The Terry Kath Experience ... A Daughter's Labor Of Love

Do you know who Terry Kath is? Well, his daughter is going to make sure you do. My very talented friend, Michelle Kath Sinclair, directed a documentary about her father, Terry Kath, and friends and family finally got to see the wonderful The Terry Kath Experience last night at a screening at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills.

Kath was the lead guitarist and singer of the band Chicago, who died tragically from a gun accident in 1978. Michelle was only 2, and never really knew her father, aside from photos and stories. This documentary is a daughter's search to know her dad better, and it is an obvious labor of true love.

Co-produced with our friends Jordan Levy (also the D.P.) and Tony Papa (also the editor), the film that we'd all been hearing about for seven years was finally up there on the screen for us, on the day of its digital and dvd release (Dvd's already sold out! Now streaming everywhere!). The theater was packed with friends and family and rock stars ("This is like the most epic party I could ever have!" - MKS), all of whom laughed and cried and got to know the absolute genius of Terry Kath, if they didn't know already.

The film opens with a quote from a music journalist that stated that had Kath been in his own group, called something like "The Terry Kath Experience", everyone would know about him, but as he was a member of a big ensemble band like Chicago, and passed away almost 40 years ago before he could get his own solo work out there ("without horns!"), history has not remembered him in the same way that it does someone like Jimi Hendrix. That's sad, because Hendrix himself highly revered Kath, and considered him a better guitarist than himself - and said so.

Watching Kath in concert, it's clear to see why. INCREDIBLE. The music that flowed through this man's mind is almost hard to understand on paper (the film shows his charts), but when you hear it, it's all this glorious rock and roll that makes total sense. The gigantic loss of this man is tangibly felt by all of those interviewed in this film, and as you watch it, you can feel the loss to music at large, never mind the loss of a little girl never knowing her father.

I felt extra emotional throughout the film, because I lost my dad when I was four, and didn't really know him either. We don't have all this beautiful footage of my dad, or the stories, or the music, and I felt myself feeling deeply wistful that we did. Then, right when you had tears streaming down your face at the senseless loss, someone would say something hilarious (often Joe Walsh, who was there, and deserves his own documentary!), and you would laugh while wiping your eyes. As Dolly Parton said in Steel Magnolias ... "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." Agreed, and this film will give you that feeling, for sure.

Michelle travels to Chicago to walk the same streets as her Dad. She interviews all the bandmates and peers of Kath, who all show how much they miss him right on their faces, as well as how much of a thrill it was for them to be interviewed by their friend's now grown baby daughter, who looks so much like him many of them got choked up. The moment that really got me was when they show Michelle on her wedding day (to her husband, Adam Sinclair, another producer and great friend). Her stepfather, Kiefer Sutherland, makes a toast to the newlyweds, and quotes Kath's song that he wrote for his little girl, "Little One"... because he wasn't there to do it himself. I was a wreck, and it really brought home how much Kath was missed, loved, and still in his daughter's life. Beautiful.

Michelle found all kinds of 8mm films in a box of her father's things, and they make up the most of the film, and show just how cool and talented this cat was. A long-vanished Fender guitar is featured in many of them, and serves as the material device that Michelle is searching for throughout the film, along with the memories of her dad. She takes the viewer along on the search, which gives actual goosebumps when she gets close. Her late Grandfather is quoted as saying, "Michelle can have the guitars when she knows their value." This entire film shows that she absolutely knows their value, both to the music world and sentimentally. No one had touched Kath's guitars since him. They retained his tuning. That's a special moment for a daughter, one you can only imagine.

 Chicago started out being called "The Big Thing", a name that was thankfully changed once they got some traction. "Chicago Transit Authority" or CTA was way cooler, and soon they became one of the most popular bands in the world. Michelle's mother, Camelia, fell in love with his character and his music, and watching her watching her daughter's search is one of the most touching aspects of the film. When they return to Terry and Camelia's happiest place, The Caribou Ranch in Colorado, you can feel her nostalgia and love in an exceptionally moving part of the film. It's so moving because you can tell Michelle is really feeling the spirit and soul of her long lost dad, and also what a senseless loss it was. Drugs are bad. 

