The Meat Puppets want you to win free stuff!

Tonight in Fayetteville, Arkansas The Meat Puppets will be kicking off the second leg of their 2011 U.S. tour at George's Majestic Lounge.

What you may not know is that the Pups are holding contests for ticket holders in 5 of the 15 different cities (NYC, Teaneck(NJ), Boston, Chicago And Des Moines) they hit before year's end, with giveaways of all sorts of cool stuff like:

Color vinyl LP's of the new album 'Lollipop', exclusive tee shirts, and limited addition posters. The winners will be announced the night of the show, with prizes available at the Merchandise table, where if you so choose, can have your prizes signed by the band.

Entering the contest is simple as pie; Well, depending on what kind of pie you're thinking about baking. Sometimes you can use the wrong pan or something , maybe not enough of that non-stick spray on stuff-it could really be a hassle. But this contest is FAR from a hassle.

All you have to do, is send an email over to MeatPuppets007@gmail.com .. that's MeatPuppets007@gmail.com, with the city you'll be seeing the band in the subject of the email. That is all you have to do, and expect a reply acknowledging your entry.

Now that's what I call simple.

For more information on this, head over to TheMeatPuppets.Com/Contests

TheMeatPuppets.Com is this place to be for all the tour dates, discount merch packages (great for you're holiday shopping!)

The Meat Puppets have entered the Social Media world, you can find their OFFICIAL Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/meatpuppets

Twitter.com/TheMeatPuppets . Follow the band (@themeatpuppets) for up to the minute information concerning shows, set times, changes, etc.

If you end up at the NYC or Teaneck, NJ show and you run into this writer, why not stop and say hello? Maybe even offer me a ride home, what are friends for-right?

Tour Dates:

10/28 - Fayetteville ,AR @ George's Majestic Lounge

10/29 - Memphis,TN @ Hi Tone Cafe

10/30 - St. Louis, MO @ The Old Rock House

11/01 – Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel

11/03 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s

11/04 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge

11/05 – Boston, MA @ Middle East

11/06 – Teaneck, NJ @ Mexicali Live

11/08 - Akron, OH @ Musica

11/09 - Ann Arbor, MI @ The Blind Pig

11/10 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Sceme

11/11 – Chicago, IL @ The Double Door

11/12 - St Paul, MN @ The Turf Club

11/13 - Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews

12/31 - Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse

Getting Busy w/ the Meat Puppets

With their 13th full length, "Lollipop", released this past April, the Meat Puppets will be touring throughout September on a southern states romp. Things kick off next Wednesday in Baton Rouge, then roll into New Orleans, and on to Florida for the weekend. Look for tour blogs and Twitter updates as these shows should offer reports about a new set list.

The band is also pleased to reissue of its classic "Up on the Sun", on vinyl and on the Meat Puppets own new label, Meat Puppets Music, on September 13th. The vinyl will be available in select record stores as well as at the Meat Puppets OFFICIAL WEBSITE. Cool new shirts and posters are available with vinyl and CD packages featuring 'Up on the Sun' artwork. Great choices abound for all occasions, send your child back to school wearing a band tee that shows he or she has some taste!

09/14 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Chelsea’s

09/15 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s

09/16 – Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder

09/17 – Tampa, FL @ Crowbar-Ybor City

09/18 – Orlando, FL @ The Social

09/20 – Raleigh, NC @ Cat’s Cradle

09/21 – Charlotte, NC @ Visulite

09/22 – Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle

09/23 – Knoxville, TN @ Barley’s Tap Room

09/24 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl

09/25 – Athens, GA @ The Melting Pot

09/27 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge

09/28 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree

09/29 – Little Rock, AR @ Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack

09/30 – Fort Worth, TX @ Will Rogers Auditorium

10/01 – Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn

10/02 - Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald's

10/28 - Fayetteville ,AR @ George's Majestic Lounge

10/29 - Memphis,TN @ Hi Tone Cafe

10/30 - St. Louis, MO @ The Old Rock House

11/01 – Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel

11/03 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s

11/04 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge

11/05 – Boston, MA @ Middle East

11/06 – Teaneck, NJ @ Mexicali Live

11/08 - Akron, OH @ Musica

11/09 - Ann Arbor, MI @ The Blind Pig

11/10 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Sceme

11/11 – Chicago, IL @ The Double Door

11/12 - St Paul, MN @ The Turf Club

12/31 - Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse

Jay Porks LIVE on 88.9 WSIA-FM!

