17/10/2000, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Irvine, CA

Fast forward 36 hours. October 17th, 2PM. We're on our way to Roy's, where the band is to meet for a photo shoot before heading for Irvine. We have a special guest aboard : none other than the now famous Akiko, who flew from Osaka, Japan just to see the show ! How about that ?

We get there at the same time as Muriel (the photographer). Not everyone has arrived yet, so in the meantime we chill out with James and Mike.  Of Seventhsign fame, James aka "Cupcake" is handling sound duties on the tour, not always an easy job as we will see. Of Abilene fame, Mike aka "Young Ayatollah" is the Tribe's roadie, which means that he's real busy just before and just after the show, but that he's got plenty of time to drink and womanize in between ;-) I also check out Roy's CD collection : LOTS of Hendrix and most (if not all) Judas Priest albums ! Cooooool...

We meet new drummer Danilo Torres, who's stepping in for Dave for the Santana tour. Dave had another commitment which prevented him from doing that tour, but he IS the Tribe's drummer (so don't start spreading rumours, OK ?). A few friends have joined the madness : Super Bobby (ex-USMC and now working Vice with the LAPD...), Geezer (who played on the Life After Death album), MC (a genuine music connoisseur if I ever met one) and Shayna.

Time for the photo shoot : everyone is in high spirits, and Muriel has a hard time trying to get everyone ready... Eventually she succeeds in taking pictures of the band ! But the clock is ticking, Irvine is calling, and we'd better hit the road.

All these people (and the gear !) somehow fit in two vans and we head for Irvine at around 3PM. Irvine is about 40 miles southwest of Hollywood which makes it a pretty long drive, especially in L.A. traffic. The good thing is that this gives us plenty of time to enjoy that special pre-gig madness : radio cranked up, plenty of beer, jokes flying... and a total disregard for the most basic driving rules :-) Anyway, the Tribe of Monkeys is having a good time and it's the only thing that matters.

We finally reach the venue (no small feat) and park the van next to the Levi's stage. Let me explain. Initially, this was going to be a 20-date tour on the main stage. It ended up being an 8-date tour on the side stage. I really don't want to comment on that, because it's none of my business. The important thing is that the Tribe is on tour and playing for the right audience. The rest is politics and head games, so fuck that.

This is quite different from a "regular" show, really. The side stage is located at one end of the site and the amphitheatre at the other. In between sit food stands, merchandising stands, internet access stands, etc etc. Quite a freak show, really, but Santana being the biggest act in the world right now, this was to be expected.  But give me the old Elysée-Montmartre anytime : there is no soul here, this is America ;-) The band doesn't have any merchandising of its own, by the way. The Tribe would have been forced to sell their T-shirts at the same price as Santana's : an opening act can't undersell the main act. And who would buy a $35 Tribe T-shirt ? Yeah, I would, but that's not enough. To make things worse, the Tribe CDs that were supposed to be there aren't, which means the band won't be able to sell them at the show. The stickers made it, though... Welcome to reality.

The gear is quickly set up on stage. Not much of a stage if you ask me (but you didn't). Lighting is terrible and sound doesn't look too promising. Since the band isn't due till 6:30PM, they have plenty of time for a much-needed soundcheck. Joined by Danilo and Juan, Roy plugs in and the sun starts shining in our hearts (if not in the sky). The first tune is a 9-minute jam which just cannot be put into words. All I can say is this is no warm-up, this is massive, baby, yeah ! I just sit 3 feet from his amp and watch (hopefully not with my mouth open). Enough stuff in there to write 2 or 3 good songs for all I know...

The second tune is well-known, that bass line don't lie, baby : this is Who Knows, immortalized by Jimi and the legendary Band of Gypsys. This 6-minute version is punctuated by Z-style solar flares. The 16-note per second kind :-) Yeeaah... 

Wild Dream #1 (more should pop up as I write these reviews) : see the Tribe cover one of the more "recent" Jimi tunes, like Ezy Rider, Room Full Of Mirrors or In From The Storm...

Gregg joins in and the P.A. starts fucking things up : vocals are barely audible on stage. It does sound OK from the audience, but the band is going to have a hard time tonight.

