Poison Pier

walk from cherry street to poison pier - reads a poor boy's strip of paper.

Polson/Poison

A pier, a-ppear-s,

ah-peer through the side window;

//all off the bus!

hesitation, this isn't our stop? but the people have decided to get off. peers decide for peers. a man, "these people must not be from around here... don't know how to get off a bus". "oh that's an insult" sez a boy,

indignant.

//foreshadowing

walking in groups to polson pier, past large cylinders of industry - the cranks and shafts beat out a rhythm, very "fireworks"-esque - wonder if SENSUOUS-X in the apparel acid-wash digs, hears it?

//go-karts

past the go-karts, not long left now. picks up the pace, now the line-up, now strangers eye your passport, YES, the date IS at the bottom. two looks down, one look at yer face. all good. past the gates, around the corner into the venue. people milling around. that tea is brewing in yer stomach kid, head to the room marked MENS. pissing....... pissing..................................piss...sss......... - somebody opens the door - AH - siiiiingggg

// ambient drones for a room-full of drunks and heads

standing near the bar was never a good idea, but don't want to hassle the kids standing so stoic. the money clinks and dudes with drinks make their way for friends engulfed in a sea......of people..... "PEOPLE PASS THE POT!!!! WHERE'S THE POT??? I SEE IT THERE..AND THERE....man everyone's blazing, hey buddy c'mon pass us the bone, we'll pay you five bucks!"

// alvy singer vs. the guy who called fellini "indulgent" in the lineup for the sorrow and the pity

"see spinoza writes stuff that is all about angst about philosophy -- see all the dudes who are in philosophy but don't like all the crap...like spinoza, coz he cuts through all the shit", booms BIG-BLAZE, as he leans into BAT-FOR-LASHES' ear. she unknowingly nods her bangs and agrees with big-blaze as he raves on and on like he's actually read Spinoza. he dons an anti-flag shirt and blazer over that... he will soon light up a bone and pass it to grateful bat-for-lashes. he booms and booms... louder and louder over the drones of GROUPER on stage, right into my poor ear. Why? Come on man.

"hey you should ask yer swedish profs about that!!". "oh I'm not in school anymore". way to kill it girl. get the bone 'n get outta blazer country!

//BODY-ODOUR and KATE-THE-BAIT

he's big, he stinks, and breaks the unspoken equilibrium of the crowd at the start of the collective's set - to stand and perceive, most of the crowd are still, not digging the vibrations - he's bouncing from side to side and grabs kate to sing-along into her ear. they crash and dance, stepping on my feet, I care not, for at that moment I am all into my zen-out-this-crowd vibe. I have cancelled all the bad trips and negative vibes.. head swimming around, tapping my feet - hear fireworks coming four minutes before the rest of the crowd applaud in appreciation. this is brilliant. they are playing panda bear material now! ah jesus! but when they get into "my girls", ah the Blazers that read about it in eyeweekly or heard it thinking they heard the next mgmt single, start dancing and jumping...their negative vibes and jabber throughout the experimental tunes gather now into a rally cry. AND NOW BODY-ODOUR RAISES HIS BLAZERED ARM FLAILING IT AROUND LIKE A FLAG - pumping it up and down and grabbing kate-the-bait. YES!!! I KNOW THIS SONG! right on... oh no! they crash into BAT-FOR-LASHES! she is perturbed and turns a hateful stare at body-odour and demands that they not disturb her RIGHT TO STAND STILL AT A MUSIC CONCERT! she will not give into the vibrations. she remains staunchly, firmly rooted in the ground. standing still. striking a pose like Franco and Mussolini. no dancing around her!

//visuals and escape

did I speak of the visuals? oh how rude of me! well the visuals were fantastic - straight out of the acid tests in Watts - after the blacks burnt it down and the whites partied on with the aid of kool-aid. there was a great big white inflatable ball o'erhead the collective and projections were cast onto this great white ball. magnificent! they screamed and gave birth to new beasts out of old songs - no album versions here - six minute intros into lion in a coma! brilliant! YES, YES!

but then the lights went and they went off stage. i did not stay for the encore. yes the music was brilliant but the cauldron of decrepit, drunk, hollows was unbearable. out of the fire... and into the blissful chills!

//clank-a-clank and stop!

I walked towards the cylinders of industry once more...they were still beating out that fireworks beat, UNTIL MY FEET WERE ALLIGNED WITH THEIR BASE... AND STOP! they stopped, as if they knew and were saying... "hey friend, our entertainment for the night is over, follow yer trip elsewhere, but you must carry on with the good vibes".

//paranoid trips

now I feel released and euphoric. I pick up the beat to brothersport and rap-it-on for a while, underneath bridges and highways. now I pick up the chatter from before but louder, since there is not a living soul around 'cept for the fools in their iron carriages on the highway! rap-a-rap... a-pier-appear-a-peer.. bop-a-top...cop-a-piss-a-piss-a-piss-a-piss-a-piss-aaaaaaaaaaaaah scream into the night, and WHY NOT?! I am in full merry mode, as-if CHIEF-CHINOOK was here. now I look across the road, there is a breach in the railing, I will jump onto the 6-lane highway and go across. no cars.. LETS GO!! ACROSS - FURTHER - ADRENALINE! now that I'm on the other side, I realize there is no sidewalk, just gravel! Shitters. That's OK! I jump around nimbly, taut, agile and keep on rappin' away nonsensical collective tunes. derivations of brothersport. oh----

shit!

is that a bum, wrapped completely in a sleeping bag under the highway?? I cannot see a face, but the rappin' stops and I continue on faster. SHIT! I cannot be so reckless! needles? there could be aids-needles anywhere in this silvery gravel ... OK, jump around like you're on hot embers!

past the gravel patch of paranoia.

//MOOO-NDANE creeps back in!

a long walk to union from poison pier this has been, but the warm, loving embrace of the underground metro awaits. methinkst to my myself... hmm that concert would come in at three k's, with the newly improved système kowalski. brilliant music weighed down by characters such as big-blaze, body-odour, kate-the-bait... bad-trips-folk. zen allowed me to overcome: "fireworks" was dazzling live, to respond to an inquisitive text from trois-rivieres.

//up to bloor

hot chocolate sipping, PLAID-CLAD waits for his buds - it's a pub-crawl on bloor - yes! we have brought fish.

THIS HAS BEEN A KOWALSKI FEATURE PRESENTATION