Phoenix, Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH - 12/9/2009

I was pretty beyond excited for this ... I've been a Phoenix fan for a while, seen them a few times over the years, and knew that they brought it. And now, of course, they've blown up, yet oddly, they were playing a super great (and perfectly sized) venue in Columbus, the Newport. I kept expecting this to get moved to the LC, but they kept it here despite it selling out.

We got there pretty early, made it through the openers (whose name totally escapes me now) and settled in for Phoenix. And it was fantastic. They sounded amazing and amazingly tight yet also brought a very nice level of an organic, "real" sound. They were also genuinely into it, which was nice to see. A very high energy level with a setlist that stretched back.

The photos are from when Thomas, the singer, came out in the crowd (right by us, obviously) for the final song, "1901." One of the best shows of the year for me ...

Setlist:

Lisztomania
Long Distance Call
Lasso
Run, Run, Run
Fences
Girlfriend
Countdown
Love Like a Sunset
Napolean Says
Rally
Consolation Prizes
Rome->extended outro

ENCORE
Everything Is Everything (Thomas and guitar only)
???
Too Young
1901

Arletta (opening for We All Have Hooks For Hands), Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge, MA - 11/22/2009

Two of my best friends from medical school plan in the Boston-based band Arletta, and I was lucky enough to be in town to get to see them play the Middle East. There was a good-sized crowd, and the Harpoon was flowing steadily. The first band to play, a group of Berklee kids whose name escapes me now, were quite good and super-talented (hey, they're from Berklee).

Arletta was next and played "the hits" over about a 30-minute set. It was very tight, and while I am beyond biased, I think their songwriting is getting better and chipping away at their sound, which is exciting.

The third band did nothing for me, and I can't remember their name.

But the headliners, We All Have Hooks For Hands, were phenomenal. Just a great live experience. These kids must be in their early 20's at the latest and just played their guts out, sounded great and seemed genuinely into it, which is a nice change of pace. I bought a CD and T-shirt afterward, which is a rare event for me. Check them out.

Phish, US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH - 11/20/2009

I am truly a late comer to Phish, having more or less ignored or actively disliked them back in the day. As I've grown up/gotten older/what have you, I've gained some appreciation for what they do. So we headed over to Cincinnati to see them play with low expectations aside from figuring it would be a good time.

Dinner at Jean Ro pre-show was excellent. Trout amandine for me, a killer pork chop for Noelle. I would argue that the excellent list of local and Belgian beers really made the meal, too. And a killer mousse. And a killer scallop appetizer. It was just righteous.

We walked over to the US Bank Arena, and the scene was typical Phish, I reckon. I'm definitely a bit old for this scene now, best exemplified by walking by a group of people doing nitrous right outside the venue. We wade through a true mass of people, get into our seats (which were pretty good, about 20 rows up off the floor, stage left) and await the rock.

The surprise ... they sounded great, very tight and with a nice, varied set. I was particularly stoked to finally, after all these years, get to hear "The Divided Sky," probably my favorite song of theirs. But they hit all the points that I like about them ... the funky stuff ("Moma Dance," "Gotta Jibboo") and the long/proggy stuff ("Divided Sky," "Time Turns Elastic").

For the sake of full disclosure, we left just before "You Enjoy Myself" as I had to get up to catch a flight out of Columbus. That means that we missed both "YEM" and "Golgi Apparatus," but I was satisfied. FYI, I think Noelle's favorite was "Possum."

SET ONE
Chalk Dust Torture
The Moma Dance
The Divided Sky
Alaska
Water in the Sky
Fast Enough for You
Time Turns Elastic
Gotta Jibboo
Fluffhead

SET TWO
Punch You in the Eye
Tweezer
Light
Back on the Train
Possum
Slave to the Traffic Light
You Enjoy Myself

ENCORE
Joy
Golgi Apparatus
Tweezer Reprise

Leonard Cohen, Palace Theater, Columbus, OH - 10/27/2009

To cap off a full month of a whole lot of rock shows, I had the distinct pleasure of finally, after many years of a spiritual connection to his music, seeing Leonard Cohen play live. Pre-show, we enjoyed a dinner at Third & Hollywood with my South Carolina buddy Beau and his dad, who were in town for business. Always good ...

We got to the show to find a long line for will call and ended up walking in as Mr. Cohen, looking dapper as usual, playing the first song, "Dance Me to the End of Love." The worst part of the evening was that the ushers were not letting people walk to their seats while a song was being played - super-aggravating. But we finally got to our seats, and what a show ...

You can see the setlist below, but it was an intense selection of songs. He played guitar a good bit throughout the second set and the many, many encores, and the show lasted over 3 hours (!!!). People, this man is over 70 years old. Unreal. His voice has grown into such an incredible baritone, too. Fantastic.

Highlights, if I had to choose some, would include "Bird on a Wire," "Suzanne," "I'm Your Man" and "A Thousand Kisses Deep." Great way to end Rock-tober ...

First Set
• Dance Me To The End Of Love
• The Future
• Ain't No Cure For Love
• Bird On The Wire
• Everybody Knows
• In My Secret Life
• Who By Fire
• Chelsea Hotel #2
• Waiting For The Miracle
• Anthem (with introductions of band members)

Second Set
• Tower Of Song
• Suzanne
• Sisters Of Mercy
• The Gypsy’s Wife
• The Partisan
• Boogie Street
• Hallelujah
• I'm Your Man
• A Thousand Kisses Deep (spoken)
• Take This Waltz (with band reintroduction)

First Encores
• So Long, Marianne
• First We Take Manhattan

Second Encores
• Famous Blue Raincoat
• If It Be Your Will (spoken)
• Closing Time

Final Encore
• I Tried To Leave You

U2 w/ the Black Eyed Peas, Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV - 10/23/2009

Many moons ago, my girlfriend and I decided to head out to Vegas and see U2, as the closest they were playing otherwise was Chicago, and we both liked having an excuse to get back out to Vegas. I have mixed feelings about the city, but I always have a blast there.

We got in Thursday night and serendipitously were able to meet up with my cousin and his friend for dinner at the Strip House. I've eaten at the Strip House in NYC and had one of the better steaks of my life. This was probably not at that level but was fantastic ... a 16 oz. strip with blue cheese cooked on top. Not shabby. We ate around 10 PM Vegas time (1 AM our time) and didn't make it much later than that. We spent the weekend at the not-so-luxurious-but-reasonable-and-just-fine Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon. I have a Player's Club card there (don't ask) and now get pretty crazy good promos from them. So we stayed on the cheap but saw shows and ate on the not-so-cheap.

Before the U2 show, we went hiking at Red Rock Canyon, which is only 25 miles from the Strip. Great hiking including a 6-mile loop around the White Rock area. We saw a ton of folks sport-climbing on the way in, too, which got me excited about a future trip. We then ate at In-N-Out Burger, which is always a treat. 2 for 2 on food selections thus far.

We then rested up and headed out to Sam Boyd Stadium for the big show. As we approached the stadium, we saw what looked like a UFO landing on the field. Turns out it was just the U2 stage. Seriously crazy ...



