Head Trip In Every Key
The Black Angels, with The Warlocks
Exit In, Nashville, TN
Saturday, July 5, 2008
You know how sometimes you can look forward to a concert so much that it's almost impossible for the actual event to live up to your expectations? Well, that totally wasn't an issue on Saturday night. I'm not sure I had looked forward to a concert this much since in years. Directions To See A Ghost, The Black Angels new album, has undoubtedly been my favorite of the year so far. It's been in constant rotation since April, when I first wrote about it, and my love for it has yet to show any signs of waning. And live, the band were everything I'd hoped they would be, and then some. Their set was 75 minutes of mind blowing aural magic. I've always wondered why more bands don't incorporate projections into their light shows. The combination of old 50s film reels and psychedelic oil projections added a perfect visual element to the band's tripped out sound. During songs like "Mission District," with it's heartbeat rhythm, I honestly can't imagine it would have been any cooler seeing Pink Floyd in 1967. Seriously. It was that good.
The Black Angels - "Doves" (mp3) from Directions To See A Ghost
The Black Angels - "Paladin's Last Stand" (mp3) from Black Angel Exit (promo only)
The Warlocks were an example that sometimes you can put two chefs in the same kitchen with the exact same ingredients and wind up with completely different tasting dishes. The first time I saw them (two years ago in Atlanta), they didn't do much for me. It probably didn't help that the smoke was so thick that you couldn't actually see the band members on stage, only their shadowy outlines. This time the smoke machine was under control, but I still couldn't connect with the band. Though they share a brooding, drony sound with The Black Angels, they do a lot less with it. It seems like every song followed the same template... guitarist starts an echoey riff, the other two guitarists chime in playing the same riff, drums and bass come in, then repeat every four minutes. It got boring real quick. If you're going to have three guitarists in a band, you need to do something with them. Having them all playing the same part all night is a waste.
The Warlocks - "So Paranoid" (mp3) from Heavy Deavy Skull Lover
photo by Steve Cross, more at Nashville Cream
Labels: concerts
Get Down Friday
The Story of My Friday, Part 2: The Second Part
If you had told me on Friday afternoon that the turnaround to what had been a fairly crappy day would be watching a couple of shirtless, pasty dudes jump around by the pool at Opryland Hotel, I'd have thought you were high. But it turns out that is exactly what happened.
The first sign that my Friday was about to get better was about 6:15, when I left work earlier than I thought I'd be able to. That meant I had just enough time to go home, change clothes, and head out to Poolapalooza, the free concert series/pool party that Opryland Hotel is hosting this summer. If you're from around these parts, you know that Opryland isn't usually a destination for seeing local rock acts, but they had a great lineup Friday evening, so I figured I'll try anything once. It turns out the Gaylord folks have put together a really fun event. Kudos to them.
I got there just after The Nobility had kicked things off. Despite the fact that they play a fairly jaunty brand of pop music, they seemed to have a hard time connecting with the crowd. Whether it was their self-depreciating wit or the fact that rock concerts just aren't meant to happen when it's still daylight, people definitely seemed more interested in the pool than the band for most of their set.
By the time De Novo Dahl took the stage just after 8, they had the benefit of twilight, so the atmosphere was much more conducive to a rock show. I'm not sure if anyone else in attendance was trying to fight off the blues that evening, but if they were, DND were just what the doctor ordered. Sometime during the 1-2 punch of "Shout" and their cover of Rod Stewart's "Young Turks," I'd completely forgotten that the better part of my day had pretty much sucked. By the end of their set, they'd managed to draw a diverse crowd of curious locals, chlorine soaked tourists and conventioneers. It made for a surprisingly great start to the weekend.
De Novo Dahl - "Shout" (mp3) from Move Every Muscle, Make Every Sound
The Nobility - "Halleluiah Chorus" (mp3) from The Mezzanine
Photo by Lance Conzett. The rest of his pics from Friday night can be seen here.
Heaven Tonight
Last week Cortney Tidwell held round one of her mini residency at The Basement, and if you didn't make it out, you missed a night of music that can only be described as magical. She and the band pulled out all the stops during an hour long set that mixed up new material from their forthcoming album Son and Moon, along with a few older songs that had been gussied up with a fresh coat of paint. The evening featured guest appearances aplenty (at one point there were ten people on stage), including duets with Lambchop's Kurt Wagner on "Society" from Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up, and a gorgeous take on Don William's classic "I Believe In You." Combined with standout sets from Altered Statesman and Lone Official, it made for just a stunning evening.
She will be doing round two of the residency tomorrow (Wednesday, June 18), this time joined by The Privates and Stone Jack Jones. Even if it's only half as good as last week was, it will still be an utterly amazing show.
UPDATE: Someone should have told me that mp3 link below was busted. It's fixed now.
Cortney Tidwell - "Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Alternate Version)" (mp3) original version from Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up
If you absolutely, postively can't make it (like say you live in Europe), make sure you hit up her myspace profile, where she is currently previewing "Palace" from the forthcoming album.
Concerts with Dad
Part of the reason I'm such a huge music fan is because of my parents. While neither of them are as fanatical about it as I am, they both had pretty good taste, and we always listened to a wide variety of stuff in our house. I certainly didn't get my love of jazz from either of them, but they took me and my sister to the symphony at least once a year, and during college I saw a lot of shows at the Station Inn with them. I can also trace my love for Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, and Jim Croce back to their old record collection.
Since I graduated college, I'd guess that I've seen at least two concerts a year with my dad. So in honor of Father's Day, I thought I'd list the top five concerts I've ever seen with him. And since this post is dad-centric, I'm only including shows that were purely father-son outings (sorry Mom, and step-mom).
1. A Bluegrass Tribute to Courtney Johnson, Ryman Auditorium, 1996. After original New Grass Revival banjoist Courtney Johnson died, a benefit concert was held for his family. It might be the most incredible collection of talent I've ever seen in one night. In addition to a NGR reunion, the evening also featured performances from Ricky Skaggs, John Hartford, Jerry Douglas, The Del McCoury Band, Vassar Clements, Doc Watson, and about a dozen other performers. The performers all took turns playing with each other, and it was simply one of the most amazing nights of music I've ever heard.
2. The Rolling Stones, Gaylord Entertainment Center, 2002. When I heard the Stones were playing a show two days before my dad's 60th birthday, I thought I had won the awesome present lottery. I figured the GEC wasn't that big, so even a couple of cheap seats (which were still 80 bucks each, plus fees) would be decent. When I went onto Ticketmaster's website the morning tix went on sale, I found out the cheap seats were actually BEHIND the stage. I wasn't going to pay 160 bucks to stare at Charlie Watt's back all night, and since I had already decided that I HAD to do this for his birthday, I bit the bullet and bought mid-level seats for for $125 a pop. It's still the most I've ever paid for a concert, but it was totally worth it. Not only did they tear the roof off the joint, but seeing my dad borderline headbanging during "Satisfaction" was completely priceless.
