you remind me of a tv show

The Walkmen, The Metro, Chicago, IL - 01/14/2012

2012-01-18T15:17:00.000-05:00

My buddy Aaron and I ended up heading up to Chicago for a 36-hour trip centered around the mighty Walkmen doing a 10th anniversary show in honor of their debut album. I was going with my wife, but she could not extricate herself from work, sadly.

After arriving late Friday night, we started with deep dish at Lou Maltani's, which I'd heard was amazing. It was. Super heavy with a buttery crust of neverending goodness. We ordered a medium and could not finish it. You'd think we'd be ready to rock it out at that point, but no, the pizza defeated us straight into our respective beds.

Saturday started with "brunch" at Hot Doug's, the venerable hot dog institution about which I've written before. We only had to wait 40 minutes or so, with only 20 of those in the 15 degree weather. When we saw a table order one of everything on the menu, we knew it was going to be alright.

I had the Palomar (pinto beans, bacon, etc.), the Foie Gras (duck dog with foie gras) and a Chicago style. We split the fries cooked in rendered duck fat. We felt happy.

We followed this up with a trip to Revolution Brewing (quite awesome), a stroll through Reckless Records (I passed on an original pressing of OCEAN RAIN and am now kind of kicking myself), and finally beers at the Map Room (recommended). After a quick respite back at the hotel, we grabbed burgers and beers at the Grafton Pub (quite on the money) and then made the trudge down to the Metro.

I'd seen one show here before (Black Keys in 2008) and was so so on the venue. I'll say that I'm glad we got there fairly early (and talked to Paul, the guitarist, on our way in), as it got pretty dang crowded fast. About 20 after 9, they took the stage (no opener) and proceed to play a very long, very career-spanning set that never let up. In fact, I was simply exhausted at the 3-hour point. We started to make our way out right after "Thinking of a Dream I Had" and caught the last number from the coat check line. There was no encore, and they didn't need one.

There's a nice bootleg floating around of this show. The version of "In the New Year" was insane. This one will be tough to beat for 2012, similar to their jaw-dropping 2011 show.

Line by Line, We Scrape By (New Song)
They're Winning
Wake Up
Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me is Gone
Revenge Wears No Wristwatch
Hang On, Siobhan
The Blizzard of '96
We've Been Had
Love U Love (new song)
Dreamboat (new song)
Love is Love (new song)
Donde Esta La Playa
On the Water
In the New Year
Red Moon (Ham - solo acoustic guitar w/ horns)
Stranded (w/horns)
Canadian Girl (w/horns)
Louisiana (w/horns)

SET BREAK

Bottled Sand (new song)
Blue as Your Blood
All Hands and the Cook
Woe is Me
French Vacation
The Rat
No Christmas While I'm Talking
I Lost You (by request)
138th Street (by request)
Postcards From Tiny Islands (by request)
Thinking of a Dream I Had (by request)
Heartbreaker (new song)

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 12/01/2011

2012-01-18T14:55:00.000-05:00

We had a blast at this show, the tour ender for Gillian and David. I think the biggest issue was that we saw a crazy, insanely good show from them (for 2011, second only to the Walkmen) back in August, and while they were quite great tonight (with some truly outstanding moments), the vibe at the Ryman kind of sucked the life out of this one for me a bit.

Trust me - it wasn't a bad show by any stretch, but it just didn't have that magical quality that we saw them bring to the Orange Peel a few months earlier. I did not take photos or a setlist, sadly, but the set was fairly similar to the Orange Peel show without any huge surprises, though they did end the whole thing with a rousing cover of "Jackson."

Natalie Merchant with the Nashville Symphony, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, TN - 11/13/2011

2011-11-28T15:04:00.000-05:00

This was a bit off the usual path for us, but it seemed like it would be a cool thing to do as part of celebrating my wife's birthday. We started out at Virago, which was exceptionally good. We got into the venue, which was pretty darn crowded, and right on time Natalie Merchant took the stage, looking quite a bit older than I expected, though that's probably due to the fact that she is forever frozen in her 1987, In My Tribe-era persona.

That being said (and being a bit harsh, I know), she sounded fantastic and much better than I could've anticipated. The setlist drew heavily on her recent output, which features classic poems set to orchestral arrangements, but she whipped out some deep cuts, including a jaw-dropping "Verdi Cries" during the first set and a fun "Kind and Wonderful" encore to the end the show.

Most of all, it's hard to overstate how impressive her voice was in a live context, especially a concert hall that sounds as good as the Schermerhorn.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN - 10/16/2011

2011-11-08T14:39:00.000-05:00

Not a whole lot to say about this show. I ended up going with some friends more or less on a whim. I have their first record and think that it's fine as far as poppy/ear candy type stuff goes. The opener, Twin Sister, has been getting a lot of press, but we mainly hung out on the deck catching up pre-show.

So the Pains of Being Pure at Heart came out and did their thing, actually playing "This Love Is F---ing Right" second on the setlist, but the whole thing just didn't do a whole lot for me. They were competent but did not bring a whole lot to the table that was so compelling. It's tough when the last band I saw was 2 nights of Wilco, who set a pretty high bar in terms of musicianship and bringing the live goods.

Great time with my friends, just a fairly meh show ...

Wilco, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 10/01-02/2011

2011-10-05T13:32:00.000-04:00

I'd had a good, long break from Wilco, and I kind of needed it. They remain one of my favorites, but their shows had become a bit rote for me by the time Wilco (The Album) had come out. I'd seen them get downright magical at the Ryman back in the mid-aughts, so I was feeling pretty excited for 2 straight nights.

Night one, we had friends in town and pre-partied at home with some grilled out goodness and a nice pinot (what typical Wilco yuppie scum fans we are). By the time we got to the venue, the Hatch Show prints were all sold out and Nick Lowe had started his set. We actually kind of hung out and skipped Mr. Lowe, which I know is sacrilege, but we needed a breather.

We were sitting midway up in the balcony for night one, and it was definitely the "angrier" of the 2 nights, with Tweedy not getting into a lot of banter and kind of rocking through and featuring a few of the darker recent numbers ("Poor Places," "Bull Black Nova") before giving way to a lot of uptempo older cuts from AM and Being There to round things out. Some moments off the new album, especially "One Sunday Morning," were absolutely enthralling, while some were a bit flat. "Jesus Etc." hit me particularly hard for some reason. It was good stuff, great at times, but did not seem to hit those crazy highs that they were reaching circa A Ghost Is Born.

NIGHT ONE:

One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)
Poor Places
Art Of Almost
I Might
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
One Wing
Bull Black Nova
Rising Red Lung
Impossible Germany
Shouldn't Be Ashamed
Handshake Drugs
Standing O
Jesus, Etc.
Born Alone
War On War
Dawned On Me
A Shot in the Arm

Encore:
Whole Love
36 Inches High (Nick Lowe cover) (with Nick Lowe)
I Love My Label (Nick Lowe cover) (with Nick Lowe)
Box Full Of Letters
Walken
I'm the Man Who Loves You
Monday
Outtasite (Outta Mind)

Night 2 found us in about the seventh row on the main floor (see photo was above), which was pretty killer. The setlist would appear to be much darker, but the mood was much more jovial and light. I'd never heard "Less Than You Think" played live before, and you'd think that "Black Moon," "Ashes of ...," and a mid-set "One Sunday Morning" would be major downers, but it was more of a mellow, laid back vibe. Nels played one of Gregg Allman's old Les Pauls for "Impossible Germany" (and killed it, I thought). "I'll Fight" reminded me of how mediocre that last album was.

I was hoping for a bit more variety between the two nights, but I've seen them so many times over so many years that my expectations are probably a bit off the chart. Similar to their recent recorded output, I'd say that this was a very solid outing though not one that was going to break your heart.

NIGHT TWO:

Less Than You Think
Art Of Almost
I Might
Black Moon
Ashes of American Flags
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Pot Kettle Black
Born Alone
Side With The Seeds
One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)
I'll Fight
Impossible Germany
Open Mind
Handshake Drugs
Dawned On Me
A Shot in the Arm
Hummingbird

Encore:
Whole Love
36 Inches High (with Nick Lowe)
I Love My Label (with Nick Lowe)
California Stars
The Late Greats
Heavy Metal Drummer
Red-Eyed and Blue ->
I Got You (At the End of the Century)

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC - 8/5/2011

2011-08-16T11:30:00.001-04:00

We sped over to Asheville from Nashville on Friday afternoon. We made it in about 4 hours and missed Knoxville traffic, which was huge. We got checked in at the Hotel Indigo (very nice) and made it over planning a late dinner afterward. The sold out show was at the Orange Peel, a venue I love ... a great space with great acoustics and amazing beer selection. We mainly enjoyed Lagunitas IPA's, which was a treat. We were also able to meet up with some friends who were in from Charlotte, which was pretty cool and a nice surprise.

The show ... WOW. They just killed it, and the new songs, which had seemed sleepy to me on the record, just slayed live. Some highlights include "Look at Miss Ohio," Gillian doing a folky jig during "Six White Horses," a killer "Revelator" after which Dave looked pretty intensely shaken, and getting to hear "Wrecking Ball" during the first encore. I only got a couple of photos and one video, as they were discouraging camera use.

Of note, we had the late night menu at Lexington Ave Brewery (meh - I hear the full menu is killer, though) and one of the best breakfasts I've ever had at Tupelo Honey Cafe on Saturday.

Scarlet Town
Elvis Presley Blues
Ruination Day, Pt 2
The Way It Goes
The Way It Will Be
I'm Not Afraid To Die
I Want To Sing That Rock and Roll
Annabelle
Dark Turn of Mind
Look at Miss Ohio

Down Along the Dixie Line
Hard Times
Tennessee
Six White Horses
Sweet Tooth
Revelator
Silver Dagger
Red Clay Halo

Encore:
Wrecking Ball
The Way That It Ends
White Rabbit

Encore 2:
Ruby
I'll Fly Away

Bon Iver w/ the Rosebuds, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 7/27/2011

2011-07-28T20:54:00.002-04:00

Having seen Bon Iver touring For Emma ... a few times (mainly at festivals, truth be told), I was pretty excited to see how this new, expanded sound was going to translate live and affect the old tunes. Friends and I met up at Puckett's beforehand for a beer, which was probably not the best choice after all, but there really aren't all that many great, low key options near the Ryman.

We completely missed the Rosebuds, who have a tune or two that I like, but were there for the main show. The beginning 5 tunes were incredibly strong and super tight. "Holocene" is up there with anything he's done yet. The middle section dragged for me big time, but then came "Re: Stacks" followed by an incredibly strong run of his other really great new songs ("Calgary" and "Beth/Rest") and a great closer in "For Emma."

The encore was great, esp. the age old Ryman move of playing "Skinny Love" sans amplification at the edge of the stage. It goes without saying, but his voice live is something to behold. Great show.

Perth
Minnesota, WI
Holocene
Towers
Creature Fear -> Team
Beach Baby
Hinnom, TX
Wash.
Blood Bank
If Hollywood Don't Need You (Don Williams cover)
Re: Stacks
Calgary
Beth/Rest
For Emma

Encore:
Flume
The Wolves
Skinny Love

Bill Callahan, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN - 7/17/2011

2011-07-20T08:42:00.000-04:00

My buddy and I somehow rallied on a "school" night to hit this show. Being on the guest list helps, as there isn't as much investment. We headed in around 9:45 to a pretty rough opening act (a spoken word, experimental kind of thing) and just chilled on the deck.

We then made it in and grabbed some stools to sit back and enjoy it. Bill had a 2-piece backing band consisting of a guitarist and a drummer mainly playing brushes They really helped flesh things out and were quite tight with Bill. He was quite animated and seemed to be digging it, playing acoustic guitar the whole show.

I didn't take down the whole setlist, and we left prior to the end of the main set, anyway, because we are old and needed sleep, but he played most of Apocalypse as well as a few classics such as "Eid Maw Clack Shaw," "Too Many Birds" (which killed) and "Our Anniversary."

I wish that this show had started at 9 instead, but such is life.

U2 w/ Florence and the Machine, Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, TN - 7/2/2011

2011-07-17T12:02:00.000-04:00

My fiancee moved to Nashville in January this year, and when we found out that both Paul Simon and U2 (her 2 favorites) would be playing within 5 miles of our home during her first year here, it felt quite special. With that in mind, I gave her some amazing seats (the Red Zone) for her 30th birthday, and we had been anticipating this show for almost a year. In addition, this weekend was a huge party of friends and family all coming in and filling the house, making this a true celebration.

We all started the day with a cookout and many beers at our house. Since we live about 2 miles from the stadium, we took a cab over, grabbed a pre-show drink in PF Chang's (which was insanity in and of itself), and made our way in. The Red Zone was a pretty amazing vantage for this show. We got ourselves a couple pints of Guinness and waited for the show.

Florence and the Machine opened and were a complete snoozefest. I had expected a bit more of a show from this outfit, but it was just not clicking.

U2 came out to a full stadium, and the feelings were pretty magical and, honestly, a bit nostalgic for me. The opening suite of numbers from Achtung Baby was the highlight of the whole night for me. Just amazing tunes, and it was cool that they were comfortable playing them in order like that. So many other highlights, as well, including their first performance ever of "The Wanderer," a rousing ending with "All I Want Is You," and just a slew of stone cold classic tunes.

My only complaint: the encore featured "Hold Me ..." instead of "Ultraviolet," but that's about my only negative comment. Well, that, and the fact that getting cab after the show was nothing short of impossible.

It was a great show and a magic weekend for us.

Setlist:

Even Better Than The Real Thing
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Until The End Of The World
I Will Follow
Get On Your Boots
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / The Wanderer (2 verses)
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight / Discothèque (snippet)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On

ENCORE:

One
Where The Streets Have No Name
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender
All I Want Is You

Notes: This is just the second U2 concert ever in Nashville, 29 years and 7 months after the first. It is also the first U2 concert anywhere in the state of Tennessee since 14 May 1997, Memphis. The snippet of The Wanderer is quite lengthy, running to two verses, and had never been played live before. At the end of the show, Bono pulls a member of the crowd who happens to be blind on stage to play guitar; he performs All I Want Is You with the band, dedicating it to his wife.

The Long Players perform STICKY FINGERS in its entirety, Frist Museum, Nashville, TN - 6/24/2011

2011-07-07T13:29:00.000-04:00

In honor of the Andy Warhol retrospective (which we saw at the Wexner in Columbus, OH, and found amazing) opening, the Frist had the Long Players on board to play Sticky Fingers all the way through. The Long Players are basically ace studio musicians with various folks taking lead vocals for each song.

Knowing this was the Frist, we got there right at 6:00 PM, and sure enough, they were launching right into "Brown Sugar" as we walked up. One cool thing was that they had Bobby Keys, the original saxophonist on the album, sitting in with them. Another cool thing was that one of the guest vocalists was Dan Baird of Georgia Satellites and solo fame.

One great highlight was Keys telling the story of recording "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?" in one take (!) and how Mick hated sax solos in rock songs. The band was very tight, of course, though at times they were too tight, in that they lost some of that Stones swing/swagger on tracks like "Sway." They killed "Can't You Hear ..." and "Moonlight Mile," though.

They played a second set of other Stones tunes, but we had to split before then. Sure enough, they played Sticky Fingers in original order and quite spot on ...

Okkervil River w/ Titus Andronicus and Future Islands, Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH - 6/11/2011

2011-06-22T13:57:00.000-04:00

We were up in Columbus for a wedding and decided somewhat last minute to catch this show, starting with a lovely meal with friends at Third & Hollywood (still great). It wasn't too crowded, and we walked in, grabbed a couple beers and settled in for the last few songs from Future Islands, whom I thought sounded great. Very Joy Division-ish. Not a lot of stage charisma, but it's something I could imagine listening to on my stereo.