After a bit of wine in the parking lot, we headed in and got situated for the Black Eyed Peas, who were entertaining as hell. They've got a lot of hits, which is no news to anyone but someone like me who never listens to popular radio.



Then it was the big show. I saw U2 only once before this - back in high school at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC, with Big Audio Dynamite and Public Enemy opening up. We had 3rd row seats on the floor, which was just silly. The setlist back then (9/23/1992, according to www.U2setlists.com):

Zoo Station, The Fly, Even Better Than The Real Thing, Mysterious Ways, One, Until The End Of The World, New Year's Day, Wild Rover, Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, Angel Of Harlem, When Love Comes To Town, Satellite Of Love, Slow Dancing, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet The Blue Sky, Running To Stand Still, Where The Streets Have No Name, Pride (In The Name Of Love), I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Stand By Me
encores: Desire, With Or Without You, Love Is Blindness, Can't Help Falling In Love

So this show was huge and hugely entertaining. It sounded great, it looked great, some moments were quite spine-tingling and, dare I say it, tear-inducing ("I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was a big one). There's not a lot I can say that hasn't been said before about U2. Bono kept the proselytizing to a minimum. There were no miscues or misfires whatsoever, which is kind of amazing given the scope of this show. The setlist for this show:

Breathe, Get On Your Boots, Magnificent, Mysterious Ways, Beautiful Day, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Stand By Me (snippet) / Viva Las Vegas (snippet), Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of, No Line On The Horizon, Elevation, In A Little While, Unknown Caller, Until The End Of The World, The Unforgettable Fire, City Of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight, Sunday Bloody Sunday, MLK, Walk On
encores: One / Amazing Grace (snippet), Where The Streets Have No Name, Ultra Violet (Light My Way), With Or Without You, Moment of Surrender



Saturday included some gambling wins (bet on Ohio State to beat a 17-point spread against Minnesota and Vandy to keep within 13 points against South Carolina) and losses (blackjack) as well as seeing another friend during the afternoon. Nothing like catching up over beers in a casino. We had brunch at the Flamingo Paradise Garden Buffet as I had another comp thanks to Bill's ... it was pretty darn good, too.

But our dinner Saturday night at Nobhill was extraordinary. I cannot begin to describe how every aspect of this meal ... the food (Noelle had the Kurobuta pork chop with braised swiss chard, bacon lardons, toasted farro; I had the Atlantic salmon with shallot potato salad, roasted mushrooms, mustard) the crazy good house cocktails (esp. the Cablecar - Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum, orange curacao, fresh sweet and sour and simple syrup served up in a cinnamon and sugar-rimmed cocktail glass), the desserts, the wine ... it made me want to weep.

We finished things off seeing The Beatles: LOVE that night. A fantastic show if I do say so. Flying out Sunday morning was necessary, as being in Vegas wears me out, even when I don't do anything too crazy. A great trip ...

Andrew Bird w/ St. Vincent, Southern Theater, Columbus, OH - 10/19/2009

Wow, the Southern Theater is a pretty gorgeous venue. This was (oddly enough) my first show there. We started out with a couple drinks at Thurber's Bar next door (yes, as in James Thurber), which was also a cool little venue in and of itself. (Good beers on tap here, too, including the rarely seen [on tap, anyway] Italian imprint Peroni.)

We headed in just as St. Vincent had started. Great seats, maybe 12th row center. Aside from one guy who was yelling a good bit, people were quiet and seated and just digging the show. She, Annie Clark, was pretty great at times and a very striking presence on stage. She can play some guitar, too. I'm not super familiar with her stuff yet but am now that much more interested in picking up her last album.



After a solid 20 to 30 minutes of intermission, Andrew Bird came out. As usual, he started out with a couple of solo songs, but it quickly became apparent that the whole show was going to be a solo affair. This may have normally put me off a bit, but given the feel of the venue and just how into it all he seemed (whereas I've seen him play at bit more disinterestedly recently with the full band), it was kind of magical.

I have some approximation of a setlist ... during the first 45 minutes or so, he played a slightly altered "Dark Matter" (great), "Nervous Tic," "Masterfade," "Tenuousness," and finally got to a song off his disappointing last record, "Effigy" (though this is one of the better tracks on said album). There were a few more songs in there, including some traditional stuff like "Jesus is a Dying Bed Maker" and another newer one, "Anonanimal."





The full St. Vincent band then came out to back him up on an awesome 4-song send out with a new song, the St. Vincent tune "Marry Me" (just Annie Clark and AB), "Scythian Empires" and "Tables and Chairs." It was fantastic.





But nothing could beat the one-song encore ... Annie Clark and AB singing Bob Dylan's "Oh, Sister" into a single mic together. Fantastic.



A real treat ... a surprising, charged performance.

Wilco, Mershon Auditorioum at the Wexner Center, Columbus, OH - 10/12/2009

Sadly, to the left is the show poster from Wilco's 2007 performance at the Wexner Center. (It's hanging in my guest bedroom now.) I like it, though, and am posting it for that reason. I bought a poster from this show, too, but have been too lazy to snap a photo of it, upload said photo, etc. - so you're stuck with this one. The point of it is that Wilco is no stranger to this venue, just as I am no stranger to them, having seen them play at least 20 times now ... getting close to 30, probably. And I think I'm kind of hitting a limit, I hate to say. They are great ... among the elite bands playing today. But a bit of the thrill is gone for me, sadly ...

We met up with friends at Akai Hana for some yummy sushi, picked up another friend, got rid of my extra ticket, completely missed opener Liam Finn and then settled in for the show. Oh, and I bought a poster. So this being the Wexner, there was no alcohol and, of course, seats. Both of these things always bring a show down a few notches for me unless it's theater/classical/something like that.

And the show starts, and they sound great (though the sound itself was slightly muddy, I thought), but it just never completely clicks for me. There were (as always) spine-tingling moments ... "Impossible Germany," "Misunderstood," some of the rarer tunes they played including "Wishful Thinking," "One by One," "I'm Always in Love," and "Theologians." But if even I'm getting a little over hearing "A Shot in the Arm" at every show, I can only imagine how they feel.

We actually left during the last song of very long encore (as opposed to their usual 2 shorter encores) ... I may need a break, just to rejuvenate myself. (I still love these guys, though ...)

On stage @ 9:17 p.m.

Intro - Price Is Right Theme Music

Wilco (The Song)
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
One Wing
A Shot In The Arm
Bull Black Nova
You Are My Face
One By One
I'll Fight
At Least That's What You Said
Deeper Down
Impossible Germany
Country Disappeared
Handshake Drugs
Wishful Thinking
--band introductions from Glenn's drum pads--
You Never Know (w/ Liam Finn)
I'm Always in Love
Jesus, Etc. (sing-along)
Theologians
I'm The Man Who Loves You

--------------------

Encore:
Misunderstood - 31 nothings
The Late Greats
California Stars (w/ Liam Finn and Eliza Jane Barnes)
Heavy Metal Drummer
Hate It Here
Walken
Monday
Hoodoo Voodoo (w/ Liam Finn - cowbell)
I'm A Wheel

Off stage @ 11:37 p.m.

Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven's 9th, Ohio Theater, Columbus, OH - 10/11/2009

Günther Herbig conducted this always thrilling symphony on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We had had a terrific brunch at Northstar and got into the theater right before the concert began. Compared to last weekend, his conducting was much more forceful and urgent, I thought. The Second Movement of this always kills me, and today was no exception. Not much to say other than it having been a thrill to get to hear this piece live again ...

Them Crooked Vultures, LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH - 10/6/2009

I really had very little idea of what to expect with this show other than 3 virtuosic rockers playing some heavy rock together. I rode my bike through wind and a slight bit of rain to the LC Pavilion and tried to unload my extra ticket. That was actually a tough sell, though ... many thanks to the scalper who was nice enough to buy it for below face value (don't ask by how much).

Comrades and I grabbed some large beers and headed for the pit inside the LC. There was no opener, and TCV didn't come on until almost 9, so it was a solid 90 minutes of waiting. (They played great warm-up music, though, including "The Guns of Brixton" and some classic Monks stuff.)

So they come out to a packed house that is quite enthusiastic and pumped up for this. John Paul Jones looks healthy and like a normal guy; Dave Grohl is in full-on rocker mode; and Josh Homme looks like a very tall, Craig Kilbourne-esque badass. They launch into a very loud (as in my ears were still ringing the next day), roughly 80-minute set with no encore, and it was pretty great. A few notes:

- Dave Grohl is a ridiculously good drummer ... I'm talking what feels like John Bonham-esque power/precision/etc. It was silly how good he was.

- Dave Grohl plus John Paul Jones = a ridiculously tight rhythm section. The stuff my 8th grade self dreamed of when I first discovered Zeppelin - well, I finally got to hear it live.

I don't know how much I'd rock this out on a stereo, but it was literally jaw-dropping at times. Worth it.

Columbus Symphony Orchestra - Beethoven's 7th, Ohio Theater, Columbus, OH - 10/2/2009

In the interest of fairness/completeness, I thought I'd include the classical concerts that I attend (all too infrequently). This was the pre-concert before the real season kicks off 10/9/09 with Beethoven's Ninth. The guest conductor was a very young, vivacious Mexican conductor, Alondra de la Parra, who lent an air of fun to the proceedings.

The first pieces included a famous Mexican piece, Danzon No. 2 from Marquez, which was nice and airy, and a very experimental, fractured piece, a concerto for bass trombone (?) entitled subZERO by Schnyder. The bass trombonist, Stefan Schulz, plays with the Berliner Philharmoniker and comes across like a regular badass. He was great and played a short encore piece with solo piano that showed off his virtuosity.

The reading of Beethoven's 7th was great, I thought ... energetic and youthful. It's hard to go wrong with core Beethoven pieces, of course, but it was a thrill to hear the CSO do a good job with this.

Built to Spill, Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH - 10/1/2009

I've been a big fan of Built to Spill since college, and they can be absolutely stellar to absolutely snoozefest live. Lately, they have seemed very invigorated to me, so I was quite excited to see them at the Newport, a great venue for seeing a band of this, er, stature.

My buddy Jenn and I grabbed some way overpriced beer and chips at Mad Mex and then headed over for a fairly impressive set by Disco Doom. It was very 90's guitar indie rock, which, as you have probably figured by now, I adore.

In their usual non-chalant manner, BTS sauntered onto the stage and basically started a noodly soundcheck-by-way-of-jam to get things moving. I have not listened to the fairly well-received new record at all yet, so I don't know the titles. I do know that I like them all quite well, but when they bust out the classics, it's killer. "The Plan"! "In the Morning"! "Untrustable"! "You Were Right"! I was singing along/giving devil horns/all my usual moves throughout, but I was truly not prepared to the encore (see below).

They're a great band with great songs who, on occasions like this one, can play a damn great show when they please.

Jam
NEW
In the Morning
The Plan
NEW
Virginia
Center of the Universe
Untrustable
NEW
You Were Right
NEW
In Your Mind
Conventional Wisdom

Car
Stop the Show
Carry the Zero
Outro Jam

The Walkmen, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN - 9/27/2009

The main attraction for the Nashville trip was seeing the Walkmen rock it out at the Mercy Lounge. I've seen them put on some great shows over the past 18 months or so, capped off by a fantastic set at Pitchfork this summer (see below). We spent the day well, including a wonderful (as usual) brunch at Margot, a productive trip to Grimey's and a fantastic cookout over at Dana's place (for which I am still indebted).

We checked out Here We Go Magic as the opening band, and it was a bit meh for me. Without much ado, the mighty Walkmen then took the stage and played a (for them) fairly mellow set with a good dose of new songs. It was a good show ... not the same level of blow-the-roof-off good that I've seen them bring lately, but it was reliably good ...

SETLIST:

- new song -
IN THE NEW YEAR
LITTLE HOUSE OF SAVAGES
- new song -
- new song -
LOUISIANA
RED MOON
ALL HANDS ON THE COOK
CANADIAN GIRL
POSTCARDS FROM TINY ISLANDS
- new song -
ON THE WATER
THINKIN' OF A DREAM I HAD
- new song - (same one they closed PFork with)
---encore---
THE RAT
DONDE ESTA LA PLAYA
ANOTHER ONE GOES BY

Photo courtesy of Jenn Lambert.

Guilty Pleasures, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN - 9/26/2009

I got into Nashville Saturday morning for a very quick (<48 hours) trip centered around seeing the Walkmen the following night. The day consisted of some usual Nashville highlights ... beers and football, a trip to Yazoo, and another go round with the burrito asada at Rosepepper. All of it ... very good.

As a last minute thing, our group decided to head over to Mercy Lounge to see the Nashville-famous Guilty Pleasures do their 80's thing. Their unique take on the 80's-cover-band schtick includes featuring a lot of female vocals and basically nothing but crack musicians. And, as usual, I got drunk. Nice. Some songs included:

Don't You Forget About Me
Burning For You
Easy Lover
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
What's Love Got To Do With It
Heaven Is A Place On Earth
Straight Up
Brass In Pocket
Every Little Step
Burning Down the House
It's the End of the World as We Know It ...

All Tomorrow's Parties New York Festival, Monticello, NY - 9/11-13/2009

I bought tickets and booked my room for this festival with no idea of who would be playing back in Oct 2008, all based on how great a time I'd had that year as well as a weird, unwavering faith that Pavement would be the curators and make their big comeback at this event. (I was a year early.) I was slightly disappointed when I learned that the Flaming Lips were the curators instead, but I had faith that the ATP folks would bring the noise yet again. Add to that how amazing the venue is with great sounding indoor stages and on-site hotel rooms ... well, good stuff.

Biggest beef/disappointment with this year: the powers that be decided to outlaw outside alcohol. Last year, I freely roamed around with Magic Hat's and Dogfish Head's that I had brought along, and no one blinked. This year, we had to sneak our good beer in and, at times, pay $5 for a Bud/Bud Light. (Oh, they had Amstel and Heineken, too ... whoopee.) I hope they reconsider this for next year ...

