innumerable ones


Somewhat belated, but here is the the set list for the show played by The Viper and His Second String as part of the Friday, May 21, after party for the conference of the Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals (AGEL) held at the the Italian Workmen’s Club on Regent Street in Madison, Wisconsin. The setting rocked (Lavoratori di tutto il mondo, ridete!), the Indian catering and New Glarus Spotted Cow on tap was sweet, and I’d like to especially thank the AGEL’s Oregon contingent for treating me to a shot of whiskey at the Greenbush Bar downstairs.

Photograph by Heidi Lynn Lawson.

For this show, The Viper and His Second String was a duo, just me and UW-Madison TAA stalwart Rob Henn on trombone, jug, and washtub bass/drum. It was Rob’s first time on two out of those three instruments, and he proved to be a mother-loving master on them. We finished our set up with three wobblyesque unionizing anthems that we played along with the evening’s second band, featuring guitarist/cümbüşjü Charles Hughes, singer Ari Eisenberg, and guitarist Dave Gilbert (?).

May 21, 2010
Italian Workmen’s Club, Madison, WI

  • The Best Things in Life Are Free
  • Das Kapital
  • I Left My Liver in Libertyville
  • Uncle Bud
  • Botch-a-Me
  • Hey! Rounders

With 5-piece group

  • Preacher and the Slave
  • Union Maid
  • The Ballad of the Henry 55

The Viper and His Second String made the Viper’s Milwaukee debut this past weekend, playing on Friday, May 7 at the venerable Coffee House as part of a 4-band jug-band benefit for the Central City Church’s Food Pantry. The line-up also included the great Larry Penn and his Washboard Band (featuring Dave Fox), Peter Lee, and the Grumpystiltskyn Jug Band.

Here, filmed by Sue Peacock, is The Viper and His Second String performing “The Viper’s Blue Yodel no. 6.02 x 10 to the 23rd.”

The Viper plays jug, harmonica, and baritone ukulele. On the newly built washtub bass is Riley Broach, who also played ukulele and washtub drum for the show. And filling out the Second String on the suitcase and tambourine is the vastly overqualified John Peacock, who also at various points of the evening applied his one good arm to the banjo ukulele, washtub drum, and toy piano.

Friday, May 7, 2010
The Coffee House, Milwaukee, WI

  • The Viper’s Blue Yodel no. 6.02 x 10 to the 23rd (on YouTube)
  • Das Kapital
  • Maggie Mae
  • Hey! Rounders (on YouTube)
  • Uncle Bud (on YouTube)
  • Stopper in My Hand

“Stopper in My Hand” and “Uncle Bud” were new for this show, the latter a work-up of a tune collected by Zora Neale Hurston. “Maggie Mae” is a Liverpool skiffle standard I’d played with the Paint Branch Ramblers in Maryland, and the “Blue Yodel” is one I’ve been kicking around for a couple of years, though playing it with a band for the first time this show. “Das Kapital” and “Hey! Rounders” are old standbys from the Everything for Everyone era with The Viper and His Famous Orchestra.

Backlist in Motion

Backlist in motion

It’s been a long time coming. But here are the set lists for the shows on which Ryan Jerving (the Viper) sat in on guitar with DeKalb, Illinois legend Otis Ball and the Chains. This was part of a two-day “DeKalb Rocks” event in Chicago and DeKalb that brought back together a number of great bands from the punk and post-punk 1980s scene in DeKalb, including Blatant Dissent, The Subverts, happy hunting, and others.

I was a Chain! Otis and I were friends from my days in the late 1980s Madison band Kissyfish. Our bands played together surprisingly often, given the geographic distance, and it was always a good time. Otis is a great rock ‘n’ roll songwriter and it was an honor to share a stage with him again.

