Home > The M.O. > Archives > Music category
Music
January 5, 2010
Gaddafi pays for Beyoncé to perform on NYE
I guess, much like athletes, when anyone says it’s not about the money, you can guarantee that it is about the money. At least I would imagine that was Beyoncé’s thinking when she took an undisclosed sum from the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to play a New Year’s Eve bash at the Nikki Beach club on St. Barts.
Whoa, oh, oh … uh, oh oh …
According to the New York Post:
Beyoncé performed five songs in a sexy black leotard at the Nikki Beach club on St. Barts in front of a crowd that included her husband Jay-Z, Usher and Lindsay Lohan.We couldn’t confirm how much Beyoncé was paid for the gig, but last year, Mariah Carey reportedly pocketed $1 million for performing at Nikki Beach.
Some vacationers on the island were aghast. DJ Sam Young tweeted: “Jigga [Jay-Z], Beyonce & Usher were @ Nikki Beach performing for Khadafy family, WTF?”
Just a week earlier, on Christmas Day, Hannibal, 33 — also known as Moutassim — allegedly attacked his wife, Aline Skaf, in his suite at Claridge’s in London. Three of his security staff were arrested for obstructing police. Skaf was reportedly hospitalized with a broken nose while Hannibal was whisked away in a diplomatic car.
In July 2008, he and his then-pregnant wife were arrested on charges of beating their servants in a Geneva hotel. They denied the charges, which were dropped after the servants received compensation.
Hannibal was also arrested in 2005 in a Paris hotel for allegedly punching Skaf. He then allegedly brandished a 9mm handgun and went on a furniture-smashing rampage in his hotel suite. No charges were brought.
Of course, maybe we’re just getting ahead of ourselves and there is nothing too scandalous going on here. After all, the U.S. did restore diplomatic relations with Libya in 2006 and last summer, the Daily Telegraph in the UK wrote, “In his four decades as Libya’s ‘Brother Leader’, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has gone from being the epitome of revolutionary chic to an eccentric statesman with entirely benign relations with the West.”
Read the full mention from NYPOST.COM here.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
December 15, 2009
Capsule review: Michael McDonald's 'This Christmas'
As part of our holiday CDs package, I was asked to review Michael McDonald’s ‘This Christmas.’ Naturally. Anyone who knows me, knows of my love for McD, whether it be with Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers or as a solo soul crooner. Here is what I wrote:
Is that a white wolf dressed in L.L. Bean clothing staring out from the CD rack? No. That opaquely blue-eyed beast is Michael McDonald. And while he might be part man, part legend, part mystical musical animal, he is all soulful growl and pitch-perfect howl on this holiday musical offering, in which he bellows the blue-eyed soul that laid the foundation of his legend. Opener “That’s What Christmas Means to Me” bounces around the Douglas fir-scented living room with a big bass line and a jangly country guitar that is immediately punctuated by the sensual McDonald, who is backed by some Memphis-style horns that stick to your ribs. If McDonald’s intentions were not clear on the opening track, his naughty-but-nice rendition of “This Christmas” places this album squarely in the R&B cannon, with DeMarco Johnson’s harmonica adding a Stevie Wonder mid-’70s feel. On Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” the lead dog slows the pace and throws another log on the fire. You can almost taste the cider, even if it spoils a bit with the saccharine overdose of Jonny Lang’s guitar licks. But the horns jump right back on top, pulling the song away from trite blues and finishing with an Earth, Wind and Fire flourish. As he strums his baritone ukulele, tucks in the kids and blows out the candle with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” a lush tune layered with strings, the soulful Santa Claus packs up his bag and drifts off into the snowy evening, leaving us fattened with holiday cheer to last us through the winter.
Click here for all of our holiday CD reviews.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
December 10, 2009
Free Hornitos. What else do you need to know?
The good folks over at Vice Magazine dropped us a line this morning (along with all of their Facebook and Twitter peeps) to inform us that they were throwing a last-second-announced party tonight at the Longbranch Inn.
