KITSCH DORK

A Kitsch Dork Update

2011-10-27T19:24:00.000-05:00

As you may have noticed, or more likely, haven't noticed, posting has come to a standstill here at Kitsch Dork. Pitchfork came down on me hard for the name likeness so I had to lay low. No, that's not it, I just lost interest for a bit. Feeling a bit more inspired now I just started writing for the much more successful blog Tympanogram. My first post, a review of Gillian Welch in Ithaca, just posted today. Check it out, and check out everything over there, they do a great job. I'll be keeping most of my writing over there, but perhaps will post here once in a while for certain shows. You can also keep up with my musical adventures over on twitter, I'm @lifftwit over there.

And To Think That I Saw It On Gregory Street

2011-03-10T11:28:00.005-05:00

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

The South Wedge neighborhood of Rochester had a full plate of unrelated music events happening last Saturday night.

My evening started off at the German House. There was a benefit for Scotty Shojan, the guy behind ScottyPaluza. The benefit started early and ended late, but I got there just in time to see the one band I was there to see, the John Payton Project. Payton is an ex-drummer for soon-to-be-no-more local worldbeat group Buddhahood. His new band is smaller in personnel but heavier in sound. A 5-piece consisting of guitar, bass, sax/flute, percussion and drums they played original song-based rock with a heavy reggae influence. The music had a solid foundation in it's high quality bass and drums core and everything over the top was just gravy.

From there I took a treacherous grueling eighth of a mile hike through the cold wind and rain over to Tango Cafe where Steve Piper, guitarist from Watkins and the Rapiers, was just getting ready to start his set. From the big stage and hippie crowd to the comfy cafe and elderly crowd. Piper proved to be a world class guitar player, singer/songwriter, storyteller, banterer, and joke teller. Just a delightful and perfect coffee house set. I was tipped off to this show mere hours before so it was an unexpected but welcome surprise.

Then back down the street to close out the evening downstairs from the German House at the Keg.
Hinkley started soon after I arrived with Rochester music everyman Dennis Mariano on keys and guitar. Now is as good time as any to throw in a bit also about Thunder Body, the new reggae band formed from ex-Geurrilla Panda Dub Squad members along with Dennis. They finished up a residency at Dubland Underground last month of which I caught a little of their last show before they went on a small tour. Really enjoyed what I heard and looking forward to checking them out again. Back to Hinkley though, also loved what I heard from them. Very much reminded of Death Cab with some Wilco thrown in listening to their set. Slow to materialize subtle melodies rooted in the poppier side of Americana. Not particularly catchy, more absorbing.

Next up was Boston/Brooklyn band Tallahassee, another in a ever longer line of rough indie country rockers. But can there ever really be enough? And is there any other band that has two guitarists varying more in height than these guys? And is there any other band covering Paula Abdul's "Straight Up"? They did their best to stand apart from other bands of their ilk, and when it really comes down to it, it's all about the songs. They had good ones and played them well, enjoyable set.

Finally, it was another opportunity to enjoy Auld Lang Syne before they head out on a tour of the South and Midwest. Unfortunately they were piano-less, but fortunately they played an entire (or nearly so) set of new tunes and they all sounded fantastic. More of the same dark, brooding and lengthy laments. Wouldn't have minded a couple of their staples or perfect covers thrown in to enrich the set, but it was great to hear something different and get to see new songs as they develop.

Rochester continues to prove itself a treasure trove of great local music. What's even better, it doesn't go unappreciated, these bands get great support at their shows.

And that is a story that no one can beat,
When I say that I saw it on Gregory Street.

(Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss!)

Avett Brothers @ Smith Opera House

2011-03-04T16:20:00.004-05:00

A pretty straightforward way to turn your regular superfans into rabid superfans is to be sure and mix it up night after night. That's the only way I can explain the Avett Brothers' maniacal fanbase. I mean sure they are a great band, write great songs, and put on great live shows, but so do a lot of bands, and they aren't blessed with the fans that the Avetts are blessed with. I don't know why, but I continue to be mystified by this. When we headed out a few hours before doors opened for an early dinner and drinks and there were already a good 30 people standing out in the sub-freezing temperatures waiting to get in I was a little surprised. As a person who owns most of their albums, follow them on twitter and facebook, and have seen them live 4 times, it's a little odd knowing that I hardly even register as a casual Avett Brothers fan.

The last time I caught a non-festival Avett show was two summers ago at Water Street. It was barely even half full and tickets were a reasonable 20 or so dollars. This time they were playing the more sizable Smith Opera House in Geneva, easily sold it out, and were charging twice as much. Impressive.

The show wasn't any better or worse. Tough to think they could put on a bad show, not sure any combination of their songs would be disappointing and they're not taking any bold risks that might fall flat. Quality songs and their raucously energetic live re-imaginations is a (seemingly) simple formula for success. Still, as I looked around the room during the show, I felt like I was on the outside looking in. Oh, that's the lyric we cheer for? Sing along to this part? Hands in the air now?

And like I said earlier, what keeps em coming back is the simple fact that the set list varies every night. Bands like Wilco and My Morning Jacket put on fairly incredible live shows, though they won't really mix it up from show to show for a whole tour, maybe even a whole year or more. The Avett Brothers throw in songs spanning their career, and don't shy away from that rare unrecorded nugget that some fan who's seen 100 shows has never seen. I don't think I will ever be able to fully appreciate the nuances of their live experience, but I enjoyed it all the same.

I was equally excited for the opener Jessica Lea Mayfield who has eluded me a couple of times. Unfortunately she continued this trend when she canceled last minute to appear on Letterman the next night. Lame excuse! Her brother's band, David Mayfield Parade, performed in her stead. I had been made aware of Avett fans general dislike for Jessica prior to the show and there was an audible relief when the announcement was made. I'm not sure I have ever seen a crowd take to a relatively unknown (I think?) opener so quickly and so exuberantly before. Also unusual for an opener, because the show was GA they were playing to a full house for their whole set. They had the crowd up and dancing midway into the hour long set and practically calling for an encore by the end. David's mannerisms, humor, and appearance all reminded me a bit of both Zach Galiafanakis and Reverend Peyton. They played a blend of old time country, folksy pop, and all out rock. Personally I thought they were pretty good, but nothing worth seeking out, but I think the majority of the crowd felt much differently. Very well-received set.

If you want to know what the "real" fans thought (and see the set list), check it out here:
http://www.theavettbrothers.com/us/forums/geneva-ny-smith-opera-house-2202011

Jerry Douglas Band @ Bear's Den

2011-02-03T20:20:00.002-05:00

Jerry Douglas is without a doubt one of the greatest dobro players in the world. But for some reason, I went into the show with caution. I had never seen him lead a band before. He's always been amazing in any bluegrass lineup I have seen or heard, and he is almost the only reason I would want to see an Alison Krauss show these days, so not too sure why I had any doubts about this show. As you might guess, the doubts were totally unfounded. The show was a marvel, pretty much perfect in every way. He played music across the spectrum of his career, playing some Skip Hop and Wobble, Strength in Numbers, some new material, some music commissioned for an art exhibit, and even a Weather Report cover. And through it all, he played within the music, never taking it to pure showboating, as is often the case in his Alison Krauss appearances. His young backing band really proved their worth throughout the evening, especially with Jerry's propensity for breaking strings. The venue, inside the Seneca Niagara Casino, was also nearly perfect. Amazing acoustics, comfortable seating, great sight lines, extremely intimate, and a somewhat cheesy ornateness that for whatever reason seems to suit bluegrass very well.

Walri, Auld Lang Syne @ Abilene

2011-02-02T22:46:00.004-05:00

After a decent little tour, NYE extravaganza inclusive, Walri was back in the ROC for another night of Wauldlangri, or Wauldlangsyneri or whatever you want to call it. Arriving at Abilene with Auld Lang Syne already rocking the joint, I walked in the door, paid the $3 cover (first time paying at Abilene, seems to be a new trend now, still damn reasonable) and stopped in my tracks. The place was packed all the way to the entrance, I couldn't move. Yikes. Eventually I found my way to the bar and then closer to the band and then out toward the billiard area where thankfully some room cleared out eventually.

On to the music. Auld Lang Syne was tight and enjoyable as always. Walri was still somewhat shaky with the new lineup even after being road tested. The superjam set was also a tad disappointing only in comparison to previous efforts, lacking in surprise and also completely hacking up a couple of their covers. Still it was all good fun and a great night of music as it always is.

But really, my takeaway from this show was the talent of Auld Lang Syne's lead man Timothy Dick. My appreciation has been steadily growing, taking a big step up after the Java's gig where he took to the piano in a big way. But it finally occurred to me that he was possibly more talented on every instrument in his band than any of his bandmates. He could easily pull a Stevie Wonder or Jimi Hendrix on their next album. No slight to the others in the band, moreso huge compliment to Tim. I am pretty sure I have seen him rip it up on every instrument they bring (aside from the occasional french horn addition), whether it be accordion, drums, bass, harmonica or piano. And hello guitar! Every highlight of the evening was a ripping guitar solo from Timothy Dick. Mostly during the superjam set because for some reason he doesn't allow himself to display that side in their regular sets. There was some jaw-dropping stuff being laid down there. Don't sleep on this semi-hidden treasure Rochester... or elsewhere.

NYE in NYC III: Bad Plus @ Village Vanguard

2011-01-17T22:47:00.003-05:00

I finished up my mini metropolitan music marathon with an evening with the Bad Plus at the Village Vanguard. It was the first place I had ever seen them, whenever that was. It was also the sight of the last time I tried to see them a couple of years ago, but alas I was sold out. So it had been since I saw them at the RIJF in 08. Way too long. That was two albums ago and they were premiering their new For All I Care material with Wendy Lewis for the first time. Needless to say I was very excited. Technically I guess it was the third show I was seeing that day. Not a shabby start to the year...

Their new album, Never Stop, unlike their last, is all originals. And likewise, this show, unlike that last time I saw them, was nearly all originals, and totally devoid of any rock covers, just a pair of jazz standards. Since it was a while between shows, it was tough to tell if they had changed much, or if this show was just out of the ordinary being the early set after NYE and all, but they were much looser than usual. Stretching things out, playing around with different themes, and even their dress was looser. No tie for Ethan? Reid looked like he was ready for a day on the couch. It was a set that was beautifully riddled with Reid's numbers, the highlight of which was an epic (even by his standards) new one that plodded it's way from near death march all the way to techno dance beat in a span of 20m or so. It may just have been the best music I will hear all year. Not a shabby start to the year indeed.

Crossing my fingers for a return of the Bad Plus to RIJF this year. I can't wait that long again.

NYE in NYC II: Anders Osborne @ Sullivan Hall

2011-01-16T20:05:00.004-05:00

As the Pete's Candy Store superjam with Walri etal was winding down, we headed out and back up to Manhattan to catch the Anders Osborne late night set at Sullivan Hall. Nine times out of ten, my eyes are bigger than my stamina when I choose to extend my evenings out with a late night set on New Year's Eve. Doubling up on a normal night is one thing, but doing it on NYE when the "early" show is not getting out until well after midnight is quite a different beast. Generally, tire will get the best of me and I zombie out at the late show. But this year I actually gained energy the later it got, and I will tell you why. Anders Osborne is why. His guitar slapped me across the face and splashed it with ice cold water. Just mind-numbingly ridiculous guitar shredding all set. His power trio lineup reminds me of the early rawer years of Gov't Mule and also at times of fellow New Orleans slinger Sonny Landreth's trio. 2011 started off as the year of Neil Young. Walri brought it in with Heart of Gold and Anders busted out a monster cover of Ohio. But the best tune of the night was Got Your Heart, have a listen.
Or download the whole set, courtesy of Scott Bernstein.

NYE in NYC I: Walri @ Pete's Candy Store

2011-01-07T15:52:00.005-05:00

It was New Year's Eve, and yes, I was down in NYC, with more choices for live music than arguably anywhere else in the world, and yet I ended up at a tiny off-the-beaten path bar in Brooklyn seeing Walri, a band from my hometown of Rochester. The space for live music was literally in an old train car. Long narrow small and cramped, and the sound was coming from behind you, speakers facing the band. Bizarre experience indeed. The bizarre feeling amped up as opener Backwords ended their set in the waning hours of 2010 with a cover of White Rabbit. Like a reverse Cinderella, Walri quickly worked to get set up before the clock struck 12. Not quite ready, they whipped out a quick cover of Heart of Gold just in time and then the more traditional Auld Lang Syne (the song not the band.) And then they sound-checked. Finally they settled in and whipped out a good hour of their signature love rock that hooked fans new and old alike. Pretty standard Walri fare except for 2 major changes. Geoff Saunders was replaced on Bass by Benny Oyama and Dave Goebel was replaced on drums by Danny Rose, brother of lead man Amos. It's not immediately clear whether this is a permanent change to the band or just for their current tour. Time will tell I suppose. Anyway, they sounded great. They played a couple of tunes from the new members, and featured a good amount of instrument swapping (all but the drums were switched around). After their proper set and another small break, most of Auld Lang Syne (the band, not the song, who opened the night, which unfortunately we missed) and a few others took over the stage to begin the super jam segment of the evening with a rousing rendition of Born on the Bayou:

The crowd had thinned, but the spirits were riding high and people were ready to party. The line between the stage and the crowd blurred to almost become indistinguishable. Musicians from all of the evenings acts (including previously unmentioned Doctors Fox and Matt Cross) popped on and off stage at will and beautiful and raw music was made. Covers included Hey Pockey Way, an amazing I Want You (She's So Heavy), and this Ophelia:

With their propensity for Beatles covers, how long until Walri covers I Am the Walrus? (We Are the Walri?)

Phish @ MSG (Night One)

2011-01-07T14:35:00.003-05:00

The last few days of 2010 (first day of 2011 inclusive) were like a music festival of my own design in NYC. I took a somewhat selfish family-less trip down and crammed as much music and other fun into 4 days as I could muster. The first night I was treated to some Zorn related avant-garde improvisation, covered here. On the second night, I intersected with Phish's own New Year's run. They were coming off two nights in Worcester and were hunkering down for 3 nights at the world's most famous arena. My need to see Phish at every opportunity has waned significantly in the last decade, but still, it hurt to have missed them on their fall tour, especially their stop at nearby Utica, considered by many to be the show of the year. So I was definitely excited to be catching at least this one show.

The first set seemed to have it all: great covers (Cities, Quinn the Eskimo, and Fat Man in the Bathtub), rarities, arena rock, jam vehicles, funk. And yet, it lacked cohesiveness and flow (the benchmarks of any truly great Phish show) and while not horrible, was somewhat disappointing. One of the bigger cheers of the set came when the PA cut out during Camel Walk...

Things would luckily pick up in the 2nd set. And right off the bat with a show-highlight-level Tweezer. Deep into the jam the band found a spacey groove that you could easily lose yourself in. Just as I was thinking I could listen to them play like that for the rest of the night, they moved on into Light, which would be the low point of what would end up being a very solid and rocking set, including this great My Friend My Friend/Axilla combo.

And really they left you with little to complain about when they topped off the set with an Antelope/Tweezer Reprise encore. In the past it would seem strange to jump on a Phish New Year's run for just one show, but it made more sense than ever to me this year. Variety is the spice of life I guess.

John Zorn Improv Night @ The Stone

2010-12-30T12:01:00.003-05:00

Imagine an unknown question with no discernible answer. Musicians quietly emerged in groups from the basement of a room that looked like a basement, except with a gorgeous piano as its centerpiece. Duos, trios, quartets, culminating in an all-in massive improvisational blowout. Piano, bass, cello, percussion, drums, guitar, laptop, various horns. Different combinations, different improvisations. Different. It was a who's who of the NYC avant-garde jazz scene, but they couldn't introduce themselves if they even tried. And they did try. "I don't know all your last names" was the answer. Here's a peek into the madness:

Phantogram, Sports @ Bug Jar

2010-12-23T12:24:00.003-05:00

I caught less than 15m of their set last year opening for Yeasayer, but that was all Phantogram needed to hook me. I left intrigued, interested, yearning for more. After an unfortunate cancellation a couple of months ago, they were finally back. My only gripe with them, and many bands like them, was the lack of a live drummer. There is no machine that can fully replace what a real live drummer brings to the table. Especially a good one. So I was definitely excited to see that they brought along a drummer to join them this time. And did it help? You bet your sweet ass it did. They turned from a cute electro-pop duo into a smoke-filled fist-pumping dance rock party band. There was a lot of music going on in the city that night and I was slightly worried I was making the wrong choice. Friends were elsewhere, but I stubbornly stuck it out for these guys. And my expectations were exceeded, Phantogram put on one hell of a show, they have entered the next level. Here's to hoping the drummer becomes permanent and a trio is born.

Local hype band Sports opened with their tight Cars/Elvis Costello/Vampire Weekend-esque pop rock tunes. Glad to finally catch these guys. Other than having the worst Google-era band name possible, these guys and gal have a ton of potential, hoping to catch a lot more of them in the future.

Mike Gordon @ Westcott Theatre

2010-12-23T11:26:00.003-05:00

After seeing a lackluster show from Mike Gordon's current lineup a couple of summers back, I have avoided seeing them again. Though with them playing mere minutes from my parent's house during the Thanksgiving holiday, it was tough not to give them another chance. Glad I did. There were certainly points in the show where it teetered on the edge of standard pointless jamband dreck, but for most of it, they rose above. Murawski has disappointed me in the past, but on this night he was locking in with Gordon and the rest of the band for what were tight, interesting, and driving grooves. I was blissfully out of touch with what was going on song-wise which only made it seem all the more tight knit. The set was dominated by originals, though sprinkled in were some tasty covers, like Sailin Shoes and Skin It Back, both by the recently Phish-oweened band Little Feat, and what I thought was the highlight of the night, an unexpected but appropriately spacey cover of David Essex's Rock On.

The Westcott was officially sold out, though it was very comfortable inside... can't say this venue has disappointed me yet.

Auld Lang Syne @ Java's

2010-11-22T15:13:00.003-05:00

Local boys (and girl) Auld Lang Syne played a special 100th show at Java's, a place they had never played previously. Other than the new-to-them venue, they upped the special-ness with a string quartet and Aaron Shewan on french horn. They also played a smoking two-set show, nailing songs new and old for friends old and new. Auld Lang Syne plays dark brooding music and have staked their claim in intense slow-building epics. They physically look and act the part of moody Americana rockers so well you're likely to think it might all just be a put-on, but I think it is purely authentic.

The sound in Java's was nearly perfect, very crisp and clear, though it was definitely missing something. This music requires in the least the clanking of beer bottles and pint glasses, and ideally consumption of their contents as well. But unfortunately that was nowhere to be found at this coffee house.

They played a couple of new ones (looking forward to their forthcoming album next year), some of their old "classics" (My First Soul played for what was probably the 100th time, they quipped) and threw in some covers that they were born to play like Dylan's You Ain't Going Nowhere and the Stones' Sweet Virginia.

They've been playing with a piano live for less than a year and I can't believe they existed without one now. For this show it became the centerpiece for such a large portion of the night. It certainly hadn't been omitted for lack of talent. Lead man Timothy Dick was in total control of the instrument in every situation, it wasn't just filler.

It took them about 3 years to arrive at show 100, if they can get their next 100 down in half that time these guys might just make a name for themselves outside of sleepy Rochester.

After the show I made it over to Abilene's for that much needed beer and took in some dead-on Cash covers by Cash Back. An appropriate capper on a fine evening in the ROC...

Broken Social Scene, The Sea and Cake @ Town Ballroom

2010-11-08T19:14:00.003-05:00

This one will go down as one of the best shows of the year. The Sea and Cake opening for Broken Social Scene?! I didn't even need to step into the venue to know that to be the case, two of the best bands out there on the same stage. Did it live up to expectations? Damn straight. They took advantage of the oodles of awesomeness in the house with lots of sit-ins, including John McIntyre hitting some sort of percussion for the entire evening. BSS put out one of the best albums of the year, nearly topping their untoppable You Forgot In People. Their new album, to me, is surprisingly amazing. The pseudo-hiatus was more refreshing for the band than I would have figured considering they never really seemed to be off, just named and organized differently. And live, they were at the absolute top of their game. I think semi-lead man Kevin Drew said it best from the stage when he basically said that they chose to play all of the songs they liked to play the most for this tour, old or new. It was hit after hit after hit with some rarities and even a great Apostle of Hustle tune thrown in for good measure, but it didn't lean as heavily on the new material as you would think. If I had any gripe from this show at all it was that the new leading ladies didn't quite live up to their predecessors, not bad, just slightly lacking... energy mostly.

The Sea and Cake warmed the crowd up with their post rock grooves, inviting a few friends from Broken Social Scene along for the ride. It was a tad on the short side, they may have only squeezed in 4 or 5 tunes if I remember correctly, but it did the trick.

Hallelujah the Hills @ Bug Jar

2010-11-08T16:31:00.002-05:00

While in Boston I got turned on to local indie-faves Hallelujah the Hills. I didn't hear much from them after leaving, until Record Store Day this year I found their debut album in the dollar bin and snatched it up. Flash forward a few more months and lo and behold they're coming to Rochester. A few days before their show another band Boston introduced me to, The Young Republic, was playing locally as well. Unfortunately that show was canceled. On the way into town HtH's van broke down. Another cancellation? Nope, thankfully they still made it to the show and put on a fantastic albeit too short set early on a Friday night for no more than 12 people. I thought they would have a better reach outside of their hometown, but apparently not here. Hopefully, despite the car troubles they enjoyed their time here and will make it back for some more fun.

Here's a brand new one that may have been a debut.

And here are a couple of oldies but goodies I just unearthed off my hard drive from the first time I saw them a few years back. The first is one of the better self-titles songs you'll hear. Generally an odd practice in my opinion, though it works here. In fact I think they erred by not playing it at the Bug Jar. It plays like a memorable jingle for their not so memorable name. By Mennen... Co-stanza... Hallelujah the Hills...

Young Empires, Hosannas, Black Elk Speaks @ Bug Jar

2010-10-29T14:14:00.003-05:00

I put my ears in local music blog Tympanogram's hands last weekend and headed out to their latest show with minimal knowledge of the bands on the bill. I don't fall for every band they present by a long shot, but I was fairly sure that at least one of the bands on they booked would be worth my time. Turns out all 3 were well worth my time and money. But it also turns out that the headliner, as headliners should, stole the show. And stole the show in such a way that about 5 minutes into their set I had forgotten most of what I had seen earlier in the night. They wiped the slate clean and rewrote the evening to be all about them. The band was Young Empires from Toronto. They played a tight set of infectious and pulsating dance punk grooves somewhere in between !!! and LCD Soundsystem. They don't even have an album and apparently not enough material to even make an album yet. After a few tunes and not even 30m they called it a night. I thought they were joking but soon they were off the stage and the guitarist was extending the night by turning the place into a dance club with some nifty laptop action. Still, in that short time, they took the place by storm. Keep an eye on Young Empires!

Local band Black Elk Speaks opened the night with some adventurous rock tunes. I like where they are heading, lots of potential and upside, but still a bit rough around the edges, particularly in the vocal harmony department. Once they start tightening the screws I am excited to see where they can take it, definitely a foundation for something great.

Hosannas was up next. Electronic keyboard duo from Oregon. Now these guys had some damn fine vocal harmonies, I would say that was their greatest strength even. They played a nice dynamic set ranging all the way from a capella to full on electronic feast. Phantogram West is an apt description for their sound. And again, I think they would benefit greatly from a live drummer. I don't know if there is a dearth of quality drummers around or if bands are just trying to be more economical, but it is a bad trend I am seeing with so many bands opting to use synthesized drumbeats, Young Empires included.

El Ten Eleven @ Bug Jar

2010-09-20T19:58:00.005-05:00

Like clockwork, El Ten Eleven was back at the Bug Jar last month. This time they brought along some friends, more on stage "theatrics," and a new album. And new fans. A bit more crowded than last time, slowly they are building a fanbase in the area. Their set was amazing as always, this time with "pedal cam."

El Ten Eleven finished what was a great lineup and damn good night of electronic rock at the Bug Jar. After local El Ten Eleven sound-alikes Turbines opened up the night dance-party-in-a-box up-and-comer Baths was up next . I heard the music from the bar and when I walked into the stage area I was definitely a little surprised by who was creating all the sound. This guy was straddling a slippery slope of being an unintentionally funny youtube sensation or the next Girl Talk, but fortunately he came out on the right side of that equation.

