I was excited for this one ... the Boss on the eve of my birthday. My wife and I had dinner at Etch beforehand (pretty good, though I'm not crazy about how they combine sweet and savory on everything - fruit on every dish, etc). We sat right next to Peter Frampton, which was kind of crazy.
We made it into the Bridgestone and were in the general admission, standing room floor section. We were close enough, but once the show started, there was no moving or going to get drinks, etc.
The Boss came out around 8 PM and launched into "High Hopes." On this tour, he has a large band including backup singers and a full horn section. I found it to be too much and a bit bombastic at times. Honestly, this show didn't do it for me all that much ... a bit hokey (lots of singing with children), 10 of 28 songs off the last few records (not my favorites), too much going on, songs that went on ... and on ... and on ("The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "41 Shots" stand out as ones that could've used some editing).
On the flip side, when he pared things down like he did on an absolutely killer "I'm On Fire," he sounded amazing. That's what I want from my Springsteen show ... pared down, downbeat. But I'm in the minority, as most people loved it and were thrilled, The Scene included.
Sadly, we left during the encore (during "Point Blank," a personal favorite - we were just dead tired and not feeling it), missing his first US performance of "Born in the USA" in 5 years. My wife and I were in the minority, but this just wasn't our show.
High Hopes
Badlands
No Surrender
Death to My Hometown
Hungry Heart
Spirit in the Night
Burning Love
Satisfaction
Atlantic City
Johnny 99
American Skin (41 Shots)
The Promised Land
Because the Night
I'm on Fire
Downbound Train
Shackled and Drawn
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Ghost of Tom Joad
The Rising
Land of Hope and Dreams
---
The Wall
Point Blank
Born in the U.S.A.
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
Shout
Thunder Road (solo acoustic)
Friday, April 25, 2014
Superchunk, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN - 04/11/2014
Whoa ... this show was amazing. We have been on a roll (Real Estate, Television, now friggin' Superchunk). This is a band that I first got into when I originally "got into" music as a young teen - 7 inch records, zines, the whole bit. They have always killed it live, and I've found that their newer stuff (especially 2010's Majesty Shredding) is as good as anything from their "golden era."
Well, they brought it all. My wife and I started the night at a wine tasting (always a nice way to start an evening) and then made it over to the show, meeting up with friends and getting ready for the rock. I hadn't jumped around at a show (as far as I can recall) since seeing Wolf Parade play "Shine a Light" a few years back; well, I jumped around a few times at this one. They sounded great, played a fantastic mix of tunes and seemed to have fun. Great crowd - into it but not crazy, full but not I-can't-breathe packed ... just perfecto ...
Photos and writeup from The Scene ...
Driveway to Driveway
FOH
Learned to Surf
Detroit Has a Skyline
Punch Me Harder
Void
Out of the Sun
Watery Hands
Crossed Wires
Low F
Animated Airplanes Over Germany
Mower
Me and You and Jackie Mitoo
Digging for Something
Slack Motherfucker
Precision Auto
---
Hyper Enough
Throwing Things
Well, they brought it all. My wife and I started the night at a wine tasting (always a nice way to start an evening) and then made it over to the show, meeting up with friends and getting ready for the rock. I hadn't jumped around at a show (as far as I can recall) since seeing Wolf Parade play "Shine a Light" a few years back; well, I jumped around a few times at this one. They sounded great, played a fantastic mix of tunes and seemed to have fun. Great crowd - into it but not crazy, full but not I-can't-breathe packed ... just perfecto ...
Photos and writeup from The Scene ...
Driveway to Driveway
FOH
Learned to Surf
Detroit Has a Skyline
Punch Me Harder
Void
Out of the Sun
Watery Hands
Crossed Wires
Low F
Animated Airplanes Over Germany
Mower
Me and You and Jackie Mitoo
Digging for Something
Slack Motherfucker
Precision Auto
---
Hyper Enough
Throwing Things
Television w/ Tristen, Exit/In, Nashville, TN - 03/31/2014
Of shows that I've been pumped to see, this has got to rank right up there - a band that made one of my favorite records in all of history playing an uber-historic club a couple of miles from my house. So what if they may be past their prime or not with their original guitarist? It's Television - godfathers of post punk. You can't miss a show like this.
This was a boys-only show for friends and me. We met up and headed over en masse to see Tristen getting started, totally solo and sounding quite good. After a brief intermission and with little fanfare, Television came out with fairly stark lighting and about a 5-minute noodle/tune up session. (They tune by ear, which is not something you see everyday.)
They launched into "1880 or So," and similar to the Real Estate show I'd seen 48 hours earlier, the sound was phenomenal: very clean with monstrous bottom end, perfect tones, just sick. Jimmy Rip's solo on that first tune was monstrous. The first 5 songs or so were just off the chart great and one of my best recent concert experiences. Toward the middle/end, things dragged a bit and got somewhat wonky. They came back together for "Marquee Moon," though that felt slightly perfunctory to me.