That's right folks, my friend Andrew DiLorenzo hosts the Friday Drivetime show 4-7PM on the College of Staten Island's own 88.9 FM WSIA.. So the pal that he is, he let me sit in studio for a few hours and talk shop.. full audio of the show to come in the next few days, but here's some video we shot, all be it a one sided interview, it's good to vent on air.

Oh Well, Whatever... "Newermind"

Allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is Jay Porks; and I'm pissed off. I'm pissed off at the mediocrity people will settle for these days. In times where you walk around to people humming Adele and trying to explain to me how much Lady Gaga is contributing to the canon of 'great' music. In a land where if Rick Ruben decides not to produce your record no one cares; Spin Magazine released a FREE download of a Nevermind Tribute album titled "Newermind", featuring ranging artists covering all the songs off Nirvana's major label debut. I've been waiting for this thing to come out for months-safe to say when Consequence of Sound announced last night that it was available at midnight and I didn't have to wait til Tuesday morning I was beyond stoked. Even though the only two acts on this record I have heard of are The Meat Puppets and the Vaselines, I felt there was nothing that can derail my late Monday Night-Tuesday morning joyous listening.

Until I read the reviews.

It was then I realized that it's true..people don't want good stuff. People want crap. They want Foo Fighters, they want Electric 6, they want Justin Beiber. Hell, if Kayne West took a take on Territorial Pissings, I bet this album would have been certified as the greatest thing invented since fat women discovered Diet Coke. But it seems that this eclectic group of artists covering these great songs just wasn't good enough for the "online music community".

Let's start with Antiquiet, a website I frequent often for music news, usually looking for the articles by Reverend Justito. Today there was a post on Antiquiet today that just made me want to cry inside. A quote: “Spin Magazine released a shitty compilation of Nirvana covers today entitled Newermind, to celebrate the 20th birthday of Nevermind. Wait, did I say shitty? I meant mostly shitty. There’s a cover of Stay Away by Charles Bradley & The Menahan Street Band that totally kills ”

Kills? Yea they kill it alright-this song would be cool if the Black Keys did it, not some Howlin' Wolf wanna-be. I get it, it sounds like its a James Brown song.. You like that garbage? I don't own any James Brown albums, and out of all the oddness that occurs on “Newermind”, this is one of the three songs I couldn't make it through Just because we live in an era of really crap music doesn't mean we can take anything crap that has a slight difference to it and call it revolutionary.. To say this is the stand out on this record is absolute lunacy. If this was any other website writing this I'd have an open letter out saying the 'F' word repeatedly, but like I said I frequent Antiquiet often-So I'm just going to have to agree to disagree with their views on this and pretend in my head that they give a shit. In the meantime, this Charles Bradley non sense is being removed from my iPod..

Meat Puppets doing Smells Like Teen Spirit: In a rage I posted an abbreviated version of this next paragraph in a Meat Puppets message board... What angers me is the reaction. It's as if people are expecting more from this song(or this whole record really), as if the Meat Puppets wanted to recreate it or something. From how it sounds like they came out recording this song, the band didn't even have this in their tour itinerary. They were asked if they wanted to do a song, showed a list of the songs left, and busted it out. I can bet they didn't think of things like “Okay, how are we going to do this?” That's not the way the Meat Puppets operate from what I've learned about the band over the years. They had an extra 3 minutes, they recorded a song.. I doubt Spin magazine came with Butch Vig and a $12,000/day studio to record this. What it sounds like is exactly how I personally expected it to sound when I heard it was coming out ..Do you hear that backing guitar noise progresses throughout the song into the solo? That's so Meat Puppets of them to do-I thought it was pretty amazing.. I cannot comprehend how this can go unliked. That said I cannot wait to get to the Gorge on July 30^th so I can find the Meat Puppets and ask about this whole process.. It's mind boggling to me.

