2020/10/3 Cosmic @ Marckomitoville
Five shows, eight bands (seven different), nine visits from the cops (just five too many lol), seventeen sets of live music, twenty-eight performance hours, forty-five new friends, two-hundred-eighty-two total guests, one-thousand-three-hundred in charitable donations, and one-hundred-seventy-five-thousand-five-hundred-thirty-two steps. Wow.
It’s truly incredible to reflect back to early June when I first started planning a house concert. A global pandemic had just pulled the rug out from under the live music industry and I thought that my friends on both sides of the stage could really use a chance to gather safely and enjoy ourselves without carrying the weight of the world for a few hours. All I ever wanted was to keep the flame aglow and help my friends feel normal. That we were able to support local artists and make significant contributions to charity just put the whole experience over the top. To be quite honest, I was a little scared and a lot nervous but somehow managed to walk through the fear and thus, Marckomitoville was born.
I genuinely enjoyed every second of planning this thing, from talent buying to landscaping and everything in between, it was a labor of love like no other. Being able to celebrate live music with friends while giving folks a chance to earn a living is a mitzvah in the truest sense of the word. This last one even had some vending. What?!?! I’m proud of what we built and am so stoked on the friendships both old and new with which to share the memories. The talent ran the gamut from folks I knew to bands hired sight unseen. Old bonds have been strengthened and new ones formed and I’ve now become really close with most of the artists to the point that these relationships are now a part of my daily life. For as long as I live I’ll believe that my meeting Cosmic was divinely inspired; as such, there was never a question who was going to play the finale. It’s altogether possible that this past Saturday was the best show Cosmic ever played. That simple fact informs the words that follow.
TL;DR: Forty (!) songs were played over three sets eclipsing four hours and fourteen minutes (!) including twelve (!) originals and nine (!) debuts, five (!) of which were original. Holy fuck.
Cosmic and I have grown close, so much so that I may have completely overstepped boundaries and sent a laundry list of requests to Dan Donovan, drummer and guardian of all things setlist. On the upside, I’m self aware and titled it “Marc’s completely over the top request list.” By my count, roughly nineteen (!) of my requests were honored. Um, thanks. Moreover, the band challenged itself to deliver a show worthy of a new step record. Game on, motherfuckers!
Opening with “Eyes Of The World” complete with the ‘74 “Changes Jam”, the band hit the ground running and never looked back as they segued first into “Shakedown Street” (request) and then “Greatest Story Ever Told.” John Nemeth, an absolute fucking monster on the bass and my personal MVP on the day, then put his songwriting chops on display with the debut of his original song “More Time” and it was a psychedelic bass driven gem. Jelly’s bass was out front all day really giving the band a full and complete sound that just elevated everyone around him, most notably rhythm partner Dan Donovan, as I just locked in on these two more times than I could count. Cosmic was in overdrive all day and it was these two piloting the ship. Bravo, gents.
“Cream Puff War” (request) kept the energy high just before Marlboro’s finest made their first of six visits and Billy took his first of the day’s vocals with the Brent Mydland classic “Far From Me”. Two more full band debuts, “Out Of My Hands” and “This Life Is Fine”, jam-wiched “Box Of Rain” (request), one of my all-time faves and one of those songs that just epitomizes the essence and spirit of the Grateful Dead, even if Jaskewicz does have way more impressive pipes than Phil Lesh (#sorrynotsorry).
Original rocker “Raised Upon A Fire” opened the middle frame before what I think was a nod to my dog with “Mr. Charlie”. One of the day’s few tender moments ensued with “Ship Of Fools” (request) before getting right back into high gear with “Dancing In The Streets”(request). “Make Me Feel High” is another Cosmic original that is really climbing my depth chart, down and dirty in the best possible way as Billy really lays it down on the keys which in turn fires up Mike to respond in kind with his guitar. I dig. Another personal highlight followed with a stunning cover of “Shining Star”(request), played more in the style of Jerry Garcia (natch!) than its R&B creators, The Manhattans.
