Michael Savage Uncensored: May 15, 2004

5/16/2004 | Political Junkie Too

[Political Junkie Too]

Michael Savage Uncensored
May 15, 2004 7:00pm PDT
Chronicle Pavillion
Concord, California

I attended the Savage Uncensored show at the Chronicle Pavillion in Concord, California last night, hosted by KNEW 910 radio. It was an improvement over his last show, Name 'Em and Shame 'Em, which was at the Marin Civic Center in 2000. Still, if Savage wishes to take his show on the road he will have to polish his act some more.

The audience was a mix of older couples, twenty-somethings, families, military/police/firefighters, and "Savage Singles." The show opened with a Metallica look-a-like band named "Creeping Death." They did a fifteen minute set before the show's Master of Ceremonies, morning personalities Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty, took the stage. Armstrong and Getty did some humorous bits before introducing a local Antioch Boy Scout troop Color Guard. The Color Guard marched down the aisles and onto the stage to a rousing round of applause. The Color Guard led the audience in reciting the Pledge Of Allegience (including a boisterous "UNDER GOD") and in singing the National Anthem.

Following the Boy Scouts, Armstrong and Getty reappeared, with Armstrong leading a hooded Getty by a dog collar. More humorous bits ensued, ending with Armstrong and Getty introducing featured speaker California State Senator Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks).

McClintock gave a saddeningly funny speech, drawing his material from the California budget woes. He lamented the current state of affairs in California by discussing the flight of people from California to the Arizona and Nevada desert:

"According to the census data, the most popular destination for California expatriates is the middle of the Arizona and Nevada deserts. Now I want you to think about that for a second. Imagine turning your state into a less desirable place to live and work and raise your family than the middle of the Nevada and Arizona deserts. There’s a reason why they tested nuclear weapons out in the southwestern desert of our nation. It’s the only place on the continent that can actually be IMPROVED with atomic bombs... If you cram too many Democrats in a statehouse for too long, you, too, can turn your state into a wasteland less desirable than the middle of the Nevada Nuclear Test Range".

On the state of the California budget:

"You want a really good look at this wreck? The Democrats are pushing a measure through the legislature to require the State Building Code to incorporate the principles of feng shui. IN THE STATE BUILDING CODE! For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with the latest New Age fads, “Feng shui” is defined as “the ancient Chinese art or practice of positioning objects based on a belief in patterns of yin and yang and the flow of chi that have positive and negative effects.” You see, it’s no longer enough that buildings stand up during an earthquake – In California it’s important for our buildings to feel good about themselves."

During an intermission, Creeping Death played more Metallica tunes before Armstrong and Getty returned to introduce Michael Savage's son, Russ Weiner, who ran for the State Assembly as a Republican from Marin. Needless to say, he did not win and pursued a business selling an energy drink called Rock Star. Weiner introduced his father to the stage.

Savage rolled onto the stage in a vintage red Ford convertable ("when the chrome was thick and the women were straight"). Mocking San Francisco traffic, Savage stopped at a red light while a homeless man, pushing a shopping cart, sat down in front of the car and held up a "Will work for oil" sign. While waiting for the light to change, Savage read from several of the local Saturday newspapers (San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times), making extemporaneous remarks on the stories of the day in the fashion of Mort Sahl. This was Act I of what was announced to be a three-act routine. When Savage finished reading the newspapers, he gave the homeless man a bottle of 10W-40 and drove off.

