Firebrand Thursday - Tom Morello And Friends Back At Hotel Café!

Tom Morello first brought his group shows with friends to the Hotel Café as The Nightwatchman ten years ago, and he was back there last night with his label-mates from his Firebrand Records to give us a healthy dose of music for the Resistance. In a switch from Firebrand Fridays (previously held at Genghis Cohen), this one was on a Thursday. Though it started at ten, which is pretty late for a school night, the crowd was packed in and singing along in solidarity until the last note was hit.

Morello introduced the evening, saying it was good to be back at Hotel Café, before bringing up his comrade in arms, Ryan Harvey. Harvey is one of my favorite people to turn to in times of global crisis, as he has incredible knowledge and explains things in an erudite and understandable way, often through song. He told us about how he recently went to visit Nora Guthrie, and she told him all about her father Woody's songs, and the stories behind them. He played us "Old Man Trump" (about the current Trump's equally disgusting father), which speaks to how they try to divide us with racism. Still. The chorus even features a Eugene Debs quote, and explains how - sadly - "Your ideals escape them." Powerful stuff, and I'd encourage everyone everywhere to take the chance to hear Harvey play if you get it.

 Harvey brought Morello back up, wearing his shades inside at night, perhaps to indicate his Nightwatchman persona had returned (otherwise I can't really condone it). He extended greetings from his mother, Mary. She had a fall earlier in the day, and they'd spent the day in the ER, having to miss giving their fiery speech for Black History Month at his kids' elementary school. Instead, he put it into song form, and sang about torches in the woods, and if you want a taste of freedom - "Keep Going!" It was ominous and inspiring at the same time. The kids would have dug the storytelling, I'm sure. Feel better, Mary!!!

My favorite Nightwatchman song has always been "Let Freedom Ring", and I got to hear it again last night. It was silent in there as Morello strummed and sang about the Freedom that is in so much jeopardy right now, and I felt all emotional. He ended it with a revved up acoustic jam that fired everyone back up, loving it even more.

The outstanding Lia Rose performed next, and began by asking "How did we get ourselves into this mess?" Right? I mean, we know, but still. Ugh. She spoke about how beautiful and inspiring it is to have a friend like Morello, who walks the talk EVERY day. The shouts of "Thank you, Tom!" were heartfelt and loud. I concur with Rose. He really does fight the power EVERY single day, and we're all so lucky to have SOMEONE out there unafraid to speak truth to power every chance he gets. And it's contagious, as evidenced by the beautiful, equally aware songs Rose gave us. I don't know the name of the first one, but my friend next to me just said, "Wow. She's something else." Totally agree. Her voice is so ethereal and expressive, you just need to experience it live. Rose was wearing a Standing Rock shirt, and dedicated her next song to the Water Warriors there. "Awake" nearly had me sobbing out loud, not prettily. The song is so beautiful, but the whole time all I could picture was that day's news showing the tipis and camps set on fire as the Native Americans are being raided. It's so awful, and "So cold" as the song says. Rose said, "In the future it will be very clear who was on the right side of this." Agreed, except for it's pretty clear right now.

The bright side is that "incredible goodness rises up greet evil", and with that truth spoken, Rose sang her "Of Good And Evil". It was so pretty, so hopeful, and so needed - as indeed, this whole night of rebel music was. Crucial for these times.

Headliner Ike Reilly was next, but Morello stalled for him, as he "needed a moment to get it together." Morello told about how both he and Reilly grew up in Libertyville, Illinois, long suffering together over the Cubs until this year's miraculous championship that has them both still beaming. Reilly stayed in the Midwest, while Morello headed for L.A., but that didn't stop him from becoming "One of the greatest acoustic singer/songwriters of all time" - per Morello. And per every superfan Reilly had in there, and there were many. Most of them waving their arms and getting sauced. Before bringing Reilly up, Morello said, "Don't let the People down." There was no chance of that.

Reilly began with a new one called "Boltcutter" (that Morello titled), all about the travel ban and what's going on right now in our world. Extra timely, and enthusiastically cheered along with ... especially when he ended it with, "When they steal our dreams, we gotta steal 'em back!" Facts. Real facts.

