Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To

Tag: oldchella

The Only Way To Trip

Let’s be honest about the subtext of Desert Trip, Enthusiasts, also known as Oldchella: See ’em before they die! These are some creaky-ass white men with guitars, and there are malignancies growing within them; the elasticity has dripped from their skin, and their forearms hang and sway. 2016 is outside with a machete and a hard-on, and literally any rock star could be taken at any moment.

This way to the egress, suckers.

I’m sure I’ll talk about it some more, especially if it’s streamed. (My guess is that, like Coachella or Lockn’, they’ll announce a stream two days before.) I have very little personal or musical interest: as I mentioned, I saw the Stones and Floyd two decades ago, and they’re still doing the exact same shows; the interesting musicians in The Who are dead; I’m allergic to Paul McCartney. Neil Young will be performing, and I get yelled at when I discuss my feelings about him, so I’ll just note that Neil Young is performing. Bob Dylan will also be making that noise he makes.

“HHHHEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHeeeeeeeehhhhh.”

Or singing torch songs, or maybe he’s rearranged all his old tunes for an oompah band: something irritating like that.

But the bullshit, Enthusiasts? Oh, will I be paying attention to the bullshit and there is so much; you can luxuriate in it. Now, Oldchella is out in Indio,  CA, which is on the edge of the desert, halfway to Barstow. It’s not near anything, so you have to travel there and stay there for the weekend, and the amenities being offered are varied in price and comfort.

TotD has spies everywhere, though, and one of the Haight Street Irregulars has passed along this information about the ultra-high end lodging package, which is not available to the public due to the clientele’s  need for discretion. I mean, you could stay in this shitty place…

screen-shot-2016-10-03-at-8-49-30-pm

…if you were some sort of scum person, or C.H.U.D., or Dickensian orphan; people of means–decent people–need something a little more upscale, which is why Desert Trip offers the Praetor’s Suite Experience®.

Have your social secretary call for pricing about the package, which includes:

  • Six (six) all-access passes to Desert Trip, including backstage and the artists’ bathrooms; you can watch Roger Daltry poop.
  • Round-trip private airfare to and from the concert on both weekends, plus the pilot will do a barrel roll or a loop-de-loop if you ask him to. (Female pilots also available for a small premium.)
  • Your choice of accommodation:
    • Glurt. (A glurt is a Glamour Yurt.)
    • Minimalist house that looks like they shoot catalogues and fancy porn there.
    • Elevated stilt-house so you can throw human waste on the poor people.
    • John Mayer’s Earthroamer. (Limited availability! Call today!)
  • All of the above accommodations come with: emperor-sized bed, private bathroom with dual bidets for your front and back filth, steam showers, full kitchens, solariums. four-car garages, media rooms, and sex dungeons.
  • 24-hour personal shuttle service with access to cars (Teslas only), vans (Mercedes Sprinters), helicopters (identical replica of Marine One), and large men carrying you around.
  • 24-hour protection provided by Katy Perry’s security team.
  • Breakfast delivered to your bedside, along with pharmaceuticals and (for a small premium) tuggers.
  • Bottle of champagne upon arrival, check-in, unpacking, and every twenty minutes thereafter for the entire weekend; the good stuff, too.
  • One-quarter of an ounce of saffron.

For a small additional fee, guests can make Paul McCartney watch them eat a bacon cheeseburger.

Bobby Unguarded

The legendary band may have bid a farewell last July, but their cofounder has never been busier – and he doesn’t even need the money

That is the subhead on this interview with Bobby from The Guardian, and that subhead was chosen because The Guardian is a Commie fucking rag that writes about Lena Dunham and soccer; it is also still printed on paper for some reason, which is adorable. It felt the need to bring up money because The Guardian hates people with money, and doesn’t discriminate between people who got their money through rapacious business dealings and people who got their money by, you know: playing Milwaukee. We shouldn’t begrudge the few rich musicians: we should bemoan the number of poor musicians.

It’s a decent read, but if you don’t have time, here are the highlights:

  • Bobby is optimistic about the upcoming election, which puts him in a minority of Bob.
  • If you bring that braised beef near him one more time, Bobby’s gonna put a Birkenstock up a cater-waiter’s ass.
  • Dan Kanter, a Torontonian who plays in Justin Bieber’s live band, joined Bobby onstage for a few tunes and, at the end of the night, begged Bobby to take him back to Marin with him.
  • The pop superstar also was in attendance, and came out for a set-ending Bird Song>Love Yourself>Estimated that, oddly, no one got on tape.
  • Being a polite man, Bobby was politic about the upcoming Oldchella; he did not say, “Biggest crowds Bob Dylan and Neil Young ever played were when they played with us. Plus, the rest are Limeys and, you know what? In motherfucking California, the Grateful Dead or What’s Left Of ‘Em headline.”
  • He was thinking it, though.
  • Also, the interviewer seems to express astonishment that–even though the Farewell Shoes were supposed to be it for the Dead–another incarnation is now back on the road.
  • He asks–and I’m quoting–if it “undercuts the finality” of last summer, and Bobby openly laughs at him.
  • I swear that some people have never met Show Biz before.
  • The interviewer also notes that tickets to gig (all going to charity) were “between CAD$1,000 and $4,160” and apparently the currency of Canada is Computer-Assisted Drawing.
  • Bobby is open about Phil’s non-participation, citing Phil’s desire to play smaller place; he also tastefully mentions Phil’s health issues; Bobby sounds philosophical about the end of life, and says that he believes death is something to look forward to.
  • I do not know whether Phil shares this belief.
  • Bobby also discusses the upcoming Amazon show, and plans for a book; I have no idea who should write either of those things.