Next up was Titus Andronicus, and I had high hopes for seeing these guys (and gal) bring it live. Their sound is just not my thing at all, though: super chaotic, no discernible melody, unable to tell one song from another. They were charasmatic and had me rooting for them, but I just didn't enjoy them at all.

Finally was Okkervil River. I saw them play an absolute knockout show back in 2005 in Austin, TX. They are basically a different band now, though - much more professional and slick. Also lacking a little of the passion/fire/what have you that they once carried. There were some highlights, such as the slowed down, acoustic "No Key, No Plan" and the "hits" toward the end.

We ended up leaving before the encore, so we missed Westfall, which is a bummer. It was great seeing friends and hanging, but the show left something to be desired for me.

White Shadow Waltz
A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene
The Latest Toughs
Rider
Starry Stairs
Wake and Be Fine
Piratess
The Valley
John Allyn Smith Sails
No Key, No Plan (Acoustic)
So Come Back, I Am Waiting
Your Past Life as a Blast
For Real
Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe
Lost Coastlines

Encore:
The Rise
Westfall
Unless It's Kicks

Same As It Ever Was - Talking Heads Tribute Band, The Frist Museum, Nashville, TN - 5/27/2011

2011-06-15T12:40:00.000-04:00

My old friend Michael was in town for a long weekend, which was in and of itself great, and this little show happened to be going on. We had dinner prior at the Local Taco (nice!) and a drink before the show at the Flying Saucer (meh) before heading in. This was not a mind-blowing show or anything, but the weather was great, the sun was setting, the location behind the Frist was fantastic and the band did a reasonably good Talking Heads with a lot of the hits, including "Naive Melody," "Burning Down the House," "Girlfriend is Better," and "Crosseyed and Painless."

Paul Simon, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 5/19/2011

2011-05-24T09:53:00.000-04:00

We were pretty dang excited about this one. When Paul Simon announced that he was not only playing Nashville but actually playing the Ryman, my jaw kind of dropped. Knowing this was probably once in a lifetime, we sprang for some good seats and just went all out. I've loved his work since before I really had a concept of music, and the same goes for my better half.

We pre-partied at a business dinner at Virago, which was yummy but a bit rushed on our side, as we had to get over to the Ryman before this thing started. We looked for Hatch Show Prints, of course, but they were not offered for this show. Bummer.

We got to our seats ...

... just before 7:30, and by 7:40 he and his band had taken the stage. (Glad we left dinner early.)

They sounded great, volume was just right, crowd was appropriately into it. I got lost in my own little world for a huge part of this show, not really concious of the surroundings, which was a cool feeling. The band was large (8 or so folks) but so very right on and rarely if ever feeling like too much. And great players, of course.

The highlights were numerous, and my personals were kind of obvious for me ... Mother and Child Reunion, That Was Your Mother and Hearts and Bones was killer three songs in a row, as were Peace Like a River, The Obvious Child (which was stunningly good) and The Only Living Boy in New York.

The first encore was great, but the second encore was stupendous, esp. a very affecting reading of "The Boxer" with Jerry Douglas sounding amazing on dobro (and the whole crowd singing along loudly). An unplanned closer of The Boy In The Bubble was a huge treat for me, too.

If I had to have a complaint, it's that I thought we'd get Graceland in Nashville, but no dice. This will be a tough show to beat in 2011 for me ... he sounded amazingly vital, the new stuff sounded great even stacked against the old stuff ... a life-affirming show ...

Crazy Love, Vol. II
Dazzling Blue
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
So Beautiful or So What
Slip Slidin' Away
Vietnam (Jimmy Cliff cover)
Mother and Child Reunion
That Was Your Mother
Hearts and Bones
Mystery Train (Little Junior's Blue Flames cover)
Wheels (Chet Atkins cover)
Darling Lorraine
Rewrite
Peace Like a River
The Obvious Child
The Only Living Boy in New York
Love Is Eternal Sacred Light
Questions for the Angels
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
Gumboots

Encore 1:
The Sound of Silence (solo acoustic)
Kodachrome
Gone At Last
Here Comes the Sun
Late in the Evening

Encore 2:
Still Crazy After All These Years
Bye Bye Love w/ Don Everly (The Everly Brothers cover)

The Boxer (with Jerry Douglas on Dobro - first time played on this tour)

Encore 3:
The Boy in the Bubble

Interpol, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 5/2/2011

2011-05-18T15:54:00.000-04:00

This was a show I went into feeling pretty meh about and left feeling the same way. Even kind of hoping it would end soon. I really haven't been into anything by Interpol since the first record, and that continues to this day.

Met up with friends at the downtown Broadway Brewhouse and then made it over to the show, completely missing the openers. Got into our seats, the show started, and it was just very rote and rock by the numbers. What can I say? Not my thing anymore I guess ... for the sake of completeness, a setlist:

Success
Say Hello To The Angels
Narc
Hands Away
Barricade
Rest My Chemistry
Specialist
Lights
Take You On A Cruise
Summer Well
NYC
The Heinrich Maneuver
Memory Serves
Not Even Jail

Encore:
The Lighthouse
Evil
The New
Slow Hands

Three Ring Circle, The Station Inn, Nashville, TN - 4/20/2011

2011-04-27T10:37:00.000-04:00

We had had dinner at Virago in/near the Gulch for a professional event and, being the neighborhood, decided to pay a spur of the moment visit to the Station Inn. I had read about a sort of bluegrass all star band called Three Ring Circle doing a show, so we figured we'd check it out.

The Station Inn has the coolest vibe and history-soaked feeling of almost any venue in the city. We got a pitcher of Bud Light and settled in. It was about half full. The band came on just after 9:00 and played a pretty killer newgrass set (we only stayed for the first set, as it was a "school night"). The dobro player was especially ridiculous. It's definitely a Nashville perk to be able to see world class bluegrass players on a random Wednesday night with about 100 other folks, no big deal, just hanging out and enjoying it.

Rush, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN - 4/3/2011

2011-04-26T14:30:00.002-04:00

We had just flown in from South Carolina where we had been for an engagement party (and amazing meals at FIG, Hominy Grill and the Marina Variety Store [see photo of softshell crab, eggs, hashbrowns, etc. to the right - amazing]) a few hours before heading downtown to see Rush. We had time for a quick meal at the Local Taco and made it down to the Bridgestone in time to see many dudes filing into the venue. We grabbed some beers and made it to our seats with time to spare. The stage was pretty geeked out with tons of lights and odd contraptions.

The band came out to a very odd, somewhat overlong video intro (again, super geeky) and launched into a killer opening twofer of "The Spirit of Radio" and "Time Stand Still," a somewhat boring middle of the first set, and then a fantastic ending of the set with an especially great "Marathon" (not one of my favorites of theirs). The second set, with Moving Pictures played in its entirety, was a real highlight. The band sounded super tight to me. We made it to "2112" when fatigue set in. We made it out during that song, and it pains me to have missed "La Villa Strangiato," but after "YYZ," I think I'll live.

It was a fun, tight show, though this is a band followed by obsessives who are going to love all the new songs (some of which are dreadful) and basically go bananas for every single part of the show. What's most impressive to me is that, as far as I can tell, it really is just the 3 guys on stage making all this insanely complex, precise racket. And seeing Neil Peart do his drum solo is something to behold ...

A fun, geeked out good time ...

Video Intro (Rash: The Real History of Rush Act 1)
The Spirit of Radio
Time Stand Still
Presto
Stick It Out
Workin' Them Angels
Leave That Thing Alone
Faithless
BU2B

Freewill

Marathon

Subdivisions

Intermission

Set 2:

Video Intro (Rash: The Real History of Rush Act 2)

Tom Sawyer

Red Barchetta

YYZ

Limelight

The Camera Eye

Witch Hunt

Vital Signs

Caravan

Drum Solo (Love 4 Sale)

Closer to the Heart (with Alex acoustic intro)

2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx

Far Cry

Encore:

La Villa Strangiato

Working Man

Video Outro (I Still Love You Man)

Prairie Home Companion, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 3/26/2011

2011-04-25T14:11:00.001-04:00

Going to this show definitely entailed a certain acceptance of getting older, hopefully graying gracefully and with dignity. I've sporadically enjoyed the Prairie Home Companion radio show for years, somewhat secretively, and knowing that Garrison Keillor is planning retirement in 2013, I felt like this was quite a chance to see the show live.

Much to our surprise, there were a lot of young faces at this sold out show on a rainy, gusty Saturday. It was interesting to be in the Ryman during daylight hours with sunshine pouring through the stained glass windows. They were actually selling beer (another shocker for me), so we grabbed some drinks and made it to our seats.

The musical numbers spread throughout the evening included Sam Bush, the Civil Wars (who sounded great live, though their album is a bit slick for my taste), Sara Watkins and Emmylou Harris. The comedy bits included some of the musicians, Keillor sang with the various artists as he is wont to do, the news from Lake Woebegon was pretty enchanting but on the lighter side. Keillor called Broadway a National Park of honkeytonks, which I think is a pretty cool descriptoin. It was pretty magical to see these performers (including the PHC regulars) put on such a production and keep it old-timey yet very relevant and fun.

We capped this off with a trip to Robert's, which as always did not disappoint ...

Guilty Pleasures, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN - 3/5/2011

2011-04-25T09:58:00.000-04:00

This evening found us heading out to the Mercy Lounge en masse in party mode (meaning we were up for a night out past midnight). The Guilty Pleasures always put on a fun show with a totally oddball mix of 80's songs, from the obvious to the sublimely obscure. This was no exception, and it again really showed off the talent of these guys.

The coolest part, though, and the super memorable aspect of the show, was when Jonathon Cain of Journey joined the band for "Faithfully," "Touchin' Lovin' Squeezin'," "Separate Ways," and "Don't Stop Believing." His daughter joined, as well, as she is an aspiring singer. He sounded great and took lead vocals along with his daughter on "Faithfully." I didn't realize that he wrote/co-wrote all those songs. Pretty cool to see him in such a tiny venue when Journey still plans arena gigs.

Definitely an "only in Nashville" type of thing ...

The Dismemberment Plan, Paradise, Boston, MA - 1/28/2011

2011-02-07T15:52:00.002-05:00

It's funny how excited I was for this show, being a fan of only their last 2 records and not really not a fan of their other output. I saw the D Plan twice in their original existence, once at Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill/Carrboro, NC, and then on their farewell tour (July 2003) at Echo Lounge in Atlanta, GA. The latter was an especially rocking show.

We decided to make a Boston (family, friends)/New York City (friends, food, shows) trip with this as an added bonus, timing it all right with a big nasty snow storm. Amazingly, we got up there and got around without much issue at all. Foodwise on this particular day, I enjoyed a Legal Seafoods lobster roll (not the greatest ever, but dependable), pizza from Figs in Beacon Hill (excellent) and a post-show Chinese pigout at the Peach Farm (not for the faint of heart).

My sister, on first moving to Boston, had lived a couple of T stops down from the Paradise in Allston, MA, but I had oddly never been to a show at this venerable venue. That was exciting in and of itself to me. Similar to other storied venuse like First Avenue or Exit/In, they are not shy about promting the parade of rock legends that had once played there. I love that stuff, though.

Openers the Forms were pretty bad, like a less inventive (but heavily indebted to Animal Collective. Then came the D Plan, who both looked and sounded exactly as though 8 years had not passed since I last saw them. It was uncanny, almost reverse aging. The beginning of the set was great for me, heavily drawn from Change and Emergency & I. They sounded very tight, and the drumming continues to be amazing with these guys. Travis is still a funny, joyful frontman. The end of the main set and the beginning of the encore were heavy on the jittery early tunes, of which I'm not much of a fan. The closing with "Spider in the Snow" and "Back and Forth" really saved it for me, though. They covered almost all the bases and didn't leave out any hits. Glad I made this trek ...

The Face of the Earth

A Life of Possibilities
Automatic Follow Through
You Are Invited
Sentimental Man
The City
The First Anniversary of Your Last Phone Call
Time Bomb
What Do You Want Me To Say?
Come Home
The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich
Gyroscope

If I Don't Write

Girl O'Clock

I Love A Magician

Ellen and Ben

Do the Standing Still

OK, Joke's Over

The Ice of Boston (see photo)
That's When the Party Started
Spider In The Snow
Back and Forth

The Walkmen, Exit/In, Nashville, TN - 1/15/2011

2011-01-20T12:26:00.001-05:00

I think that there is nary a better band playing in the country right now than the Walkmen. They have put out a remarkable string of albums going back to their debut and are making music for the ages. To put it another way: I was psyched for this show.

We finally tried NY Pie in West Nashville before the rocking ensued, and it was pretty great. According to the Exit/In website, there was no opener with the Walkmen going on at 9, so we ended up getting there way too early, but it was fine as lots of friends came out.

The openers ended up being Lower Dens, who sounded great. They very much had the early 80's new wave thing down, but the singer had some pipes. I kind of wish they had ended their set a little earlier, as they went on a bit too long, but they were good. As I was grabbing a beer during their set, I got a chance to shake hands with Hamilton, the Walkmen's frontman, and thank him for coming back to Nashville. He was gracious.

So the Walkmen come out with no fanfare at all. The crowd was nice and full but not crazy. We were pretty front and center, much more so than normal. And what can I say? They absolutely killed. One of the better shows of the nascent year, but I don't see much that could top it. The Nashville Scene did a nice write-up with lots of pics, too. I can hardly express how good these guys are, how amazing their songs are, how many classic tunes they could play but didn't ... just about perfect ...

Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone (couldn't think of that one before ...)
Angela Surf City
In The New Year
138th Street (!!!)
Blue as Your Blood
Woe Is Me
Little House of Savages (!!!!)
All My Great Designs
Victory
While I Shovel The Snow (best song of the night - transcendent)
On The Water
Canadian Girl (!!!!!)
All Hands on the Cook
Juveniles

New Country (just Paul and Ham)
The Rat
We've Been Had (!!!!!!!!!!!)

Guided by Voices w/ Times New Viking, Cannery Ballroom, Nashville, TN - 1/14/2011

2011-01-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

I first saw the "classic" GBV line-up in 1995 at the Masquerade in Atlanta, GA. We drove down without tickets (5 hours from my South Carolina hometown), rocked out to them with support from Chavez (!!) and Sixteen Deluxe, chowed down post-show at a Waffle House and then drove back home, getting back to Sumter at 7 in the morning. It was fairly epic. GBV was touring Alien Lanes and were every bit as awesome as I could have imagined. They opened with "Shocker in Gloomtown," ended the main set with "Echos Myron," and basically left me speechless.

I proceeded to see the newer incarnations of GBV multiple times over the years, including four (!) times on their farewell tour in 2004. I was and remain a bit of a fan. When they announced the classic line-up tour for 2010, I was a bit peeved at myself for not making the effort to see them in Vegas or Columbus, but I just couldn't swing it.

Lo and behold, they decide to come down to Nashville for a big rock show. My fiancee moved down here more or less the same day as this show, but she still made it out there with me for what proved to be a long night of rock. We met up with friends and actually grabbed a great spot, which in the Cannery is a huge deal.

First up was Times New Viking, whom I'd seen in Columbus before. They've never really done it for me, and tonight was no exception. It was fun enough, I guess, but nothing too fantastic.

Without too much down time in between, Uncle Bob and company took the stage. They proceeded to rock a very long, exhaustive setlist that should pop up on http://www.gbvdb.com/ any day now and from which I'll transfer to here. They pretty much hit all the classics, even hitting a couple tunes from Mag Earwhig!. The band sounded tight-ish though not overly professional. Bob was great as ever, drinking hard, doing big kicks, and sounding great. Tobin Sprout looked the same as in 1995. The rest of the band looked a good deal older/worse for the wear, but they delivered the goods.