One man electronica band Dosh cleared the way for El Ten Eleven.

Vampire Weekend, Beach House @ Main Street Armory

2010-09-11T14:27:00.003-05:00

It was Friday night which meant only one thing, one more crappy week in the books and the start of the weekend. No ordinary weekend, this was a Vampire Weekend which is best spent at the Beach House with some Dum Dum Girls.

Unfortunately I arrived too late to partake in any Dum Dum Girls. Without much of a wait though, Beach House took the stage in front of 3 internally lit pyramids. Ethereal stage set for ethereal music. Beach House is one of those bands that have collected on my ipod over the years without any effort or ever having purchased or attained a full album, just songs here and there, live sets, free downloads etc. Always liked em, but never have made that leap and have never seen them live. I was, as expected, impressed seeing them in person. I don't think the Main Street Armory was a particularly good environment for them, but they made do and didn't have any problem keeping the near sellout crowd's rapt attention. At one point they even choreographed an impromptu wave through the crowd. They opened with Walk in the Park off of their latest, which for better or worse ended up being the highlight of the whole show from either band. Such an amazing song and played beautifully. Beach House has a unique sound, but I still couldn't help but find musical similarities throughout the set. They outfoxed the Fleet Foxes, matched flame with the Flaming Lips, and didn't quite burn as hot as the Fiery Furnaces. I'd love to catch these guys in a more intimate and more acoustically sound venue. Great set.

Vampire Weekend closed out the night, and rarely have I seen a crowd more ready to eat everything they were dishing out. If you looked closely enough you could probably see some fans foaming at the mouth. The crowd roared at every given opportunity and then some. And after a little bit of a warm up they were ready willing and able to let it all hang out and dance the night away, opting to forgo the more common indie-rock head bob. Vampire Weekend delivered on the crowd's dreams for the "best show ever," but for me it was just a good band playing their very good songs very well. But hey that sounds awesome! I know I know, but still, as a complete show it was missing something more to bring it all together. I think perhaps each song was played too tightly. The crowd was willing to loosen up over time, but the band didn't exactly follow suit. They really aren't willing to loosen the reins on even one of their songs, even ones they've been playing for over 2 years. Time to mix it up I think. But still, criticism aside, this is one of those shows where song after song, you just realize, damn, these guys have a lot of great songs.

Horsefeathers, Auld Lang Syne @ Bug Jar

2010-08-31T07:47:00.007-05:00

Finally time to finish up some unfinished posts collecting dust around here.

I missed a good amount of their set because for some reason they ended up going on second, while the openers, Auld Lang Syne, took on the closing slot. So when I arrived Horsefeathers were already a few songs deep into their set. If you've heard that they sound a lot like Iron and Wine, than you heard right. Eerily similar. My take was, Iron and Wine writes better songs, but Horsefeathers had a better live show. Now of course, Iron and Wine's songs are so freaking good that the live show is by default amazing, but the comparison makes sense in that Horsefeathers elevates their songs more in the live setting. Also, the cover of Gillian Welch's Orphan Girl was amazing. Hear their version at Daytotter.

Fortunately for Auld Lang Syne I like them already or else they would have had a major uphill battle to win me over after causing me to miss part of the real headliner's set. They closed the night in fine fashion, and for the first time that I had seen had a piano on stage, which was a fantastic addition to round out the sound.

Walri, Auld Lang Syne @ Abilene

2010-08-30T20:58:00.003-05:00

Walri and Auld Lang Syne repeated their set-swapping antics at Abilene last Friday night. This time it was outside on the patio with more space and fresh air, this time it was more well-rehearsed, this time it went even past 2am, and this time it was even better than last. It was just about as good a night of local music is going to get, good enough that I hesitate to even qualify it with the word local at all.

I'm calling this conglomeration of bands Walangri and I'm hoping they pull off more evenings like this in the future. These nights will be the stuff of legend once these bands both make it big. Which they will.

To refresh your memory, Auld Lang Syne played a set on their own to open things up, then Walri followed. Then the two joined forces, and then they repeated the whole thing, 6 sets in all. That is if you really even could call them sets, the turnovers between bands was minimal.

The best set of the evening was the first combined effort. It started off with all members on stage for a fantastic cover of Paperback Writer. They followed that up with God Only Knows, absolutely nailing the insane vocal harmonies. Those two in succession left me with only one word on my tongue, ballsy. The rest of the evening was such a loose and freewheeling affair, but these two tunes were well rehearsed and masterful. The rest of the combined set ran through a whole bunch more covers including even more Beatles (right down Walri's alley), and Born on the Bayou (right down Auld Lang Syne's alley). The second go round Walangri set leaned more heavily on the Auld Lang Syne side of things, with loose bar room rockers and blues tunes. Many instruments were swapped, many lyrics were missed, many verses were repeated unintentionally, and many beers were drunk. And at 2:10 when it was all said and done, there were still a good 40 people hanging onto the final notes of What'd I Say. Until next time...

My Morning Jacket @ CMAC

2010-08-29T20:04:00.004-05:00

Been nearly two years since I rang in the new year with MMJ, but I feel like I spent a good amount of time with Jim James this month since he played with everyone and anyone at the Newport Folk Festival (more on that in a long overdue review, hopefully soon.)

Such a solid rock concert. It just had it all. The highs, the lows, the quiet, the loud, the fist pumping, the head banging, sing-alongs, and lots and lots of smoke. I know the album is a couple of years old, and that they're not touring on it currently, but still, it was well over an hour into the show before they busted out the first tune off Evil Urges. There aren't too many other major label bands that wouldn't be pumping their newest material. All well and good by me, I didn't really love that album. The covered the most ground from the albums Z and It Still Moves, including I Will Sing You Songs, which is simply one of the best tunes ever written. Beautiful. They also played a new one called Circuital, which was quite good, and kind of meandered over a couple of different themes. Once it returned to the first theme at the end, I thought, this sounds like something I know. Oh yeah, it was from this song! So it was instantly familiar.

They tacked the jam section of Run Thru onto the end of Smoking From Shootin, which, while it was damn good, I wasn't too thrilled about it. The ending section is so good it just needs to be extended, no need to borrow an ending from Run Thru. They added a great little end jam for Gideon and it sounded great. Do the same for Smoking.

The New Pornographers, nearly unannounced (seriously, where was the promotion on that one?), opened up. I got a much later start than intended and missed a good portion of the set. Arriving late, the fact that just a couple hundred people were actually even there to see it, and that the local paper was totally wrong about Neko Case reuniting with them for this show made it hard to get into for the little that I caught. I don't listen to them much and was a bit unimpressed the first time I saw them a few years ago, though every time they started up another song I said, oh yeah, this is a good song. So they played they're hits I guess.

Rollin Back (intro)
The Way That He Sings
Gideon
Mahgeetah
Anytime
Tonite I Want to Celebrate With You
Golden
Circuital
It Beats 4 U
Wonderful (The Way I Feel)
I'm Amazed
Dancefloors
I Will Sing You Songs
Dondante
Smokin From Shootin
(end of) Run Thru
Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.2

Encore
Wordless Chorus
Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.1
Off The Record
One Big Holiday

Widespread Panic @ Bank of America Pavilion

2010-07-25T09:06:00.004-05:00

Just by dumb luck I happened to be in Boston the same night that Widespread Panic came to town. It's been a little over two years since my last Panic show, one of if not the longest stretches I've gone without seeing them, so I was pretty excited at how the timing worked out.

The first set opened with one of my favorites, Pigeons. Bassist Dave Schools dedicated it to the Kings of Leon which made little sense to me at the time, until I saw this the next morning. Classic. St. Louis' loss was our gain, Pigeons opened what was to be a fantastic opening set. Pretty much everything through Surprise Valley was well played well placed and just all around good times. The Bears Gone Fishin was a highlight, the band really came together nicely and guitarist Jimmy Herring was ripping but staying within the confines of the band and the song. When I listen to the current Panic lineup Jimmy seems to stick out and not always in a good way. Too often he still sounds like a special guest in the band. But on this night he kept himself in check and it paid dividends. There was a point in the Bear's Gone Fishin where I thought he was about to take off and leave the band in his dust, but he reeled it back in and the 6 headed monster of old was brought out from the depths.

The 2nd set looked better on paper, but the playing didn't reach the heights of the first set nor did it flow quite as nicely. Maybe I'm just getting old, maybe they're just overused, but musical sandwiches just seem annoying to me at this point. And Panic goes to them a lot. Twice in this set alone, and browsing past setlists they seem to be all over the place. Shelve the sandwich I say. Still, a nice sold set of Panic, a nice solid show of Panic, and a great night. Hopefully it won't be another two years before we do it again.

Closed out the show with an oddly placed Jack encore, but finished it off with a rousing Lawyers Guns and Money that got the sparse New England crowd up and rocking one last time before heading out.

Tarbox Ramblers @ Bop Fest 4 & John Brown's Body @ Boulderfest

2010-07-19T18:40:00.002-05:00

Free music was alive and well in Rochester this weekend. I hit only a small portion of it on Saturday. Started at the Tarbox Ramblers at the Bop Fest, the Bop Shop's mini-music fest in the Village Gate. After having not seen them during my 5 years in Boston, I have now seen them twice in the past few months, thanks entirely to the Bop Shop. This time Michael Tarbox was accompanied only by his drummer. Oddly, the first show with the full band was billed as Michael Tarbox and this show was billed as the Tarbox Ramblers, should be the other way around I think? Anyway, it was good to see the tunes in a different light. Though I definitely preferred the full band treatment. I really don't want to miss another Tarbox show, too good.

After that it was across town for Boulderfest. The first time I went it was a paid event and they drew in national talent like Akron/Family, Vetiver, Megafaun and Dr. Dog. Some of my favorite bands out there. They have since pared it down to a free event with mostly local acts. They draw a ton more people this way and I understand the move, though with such a great booking 2 years ago I am a little disappointed to see it move in this direction. To the promoter's credit, the crowd was very thin then, so it was definitely a good move from that perspective. I haven't heard John Brown's Body in a long time and they have gone through some major changes since. Overall they were a lot of fun and sounded great. Reggae kind of follows along the lines of funk for me, seemingly so easy yet truly very difficult to get it right. JBB showed they could play a tight reggae groove with the deep pulsing bass and the chickawah guitar rhythms, though when they started adding in modern flourishes they started to lose me a bit. Elliot Martin made for a top-notch reggae frontman. Unfortunately when I tried to catch Jimmy Cliff Thursday night he got an unusually late start (1 hour break between bands?) and with my daughter in tow I was forced to leave just as they had come on. It would have been great to compare the two different approaches to the music, old and new.

Upstate NY Jamwich

2010-06-30T20:44:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday through this Tuesday I served myself up two slices of Phish and stuffed it with a piece of Furthur... and also worked in a dollop of Tortoise of course. This sandwich contained more than the weekly recommended allowance of spun-out people, both of the mellow and entertaining kind (moreso at Furthur) or seriously whacked out schmucks (moreso at Phish).

Let's start with the bread. I made a last-minute trip out to SPAC for the Sunday night show, ditching my family on Father's Day. This show can be summed up quickly: Gordo PWNS FTW. The man was simply possessed for most of the evening. Roggae and Drowned were the standouts of the show, though in the 5 shows I have seen in the past 2 years, I have now seen Drowned 3 times. It takes a little of the excitement away, but nothing could drag this version down. Simply amazing. Roggae is a song I have always loved, and it just keeps getting better. Overall the setlist looks better on paper, still, this was a fantastic show, well worth the trip.

A week later I was back for more closer to home at CMAC. Other than finally getting to hear Reba again after all these years (and a fine version it was), the clear highlight of the show was Mikes>Simple>I Am the Walrus>Weekapaug. Mike's was the straight ahead, head-banging rocker it was born to be. Only thing missing was a stage full of smoke and crazed strobe lights. When it fizzled into Simple, my first thought was, old-school, which was directed at the Simple and not the Mike's. Simple, back where it was born. The end jam was gorgeous, approaching the Roggae from a week previous. They really did an amazing job with I Am the Walrus, and the jam was Tweeprise-esque, except better? I could live with this being a one-time occurrence, but could also see it living the life of a staple. After a solid Weekapaug, the set kind of went downhill, not precipitous, but it definitely peaked in the noise of Walrus. One of the best songs through the mid-90s, I would be happy to never hear another Harry Hood again, it just doesn't do much for me anymore, which is unfortunate. Another solid show, ranking pretty closely with SPAC, maybe a notch below.

2 years ago Phil Lesh played Highland Bowl. Last year Bob Weir did. This year they both played it. What next year? The show started with a lot of promise. The playing was good, the song selection was good. Then, what is essentially the best Dead cover band ever, became just a damn good cover band. I don't mind them playing non-Dead covers in and of itself, I in fact would count their Ryan Adams cover from Ithaca one of that show's highlights, though when you start throwing covers into the mix that just don't fit it throws the whole thing off, and did. Songs like Strawberry Fields Forever and especially Time were square pegs in a round hole. They handled Time quite well, it sounded good, the playing was some of the best of the show, particularly Joe Russo on drums, but it was totally out of place. On top of that, they decided to string the entire 2nd set together with meandering jams that jumped abruptly into the next song, there were a lot of awkward musical moments. Getting the kinks out on the first show of the tour I guess. As negative as I sound, it was still great fun, great venue, perfect weather, and overall good music. But when I leave a show with my highlight being the Death Don't Have No Mercy (which was stellar), I leave knowing the show could have been much better.

Tortoise @ Bug Jar

2010-06-27T19:53:00.003-05:00

I haven't been in a venue that cramped, hot, and humid since the first time I caught Broken Social Scene at the Middle East and there was literally a cloud of sweat hanging in the air. Ever since this show was announced I was curious as to how Tortoise would actually fit onto the Bug Jar's stage. They managed, but it didn't look easy. I'd say the band was probably annoyed to be playing that venue in the end, though it worked out for us in the end. Great show and amazingly intimate. These guys would be a great fit for the Rochester International Jazz Fest. For whatever reason this is considered rock, though it closely resembled some of the best "jazz" I caught during the fest. I have watched Tortoise in reverse order. Was introduced to them on a very large stage at the Austin City Limits Festival years ago. Then a few years later I saw them at the considerably smaller Somerville Theatre, opening for and backing Daniel Lanois. And now, catching them at the smaller than small Bug Jar. Next will they be in my living room?

RIJF 2010: Day Nine

2010-06-27T19:08:00.004-05:00

A little late getting around to closing out my RIJF posts, so the commentary will be short. Ibrahim Electric had been compared in the guide and in the paper to MMW, the Bad Plus, and Soulive. MMW? Marginally... Bad Plus? Not even close. Soulive was the closest comparison, but these guys were much better in my opinion. And by better I mean more interesting. I thought they were more rock than jazz if we really wanted to get technical, the drummer was certainly rocking it, the B3 played more toward a psychedelic slant than the swinging jazzy sound, and the guitarist was all over the map. At any rate, they were good enough to drag a bunch of people over for the late set, a whole lot of fun. It was the first time in the US for the Danes, but hopefully they'll make it back soon and often, I think they could get a nice following here.

After Ibrahim's early set I stopped at Jazz Street for a Java's sandwich and checked out some from the new local buzzworthy reggae giants of the Lawnmowers. They played a great Presence of the Lord, followed by shaky Stones cover. The reggae tunes worked the best, whereas some of the rocking stuff fell flat. These guys could slink into a nice reggae groove and Ron Stackman's voice is a great combination of unique and wonderful. Would love to catch these guys in a smaller setting and for a longer set.

Mark Stuart and the Bastard Sons closed out the Abilene stage in style. They played the type of music that convinces me I like country music more than I think or say I do. Sadly it was one of the smallest crowds I saw at Abilene all week. Guess it was tough to compete with all of the free music happening on the final day.

Before catching the late set of the rocking B3 trio Ibrahim Electric, settled in on Jazz Street to take in a more traditional organ trio from New Orleans. Joe Krown, Walter Wolfman Washington, and Russell Batiste Jr. laid down what was by far the best music out of that area I heard all week. Twas a real treat.

Until next year Rochester Jazz Fest...

RIJF 2010: Day Seven

2010-06-18T20:38:00.003-05:00

Oof, all this different music is starting to run together, tough to keep it all straight.

Made it to all of the first set and most of the second for Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. It was my first time seeing or hearing the band without founding member Reed Mathis. Reed is an amazing player, a unique player, and was a big part of the JFJO sound. Speaking of basses, there was a malfunction with the upright bass so leader and pianist Brian Haas was forced into unexpected solo piano work while it got worked out. He was quite capable to carry that load, but finally the band did come on for what we were there to see. We got one tune with the electric bass while the upright was still be worked on. I wish we had gotten more from the electric and it wasn't just used as a last resort, but that would be my only complaint from their sets. They played Monk, Mingus, Armstrong, and perhaps my favorite jazz man Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and on the other side a couple from that Lennon/McCartney outfit. All excellent, but the real shining moments were the originals. Haas was a master on the piano, banging and flying across the keys, Josh Raymer added a rock edge to his drumming reminiscent of Dave King of the Bad Plus, and Chris Combs on lap steel added that extra something that took the music to that next level. Great stuff.

Another rock-influenced band, Get the Blessing, featuring the bassist and drummer from Portishead, was at the Christ Church. And they brought their dry wit with them. Got a good laugh in between almost every song, also reminiscent of the Bad Plus once again. A song about donuts with sprinkles, followed by a song about donuts with chocolate icing and custard inside, a song about an Albert Einstein action figure, etc. I would categorize their music pretty closely with JFJO almost, just replace the lap steel and piano with a trumpet and a sax. The spirit of the music was a similar mix of rock-influenced jazz. Get the Blessing was a bit more out there than JFJO and pretty much just as good. Caught a bit of both the early and late set.

Stopped into Palle Mikkelborg on the way up to Abilene for the Bottle Rockets. The place was jam packed, SRO. Sometimes I am very surprised by what is a popular set, and this was one of those times. This was very spacey and out there, not easily accessible by any means, but there the crowd was, packed in and not leaving. I came back and caught more in their late set. Really quite amazing. Palle on trumpet and his drummer Marilyn Mazur had played together in one of Miles Davis' bands. Mazur had one of the larger kits I have ever seen. She was more percussionist than drummer. She was encircled by a billion percussive doodads, had a full size kit, and a large gong-like drum behind her. Palle's wife was playing harp, some of the better harp playing I have heard (not sure exactly what that means being that I am not a huge harp enthusiast or anything.) But whereas many times a harp is used to fill in the spaces with beautiful strumming, Helen Davies was using it as a much more specifically melodic instrument. Add in Mikkelborg's spacy trumpet and some fusion-y guitar playing, a great mix of new age (which I hate to say, but there was definitely some in there) with Bitches Brew era jazz fusion.

I determined after a few tunes that the Bottle Rockets just weren't for me. It was pretty much as simple as I didn't like their songs, nothing more nothing less. Was OK by me, it certainly made the rest of my evening a lot easier, which is how I was able to go back down the line and catch all the late sets.

RIJF 2010: Day Six

2010-06-18T20:04:00.003-05:00

Started off the evening with another peek at Trombone Shorty. At least this time I got to see him play some horns. It was definitely a lot better than the bit I caught earlier, though still, not living up to the hype for me. When there is so much other interesting music to choose from out there, it is tough to settle on a heard it all before funk outfit. Funk: easy to play, difficult to master.

Next up, Eivind Opsvik Overseas, an avant-garde band from NYC. This was my pick of the night, featuring Kenny Wolleson on drums, who played the 2009 fest with Bill Frisell, one of the best shows I caught all last year. This set did not disappoint, with Wolleson dancing around an implied beat and the rest of the band layering on top of that. Beautiful, thought-provoking, at times jarring, others droning (in a good way). I made the mistake of finally catching a set at Max at Eastman Place to see Adam Niewood instead of coming for the 2nd set of Overseas. Niewood was greatly disappointing, standards that were sub-standard, and he pulled out an electric sax that just sounded plain awful. Left soon enough to just catch the tail end of the Overseas late set, and thankfully the 40 or so of us still there was able to get them to come back for one more.

Before that I let myself get carried away into John Taylor's world. Solo piano that gets compared to Keith Jarrett's solo work a ton. It is quite different in my eyes though since Jarrett is completely improvised whereas this is composed. Still, remarkable playing, wonderfully engrossing and moving music. He was one of a handful of artists this week that got so lost in his music he couldn't remember what he played. Seriously, that keeps happening a lot. Been dragging this week what with full days at work followed by working a full night at jazz fest (not sure which job is tougher), so I couldn't stick around Taylor's set for as long as I probably should have for fear of falling asleep.

Capped off the night with the Hackensaw Boys. Hot damn the Hackensaw Boys. These guys put the pep back in my step. Blisteringly good old-time string band music, raucous, loose, and scraggly. Ended their set by getting everyone to come up front and crowd around the stage. Then they played a few songs completely unmiced, "just like it used to be." They played well after 11, and were still urged back on for an encore. Claiming that it was "past curfew" they played one more unmiced, though it would have brought the house down to turn the volume back up one more time. Still, best set at the Abilene yet.

RIJF 2010: Day Five

2010-06-16T08:16:00.005-05:00

Got a very late start to the evening and unfortunately couldn't see everything I wanted to. Everything I did get to see, I wish I could have seen more of, but that's what happens when you don't arrive until after 9. Oh well.

Started off at the Lutheran Church for Samuel Hallkvist Center. The quartet looked like a bunch of rag tag hipsters from Williamsburg, definitely the presence of a young indie-rock band (as was pointed out by Jeff Spevak in the D&C). And their opening number was nothing more than a rock instrumental. Kind of shaky at first actually, good but a bit pedestrian. But once they warmed up and I warmed to them, it really got good. They really did play like they were from NYC, maybe not Wiliamsburg, more like Lower East Side. A grounded avant-garde sound. The last tune I caught before moving on was a beautifully building sonic wash lead by some very interesting guitar work from Samuel Hallkvist. There were hints of John Lurie and Bill Frisell, but not quite to that level. I wish I could stick around for more, but in the abbreviated evening I thought best to move on. I have never felt worse leaving a set at the fest either, the place was EMPTY. No exaggeration, there was at most 20 people in attendance. I have never seen an RIJF venue so devoid of bodies.

Rosie Ledet had the Abilene crowd on its feet (finally!) and dancing the night away. Of all the New Orleans music I have heard thus far, this was the best, at least in terms of transporting the stage down to NOLA. It was loose and fun and funky. The band featured a ripping guitar player with some Slash-esque hair. They sucked me in and I forgot about time and had to dart out to catch the tail end of Alison Brown.

And I was glad I did. Alison Brown and her quartet sold me in just 10 seconds. Her banjo skills were first class, but more importantly her songwriting was even better. She was joined by piano, bass, and drums and their sound was reminiscent of Bela Fleck's later solo work, the Acoustic Planet stuff. Which by the way, is about as high a praise as I can give, that is some of the finest music recorded. For all those wondering why there was a banjo at a jazz fest, Alison pointed out that the banjo was an important instrument in the very earliest jazz bands. Besides, her music was plenty jazzy. The Big Tent was very sparsely attended, and while I'm talking about it, Abilene, while not empty by any means, was as comfortable as I have seen it, just about half full. Where was everyone? Either a bunch decided to take a night off and get primed for the final four days, or I was just at all the wrong sets.

RIJF 2010: Day Four and Jeff the Brotherhood

2010-06-15T09:43:00.007-05:00

Rushed to get in line for another fill of Bassekou at Kilbourn Hall and arrived as the line was already shuffling in. So guess I didn't to rush in for that one, the place was empty. What gives? Even at peak it was only a little over half full. Sitting up close I got a new perspective on what I had seen the night before. I would also make it back for the late set (had to drag my friend over to see what was what). The early set matched very closely the early set from the Big Tent, but the late set was almost entirely different, so I was glad I made it for an unprecedented third set. Last year I definitely made a point to hit as much as I could, constantly moving around, but so far this year I find myself sticking around longer at one artist instead. And I have to say, it's been working out great. Typically with this type of music (though what I have seen so far has been anything but pigeonholed to one "type") the whole is greater than the sum, meaning, stick around and get the whole picture and you will be rewarded. Anyway, in the late set a woman from the audience got up on stage to sing some traditional American blues and scatting over the background of the Malian blues that were being played. It seemed to be completely unplanned as Bassekou's wife who was sitting in the audience for that number came on stage, whispered in his ear, and next thing you knew this woman was on stage. Haven't seen it noted anywhere who she was. Her friend also made it on stage for some African-style dancing later in the show. Definitely something different. The singing was very cool to see, a nice juxtaposition. I won't go into detail here, but seeing the instrumentation and the techniques up close was eye-opening and intriguing. Someone told me they were "horrified" by the men playing gourds with strings. So wrong on many levels... The crowd for the late set grew in size during the set and they finally got enough of an ovation to coax an encore.

