I was in Boulder for the first time visiting a friend at W.A.R? Records, the Samples label. I hadn't heard the band before and had an uninformed notion that they sucked. When I was in my twenties I often had ridiculous baseless opinions probably motivated by the need to appear cool. At the time, 1993 or 4, The Samples, along with Big Head Todd & The Monsters were it in Boulder, a jammy amalgam of pop and reggae (via The Police). We went out to Red Rocks where U2 filmed "Under A Blood Red Sky" and watched the Samples, who were headlining, provoke veritable worship from the young crowd. It was a phenomenal moment in time for the band, and a lesson to me that if you think you know it all, you're going to miss some good stuff. My greatest memory of that show though was looking out over the sea of bopping heads and watching a UCB student send a screaming vomit torrent arcing out over three rows of heads and into the fourth with tragic consequence. The band lives on 15+ years later with key member and singer Sean Kelly still writing beautiful and touching songs. "Waters Rush" is still my favorite. Last year they played the Iron Horse with the same majesty as they played that night at Red Rocks. I still kept an eye over my shoulder just in case. And for the record, despite appearances, that is not Lemmy of Motorhead in the band picture above. Though it might not be a bad idea.
Monday, October 8, 2007
What I Can Tell You About The Samples, Who Play The Iron Horse Tonight (Tuesday) From My Own Experience
I was in Boulder for the first time visiting a friend at W.A.R? Records, the Samples label. I hadn't heard the band before and had an uninformed notion that they sucked. When I was in my twenties I often had ridiculous baseless opinions probably motivated by the need to appear cool. At the time, 1993 or 4, The Samples, along with Big Head Todd & The Monsters were it in Boulder, a jammy amalgam of pop and reggae (via The Police). We went out to Red Rocks where U2 filmed "Under A Blood Red Sky" and watched the Samples, who were headlining, provoke veritable worship from the young crowd. It was a phenomenal moment in time for the band, and a lesson to me that if you think you know it all, you're going to miss some good stuff. My greatest memory of that show though was looking out over the sea of bopping heads and watching a UCB student send a screaming vomit torrent arcing out over three rows of heads and into the fourth with tragic consequence. The band lives on 15+ years later with key member and singer Sean Kelly still writing beautiful and touching songs. "Waters Rush" is still my favorite. Last year they played the Iron Horse with the same majesty as they played that night at Red Rocks. I still kept an eye over my shoulder just in case. And for the record, despite appearances, that is not Lemmy of Motorhead in the band picture above. Though it might not be a bad idea.