Similar to seeing Pavement last year, it was a great nostalgia trip but not exactly a "great" show. I had a blast, I sang along, I loved every minute of it, but it definitely reminded me that you can't bottle the magic of a certain time/place (see 1995 above) and recreate it all over again. All of which also underscored the very powerful reaction I had to seeing the Walkmen the following night, i.e. seeing a band in their prime and at the height of their powers.

We left after the first encore, and they apparently came back for a second encore that included "Motor Away" (doh!). Also, Jim James was spotted by friends at the show, though we missed him personally.

Wolf Parade, Exit/In, Nashville, TN - 11/22/2010

2011-01-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

Wolf Parade had already put on one of my favorite shows of 2010 with their set at Pitchfork, so getting to see them at the Exit/In was pretty darn exciting. They released one of my favorite albums of the 2000's (Apologies to the Queen Mary) and one of my top 10 favorite songs maybe ever ("Shine A Light"). Good stuff.

We got inside for the opening a band, a Modest Mouse-by-way-of-Japan band whose name escapes me now. They were good in a goofy, fun way.

Wolf Parade hit the stage and opened with "You Are a Runner ..." and really didn't let up from there. One of the best parts of this show was that it was at a perfect capacity - not so full that you couldn't move but also very high energy and with everyone totally into it. I kind of took down a setlist but kind of didn't. They played "Palm Road," "Language City" (which features maybe their best outro), a killer "I'll Believe In Anything"/"This Heart's On Fire" in the middle similar to Pitchfork, and an encore that included, yes, "Shine a Light." They closed the whole thing out with "Kissing the Beehive."

Solid show, great band. I didn't get around to writing this until 2011, so it's a bit skimpy on the details.

Grinderman, Cannery Ballroom, Nashville, TN - 11/19/2010

2010-11-30T13:00:00.001-05:00

Good Lord was this a rocking show. I'm a late comer to the Nick Cave cult, having really gotten into him probably around 2004 or so with the release of his B-sides collection (which is quite awesome, by the way). My buddy Kevin, a long-time Cave devotee who has seen him with the Bad Seeds multiple times on multiple continents throughout the years, and I bought tickets for this the day they went on sale.

It had been a while since I last hit the Cannery, a notoriously not great place to see (and especially to hear) a show, what with it's odd shape and tendency for a lot of sound bouncing around the room, but it's Nick Cave et al - what are you going to do?

We grabbed dinner at McCabe's beforehand and missed the openers entirely. By the time we arrived, it was pretty packed out, and without much ado, the lights went down and Nick Cave came out for what was a slamming, ultra tight rockfest. He is one crazy awesome frontman, not quite as frenetic as Iggy Pop but extremely arresting and hard not to watch.

They came on very strong, basically playing "the hits," opening with "Mickey Mouse" and rocking through "Get It On," "Heathen Child," some other rockers off their two records and culminating in a scorching "No Pussy Blues." The biggest issue is that after that crescendo toward the end of the main set, it went all mid-tempo and gooey for the remainder of the set. It would've been basically impossible to keep up that level of rock, but it still kind of petered out a bit at the end. But the highs were very high indeed ... fantastic stuff ...

The Cannery, of note, offered little good viewing space unless you were at the very front. The sound was loud and clear where we were (straight back from the stage). I've found that you have line up with the stage and can't be caught over at the bar side for decent sound. It was a tolerable space for the show, though it remains my least favorite Nashville venue by a long shot.

Deerhunter, Exit/In, Nashville, TN - 11/10/2010

2010-11-18T20:44:00.000-05:00

This show was a long time coming in the sense that I had not been able to check much out recently due to studying and - finally - taking some big professional exams. I finished my last one this afternoon and was in full on release mode. We got there just in time for Deakin's set (of Animal Collective), which sounded like Animal Collective minus much melody. I have the record, so maybe it will grow on me ...

Deerhunter came out to a pretty packed house and from the get go sounded awesome. They did their usual thing, which in my eyes includes ending each song in a noisy meltdown that then goes straight into the next song. Their rhythm section is so locked in that it really works. Their live sound has become so minimalist in a lot of ways that it reminds me most of a Krautrock type of vibe, which is right up my alley.

They played the hits, including "Nothing Ever Happened," which killed as usual. Probably my biggest issue was that it ended around 1 in the morning, and I'm getting old, kids. Great show ...

The National, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 10/3/2010

2010-10-04T11:30:00.000-04:00

I've been loving these guys for a few years now, as has the rest of the music nerd nation, it seems. One of my good friends was raving about Alligator for a long time, and I was on the fence when it was coming out. (Interestingly, he saw them in Brooklyn with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! opening during the Alligator era, and over half the crowd left after CYHSY! were done ... foolish hipsters.) I finally saw them live opening for Arcade Fire on the Neon Bible tour and right after Boxer was released, and the devotion (esp. to Alligator) has grown since then.

I've now seen them a number of times, most often in festival settings, and it's been amazing to me the extent to which they just bring it - emotional, cathartic, a big time high. I'm thinking specifically of seeing them at Bonnaroo this year, Pitchfork last year and Lollapalooza a couple years ago. Those shows were all just silly good ...

Needless to say, I was excited to see them at the Ryman. We skipped Owen Pallet and hung out in downtown Nashville instead, something I don't do all that often. This included beers at Robert's and then greasy goodness and more beers at Broadway Brewhouse. We headed into the venue about 10 minutes before they started, and the crowd was good and into it, standing up and cheering, etc. (Nashville's been on a streak of good crowds lately ... I hope this keeps up.)

My biggest beef with the show was that it felt a little phoned in to me. The intensity that I've gotten used to with them was just not quite as apparent. There were some great moments, but it never completely gelled for me. On top of that, it just kills me when bands decide to leave out their strongest material ("Secret Meeting," "All the Wine," "Ada," "Start a War"), the stuff that really made them who they are. I know they have to change it up sometimes (which bands like Wilco are sometimes terrible at doing, which also bothers me), but the changes were for the worse at this show.

However ... they completely saved what was a mediocre show from my perspective with an acoustic, no amplification, hear-a-pin-drop version of "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" to end the show. Wow. The last time I saw this go down was Jeff Tweedy at the end of a Wilco show playing "Acuff-Rose" unplugged at the edge of the stage. A fantastic end, a ho-hum lead up.

Runaway
Anyone's Ghost
Mistaken for Strangers
Bloodbuzz, OH
Slow Show
Squalor Victoria
Afraid of Everyone
Available
Conversation 16
Apartment Story
Sorrow
Abel
Green Gloves
England
Fake Empire

90-Mile Water Wall
Mr. November
Terrible Love
About Today
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks (acoustic, edge of stage, no amplification)

Pixies, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 9/11/2010

2010-09-14T11:31:00.000-04:00

I picked up Doolittle by the Pixies when I was about 12 or 13 years old. I heard them on MTV's 120 Minutes and was blown away. That album, along with REM's entire early output, Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, and the Cure's Distentegration (and a few others, like the B-52's and Hoodoo Gurus), was the start of a lifelong obsession with music. (What a way to start - thanks, MTV [and my older sister and the older siblings of my friends].)

I had the good fortune to see the Pixies twice when they first reunited in 2004, once at the Ryman but quite spectacularly at Coachella (where they were immediately followed by Radiohead - not too shabby). That Coachella set is one of the better concert experiences of my life.

So here we are, putting together one of my favorite albums ever with one of my favorive live experiences ever, yet I was going into this one pretty nonchalantly.

We had dinner beforehand at Cabana with some friends and then found downtown to be just hopping - nary a parking spot to be found. Kind of strange, but good to see. We arrived as F*** Buttons were finishing a very loud, very boring opening set.

Without much ado (though some very rude youngsters told us that we needed to move out of "their" seats - just like that - when they were in the wrong section altogether - why be rude, people?), the Pixies came out after a short silent film that included parts of Un Chien Andalou (the inspiration for "Debaser"). They rocked about 5 B-sides and then launched into "Debaser." They sounded awesome, the crowd was just about sold out and totally on their feet and loving every minute of it (how un-Nashville, yet again - love it), and it kind of flew by all too fast.

What can one say about Doolittle at this point? It's fantastic from start to end, and hearing it now reminds one all over again that without this sound, there would've been no "alternative 90's" decade of music. They played a first encore with the more famous B-sides (including the UK surf version of "Wave of Mutilation" and ending with "Into the White").

They surprisingly came out for a second encore with all the houselights up (past curfew?) and ripped through "Winterlong" (Neil Young cover), "Alison," "Dig for Fire" (had not heard them play this live yet), "Where Is My Mind?" and finally "Gigantic." They seemed to really be soaking up the enthusiasm of the crowd, etc. So glad I went to this ...

All Tomorrow's Parties New York Festival, Monticello, NY - 9/3-5/2010

2010-09-10T12:01:00.001-04:00

My third straight year back at ATP NY. My last 2 trips here had been amazing, and while the line-up wasn't as thrilling for me personally as the last 2 years, it's such an intimate and unique experience and always includes good friends such that seeing some things kind of new to me would just be icing on the cake to good times anyway.

9/3/2010 - Friday

I flew into Newark, NJ Friday morning without much issue, picked up my car, made the fairly quick 2-hour trip up to the Catskills without much ado and got settled in the charmingly delapidated Kutsher's by around 1 PM or so. My friends Matt and Nicole got in a couple hours later, and we were all relieved that they had relaxed last year's outside alcohol ban. Outside (as in "good") beer was technically not allowed, but they were not checking bags or being very uptight about it, so we brought in a couple of cases, mainly Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Souther Tier Double IPA and a sampler of Magic Hat. Made the weekend, I tell you.

First up was Aussie 80's post-punks the Scientists playing their first US show ever. The pre-show tunes were the Silver Jews, a good sign. They had a good, Nick Cave-ish blues rock thing going. Got a little same-y, though, and we only caught part of this.

Next was Mudhoney, and we sadly missed their opening "Touch Me, I'm Sick," but got to hear them rip through Superfuzz Big Muff and singles like "Sweet Little Thing Ain't Sweet No More." They sounded great, much better than when I last saw them in the mid-90's. Mark Arm's growl is just mighty. Great set.

No matter how much I'd listened to/read about/dreamed of seeing the Stooges, nothing could have prepared me for actually (finally) seeing them. My goodness ... Iggy was truly like a Tazmanian devil unleashed, just going bananas, stagediving over and over (as did a good many fans), and basically just unleashing his madness. They played Raw Power and then some choice cuts after that and sounded mighty:

Raw Power (in its entirety)
1970
noise
I've Got a Right
I Wanna Be your Dog
Open up and Bleed

ENCORE:
Fun House
No Fun

After a respite, we caught a few minutes of Sleep, some very heavy, very loud sludge/stoner metal. I could catch that they're good at what they do and are a pretty mighty, huge-sounding band, but it was really not my bag whatsoever. Sleep time indeed ...

9/4/2010 - Saturday

Ahhh ... a gorgeous, cool Saturday morning with a mild hangover and a day of rock awaiting me. I could tell that I'm certainly getting older/snobbier, as the delapidated accomodations, quaint as they may be and charming in their very disrepair, were getting to me a little. But it was a fine day for the rock. And it's around this time at any festival that the hanging out with your friends becomes just as important as the actual rocking out.

We started the day seeing the Sian Alice Group (theatrical, a bit much) and then the minimalist English, Krautrock-inspired Beak>, who were good but a bit boring. I was super-excited to see Tortoise up next, but as usual, they fell a little flat for me. Just very trancey and what not. I saw them in the 1990's, and they kind of rocked a bit more, but those days are done, I guess.

I took a break at this point for a wood-fired pizza that was quite yummy and saw Bob Boilen from All Songs Considered on NPR there in line. I didn't have the stones to say HEY to him, though. Weird that I'd totally almost bearhug Nick Cave (see last year's report) but couldn't muster a mumbled Hullo to Bob Boilen. More beer?

This was the big night to rock, though, so we started with Hallogallo, the reinvention of the Krautrock stalwarts Neu!. I was excited for this but, in typical fashion for me this weekend, found it boring.

Then came a 1990's favorite for me, Bardo Pond. Playing on the second stage does no one any favors at this festival, as the main stage sounds amazing while this stage straight up doesn't, but they were loud and pretty huge and were playing the first song off Amanita when we walked in. They also played "Tommy Gun Angel" off Lapsed during their set. I liked it a lot, but I knew that already.

Back on the main stage, we checked out Shellac (did their Shellac thing, which is fine but a bit predictable and repetitive) and then the Breeders (who sounded unpracticed and out of sorts - a mess). I actually took a nap during Explosions in the Sky, whom my friends totally dug. But I had to be ready for Sonic Youth.

I've seen Sonic Youth multiple times over the years, with my first time being in 1995 when they headlined Lollapalooza (which was a tour back then - I saw them in Raleigh, NC, on a stop that included Pavement, Superchunk, the Jesus Lizard, Beck, Cypress Hill and Hole). I've seen them be both great and kind of awful, but I'm a big, old school fan of them. I had last seen them probably almost a decade ago, so this was a big selling point for me. And they were the best I've seen them ever. Just the 4 of them, very focused, rocking out, playing nothing newer than Daydream Nation (which they played nearly half of). It was transcendent (and sounded awesome):

Candle (when they opened with those first notes, I nearly lost it)
The Sprawl
'Cross the Breeze
Catholic Block
Stereo Sanctity (!!!!!)
Eric's Trip
Death Valley 69 (!!!!!)
Shadow of a Doubt
Hey Joni
The Wonder
Shaking Hell

ENCORE:
White Kross

I stayed up after it just high on rock and roll. A great feeling.

9/5/2010 - Sunday

This was my fourth festival of the year, and I was feeling it. A little burned out, a little tired, a little sure that nothing was going to beat Sonic Youth or the Stooges at this point. We headed into town for pizza to start the day and then got back for the rock.

First up were a Nashville-connected band, the Greenhornes. They sounded good and very true to their retro sound. It wasn't all the spectacular, though, and got a bit same-y after a while. I checked out maybe 15 minutes of F***ed Up, whom I just don't get and can't get into at all. And I like a lot of punk and metal but just don't enjoy the straight up hardcore stuff.

On the second stage, we saw Vivian Girls (whom I like but who were pretty lame live, all things considered) and then Wooden Shjips (super loud and rocking, very good psychedelia). We regrouped and mellowed out to Hope Sandoval on the main stage (very languid, a bit slow for me) and then caught the whole set from Dungen, who were quite good, especially when they rocked out a bit more. I ended my night seeing T Model Ford, who was charming but predictably underwhelming.

Due to a 5 AM wake-up time on Monday in order to get back to Newark and catch my flight home, I opted out of seeing a few bands that I would have normally checked out ... most notably I missed Boris/Sunn(((O))) performing what must've been a crazy loud blast of feedback, both Raekwon and the GZA from Wu fame, and the Black Angels. But the old man needed sleep ...

I'll spare everyone the details of flying out of Newark (slightly painful but no major hitches) and say that I had a blast, even if the music was my least favorite of the 3 years. Not sure what the future holds for me returning to so many festivals, though I know that every spring I end up getting excited all over again, so never say never ...

Worth checking out are reviews (with great photos) from:

The A.V. Club

Brooklynvegan

Pitchfork

The Black Keys, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 8/12/2010

2010-08-20T18:01:00.000-04:00

When I think of seeing the Black Keys, I think, "Solid." Straight up solid, can't complain, no frills, hit the jugular rock. I've been seeing them since 2005, and they really have been getting better and better at what they do.

After drinks at 12 South Taproom, we headed over to the show (back in the balcony at the Ryman). Missed the openers the Morning Benders, whom I actually wanted to see, but such is life.