Saturday, August 22
The Abbey Pub, Chicago, IL

  • We Will Rock You
  • Amy
  • I Enjoy Being a Boy
  • Borderline
  • Walk On Water
  • Dianamal*
  • I Am Otis

Sunday, August 23
Otto’s, DeKalb, Illinois

  • Hot Day*
  • Fire Needs Oxygen*
  • She’s Not Dumb/Dianamal*
  • Everybody Knows*
  • I Enjoy Being a Boy
  • Amy
  • Lonely Little Vampire (a Kissyfish song)
  • Paperback Grotto/Walk On Water
  • Birthday*
  • Charles Manson’s Birthday

* Ryan Jerving didn’t play on this one

Several photo albums on Facebook are devoted to the two-day event, if you can access them.

Jason Jerde, “DeKalb Rocks Reunion – Otis Ball and the Chains”
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=98502&id=686918388

Elaine Decho-Fishman, “DeKalb Rocks 1 – 8/22/09″
http://www.facebook.com//album.php?aid=130055&id=1576928038

Elaine Decho-Fishman, “DeKalb Rocks 2_8-23-09″
http://www.facebook.com//album.php?aid=130182&id=1576928038

Tim Skraba, “DeKalb Rocks”
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017572&id=1092352696&ref=mf

And there’s even video – here’s a compilation of Otis Ball & the Chains moments:

Big moose came down from the mountain this past weekend as The Viper and His Famous Orchestra played 5 sets over 3 days of shows in Champaign-Urbana, with two sets by Edward Burch (with Nick Hennies and the rest of us) thrown in for good measure. (I should also note the charming set by C-U’s own The Duke of Uke and His Novelty Orchestra on Friday night as part of the whole The-Jivey-Name-and-Possessive-Adjective-Orchestra orgy.)

Detail of coloring contest page

Detail of coloring contest page

If you missed our kid-friendly Sunday afternoon show, you missed out on our Presidential Coloring Contest. But it’s not too late: you can still download and print out the PDF of the coloring sheet, complete it (as you complete me) and mail it to Ryan Jerving / 2171 N. Hi-Mount Blvd. / Milwaukee, WI 53208. When I get a chance, I’ll upload any entries I receive to this space and to our new Facebook fan page.

My personal thanks to those who played with the Viper on these and our other summer shows: myself, Edward Burch, Riley Broach, Rob Henn, Kenneth P.W. Rainey, and Victor Cortez — with a special shout out to Jerald Shelato who joined us the rest of us Wildcats on Sousaphone and jug for the Sunday show. And a big thanks to those who gave us an excuse to spend the weekend in our old stomping ground: Matt Mitchell and Elizabeth Majerus for staying married for 10 years, and Mike Murphy of Mike N’ Molly’s for not forgetting about us for almost as long.

Below, I’ve reconstructed the set lists, as best as I can in the dim, receding light of the angel of history’s rear view mirror, the reflection a large catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage as the debris grows skyward. This, is what we call progress?

August 7
Mike N’ Molly’s, Champaign, Illinois

SET #1

  • I Left My Liver in Libertyville
  • Pretty Is as Pretty Does (as perf. by Angie Heaton)
  • Das Kapital
  • Winnebago Bay
  • Good Morning Irene
  • Drunk Bus (Tre-P)
  • Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been…Blue?
  • Fillmore & Buchanan March
  • Heyse Latke Kalte Latke
  • My Seafaring Lassie
  • Wanna Be Startin’ Something (Michael Jackson)

SET #2

  • First Round Polka
  • Randolph St.
  • El Ultimo en Saber / The Last to Know (Viper/Kennett Brothers)
  • Let’s Pretend We’re Married (Prince)
  • And Sometimes Dmytryk
  • Out Along Upon the Prairie
  • Hey! Rounders
  • Ukulele Rhythm
  • Love Song of Kalua (Marty Robbins)
  • Benny Lava (Prabhu Deva / Buffalax)

ENCORE

  • Protest Song (Neil Innes)
  • Flower (Liz Phair)
  • Last Call Waltz (Viper/Tangleweed)

August 8
Anniversary party for Elizabeth Majerus and Matt Mitchell, Urbana, Illinois

  • Ich Bin Berlin (The Sundown Song)
  • Fillmore & Buchanan March
  • Let’s Pretend We’re Married (Prince)
  • First Round Polka
  • The Pirate Song (?)
  • Dance Any Way You Want To (?)
  • My Little Grass Shack (hapa haole standard)
  • Good Morning Irene
  • What Time Is It? (Summertime) (High School Musical 2)
  • DMSR (Prince)
  • Winnebago Bay
  • Drunk Bus (Tre-P)