From there stopped in for Stanley Jordan at the Harro East. This set is getting a ton of buzz, though I may be the lone dissenter on this one. I have some preconceived dislike for him from previous experiences, so take this for what its worth. Yeah his playing and technique are unique and at first unbelievable, I find artists like him (and yes, there are others with similar styles) to get overburdened in style in detriment to the music. I would rather hear all of the compositions he played in a different manner if given the choice, style alone can't wow me. But anyway, yeah, he is amazing at what he does. Hadn't seen him mix in the piano before, that was cool to see.

Moved on to Amy Lavere at Abilene. From complex to simple. Some bands have a way of reminding you that the formula for great music can be a pretty simplistic one. Write great songs, assemble the right pieces, and play them well. There is nothing sexier than a female bass player. And it doesn't hurt if she is beautiful and has a great voice. It would be great if Amy could go through life singing instead of talking, because her speaking voice was oddly childish, high pitched nasally or something weird. But her singing voice was reminiscent of the old-time country singers. At the Abilene Stage the music is way to quiet and the chatter is way too loud and persistent. Nonetheless, with some straining of the ears, I could make out that the acoustic portions of the set were the best. The guitarist in the group absolutely ripped on acoustic. He wasn't too shabby on the electric either, but whew, the acoustic was hot.

Stopped in for a few tunes from Trombone Shorty and was seriously disappointed. For the 15m I was under the Big Tent with him it was nothing more than a very good wedding band. I plan to give him another shot or two in the next couple of nights since he is playing for three nights, I can only hope it gets better.

I finished off the evening by giving a big middle finger (figuratively) to jazz and headed to the Bug Jar to check out Jeff the Brotherhood. Yeesh, talk about a 720 degree turn, my head spun around a few times after a blistering guitar solo opened the set for this guitar/drums duo. Shredtastic and LOUD, really could have used some earplugs. They proceeded to pound through my eardrums and chest and had my neck on a vertical swivel for the next 30m. On any other night I would have been disappointed with the brevity, but it was the perfect dose on this evening. During the last tune the guitarist sauntered through the crowd manhandling his axe and like any great rocker kneeled and laid down on the ground, when a woman from the crowd in a short slinky dress straddle him and danced over him slowly. Rock and roll through and through. Ears still ringing...

Download the previous night's show from nyctaper.

RIJF 2010: Day Three

2010-06-14T10:01:00.004-05:00

Caught two AMAZING acts Sunday night. Started off at the Harro East with the Charnett Moffett Trio. Except, it was a quartet. And soon after it became a quintet. It was a family affair, I'm not clear on the relations, but there was a Moffett on Tambura, and another Moffett on drums and tablas. This made up the base Trio. But then they were joined by piano/electric piano and trumpet (on occasion). For the early set the quartet was on stage for almost the whole set and for the late set they kind of built the set up from 1, to 2, to 3, to 4, to 5 only reaching the full band toward the end of the show. The music ranged greatly, from heavy Indian influenced fusion to straight-ahead bop and everything in between. The band was very good, but Moffett was over-the-top near best-ever status. Most bass players of this caliber that take front and center in a band tend towards showing off, but with Moffett his playing was almost always driving the music to a greater plane skirting the fine line between jamming and soloing, rarely stepping over into straight hey-look-what-I-can-do territory. I have never seen anyone slap the shit out of an upright bass quite like that. The guy had some large and powerful thumbs. He also employed an interesting technique of slapping it with the bow too. The tambura was an interesting addition to the band, sometimes lost in the madness, but when it was present it added a very nice Shakti-esque element. During the Trio portion it was very present, and for at least one tune the music turned heavily toward the Indian influence. Moffett played his bass to sound like a sitar, and we're not talking some fancy pedal effect he added, it was almost entirely in the way he was playing it. Unbelievably cool. During the last tune of the late set the fire alarm went off [insert hot music joke here]. Instead of stopping playing, Moffett took the bow to his bass and imitated the sound and continued to worked it into the music. Talk about getting lemons and making lemonade.
Check it out (fire alarm starts around 2:30):

Ended the evening with Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba. The ngoni is an african stringed instrument not unlike a mandolin. I believe that all the stringed instruments in the band were actually considerd ngoni, so that would make 4 in total, each completely different than the other with a different tone. The rhythm of this band was so infectious that every time the crowd was encouraged to clap from a solo or whatever, the applause would turn into rhythmic clapping within seconds. It was nearly impossible to clap out of rhythm. This band will be the best dressed of the fest, best dancers of the fest, and may very well be the best act of the fest when all is said and done. Intensely gratifying. I will no doubt be getting a repeat listen (or two) tonight at Kilbourn Hall. The Big Tent was packed and dancing (where dancing was "allowed.") Can't say I am too pleased with this year's set up of the Big Tent, Much less up-front seating and too much table seating. With last year's set-up I think the whole tent would have been on their feet dancing.

RIJF 2010: Day One

2010-06-12T06:22:00.003-05:00

I had to get a late start last night and it threw off my whole festival equilibrium. I'm a big venue hopper and like to catch snippets of as much as I can, but for the first day of this year's Rochester International Jazz Fest I found myself missing more than I saw, for better or worse. By the time I figured out what I wanted to see and where I wanted to go it was too late. And due to a prior engagement I'll be missing the whole of day 2, hopefully I'll have my fest-legs ready for day 3. So onto the music.

Started my night well into the Earl Pickens late set at the new Abilene Stage. I like what they've done with the place, though the sound in the tent leaves some to be desired. The crowd chatter in the back was drowning out the music. So I squeezed up closer to get a better listen. I was really looking forward to seeing what these guys are all about having missed their show earlier this year at Abilene. Arriving late I missed their signature and fame-producing takes on U2 and heard mostly their original tunes, save a rousing version of I've Been Everywhere. Earl Pickens was leaning heavily toward country on the bluegrass>country scale, and threw in some cheesy party band elements (apparent in both the music and persona) and needless to say I was a bit disappointed.

Next stop, the Big Tent to drop in on the Sauce Boss. I was skeptical of this act from the name and description and the cooking gumbo on stage. My inclinations were correct, this band wasn't worth more than 10m of my time. Seriously though, if you have an hour set... to play MUSIC, it'd be advisable not to waste so much of those precious minutes hawking your new album/cd-rom cookbook QVC-style (even if it was tongue in cheek) for the low low price of 19.99 (and if you order now you can get a bottle of his sauce, FREE!). Oy. Musically you'd get better blues music nightly at the Dinosaur for free all year long.

Walked over to the Jazz Street stage in time to catch the opening of Hazmat Modine. They are the subject of my new book, So You Named Your Band After A Random B-List Hollywood Actor. They filled up the stage quite roundly with two harmonicas (both filtered through plenty of effects to render them nearly unrecognizable though), trumpet, 2 guitars, drums, and a tuba holding it all down at the bottom. They played a melting-pot variety of music that I knew by leaving after a couple of long tunes was missing the big picture on. Quite engaging and danceable, I liked everything about them except the vocals, but I was yet undecided on those when I decided to join my friends on line (which was quickly filing in) for Mose Allison.

Mose Allison's set started off with a "warming-up" blazing hot improvisation. Just Mose's piano with a bass accompaniment, they were locking into some beautiful jazz grooves. That gave way to the rest of the night filled with New Orleans' boogies, blues, bops, and ballads. A delight to see.

I think I ended up missing most of the best sets on day one, hopefully I'll have better luck the rest of the way. I'll be living vicariously through others for day 2, check it out: Jazz@Rochester, City Newspaper, D&C.

I finished my evening on a high note with Walri's ArtPeace benefit show at Scotland Yard. For a venue that doesn't typically have live music (do they?) it sounded amazing in there. And Walri continues to impress, improving on each repeated listen. They added a second keyboard to the mix and it really helped fill out the sound.

Weekend Report

2010-06-10T19:32:00.005-05:00

Looking at June from about a month ago I had my sights on seeing music almost every night, but then my wallet and body had other ideas. Needless to say, in the first 3 days of the month I passed on the Avett Brothers, Les Claypool, Pretty Lights, and the Felice Brothers. Pained with each missed note. But then over the weekend I went 3 for 3.

Friday night I headed over to the German House for the triple bill of Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Surfer Blood, and Hooray for Earth. With minimal exposure to all 3 bands, I was looking forward to making some new favorites. First up, Hooray for Earth frankly bored me. It didn't help that they came on 45m late to play a 30m set, or that the sound in the venue was teetering above awful, but really, I just couldn't get into them. Video here, I won't bother embedding it, the sound is quite poor.
Next up, Surfer Blood. Their music was able to play well despite the sound issues. It helps in a bass-heavy mix if your bass lines are interesting and integral to the music. Also, rocking hard helps. Surfer Blood had everything you could ask for in a band, good songs, good musicians, tight playing, and an engaging stage persona bordering on painfully cheesy if they didn't totally own it, which they did. I'd love to see them again in a better venue. Video of Floating Vibes
Finally, Pains of Being Pure at Heart closed the night. Their music seriously suffered from the sound issues, lyrics were lost, melodies straining, if I was more familiar with them I could have filled in the blanks and enjoyed it more, but as a first exposure the set fell a little flat for me. It was very difficult to get into. It's also possible I just don't get it, because the crowd (which had thinned quite a bit after Surfer Blood) was certainly getting into it pretty heavily. Video

And then on a gorgeously sunny Saturday it was off to Highland Bowl with my almost 4 year old for Bluegrass in the Bowl. Perfect day for sitting in the grass listening to some 'grass. We got there in time for most of Larry Sparks' set. It was my first time seeing him, an alumnus of the Clinch Mountain Boys (up next). Dan Tyminski from Alison Krauss' band sat in for the whole set on mando, but unfortunately it was the only sit-in of the day. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys came on next. I saw them a few years ago at Newport and thought at the time that there was good chance I wouldn't get to see them again. But here they were, still going strong. When Ralph sings O Death, it is truly one of the more appropriate and chilling moments in music history. Not often a band has three generations in it, though I think maybe Del McCourry has got that in his current band too. Anyway, Tony Rice Unit took the stage next. Sometimes it just all clicks, and with Tony Rice and my ears, it clicks like no other. Musical perfection... it's just unfortunate he doesn't have a voice anymore. My Favorite Things, Ginseng Sullivan, Summertime, Nine Pound Hammer, the whole set was smoking, chock full of nothing but highlights. And closing out the night was Alison Krauss and Union Station... oh and of course, Mr. Jerry Douglas. How can you complain on a sunny Saturday afternoon when both Tony Rice and Jerry Douglas, two of my favorite musicians, will grace the same stage? I knew I wouldn't be able to stay for Krauss' whole set with my daughter so I was hoping for Jerry's solo segment to come somewhat early. Which it did. We stuck around for a bit more, saw an hour or so of her set before we headed off into the night.

Sunday evening I headed over to Record Archive for a free in-store performance by Baby Gramps. I won't even try to describe him to you when this, the most apt description of anything I have seen anywhere already exists: (via Wikipedia)

Writer Patrick Ferris said he has "a mass appeal in the sense that any audience between the age of 2 and 102 are captivated by his vaudeville antics, hilarious lyrics and animated guitar playing... His voice is a cross between Popeye the Sailor and a Didgeridoo and the plinkity plink of his VERY worn National steel guitar, sounds like a wind up jack in the box. If you listen closely and know anything about music, you'll realize Gramps is an absolutely incredible guitar player. Being a professional musician for over 40 years can't help but give you some sort of chops, but Gramps is a modern day Robert Johnson; a revolutionary guitarist that, like Thelonious Monk on piano, can play the notes 'between the cracks.

Seeing him up close in person, he looks a lot younger and more robust, in pics and videos he looks like a frail old man. His accompaniment was playing rhythm using paint brushes on a banana box. Hey, whatever works. There were a lot of local musicians on hand for what was quite a nice Sunday treat. The set included music from New Orleans, a pirate ditty, the oldest rap song ever, an old almost unrecognizable version of Turkey in the Straw and even Hawaii 5-0 played on a kazoo. They played for 30 or so minutes before taking a break. A break? They're coming back on? For a free in-store performance? Wow. I couldn't stick around unfortunately, but that is one dedicated musician there. Don't miss him.

Catching Up: The Rest of the First Half of 2010

2010-06-09T20:36:00.003-05:00

I promised myself I wouldn't put myself in this position again, yet here we are. Is this blog dead? Possibly, we'll see if I can keep up for what is shaping up to be a crazy June. History says no. I'm greasing up the old blogging gears with the minimal shows I've caught the last few months.

Back in February I made it out for Rubblebucket @ the Westcott Theatre. Recommendations were coming in at all angles for these guys so I was glad to finally catch them. They put on a great show, and in some unexpected ways. The horn section did a lot of singing, which potentially could be awful, but in the case of Rubblebucket it was a revelation, this was the band at its best. Every time they mentioned a song was new it was one of their better tunes, so I think I like the direction these guys are moving and look forward to some repeat visits.

I made it out to see local indie-rockers Walri again, this time at Lovin Cup. Atomic Swindlers opened the show but were really the headliners, not too many stuck around for Walri, which was unfortunate. They put on another fantastic show. Then I caught them again a few weeks ago back at Abilene where I first was introduced to them. This time they were swapping and sharing sets with Auld Land Syne all night long. I had seen Auld Lang Syne open for the Avett Brothers last year and was disappointed. I don't know if it was nerves or something at that show, but this was simply a different band than what I had seen previously, and that is to say, they were damn good. They played a set, passed the stage off to Walri, then shared the stage for a set, then repeated the whole ordeal playing right up until last call at 2am. It was a local music orgy and boy did it turn me on. Aural pleasure. Hey, they say Abilene used to be a Burlesque House... Hoping to catch Walri again this Friday at one or two of their shows that night which both look to be yet another unique offering from this band. Highly recommended!

Got another El Ten Eleven notch in the belt at the Bug Jar. This was an angry El Ten Eleven and it didn't particularly work in our favor. Kristian had his bass stolen at their show in Montreal and so they couldn't play a good portion of their catalog. Lots of disparaging comments about our neighbors to the north and even some scorn (albeit funny and necessary) thrown out to some very loud and chatty people up front. At any rate, still another great show, just not as good as their last time through.

While I was in Boston, I was implored to see Michael Tarbox. He played so often I just assumed the opportunity would be there forever. Then I left having never saw him. Thankfully, the Bop Shop brought him to the Lovin Cup, and this time I would not pass on the chance. Mercy was he good. A cross between Waits and Dylan with better guitar chops than both of them, and a fantastic backing band, the Tarbox Ramblers. They squeezed a ton of music into the evening. One of the highlights being a recently penned and unrehearsed tune they learned their way through on stage. The band was so tight that it went without a hitch, though it was nice to see them play loose and fresh with a precarious twinge.

Furthur @ Barton Hall

2010-02-16T21:28:00.003-05:00

Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, back at Barton Hall, a venue made famous by one random spectacular show over 30 years ago and certainly not for it's quality as a place to see a concert. An impossibly slow entrance kept me and the throngs around me outside until midway through the first set, cavernous like an airport hangar the sound was pretty pitiful in spots, concessions limited to free water served in shotglass sized plastic cups etc etc... I've experienced much worse, but still, Barton Hall really shouldn't be so revered. One thing that was pretty nice, they sold it out at a very comfortable level, making for a nice movable and breathable scene inside. I'd say they could have fit another 1000 people in there easy, though I'm thinking with the entrance/exit situation it would have made for a serious fire hazard.

This latest incarnation of the Grateful Dead puts an interesting group of musicians out there on stage. They call it Furthur, but you could call it the J-ful Dead. Backing up Lesh and Weir you've got Jay, Joe, John, and Jeff. Plus the two backup singers. Considering how new this grouping is, they are surprisingly and impressively tight. But also, somewhat disappointingly Weir-centric. Most glaringly this was the case when he took the reins for Standing on the Moon late in the 2nd set.

It was great to see Joe Russo lay down the beats for the classic Dead songbook. His work on Sugaree of all things was the highlight of the first set, at least what I saw of it.

Anyone who ever doubted the influence and likeness of Ryan Adams' later work with the music of the Grateful Dead would have those doubts quickly erased hearing his music dropped right into their set. Peaceful Valley formed seamlessly out of Uncle John's Band and produced what was probably the finest improvisation of the night. It sounded like they were going to drop into the Other One at any moment before they fizzled out the jam completely. We'd have to wait a little longer for that Other One.

Dr. Dog @ Westcott Theatre

2010-02-01T20:22:00.003-05:00

Oh Dr. Dog, you make it look way too easy. My god you put on a good show. Some bands have... "it," Dr. Dog is one of those bands. If I went to see them again tonight in Buffalo the show probably wouldn't be too much different. Oh sure, the club would be smaller, the crowd would be different, and Monday is definitely different than Saturday, but you know, they don't seem to be a band that mixes it up too much from night to night. And yet, similar to an MMJ or a Wilco, I know, if I DID go back for second helpings, my enjoyment not only would not diminish, it might increase with a repeated viewing. These guys have got their act down to a super tight live morsel, yet keep it loose and energized on stage for a totally in-the-moment feeling. When the bass went down, a small improvised waiting-for-the-bass song emerged. It's the little things really, but the point is, every part of the show was air tight, even the unrehearsed. The few new tunes they sprinkled in from their upcoming release fit together with the older material, and the much older material for that matter, like pieces of an ever expanding puzzle. Dr. Dog doesn't drop their older material like many other bands. Their sound has evolved at a slow pace, so their older and newer material go well together naturally. Their fame has also been growing rather slowly, but I'll be surprised if they don't finally break it open in 2010. They are ready to take the next step.

Opening act The Growlers played Tex-Mex tinged psychedelic rock, with some surf thrown in for good measure. The lead singer had a Bill Murray playing Mike Meyers doing a Jim Morrison impression thing going on. Close your eyes and picture it. Yep, that's what it looked like. It was an enjoyable opening set. I was disappointed to miss the first act, The Silent League, given their Hopewell heritage and given that Hopewell totally kicks ass. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll come back. Or maybe they sucked and I missed nothing, I just don't know.

09 Year in Review

2010-01-21T15:16:00.005-05:00

Top 9 shows I saw in 2009:

9. Derek Trucks Band @ Water Street Music Hall
Derek Trucks. Chuck Campbell. Nothing more needs to be said.

8. Ponytail, Phantogram @ Bug Jar
Two of the best new finds of the year played about 20m apart from each other. Even if Yeasayer was a disappointment, this show still stood apart from the rest for the openers alone.

7. Rochester International Jazz Fest Day 8
A night that included guitar master Pat Martino, the most inventive musician I saw all year, Arve Henriksen, and pedal steel wizard Robert Randolph throwing down with the Campbell Brothers, Susan Tedeschi and Ryan Shaw. Yeah, that's making this list.

6. David Rawlings Machine/Gillian Welch @ Newport Folk Fest
The whole folk fest was a fantastic treat, but the standout sets were both David Rawlings and Gillian Welch under different monikers. Also would love to throw in here the Avett Brothers who I finally got to see this year, twice!

5. Akron/Family @ Mohawk Place
There was no show this year that saw me dancing harder.

4. El Ten Eleven @ Bug Jar
Third time was the charm, they brought it to the next level.

3. Wilco @ Artpark
Best Wilco show in by far the best venue I have seen them.

2. Bill Frisell @ Kilbourn Hall (early and late)
There was a 10m or so segment in the late set that was easily the best music I heard all year.

1. Phish @ Syracuse War Memorial
God I hate to waste space here espousing love for Phish when that's the last thing the blogosphere needs, but after seeing average-at-best shows at Fenway and Darien Lake, there was no denying that this was the real deal. Phish is back baby!

Catching Up: Closing Out 09

2010-01-18T21:27:00.005-05:00

Before my forthcoming 09 in review post, thought I would just round out the year with some shows I didn't miss but didn't get around to reviewing either.

First up was Neko Case at the Harro East back in early November, more timely and descriptive reviews here and here. I enjoy her live much more than her albums believe it or not, but this show will always be remembered by some of the strangest and most persistent stage banter I have ever heard. Neko and Kelly Hogan went on and on about being on a first date with Rochester and took the joke to a lengthy and awkward level. No video offering for this one.

Toward the end of the month it was Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at Water Street. They played a lot of new ones including the one below and I've got a good feeling their forthcoming album is going to be just as good as the last two. They also played "When the Saints Go Marching In" and then down the road at Abilene the Po Boys played it less than an hour later. Didn't feel like Fall in Rochester. The Po Boys acted as quite the connector actually as they then played Good Times Bad Times which I would see Phish play the next night.

Just a few days later I made a last minute decision to check out Camera Obscura at the German House on hype alone. Glad I did, they were great. Simple but lush. And the seemingly quiet lead singer Tracyanne Campbell completely ripped into the crowd during this quiet number. Haven't seen a crowd eviscerated like that since Charlie Hunter in his early years.

Closing out what turned out to be a very diverse group of leading ladies here was Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs who I caught at the Bug Jar. Just a duo, Holly on guitar and vocals, and Lawyer Dave on guitar (extremely tasty slide guitar that is), vocals, and the most unique drum setup I've seen, all simultaneously. He drummed only using pedals, not even completely sure what was going on there but it was damn good. Felt bad that as a literal one man band he didn't even get billing in the band, but oh well.

Vetiver @ Lovin Cup

2010-01-16T16:25:00.004-05:00

When I first saw Vetiver, opening for Akron/Family two summer ago, I was prepared to dislike them. But I was pleasantly surprised, hey they weren't half bad. I haven't really listened to them too much since that introduction, but I decided to go see them again on their return to town last Thursday night.

They added a woman on keys since I last saw them. She was from Rochester, as was the drummer. Which might have explained some of the oldest and youngest in the crowd.

So if the last time they surprised me, this time they simply amazed me. Incredible show. For some reason I was reminded of the Low Anthem set I saw at Newport last summer. Reminded by contrast, not by similarity. Both bands could be lumped into a new brand of folk music. The Low Anthem really went out of their way to introduce new twists into the fray, with unusual instrumentation etc, whereas Vetiver followed the more classic principles of simplicity, letting the songwriting take center stage. Sitting through the entire Low Anthem set I kept thinking I should really love it, but it became too much of an effort. They were trying too hard for my attention, and I was trying too hard to enjoy it. But with Vetiver, their songs, which I am mostly unfamiliar with, became instantaneously familiar and enjoyable. The sounds were subtle, nothing standing out too much, a true group effort. The keys for example, a potential earsore, fit in perfectly, adding just enough to the overall sound without overdoing it. And this was a folk band, like Hot Tuna, that didn't underestimate the power of great bass playing. Speaking of the sound, the quality was incredible for that size space. It was my first time in Lovin Cup, and I was quite happy with it, a very nice place to see a show, other than the out of the way location.

Lead man Andy Cabic poked fun at the bass player because he let him write the set list and it was a bit different than usual, switching between electric and acoustic and covers and originals. But in my opinion, the set list was masterfully put together. It just had a really nice flow, with a subtle build to the end and enough variety to keep it sounding fresh all night.

Time for me to purchase some Vetiver albums...

Oh, and George Wein, if you're listening, book these guys for Newport this summer.

Andrew Bird, St. Vincent @ Asbury Hall at Babeville

2009-12-02T20:59:00.005-05:00

First of all, what a venue! Loving these western New York venues, between this and the Artpark, two of the finest venues I've seen. This being an old converted church, converted by Ani Difranco in fact. The stage is backed by a huge (like 3 story huge) curtain, and the open floor is surrounded by a small balcony with seating. The sound from the front side of the balcony left a lot to be desired, but on the floor it was much better.

Two bands I have been dying to see for a long while dragged me back to Buffalo on a school night. St. Vincent was as good as I had hoped. Annie Clarke's guitar style was not only for the effect of the sound, but for effect of the motion, and emotion. With each strum her body herked and her body jerked, it bangled and jangled. Reminiscent of David Byrne, her playing was both music and acting simultaneously, and it oozed rockstar. The music was enveloping and transporting, you didn't stop to think who, what, why or when, you just enjoyed the ride.