Show was sold out, pretty packed, and folks were actually standing and getting excited and enjoying themselves for change. Not very Nashville at all, I'm happy to report for a change.

As per usual, they opened with "Thickfreakness" and ran through about 6 hits as a two-piece (very similar to when I saw them at Bonnaroo in June) including "Stack Shot Billy" and "Girl Is On My Mind." Then they brought out the keyboardist and bassist for the new tunes. They still sounded good, and the accompaniment is pretty minimalist, but here's my theory: having those 2 guys play with them forces them to tighten up so much that it takes away the looseness that makes them so powerful and, dare I say it, special. That sense of being on the edge of careening off the tracks is sorely missed.

They finished up the main set as a two-piece again and then encored with one song as a four-piece and a final tune as two-piece. Sorry, no setlist. Really enjoyed this one, loved the crowd being into it (why can't all Nashville shows be this way?), and as usual was not disappointed by the Keys.

Arcade Fire, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 8/9/2010

2010-08-19T11:33:00.000-04:00

On the heels of playing 2 straight (almost or possibly completely sold out?) shows at Madison Square Garden (capacity: 18,200), the Arcade Fire pulled into Nashville to play the legendary Ryman (capacity: 2,362). I was kind of excited, to say the least. I'd also been digging on the latest release, The Suburbs, in a big way.

Our posse met up for pre-show drinks at 12 South Taproom and then headed over to the venue. I unloaded my extra ticket (at face value, thank you very much) and headed in. We had main floor, off-to-the-side seats, which I was nervous about as you don't really want to be way under the balcony at this venue, but they were turned out pretty great (see photo to the left).

The show was pretty epic, and this is a band who don't have many duds in their catalog. (I still love Neon Bible, no matter what the consensus is.) The new tunes, esp. the "big" ones like "Sprawl II" and "We Used To Wait," were sweeping, and the classics from Funeral were as epic as ever. This was probably my last chance to see them at a small-ish venue, and I'm glad I made it ...

(???'s = not quite sure but pretty sure)

Ready to Start
Laika
No Cars Go
Haiti
Half Light II - No Celebration (???)
The Suburbs
Deep Blue (???)
Intervention
Crown of Love
Tunnels
Suburban War (???)
We Used to Wait
Power Out
Rebellion (Lies)

Keep the Car Running
Sprawl II
Wake Up

Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, IL - 7/16-18/2010

2010-08-18T14:05:00.001-04:00

Friday - 7/16/2010

I flew into Chicago from Nashville after an all-too brief four hours or so of sleep. I met my lady at the airport (flying in from the C-bus), and we proceeded to our swank accomodation at the Hotel Palomar. Very nice. After a quick bite to eat and some finagling to get some new contact lenses for my girl, we headed up to Wrigley to see the Cubs beat the Phillies in what was a pretty great game. Great seats, too, as you can see from the photo.

That was a great way to start the trip, though it meant that we missed the opening set from the Tallest Man on Earth, which we were both looking forward to. But we got in there, met up with our other friends and started the rocking Friday evening post-Cubs goodness with Broken Social Scene. As usual for me, they were very meh ... some great songs, some forgettable songs, a bit of a mess of a stage show, but mainly lacking a central nugget to which I can latch onto. Their sound just isn't quite unique enough for me, maybe.

That left Modest Mouse as the headliner, and boy were they terrible. It all started out promising enough with "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes," but whereas I thought they might bust out classic after classic, they instead stuck to the last couple of records for the most part. They rocked "Dramamine" in the middle, but it was jammy and just bad. It was bad - what can I say? They played "Gravity Rides Everything" in the encore, too, but it was too late by then. There were 6 or 7 people on stage, though it looked/sounded like there were 20 - all cacophony and too much going on for a band that once thrived on spare minimalism and space. A wasted opportunity ...

Saturday - 7/17/2010

After a lazy morning of eating and shopping and pooling at the hotel, we finally meandered into the festival around 4:15 for the end of Raekwon's set, which included some Wu Tang bangers. Fun, though as this festival proved over and over, great hip hop on record (see Wu Tang, Big Boi) does not translate to great hip hop live. It was all bass and shouting, no finesse or dynamics.

But then came the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (JSBX), who in 1995 at the now defunct Rockafella's in Columbia, SC, melted my face during the Orange tour. Well, we are all 15 years older now, but they still got the flavor. Within the first 5 songs, they had rocked "Flavor," "2 Kindsa Love," and "Bellbottoms." I loved it. My favorite set thus far, but oh kids ... it was just beginning ... that's JSBX in the photo on the right ...

Wolf Parade hit the big stage ("big" being relative at a 15,000 person festival) and sounded awesome. They ripped some new(er) songs and then, midway through, rocked "This Heart's On Fire" followed by "I'll Believe In Anything." It truly doesn't get much better in rock than that last song. Biggest bummer was that they left off "Shine A Light," but I really can't complain - it killed.

A very middling, forgettable set by Panda Bear followed. Again - great, great records - terrible live show. Oh well ...

But it was all good, as LCD Soundsystem proceeded to play the best set I've seen this year. It was simply fantastic/transcendent/forward-thinking/dance-ready/awesome. What is there not to like about this band and what they are doing now or, for that matter, have been doing for the last 7 years or so? It was both the highlight of the festival and of 2010 musically for me:

Us vs Them / Drunk Girls / Pow Pow / Daft Punk Is Playing At My House / All My Friends / I Can Change / Tribulations / Movement / Yeah / Someone Great / Losing My Edge / NY I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down

We grabbed come down drinks at G-Cue Pool Hall afterward (random, I know) and then turned in, being the old people that we are.

Sunday - 8/18/2010

This was definitely the most festival-centric day of the weekend, as there were bands I wanted to see starting quite early. And though I didn't mention it yet, it was hot - as in very hot, all weekend long.

We started at the tiny, shaded stage for the last few songs from Best Coast, who were endearing enough, and followed that by kind of watching the set from Girls. Pretty meh.

But pretty epic was the set from Beach House. They sounded amazing - maybe even better than at Coachella a few months before. The crowd was pretty rapt, too, which helped. Fantastic, languid set.

We sort of caught a big of Local Natives and Surfer Blood on the tiny stage, but it was such a human traffic jam that my ever worsening claustrophobia couldn't handle it. (I can only imagine what a hellhole it must've been back there at that tiny stage for Sleigh Bells later in the evening.)

We rounded out the evening by kind of halfway watching Major Lazer (crazy) and Big Boi (all bass and yelling - and every song is soooooo good - why must this have sucked live?).

What should have been the coup de grace for me rounded out the festival that night as Pavement took the stage, but they didn't come out until after about 10 minutes of a horrible, probably-meant-to-be-comedic intro from some former Chicago DJ. It was bad, talking about how Pitchfork was the minor leagues while Lollapalooza was the major leagues. People were booing vociferously.

After he finally left, Pavement took the stage rather nonchalantly and ran through their set, which was much shaggier and looser than when I had seen them at Coachella. It was good and, again, offered some cool surprises ("Fin" and "Debris Slide"?!?!?) but just seemed slapdash compared to the total badassery of LCD the night before. But it was a sweet sendoff nonetheless:

Cut Your Hair / In the Mouth a Desert / Silence Kit / Kennel D / Shady Lane / Frontwards / Unfair / Grounded / Debris Slide / Spit on a Stranger / Range Life / Perfume-V / Trigger Cut / Fin / Stereo / 2 States / Gold Soundz / Conduit for Sale / Stop Breathing / Here / The Hexx

Phosphorescent, Exit/In, Nashville, TN - 7/15/2010

2010-08-16T10:37:00.000-04:00

The night before I was set to leave for the Pitchfork Music Festival, I had the good fortune of getting to see Phosphorescent (for the first time) at the quite small and certainly legendary Exit/In. This was also my last week of "freedom" before starting a real job. My pal April and I headed up a little after 9, expecting to catch a bit of the second opener and then to see the headliner. Well, no one had played at all when we got there, so it ended up being a late night.

Up first was Nashville's own Caitlin Rose, who sounded quite great on some harmony-laden tunes. Her band was cracking. Second was a solo acoustic set from a guy touring with Phosphorescent. It was fine, but the natives were getting restless.

So Phosophorescent took the stage just before midnight and proceeded to play the first 5 songs in order off their 2010 album Here's To Taking It Easy. Wow, did they sound good. It was pretty momentous for me, really, to see a band that locked in with one another playing tunes that they (and I) wholeheartedly believe in. They played a few tunes off To Willie in the middle and closed the set out with I Wish I Was In Heaven Sittin' Down. It just killed.

I'll be honest, though - it was so late, and his older songs aren't just quite as good, so that the encore was a bit of a letdown compared to the main set. Plus a typical Nashville "fan" who is there to talk loudly and just make the scene, I guess, was ruining it for everyone around them. But one of the better shows of 2010 for me ...

Bonnaroo Music Festival, Manchester, TN - 6/10-13/2010

2010-06-16T10:44:00.001-04:00

This is still a work in progress with more photos to be added ...

Ah, back to Bonnaroo (number 5 for me). I know I've used this metaphor before, but this festival is truly the Bloomin' Onion of festivals - it seems so great and delicious yet decadent, then I eat and enjoy it but towards the end think that I'll never, ever do that again, but then time passes and I find that I can't reist its siren song allure.

6/9/2010 - Wednesday

I start this out on Wednesday as my buddy Jason and I headed down from Columbus that day, car fully stocked with supplies and ready to rock. We got down to Nashville with plans to pick up my other buddy (and our third Bonnaroommate - sorry, couldn't resist) at the airport at 7:30. His flight was delayed until around 11 that night, though, so we met up with a lot of my Nashville friends, enjoyed dinner and drinks, rounded up Michael, and got a few hours of sleep before heading in to the mouth of madness.

6/10/2010 - Thursday

Up at 6 AM, feeling good, ready to beat the traffic in this year (unlike last year, where we got detoured into 9 hours of hell off exit 127). Grabbed some grub and coffee just a couple blocks from my house, and were en route. We figured we could just swoop in on I-24 and not have a problem this early. So wrong ... we were stuck in hell traffic going EAST past the festival exit for 4 hours, then got re-routed onto that same terrible detour as last year at exit 127. We sat there for about an hour and then decided to get on the back roads.

I must say that I think we finally cracked the Bonnaroo code when it comes to how to get in easily. I'm sure other folks have known this for a while, but we swept in with no problem going the back way. I-24 - never again. That's all I have to say.

By 4:00, we were set up, shade tents up in Camp Roger Murdock (best campsite we've gotten in years), beers cracked, gearing up for the tunes. We started out with Here We Go Magic, whom I'd seen once opening for the Walkmen. They sounded good - much bigger and fuller than that Walkmen show.

We pretty quickly drifted over to see Local Natives, though, and they sounded pretty great. That album is a good one, and they tore through most of it. Next up was part of the Miike Snow set, which was not totally my bag but sounded pretty good. Jason and I wandered off to see JB Smoove's comedy set. I love him on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and he had a decent enough stand up set. (While we're at it, I just have to embed a couple more great Curb scenes ... Leon as Danny Duberstein and the raunchiest joke ever told.

We then caught the Dodos for a bit (sounded fine, nothing great), took a breather and ended the night with the XX. I only made it through about 5 songs before just petering out and needing some zzz's (get it? XX? ZZZ's?). A strong start ...

6/11/2010 - Friday

I was obviously tired, as I got a solid 8 hours or so of sleep, which was the last I'd see of that this go round. We had an easy morning and made our way in around 12:30 to catch the last half of the Punch Brothers set. I'd seen Chris Thile play a solo set a few years ago at the Basement in Nashville and was excited to see him rock the mandolin again. I'd also played Taboo with the banjo player, Noam, many moons ago (Nashville is a weird place). They sounded good and did some interesting bluegrass versions of the Strokes' "Reptilia" and Radiohead's "Morning Bell."

Next up was most of the set by the Carolina Chocolate Drops, an African American bluegrass/folk band. They sounded pretty great, though I'm not super familiar with their material.

I was then very pumped to see Hot Rize, a great bluegrass band and one I had not seen since 2003 or so. Their guitarist, Bryan Sutton, is one of the best flatpickers in the world. They played about 45 minutes of their bluegrass "hits," including "Blue Night," "Climbing Up A Mountain," "Radio Boogie," and "Just Like You." The sound was a bit off, which plagued their whole set, but I was still loving it. They then did about 30 minutes of their Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers schtick, which involves them playing country and western swing and kind of acting goofy. That did not go over nearly as well. They then closed out with a couple more traditional bluegrass tunes. It was a big treat for me, but I don't think it translated to the Bonnaroo crowd at large as well.

We then headed over and got in position for the National. Excitement was high, I'll be honest. And they delivered a really great set. The older songs of course sounded stronger, but the newer stuff gained a lot of vitality live. Sound was great, energy was great ... it was awesome, a real highlight for the weekend:

Start a War
Mistaken for Strangers
Anyone's Ghost
Bloodbuzz, OH
Brainy
Secret Meeting
Slow Show
Squalor Victoria
Afraid of Everyone
Little Faith
All the Wine
Available (off the Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers album - wow)
Conversation 16
Apartment Story
Abel
England
Fake Empire
Mr. November
Terrible Love

ENCORE

About Today

There was a big night coming up after this, so we took a breather for a few hours, skipping Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers (bummer) as well as the Kings of Leon (meh). I actually slept another solid 2 hours or so back at the tent (because I'm an old, old man) before we headed back in for the Black Keys. They got started at midnight and played about 7 songs as the traditional 2-piece band. And what a start to the set ... "Thickfreakness," "Girl Is On My Mind," "Stack Shot Billy," "10 AM Automatic," "Busted," "The Breaks" ... and then they brought out the other 2 dudes to help them with the new songs. We stayed for a bit of this and then headed over - with much skepticism, based on past experiences - to see the Flaming Lips.

I'm happy to report here that the Lips were the best I've ever seen them. We caught about the last half of their "regular" set including the end of "Yoshimi," some new songs and a rousing, closing "Do You Realize?" before they took a break and then came out with their full cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. I'd heard that they really kill this, but I was pretty blown away at what they did with an album I already loved in the first place. They put their spin on it yet remained true to the record. Pretty awesome.

Next up - starting at 2:30 AM - was LCD Soundsystem, a consistently great live band in my experience. And yup, they were great again. They opened with "Us Vs. Them" and played all the hits including "Losing My Edge," "Daft Punk is Playing At My House," "Movement," "All My Friends," on and on and on. It was tight. The crowd was pretty bananas, too, which was fun.

Actually saw the sun start to rise around 5 AM and maybe slept about an hour before starting all over again ...

6/12/2010 - Saturday

None of us really slept, which can make for a rough day, but we were all still on a relative energy rush from the night before. We headed into Centeroo around 10:30 that morning out of restlessness, had a couple beers, and then sat in the hot sun and kind of watched (though we could barely see it) the US-England World Cup match. The 1-1 tie was pretty awesome to experience with a few thousand other folks. We caught about the first 45 minutes of the Dave Rawlings Machine set next, but I was dragging so much by then that I had to get catch a breather/nap at that point. I hated to miss the Melvins, but I was pooped.

We got back in and saw a little bit of Jeff Beck, which was interesting but a little more guitar-wonky than I thought it would be, and also saw a few tunes from Weezer from about a half mile away. Nothing too great.

But then we got a good spot and settled in for our first big stage show to see Stevie Wonder. He sounded amazing, coming out playing a key-tar and just rocking it. His catalog is deep and contains so many songs I thought about ("Higher Ground," "Superstitious," "Livin' for the City"), didn't even think about ("Signed, Sealed, Delivered," "My Cherie Amour," "Sir Duke," "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing") and that I expected to hear but didn't get ("Boogie On Reggae Woman"). The newer stuff was a bit schmaltzy and not so great, but man did he sound good. His band gave him space, too, which was surprising. It was pretty awesome, really.

