File: May 2007
FREEDOM FRIES
“Burger King, look the fuck out!” Such a statement hardly seems like the kind of impassioned declaration you would expect in the midst of rock ‘n’ roll history being made. But then you realize this is no ordinary rock ‘n’ roll history – this is Tom Morello, The Nightwatchman, at the Chicago stop of his acoustic-centric Tell The Truth tour.
On Saturday, April 14th, Morello hit the House Of Blues in a show of support for the Coalition Of Immokalee Workers, who sponsored a daylong rally that in part celebrated a wage raise for McDonald’s farm workers. Under his Nightwatchman guise, Morello premiered socially conscious material like “House Gone Up In Flames” and “Union Song,” as well as a cover of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”
All of which, while admirable, is hardly historic in and of itself. That is, until you factor in who joined Morello onstage. For the first time in seven years, once and future Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack De La Rocha performed alongside him. While Morello frantically strummed along, De La Rocha broke into surprisingly impassioned acoustic versions of RATM classics like “People Of The Sun,” “Bulls On Parade,” and “Down Rodeo,” as well as a spoken word piece he wrote on the plane ride over.
For such an extensive break between performances, Morella and De La Rocha played off of and alongside each other like no time had passed. And while the show clocked in two members short of a full fledged Rage reunion, the spirit of the band was undeniably present.
– Jaime de’Medici
The Price Is Wrong
We know about the enormous tubs of Cheetos and “family packs” of pepper-smoked beef jerky, but who knew you could get a Conor Oberst-autographed guitar at Costco? Last month, a couple shoppers tipped-off Pitchfork to a listing for acoustic guitars, allegedly signed by the Bright Eyes frontman, on Costco’s online shop for $899.99! Once the Bright Eyes legal team was informed, though, the guitar promptly disappeared from the Web site. The instrument, made by First Act, and the signature were in fact authentic but apparently never intended to be sold to the public. According to a letter from First Act sent to the consumer blog, The Consumerist, the guitar “was signed by Conor Oberst after an acoustic performance in New York on September 16th, 2005” and “due to an internal mistake at First Act the guitar was put up for sale on the Costco website.”
Ahhhhhh. The old internal error that results in an autographed instrument from an indie music icon being sold through the Web site of an enormous corporate retail chain. We see it all the time.
— Trevor Fisher
Cleaning Up His Act
This is why we don’t shower: In one of the most bizarre stories involving toiletries IE have heard, Don Bolles, drummer for punk icons The Germs, was arrested in early April after his bath soap tested positive for GHB during a traffic stop. The 50-year-old Bolles, a Huntington Beach, California resident, was pulled over in Newport Beach, and, The Associated Press reports, police found a toiletry kit containing denture glue, razors, and a bottle of Dr. Bonner’s Magic Soap, an organic hemp-based soap. Apparently alarmed by such a product, the police conducted a field test that allegedly came back positive for gamma-hydroxbutyrate, or GHB — the “date-rape drug.”
As of press time, the Orange County Crime Lab was conducting more tests and executives at Dr. Bronner’s hired an attorney to represent Bolles. The company sounded a bit irritated by the whole thing in a press release: “We cannot imagine anyone putting GHB, or any other drug for that matter, into a rinse-off soap product that is lathered and rinsed off the body immediately. The Newport Beach police should see how much of a buzz putting beer in their shampoo gives them, and get a grip and apologize on their hands and knees to Mr. Bolles.”
Are they insinuating this is a case of dirty cops?
— Trevor Fisher
IE Blood, Irish Heart
International IE intern Janine Schaults and professional photographer Zoran Orlic finally brought their new book Stateside and gave it a proper release. Setting up shop in Wrigleyville’s Uncommon Ground on an eerily brisk Friday, April 13th, the duo presented The Frames: Behind The Glass, a glossy photos-n-words expose on the Irish rock band they (and the South Side Irish) love so much. Not that they don’t follow him everywhere already, but an unusually large contingent of Orlic’s were also on hand to celebrate his birthday.
— Steve Forstneger
