W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

In early 2023 while out to dinner with friends at a local East VIllage restaurant only a couple of streets from his walk up apartment, Jesse Malin suffered what ended up being a very rare spinal stroke which left Jesse paralyzed from the waist down.  Jesse has yet to return to his walk up home, but thanks to some incredible perseverance, hard work and positive mental attitude (PMA), Jesse made a return to the performing stage for 2 sold out shows at New York’s fabled uptown Beacon Theatre.  The road to Malin’s recovery would ultimately take him to Argentina where he received a stem cell treatment along with vigorous physical therapy.  (His days and nights in Buenos Aires where he knew no one and did not speak the language is beautifully documented in his most recent song, “Argentina”), a song which Jesse would play during both of the sets at The Beacon.

I unfortunately could not make it to the first show on Sunday night but was able to attend Monday’s sophomore show.  As I entered the stunning vestibule of The Beacon, I couldn’t help but be stunned by the countless faces that were recognizable.  It was like by some act of god, the lower east side had been transported north of 72nd Street.  All of the regulars from Jesse’s clubs in the East Village like Bowery Electric, Berlin, Heaven Can Wait and Niagara could be seen and heard milling about in these hallowed halls.  There was a prominent buzz throughout, a buzz of relief and happiness, a palpable aura of solace that the man who was always striving to keep the LES music community alive, long after everyone else had abandoned it for the streets of Williamsburg.

The evening’s festivities would commence promptly (as advertised) at 8 PM with Fred Armisten introducing Butch Walker, followed by Adam Weiner (Low Cut Connie), Rickie Lee Jones and Eugene Hutz (Gogol Bordello).  Following Hutz’s performance the red curtain lowered upon the stage and there was a brief intermission.

Shortly thereafter, film director and screenwriter, Jim Jarmusch would take the stage and introduce to all of us, Jesse himself at center stage, sitting on a large black leather chair, resplendent in his black leather jacket, floppy newsboy cap and dark aviator sunglasses.  Jes would later apologize for the wearing of the sunglasses indoors, saying he wasn’t trying to be pretentious but they helped calm him down since all he wanted to do all night was jump up and dance around.  Anyway, as soon as the house lights landed on Malin, they entire theatre jumped out of their seats and erupted into massive applause.  Now let me just say, I’ve been to countless shows and concerts over the years and I have seen numerous standing ovations but this one was different.  This crowd understood what its taken for Jesse to get where he is right now.  The tumultuous outpouring of applause was as overwhelming as any I’ve ever seen.  2000 people consumed with love, pride, thankfulness, appreciation and gratitude all wrapped up together.

Jesse, who was visibly moved with emotion, would start his set off with “Room 13”, a song off of his 2019 album, Sunset Kids.  Co-written by Lucinda Williams, who also produced Sunset Kids, “Room 13” was an ideal opening tune for Malin to kick things off with.  Although originally written as a paeon to a spurned love, the repeated refrain of 

Well I spent some time in a hotel room

Thinking about love 

And I walked away like those others do

Oh when it’s not enough

Was perfectly apt considering the isolation and solitude which Malin has endeared for the last 18 months.  Jesse’s (first) set of 15 songs would proceed interspersed with Malin’s patented storytelling and captivating stage banter.  Prior to his cover of The Pogue’s “If I Should Fall From Grace With God”, we would hear about Joe Strummer (yeah fucking Joe Strummer) getting a hard time from the crowd at The Beacon years ago, when he was fronting the Pogues and the crowd wanted nothing but Shane MacGowan.  We would hear stories about Jesse explaining to his mom how he was driving a van filled with musical equipment for a band called The Dead Kennedys. We’d hear how Malin had seen The Replacements’ ill fated show on this very same stage. (Later in the evening when Tommy Stinson would take the stage for his segment, he jokingly added, “I hope this one turns out better than the last time I was here.”)  We’d hear about crazed punks climbing up the walls of the theater and crowd diving off of the gladiator statue.  These were just a few of the fantastic vignettes Jesse shared throughout the evening.  