The film closes with a clip from Chicago's Rock Hall of Fame induction, with Michelle accepting on behalf of her father. What a moment! Her hope is that through this film, audiences worldwide will come to know and revere the work of Terry Kath anew, and that he will continue to live on through his music. At the post-screening Q and A (with Michelle, Chicago producer Jimmy Guercio, and Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine), Michelle said that she hopes that people will leave the film with the "warm, fuzzy feeling that my Dad gives you." Well, mission accomplished, because we all left there feeling exactly that. You will too.

Heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to Michelle Kath Sinclair, and to everyone involved with this exceptional love letter to a father, and to rock and roll. Well done!!!

The Terry Kath Experience is now available to stream everywhere.

Lollapalooza 2013 - Day Three!

The third and final day of Lollapalooza 2013 got off to a verrrrry slooooow start. We went BIG Saturday night, and as a result, needed a slight break from pounding amplifiers and crowds. Bummer for the first half of the day that I can't report to you about, other than to say it looked really nice out.

And it was. Lolla goers are party people, let me tell you, and as I arrived back on site in the afternoon, everyone was still going hard. It's a stamina thing, for sure, and all the folks in Chicago were UP for it this year, no question. Every stage was packed. Every line was long. Every smile remained big.

I saw a little of The Mowglis on my way to the Perry compound, where I caught up with the gang that was all in a similar state of regrouping before we charged back out again. Coco Cafe is our good good friend. Shout out!

On my way back out I caught a little Wavves, The Vaccines and Tegan and Sara. It's interesting to watch the crowd stream from one stage to another when one act ends, like time lapse in real time.

We had never really checked out the VIP area (different than Perry's - you can buy your way in there), but thought it might be a nice spot to ease back into it all.

They had chaise lounges and comfy benches that you can watch the action at from kind of a remove. From there we caught Alt-J, who were throwing down better than we were at this point. We also caught brief moments of Grizzly Bear and Beach House, who were dreamy and ethereal sounding, making me still a little sleepy.

But that changed when we caught the tail-end of Dog Blood (Skrillex and Boys Noize) who had their faithful going supercrazy. The whole front row went down at one point, only to help each other spring back up and start jumping up and down again. That was me for Major Lazer, who were AWESOME.

I like them because they throw in the dancehall with the dance music, giving it a bit of a mellow vibe even as people are losing their minds in an anything but mellow fashion. Diplo was out front with some dancing girls and when they did "Shirts Off", pretty much every shirt did come off and wave in the air. (I had on a dress or I too would probably have complied).

Their crowd LOVED every frenetic moment of it, and it took about one hot second to get re-energized yourself while watching them. Major Lazer is for sure one to catch when they come to your area. I still feel hyper just thinking about it.

The little kids in our entourage all wanted to see 2 Chainz, but that was when I wanted to see Major Lazer, so I opted out of that expedition. The review, per Hezron Farrell, was "AWESOME! A girl took her bra off, a guy climbed an electrical pole, and a man crowd surfed in his wheelchair." 2 Chainz high-fived Hezron's little friend Vernard, who claims that his hand will never again be washed. That's a pretty good referral, so I'll have to catch him next time.

The big choice for most on this final night was Phoenix, Cat Power, Knife Party or The Cure. For us, there was only one place to be - The Cure. Any chance to time travel back to college, you should probably take, though many in the audience didn't look college-age yet. Robert Smith himself looked like a crazy older lady, but he sounded exactly the same. Exactly. When they opened with "Plainsong," it was like listening to it on the radio back in the day.

The place went absolutely wild. Since it was the last act of the whole weekend, we went out into the dead middle of the mix to really soak up the feeling of the crows and place. I'm not sure it was the best decision, as after a while, The Cure songs can be a bit sleepy. When there's no way to move or get out, you just dig deep, close your eyes and meld your memories into now.

"Pictures Of You". "High". "The End Of The World". "Love Song". (Gigantic singalong) "In Between Days". "Without You".  Huge crowd pleaser, "Just Like Heaven" was excellent, and was made even more so by watching the awesome sign language lady act it out. She was on FIRE. "The Walk". "Friday I'm In Love". They played all the hits, back to back, storming through them all like it WAS yesterday.

At this point, the sky dark and the night chilly, we threw in the towel for being in the middle and battled our way back to the bleacher zone to warm up and listen in comfort for a bit before heading back to the Perry compound to compare notes from the other stages.

