Just got back from the California Music awards & all i got was a sunburn, and a further disdain for Oakland street people (I was raised in San Fran so I prefer my fresh out the mental ward street folk over the Oakland crack hoodlums). ANyway, Larry came out after the band "graham pain station". They're a band composed of his son, and some other guys...solid musicians, but kind of boring. They Played a bunch Sly songs, GCS songs, & welcomed Larry out recieve his award. There was alot of buzz of people hoping that Prince would be there, & John Blackwell playing for Larry also set the hopes into gear (although prince said it was "unlikely" they'd he'd show on NPGMC)

Blackwell was the highlight of the show, the guy is off the f-n meter. Out classed Graham Pain stations drummer, & made Greg D'Errico of The Family Stone Work his ass off just to hang. The diehard...hardcore, Hard-core hardcore Bay NPG were there. (my mom is one of those people) But other then that it seemed like alot of the folks who were cheering for Prince to come out- were random people who wanted to see prince for free. Larry was touched by his award, and Jerry Brown (oakland mayor) was booed as he gave to him.

All & all I was glad that Prince has not entered the circuit of street fair/county fair performers...I know he loves Larry but I was actually glad he didn't perform, I think it was beneath him.

Nero

To put nerovana's words to picture's:



Larry G at the Bammies.....ic Awards!


Right click > save target as for the movie snippits of Larry in the crowd and John Blackwell.

Talk to the people Larry!

Larry Possessed!

Please...John...don't hurt 'em!


WARNING... turn down the volume before you play them. They were recorded with a digital still camera 5 feet from the stage so the sound isn't the greatest.



I also have a 7 minute finale that's too big for Yahoo's servers. I've converted it from the native .mov to .mpg. Orgnote me if you're interested. We can possibly AIM it.

Hey Nerovana,

The name of Larry's son group is The Graham Payne Express, not Graham Pain Station.

What I really want to know is if Prince showed up at the jam afterwards at Kimball's. Did anyone go?

I don't think there is any shame sharing your music with people who want to hear it in any location and/or forum.As much time, love, loyality, money and support some fans have given Prince he should not feel it is beneath him to play for us anywhere. Who knows how he feels about it?

Youngworld, I´ve tried too see those MPGES, but nothing shows up, and I wasn´t able to transfer it. Can U help me?

usamud said:

I didn't but read on here that neither of them (Prince or Sheila) showed (check the thread in P:M&M)...



Obviously he doesn't feel it's beneath him if he was there & had every intention of doing it, it seems. If the reason he didn't play was due to lack of security (which I can attest to) I understand that. But it was a nice show & a cool vibe from the little I saw, not "beneath him" @ all. I agree w/ you USAMud, it's not like the dude is passing out flyers to play @ weddings, LOL...

I think the reason why I didn't get the name right (apologies) is because they were boring, & generic. They could of been called Grampas Pain inflation, it wouldn't of mattered.

And...Prince never agreed, or even impied he would play at the Bammies or Kimballs or anywhere else for that matter. the media, & fans just figured he would because he loves the bay & is always playing with Larry.

But apologies for getting the name wrong...I apologize because I submitted it as news, so sorry-I blew it on that. Still generic though.

Nero

barao9 said:

When you click on the video links above, a page with a document icon appears. Right click on the document and go to save target as and save it to your desktop. Be patient as Yahoo's servers are sometimes busy and not meant for streaming.

To clear up the son issue, Larry's son can be seen in pics 1, 2, 5-7. The mayor of Oakland, Jerry Brown can be seen in the first pic just after declairing Larry Graham Day.
[This message was edited Tue May 27 5:16:31 PDT 2003 by youngworld]

Thanks for the pics youngworld, you know I had a really good time despite the whiners for GreenDay to perform . . . . .Larry had SOOO much energy!!! I loved how when the MC was on stage wrapping up the show and Larry came back, put his bass back on and said "I ain't done!!!"

Hey Nero:
I hear you. I know there was no real agreement for Prince to play. However, I understand that Larry said during an interview on one of the radio stations (KISS FM ?) that he would be there. And did you notice Larry said "Carlos isn't here, but someone else is". To make matters worse, I overheard someone in the crowd talking on a cell phone "saying are you backstage, are you backstage?" As I was leaving he told me not to leave, that Prince was backstage. He claimed to be Larry's wife Tina's brother in law. He said a family member had called from backstage advising to stick around because Prince was there. Later after the crowd had mostly cleared I saw Larry being interviewed backstage. I did wait around. A co worker of my cousin did and she said she did see Prince. Was he there just for support and decided not to play for security reasons and not to take away from Larry, because it was his day? Who knows? The mystery continues

usamud said:

Well when he said "someone else is.." he then said "U Are!!" & pointed at the crowd. he also said that Prince would of liked to come.

I also know a guy who works at my practice space who knew a security guard there...and his words to him was "dude...no Prince is not here!" I heard from other people that he was- who knows. But I'll trust the guy I know...again, who knows?

Nero

LARRY GRAHAM WAS AMAZING @ KIMBALL'S!!!

The aftershow was the absolute best I've ever seen or heard Larry play! My friend Garry Jackson (bassist who also played w/Sly,) who’s known Larry forever even said that it was the best playing he's ever heard from him. The main difference was that Larry was doing a lot of improvising, compared to the bigger shows he does.

To everyone who missed that show, I have to say you missed something truly special. It was also great to not only watch him play right in front of me, but also to finally meet the man himself!

As a musician it's such a learning experience to see Larry up close, there are some left hand fingerstyle techniques I never knew he did the way he does until Sunday's show.

I'm still buzzing with inspiration after seeing Larry play Sunday! I’m gonna go play something funky now…
[This message was edited Wed May 28 3:59:21 PDT 2003 by Marzuki]
[This message was edited Wed May 28 4:00:13 PDT 2003 by Marzuki]

neronava said:

Nice to see Prince fams finally warming to blackwell, hes a lot better than you think. Trust me Im a drum teacher

cloud9mission said:

i've never doubted Blackwells skills, he is an animal, he is a fierce drummer. Have some people not been "warming up" to him...I mean the guy replaced Kirky J...what the hell do they need.