In episode 37 of Hooked on Creek, I review Max Creek’s performance on October 12, 2001, at The Starlight in Fort Collins, Colorado.
A live recording of this entire Max Creek performance is available to stream or download here.
Episode 37 transcription
You’re listening to Hooked on Creek, a podcast celebrating the music, history and fans of the legendary jam band Max Creek. I am your host, Korre Johnson, and you are listening to episode 37.
Hey everyone thanks so much for joining me on episode 37 of Hooked on Creek. In this episode, I am going to discuss Max Creek’s performance on October 12, 2001, at The Starlight in Fort Collins, Colorado. If you’ve spent any time on archive.org browsing Max Creek’s recordings from their handful of performances in Colorado, you are sure to find some gems, including from Creek’s recent trip to Denver earlier this month. But I think this recording from October 12, 2001, is one of those shows everybody needs to hear. So I am really excited to tell you more about it. You can find a direct link to stream or download the entire Max Creek show I am reviewing in the episode show notes, or simply head over to hookedoncreek.com. And while you are there, click the contact link and let me know what you think. I am always looking for recommendations on topics to cover or Max Creek shows to feature in this podcast. Alright, now let’s get started.
When Max Creek arrived at The Starlight on Friday, October 12, 2001, about an hour north of Denver, they were entering a 300-person concert venue that was known as a local favorite in Fort Collins. The space used to be a bar called Mountain Tap for many years, before it became a music venue in 1996 and changed its name to The Starlight. During the mid-2000s the venue went through a series of different owners and eventually changed its name to Hodi’s Half-Note in 2007. But apparently, Hodi’s Half-Note fell victim to the pandemic in 2020 and the location is now a comedy club called the The Comedy Fort. But in addition to Max Creek’s performance in 2001, The Starlight hosted a variety of musical groups in its day, including the Spin Doctors, Social Distortion, John Mayer, Anthrax, Ween and Vanilla Ice, to name just a few.
OK, so let’s get into it. The show kicks off with what is probably one of the best versions of Louisiana Sun that I’ve ever heard. For me, the music delivered through this 18-minute beast of a Louisiana Sun systematically disassembles the delicate illusion of time and space that frames my naive understanding of reality, propelling me into the infinite. Around seven minutes in, Scott pulls out some intricate rhythm guitar playing that works like a machete to clear a path for the band to explore new terrains. And while the song initially presented itself, humbly, as a mere piece of music, by the time we get to eight and a half minutes in, the song transforms into something more than music. This Louisiana Sun is something else — an opportunity, if you take it, or if you let it take you. Because when you let go, and let the music take over, you’ll find the jam is, at times, so soft and so tender, the meat just falls right off the bone. And at other times the epic jam Max Creek delivers evokes a bubbling, burping, steaming swamp, rich with exotic creatures, crying and howling for the attention of a mate. This Louisiana Sun is nothing short of beautiful.
And it’s from this place, nay, from within this space, that Mark initiates the introduction of what becomes a 13-minute-long Big Boat. With all the momentum gained during that huge Louisiana Sun, this Big Boat sours to incredible heights, providing mesmerizing views of some stunning sonic landscapes.
Perhaps the band felt they had something to prove to this Colorado audience so early in the night, or maybe there was just something in the air on that chilly October evening, but Max Creek’s combined delivery of Louisiana Sun and Big Boat amounts to an astounding 30 minutes of music to kick off a show.
Eventually, the Big Boat jam winds down, and when it does, it’s as if the music takes the shape of a thousand hands, with each finger of each hand softly and methodically disrobing the tightly worn flight suite that propelled you through the first two songs. And here, with the music in full transition, a stunning Rainbow breaks through and paints the sky.
John leads the band, or should I say the audience, through Rainbow before handing the reins over to Scott to kick off Emotional Railroad. I love how Scott builds the climax of the Emotional Railroad to a point of complete stillness, before rounding the top of the jam. Up next, Mark gifts the audiences with a blazing cover of Columbus Stockade Blues. If you want to learn about the history of that song, check out episode 26 of the podcast. But in this performance of the song, I encourage you to listen closely and enjoy Mark’s mastery of the keys as he transforms the music into a velvet rope, ties it around your body and pulls you in closer and closer.