“Lucky”, penned by Kristi Donovan, was the third original debut of the afternoon, this one with Billy on lead vocals. If you’re keeping score at home, that makes two for this dynamic duo. {“Apple Tree” is the first and from what I hear a third is lying in wait.} “Possum” and “Funky Bitch” (requests) made a Phish sandwich of that Donovan original and were so off the charts that the local cops saw fit to visit for the second time. I actually had to spend some time negotiating with the officer (and missing half the “Funky Bitch”) who claimed the music was unreasonably loud and should be turned down fifty percent. It was about four thirty in the afternoon and I thought his request was even more unreasonable so I told him so as I basically refused and proceeded to negotiate. As I look back on it now, remembering that I was wearing a tie-dyed scarf, no shirt, and a “dick” apron as my son likes to call it, this cop must’ve thought I was out of my mind. The apron is actually printed with Michelangelo’s David in all his glory and was gifted to me; let it be known that I am absolutely honored to have been called upon to carry its torch. {It’s a long story, the short version of which can be found at the end of this review. #NFABV} “Bloom” followed, a Cosmic song sure to figure heavily in whatever album plans the band is cooking.
What transpired next was a fairy tale moment for me, the second live performance of “Release” (request, obviously) in my backyard in a one week stretch, both by Mike Jaskewicz, the first one solo acoustic and this one with the full weight and force of Cosmic behind him. Another debut for the band, this one from Pearl Jam’s Ten, and they did it just for me. Great ganja gooballs could I love these guys any fucking more. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. Just how in holy hell do you follow that?!? “Good Lovin’” > “La Bamba” > “Good Lovin’” seems the obvious choice, this heady request straight out of the Grateful Dead’s playbook from MSG 9/18/87. I wore a hole in this tape in college and to see these guys just absolutely crush this light hearted combo after the full emotional bore of “Release” was nothing short of perfection. Two down, one to go and we were just warming up.
Mad props to whoever requested “After Midnight” > “Eleanor Rigby” > “After Midnight”. (Okay, okay, it was me, teehee). I’ve been enamored with this for a long time but especially since the professionally remastered release of the JGB’s After Midnight: Kean College 2/28/80. As objectively as possible, I aver that my boys did it great honor. The third set was all about this into that and back again and this next combo was another one for the history books. “Crooked Tree” is Cosmic’s song. Like, the one. The single that I cannot wait for that represents the face, direction, and likely the future of the band. To see it anytime is a treat but to see it bookend what to my knowledge is the first ever full band performance by any band ever of Eddie Vedder’s Golden Globe winning “Guaranteed” off of his Into the Wild album was just off the fucking charts. As Cosmic first changed tempo, I thought they might pull a fast > slow “Crooked Tree” (I’d like to see that one day, too) but with one chord change my heart was aflutter. Oh man, so much love was baked into this one. I mean, this was our show but this was my show, lovingly handcrafted by Dan Donovan in my wildest dreams.
I can’t claim the next request though I have some real heady friends who may want to fight over it. “I Am The Walrus” has been dually requested by a couple of seriously good dudes really close to the band for at least a few years now and they both started giggling like school girls when these first iconic notes from The Beatles rang out. A full band effort with Billy at the helm, this one came out of left field and I lost my shit right with them. There were clearly no boundaries at this point and anything can and would fly, so much so that the “Boogie On Reggae Woman” > “Mountains Of The Moon” > “ Boogie On Reggae Woman” (requests but certainly not in that order) that followed made absolutely perfect fucking sense. Hard to believe but we still weren’t even close to done.
The next jamwich would feature a sinister debut of original “The Wolves” into a classic JGB style cover of Hank Ballard’s “Tore Up” before another original debut of “Illusion”. Okay, I named that song. No really I did. In fairness, though, it was kind of obvious, at least to me. That being said, I’d obviously heard the song before but only a Jaskewicz solo demo of the then nameless tune and was definitely not expecting the exploratory jam vehicle that emerged. This was the debut I was waiting for and it delivered on all fronts. One final explosion with Jerry Garcia’s “Cats Under The Stars” and three sets were officially in the books.