Day One - Friday

We drove in from Columbus, stopping in rural Pennsylvania on the way and arriving around 1 PM Friday afternoon. My buddy Matt and his wife Nicole met us there a couple hours later, driving in from Boston. We got checked in in rapid order, got our beer in by hook or crook, and got ready to rock.

We saw about 2 seconds of the Drones (at which I stood next to Sam Beam of Iron & Wine for a while) and then had to take care of the beer/room situation a bit more. Then we settled in for the Feelies playing Crazy Rhythms in its entirety, an album that is rightly canonize today and was introduced to me by my cousin Bill. They played the whole album and at times sounded great (later in the show) and at times got a little loose (the beginning of the show). It was great, though, and the "Raised Eyebrows" -> "Crazy Rhythms" closer always kills me.

One thing to realize about ATP is that there is no VIP/artists only areas, really. So within a few hours, we ran into and had a kind of normal conversation with Wayne Coyne. He talked about how they had just flown in after opening for Coldplay across Europe and how surreal that was. I've yet to see him wearing anything besides what he's wearing in this photo of Noelle and him ...

We caught most of the next act, the Dirty Three, playing Horse Stories in its entirety. Nick Cave was sitting in with them on piano, too, which was, well, bad ass. I saw the Dirty Three open for Pavement back in 1995 and talked to the violinist in the band, Warren Ellis, who said that that was a fun tour indeed. He was nice and seemed genuinely pleased to talk to someone who knew his music somewhat. And, oh, I met Nick Cave, which was super badass awesome ... what can I say? He's a hero ...





We checked out about 1/2 song of Suicide, which was just super loud and whacked. Then we saw about 1/2 of Panda Bear's set, which was also loud and very similar to seeing Animal Collective.

Then it was on to a great solo set from Iron & Wine, by which point we were all getting a bit drunk, I think. But he sounded great, opening with "Such Great Heights" (to which he encouraged everyone to sing along) and moving on to "Naked as We Came" and "The Trapeze Swinger," among others). I reluctantly left early to catch a bit of David Cross' comedy set (which I found hilarious), and then it was time for one of the big attractions: the Jesus Lizard.

They rocked hard, they sounded unreal tight and not aged a bit. I thought it was badass, I think the rest of my group found it a bit hard for their tastes. A great end to the night. I was getting foggy by the end of their set ...

Day Two - Saturday

We started Saturday with some yummy pizza in town at Brother Bruno and then move on to a gentle, lovely set by Sufjan Stevens, of whom I'm not a huge fan. He played his album Seven Swans in its entirety, and it sounded great. Nice beginning ...

The rest of the daytime included slipping in and out of sets by Bridezilla (interesting but not quite there), Black Dice (tolerated about 15 seconds of this), Anti-Pop Consortium (good hip hop set), Atlas Sound (baaaaaad, as in not good), Sleepy Sun (I left early but really liked what I heard), and Autolux (so so ... kind of by the numbers indie rock).

Then came Shellac, who played their standard set with super tightness. Deerhunter followed with a very good set including "Nothing Ever Happened." They sounded very tight live, which surprised me. Noelle and I checked out about 10 minutes of the Melvins, which was hilariously heavy. Two drummers playing in exact synchrony.

The big finale was Animal Collective, who just don't translate for me live very much. They wove in some "hits" to the set including "Also Frightened" and "Summer Clothes," but it just never gelled for me. And I was tired ... at 1 AM, I really do turn into a pumpkin ... most folks agree ...

Day Three - Sunday

I was hitting festival fatigue (4th one in 3 months) by Sunday. But I soldiered on. We actually went to see a Criterion Collection movie to start the day, Ace in the Hole with Kirk Douglas hamming it up big time. We finally geared up for Caribou, which was pretty cool with a ton of musicians doing a Sun Ra-plays-Beach-Boys type thing. Next was Menomena, a band I really like. They also played some of their better known songs like "The Pelican," "Wet and Rusting," and "Muscle and Flo," but they never seemed to gel, either. Matt and I made it through almost all of Boris playing Feedbacker, which was the loudest experience I've ever had bar none, My Bloody Valentine included.

We closed out Sunday with the Flaming Lips, who played their usual set with their usual antics. Another reviewer of this fest already pointed out that they're good at what they do, but who needs to see them play live more than once? I agree ... If they just made everything sound as great as they sound when they (invariably) open with "Race for the Prize" ... I could get behind that.

We turned in before they finished, but despite many lukewarm reviews above, let me stress that this festival is all about exposure to music/art/film wit which you may not be exposed otherwise as well as a general indie-rock-summer-camp feel. It's different than other festivals and is almost not really a festival so much as ... well, something else ...

Lollapalooza, Chicago, IL - 8/7-9/2009

So Lollapalooza started this year on Friday, August 7th. On Wednesday, August 5th, my girlfriend and I had no thoughts of going but found ourselves having a drink at the venerable St. James (what else is new?) and discussing how awesome it would be to go, seeing as how the line-up rocked and we love Chicago to the core. Next thing you know, we had booked some flights ($200 a piece), a hotel room out near O'Hare (not ideal, but again only $200 a piece) and Lolla tix (for the sake of symmetry, $200 a piece again). And we were off ...

Day One - Friday

We get in, check in to our hotel Friday morning, and make our way for round 2 of Hot Doug's. (We're becoming a bit obsessed.) This time, it was again a mega-long wait with mega-good food, but we both felt a bit queasy after gorging our faces on fries cooked in rendered duck fat.

We were nervous about getting to the stadium in time for our first cannot miss set (Bon Iver at 3:00 PM), but we made it. Some light rain was falling, thinning out the crowds a good deal. We got a great spot and settled in for a fantastic start the weekend, including another chilling version of "Re: Stacks". The full set:

1. Lump Sum
2. Blood Bank
3. Skinny Love
4. Brackett, WI
5. Flume
6. Wolves (pts 1 and 2)
7. Re: Stacks
8. For Emma
9. Creature Fear -> Team

We basically held a spot between the north side main stage and north side side stage for the next few acts. Ben Folds play a nice, goofy set at 4:00 PM, but he doesn't do a whole helluva lot for me. He did do "Bitches Ain't Shit," which is always fun, as well as "Rockin' the Suburbs," which is also fun.

Next up were Fleet Foxes who, as usual, were just jaw-dropping. One of the finest, most skilled bands playing today. Just awesome. Rain had let up some at this point, too ... nice ... and "Blue Ridge Mountains" is always just the bomb ...

1. Sun Giant
2. Sun It Rises
3. Drops In the River
4. English House
5. White Winter Hymnal
6. Ragged Wood
7. Your Protector
8. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
9. He Doesn't Know Why
10. Mykonos
11. Blue Ridge Mountains

Next were the Decemberists on the big stage, and anyone who knows me knows that I am just not a fan of their over-the-top-ness, from Colin Meloy's vocals to the whole shebang in general. I was not impressed. Plus the annoying chick from My Brightest Diamond sang with them. Ugh. They played "The Hazards of Love" in its entirety. I just don't get it. It's like my parents with rap music.

Andrew Bird then brought a nice but kind of unaffecting set. I've seen him play on a big stage with much aplomb in the past (ACL 2007 comes to mind), and while he was fine, it was just a bit weak all things considered, even with the very strong last 4 songs ...