No one says, wants or is hoping this is equal or better than Nirvana versions of theses songs-it's a celebration of an awesome album with contributions from some epic acts. Honestly, was a little disappointed with one of my favorite bands the Vaselines turning “Lithium” into a horror movie soundtrack, but I can still get on board with it after a while. JEFF The Brotherhood leaves us with a memorable “Something In the Way”, Titus Andronicus serves “Breed” some well deserved justice. Butch Walker and the Black Widows girling up “In Bloom” I can even tolerate without having to call the release “shitty”. Hell, I even found Jessica Lea Mayfield doing “Lounge Act”(one of my favs from the original release of this album) had me rocking out once you get past the initial sadness she has to inflict on you in the beginning of every song she's ever sang. And am I suppose to call her EMA? Anyway, “Endless, Nameless” doesn't beat around the bush, even on “Newermind”...

This will be the last point I make before I duck out of here, and it' a short one.. How much did you pay for it? Oh, right.. it was a free download. Enjoy it. And SPIN Magazine don't worry, I'll be back in two years for "On Utero" or whatever you're going to call that one-and I hope we can get the Meat Puppets doing "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter". Just a thought.

Late.

Dear Gavon Laessig, FUCK YOU!!!

Dear Gavon,

Balls... they are something you have. Talent, promise, pride, a penis.. these are some of the many things you don't have.

Let me fill all the readers in on the travesty that occurred over this past two days. I, Jay Porks of Concert Confessions and of course the Jay Porks Experience, headed out to the Terminal 5 in New York City to see an awesome band Dinosaur Jr, and opening acts OFF! and Fucked Up did little to disappoint on this evening as well. Henry Rollins is on the bill, and he is there to interview Dinosaur Jr at 9:30PM before they started their set playing 'Bug' in it's entirety along with some other gems sprinkled along the way. The interview lasted 18 minutes, and here it is:

See. Great job by me. My parents are proud, friends diggin' it.. everything is going more than swell..