Within 2 minutes of taking the stage, Andrew Bird had already whistled, glockenspieled, fiddled, and spun his little gramophone-type thingy, and looped them all together. He showed us his whole bag of tricks right up front, and then proceeded to use them to create his grand but simple tunes. Somehow I had been completely unobservant to the fact that St. Vincent's equipment didn't entirely or hardly even partially left the stage. So when he continued along solo, song after song, without introducing a band of any sort, I started to wonder if all those extra mics were going to go unused the whole night. Finally over an hour into the set he brought Annie Clarke on for a couple of tunes, and then immediately all of St. Vincent joined for a couple more. Whereas an Andrew Bird veteran might have been loving the rare treat of a completely solo show, I found it to be a bit tiring (standing for such mellow music) and repetitive (the whole this is the part of the song where I set up the loops for the rest of the song got old after a few times through) and not the best introduction to seeing him live. Good, but would have been better with the band. So the sit-ins were a bit of a relief and definitely the highlight of the show. Oh and by the way, it was awesome!

Download the show.

Phish @ Syracuse War Memorial

2009-11-25T10:37:00.003-05:00

I'm not cool enough to twitter, but if I was, this is how my review of Sunday's show would have come out in real time.

Classic rocking Bowie opener. Solid.

Killing this straight ahead stuff

No security in here, anything goes

Not my faves but trucking along

For all the kudos kuroda gets, c'mon man, can't you get a spotlight on Page for Lawn Boy?

Staaaaaaash

This jam is killing

Nice solid first set, keepin it simple and leaving on a serious high note

Drowned opener, same as Darien

Here we go. This will definitely be labeled Syracuse Jam on the board release

A nice funky theme emerges, loving this

Got a bit spacey, but back to the funky

Twist! Yes!

High energy...

into Piper. Always associate these two together for some reason

Amazing how the douches in the crowd melt away when the band is on fire like this

Getting heavy

Quickly into BBFCFM!

Phish theater, gotta love it

Trey mic down low, on knees, Mike's mic up high, reaching and screaming

J-D shoutout!

James-DeWitt corrected to Jamesville-DeWitt, you tell em Johnny!

Len Fishman Orthodontist shoutout, ok, this is a bit much

About time to pull out that Fishman Nottingham Hill song I heard him do once

Small group around me valiantly calling for Tube

Tube it is! Nice!

Theme, love it

Wow that maze was on

Never has a SITM been so welcome. Ah sweet relief...

Zero to close

This song has always irked me, but it does seem to close some smoking sets

Hold on, First Tube!

Taking a page from WSP, volume turned to 11

WOW WOW WOW

That show was amazing, and I am as jaded as they come...

El Ten Eleven @ Bug Jar

2009-11-15T21:04:00.004-05:00

L 10 11 - 585 - 3x - 356
In other words, El Ten Eleven was back in Rochester for the 3rd time in under a year, 356 days to be exact. There aren't many, if any, national touring acts willing to come here at that frequency and it if there had to be one, I am damn glad it is them.

El Ten Eleven Part 3 or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying How the Heck They Did It and Rock the Fuck Out.

The 1st show was a revelation. The 2nd brought it back to earth, in retrospect a bit of a disappointment. But in the 3rd act they brought it to the next level. The crowd was doubled (finally) and so was the intensity. They showed a greater comfort in their older material stretching it, playing with it, taking it new and exciting heights. The new ones sounded great too, but were clearly in a rougher state. The stage set was even an improvement, with bright white lights shining behind each of them, and the addition of a smoke machine (or was the stage smoldering from the heat?), both great effects.

Indras opened the show once again. And yet again, quite enjoyable, though it is odd to me that they are opening for El Ten Eleven, especially repeatedly, they're just not a great fit. Though I'm not complaining, it was great to see them again. The lead guitarist broke a string on his acoustic midway through the set. Lacking a replacement, he had to go the rest of the way on his electrics. They had to call an audible on the rest of the set. Always fun to see a band get knocked out of their comfort zone and this was no exception.

Kicking off the evening was a local 3-piece named Torus. The bass player, shirtless with an ass-length ponytail and a lightning-bolt guitar strap, was absolutely locking into some thunderous anti-groovalicious grooves with the drummer which were just screaming for some shredtastic guitar licks. Unfortunately the guitarist was content to just fiddle around with spacey noise effects the whole time. Good, but could have been better.

Catching up: August and September

2009-10-18T13:32:00.011-05:00

A quick rundown of some stuff from late summer, boiled down to one (mostly run-on)sentence recaps.

Newport Folk Fest
It was one of the most stacked lineups in recent memory for the fest, celebrating its 50th year, with a great mix of old and new (take a listen over at npr.)

The zoom on my camera broke that week so video offerings are limited.

Ben Kweller: They were missing their bassist, but it didn't bother me one bit, quite enjoyable set.

Avett Brothers: They continued to impress in advance of their fantastic new album from the big stage, and then gave a select few (not I unfortunately) a treat from atop the Fort Adams. (They perform about 3:30 into the coverage)

Del McCoury Band: Surprisingly and a tad disappointingly, the only bluegrass heard all weekend, here mixing it up with a some sousaphone from Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

David Rawlings Machine/Gillian Welch: Gillian Welch, as expected, was phenomenal on Saturday with her husband David Rawlings, and then he, with Gillian at his side, equaled and then surpassed her set on Sunday. Together, they were the hands-down highlight of the weekend.

Iron & Wine: Never met a Sam Beam song I didn't instantly fall in love with, remarkable.

So much more to get excited about from the weekend, but let's leave it at that for now. Hope to make it again next year.

Phish @ Darien Lake
I've been to all four of Phish's Darien visits, and this was probably the worst, which isn't saying much since the first three were some of the best shows I have ever seen. (Saved by a late but GREAT GREAT Antelope, and this Drowned wasn't too shabby either)

Felice Brothers @ German House
The German House seems to suck the energy out of a show, maybe it would be different if it were packed, still they are a ton of fun to see live, with a tad too much tossing water into the crowd. (insert Gallagher joke here)

Akron/Family, Slaraffenland @ Mohawk Place
(It's official, I drank the kool-aid and it tastes like Akron/Family... LOVE LOVE LOVE) As much as I enjoyed Slaraffenland's rhythmic pop tapestries in their opening set, they didn't do too much (or not nearly as much as Megafaun previously I should say) to add the Akron's set and were somewhat underutilized (considering their multi-instrumental prowess I wondered why they were only used as a horn section.)

David Grisman Quintet @ Water Street Music Hall
Man, I haven't seen Grisman in ages, I think I figured it's been about 8 years, and the man's still got it.

Rochester Indie Music Fest

2009-10-06T20:05:00.006-05:00

Made it out for the finale of the 2nd annual Rochester Independent Music Festival Saturday night. It's a nice little 3-day fest featuring mostly local acts taking place in a few venues around the South Wedge all for the low low price of $20, or $10 per day (an offering I think the bigger Rochester Jazz Fest needs to take up, daily passes, but anyway...) My friend pointed out that there probably isn't too much of a major label presence in Rochester so the "independent" label comes off a bit hollow, still, I understand the intention. Independent is to the aughts as Alternative was to the nineties.

On to the music. Walri got things started at the German House. The last time I saw them they played a slew of covers and I was wondering what their originals sounded like. Wonder no longer. They played a tight 60 minute set of all originals, ranging from very early stuff to brand spanking new. Ranging from psychedelic rockers to country honk to straight up blues, strong on all counts. The newer stuff shined brighter than the early, and I have high hopes for these guys. If I were to pin their sound down to another more established band, it would be Dr. Dog who in and of themselves are an amalgam of many other bands... The music is lead by the lead guitarist and singer who sang all but one song, but the music is driven by the very solid drum and bass core. On the flip side of my previous encounter, I was kind of hoping they would throw a cover in this set, but it was a good set nonetheless.

New Socks, a girl boy girl trio from Geneseo, played a mellow set to a decent size group over at Boulder Coffee Company. The opposite of a power trio, the music was about as sparse as a trio could be. Accordion, guitar/uke, and keys/clarinet/guitar, with three part harmonies. Immediately the sound is reminiscent of Kimya Dawson, but also it made me think of a stripped down version of The Boy Least Likely To. Either way, great songs, light but infectious hooks coupled with irreverent but reflective lyrics. I could imagine never hearing from these guys again (another fleeting college band) or seeing them blossom with a full-on ensemble taking their music to the next level. Their set was hurt a little bit by two sick members whose vocals weren't all there, but still quite enjoyable. Also I have to mention, New Socks is one of those band's that is just naturally excellent at stage banter. That type of thing really stood out in contrast when seeing all of the other bands that night.

Erica Scarano mixed a set of originals and popular indie pop tunes on both piano and guitar, accompanied by a drummer/percussionist. Her voice was fantastic, but better coupled with the piano, so it was disappointing that she opted to mostly play guitar. Also disappointing was straining to hear the music at the Keg, the basement bar of the German House. Pretty inappropriate venue for this kind of music, especially with the chatty bar crowd (hello screaming darts players!) and the surrounding big screen tvs.

Those elements didn't help the next set from NYC's Annie Crane either. Folksy 'grassy angelic voice and great songs were not enough to overcome the elements played out against her. The crowd built in anticipation of her set, but didn't stick around too long unfortunately. The sound was pretty awful even without the noise from the bar, still, I found this to be a great discovery, she was damn good.

One of the reasons the crowd may have dispersed quickly was to make it over to the Bug Jar for the grand finale. Walri and a group of Eastman students, together calling themselves Unlawful Assembly (after their infamous run-in with the law last November when they took their music to the streets after Obama's big victory), played a full cover set of Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. The place was packed, about as much as I have ever seen it. It probably should have been at the German House, but then the atmosphere wouldn't have been quite as grand. Financially though, it would have made more sense for the promoters. Anyway, the band took the stage, and the horn section complete with marching drum came marching into and through the bar into the music room and onto the stage, playing the opening notes of the album. Then the full band proceeded to nail quite accurately the remainder to the huge delight of the crowd. Fantastic finish.

Here's to hoping the fest survives another year, and on and on...

Check out more complete coverage from the City Paper too.

Wilco @ Artpark

2009-07-21T22:03:00.005-05:00

Killing some time in the afternoon before the show I got sucked in to watching Minority Report on cable. I had seen it before, a couple of times, but somehow, the twists and turns totally took me by surprise. I had no idea what was going to happen next, even though I had seen it all before.

It occurred to me watching Wilco at Artpark on Sunday night that I was enjoying the heck out of their set in much the same way. I had seen it before, but there were still surprises awaiting. And similar to the movie, Wilco is great and can be enjoyed on multiple levels. Catch one thing one time, see it differently the next, and different yet again the next time. Wilco's shows really don't vary all that much from night to night, and only slightly more from tour to tour, yet every time I see them I find myself surprised at how good it is, and find new nuances to appreciate and enjoy. One thing I definitely have never seen before though perhaps they are doing it every night: Before the encore, Tweedy leaned down to say something to a woman in the front row. Then during the first space section in Spiders he crouches down to her and lets her strum his guitar for the entire jam. Bizarre and cool.

Sunday's set, which after a little investigation is almost identical to most of the other sets they've played on this tour, was played out particularly well... great song placement, great combinations, nice flow through the whole. Sometimes they seem to take a few songs to get it going and hold off on some of the heavy hitters until the end, but this set was very even. It is tough to complain after what was probably the best Wilco show I have seen (not that one was much worse than any other), but it would be nice if they mixed it up just a little more, I mean they have to start getting bored playing the same shit every night, no?

Through circumstances beyond my control I had to miss the opener, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, which was unfortunate since I have heard great things. I didn't miss them completely, because they sat in with Wilco for a great rendition of California Stars.

As a native central New Yorker, I am amazed that this was my first trip out to Artpark. What a venue. It is a sweet midsize theater with a convertible back that opens up to a small lawn in the summer. It exists in a state park (which being there in the dark I can not vouch for its beauty or otherwise) right on the Canadian border not too far from the falls. There is a smaller outdoor stage overlooking the gorge which must be another great spot to catch some music. Looking forward to returning as soon as I can.

Yeasayer, Ponytail @ Bug Jar

2009-07-19T16:13:00.003-05:00

The Bug Jar couldn't contain all the music that took place there last Wednesday night. Literally. The two opening bands played from front of stage, Yeasayer's equipment left only room for Ponytail's monitors and drumkit, and the opening act Phantogram were left completely off the stage. Fortunately for boy girl duo Phantogram, they traveled pretty lightly, a few smallish keyboards, guitars, mics, pedals and electronics, and their own small light show. I caught their last two or three tunes, a quick snippet, but enough to be drawn to their very danceable brand of electronic pop. VERY danceable.

Then Ponytail took the stage, I mean, floor. My expectations weren't very high. But my expectations were blown out of the water not more than 2 minutes into the set. If you talk about Ponytail chances are you're talking about lead singer Molly Siegel. Chances are you'd be missing the best 3/4 of the group. Her backing band is insanely good. Chops-wise, musically-wise, tightness-wise. Aggressive, hard-hitting, glorious, avant-garde, dizzying... They were amazing. Then toss on top of that some of the more bizarre "singing" you'll ever see. More like chanting, all (well most) in some non-existent language with an alphabet limited to the letters a,e,i,o,u,g,h,r,w, and y. Basically a lot of whoops, wails, hollers, and primal screams. Not for everyone, I would have thought not even for me, but somehow it works, and somehow it works to be some of the most amazing music I have heard all year. Very energetic, frenetic, funky and tribal, in the realm of Akron/Family. Deeply satisfying.

Yeasayer's set, on the contrary, was fairly disappointing. I was really looking forward to seeing them and they did nothing to remove the recent memories of seeing Ponytail from my mind. Now don't get me wrong, they were good in a totally different way. Good songs, great vocals, nice rhythmically. Even if their music didn't call for the type of off-the-wall energy that Ponytail brought, they still seemed to lack that onstage energy that is needed to draw in an audience and make a good live show. The live part of the show just seemed to be missing, mostly it was just rehashing exactly what was on the album. When they finished in under an hour and quickly announced that they absolutely had no more songs for an encore, that was the final nail in the coffin for me. Especially after they were talking about playing the same stage 2 years ago. Between then and now you don't have enough material to cover at least an hour? Prolific! I do dig their retro 80's style (which seeps into their fashion and stage persona as well as their music), but this set just left me wanting a lot more from them.

Medeski Martin and Wood @ Party in the Park

2009-06-26T21:11:00.004-05:00

Well, I missed them twice in 2008, so it is nice to see them twice in 2009. Not quite as engaging as the show at the Smith, due in large part to the venue, but also the music just didn't get to the level of playing achieved previously. Last time I concentrated on the "and" factor, but at this show, as I am often drawn when I see MMW, I was magnetized to Wood. Being the free outdoor show that it was, the bass became the key in keeping the easily disengaged crowd rapt, and Wood delivered. Speaking of the crowd, it was an impressive turnout on a night when the skies threatened to open all night, and for a band who let's face it, doesn't exactly cater to the lowest common denominator after-work alcohol-fueled party in a parking lot. Speaking of the parking lot, what the heck is up with this great free music series still being held in the parking lot now that Manhattan Square Park is an available venue again? It was so much better when it was there and should be returned post-haste. Don't even wait until next year, do it now! Why not?

I missed the opener Giant Panda Geurrilla Dub Squad due to waiting out the storm that never hit. They continue to be one of those bands I always seem to miss for one reason or another.

Rochester International Jazz Fest - Night Nine

2009-06-22T19:45:00.004-05:00

I couldn't stay long for the last night of jazz fest so I had a short and specific agenda. I arrived too late to get into Joe Lovano but seeing as though I would not be able to make the 10 show, I waited. I waited for a good 45 minutes before they let us in. Lucky for us stragglers, Lovano played for another 45 minutes, a lengthy set by this festival's standards. I arrived to the blissful noise of an odd-time-signatured polyrhythmic freely-improvised near masterpiece. I eyed the singer sitting at the side of the stage with trepidation. But when she, Lovano's wife, rose up to sing, no words came out, her voice was her instrument, an instrument that no man-made instrument could mimic completely. Her range was incredible. She would pick up where her husband's solo left off and travel on her own improvisational journey. Lovano switched often and seamlessly between his unique arsenal of intstruments, including his tenor sax, and what I later learned was an aulochrome (essentially two soprano saxes fused together -- an instrument Rahsaan Roland Kirk would be playing if he were still alive) and a taragot, a Turkish woodwind that looks and plays similarly to a clarinet. Equally interesting was Francisco Mela's drumkit, with its many cymbals, one of which was purposefully cracked, and many toys which he would throw onto his kit creating new and interesting sounds. Cameron Brown on bass was not content to hang back and bang out basslines, he was adjusting and shifting his lines constantly. And James Weidman might be the most selective piano player I have seen, hitting only the necessary notes, nothing more nothing less. I wish I had seen the whole set, but it was definitely worth the wait.

Perhaps I should have left the festival on that note, but I wanted to catch one more bit of Norwegian jazz, which was some of the most consistently good stuff I had seen all week. Delirium though, was a disappointment for me. The trumoet and sax up front were interesting enough, but I found the rhythm section to be completely lifeless, and the music just hung and died because of it. I gave them a good half hour before I called it a night and thus my first RIJF (not counting the lone Bad Plus set I caught last year) came to a close. I will try to add a summary post sometime soon. Already looking forward to next year, they should be selling next year's club passes at this year's festival, or at least immediately following, while it is still fresh in everyone's minds.

Rochester International Jazz Fest - Night Eight

2009-06-22T10:14:00.006-05:00

Started night eight with Pat Martino at Kilbourn Hall. I wouldn't have thought that this show would feature the best B3 trio I saw at the fest, but it did. I have always loved Martino's playing, both his tone and his style of picking and strumming simultaneously. He plays some rapid fire notes but in a very unshowy way, it always makes sense and always sounds perfect. His band was quite good too, I especially enjoyed Tony Monaco on B3, he KNEW how to get the right sound out of that thing, really holding the right notes and for the right amount of time, sounded great. Martino told a great story that started with him a teenager playing 7 40m sets a night in the city under the tutelage of Les Paul, and ended with him eating an early morning breakfast after a night's work with Les Paul, George Benson, Wes Montgomery, and Grant Green. WHOA...

Passed through briefly to hear Norma Winstone sing with only a piano accompaniment. Great voice and interesting style, which I dubbed Mr. Roger's jazz, and I don't mean that as a slight. Rewatching that show with my daughter I found a new appreciation for the music behind that show, especially when they pulled back the curtain on one episode and revealed that the music was all played live in the studio while they recorded. Anyway, Winstone's music was very visual and carried a lot of feeling.

Grabbed a quick bite over the sounds of Po Boys Brass Band who I have previously really enjoyed, but the short segment I caught here was a cover of Carry On Wayward Son that was played WAY too close to the original and sounded kind of silly I thought.

Next was Arve Henrikson. It will be tough to do these guys justice in words, I have no idea what exactly was going on up on stage, but it was freakin amazing. Just two guys, Henrikson played trumpet and sang into two different mics hooked into some major effects, and another guy with a keyboard, multitudes of pedals, and what appeared to be his own soundboard type thing, I just say he was the electronic facilitator since he really didn't "play" anything. When Henrikson sang what came out was very jarring at first, a beautiful high-pitched woman's voice, not unlike the voice of Sigur Ros. That was most of the time, other times it was very low, like a throat singer almost. The other guy would loop and manipulate what Henrikson was playing and create new sounds and rhythms. At one point Henrikson played his trumpet in short percussive blurts that were then used as the beat for the song. In one of the final pieces they got the crowd to sing in two part harmony and recorded and looped it and kept us singing over the top of it all. I know it is against the rules of the RIJF, but I couldn't help but get a quick video of this, just too cool. In announcing the "band" Henrikson introduced the soundman, meaning either they travelled with their own soundman and he was integral to the music, or they just really wanted to thank the guy running the boards for the RIJF.

Then I headed down to see Robert Randolph do his thing. I was hoping to make it back and see some more jazz to end the night, but damn that stage is far, once you're out there there's no coming back...

I haven't seen the Family Band in a few years and have done a pretty poor job of keeping up with them. Though as I would come to find out, nothing much has changed in their act, still doing and teaching The March, still inviting oodles of young ladies up on stage to dance during Shake Your Hips etc etc. There were a couple of new tunes I had never heard, but for the most part it was old hat, and as good as it ever was. Fairly early into the set they got Phil Campbell from the Campbell Brothers to sit in on guitar which was good. But later they got Chuck to sit in on pedal steel and that was AMAZING. They were really going at it. Add to that Susan Tedeschi and Ryan Shaw on vocals and we had ourselves a good old-fashioned throwdown that was reminiscent of some of the first times I saw RRFB when they would play with anyone and everyone for a chaotic and crazy time. I had said earlier that there weren't enough sit-ins at the RIJF, leave it to Robert Randolph to fix that problem.

A fantastic night of music in downtown Rochester.

UPDATE: Robert Randolph recording up on LMA

Rochester International Jazz Fest - Night Five

2009-06-17T07:46:00.003-05:00

Sidsel Stromnes, a Norwegian songstress, started off my evening. She sang in perfect English, with no hint of her native accent, and beautifully I might add. Her lyrics were touching and heartfelt, and again, all in English. So when she had trouble coming up with the word to get the audience to snap in one of her songs, it just made me laugh. How was she writing these poetic ballads in English and she didn't even know the word "snap?" While this certainly didn't deter from my enjoyment, I still wasn't too fond of the music. It just wasn't my thing, but she and her band were quite good and the crowd was rapt.

Bonerama played to a surprisingly packed Big Tent. It doesn't appear this venue can reach capacity, but it came damn close here. The three trombone assault blasted through some New Orleans brass and funk. First band that I saw that has truly played loud and it was welcome, though I did see some pop in the earplugs. They had one lone superfan dancer up front for the early set. But when I popped back midway through their late set, there was a huge group of people dancing up front. I wish I had before and after pictures, because it was a hilariously contrasting scene and a great advertisement for what Bonerama can do to a crowd (though perhaps not, as the crowd had dwindled significantly).

Paula Gardiner Trio, from Wales (the 'international' part of the jazzfest's name is no joke), played arhythmic, amelodic pieces. With Gardiner on bass as the centerpiece of the music with constantly moving almost droning lines, the sax (or flute) followed a similar trend in the higher registers, while the drums flourished around it all. The sax became the most rhythmic of all the instruments and it was like a typical role reversal. Huw Warren was slated to join in on piano but in the first 30 minutes of the set was not yet featured unfortunately so I missed out on that.

From somewhat Avant to VERY Avant, up next was Andrei Razin & Second Approach from Russia. They are 30% jazz, 20% classical, 30% opera, and 20% comedy routine. 100% bizarre yet 100% enjoyable. I don't don't know how or why they decided to do what they do, but the fact that they do it and do it well is a source of great amazement to me. Where did they come up with this shit? They left me laughing, smiling, and shaking my head.

The overflow line was too long to wait for Lionel Loueke Trio and it seems I may never make it in to Max this whole week. So the Cuban Dafnis Prieto Sextet it was. From Norway, to New Orleans, to Wales, to Russia, and now off to Cuba. This was quite the trip. The sextet was talented and interesting but somewhat standard for what you'd expect from the instrumentation on stage (saxes, trumpet, rhythm section). Prieto had a very stiff playing style, his body remained almost still, and his arms seemed to move independently, like they were possessed and he had no control over them. Once I caught onto this, I couldn't keep my eyes off of him, it was making me laugh. Peter Apflebaum, seen previously with Jazz Mandolin Project Friday night, made another appearance here and was again fantastic. I wondered though, what was he doing for the past few nights? Did he stay in Rochester? And if so, why hadn't he sat in with anyone else? That is one thing missing from this festival, there are few if any collaborations between all of the artists involved. The setup with each band playing two sets a night probably makes this difficult, but still, it would be nice to see.

Avett Brothers @ Water Street Music Hall

2009-06-16T15:56:00.008-05:00

Determined not to miss yet another chance to see the Avett Brothers, I jumped off the jazz train just as it was picking up a full head of steam, and switched gears entirely with some hard-rockin' bluegrass. Hard rockin'? Yep, not to mention head bangin', floor shakin', roof rattlin', knee bucklin' and smile inducin'. They raced through a fairly quick 80 minute or so set. The quality was high and consistent, and my dogs were screaming, so the brevity was excused.