1. Fiery Crash
2. Masterswarm
3. Opposite Day
4. Fitz and the Dizzyspells
5. Oh No
6. Effigy
7. Not a Robot, But a Ghost
8. Anonanimal
9. Imitosis
10. Scythian Empires
11. Tables and Chairs
12. Fake Palindromes

Kings of Leon were one of the closing bands. I saw them way back when at the Exit/In in Nashville when they were still a ragged, Southern boogie band. And they were good. Now, they are a stadium-ready band with every life of blood and spit drained out of classics like "Molly's Chamber," which was their fourth song and the last one we could tolerate. We walked over and caught a few songs of Depeche Mode's set instead, and they killed. But we had a long (45 minute) ride on the blue line back out close to O'Hare, so we didn't make it to "Personal Jesus," sadly.

Day Two - Saturday

We started Saturday with another "tradition" for us in Chicago, brunch at the Southport Grocery. Their grilled coffeecake haunts my dreams, I tell you.

We started a much hotter and sunnier Saturday with the Constantines (so overlooked and maligned) on a small side stage. Their release Shine a Light got killer coverage on its release and is a standout from this decade. They brought their postpunk-meets-Springsteen growl fiercely including the classics "Nightime Anytime It's Alright" and "Young Lions."

We stayed at the same stage for a fun if slightly ragged/uneven set from Ida Maria. The end of the set was the highlight and had the "hits" ... "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" and "Oh My God." Plus she ended with a cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog," which can hardly go wrong ...

We migrated to the big stages on the north side again (our usual hangout for the festival, really) to catch the end of Los Campesinos! doing a Pavement cover ("Box Elder") and then for a really strong set from Robert Earl Keen. I've always liked him fine, but he just sounded perfect under the sun and with a beer in my hand. Great set including "Gringo Honeymoon," "Feelin' Good Again," "Amarillo Highway" and "The Road Goes on Forever."

Next was a usually dependable, fun festival band, Arctic Monkeys. And they were awful - no energy, terrible song selection, etc. No "When the Sun Goes Down" or "Fake Tales of San Francisco" ... not even "A Certain Romance." They did cover Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand," but it was just odd rather than good.

On the other hand, Santigold was terrific on the sidestage, playing all the hits, of course, but working in a lot of odd tunes, as well, including a great cover of the Cure's "Killing an Arab." Her good songs ("Lights Out" especially) are just fantastic.

We were pumped for TV on the Radio on the main stage, and they were also terrible. Just shambles. We left after 20 minutes or so and made it over to see some of Animal Collective's set on the south side. It was also shambles, just a big mess out of which "Fireworks" finally emerged at some point (by which I didn't care anyway). I don't think that they are a great live experience, personally, but I think that's just my own proclivities toward real instruments, etc.

Tool was about to get started on the big stage on the south, so we scurries away out of fear and saw a few tunes from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. Again, it just wasn't completely clicking. They sounded fine but a bit small for such a big stage at night like that. It was our bedtime, so we again beat the crowd out ...

Day Three - Sunday

Another nice day and not as brutally hot as Saturday, as I recall. We started with a nice shaded bluegrass treat from the Greencards, whom I had seen at Douglas Corner Cafe in Nashville many moons ago. They've gone much more newgrass as opposed to bluegrass, but it was nice and a relaxing start to the end of this fest. We kind of didn't want to leave the shade at this point, but the music called ...

We hung south side this time, first seeing the Airborne Toxic Event on the big stage (meh) and then kind of catching Dan Deacon on the side stage (too much ... definitely not my speed). Then we settled in for a very nice, fun set from Vampire Weekend. I saw them in February 2008 in Columbus, and they have gotten sooooo much better live since then. Again, a very fun set with a very large crowd ...

1. White Sky
2. Mansard Roof
3. Stand Corrected
4. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
5. Campus
6. Bryn
7. Boston
8. Run
9. A-Punk
10. M79
11. One (Blake's Got a New Face)
12. Cousins
13. The Kids Don't Stand a Chance
14. Oxford Comma
15. Walcott

We then made the very long trek to the north stages (literally almost a mile, I'd bet ... Grant Park is not small) to catch the last half of Dan Auerbach's set. It was way more straight blues rock a la Black Crowes than I expected. I think the drummer from My Morning Jacket is rocking it with him, too. Fine ... not great.

Then came Lou Reed, a personal hero. And he was beyond awful. Just a joke. Started 15 petulant minutes late, seemed totally unconnected to what was going on around him, had what seemed like 17 dudes playing bad bar band style music behind him. And he ran 20 minutes over, forcing Band of Horses on the side stage to possibly cut their set short.

1. Sweet Jane
2. Senselessly Cruel
3. Dirty Blvd
4. Waves of Fear
5. Mad
6. Paranoia Key of E
7. Waiting for the Man
8. Walk on the Wild Side

So Band of Horses are forced to come out 20 minutes late, and I'm not happy. They were a big reason for me coming, and they come out opening with "The First Song" (appropriately enough) and sounding huge and great. But by the time 8:30 (the supposed end of their set) came, they just pushed through until almost 9:00, despite the fact that Jane's Addiction started on the big stage. Ben Bridwell commented that they'd probably never play Lolla again, but he seemed rapturous, coming out in the crowd and just basking in the whole experience. It was the set of the weekend for me and quite magical ... just watching this clip of "The First Song" below (which is of great quality) gives me the chills now ...

1. The First Song
2. The Great Salt Lake
3. Is There a Ghost
4. Weed Party
5. Islands on the Coast
6. Cigarettes, Wedding Bands
7. Untitled
8. Marry Song
9. Window Blues (Western version)
10. No Ones Gonna Love You
11. The Funeral
12. Wicked Gil
13. Ode to LRC
14. The General Specific

We stuck around at the end for some of Jane's Addiction's set ... it was also a bit of a joke. All glam and over the top, no substance or whatever made them great back in the 90's. Stephen Perkins is a jaw-dropping drummer, though. But we were quickly bored and made out way out ...

The shows were hit or miss, but what a great excuse to hang in Chicago and drink some beers in the sun ...

Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, IL - 7/17-19/2009

Friday 7/17/2009 - Day One: "Write the Night"

We flew into O'Hare that afternoon with many things on our minds, including music, food and friends. O'Hare stinks ... but it was nice to be taking the blue line in as it deposited us nicely on the ride in at Smoque, a Chicago BBQ joint that a friend had recommended and which was, of course, then featured on Drive-Ins, Diners and Dives on the Food Network. It felt goofy hauling our luggage in, but hey, it's a haul out there from downtown. And it was good. You can see some of Noelle's pork sandwich here along with a bag of fries, cole slaw, etc. Their mac and cheese was to die for as was their brisket. A nice start.

We checked into the Hard Rock (apropos, I know) thereafter, met up with our peeps, had a quick beer at the Cobra Lounge (if you click on the link, you get to hear "Waiting Room" by Fugazi, which is awesome), and then headed into the festival under gray skies and very mild temperatures (it stayed about 70 degrees all weekend - killer).

