"I'm not like this because I'm in Van Halen. I'm in Van Halen because I'm like this."

The Josh Wells Weekly, Episode 214

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I went to go see Flogging Molly by myself on Tuesday and they were excellent as always.

Random Thought

Going to shows alone. You should do it. Everyone should do it. If there’s a band or bands that you wanna see, you gotta go see them and sometimes there just won’t be anyone else available to join you. Bands aren’t like movies or dinner, like some common place thing you can just do some other time soon. These bands will pack it up and leave and probably won’t be returning for a while.

I love going to shows with friends. I mostly prefer to be with other people, unless they’re super chatty while the bands are playing. That’s kinda annoying and at moments like that, I’d almost rather be alone. But I like having someone to bullshit with in between bands and someone to bear witness to however awesome the night was after and also there’s sometimes the fun post-show hangs at bars/diners/etc. All of that is great and you should cherish it when it happens, but it’s not enough reason to miss seeing a show if you have no one to go with.

Bottom line, it’s just you and the music. You’re there to bask in the magic of live music. I can’t explain it, I don’t have the scientific studies or data to back it up, but there is definitely something magical going on when you go see a band you’re a fan of live. I’ve said it before in this newsletter and will probably say it again after this because I write this thing weekly and I’m bound to repeat myself, but live music is the closest thing I know to religion or something spiritual. I’m not missing out on that just because I’m solo.

In many ways it felt like the cards were stacked against me this past Tuesday. I was gonna go alone. It was financially irresponsible (sure, no one told me to buy beers and a t-shirt too but when you’re out at the show, you’re gonna do out-at-the-show things). I was out super late and tired pretty much all of the next day. But you can wrap all these factors up together and they still hold less weight than the thought of me not being there. Me, at home, or who knows where else, looking at my phone, checking out the time, wondering what band is on right now and what song are they playing and why am I not there?

“Buy the ticket, take the ride,” as Hunter S. Thompson once said and I’m not 100% certain but I bet he was talking about a Foghat concert. He’d get where I’m coming from. When it comes to bands that I’m a fan of, it’s almost a no-brainer, no thought process. If they’re playing in my proximity, I gotta be there. That’s where I belong. Anywhere else is a slight to my true self and inner rock and roll (and sometimes hip hop) soul.

If I can be honest, the real reason I went to this show on Tuesday was because of one of the opening bands, the Bronx. Flogging Molly is great and I love a bunch of their songs and I think they really are one of those bands you HAVE to see live. They just always bring it. BUT, the Bronx is Angry Josh’s favorite band, and that’s important. I know I don’t often come across as an angry person, but anger is a natural human emotion and I deal with it just like anyone else. And in some ways, I feel like my outlets for anger are really healthy and I get it out in productive ways that prevent me from being an angry dick to other people all the time. Listening to angry music is super important to me. It’s an outlet, a release valve. The Bronx soothes my angry soul. I love them so much, I really didn’t wanna stop to take a picture during their songs so I took a pic of them in between when the band was tuning up and the singer was having a drink.

Movie I Watched Recently

Public Enemies

(Netflix)

This movie was super cool. It stars Johnny Depp who plays John Dillinger who I think was probably the most famous bank robber of all time. Cristian Bale is also in it and plays an FBI guy tasked with going after Dillinger and Bale is good and all, but sometimes I forget how much I enjoy Depp’s acting. This movie was also directed by Michael Mann who also did, ‘Heat,’ which is a movie that comes up frequently when I talk with people who seem to be movie buffs but I gotta tell you, I think I like this movie more than, ‘Heat’ (I know, I know, comparison is the thief of joy).

I think this movie hits on a few levels. If you don’t know about Dillinger, it’s a fun way to get quickly caught up on his story. But also, if you do know about Dillinger, it’s a fun dramatization of his life, or more specifically, the last few years of his life. Dillinger did all the things that are almost impossible to do now like break out of jails and rob banks. In some ways, he’s probably the reason it is impossible to get away with that stuff now. He sorta became a folk hero and the FBI came to prominence by stopping him. The FBI had to step up to his level before they could go on to become the powerhouse organization they have become today.