Not only will Austin garage rockers The Strange Boys, a perfect fit for a Vice party (and how can you not dig a band that has a drummer whose last name is Hammer?) be there, along with the quirk retro pop of Carrots, there will be free Hornitos Tequila starting at 10 p.m.. And before you get all “I don’t like tequila” kicks, let me tell you that I was at a Hornitos-sponsored event a few months back, and the delicious agave-based booze, in all of its variations, can pretty much replace any booze you love in all manner of cocktails.
If none of this sounds enticing, you probably just hate booze and rock-‘n-roll (and long lines and possible face punching), and Vice wouldn’t want you there anyhow.
To attend, you must be at least 21 (obviously) and RSVP here.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Music
November 17, 2009
Live review: The Avett Brothers at "Austin City Limits" taping
Yes, I am late to the party, yet again. Although I have heard The Avett Brothers 2009 release “I and Love and You” a few times, amazingly I’m not very well versed in the North Carolina trio (and sometimes quartet). Amazing in the sense that they seem like a band perfectly suited for my taste - lyrically rich with mostly acoustic instrumentation and a rootsy vibe.
Though the band has made stops in our town as both a supporting act and buzzed-about festival attendee (SXSW & ACL), I had yet to see what is regarded as one of the most energetic live acts on the road. I remedied that with a visit to the KLRU studios to see the band tape a performance for “Austin City Limits” on Monday night.
After seeing varied and disparate acts in recent years, it felt rather authentic to see a countryish act take the “ACL” stage for the final show of the 35th season, which will air on Jan. 23, 2010. Dressed in jeans, boots and bandanas (whether in pocket or on head), the guys seemed to represent well the ethos of the legendary TV show.
The first thing I was struck by was the power of Scott Avett’s voice. For such a slight man, he packs a booming two-by-four wallop of a voice. His voice is enhanced by his brother Seth’s more tender sound, and the duo have created a harmony that bespeaks the years they’ve spent living and singing together.
As the band launched into “Laundry Room,” from “I and Love and You,” it was obvious that their reputation for energetic and excitable shows is well earned. The entire quarter — Scott, brother Seth Avett, bassist Bob Crawford (looking more than a little like Salvatore from “Mad Men”) and cellist Joe Kwan - bounced up and down in their boots and went after their respective instruments with fury. Throughout the show I wondered if the stage would give way under the boots that acted as an extra instrument all night.
While the band of brothers and would-be brothers pogo’d around the stage, the vibe from the crowd did not exactly match the guys’ vigor. In the case of “Go to Sleep” and several other songs, it seemed the fellas were hoping to inspire a little bit of audience participation that never quite happened.
A few audience members did get in on the act in all of the wrong ways, shouting out song requests, imploring Scott to introduce the band and making efforts to engage the North Carolinians in more stage banter. To that last point, Seth acknowledged that the band still had not refined the banter part of their act, which Scott followed by saying they had also not refined other parts of their act.
He was kidding, of course. But the guys did seem to be a bit nervous. Understandable for the two brothers who say they grew up adoring the show that they praised endlessly Monday night.
All of which is not to say the nerves got the best of the brothers and their other string men. Rotating between instruments and belting out introspective and poetic lyrics as they played (and a couple of time, replayed) 17 songs spanning six of their albums over the last six years, the brothers brought a fierce energy to the stage that, along with their step-back-from-the-mic wails and yawps, gave a nod to their history as a rock band. There might be tighter bands (and I still think the brothers could benefit from a more fully fleshed out band, giving them a more textured sound) that have passed through the hallowed studio, but few have matched the earnestness, energy and humility of the Avett Brothers.