Tortoise was up first, and I've been a fan of them for a while, first seeing them back in 1998 on the TNT tour in Munich, Germany. They were of course a bit noodly at times, but it was a fan-created setlist, and they pulled out some gems including the song "TNT," which I haven't heard them play in a very long time. A nice, chill start to the proceedings. I should mention that beers were a reasonable $5 (and were good - Goose Island products), so that factored in mightily each day/evening.

After Tortoise came Yo La Tengo, who were a bit uneven and, again, plagued by some sound problems. In fairness, their stage was too quiet the whole festival, while the other stage was straight up perfect the whole time. But it was a fun show with, as expected, a lot of "hits" and about 1000x better than my last time seeing them. Partial setlist:

???
Autumn Sweater
Let's Save Tony Orlando's House
Cherry Chapstick
Stockholm Syndrome
"new song"
Mr. Tough
???
Tom Courtenay
Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind
Sugarcube

Oddly, the Jesus Lizard knocked it out of the park and got me very excited for seeing them at All Tomorrow's Parties in September. I can only name a few of their songs though I used to own multiple albums by them (and still rock their live opus Show from time to time), but they sounded great and were a veritable machine on stage.

Built to Spill rounded out the evening and were, as usual in their festival settings, awesome. I firmly believe that they skipped some fan requests ("Car" and "The Plan" come instantly to mind), but it was awesome aside from the sound again being too quiet. (Noting a them?) Setlist:

Liar
Stab
Strange
You Were Right
Kicked It In the Sun
Conventional Wisdom
Else
Big Dipper
Virginia Reel Around the Fountain
Goin' Against Yr Mind
Carry the Zero

We were leaving as "Carry the Zero" started due to being old people who can no longer hang, but it was a promising start. We had a couple beers and some food at a fairly tacky but convenient place near our respective hotels, but we of course faded fast.

Saturday 7/18/2009 - Day Two

So we kicked today off with what may be the most epic aspect of this trip ... a journey to Hot Doug's Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium. It was recommended to me by a friend and then, similar to Smoque, was featured on TV (Anthony Bourdain, actually) . It has apparently been a mad house ever since. Let me sum this up quickly ... we arrived around 10:45 AM and waited in line for almost 2 hours. Was it worth it? Um, yes ... it was epic. We shared a straight up Chicago dog all the way, a hot sausage with kraut, a duck sausage with foie gras (sinful), regular fries and fries cooked in rendered duck fat. It was ridiculously good. I am still dreaming about it. Seriously.

We headed back in to start the rock a little later in the day. First up was the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, which was kind of so-so. I like the record, but the live show doesn't bring a whole lot to the table. We kind of hung back and sort of listened to Final Fantasy, but this did nothing for me at all. Seemed like a poor man's Andrew Bird without the good songs. We finally wandered over the non-main stage to catch the end of Ponytail (crazy, Yoko Ono-style awesome-ness) and then Wavves (I don't get the hype on this at all). We then basically hung back for a nice, lilting set from Beirut and ended with a typically epic show from the National. What can you say about them? Most compelling band in the land right now for me ...

And what a setlist (see below) ... the hits, some rarities ("All the Wine," "Green Gloves") ... it's a formula that they do over and over again nightly, but it's so damn good ...

Setlist:
Runaway (new song)
Start a War
Mistaken for Strangers
Brainy
Secret Meeting
Baby We'll Be Fine
Slow Show
(new song)
Squalor Victoria
Abel
All the Wine
Apartment Story
Ada
Green Gloves
Fake Empire
(new song)
Mr. Novemeber
- encore -
About Today

Again tried to stay out afterward ... again nearly feel asleep at the table and regretted such decisions the next day ...

Sunday 7/19/2009 - Day Three

Another strong meal to start the day out ... Southport Grocery. We totally pigged out again on omelets, grilled coffee cake, and "a pancake made with gooey bread pudding topped with cinnamon-sugar butter & a side of vanilla custard sauce." It was wrong.

We got an early start today, as there were many bands we wanted to see. First off was a highlight of the whole festival for most everyone, Frightened Rabbit. They sounded great, played a huge chunk of The Midnight Organ Fight, and just won everyone over. We hung back and kind of halfway listened to Blitzen Trapper, who opened with a nice "Wild Mountain Nation" and just kind of did their folky/rocky thing. We also kind of hung around for Pharoah Monch, which was not everyone's cup of tea but was at least entertaining.

Then it was the killer, non-stop lineup. The Thermals were OK and played an odd assortment of covers, but the sound was (again) way too low. Then the Walkmen straight up brought it. I love these guys more and more, and their songwriting continues to just blow up. Wow ...

???new song???
In the New Year
On the Water
Postcards from Tiny Islands
Canadian Girl
The Rat
Red Moon
Donde Esta La Playa
I Lost You
Louisiana
All Hands on the Cook
(new song)

We again hung back for M83, who sounded good (but were of course too quiet on the A stage) but kept our spot for Grizzly Bear, whom I find to be a simply fantastic live band. It's intricate, challenging music, and some people seem put off by that, but their live show really won me over (as it did at Bonnaroo last month). The highlight again for me was "Fine for Now," but they played all the big tunes off Veckatimist and sounded unreal. Their musicianship is just jaw-dropping.

Only my girlfriend and I stuck around for the Flaming Lips, and it was a big letdown as usual. Just not even really worth writing about except to say that it was very meh.

It's a bummer to have ended so many epic sets on such a bum note, but wow ... $75 for all that music and $5 beer and mild Chicago summer days. Sign me up again ...

Bonnaroo Music Festival, Manchester, TN - 6/11-14/2009

(Note: Photos are coming.)

Wednesday - 6/10/2009

The Bonnaroo adventure (my fourth) began Wednesday night with driving from Columbus around 6 at night and picking up my buddy Matt in Cincinnati at 8 that night. We trucked on down to Nashville to see some old friends and kinda/sorta rest up for the actual show(s). I had some trepidations going in (too old, too tired, etc.), but I could not resist the line-up and the chance to hang out with the guys for a few days.

Thursday - 6/11/2009

We picked up the third in our party, Michael, around 11 that morning, made a grocery store run and then hit I-24 towards Chattanooga. We were quite easily able to meet up with Matt's brother and two of his buddies at the (now infamous) exit 127, where major amounts of traffic were being diverted. So we got in line there (a caravan of 3 cars ... well, my car and their pick-up trucks) and, well, waited for about 6 hours. It was brutal. Basically were on line with small bursts of movement from 2:30 until 8:30. But everyone made merriment, chatting with neighbors and cursing our collective bad luck.

Once we got on the home stretch in (this diversion just filtered us all back to the interstate, where we then got off at the Manchester exit - unreal), it was fast moving but complicated by some torrential downpours. We all stayed together, thankfully, and set up camp in some pouring rain at Camp John Bender (number 61 on the map, miles better than when I ended up in Camp David Wooderson a couple years ago). We headed in that night and saw a bit of some reggae (Midnite) but didn't really stick around that long.



