My favorite rock and roll band played on home turf Wednesday and delivered a fantastic 40-minute set as the evening’s headliner at Glasslands in Williamsburg.
The Babies are sitting on lots of new songs and have been rolling them out steadily during pretty regular appearances at local venues.
With an attentive, decent-sized number of people on hand, the understated front man Kevin Morby greeted the crowd after a couple of numbers with a question he often asks early in a Babies set. “How’s it sound?” he said.
It sounded great of course, although Morby was asking more specifically about the technical aspects of the what was being controlled by the sound board. He received a half dozen different answers. Some were contradictory. Morby smiled.
On the great yet-to-be-released tune “Get Lost,” Morby uncorks a riveting vocal sequence that builds to a dramatic high-pitched yelp. It knocks my socks off every time I hear it and is reminiscent of early rollicking Dylan. With his electric strapped high, Morby half-twirls out of playing mode and stares sternly into the audience: “Why are you walking so slow? Why do you always walk so slow? I gotta go…somewhere soooon. And I hope…I’ll be going there with youuuu. Oooh-oooh-oooh-oooh-oooh-oooh-oooh-oooh-oooh. O’oeyw!” (intense squeal).
The Brooklyn trio Nude Beach preceded The Babies and also played about 40 minutes. These young guys are quickly building a following. You hear Petty, Springsteen, and a lot of Old Pike influence when they play their fun ones. Their signature tune “Walkin’ Down My Street” has remarkable similarity to Sherry Darling.
Nude Beach drummer Ryan Naideau adds backing vocals in spots and is fun to watch. He’s a big guy with a beard and he really goes after his kit.
I walked into Glasslands at about 10:15 PM. Television’s Marquee Moon was spinning between sets.
Refrigerated 12-oz. Bud cans were $4 each. The lone bartender handled between-set rushes on the elevated serving platform with speed and a smile.
I scribbled down scheduled stop times for the Bedford bus before I left for the show and noticed one was coming about five minutes after The Babies wrapped up at about ten minutes after midnight. I was anything but a slow walker to reach Bedford and sure enough, the bus arrived just as I reached the stop. The wait for a local train at desolate Queens Plaza was a solid fifteen minutes.
The next fun event on this ten-day staycation comes Saturday at beautiful Belmont Park where I’ll Have Another will attempt to win horse racing’s elusive triple crown. I’ll join the gang in section 3T.
Not since Affirmed in 1978 has a horse won the crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont). In the 34 years subsequent, 11 horses have won the first two legs of the crown only to fail in the Belmont.
I’ll Have Another faces the same problem that prompted the other 11 to come up short. Having run two taxing races in five weeks, it’s difficult for the fragile thoroughbred to find stamina to run a mile and a half fast enough to defeat fresher competitors who sat out earlier crown races. Both Union Rags and Dullahan sat out the Preakness and are considered the two top threats to I’ll Have Another’s crown bid.
The extreme difficulty of the feat makes I’ll Have Another’s effort to attain it an exciting prospect. A crowd of 100-thousand is possible at the 107-year-old race track on the border of Queens and Long Island.
The equine nasal strip positioned on I’ll Have Another’s snout (above his nostrils) for the Preakness and Derby will not be allowed for his Belmont run. The New York Racing Association forbids the breathing aid on race entrants and you wonder if Another’s nasal passages will feel the difference. If ever there was a horse race where maximum air flow into the lungs is helpful, it’s the mile and a half distance of the Belmont Stakes.
I’ll root for history but my betting slips will be driven by the belief that I’ll Have Another will tire well before the finish line.
Your TSR Belmont trifecta looks like this:
Dullahan
Street Life
Union Rags