These brothers plus 2 aren't the greatest musicians technically that you will see (if they are they don't show it), there is a rough and tumble rawness to their playing. But, they write some of the finest tunes being written today, and play them with reckless abandon, much to the delight of the rowdy crowd.

Coming from the throngs of dedicated jazz heads, hushed with their attentive but critical ear, this crowd was a full 180, with the only thing connecting the two a voracious appetite for live music. I had no idea Avett Brothers had such a rabid following. With their individually numbered Team Avett shirts, Avett Nation banner hanging high, floorboard-buckling jump dancing, and singing every word to every song at the top of their lungs (with the exception of most of the few new numbers played), this crowd was extremely into the band... and young as hell. I don't claim to know what the kids are into these days, but I had no idea it would be this.

Local americana rock act Auld Lang Syne opened things up. They had me at hello, and kind of lost me by good-bye. Seemed like they were doing something different with an accordian and french horn meeting up with the usual guitars and drums, but it ended up sounding like many other things I have heard and generally been indifferent to.

Also made it to Abilene before the show for the Hypnotic Clambake clambake. Wonder how many times someone's thought to pair those two things together? The burgers were cold but the music was hot (these guys know how to include an accordian into the mix), great start to the evening and Abilene continues to be one of the best spots for a beer and free music in the city. Don't shy away from the Porkslap Pale Ale...

Rochester International Jazz Fest - Night Two

2009-06-15T20:41:00.004-05:00

After a relatively easy time getting in to shows Friday night, I hit a bit of a snag come Saturday. Arrived on Jazz Street to insurmountable lines at Joey Defrancesco and Erin Bode, so I headed over to Montage for the Terrel Stafford Quartet. Just squeezed in to a packed house at Montage, really the only true club on the club pass. And it isn't typically a jazz club, but they really nail the jazz club feel. And Terrel Stafford was a great act to be catching in that atmosphere. They played a classic straight ahead no frills jazz, but they played it with exuberance and fire. The playing was phenomenal and the band was tight. I later read that the drummer was still in high school! and I am pretty sure Terrel mentioned something about the bassist still being in school too, I assumed college. Youth aside, the drummer was fantastic, hopefully he doesn't unlearn what he hasn't yet learned, because he already has IT. And let's not forget Terrel Stafford who's trumpet playing was of historic excellence. You really knew you were seeing someone special.

Next I made it over to see the final half of Tim Posgate's Banjo Hockey. An interesting lineup of trumpet, clarinet/sax, tuba, and yes, even a banjo. They played mostly composed pieces (read off sheet music) that reminded me of some of Bela Fleck's side projects. Melodic yet layered and complex, soothing yet jarring. I really liked it but was dismayed as a quarter full crowd dwindled after every song, until only a small group remained to hear the final notes.

Stopped in at Nordic Connect and stuck around for a couple of songs hoping they'd get my attention but it was for naught and I made a quick exit to get some dinner and take in some funk, New Orleans-style on the Jazz Street stage with Papa Grows Funk. This was a nice change of pace, but after a slice of pizza, I had more to see. More New Orleans that is. Jon Cleary was just warming up some Fess-style piano boogie over at the big tent. He played a fantastic version of Tipitina and a wonderful tribute to the late Snooks Eaglin. Cleary can pound and belt out a tune with the best of them.

The lines for Joey D and Erin Bode were again astronomical already with an hour left to showtime so I went to hear a little bit of Lianne Carrol scatting and singing, but wasn't drawn enough to stay and decided to wait on line to hear some more of Terrel Stafford. I got in but was stuffed into the back again and had to stand around for a while waiting for the show to begin, my first real wait for music all weekend. Finally the band came on a bit late, and through the first 30 or so minutes they didn't seem to be as on as when I had seen them earlier so I decided to see if I could somehow get in to see Joey Defrancesco for a little bit.

Walked in near the end of Defrancesco's set to a bit of a cheesy ballad and was disappointed to see he wasn't playing a real B3. The band was interestingly 2 keyboards and a drummer and a singer, at least for the time I was there. They closed out the set with "Betty Crocker Blues" and called out RIJF producer John Nugent out to play some sax, and then he and Defrancesco on melodica went at it a bit for a decent jam. The crowd ate it up. He was very appreciative of the crowd's enthusiasm, comparing us to Japanese and European crowds, We go it, he said, and told us it was a spiritual connection. Again, music is a religion. They encored with Take Me Out to the Ballgame (speaking of religion) and got the entire crowd singing, loudly. It was potentially a cheesedog move, but it actually worked quite well.

Sunday I was off to see the Avett Brothers at Water Street but tried to get in a litte jazz beforehand only to be closed out at California Guitar Trio unfortunately. I'm taking a rest day tonight and tomorrow night and will be back on the bus for the rest of the fest, I think...

Rochester International Jazz Fest - Night One

2009-06-15T13:29:00.007-05:00

The RIJF is an interesting breed of music festival, certainly unlike any I have participated in. Not sure if it is modeled after a longer standing festival, or if it is of its own making. Essentially, if you want to experience it as a festival, and not a small smattering of one-off shows, you need to be armed with the club pass, which gives you the ability to saunter in and out of 8 different venues as you see fit for 9 straight days in downtown Rochester. I say "as you see fit," but in reality, it is very likely you'll be waiting in line to get into a venue for upwards of an hour or longer if you really have the patience and a burning desire to see a particular musician. There is a science to this, and it is a science I will continually need to perfect. First step is figuring out the best way from point a to point b for each venue permutation.

Friday night, opening night, looked to be one of, if not the best lineup for the festival, on paper at least. I arrived on scene a little later than I intended, and jumped right on the corner-turning line which was already filing in for the Bill Frisell Trio, the one act that I absolutely knew I could not miss. I was one of the last people to make it inside (phew!) and was told there were 3 seats left in the first level. I walked down the aisle to find a seat and spotted the three empties, front row, flush right. Full view of the stage though, this place is too small for obstructed view. The week was getting off to a great start. Bill Frisell and his trio, Tony Scher on bass and Kenny Wolleson on drums, came out about 15m late, c'mon, we're on a tight schedule here! The set got off to a spacy start, with birds chirping in the monitors, and a drifting lilting tune from the band. They continued along with some more meandering and mellow and heavily improvised music. My mind was set adrift, zoning out after a very long week. But the musicians' meandering gave way to some truly satisfying moments, particularly gelling in a set-closing Boubacar. Wolleson, with his short tie, ragged suit, and unkempt hair, was the star of the set, not so much for how he played, but how he played within the music. Pushing it, stretching, holding it together. After a standing O and a beautiful encore, it was back out onto the street on onto something else.

That something else ended up being the Jazz Mandolin Project at the Harro East. Plopped in a seat right up front again, and enjoyed a couple long jams featuring Peter Apflebaum on horns, keys, and percussion. Been a while since I have seen Jamie Masefield's band, good to see them again. But JMP did display one of the factors that made the RIJF a difficult place to navigate. I tried hard not to get an itchy trigger finger when checking out each band, it's nice to try and least get a range of what they're doing before handing down judgment on them. At a pop fest it's easy to get in 4 or 5 songs in under 20 minutes and get a good feeling for the music. But in jazz, sit with a band for 20 minutes and you won't even be through the second piece, maybe not even the first. So spending 30 minutes with JMP I saw one and a half songs. Hardly a good cross section, but I was ready to move on.

So I left the Harro East with its Star of David up above the doorway, and into the Lutheran Church next door... music is a religion don'cha know? The Lutheran Church is the Nordic Jazz Series venue all week. Tonight it was home to Kari Ikonen Karriko. It was SRO when I got in so I leaned up against the wall and took in a wonderfully boppy piano trio, edgy enough to keep me interested and excited. After that song ended, 3 more musicians entered stage right. Sax, trumpet, and viola. Oh yeah, and the piano player swiveled in his seat to play the Moog sitting next to him. Things changed quickly. The boppin trio turned into a swirling soundtrack-esque soundscape, with the viola taking some nice leads above it all. That was some interesting stuff.

Stopped in quickly into the Big Tent for a little Organissimo to see if they were indeed more than just another B3 trio like their program description promised. Nope, pretty standard. Then tried to stop in for some Peter King at the Christ Church, but it was at capacity, so I kept moving.

And on I moved to see violin sensation Billy Bang at the Xerox Auditorium. Billy Bang and his band are certainly an entertaining and talented bunch of guys, but in the first 30 minutes Billy banged out a lengthy violin solo (and I mean solo, w/o accompaniment) that was simply wankery with no musical bearing whatsoever, almost immediately following that was nearly the same thing out of the bass player. That got me out of my seat, and out the door. Taking a fantastic solo doesn't impress me nearly as much as taking a fantastic solo that actually speaks to the music being played around you, or better yet that completely blends into the music being played around you.

I wasn't planning on seeing Frisell again, but my out-of-town friend was headed there so I joined him to check out some more of the goods. And I am glad I did, the late set trumped the early, with a close-to-epic rocking improv that really stole the entire evening. That's how you do it, no soloing necessary.

For a good compilation of all the local coverage of RIJF check out the Jazz@Rochester blog.

Marco Benevento Trio @ Westcott Theatre

2009-05-10T20:32:00.003-05:00

Made the trip to the Cuse on a Thursday night for a dose of Marco Benevento and the Marco Benevento Trio, featuring Reed Mathis on bass and Andrew Barr on drums. Pretty fantastic lineup, except it took them a good while to show their potential. Started out pretty damn sloppy right out of the gates with their cover of My Morning Jacket's Golden. Marco had a prerecorded sample going that literally sounded like the house music hadn't been turned down yet, total mess. Marco seemed kind of out of it the whole night, and when he mentioned too many late nights in New Orleans at Jazz Fest it kind of made sense. He was only equipped with the piano for this set-up though he had plenty of effects pedals running out of that thing. For the first half of the show, the pedals, and the numerous pre-recorded samples he had going were completely distracting and seemingly pointless and unnecessary. But at about the midway point it all started to come together, starting with the Knife's Heartbeats which was awesome. The band really ratcheted it up on a reggae groover RISD. This is when the band finally gelled and flexed their muscles. And then Real Morning Party was the final dagger in my smile, I defy anyone to not love this song. It is the definitive answer to the question, Can a sing-a-long be an instrumental? I made it home a little after 2am and when I awoke 4 hours later I was uncontrallably humming it.

It was a hot and cold type set, and tough to nail down if it was worth the 3 hour roundtrip on a school night. When it worked Marco was using the effects to subtlely enhance the standard piano sound, when it didn't he was fuddy-duddying with the electronics and samples to the detrement and distraction of the actual music he was trying to play.

Speaking of electronics, the opener, Jeff Bujak, was the 21st Century's one-man band. Replace the accordian with a couple keyboards, the harmonica with a laptop, and the knee cymbals with some drum loop pedals, and add in a personal LED light show. Instant party band. He set up on his own riser in front of the stage. Pretty good stuff, would have been the perfect opening set if the headliners came on immediately after since there was no stage switch necessary, but alas, they waited the usual amount of time to come on, which of course was an hour later than expected.

UPDATE: Download the show here

The Bad Plus @ Kilbourn Hall, RIJF 2008

2009-05-03T20:04:00.006-05:00

Onstage, Rochester's own ACL-style PBS live music show, broadcast parts of The Bad Plus' set from last year's Rochester International Jazz Fest. With this year's fest just around the corner (expect much more coverage on that from me this year now that I will be armed with the Club Pass), what better time than to provide you with the audio from that show. This was their first performance with Wendy Lewis and includes some interesting backstage interview segments with each band member. Read my review of the show here.
Enjoy.

Download
Here's the tracklist:
Intro
Let Your Garden Grow (Iverson)
Iverson Interview
The Empire Strikes Backwards (King)
Band Intros
1980 World Champion (King)
King Interview
Knows the Difference (Anderson)
Lithium (Nirvana)
Lewis Interview
Radio Cure (Wilco)
Anderson Interview
Feeling Yourself Disintegrate (Flaming Lips)
Anderson Interview
Long Distance Runaround (Yes)
-last track is painfully cut off at the end of the program

UPDATE: Just found the full interviews on youtube:

Drums & Bass & Bass & Drums @ Bug Jar

2009-04-30T19:09:00.004-05:00

Two different days, two different sets of two different dudes playing the same two instruments in two totally different ways. All in Rochester via LA.

First up, Sunday night with the Ninja Academy. They announced the opening of their set by banging a gong out in the bar area, donned entirely in black ninja gear mind you. Most band names these days are so obscure as to their origins that people don't even bother to ask anymore. Ninja Academy on the other hand are exactly what they say they are. Two ninjas schooling their audiences in the ways of ninja rock. Their weapons of choice? Bass for Indo-Ninja and Drums for Out-do Ninja. Most every song was introduced with a ninja yell, and many were ended in the same way. This was raw power punk (mostly) instrumental rock with some very nice melodies driving it all through and more variety than you might expect. And in character, always in character.

Crush the Junta opened up for them with a two-song thirty minute set of noise rock. Not quite as good as the last time I saw them, seemed a wee bit off (perhaps it was exactly what they were going for, what the hell do I know?) It was enjoyable nonetheless.

Then on Tuesday night it was back to the Bug Jar for more of the same, except completely different. It was the quick return of El Ten Eleven to Rochester, ye of KitschDork's top shows of 2008 fame. The crowd was no bigger than it was in November which surprised me, I thought the buzz would have grown from their last performance. Guess not enough people are reading this blog! Anyway, I don't know if that affected their playing, or if it was the continual and multiple technical difficulties they were having with all of their 1's and 0's, but the performance did not match the energy and excitement of November's show. Still, it was awe-inspiring.

As I watch Kristian Dunn manhandle his bass I just wonder, does it even matter that it is a bass? Seems like it could be any instrument after all the effects he is running it through. It was also amazing to me the way he has such control over the multiple loops with their perfect starts and stops and ins and outs. I love it when he gets a thick 3,4,5 part melody going and then just sits back and rocks the bass line for a bit underneath it all. And then you have a guy playing a freaking bass guitar on stage yet at times the drummer is the one playing the bass line through his loops. Ridiculous. They pulled out a couple of new tunes which was more of the same from them, which is to say they sounded awesome.

The contrast in style to Ninja Academy was fun to see and appreciate with the shows placed so closely together. Where Ninja Academy really used their instruments closer to their original intent to evoke a raw and powerful sound, El Ten Eleven brings the bass and drums to completely new territory for a much more refined and clean sound. Ninja Academy made your head rock, El Ten Eleven made your ass groove and your feet shuffle. Power rock vs. Techno rock. Fight to the death! as Ninja Academy would (and did) say.

The Indras opened. They would have fit in great with the early 90's jam rock scene. I don't mean that as an insult (quite the contrary), and I don't mean to say they sound like any band in particular, they just have that aura about them and the music was jammed out but not to the annoyance that it is with most jam bands these days. I could just see them playing on bills with the early Widespread Panics, Blues Travelers, The Hatters, and Spin Doctors of the world. They had a surprising mix of sounds, played a great instrumental tune in there, and just seemed like the genuine, laid-back, taking it as it comes kind of group. Their set got hurt somewhat by a drum heavy and muffled mix, with the vocals sometimes completely disappearing.

MMW @ Smith Opera House

2009-04-21T20:59:00.003-05:00

What is your favorite part of Medeski Martin and Wood? Is it the swirling "Medeski"? The percussive toy box that is "Martin"? Or perhaps the base, I mean bass, no wait, I meant base, of "Wood"? Me, I like the "and" part the best.
...and is what brings it all together
...and the way none of their tunes begin or end
...and the way they squeeze their equipment into the smallest possible space on stage
...and the old art and photos that sat in front of the stage
...and how much they always change while still staying pretty much the same
...and no matter how much I listen to them or how many times I see them, I still have no clue what just happened, what is happening right now, or what will happen next

Things I didn't like:
The venue! They were strictly enforcing their antiquated no camera rule. Seriously, give up, what a waste of your time. They would come by and look over people's shoulders to make sure they were texting and not taking photos with their phone.
The crowd! What the hey?! Calling the place half full might be the overstatement of the year. After getting sold out at the German House last year I was sure to get an advance ticket this time around. I was amazed at how few people were willing to make the 30m trip from Rochester or Syracuse on a Friday night no less.
We'll get another chance to see them soon enough as it was just announced they'll be playing the free Party in the Park series in downtown Rochester on June 25.

One other thing to note, during the last tune Medeski's Leslie Amp gave out and the roadies tried valiantly to fix it mid-song. As they were replacing parts Medeski would stray one hand off the Wurli to tap on the B-3. It wasn't clear to me if it was out of habit, or if he was trying to help out the roadies by testing it for them. Either way, they couldn't get it going. If they had, it would have been the greatest mid-song instrument fix since the time at a Jazz is Dead show I saw a roadie replace a drumhead during Billy Cobham's drum solo while Cobham hit every drum but that one.

Blitzen Trapper, Alela Diane @ Bug Jar

2009-02-26T11:29:00.004-05:00

"This is our first time in Rochester...EVER." And later, "We like this place." So said Blitzen Trapper. Never been here, thanks for your support, hey, this place ain't too shabby...it's a common theme among bands I've seen here recently. I'm starting to think it might be backhanded, like, hey, this place isn't the shitstorm we expected, whoa.

I think I read too many music blogs. Because if you read what I read than you might think that Blitzen Trapper is HUGE. I thought the Bug Jar would be too small for them. It was sold out, but it didn't sell out until that day, and it really wasn't all that crowded, comfortably crowded at least where I was.

And then they went and got outplayed by their opener. No fault of their own, the opener, Alela Diane, was superb. She and her band, which included a backup singer, bass player, drummer, and father (on guitar & mando), wove musical tapestries, bereft of strong melodies, but oozing in simple complex beauty. Each sound built intertwined with every other sound into a tight blanket of sound that just sounded perfect together, like it was coming from one thing altogether. It's a folksy twangy acoustic sound, electrified, literally and figuratively. Other than Alela's heavenly voice, the drumming really stood out to me. This type of music doesn't usually lend itself to noticeably great drumming, which just made it all the more noticable. Heavy reliance on mallets, and minimal use of cymbals created a nice low softness for many of the songs, and given the loose atypical song structure the beat was given more room to flourish and develop and experiment outside the boundaries of the beat. Really sounded good. Speaking of sounding good, the sound was as good as I have ever heard in that room. Very well-mixed and at a perfect volume.

Then Blitzen Trapper came on and mucked it all up, in a good way. Loud (LOUD) and fuzzy. I did enjoy Alela's set more, but saying she outplayed Blitzen Trapper is just not true. I did not expect their music to warrant 3 keyboards on stage, but there they were. Guess those help when your music spans the large gap connecting Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd. These guys, beautiful three-part harmonies and all, can mix it up with the best of them. Which is something I seek out in my music, and appreciate to no end, but for some reason, it was somewhat jarring the way they presented their variety. They seem to be the type of band that once you "get it" your like for them begets your love for them on repeated and repeated listenings. In other words, I am not super familiar with their music, but I have a feeling the more I knew their music the more I would enjoy their show, the variety would make more sense and not feel all over the place. Here's to hoping they really did enjoy their time in Rochester and will be coming back soon, after I've had more time to absorb their music.

BTW, they may just have the greatest taping policy ever.

The band wanted me to let you know that BT is officially trade-friendly, and would love to encourage people to share their live recordings. The band would prefer that all tapings include a mix of board and crowd. Thanks!

Unfortunately it's a policy that is getting sorely underused with only 2 shows up at LMA. There was a taper there so hopefully a recording surfaces at some point. I will link to it here if/when I find it.

UPDATE: Recording has surfaced on LMA. Download here.

Sadies, Jerry Teel @ Bug Jar

2009-02-24T11:25:00.004-05:00

You always feel like you are in some sort of time warp twilight zone when you step into the Bug Jar with its retro studio apartment hanging from the ceiling. But when you were also drowned in the sounds of The Sadies and Jerry Teel and the Big City Stompers it hits you even harder. Jerry Teel kicked things off with his "classic" rock, and I mean "classic" as in before classic rock was classic rock. They didn't play rock music, they played music that rocked and rolled. It wasn't new, it wasn't original, but it was great.

Then The Sadies took over and brought us some more of that rock and/or roll music. The original influencers of rock music were all evident and out in the open, not mashed up and lost and reworked. You had blues, gospel, country, surf... Sometimes all together, sometimes separated, but fairly clear and unfiltered. Was it retro or so post that it flipped back to pre? They fired off tunes one after the other, some lasting less than a minute, I think, unless they were playing multi-movement epics, but that's not likely. The Bug Jar owns my ears again tonight for Blitzen Trapper and Alela Diane.

Derek Trucks Band @ Water Street Music Hall

2009-02-16T15:59:00.004-05:00

God I needed to see some live music. A month-long drought was just too much to take. But things seem to be picking up around here and hopefully with the weather turning, and the days lengthening, my motivation will increase. Lucky for me, one of my all-time favorite performers, Mr. Derek Trucks, brought his band to town last Friday night. They played to a sold-out crowd at the Water Street Music Hall. When they sell it out, they pack em in. It was jam packed all the way into the back of the hall, and the Club side was opened up and looked quite jammed as well.

After arriving purposefully late as to miss the opener, I squeezed my way into the front few rows. Maybe I am just shorter than I think I am, but I always seem to be stuck amongst the trees, neck craning. From experience I knew the crowd would thin a bit as the music finally got going, and would continue throughout the set, which thankfully it did.

The worst part about the set was the fact that someone from the venue came on to "psych up" the crowd before the band came on and let us in on this "secret" that the band was dying to play a long show and asked for no curfew. It was the worst because it could not have been further from the truth. They played a fairly standard, if it wasn't even shorter than usual, 100m set, with a short one song encore. I was fine with the length of the show, though the lying beforehand is just plain obnoxious and unnecessary.

The best part of the show was these 3 minutes of glory inside the My Favorite Things. This was the type of playing I missed during his set with Susan from this summer. They busted it out a little to early in the set though.

I am guessing the reason they did though was because Chuck Campbell came out about an hour into the set and sat in with the band for the rest of the show. This was the second best part of the show. On the flip side, it was also the second worst part of the show because he was too low in the mix and I would have liked to have seen more interplay between him and Derek. He was little underused.

Anyway, great show overall. Good to hear a lot of the new songs from their great new album, Already Free. I am not all too familiar with them but they sounded great live.

After the show, I headed over to Abilene. Wanted to check out this place for a while, and it was very close to the venue, much closer than I thought (finally starting to connect the dots in this small city.) Local act Walri was playing and I also have wanted to check them out, so it worked out nicely. Walked in as they were finishing up Hey Pockey Way. Then from there they busted into a David Bowie mini set, which included versions of Changes, Ziggy Stardust, and an exceptional Fame played with the perfect amount of funk and attitude. Closed the set with Big Boss Man and then took a break, so, tired, I did too. I wish I could have seen some of their original material, but that will have to wait until next time.

MMJ @ MSG (A Positively Negative Review)

2009-01-08T15:03:00.005-05:00

2009 will be a year that will hopefully finally see real progress on the alternative energy front. And ifso, maybe My Morning Jacket will have an even bigger year in 09 than they did in 08, because these guys generate loads of energy. They powered Madison Square Garden and outwards over the 5 boroughs for a good 3+ hours on new year's eve. Powerful is really the only way to describe MMJ when they take the stage.

By now you've read countless recounts of what went down that night in NYC (or you haven't, in which case you probably aren't reading this). I've read them too, and some if not most don't really tell the whole story. Yes, it was great, yes it was a blast to ring in the new year with My Morning Jacket, but it wasn't without fault. Don't get me wrong, I loved the show, and what follows is seriously nitpicky, and a little bit of devil's advocate to everything else I have read out there, so just keep that in mind as you read on...

I have seen reports of a sold out MSG. Seriously? They sold out all the seats that were sold, but entire upper sections were empty and empty seats spotted the entire arena. I thought it was a bit odd when they announced the show, but assumed some big openers would be announced later down the line. When no openers surfaced, I just shook my head, those crazy Kentucky cats! I still think they really could have used a solid opener or two to boost up the evening (and attendance) a bit.

