The West Side Connection

Cole Berggren




Note: This is three emails that were sent to the Verve mailing list about Cole's vacation where he decided to see Verve on every west coast show in 1997.

vervelings....

well.....i'm back from a 9 day excursion into the realm of great art. got a week off(paid:) from my werk, and thought i'd use the time to expand my spirit a bit. it started in san jo', and quickly made it's way up to seattle, where our host; the every friendly, and frequently "elevated" ryan scott picked up myself, (the lovely)gina, miss megan (of this wonderrful list), and my freak of a friend rob. as well as ryan's bro from SF; matt(he was pleasant, too). we partied like madmen at ryan's house that friday night. he had a wonderful suare' for all the rolling people. met great ones from canada, especially the couple from calgary, and mindy sue, and her husband michael from seattle..... more on them later. our crew found a hotel room before we passed out, which was across from a great 24 hour diner called the hurricane cafe. it was so cool, i mean, how many restaurants have an employee bong?!? not to mention the wickedest jukebox: featuring everything from sly and the fam, to the melvins, to blur, to van morrison, to skinny puppy! we spent quite a bit of money there...

next day brought some new friends....a rockin' gal from boise, idaho, and my old friend, the guy who introduced me to the verve back in 93'. we hung out in downtown seattle, and saw some great glass art. met up at the croc for pre-party drinks, and meeting new friends. i was sporting devin's t-shirt, and met JDK because of it. the vibe was alive in the showbox. and yeah, i was lit:) someone posted that she thought the show sucked....i must beg to differ(but it is only personal opinion). the gig rocked! 3rd song; this is music, they blew the PA! but after a 5 min deelay, picked it up from the very spot they crashed at. rich was pissed off, and talked some shit to the club. they were amped to play, and didn't like bein' cut off. the space and time acoustic, complete with call and response was epic. met more great peeps, and walked on... saw george and andrew, who were the film crew for the tour. we'll probably be in the vid, or they were humoring us with 8 straight mins of ramble-ia! very cool guys indeed. we went to the croc and hung like rockstars, getting fucked up, and listening to the complete purple rain album. the night ends with decadence. next stop, san jo'.....and then LA!
.....for the continuing saga of the west coast connection, tune in tommorrow. SAME PHAT TIME----SAME PHAT CHANNEL!!!!!!

lucky fans...

....when last i wrote of the expedition to see the verve, we were comin' back to san jo'. i was pretty sick(sinus infection, prolonged by frequent substance abuse), and the plane ride was pretty uncomfortable, but we were still on a high from the seattle experience. i meet up with corey kilcullen, from the list at my house, which was great, as we'd done quite a few trades in the past. he brought the glass pipe i made for him, and i got to try it out for the first time....the "slug" werked like a charm! the next morn, we (the LA crew was me, megan, cory, gina, and my friend michael from berzerkley) rented a green mini-van for the ride to LA, and stickered it for the road with lightning bolts, a verve sticker, and one for my band creamsickle. we also had the wacky idea of bringing a bowling ball that was rejected from my friends art-piece. the idea was to lean out the cargo door at 70mph down the grapevine, and "go for a strike"! but common sense took over, so we kept the bowling ball inside;)