It's dark already when the gates open, and as people start flowing in, the band gets on stage. Cheered by friends and families (Elvis' family is there, as well as Danilo's), they start with The Flower, a perfect opener which sets a quiet and moody atmosphere. But although I'm basically 5 feet from Gregg, I can hardly hear him ! A shitty setup indeed...

The next ones are Fire Dance and En Mi Barrio, now Tribe classics in their own right and things start happening. Gregg opens up and the band follows, a classic display of that "what the fuck" attitude of which great bands are made. It's cold, the sound sucks, these people don't know us, LET'S ROCK, at least it'll keep us warm. The fight is on !

Rays Of The Sun tears the chilly night. Gregg plays rhythm guitar, allowing Roy to focus on his wailing leads. The hit potential of this song is tremendous and it works great. The growing crowd really gets into the music now. If this band can shine under such adverse conditions, imagine what they could do with proper support... But don't get me started.

It's Party time anyway ! This one is THE Tribe classic and it never fails to get everyone going. The cool part is that the live version is really different, kind of a mix between the original Party and Puro Party. Basically, Juan and Danilo lay out a strong groove on which the rest of the band can build. This brings the song to over 5 minutes with a different result every night. Roy skips the first solo and lets Ray and Elvis fool around for a while. Then, while everyone is happily jamming (Juan, that disco thing is awesome, keep it !), he does that weird "techno" riff first heard on III, before coming back to full distortion and melting our frozen asses off. Very cool !

More surprises are on the way ! Gregg introduces Up, featuring two special guests : Chris on rhythm guitar and Shayna on vocals. Chris is well-known to y'all, although you might not know that Da Swiss is a real good guitar player. I don't think we ever mentioned Shayna before on the website : she sings in her own band, which just happens to feature several familiar characters (I don't know how much I can say, so I'll stick to that) and "SHE'S SEXY !!!", as someone in the audience yelled when she gets on stage. It wasn't me, but with all due respect : right on, dude ! With 8 people on a small stage and a crappy P.A., it's hard to figure out who does what, but it's doesn't really matter : tonight is all about having fun with families and friends. 

Summer Rain ? You got to be kidding, it's COLD out here ! Another favorite from III, this is a song where Gregg always shines and tonight is no exception. That slow lead works wonders once again. The song is also Z's party piece and tonight's version is notably longer than usual !

Only one more song to go. What better choice than We All Bleed Red, which sums up the Tribe's philosophy so well, both musically and lyrically ? Plus, it's heavyyyy <evil grin>. I'm sure this one scares the shit out of Santana fans at 100 yards ;-) Gregg's range gives the song extra power and since Roy decides to play with the teeth, well, that's it for me. A fierce one, indeed !

And then it's time to call it a night. The 45-minute gig has just flown by and I can't believe it's over. The gear is quickly stowed away and the band joins their families and friends (hi y'all !) to enjoy this nice and warm Los Angeles evening (yeah right). Elvis' dad says that he doesn't need to see Santana now that he has seen the Tribe, but maybe he's just a tiny bit biased ;-) Mike, the band's attorney, and his wife are here too. I got his card, so now I know a badass lawyer who can sue your ass off if you steal stuff from the website, he he he, right Mike ? ;-) Everyone then heads for the main stage to catch the end of the Santana show.

A while later, we're all back in the bus and on our way back to Roy's home. But then shit happens : we're out of beer ! Drastic measures are taken and we leave the highway in search of a convenience store or a gas station. It doesn't take too long to find one. Phew...  Everyone's really tired (or drunk) now and the ride back is kind of quiet, although Akiko gets a little bit of V.I.P. treatment as her name is chanted by the Tribe of Monkeys.

It's way past 2AM when we drive back to Hollywood with Chris. We're jet-lagged, cold, hungry and overall exhausted, but what a fucking brilliant day we had ! Under pretty difficult conditions, the Tribe have held their ground and delivered a good show. Can't wait for Mountain View, but now it's time to sleeeeeeep...

End of part 1. Next stop : San Franciscooooooo !!!

Julien

PS: to fully enjoy the video clips, make sure you have the last Realvideo player !