Friday - 6/12/2009

We had a long, slow morning hanging under my shade tent and enjoying the whole crazy scene. And it's a crazy scene alright ... very heavy on the hippie vibe. Not my normal scene but fun nonetheless. We finally got it together and headed in to start with Animal Collective on the Which Stage (2:45 - 4:00). The sound was very muddy, we were a bit far back ... it was not an auspicious debut. We collected ourselves and relaxed by the Other Tent for a bit of Bela Fleck and Toumandi Diabate doing some African/folky music. It was a nice change and a chance to catch our breath.

We proceeded to grab a great spot for Grizzly Bear in This Tent (5:00 - 6:15), as this was a show we were all amped for. I was not a huge fan of them as I was always a bit bored by their records, but my goodness ... live, all these songs made so much more sense and just killed. I was pretty amazed. Highlights included the obvious ("Two Weeks") and the epic ("Fine For Now"). Their performance of "Fine For Now" was true festival highlight for me.

Being old men, we needed a break after this and retreated to the tent for an hour. I saw about one song from Al Green ("Here I Am", which sounded amazing) but didn't have it in me at that point. We made it back in for a bit of Beastie Boys (sounded good, but we were far back) and then headed over for David Byrne. Wow. Really great stuff. He played the whole first half of Remain in Light, "Girlfriend is Better", "Take Me to the River" and a 2-song encore including "Burning Down the House". And he can really play guitar. He recreated some of those Adrian Belew solos in a big way.

We totally blew off Phish that first night, which bums me out a bit as they played some killer tunes that evening (including "The Divided Sky" and "You Enjoy Myself"), but we were dedicated to the rock and headed over to a pretty packed That Tent to see Phoenix (11:30 - 12:15). We had a great spot in front of the soundboard, and they sounded fantastic. Setlist is almost complete on this one (yes, it was short and sweet):

Lisztomania
Long Distance Call
Consolation Prizes
Napolean Says
??
Run Run Run
Love Like a Sunset
Too Young
1901

I had had my fill for day 1. I felt like I could fall asleep standing up during Phoenix by the end. I just can't hang with the kiddies anymore. Again, looking at that Phish setlist makes me kick myself a little, but such is life.

Saturday - 6/13/2009

I felt refreshed and a bit more ready for a long day on Saturday, as there were a ton of bands I was looking forward to see. I was inside and at the Other Tent right at 1:30 to see Cherryholmes, a bluegrass band about whom I'd heard a good deal but wasn't prepared for great they were. Well worth checking out. They are the real deal and just devastatingly talented. (Photo at right.)

We grabbed a beer after this and then got in position at This Tent for Bon Iver, one of the big reasons I made it this year. I've been wanting to see him for so long now and just missing him by a hair on multiple occasions. Seeing his brand of ultra-depressing folk at a big, sunny, good vibes festival was a bit off, but he just killed. His band sounded huge, and his vocals/performance in general were actually better live than on the record, if that's possible. Another real highlight.

Creature Fear
Skinny Love
Lump Sum
Blood Bank
Beach Baby
Brackett, WI
Flume
Feel Like Going Home (Yo La Tengo cover !!!)
For Emily, Forever Ago (with the horns from Elvis Perkins in Dearland)
Re: Stacks (completely, mouthdroppingly devastating - saw a very young couple just standing in a sweet embrace for this whole song - could hear a pin drop)
Wolves (with the whole crowd singing the "what might have been lost" part very, very loudly)

We kind of had to recover from this set for a second. It was a big one. We had wanted to run over to catch a bit of Del McCoury, but instead we just slowly, dazedly made our way over to the big, scary What Stage for our first full set there, Wilco. They came out promptly at 6 PM and just laid it down. I was definitely excited by the new songs and some of the classics, but there weren't too many surprises. The usual killer tunes killed.

Wilco (The Song) / I Am Trying to Break Your Heart / Company in My Back / Handshake Drugs / Bull Black Nova / You Are My Face / One Wing / Pot Kettle Black / Side with the Seeds / Shot in the Arm / At Least That’s What You Said / Jesus, Etc. / Impossible Germany / California Stars / Misunderstood (32 “nothings” at the end) / Spiders (Kidsmoke) / Hummingbird / You Never Know / The Late Greats / Hate It Here / Walken / I’m the Man Who Loves You

We then held our position for the long, long wait until Springsteen took the stage an hour and a half later. I was excited to see Springsteen and had seen him kill in Columbus in early 2008. We passed the time talking to a true New Jersey soul, Gino, who was there with his wife and daughter and was smoking a joint and telling us all about the various drugs he was doing over the weekend. It was surreal.

Springsteen comes out 30 minutes late and opens with a wicked "Badlands." I was pumped. And then it just got cheesier and cheesier. None of us were feeling it, and by the time he trotted out "Outlaw Pete" (one of the worst songs of the last few years), we had to exit. Our thought on heading back to camp was to regroup and then head back in for Nine Inch Nails and some MGMT, but instead I fell asleep. Typical.

Sunday - 6/14/2009

As unreal as it seems now, there were still a ton of bands I was just losing it to see on this last day. I was also longing for things like showers and running toilets and a bed, but that's another story.

Got in right at 1:30 again to the Other Tent to see Ted Leo playing a very, very loud set with a ton of new tunes as well as some classics ("Where Have all the Rude Boys Gone?", "Me and Mia," "The High Party," and "Timorous Me" among them). We chilled and had some beers at the Broo'ers' Tent and then got in position for a killer twofer at the Which Stage - Andrew Bird followed by Band of Horses.

Andrew Bird was his usual fantastically talented self. I like how his band has coalesced around him and really seem in tune with his idiosyncratic delivery and pauses. It was great stuff.

Masterswarm
Opposite Day
Fitz and Dizzyspells
Nervous Tic
Fiery Crash
Oh No!
Effigy
Anonanimal
Imitosis
???
Tables and Chairs
Fake Palindromes
Skin, Is My
Why
Scared

Then Band of Horses came out to a very big crowd and launched right into some classics off the bat. The sun was setting, the weather was cooing off ... perfect. A truly perfect moment among many from this weekend. Partial setlist for this one included opening with Monsters, The First Song, The Great Salt Lake, Is There a Ghost? and Weed Party. Other tunes included a great cover of "A Song for You" by Gram Parsons and some required tunes (The Funeral, Ode to LRC, No One's Gonna Love You).

We finally made it to see Phish thereafter. It was quite nice, actually - all 6 of us in a very good yet comfortable, far back but not too far back spot. And Phish were pretty great ... very funky. I only made it through part of set 2 before I had to turn in, but it was an awesome time. And Springsteen came out, which was, well, interesting if not musically inspired.

AC/DC Bag
NICU
Gotta Jibboo
Punch You in the Eye
Sparkle
Bathtub Gin
Character Zero
Tweezer
The Horse
Silent in the Morning
Run Like an Antelope
Mustang Sally (w/ the Boss)
Bobbie Jean (w/ the Boss)
Glory Days (w/ the Boss)
- break -
Rock and Roll
Manchester Jam (left at this point)
Light
46 Days
Limb by Limb
Farmhouse
Backwards Down the Number Line
Prince Caspian
First Tube
- encore -
Suzy Greenberg
Tweeprise

By Monday morning, we were just ready to get out, eat some warm/clean food, shower, etc. I was on the road until Monday evening, which was rough, but it was worth it.

