Meat Puppets at the Mystic

It seems this decade has been a renaissance of me seeing great bands of the 80s and 90s in small venues like the Mystic in Petaluma.

When I saw them listed I immediately snatched up some tickets. I had great memories listening to Too High to Die in the early nineties. Unfortunately I had not discovered the ‘Pups in the 80s. Like most, it was from Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged performance when Kurt Cobain invited Cris and Curt to join him for acoustic performances of “Plateau”, “Oh Me” and “Lake of Fire”. I knew these guys had some great talent as musicians and song writers and this small venue comeback could be something special.

I had heard of the trouble a few years back. Bassist Cris attacked a security guard at the main post office in downtown Phoenix, AZ with his baton in some drug-infused rage. He was shot twice, had some serious injuries and was thrown in jail for a couple years. I was glad to see them back and touring.

Leading up to the event, I listened to some of their back catalog for the first time and really started to dig their unique blending of punk, country and psychedelic rock. Meat Puppets II and Huevos got play and fell in love with the song “Up in the Sun.”

The concert was awesome. It was half empty and we stood right in front to watch Curt and Cris work their magic and harmonize. Was really impressed with the excellent guitar work of Curt and realized know one else could play these. All the great songs were covered as well as some good new ones. I strongly suggest their new album Sewn Together. Check out “I’m Not You”, “The Monkey and the Snake” and “Love Mountain”.