Mike Watt at Tramps (10-31-1997)

Happy Halloween! On October 31st, 1997, Mike Watt played at Tramps! In 1997, Mike Watt released his second solo album, Contemplating the Engine Room. The album is a punk rock song cycle that uses navy life as an extended metaphor for both Watt's family history and his first band, the Minutemen. Watt played the entire album from cover to cover for this show at Tramps and threw in a few Minutemen songs at the end of his set. He finished the evening with “Big Train” from his first solo album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat? Watt’s backing band for this gig included Joe Baiza of Saccharine Trust on guitar and Stephen Hodges on drums.

Setlist:

  1. In The Engine Room

  2. Red Bluff

  3. The Bluejackets' Manual

  4. Pedro Bound!

  5. The Boilerman

  6. Black Gang Coffee

  7. Topsiders

  8. No One Says Old Man To The Old Man

  9. Fireman Hurley

  10. Liberty Calls!

  11. In The Bunk Room/Navy Wife

  12. Crossing The Equator

  13. Breaking The Choke Hold

  14. Wrapped Around The Screw

  15. Shore Duty

  16. The Red & The Black

  17. Forever/One Reporter's Opinion

  18. Big Train

A Youtube user called Weedbuzz also shared a video of this show, which is embedded below. Check it out!