Politics & Funk

On December 26, 2003, Meatpuppets bassist Cris Kirkwood got into an argument with a woman over a parking spot outside of a Phoenix post office.  Kirkwood had been living in drug-induced seclusion in his Phoenix home for years–even refusing to leave his house after both his wife and best friend overdosed inside.  What he was doing at the post office on the day after Christmas is anyone’s guess.  Maybe he had an urgent letter to pick up?

What is clear is that when a security guard intervened in Kirkwood’s parking lot dispute, he wasn’t too pleased.  Feeling unable to properly articulate his side of the story with words, Kirkwood shoved the security guard, knocked his glasses off, snatched his baton and proceeded to pummel him with it.  The guard was taken by surprise, but after suffering numerous blows from his own baton, he drew his gun and fired a bullet into Kirkwood’s back.

Kirkwood spent a few months in the hospital. When he recovered, he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, pleaded guilty and served two years in prison.  Upon his release, the Meatpuppets–who had disbanded almost a decade prior–reunited.

The Meatpuppets have always been a strange crew.  Their introduction into mainstream pop culture occurred in 1994, when Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain invited them to play along as he covered three of their songs–”Plateau,” “Oh, My” and “Lake of Fire”– on MTV unplugged.  In 1994, they released the album “Too High to Die” and had a minor commercial success with the track “Backwater.”

Despite their legendary consumption of cocaine, heroin, LSD and other drugs, the Meatpuppets managed to navigate the mid 90’s without ending up in body bags.  But, eventually Cris’s addiction to cocaine and heroin became so severe that he quit the band and withdrew into his own private psychosis.

Fast-forward a decade or so, and the Meatpuppets have reunited, released a new album (Rise to Your Knees) and are currently touring in support of it.  Last Tuesday–while Barack Obama was being sworn in as the 44th President–they played Wow Hall in Eugene, Oregon.

Many in the crowd seemed to have been frozen in time–possibly having not left their homes since the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994.  Flannel was ubiquitous, shoulder length hair was the norm, and a crude yet formidable mosh pit erupted near the front of the stage.

The meatpuppets–now in their mid 40’s–were bedraggled and strung-out looking and unleashed a rhapsodic punk-country-metal fusion that was simultaneously goofy, unpolished and ruthlessly badass.  They played with the whimsy of a band at ease with the fact that their peak was behind them and unconcerned that in the cannon of grunge/alternative music they’ll likely be most remembered as the band Kurt Cobain covered three songs from in his swan song performance.

They rocked “Oh My,” “Lake of Fire” and “Plateau” without pretense–electrifying the crowd with each one, and in between they jumped and hopped around to a number of  bluegrassey ditties that would unexpectedly crash into torrents of hard rock.

Both brothers–Cris and Kurt–still sported goofy mops of shaggy hair.  I kept my eye on Cris, trying to determine if he was indeed sober, but it was impossible to tell.  Regardless, he seemed at ease, often gyrating with his eyes closed and flinging his hirsute figure across the stages in manic bursts (see video).

At one point, a pudgy street woman (wearing flannel) ran her hand down my lower thigh.   Barely able to coordinate the movements of her mouth due to what appeared to be acute ecstasy intoxication, she proclaimed she could feel my aura penetrating her and asked for my sign. It was the only blemish in an otherwise rewarding night.

Tags: Cris Kirkwood, Eugene, Kurt Cobain, Lake of Fire, Meatpuppets, Nirvana, Oh My, Oregon, Plateau, Wow Hall