John Doe
Saw John Doe and his Rockin’ Band last night at a club called Safari Sam’s in Hollywood. The punk icon was in fine form, tearing through a number of hits, including “White Girl” and “New World” along with a bunch of fairly forgettable new songs, a few rockabilly standards, and ending his encore with a classic rock tune that was charming but which now, in my slightly hungover state, I can’t hardly recall.
It was fun being at a club in Los Angeles; I didn’t see any movie stars, but I was impressed by how many older folks were there. This could have been a function of who was performing (all those grayhairs trying, like me, to recapture a bit of their past) but it seemed that for many of the middle-aged in the crowd this wasn’t entirely a special occasion, so maybe it’s not so weird to go out clubbing in your fifties instead of settling down in front of the TV to watch reruns of “Barney Miller.”
I missed Exene on stage with her former bandmate; the group backing him, Dead Rock West, featured a female lead singer who struck me as a cheaper imitation of Exene; she even wore a vintage dress and cowboy boots but the harmonies between the two singers didn’t have that aggressive edge that X’s did. (My sense was that this singer was—understandably—in awe of John Doe in a way that Exene would never be, so that in the competition between their voices, his always won out, making for a much less interesting duet.)
Guitar god Dave Alvin also sat in for a few songs which was pretty cool, although he is really a rock star who, for me, works much better on record than in person, although his look probably gives heart to aging wannabe rocker librarians around the world.
And it left me wondering as I always do when I see him: does John Doe dye his hair?
It was fun being at a club in Los Angeles; I didn’t see any movie stars, but I was impressed by how many older folks were there. This could have been a function of who was performing (all those grayhairs trying, like me, to recapture a bit of their past) but it seemed that for many of the middle-aged in the crowd this wasn’t entirely a special occasion, so maybe it’s not so weird to go out clubbing in your fifties instead of settling down in front of the TV to watch reruns of “Barney Miller.”
I missed Exene on stage with her former bandmate; the group backing him, Dead Rock West, featured a female lead singer who struck me as a cheaper imitation of Exene; she even wore a vintage dress and cowboy boots but the harmonies between the two singers didn’t have that aggressive edge that X’s did. (My sense was that this singer was—understandably—in awe of John Doe in a way that Exene would never be, so that in the competition between their voices, his always won out, making for a much less interesting duet.)
Guitar god Dave Alvin also sat in for a few songs which was pretty cool, although he is really a rock star who, for me, works much better on record than in person, although his look probably gives heart to aging wannabe rocker librarians around the world.
And it left me wondering as I always do when I see him: does John Doe dye his hair?
posted by Professor Dave at 10:05 AM
2 Comments:
He totally dyes his hair. he has to be seventy by now. but who knows. Papa Reagan claims he didnt dye his hair but he had the brain sickness so who knows.
X was great. i too loved the edgy harmonies rockabily guitar.
Sounds like you had fun and you escaped La La unharmed. or have you escaped yet?
Matt
Hmm, does John Doe dye his hair? Probably not as much as Dave Shapiro does - although, to be fair, Dave's dye jobs have never really been to cover up the grey - in fact, it has been one of the joy's of my existence that my baby brother has always had more grey then me. And John Doe is only 53, a mere year older than me, and I don't have all that much grey.
Dave's big sister
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