Dehd @ Summit Music Hall With Yoho 23Sep22

Dehd are a cool young Chicago reverb-heavy post-punk, indie rock group whom I've profiled prior in "music appreciation newsletters." Jim & I met at Summit Music Hall for their Denver show. While I long ago booked the show, I was unsure I'd go till I was C19 negative at 5pm before the show. Blue Skies is their latest album and the 1st on their new label (of 4 albums since 2016's Dehd/Fire Of Love and they have been hitting the radio studios strong; I do have the limited edition pink vinyl (and FLAC) for Blue Skies.

Exum, a former SF 49ers safety (quit after a career-ending injury) opened the show. I didn't really get his mix of rap and pleasant melodies and backing loops very well, but he surely was a stud.

The band is "just" a trio of Emily Kempf on bass & vocals, Jason Balla on guitar & vocals, and Eric McGrady on stand-up percussion. Their sound is pretty unique but refined and their DIY ethos is to be respected. I came to them when l was looking for non-harmonizing duo led vocals and Emily's keen vocal tricks & and killer voice counter-played with Jason's nice round boy voice results in many good songs - where they bounce off each other incredibly well. Emily is the songwriter and a presence to encounter; Jason is a producer of sorts and his 80's guitar punk pop - surf pop sound is awesome (he plays Van Halen's Kramer); Eric is the fiercely quiet and understated percussionist. Their stripped down music column from just three is raw and inspired and truthful.They are making music which is indie rock but far from normal, it's also not too accepted yet if I check the hits on YouTube or the attendance at the show ~ but dang it is good. They did a ~18 song (most are pretty short <3 min each) for a 70 min set... more on the setlist later. They played a lot from the new album but a number from Flower Of Devotion as well. I have to say that I am confused by Emily - she produces the official videos and recent versions have had lesbian overtones (like Eggshells official vid HERE); yet at the Denver show she supposedly proposed to her boyfriend ~ I shouldn't care as it doesn't impact the music and it may be intentionally confusing and controversial.

The concert from Dehd was very good; the venue was less so. The lighting for the entire show was pretty dark as you can see, always pink on Emily and always blue on Jaosn ~ maybe the band specified that but I don't know. The house sound was good enough from where Jim & I heard it right in front of the mixing guys... we did wear ear plugs for most of it though, lot's of boom. It's good to have earplugs that yield a flat attenuation across the full audible frequency range. I did capture lofi versions of 'Loner,' 'Eggshells,' and a medley near the end.

Regarding the setlist, I did grab one from the stage, as I usually attempt, and succeeded. However, at this Live Nation spot, Summit Music Hall, for whatever reason, I was detained by staff and the setlist was unceremoniously ripped from my hand. I did explain that the band would have likely wanted me to have it or they wouldn't have left it. Their response was that if that were the case they'd have sent it to me. Policies at LN and/or Summit are too corporate and over-bearing - maybe they were trying to monetize it the way they have so many things. I bought merch and music and a ticket, but was accosted... I won't go back there.

I did let them know that my experience put me off. For those just coming up to speed on Dehd, here are several radio studio shows and concerts I've liked where they are featured. To hear the recent live stuff start at KEXP, of course, and move to HERE then HERE then to Live @ KUTX. Jim and I are Dehd Heads.

Rockin' ROMO Natl Pk With Kala 18Sep22-21Sep22

Kala & I finally got a rez @ RMNP for our semi-normal fall outing there. Weather is awesome but warmth put off most of the colors for another week or so. It did not put off the fish, or hikes, or elk. We had a great time in our 1st time on B loop with the BC20X - B170 was not a great site but keen Mississippi neighbors and a reasonable remoteness from others left us feelin' good. We arrived on Sunday (mostly against traffic ~ woohoo) at check-in and headed to the BigT for the 90 min of fishing remaining before Moraine Pk closes for the elk @ 5pm. We both caught browns on chubbies in astounding surroundings and felt satisfied to then sit back and observe the show from a distant position this time... that was fine as there'd be more.

For the BigT in Moraine Pk I chose to cast the recently completed "glass" Rodfather Pure Irony. It was a blast, and as mentioned in the build post, a slight reduction in cadence yields a bomb shot if needed. I did catch a lot of grass heads in this meadow stream however... and lost multiple rigs in the stream-bank weeds or unknown grass-head. On one such occasion I had to lay flat on my chest and reach over into the stream ~ I got the fly but later learned I'd lost my midge box somewhere on the stream! I went back 2 days later and found it. Fortunate as that was, when reviewing footage I saw exactly where I'd lost it; it's hard to believe I didn't see it there (as I now do).

We chowed on yummy ribeye & blue cheese sammies that night back at camp. And we then rested well in the BC20X with the windows cracked. The next morning we brewed our DazBog and enjoyed berries in the rising light as we laid the hiking plan for the day: drive and shuttle into Bear Lk, hike to Dream and Emerald Lks and then find fish there. We added a Bear Lk loop when down to the THs here again. RMNP is simply awesome. I did catch a pic of some of the only Aspen color showing thus far. It's windy up there and I caught a tightly twisted pine from the effects.

 

We went straight to Emerald Lk (3rd selfie H2O pic above & the pan) ~2mi up and then trundled back to Dream Lk where it's (im)possible to catch a triple. I saw mostly cruising Colorado cutthroats and they were well educated. Many raced to my bug and then rejected it ~ I think they were sipping #26s but I ultimately scored with a mostly translucent #22 mayfly. Whew. My NC in-laws love waterfalls so I sent them a pic of the mighty Tyndall Ck falls at the Dream Lk effluent.