I said last week that I needed to change it up with the kind of movies I watch. Last week’s choice sorta depressed me but this didn’t. It was a good change up. Is the ending sad? A little. But enough of the movie is exciting and cool that I didn’t feel overwhelmed by it.

Way cooler than a pirate. Although I guess in many ways, pirates are the bank robbers of the seas.

TV shows I’m currently watching

The Bear

(Hulu)

Things have picked up big time and I am now two episodes away from being done with the second season and I’ve been kinda busy the past couple days so I’ve had a few days to sorta process what I’ve seen so far which is good because let me tell you one thing I have to acknowledge before I get on with talking about anything else Bear related:

Episode 6, Fishes- you will need time to process this episode. Holy shit. I don’t know if one episode of a TV show has ever hit me this hard. I watched it on Sunday and I’m still thinking about it. When I think about Jamie Lee Curtis’s portrayal of Carmy’s mom, I almost wanna cry. It’s just so strong. I don’t know how the Emmys work but if there’s an award for one guest performance in a show, this is it, give it to her. It’s the most amazing acting job I’ve seen in a long time.

But everyone else in this episode is great as well. It’s a flashback scene to Carmy’s family having Christmas dinner and as my brother Phil said, “they cashed in all their guest appearances for this one episode.” It’s intense. It’s emotional. It’s worth the price of admission for the entire second season and I say that not even having finished it yet. The final two episodes could be reruns of, ‘Perfect Strangers,’ and I’d be like, “well, that was weird but goddamn, remember how good Fishes was?”

The rest of the series is great. The Bear feels more like a collection of great scenes than a smooth flowing story. They’re trying to get the restaurant open on time and there’s a ton of pressure and the heat is on and some people are handling it better than others.

I’m not gonna do a breakdown by character but the Richie narrative this season is my favorite. The episode after, ‘Fishes,’ is an entire episode devoted to Richie and it’s great. We get a closer look at him and his life and there’s some sadness there for sure. But he ends up going to this top-notch restaurant for a week (Carmy sent him there as what felt like maybe preparation for opening their restaurant but also slightly punishment) and at first it’s like, oh no, Richie is gonna drown here. But he doesn’t. He fucking thrives and it’s amazing to watch. How someone couldn’t root for Richie after this episode would be crazy to me. Richie is all of us. All of us are Richie.

I legit can’t even look at pics of Jamie Lee Curtis as Carmy’s mom without getting hit with an emotional flashback. Just absolutely amazing.

Album of the Week

Relentless / Pretenders

Before I talk about the album, I just wanna point out how much I love the title, ‘Relentless.’ Chrissie Hynde is 72 and still killing it. The Pretenders opened for Guns N Roses last time I saw them in August and she is such a badass. She is a true rock and roll legend and it’s awesome to see her still at it creating new music and putting on fun live performances. Chrissie Hynde is the definition of relentless.

Okay, so this album… it’s kinda a slow, mellow rocker. There’s a lot on here about aging. Some of it is about regret and some of it is about living your life and doing it right and not letting age get in the way. This album is good enough and it feels authentic. A lot of aging rockers put out stuff that to me feels like they’re just making albums out of some weird feeling of obligation. But I don’t get that sense here. I feel like Hynde made an album she really wanted to make and that’s cool enough for me. This is possibly music I’d have to grow into. Maybe another ten years and I’d be like, “oh, now I really get that album.”

But the Pretenders rule. They’re rock legends and I’m glad they’re still around and that I was able to add them to the list of bands I’ve seen live.

The album cover is pretty cool but who’s cooler than Chrissie Hynde? I dare you to ask her to name five Motorhead songs. She probably has five great Motorhead stories.

