Vegetable Stock / Dinosaur Jr.
Today was a good day to make a vegetable stock. I have been saving scraps all summer and the bag in the freezer was full to bursting. Here is some history. It smells great and will make a nice risotto.
My friend Tom from Outer Stylie told me last week that Dinosaur Jr. would be playing an unannounced set on the Amherst Town Common today at 3.00 as a warm up for Riot Fest in Chicago.
I have been wanting to see these guys locally for a long time. J Mascis grew up in Amherst and started the band just after high school. I see him around town all the time riding his bike or at the coffee shop or walking his dog (this is a great video).
They are LOUD live. They played a gig on the top floor of Laughing Dog Bicycles once that I missed but that apparently shook the building to its foundations.
J plays these great old Fender Jazzmasters.
Lou Barlow plays his bass almost like a rhythm guitar. Love the hair.
They were set up on the town common under some trees, and Murph’s drum kit kept moving around. At one point his tom fell over and this symbol lost its footing. Some guy came up from the crowd and reset it for him.
It was particularly exciting to see a band that is so seminal in rock and really quite famous setting up in the middle of town and playing a set for anyone who happened by. It is nice to be reminded that well known, creative people live lives very much like the rest of us. They live in towns, they have families and friends, and occasionally they play a very loud set on the Amherst Town Common. I wonder what the folks staying at the Lord Jeffrey Inn thought.
Tom
I am sitting in a local coffee shop working on email and while looking out the window to see how much time I have left on my parking meter, I noticed my pal Tom Schack making a radical 5 point turn in the middle of Amity Street. I grabbed my camera and took a quick photo before he went into the bank. That is the Outer Stylie van in the background.
Have a great week, everyone.
Chickens / Transperformance
I have been seeing these chickens and their mobile home in Hadley for a while now and the light was nice tonight so I stopped.
I passed them as I was driving over to Northampton to see my friend Tom Schack’s band Outer Stylie perform as Talking Heads in the annual Transperformance show at Look Park. It is an annual event that benefits the Northampton Arts Council and is huge fun.
Here’s Tom rocking out dressed as Tina Weymouth. He is the sweetest guy in the world.
And here’s the full band. They sounded great!
3 County Fair / Outer Stylie
I went over to Northampton yesterday to catch the end of the 3 County Fair. My friend Tom Schack’s band Outer Stylie were playing, which was my main reason for going.
Here’s Tom lookin’ good. He is the nicest guy in the world.
I haven’t been to a county fair in a very long time and it was fun to walk around. This looks like the second place okra winner.
Here’s Henry, a massive Yorkshire Boar.
What a stud!
It is very likely that Henry is responsible for these little guys.
It was very hot and muggy and the ride operators seemed eager to shut things down. This was the final ride on the Ferris Wheel. Not quite the London Eye, but still pretty cool.
Tom Schack
In a way, this isn’t really fair. Tom is always smiling, and this doesn’t really represent who he seems to be. But I really like this picture. / I spent part of yesterday morning photographing his band Outer Stylie and it was loads of fun. Really nice guys.
Tom
One thing I really like about living near a small town is getting to know the people that you see on a regular basis. Ren’s Mobil is in the center of Amherst and Tom has been pumping gas there for a long time. When I first met him he was a student at UMASS; now in addition to working at Ren’s, he plays bass in the band Outer Stylie (Psychedelic/Rock/Soul). It is always great to see him, talk about music, and get some gas. He is consistently cheerful and totally cool.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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