upon our arrival to the hotel in LA, we hotboxed the room, and waited for gavin, misty, john ricci(all from the list), and john's girlfriend aimee. the rendezvous was at hank's bar and grill, and lots of verveling were there both nights: we met matt, rick, jenn, hina, and the legendary ajay sharma, and proceded to get drunk. the barmaid was an elderly woman who single-handedly ripped off, or tried to rip off at least 3 of the verve posse. the 2nd night she got NO tips.
OK, the show. the mayan is a gorgeous place, and normally would have been a top spot for a gig, but LA being LA, the vibe was very un-verve-like. we saw mindy sue, and michael from seattle, and thus, our bond grows stronger:) i met brian cannon at the t-shirt desk, as he spotted me in my no come down shirt. he said that it was hella rare, and that he designed it. nice fella, gave me some stickers:) the band kicked ass that first night, but towards the end of the set, RA was ranting about the industry crowd, and that he didn't seem too impressed. they still killed. saw a very out-of-place marilyn manson, looking goofy as ever. more hotel party-ing took place, and then slumber.
next day, kicking around the shops on melrose, and more hanging out with friends. the 2nd night's show was terrible. i will never go down to LA for a show, unless i'm performing in it, after that. richie said almost nothing, and didn't even finish space and time! shorter set than the previous. it made me think of the vibe in atlanta, and seattle, and how fortunate i was to be at both.
so we hear about an after party from a fan we met at the pre-party. it's at the opium den, and we hurried out to it. more LA guestlist bullshit, and we're stuck outside watching that counting crows dude swindle his way in. we gave up, but went looking for an alternate club, supposedly around the corner. found no club, but cory found the back door! we sneak in, expecting to get roughed up by security, but it werked like a charm! so now we're at a private after party with an open bar, and great music ala DJ wayne! i talked to james iha of the smashing pumpkins, and he was pretty cool. we're drunk,stoned and dancing up a storm as it gets nearer to 2am. i turn to see richard and kate walking up, and next thing you know, we're all dancing together. wicked cool i tell ya! talked to nick for a bit in the bathroom, and he was so talkative that i finally told him that he could pee, and i'd talk to him after. he was stoked that i gave them this glass sculpture of a hand in the rock salute(ozzy style) back in atlanta:):):)STOKED! read: warm fuzzy! we talked to simon jones, and he promises us a raging show in SF. we say goodbye and walk toward the door, only to give the horns up to the chemical bros, who just arrived from they're own gig. they were pretty cool, too. drive back to hotel in bliss (except mike, who pukes from 1 1/2 bottles of free red wine).
it's morning, and we head back up north for the final chapter in the week of great ART.....the story continues....tommorrow;)

superstars,

OK....last chapter. hit the bay riding on a high like no other. now it's our turn;) we met before the show at hamburger mary's, a few blocks from the warfield. gavin, misty, his friend tim from chi-town, john r and aimee, me, gina, and one hella rude waiter were involved. we roled up 15 mins before the doors opened, and saw lots of friends in line. george and andrew were walking around with their vid cam, and stopped with our group as they recognized us from previous gigs. we got stoopid in front of 'em for a bit, and then mindy sue, one half of the couple from seattle, started telling the cam, of how she met jason pierce, and she said that when she told a depressed jason that he was "da bomb" he got really happy, and invited her to lunch, the show, and backstage. she had many cool stories.

we got in and the vibe is kickin! we were down front between RA, and nick. by the time they'd gone on, we'd already gotten the cocktail waiter high, that was the kinda vibe it was! the boys were in rare form, and seemed to be more into it than any of the other west coast shows(although seattle was pretty close). we got the longest set they've ever played i think. i was over 2 hours. same set as the first LA show, and they added " a northern soul"-which KILLLED!, and an sweet acoustic version of "on your own". i tried to throw a joint on stage for them, but it bounced of the monitor, and he didn't see it. DOH! it's the thought that counts, right?
over all, the gig in SF was one of the best concert experiences of my life(and i've been to at least a thousand). and after it, we went to popscene for an after party featuring an acoustic hurricane # 1(who bored me, frankly....although the verve is a tough act to follow...... more on that later;) saw lots of friends(new and old) and danced to "the rolling people". great time!
to finish off the 9 days, i saw jane's kill at enit, and my band played to a packed house with marcy playground(who didn't really do it fer me). after the verve, i thought i had seen it all, but the new jane's pulled thru. i really didn't think i would like it that much, cuz i'd seen the real thing several times, but they were amazing. awesome sets, sexy dancers, and incredible music! saw steven perkins jam on a drum set in a room, with mostly non-rythmic peeps pounding on various drums. it was still cool though. and our gig went very well, which made a wonderful 9 days of ART that much better.
i hope that this collection of stories wasn't too boring for you all, but i thought that someone might like to hear it....at least there were no flames from me;) i met alot of wonderful people from this band, and i cannot ever forget the numerous great times i've had from everything touched by that "verve-vibe".

thanx for rolling with me.... :)

verveluv ferever....

cole from san jo'




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