn’t particularly averse to ruffling a few feathers.” To hear some in the Dead world tell it, that is an understatement. When the Dead were making their second album (Anthem of the Sun) for Warner Brothers, company president Joe Smith identified bassist Lesh as “the catalyst for chaos within the band,” adding, “It’s apparent that nobody in your organization has enough influence over Phil Lesh to evoke anything resembling normal behavior.”
Smith’s attitude may have been colored by the fact that, when the band’s manager received a letter from Smith complaining about inefficiency during the creative process, one of the band members (Lesh?) underlined the parts that the Dead didn’t like, wrote “Fuck You!” across the letter and mailed it back to Smith.
Normal behavior was, of course, something at which the members of the Dead did not excel, particularly Lesh. I suppose it was a combination of his rebellious personality, his beatnik irreverence and a sincere distrust of The Man. Lesh passed away last week at the age of 84. Fare thee well, Phil, you magnificent bastard.
Ticket Alert
It’s been a couple of years since the Swedish band Ghost played in Houston, but they must be doing something right, as their last Bayou City gig was at the Smart Financial Center, and now they have graduated to Toyota Center. It will, no doubt, be an evening filled with costumes, masks, generally spooky stuff and some heavy (if at times slightly overwrought) rock and roll. You can snag tickets through one of the available presales right now, or wait until the general sale on Friday.
And if highly theatrical rock and roll is your bag (barf bag in this case), you’ll want to know that heavy metal gross-out kings GWAR will be performing at Warehouse Live Midtown on Saturday, November 16. Is it a bit much? Depends on your sense of aesthetics (and taste). But I will spare you any examples for the moment, in case you are reading this over breakfast or something like that. Suffice it to say that one of the band members goes by the nom de stage “Jizmak Da Gusha.”
This just in: southern rockers Blackberry Smoke will play at the 713 Music Hall on Friday, March 28. Presales are up now, with the general sale on Friday.
Concerts This Week
Gladys Knight is now 80 years old, but you wouldn’t know it. After decades of hit records and Grammy awards, Knight has spent time over the past few years appearing on television shows (“Dancing with the Stars,” “The Masked Singer”) and picking up awards, including the National Medal of Arts and a Kennedy Center Honor. Fortunately, though, Knight is on the road for a handful of dates before the end of the year, one of them tonight at the Smart Financial Centre.
Morrissey, affectionately (well, sort of) known as the Pope of Mope, will perform tomorrow night at the 713 Music Hall. A minor controversy erupted when Morrissey graced our fair city in 2019 and prohibited meat from being served at his White Oak Music Hall concert. Not a real surprise, considering one of the Smiths albums was called Meat is Murder. Another act appearing at the facility – rapper Jake Hill – cancelled their show in protest, upset that band and crew members were not allowed to eat a to-go order from Chick-fil-A on the premises.
All of this goes to show that Morrissey is even more strict on the no-meat thing than Paul McCartney, who does not ride in limos with leather seats or allow leather-upholstered furniture in his dressing room. No word yet on the policy at tomorrow’s show, but, carnivores, you have been warned.
Saxophonist / flutist Karl Denson can play rock or jazz, or both at the same time. He has performed with rocker Lenny Kravitz and the Rolling Stones (he is currently the band’s touring sax soloist). On the jazz side of the aisle, Denson has played with Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland. And he has his own band, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. Check them out on Friday at the Heights Theater.
Marc Anthony’s current tour is called “Historia,” so it is not unreasonable to expect something of a retrospective filled with hits. Anthony, of course, has a bunch of hits to choose from, as the best-selling salsa artist of all time, certified by Guinness World Records. Oh, and Billboard too. But Anthony’s latest album, Muevense, was just released a few months ago, so the set list will probably be a mix of the old and the new. The party will be at Toyota Center on Sunday.
Some people were just born to be rock stars. People like Yngwie Malmsteen. The guitarist, who created a sensation in shredder circles back in the ‘80s, still has big hair, wears black leather pants and drives a Ferrari. If nothing else, Malmsteen is consistent, steadily releasing albums full of neo-classical arpeggiated heavy metal since he first arrived on these shores from Sweden. Malmsteen will “unleash the fury” (as he likes to say) on Monday at Warehouse Live Midtown.
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Tom Richards
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