Of course they weren’t done, though, as Cosmic’s encore game is as good as any and there was still a five-star request yet to be played. “We Are Divine” has emerged as the original that shows up in all the big spots and this one surely didn’t disappoint. A ridiculously delicious and perfectly appropriate cover of Ween’s “Your Party” followed with Billy on vocals and it was simply the cherry on top. Kudos to whoever thought that one up!
Now if you’re going to hold a music festival in your backyard, and happen to have the good fortune to do it not once or twice or even three or four but five times, then there’s really only one way to put a bow on the whole thing and that’s with “Tweezer fucking Reprise”. Four days later and my calves are still screaming from the ridiculous amount of jumping around that I did. That was it, all of it, everything, my heart just exploded. Seriously, it almost did. Literally defeated, nothing left to give, I collapsed on my now infamous Moon Mat™, arms raised to the sky, the last verse and final chapter on Marckomitoville now closed.
I mentioned earlier that the band made it a goal to lift me to a new step record. Though we didn’t reach forty thousand (next time we need four sets!), mission superbly accomplished, even if it was just by the skin of our teeth. If I’m being honest, anything other than “Reprise” and we just wouldn’t have made it. 29,339 steps, the rough equivalent of 13.89 miles that just barely eclipsed the previous single show, single band record of 28,974 for three sets of Dogs In A Pile. What does it all mean? Not much other than a whole lot of fun and sweat equity dancing hard to the magic of awesome musicians and better friends.
It was a damn good run. I’m proud, blessed, and exhausted, in no particular order, but all good things must end and Marckomitoville is officially over. I’ve never been more aware of my blessings (someone should write a song about that, lol, maybe call it “I’m Aware”) and in spite of it all, I’ll forever look back on the steaming pile of shit that is twenty-twenty and fondly recall its silver linings. Dennis Bolger, the first musician to grace the stage at Marckomitoville, said this to me, “It’s all been distilled down to what really matters. Music-love, friendship-love. A great perspective that I can say isn’t new for either of us but it’s great to see so many people realize it. It’s so important. It’s not just a good time. We know that. A lot of people at my gigs are realizing it in real time. I can see it.” Me, too, bud. Me, too
I don’t miss Pearl Jam. Or Phish. Okay, maybe I do. I mean, I long to return to those shows but if there was that, there could never have been this. Connecting with local musicians and friends at intimate house shows is a chapter in my music history that I never want to forget. Maybe, just maybe, the game has changed forever and I had some small part in that.
To everyone who played a note on my patio or danced on my lawn or in my pool, I owe you a debt of gratitude. To everyone who reads these words or listens to video or audio of the music created in my backyard, thanks for sharing in the joy. To my wife and family who embraced my passions and encouraged me as I brought what sounded at the time like ridiculous dreams to fruition, thanks doesn’t even begin to cover it.
I love you all.
Humbly,
Marc
Set One: Eyes Of The World > ’74 Jam > Shakedown Street > Greatest Story Ever Told, More Time* > Cream Puff War, Far From Me, Out Of My Hands*^ > Box Of Rain, This Life Is Fine*^.
Set Two: Raised Upon A Fire* > Mr. Charlie, Ship Of Fools, Dancing In The Streets > Make Me Feel High*, Shining Star > Possum, Lucky*^ > Funky Bitch, Bloom*, Release^ > Good Lovin’ > La Bamba^ > Good Lovin’
Set Three: After Midnight > Eleanor Rigby > After Midnight, Crooked Tree* > Guaranteed^ > Crooked Tree*, I Am The Walrus^ > Boogie On Reggae Woman > Mountains Of The Moon > Boogie On Reggae Woman, The Wolves*^, Tore Up Over You, Illusion*^, Cats Under The Stars.
Encore: We Are Divine*, Your Party > Tweezer Reprise.
*originals, ^debuts.
Please enjoy these delicious audio files, lovingly recorded and mixed by Eric McRoberts.
With the exception of the first three, all the pics that follow are credited to Joey Lugo (@eyes_of_the_world_).
Much love brother, thank you!!!
The MVP of Summer 2020 🤘🏻