I'm in Norfolk, getting ready to do our show. We had those first two days of awful press we have in a week run. So, Monday, I was up at 5am (counting the time change, way before I go to bed), battled with some meat puppets and then back for a nap that was longer than my night's sleep. I got up and walked over to the mall, just to find something to do for the evening. I walked by a rock club with Molly Hatchet playing. Live entertainment is always better, so I walked up to buy a ticket. It was a standard, large rock club, without a lot of people. I walked in as the Rhythm Pigs were ending. They're a local Southern Rock trio playing Hendrix and Allman Brothers. This isn't my music, but it was great to see and hear. I get very philosophical when I'm out to a show alone, and I like that. A lot of people recognized me and I talked to a few folks that were a bit drunker than I'd like to be talking to (which is one sip and they'd had more than that).

A roadie recognized me and I went backstage. I got a real Molly Hatchet laminate. I don't' think I'm aware of any of Molly Hatchet's songs, but I had a great time backstage. Dino told me that he thinks that since the guitar player had a heart attack, there are no original members in the band. It's a Molly Hatchet Tribute band, that's called Molly Hatchet. I liked that too. We took a lot of pictures (maybe some will make it to their website). They talked about how much they hated the Masked Magician (they care a LOT about integrity, and I liked that, even though I don't care about Valentino at all). We talked about showbiz and "how counts were since 9/11." I always like talking to different acts about business. It makes me feel like I'm really in showbiz and I like that. I feel like I'm in some comedy team in vaudeville, talking to a dance team. I like that "one show business" feel.

It was time for the show, so I went down and got a bar stool right in the middle. The show really moved me. It was much too loud, and all that Southern Rock wailing. It was often in the same key so the lead singer could use the same harmonica. It was double bass drums and "Quaalude thunder." It was squealing wailing and simple bass lines. It was Southern Rock. I think they did every cliché, but with an integrity that made me hate Spinal Tap. I kept reminding myself, that Spinal Tap was from the heart and digging what these guys were doing, but man; I loved it with no irony. There was a purity. These guys really are like me. I can listen to art that speaks for the common man, I can listen to Springsteen sing about cars, but these guys really were me. They all were my age, had my hair, and had my exact body. They were all big guys, with broad shoulders and a bit of gut over the belt. When the lead singer kicked, it wasn't very high, but in his heart it was to the ceiling. They were in jeans and shirts and biker vests and some chaps on the bass player. What I think I liked most, was, I thought they looked cool and sexy. I usually see shows with people who look very different from me, and think, "I wish I looked like that" but this was a show where I could laugh at how stupid they looked, think about them looking strong and sexy, and all of that was about me. I guess it was the feeling Naomi Wolfe wants to get looking at a fat chick on Cosmo. I liked it. I was "woohooing" and clapping. Every song was dedicated to someone. They dedicated a song to Nam POWs and MIAs. They brought out the confederate flag and wrapped it around the guitar player while he played Dixie. And this New England boy was wooing along and hoping not to get busted. He dedicated a song to his parents, who had died of cancer (it was a benefit against cancer) and dedicated a song to all the Moms who had passed on. It's that Mother's Day thing ripping us all apart, and I cried a bit for his mother. And he dedicated a song to the men and women of the armed services who were "over there spanking some ass." I guess you could see it as pandering, but there was none of the greasy Tony Orlando/Wayne Newton stuff. I believed him. He didn't try to stir the audience up, or get a reaction. He dedicated a song to their bus driver who won a Congressional Medal of Honor. He introduced the whole crew, and I believed he meant it.

My favorite comedy moment was a LONG introduction on how "this is for all the hellraisers who like to drink cold beer. " Which he said several times, and then added "Jack Daniels" and "Moonshine." He talked a lot about everyone having a drink and getting drunk. Someone in the front row, handed him a glass of beer, and he handed it to the keyboard player, "I don't drink, man. Eleven years sober. You know, it was cool, but it was time. I had to choose between getting drunk and rocking and I liked rocking more. " There was a long pause and he said, "But, I drank more Jack than a river before that." And then he "Woo Hooed" like he was drunk and went right back to the intro about "everyone liking to drink beer." It was great. I didn't feel it as hypocritical at all. It seemed really beautiful (while still funny) to me.

I get in a lot of arguments about being "intolerant." I don't have any close friends who believe in god. I'm not around people who drink, but I loved this band. And I stayed teary-eyed most of the night. And I thought about the USA. Who cares about the country but I thought about how diverse the people on this continent are. I mean really diverse. In the little biology I know, the way I understand it is that sexual reproduction is important because (in addition to giving us a reason to talk to the other sex), it gives us a diversity that means that a virus can't just whip through the entire species. It's going to hit some difference that screws it up. This really made me feel that about our culture. I thought about Bin Laudin and Ashcroft working together to take away lives, and freedom and I thought about how hard it was, in North America to find a way to get everyone with the same intellectual weapon. In a population that has Jimmy Buffet, Dr Dre, Ray Browne, Blink 182, Yo La Tengo, Wayne Newton, and Molly Hatchet - well, you got trouble getting all of them, at the same weak point. They're just not going to all catch the same mental virus. The understanding of freedom that Molly Hatchet has, is different than my understanding and they strengthen each other. Oh, if given the time, I'd argue with them, but I love the commitment they have and the honesty. I loved how much the lead singer touched his heart with his hand, and my heart with his show. I also loved that a guy who looks like me (in the general sense, late 40's, same build, long hair) could really rock. It made me want to kick my leg up more on stage. I think I'm a Southern Rocker.

Some of the drunker patrons (and there was competition) wouldn't let go of me after the show, so security took me backstage. They all gave me those biker hugs. I believe I got more big man sweat on me than a lapdancer during the rodeo in Vegas. They were all soaked, and they soaked me with their hugs. These were big biker American hugs, and, even though I'm from New England and, as my Mom said, "We don't like to be touched", I was still very happy with it. I liked that there was this sincere powerful culture, that I had nothing to do with, but kept rocking on. Man, they've been on the road as long as I have, and, all things considered, there are a LOT more similarities than differences. We all like to drink cold beer.

Penn

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