"Anyone here a racist?" No one raised their hands to that, thank God. Reilly is a great storyteller (and writer, and guitar player, and harmonica player ...) and told a yarn about how he used to have a thing for this girl in high school, who was gorgeous, but would always say these racist comments. "Laura, why you gotta be so mad that somebody else matters?" It was funny, but also biting and true (and Morello named this one "Laura".) Reilly next told about how his Dad was in the hospital dying, and Reilly found a poem in his Bible about his girlfriend having an affair with Satan. Right around the time Reilly was born ... hmmm. "Devil's Valentine" features his Dad's lyrics with Reilly's music, and contains the wonderful line, "Somewhere between dreams and fear is life." I love that. And so did a big guy that showed Reilly his back tattoo of those words once at a show, though credited the words to Ike and not Daniel Reilly. Still cool.

The Valentine theme continued with "Valentine's Day In Juarez," that turned into a lusty singalong. Reilly said if you didn't know the words, "Follow the drunk ones". A lady down front raised her hands, so we followed her. Correctly, it seemed. "They got the cocaine, Oxycontin, mushrooms, marijuana, vodka, plastic pop-off, twist one off ..." was belted out by fans that sounded like they knew what they were talking about. "Loving In The Wrong Time" was just recorded with the Ike Reilly Assassination (who he said were on strike tonight), and was great, and then the drunk ones got a drinking song, with drinks all around for his "Wasted Friends". It was super fun, and just what the Dr. Feelgood ordered.

These shows always end with an All-Star Jam, and this night was no different. The Firebrand gang brought up their friend Jason Heath, and everyone joined Reilly on his fantastic jam, "Put A Little Love In It". Morello and Reilly played dueling guitars, and the exceptional flamenco-ish solo by Morello was summed up at song's end by his own expression:

Because it was awesome. Morello encouraged "Singers" to come up on stage and join them, with the one caveat that they couldn't take out their phones - they had to act like they were in the band. A slew of folks crammed up on the little Hotel Café stage and if they didn't exactly act like they were in the band, they did at least pocket their phones. They all enthusiastically rocked out to Morello's "The Road I Must Travel" with Morello only occasionally having to jostle for elbow room. The fans on stage were so clearly happy to be exactly right there, that it was easy when Morello called for "Once more, in solidarity, Everybody!" Done.

"I'm not entirely sure we're done," was met with more roars, and the ironic champagne bucket was passed around, as is the custom for these shows designed to benefit social justice organizations. This time the money will go to the relief efforts for Syrian refugees in Greece, where Harvey will be reporting to once again next week, in his own walking of the talk. These shows also customarily end with a rowdy version of "This Land Is Your Land", which was even more special as it had been written 77 years ago to the day by Woody Guthrie in 1940. I'm sure Guthrie would be so pleased to know that it is still being sun as our "Alternative National Anthem", and that his torch has been so valiantly carried by this bunch of modern musicians. Though Morello has undoubtedly played this a million times by now, it is always with the same fervor and conviction. Which the audience feels, and carries with them.

You will leave every Firebrand show feeling both inspired and empowered. We're all in this together, and there are still very good people doing very good things. As we all sang out throats out, and jumped up and down together in TOTAL solidarity, you got the feeling that maybe we got this. As ever, the People have the Power. I don't think that fact has ever been more important than now. Morello closed the night by thanking everyone, telling us all to take it easy, but to take it, and adding, "Firebrand Records is so much better than Interscope." If this night had anything to say about it ... there again is a real fact.

Thank you to everyone involved with the fantastic Firebrand - the World needs you!

*Photos by Paul Gronner Photography

A Mural For Standing Rock - The Art Of Lehi Thunder Voice Eagle Sanchez

Hi! There have been some technical, personal, and national difficulties that haven't allowed me to be as prolific with Venice stories as I'd like to be lately, and for that I apologize, and thank you for being here to read again now. There is so much to say about the election nightmare, but I think it's really better to go forward now, and think and talk about things that we as people can do together in the name of good, regardless of whomever our leaders are. The climate is in deep crisis (Please everyone watch Before The Flood online asap), and it won't matter at all who's in charge for four years when no one is able to inhabit Earth anymore. So let's focus on what's really important. LIFE.