The Rolling Stones - "You Got Me Rocking" (mp3) from No Security
3. Eric Clapton, Starwood Ampitheater, 1990. I almost left this one off the list, purely because I'd already written about it here. But if my dad were making this list, he'd probably put it at number one.
4. The Village People, Municipal Auditorium, 1996. We went because we had to. I mean, seriously, if you had the chance to see The Village People, you'd go too. They were playing as part of Summer Lights, and either a lot of other people also felt that it was a must-see event, or everyone was just trying to get out of the rain. The thing I remember most about it was the construction worker telling the crowd before "YMCA" that the correct way to make an M was with your elbows in the air, and that he didn't want to see any "dipped hands monkeyshit."
5. Bob Dylan w/ Steve Earle and the Dukes, Starwood Ampitheater, 1989. Sometimes concerts are memorable for how bad they are. Steve Earle opened with an amazing set to what was then his hometown crowd. It was the first time I'd ever seen an opening act get an encore. And then Mr. Zimmerman came out. I suppose if you were a hardcore Dylan fan, you might have appreciated the fact that his set was comprised almost entirely of really obscure material. But combine that with the fact that that he had almost zero interaction with the crowd (I don't remember him saying a single word between songs), and there wasn't a lot for a more a casual fan to grab onto. I saw Dylan again ten years later at Municipal Auditorium and it was amazing. I'm pretty sure my Dad has sworn him off completely. He says if it hadn't been for G.E. Smith, who was playing guitar with him at the time, the evening would have been a total waste.
Since I graduated college, I'd guess that I've seen at least two concerts a year with my dad. So in honor of Father's Day, I thought I'd list the top five concerts I've ever seen with him. And since this post is dad-centric, I'm only including shows that were purely father-son outings (sorry Mom, and step-mom).
1. A Bluegrass Tribute to Courtney Johnson, Ryman Auditorium, 1996. After original New Grass Revival banjoist Courtney Johnson died, a benefit concert was held for his family. It might be the most incredible collection of talent I've ever seen in one night. In addition to a NGR reunion, the evening also featured performances from Ricky Skaggs, John Hartford, Jerry Douglas, The Del McCoury Band, Vassar Clements, Doc Watson, and about a dozen other performers. The performers all took turns playing with each other, and it was simply one of the most amazing nights of music I've ever heard.
2. The Rolling Stones, Gaylord Entertainment Center, 2002. When I heard the Stones were playing a show two days before my dad's 60th birthday, I thought I had won the awesome present lottery. I figured the GEC wasn't that big, so even a couple of cheap seats (which were still 80 bucks each, plus fees) would be decent. When I went onto Ticketmaster's website the morning tix went on sale, I found out the cheap seats were actually BEHIND the stage. I wasn't going to pay 160 bucks to stare at Charlie Watt's back all night, and since I had already decided that I HAD to do this for his birthday, I bit the bullet and bought mid-level seats for for $125 a pop. It's still the most I've ever paid for a concert, but it was totally worth it. Not only did they tear the roof off the joint, but seeing my dad borderline headbanging during "Satisfaction" was completely priceless.
The Rolling Stones - "You Got Me Rocking" (mp3) from No Security
3. Eric Clapton, Starwood Ampitheater, 1990. I almost left this one off the list, purely because I'd already written about it here. But if my dad were making this list, he'd probably put it at number one.
4. The Village People, Municipal Auditorium, 1996. We went because we had to. I mean, seriously, if you had the chance to see The Village People, you'd go too. They were playing as part of Summer Lights, and either a lot of other people also felt that it was a must-see event, or everyone was just trying to get out of the rain. The thing I remember most about it was the construction worker telling the crowd before "YMCA" that the correct way to make an M was with your elbows in the air, and that he didn't want to see any "dipped hands monkeyshit."
5. Bob Dylan w/ Steve Earle and the Dukes, Starwood Ampitheater, 1989. Sometimes concerts are memorable for how bad they are. Steve Earle opened with an amazing set to what was then his hometown crowd. It was the first time I'd ever seen an opening act get an encore. And then Mr. Zimmerman came out. I suppose if you were a hardcore Dylan fan, you might have appreciated the fact that his set was comprised almost entirely of really obscure material. But combine that with the fact that that he had almost zero interaction with the crowd (I don't remember him saying a single word between songs), and there wasn't a lot for a more a casual fan to grab onto. I saw Dylan again ten years later at Municipal Auditorium and it was amazing. I'm pretty sure my Dad has sworn him off completely. He says if it hadn't been for G.E. Smith, who was playing guitar with him at the time, the evening would have been a total waste.
A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening
How to get your weekend off to a great start in two easy steps...
1. Watch your hometown team kick the crap out of the Red Sox. Granted, after winning 8-0 Friday night, they went on to lose the next two games in the series. But at this point in the Mariners' craptastic season, I'm happy for any win I can get.
2. See a great show. After watching the rare M's victory Friday, I made my way to the 5 Spot, and accidentally timed my arrival perfectly to have exactly enough time to get a beer before Jennifer Nicely got the evening started. If you're seeing her for the first time, it's probably a bit disjarring. You close your eyes and you'd swear the ghost of Billie Holliday was on stage... then you open them and it's this skinny white girl. Altered Statesmen were up next with a fabulous set of their trademark chilled out psychedelic soul. Rounding out the night was Millionaire Magicians. Having previously only seen frontman Jerry Campbell's previous band Spider Virus, I was surprised to be treated to set of unabashed pop songs, complete with gang vocal sing alongs. It was one of those nights that reminded you that it's really pretty ridiculous how many talented people there are in Nashville, and how lucky you are to get to experience it constantly.
Altered Statesmen - "Lightning Rod" (mp3) from Altered Statesmen
Altered Statesmen will be playing the first evening of Courtney Tidwell's mini-residency at The Basement this Wednesday, June 11, along with Lone Official and a solo set from Lambchop's Kurt Wagner. This will probably be the best show in Nashville this month, and if you miss it, you'll be kicking yourself when everyone else is talking about it on Thursday.
It Ended On An Oily Stage
British Sea Power, with The Rosebuds
Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
Saturday May 3, 2008
First things first. As someone who resides on the bottom end of the average height range, there is nothing worse than standing behind some six foot five guy at a concert. Except maybe standing behind a six foot five guy in a Gumby costume. But at the same time, it's hard to be mad at Gumby dammit (sorry, had to). His jumping and dancing and dragging people up to the front of the stage added a certain joviality that was the perfect accompaniment to The Rosebuds' opening set. The North Carolina based trio played a set of ebullient pop that was a great way to kick things off on a Saturday night.
Seeing British Sea Power at a club like the Mercy Lounge somehow felt like cheating. Everything about the band is big... big songs, big sound, big gestures. It seemed like they should have been playing in a bigger venue to a bigger crowd. Their huge hooks and anthemic choruses almost felt trapped in the Mercy's relatively intimate confines, not that the audience seemed to mind. The Brighton band's music occupies the perfect middle ground between the pub rock of Oasis and the textured experimentalism of Radiohead. The crowd rightfully ate it up, and the band paid them back by taking audience participation to the absolute extreme. During the last song, guitarist Noble jumped into the crowd and took off his guitar, where it was then handed from audience member to audience member for the most drawn out "rock" ending to to a concert I've ever seen. You'd think drawing out the end of a song for ten minutes would get old, but for some reason it never did.
