09 Year in Review

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!

Derek Trucks Band @ Water Street Music Hall

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.

08 Year in Review

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

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

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