Book I’m Currently Reading

Whispering Bodies (A Roy Belkin Disaster) / Jesse Michaels

I think I kinda summed up most of this book last week. I read the conclusion since then and there’s not much to add without totally spoiling the book. But it is a fun, quick read. As a person who writes fairly often, I find it kinda intimidating when someone from one form of art (Jesse Michaels was/is a punk rock singer, most notably for Operation Ivy) jumps into book writing and they’re good at it. It’s almost like, hey man, that’s not fair. I don’t think I could write a book this good and now I’m just hoping Jesse Michaels doesn’t start writing a newsletter.

I think everyone should read this book because I enjoyed it and I think it’s a good book. But I think it’d be really cool if all the Operation Ivy fans of the world read it and then it could be like our own secret book club and we can talk about it amongst each other once we’re done with the obligatory “reunion” chitchat.

There’s really not a lot to offer on Google images when you do a search for this book title but I did think it was funny that I came across this image showing you how big the book actually is compared to a torso.

Random sports thought of the week

Here are some random NFL thoughts:

-The Chiefs beat the Jaguars and I think everything’s gonna be alright in Kansas City. The NFL belongs to them until further notice.

-The Bills also won this week. I think everything will be okay in Buffalo but they’re still gonna have to live in the shadow of the Chiefs.

-That Giants comeback last Sunday was impressive. Me and a friend went out for a beer and a burger at a sports bar and my friend didn’t wanna see anymore after halftime. We left. I went home and watched The Bear, then tuned into ESPN later, very surprised to find out they came back and won.

-Derek Carr and the Saints are 2-0. I remember when there were rumors that Carr was flirting with the Jets for the QB position, and look, you gotta sign Aaron Rodgers if you can, but a part of me finds it interesting to think what might’ve been if Carr became the Jets QB instead. I love the city of New Orleans and the Saints are always a sentimental team that I can get behind just because.

-Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 2-0. I don’t expect this to last but for some reason I root for Baker. I feel like a lot of people have it out for this guy and it gives him an underdog vibe that I wanna get behind.

-The Seahawks beat the Lions in what was probably a matchup of my two favorite dark horse teams this season. I root for both and will continue to do so. I especially root for the Lions because my good friend Kevin is a long suffering fan and it’d make me happy to see his team be a threat.

It’s their era, everyone else is just playing in it.

Random pro wrestling thought of the week

I went to Arthur Ashe Stadium this past Wednesday with my friend Dave to go see AEW Dynamite live. It was my second year in a row catching this show in person. AEW usually goes all out and packs the card to give it a must-see PPV feel. They wanna do it big when they’re in NYC and I think they delivered.

MJF vs Samoa Joe tore it up as a main event. This was definitely a PPV caliber match. I love Joe. He is one of my all time favorites and an absolute legend. But MJF, it’s just like holy shit, every time I see this guy I just wanna scream out, “I think this is the best pro wrestler on the planet right now!!” It probably helps that they built up MJF’s connections with NYC as he is from Long Island. The crowd was crazy into MJF and this match. In the words of a certain chant, “He’s our scumbag.”

But the moment that’s probably gonna live on longest is Eddie Kingston defeating Claudio for the ROH World Title. I mean, holy shit, Eddie is now officially a world champion. Talk about an underdog story. Eddie is the man. He is the people’s champion. He’s not the best wrestler, doesn’t have the best build, but he’s got heart and attitude for days. What a truly great moment. As a fan, I’m so glad I got to say I saw it live.

There were some other fun moments as well:

-Sammy turning on Jericho

-Booing Don Callis so loud we couldn’t hear him

-The Elite winning the ROH Trio titles I guess

-Toni Storm (Toni lost her match but it feels like there’s something going on with her and the crowd. I believe she’s in the early stages of becoming super over and popular with the fan base.)

Eddie Two Belts (Three belts if you count me calling him the People’s Champion)

Top 5 Johnny Depp Movies

1- Donnie Brasco

2- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

3- Black Mass

4- Blow

5- Edward Scissorhands

(Or at least, Top 5 Johnny Depp movies that I’ve seen. After doing a quick Google search, it turns out there’s a bunch of Depp movies I’ve never seen.)

Weekly Quote

"I'm not like this because I'm in Van Halen. I'm in Van Halen because I'm like this."

-Richie in The Bear

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