British Sea Power - "Atom" (mp3) from Krankenhaus?
British Sea Power - "No Lucifer" (mp3) from Do You Like Rock Music?
The Rosebuds - "Blue Bird" (mp3) from Birds Make Good Neighbors
photo by Steve Cross, more pics at Nashville Cream
Labels: concerts
This Night
Destroyer, with Andre Ethier
Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Shortly after I bought my first New Pornographers CD, my stepsister turned me on to Destroyer, Dan Bejar's other band. I fell hard for the whole Bob Dylan does glam rock vibe of Streethawk: A Seduction, so I was pretty jazzed a couple of years ago when the Pornographers came to town with Destroyer as the opening act. But as great as that concert was, I found Destroyer's set to be kinda lackluster. I figured maybe it was because he didn't have his own band (he brought a guitarist and borrowed the New Pornographer's rhythm section), or perhaps it was just an off night. But after Tuesday night's set at the Mercy Lounge, I've come to the conclusion that as great a songwriter as Bejar is, and as fantastic as his albums are, he's just not a very compelling frontman. It's not that I expect every lead singer to be like Mick Jagger live, but you need to do something to engage the audience. It seemed like he spent half his time with his back to the crowd, and the time he did spend facing forward was almost entirely with his eyes closed. It's not that is was bad, but when he announced the "last song" after less than an hour, I felt like I wouldn't have been that broken up if they hadn't come back for an encore.
Fellow Canadian folk troubadour Andre Ethier opened the show with a set that sounded like Crazy Horse playing sea shanties. His songs were great, and he's got a fantastically rich, soulful voice, but the real star of the show was his guitarist. His sound shimmered and shined throughout, and he had the most masterful use of tremolo that I've ever heard. I'd love to tell you his name, but I've spent five minutes googling and came up with nothing. Anyone?
Destroyer - "The Sublimation Hour" (mp3) from Streethawk: A Seduction
Destroyer - "European Oils" (mp3) from Destroyer's Rubies
Andre Ethier - "The Best We Ever Had" (mp3) from Secondathallam
photo by Chromewaves
Labels: concerts
All The Old Showstoppers
The New Pornographers, with Okkervil River
Cannery Ballroom, Nashville, TN
Friday, April 18, 2008
The New Pornographers may have been minus a bit of their star power Friday night, but they still had plenty of shine. With Neko Case having to bail out of the tour due to a fractured ankle, keyboardist Kathryn Calder became their most valuable player. She may not have as distinctive a voice as Case, but she handled the lead vocals on Neko-centric tunes like "Challengers" and "Mass Romantic" absolutely flawlessly. It was a perfect illustration that the real star of the band is the songwriting of Carl Newman, regardless of who is singing the tunes. Between Calder's gorgeous vocals and her rosy cheeked smile, I'm probably not the only guy who walked out of that show a little bit smitten.
Apparently the band decided that their latest album Challengers had been out long enough that this tour wasn't geared specifically towards promoting it. Their 90 minute set pulled almost equally from all four of their albums, and closed with a spot on, note perfect rendition of ELO's "Don't Let Me Down." It was easily one of the best live covers I'd ever seen.
Okkervil River played a great set to start out the night. Will Sheff's voice was a bit less rangy than it can sometimes be on record, and the band was tight as hell. But as good as they were, the band was later upstaged by their own singer. Midway through their set, the Pornographers brought Sheff up to serve as a ringer for their other absent vocalist, Dan Bejar, for a take of "Myriad Harbour" that became the highlight of the night.
The New Pornographers - "All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth (Live)" (mp3) from Live From Soho
For those who wish Bejar had taken part in this tour, note that he'll be here in Nashville with his own band, Destroyer, on April 29 at The Mercy Lounge.
photo by Andy
Labels: concerts
Outtakes From The Night Before
So after lamenting that it'd had been a while since I'd seen a show, I made up for it by going on something of a live music bender. I ended up catching five shows and fourteen bands over the past eight days. I won't write about all of them, mostly because several of them have released CDs that I'll be writing about over the next week or two, and I don't want to use up all my clever adjectives in one post. But I will mention a couple of things.
The highlight of the past week? Definitely Monday night at Springwater. It started with Paper Hats. William Tyler plays with about 80 different bands (Lambchop, Silver Jews, Cortney Tidwell, among others) and I'd seen him play with several of them, so I knew he was good, but I didn't know he was THAT good. He's one of those musicians that kind of disgust me, because they hog up all the talent in the universe and leave poor schmucks like me with table scraps. Next was Festival, a sibling act who's ethereal folk pop filled with gorgeous harmonies reminded me of early Miranda Sex Garden (before they became a rock band). Closing the evening was Cortney Tidwell and her boys, who played a set of entirely new material, including one song that was a dead ringer for Black Sabbath. Based on last nite, if she gets her new album finished and out before December, she might top my year end list for the second year in a row.
Cortney Tidwell - "Missing Link" (mp3) from Don't Let The Stars Keep Us Tangled Up
The low point would probably be the two evenings prior to Monday... not because of the bands I saw, some of which were excellent, but because of the events surrounding them. I've decided to dub it "The Weekend of Bands That Took Entirely Too Long to Set Up." I'm self aware enough to admit most of my faults, and patience is definitely not one of my many virtues (being nice is however, so the guilty parties shall remain nameless). I wasn't too pleased standing around Saturday night watching a band that had the standard four piece instrumentation take half a fucking hour to set up. Unless you are playing at Madison Square Garden, it shouldn't take you thirty minutes to plug in a couple of effects pedals. Whats worse is that they took almost as long to breakdown after their set. Grab your shit and get off the damn stage so that the next band (the one I came to see) can play.
Sunday night ended up being even worse. I'm not so naive that I believe in advertised start times, but when I go to a show with a listed start of 9 pm, I don't expect that rock o'clock actually means 11, especially on a Sunday. But if I thought that would be the sole test of my tolerance, I was sadly mistaken. Later in the evening I watched a solo act take twenty minutes to set up a keyboard and an acoustic guitar. No effects, no complicated MIDI connections, just a cheap ass Casio with built in speakers. And it took twenty minutes to put a mic in front of it. Grrrr.
The Church - "Two Places At Once (Single Version)" (mp3) from Sometime Anywhere
It's Only A Model
Monty Python's Spamalot
Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, TN
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
My first exposure to British comedy came when I was about ten. Monty Python and The Holy Grail was playing on HBO, and my dad called me downstairs to watch it (a decision I'm sure he's come to regret later in life). I certainly didn't get all the jokes at the time. I'm sure the bits about oral sex and various forms of government went over my head, but I thought the Black Knight and the killer rabbit were hilarious, and it planted the seed that would grow into an annoying, quote spewing weed when MTV started running Monty Python's Flying Circus on Sunday nights after my senior year of high school. So since my dad was the one who started me down that road, it was only fitting that he got us tickets for the touring edition of Spamalot when it made its stop in Nashville.
