Muscle Shoals, Alabama

 

Muscle Shoals, AL

Can we all not agree that Muscle Shoals may be the greatest name for a city ever?

Hipster Love Heaven

Iron & Wine with Blitzen Trapper at Terminal 5 – November 17th, 2008

So if there was even one girl for every guy at the Hold Steady/Drive By Truckers show last week, last night’s Iron and Wine show was just about even.  It was a perfect ration of hipster boys to hipster girls.  I also made the observation that hipsters must be shorter than the general population since, with the exception of a bean pole or two I had excellent site lines of Sam Beam and his band.

I was planning on calling this blog post “My Endless Numbered Night” after Beam’s 2004 release, but as I noted in the blog post that I sent from my miracle phone, it was a really solid performance. Despite having all of his albums, I had not realized how much of Beam’s material seems to really be in the true folk revival tradition and not some newfangled teched up reinterpretation.

I didn’t keep a set list but a couple of observations:

• Beam noted that he had been haunted by the history of Town Hall when he last played NYC.  ”You know, Mingus . . . and there I was with my three chords”  and he mimicked three chords.  However, Beam can play guitar.  His finger picking was excellent and steady.  As I noted earlier to a friend, he had a tight band and they seemed to be following him closely and not (as I’ve seen on occasion) because he was not steady, but specifically because he was and he was leading.
• The band, when they came out for the longer part of the set had a reasonable (as in not soft) volume, yet Beam’s crooning always rested nicely on top without any fiddling of the levels it seemed.  They were also real strong.  I wasn’t into some of the extended jams they went into during some of the songs but that doesn’t mean they weren’t good.  They were.  The drum kit and bass were particularly in sync, setting a strong rhythm under Beam.
• It seemed as though, once beam opened his mouth to sing for the first time, all the girls in the audience collective titled their heads, went doe-eyed, and exhaled with a collective “Ah.” 
• Iron & Wine recordings seem like they would do well with a slight background hiss, a la the Mountain Goats (but without the clicks) and this makes me wonder if the hiss in the background during the entire show was intentional.  Listening back on some Iron & Wine while writing this makes doesn’t help.  Most of the production seems pretty pristine, though “Each Coming Night” definitely has the hiss.
• “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” was a real highlight of the show.  Beautifully done with a female accompanist.  
• Beam did a one-song encore consisting of “The Trapeze Artist” which appeared on the Topher Grace/Dennis Quaid blockbuster In Good Company.  After all the “I love you Sam Beam” shouts were done this song created an incredible mood — much more profound than the sappiness created by the studio version.  It was a real tribute to the power that Beam was able to hold over the audience.  I’m not sure I’ve ever heard such a large audience be so quiet for so long, with the possible exception of when I saw Springsteen do “When the Saints Go Marching In” during his warm-up shows for the Seeger Sessions Tour at the Asbury Park Civic center, and maybe without this exception.
• Oh, the opener, Blitzen Trapper was pretty good.  I’d see them on their own for a small ticket price at Mercury Lounge or the Bowery Ballroom.  
• I met a reviewer from jambase.com at the show. I’ll link to his review here if I can find it once it’s posted.

California Lookout!

I don’t know Jess, but I do know Matt and Ellen, her co-bloggers at The Sound of Blackbirds (click on the link, Matt, you know you want to) and so I’d trust her when she says she’s got some sweet information for all of you on the left coast:

I’m road managing Annabelle Chvostek, a former member of the Canadian folk trio The Wailin Jennys (yes, they would be Red House Records artists). She’s a pretty phenomenal multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, and her new album, Resilience, is great. I highly recommend it. You can listen on Myspace.

18th Coffee Gallery Backstage, Los Angeles, CA www.coffeegallery.com
19th Tales from the Tavern, Santa Ynez, CA www.talesfromthetavern.com
20th Don Quixote’s Music Hall, Felton (Santa Cruz), CA www.donquixotesmusic.info
21st Fernwood Resort, Big Sur, CA www.fernwoodbigsur.com/
22nd Café Flo, Chico, CA 530-342-1055 pullinsusa@aol.com
23rd Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, CA www.freightandsalvage.org

Iron & Wine in Progress

Admittedly, I wasn’t enthusiastic about the show tonight, but it’s turning out to be quite good. Sam Beam can play him some guitar and “Flightless Bird” was a highlight so far. Full review to follow.

