Right. So I’m meant to be doing a crap-ton of work tonight, but to hell with that for the moment. I’ve got a bottle of Roger Clyne’s own Mexican Moonshine that’s been sadly neglected, and some of you haven’t experienced the Peacemakers. This is not to be borne. So let’s have some official cantina videos, then, shall we?
This is one of their signature songs, Jack vs. José. I wish I could find a better copy, but it gets the point across and includes all of the relevant bits:
Note the traditions: taking tequila shots from the audience and borrowing a straw hat. That’s my Peacemakers. And when you see it live, it is magic. Simply that. For a taste of what it’s like and a glimpse of my Peacemakers tattoo, see here.
This next video was posted by Sithrazer, and is very much my sort o’ thing. Most of my music is actually metal from Nordic lands. This one has the special distinction of being a Finnish metal song that involves Mexico and tequila. I had no idea such a thing existed, and I am loving it:
Delicious! And Suzanne got us a bottle of Resposado, so we are set. This is why I loves me my Suzanne, amigos. She is just that awesome. Between her and Sithrazer, I am in singing sweet shape.
So this is me, my darlings, raising my glass to all of you and saying, “Salud!”
Yes, I know, it’s been over a week since I said I’d be putting up more pics from the Peacemakers’ show, and I’m sure you’ve all just been dying waiting. Here they are:
Now they’re getting it!
Allow me to do my part to convince my fellow Seattleites that you should, indeed, wear a straw cowboy hat:
Mexico, May 2006
I wear a straw hat now. Straw hats are cool.
And yes, that is the Peacemakers’ logo tattooed to my shoulder. If you wonder why, just go see one of the shows. Then you’ll understand.
The rapture happened, my darlings. Well, for me. Well, rapture in one sense, anyway. After an early evening in with the new episode of Doctor Who (and what better evidence that this is, indeed, the Tribulation than the fact that we now have to wait two bloody weeks for the second part of this two-parter?), my friends and I headed out to the Peacemakers concert.
It. Was. Fantastic.
But it’s the Peacemakers, so those of you who know what kind of show the Peacemakers put on already knew that.
I’ll have plenty more pics and gushing a bit later, but I wanted to post Roger’s disco ball first thing. He loved that thing. So here it is, in all its glory:
Disco Ball at Neumos
Roger and Nick with Disco Ball Overhead
Peacemakers con Disco Ball
And, amazingly, video in which both sight and sound are relatively clear:
Have I mentioned lately that I love my camera almost as much as I love the Peacemakers?
If there’s a better way to spend the end of the world, I can’t really think of it – unless, of course, it’s one of their Mexico shows. But we wouldn’t have had a disco ball there, so perhaps this worked out for the best.
So one day, I’m in the passenger seat of some other geo’s truck, being driven from place to place through thick trees and over rutted and roily dirt roads somewhere in central Idaho, in search of particularly fascinating outcrops — any outcrops would do, given the number of trees and lack of visibility — and JS, the geo-type whose projects I was visiting, pulled two of his newly made road tapes out of the glove box. The tapes, filled with road songs, were meant to be played while on the road, any road. Brainstorming while we listened, all the while watching for outcrops, we came up with a million more road songs, and a rather loose definition.
A road song must contain a word pertaining to roads — road, highway, freeway, byway, street, interstate — or it can instead contain words pertaining to cars, trucks, semis, and railroads or railway cars. Travel songs without mentioning the roads or railroads or the vehicles don’t count, and airplane or boat songs are generally out. Exceptions to these rules may exist, but I can’t think of any.
And it occurs to me, there’s a perfect road song she may never have heard:
See? It’s even got the word “interstate” right there in the title.
And there’s a second song that doesn’t quite qualify as a road song, but it’s about being a long way from home, and it’s wonderful, and so it shall be included here:
Silver, my dear, if you enjoyed those, and wish for just a little bit more, let me know, and a CD shall be on its way to you directly. The Peacemakers have plenty more where that came from.
Lyrics below the fold.