I'd heard mixed reviews of the show, so I went in with tempered expectations. And while the show certainly wasn't perfect, it was hilarious. Even having seen the movie more times than I can count, there were enough new jokes to keep things fresh. They even worked in a local reference or two, including a Pacman Jones punchline that brought down the house. Really, the only weak moments of the show came during a couple of the songs, which were kind of hit or miss. I thought the whole outing of Sir Lancelot sequence was bizarre and unnecessary, but then you had moments like the pro-semitism of "You Won't Succeed on Broadway," or the Broadway mocking "The Song That Goes Like This" that more than made up for it. Nashville audiences were also some of the first that got to hear the new revised lyrics to "Diva's Lament." And while my first thought upon learning that Life of Brian's "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" was included was that there was nothing Eric Idle wouldn't do to pimp that song, the way it was used actually worked really well. All in all, it ended up doing the source material proud, and made for a great evening for Python fans both old and new.
Monty Python - "Camelot" (mp3) from the Monty Python and The Holy Grail soundtrack
Labels: concerts
Interpol, Take Two
Interpol, with Liars
Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
Saturday, September 22, 2007
I have to start this review with a little background. Interpol's first album, Turn On The Bright Lights, is probably my favorite album of the last ten years. So when I saw them live for the first time three years ago at the Curiosa Festival in Nashville, I was a little bummed. I'd never had one of my favorite bands not also put on a good live show, and their set that day definitely did not impress. I found myself offering a myriad of excuses for them... they don't translate well in an ampitheater setting. Their music isn't suited for playing during the daylight. It was hot, and they were wearing suits. But the basic fact was that on July 28, 2004, they just weren't... well, good.
So on Saturday night, my feelings during and after their show were equal parts joy and relief. It turns out that Interpol is indeed a pretty good live band. "Pioneer To The Falls" probably wouldn't have been my choice for an opener, but following it up with "Obstacle 1" set the tone for a show that seemed to build in intensity from beginning to end. The setlist pulled pretty much equally from all three of their albums, and the lighting matched the mood of their music perfectly. Seeing the band live, you really notice that most of the band's muscle emanates from Sam Fogarino; the guy is a monster drummer. And while Paul Banks and Carlos D. aren't the most active performers, Daniel Kessler makes up for it by moving around the stage in a style that can best be described as "sashaying" (one of my friends described it less gracioiusly as "annoying"). The highlight of the set for me came during "Leif Erikson," a reminder that the only thing I love more than e-bowed guitar is TWO e-bowed guitars.
Interpol - "Mammoth" (mp3) from Our Love To Admire
Interpol - "Not Even Jail (Daniel Kessler Remix)" (mp3) from the Remix EP
As for Liars... I really wanted to like them. They had all the ingredients of a band that I SHOULD dig, but they never gave me anything to grab onto. I kept hoping that an actual song would eventually immerge from the noise, but it never really happened. Honestly, I came pretty close to hating it, but they were saved from that classification by one of two songs that their guitarist sang lead on, the Jesus and Mary Chain inspired "Freak Out." I was told that their set at Grimey's that afternoon was like seeing a completely different band (Janet at Out The Other wrote about it here). Maybe I'd have liked that version of the band more, but I definitely wasn't feeling them at the Ryman.
photo by Marcela Cisneros
Labels: concerts
Next Big Nashville Wrap Up
Three nights, eight shows, eighteen bands, countless beers and fourteen hours of sleep. That was my Next Big Nashville experience in a nutshell. After a Sunday afternoon that I had planned on spending finishing unpacking and listening to the Seahawks game, but ended up mostly napping, I've almost recovered from it. It was an exhausting 72 hours, but totally worth it. With over 130 bands playing at ten different venues over five nights, I missed more great bands than I was able to see. This festival did a great job of highlighting the vast wealth of talent that exists in Nashville's non-country music scene.
Here are some quick reviews of most of the acts I got to see over the past couple of days, in roughly the order I saw them...
Cortney Tidwell - I've raved about her a lot on here over the past year, so it should come as no surprise that her show Thursday at the Basement was amazing. I'm glad to see that the commenters at Nashville Cream who saw her felt the same way. She played several new songs, and they were every bit as incredible as the stuff on her debut album.
Justin Townes Earle - He may have Steve Earle in his blood, but Hank Williams in his heart. His set of "old time hillbilly music" wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was thoroughly enjoyable.
Matthew Ryan Vs. The Silver State - I expected a good show, and he certainly delivered. I'd kill to have his voice, and his songwriting is so fucking good, it's criminal that the guy isn't a household name. Not only did he cover one of my favorite songs ever (more on that tomorrow), but I think this might be my new favorite song...
Matthew Ryan - "It Could've Been Worse" (mp3 - now with a working link)
Jennifer Nicely - The Basement's low ceilings and laid back vibe was the perfect setting for Nicely's brand of jazzy pop noir. It sounded like a young Billie Holliday fronting Chris Isaak's Silvertones. Her debut album, Luminous, is being released tomorrow.
The Pink Spiders - Considering how hard it's been to miss The Pink Spiders lately, especially in Nashville, it's surprising that this was the first time I've seen them. These guys have been everywhere over the past year... on the soundtrack to Madden 07, on TRL, and they seem to be at the Gold Rush every single time I step foot in the joint. I even saw their video for "Little Razorblade" while shopping at Steve & Barry's in Pennsylvania earlier this year. Their beer spewing stage antics really aren't my cup of tea, but if you can resist the charms of "Modern Swinger," you're made of stronger stuff than I am.
Aaron Robinson - Aaron Robinson has an amazing voice, his songs are great, and his band is fantastic. And yet the thing I remember most about his set at the Mercy Lounge was how much I hated his song about Karen Carpenter.
And The Relatives - I'd never heard of these guys before last week, but their set Saturday night at The End was outstanding. If The Pixies had spent their entire career in a garage, they'd sound something like this.
All We Seabees - I think I have a new favorite local band. Their set started with just hand claps and harmonies, and over the course of half an hour they built their folky pop songs into raging swirl of distorted guitars... and harmonies. It was one of those shows where you kick yourself afterwords for not finding out about them sooner.
Jensen Sportag - I hate to go negative, but this show was memorable in how monumentally boring it was. I've never seen any band that didn't get at least a courtesy clap between songs... the only thing you heard was people carrying on their conversations throughout the set. Apparently they are about to move to London, and hopefully their electro-pop will go over a little better across the pond.
Plastic Clap - Entirely awesome. It was like some unholy mix of The Beastie Boys and NSYNC. If you ever get the chance to see these guys, you HAVE to go. Their show is brilliantly offensive and absolutely insane.
For more post festival thoughts, visit Out The Other and, uh... thats it for now. If anyone has seen any other post-festival posts, please post a comment and let me know. I'm sure the Scene will have a wrap up on Wednesday.
UPDATE: More post NBN thoughts at Nashville Cream.
Here are some quick reviews of most of the acts I got to see over the past couple of days, in roughly the order I saw them...