Back @ B170 we enjoyed our infamous fajitas on the skottle, and some weird Blue Curacao margs. We finished in time to hit Moraine Pk for the elk rut and scored with very close herd activities. The bull was a big boy with a big >12 point rack and ~40 cows in keep. A couple of youngsters ventured somewhat close but were easily chased off by "the dude." We slept well again ~ thanking Airstream for a built-in bathroom on the Basecamp.

With a good hike under our belts and some fish on the lines, though I was freaking out a bit about the missing fly box, we headed down to the BigT in Moraine to look for it. Super lucky success! We fished a bit more there and I encountered "the dude" again pretty close, just hanging out across the river from me, and I caught some more brownies on chubbies and caddis (and lost more rigs). Returning to grab the Crusher Too and continue chill day, we headed to some Glacier Basin spots mostly unvisted by us prior. They were close to parking lots and CGs so plenty of folk, but we picnicked comfortably near Glacier Ck, but did not fish it (no sign), and then tried our rods on Sprague Lk. The inlet to Sprague was teeming with spawning brookies (tough pic without polarizing lens). We were skunked at Sprague but saw more elk there and headed back to Moraine Pk for salmon canapes and bubbly with blackcurrants for dinner.

We decided that night we'd head out the next morning, due to a change in the weather. So, the next AM Kala's camper training was completed with a black-water pump-out on the way out of MPCG. We were fortunate we did not hit rain till Boulder. Another GR8 fall trip to RMNP... see ya next year.

Toast With Brantleys 17Sep22

We were fortunate to catch S&P in the country and willing to drink beer @ Cerberus. Here's to ya...

Building The Rodfather Pure Irony (drc #19 RFPI - 7.5' 3pc 3wt raw fiberglass) 01Aug22-16Sep22

The story goes that the Rodfather loves the lightest & fastest fly rods, no matter the situation; that means high modulus carbon fiber. That's the entire quiver, and it's keen and fully custom at this point. So what's a guy to try? Yes, something endearing and iconic, but ironic... something throwback that can flick dries or buggers and land a 4.5# 20" brown on AZ's Canyon Ck and capably fight her home to a small net. Something almost industrial strength that you can throw anywhere @ camp but which is tip savvy like a whisper. The 19th custom built fly rod from the Rodfather is a 7'6" 3pc 3wt raw fiberglass beauty adorned in blue & grey named Pure Irony.

More on the story and specs later but the parts have arrived and the build was begun.

I always begin with a handle and make it unique and indicative of the rod's birth and intended use. Pure Irony deserves such a handle and not mimicking the light weight and narrow nose of the 3wt Lightning Rod, despite it's similar small stream attack purpose. I spun a new 6.5" full wells grip worthy of the PI, but ironic in and of itself. As none have noted, the diamond serves me well; diamonds are there. A lightweight grip to accompany a 3wt is also present but fiberglass blanks are heavier so using fancy cork and a little more glue is fine. The Ironic Handle displays MIM in Morse code ~ many important memories. Kind of ironic 'cause there are none yet. Here's the handle build with my normal amount of cutting with a very fine jigsaw, then dry fitting stuff for visualizing, then gluing it all together in the handle vise, and then turning it on my lathe into to a full wells custom design grip.

I was somewhat surprised that when I measured the Pure Irony per my normal practice that it came out as fast as it did, posting a plenty FAST 71° action angle (this is almost my favorite action). The rod is a strong 3 weight with an ERN of 3.7 so it's a perfect fit with my Lamson Guru II (which is silver/chrome like the hardware) loaded with SA MPX WF3F, which runs hot at about a 3.8 line weight. Nice. However, the balance in hand demanded the heavier Bauer M1, currently "only" loaded with SA Mastery WF3F, which has fewer grains in the head.

Beyond the irony of a fiberglass rod in my hand after 20+ years of perfecting the carbon fiber target cast, "what's ironic?" Check the reel seat observers! I've mated a carbon fiber insert on the aluminum windowed reel seat with a raw fiberglass blank. Plus I like the notion that Pure Irony is PI, which is π, which is transcendental ~ this is just like how one feels transcendent when fishing the RFPI. :)

The $38 Chinese blank itself uses pre-installed ferrule plugs to mate the pieces together. I still wrapped reinforcement around the female ends and even covered up some glue marks on the inside of the male side of the rod section from these spigots. I don't know why most fiberglass blanks work this way, but they do now (I don't recall the plugs from the old days) - must be tensile strength related. When reaming the handle to assemble the butt section it was tricky to make a big hole in the cork center without destroying the handle in the process - fiberglass blanks are much fatter in the butt and care must be taken on this step to avoid heat or torque or vibration from ripping the handle apart.

The wrapping of my chosen single foot guides, the stripping guide, and other adornments on the rod was typical, except that I made a patterned spiral design in pearl & black 3D mylar to adorn the butt section. I chose grey & blue colorfast nylon to both match the carbon reel seat insert as well as jazz up the natural fiberglass material. I used 2 color spirals on the ferrules and multiple colors butted together on the guides. It looks good IMO.

 

Backyard tests were gr8 - the PI throws 35' easily and very accurately with a slightly slower rhythm from me. Unexpectedly the rod weighs just 3.6 oz (I did use single foot guides and a super light reel seat to keep things lighter). As expected it's swing weight is on the heavier side though at 10.5, yielding a normalized swing weight of 3.8 - not unlike the Brookie 3 wt which is a foot longer. I am actually very pleased and I can't wait to toss it on the Big Thompson next week.