Act II began as Savage, wearing a red bathrobe and sitting on his easy chair, was clicking through the channels on his television set in a mock living room that was rolled onto stage. He continued the theme from Act I of remarking extemporaneously on the TV shows as he clicked past them. This portion of the show occured at around 9:00pm PDT, and the TV was broadcasting a live feed from the local cable company. Savage clicked back and forth between CNN ("Larry Seltzer"), CNN Headline News ("Tokyo Rose"), CNBC, FNC ("Gave away troop positions"), and MSNBC ("They fired me over nothing."), before moving onto other channels like E! ("Why they think we're weak"), Disney ("Child porn"), History, QVC, Hallmark, etc. In a serendipitous moment, Savage had left the TV on the E! channel while moving into a monologue. While speaking, E! was running some kind of supermodel show with women walking down a runway. The crowd called for Savage to move aside and unblock the view to the TV. As he turned to see what was on, E! cut to a "Girls Gone Wild"-type clip of a young woman lifting her top to reveal a pixelated chest. "Ohhhhhh!" Savage exlaimed as he jumped back. Then E! did it again. "Ohhhhhh!"

Savage then moved into a sermon-style talk, weaving in the themes we hear from his radio show. He read a passage from the Bible to a silent audience. In the middle of comparing how the media portrays religion in America (no religion in the public square) vs. religion overseas (holy cities, sacred shrines, Islamic clerics), he jolted the crowd by playing, unannounced, the audio of the beheading of Nicholas Berg.

The second act began to run long and drag on a bit. Savage returned to the TV set and cycled through the channels again. Offstage, the crew was beckoning him to wrap up. Savage said that they were dropping Act III, which was to be a podium set. Throughout the show, he was saying how they "had a great close for the show." After finally wrapping up Act II, Savage announced that he had a costume change and that he'd be right back. After a five minute intermission, Savage returned in his convertable wearing a shiek's costume. The car rolled across the stage as Savage said "Goooooooooood-byyyyyyyyyyyye Infideeeeeeeeeels!" and rolled off the other side of the stage. That was the "great close." The audience was stunned at the abrupt ending, as the house lights went up. Nobody moved for a few minutes, although I was out of my seat and heading up the aisle. I had learned the Universal Law of Concert-Going in my youth: if the roadies start pulling cords from the amps or if the houselights go up, the show is OVER. Armstrong and Getty returned to the stage to thank the crowd and wish them good-night. The show ended at 10:30pm PDT.

Criticism

This is the second Savage show that I saw. The show in Marin in 2000 had a longer speaker list: Mike Levine - DEA agent, Chris Ruddy - Newsmax, Dr. Peter Breggin - anti-ritalin activist.

Also as in 2000, Savage asked the crowd to name their favorite bits for him to do (Dr. UnSavage, Scungilli, meatballs), but then he never did any of them.

My harshest criticism remains the same from 2000. Savage drank alcohol on stage during his performance. This totally wrecked his show in 2000, and probably undermined his show last night. In 2000, he was drinking straight vodka until his wife sneaked on-stage to remove the bottle and dilute his drink with water. Last night, Savage was drinking champagne and calling it "coffee." In 2000, Savage began insulting the audience (elderly well-to-do Marin conservatives) as they got up to leave in disgust ("What's the matter, gotta change your Depends?"), partly because of his drunken rudeness and partly because he was rambling and running long. Last night, people began leaving because he was again becoming long-winded and redundant. Savage started bickering with the stage crew as the night wore on. If Savage had stayed off the booze and kept to his timing, he might have ended the second set on a high-note and moved to his podium act for a big finish. Instead, he ran long and petered out in an anti-climax.

The crowd reaction as we walked to the parking lot was mostly, "He should stick to the radio booth." I think that, if he sticks to real coffee and tightens up his routine, he could be successful on the political circuit, but that's a big IF.

-PJ

[Political Junkie Too]

My review of Michael Savage's show last night.

[Xenalyte]

Sheesh. Drinking during performances is for musicians only.

[EGPWS]

My review of Michael Savage's show last night.

PJT, you don't like MS do you.

[Political Junkie Too]

Actually, I do. I saw him twice, after all.

I just think he hurts himself sometimes.

-PJ

[SunStar]

I was at the show, in the front row. Armstrong and Getty were great, Senator McClintock was excellent, and the first act of Savage's live show was magnificent. The second act ran WAY too long as Michael Savage didn't seem to know how to end the TV segment. Overall, the show was just great. But the ending was abrupt and annoying. I think Michael Savage needs someone to keep him on schedule during live events. At the end, Armstrong and Getty appeared visually annoyed that they even had to follow such a lame ending.

