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Kimock last night


TonyRage

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Great show last night. That drummer was sick. Anyone catch his name?

Wanted to say it was great to meet some Chathamites, and Mark Tonin. Soon enough I may get to know all of you in the flesh. Off to SPAC in two hours. Hope anyone else going has a blast.

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Unfortuantely, I did not want to name everyone cause I am a tool and only remember Backbacon and Groove Fetish, but there was one other dude who was very nice and told me his handle twice and I, a rude sumnabitch, don't remember it.

I also could not name a Kimock tune to save my life. I have always been slow at learning song names.

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Rodney Homes. Sweet, I have heard of him, but do not remember seeing him before. Has he played with Kimock long? I saw Kimock at Berkfest in 2002, but do not remember it well. I was telling someone before the show I thought he was a really tall guy, but the opposite was the truth.

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oodles of noodles... definately a good show... good times... for me, that drummer stole the show, unbelievable... yeah, kimock was good... i thought Burt's set was real strong, too, for a nice short opening set.. always a treat to see them, too...

great to see EVERYONE again last nite.

photos to come...

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lotta fun last night, excellent to see the skancs representing, so many good people around. i admit i went a little overboard so i'm sorry to everybody that i may have annoyed... i was very excited. feeling like a bag of smashed ass today though! from what i can pick out of the fuzz the music was great.. again, awesome to see everyone, you guys bring me a lot of happiness. til next time... ::

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Kimock is Great, Kimock is Good

The Steve Kimock Band rolled their dog and pony show into the cosmopolitan centre of Toronto last night. Parlaying an offhand comment of Jerry Garcia's and a handful of 'Deady' allegiances into a full blown career the ensemble seems to have latched onto the perfect combination of textural sonics and the classic personality cult.

The level of musicianship and in particular the dynamics of the ensemble make them at very least one of the more significant groups of their ilk. While this is obviously a group thing clearly Kimock is the meal ticket. Rescuing his sidemen from a degrading career backing up the Lyle Lovett's of the world on short casino runs Kimock, or rather the Kimock organization, seems to have found the ideal business plan for a touring band pandering to the post-post aquarian relics of a bygone age.

In a recent Canadian interview when asked about the Jerry connection Steve conceded that the Grateful Dead affiliation has been a mixed blessing. Hoping perhaps to doff off the question altogether Kimock said simply: 'The comparisons with Jerry’s playing begin and end with using a clean tone and modal improvisation.' While the statement may indeed be true the nature of the bands touring and recording life belies a far greater oath.

To speak to the stylistic similarities certainly the polished but rough hewn tone and lyrical style of both players have multiple points of confluence. Kimock's group improvisations led with a firm hand bear little if any resemblance to the bulk of the Grateful Dead's material. Still at points he dips into little teardrop tremolo runs flecked with a deep wa effect that seem in part, even if unconscious, to sheepishly assume the mantle of the bearded one and more likely to pander to the sentimentalism the audience has for his loss.

A high tide carries many boats they say. When the Grateful Dead came crashing from the mountainside like a flash flood they left deep rivulets and streams that have proved excellent spawning grounds for whole new ecosystems of sound. Defining that landscape populated by a fierce and even perversely affected audience has been one of the Grateful Dead's greatest legacies.

In their wake, after 30 years of touring bludgeoning that very legacy into North American pop culture like a clubbed seal's blood into arctic pack ice, a host of spin-offs have arisen. It's standard California industry logic, take the least desirable or down on their luck member of a hit cast and package something around them. Stealing a page from the television programmers handbook the Joanie loves Chachie's in the Grateful Dead constellation include ensembles such as: Ratdog (Bob Weir's side project), latter day incarnations of the core group as the Other Ones and The Dead as well as the self-explanatory Phil Lesh and Friends. Upon Garcia's passing the role of lead axe slinger/ spiritual godfather went out to tender. There were few if any takers.

Kimock a relative unkown, a regional player in the San Fransisco scenes of the 70's and on, seemed a likely enough fit particularly given his predecessors fondness. These were big shoes to fill and anyone who said otherwise would be lying. Having hung up the name the Grateful Dead now dubbed The Other Ones- Steve was slotted into the mix to varying levels of success. He later went on to Phil Lesh's ensemble, perhaps a more creative attempt to reinvigorate the huge back pages. He is said, perhaps mythologically, to have left that setting with the phrase: 'I don't want to play Maggie's Farm no more'.

It is that intersection then, between the struggle for an authentic true voice and what might be called a vocation, that is of particular interest. Are you an artist or are you a player? One is reminded of the effect Bruce Hornsby's presence had in revitalizing a lagging Garcia. More recently a seemingly curious choice in Joan Osborne was made to compliment The Dead's style. Both good artists in their own right who received a modicum of recognition at least in the form of radio play which they were not faulted for.