Water is Life. When we first started hearing about the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, everyone was appalled at the images coming out of there with Native Americans being tear gassed and attacked by police dogs. For peacefully wanting clean drinking water. Let that sink in.

Some people want to help more than look away, and Kim Michalowski is one of them. She owns the Ananda boutique on Abbot Kinney, as well as being a wonderful friend to all of Venice. We talked about the idea of having a mural done in support of Standing Rock on the front of her shop, and started reaching out to Native American artists. Friends connected Michalowski with artist Lehi Thunder Voice Eagle Sanchez, a Navajo from Arizona. Thunder Voice Eagle recently returned from Standing Rock, and after sitting down with him to talk about it all, I feel both inspired and encouraged, as well as super impressed with both his art and his humanity.

Thunder Voice Eagle worked for years with his father's organization, Anasazi.org, a kind of Outward Bound type group that takes at-risk kids out into nature for 50 day trips (awesome). A few years back,  he had a dream that he had a message to help his people, and that his art work would be the best tool to do so. He did a painting for a family friend that was so well-received that he began to focus on art full-time, selling paintings through Instagram and his website, as well as through various galleries.

"Nothing has changed for the Natives, now it just feels like we have a whole bunch of new allies," Thunder Voice Eagle told me. "Every reservation has crazy stuff happening. There has always been corporate land grabs, it's never on the news, and we always lose. But now we have social media."

The U.S. Government separated tribes by design, so they wouldn't band together to oppose the stealing of their land and resources. Once reservations got cell towers, the people got cell phones. MySpace days started connecting people. Facebook has connected us all. Once the Facebook Live videos started coming out about elders, pregnant women, kids, everyone being attacked at Standing Rock by police in riot gear for peacefully protesting, tribes across the nation saw it, grabbed their stuff, and went to North Dakota. United.

Native leaders can also not always be trusted, and often take the corporate money to line their own pockets to the detriment of their people. Standing Rock is not like that because their leaders said no, and realize how this awful pipeline will affect the drinking water of so many people all over the affected area, not just those on the reservation that our government tends to dismiss. All Americans, all who deserve better. "This situation has stirred something in the warriors, it has become their top priority," explained Thunder Voice Eagle. He told me that the pipeline company took the information of where Native burial grounds were and dug them up so there would be no evidence of it ... it's really that sinister. And must be stopped, for us all.

In talking about the mural and the message, Thunder Voice Eagle said, "It's really about hope. I believe that people are inherently good, sometimes they just forget. Like the mural says at the top, 'Protect the Sacred' ... People need to protect themselves, because they're worth it. You must remember that YOU are sacred. The more we remember that, the less things like this will happen." I love that. Remember that you are sacred. If you do that, chances are you absolutely will not put up with anything that harms anyone. Right?

"We have to learn forgiveness. Those police are scared too, they're doing their job that they've been ordered to do. But if we took off the riot gear and the headdresses, we're all just people. We can sit down to dinner together and talk about what's next, and how we can work together." I got a true sense of calm when talking with Thunder Voice Eagle, and am choosing now to look at things like he does. That we are now being forced into action as a people, and that we are in the time of being Rainbow Warriors - warriors of all colors standing together. We have to be to survive these times, and try to protect our Mother Earth. Nothing else is more crucial right now.

I could have sat and talked all day with Lehi Thunder Voice Eagle, but I was hogging him and others needed to hear his wisdom, so he left me with this ... "Have a heart at peace, but stand strong for what is right." And please, please remember what this wonderful new mural says ...

"When the last tree is cut down, the last fish is eaten and the last stream poisoned, you will realize you cannot eat money." - Cree prophecy

Support Standing Rock in any way you can. Support EACH OTHER any way you can. Now, more than ever.

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