I saw Screeching Weasel last week for the first time since the mid-90's.*
*Note 1: It should be noted here that although this version of the band is called "Screeching Weasel", it is really just the singer, Ben Weasel, and a hired backing band. However, it should also be noted that Screeching Weasel has had countless members in their 25+ year history with only one remaining constant: the aforementioned Ben Weasel. He also happens to be the person who has written and been the voice of every song of theirs which is worth listening to.*
*Note 1 regarding Note 1: My opinion, and also a fact.
So, I feel like this iteration of SW is just as legitimate as any other version that has existed.*
*Note 2: However, almost any lineup containing Danny Vapid would be marginally superior to this one and slightly more legitimate in my mind despite any contrary statements I may have made previously.
This version may also be the most talented, musically speaking, of any version that has appeared on any stage. Ben Weasel also has upped his singing game since I last witnessed the band in some shitty bar in the mid-west. Is it mid-west or midwest? Who gives a shit.*
*Note 3: I was almost certainly in some type of altered mental state at the time and therefore not even close to being qualified to judge anyone's musicianship. So, my apologies to Mr. Weasel. And it is "Midwest".
Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised with quality of the show and managed to grab some crappy iPhone video of most of their song "Dingbat" which I have posted below. I am usually against spending any of my time videotaping live rock concerts as I would rather spend said time enjoying said concert, however I threw caution to the wind and captured the breathtaking 1m26s of iPhone glory you are about to behold. And now having barreled through that mental roadblock with my hand out the window, waving my middle finger as the cops throw down those spiky strips and the KTLA news chopper follows my progress from 100 ft above, I may just post more in the future. Who knows? Steve Jobs has blessed us all with the Orwellian ability to instantaneously capture and share live events in a variety of high-quality multimedia formats at virtually any time, place or dimension, so who the fuck am I not to at least put forth the bare minimum effort to manifest his vision into reality? I will tell you who I am, I am not someone who will be crossing the late Mr. Jobs, lest his gestapo of "Geniuses" comes kicking my door down, dragging me off to some Silicon Valley dungeon and confiscating my iPhone 4S while also ensuring that I spend an eternity in purgatory placing dropped-calls on an early 2000's model flip-phone. Yeah, suck on that vision of the future and tell me you'd have the balls to cross the men behind the curtain.
