last night we (me + twiddle thumbs + alpha tom) went to go see the nightwatchman at the hotel cafe. for those that don't know, the nightwatchman is basically the name tom morello goes by when he does acoustic protest songs. he's been doing shows now and then in LA and is putting an album out in april apparently. this month he's been playing at the hotel cafe. he played last week on tuesday, yesterday (tuesday), and will play next week on tuesday. these shows are to benefit axis of justice (founded by tom and serj of system of a down) and food not bombs. as tom intro-ed: "you pay the people's price of $10, we entertain you, and good deeds are done so thank you very much."

we got there early and watched the opener angie aparo do a full set and it really sucked. it seemed like the whole crowd (it was getting full) was there for him as they knew his songs and laughed at his jokes. everyone except for us three. i dunno, maybe alpha tom laughed at a joke or two. i just wanted his set to be done with so i could hear the nightwatchman. i have heard 2 of his songs that are on the axis of justice cd. they're not bad. i mean, they're exactly what you'd expect if tom went acoustic. perhaps his voice is too monotone for some or the songs are too long, and i never really was a big rage against the machine or morello fan but i'm curious to hear more.

the hotel cafe is really small and at first we stood at the back. once it was time for the main attraction, we walked up right behind the tables. next time we're getting there earlier to get a seat! we were standing right by where everyone was passing through to go on stage so all the musicians bumped my shoulder or something like that throughout the evening. tom introduced the evening by saying his set is his rebuttal against the state of the union address the president just gave. he also wanted to make it clear to everyone first of all that he cannot hook us up with coachella tickets, (everyone laughs except me who had not yet heard about the rage against the machine reunion). tom played a new song, "midnight in the city of destruction", one from the axis of justice record called "union song", "house gone up in flames", and i can't remember right now if he played another or not. i was surprised to see tom play harmonica as well.

then there were others who'd also sing a couple songs and tom would introduce each one then sit on the floor in front of the stage with his girlfriend as he'd have a drink and eat pizza. i couldn't help but make observations like this as it was just a couple feet in front of me. i think the next person up was queen v from new york on acoustic guitar. she had a powerful voice and presence. then was jon foreman (switchfoot) with sean watkins (nickle creek) on acoustic guitars. i don't know who the hell these people are but the music sounded alright and so did their voices. it was just a little too soft for me. i like some edge. i think next was chuck ragan (hot water music) who did 2 songs with acoustic guitar/harmonic. can't you tell by now that an acoustic guitar and harmonica are mandatory for protest songs? no, not if you're the next people up on stage: another guy i've never heard of jerry quickley (spoken word) with money mark. i think he had chris joyner come up and play piano too but there were a lot of people peforming and i can't remember every detail.

tom morello and guests

the main event was when everyone returned on stage (except chuck ragan) plus chris seefried? and they did some covers. there was actually electric guitar now played by (unknown guitarist) and alpha tom thought the guy was good 'cos he's a blues-based player (we disagree on what makes a guitarist good, he's very traditional), but we both agreed he's good because you could tell they didn't rehearse at all and he was watching the others to see what chords they were playing but if you just listened to the music, it sounded fantastic. the covers they did throughout the evening were classic rock and i don't know that stuff. i guess queen v played a peter frampton song. i have no idea. alpha tom said there was a frampton song. i don't know any fucking frampton! the group covered ac/dc. i didn't know it was ac/dc. see, we just come from different musical foundations. they also had a bassist who i could not see at all. the pianist joined them. and there was also breckin meyer (actor) on drums. sen dog (cypress hill) joined them for a cover of run dmc (the only cover i knew!).

when they got off the stage, alpha tom had to say a few words to the guitarist whose name i have no idea what it is because he thought he was such a great player. he plays left-handed and is a skinny white dude who dresses like it's the 70s. i commented to twiddle thumbs that he looks like a young phil, dave navarro's guitar tech. since everyone brushed past me so many times, i had to say a few words to tom morello, really just thanking him for the evening. i walked right by breckin meyer and was shocked that i was taller than him. the sean guy from nickle creek was really short too and kinda looked like sean austin so twiddle thumbs referred to him as the fat hobbit when he was on stage.