Cortney Tidwell - I've raved about her a lot on here over the past year, so it should come as no surprise that her show Thursday at the Basement was amazing. I'm glad to see that the commenters at Nashville Cream who saw her felt the same way. She played several new songs, and they were every bit as incredible as the stuff on her debut album.
Justin Townes Earle - He may have Steve Earle in his blood, but Hank Williams in his heart. His set of "old time hillbilly music" wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was thoroughly enjoyable.
Matthew Ryan Vs. The Silver State - I expected a good show, and he certainly delivered. I'd kill to have his voice, and his songwriting is so fucking good, it's criminal that the guy isn't a household name. Not only did he cover one of my favorite songs ever (more on that tomorrow), but I think this might be my new favorite song...
Matthew Ryan - "It Could've Been Worse" (mp3 - now with a working link)
Jennifer Nicely - The Basement's low ceilings and laid back vibe was the perfect setting for Nicely's brand of jazzy pop noir. It sounded like a young Billie Holliday fronting Chris Isaak's Silvertones. Her debut album, Luminous, is being released tomorrow.
The Pink Spiders - Considering how hard it's been to miss The Pink Spiders lately, especially in Nashville, it's surprising that this was the first time I've seen them. These guys have been everywhere over the past year... on the soundtrack to Madden 07, on TRL, and they seem to be at the Gold Rush every single time I step foot in the joint. I even saw their video for "Little Razorblade" while shopping at Steve & Barry's in Pennsylvania earlier this year. Their beer spewing stage antics really aren't my cup of tea, but if you can resist the charms of "Modern Swinger," you're made of stronger stuff than I am.
Aaron Robinson - Aaron Robinson has an amazing voice, his songs are great, and his band is fantastic. And yet the thing I remember most about his set at the Mercy Lounge was how much I hated his song about Karen Carpenter.
And The Relatives - I'd never heard of these guys before last week, but their set Saturday night at The End was outstanding. If The Pixies had spent their entire career in a garage, they'd sound something like this.
All We Seabees - I think I have a new favorite local band. Their set started with just hand claps and harmonies, and over the course of half an hour they built their folky pop songs into raging swirl of distorted guitars... and harmonies. It was one of those shows where you kick yourself afterwords for not finding out about them sooner.
Jensen Sportag - I hate to go negative, but this show was memorable in how monumentally boring it was. I've never seen any band that didn't get at least a courtesy clap between songs... the only thing you heard was people carrying on their conversations throughout the set. Apparently they are about to move to London, and hopefully their electro-pop will go over a little better across the pond.
Plastic Clap - Entirely awesome. It was like some unholy mix of The Beastie Boys and NSYNC. If you ever get the chance to see these guys, you HAVE to go. Their show is brilliantly offensive and absolutely insane.
For more post festival thoughts, visit Out The Other and, uh... thats it for now. If anyone has seen any other post-festival posts, please post a comment and let me know. I'm sure the Scene will have a wrap up on Wednesday.
UPDATE: More post NBN thoughts at Nashville Cream.
Once Upon A Daydream
The Police
Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY
Saturday, July 14, 2007
For as long as I can remember, the top spot on the list of bands I wish I had seen live has been The Police. But they broke up when I was fourteen, and even if I had been old enough to go to concerts without my parents, Spokane, Washington was not a regular stop on most major rock acts itenerary. So when they announced their reunion tour back in February, the question wasn't if I was going to see them, but where.
The first thoughts my friend and I had when we made our way to our seats were "we paid $100 bucks for this?" Churchill Downs is a nice place to see a horse race, but unless you are in the four middle sections in front of the stage, is a lousy place to see a concert. We were WAY off to the left of the stage. We wondered if the ushers would let us sit up in the cheap seats in the grandstands, which we thought would have had better sightlines than where we were stuck (they did have large video screens spread out along the track, which helped). But once the final strains of Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up" faded out and the stage lights started flickering, it suddently didn't matter where we were sitting. We were awestruck from the moment the fab three walked onstage and began blazing through "Message In A Bottle," through the final encore of "Next To You."
Honestly, I didn't expect them to be as fantastic as they were. The last couple of TV appearances I'd seen of them (their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2003, and their Grammy performance earlier this year) were good, but hardly great. And the reviews of the tour so far have been a mixed bag. But they truly were amazing. I expected to enjoy it, but I didn't think they would have that much energy and enthusiasm almost 25 years later.
Apart from lowering the key of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" substantially, Sting's voice showed few signs of age. Stewart Copeland demonstrated why so many drummers (and non-percussive minded people as well) consider him a god. It was obvious throughout the set that he was thrilled to be playing these songs with these guys again. But Andy Summers was the real star of the show. He has spent the last 20 years making jazz albums, and his chops were amazing. As good a guitarist as he was during the band's heyday, he's even better now; some of his solos bordered on shredding.
The band gave many of the songs a fresh coat of paint, with new intros and altered middle parts that managed to spice things up but still sound like the actual songs you remembered. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" got a half-acoustic treatment that gave me goosepumps, and "Invisible Sun" sounded fittingly more agressive with a new extended introduction. Even "Walking In Your Footsteps," which might rank as my least favorite Police song, sounded great in a new, more rocking arrangement. The setlist struck a perfect balance between the hits and some deeper album cuts, such as "The Bed's Too Big Without You" and a fantastic medley of "Voices Inside My Head" and "When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around." On the drive home Sunday, I kept having to pinch myself to realize that not only had I finally seen my dream concert, but it was better than I ever hoped it would be.
The Louisville Courier-Journal has several photo galleries from the show, as well as a complete setlist.
I've posted several live Police tracks over the past few months, and since I couldn't dig up any recordings from the current tour, I thought I'd go in a different direction and give you this little treat... Sting's original demo of possibly my favorite Police song. It's funny to think that this song, a single from Ghost In The Machine, was written before all of the punk-ish tunes on Outandos D'Amour.
Sting - "Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic (1976 demo)" (mp3) from Strontium 90 - Police Academy
Labels: concerts
Robyn Hitchcock & The Nashville Crawdads
Robyn Hitchcock & The Nashville Crawdads
Belcourt Theater, Nashville
Sunday, March 18, 2007
I was terribly excited when I saw that Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 were going to be playing the Belcourt. I'd seen Robyn four times before, but each of those shows were acoustic outings. I was eagerly anticipating seeing him fronting a rock band, especially the one responsible for his best album in 20 years, Ole! Tarantula. So I have to admit that my heart sank a little when I saw the billing change to Robyn Hitchcock & The Nashville Crawdads a couple of weeks ago.
It was hard to be disappointed once the show started though. The show started with Robyn playing "Belltown Ramble" solo, and one by one the band came out and joined him... Peter Buck (R.E.M.) on 12 string guitar, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on guitar and vocals, Sean Nelson (Harvey Danger) singing backing vocals, and finally the least heralded but arguably most talented member of Led Zepplin, John Paul Jones on mandolin.
