Feb
Posted on 27th February 2009
I have seen the future and his name is Rodney Speed. Last night, I got to become a Rodney Speed Experience alumnus by playing with the band when they opened for the Gene Ween Band at the Highline Ballroom last night. The band’s lineup rotates every show with Rodney being the unstoppable force that keeps it altogether. That’s him above (photo by Dino Perrucci). As I’m sure you can tell, he’s pretty much the biggest badass of all-time.
The set last night consisted mostly of covers like “Sweet Home Alabama, “Born to Be Wild,” “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” and other classics as well as the soon-to-be classic “American Man,” written by Wildhearts mainman and RSE drummer Ginger. Everyone in the band except for Rodney wears matching track jackets and white sweatpants. After the show, a cute girl in the crowd told me the sweatpants were very flattering, which made violating my “no sweatpants in public” policy completely worth it.
As I walked through the crowd after our set, a couple girls told me they made up a chant for the band that goes “Rodney! Fuckin’! Speed!” Not too shabby. I told Rodney about it in the dressing room later and without even looking up from his dinner he said “Yeah, I’m not surprised.”
If I could ever be even half the badass that Rodney is, that would still make me the second biggest badass in the world. Above is a video of the Rodney Speed Experience playing “American Man.” I wasn’t in the band at this point, but I’m hoping they let me play with them again sometime soon. Rodney’s light is so bright my skin is burned.
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