Lyrics for “Interstate”:
Well, the fact of the matter There ain’t no facts involved Take it further It doesn’t matter Well out here on the border Ants drag bones across the hot dry ground and over there at the trailer park They got a million souls at the lost and found
Well you should have known better Dead thoughts and lost horizons And to take it further It don’t get any better Well out here on the border Ain’t nobody asking questions No I don’t need a miracle But I could use a push in the right direction
Handgun and a bottle of Boone’s and a “69” Ford and a new pair of shoes Left from Boise Idaho ’95 When they crossed the state line They were just in time to fall Asleep at the wheel
Last fact of the matter Never was no facts involved And to take it further It never really matters Well out here on the border Ants drag bones across the hot dry ground and over there at the trailer park They got a million souls at the lost and found
Handgun and a bottle of Boone’s And a “69” Ford and a new pair of shoes Left from Boise Idaho ’95 So I was just in time to miss the Five O’Clock news The velvet black Interstate was something to feel Spent $5.99 on a stone cold meal Another bottle of wine I was feelin’ just fine And when i crossed the state line I was just in time To fall asleep at the wheel
Handgun and a bottle of Boone’s And a “69” Ford and a new pair of shoes Left from Boise Idaho ’95 So I was just in time to miss the Five O’Clock news The velvet black Interstate was something to feel Spent $5.99 on a stone cold meal Another bottle of wine I was feelin’ just fine And when i crossed the state line I was just in time To fall–
Handgun and a bottle of Boone’s And a “69” Ford and a new pair of shoes Left from Boise Idaho ’95 So I was just in time to miss the Five O’Clock news The velvet black Interstate was something to feel Spent $5.99 on a stone cold meal Another bottle of wine I was feelin’ just fine And when i crossed the state line I was just in time To fall asleep at the wheeeel …
Barkeep Another Mekong please Yes of course, you can keep the change
A new glass here for this new friend of mine Forgive me, I forgot your name Flip a coin What shall we talk about Heads I tell the truth and tails I lie
Well I came all the way From Taipei today Now Bangkok’s pouring rain and I’m going blind again And I haven’t seen my girl for fifteen thousand miles
But is it true It’s always happy hour here and if it is I’d like to stay a while Well as cliche as it may sound I’d like to raise another round And if your bottle’s empty Help yourself to mine Thank you for your time And here’s to life
Barkeep We need to go around again One for me and what’s his name My new best friend Deal me in and I’ll pick my cards up off the floor I’ll see a lucky coin And raise a pack of lies
Smile to the girl at the door Another 4 dollar whore But don’t look her in the eyes She’ll break your heart
We came all the way From Taipei today Still Bangkok’s pissin’ rain and we’re going blind again And I haven’t seen my girl in fifteen thousand miles
Well is it true It’s always happy hour here And if it is I’d like to stay a while Well as cliche as it may sound I’d like to raise another round And if your bottle’s empty Help yourself to mine Thank you for your time And here’s to life
Well is it true It’s always happy hour here And if it is I’d like to stay a while Well as cliche as it may sound I’d like to raise another round And if your bottle’s empty Help yourself to mine Thank you for your time
Well as cliche as it may sound I’d like to raise another round And if your bottle’s empty Help yourself to mine Thank you for your time
And here’s to life Here’s to life Here’s to life Here’s to life Again
Unfortunately, the lighting wasn’t good enough for my poor ol’ camera, so you’ll have to content yourselves with some older pics. Here’s Circus Mexicus, May 2005:
The Seattle crowds are getting better. Still not enough straw hats – they’re hard to come by up here – but at least everybody’s learning to count in Spanish. Everybody roared all the words to the songs. Everybody knew all the in-jokes, made Roger proud, and had a spectacular time, and that definitely matters more than haberdashery. However, if I come into money, all of you horribly hat-deprived fans shall have only to ask, and the hat of your dreams is yours.
Roger & Me at J.J.’s Cantina, Cholla Bay, Mexico, in October 2005. You’re dying of envy, aren’t you? You’re pure-yellow jealous he’s wearing my super-awesome hat, and I’m wearing his, and he even remembers my name.
I took a friend tonight who, judging by his face, is now in love with the Peacemakers. I didn’t ask if he’s of Justin’s opinion and now wants to have Roger Clyne’s babies, but that’s okay. I’ll be happy to have Roger’s babies for them both.
Yes, I’m a hopeless fangirl. However did you guess?
Here’s Roger taking the traditional shot of tequila from the audience at Circus Mexicus, May 2006:
If we all lived by the Peacemaker’s creed, life would be utterly simple. Bring peace, take care of each other. That’s it. That’s what Roger tells us to do, every show, and his music makes it happen. I can’t explain it to you. You’ll have to be there. But if we could translate that feeling of love and beauty and community into the everyday world, there would be no war. There would be no dogma. There would be no conflict. Just a lot of people drinking the world and enjoying each other immensely.