THEN WE HAVE GAVON. Gaven is a tool who 'posts' for a website 'Buzzfeed.com'.. Get this friends, this guy actually ripped MY video from YouTube and used a 1 minute and 33 second clip of it to post on his own account page and this schlock shit website Buzzfeed.com. Normally, I wouldn't mind the extra pub, like when BrooklynVegan.Com uses my videos in their posts. Only difference with this douchebag GAVON is, there is ZERO mention of the name Jay Porks, I received ZERO credit for providing this asshole with a video that now has over 4,000 views while my FULL interview sits at 300. Let me tell you something GAVON: I got up at 9AM that morning to open up the restaurant I work at. I worked that shit job all day, then I got off at 4PM. I had Dinosaur Jr tickets in my pocket and my night was set to be one of the most epic ones I've had in recent memory. I was on the roof of Terminal 5 at 6:30 waiting for staff to let us in.. Then after avoiding people swimming down the steps to grab spots like they're going out of style, I picked mine out and perched myself there until almost midnight, documenting all the footage I can so the review I write of the show(not for a paid job mind you, but simply because of the PASSION I have in this shit) could be perfect-and it was. And all my videos of Dinosaur Jr had great sound, even my video of the interview I came home and wrote my piece up, and officially shut the computer off at 6AM to take a nap and wake up to check out the greatness I blessed the Internet with. Then you, GAVON, had the balls to come and shit in my fucking cereal. You have got to be kidding me. What work did you put into this exactly? You did a fucking google search! It's people like you, the slime and scum of the internet that are slowing down this whole web based journalism movement the rest of the media world is moving towards in the last decade. I stopped writing angry, ranting blogs a long time ago.. well congratulations dick face, you welcomed me back. You are a no class hack with a crappy life and an agenda, and that agenda being to produce material that sucks complete balls. To quote a legend "was your daddy jacking off and mom sat on it?" I mean seriously is that how you came to existence? You're the worst kind of troll I've ever run across in my YEARS of trolling message boards and debating with strangers. There's a better future in a YouTube comment thread than whatever it is you have on your resume. You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. Because let's face it, the direction for me is no where but up, and for you it's the opposite. You see, people like me and all my buddies at Concert Confessions, we're people who "get it".. and the one's who get it, the ones who truly understand what in fact is going on with this new wave of journalism; these people will be around for a long long time. But parasites like you GAVON, hacks like you aren't gonna last very long once they realize that a fucking monkey can do your job. I obviously wouldn't be pissed if a monkey did this because I doubt they have the social conscience to understand internet etiquette(and monkeys are funny in general). Once monkeys or that cat who can eat with chop sticks take your job, you'll be reading my stuff online thinking "I should've listened to Jay Porks" in between your google searches for odd porn because your broke and living in some crappy apartment alone hitting your sack in your robe all day. You're the type of person I envision collecting welfare in the next decade. Look up "Lowlife" in the dictionary and see a picture of your face with synonyms "fraud" and "Complete Loser" listed. You are a sleaze ball. I don't get what's so hard with writing in the fucking video notes that "Video shot by Jay Porks". Because you say you got it from Brooklyn Vegan? When you play the video they embed in their site it's a direct link to MY video on MY YouTube page. That's called being credited. You, like the coward waste of life you are, took my video and illegally took it off YouTube with some program and passed it off as your own. Did you check out the rest of my Dinosaur Jr videos? Maybe there's some more pieces of a legendary night that I HAD which you'd like to STEAL from me. Asshole scum fuck. "Via Jay Porks" it's THREE FUCKING WORDS! three words could have made me your best friend, but instead you got this. I'm gonna look you up in a few years and cannot wait to see how much more of a failure you had become over this period. You single handedly destroyed what was to be one of the most classic weekends of my life, and all without even going to the fucking show. You, GAVON, are a true sucker of Satan's cock. Thanks for fucking my shit up, hope you had a jolly ol' fucking time.

With vile and hate,

Jay Porks

Writer: JayPorks.Com/ConcertConfessions.Com

All friends of the Jay Porks Experience, Concert Confessions, and anyone else out there in the online music journalism world who knows a thing or two about etiquette, I ask one favor of you.. the video below is the clip that this douche bag stole from my video..Go to the video on YouTube and click THUMBS DOWN on it.. even leave a nasty comment if you want.. Just please thumbs that shit DOWN and thumbs up any comments that support this movement of people who have common sense. This douche ruined my weekend

Jay Porks Experience to make a cameo at the Gorge this summer, plus tons of other stuff!

This summer is going to bring The Jay Porks Experience to a whole other level with the epic shows we have lined up. So I figured why not give you an extended version of the concert calender as it stands now, just to give you a heads up. I stole this idea to post about my summer plans from my buddies over at Concert Confessions, but I figure it's all good considering all of the Jay Porks Concert Experiences are featured at their website as well. Anyway, let us chat now shall we?

On June 11th, a Saturday afternoon, Coheed and Cambria are playing show part of a series of events that will be hosted by The Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn. That'll take place at the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn. Only problem is that I have my day job as a waiter and I don't get off work until 4 o clock and a free show on a Saturday for a band that I know has an enormous following equals lines around the block, maybe people sleeping overnight we'll have to see. Which could mean one of two things-I get cut off at capacity showing up when they're already full, OR you'll see on the news how rock music causes riots and death as they won't set a capacity and let people run a muck.. either way, I'm showing up there. If I'm in I'm in-if not I'm sure I'll still have something to write about..