Rambling in the Big Apple

The Red Stick Ramblers at Joe’s Pub – February 27th, 2008

 

The Red Stick Ramblers

I got the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands from back in Louisiana one night in February this year.  Some of my fondest memories of my time in Baton Rouge were nights when we would all head down to Chelsea’s snack down on some grilled chicken with cheese filled roasted tomatoes and focaccia bread, wash it down with impossibly cheap pitchers of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and then dance the night away to the Red Stick Ramblers.  Those were the days.

The days were also when they would play Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade Eve at Chelsea’s and then in later years as part of a double bill at The Varsity.  They would play in full traditional Mardi Gras get-ups.  That’s what I like about the south. [I feel like I've posted about all of this before, but I can't find it.]

Unfortunately, the beers are not so cheap at Joe’s Pub and there isn’t much room for dancing so this wasn’t quite the same thing.  Some older couples, who I think know the Ramblers from their regular stints at the Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camps really did give it a go.  They played a few older numbers but stuck mostly to their then new record, Made in the Shade, which came out on Sugarhill.  It was good but it wasn’t the same.

After the show we chatted with the band which was staying with Sandy Jenkins and family who host quite the house concert series from what I hear.  While we were talking to Chas Justus, the guitarist, he gave Matt the new record to spin on WKCR and said, “Matt, this is for you to spin.”  I think I joked and said something like “What about me?”  Chas said, “You get one when you get a radio show.”  Then I think he felt bad (or perhaps felt a little bit of that whiskey he’d been drinking) and ran back and got me my very own copy of Made in the Shade.  Thanks Chas!

I have some so-so video from the night.  If I can figure out how to convert it to a format that Quicktime can understand I’ll post it, but don’t hold your breath.

I’m Not That Innocent

On the same night that Matt did “Feet to the Fire,” he also did Richard Thompson’s version of “Ooops! I did it Again” which is excellent and actually makes one realize that the lyrics for the song really aren’t bad.  In fact, some parts of the song are quite good.  That and my newfound ability to inbed YouTube links into the blog have resulted in this post.  I actually liked Matt’s sparer version a little than the video below:

The Young, the Blonde, and the LES Shuffle

Raina Rose, Anthony DaCosta, and John Elliott at the Living Room -October 10th, 2008

When I was in danger of doing some early evening work back in early October, Matt let me know that he was heading down to the Living Room to see Anthony DaCosta and John Elliott at the Living Room.  I’ve been a big ADC fan since I saw him for the first time at the Emerging Artist Showcase at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (FRFF) back in 2007 where he slew the audience with “Poor, Poor Pluto” (an inclusion on the Rattle My Cage 2007 Mix).  His stellar reputation in my  eyes was only reinforced when I saw him again at the Rockwood Music Hall with Abbie Gardner earlier this year and again in this year’s Most Wanted Song Swap at Falcon Ridge.  So the news that ADC would be there was enough for me but Matt informed me that John Elliott would be nothing short of excellent — actually, Matt sometimes is an expectations manager so I’m sure he persuaded me of Elliott’s excellence otherwise, but he was in fact nothing short of excellent.

Regardless, the night opened with brief set from Raina with some hard core strumming and what I thought were some pretty strong vocals.  Then ADC, now 17, did a brief set in which, at some point, he noted “I’m finally done with standardized testing!” which is not something you hear from most folk singers.  I’m going to be a little upset if I find that he eventually gave up a promising folk career to become a corporate lawyer.  Anyway, Anthony had strong set that included my ADC favorite, “The Devil’s Won,” to which I was introduced at the aforementioned Rockwood show.  Elliott really did do an exceptional set before all three combined to do a set together.

John Elliot’s performance is great, but he is a unique, top-notch songwriter.  His lyrics are powerfully composed.  The content often seems erratic and unrelated, it works within a verse-chorus structure that allows it to become more than the sum of its parts.  This isn’t the (and I don’t use the term pejoratively) nonsense lyrics of Dylan.  In Dylan’s case, the unrelated content of his songs often seemed more external, more literary, and more intent on making social commentary through iconic imagery. (I’m specifically thinking of “I Shall Be Free” here).  Elliott, on the other hand, seems to specifically evoke emotionally iconic images which are often put together in a conflicting or puzzling manner that gain their power not just from the pure evocation, but from the listener’s attempt to rationalize or resolve them — “I’d love to see you making love or killing.”  It was just wonderful and mature song writing.