Jason and I stuck around for the first bit of Jay-Z's set, which was imposing and sounded great, but we were just spent at this point and headed in for the night.

6/13/2010 - Sunday

Sunday was hot, and we were losing our edge at this point. We moved slowly around our campsite, trying to muster our reserves. We packed our stuff up and headed in for Calexico's set. It was, well, boring, and they were once for me an exciting, interesting band. They did play "Across the Wire," which at least brought back some nostalgia for me, but it was not that great. And did I mention that it was hot?

We retreated to some shade and heard some country from Jamey Johnson (not my thing). We then caught another Bonnaroo first for me, a set at the tiny Sonic Stage, seeing Medeski, Martin and Wood play a crazy good 45 minute set. His drumming is not to be believed. In an epic quest for shade and nourishment, we then entered an intimidating line to get tickets for the 5:30 show from Aziz Ansari. We were all skeptical but ended up getting tickets (while hearing Against Me! - again, not my thing ... not a great musical Sunday so far) and then got in line to actually get in the comedy tent. We finally made our way in, soaked in the AC (ahhhhhhh ....), and proceeded to laugh our asses off at his 40-minute or so set. His comedy is pretty silly but really works.

We then headed over for our last set of the weekend with Phoenix. They sounded great, playing every single song off Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, three tracks from It's Never Been Like That and a few other gems but oddly leaving out "Too Young" to a very large audience. I think the whole crowd's energy was pretty depleted, though, all things considered. While it was fun and sounded great, it did not carry the same ooomph was some of the earlier sets we saw.

We got back to the car and were back on I-24 with a shower and Waffle House awaiting us. I'll be interested to see if I make it back. Something tells me that I'll have a hard time staying away. While the music is great, it's really the energy and the intangibles of the Bonnaroo experience that set it apart from other festivals. If they could just fix the traffic situation ...

The Avett Brothers, LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH - 5/29/2010

2010-06-15T08:22:00.000-04:00

As a last minute sort of thing with some friends in town for a quick return trip to the C-bus, we collectively decided that a nice way to spend a warm Saturday evening would be sitting outside at the LC hearing the Avett Brothers, a band loved by many that I know but whom I've never completely gotten.

We pre-partied/ate yummy things at Betty's and then headed over and caught the opening set from Jessica Lea Mayfield. She is very young and has a very strong voice and some great songs. It was major downer country twang (in a good way), and I dug it.

Then the Avetts came out to a pretty solid crowd. I wish - truly - that their music was more up my alley, but something about it just doesn't jibe with me. The lyrics are a bit trite at times, the playing/singing is good but not all that great, the energy is there but comes off for me as more bluster than focus. Based on the many, many good friends whose opinion I respect having a lot of affection for this band, I feel like the problem is me, but at the end of the day, it seems like a kind of goofy bluegrass/folk thing that just doesn't turn my crank.

It was a fun night out, though, with great friends and great weather. We ended the night at Char Bar with some jukebox salvation there. Good times ...

Neil Young w/ Bert Jansch, Palace Theater, Louisville, KY - 5/26/2010

2010-05-28T12:42:00.001-04:00

I'll save folks some suspense and say that this was a bit of a letdown. I love - love - Neil Young, and the last time I saw him, it was pretty spectacular. I had great seats (10th row, dead center) and was very, very excited to see him solo acoustic so up close.

I rolled into Louisville and met up with a guy at Ear X-tacy to sell my extra ticket, which went off without a hitch (thanks, craigslist). Afterward, I parked downtown, grabbed some sushi, and then had a couple beers near the Palace Theater (where I'd been once before to see Wilco with My Morning Jacket opening - a great show) at Bluegrass Brewing Company ... good stuff.

I was in the venue right after the doors opened as I was pretty pumped to see Bert Jansch, a celebrated guitarist and English folk player, probably best known for his classic "Black Waterside."

He came out, sat down with his acoustic guitar, and just played a low key, technically bewildering set. His feel is just superb. (And yes, "Black Waterside" was the third song in the set.) This was a real thrill for me, I'll be honest.

So we waited (I was definitely one of the younger folks at a show for a change, thank you very much), and then Neil came out and launched into a killer 3-opener on acoustic guitar (see below). This was probably worth the price of admission alone, I'll be honest. Hearing him play "Tell Me Why" was beyond words.

He then played 3 new songs, and just as the last time I saw him with a full band, his new songs are just terrible. I'd even say they were somewhat trite. It's such a shame, and it's underscored by how powerful his old songs remain. He then blasted into "Down By the River" with electric guitar (full distortion and everything) but obviously solo. It was weird but worked. "Ohio" was also played the same way, and it killed, especially in light of the recent 40-year anniversary of the Kent State killings.

Things went quite stale after "Ohio" for me ... the new songs were terrible, "After the Gold Rush" was great, "I Believe In You" didn't work that well, and the end with Neil playing full bore electric by himself for "Cortez" and "Cinnamon Girl" just seemed bizarre to me. The encore was another not so great new song, and that was it ... 90 minutes, done.

He's still a great performer (not on the level of Tom Waits in terms of players from his generation, but probably better than most anyone else ... Dylan comes to mind directly as an icon who has simply fallen from grace in terms of performing), but the new songs were just unspeakably bad to me. Ah well ...

Also ... Louisville is such a pretty town with some of the coolest bike racks this side of New York City ...

1. My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)
2. Tell Me Why
3. Helpless
4. You Never Call (new)
5. Peaceful Valley (new)
6. Love And War (new)
7. Down By The River
8. Hitchhiker (new)
9. Ohio
10. Sign Of Love (new)
11. Leia (new) (piano)
12. After The Gold Rush (organ)
13. I Believe In You (piano)
14. Rumblin' (new)
15. Cortez The Killer
16. Cinnamon Girl
---
17. Walk With Me (new)

Tribute to Alex Chilton for Nashville Flood Relief, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN - 2/21/2010

2010-05-26T10:37:00.000-04:00

I was heading down to Nashville for other reasons this past weekend and, lo and behold, Mercy Lounge announces a benefit for Nashville flood victims that is at the same time a tribute to the late, great Alex Chilton (one of my all time musical heroes) featuring Jody Stephens (the original drummer of Big Star) as well as multiple other local and Southern musicians whom I'd be pretty stoked to see in general.

My buddy Aaron and I headed up around 10 just as David Vandervelde was finishing up a nice solo take on "Take Care." This was followed by nice solo versions of "I'm in Love With a Girl" and "Thirteen" by Carl Broemmel from My Morning Jacket (see photo).

Next up was the de facto "house band," featuring Jody Stephens on drums, Chris Stamey of the dB's on guitar and vocals and Mitch Easter on guitar and vocals. They sounded amazing together, obviously seasoned musicians to a tee. They also played a great selection of classic Big Star:

"I Am The Cosmos" (Chris on vocals)
"When My Baby's Beside Me" (Chris on vocals)
"Way Out West" (Jody on vocals)
"Kizza Me" (Mitch on vocals)

Then came a local Nashville power pop band called Joe, Marc's Brother, who also sounded insanely tight and did a great job with "Jesus Christ" and "Thank You Friends," followed by the house band (without Jody on drums now) doing "Life is White," "In The Street," "Don't Lie to Me," and "The Letter" (with a couple of the original Box Tops coming up to play, too). It was very celebratory and just sounded great. These tunes are so good, though, that one could argue that they are hard to mess up.

The end came with Brendan Benson (of the Raconteurs, etc.) getting up to lead the band through a shambling but charming "O My Soul" and, to close, of course, "September Gurls." This was a great night of music, and if there's any problem I had, it was that a serious segment of the crowd didn't seem all that familiar with the Big Star catalog. But this was, at the end of the day, simply fantastic.

My Morning Jacket, LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH - 5/2/2010

2010-05-15T11:35:00.000-04:00

It was looking like it would be a wet, heavy storms kind of night, and I'd been excited about this show for months. Anyone who reads this knows I've been a pretty big fan of MMJ since 2003-2004, but they are a very different band than they were then - not worse per se, just different. I fell in love with the high lonesome Neil Young folky Southern rock that they put out back in the At Dawn and It Still Moves era, and this is still my favorite stuff of theirs, but I can (and, to some extent, have learned to) appreciate their later output on its own merits. I'd even say that Evil Urges has, shockingly, aged quite well for me.

The weather held out, thankfully, and it turned into an overcast, cool evening - kind of perfect, really. We got in just as the Preservation Hall Jazz Band was ending their set. It sounded fine and like a nice intro (and typically kooky one) to MMJ.

They came out a little after 8 PM with both guns blazing (see toy guns on Jim James' hips above) and, as is typical of them, sounded great. The shaggy dog awesome-ness that they once projected has been replaced by a bit more professional sheen than I care for, but like I said, I've come to appreciate their current sound on its own. A couple of new songs/covers were thrown in, but this was very similar to the last time I saw them (at this same venue, in fact). The encore with the horn section was awesome, and some of these songs will always give me goosebumps ("Golden," "The Way That He Sings," "Lay Low").

And that was a pretty awesome 5-song opening run ... I mean, damn ...

On - 8:15

One Big Holiday
Off The Record
Gideon
I'm Amazed
Mahgeetah
Tonight I Want to Celebrate with You
Golden
Where to Begin
Lay Low
The Way That He Sings
Wonderful (The Way That I Feel)
Carried Away (new song, Carl singing lead)
Don Dante
Smokin' from Shootin'-> end of Run Thru
Touch Me I'm Going to Scream
Anytime

Wordless
Evil Urges w PHJB
Highly Suspicious w PHJB
Carnival Time w PHJB
Dancefloors w PHJB (!!!!)
Move On Up w PHJB

Off - 10:35

Coachella Music Festival, Indio, CA - 4/16-18/2010

2010-04-25T21:40:00.001-04:00

Day 1 - 4/16/10

We flew out from Columbus and without any major hitches arrived in Palm Springs, CA, which boasts an amazing, open air airport. It was really cool. We rented a car, stopped by In N' Out Burger (which was crazy busy with a ton of Coachella folks getting their fix), and then drove over to check in to our room at the Hyatt Grand Champions (part of a travel package). Daaaaaaamn ... nice digs. We were pretty pumped.

We shuttled over to the festival around 3:30 or 4:00 and already had our wristbands, which was key, as the line to get a wristband (as in ticket holders just showing up) was insane. (Same thing happened last time I was here, too.) We breezed past and walked in, the weather a dry high 80's. We were feeling good. The biggest issue was going to be how to choose between different acts. It's always a conundrum at these things, though.

We paid $7 a piece for a Heineken (ugh) and caught a little of Street Sweeper Social Club, Tom Morello's (Rage Against the Machine) side project, playing on the main stage. Nothing great, but they did a pretty cool, heavy cover of MIA's ubiquitous "Paper Planes." Also, he is a sick, sick guitar player, which I enjoyed.

We then made it over to the other big stage to see the full set from She & Him. They were fun, Zoe was cute, it was a good time if a little wispy to make it out over that big field with competition from lots of bass and low end all over the rest of the park. But they were good, and hearing M. Ward sing "Roll Over Beethoven" was pretty crucial.

We stuck around that stage for about 3 songs from Passion Pit ... I just don't get it. Not my thing.

We headed to our first tent show next and caught the last 4 songs or so from Lucero. Man, this was loud. Good ol' Southern rock, though, and something like the Drive By Truckers and Bruce Springsteen having a lovechild. It was also not too crowded, so we were feeling good about our spot for Grizzly Bear.

Boy, were we wrong. It got very, intensely, uncomfortably crowded quickly. They were a bit rusty, opening with "Southern Point" and playing (while we stuck around) "Cheerleader" and the beginning of "Knife" (plus a couple others) before we had to bolt. It was difficult to even get out of the tent, and being able to breathe again was pretty great.

We made it over to the second stage to catch the full set from Echo & the Bunnymen, a big draw for me and one of my favorite 80's bands. They were great, and his voice sounds exactly the same as 30 years ago, which is amazing. Ian, the singer, just stood there smoking with a black trenchcoat and sunglasses on. It was kind of perfect. Setlist included "Lips Like Sugar," "Bring on the Dancing Horses," "The Killing Moon" (which he introduced as "the greatest song ever written") and a closing "The Cutter" (which he introduced as "the second greatest song ever written"). Strong stuff.

We then kind of ambled over for a far off gaze at the main stage to see LCD Soundsystem, another big draw for me and one of my favorites of the last 5 years. We saw them rip through "Losing My Edge," "All My Friends," some new songs, "Yeah," and a closing "New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down." Not the same epic level shows from 2007, but pretty great nonetheless.

We were even farther off the second stage for Vampire Weekend, who sounded great (and very tight). They've grown a lot since I saw them touring the first record, and they were good at what they do. We were fading, though, and decided to skip Jay Z (controversial decision though that was) and get back to the resort for some Z's (pun semi-intended).

Day 2 - 4/17/10

Amazingly, we started Day 2 with a 10-mile run through Palm Springs. It was kind of grueling, I'll be honest. We survived, though ...

We got into the festival around 4:30 and started out with Beach House, who were one of my favorite sets of the festival. They kind of rocked (in a dreamy, Beach House way), and some of the Teen Dream material sounded quite epic. Mid-set, they busted out "Zebra," and it was thrilling. Spine-tinglingly good.

We grabbed a beer and a margarita and kind of watched Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, though this didn't do much for either of us (well, not for me), though I hear great things. We ambled back to the tents for Dirty Projectors, where there was shockingly not a big crowd. They sounded fine, though again seemed a little off (similar to Grizzly Bear the night before). Ezra from Vampire Weekend was standing about 15 feet from us for a good bit of this.

We left that set early and made it over to the second stage for the whole set from Hot Chip. I had last seen them in 2007, and they killed back then. This was a much bigger production and felt a lot less organic than 2007 did (in stark contrast to LCD Soundsystem, who are still keeping it pretty real, as the kids say). They did play "Over and Over," but they pretty much avoided The Warning otherwise, much to my chagrin. I'm not big on their output since then, either.

MGMT were a far off ball of noise for us, and this is another band that I just don't completely get. Again, not my thing. (Yes, LCD and Hot Chip and a lot of electronica is right up my alley while some of it just isn't ...)

Finally, we stuck around for about 6 songs from Muse. They are a true stadium rock band and sounded friggin' huge. The guitarist/singer/main dude is an Eddie Van Halen level shredder and was a great entertainer. The music was very, very one note, though, and something I knew I didn't love but just wanted to see for the sheer spectacle (of which there was plenty).

It was off to bed then ... the 10-miler was catching up with us ...

Day 3 - 4/18/10 (my birthday)

So this was the day - most of the bands I'd come to see were on this day, including Pavement, one of my top 5 all time favorites. This would be my 10th time seeing them and first time since 1999. It was a dream come true to finally see them again.

We started the day with poolside drinks (Bloody Marys and margaritas), and it was hard to get moving thereafter. But we did and made it in for the start of Local Natives. They sounded pretty good and played all the hits (including their cover of "Warning Sign"). The kids were digging it, and so were we.

We next caught most of Deerhunter, which was reliably good, including "Nothing Ever Happened," which always slays. This was followed by beer and then about 3 songs from Sunny Day Real Estate. These opening songs included "Seven," a big hit for me in high school, which was very cool to see. They seemed to be having a ball, too, which is nice to see.

We then made it to the main stage for the trifecta ... Yo La Tengo, Spoon and Pavement, all in a row. Yo La Tengo were their typical, underwhelming selves. For a band that was once so great, they just seem to have kind of lost it. I wanted to be digging it more, but it wasn't happening.