Friday June 17th, rapper Joe Budden hits Irving Plaza and I thought it'd be a fair gesture to a pal of mine as a birthday present. I mean, I follow is annoying tweets and ever since Hip Hop became a mostly stale and uninteresting environment(much like all music), I can actually say Budden is one of the handful of Hip Hop artists I'd go see. The lyrics on songs from his debut album way back when helped me get out of a bad time of my life-so fuck it, why not.

Thursday June 23rd at Terminal 5, Dinosaur Jr is headlining a set playing 'Bug' in it's entirety after being interviewed by Henry Rollins on stage (who will hopefully do some funny spoken word before the interview)-with opening acts Fucked Up and OFF! I mean, just add up all the elements that are in that last sentence and tell me how that night doesn't turn out awesome.. I'll give you a free tee shirt if you can..

Thursday July 21st we start to heat up at the glorious outdoor venue that is the PNC Bank Arts Center in Homdel, NJ for 311 & Sublime w/Rome.. Now just putting it out there, I'm down with the whole Sublime w/Rome going William DuVall with this and keeping the great tunes flowing.. I'll be there with a crew as Pam and Ray(occasional Jay Porks Experiencers) will be rolling with me, and I can't wait to see that lawn. Good times...

I'll give you good times right here-how bout if I told you that at that same venue that I just made out with digitally, that I would be there to see two other MORE popular bands? That's right, I'll be back at the PNC Bank Arts Center on July 28th for two bands from the 90's, one that got cool and one that got rich-The Flaming Lips and Weezer! All I'm saying is that for $25 bucks plus fees or whatever I paid for the ticket-I'd rather watch Weezer than some unheard of band.. that show is going to be really interesting-Who headlines? Ticketmaster lists it as Weezer/The Flaming Lips yet on my ticket I got in the mail it says The Flaming Lips/Weezer on it. I can't imagine Weezer actually headlining a show going on after The Flaming Lips-shit last time I saw the Flaming Lips I felt like writing the review then blowing my brains out because I was so satisfied with life at that point and time. Forth of July Freak Out at the House of Blues In Atlantic City, NJ 2010 was freakin' epic. This show should be pretty cool too... And we have an extra ticket to give away, a contest announcement will come soon if anyone tends to give a crap, I bought an extra for this reason, spread the Jay Porks Experience gospel..

Did I mention that shit is about to get really interesting right here? Well if I didn't, then let me tell you that shit is about to get really rad.

On July 29th, roughly 12 hours after I would return home from the previous nights show, I will be boarding a plane and flying out of Newark Airport to Spokane, Washington(connecting in Minn.) to meet up with a couple of those aforementioned mad genius's over at Concert Confessions, one of which is lending me a couch to stay on. Why Washington, why now? Well, have you ever heard of the Gorge Amphitheater? Well, from the pictures I've seen it looks like heaven as a rock venue. Anyway, there's this show going on with a few bands you may have heard of: Soundgarden! Queens of the Stone Age! Mastodon!, and can you believe there's a kicker to all this???- the forth band-THE MEAT PUPPETS! Hell freakin' yea! Are you kidding?? Forget Yankee Stadium, the real big four play at the Gorge on July 30th this summer, and I'm going to freaking be there. Keep in mind I have never left my current timezone in my life-I can't wait to get out west. Holy god I cannot believe that is happening. Parents always say don't talk to strangers, well actually I've met some pretty cool peeps who'll house me in WA for 2 nights saving me money.

I'm not flying out of Spokane until Monday, so fuck it-Sunday July 31th, a night after the most epic adventure of my life-we're gonna tone it down a notch and take our talents to the Northern Quest Casino to see Willie Nelson and Friends. F-ck it, I'm already there right? And it's near the hotel I'm staying at the night before I fly back(figured the airport hotel would be most convenient for catching my flight in the AM) on Monday August 1st...

Sept 24th We'll be at the Central Park(The now SMOKE-FREE Central Park) Summerstage(in the fall) to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.. I know I'm a little late on their band wagon-but they are indeed cool-and if I didn't have flights and Meat Puppets happening, I'd probably be as excited for this show as I should be-but it seems so far away now...

