I wrap up celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of my third album, Spacey and Shakin’, with a couple of versions of “Motorkid.”
First up, an acoustic version from the couch.
“Motorkid” was a staple in our live set during the touring cycle for Spacey and Shakin’. I have one particularly fond memory from our European tour in 1998. We were opening for the rock band Spacehog in London. I don’t recall the name of the venue. I can picture it, however. It was a large club with a capacity of around 1000 or so. No seats. The audience stood on the floor. By the time we went on, the place was pretty full.
When we took the stage, we were met with a chilly London reception. It felt like the whole audience had their arms crossed in disapproval. It was as if they were saying, “You’re not Spacehog. We don’t care about you.” But the moment we kicked into our third song, “Motorkid,” the place instantly thawed. People started to move to the infectious beat. We’d won them over!
Here I am with The Sinners playing “Motorkid” on an HBO show called Reverb.
This performance was filmed in 1998 at a tiny club in New York City called The Fez. This show was a homecoming of sorts for me. Back in 1994, my band and I embarked on a residency tour of the Northeast. We played The Fez every Monday for seven weeks. On Tuesdays, we played Boston. On Wednesdays, Philly. And every Friday, D.C. On Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, we plugged in one-off shows in smaller markets in the area.
The plan was hatched by my label, American Recordings when we could not get any opening slots on bigger tours. It proved successful, especially in New York City at The Fez. The venue only held around 100, maybe 150 people tops. Our first show was not well attended. It seemed the entire audience was made up of folks from the label and its distributor, WEA. But by the end of the seven-week run, it was the place to be on Monday night, and we were turning folks away while adding tastemakers from Rolling Stone and MTV to our guestlist.
On top of that, celebrities were showing up. One night we were joined on stage by Sheryl Crow. Another night Mike McCready of Pearl Jam fame sat in with us.
The after-show hangs were super fun, partying with the likes of Nile Rodgers and John McEnroe. One night after the show, I smoked a joint with Trent Reznor on the sidewalk outside the club.
This residency tour took place right after my debut record, Necktie Second, came out. It was a special time. Everything was exciting and new. It was my first real tour and I was getting a bit of radio play and great press. And sales were picking up slowly but slowly. This was only the beginning of a year and a half of solid touring. I’ll have more to share later. Until then…
Peace & Love Songs,
Pete
MOTORKID - Live Performance Video