Hard to overstate how epic this show was. The Scene felt so, too (photos there); another good write-up here ...
Intro/Tuning
1880 Or So
Prove It
Elevation
Glory
Torn Curtain
Venus
Little Johnny Jewel
See No Evil
Persia
I'm Gonna Find You
Marquee Moon
---
Guiding Light
Psychotic Reaction
This was a boys-only show for friends and me. We met up and headed over en masse to see Tristen getting started, totally solo and sounding quite good. After a brief intermission and with little fanfare, Television came out with fairly stark lighting and about a 5-minute noodle/tune up session. (They tune by ear, which is not something you see everyday.)
They launched into "1880 or So," and similar to the Real Estate show I'd seen 48 hours earlier, the sound was phenomenal: very clean with monstrous bottom end, perfect tones, just sick. Jimmy Rip's solo on that first tune was monstrous. The first 5 songs or so were just off the chart great and one of my best recent concert experiences. Toward the middle/end, things dragged a bit and got somewhat wonky. They came back together for "Marquee Moon," though that felt slightly perfunctory to me.
Hard to overstate how epic this show was. The Scene felt so, too (photos there); another good write-up here ...
Intro/Tuning
1880 Or So
Prove It
Elevation
Glory
Torn Curtain
Venus
Little Johnny Jewel
See No Evil
Persia
I'm Gonna Find You
Marquee Moon
---
Guiding Light
Psychotic Reaction
Real Estate w/ Pure X, Exit/In, Nashville, TN - 03/29/2014
This was one of the first shows that I hit up with a large group of friends in a while. We all met up at our house and had some beers (and a very nice 2012 Migration Chardonnay - Split Rail Vineyard) before heading over the show.
Pure X were doing their very ambient, smooth thing when we came in. Pretty good, if not that memorable.
Real Estate then came out and were just flat out great. They sounded amazing - truly impressive how fleshed out and full the whole thing came off. They did most of the outstanding cuts from Days, though they didn't play "Out of Tune," which was a major bummer for me. No setlist on this one, so I'm not sure of the whole thing. They played almost all of the last record, which sounded great live. Even the vocals, which I was nervous about, sounded great.
Nice writeup from The Scene available with some photos ...
Pure X were doing their very ambient, smooth thing when we came in. Pretty good, if not that memorable.
Real Estate then came out and were just flat out great. They sounded amazing - truly impressive how fleshed out and full the whole thing came off. They did most of the outstanding cuts from Days, though they didn't play "Out of Tune," which was a major bummer for me. No setlist on this one, so I'm not sure of the whole thing. They played almost all of the last record, which sounded great live. Even the vocals, which I was nervous about, sounded great.
Nice writeup from The Scene available with some photos ...
Sunday, March 30, 2014
The French Laundry, 1/23/2014
My wife and I took a trip to San Francisco/Wine Country in January, joined by her parents, sister and brother-in-law on the Wine Country portion. It was highlighted by multiple activities (running the Golden Gate Bridge on a gorgeous, fogless day, visiting Muir Woods), visits to wineries/labels/brew pubs (Sojourn Cellars, Silver Oak, Schramsberg, Stags' Leap Wineries, Frog's Leap, Russian River Brewing, Mikkeller Bar), fantastic lodging (Argonaut Hotel, the Chauvet) and, especially and most importantly, food. There were multiple great experiences ... Boulevard, Tartine Bakery and Gary Danko in San Franciso, the Rutherford Grill and Mustards Grill in Napa, the Sunflower Caffe in Sonoma (where the smoked duck breast sandwich is possibly the greatest sandwich I have ever eaten in my life).
Nothing, though, could quite compare in terms of overall experience and sensory overload to the French Laundry. We have by now done a few Michelin rated, tasting menu-centered places and kind of get the gist of it. The French Laundry, though, has a reputation that surpasses even the other great restaurants we have tried.
In preparation, I had called 2 months to the date (11/23/2013) in advance to make a reservation. Right at 10 AM PST, I started dialing. I got through on my 70th attempt. They were very nice and polite and had seatings for 6 available at 5:30, 7:30 and 9:30. We went with 7:30 and e-mailed out the good news that we were even able to get a reservation at all.
We spent the day of 23rd tasting at Silver Oak and Frog's Leap. After freshening up, we headed to Yountville with some time to spare. The French Laundry is a very unassuming, two story cottage-style building in Yountville. We almost drove right past it, honestly. I dropped everyone off and drove off to park, as there's no parking lot or valet. It's very low key.
On entering, we were warmly greeted and taken upstairs to a table for six. Our server (who was impeccable) was very professional and, honestly, a bit off-puttingly formal at first. We were a bit nervous just being there, and he wasn't helping. We started the evening with a bottle of the Schramsberg Cuvee French Laundry Blanc de Blancs, and things loosed up nicely. He warmed up and really helped guide some decisions, including wine selection, as their wine list is a bit intimidating.
