Dec
Posted on 12th December 2005
This past weekend I rocked the metropolises of New York City and Boston as part of my duties as the guitar player for Heather. We were playing two nights in a row with our friends in Mr. Brownstone, America’s preeminent Guns n’ Roses tribute band, which features Heather bass player Drew in the role of Duff.
The first of the two rock attacks took place at North Six in Williamsburg, a club I had never played before. I was feeling a little bit under the weather before the show, so when someone from one of the opening bands, Soy Dracula, offered me a glass of whiskey before our show, I decided to drink it with the idea that it would somehow help my cold. In the end, however, it just made me sort of wobbly and unable to focus on my guitar playing very well without closing one of my eyes during the more difficult passages. I felt kind of bad about this as I generally try to bring my A-game at all times when it comes to matters of rock. I hope the kids didn’t notice my lack of composure.
After our set, I caught a little bit of Mr. Brownstone’s set (which featured the excellent Corn Mo in the role of Axl) before joining my cousin Kieran and friend Patrick at a nearby bar where they were having a tribute of sorts for Dimebag Darrell. We stayed for a drink before I headed home to finish off a bag of cookies I had bought the night before. This turned out to be a bad idea as I was awakened at 5am by the uncontrollable urge to puke everywhere. Sometimes I don’t make the best choices.
On Saturday morning, I awoke feeling like a champ and ready to rock Boston. I met the rest of the Heather fellas at the car rental place and we proceeded to drive in the general direction of Boston for a few hours, only to get lost at one point and somehow end up in the great state of Vermont. If someone would have told me earlier that day that I would be in Vermont at any point in the next 24 hours, I would have told them they were crazy but then there I was totally standing in the state of Vermont trying to figure out how to get to Boston on time to rock the people of that fair city.
In the end, we got back on track and got to Boston in one piece for the most part. For the record however, we did have to pull over at one point so I could puke again, but I am attributing this largely to motion sickness and my inability to eat at McDonald’s without getting violently ill. No offense to the McDonald’s people or anything- we had a great run there for the first 18 years of my life, but somewhere along the line my gastrointestinal system changed and became not-so-Big-Mac-friendly anymore. Don’t beat yourself up about it.
Unfortunately I got to Boston too late to have dinner with my sister and her husband as planned, but I got to hang out with them for a bit before the show anyway, which was nice. My sister is pregnant and it was pretty wild seeing her all with child and everything. At first I thought she had a pillow under her shirt but then upon closer inspection she was totally pregnant. Life is beautiful.
Our show was at the Paradise Theater and was sold out, which is always nice. Since I was feeling a bit under the weather still (and had puked twice in the last 24 hours), I decided not to drink anything but water and delicious Coca-Cola before and during our show and I was a better man for it. It was one of our best show’s in a while and the people of Boston seemed to dig it as far as I could tell.
After our set, we stood and watched Mr. Brownstone for a while from the side of the stage while trying to pelt them with pizza, which is something that happens when a bunch of guys who live the rock-n-roll lifestyle all get together to play some shows at a club where they deliver like ten pizzas to your dressing room. I watched Mr. Brownstone for about six or seven songs before deciding it was time for bed and jumping in a cab out to my sister’s pad outside of scenic Boston. She and her husband recently moved into a great house that kind of had me rethinking most of the choices I’ve made in my life. Maybe I should have just gone ahead and gotten a job after all. Oh well, at least I have cable.
On Sunday morning, after a delightful brunch with my sister near her house, I piled into Mr. Brownstone’s van (the rest of the Heather guys headed out the night before) and drove back to New York in what proved to be an entirely puke-free trip home. On the way, we stopped at a gas station and Corn Mo and I each bought some delicious chocolate bars that we both seemed to be pretty excited about. He got milk chocolate with some extra bullshit in it and I got dark chocolate because that’s just how I live my life.
When I got back to Brooklyn, I fell into a deep sleep that only comes after a long weekend of rocking people and occasionally puking and stuff. It felt good.
Dec
Posted on 8th December 2005
Here- for a limited time only- is a free download of a song by my unstoppable rock band Valley Lodge. The song is called “Hanging On” and you can totally stream and/or download it right here. The song is good companion for driving, running, boning, doing the dishes, skeet shooting, contemplating the unknown, or just rocking out in general. I hope you enjoy it. In fact- as offered previously on these pages- if you are not completely satisfied with your Valley Lodge rock experience, you can totally kick me right in the balls. I stand behind the product (I also have cold balls of steel). Anyway, hope you dig it.
Dec
Posted on 8th December 2005
Dear friends, colleagues, and other people with Internet access:
I just wanted to let you know that on Thurs. Dec. 15 at 11pm, I am going to be walking on stage at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (located at 307 West 26th Street right near all the great shops) and totally f#%king sh*t up (I mean this in a good way) with another exciting episode of my mystifying nightclub act, The Dave Hill Explosion. If you like stuff that is really entertaining, then you should totally come to my show because that is exactly what I am going to be dishing up for like 35 minutes straight on Dec. 15. The show will actually go on for 36 minutes total, but I plan to not be entertaining for a full minute at some point just so people do not start taking it for granted or something. Adding to the mayhem, I am also going to have a super secret surprise guest on my show who is so incredible that I have had to start taking anti-seizure medication ever since I got the news. Anyway, the incredible guest and I are going to sit there and talk and just be entertaining in general to the point where you will be all like I cannot believe this is happening right in front of me. Christmas is not for another ten days. WTF? Where is the bathroom? As if all that is not enough, my show at the UCB Theatre on Thurs. Dec. 15 at 11pm is going to be entirely FREE of charge. A lot of experts have told me how Broadway shows like “The Producers” and “Movin’ Out” charge as much as $100 for tickets and how I could easily get away with charging twice that, but I was all like you know what- this is not about money, this is about art. When I said money I used air quotes too. And when I said art I began to cry and stormed out of the room to let them know I am freaking serious about that sh*t and we are done talking about it. Another thing I wanted to say is that I know that some of you might see how the show is at 11pm and be all like I am sorry, but that is a little late for me- I have to give a presentation to our shareholders the next morning and I have to be razor sharp because it involves a PowerPoint display followed by a Q&A session and a bagel buffet. And to that I say- Save it! You do not see me screwing up your life by running out and getting a job. Why do you have to pull that crap with me? Anyway, we can talk more about that later. I am so angry with you right now. Getting back to my show, however, I really hope you can make it. In fact, why not reserve tickets at the UCB website right now? That would be so great.
