Hotel Chelsea 16th Anniversary (06.25.23)

Rocking my ass off at Hotel Chelsea's 16th anniversary bash. Photo by Kat.

Not long ago, I was doing whatever I was doing at that moment, and a message arrived from my manager Maali Beck. She was asking if I was available to do a show on Sunday June 25. I didn't have any other specific plans on my schedule that day, but I also wasn't eager to relinquish my rare relaxation time unless it seemed worthwhile enough to do so.

"Where at?" I asked.

"It's for Hotel Chelsea's 16th anniversary."

"Yes. Yes, absolutely yes, Say no more. I'm in. Yes."

I've literally never had a bad show at Hotel Chelsea. I've played to five people there, and to 50 people there, and it's always good nonetheless. I have to believe that it boils down to one simple thing I've said many times over the years I've been doing shows there, and it's the fact that I have never felt unwelcome there to play any song I felt like doing at any time I felt like doing it.

What Else Has Been Up?

Uh, like really not a lot. Normally by this point in a year, I'd have done something out of the ordinary, but nope. I will say I'm glad that I've stayed consistent with my daily Random News bullet lists. It's really quite the tome now since it got started in May 2022, having surpassed 440,000 words total.

Unlike an actual journalist, my bullet points are just an aggregate of other people's research and reporting. But I try and curate a specific kind of news where the criteria for inclusion prioritizes information that I think the person reading it can react in a way that's helpful. Or other times, I just throw in weird shit that interested me at the moment. And my news is never fully copy/pasted shit from elsewhere. I do add opinion, context, and my own spicy presentation.

Cruising through my area of Redondo Beach yesterday morning before my show, and always glad to see Pride represented in my neighborhood.

I've received particularly good reactions and engagement this month after I decided to include a special Pride Note to begin each day's bullet list. It's a bit of extra work for me to choose topics and do the required research, but I've enjoyed that process and I actually believe I am helping people learn about details of LGBTQIA+ history and culture that they'd never have sought out on their own. I've also heard from my many friends across the LGBT spectrum who are appreciative for my efforts.

So that's good, I suppose.

Anything Else?

No, nothing of note. My life has been pretty settled into the typical work and life routine for a good long while. I do need something to break that up in the near future. The timing for that just hasn't been great, but I'm thinking maybe a stupid Vegas trip over an upcoming weekend sounds like an excellent change of scenery.

Why not go to my favorite place of Joshua Tree? Because it's almost July and the desert is fucking hot. But planning a trip for October is probably an excellent idea. I can see the stars and hear the coyotes and smell the Pappy & Harriet's ribeye steak from just thinking about it.

I can't think of anything else that's noteworthy.

All things considered, a trip to JTree with friends sounds awesome... in the fall. When it's cool and lovely, and not hot and hellish.

Okay, Just Talk About The Show

Fine. Here's a weird thing: I inadvertently did two sets of songs sung by vocalists with different bands: Kurt Vile (solo and with the Sadies) and Jeff Tweedy (Golden Smog and Wilco).

Beyond that, I guess the notable aspect of this show was that it was held out in the street in front of Hotel Chelsea as opposed to inside the club downstairs. That made for a nice change of scenery. I also have to say, I'm super grateful for the large crowd that turned out for this special gig. When I arrived, there were three people there; when I got off stage, there was roughly ten times more than that.

Getting my show rolling. Photo by Kat.

I was proud to be part of this great day of music and art. Photo by Kat.

Me being me. Photo by Kat.

I like playing in the street. Seriously. I've done some terrific real life shows in streets as well. I think everyone feels welcome to enjoy some live music that's being performed where they happen to be passing by. Photo by Kat.

More importantly, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and the music. I was well warmed up and I think both my guitar and voice were as good as I'm capable of making them, so I have zero complaints there. I will tell you, I did the thing where I was putting 100% of my energy into the performance, and when I wrapped up my show and got off stage, I was damn near ready to collapse here in real life.

But I got over it pretty quickly after some dramatic moaning and stumbling around the house, and then spent the next hour hanging out at Chelsea to hear my friends Matthew and Beth do a dual-stream that was completely fun. I'm definitely proud to have Hotel Chelsea in SL as my regularly scheduled show. Good place, good people. I don't ask for more than that.

Hotel Chelsea 16th Anniversary set list...

Shame Chamber (Kurt Vile)

You Don't Know How It Feels (Tom Petty)

Pecan Pie (Golden Smog)

Northern Sky (Nick Drake) 

California (Joni Mitchell)

Either Way (Wilco)

Landslide (Fleetwood Mac) 

Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts) 

It's Easy Like Walking (The Sadies w/Kurt Vile) 

Pancho and Lefty (Townes Van Zandt)

Drive (Incubus)

Tribute (Tenacious D)

Tea for the Tillerman (Cat Stevens)

Gigantic thanks to the folks who came to my show at Hotel Chelsea's 16th anniversary event, with extra super duper thanks tot he following people who helped support the show!

Magneat Resident, Beth Odets, Grace McDunnough, Guru Witte, Merope Madrigal, Harpo String, Jenna Graycloud, Trymetwice Resident, Annah DeCuir, AutumnFoxx Sutherland, Kat Claxton, Icon Allen, Cactusboss Resident, my manager Maali Beck, Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko, and Chelsea's great staff. Happy anniversary!