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Saw The Fixx the other night.
It was a little club in Baltimore called The Funk Box.
I didn’t count but I’ll be generous and say there were 80 people there. If that. The last time I saw them was 1987 in an arena and there were at least 10,000 people there.
Most of you under 30 have never heard of them but when they write the history of rock they should include the guitar player, Jamie West-Oram somewhere in there. The singer, Cy Curnin, is a pretty rough cat too.
I was sitting at the bar when the band came out. Very light applause but some loud howling. Cy said, “I guess it’s hard to clap with a drink in your hand.” Laughter. He held out a glass of red wine and said “You get the hint”. Then, “This is a pretty nice little chunk of the globe you have here.” He must have visited the Inner Harbor because Baltimore is 80% ghetto.
I just walked right up in front of Jamie and set my drink down on the stage like it was a table. Plenty of personal space. Relax and enjoy the show. Perfect. There were only about 40 people downstairs on the floor with me and 40 upstairs in the seats. It felt like a private party.
Cy and Jamie still looked svelte even though they have to be 40-something. The drummer Adam looked bloated and shitty. Lucky to be alive.
They opened with 5 songs from some new stuff I haven’t heard yet. 4 out of 5 of them were actually pretty good. Then Cy said, "Give it to me, big boy" and Jamie played the opening to "Stand or Fall". The place erupted.
Kristan showed up late and stood next to me staring up in awe. I told her a week ago who they were and where they were playing and she was just like "okay". She's 21 and had never heard of them. The Funk Box usually has sucky local bands and open mic night. She was stunned at how good they were. She’s like, “God, I can just touch them if I want.” Don’t do that, sweetie.
At one point Cy started in with some political stuff but the crowd didn’t care. I expected that because he did it in ’87 too. He kept it short and they got on with the show. Most people raised under the British Crown are like that so I'll cut him some slack.
If you've never heard of them some of their good songs are: One Thing Leads to Another, Deeper And Deeper, Saved By Zero, Red Skies at Night, Stand or Fall, The Sign of Fire, Outside, Reach the Beach, Are We Ourselves?, Privilege, Secret Separation, Woman On A Train, Camphor, Phantom Living.....it goes on. The Shuttered Room and Reach The Beach are great albums in their entirety. They came out around the same time as U2 but they never received they recognition they deserved. The guitar player has a really unique style.
They went through their 80's stuff with tons of passion. I know they'd played those songs a million times before for so many different crowds, but they rocked it for us. I loved it.
Cy would say funny little quips in between songs that would crack us up. But one thing he said was "Time to pay the rent." before Jamie started playing the intro to "One Thing Leads To Another". That's a bit sad and cynical but he's sorta right. That was in their prime. That can change though, Cy.
After a couple hours and a few more drinks they closed with Are We Ourselves? and Saved By Zero as an encore.
After the show they came out of their tour bus and were standing around on the sidewalk. The first guy I saw was Rupert, the synth player. I walked right past him and Jamie, the guitar player, was coming out. There were about 10 of us standing around. One guy was obviously a journalist. Jamie looked really shy and quiet. No one said anything for a second. I'm sure I embarrassed him when I said: "In the the history of rock, this guy is one of the greatest."
He slumped his head down and said:
"Thanks, man."
Well, I hope so. I walked closer to him.
I asked him why he was using Boss and DOD pedals. That stuff is crappy but I said he sounded good tonight. He said he didn't always use expensive stuff, in fact he needed a certain digital delay recently and he found it in a pawn shop. He was playing through a Marshall JCM 800 half stack and a Fender twin cab mic’d in stereo. Shure SM 57's on both. (Cy sang through a Shure SM 58 Beta.) I told him it was awesome they way he uses 6's, 9th's, 11th's and inversions and asked him if he had any formal musical training. He said no. "If it sounds good, it is good.", I said. He nodded. Then I asked him about the attack and release settings on his compressor.
I asked him what kind of guitar he was using because there was nothing on the headstock. He said it was a Schecter. I said, really sarcastically "So, you shaved the name off the headstock because it's too corporate, right?"
"No, that's not the reason. It just looks cheesy."
It really doesn’t. I just think he doesn't want to endorse them. I respect that. I wouldn't go out of my way to take a name off though. Schecter makes fine guitars.
Then I met Cy. He's a lot shorter than I thought. I'm 6' 1" and I had to crane my neck to look at him. He had changed into an Izod shirt and shorts and flip-flops. Short hair. He looked like a little preppy guy from the 80’s.
"How you doin', Cy?"
I shook his hand. He smiled. He could tell I was a little drunk.
"Fine."
"I love the way you sing with such power and conviction, man."
"Thank you."
He was appreciative of the compliment but looked around like "next?".
"You mentioned in a radio show--this was a while ago--that you were influenced by your mother and her interest in literature."
This got his attention. Especially the mention of his mother.
"Yes, I was."
"Can I ask what music you listen to now?"
He said some French band I'd never heard of. I shook my head.
"Well, what novels or books do you read?"
"Tocqueville."
"I'm sorry, who?"
"Tocqueville."
"I'm sorry, I'm unfamiliar with his work. What themes does he cover?"
<with a broad smile>
"Everything."
"Toca.... Can you spell that for me?"
He leaned up to my ear and spelled it out for me.
"T_O_C_Q........."
"Got it. Alright. I'll check it out. Thanks, Cy."
I shook his hand with a smile and he smiled back.
He held up a pen.
"I don't want your autograph. Nice to meet you, Cy."
"Nice to meet you too."
He seemed like a decent guy.
Kristan got their autographs and we left. Then she started bitching at me in the car for talking to them for too long. Inconsideration was the crime.
“He’s a lot shorter than I thought.”
“That’s because he was standing on stage.”
“I know that.”
"You were, like, talking to those guys!"
“So what?!”
"Other people were waiting behind you!" (like her)
"Geez, you act like I was having a 15 minute conversation with them!"
“Oh, God.”
"Yeah, well, I'm sorry but all most of them have to say is 'You rock, man. Can you sign this? Thanks, dude.' and nothing else."
I wanted to ask them how many pounds of coke they did in the 80’s but that might have been a little rude.
Of course I looked up Tocqueville when I got home and his subjects are just what I expected from Cy. That doesn't raise or lower my admiration for the music of The Fixx.
All in all, a great night. Most fun I’ve had at a show. Wish I could see all my favorites in small clubs like that.
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