A BBQ was served and we all celebrated another SMASHING success of a Lollapalooza year. It's an epic feat, a massive undertaking, and it is done with such grace, style and well thought out planning, that it would be very hard not to enjoy every part of it. What Perry Farrell envisioned back at the beginning of the 1990s is not only still one of the biggest happenings of the year, but one of the best, that just keeps on getting better. All kinds of musical genres. All kinds of people. All coming together to celebrate their love of MUSIC. What an absolutely beautiful thing.

SPECIAL thanks again to the Farrell Family for everything, thank you to fun and gorgeous Chicago, and to Lollapalooza 2013 for going down in the books as one blast of a long weekend. Until next year ... August 1, 2, 3, 2014! Plan on it.

Lollapalooza 2013 - Day One!

Lollapalooza! My favorite. This is one great festival, and I'm SO excited to be here in Chicago again, checking out seemingly every band that exists in the world today (or pretty close). Again the extremely grateful and thrilled guest of the Farrell Family, I get to see how it all goes down, in front of and behind the scenes. Awesomely.

We met up to toast the first day with champagne and get our little "Perry's" temporary tattoos that got us into the cool areas. Then it was all aboard the big double decker Dobel Tequila bus emblazoned with Perry's giant face to take us over to the Lolla site. Not a bad ride, as all the friends and family caught up and enjoyed the Lake Michigan breeze up on top.

More catching up (and maybe a little partying down too) in Perry's compound meant that I once again missed a bunch of bands, but it's fun to hear all the music filtering in from the various stages, feeling the excitement build all day.

 Perry and Etty Farrell are hosts of the country's best party this weekend, and they make sure everyone is having a massively good time - the whole time. There are not enough thanks for them. THANKS!

I heard a little Father John Misty and Band of Horses and Chance The Rapper on the fly - sounding fantastic - and then we gathered up a full infantry of troops and golf carted on over to see Imagine Dragons, who had their crowd yelling and moving the whole set.

There is always so much to see and do that you kinda gotta keep moving to even scratch the surface.

So we were off to see Thievery Corporation with the gang, who ruled it, and got the approval from Perry as they had their faithful wildly dancing and loving it. Even the little kids got into it.

Grey skies threatened the whole day, but we never had to really deal with it, thankfully. It just looked all cool and dramatic, which is exactly how Queens Of The Stone Age handled their MONSTER set.

I love this band. They simply SCORCHED the already hot Lollapalooza audience, who were out of their minds for every song (I know, because I was, and thus, could recognize it well).

They played a slew of tunes off their new and epic Like Clockwork ... album, as well as bunch of fan favorites that had people going OFF. I saw guys air guitaring and drumming all the way back to the back. I mention the air DRUMMING because Jon Theodore's drumming was a true pummeling of monster rock proportions. I'm biased because we're friends and I adore Jon Theodore, but I'd say it if I'd never heard of him. He was an animal, and held the whole beat down DOWN. Barefoot. GO JON!

Josh Homme is one of those front men that are riveting to watch, because he just so confidently HANDLES the rock.

The songs are super interesting and hard and there was a point where the balcony we were watching from truly felt about to collapse. It would not have been a bad choice of final moments though ... honestly.

The set list was perfect and featured a deafening group singalong on "I Wanna Make It Wit Chu" that no one will soon forget. The sun set on their stage, creating a completely perfect show.

I can't say enough great about QOTSA, so I'll just let you dig them yourselves the very VERY first chance you get. You will never have a regret about it, but you might lose your face in the mayhem.

Mayhem is also an apt way to describe the set and the crowd for Nine Inch Nails. Whoa. Dark and ominous as ever in their first U.S. gig since 2009, Trent Reznor and his guys debuted some new songs ("Copy of A"/"Come Back Haunted") as well as classics like "Sanctified", "Head Like A Hole" and "Piggy".  At this point it was crucial to just enjoy and not try to take crappy photos. Sometimes you just have to LIVE it.

The Chicago skyline had grown dark by now, and as we mixed in with the rabid crowd, a lone firefly flitted around over our heads. It was kind of magical, like hope itself persevering amid the darkness and doom feeling of the music. That fact that whatever the tone of the music was, its very beats made the crowd so happy, it also felt like hope.

