On the scene: The Waterboys at the Bowery Ballroom, 10.25.13 (with setlist)

Thanks to Mike S. for providing these nice shots of Mike Scott, Steve Wickham, and the current rocking version of the Waterboys in action last night at the Bowery Ballroom. I had a ticket but couldn't make it. My loss, obviously.

Mike Scott's Adventures of A Waterboy, plus full Waterboys show from Rockpalast

I'm just about finished reading Mike Scott's memoir, Adventures of A Waterboy, and boy, was it a sorely needed shot in the arm to my reading habits.

After getting bored with so many memoirs & biographies (between shitty editing & crappy writing & predictable story telling), Scott has renewed my faith in the genre. It's a quick yet compelling read. Scott is incredibly articulate, and really knows how to paint a picture. He obviously loves language, and has a great eye for details. Plus he talks a lot about the music, and his own doubts, fears & foibles, making him very relate-able. And now I'm looking forward to not one, but two, shows by The Waterboys here in the NY area over the next few months. Good stuff...Bring it on!

Official website

Official Facebook

Enjoy this full set by Scott and band from Rockpalast...

Daily Travels: Rockwood Music Hall & Waterboys news

Last night (and again tonight), Mike Scott & Steve Wickham of the Waterboys appeared at the very intimate Rockwood Music Hall. The occasion being the publication of Scott's memoirs, Adventures of A Waterboy (which sounds great by the way).

Scott read for about 25 or 30 minutes. The last piece lead directly into introducing fiddler Wickham, and the two of them proceeded to play a brief, but brilliant set, which included Savage Earth Heart, Fisherman's Blues, The Pan Within, A Man Is In Love, Bring 'Em All In, and a couple of others...

These appearances also coincide with the announcement of the US release of their latest album, An Appointment With Mr. Yeats, as well as a NY show at Town Hall on March 20. Tickets are available this Friday.Are other US forthcoming?

Waterboys' Mike Scott & Steve Wickham in NYC & Philly

Mike Scott of the Waterboys has a new memoir out & available now entitled Adventures of A Waterboy (pictured left). To promote it he'll be making a couple of appearances (its about time!) here in New York, and in Philadelphia. Here's the scoop:

Mike will read from Adventures of A Waterboy at the following added venues in the USA. At each reading Mike will be joined for an acoustic set by Steve Wickham.

11.11	World Cafe Live, PHILADELPHIA. Tickets available now from 215 222 1400 & online here
11.13	Rockwood Music Hall, New York. SOLD OUT
11.14	Rockwood Music Hall, NEW YORK. Tickets from 800 594 8499 and online here
11.19	Williamsburg Music Hall, BROOKLYN, NY. Tickets from 212 260 4700 and online here

Mike and Steve will also play a short 3-song set at John Wesley Harding's multi-artist extravaganza, The Cabinet Of Wonders, on Friday 16 Nov at City Winery, NEW YORK. Also on the bill are Steve Earle and Loudon Wainright III. Tickets NOW from 212 608 0555 and online here.

Punks On 45

Mike Scott of the Waterboys 'gets it.' He recently started sharing rarities over at Soundcloud of old demos, half-finished recordings, and previously unreleased material. He even sings in the shower. One of the gems found there is this great punk version send up of Stars On 45.

Punks On 45 by mickpuck

Here's what he has to say about this recording: "I recorded this with my mates in 1981 as a parody of the then-massive "Stars On 45" craze for grimly cheerful medleys of Beatles and other '60s classics sung over disco beats. We loathed those records, seeing them as a shallow nostalgic diminishment of what had once been great. So we made our punk version as a statement of how crass the genre was, complete with moronic intro music, dodgy DJ talkover (brilliantly done by real DJ and Ensign Records man Chris Hill), and a melee of the most obvious punk songs (some of them great faves of ours). At the end we morphed the rhythm into reggae and let the words of The Clash's immortal White Man In Hammersmith Palais make the point. We almost released it under the name The Rolling Grundies (in memory of Bill Grundy, the luckless TV presenter who encouraged the Sex Pistols to swear on TV and so unintentionally turned punk into a national phenomenon) but changed our minds because we we didn't want to have to deal with it if it took off. Especially if people had missed the angle and thought we were simply cashing in on the vile medley craze.

I sing lead on two of the songs - try and guess whicg. The chap in the picture is Crigg, who sang three of the others.

There was a 'b' side too - "Noise On 45" - on which we did 6 minutes of random musical bashings, dog growlings and chants of "noise noise noise" over the same disco beat. But I will spare you that."

Silent Fellowship

God bless Mike Scott. He manages to tackle some potentially very corny lyrical ideas with great aplomb & dignity. I'm with him all the way.

SILENT FELLOWSHIP (from Universal Hall by the Waterboys, 2003)

in silent fellowship
in silence we sit
in the morning gold