| "Ring Spiel" Tour '95 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Live album by | |
| Released | November 11, 2016 [1] |
| Recorded | May 6, 1995 [1] |
| Genre | Alternative rock |
| Length | 57:00 |
| Label | Columbia/Legacy |
| Producer | Mike Watt |
"Ring Spiel" Tour '95 is a live album by former Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist, songwriter and vocalist Mike Watt. The album material is from the tour to accompany Watt's first solo album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat? .
The Ball-Hog or Tugboat? album had 48 contributors [2] so Watt never thought he could tour the album. [2] Dave Grohl called with an idea for how to create a small touring band [2] with Eddie Vedder's band Hovercraft and Dave Grohl's newly formed Foo Fighters opening for Watt. [1] [3]
Watt's touring band consisted of Grohl, Vedder, Pat Smear, and William Goldsmith. [4] Grohl wanted to play more guitar [2] so he only played drums on eight songs with Goldsmith handling the rest. [5] Wanting to keep things under the radar, promoters of the tour were instructed to not use Grohl or Vedder's names to promote the tour [4] but word leaked and MTV showed up at one tour stop. [4]
When Columbia/Legacy approached Watt about releasing the album he was initially hesitant and suggested the label contact the other musicians to see how they felt about the idea. [6] Watt was afraid some of the others would be embarrassed to have an album from twenty years earlier released. "It turns out they weren't embarrassed. They wanted it out." [6] Pat Smear urged Watt to release the album as well. [6]
All tracks composed by Mike Watt; except where indicated
SLUG magazine praised the album calling it an "astonishing sonic time capsule." [7] Pitchfork said "At their best, live albums capture not just a concert performance, but also document the energy and the context around the music. "ring spiel" tour '95 manages to accomplish all of the above; it's a nice time capsule if you were there, and it's a great document to have if you weren't, commemorating early years of musicians who are now canonic." [4]
David Eric Grohl is an American musician, singer, songwriter and director. He is best known for being the longest-serving drummer for Nirvana from late 1990 to early 1994. When Nirvana disbanded following the suicide of Kurt Cobain he became the founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Foo Fighters. Grohl is also the drummer and co-founder of the rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, and wrote the music and performed all the instruments for his short-lived side projects Late! and Probot. He has also recorded and toured with Queens of the Stone Age.
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter.
Eddie Jerome Vedder is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist, one of three guitarists, and the lyricist of the American rock band Pearl Jam.
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Georg Albert Ruthenberg, better known by the stage name Pat Smear, is an American musician and actor. He was a founding member of punk band the Germs, and was the touring guitarist for grunge band Nirvana from 1993 to 1994. After Nirvana ended, its drummer Dave Grohl went on to become the frontman of rock band Foo Fighters; Smear soon joined on guitar, and has since recorded five studio albums and a live album with the band.
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Foo Fighters is an American rock band, formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1994. It was founded by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of Nirvana after the suicide of Kurt Cobain. The group got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II, which were known collectively as "foo fighters".
Ball-Hog or Tugboat? is the debut solo album by former Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist, songwriter and vocalist Mike Watt. It was recorded in 1994, and came at a personal and professional career crossroads for Watt. fIREHOSE had broken up after eight years and six releases earlier in 1994, and his marriage to former Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler had ended in divorce.
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justamente tres is an experimental indie album, the third by the band dos featuring Mike Watt (Minutemen) and Kira Roessler.