August 9
Mike N’ Molly’s, Champaign, Illinois

SET #1

  • What Time Is It? (Summertime) (High School Musical 2)
  • Winnebago Bay
  • Das Kapital
  • The Pirate Song (?)
  • The Huki-Lau (hapa haole standard)
  • Fillmore & Buchanan March
  • I Love a Girl in Moscow
  • Wanna Be Startin’ Something (Michael Jackson)

SET #2

  • First Round Polka
  • Randolph St.
  • Good Morning Irene
  • Dance Any Way You Want To (?)
  • Watching Junior Drive (Jay Bennett and Edward Burch)
  • My Seafaring Lassie
  • Tavern in the Town (trad)
  • My Little Grass Shack (hapa haole standard)
  • Benny Lava (Prabhu Deva/Buffalax)
  • Last Call Waltz (Viper/Tangleweed)
Rob, Riley, and Ryan practicing for this weekend's shows.

Rob, Riley, and Ryan practicing for this weekend's shows.

The Viper and His Famous Orchestra played two shows this past weekend in Chicago, our first shows with the full band since 2002, and our first shows to feature a significant amount of new material since 2000, when the Viper up and left for Ankara, Turkey.

Thanks to all who came, or told others to come, expressed an interest in coming, expressed regrets about their inability to come, expressed regrets about their ability to come, expressed no interest in coming, told others not to come, or walk-ran quickly away the moment we started playing. We had a great time playing and catching up with a lot of our favorite people this weekend. That includes each other: Ryan Jerving, Edward Burch, Victor Cortez, Rob Henn, Kenneth Rainey, Riley Broach, and Bill Whitmer (who leaves for Scotland on Tuesday).

Both shows were a welcome challenge and a lot of fun, not least for the wide-ranging and moving sets that Edward Burch played at each of them with various stellar collaborators (LeRoy Bach, Steve Frisbie, Kenneth Rainey, John Peacock, and Riley Broach).

We hope to see you August 7 and/or 9 in Champaign-Urbana at Mike ‘n’ Molly’s. Meanwhile, here’s what you would have heard this past weekend, and the keys in which you would have heard it:

Friday, July 10, Hotel SnS (house show)

  • Ich Bin Berlin – C
  • Hey! Rounders / Superbowl Shuffle – C
  • Das Kapital – A
  • Good Morning Irene – G
  • Whispering – C
  • Think about Your Troubles – Db
  • Drunk Bus – Am
  • They’re Knocking Down Our Home – E
  • Neapolitan – A/Bb
  • Ballad of the Henry 55 – F
  • My Seafaring Lassie – C
  • Pretty Is as Pretty Does – C
  • Benny Lava – Cm
  • Wanna Be Startin’ Something – B
  • Winnebago Bay – G
  • Last Call Waltz – F

July 12, Great Performers of Illinois 2009 festival, Millennium Park

SET #1

  • The Viper’s Blue Yodel no. 6.02 x 10 to the 23rd -G
  • I Left My Liver in Libertyville – Bb
  • There Is a Tavern in the Town – Eb
  • Das Kapital – A
  • Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been…Blue? – F
  • Fillmore & Buchanan March – C/G
  • Winnebago Bay – G
  • Good Morning Irene – G
  • Whispering – C
  • Think about Your Troubles – Db
  • Pitfall – F
  • Let’s Go Fishing – F
  • Heyse Latke Kalte Latke – D
  • Drunk Bus – Am

SET #2

  • First Round Polka – F/C
  • Randolph St. – D
  • Hey! Rounders / Superbowl Shuffle – C
  • Benny Lava – Cm
  • Next Time I Drink – E
  • Surplus Labor – E
  • Neapolitan – A/Bb
  • Ballad of the Henry 55 – F
  • My Seafaring Lassie – C
  • Ich Bin Berlin – C
  • Wanna Be Startin’ Something – B

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