I noticed something strange this time. Now that I’ve made the full transition to atheism, now that I’ve grown utterly comfortable with my lack of faith, I felt completely free. Free to enjoy the music, the company, and the beauty. Free to live in the moment, without pressure, feeling the joy and wonder of the world flow through me. I’ve felt this way at Peacemaker’s concerts before, but there was always a touch of anxiety under the sensation. This time, there was no anxiety. Just bliss.
Christians in the future may ask me, “But don’t you miss God? Don’t you wish you could feel the Spirit in you?”
And the answer is, “Not a bit. I have all I need, in the music, in the people, and in this world.”
Even atheists can feel transcendence. Even we can feel this boundless sense of love and awe, but for us, it comes from the natural world, and from the wonders our fellow human beings are capable of. I don’t need to believe in a perfect God in order to have perfect moments like this. For me, it’s actually easier to have them without trying to convince myself of the existence of just such a God. As the song says, “Better beautiful than perfect anyway.”
While the moon wanes and waxes, Surely death and taxes Are lurking out there.
Life is grand, Love is real, And beauty is everywhere.
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. In Seattle. Awesome.
I just got back from the show. Roger’s grown a goatee – little bit jarring, him looking like Johnny Depp as Captain Jack. P.H. Naffah now has a head of hair – apparently, our “Let the ‘fro grow, bro!” chant a few shows back worked. And Stevie and Nick – I’ve never seen them more on.
Now I’m fucking homesick. The great thing about living in Arizona was getting to see them a half dozen times a year, including two trips to Mexico. I miss Mexico. I miss the Sea of Cortez, and hours of music with three thousand fans pressed around me, and fireworks, and tequila, and just the feeling of it all.
Other folks can have their religion. I have my Peacemakers. And I can tell you that there’s a spirit at those shows that beats anything I ever felt in a church. Life is given a meaning beyond words. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I come out of those shows renewed. And I’d yammer your ears off about it, but if you’ve never been, you won’t understand. So all I’m going to say is, when they’re in your town next, drop in. Get acquainted. I can’t promise you’ll get the same boost I do, but there’s no denying you’ll have a good time. I’ve never seen a band that makes a concert more fun.
I came away with the new Turbo Ocho CD, a gorgeous shirt made just for writers (I’m Kissing the Muse), and the most important thing of all: hope.
They always leave me with the hope that enough of us can come together, cross the divides and mingle, that the world will become a finer place. Some of us will never reach that common ground, love each other enough to let each other just be who we are, but enough of us will.
Roger talked about the lot of us moving down to Mexico. You know something? I can think of far worse fates than spending the rest of my life lazing around on the beach with a bunch of Peacemakers fans and a ton of good tequila.
That’s right, my darlings. The 100th post. A landmark day.
Pop a cork and celebrate with me. I couldn’t have done it without you.
You know what else I’d like to see reach 100? The Skeptologists! Which means it needs to be picked up by a network. So drop on by, if you haven’t already, and send a note of support. I think the Skeptologists would go nicely with some Mythbusters, don’t you?
Kick back, raise your glass, and have a little skeptical TV.
Here’s to you, here’s to quality programming, and here’s to life.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled ranting, already in progress.
My darlings, I’m not sure how many of you may be near Seattle, but if you’re in town April 25th, so are the Peacemakers. We should go.
Never heard of the Peacemakers? No problemo. You’ll still have a great time. I’d never heard a Peacemakers’ song before I went to my first show. I enjoyed it immensely anyway.
Don’t like that kind of music? Doesn’t matter. Neither do I. I’m a symphonic/power/black metal person myself, the occasional foray into my sordid Western/80s New Wave distant past aside. But the Peacemakers transcend normal tastes.
Besides. You’ll be drinking. A lot.
Don’t like tequila? For shame That’s perfectly fine. There are plenty of other beverages that will compensate.
And you can hang out with Dana. Really in real life Dana. How cool is that?
It’ll be pretty cool. I’ll be pissed, plastered, smashed, hammered, and not to put too fine a point on it, pretty damned drunk. People tell me I’m fairly amusing when I’m sloshed, snookered, or otherwise intoxicated. You’ll at least have that for entertainment value until the Peacemakers take the stage.
So drop on by Neumos on April 25th. I’ll be there. You know what I look like. Same hair, same hat. Just look for the drunken black metal chick in the black straw hat screaming “Roger!” at the top of her lungs.