Cincinnati, Oh—A.Reg Tedgro was there in ‘69 when The Who vomited in the bar; he was pushing up against stage in ‘74 at Iggy Pop’s, Murder of a Virgin show in L.A.; in ‘84 he was at the Bowery in Oklahoma City, for the recording of the Replacements’ fabulous mess, When The Shit Hits The Fan and for the last ten years he’s relentlessly followed alt/country badass, Lydia Loveless from the California Cascades to the Florida Everglades. But at a recent Drive By Truckers show the legendary rock fan, injured his shoulder after some aggressive fist pumping during a rousing version of The Perilous Night. The injury required emergency surgery for a torn rotator cuff which may jeopardize the rocker’s summer concert season.
Known for his ability to follow an eclectic mix of artists, the roots of the injury can be traced to a fall at a Boz Scaggs show. As the band kicked into It’s Over, A.Reg engaged his female companion in a dance, but while pirouetting tripped and landed on his face and shoulder. After the paramedics cleaned up his face the determined rock fan returned to his seat and weeped vociferous tears during a moving rendition of We’re All Alone.
He didn’t really recognize the shoulder pain until he engaged in some vigorous clapping at a Neko Case show. “Neko is a tremendous talent,” A.Reg said, “ but can be a bit idiosyncratic. I wanted to make sure the fans got the full Neko experience so I really sold out, with what was perhaps, my greatest clapping ever at the end of her set. I’d like to think, that clapping, is what brought her back to do that heartbreaking Harry Nilsson classic, Don’t Forget Me.”
He was really sore after the show, but rather than see a doctor the tenacious rock fan chose to soldier on attending a series of concerts by Bon Iver, Sleater-Kinny and Courtney Barnett aided only by shots of Tequila, Advil gel packs and his astonishing rock-n-roll will.
Post surgery, he received well wishes from a litany of artists including Paul Westerberg and Liz Phir. Westerberg scrawled a couple of cryptic lines: “Serves you right. Did a lot for you. Send more cash.” A little more direct and generous Ms.Phir dispatched some fishnet stockings that A.Reg has coveted since the 90’s.
A.Reg is slated to return on a trail bases later this month in Cincinnati at The National’s, Homecoming Festival, which features Father John Misty, Feist, Alvvays and other indie bands. He is hoping this will be a good warm up to very full summer schedule. He also wants to introduce himself to the new Millennials and iGen kids attending the shows and make sure they know he is not just some random, lost grandpa, but one of rock’s preeminent fans who can teach them shit.