Understandably the setlist leaned heavily on Robyn's last two albums, since those were the ones that most of the band had actually played on, but there were a few songs from his extensive catalog thrown in. "Balloon Man" sounded great with the folksy arrangement, as did "Acid Bird" and "Brenda's Iron Sledge." We were also treated to several relatively obscure Bob Dylan covers, including "Tiny Montgomery," "Copper Kettle," and "Queen Jane Approximately."
My biggest fear was that doing another show with Welch and Rawlings would basically mean a repeat of the show the three of them did two years ago (almost to the day) at the Belcourt. Even though there were some holdovers from that set (Welch's "Elvis Presley Blues" and "Look At Miss Ohio," as well as the medley of Dylan's "Lo And Behold" and The Talking Head's "Life During Wartime"), they kept things from sounding like a rerun. Even the songs from their collaboration Spooked sounded fresh with the additional instrumentation.
Of course, the show also featured several of Hitchcock's trademark stream of consciousness song introductions. Anyone who's ever seen him live knows that the monologues are just as entertaining as the songs themselves. The usual topics of sex, food and death were of course covered, but my favorite was his tale of getting late night calls from the President quoting lines from Dirty Harry movies.
The show definitely had the feel of something special. Apart from Buck, who was fairly subdued most of the time, everyone was visibly excited to be playing with one another. Toward the end of the two hour concert, it became obvious that they were going beyond their rehearsed setlist, as they started huddling before songs to plot out chord changes for a few last minute additions, including a cover of The Grateful Dead's "Candyman." I still haven't heard Robyn fronting a rock band, but after the show I saw Sunday night, I'm happy to wait a while longer.
Robyn Hitchcock - "Creeped Out" (mp3) from Spooked
And just for fun, here is Peter Buck playing another Hitchcock song with a different singer.
R.E.M. - "Arms Of Love" (mp3) from the Man On The Moon single
photo by Matt Biddulph
Labels: concerts
Lost In The Stars
On Tuesday, Live Nation announced that Starwood Amphitheater was being sold, and that the 2007 concert season would be cancelled. I can't really say I'm broken up about it. I quit enjoying shows at Starwood years ago. The only time I'd been there in the last five years was for the Curiosa festival. In the past few years there just weren't enough acts playing there that made dealing with the the traffic, the exorbitant parking fees, the overpriced concessions, and the overzealous security worthwhile. But once upon a time I enjoyed seeing concerts there, and there were quite a few good ones over the past twenty years. So in tribute to Nashville's soon to be departed summer shed, here are my top five most memorable shows at Starwood.
5. The Monkees, 1986 - My first concert at Starwood, and also my first rock concert (though I'm probably stretching the definition of "rock"). I went with my mom, and I remember being incredibly disappointed because they used their theme song as a prerecorded intro track instead of playing it live. Other than that I remember the sets by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap and Herman's Hermits better then I do the headliners.
The Wedding Present - "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (mp3) from Hit Parade 1
4. Eric Clapton, 1990 - One of the problems with seeing an act that has such a massive catalog to pull from is finding a song that you don't care for as much during which you can go to the bathroom. I was on the hill with my dad, and had been putting off a potty break for about half an hour when I finally decided I didn't care what the next song was and starting hiking up the hill. I had just got to the top when Clapton starting playing the opening riff to "Layla" and I turned around and raced back to our spot. He followed that up with "Crossroads" and "Sunshine Of Your Love," so it was another twenty minutes before I finally got relief.
The Dirty Mac (John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards & Mitch Mitchell) - "Yer Blues" (mp3) from The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus
3. Spinal Tap, 1992 - In addition to being hilarious, this concert was memorable for how woefully underattended it was. My friend and I had lawn tickets, but since they didn't come anywhere close to selling out they closed the lawn and had everyone sit in the reserved seats. There couldn't have been more than 2000 people there, as the seats were only half full. The best moment of the concert took place during "Break Like The Wind" when they brought out Bela Fleck. Christopher Guest stood absolutely spellbound while Bela tore off an absolutely blistering banjo solo. Seriously.
Spinal Tap - "Back From The Dead" (mp3) internet only single
2. R.E.M. w/ Radiohead, 1995 - How many people can say they saw Radiohead with their Dad? Originally we had lawn seats, but we ended up getting reserved seats under the roof from one of my Dad's former clients at the last minute. It's a good thing we did, because halfway through R.E.M.'s set the sky opened up, ironically during "Undertow." Michael Stipe singing "I'm drowning!" during an absolute downpour was kind of a cool moment, at least if you were staying relatively dry.
R.E.M. - "Undertow (Live)" (mp3) from the Bittersweet Me single
1. Tom Petty w/ The Replacements, 1989 - One of The Mats most infamous shows. Their management thought that putting them on the road with the Heartbreakers might help them become more professional, but the plan was a spectacular failure. They came out dressed in drag, played for twenty minutes, then dared the crowd to boo them offstage. Wally Bangs posted about it in more detail last last year at Soulfish Stew. The Replacements would have been memorable enough, but Petty's set was absolutely fantastic. It was the first time I realized what a great drummer Stan Lynch was.
The Replacements - "Ought To Get Love" (mp3) from Don't Buy Or Sell, It's Crap (promo CD)
More reminiscing here, and here, and here, and here.
post title by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson
Hillbilly Thang
BR549
Layla's Bluegrass Inn, Nashville, TN
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
It's been over ten years since BR549 left their fabled residency at Robert's Western World for the glory and riches of a major label deal, so their not quite secret (but definitely under the radar) two night stand at the Bluegrass Inn this week was kind of a big deal. The cowboy hats, western shirts, rockabilly hairdos and ironic trucker caps were out in full force to see the band that started the Lower Broad revival return to their roots. And I can't imagine that any of them left disappointed.
It wasn't the original lineup reunion that had been rumored, although it did see guitarist Chris Scruggs return to the fold. Both nights the band played non-stop four hour sets full of old country covers both classic and obscure, along with the occasional original tune. My personal favorites of the three hours I caught last night were "Matchbox," "Cocaine Blues," and "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)." And of course as it got close to midnight and the set was winding down, they played their classic retelling of a fabled lost episode of the Andy Griffith show, "Me 'N' Opie." But the absolute highlight of the evening came when a guy who had flown down from Connecticut just for these shows made a request. He handed them a piece of paper (with the requisite accompaniment of Alexander Hamilton) asking for "Perpabst a medley of songs you don't really know" (he thought the PBR reference was quite punny). After conferring for a minute to figure out exactly how they were going to pull that off, the band launched into impromptu versions of The Ramone's "Beat On The Brat," The Who's "Squeeze Box," and after a brief pause when they decided it took three songs to make a medley, The Beatle's "All Together Now." The kicker was that the guy who made the request didn't recognize a single one of those songs.
It wasn't just like the old days. The low ceiling (and even lower stage) at Layla's made it hard to see the band, and it was downright impossible if you were at the back of the bar. And while there was a full house for most of the evening, it certainly wasn't packed to the gills like Robert's used to be on Friday and Saturday nights. But musically it was everything you could have hoped for, and the honky tonkers definitely seemed thrilled to have their favorite sons back home.