The Killers were ruining the other end of the slightly muddy Grant Park at the same time, so we only caught the tail end of them by leaving Nine Inch Nails early, but I could tell that they had brought the same hope and happiness down at their end. As did Steve Aoki at Perry's Stage. Man, there is SO much to do and see at Lollapalooza that you want to clone yourself, but you just do your best.

After all of this, we had completely forgotten to eat, so it was with pure joy that we discovered back in Perry's trailer giant trays bearing the now classic don't miss lobster corndogs. Aka lifesavers.  Fortified, we blended in with the happy music lovers streaming out of the park and out into the Chicago night to see what else we could get into. Before doing it all over again today.

Tra la LALAPALOOZA! Loving every minute of it.

Lollapalooza 2012 - Day Two, Part One

Day Two of Lollapalooza 2012 dawned hotter than the day before, if possible. We woke up feeling surprisingly awesome after a late night wound up at Giordano's Pizza. Coffee down the hatch (and some Advils to help with the headbanging to Black Sabbath side effects from the night before), I had the goal of getting to the Lolla site in time for one of my favorites, Delta Spirit. Who I'd never seen live before! That always excites me extra.

It was so hot you could see those heat wave things rising up off the pavement as we made our way inside. The only good news about being so sweltering hot and sweaty is that everyone else is in the same boat, which makes you all kind of bros, surviving together for the sake of the music.

As we strolled on into the festival grounds, Jeff The Brotherhood was playing immediately to our right at the Playstation stage. They stopped us in our tracks - and we were thirsty, on a mission. That's saying something. They rocked it hard, as my friend Steph said, "Nugent on his knees style". "There's a lot more of you here than we're used to, " remarked their singer. Jake Orrall. I think they'd better get used to it based on those jams. I'll go see them again as soon as possible. Whoa. Dug it.

Still being thirsty, but now running late, a plan had to be made. After our dope time watching Sabbath the night before from the soundboard, and seeing the boiling hot crowd squashed in together now, the new plan was to view Delta Spirit from right there. Magic wristband, no problem.

We downed that Water In A Box (smart idea), and watched the throngs heading towards us from the other end to get to the Bud Light stage in time. Pretty soon, Delta Spirit took the stage to happy shouts, and I felt that great rock thrill arise within. I first heard them on KCRW one morning, and immediately noted their name, went online, and ordered up everything they had out at that point. Their records were my constant friends in Summer 2010 - which was a really good one. And now here we were!

Instead of a lengthy gushing, which would be real easy for me to do, I'll instead share with you lines from Delta Spirit's singer, Matt Vasquez or the lyrics he sang, that all summed up the feeling and the day ... so far. {with little interjections to give you the vibes}

"C'mon, Let's do it here, come ON!"
{Beach balls bouncing and floating bubbles blown}
"Man, it's so cold out I need a parka and a hot chocolate!"
{Sweat rolling down faces and soaking through clothes}
"Just TEAR IT UP!"
{In the running for Theme of The Weekend}
"Happiness comes at the strangest times ..."

{Like exactly then, openly, tangibly, gratefully}"If you're feeling what I'm feeling, come on! All you soul searching people come on!"
{People ALL clapping along, and singing every word they knew, in spite of the raging heat}
"I'll make my own stand!"

 {Singer Vasquez breaking free of Security barriers to dowse the crowd with buckets of cold water relief and solidarity}

"Well, if God is on our side, then that's all we really need ..."

... When as soon as Delta Spirit was ruling on its last song, the clouds rolled in, you felt the temperature drop, and the skies turned dark.  Delta Spirit had given their all, and the whole place was kind of spent as they left the stage.

We got drinks, lolled about in the Artist area, and when it was time for a refill, we were denied "due to weather". ??? Then all of a sudden it got very dramatic. "Get in the trailer now and stay there!" kind of dramatic.  Everyone remained calm, understanding,  and 100,000 Lollapalooza goers were evacuated smoothly and safely in no time flat.With a little crowd surfing thrown in, just to keep it rock. As we were hoofing it back to the trailer area since the golf carts were suspended too (!), the Delta Spirit guys rode by on their lucky - and full or I woulda jumped on - golf cart, we all exchanged rock finger salutes. Bad to the bone.