One of the special parts of the show was a 4-piece horn section that included sax specialist Jeff Coffin (newly of Dave Matthews Band fame) and Steven Bernstein (of Sex Mob etc) on slide trumpet. They entered the stage with the band and played the first two songs of the show, Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up followed by Evil Urges. When the horns stayed on for Evil Urges I got all excited thinking MMJ was going to get their moneys worth out of the horn section. But then they left and didn't come back for awhile. And really only showed up again on the various covers played, save Dancefloors. Between Bernstein and Coffin you had easily the two best musicians in the house, and probably 2 of the best musicians playing in the entire city on that night. They were sorely underused, I would have loved to have seen some horn arrangements added to more originals, and also some non-horn section horn action too, a sax solo here, a trumpet added here. That was disappointing. Some trumpet during Phone Went West would have been cool for example, and how about inviting Coffin on for the end of Dondante?

Which brings me to another thing, the covers were all great and well done (duets with Nicole Atkins were pretty magical). But they were all cut from a similar cloth, and really seemed to be picked out only to take advantage of the horn section. They weren't geared towards the band's strengths per se, nothing really rocking. That was disappointing.

I saw another report of the show that spent much of the review comparing MMJ to the Grateful Dead and the like. What now? My Morning Jacket's shows are pretty much the same every night. I made a mix for my wife before the show to give her a taste and told her I could say with almost certainty that 90% of the songs on the mix would get played. And I was right. They have a huge catalog at this point but don't choose to use it. The songs they play are played pretty much perfectly every night, which is amazing in its own right, but it isn't anywhere near what the Dead pulled off, and nor is the crowd or scene even approaching that of the Dead's. That was just a bizarre comparison. With MMJ you know what you are getting, and that is part of the allure. Anyway, this New Year's show, while special, and extra long, and with its special guests, and special covers, was not all that much different from any other My Morning Jacket show. They played the songs they usually play, and played them very well. They didn't pull out any rare tunes from their past... which I kind of wish that they had. In fact, not counting covers, they only played 5 songs that they didn't play previously at Radio City Music Hall 6 months earlier. And they opened and closed the show with the same 4 songs (not counting covers).

But like I said, I loved the show, had a great time, and am loving listening to it again right now. And that Dondante, Smokin', Touch Me, Run Thru segment of the show? Brilliant! Especially Dondante, what a version... (woulda been even better with Coffin though, right? right?)

Ended the evening (or was it started the morning?) here:

08 Year in Review

2008-12-29T11:52:00.008-05:00

Aught-eight was a surprisingly good year for live music both in quantity and quality. I knew a move from Boston to Rochester would diminish my musical choices quite a bit, but I did have a hopeful feeling that there would still be enough to sate my live music addiction. My feeling was indeed correct. The choices were fewer, but all that did was make it easier to decide which shows to see, and even got me out to see some great bands I definitely would have missed in a more saturated environment. Anyway, here is my list for the best 8 shows of 08, with a mix of the second half of the year thrown in at the end. Click the links for original reviews.

8. El Ten Eleven @ Bug Jar
I had never heard of El Ten Eleven but after reading a brief preview of the show in the paper, I thought it might be something I'd like to check out. And I was right! Hot damn! It was a Monday night, and a long freaking wait inside the small club for their headlining set, but well worth it. Probably the only time I have ever walked out of a show and bought 2 albums from the same band.

7. My Morning Jacket @ Radio City Music Hall
6. David Byrne @ Landmark Theatre
5. Wilco @ Auditorium Theatre
The only thing these 3 had going against them were high expectations. Met and exceeded for all 3. Also they happened to be the 3 longest encores of the year. MMJ did it all in one break, Wilco and Byrne forced 2 and 3 standing O's respectively from their audiences.

4. Apollo Sunshine @ Beat Kitchen
So happy to get to see Apollo Sunshine this year, what with their outstanding new album and all. I had to go all the way to Chicago to do it, and stay out way late on a weekend work night, but completely worth it. Not the best AS show I have ever seen, but I have a hard time ever missing an opportunity to catch these guys.

3. Phil Lesh/Levon Helm @ Highland Bowl
Best venue I attended this year, helped tremendously by the gorgeous summer afternoon, but also just a great spot right in the city with a super-chill outdoor party atmosphere both on stage and in the crowd. Seeing Levon was a great treat, and I really loved the new version of Phil's band, a lot more than others seem to. The song selection was great and the playing even better.

2. Fiery Furnaces @ Bug Jar
When it popped up on the calendar that the Fiery Furnaces would be playing the teeny tiny Bug Jar I was floored. When I popped up at the venue and the Fiery Furncaces were actually on stage at the teeny tiny Bug Jar, well I was just floored. Just a crazy crazy show in a crazy crazy atmosphere. I had to remind myself I was in Rochester.

1. Akron/Family @ Boulder Festival
These guys got inside my head and just turned up the happy juice, I was in heaven. Mindblowing.

Biggest disappointments: Mike Gordon @ Thursdays in the Park. I never got around to reviewing this one, but let's just say, booooooring. Way too jammy with a way underpar band.
Other than that, having to miss Dr. Dog the day after Akron/Family at the Boulder Festival, missing not one but two local MMW shows, arriving too late for Earl Greyhound, and getting sold out from the Felice Brothers.

Best new discoveries: El Ten Eleven, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, Syme, Wax Fang, Le Loup, Cornmeal

Download my 2nd half mix here. My first half mix can be found here.
1. Sympathy for the Devil (w/ Jerry Joseph) Widespread Panic 8 July 2008 Rochester
2. Hey Jude Derek Trucks Band 11 July 2008 Rochester
3. The Other One > Phil Lesh & Friends 12 July 2008 Rochester
4. Another Reason to Go Vetiver 6 December 2008 Detroit
5. Raising the Sparks Akron/Family 21 February 2007 Edgar's Club Clemson, SC
6. Wonderwall Ryan Adams & The Cardinals 27 September 2008 Rochester
7. Dirty Black Nag Cornmeal 9 October 2008 Syracuse
8. The Doctor Will See You Now Wax Fang 2007-11-17 - Headliners Music Hall
9. Better Change Your Mind Apollo Sunshine Daytrotter Session
10. k10 El Ten Eleven Sunset Tavern 5 June 2008 Seattle
11. Impossible Germany Wilco 6 December 2008 Rochester, NY

Wilco @ Auditorium Theatre

2008-12-08T09:27:00.005-05:00

More images here by mylaminatedlife

Forget the Flowers, You Are My Face, Hummingbird, Muzzle of Bees, IATTBYH, Handshake Drugs, War on War, Via Chicago, Jesus, etc., Impossible Germany, A Shot in the Arm, California Stars, Hate It Here, Walken, I'm The Man Who Loves You
E1: Poor Places> Spiders (Kidsmoke)
E2: Passenger Side, The Late Greats, Heavy Metal Drummer, Kingpin, Monday> Outtasite (Outta Mind)

An expectedly great show was put on by Wilco Saturday night. The local media built it up as a possibly special and unique show, being that it was an off night from their opening slot on the Neil Young tour, and also that they are in between albums with the possibility of hearing some of the new tunes they have been road testing recently. Then there was this whole rumor that had the Flaming Lips opening the show. I hadn't heard that one until I queried google to find out the opener hours before the show (It was Jennifer O'Connor, who put on a nice little 30m non-power rock trio set, with 2 or 3 superb gems in there, I look forward to hearing more from her). Another local media outlet has already reviewed the show as being a special show too. But let it be known, the most unique part of this show was that it was their first visit to the city of Rochester. Don't take that as a negative view, it's just the facts. This was a super solid set put on by Tweedy and the boys, but nothing really veered from the ordinary of what we can always expect to be a fantastic rock concert, as sure a thing as there is in the music industry these days.

If you left the show wondering when was the last time Wilco had played in Rochester, you clearly were either completely wasted or were texting and twittering too much to comprehend what was happening around you. Mr. Tweedy mentioned the fact at length too many times to count over the course of the evening. Also, if you found yourself wondering if Glenn Kotche, Wilco's drummer, was an appreciated member of the band, where were you Saturday night? Between the array of flowers left in front of the kit, the opening number of Forget the Flowers, and the repeated taunts, jabs, and kudos heaped onto Kotche by Tweedy, it was hard to leave the theater without knowing how Kotche had to miss the last show due to a solo gig at Carnegie Hall. All this to say, Rochester was one hell of a lucky city to get the privilege to enjoy Wilco's company this weekend. Even if it was their first time here. I tried to consider the logistics of jumping off a larger tour to play a one off gig in a small city that wasn't even exactly on the way from point a to point b (for example, what did they do to get their regular stage set for the show, I'm just assuming they aren't touring with that for the Neil Young tour). Throw on top of that that your drummer had to come in special up from NYC to make the show. I am still wondering why it was they decided they needed to play this gig on their off night.

Regardless, they did come. And it was good, and appreciated, by me and thousands of others at the quickly sold out show. My seats were in the very last row of the balcony. Not the best seats in the house, but it had its advantages. I could stand the whole time without bothering the other members of the balcony, very few of which were standing during most of the show. Also, no one was behind me singing every word off-key directly into my ears. And the sound, the sound was as good as I have heard in a long long time. It was like wearing a nice pair of studio headphones plugged directly into the soundboard. I am sure it sounded great throughout the room, but there's no way it sounded any better than it did where I was sitting. It just couldn't get any better, every note, every instrument, nothing was lost, no distortion, even in the most cacophonous of times, everything came through crystal clear. Not too loud, not too quiet.

The song selection wasn't too out of the ordinary, but it did have a great cross-section from their different periods, not too heavy from any one album. It was my first time seeing them since Sky Blue Sky, so my first Impossible Germany, which is the live standout from that album. That ended with a nice Allmans-esque dual guitar jam coupled with Nels doing some Santana styled guitar work on top of that. Sounded damn good. The highlight of the show, for me at least, came in the first encore, Poor Places and Spiders. As much as I love the twangy side of things, Wilco's dabbling in experimental rock is some of my favorite. The Spiders I thought really stood out as being an extraordinary version, this song has come a long way. The trancey interludes have turned into great spacey little jams that don't drag at all like they tended to in the past.

And then, in classic Wilco fashion, the second encore leaves you feeling absolutely stuffed to the gills, sated to say the least. They said they wouldn't wait too long to return to Rochester, and indeed I received an email from the promoter saying they hope to have them back at the Highland Bowl this summer. That would be just fine by me.

My crappy youtube offering has been upgraded to a halfway decent youtube as I received a new camera this weekend. Being that this was shot in the last row, it is a bit distant, but the quality is much improved if I do say so myself.

UPDATE: Download a SBD/AUD matrix of the show HERE

David Byrne @ Landmark Theatre

2008-12-03T13:16:00.005-05:00

Poetic planning,
Clever Choreography,
Wonderfully white

Playing the building,
Set the Houses in Motion,
Burning Down the House

El Ten Eleven @ Bug Jar

2008-11-24T10:23:00.006-05:00

Ten, no, make that Eleven questions answered on the El Ten Eleven show from the Bug Jar.

1. First rule of live music in effect? Indeed, got there at 9:40 for an 8pm list, first band of 3 didn't come on until 10:05, El Ten Eleven on after midnight. Sunday night, ugh.

2. Black and Tans? $2! More please.

3. Sounds like? Um, Ratatat or a west-coast guitar-led Benevento Russo Duo maybe...

4. Effects pedals? 6' worth. Carried onstage in a large silvery guitar case. Oohs, aahs, and audible gasps heard throughout upon opening of the case.

5. You know those guitars that are like, double guitars? Approved!

6. Guy in crowd singing along to entirely instrumental music? Check.

7. Radiohead cover? Paranoid Android of course. A little too obvious, and little too short, still very good.

8. Ass? Shaken.

9. Soul? Stirred.

10. Crappy Youtube video? Right here:

11. Encores? 3. One was free, the final 2 were earned. Great crowd for a Sunday night, and we got rewarded. The band was very appreciative, and pretty damn surprised, many kudos thrown Rochester's way.

Download some tunes:
K10 (from RCRD Label)
Full show from 5 June 2008 (courtesy of iamserio.us)

Portugal. The Man @ The Club at Water Street

2008-11-07T16:08:00.003-05:00

I was pretty annoyed Tuesday night. Now, in the long view, it turned out to be a night for the ages, but this here being a live music blog, I will say that the live music side of my brain was rightly peeved. Earl Greyhound was in town and I have been wanting to catch them for quite a while. They were to 2nd on a 3 band bill with Wintersleep opening it up and Portugal. The Man finishing the night. I had never heard of Wintersleep but my vetting of them over the internet got me fairly interested in what they had to offer. Ditto that for PTM, plus the added bonus that they were from Wasila, AK was too good to pass on. But really, in the end, all I wanted to see was Earl Greyhound. Everywhere that the show was listed said doors at 7, show at 8. All things going perfectly I figured Earl would be on around 9 at the earliest. I walked in at 9 on the button and heard the last flourishes of what was Earl Greyhound's set. WTF?! Was there an opener? Yep, both bands were done, and the closer was quick on their heels.

This is absolutely RULE #1 of live music. If you get to a show on time, you will be way too early, if you get to a show fashionably late the show will have started right on time. True every time, I cannot get around this fact. Once you become a regular at certain clubs you get the hang for their schedule and how it jibes with their listed schedule. I had only been to this venue one other time and remember waiting and waiting and then having to sit through an awful and unlisted opener, and then waiting some more. This freaking show apparently started earlier than the list time. I can only hope Earl Greyhound will make it back to town soon, even through those closing bombastic notes I could tell they would have kicked my ass.

As for Portugal. The Man, the were pretty good. Reminded me a bit of Cold War Kids with their vocals and their live energy and concentration on rhythms. Though they were much heavier and more psychedelic, with an occasional tendency to stretch the songs out to some pretty interesting places. The crowd was fairly small, very young, and the club was lit better than the stage. Add that to the fact that the sound was distant and poorly mixed and it was tough to get swept up by the music. I stuck around for about 45m and headed home in time to watch history happen.

Apollo Sunshine, Wax Fang @ Beat Kitchen

2008-11-02T20:26:00.005-05:00

I managed to make it out for Apollo Sunshine one night on my business trip out to Chicago a couple of weeks ago. I felt pretty lucky that one of my favorite bands, and a band that doesn't seem likely to hit upstate NY anytime soon, was playing in town while I was there. There were actually quite a few, as in many many, good shows going on the few days I was there. This show was a good bet because it started late enough that I knew it would not be a problem making the show, and also a show I was sure would not sell out so I wouldn't need to worry about advance tickets or anything.

I arrived at the Beat Kitchen (a smaller version of NYC's Mercury Lounge, I thought) shortly into Wax Fang's opening set. They not only share a hometown with My Morning Jacket, but their drummer was very similar to Patrick Hallahan, both hair-wise and playing-wise. I dug most of what I heard from these guys, definitely a band I would like to check out again and will keep my eye on. A trio, they aren't afraid to include some subtle electronics and looping into the mix, and and they execute it very well. Good energy, good tunes, and some great playing from all three. Glad I made it in to see them.

Apollo Sunshine are a band that just grows and grows and grows on you. The better you know them, the better the experience gets. They are a ton of fun live, and are amazing about keeping it fresh. Even if the setlists don't change up too much, even when you know what to expect, they still come out and grab you, and shake you, and knock you silly. Riding high off the release of their new album, Shall Noise Upon, they came right out of the gates and played the first 3 songs off the album in order. Sounded good, but definitely needs some more road deconstruction and distressing. They don't necessarily jam all that much so much as devolve the music into straight up noise. Albeit beautiful beautiful noise. (Shall noise upon?) At one point, birthday boy (who shared his vegan birthday cake with the crowd--see video below) and most-of-the-time bass player Jesse Gallagher played nearly an entire tune with effects knobs.
He shows he can hold down a bass line but chooses more often to fly off the handle, off-beat, off-kilter, a bass-popping madman. Even during their funky cover of William Onyeabor's Better Change Your Mind, he can't help but untie the tightness of the funk knot and let loose. Sam Cohen doesn't fare much better in keeping to the script. They just throw the rules of a rock show out the window, and it sounds oh so good. Meanwhile, the under-appreciated Jeremy Black is keeping it all together somehow on his kit. I imagine Apollo Sunshine is not for everyone, but give them a chance or three, and hopefully it sticks.

Stage list is below, though Bach definitely got moved to after Lord, and Phyllis closed the set. They came back on and encored with Brotherhood of Death. Might have been a couple of others not listed in there as well.

Cake, Winterpills @ Main Street Armory

2008-10-06T20:59:00.004-05:00

The night after seeing Ryan Adams I made it out again to see Cake playing right across the street at the Main Street Armory. I had never seen Cake and pretty much know next to nothing of their music. I got a pair of free tickets so it was a no brainer to check it out. Going solo, I sold the other out front for $20. the same price I had picked up my Cardinals ticket out front the night before, so the weekend was free!

As I walked in the opening band took the stage. Listed as special guest on the ticket, wasn't sure who it would be. As they took the stage I thought they looked familiar. Is this the Winterpills? Not a second later they announced that they were indeed the Winterpills from Northampton Mass. What a total and pleasant surprise. I have seen them before and have their first two albums. It was their first of a string of shows opening for Cake. I am the last person to be comparing anyone to Elliot Smith (especially with what I am about to say) but whenever I hear him I think of the Winterpills, so for any normal person who knows Elliot Smith, I would say the Winterpills sound a lot like him. Songwriting and vocals are their strengths. They've got a new album coming out, this show being the first time it was available for purchase, kinda wish I had picked it up.

The Winterpills played a nice 40m set, followed by a painfully long 45m break. Ugh. Sunday night, c'mon! Cake finally did take the stage. I thought they had a nice and unique sound, really liked what the trumpet brought to the table. I thought it would just be a here and there type thing, but it made it into nearly every song. The music was generally funky and danceable, with completely off beat and strange lyrics, from what I could hear and understand, not to mention the strange delivery of said lyrics. A ways into the set they broke into a decent version of War Pigs which got the crowd (surprisingly young crowd I might add) worked up pretty good.

After that, John McCrea made an interesting comment that we wouldn't have the armory for this very show had it not been for war. Then they kicked out another cover, Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town, most notably by Kenny Rogers, which revolves around the Korean War. This was a better cover I thought. But then after the banter got weirder and more annoying. McCrea decreed it the saddest song ever, and asked how everyone was doing. Crowd roared. Well, you've got a roof over your head and running water, McCrea continued. He then quizzed the audience as to the percentage of the world without running water and made the crowd raise their hands to answer instead of screaming it out. Once someone guessed right they were invited on stage to claim their prize which was the apple tree which was sitting on stage. Then McCrea went on to say how we should all be friendly with this guy because once food becomes too expensive we are going to want his free fruit...we should all befriend some gardners he added. OK, this was all too much. Shut up and play your guitar as a much greater politically active musician once said. I stuck around for another tune but then decided it was time for bed. I'm glad I got to see what Cake was all about though, the musical part was quite enjoyable. And might I add the temperature was much more bearable then the last time I was there.

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals @ Auditorium Center

2008-10-04T08:15:00.007-05:00

The curtain was down as the crowd waited for the Cardinals show to start last Saturday night. I didn't really notice it was down until it rose. I couldn't really remember the last time I was at a concert and the stage was left a mystery behind the curtain until the band took the stage. The reveal in this case was much more than I had in mind. 2 glowing blue neon roses on either side of a large cardinal symbol directly behind the drums hoisting a large gong in its belly. The gong would prove to be just for show unfortunately. A backdrop of plain white squares with a curvy finish at the top served as the palette for a well-choreographed lightshow. This is a Ryan Adams concert? I had only seen him once before (sometime between the releases of Cold Roses, Jacksonville City Nights, and 29), and I don't remember anything being on the stage for that show.

"We're the Cardinals, thanks for coming to the rock concert," was all Ryan said before launching into the first tune. Ok...that was kind of an odd thing to say.

But it all made sense soon enough. This WAS a rock concert. The stage set, the smoke machine constantly filling the stage with essence d'rock. And then of course the knee-buckling, back-arching, face-wrenching, neck-bobbing, guitar-raising, hair-flailing guitar jams. Chris Feinstein kept the low end in check while sporting a nice Larry Craig-esque stance, wide and low. Love when those bass players get down. Some old tunes were rocked out a little harder than usual, and the new tunes were just balls-out ragers. This new album should be pretty damn good. They tested and proved the theory that down-tempo can rock every bit as much as up-tempo.

Speaking of down-tempo, a few songs in came a cover of Oasis' Wonderwall. Not a favorite of mine, not even a song I admire. A song that I even had a hard time placing. I guessed that it was an Oasis tune and was mildly surprised to find out I was right. At any rate, point is, Ryan gave it the Cat Power treatment and it was freaking incredible. They played it very slooooowly, almost to a standstill. But it built up to a fantastic finish. It was one of those moments when you realize, this is the best this song could ever and will ever sound. It appears they're playing it at every show, check it out.

The band played a solid 90 minutes until Ryan announced, again, oddly as all heck, "We're going to break for about 5 minutes so you can get more alcohol, or soda, and then we will come back and play until curfew" Musically and visually it was a rock concert, but the stage banter needed some work. They took what turned out to be a very short break, played another 30 minutes and did not come back for an encore despite much pleading from the crowd. I am fine with no encore if you're going to play right up until the end, which they did, but it definitely left the crowd a bit disappointed. It was the exact opposite of the strategy employed by MMJ at Radio City earlier this year. MMJ played what amounted to a second set and called it an encore, Ryan played an encore and called it a second set. Whatever, I really thought the show was over after the first set so I left completely sated.

Download the previous night in Syracuse
(BTW, not often a band is willing to play Rochester AND Syracuse these days...)

Akron/Family, Vetiver @ Boulder Festival

2008-07-28T15:37:00.008-05:00

I thought I had a good idea of what I was in for, but I had no idea what I was IN for. Long story short, Akron/Family blew my mind last Friday evening. (Keep reading for the long story) They wiped our palates clean and then built a musical universe from the ground up until it was towering over us, awesome in scope and power. Excuse the excessive use of superlatives herein, but there is no other way to get across the excellence other than a complete "-est" fest. I knew that I really wanted to catch them--still I almost missed this show for various reasons--but really I didn't quite know why. As in I really didn't know much about them. As in, when they came on stage 6 strong I had no idea that half the band was actually Megafaun (who had played earlier and who I am disappointed I couldn't get there early enough to see in retrospect) I have no idea how they could pull this show off with only 3 guys, let's just hope they somehow manage to always tour as this 6. It was a circus up there. The show started modestly enough, a lot of slow builders that began spacey but morphed into raging noisy rockers. After a few songs in I was thinking that it was growing a bit repetitive, great, interesting, but repetitive in structure. And lacking the all out energy I was expecting. Then they toss in this instrumental piece that had the sweetest little infectious guitar lead, on par with Rana's "Whenever You Can", the type of riff you could just listen to all day and never grow tired of.
Here's video proof:

From there they drifted into a spacey vocal/rhythm interlude and the bass player (who was a badass btw) handed off to the Megafaun guitarist and grabbed the mic. A Lovelight bass groove was produced and before you knew it we were engaged in a full-on Pigpen-esque Lovelight. The energy kicked up a notch onstage and in the small but packed-in crowd. I thought this was a showstopper. But in reality it was the show starter. Immediately after Lovelight came a groove that was so funky it nearly caused widespread instantaneous booty implosion. Think late-70s Stevie. This lasted for a while and I just never wanted it to stop. Insane. The crowd was now full into it and the stage show just getting crazier. At some point a young child who had interrupted the opening of the show by banging some drums at a vendor tent had made it on stage, dancing and banging on his drum. The crowd became a member of the band on multiple occasions with plenty of vocal participation and claps and snaps. The drummer from Vetiver joined in for a 3 drum attack for the 2nd half too. It was a cacophony of sound with tons of percussion, pipes, flutes, recorders, recording devices even, and some hilariously over the top all-out screaming. The show ended with Ed is a Portal that had the crowd in a frenzy, explosive. Then that fizzled out into another vocal jam with vocals regarding the Vetiver drummer's playing of the triangle. This turned into an impromptu song about triangles, circles and squares with hand motions and all. As the song neared its end a small display of fireworks went off somewhere off in the distance. Fitting.

They came out for a quiet, past-curfew encore of I Know You Rider, with the entire band front of stage, mostly acoustic, and with the guitarist from Vetiver joining in on harmonica. Akron/Family's guitarist expertly evoked Jerry Garcia for a beautiful ending solo, and the crowd dispersed in glee.