BR549 - "Me 'N' Opie (Down By The Duck Pond)" (mp3) from Live At Robert's
BR549 = "Little Ramona" (mp3) from BR5-49
Best In Show 2006
2006 was one of the best year's for live music of my life. For whatever reason, in the last year or two Nashville has started to become a destination for touring bands, rather than just a stop to gas up and eat. With that said, it's funny that three of my top five shows were out of town. And of the two that did make it, neither of them were club shows. That's not a knock on the bands I did see around town, it's just the level of compeition they faced from other shows I saw last year.
A couple of quick notes. First, none of the pictures in this post are from the actual shows I saw. But I thought with such a long post, it'd be nice to break it up with some visuals. To view the source page on Flickr, click on the picture. Second, since I'm talking about concerts, all of the songs featured are live tracks. And now, on with the show...
1. The Pogues with Against Me
House Of Blues, Las Vegas - 10/15/06
This was not just best show I saw of last year, it's my new favorite concert ever, knocking U2 in 1987 out of the top spot. I felt that way immediately after the show, but felt like I needed some separation from it before I could really make that statement. Three months later I haven't changed my mind. I've seen some amazing shows in my life (like the one below), but I've never been happier walking out of a venue as I was that night. Read my full review from October.
The Pogues - "Boys From County Hell (Live)" (mp3) from Steams Of Whiskey
Recorded July 12, 1991 in Leysin, Switzerland.
2. Sigur Ros
Ryman Auditorium, Nashville - 2/14/06
Sigur Ros on Valentine's Day... perfect. In any other year, this would have undoubtedly been my favorite concert. Even though it can't claim the top spot, it would still make my top five all time favorite concerts. They had been at the top of the list of bands I was dying to see ever since I heard Ágætis Byrjun in 2001. Although I'd rather not have waited five years to see them, it was definitely worth it. The entire experience was nothing short of magical. Musically it surpassed my impossibly high expectations, but the real surprise was how cool is was visually. The lighting wasn't anything over the top, but the way it was used (especially projecting shadows onto a transparent screen in front of the stage) was absolutely brilliant.
Sigur Ros - "Untitled #1 (Live)" (mp3) from the Sigur Ros website
Recorded October 16, 2002 at Spark 7 Hall, Vienna, Austria.
3. The Wedding Present
The Earl, Atlanta - 3/3/06
David Gedge has been one of my favorite songwriters for at least 15 years, ever since I borrowed a friend's copy of Bizarro for an extended period in college. I actually got to see the Weddoes twice on this day, as they also did an in-store performance at Criminal Records that afternoon. When we got to The Earl that night, Gedge was hanging out by the merch booth. My attempt to say hello to him quickly detereorated into barely coherent fanboy babbling. The entire show was absolutely amazing, but honestly they could have come onstage, played "Suck," and said goodnight and it still would have been one of my favorite shows of the year.
The Wedding Present - "Brassneck (Live)" (mp3) from Singles 1995-1997
Recorded August 25, 1996 at the Reading Festival, England
4. The Church with Rob Dickinson
Variety Playhouse, Atlanta - 8/6/06
A band known for their effects ridden guitars prove they can be just as intense and ethereal without amps or pedals. They provided just as many goosebump moments as any time I've seen them with their full arsenal of electronic gadgets. Of the five times I've seen them, this show is my favorite. Read the full review from August.
The Church - "All I Know (Live)" (mp3) from Tin Mine
Recorded December 11, 2005 at Newtown, Sydney, Australia
5. Oasis
Ryman Auditorium, Nashville - 3/26/06
This pick kind of surprised me. But when I was looking at the list of concerts I saw last year, this really was one of the best. It's amazing that a band who mostly stand dead still on stage can put out so much energy. Part of that you can chalk up to the fans; both time I've seen Oasis the crowd was absolutely bonkers. Hearing 2400 people singing the chorus to "Don't Look Back In Anger" is just a completely cool experience. But mostly it's because of the music; Noel and company simply write great rock and roll songs. Derivative? Sure. But so were the Beatles sometimes.
Oasis - "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) - Live" (mp3) from Familiar To Millions
Recorded July 21-22, 2000 at Wembley Stadium, London
A couple of quick notes. First, none of the pictures in this post are from the actual shows I saw. But I thought with such a long post, it'd be nice to break it up with some visuals. To view the source page on Flickr, click on the picture. Second, since I'm talking about concerts, all of the songs featured are live tracks. And now, on with the show...
1. The Pogues with Against Me
House Of Blues, Las Vegas - 10/15/06
This was not just best show I saw of last year, it's my new favorite concert ever, knocking U2 in 1987 out of the top spot. I felt that way immediately after the show, but felt like I needed some separation from it before I could really make that statement. Three months later I haven't changed my mind. I've seen some amazing shows in my life (like the one below), but I've never been happier walking out of a venue as I was that night. Read my full review from October.
The Pogues - "Boys From County Hell (Live)" (mp3) from Steams Of Whiskey
Recorded July 12, 1991 in Leysin, Switzerland.
2. Sigur Ros
Ryman Auditorium, Nashville - 2/14/06
Sigur Ros on Valentine's Day... perfect. In any other year, this would have undoubtedly been my favorite concert. Even though it can't claim the top spot, it would still make my top five all time favorite concerts. They had been at the top of the list of bands I was dying to see ever since I heard Ágætis Byrjun in 2001. Although I'd rather not have waited five years to see them, it was definitely worth it. The entire experience was nothing short of magical. Musically it surpassed my impossibly high expectations, but the real surprise was how cool is was visually. The lighting wasn't anything over the top, but the way it was used (especially projecting shadows onto a transparent screen in front of the stage) was absolutely brilliant.
Sigur Ros - "Untitled #1 (Live)" (mp3) from the Sigur Ros website
Recorded October 16, 2002 at Spark 7 Hall, Vienna, Austria.
3. The Wedding Present
The Earl, Atlanta - 3/3/06
David Gedge has been one of my favorite songwriters for at least 15 years, ever since I borrowed a friend's copy of Bizarro for an extended period in college. I actually got to see the Weddoes twice on this day, as they also did an in-store performance at Criminal Records that afternoon. When we got to The Earl that night, Gedge was hanging out by the merch booth. My attempt to say hello to him quickly detereorated into barely coherent fanboy babbling. The entire show was absolutely amazing, but honestly they could have come onstage, played "Suck," and said goodnight and it still would have been one of my favorite shows of the year.
The Wedding Present - "Brassneck (Live)" (mp3) from Singles 1995-1997
Recorded August 25, 1996 at the Reading Festival, England
4. The Church with Rob Dickinson
Variety Playhouse, Atlanta - 8/6/06
A band known for their effects ridden guitars prove they can be just as intense and ethereal without amps or pedals. They provided just as many goosebump moments as any time I've seen them with their full arsenal of electronic gadgets. Of the five times I've seen them, this show is my favorite. Read the full review from August.
