The Slip, Jiggle the Handle, and
The Steve Kimok Band & The Mickey Hart Band
July 2000, Portland, OR - Year of the Dragon

by Gordon Wilson

Holy Smokes!  There has been so much music happening here in the Pacific Northwest this summer.  Bob Dylan, Phil Lesh and Friends, The String Cheese Incident, Deep Banana Blackout, The Blues Festival, The Country Fair, The Summer Hummer, The Slip, Jiggle The Handle, The Steve Kimok Band, The Mickey Hart Band, Los Lobos, Jimmy Cliff, The Congregation. Man, it's hard to catch even a tenth of all the great shows that are happening this summer. The Slip played Wednesday July 12th @ the Satyricon, which was a mind blowing and spirit lifting experience. 

The Satyricon is a mainstay of Portland's nightlife. The Sex Pistols played there and Nirvana, Hole, Everclear and Elliot Smith all played there before they became famous. I heard that The Slip was a great band from many of my musically inclined friends, so I was excited to see this show.  When I walked into the back of the Satyricon where the bands play, I noticed that The Slip wasn't cranking the PA to full volume.  For a second a weird feeling of paranoia grabbed me, like the band wasn't loud enough or something, but then I saw people getting down to the music, and it pulled me in also, and I lost any sense of paranoia in melodic guitar, vocals, and rhythmic drums and bass. After seeing The Slip I am convinced that they are musicians of the highest caliber.  The Slip play jazzy, radical foot stomping, heart warming, American soul music, they sort of remind me of the grateful dead, or talking heads, or maybe even sting.  On an individual level these guys are innovative, and talented with their instruments, and at the same time, on the group level, they come together nicely in a jammin', bright, and dynamic musicscape. 

The Slip's CD "Does" is varied in it songs styles, and vary excellent. The next bone shakin' show that I was able to see was, Jiggle The Handle, and The Steve Kimok Band, @ the Crystal Ballroom on Friday July 21rst.  This show was epic in proportions; a packed house of sun tanned freaksters, a bouncing floor, a rogue lightning storm overhead and Steve Kimok and Bobby Vega burning down the house all night long.  Kimock plays a breathful, beautiful, space filled, psychedelic guitar.  Jiggle The Handle sounded good but played early so I missed most of their set. They had to cruise across town and play the headliner spot at the Mt. Tabor Pub later that night. The Mickey Hart band, @ the Roseland Theater July 27th has was a standout musical experience. 

I was anxious before the show, for I had invited my friend Shorty to go along and was worried that he would not enjoy the show.  But to my surprise Shorty had seen The Mickey Hart Band 6 or 7 times on Further Tour, and had toured with the Dead many years back East.  Man this was a great time.  Mickey broke out the millennium rap, "Who Stole The Show? Where'd it Go?".  A spontaneous, free, fun, far reaching song, "Who stole the show?  Where'd it go?", seeing Mickey Hart do this one was like seeing a Kabuki Theater master unleash his art.  This night the Mickey Hart Band also played a smooth "Fire on the Mountain", and an inspired "Not Fade Away".  I wished it could have lasted longer, like an old time Acid Test, or Dead show or something, but it wasn't going to happen. Still it was a grand evening of wild drums, dexterous keyboards, shredding guitars, primordial percussions, soulful singing, frenzied dancing, mad drinking and ecstatic screams. Keep cool. GW

Jiggle Invades Portland!!
by John Zinkland <Zincley@aol.com>

On July 21st, 2000, I once again had the pleasure of seeing Jiggle the Handle from Boston, MA perform their music in a live setting. I can't get enough of this band and am more and more impressed by them every time I see them play. They were in Portland, OR briefly for some sort of private function (a wedding or something), and played twice in this one night. The first gig was an opener at the Crystal Ballroom w/ The Steve Kimock Band. Then Jiggle immediately drove over to the Mt Tabor Theater and headlined a show playing with Jack Straw, a killer local bluegrass band.

I arrived at McMennamin's Crystal Ballroom during a flowing instrumental interlude. Jiggle had just begun. The waterfall of a jam flowed into a jazzy little tune called "Cheeky Monkey." It's an instrumental groove in the vein of MMW with a strong organ lead by Paul Wolstencroft.. Kinda funky. Then the band ripped into one of their meatier tunes, "Fine Line." By the end of the 15 minute song many people were on their feet making the famed bouncing dance floor pound up and down in a disco frenzy. Next the band played a newer tune called "Give a Little." It has a catchy chorus and also moves into some pretty interesting musical spaces. It is sort of mellow and has a very spacey feel due to the effects on guitarist Gary Backstrom's guitar. Then, as the jam was winding way down, Gary wailed out the opening notes to their Latin flavored rocker, "Aliento De Vida." A ripping guitar solo that was definitely influenced by Santana followed a tasty organ solo. This tune also has some nice rhythm change ups that keep it very interesting. The short set was pretty powerful yet varied, and seemed to go over well with the Portland crowd.

Next stop was Mt Tabor Theater. There was a nice little crowd mingling by the time Jiggle got there. Jack Straw was dishing out some pretty sick bluegrassâ?¦fast and furious! The crowd was definitely warm by the time Jiggle finally hit the stage some time after midnight. A classic tune, "Walk Right Out," opened the first set, but it sounded much different than the ways I had heard it before. The jam was drawn out and trance-like. They were layering sounds and textures in the way one usually expects from bands like Sector Nine. Nice to see Jiggle expanding their musical horizons! After a shorter Latin sounding tune and a song from their most recent studio disc, Jiggle began a very intense jam. The small groove grew and grew until Gary and bassist Chris Kew ("Q") started trading licks with gusto. Q would slam down a nice bass riff and then Gary added to the thought with some guitar punctuation while drummer Greg Vasso's rhythms fueled the funky interplay. Really good stuff! Finally, this jam that I wished would go on even longer came to an end.

Next came a little bluegrass much to the chagrin of the down home audience! Q belted out "Good Road" with the soul and feeling that only Marlboro's and life on the road can help create. Then they played "Your Light Leads Me On" which had everyone doing the hee-haw boogie. A nice jam with strains of "Amazing Grace" kept the room moving. It was getting pretty hot and sweaty when Saucy Paul Wolstencroft called for a time-out with his mellow reggae tune "Slow Down." A soothing but irie shower refreshed us all.

"Gomorrah" was next and how can one hear this tune and not think of Jerry? To be honest, though, I really wasn't too psyched when they started playing this one. My mind was changed, however, as the song developed into one of the most heartfelt cover versions I have ever heard! Gary sang it effectively and the jam developed into a pretty sweet thing. Next Jiggle pulled out the one-two punch of "Walking Backwards" followed by "Lost and Found." Both songs are long, drawn-out affairs, but each has it's own distinct character. "Walking Backwards" is a thoughtful tune followed by a pulsing jam. Paul's vocals shine. Then "Lost and Found" is a funky rocker with more of an energy building jam highlighted by Paul's amazing keys and Gary's powerful guitar playing.

After a few minutes of applause and cheers, the band took the stage for an encore. The first tune was a reminder that the theme for the evening was indeed bluegrass with "Who's That Knockin'," which was a very nicely harmonized little ditty. Then the opening power chords of Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times" caused a stir. Jiggle nailed this one! One could feel a strong breeze coming off the monitors as Jiggle powered into a jam that was highly electric! Gary was just ripping and Q's bass was blowing the place apart. The madly groovin' crowd shook along with the crazy jam until it all ended. A great ending to a great evening of two Jiggle shows in one busy night! I hope they visit the Northwest again soon.

More Reviews Coming Soon!