Your man,
Dave Hill
Dec
Posted on 8th December 2005
As you may already know, today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Pantera and Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who was shot to death on stage by a crazed fan while he was performing with Damageplan in Columbus, Ohio. He was and still is one of my all-time favorite guitarists and is undoubtedly one of the best there ever was. Damn, that was one mofo who could play.
I first got into Dimebag and Pantera after their “Vulgar Display of Power” album came out in 1992. It was the first metal album I had heard in a long time that really kicked me fully in the nuts and got me excited about metal again. I was lucky enough to see Pantera a bunch of times while they were still together and even got the chance to meet Dimebag once after a show. He was a super nice guy and took the time to have a word with everybody and make sure anyone who wanted a drink had one. You might not expect that right away since- as you can probably tell by looking at the photo above- he is kind of scary looking upon first glance.
Pantera remains one of my favorite bands to this day (and is one of the few metal bands that make it into regular rotation among my admittedly much whimpier favorites). If you haven’t already, you should check their sh*t out. In fact, today would be an especially good day to do it (I would recommend the “Best of Pantera” CD and DVD that Rhino put out a few years ago as it gives you a little bit of everything). Dimebag would be proud.
Dec
Posted on 3rd December 2005
Last night I saw Dinosaur Jr. at Irving Plaza and that sh*t was rocking. As you might already know, the band is on a reunion tour of sorts with the original lineup of J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph. I was pretty excited to see the show since I never had a chance to see the original lineup in their first go round. I’d seen them a bunch of times after Lou was out of the band and then a bunch of other times after Murph was out of the band too, but there’s always something magical about the original lineup of a band that you really love.
Despite being really excited to see Dinosaur Jr., I neglected to make any arrangements to see the show and then finally around 5 o’clock last night I was all like “I really need to make arrangements to see this show” and then just as I was thinking that, my friend Mike e-mailed me and asked if I wanted to go to the show because he had an extra ticket. Life is crazy sometimes. So anyway, I wrote back to Mike and was all like “Yeah, I totally want to go to the show.” Then I took a nap.
A few hours later I woke up and headed into the city to meet my friend Mike in front of Irving Plaza. Then we went inside and started drinking beer and next thing we knew, a big pink furry monster (actually a guy in a big pink furry monster suit or so I am led to believe) came out on stage and started dancing around and then a couple minutes after that J, Lou, and Murph came out on stage and started rocking balls. In the interest of full disclosure and also to make myself sound cool, I should point out that I had toured with J before back when I was playing bass with Cobra Verde, but he was about ten times louder last night then any of the other times I’ve seen him rock it over the past few years. I wanted to soak in the rock at maximum volume, but I found myself putting my earplugs in every once in a while just so I didn’t get my head blown off.
Dinosaur Jr. played mostly songs from their first three albums (these are the ones the original lineup did together) with the exception of “The Wagon,” which I was surprised but psyched to hear, and the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” which they played for their final encore.
After the show, Mike and I went and drank some more beer (which is always a recipe for good times if you ask me) and then I jumped into a cab and headed back to Brooklyn. When I got home, I ate an entire pint of Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream. I don’t feel too good this morning. But I have been rocked and that has made all the difference.
Dec
Posted on 2nd December 2005
Dear fans of quality and affordable entertainment:
I am excited to tell you that this Monday night, Dec. 5, at 8:30pm (Sharp. Dammit.) I will be hosting a jawdropping night of entertainment of the comedy type at Mo’ Pitkins (a seriously great new venue located at 34 Avenue A at 2nd Street or so in the heart of the anything goes Alphabet City neighborhood of our town). As hinted at in the subject heading, the show is sponsored/curated/sanctioned/approved/generally given the thumbs up by the popular CBS network. It is not being televised or anything but I wanted to point this out just so you know that the people who brought you Knots Landing, Face The Nation, and all those Crime Scene Investigation shows are now getting in on the Dave Hill action too, just like pretty much everyone in the Netherlands did like six months ago. Anyway, the official title of the show on Monday is CBS/NYC Presents Dave Hill’s Magical Night Of A Bunch Of People Doing Stuff and it is going to be a major asskicker. Joining me on the show will be three of the funniest and most talented mofos I know- Mike Albo, Nick Kroll, and John Mulaney– who will each get up one at a time and be really entertaining for like ten minutes each or something. As if all that is not enough, Hair Supply, the number one heavy metal tribute to Air Supply in the Tri-State area, will also be bringing the heat on Monday by playing a song (or maybe two if I feel like letting them). In between all of these guys, I will be coming out on stage and making lighthearted chitchat and being generally just really incredible for a couple minutes until the next person is ready to come on stage and make you forget your very real life problems if only for a little while. There might also be one more really great (and also famous!) comedian on the bill but he told me to call him back tomorrow about it so I am totally going to do that. So anyway, please come. It is pretty much guaranteed to be a f%#king sweet ass night of good times. Deal with it.
I love you,
Dave Hill