Big Day Coming
???
Stockholm Syndrome
Mr. Tough
You Can Have It All (w/ dance routine)
Sugarcube
Autumn Sweater
???
Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind

Spoon came out next, and as usual, they absolutely slayed. They are so tight and have such an incredible catalog. They also seemed to be having fun and mentioned that this was the end of their current tour.

Is Love Forever
Don't You Evah
The Way We Get By
Got Nuffin
I Turn My Camera On
Don't Make Me a Target
Who Makes Your Money (w/ Bradford Cox)
Written in Reverse
Small Stakes (!!!)
Rhythm n Soul (w horns)
Stay Don't Go (w horns)
The Underdog (w horns)
Black Like Me

And finally, after 11 years and countless dashed hopes, I finally saw one of my rock and roll heroes (or 5 of them, I guess), Pavement. They sounded great, probably better than most any time I saw them back in the day, though they routinely transcended their own limitations back then and somehow elevated things to otherworldly places. Malkmus played almost exclusively without a guitar pick, which was weird, and Bob Nastanovich was unchanged completely. They didn't even look all that much older. Some rarities came out, too. Interestingly, the crowd was kind of thin. (Phoenix was playing opposite, and that probably helped. We could hear a little of them, and they sounded great as always.)

Silence Kit
In the Mouth a Desert
Stereo
Frontwards (!)
Father to a Sister of a Thought
Two States
Shady Lane
Gold Soundz
Grounded
Perfume V
Date w Ikea
Fight This Generation (!!)
Range Life
Trigger Cut
Starlings of the Slipstream (!!!)
Summer Babe
Unfair
Cut Yr Hair

We were both pretty spent at this point, and though we tried to muster the energy for Gorillaz (which I'm sure was awesome), we had to head in.

Day 4 - 4/19/10

This is worth mentioning due to more pool time (nice), a second trip to In N' Out (animal style, always), and some more QT at the Palm Springs Airport. I mean, this was the view from Gate 5 as we waited on our flight:

I don't know if I'll make it back to Coachella (probably not without a VIP pass and some extra time off afterwards for recovery), but this was a good 'un ...

Avenues reunion show, 12th & Porter, Nashville, TN - 4/10/2010

2010-04-25T20:30:00.000-04:00

My buddy Aaron and some friends I've made via him used to be a band called Avenues. They self-released a full length and then an EP in the early-to-mid-2000's. I saw them play a reunion show once a few years back, and they decided to do it again at 12th & Porter (where I saw Spoon in 2004!).

Anyway, I was in town to close on a new house as I'm moving back to Nashville full time come late June/early July, 2010, and this was happening the same weekend. Nice! We got to the club a little after 10 (late for me these days), mingled for a while, and then without so much as a soundcheck Avenues were off and running.

I was impressed - compared to that one time I saw them way back when, they sounded much more confident, much tighter. The songs sounded great and very fleshed out. Most of these guys are playing music on some level still (and Dan, the guitarist, has a pretty great thing going in Brooklyn with his band, the Royal Chains), so maybe I shouldn't be surprised that they could bring it together so well without even a rehearsal.

Major props ...

[Photo courtesy of Mobley Photo.]

Spoon, First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN - 4/2-3/2010

2010-04-12T21:56:00.000-04:00

We decided a few months ago that getting to see Spoon at a club rather than a theater would be pretty awesome (and maybe not possible for much longer), plus we decided this would be a good excuse to check out Minneapolis in a hopefully warmer month. (Also, I had wanted to check out First Avenue ever since realizing its historical impact [Prince, the Replacements, Husker Du, etc.] in my teenage years.)

On getting into town Friday, we just hopped on the light rail from the airport into town. Very easy, very cheap, gave us a quick idea of the city. We got into our hotel without much hassle and grabbed dinner at Bradstreet Crafthouse, where we sat at the chef's table/bar and watched them prepare the food. Great cocktails, super yummy tapas style foods. We gorged, I'll admit it.

We got to the venue for night 1 right at the doors and were able to grab a good spot and see both openers. First up was Micachu and the Shapes, who were terrible. Waste of time. Then there was Deerhunter, whom we'd seen before and enjoyed. I thought they were great again - very tight, huge sound. I feel like if Bradford Cox was a super hot indie rocker, these guys would be huge. Oh well.

Then Spoon came on, and while the club was packed, it wasn't just crazy. And they were great - long set, very tight, very into it, pretty intense. If anything was a bummer, it was that the crowd seemed to have caught on to Spoon around the time of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, but what can you do?

Setlist:

Before Destruction
Nobody Gets Me But You
The Way We Get By
Small Stakes
Me and the Bean
Ghost of You Lingers
Is Love Forever?
Love Song (DAMNED cover)
The Underdog
Who Makes Your Money
Written in Reverse
The Modern World (WOLF PARADE) (!!!!)
Don't Make Me A Target
Everything Hits at Once (!!!!)
The Beast and Dragon Adored
I Summon You
Got Nuffin'
You've Got Yr Cherry Bomb
Black Like Me
--------
Metal School
I Turn My Camera On
The Two Sides of Mssr. Valentine
-------
Don't You Evah
Someone Something
Rhythm and Soul

We stumbled back to our room and collapsed from exhaustion, as that was a marathon show. Great stuff.

We started Saturday out at Hell's Kitchen, whose breakfast totally lived up to the hype. Strikingly good stuff. The Twins were playing an exhibition game thereafter at the new Target Field against the Cardinals, so we looked for tickets, but nothing was cheaper than $100 or so a pop, so we skipped the game and walked down by the river. A gorgeous day in the Twin Cities.

Dinner was at the Oceanaire, a fantastically old school seafood place. Wow, was this good. Crabcakes, oysters, huge cuts of fish, creamed corn and hashbrown sides, and then Key lime pie to end it all. All fabulous. My only complaint is how stuffed I was afterward. Great, though.

We got to the club for night 2 around 8-ish, as the doors were at 6 with it being an all ages show. We got down on the floor just as Deerhunter were finishing. I'd say it felt more crowded and, well, rude-ish than the first night, but I was also super full and still kind of tired from night 1.

Spoon came out and seemed a bit more jovial, not as intense as night 1. But they were great again and mixed up the setlist nicely. (In full disclosure, we left during "Finer Feelings" due to it being so packed, us being so full, etc.)

Setlist:

I Saw the light
I turn my Camera on
Jonathon Fisk (!!!!)
Nobody gets me but you
Way we get by
Ghost of you lingers
Stay don't go
Dont make me a Target
Love Song (DAMNED cover)
Who makes yr Money
Back to the life
Mathematical mind
Someone something
Vittorio e
They Never got you
I Summon you
Finer Feelings (!!!!)

(per the internet, the rest of the tunes:)

Written in reverse
Utilitarian
Cherry bomb
Don't you Evah
Trouble comes running
Underdog

So we missed seeing "Trouble Comes Running," but I'll live. A great couple of shows, truly. Their bassist (since 2007, I think?) was so on, and Jim Eno has been a tight drummer since the beginning. Just a solid band.

We ended the trip with a 9-mile run around the Lake of the Isles, which was stunning. The flight back Sunday was painfully long due to a delay at Midway, but a great, fast trip to a very cool city.

Zoso, Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH - 2/5/2010

2010-02-11T10:43:00.003-05:00

So my first show of 2010 is the Led Zeppelin cover band whom I've seen about a bazillion times over the years. I don't have a lot to say about this show and am posting more for the sake of completeness. It was certainly fun and required braving some nasty snow/freezing rain. It was preceded by a typically "meh" dinner at Mad Mex. The setlist was pretty standard for them, though they busted out two surprises, "Dazed and Confused" (complete with bowed guitar) and "Moby Dick" (complete with totally sick drum solo including a long segment of "John Bonham" playing with his hands). It was fun, though I'm ready for the real rock to return to the C-bus ...

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

2009-12-22T23:06:00.003-05:00

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

2009-12-22T23:05:00.002-05:00

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

2009-12-22T23:03:00.004-05:00

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

2009-10-29T19:25:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-26T19:24:00.006-04:00

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

2009-10-20T19:23:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-13T13:58:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-12T13:58:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-07T14:26:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-04T15:44:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-02T10:48:00.005-04:00

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

2009-09-30T10:26:00.004-04:00

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

2009-09-30T10:25:00.003-04:00

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

2009-09-17T12:12:00.009-04:00

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

2009-09-17T12:11:00.008-04:00

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

2009-07-25T19:11:00.008-04:00

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

2009-06-15T21:06:00.008-04:00

(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

2009-06-04T09:36:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-05T13:50:00.003-04:00

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

2009-04-25T07:21:00.008-04:00

"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

2009-04-24T13:14:00.007-04:00

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

Wilco, Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Auditorium, Athens OH - 4/17/2009

2009-04-18T08:02:00.017-04:00

***Photo courtesy of bluet14 on flickr.com.***
I can't remember how many times I've seen Wilco now ... maybe 20? Something like that? I think in terms of total package - songs, musicianship, all around experience - live bands don't get much better. I could go on and on about their control of dynamics, tempo, etc. Sometimes, I do. But let's just say that I'm a fan. And when they're playing about 90 minutes away on the eve of my birthday, well ... I'm there.

My girlfriend, some friends and I ate a rushed but as always great (fairly light) dinner at Northstar Cafe. (I can't even express how lucky I think Columbus is to have this place.) And then we drove 90 minutes to Athens, OH, a fairly picturesque college town where Wilco would be rocking it quite soon. We were pushing it in terms of time and having a hard time finding the venue on campus, but a nice, granola-y student walked us to the front door of the place on our asking directions. And about (literally) 3 minutes after finding our seats (front row of the balcony), the lights went down and the show started. (We totally missed the openers, A Hawk and a Hacksaw.)

In the pantheon of Wilco shows I've witnessed, this wasn't an epic barnburner and wasn't a bust ... it was solid with a few fantastic moments, which I'd say is a typical night for them. They still blow almost any other band off the stage, of course. It's hard for me to be very objective with them at this point, as they're so ingrained and near/dear. Getting to know their catalog from back as a high schooler loving Uncle Tupelo has been so formative as to prevent me from having the same expectations or reactions as I would to "just any band." It was a blast.

I put an asterik next to some personal highlights. They went super heavy on material from A Ghost Is Born, which is great for me as that is probably my favorite Wilco record. Biggest disappointment was having both "Hate It Hear" and "ITMWLY" in the first encore. Ugh.

Hell is Chrome
Company In My Back
You Are My Face
Shouldn't Be Ashamed
Pot Kettle Black
Muzzle of Bees *(great, as usual - an underrated Tweedy tune)
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
A Shot In The Arm *(always epic)
Handshake Drugs
She's A Jar *(a nice, heartbreaking surprise)
Misunderstood *(midset? didn't see that coming)
Jesus etc.
Impossible Germany *(goosebumps every time)
Side With The Seeds
Poor Places -->
Spiders (Kidsmoke) *(this two-fer shows Wilco at their best right now)
----------
The Late Greats
Hate It Here
Heavy Metal Drummer
Walken
I'm The Man Who Loves You
----------
Kingpin
I'm a Wheel

***Photo courtesy of bluet14 on flickr.com.

David Burke's Primehouse, Chicago, IL - 4/14/2009

2009-04-15T08:02:00.002-04:00

Usually all my gastronomical asides revolve around a concert experience, but this one was a stand alone (and, as it turns out, sit alone) thing all to itself. I went to Chicago for about 26 hours total for a conference on coagulation disorders (ROCK!) that included the flight, the hotel and $125 to spend on "incidentals." I figured an incidentally kick ass meal wouldn't be out of the question.

I had heard of David Burke's Primehouse on its own and then saw it featured on (forgive me) Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations television show on The Travel Channel. He seemed to like it, and since I was staying at the Allerton Hotel, about 4 blocks away, I figured I'd see if I agreed.

Sitting alone at a restaurant like this seemed a bit odd to me, so I offered to the maitre' d that I could just sit at the bar. He assured me that all was well with dining solo at this joint and proceeded to lead me to a fairly inconspicuous booth.

I started with a house cocktail called a flapjack - Dewar's on the rocks, maple syrup and (essence of) bacon. There was no bacon floating around in the drink, in case you're wondering. It tasted like slightly altered Dewar's (that means good). The appetizer was an on-special soft shell crab that was magnificent. And huge ... almost main course portions. Along with all of this was a light, slightly cheesy/Asiago potted roll (which I devoured in its entirety - click the link to get some idea of what this thing looks like - awesome). Between the appetizer and the steak, I sipped a heretofore unknown-to-me beer - the Goose Island Honker's Ale. It reminded me of a lighter Old Speckled Hen - very British and bitter. Again, thumbs up.

Then it was time for the steak - a 16-ounce, 55-day-aged bone-in ribeye (medium rare, of course). The aging gave it a smokey, almost bacon-y taste that I had not experienced in a steak before. I nearly went with an old school side (like creamed spinach or hashbrowns) but couldn't turn down the truffled French fries in the end because, as I've learned in the last few years, I'm a truffle slut. This was all washed down with a fairly economical glass of a Malbec.

I was fairly full but couldn't say no to a hazelnut creme brulee topped with coffee ice cream for dessert. Fantastic, rich custard that mixed beautifully with the ice cream. I was drunk on food thereafter but oh so happy - and impressed. The Primehouse does a very nice, modernized (but not overly) take on the classic steakhouse. Probably second to the Striphouse in terms of great steaks I've had in the last couple of years.

And yes, the coagulation conference folks picked up the tab minus the alcohol.

Morrissey, the Palace Theater, Columbus, OH - 4/1/2009

2009-04-09T08:01:00.001-04:00

So this was my first chance to see the Moz after a near lifetime of loving basically his entire output. I had been keeping up with the setlists (courtesy of www.morrissey-solo.com) and wasn't expecting much in terms of surprises, etc. I also had picked up tickets last minute on StubHub for about $70 total (2 tix in the 10th row), which was kind of a nice bonus.

We ate at Tip Top beforehand, and it was delicious as usual. A lot of folks there were pre-show, too. Noelle rocked a reuben while I devoured a beef BBQ sandwich. And we had yummy beer.

We got to the Palace after the openers and probably about 10 minutes pre-Moz. He was showing video of the New York Dolls and some other similar-era glam/punk icons with whom I was not familiar. Lots of people there, too; not sold out, but a good-sized crowd.

He came out, and I must admit that I had a minor religious experience seeing him live and in person for the first time. The band was extremely tight, the sound a bit loud, the vocals a bit buried for it being, well, friggin' Morrissey. But it was great and a lot more high energy than I expected. He totally dropped his shirt at one point and looked quite good for his age, if I do say so in a heterosexual manner. I'd say the Smiths songs were all highlights, but that's kind of a given. No stage rushers until the encore, when quite a few folks went for the Moz. One guy got straight up clotheslined, which was hilarious but also a bit concerning.

This Charming Man / Billy Budd / That's How People Grow Up / Black Cloud / How Soon Is Now? / Irish Blood, English Heart / I Keep Mine Hidden / How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel? / Ask / I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris / Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed / Best Friend On The Payroll / When Last I Spoke To Carol / Seasick, Yet Still Docked / The Loop / Death Of a Disco Dancer / Let Me Kiss You / Sorry Doesn't Help / Something Is Squeezing My Skull / I'm OK By Myself // First Of The Gang To Die

Modest Mouse, Balch Fieldhouse, Boulder, CO - 2/28/09

2009-03-04T14:03:00.003-05:00

After some very exhausting (and awesome) skiing at Keystone and Beaver Creek, our posse forced ourselves to go see Modest Mouse in Boulder. We dined at a most excellent pizza joint between the mountains and Denver off I-70, Beau Jo's, followed by a quick change in Denver and then on to the show. Doors were at 8 with opening act Mimicking Birds, so we thought arriving at 9 or so would be perfect. Wrong ... the openers hadn't even played yet, so we had about 2 hours of standing around before the Mouse. And again ... we were super friggin' tired.