The Avett Brothers
Setlist for “Austin City Limits” taping
1. “Laundry Room”
2. “Go to Sleep”
3. “And it Spread”
4. “Salina”
5. “I and Love and You”
6. “Paranoia in B Flat Major”
7. “January Wedding”
8. “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise”
9. “Murder in the City”
10. “Die Die Die”
11. “Salvation Song”
12. “When I Drink”
13. “Slight Figure of Speech”
14. “Please Pardon Yourself”
15. “The Perfect Space”
16. “Colorshow”
E: “Talk on Indolence”
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment Categories: Music
November 11, 2009
Jay-Z: Larger than life at the Erwin Center
There are some performers who simply seem like they aren’t made of the same stuff as the rest of us. Jay-Z is one of those cats.
I will leave the review to my buddy Chad Swiatecki, who covers it well here. But I will say that Jay-Z is one of the most charismatic performers, most charismatic humans, I have ever seen live. He commanded the sold-out crowd at the Erwin Center from the second he rose from the bowels of the stage - a bit of showmanship that echoed his supernatural sense of himself.
I have never seen a crowd bounce in unison like that. I have never seen one man with a mic control a crowd the way Jay-Z did. I have never been so aware of the palpable sense that all of the women in a crowd wanted to get with the performer and all of the men wanted to be him. With his terrific 10-piece band positioned on risers slightly above the stage, Jay-Z was left to command the entire main stage by himself, stalking it from corner to corner in between amazing lyrical flourishes and admonitions to the crowd to get them moving, not that they needed much prodding.
He was Muhammad Ali, Eddie Murphy and Frank Sinatra rolled into one. Sure, the self-confidence tended toward self-indulgence at times in a set that lost a little steam near the end with Jay’s crowd banter and his cheesy play on German group Alphaville’s “Forever Young,” but, playing hit after hit from his 11 number one albums of the past 13 years, on this night, Jay-Z was Reggie Jackson in the 1977 World Series. One upper-deck shot after another. The ultimate baller.
I know some people roll their eyes at Jay-Z The Brand, a bottom-line-minded, savvy mogul who just happens to still make hits, but there is no denying the man is first and foremost a performer of the highest caliber … the most charismatic and affable CEO on the planet.
I was told by friends who attended that they were mired in a mini sea of drunk frat boys making fools of themselves (and, to be certain, I have never seen that many newly purchased Yankees lids), but my immediate section seemed to be comprised of an instant group of friends at a massive indoor block party. As for the sound at the much maligned Erwin Center, a venue I have not visited since seeing the Beastie Boys there a half dozen years ago, I didn’t have one complaint.
Set List: Run This Town, D.O.A., U Don’t Know, 99 Problems, Show Me What You Got, Give It To Me, Diamond Is Forever, Jigga My N——, Izzo (H.O.V.A.), Jigga What Jigga Who, P.S.A., Heart of the City, Already Home, Empire State of Mind, A Star Is Born, So Ambitious, Dirt Off Ya Shoulder — (encore break) — Thank U, medley (On to the Next One, Excuse Me Miss, Venus Vs. Mars, ‘03 Bonnie & Clyde, Lucifer, Swagga Like Us, Can I Get A?), Big Pimpin’, Hard Knock Life, Numb/Encore, Young Forever
Check out Statesman photog Ricardo B. Brazziell’s excellent photos from the night here.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Music
October 9, 2009
Wilco in Willco: Worth the drive
If you were one of those folks who decided that the combination of post-ACL live music fatigue and the 22-mile drive to “the sticks” out in Cedar Park was not worth making it out to Wilco at the Cedar Park Center, you made a mistake.
I had heard horror stories about parking after the George Strait show, but with the center’s Web site directing people to U-turn down U.S. 183 and enter from that side, there was no wait at all. Of course, there was a $10 cash parking fee, but that is to be expected, I guess, at a lot of arenas. The will call line was another story. It twisted its way through the center’s foyer and stretched out into the night. It looked to be about a 45-minute line, which I eventually was able to avoid, thanks to a friend. (Thank you, Emily.) I hear there was a $5 charge per ticket to print them online, so I guess it could be considered a line-avoidance fee, but I would probably do whatever I could to avoid will call in the future. Then again, I am not sure the venue will ever host another concert I want to attend.
