Mike Watt’s “Ring Spiel” Tour ’95

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Legendary Watt 1995 Tour Gig, Recorded live at The Metro in Chicago. Available for First Time as 2LP/CD/Digital Release. Back-up Band featuring Vedder, Grohl, Smear and Goldsmith

September 29, 2016-New York, NY-Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release–as a 2LP, CD or digital album–Mike Watt’s “ring spiel” tour ’95, a thunderous live concert recording, on Friday, November 11.

Available for the first time commercially in any format, “ring spiel” tour ’95 is a thrilling audio document of ‘the man in the van with a bass in his hands’ trailblazing 1995 solo tour, recorded at the legendary Metro club in Chicago, featuring an all-star backing band.

In addition to the 150g standard 2LP offering, “ring spiel” tour ’95 will also be made available as a limited edition 2LP 12″ orange colored vinyl set.

In February 1995, Columbia Records released ball-hog or tugboat?, the first solo release by Mike Watt, the influential punk rock bassist/musician whose bands–MINUTEMEN and fIREHOSE– helped define the sound and direction of rock. Also known as ‘The Wrestling Album,’ ball-hog or tugboat? features the punk pioneer’s collaborations with artistic peers and descendants, such as Henry Rollins, Flea, Thurston Moore, J Mascis, Adam Horovitz, Mike Diamond, Frank Black, Dave Pirner, Evan Dando, Nels Cline, Pat Smear, Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder, among many other friends, ‘getting into the ring’ with Watt.

In March 1995, Columbia Records announced that Watt would be hitting the road for the first time as a solo artist. Members of opening bands Hovercraft and Foo Fighters –Vedder, Grohl, Smear and drummer William Goldsmith–joined headliner Watt on-stage as eager participants of the jaw-dropping back-up band heard on the “ring spiel” tour ’95 album.

Watt’s relentlessly energetic set at The Metro on May 6, 1995 is an astonishing sonic time machine, catapulting the listener back to that historic gig, with Watt and his fired-up and raw back-up squad, the musical lineup constantly shifting between performances to accommodate the different feel and shape of each song.

“ring spiel” tour ’95 is being released with the full authorization of all participating members, providing fans a fitting, thrilling testament of Watt’s enduring and continuing punk rock D.I.Y. musical imprint.

“ring spiel” tour ’95

walking the cow (Daniel Johnson cover)
big train (Chip + Tony Kinman cover)
formal introduction
against the ’70s
drove up from pedro
habit (early performance of Eddie Vedder composition)
makin’ the freeway
chinese firedrill
piss-bottle man
forever…one reporter’s opinion
e-ticket ride
political song for michael jackson to sing
coincidence is either hit or miss
the red and the black (Blue Öyster Cult cover)
secret garden (Madonna cover)
powerful hankerin’

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