The Church - "All I Know (Live)" (mp3) from Tin Mine
Recorded December 11, 2005 at Newtown, Sydney, Australia
5. Oasis
Ryman Auditorium, Nashville - 3/26/06
This pick kind of surprised me. But when I was looking at the list of concerts I saw last year, this really was one of the best. It's amazing that a band who mostly stand dead still on stage can put out so much energy. Part of that you can chalk up to the fans; both time I've seen Oasis the crowd was absolutely bonkers. Hearing 2400 people singing the chorus to "Don't Look Back In Anger" is just a completely cool experience. But mostly it's because of the music; Noel and company simply write great rock and roll songs. Derivative? Sure. But so were the Beatles sometimes.
Oasis - "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) - Live" (mp3) from Familiar To Millions
Recorded July 21-22, 2000 at Wembley Stadium, London
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
The Pogues, with Against Me
House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The House of Blues is one of my all time favorite concert venues. When I lived in Vegas, it was hands down the best place to catch a show. Its big enough to attract good touring bands, but still feels intimate. The sounds is always great, and the sightlines are fantastic. That said, they totally dropped the ball for this show. How do you book The Pogues, one of the most popular Irish bands ever, and run out of Guinness before the headliners even take the stage?
When the house lights dimmed, the opening strains of The Clash's "Straight To Hell" came flowing from the speakers, and you couldn't have asked for better intro music. After a couple of minutes, the band walked out and opened with "Streams Of Whiskey." Twenty minutes into the show, after a 1,800 person strong sing along on "Boys From County Hell," I felt like the concert could have ended right then and I'd still have got my money's worth. The fact that there was another hour and half of music after that was a bonus. I'm not sure I've ever smiled though an entire show the way I did Sunday night. After two encores, they closed with a rousing version of "Fiesta" that featured Shane MacGowan and Spider Stacy banging cookie tin lids against their heads in time with the song. It was truly an amazing show, and well worth flying half way across the country to see.
The second question anyone asks when you're talking about a Pogues show is "How was Shane?" The answer Sunday night was "fantastic." His vocals were impeccable (relatively speaking, of course), and he didn't miss a beat throughout the show. I got the impression that he was pulling Dean Martin's old routine of acting more drunk than he really was to live up to the crowd's expectations. Although Dean used to drink apple juice on stage in place of scotch, and I'm pretty sure those were real gin and tonics Shane kept walking onstage with.
The Pogues - "Lorelei" (mp3)
This is hands down my favorite Pogues song, from their 1989 album Peace And Love . The female singer who duets with Philip Chevron on this track is Kristy MacColl, who also sang on my second favorite Pogues song, "Fairytale Of New York" (the version of it Sunday night almost brought me to tears). All five of the albums recorded while Shane MacGowan was in the band were reissued last month by Rhino, and all include the bonus tracks that were previously only available on the import versions.
Against Me opened the show with an ultra tight set of politically charged punk. I'm not usually a fan of political music, but these guys were so good they overcame my prejudices. I remember thinking that you've got to be pretty confident as a headliner to have an act this good playing before you go on. They've got several mp3s on their website, but this one seemed most appropriate to post under the circumstances.
Against Me - "Pints Of Guiness Make You Strong" (mp3)
Photo courtesy of mordac.org.
post title by Bing Crosby
Labels: concerts
Fever
Lindsey Buckingham
Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
Saturday, October 7, 2006
What if Fleetwood Mac's guitarist played a show at the Ryman and a Backstreet Boys concert broke out?
I never thought I'd be pondering a question like that, but I certainly was last night. It doesn't surprise me that Lindsey Buckingham has rabid fans. The guy is an masterful guitarist and songwriter, and a member of one of the most popular bands of the last 30 years. But I was totally unprepared for the estrogen fueled mania that took place last night. By midway through the concert, a huge mass of mainly middle-aged women had rushed the stage, and the 80 year old ushers at the Ryman were powerless to get them to return to their seats. Lindsey seemed genuinely excited and apprectiative of the raucous reception he received from the crowd, finishing several songs by literally jumping up and down like an excited school boy.
The show was definitely worthy of the response. The evening started with a three solo songs, including an sublime version of his 1981 solo hit "Trouble." His band then came out and played a 90 minute set that pulled heavily from his new album Under The Skin. Of course there were several songs from his Fleetwood Mac catalog, the highlights including a stripped down take on "Tusk," an amazing version of "I'm So Afraid," and the surprise of the evening, "World Turning," a song that had its genesis way back in the days when Peter Green was still leading Fleetwood Mac. After an encore that began with "Holiday Road," Lindsey came up front to sign a few autographs for the throng of people that had gathered in front of the stage. When it quickly became obvious that he was only encouraging more people to rush up front, he wisely returned to the microphone and asked the crowd if they wanted to hear another song, treating the crowd to a bonus encore of "Bleed To Love Her" before leaving the stage.
For your listening pleasure, here are two rare tracks burned from the 1992 promo CD Words And Music.
Lindsey Buckingham - "Holiday Road" (mp3)
Buckingham Nicks - "Stephanie" (mp3)
"Holiday Road" is of course the theme song from National Lampoon's Vacation. "Stephanie" is an instrumental from the 1973 Buckingham Nicks album. If you were going to make a list of the most sought after albums that have never been released on CD, this one would surely make the list. But I'm sure you could find a digital copy of it if you looked hard enough...
Photo by flyfirelry.
post title by Peggy Lee
Labels: concerts
Night Train
Frank Black
Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
Wednesday October 4, 2006
Anyone who's been listening to Frank Black's solo albums for the last ten years shouldn't have been surprised by his show at the Mercy Lounge last Wednesday. For the past ten years, his albums have been exploring a rootsier side of his songwriting. Unfortunately many of those in attendence Wednesday night apparently didn't get the memo. Though the evening started with a packed house, by midway though the his set, the crowd seemed to have thinned by at least a third. Those who expected a Pixies greatest hits show might have been disappointed, but anyone who stuck around for the entirety of his show would be hard pressed to say the same.
He began the night by walking on stage alone with an acoustic guitar and apologizing for going all "singer-songwriter on you guys." Considering he followed with solo versions of the the Pixies' "Cactus" and Teenager Of The Year's "Abstract Plain," the apology was definitely not necessary. The three song solo set was followed up with a five song mini-set featuring several of the Nashville session musicians that have been featured on his last two albums, beginning with an acoustic take on "Wave Of Mutilation" and ending with an outstanding guitar and piano version of "Los Angeles." The rest of his hour and forty-five minute set saw his regular touring outfit running through a variety of selections from his solo albums.
Frank Black - "John Barleycorn" (mp3) from Fast Man Raider Man
Frank actually had quite a busy night in Nashville last Wednesday. To kick it off, he played a 40 minute solo in-store set at Grimey's. Unfortunately work kept me from getting back to Nashville in time for that. To cap off the evening, he sat in with former Catholics guitarist Rich Gilbert and the Travis Mann Band at Robert's Western World on Lower Broad. I didn't make that either, but you can see pictures of it (and the Mercy Lounge show) at thefanoftheman's Flickr page.
post title by Jimmy Forrest
Labels: concerts