Akron/Family were the headliner in the first of a three night festival put on by the Boulder Coffee Company. It was a fine little festival, but unfortunately I couldn't catch any more of it. In addition to some great local talent on tap, Dr. Dog was headlining the second day. It was a tough pill to swallow to have to miss that set. Oh well.

I did catch Vetiver though. They get thrown in the freak folk scene a lot, and as such I was not expecting to like them too much. But they really weren't all that "freaky." Pretty straightforward retro-folk rock. Great vocals, good songs, quite enjoyable.

Also took in the set by the local group Baby Shivers' Boutique. They had a unique set-up and showed a lot of potential, but it was so very rough around the edges, and not even just on the edges. I'd like to see how they develop their sound more. A couple of songs fell flat, but others held great promise. I'll keep my eye on those guys...

Gettin' HIGH Part III: Phil Lesh and Levon Helm @ HIGHland Bowl

2008-07-16T18:36:00.007-05:00

I closed out this little trilogy on a serious HIGH note. I'll come right out and say it, this concert was near perfect. Looking back I don't think I would change one thing, except the steep ticket price. But at least I didn't give Ticketbastard a cut.

I left the beautiful smell of smoking meats and followed the stench of western New York's biggest hippie gathering of the year. With the rain behind us the weather turned perfect again, and the setting for this concert could not have been any better. Might as well have dropped us into Golden Gate Park in the late 60s. The Highland Bowl is a bowled area in the park, with nice sloping hills on all sides, surrounded by trees, featuring a small amphitheater in the middle. There was a good amount of moochers hanging out in the periphery of the park getting free access to the music, and not too bad views for some of them too. The only security presence was at the fences surrounding the area, inside it was virtual free-for-all. An old man decked out in about as much marijuana swag possible on one human body (he wasn't wearing any shoes but if he was I am sure they would have sported a marijuana leaf) whipped out his bag of goodies, broke it up, rolled one, smoked it and passed it around in broad daylight without ever looking over his shoulder for fear of getting caught. The show drew a decently large crowd, tough to really tell how many in this setting. There were a lot of people there, but it was spread out nicely and you could really go anywhere you wanted with ease, even all the way 3 rows off the rail. It was a very mellow scene, as it should be.

Anyway, onto the music. Levon Helm and his band were up first. The setup reminded me of the Soul Stew show I had seen the night before, the size of the band and the 3 piece horns were what really made the connection. Whereas Soul Stew examined the bluesier side of American music, Helm and his band dug into the folk roots realm more, oh and also this band you might have heard of before, whose name was, wait don't tell me, oh yeah, The Band. Levon's band on this night accordioned from as few as 4 to as many as 10 members, and yes, even featured an accordion. Larry Campbell pulled double duty on the night playing in both bands and John Molo also sat in on drums for a bunch of tunes. They closed with the Weight just as the Soul Stew had the night before. I had thought to myself then, I am definitely hearing this one again. This was a great set to see, in part to see a living legend, and in larger part because the music was just so damn good. I will have to pick up his new album pronto.

As I read some reviews of last weekend's All Good Festival I realized that nearly every band I saw this week, from Widespread on through to Phil Lesh, also played at All Good. And most of them played at Rothbury the week before. I guess Rochester makes a good stopping point between Michigan and West Virginia. Good for us.

I don't remember the last time I had seen Phil and Friends. A few years maybe. But I also don't remember seeing a Phil and Friends concert that was quite this good, rivaling the best of the Herring/Haynes era. Jackie Greene is just that good. He's got the voice, he absolutely shreds on guitar, and plays piano and organ too... Then throw in Larry Campbell on guitar and pedal steel (which I am a total sucker for), Steve Molitz on keys (who happened to be a nice change and upgrade from Barraco, throwing in some unexpected and whacked-out sounds here and there, but in a good, nay great, way), and Teresa Williams from Levon's band adding some fantastic vocals here and there. Wow, this was a great band. And by the way, Phil Lesh is the best jamming bass player out there. He somehow holds down the low end and doesn't ever play a bass line all night. His fingers are always moving and he never settles on a single groove, it is constant change with him. But he also never stands out and never puts his sound out front, always melding in perfectly with everyone else.

The first set wasn't so much about what was played, but what was played in between what was played. Phil would call out commands into his mic and the band would heed, switching key, changing rhythm, or simply heading in a new direction. These little interludes were fantastic. At set break I realized I hardly could repeat a single song they played, but I knew I loved every minute of it.
Set closing Cosmic Charlie:

The second set was then all about what they played. And they freakin played. Rippin versions of the Other One, Morning Dew (how good with Jackie and Teresa on vocals?-- this was a total shudder free concert), and Help>Slip>Frank's. Franklin's Tower was such a sweet way to end the night. The band was bopping, the crowd was hopping, and Teresa was dancing (her voice just a perfect addition here), it was seriously electric. Jackie Greene was just an all-star. I have heard good reviews since he joined on, but really I couldn't have expected this, the kid can play! And has it been mentioned that he bears the initials JG?! What a great day. I left before the encore to beat the crowd and get home after a long day.

Set 1: One More Saturday Night, Cumberland Blues, Me & My Uncle > Brown-Eyed Women, So Hard To Find My Way > Operator, Cosmic Charlie

Set 2: New Speedway Boogie > He's Gone, Candyman, Cryptical > Other One > Cryptical > Morning Dew, Help On The Way > Slipknot !> Franklin's Tower

encore: Truckin'

Download the show here

Gettin' HIGH Part II: Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band @ HIGHland Park

2008-07-15T18:36:00.009-05:00

Early afternoon Saturday I headed over to Highland Park for the My Big Rib BBQ and Blues Fest. It was a ribs competition that also featured a pretty damn good music lineup. And it was a beautiful hot and sunny summer day, what could be better? Wait a minute, is it about to rain? I arrived after the Reverend Peyton and his band, I mean, and his Big Damn Band of three, were already underway. I scanned the BBQ vendors, all sporting lengthy lines, and walked straight up to the small stage where the band was playing to about a dozen or so people. This was their early set, they had one more set later in the day after a couple of other bands, and then played another set the next day. I would be missing the later set to go catch Phil and Friends who also happened to be playing at the Highland Park just down the street.

So you've heard of freak folk right? Well, this music was hick folk. Total backwoods get down and get dirty music. They're the type of band that replaces the tom with a pickle bucket. They're the type of band that has a full time washboard player. They're the type of band that can tell a story about seeing their cousin on Cops and you believe every minute of it. And it was a song too, with the oh so clever title of Your Cousin is on Cops. Great song. Reverend Peyton leads the band with his wife on washboard, and his brother on drums and pickle bucket. He plays guitar and harmonica, and (eat your heart out Charlie Hunter) he plays bass lines with his thumb. He shows off his guitar playing prowess in this clip: (not sure why this came out so damn dark)

Then the rains came and they came hard. The small crowd all huddled in as close to the stage as possible to get in under the tent as best we could. But the rain came in sideways and the crew scrambled to get their stuff covered. "Washboard" Breezy got shocked from her mic while Reverend Peyton worked out some technical difficulties. They eked out one more tune before calling it a day, or at least a set. I totally dug these guys, keep an eye out for them for sure.

After that I went to check out the BBQ. I sampled 3 different rib offerings, all pretty tasty. I was partial to Willingham's personally... the other 2 were heavily doused in their too-sweet-for-my-taste sauces. In between rib gorging I caught a little of the local outfit Po Boys Brass Band. They sported a four trombone attack on the frontline which is their trademark. They ripped through a bunch of New Orleans favorites including Cissy Strut and a Blues for Ben. Pretty sweet having such a good New Orleans-style brass band so close to home. And with my belly full I set off to get my Phil. (and Levon...)

Stay tuned for Gettin' HIGH Part III

Gettin' HIGH Part I: Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Revival @ HIGH Falls Brewery

2008-07-14T21:14:00.010-05:00

Managed a nice little weekend of music here in Rochester. It all started soon after work Friday night at the inaugural concert at the High Falls Brewery. Scrapomatic opened the show. A one-guitar duo, they played a nice folksy blues mix, similar in scope contemporarily (sic) to The Wood Brothers, with a little less...um, zazz. They got some help here and there from Duane Trucks and Yonrico Scott on drums, Kofi on keys, Todd Smallie on bass, and the sax player from the Soul Stew Revival, all who would return shortly, even Mike Mattison, Scrapomatic's singer, who also sings for the Derek Trucks Band.

Soul Stew Revival is something that has been a long time coming. Ever since the joining of Tedeschi and Trucks the question has not been what if, but when. It was inevitable. I don't fault them at all for the time it took them to get together a band, for it takes a while to cook up a soul stew. It takes the perfect ingredients and the perfect timing. Now I won't go as far to say that this outfit they put together is perfect, but damn if it don't taste good! Now I am coming at this from a Derek-centric view having seen him many many times, really I try hard not to miss him. Susan I have seen a couple of times with her band and a handful of times sitting in with Derek's band. The Soul Stew Revival is definitely a Susan-centric band. So I didn't get my long Derek tangents and free jazz noodlings. He took the backseat to Susan, it was her band, they played mostly her songs, well mostly covers really, but her songs more than his. She led the band on stage and called the shots for the most part. And though it was Derek's entire band on stage with him, they took a back seat too. Mike Mattison, he took a seat cramped in the way back, facing the wrong way, in the family wagon. I was thinking how it must be tough to pull double duty as a vocalist, but then when his services were hardly needed for the main set it made a lot more sense. So rounding out the band were Derek's younger brother Duane on drums, Count Mbutu on percussion and a 3 piece horn section. I wished that Susan had at least kept on Jeff Sipe as her drummer. It was a nice touch adding more family to the mix, but Duane was a bit of a heavy hitter and his bass drum was drowning out a good amount of the full sound this band brought. Plus a Yonrico/Sipe rhythm section would have been quite the treat. Incindentally Sipe sat in with them the next night... oh well!

It turned into a pretty nice evening weatherwise and they must have done VERY good with walk-up ticket sales because the promoter was nearly complaining about the over-abundant, larger than expected crowd. They weren't prepared for it and the beer and food lines showed it. The big crowd was treated to a great show, including great covers of Don't Think Twice, Hey Jude, Key to the Highway, and The Weight, which included a nice slide trombone versus slide guitar intro.

Setlist:
Don't Do It, People, I Wants To Be Loved, Anyday, Don't Think Twice, Don't Cry No More, Pack Up Our Things, Sugar, Get Out My Life, Glad You're Gone, Little By Little*, Hercules, Hey Jude, Key To The Highway, The Weight
E: Gonna Move
*- w/ Adrianne Hayes

Stay tuned for Gettin' HIGH Part 2: Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band @ HIGHland Park, and Part 3: Phil Lesh and Levon Helm @ HIGHland Bowl

Widespread Panic @ Main Street Armory

2008-07-09T11:43:00.006-05:00

I: From the Cradle, Better Off, Three Candles>Pickin Up the Pieces,
Wondering, PAYMH>Stop Breakin Down, Dark Day Program>Proving Ground

II: Conrad, Already Fried, One Arm Steve>Jam>Driving Song>Papa's Home>Drums>Papa's Home>Driving Song, Gimme>Machine>Barstools and Dreamers, Mr Soul

E: Sympathy for the Devil (with Jerry Joseph)

The weatherman said it was 92 in Rochester. I'm not sure where they had the thermometer set up for that reading, but it was definitely not in the Main Street Armory. It was well over 100 in there with a nice cloud hanging up in the ceiling when I arrived about 20 minutes before showtime. The place was not even 1/10th full, this was just pure bottled heat. As it filled soon after the boys got kicking just after 8 it only got hotter, and the sweat induced and likewise inducing humidity only got worse. It was almost unbearable if it weren't for that bear of a man standing up above me in the Schools Zone. I felt pleased as punch to be catching Widespread Panic in my new hometown of Rochester. The chances they were playing there this year of all years seemed highly unlikely... the last time being over 11 years ago. I was at that one too...good show btw.

Show opened modestly. I have said it before, and I will say it again, Jimmy owns Pieces now. Beautifully done. Party at Your Momma's House had me thinking about Mr Houser the whole time. It never quite struck me until hearing it last night, it was one of his later tunes, but man if it isn't quintessential Houser. This segued seamlessly into Stop Breaking Down. No typical Panic breakdown and build back up, or fizzle out and emerge out, just smooooooth. Ending the set with Proving Ground as the big rocker of the set, but it's a pretty slow rocker. Jimmy brought new life to the ending noise as everyone else fuzzed out in faux intensity, he was still playing notes. Outside of the speed metal world I don't know that anyone can play as fast and controlled as him. In conclusion, set 1 had to be the mellowest set I have seen since the barely audible full on acoustic set at SPAC back in 93.

Maybe we're Better Off?

Dave came out for the second set teasing Walk on the Wild Side very hard. Question was, would they? Opening riff to Conrad said they would. They immediately knocked it down a notch though with Already Fried which seemed to go on forever. Decent song I guess, but pretty damn slow. Then One Arm Steve which is far far away from being my favorite. But who's complaining when they tack on a set-making jam at the end? I couldn't describe it in too much detail, except to say it went places. Highlight of the show. The jam came to a complete stop, really that segue mark is pretty inaccurate. Then came the double breaded sandwich with a meager drums for the meat. This killed the sandwich twofold. One, the jam out of drums is generally excellent, and two, the jam back into Driving is also usually excellent. Kinda missed both those here. The whole band stayed on stage for drums, but it still dragged on for a while. Then Gimme (it was Tuesday after all), which had me thinking of Houser all over again. Haven't seen this one in a long while so that was nice. Set closing Machine>Barstools, Mr Soul had this set coming out nice and solid. No crazy epic midweek underattended weird venue type show, but solid Panic.

They did have one tricky surprise left for us though. At the encore break they brought out an extra amp, mic, and some lyric sheets. So not only a guest, but a random tune to boot. The girl next to me informed me that the venue's answering machine had a message about a Jerry Joseph postshow happening right there at the venue. Not sure if that ended up happening, not sure how it would have happened, but there he was, Mr. Jerry Joseph on stage for the encore. Dave started playing the bass to Sympathy for the Devil from off stage, and Sonny, Jojo, and Todd came on and joined in the groove while the crowd sang "Oo Oo, Oo Oo". Then the all J's guitar trio of JB, Jimmy, and Jerry Joseph came on and got the party started. Great encore, sealed the show up nice and tight. And finally we could get our asses out of the sweat lodge.
Memo to the Main Street Armory: Please refrain from booking any concerts from May-October.

Captured just a bit of the tail end of the Sympathy Jam:

All-Star Break: Live Mix

2008-07-06T17:40:00.003-05:00

Half of aught-eight is in the books. Time to reflect mix style. Here are samples from most of the bands I've seen so far, some from the exact show I saw, some from the same time period, some not even close. Enjoy...

Benton Harbor Blues - Fiery Furnaces - 30 June 2006
KD REVIEW
Krdish - Syme - 5 March 2008
KD REVIEW
I Had a Dream I Died - Le Loup - 15 October 2007
KD REVIEW
Unknown - Charlie Hunter Trio - 19 February 2008
KD REVIEW
Something for Rockets - Benevento/Russo - 1 March 2008
KD REVIEW
Dondante - My Morning Jacket - 13 June 2008
KD REVIEW
Battle of Evermore - Alison Krauss and Robert Plant - 15 June 2008
KD REVIEW
Power Lord - Campbell Brothers - 13 November 2004
KD REVIEW
Ain't Got Nothing to Go Wrong - Dead Meadow - 29 March 2006
KD REVIEW
Can You Tell - Ra Ra Riot - 30 January 2008
KD REVIEW
Spine of a Dog - moe. - 12 June 2008
KD REVIEW

DOWNLOAD MIX

My Morning Jacket @ Radio City Music Hall

2008-06-23T19:08:00.004-05:00

My Morning Jacket played Radio City Music Hall. And the Radio City Music Hall played My Morning Jacket. The lighting on stage was almost entirely backlit all night, which at times created darkened figures on stage with a glowing aura about them, or at other times produced gigantic shadows rocking out all over the walls, or at other times rendered the band completely invisible. Whichever effect was caused, the result was always befitting, as it showcased them as the gods of rock that they have become. It was sacred ground according to lead Jacket Jim James and they were doing their best to give it their blessing. In a true Earth meets Sky moment James ascended into the 1st mezzanine via the stairway connecting the box seats along the wall to jam amongst his disciples. After the truly satisfying encore "set," the crowd emptied into the enormous and gaudy lobby with an absolute buzz of energy rarely felt at concerts these days. I would say that the show really wasn't all that much different than most any MMJ show, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The venue and circumstance of the show seemed to take precedent over what was actually played, for both the band and the audience.

Bad Plus @ Rochester International Jazz Fest

2008-06-15T13:54:00.005-05:00

If I don't see these guys at least once a year I have an empty feeling, like my year was missing something. It's been over a year since I last saw them at the MFA in Boston, so it was about that time. Luckily they were coming to town for the much heralded Rochester International Jazz Fest. As this was my first RIJF experience I wasn't quite sure how it worked and had read somewhere that the Club Pass (which gets you into all the venues) wasn't the way to go. That and the fact that I wouldn't be around for any of the 2nd weekend lead me to my decision to skip the Club Pass. Next year though I will definitely go that route. Without it, there's really not too many options. So I was left to pretty much see the Bad Plus and not much else.

The Bad Plus will make you laugh, whether from their onstage demeanor, the dryly humorous banter, or because the music is just so damn good you can do nothing in reaction but laugh. The Bad Plus also keeps you guessing. They never seem to be touring for their last album, always pushing through to the next, even if it is still a year off. So it is always fresh, no matter how many times you see them. So for their next album they dropped a pretty damn big surprise on us... a singer! I have long wondered what they'd be like with a guest, like a guitar or horn of some sort. Never have I considered what they'd do with a vocalist. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Her name was Wendy Lewis and this was her first ever performance with her on stage. Well second, I was seeing the late set. Her voice wasn't too powerful (ie not commanding all the attention) and mixed well with the band.

So they came out, played a few originals, Let Your Garden Grow, Empire Strikes Backwards, 1980 World Champion, and Knows the Difference. A decent cross section of their stuff. Not my favorites, but oh well. Then enter Lewis. Let the onslaught of covers begin. Started off with Nirvana's Lithium. Then Radio Cure by Wilco(with backing vocals by Reid Anderson!), Long Distance Runaround by Yes (AYFKM?), something I didn't know next, pretty slow jazzy number, and finished with Feeling Yourself Disintegrate by the Flaming Lips. They played one more with her, encoring with Heart's Barracuda.

Their interesting choices of covers get them a lot of press, but as I have said before, their originals are what makes this band great. I like a choice cover sprinkled into the set here and there, but this was a bit of overkill. Still, very fun and interesting to hear their takes on all these. With the vocals their interpretations were a bit more straightforward and it left Iverson to play parts other than covering the melodies as he usual does. They were filming it for WXXI's Onstage show so I look forward to seeing this again. From reports I have heard/seen, they apparently played even more covers in the early set, including U2's New Year's Day, Comfortably Numb, Blue Velvet, and the Bee-Gees' How Deep Is Your Love...this may have been the question mark I had in the late set come to think of it, I just don't know my Bee Gee's too well. Well, they've stated again and again that the covers they choose are not in any way ironic or silly, they seriously like everything they chose to cover... Anyway, I wonder if their next album is a straight cover album? That would be unfortunate if so, but hey, they can do what they want as far as I'm concerned.

Took a few small bites of sets by the Buddhahood (more fun the more you see em), Saturday Fish Fry, Downchild Blues Band, and the late night jam at the State Street Grille, which were all pretty standard fare for the short while I caught them. Looking forward to next year already.

Keep up with the rest of the fest over at the Jazz@Rochester blog, where in addition to great coverage itself, will also link you to many others covering the fest.

moe. ROCkin in the City

2008-06-13T18:22:00.006-05:00

Every so often, which is not that often at all, I am presented an opportunity to see some moe., whether it be as an opener, at a festival, or as was the case last night, a free post-work show in downtown Rochester. I guess I burned out on them very early on, I saw them in abundance my freshman year and then it just fell off a cliff and I didn't see them again for sometime. But, everytime I see them, they seem to play all of the old tunes I know of theirs, and last night was no exception. They played half of their first first album, the cassette album Fatboy I got at my first show back in 93, and a couple more off their first CD, Headseed. They sprinkled in one nice JJ Cale cover of Cajun Moon, with opener and Assembly of Dust frontman Reid Genauer on guitar and vox. Seeing as though I am clearly not the person to be providing in-depth analysis for a moe. show, I will just say the second set closing Sensory Deprivation Bank>Recreational Chemistry (mostly just the Chemistry part) which together must have clocked in longer than the entire first set (which was a measly 35-40m), was worth the price of admission... or should I say, I woulda paid some money for that shit. Garvey and Schnier have taken the dual guitar jamming crown away from the Allmans. Now I like the Allmans more than moe., and as individuals Trucks and Haynes slay these guys, but as a two-headed guitar machine, these guys rule. At one point in the first set they traded off the lead guitar role and if you weren't paying attention you would have had no idea, it was completely seamless. But the real highlights were during the aforementioned Chemistry, which featured some very nice AHEM (excuse me) chemistry... This tune had it all, a trance-inducing next level jamming middle section, an explosive guitar shredding finish, some masterful bass leads by Derhak (where was he the rest of the night though?), and what fiery rock show would be complete without some serious smoke on the stage...yep, it had it all. I'll be happy to hear it again when it gets up on the archive, assuming it does.
See you again in a few years moe.!

Krauss/Plant @ CMAC

2008-06-10T19:58:00.004-05:00

Had a bit of a different live experience this Saturday night at the slightly updated and annoyingly named Constellation Brands Melvin Sands Performing Arts Center, formerly Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center, aka CMAC. Don't have a clue what CMAC is actually short for but they had a Dinosaur BBQ stand smoking meats on site, so I wasn't complaining. Anyway, aside from hearing the seemingly odd combo of Alison Krauss and Robert Plant on stage, the real reason the experience was different for me was because I dragged my not quite 2-year-old daughter along for the ride. And I'll tell you, it sure beat going alone, she was a great show-going companion. She even had her father's penchant for being up front as she dragged us and our lawn ticket all the way down to the pit without one question from an usher. We went straight back out though.

There was a completely unannounced opener which was particularly annoying for me on this night trying to entertain my daughter for an extra hour or so. She was not into the opener and nor was I. Pretty bland stuff, but she had a nice voice. Sharon Little was her name and she just released her first album a couple of weeks ago. "Go buy it" so says she.

Not much to say about the Krauss Plant combo that hasn't been said many times before. I have yet to hear the album so none of those songs were familiar. For the most part the only songs I recognized were the Zep tunes and even those weren't easily identifiable. The Black Dog was completely redone americana style and slowed down to an almost standstill. It struck me about midway through the set, why is Robert Plant here? Really, between the folksy roots type music they were playing and the redone Black Dog, he was hardly recognizable or identifiable as himself, his classic and distinct voice getting no workout whatsoever. I seriously thought to myself, he could not be here and this show would be about the same, he's adding nothing. As much as I liked the Black Dog "cover" it wasted his talents as none of his memorable vocalizations for that song came through, and since his voice is his instrument, and the way he sings that song originally is the voice of his instrument (his voice duh!) it just struck me as a little wrong. Still great though.

But the lack of Plant all changed in the 2nd half where he strapped on his working boots and kicked some Americana ass. Before I forget, I also need to mention that the rest of this band were no slouches. You've got Stuart Duncan playing various strings, and Buddy Miller wailing on guitar, and of course T Bone Burnett who put the whole thing together, as was mentioned many times during the night. I think the only thing that could have possibly made the band better was if Allison had brought on Jerry Douglas from her band. That would have sweetened an already oozingly sweet pot.

Anyway, back to the Robert Plant thing. Finally, soon after a short T Bone Burnett 2 song interlude, all of a sudden I remembered it was Robert Fucking Plant on stage. First on a Townes Van Zandt song called "Nothing" which was one of the highlights for me. Fantastic. "Battle for Evermore" was a more straightforward cover with great mandolin intro work, and some fantastic Plant action as well. Might also want to mention that Alison Krauss was equally fantastic. Her voice simply soars. But I knew that already and have experienced it first hand. No surprise. She was also bedecked in a flowing gown that glowed with the stage lighting behind her. Angelic.

