Mike Watt is a punk rock legend whose bands Minutemen and fIREHOSE had a huge influence on both punk and rock generally. In 1995, Watt first went solo as he toured the US, eventually stopping at Chicago’s Metro on May 6th for an incendiary set that crackles and thrills 21 years later. It’s that performance that Columbia/Legacy has chosen to memorialize with the release of Watt’s “ring spiel” tour ’95 due for release on November 11th. The tour followed the February 1995 release of Watt’s first solo album, ball-hog or tugboat?, which has stood the test of time with a set of songs that featured the playing of Henry Rollins, Flea, Thurston Moore, J Mascis, Adam Horovitz, Mike Diamond, Frank Black, Dave Pirner, Evan Dando, Nels Cline, Pat Smear, Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder, and more.
Today we’re sharing with you a brilliant live performance of “Big Train” from “ring spiel” tour ’95, which available for pre-order now in CD and vinyl form.
Watt says of the song, “When I joined the movement, Tony Nineteen was a huge inspiration for me and D Boon. I re-interpreted him and his brother’s “Big Train” as a analogy to the hand that was offered out to us during that shift was now my hand be offered out to the next shift.”
TRACK LIST
01. walking the cow (Daniel Johnson cover)
02. big train (Chip + Tony Kinman cover)
03. formal introduction
04. against the ’70s
05. drove up from pedro
06. habit (early performance of Eddie Vedder composition)
07. makin’ the freeway
08. chinese firedrill
09. piss-bottle man
10. forever…one reporter’s opinion
11. e-ticket ride
12. political song for michael jackson to sing
13. coincidence is either hit or miss
14. the red and the black (Blue Öyster Cult cover)
15. secret garden (Madonna cover)
16. powerful hankerin’