We had two menus from which to choose:
Nothing, though, could quite compare in terms of overall experience and sensory overload to the French Laundry. We have by now done a few Michelin rated, tasting menu-centered places and kind of get the gist of it. The French Laundry, though, has a reputation that surpasses even the other great restaurants we have tried.
In preparation, I had called 2 months to the date (11/23/2013) in advance to make a reservation. Right at 10 AM PST, I started dialing. I got through on my 70th attempt. They were very nice and polite and had seatings for 6 available at 5:30, 7:30 and 9:30. We went with 7:30 and e-mailed out the good news that we were even able to get a reservation at all.
We spent the day of 23rd tasting at Silver Oak and Frog's Leap. After freshening up, we headed to Yountville with some time to spare. The French Laundry is a very unassuming, two story cottage-style building in Yountville. We almost drove right past it, honestly. I dropped everyone off and drove off to park, as there's no parking lot or valet. It's very low key.
On entering, we were warmly greeted and taken upstairs to a table for six. Our server (who was impeccable) was very professional and, honestly, a bit off-puttingly formal at first. We were a bit nervous just being there, and he wasn't helping. We started the evening with a bottle of the Schramsberg Cuvee French Laundry Blanc de Blancs, and things loosed up nicely. He warmed up and really helped guide some decisions, including wine selection, as their wine list is a bit intimidating.
We had two menus from which to choose:
 |
| Meat Eater's version |
 |
| Veggie option |
My wife and mother-in-law went veggie; the rest of us went meat. It was a four hour affair, with unreal service and one dish after another. Unlike our visit to Alinea, which I photographed and noted in detail, I let this one wash over me. We enjoyed all this with a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir (Evesham Wood) and then a (reasonably priced) Bordeaux from the late 1990's. A few highlights below ...
 |
| "Oysters and Pearls" - Pearl tapioca with oysters and caviar |
 |
| "Carnaroli Risotto Biologico" - a risotto doused with freshly shaved black truffles - unreal |
 |
| Scallop |
 |
| "Candies" being offered to my sister- and mother-in-law |
I will add that the beef dish toward the end of the main lineup was the single best piece of meat I've ever tasted in my life. The whole thing was a knockout, worth every penny and all the effort to make it happen and simply unforgettable. It was not far out or crazy like Alinea, just superb and often almost simple or rustic.
A few other highlights from the trip ...
 |
| 7-miler to Golden Gate Bridge |
 |
| Restaurant Gary Danko |
 |
| Tartine Bakery |
 |
| Muir Woods |
 |
| Silver Oak |
 |
| Silver Oak |
 |
| Sunflower Caffe |
 |
| Stags' Leap Wineries |
 |
| Stags' Leap Wineries |
 |
| Stags' Leap Wineries |
 |
| Russian River Brewpub |
 |
| Schramsberg |
Fresh Start for 2014 ...
I've gotten way, way, way behind on keeping up with postings, and by now the memories may be a bit too faded to do the respective shows any justice. For the sake of posterity, the latter half of 2013 was rounded out with some good ones as well as some duds:
- 5/29/2013 - Steve Martin and Edie Brickell w/ the Steep Canyon Rangers, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, TN (super fun, great show)
- 6/13/2013 - She & Him, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN (very long, 32 songs, fun show)
- 6/15/2013 - The National w/ Local Natives, LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH (uptempo show, very fun)
- 8/25/2013 - Huey Lewis and the News, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, TN (went on a lark, had a blast)
- 9/5/2013 - Local Natives, Live on the Green, Nashville, TN (went w/ a bunch of friends, sat in the VIP area, very fun show, they played "Warning Sign")
- 9/8/2013 - The National, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN (downbeat show that never clicked for me, much different than the OH show in June, did not enjoy this one a whole lot)
- 9/15/2013 - Phosphorescent, 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN (totally awesome, one of my top 3 shows of the year)
- 9/21/2013 - Renee Fleming, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, TN (once in a lifetime chance to see someone of her stature in this type of setting, unmiked, very cool experience)
- 10/4/2013 - Phoenix, Marathon Music Works, Nashville, TN (not their best set we've seen, but always a good live show)
- 10/30/2013 - Noam Pilkeny and friends, 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN (unreal bluegrass show with Bryan Sutton just killing it)
- 1/9/2014 - Alive Hospice benefit at the Bluebird - this was just cool and featured the main dudes from Better than Ezra (awesome), Spin Doctors (meh) and Sugarland (not my thing, but very talented) playing acoustic/in the round ... very cool
Alright, palate cleansed ... ready to get back on the horse for 2014 ...
Monday, December 30, 2013
The Steeldrivers, Station Inn, Nashville, TN - 05/10/2013
My wife and I took her parents to see the Steeldrivers and arrived at the Station Inn about 45 minutes before 9 PM. Already, we could scarcely find space, so those of us who could sit did while some of us stood up at the back. But they were great, and seeing shows at the Station Inn, while a bit of a pain in the neck in terms of needing to get there early, etc., is very special. They played a long, great set, and we stayed through the whole show. Worth checking out ...
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