The most raucous moment of the night came when the three of them did Elliot’s “Feet to the Fire.”  I first heard this song done by Matt at our camp site on the Friday night of the FRFF, and then again the next day by ADC.  It was great seeing them all do it together.  I love that song.  In fact I’m going to listen to it wright now while I hyper-link this baby up.

Catch Matt’s review here.

Make-Up Work

Between now and the end of the Rattle My Cage year (defined as the date that the Rattle My Cage 2008 mix goes to press some time in early December) I plan on writing up some of the concerts that I’ve neglected to do since I went on bad behavior back in March or so.  The ones that I don’t have notes for will probably come soonest then the ones with notes – not necessarily because I’ll consult the notes, but because I’ll think I’ll consult the notes.  So those of you waiting for Feist or Wilco, you might have wait a bit.  Where ever I can I’ll link to Matt.

Rock and Roll Means Well

The Hold Steady and The Drive By Truckers at Terminal 5 – November 6th, 2008

The day after the Decemberists rocked our socks, Alison and I found ourselves back at Terminal 5 for the Rock and Roll Means Well Tour that consisted of a double bill of the Hold Stead and the Drive By Truckers.  We caught the first night in NYC that had the Hold Steady leading off the night (DBT would lead off the second night in town on Friday).  

 

The Hold Steady shine their light.

 

 

I have a working knowledge of the Hold Steady’s music (specifically Almost Killed Me and Separation Sunday) thanks to Luke’s enthusiasm for the band (he has me to thank for his true introduction to the Boss, but Rattle My Cage is above determining who did who a greater service) but my real purpose in buying the tickets was for the Drive By Truckers (to whom I owe Emma an obligation for the introduction – and mine to the Boss – but again, Rattle My Cage doesn’t keep track of that sort of thing).  Therefore, I was not prepared for how much the Hold Steady were going to rock.  

 

Another view of the Hold Steady from the second tier.

 

 

They came out ready to perform from the start, and they did it as much through their music and it’s intensity as in their stage presence which I think  a lot of strong performers rely on.  It was strong and it was steady throughout.  The overwhelmingly male crowd responded and the number of fans singing along with every word and just generally going nuts extended at least ten rows back.   One particularly memorable fan in the second row–who had at least 20 years on all the other fans around him–was a particularly good gauge for each song’s high point.  Whenever his enthusiasm seemed like it would overtake him, he would turn around to another fan who I don’t think he knew, they would simultaneously shout the song’s lyrics in each others faces at full volume, and then high five, and go back to watching the band.

I didn’t keep track of song titles, but I did appreciate the inclusion of “Your Little Hood Rat Friend” which I included on my Luke-inspired Eighth Note Invasion mix as well as Craig Finn’s anecdote that back in 2002 he had gone to see the new-to-him Drive By Truckers at the Bowery Ballroom and how he thought they rocked and how much fun it would be to do that.  (Granted, I was at a distance, but I thought that Finn sort of resembled the New York lotto guy which was sort of an odd sensation, though not as odd as seeing Sylvio Dante back to back with Bruce Springsteen singing into the same mike on stage.)

 

The Drive By Truckers take the stage.

 

 

The Drive By Truckers came on after the hour and a half first set by the Hold Steady and I just didn’t feel like they had the same level of intensity as the Hold Steady.  Even after you factor in enough time for the die hards to switch places the crowd didn’t seem to react as strongly either.  Patterson Hood did have a particularly great story about how his 90-something year-old great uncle from Alabama had just voted for a black man for president – followed, of course, by “The Sands of Iwo Jima” and the guitar playing all around seemed really strong.  I also appreciated one of my favorites, “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac” though I think it was just because I’m a fan of the song and not so much of the particular performance.  I will say, however, that their last two songs were really shredding.  They reached a level of intensity that almost certainly would have brought me and the crowd into their performance from the outset.  I’d catch the Hold Steady anytime anywhere after this night.  I might wait for serendipity or a smaller venue to bring me back together with the Drive By Truckers (or a strong argument – Emma insists it must have been a fluke).

Life on Mars in Morningside Heights

Sometimes life presents you with unexpected dilemmas. For instance, when they’re shooting  Life on Mars on your street corner (and in the dry cleaner you would keep going to if they didn’t keep losing to buttons on every single shirt you bring in there and then replace with buttons that don’t match and then don’t tell you about it) do you go meet with your advisor as planned or do  you wait on the corner for Christopher Moltisanti Michael Imperioli or Mr. White Harvey Keitel to show up.  Sometimes you get a little of both.  Now if only season 7 of Scrubs hadn’t arrived.