After that, John delivers a heart wrenching version of Darlin’ which I played during the introduction to this episode. And in this Darlin’, pay attention to the restraint in Scott’s guitar playing, as he carves a space for Mark to solo on the keys. I just think it is so interesting to listen to Scott dial his guitar playing back in such a creative way to accentuate what Mark is playing.
And then, Ignoring any posted speed limits, Max Creek kicks off a nearly 19-minute-long version of Love Makes You Lose Your Mind. And it is here, deep in the first set, and deep into this song, where things get real interesting as the tune manifests shades of cosmic beauty that somehow feel simultaneously weightless and heavy. And then, like a snake shedding its skin, the music transitions into a blistering I Know You Rider to close the first set. And what first set of music that was. Incredible.
Alright, then Max Creek spreads out a 17-minute-long Blood Red Roses to open the second set. And I would advise casual listeners to be careful with this one because the hypnotic jam in this tune could sneak up on you. And before you know it, you will find yourself pinned to the floor, rendered helpless to the overwhelming power of this song.
And it is from this vulnerable position that Mark takes control of you, setting into motion a dark, foreboding, 14-minute-long cover of Season of The Witch, complete with a tantalizing and well-placed Slipknot tease. Of course, Season of The Witch is a song by the Scottish singer Donovan Leitch released in August 1966 on his third studio album, Sunshine Superman. While it’s interesting to think Season of the Witch may contain the only knitting reference in rock and roll history — you’ve got to pick up every stitch — it is also interesting to know Donovan, in his autobiography, said the song proved to be prophetic in the months following the song’s release. The song’s lyrics include the lines:
When I look over my shoulder
What do you think I see?
Some other cat looking over
His shoulder at me
In his autobiography, Donovan wrote that some bad cats did eventually come calling at his door. Because shortly after releasing that song, Donovan was arrested for possession of cannabis, which prevented him from traveling to the United States to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
But on October 12, 2001, at The Starlight in Fort Collins, Colorado, Max Creek’s performance of Season of The Witch is ultimately and delicately pulled to pieces as the song approaches its conclusion, revealing psychedelic entrails that can be traced back to the Blood Red Roses that preceded it. So strange. So beautiful.
And then, emerging from the long shadow cast by Blood Red Roses and Season of the Witch, Scott unwinds a 12-minute-long version of If You Ask Me with a dizzying level of proficiency.
And then to close the second set, Max Creek unleashes a cover of Life During Wartime for the audience in Fort Collins, Colorado. Released by the Talking Heads in 1979 on their album Fear of Music, Life During Wartime contains the immortal lines:
This ain’t no party.
This ain’t no disco.
This ain’t no fooling around.
While at first glance, it is easy to interpret those lyrics as a slam at disposable music, a deeper interpretation of the song reveals David Byrne used those lines to paint an image of a dystopian future that is removed of the frivolity that has a tendency to encompass so much of our human existence. And when I find myself feeling like that dystopian future is inescapable, I am slightly comforted by imagining a surviving tribe of humans dressed like Creek freaks, as Scott so triumphantly proclaims in his interpretation of the song.
And then to end the show, Max Creek comes back to deliver two songs in their encore. First, Mark leads the band through a cover of Lawyers, Guns and Money by Warren Zevon, a song released on his 1978 album Excitable Boy, and then Scott ends the night by leading the band through a performance of Pissed Off. And perhaps it was unintentional, but Max Creek’s decision to end the show with the songs Life During Wartime, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Pissed Off left me with a lot to reflect on about who we are as humans, and the type of world we want to live in. Quite a way to end a night.
OK. Now let’s hear a couple songs from this truly jam-packed night of music. Coming up, I am going to play Louisiana Sun into Big Boat. This is Max Creek performing live at The Starlight in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12, 2001.
And that concludes my review of Max Creek’s performance on October 12, 2001, at The Starlight in Fort Collins, Colorado. You can stream or download this entire Max Creek show on archive.org, just take a look in the episode show notes for a direct link. And if you have feedback about this episode or recommendations for future episodes, visit hookedoncreek.com and click the contact link to send me a message. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for tuning in.