[SaveTheChief]

I have only heard Savage a few times on the radio.

Compared to all the other conservative radio hosts I have heard, Savage seems to be rude, socially challenged, terribly arrogant, and a shameless self-promoter. Not even O'Reilly matches Savage's ability to pat himself on the back.

No wonder his PMSNBC show flopped.

[Political Junkie Too]

In my attempt to provide a "just the facts" review, I didn't mention the many times that I giggled and laughed as he read the papers and clicked the remote. His appearance was much better than it was in 2000.

-PJ

[SunStar]

In my attempt to provide a "just the facts" review, I didn't mention the many times that I giggled and laughed as he read the papers and clicked the remote. His appearance was much better than it was in 2000.

Agreed. He was quite funny, and accurate.

His first act was my favorite, where he made a passionate call to action against terrorism and the Iraqi insurgent groups. His praise of the troops, as well as the moment of silence for all Americans who died in wars to protect the USA was also moving.

[Political Junkie Too]

I forgot to include that part. He played Taps and called for a moment of silence. He also had little flags distributed to the crowd and spoke of how the Liberals fear the flag-waving patriotism of Americans.

-PJ

[halley]

I listened to Savage for a year or two when I was in the Bay Area, before I got the hell out of California. I think he's good for about a year. After that, the meglomania, crudeness and swollen disregard for his own importance and intelligence turned me off. Happened to most friends of mine too.

He has his moments, but he's really just "not all that".

[b4its2late]

I listen to him nightly, but he is preempted by baseball now.. Cant wait for football season for the football and that baseball will be over.....

[Choose Ye This Day]

How much did you have to pay to see this blowhard?

[Political Junkie Too]

Being local, I've been listening to him since his early KSFO days, before he went national. The first year of his national show was blacked out here while his earlier-in-the-day local show was still airing.

-PJ

[SamKeck]

Imagine turning your state into a less desirable place to live and work and raise your family than the middle of the Nevada and Arizona deserts. [Tom McClintock]

Well yeah, that's what's bound to happen when control of an entire state is handed over to socialist-Democraps for thirty consecutive years.

[EggsAckley]

Good review. I always wondered if Savage was a tippler. Not cool on stage. I spent 30 years on stage as a musician/entertainer and drinking on stage is simply a no-no. The person on the stage loses their edge; always have to keep a step ahead of the audience or they walk all over you.

I'm disappointed; I believe he has some potential, and this may be dragging him down.

Thanks for the report.

[Political Junkie Too]

Prices varied. Front-section seats were $75-$100. My section was $50. The back section was promotional seats by the station for $9.10.

I friend paid for my ticket.

-PJ

[SamKeck]

...if he sticks to real coffee and tightens up his routine, ...

Yeah, right; like that's gonna happen.

[BradyLS]

Drinking and driving?

I think Michael's radio show is great. It's a shame he thinks he can just breeze through a stage act.

Wonder if it would have been better of folks had listened with their eyes closed?

[ImpotentRage]

I attended the show ($50 seats) and enjoyed it - mostly. I agree that the second act got rather lame and the ending a bust, but the first act was superb. I don't have anything against him drinking on stage, although you're right - it does alter his performance "somewhat." HOWEVER, if I NEVER see that band again I will be forever grateful.

[Political Junkie Too]

I was surprised that he didn't have the band play his bumper theme live as he first entered the stage, with the "psychologicl nudity" voice-over in the background.

I saw a Hannity appearance on CSPAN2 last month, and he began his appearance with a darkened stage, flickering lights, and his radio show intro before he took the stage. And Rush played his Pretenders bumper theme as he made a surprise appearance at the MRC Dishonor Awards.

If you're going to have a live Metallica-like band, then use it.

-PJ