I wish I had some more specifics and insights, but I was a bit preoccupied. We left before the encore, not sure if they brought out any big surprised there, but we left quite satisfied. I definitely need to pick up this album now, not that I hadn't already wanted it before.

Le Loup @ Bug Jar

2008-05-04T17:00:00.003-05:00

Was back at the Bug Jar once again on Saturday night for Le Loup, a DC-based septet that is picking up some critical steam (see NPR). Seems these days that any band with more than 4 members that includes some unusual instrumentation is going to get the Arcade Fire comparisons, accurate or not. These guys fall into that trap, if it was even a trap, but the comparison could not be more spot-on in this case. I mean, we're not talking clones here, and it really has nothing to do with instrumentation. It is all about the rhythms, the energy, and the spirit of the music. Le Loup captures all of those things that the Arcade Fire possesses (ok, maybe "all" would be overstating it) in their own unique fashion. Most of their sound comes from their triple guitar attack, backed by some fantastic drumming, solid unshowy basswork, and then sprinkle in some keys, and the occasional french horn and banjo. All of it is semi-conducted by their fearless leader Sam Simkoff, who split time between banjo, keys, vocals, and various percussive instruments, including a water cooler bottle. He is the brains behind this operation and gathered the rest of his crew from ads on craigslist. Hopefully Mr. Newmark gets some credit in the album's liner notes. The worst part of the set was its length at about 40m. Couldn't even stretch it to an hour, eh? Why can't bands with little material just throw in a cover or two? C'mon!

The opener, Lou Lou and the Sharp Sword, features Lou Lou, one of the Thievery Corporations lead singers, and a trio of local musicians on bass, drums, and guitar. Again the drummer was from Tiger Cried Beef, so I now have seen him play in 3 out of the 4 shows I have see this year at the Bug Jar in three entirely different bands. And he still kills. Appropriately enough for an evening where the featured act had a french name (Le Loup=The Wolf, FYI), Lou Lou sang in french for most of the band's set. She had a fantastic voice btw, and the backing band was killer. They played a nice blend, with a loungey French psychedelic vibe, nice sulrty blues, dancey pop. They were a ton of fun, and she thought so too. Hope to catch them again.

Dead Meadow @ Bug Jar

2008-04-30T17:58:00.006-05:00

Due to illness and general lack of sleep, I had to unfortunately pass on the Tea Leaf Green show last Thursday night which I had been planning on seeing for a while. But since I missed that one, I made sure to hit another show that was on my radar on Saturday, Dead Meadow back at the Bug Jar. I had never heard any of their music previously but their name had popped up recently in a few of the places I go for trustworthy recommendations, and the descriptions of their music piqued my interest.

There were two openers, both local bands. I had hoped to miss the first, I was still recovering and just didn't think I had it in me to sit through 3 bands that night. I called ahead and they said Dead Meadow would be starting at 11. I got to the bar around 10:20 or so. The first band came on about 15 minutes later. Crud. The 3 bands together formed a nice spectrum of the heavy rock genre. The first band was Crush the Junta. They played 3 songs in what was a little over 30m. Each song was a long very very very slow build to a very minimal release. Kind of reminded me a bit of the Explosions in the Sky general song structure, but without the soaring guitars, almost purely rhythm. Each musician would repeat the same thing over and over with slight variation and ever so slightly building in intensity. The drummer really was the leader and most varied in his playing, and he really kicked ass. He was from the band Tiger Cried Beef whom I saw open for Fiery Furnaces on the same stage a few months ago.

The next band was called Orodruin, a self-proclaimed death metal band. This was the band I was hoping to miss, so I was fairly annoyed when I realized I hadn't. I imagine death metal to be straight screaming and noise, and these guys were much more controlled and interesting than that. Fine musicianship (especially on guitar) and some deep dark rock anthems. It was bit over the top and almost campy to that end, but they were quite fun. Not exactly my bag, but when one of the bands I like comes out with the evilness these guys brought to every tune, I usually get pretty excited. so...

Finally, around 12:30, Dead Meadow came on. The exhaustion started to set in on my end. I was having a hard time staying awake throughout their set. That was partly my problem, but also, I have been to plenty of shows where my exhaustion quickly dissipates once the band starts kicking my ass. These guys were rocking pretty damn hard, but it was also lacking something, I don't know, maybe melody? Tough to say, but it didn't grab me like I wanted it to. I was ready to be smitten and have a new favorite rock band. The lead singer sounded a lot like Kurt Cobain to me. Do others feel that way? That wasn't an issue, just putting that out there. I just thought in the end that all of the songs kind of dripped into each other and they didn't really distinguish themselves. Still, I did like this band, somewhere in between the over the top metal of Orodruin, and the experimental instrumental rock of Crush the Junta. These guys had the goods. I look forward to seeing them again and hopefully I will be more alert to take it all in. I would love to see them share a stage with Rose Hill Drive. That would be a great double bill. In the meantime, I leave you with this:

Sonny Landreth & Campbell Brothers @ Water Street Music Hall

2008-04-17T20:05:00.005-05:00

I've got to move,
I'm going on a party ride
I've got to groove, groove, groove,
And from this music I just can't hide.
Are you comin' with me?
Come let me take you on a party ride
And I'll teach you, teach you, teach you
I'll teach you the electric slide
Some say it's mystic
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie

This past Wednesday night I was rocking out to the electric slide. No I wasn't at some crazy midweek Bar Mitzvah, I hit up the Water Street Music Hall for Sonny Landreth with the Campbell Brothers in support.

The Campbells opened things up featuring not one but two slides, with Chuck Campbell on pedal steel and Darick Campbell on lap steel. Two more brothers, Carlton on drums and Phillip on guitar, a scruffy lanky tall completely out-of-place white dude on bass, and the energy and pipes of two amazing singers up front which was like having two of Sharon Jones on stage. These guys are flat out and genuinely amazing. No ifs ands or buts about it, they wail.
I mean just check this out:

They closed their set by inviting Sonny Landreth up on stage to make the slide trifecta.

Then it was Landreth's turn. What he lacked in on-stage energy from the openers, he made up with sheer dexterous insanity. The man has chops beyond chops. If you haven't had the pleasure of hearing them, I highly recommend it. He and his band play a southern Louisiana blend of blues-zydeco-country-honk with some sometimes proggish, metal even, shredding thrown into the mix. Landreth almost exclusively plays the slide guitar. Going on visuals alone, as I have no knowledge of either of their techniques, his picking method seems awfully similar to Derek Trucks' (that should probably be the other way around obviously). Whereas Derek emits a growl from his guitar, Landreth gets more of a howl from his. Cleaner and more distinct. They played a few tunes off their forthcoming album, the best of which I thought was Blue Tarp Blues, a song about the aftermath of Katrina, and which will feature Mark Knopfler on the album. I could definitely imagine Knopfler's guitar work filling into that song quite nicely, should be sweet. Landreth plays live as a power trio which held down the fort quite admirably. Unfortunately the offer was not returned to have some Campbells join them up on stage, but I wasn't complaining. Water Street was not more than half full and was quite comfortable, though they annoyingly set up seats and tables right in front of the stage which were set off by stanchions. Though that did offer a nice unimpeded view from the sides.

Another note on the crowd: I ran into what is the exact opposite of the obnoxiously drunk and/or drugged out fan. In between sets, some older woman slides over a stool from the bar, knocks it into me, says excuse me, so I moved out of her way not knowing that she was going to place the stool down right in front of me, in fact right where I had just been standing. Um, hello? So then she plops down with her oversized bag and massively oversized 80s mass of hair. What does she pull out of her bag but knitting needles! She proceeded to knit right then and there. Oy, now I've seen it all.

It's Electric! Boogie Woogie Woogie...

Victor Wooten In-store Performance

2008-04-06T20:51:00.003-05:00

Headed over to the House of Guitars for an in-store appearance by Victor Wooten last Friday after work. The setup was not the greatest with rows of guitars lining the entire floor of the store and the stage at the end, there was basically no good vantage point unless you were in the 2 rows of people crammed in front of the display cases. I got an ok spot off to the side, but you'll see from the videos below the view still wasn't great, and the camera got a better view than I did. Anyway, he came on and talked about his new album and book and then played a tune off the album.

Then he fielded questions for about 45 minutes or so. Most of the answers came down to his philosophies on music, basically you should play music not an instrument and think of playing music like speaking a language. It was definitely interesting to hear him talk, but it ended up dragging a little near the end and I wish he would have played a bit more. I was impressed though that he stayed for so long, I was checking the time and thinking, how is he going to make his show in time? Now I know why I am always waiting in the crowd for a show to start on time. He invited a member of the audience (some dude in a camouflage truck driver hat sporting a nice big 'stache--who played a pretty mean bass incidentally) up on stage to prove a point about playing and teaching how to play. He handed over his bass and told the guy to play. So he got the guy to play without playing by imagining the drums and not thinking about playing the bass. It was pretty interesting and reminded me of those famous Phish practice sessions. Anyway, he played another short tune after the question and answer, and then he stuck around for signing.

Catching up: February and March

2008-04-03T14:08:00.003-05:00

Been slacking big time, even more than usual. Saw a few good shows in the last couple of months, but have also missed quite a few. The spring and summer dates are filtering in and it looks like it should be heating up around here. Not that there hasn't been some steadily good music coming to these parts this winter. It hasn't been too shabby. Anyway, this post is somewhat pointless as I can't really comment on these shows this far past their happening...I'll just mostly be pointing you in the direction of audio/visual aids. Just checking to see if the mic is on...
Charlie Hunter played Milestones on 2/19. Audio here, and a bit of video from me here:

Every time I see Hunter play I forget how freaking good he is. No matter how many times I see him, the amazement never ceases, This outfit of his was not one of his best in my opinion. It had its moments, but overall it ended up falling a bit flat. The main problem with the show was, whereas most shows, jazz shows in particular, where there are 2 sets, the first set will be a bit of a warmup and the 2nd set is where the shit gets hot. This was the opposite and it left me feeling a little down on the show in the end. Also, the stupid local paper floated out the probability of the Campbell Brothers sitting in, and then I heard that they had played during the soundcheck, but then they never ended up playing during the show. That was a big bummer. Of course, they then showed up and played with MMW the next week when I of course got sold out of the show. Lame.

The night after that MMW show though, the Duo was in town, so it wasn't all bad. They played to a half full Club at Water Street. It was a solid show, and ended on a high note, what that high note was I can't remember, but I remember thinking it was really good. Might have been a Radiohead tune? Anyway, couldn't find this show, but they played the next night in the Cuse. Get it here.

On 3/3 went to see Ra Ra Riot (an up and coming band out of Syracuse...Syracuse? Really?) at the Bug Jar. There were 2 openers and I tried to get there a little late. Of course I ended up getting there right after the first band got started. But thank god I did. They became the highlight of the evening. It was a band from Norway called Syme, As I walked into the bar they were ripping through some dark prog jam and I pushed my way up front. I had all sorts of thoughts on these guys, but can't really remember much at this point. Luckily Brad of Bradley's Almanac fame caught them a few nights later and taped it. My video:

Most of the time they were heavy and rocking, the guitar/bass/drums duo was where it was at, but the keyboard/singer was the main guy seemingly. Some of their songs got into a bit more of a songwriter vein, and that was them at their worst in my opinion. Those tunes didn't work out as well. I felt pretty bad that they came all the way form Norway to open for what were essentially 2 local bands in our lousy Smarch weather. Oh well, they won me over at least.

I have been interested in seeing Ra Ra Riot for a year or so. They didn't disappoint. Really enjoyable set, good tunes. Definitely worth checking out sometime. They stopped by woxy.com shortly before the Rochester gig, which you can download here, and my wonderful video work for you to enjoy:

I'll be back soon, promise...

Fiery Furnaces @ The Bug Jar - 21 January

2008-01-22T21:35:00.000-05:00

Things often come unexpected. Some recent examples: the New York Football Giants' improbable run to the Championship Game of The National Football League, the Syracuse Orange's near victory over Georgetown (which I took in right before the night's concert), this here blog post for sure (who saw it coming?), and everything that is the Fiery Furnaces. Everything they do comes at you with a twist. The fact that they debuted in my new home of Rochester Monday night was definitely unexpected when announced. And the bar they played, the Bug Jar, is definitely unexpected. The decor of the place includes enough kitsch and decorating ideas to fill 5 like-sized bars. What with the huge bugs "flying" around and around on the overhead fan, the psychedelic colored waves running down the walls, or howabout the 50s/60s/70s studio apartment permanently planted upside down on the ceiling? So it was the perfect venue to witness the sold out show put on by the siblings Friedberger. Their music with the multiple mashed-in mashed-up influences, lyrics out of left field, crazy time and key changes. They mixed the setlist up nicely between all of their recorded material which was great...and unexpected. The stage became a "ballot box" for their unique brand of Democ-Rock or De-Rock-macy or whatever you want to call it. The crowd was encouraged to scribble out requests and bring them up to the stage. And also to bring up any random pieces of paper with words that they could use for lyrics to upcoming songs. Unexpected. I wouldn't particularly describe their music as toe-tapping, but live they recreate their tunes into absolute pure and fun rockers, funkers, thrashers etc, sometimes all at once. Obviously with unexpected and jarring stops and changes and unique vocal stylings of Eleanor. Their touring rhythm section of Jason Loewenstein on bass and Bob D'Amico on drums was simply put, SICK. Best rhythm section I've seen at an indie-rock show outside of the latest Jicks outfit. That is of course unless you consider MMJ indie-rock, then you can just throw that last statement out the window. Loewenstein's bass playing ignited the furnace on multiple occasions. The Furnaces music is challenging to say the least, so to put it out there live on the stage is risky and a potential trainwreck. But not only did this band pull the music off, they outdid the music beyond where I thought it could be taken. Then, when they brought out the Democ-Rock portion of the show and started playing requests I just thought they were crazy. And some of it did kind of fall apart, like the song they had to cut short because Eleanor forgot the lyrics. But other tunes that clearly were unrehearsed and possibly completely unknown by the touring band, were pulled off quite well. Not as tight or as vibrant as the planned portion of the set, but still damn good. Here are a couple of preview articles from local pubs I found interesting enough: City Newspaper D&C and a bit of video from the night... Enjoy!

Annuals/Manchester Orchestra/Moonalice - 1 November

2007-11-02T09:28:00.000-05:00

Saw Annuals, Manchester Orchestra, and Moonalice last night, and I saw all for free. FOR FREE I TELLS YA. I won tickets to the Annuals/MO show at Great Scott. Annuals were good. Not great, not excellent, just plain old good. Certain segments of the music reached greatness, but each song on the whole just didn't hold it all together. There were bits to love, like a slinky bass line here, double drummer beat downs there, shredding guitar lines, but when it came down to it the actual songs just didn't do a ton for me. The musicianship on the whole was great, and the lead guy was pretty amazing, good voice, played a good guitar, some nice keys, and killed on the drums. Everything he sang was the most important thing he ever said, unfortunately I couldn't understand any of it. Not sure it was even in english a lot of the time. He completely reminded me Dominic Monaghan (Charlie from Lost--the hobbit) both physically and the way he carried himself. I imagine it was much like seeing Driveshaft in a way. Oh Charlie, how we'll miss you next season...sob. Also, speaking of lookalikes, the keyboardist looked like Molly Ringwald dressed for Little House on the Prairie but acting in the Stepford Wives. Weirdly distracting.

Then Manchester Orchestra came on. The lead singer was a big guy, looked like a roadie or bouncer. At first I thought he was one. Then he started singing. Wait, that is him singing right? Sounded like a woman. Specifically kinda like Tegan and/or Sara. The music was heavy and we just weren't into it too much so we left and headed up the block a bit to catch the tail end of Moonalice at Harpers Ferry which was a great call. Walked right in. Into the beautiful sounds of Barry Sless slicing up a nice Stella Blue and serving it up nice and hot. Ripping pedal steel solo. Ahhhhhhhhh... We went from being near the oldest if not THE oldest at Great Scott to being the youngest by what was probably a pretty good margin at Harpers. They attracted quite the mix of aging hippies. Disappointingly the crowd was sparse at best. To be fair it was past midnight and near the end of the set so it could have dispersed, but I doubt it was ever too crowded. Which is too bad because this band was stellar. A bunch of old men up there, but damn they can play. G.E. Smith, Jack Cassady, Barry Sless, Pete Sears... A nice nightcapper.

Yonder Mountain String Band - 18 October

2007-10-19T09:42:00.000-05:00

Had the pleasure of catching Yonder Mountain String Band last night at the Roxy in Boston. Here's the transcript from a live chat with the self-proclaimed biggest combo YMSB/Red Sox fan.

Kitschdork: You psyched man?
YondahSawx#1@aol.com: Yeah dood!
KD: Should be a good show. Hopefully people show up despite the big game tonight.
YS: Awwww yeah! Check it Check it yo, they got the game on huge screens. Dope!
KD: Oh boy...
YS: Here comes Yondah, bring it on doods!
KD: Time to get down n boogie...
YS: Whoooooooooooooooo!
KD: Yeah this jam is tight.
YS: No no, Yooooooooooooook. Home run baby! Go Sawx! Look at Kaufmann the bass player, he's a huge Sawx fan just like me, he's eatin this shit up.
KD: Funny.
YS: This is like watching the game with Yondah hanging with me on my couch. Oh and they have instruments and their playing my favorite tunes.
KD: You must be in heaven then.
YS: I think I just soiled myself. Go go go go go, YES. Manny just knocked in Papi!
KD: But what about this heady jam?
YS: That's just Yondah bein Yondah.
KD: O...K...
YS: Hey dood, are you air mandoing?
KD: Uh...maybe.
YS: Only Yondah can make bluegrass headbanging music. Love this shit. Show's over, game is in the bag. What a night.

But seriously, show was great, game was a bit distracting for the non fans, but the band was into it commenting on it throughout the night and the playing didn't suffer, so it was all good as they say. If the game went south I would have hated to see what that would do for the mood of the place so you had to be rooting for them regardless of your affiliation or lack thereof.

We also headed over to Boston's newest jazz club, The Beehive, just down the road a ways, to catch the Superpowers, formerly known as Boston Afrobeat Society, the latter name pretty much sums up their sound. Great nightcapper, and it is a great space. Much bigger and open than I thought it would be. Been wanting to check the place out and also to check this band out for a while, so got a nice two birds with one stone deal. Here's a taste.

Apollo Sunshine & Dr. Dog @ Paradise - 3 October

2007-10-09T13:07:00.000-05:00

Somehow managed my way out into the dark fall Boston night again last week for some more sweet sweet music. This time to catch the tour opener for what is sure to be an amazing one featuring Dr. Dog and Apollo Sunshine. For this night only Apollo Sunshine would be closing the show. A-OK by me.
I remembered that I saw Dr. Dog once before about 2 years ago opening for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at TT the Bears. I don't remember too much from that set, so it still felt like my first time seeing them. But I have been listening to them fairly regularly since before then, so I am fairly familiar with their music. Their sound gets the Beatles/Beach Boys references constantly, and not without good reason. The influence is there and it isn't always subtle. But during their set, they reminded me of some other "B" bands, like the Band, Blues Brothers, and yes, even the Beastie Boys. I really thought going into it their set would be pretty low-key and song-oriented. But these guys flat-out impressed the heck out of me live. I can't believe I have not heard more about how good their live show is. The energy, the playing, the full-on band mentality, super tight, super loose, super fun. These guys can bring it, and they did. AWESOME! Check em out.

They were a GREAT warmup for Apollo Sunshine, but it will work great the other way too I am sure. AS was once again joined by Quentin on guitar and some percussion and occasionally by Oli on percussion, same lineup from when I caught them at the Middle East earlier this year. Not sure if they are touring with this band, or if it is just a Boston thing. According to their myspace page though it is their current lineup. I can't decide if this show was any better than their set at the Middle East, but it wasn't any worse. When this Lord action (video proof below) comes at you on the second song in, you know there are going to be some asses kicked.

They sprinkled some new tunes into the mix from their forthcoming album. All sounded awesome and I am definitely looking forward to that release. Quentin sang on most of them so it was tough to tell if they were all new AS tunes or if some were old Mazarin tunes. We'll soon see. They encored with a new one called "Pop a Woody" or something and then a mind-bending Phyllis that had me walking out in pain, joyous pain. I don't know if I should have been surprised, but I couldn't help but be a little surprised when the crowd didn't thin much if at all after the Dr. Dog set. These bands were a much better match together than I imagined. Great great show!

Sea and Cake @ MFA - 30 September

2007-10-03T07:26:00.000-05:00

Scored some free tickets from the Phoenix so I unexpectedly went out to see the Sea and Cake at the Remis Auditorium in the Museum of Fine Arts. I had just seen them right before the summer, and now completed my summer sandwich by seeing them right after the summer. I don't know the music well enough to claim this for sure, but it easily could have been the exact same show. That is to say it was awesome, but still, totally unnecessary for me, but free it was free so who's complaining? The biggest difference was the venue, in this case a small auditorium. The sound was a lot better, but the energy was a little less. On a Sunday night though it was a nice setting. Settle back, enjoy the tunes, really concentrate on the music. The bass playing of Eric Claridge stood out for me at this performance, some really fine stuff there that really holds it all together. The crowd, which was again. not a sellout but decently full, was completely rapt, you could hear a pin drop between songs. There were a few uberfans in the crowd who were literally able to have conversations with the band, albeit heckling and slightly annoying ones. And as per always, some vids:

Random thought: If there is ever perchance a Sea and Cake cover band, it should be called Sea is for Cookie. No good?

Meg Baird of Espers opened. She played folky finger-picked floating songs that highlighted her beautifully Baez-esque voice. Coincidence? Set break music was Joan Baez. It was a weird opening choice for the Sea and Cake but enjoyable nonetheless.

Iron and Wine @ Orpheum Theatre - 27 September

2007-10-02T13:03:00.000-05:00

Last week was a rough week pour moi, so thankfully I had a ticket in hand for some live music, something I haven't enjoyed since mid-summer, ie way way too long. The music that would fill my ears this evening would be provided by Iron and Wine, touring in support of their, er his, new album The Shepherd's Dog. My week called for more of a head-banging rock yer ass off kind of cure, but I'll take what I can get at this point. Beam's backing band was larger than expected, but expectedly excellent. Piano/keys (with an actual baby grand on stage, though underused), female vocals/percussion/fiddle, drums, percussion, guitar/accordian etc, bass, and pedal steel...a nice full octet that brought a lushness to Beam's already lush songs. The new tunes lend themselves more to a live full band setting, though on this night I really thought the sparser (generally older) material worked better. The show as a whole lacked a little something, a show-stopper yes, but more specifically those live moments that just make your face light up and that stick with you long after. The music was more fleeting here. But consistently it was beautiful and quite enjoyable.
Some videos:

Beam interestingly chooses to play History of Lovers, which was originally recorded with Calexico, as a solo piece. The show was not lacking for rearrangements of the album material. Though in many instances I probably would prefer the album arrangement. Also some major flubs on this one...

The opener was Arthur and Yu. They had a nice sound, somewhat of a retro-pop thing. The album tracks I could find online have some great harmonies between Arthur and Yu, but live this was almost completely lost unfortunately. Her voice was not miced properly, she had almost no projection and her light and airy voice was nearly lost. I will keep my eye on them, I enjoy the recordings I found moreso than the live set I saw, though as they mentioned it was the biggest room they ever played, so they get a pass on that. They're opening for Great Lake Swimmers in Boston tomorrow night at the Middle East Upstairs so if you're headed to that they are definitely worth getting there a little early for.

Speaking of the room, a word on the venue. The Orpheum Theatre. What a shithole. But it shouldn't be. It's the old classic theater venue that every city seems to have. But it is neglected and is in serious need of an overhaul. The tickets are generally overpriced, but they put no money back into the venue. And were so cheap as to not turn on the air at all during the show making for one hot and sticky evening, and this show was not sold out and no one was dancing. So no blame to excessive body heat on that one. The seats are old and dingy but for some reason you can't bring your overpriced beer to enjoy at your seat. This place makes no sense. The sound left a lot to be desired as well. I don't know how much would be to blame on the venue for this one, but there was an audible hiss throughout the show that made it feel like I was listening to a 4th gen cassette recording of the show. They had a history of the theater slide show running in between sets that listed Jerry Garcia as a recent performer. As recently as when? Morons...