There you have it.. lots of other stuff should pop up in the August-Sept area.. I mean, the Meat Puppets did say that they'll work their way east-just glad I'm gonna check them out at the Gorge just in case! All of these concert 'Experiences' will be posted in words and photos at JayPorks.Com & ConcertConfessions.com .. safe to say you may want to stay tuned-this is going to be a blast!

LATE..

Meat Puppets "Lollipop": Album Review Track-by-Track

I don't do that many album reviews, I only write these when I'm floored by something and I feel the need to make sure I spread word to anyone listening-and friends, a record you need to be listening to, is "Lollipop", the 13th Studio album from legendary band the Meat Puppets. I was writing an "overall/glance over" review of the record-but I had it on at the time, and just said "Eff it, lets go track-by-track".. So that's what I did. You can head over to the Meat Puppets Official website to obtain yourself a copy of the record, along with a bunch of other goodies I'm about to go and buy..

"Incomplete" is sweet melody with heavy doses of “New Riders of the Purple Sage” dashed into those weaving flowerly guitar jams..

"Orange" is just a kick in the ass. It's as if they said, “Yea, you probably thought we couldn't kick ass like this anymore, but let these sounds murder all your theories”. It's so groovin' and Cris plays a mean bass riff that's kinda the basis of the tune.. Spacy cool guitars sections going on, all sorts of effects..

"Shave It" has such a tropical sort of feel, lyrics about rivers and sand and in the backround you can hear roaring explosions of feedback right before the another awesome little solo type part of the song..

“Baby Don't” is like an ode to all songs that begin with that line, except lyrics like “Chase that rabbit up a tree/anything is all right with me” seem to contradict that. I mean by the jangly country western influence heard throughout the song-until you reach that blistering solo and by the time that last verse hits everyone in the room's head in nodding. “Lock the door, swallow the key/Anything is all right with me”. Love it.

“Hour of the Idiot” (besides the catchy chorus) delves heavy into a lot of different areas in terms of sound... for example, some of their records like “Monsters” and “Too High to Die” are kinda heavier then maybe the likes of “Huevos” or “Mirage”.. this album Lollipop seems to combine pieces of the bands several eras of exploration in sound, and perfects it right in front of us.. this song is the antithesis of that statement -if that makes any sense.

“Lantern” brings out some solid acoustic stringin' and brings you on a stroll through a dark canyon in a forest(lyrically).. I don't know why I feel like this is a good song for the band 'Phish' to cover, but it's because it's a jammy, “set the fire to the night” type of song.. interpret that lyric as you see fit.

"Town" is a song that I first heard via a Rolling Stone video of the band performing at SXSW. I thought it was great then and still think it is now... the slow moving build to the chorus and back down... everything in slow motion.

“Damn Thing” was the first(and only as of now) single released off the record. It's another one of those tracks I can definitely hear a little tiny bit of the New Riders in there-in the sense of the guitar parts mixing in such beautiful harmony.

“Amazing” has gentle, awesome guitar jangles despite being one of the quieter songs on the record, it still makes me intrigued to listen to each instruments individual sound-ever do that, divide up a song in your mind? Maybe I'm just weird.

“Way that It Are” is another jam I'd consider to be hard rockin' tune that channels heavier albums of the past. Especially when you get a minute and half in and hear that those blistering chords Curt Kirkwood spews out of space with the tribal-esque drumming of Shandon Sahm backing it before the song continues to on to tell us “This Dog food tastes all right”, I guess that's just part of the way it are. Another song I was hooked on the first day I got this was

“Vile”. The opening riffs drew me in of course, and the speed shifts and random guitars running through the song taking place in conjunction with an odd awesome pedal effect thrown in here and there. I really wish I lived in a world where music like this got played on the radio. And I love the craziness that ensues as the song winds down.

“Spider and the Spaceship” is a song I saw a video for a on YouTube months ago from a live performance, and my first thought was “Wow, if the whole album is like that where can I sign up”.. another song where Curt excels on acoustic (and if it's not acoustic than these guys are more genius than I thought)..