The biggest nuisance in all this was that MM took at least 45 minutes to take the stage after the openers. People even started booing at one point. They played a cool set, though, with a ton of old songs. They were pretty sloppy, though, and the sound (an old field house that held about 4,000) was pretty awful, too. A lot of long, going-nowhere-fast outros to songs, too ... like "Dramamine" could've been about 4 minutes shorter and about 10x better. It was kind of a 180 from the nuance of the Andrew Bird show 2 days earlier. You gotta love the setlist, though ...

Start 10:15

Paper Thin Walls
Never Ending Math Equation (!)
The View
Dramamine (!!)
The Good Time Are Killing Me
Doin' the Cockroach (!!!)
Fire It Up
We've Got Everything
Satin in a Coffin (during which he made a hippie from the crowd jog in place ... funny)
Float On
Trucker's Atlas (!!!!)
Ohio
Broke (!!!!! - totally flubbed the lyrics, though)
Trailer Trash (!!!!!!)
Education

Off 11:45

We did not stay for the encore ... good times killing us, I suppose ... but, according to the good ol' web, they played:

Satellite Skin
Black Cadillacs
This Devil's Workday
Custom Concern

At least I didn't miss "Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset" or the return of "3rd Planet" ...

Andrew Bird, Ogden Theater, Denver, CO - 2/26/2009

2009-03-04T13:39:00.003-05:00

After an amazing few days hiking/camping/rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park (as well documented here ... thanks, Aaron), I found myself meeting up with my girlfriend in Denver, where we stayed with an old med school buddy and his wife for some hangtime and skiing. Luckily, we were able to see Andrew Bird play a sold out (small!!!) club (capacity around 850) in Denver.

We started the night with some yummy sushi at Hana, which had some cool offerings. We then headed over to the show and completely missed the opener, Loney, Dear. (This may be unfair, but fine by me.)

So the show started around 9:15 and ran until 11:00. They sounded great, with Andrew doing the solo thing to start with (2 songs) followed by Dosh and the rest of the band joining in. Just crazy good. All of them are fantastic musicians, of course, and they sounded tight as hell. Biggest issue for me was a setlist that was a bit heavy on new songs, but by the end ... well, just check out the last bit of the show. I wanted to cry during "Tables and Chairs" ... it was fantastic. "Armchairs" was also killer. A high bar as far as 2009 shows go, but there are some great ones to come, so we'll see ...

Instrumental
Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning (traditional)
Masterswarm
Opposite Day
Fitz and Dizzyspells
Natural Disaster
Effigy
Oh No
Plasticities
Not a Robot, But a Ghost
Armchairs
Anonanimal
Tenuousness
Imitosis
"Dr. Strings" (silly quick tune)
Fake Palindromes
***e1***
"Easy Going" (bluesy, solo Bird number)
MX Missles (just Bird and Dosh)
Tables and Chairs

Times New Viking (Hearts the Velvets), Wexner Center Black Box, Columbus, OH - 2/14/2009

2009-03-04T13:28:00.005-05:00

Haven't posted in a while (work/travel) or seen shows in a while (winter), but then had a run here recently. First was this TNV show on Valentine's Day. Had spent the previous night having an exquisite tasting menu at Rosendale's and then pre-show saw the classic Hitchcock flick Vertigo followed by a 90-Minute IPA at Mad Mex.

We got to the show around 10, and TNV was already into their set. (Shockingly, to me.) And it just wasn't that great. It wasn't terrible by any stretch, but it was just kind of off. A couple folks guested, including Ron House of Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments and someone playing violin. It's hard to pin down what exactly was "off" about it, but it never clicked for me. Wish I had more to say about this ...

Partial setlist (from when I came in) ...

Can't Stand It
Heroin (at this point, I realized just how late we were to the show)
Pale Blue Eyes
Here She Comes Now
Femme Fatale
After Hours

Neil Young with Wilco and Everest, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY - 12/15/2008

2008-12-16T14:00:00.010-05:00

I just got back to the C-bus after a whirlwhind trip to San Francisco (business, mostly) and then New York City (pleasure, mostly). The trip to NYC was made to see friends, eat some good food (the Striphouse features steak as well as truffled spinach that are both to die for) and - though I thought I could resist it - see Neil Young with Wilco opening up.

I had been to Madison Square Garden twice in my life before this: once as a kid to see the Knicks with my dad during one of our annual NYC sojourns (pretty cool annual trip for a kid from straight up rural South Carolina), and later as a teenager on another family trip to see Rush on the Roll the Bones tour. (It was kind of awesome, and I even found a bootleg a couple years later of the second night of that stint at MSG for Canada's greatest prog rockers.)

I had not wanted to commit to a big, arena show with all the social comings and goings of this venture into the city, but I couldn't help myself and swung up to Penn Station around 6 PM to see what the ticket situation was. Scalpers seemed to be having a hard time giving these tickets away, and I ended up paying $80 for a general admission floor seat in section 7 (face value $90). I was telling the scalpers that I only wanted to spend $40, much to their chagrin, and to my surprise, low balling them worked pretty well. As did the fact that I was obviously not overly enthusiastic. Plus, well, they couldn't give the damn things away.

I relaxed with a Bud tallboy back at my buddy's apartment and then walked in around 8 PM. It was a strange maze of hallways for general admission ticket holders, and when I finally stumbled out into the arena, I think I was guided the wrong way, as I found myself in the closest possible general admission area. I waltzed up about 30 feet back from the stage, dead center, and about 20 minutes (most of which I kept thinking someone was going to pull me out of there) later, Wilco walks out and launches into a killer 4-song set opener. The rest of the set was quite good, though I could live without "I'm the Man Who Loves You." Hey - at least they left out "Hate It Here."

Via Chicago / Impossible Germany / You Are My Face / Spiders (Kidsmoke) / Hummingbird / Jesus Etc. / Forget the Flowers / Walken / I'm The Man Who Loves You

So then it's wait time for Neil. I drink a couple of Bud Lights from the floor people who are out selling it, as I was not about to lose my place. This was my first time seeing Neil, too, so it was kind of a big deal for me on many levels. There are so many things to highlight about this show ... his crazy amplifiers, the fact that he rocks pretty hard for an old codger, the fact that he played almost 3 hours (which was almost too much for me), the fact that his newer songs are often pretty awful (esp. the brand new ones on this tour that are all related to oil/cars/etc.). Regardless, just getting to see him rock "Powderfinger" or "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" was dreamy for me. I can't even begin to explain how long I've simply loved those songs, going all the way back to early high school when I picked up Live Rust and had my world blown open.

Seriously ... this setlist pretty much kills:

Love And Only Love / Hey Hey, My My / Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere / Powderfinger / Spirit Road / Cortez The Killer / Cinnamon Girl / Oh, Lonesome Me / Mother Earth / The Needle And The Damage Done / Light A Candle / "Cough Up The Bucks" / Fuel Line / "Hit The Road And Go To Town" / Unknown Legend / Heart Of Gold / Old Man / Get Back To The Country / "Off The Road" / Just Singing A Song / When Worlds Collide / Cowgirl In The Sand / Rockin' In The Free World // "Get Behind The Wheel" / A Day In The Life

I had to leave before "A Day In The Life" was done with its feedback outro as there was a train that needed to be caught as well as sleep that needed to be had, since I was flying out of LaGuardia at 9 AM and, as a lot of folks know, I only take public transportation to the airport - even LaGuardia.

Dean Wareham et al, Peel Slowly and See panel discussion, Wexner Museum, Columbus, OH - 11/20/2008

2008-11-21T09:30:00.006-05:00

It's always a bit nerve-wracking to finally meet someone whose art you really appreciate/respect/what-have-you. I've been a fan of Galaxie 500 since late high school and can say that, for about half my life, I've been a fan of Dean Wareham. And I got to meet him in a fairly non-crowded environment this week.

He and his (quite beautiful) wife Britta were playing a special performance of songs commissioned for Andy Warhol screen tests and, while here playing at the Wex, did a panel discussion of the Velvets/Warhol relationship plus a book-signing afterward. (I loved his book and highly recommend it, by the way.)

The panel, called Peel Slowly and See: Warhol, Music and Image, included Dean, Ohio State comparative studies professor Barry Shank, and Pitchfork managing editor Mark Richardson. Prof. Shank got things started with a 20-minute or so slide show and talk on Lou Reed's background leading up to forming the Velvets, including a clip of a song by Lou's pre-Velvets band the Primitives. I had never heard this before. Mark Richardson (who seemed like a shockingly cool, down to earth guy) went next and made the overriding point that it's hard to imagine how crazy it must have been to hear the Velvets back in 1967-68. One of his points was how crazy different (rock and roll speaking) 1967 was from a decade before while nowadays, 2008 doesn't seem so different than 1998. I think the term "cultural acceleration" was applied to this. Dean finished things off with more or less off the cuff remarks about his personal relationship with the Velvets. (Luna were picked to open up for the Velvets when they toured Europe briefly in 1993. Pretty awesome.)

The Q&A that followed was brief, mainly because there were maybe 40 or so folks there, most of whom didn't ask anything. Most questions were aimed at Dean, of course. I couldn't help myself and asked the whole panel, getting back to Mark's point about cultural acceleration, if they felt that music was reaching some kind of dead ends when it came to finding a sound as game-changing as the Velvets were. The discussion on that one was pretty lively, I thought.

Afterward, there was a book signing. I talked to Dean for a few minutes, and he was quite nice and, well, down to earth. I told him that I had been a fan of Galaxie since high school but, after reading his memoir, had really reevaluated and more deeply come to love Luna. He asked what I did for a living and seemed genuinely intersted when I talked about leukemia/lymphoma, etc. At the end of the conversation, I told him that I'd probably never get to meet him again and, if it was cool with him, would love to get a photo with him. And he jumped up, put his arm around me, and ... well ... there you have it. I'm a bigger fan than I was before.

No Age, Wexner Center Performance Space, Columbus OH - 11/19/2008

2008-11-20T11:07:00.004-05:00

As the Who once sang ... the kids are alright. Yes, it was a kid-friendly (and by "kids," I mean teens and twenty-somethings) atmosphere at the Wex for this show last night. I had listened to all of 1 minute of No Age going in, so I was kind of expecting, based on other reviews, a loud/pummeling assault. That was about right.

My friend Jenn and I grabbed a couple beers pre-show at the always yummy St. James (where we also tried a new Lagunitas brown sugar-tinged beer that was, um, strong) before getting to the show around 10.

Openers #1 were Silk Flowers, whom we missed. We did not hear good things. Then was Soft Circle, which was a cool looped thing where a guy got a good, trance-y, krautrock-esque instrumental thing going and then drummed (quite well) and chanted along. It was good if a bit tiresome.

Then it was time for No Age. They played a lot of 2-minute songs that were surprisingly complex for how much riffage and volume was going on. The vocals could have been louder, for sure, and the moshing a bit less in my face (I'm old, what can I say?), but it was a fun time. (The last moshpit I saw that rivaled this was, I swear, during Yo La Tengo's set at All Tomorrow's Parties. Crazy.) They aren't my bag 100%, but they are good at what they do.

I'm thinking that I'm going to get to meet Dean Wareham today. Kind of pumped. Now that's more my bag ...

(No setlist, as I have no idea what their songs are titled.)

Zoso (Zeppelin tribute band), Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH - 11/14/2008

2008-11-19T13:27:00.005-05:00

I'm a little late getting to this one. I have an odd love of all tribute bands, even those that are a tibute to bands that I don't necessarily love. From the B Street Band to the Sweet and Tender Hooligans, count me in. Of all the tribute bands out there, though, I have seen none as many times as I've seen Zoso, the most totally awesome hammer-of-the-gods Zeppelin-istas you'll ever come across. It is jaw-dropping how they rock the Zepplin sound. And how can one really hate the Zeppelin sound? It's awesome - end of story.

What I really like is that they play a pretty varied setlist with some oddball song choices every show. They rocked a killer "No Quarter," for instance, threw in a gorgeous "Going to California" along with some later period tunes and even opened with one of my personal faves from Zeppelin III, "Celebration Day."

It was fun, that's all I'm sayin' ...

Partial setlist ...

Celebration Day
can't remember
What Is and What Should Never Be
Tangerine
Heartbreaker
can't remember
can't remember
Black Dog
Immigrant Song
can't remember
Misty Mountain Hop
Since I've Been Loving You
10 Years Gone
Bron-y-Aur Stomp
Going to California
The Song Remains the Same
No Quarter
Over the Hills and Far Away

Stairway (why do they have to end with Stairway?)

Fleet Foxes, Wexner Museum, Columbus, OH - 10/8/2008

2008-10-09T11:02:00.011-04:00

A college buddy of mine got into town a couple hours before this show, and we had a few beers to get warmed up for the event. As our group walked into the Wexner, we found out that rather than a trip to the Black Box stage, the band was performing on the stage of the Mershon Auditorium. The last show I saw with that set up, Vampire Weekend, was a kind of hushed affair, so I was skeptical.

We walked into the forlorn, dead-on primitive folk/blues stylings of Frank Fairfield, which was pretty great stuff, I must say. For fans of old blues or Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music (a collection I highly recommend), it was kind of mind-blowing how well this dude channeled that creepy vibe.

Then the Fleet Foxes came out and did their thing, and they did it very, very well. I don't have a ton to say about this show aside from the fact that it was great ... a towering, mighty performance. They played most of their catalog and sounded devastatingly perfect. A couple of songs, most notably a cover in the middle, were done solo by their lead vocalist, and he was a force just on his own. They encored first with him again playing solo, this time their haunting "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song," which possibly sounded even better with him doing it on his own. If I may be forgiven a moment of hyperbole for the umpteenth time in my life, it made me think of what seeing the Band in their heyday must have felt like. (That's a high compliment coming from me.)

A buddy of mine has said that he wanted to follow Grizzly Bear around on the road after seeing them live recently, and I had that same feeling seeing Fleet Foxes. They're the real deal.

Setlist (courtesy of the Via Chicago forum):
1. Sun Giant
2. Sun It Rises
3. Drops in the River
4. English Houses
5. White Winter Hmnal
6. Ragged Wood
7. Your Protector
8. Crayon Angels (Judee Sill) >> Oliver James [Robin solo]
9. Quiet Houses
10. He Doesn't Know Why
11. Mykonos

-Encore
12. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song [Robin solo]
13. Blue Ridge Mountains

My Morning Jacket, The LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH 10/6/2008

2008-10-07T11:37:00.011-04:00

Got back into town from Nashville and quickly turned around and headed up to this show. I'm a pretty big fan of these guys and would even rank their album It Still Moves in my Top 5 all-timers. The typical baggage comes along with that kind of long-formed devotion ... things have changed, they're more popular, they don't play the "good" songs anymore ... it's kind of like a relationship going slightly sour ...

I was reminded recently of telling a friend that seeing them live would "make you a believer," and I still stand by that statement. By now, I've seen them >10 times and pretty consistently for 5 years (first MMJ show for me was the Orange Peel, Asheville, NC in early 2004), and those have included some of their career-defining performances (Bonnaroo is 2004 and 2006, end of the Z tour at the Orange Peel in 2007); expectations are thus a bit high for me.

We got there early and settled down on the lawn at the LC with a great sightline. It was cold and clear and kind of perfect. My 32-ounce Fatweiser tasted quite yummy. So the show ...