Children and women were evacuated first out of our area, and it was surreal to see the whole festival evacuation unfold from a distance. Better safe than sorry, I guess, but I hated to miss seeing Alabama Shakes for the first time right after that (among many others). We hitched a ride back to the hotel and that's where I'm filling you in from now. The brief shower has subsided, a mottled sunset is shaping up, and word is the gates have now reopened at the festival.

The silver lining in all those clouds was a little break from that crazy freaky heat, a regroup, and now we'll see what goes down next ...

"The Midwest loves Rock and Roll!!!"  Exactly.

Lollapalooza Day Two - Afterparty with Jane's Addiction!

Ooooohlala! Palooza. Day Two was very dramatic with the evacuation of the Lalapalooza site due to serious weather rolling in. The officials erred on the side of caution ... because all was clear in a few hours, and the park re-opened for the remaining bands and people. Not for us though, as by then, all the way back at the hotel, and the heat having made us lazy ... we decided to chill until the big after party that evening at the Aragon Ballroom. Starring Jane's Addiction!

Sad to miss a bunch of bands, but the Aragon show wound up being so good that it was fine. Better than fine. We rode over to the venue in the truck with the Farrells, and I could see Perry gearing up to throw down. A remarkable feat, considering he'd been dealing with the evacuation of the entire festival and cancelling bands and phone ringing every second ... but now it was showtime, and he is a true showman. In a Pimp hat.

The Aragon Ballroom is a big Moroccan looking room, and on this night it was JAM packed with adoring fans, sweltering in a place so hot I thought it was going to rain in there. Costumed actors walked around among the crowd, feeling each other up, taking a bath, climbing chairs, checking themselves out in mirrors ... generally creating a trippy, Fellini-esque vibe. Perfect.

Franz Ferdinand was already on when we arrived and I wound up liking them more than I thought I did. They played all the hits ... plus a bunch of better ones. I have to admit, I was a bit preoccupied, as we were doing laps around and rounding up posse members to watch the Jane's set together. It was getting more exciting in there by the minute, even as conversations had to continually be interrupted by mopping of brows and breaks in front of giant turbine fans just to not pass out mid-sentence.

I was just grateful we were up in a balcony near a fan vs. squeezed in down below so tight you couldn't fall down faint if you wanted to. People were losing water weight in front of our eyes!

Pink Floyd set the tone and the shouting grew for Jane's, and when they took the stage ... well, my ears are still ringing. They blew right into "Underground" ... "Mountain Song" (I want to say a crowd favorite, but they all seemed to be!) ... "Just Because" ... (a shout out to Billy Corgan from Perry, and a bigger one to Chicago at large, which sent the place more bezerk) ... "Been Caught Stealing" ... (I'm throwing basically just a set list at you now, because I gotta hit it and get out to Day Three any minute) ... "Ain't No Right" ...

Sexy videos were playing on the screens and Etty Farrell and Stephanie Spanski were suspended above the stage on trapezes in gigantic white hoop skirts, that must have been suffocating to operate in that green house terrarium of a hall. Holy God, was it hot. Stephen Perkins told me later that his feet were actually slipping off of his drum pedals every time from being so hot and sweaty! Bubba Carr was lurking around in full mud man costume, but I couldn't really see him from our side balcony and it was too hot to traverse the packed house to go anywhere else. I admire these performers greatly, because that was WORK. Same goes for the fans, because it was sweltering - but once the jams kick in, nobody cares. We're all in together. Rock and Roll.

Everybody, Everybody .... so began Perry singing "Nothing Shocking", and absolutely everybody was singing along and freaking out. "Have fun, get laid, Rock and Roll is all about fucking, right?" Perry just breaks it down.

OK, for real, I gotta run, but "Jane Says" was perfect as ever, and Peter DiStefano ("One of my favorite people on Earth" - Perry Farrell) came out and played a Porno For Pyros song but I was at the bar for that one - bummer. "Splash A Little Water On It" was so good, I love it, and would have loved real water on me right then, and then "Ocean Size" made everyone crazy. So did "Stop".

But then, and I've never heard it live before, and it's tied for "May This Be Love" as my favorite song of all time, was SUMMERTIME ROLLS!!! It was sublimely beautiful and heavy and I just feel complete. But there's so much more kicking off right now, that I am bursting with gratitude, and still not complete. The place went insane, we all carried on into the night, and now here we go again.

Summertime Rolls ... Wow.

*Pics by me and Stephanie Hobgood