Anyway, who knew the record would be so much better than imagined. These guys still doin it 30 years later, slipping into a dark black hole of turmoil, coming out and saying “Yea, so what?”-with this being their 3^rd record since the Kirkwood brothers got back to playing again they only seem to get stronger and more creative-and not in a crappy way like most of our favorite bands do-this is one band that does it right. Please support them, and if you see them on the street in your town, beg them to book a NYC date!

Meat Puppets SXSW 2011 and Beyond

Most of us chasing dreams of becoming rock journalists cannot afford air fare and such to head ourselves out to annual festivals like SXSW. That doesn't mean we're not going to do our best to cover such events from the distant confines of New York City. For example, the venerable Meat Puppets are back in the swing of things with a release date of April 12th set for their new record "Lollipop" to hit stores, the Pups played four shows over the course of the SXSW proceedings, and us here at the Jay Porks Experience are here to let all of you know what you may have missed(a lot of so called journalists attending SXSW were too busy trying to sneak into a Foo Fighters secret gig or in hotel rooms spinning the new Radiohead over and over again trying to convince somebody that it doesn't suck.) and of course a look into the near future what we have lined up for all things Meat Puppets in 2011...

-3/17/11 So the Meat Puppets rolled into SXSW playing a set at La Zona Rosa for Rolling Stone. A set that included a new song "Town" from the forthcoming record "Lollipop", as well as some old favorites as well. The Rolling Stone website has video posted of "Oh Me", "Plataeu", "Town" and a 11 minute version on "Lake of Fire" to finish off a set played to the most intimate looking for crowds. Of course RollingStone.Com is giving me trouble embedding there video into this post, so the link to "Town" and the other songs the Pups played for Rolling Stone can all be found by clicking the link after the colon: Meat Puppets La Zona Rosa

-3/18/11 St. Patricks day brought on the Meat Puppets 2nd annual "High Tea for Twits" gig at the Dog & Duck Pub. the lineup was 12:00 The Fledgelings,12:20 The Daylight Titans,1:00 Emily Long,1:40 Sally Crewe and the Sudden Moves, 2:20 Ethan Azarian, 3:00 Doug Gillard (formerly of Guided by Voices), 4:00 Moonlight Towers, 4:45 Hickoids, 5:30 The Service Industry with the Meat Puppets headlining at 6:15.. A version of "Lake of Fire" recorded by someone in the crowd has surfaced itself onto YouTube and should appear right below this paragraph

3/19/11 the Meat Puppets hit the stage at a showcase for Waterloo Records. They went on stage at 2PM.

Later that evening, from 9:50-10:50, the Meat Puppets played a set with veteran psychedelic rocker Roky Erickson( from the 13th Floor Elevators). From what I gather from the mass media highway known as the Internet- two songs they played are "You're Gonna Miss Me" and "Starry Eyes"

In May, the Meat Puppets will head overseas to the UK and the Neatherlands for their first tour of Europe in over 20 years. Upon their return to the states, it's said that the Meat Puppets should kick off a US tour June 9th back in TX. Through June they will be going west and in July they're slated to head back towards the east coast. When there's more info released or confirmation of more US tour dates, we'll have it all here.

Confirmed 2011 Meat Puppets tour dates:

05/13-14 – Somerset, UK @ All Tomorrow’s Parties 05/16 – Dusseldorf, DE @ Zakk 05/17 – Berlin, DE @ Magnet Club 05/18 – Antwerpen, BE @ Trix Club 05/19 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg 05/21 – Brescia, IT @ Latte & Live 05/22 – Livorno, IT @ The Cage Theater 05/24 – Vienna, AT @ Szene Vien 05/25 – Munich, DE @ Substanz 05/27 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust 05/28 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen 05/30 – London, UK @ The Garage 05/31 – Dublin, IE @ The Button Factory

In addition to that the Meat Puppets will be supporting the band Slightly Stoopid on their tour from April 27th and May 7th of this year (except for Beale Street Music Festival on April 29).