Since I know some of you will want to know, there were beer sales on the concourse, 16 oz. Miller Lite and the like for $8 and 12 oz. white Belgians for $7, with liquor served on the outdoor patios. And to add to the surreal factor, vendors walked the aisles selling bottled beer during the show … just like at a game. Yes, weird.
Inside, it was, well, a minor league hockey arena. Picture any arena where you have seen basketball or hockey — think American Airlines Arena in Dallas or the Toyota Center in Houston — and subtract the glitzy TVs and overwrought food courts and divide by two. It was certainly strange to see a band I have seen a dozen times in smaller venues take the stage at the end of an arena.
The back end of the arena was partitioned off, due to ticket sales falling short of capacity, leaving a somewhat intimate space, at least for an arena. The seats, on other hand, were way more than intimate. While my fold-up chairs in the first couple of rows by “the boards” offered a little space, friends in the rows behind me said their leg room was virtually non-existent. It was so bad, they even took pictures and insist it is a massive design flaw. So, you’ve been warned.
I won’t get bogged down in the details of the show, as my colleague Peter Mongillo is writing our official review, but I will give a few thoughts.
It took the band and the crowd a few songs to warm up to the setting … it’s just weird to see Wilco in an arena. But by the time the guys had finished a searing rendition of “Bull Black Nova,” off their new album, everyone seemed on board. And by the time guitar virtuoso Nels Cline finished taking us through his gorgeous and blistering guitar solos on “Impossible Germany,” it felt like old times.
The show, due to its setting, had a weird but cool vibe, almost like Wilco had stolen the keys to some hockey arena in the middle of nowhere and emailed their friends to come check them out. It felt like our little secret. I was worried the band would be off-put by the venue or the fact that the place was not sold out, a fact concealed by the curtain at the end of the arena. But they warmed to the challenge and even gave ironic nods to the circumstances.
At one point, Jeff Tweedy addressed the crowd, as he did often throughout the show, and dryly said, “Just hangin’ out, playing some music in a hockey arena.” And went on to say, after “Deeper Down,” that we shouldn’t be surprised to hear existential rock in an arena, because, really, “Isn’t all arena rock existential?” Tweedy’s sarcastic and innocent pokes at the surreal setting called out the elephant in the room (that was the room) and got everyone to enjoy a laugh.
Some may say that Tweedy chatted too much — at one point he re-gifted a Nolan Ryan autographed baseball to a fan for his birthday — but it all felt natural to me. I think just before “Sky Blue Sky” came out, and for the subsequent tour, it felt like we as fans were still getting used to a “new” Wilco, not only in their lyrics but also in their general demeanor, at least Jeff’s. The band seemed a little less dark and dangerous, and I think some fans were not comfortable with the band’s, well, comfort with their lives. On Thursday night, for the first time in a while, I felt everyone was on the same page. The band was as tight as its ever been (the rhythm section destroyed and the band broke into some rather funky — for them — jams), and there seemed to be a shared joy and camaraderie with band and audience, born out of mutual gratitude not suffering or ennui. The crowd seemed just as into the songs off of the last two albums as they were the earlier stuff. And at one point Cline and Pat Sansone traded solo licks, with Sansone even going all Spinal Tap on us as he preened and leaned against an amp with his axe thrust toward the crowd.
I have heard from some that the sound at the center was a little muddied, but I didn’t really pick up on that too much from where I was sitting. I can say that it was the loudest Wilco show I have ever heard, and one of the most enjoyable.
Tweedy lamented at one point that he really loved being in Austin and preferred two-night runs (at Stubb’s, I would imagine), but was happy to be there nonetheless. From the response of the crowd who made the trek out to the burbs, including Jim Eno of Spoon and Marty Maguire and Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks, the feeling was mutual.