Maintaining dignity as an artist in your own right then becomes increasingly hard particularly in the bizarre petri dish of the bedraggled parking lot culture of the Dead and their kin. Kimock seems to have suffered under this yoke somewhat. Although pity is not not a sentiment that comes readily to mind. The benefits of association with this megolith have been manifold. Surely too they are actively courting this niche with everything from the Bob Masse style posters, mandala inspired stickers and dates at festivals with names such as Smilefest, Baja Bash and the Trinity Tribal Stomp.

While each of these type of bands often has a loyal and often fiendish following this audience seems particularly enamoured. Kimock's bond with his audience and the borderline devotion they show him has as it's backdrop then this rich tapestry of history. Put another way it is simple economics- supply and demand, perception and price. Artist guarantees rise as perceptions around the artist grow through whatever means, if an ad hoc aquaintance with The Dead works for you then go with it. There's good money to be made by anyone Garcia et al. ever coughed, pissed or breathed on. And go with it they have.

Still there is an eery quality to the whole milieu. Kimock's fans have gained their detractors becoming known for a kind of clannish highland mentality that could be put more plainly as off putting. The organization curiously handles the artists as if they were erstwhile Aguileras or Spears. It all seems a bit out of place but it comes with the territory of playing to nomadic well-intentioned but often feverishly drug enhanced patrons. One cannot help but notice in Steve something that borders on bridled contempt, genuine bemusement and benevolent kindness towards his audience.

So this was the scene that played itself out on Friday June 18 at the Opera House. Steve had not played in Toronto for something like ten years since playing with another Dead spinoff Merl Saunders Rainforest Band. Local heads from around Southwestern Ontario mingled with Kimock's loyal moonies, in town for a group wedding, and a few stranglers who came to see 'that guy who played with Jerry'- in all a crowd of about two and a half hundred strong.

The security pounced and controlled the crowd employing surveillance and counterintelligence on the spun horde usually reserved for visiting heads of state. Joints were lit and promptly rebuked. The bacchanalian canucks were gently but insistently rebuked for speaking while the guru is playing having apparently not read the backgrounder on 'behaviour and best practises' circulated by the president of the American fan club Elron Hubbard. All the while the band sinuously and languidly slipped through number after number of inexplicably connected instrumentals.

Drummer Rodney Holmes tried to steal the show with his at times masturbatory explosion of double bass drum histrionics. Rhythm guitarist Mitch Stein played the perfect foil to Kimock's supple lead and lap steel work. None of the players seemed to have any time to have thought up anything they were doing and effortlessly embraced one anothers concepts. At times playing off the colour of notes, other times time was the in joke, timbre and touch gracefully meeting. The effect of the whole was something like the dynamic tension of opposites: revealing and concealing, light and dark, covered uncovered, heaven and earth. Love in action if the two are in fact distinct.

The all instrumental two set excursion was something like a riddle wrapped in an enigma. If you were listening closely enough, to the words that were not there, a question was being asked and it was something like 'what are you holding back honestly'. This sphinx like figure, this cat under the stars, this Nadya, asked a question hitherto unanswered or even spoken.

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i really dug that show. not too familiar with SKB, but i enjoyed the songs and the playing :). i thought it was great at times, although i didn't feel the great energy that was built up was always carried too efficiently throughout the jams. freaking crazy wicked drumming.

great to see so many familiar faces too :)

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Really enjoyed the show, thought the sound was excellent, and there was lots of room to dance which was nice. I went to the show expecting it to be really good, and left thinking it was better than that. I'd go see the Steve Kimock Band again for sure. I was especially blown away by set one - it raged! And Rodney Holmes is a fantastic drummer ... Groove Fetish has talked highly of him a bunch of times in the past and now I know why.

Nice to see so many friends, familiar faces, and people that frequent this message board at the show. Nice to meet you TonyRage ... thanks for introducing yourself.

Hopefully the Steve Kimock Band will come back again. I thought that the turnout was reasonably good given that it was the band's first trip to the Toronto area and given that Steve Kimock, while obviously a fantastic musician with a great band, is unknown by many people, including lots of people who would really enjoy what he and his band does.

Peace, Mark

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An amazing show. What a party in there! So great to see so many friends all in one place. Nice meeting you sanislo and tony rage. I think Kimock had a good time (he even told a little joke!); hope to see them back.

From Setlist.com:

06/18/04 (Fri) Opera House - Toronto, Ontario

Set 1: Tangled Hangers, Weapons of Moose Destruction, Elmer's Revenge, Thing One, Tongue 'n' Groove

Set 2: High & Lonesome, Dr. Zaius, The Fakers Luck, Bad Hair, Malichi, Avalon

Lineup: Steve Kimock - guitars, Rodney Holmes - drums, Mitch Stein - guitar, Leo Traversa - bass, Jim Kost - keyboards.

Source: skb archives

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