One truly needs to divide reviewing today's MMJ as pre-Evil Urgesand post-Evil Urges, the steaming pile of dung that they released this year. It's a brutal, heart-breaking record to listen to, and I don't mean that in a good way. It's the sound of everything good going off the rails in a big way. I'm not a change hater, either ... from Dylan to Miles to the Velvets to Wilco and Spoon and Pavement and other modern rockers, change can be done perfectly well. This is a case of change going very, very wrong.

For the pre-EU material, a band this good is not going to have much trouble conjuring magic and intensity. It's amazing how intense and vibrant they can still make "The Way That He Sings" sound, even if they've played it literally hundreds of times. Even the by now expected closer, "One Big Holiday", sends shivers and inspires some degree of rapture, despite it's predicted nature. Highlights were, for me, "Lay Low" (which is always a live highlight), "Evelyn" and all the It Still Moves material, even a slightly tired reading of "Golden."

And now where the rubber hits the road ... Evil Urges ... as I expected, these songs did indeed sound much better live. A couple are even quite legitimate, like the "Touch Me" two-fer or "Sec Walkin'." But this is just subpar material, no matter how you slice it. I've gotten to a point where most of the bands I like are continuing to put out such strong material that I'm just as happy to hear the new stuff as the old, even with acts as venerable as Radiohead or Wilco ("Hate It Here" notwithstanding). Sadly, though, no one is ever going to redeem "Highly Suspicious" or the middling lyrics of "I'm Amazed" (though the music is great on that cut).

But add it all up, and the show was greater than most any band you're going to find these days. These guys are in control and can bring out the hammer of the gods as they see fit. Jim James is a singularly great frontman. Maybe I just miss the days of old and should stick to my geezer rock tastes.

Nicely, I have a great upcoming comparison in getting to see Fleet Foxes tomorrow night. I am looking forward to comparing/contrasting the new kids on the block with the old ...

Onstage: 8:30
Off: 10:45

Evil Urges
Touch Me Pt. 1
Off the Record
What A Wonderful Man
I'm Amazed
The Way That He Sings
Thank You Too
Sec Walkin
Evelyn Is Not Real
Mahgeetah
Lay Low
Gideon
Golden
Librarian
Dondante
Smokin From Shootin
Touch Me Pt. 2

ENCORE:
It Beats 4 U
Wordless Chorus
Highly Suspicious
Phone Went West
Anytime
One Big Holiday

The Cardinals, Palace Theater, Columbus, OH 9/29/08

2008-09-30T10:03:00.007-04:00

I can't say that I had the highest of expectations on going into this show, as I think that Ryan Adams has been, to put it mildly, wildly erratic in terms of quality output. Whiskeytown was great, to be sure, and then he gave us one of the greatest albums I've ever heard, Heartbreaker. Then he's given us one album after another of some great cuts padded with a lot of not-so-great ones. The last thing I really loved from him was Cold Roses, and that came out in friggin' 2004.

More to the point, though, he just doesn't bring that much to the table as a performer these days. He's talented beyond belief and has a voice that is nothing short of spectacular, but the renditions of his songs live lack any sense of dynamics. It all comes across as very brutish compared to the delicacy of the records.

This show was a case in point. We started the night with a nice meal and decent beer at the Elevator and then walked over the the venue, which is a gorgeous, old school theater. Columbus seems to have more gorgeous, old school theaters than it knows what to do with.

Compared to the last time I saw him (at the Ryman in Nashville, 2006), he was very engaged and chatty, even having fun. And the show started with some excitement, especially getting a lot of gems in the first 5 songs. But the playing was just a bit ... by the numbers. Not once was an acoustic guitar touched during this show. The first set really hit a high mark with "Goodnight Rose," not a favorite of mine usually, but they really channeled a Dead-style energy and made it hum. "Let It Ride" is a never miss as far as great tunes, but it too felt kind of tired.

The second set had an emotional high point or two ("Dear Chicago," which he played even though he vowed he wouldn't play it in a million years after people kept yelling for it, and "The Rescue Blues"), but there were moments that I swear could have been from a Counting Crows show. All in all, it just saddens me because he's got the talent and Lord knows he's got the songs, but the performance itself just lacks a bit.

(In case you haven't noted this yet, his new album is titled - and I couldn't make this up - Cardinalogy. Ouch.)

Coming next (after a quick trip to Nashville) is My Morning Jacket in a week. Fingers crossed ...

Setlist and photos courtesy of the Ryan Adams archive.

On: 8:45 pm EST

1. Cobwebs
2. Stars Go Blue
3. Wonderwall
4. Two
5. La Cienga Just Smiled
6. Fix It
7. Sun Also Sets
8. Magick
9. Remote Control (Improv)
10. Come Pick Me Up
11. Goodnight Rose
12. Evergreen>
13. Bartering Lines
14. Desire
15. Natural Ghost
16. Let it Ride

Break: 10:10 pm EST

Onstage: 10:30 EST

17. Sinking Ships>
18. Crossed Out Name
19. Afraid Not Scared
20. Please Do Not Let Me Go
21. Everybody Knows
22. OMG Whatever, ETC
23. Rescue Blues
24. Note to Self, Don't Die
25. Dear Chicago

OVER CURFEW

26. Off Broadway

Off: 11:15 pm EST

All Tomorrow's Parties New York 2008

2008-09-22T17:56:00.011-04:00

So I rarely post on here but am thinking that this is a better venue for my music reviews/vacation tales/etc. than just old e-mails. Plus I can toss in more links, have these things remain a bit more "permanent," etc.

So I just got back this week from the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in the Catskills, New York. There have been some great, all inclusive reviews already published, like from:

NPR - All Things Considered
Pitchfork Media
The New York Times

Here's my 2 cents on it ...

Thursday 9/18/08

I fly out from Columbus to Providence, RI, where I rent a car and head up to Newton, MA to meet up with my sis and her family. I got there by 1:30 or so in the afternoon and scared my brother-in-law slightly. We headed up to my sister's lab to all meet up (my brother-in-law's mom was in town, too) and ended up ordering pizza back at the house. I was having a blast playing with my nieces, of course. My sis and I ended up getting out of the house for some beers, and it was great to catch up, though she gave me the damn third degree on career plans and what not. A nice, easy night.

Friday 9/19/08

Lily, my 3-year old niece, comes in and wakes me up in the morning. (I should explain that when I sleep at my sister's, I usually sleep on an air mattress on the floor of their half bathroom downstairs, as they don't have a guest room and my brother-in-law is up late in the den usually. Lily, who just turned 3, thinks that I always sleep in bathrooms all the time. Mildly hilarious.) I make my first driving foray into Boston proper to pick up my med school buddy Matt (pathologist in Boston) and his lovely wife Nicole (ditto) right by MGH. I did OK, methinks.

We hit the road, stopping on the way to get 3 cases of beer and some snacks, and around 2 PM arrive at Kutshers Country Club in Monticello, NY. An article I read described this resort as "elegantly shabby." It's hard to quite convey just how right on that description is. As Pitchfork reported:

A resort that was once a jeweled notch on the buckle of the Borscht Belt, Kutsher's is stuck in a time warp somewhere around when Dirty Dancing was supposed to take place. It's got a real golf course and a mini-golf course, an ice rink, indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts, a playground, a lake with rowboats, a synagogue, an arcade, a cinema, and a cosmetics counter where a lady sat from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day, ready to do your makeup. The kitchen is kosher; the ATP food court, serving only the finest in greasy fried carnival fare, was located in the parking lot. As a certain expert on the vacationing patterns of Northeastern American Jews during the 1960s and 70s (a.k.a. my mother) said, "What the hell are you going to Kutsher's for? That place is still around? What a dump!"

Indeed, Kutsher's was a dump. An entire wing was crippled under flood damage, many rooms barely got hot water, and ATP advised guests to bring their own towels and toiletries. A rumor spread that the place was infested with bed bugs. (Not true, thank goodness.) The ceiling of the main performance space looked like it had been attacked by Cookie Monster. But as the event's publicist pointed out, it isn't easy to find a space that not only features all of the amenities required for a three-day, live-in, indoor rock festival, but is willing to put up with thousands of intoxicated revelers and the mayhem that ensues. The place did have its charms, though. References to The Shining ran rampant, and Patton Oswalt made a joke about David Lynch walking into Kutsher's and saying, "Ahh, perfect!"

As we checked in, we ran smack dab into Thurston Moore within 10 minutes, which gave me a taste of what the weekend had in store. The first day's sets were close to getting started, so we hurriedly cracked some beers so as to get there in time to see Bardo Pond perform their album Lapsed, a record I bought when it came out and have liked for a long time. It's not as seminal to me as their double album manifesto Amanita, but it's a good 'un. They were pretty dang true to the album, and our first introduction to the main venue (the venerable Starland Ballroom) was surreal. Also, we quickly discovered that we could bring our own beers wherever we wanted. And that this festival was composed of about 92% dudes by my estimate, so ladies, if you're looking for socially awkward late 20's/early 30's rock nerds, this is your Studio 54.

Bardo Pond - "Be A Fish" (off Amanita, but it gives you a good idea of what their sound is all about)

So Bardo Pond brought it, I thought ... we recharged with more beer and then settled in for the Meat Puppets playing Meat Puppets II. It was a bit cracked at first, but by the end of the record they were cooking with fire and even did a killer trio of "Up On The Sun" (my favorite song of theirs) into "Tennessee Stud" into "Tomorrow Never Knows." I knew we were in for a good weekend.

Meat Puppets - "Up On The Sun"

I was feeling drunk by now, too, but we regrouped for part of Tortoise's rendering of Millions Now Living Will Never Die. I like seeing Tortoise live, but it was, as usual, a bit boring. And to reiterate ... I was getting drunk. At this point, I ate some (fairly nasty) kebab (which will now forever make me think of Flight of the Conchords) and acutally napped through Thurston Moore's Psychic Hearts. I had to rest up for Built to Spill. Sadly, I missed all the comedians, which was too bad, because some of those dudes are damn funny.

So I really did get up and rally for the coup de gras of the first evening, Built to Spill's complete opus Perfect From Now On. Both Nicole and I tried to rouse Matt with earnestness, but he was out for this one. What can I say? It's one of my favorite records of the 90's, and they absolutely killed it. Not always a great live band, they were clearly digging it. Right when "Untrustable" ended, they launched into (without pause) "Goin' Againt Your Mind," followed by a short break and then a killer encore of "Stab," "Car" (!!!) and finally a long, noisy drone out. I was so stoked that I ended up staying up 'til 3 or so that morning talking and drinking and soaking it in.

Built to Spill - "Randy Described Eternity" (live)

Saturday 9/20/08

I felt pretty good this morning, despite my fears otherwise. I e-mailed some in the morning and then went to a screening of Gimmie Shelter, the classic Stones documentary that I've seen multiple times already. It seemed like a good way to get into the day. The Criterion Collection was there screening films all weekend and giving away some killer prizes. A guy at the Stones film won a Frank Kozik-signed poster related to the movie. Damn!

During the day, I saw Apse (forgettable, but great drummer), Wooden Shijps (pretty killer psych rock) and Harmonia (very cool, oddly relevant krautrock from some old geezers from Germany).

Harmonia - "Arabesque" (live 1974)

Then we saw Edan, a rapper/DJ from Boston, and he killed it. Great rapper, very innovative spinning ... it was a great set. Impressive. And he had crazy reverence for indie rock, including a long rap where he namedropped a great and varied cache of artists.

Edan - "I See Colours"

Next was a band that was a deciding factor for me to come, Polvo, indie rock greats from Chapel Hill who have just recently reunited. I never got to see them back when I first fell for them in high school, so it was great to see them now. And they were huge - monolithic slabs of math rock with a drummer who blew my mind. And they played some "hits," including "Fast Canoe," "Every Holy Shroud," "Bombs That Fall From Your Eyes," and a personal favorite, "City Spirit." Possibly the set of the weekend for me.

Polvo - "City Spirit"
Polvo - "Bombs That Fall From Your Eyes"

Next was Les Savy Fav. (The singer, Tim Harringon, was standing next to me during Polvo, so we snuck a shot of that.) They were predictably awesome and wacked out, but I had to take a breather for about 30 minutes to prepare for Shellac. And Shellac rocked it hard. Very machine-like, with enough "hits" ("Prayer For God," "Copper," "My Black Ass" and a bunch of others) to keep it great. I had to bolt right when they finished, as I am an old man who can't hang with the kids who hung around to see Lightning Bolt.

Shellac - "Copper"

I should mention that this was Nicole's least favorite day, as it was very heavy on hard, math-y rock. I find that interesting.

Sunday 9/21/08

I am still very tired on getting up this morning. Matt, Nicole and I drive into Monticello for proper brunch (it wasn't that proper, but whatever) and to restock the beer fridge. I wasn't planning on seeing any bands until 4:00 or so because I was feeling like such a wimp, but I roused enough to get over and start the day seeing Lilys, a psych rock outfit from Philly. They've been around a while and were fine ... nothing great, but fine.

We then saw EPMD, the most incongruous act of the weekend. They are straight up hip hop legends, and this was the whitest crowd you could possibly imagine. A handful of people really knew their catalog, but it was kind of eerily quiet at times. They seemed to have fun with it, though, and they were pretty great.

EPMD - "You Gots to Chill"

Then it was time for the mega-lineup everyone was really there for ... Mercury Rev, Yo La Tengo, Mogwai, Dinosaur Jr and, finally, My Bloody Valentine's first show in the US in 16 years. This was a long night, and I got quite drunk, and I got quite tired, and I had to take some breaks. But here's my attempt ...

Mercury Rev - ear-splittingly loud, very "soaring" and bombastic, made me think of the Flaming Lips minus the good, succinct songs

Yo La Tengo - a weird set for them, starting with an ambient opener, then an obscure one off Electr-O-Pura called "Flying Lesson" (which I'd never heard them do live, interestingly), a couple of new tunes ("I Feel Like Going Home" and "Watch Out For Me Ronnie") and a crushing ending with "The Story of Yo La Tango," which was fantastic ... and people moshed to them - hard - which never happened the rest of the weekend

Yo La Tengo - "The Story of Yo La Tango"

Mogwai - I stuck around for about 2 songs ... they don't do it for me, though they sounded great ...
(At this point, I woofed down a hot dog and saw about 5 songs from Bob Mould, including a spirited take on "See a Little Light," which was nice ...)

Dinosaur Jr. - I certainly made it back for Dinosaur but was getting stupid by this point. I saw "Little Fury Things" and "Out There" and a couple others, but by the time they started in with "Feel the Pain," I had to go lay down and rest up for MBV ...

My Bloody Valentine - Pitchfork wrapped their set up nicely, though I would have to disagree on the point that they came out of the gate rocking hard (and loud) and continued to do so for the whole set ... it was great and, on some level, revelatory to hear these songs done this way ... I only made it through about 5 minutes of the unreal, 17-minute wall of noise with which they end each set ... it was super loud, like standing behind a jet engine ...

My Bloody Valentine - "I Only Said"

And so I was out like a light, though we stayed up for a while just gushing about how great it was. Hey ... it was pretty great ...

Monday 9/22/08

Traveling ... we hit the road at 7:30 that morning after we saw these poor English dudes getting scolded for taking a golf cart out and wreaking havoc. They looked sheepish and hungover. That was probably the most violent thing that happened all weekend. I really think the staff and security were just perplexed by these mostly older, fairly calm, almost totally white dudes all hanging out qutie politely for 3 days.

We were in Boston by 11:30 AM, said our goodbyes, and then I was off to Providence and finally back in the C-bus by 8 that night.

There's some talk around that they're going to do this thing again next year ... same time, same place. If the line-up is anywhere near as sick as this one, I can't recommend it enough. Just a great time ...