The great question remains ... will I ever do this again? Just not sure ...

Meat Puppets and Retribution Gospel Choir, The Summit, Columbus, OH - 6/3/2009

My buddy Jenn and I headed over to the Summit (our inaugural visit since this venue sprang up out of Bourbon Street Cafe) with very low expectations, truth be told, to see some legends bring their stuff. I had seen the Meat Puppets last year at ATP New York and also back in the early part of this decade when it was basically the one Kirkwood brother and bunch of no names on stage with him. The former was quite cool; the latter was lame except that my best friends were in town and we were getting drunk.

We walked in, got some beers and were basically right in time for Retribution Gospel Choir. Alan Sparhawk from Low fame is the main dude in this much more rocking power trio. I liked them. Nothing to just flip out over, but it was good and tight. And his guitar sounded awesome - like Neil Young-awesome guitar sounds. I loved that, of course.

A fairly long wait later, the MP's took the stage. It was pretty crowded, too, with a very weird mix of punks, college kids and 40-year olds who had obviously loved the Puppets in their heyday. The show was good and of course featured "Plateau," "Lake of Fire," and "Up on the Sun." But they were very tight ... much tighter than when I had seen them almost a year before. I didn't take a setlist, we left before the encore (which, apparently, was "Backwater," which makes me all the more glad that we left early), and it was a fine time.

Wish I had something more awesome to report on this one ...

Franz Ferdinand, Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH - 5/2/2009

I can't pretend to be the biggest Franz Ferdinand fan in the world. I had not yet really seen them live (had kind of seen them at a festival many moons ago, but that doesn't exactly count), but I of course really liked the first album and have found the rest of their output to be quite consistent. I also really liked and highly recommend the singer Alex's book on eating while on the road ... good stuff.

We didn't do any major pre-partying but got to the Newport toward the end of opening act Born Ruffians' set. It didn't seem like we missed much, but again, that's not a band I'm a huge fan of or anything. We were down in the floor for the show itself (after grabbing some large beers, of course) and settled in for the rock.

And wow did they bring it. Very tight, very energetic, crowd was hanging on every song. It was one of the better shows I'd seen in a while in that sense. Everyone was on the same page, having fun, great sound (loud but not crushingly so) ... really nice.

I started to jot down a setlist but stopped due to having too much fun. Some definite highlights, though, included "The Dark of the Matinee," "Michael," and an encore that started with "Jaqueline" and ended with "This Fire." Tight.

Yo La Tengo w/ Girl Talk, Gordon Field House, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH - 4/24/2009

"If the venue is a 'field house,' I think it's not worth it." - Noelle, my special lady friend, paraphrased/speaking much wisdom
Oh, Yo La Tengo. You make such (and so many) beautiful records yet can be so, so spotty live. I have seen you scorch the earth and have also seen you just not quite bring it. Chalk this night up to the latter, though there were significant hurdles to be overcome.

Talk about weird bills ... Yo La Tengo + Girl Talk playing at a small Ohio college's fieldhouse for their Springfest. Delaware, Ohio is only about 20 miles from Columbus, so I had to check this out. We grabbed dinner at Northstar (spotting a trend) and headed up, thinking that YLT went on at 7. Well, there was some other dude opening at 7, as we found out on arriving, so we had about 90 minutes to kill in Delaware. Nice, small midwestern town with the gorgeous Ohio Wesleyan University at the center of things. We grabbed a drink at a dive bar with slow service and then headed in.

Yes, the fieldhouse was a big gym with huge, echo-y, reverb-y, terrible sound. We caught the opener's last song (I honestly don't remember his name) and waited for YLT as Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones played in its entirety. So YLT finally comes out and opens with, of all things, "Tom Courtenay," arguably their most well-known song. And the sound is complete mud. And it is LOUD. My Bloody Valentine-level loud. People holding their ears and walking out loud. Noelle made it to the second song and had to wait outside, as did many others. I had my earplugs in and was still shocked at the volume.

They played a pretty killer setlist with a slew of classics, but it never really came together. The venue was a big part of that, I think. By the time it was over, I was pretty done, as was Noelle. As we walked out after deciding to forego Girl Talk altogether, a rush of young folks (I think mainly high school, she thinks mainly collge) decked out in neon and generalized rave attire pushed their way in. That dude has officially left the tipping point in the rearview mirror.

Tom Courtenay
???
Stockholm Syndrome
Pass the Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind
The Summer
???
Beanbag Chair
Mr. Tough
The Weakest Part
???
Autumn Sweater
Big Day Coming (fast)
Decora
Watch Out For Me, Ronnie
I Heard You Looking

Neko Case w/ Crooked Fingers, Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH - 4/23/2009

There was no significant dining pre-show tonight. It was all bid-ness. So I am a part-time fan of both these acts and a much bigger fan of their previous/other incarnations (Archers of Loaf, New Pornographers, etc.), but I had a good feeling about the evening.

Contiuing a recent trend, we walked in, got a beer and were right where we wanted to be exactly as the music started. Pretty cool. Crooked Fingers consisted of Eric Bachmann being tall and singing/playing guitar, a female bassist/singer and a drummer/keyboardist. The arrangements were quite spare, and most of the beginning of the set consisted of songs not too familiar to me. Talk about going out with a bang, though ... he ended with "A New Drink for the Old Drunk" and "Angelina," a pretty killer 1-2 punch.

Then it was time for Neko. She was backed by 2 guitarists (one standard, one more pedal steel and other odd stringed stuff), a drummer, a bassist and Kelli Hogan on vocals. The crowd was more-or-less perfect: loud and enthusiastic between songs, pin-drop quiet during the tunes. She seemed into it and, I think, into playing a smaller venue for a change. The Newport is a great-sounding, great-sized rock club that ought to get more shows.

I didn't take down a setlist, but it was very similar to her recent shows, so I'm posting one of those, instead. The big surprise (and clincher for me) was that she did a 2nd encore and played "Star Witness." It was gorgeous ...

This isn't a show I have a ton to say about. It was quite good, and her vocals are stunning live. I find her songs to be a bit "same-y" at times, though, so it all kind of runs together a bit for me. The stand out tunes ("I Wish I Was the Moon," "Star Witness," "That Teenage Feeling," etc.) are jaw-dropping, but her whole catalog doesn't stand up to that level. If her songwriting matched her vocal prowess, she'd be ready to conquer the world.

1. Maybe Sparrow
2. People Got a Lotta Nerve
3. Fever
4. Hold On, Hold On
5. The Pharoahs
6. Middle Cyclone
7. Deep Red Bells
8. I Wish I Was the Moon
9. I’m an Animal
10. Prison Girls
11. The Tiger Has Spoken
12. Margaret Vs. Pauline
13. Red Tide
14. Don’t Forget Me
15. That Teenage Feeling
16. This Tornado Loves You

ENCORE:

17. Vengeance Is Sleeping
18. The Next Time You Say “Forever”
19. Favorite
20. Knock Loud

2nd ENCORE:

21. Star Witness