I should point out that during this portion of the evening, while Jesse was seated, his crack band out of solidarity also sat.  I found this to be such a gracious act of solidarity and respect.  These guys are true blue rockers.  I’m willing to bet that they’d never performed a show standing still much less seated, yet here they were, showing that they could kick some rock and roll ass while sitting on their very own asses.  Eventually Malin would get up out of his leather chair and stand with the aid of his mike stand to perform a rowsing and rollicking “Meet Me At The End Of The World” after which he would walking off stage on his own with the help of a walker.  Again, the crowd would yelp and cheer encouragement with each and every step he would take.

We rolled right into the next segment of the evening with Matt Dillon joking that he’d brought his earplugs, just incase for the next artist…J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.  Mascis would perform “Brooklyn”, the same song he’d recorded for the Silver Patron Saints tribute album put out earlier this year to raise money to offset the myriad of medical bills which Malin has been accruing.  Moving along the cavalcade of guest would continue with Willie Nile, Tommy Stinson, Jacob Dylan, Danny Clinch, Adam Duritz, Lucinda Williams, The Hold Steady, and a reprise performance by Butch Walker doing what I thought was the non Malin highlight of the night, “In The Modern World”. 

Following Walker’s foot stomping tumultuous cover of “Modern World”, Jesse would return to the stage for a poignant duet version of “Green Pastures” with fellow LES artist, Diane Gentile.  With a now standing Malin, Eugene Hutz would come back out to join in on his Silver Patron Saints duet with Jesse, “You Know It’s Dark When Atheists Start To Pray”.  With the help of trumpet and saxophone provided by regular Malin collaborators, Indofunk Satish and Danny Ray respectively this burner took on the feel of a New Orleans Mardi Gras jam.

Capping the night off, the stage would be filled with all (or at least almost all) of the all star guests joining Jesse for an incredible high energy cover, monster version of The Ramones’ “Do You Remember Rock And Roll Radio” complete with a surprise appearance by none other than Santa Claus himself, which was a perfect way to close out what was a truly magical pair of nights because for those who were in attendance Christmas indeed came early with the return of Jesse Malin to the stage.  And as the loving and adoring crowd filed out of The Beacon to the sounds of The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York” the feeling of joy and celebration could be felt overflowing from everyone.

Welcome back Jesse!

Slideshow – Jesse Malin & Friends @ The Beacon (2024-12-02)

Setlist (2024-12-02)

• Aftermath (Butch Walker)
• When You’re Young (Adam Weiner)
• Cycles (Rickie Lee Jones)
• Here’s The Situation (Eugene Hutz & Sergei Ryabtsev)
• Victim Of Pain (Eugene Hutz & Sergei Ryabtsev)

Jesse Malin

• Room 13
• Oh Sheena
• If I Should Fall From Grace With God
• Argentina
• Turn Up the Mains
• She Don’t Love Me Now
• The Way We Used to Roll
• Revelations
• State of the Art
• She’s So Dangerous
• Shining Down
• Sway
• Silver Manhattan
• Black Haired Girl
• Meet Me at the End of the World Again

• Brooklyn (J. Mascis)
• All The Way From Moscow (Willie Nile)
• Riding On The Subway (Tommy Stinson)
• Don’t Let Them Take You Down (Jacob Dillon)
• A Long December (Adam Duritz & Immy)
• New York Comeback (Lucinda Williams)
• Death Star (The Hold Steady)
• Almost Grown (Danny Clinch)
• In The Modern World (Butch Walker)
• Greener Pastures (Jesse Malin & Diane Gentile)
• You Know Its Dark When Atheists Start To Pray (Jesse Malin & Eugene Hutz)
• Do You Remember Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Jesse Malin & Friends)

WALK OUT MUSIC:  Fairytale Of New York (The Pogues recording)

Note: A previous vesion of this writeup erroneously suggested that Portuguese was the language of Argentina. This has been corrected.