Wilco at Cedar Park Center (10.08.09)
“Wico (The Song)”
“Shot in the Arm”
“Bull Black Nova”
“You Are My Face”
“I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”
“One Wing”
“At Least That’s What You Said”
“One by One”
“I’ll Fight”
“Impossible Germany”
“Deeper Down”
“Handshake Drugs”
“I Can’t Stand It”
“Jesus, Etc.” (as sing-along)
“I Hate it Here”
“Theologians”
“I’m the Man Who Loves You”
First Encore
“Via Chicago”
“You Never Know”
“California Stars” (with Liam Finn)
“Late Greats”
“Heavy Metal Drummer”
Second Encore
“Walken”
“King Pin”
“Monday”
“Outtasite” (Outta Mind)”
“Hoodoo Voodoo”
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment Categories: Music
August 20, 2009
We're gonna break out the hats and hooters
Although I may not be the most prolific blogger in the world, or within 50 feet of my desk, I feel compelled to let you know that I will be away from the Intertron for close to a week. As for what I will be up to, that’s a secret, but here are some clues.
And for good measure …
Yes, I am happy to be leaving the 100+ degree heat, if you couldn’t tell.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
August 17, 2009
Homeowner calls the cops on Bob Dylan
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
August 11, 2009
Live review: Dave Matthews Band at Austin City Limits studio
Dave Matthews plays the guitar during the concert of his Dave Matthews Band July 11 at the Optimus Alive music festival in Lisbon, Portugal. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
On the day the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame designated the Austin City Limits studio as a historical site, the venerable program hosted one of the most popular acts of the last 15 years, likely expecting the Dave Matthews Band to put a musical exclamation point on the big day.
While punctuated at times with exceptional playing, the show seemed to act more as an ellipsis … teasing fans with tastes of their rollicking past throughout a set of relatively homogeneous new songs.
The Dave Matthews Band made a national name for itself in the mid-’90s with crisp, melodic songs that featured evocative songwriting, jazz instrumentation and extended jamming. The group from Virginia straddled musical worlds, attracting eclectic fans of improvisational groups such as the Grateful Dead and Phish while remaining commercially palatable enough to inspire thousands of high school kids and college co-eds to attend the band’s shows in droves.
In the early years, Matthews served as a proxy for his fans — finding his way in the world, celebrating life’s endless possibilities, expressing individuality and swimming in the beauty and ache of the world — offering up his discoveries for the fans to share in as their own.
In the years since the early successes of “Remember Two Things” and “Under the Table,” as their collective star rose, however, it seems Matthews’ musical ambitions have lagged.
While the band certainly still hits the right notes and is as tight as ever, the content and delivery feel more processed. The poetry seems to have waned from the live lyrics, giving way to simplistic observations and self-seriousness, and the man who once gave voice to the collective concerns of a fanbase staring adulthood in the face became adult contemporary pabulum with a danceable beat. Such are the “perils” of adulthood and success. Most musicians should be so fortunate.
The ACL Festival co-headliner-to-be opened its set Monday night by stuffing the tamely ironic “Funny the Way It Is,” a song that feels perfectly suited for a twilight festival set, into the crammed studio, as the crowd, which did not have the luxury of seats, struggled with the notion of actually dancing.
Call him the musical Wooderson of “Dazed and Confused” — he gets older and the girls stay the same age — but Matthews still knows how to make the ladies swoon, as evidenced by their cat-call responses to his lines “But I love the way you love me, baby” in “Spaceman.” Maybe the girls grow older, too, they just continue to fall for the same lines. Lucky guy.
“Spaceman,” with its guitar-fueled devil-may-care Lothario vibe offered compelling evidence that Matthews has probably done more to fuel would-be “American Idols” a la Kris Allen and boost acoustic guitar sales than any musician of the past 15 years. Not to mention the amount of money it has earned him and his bandmates.
The “love-song of sorts,” as Matthew described it, “Squirm,” showcased Matthews’ immediately recognizable vocal style, as he descended from growl to whisper, shoving lyrics into a tight space before exploding like a bearded jack-in-the-box to the extreme delight of the hollering fans.
His boyish, rapscallion charm never lurking too far beneath the surface, Matthews improvised a bit about the joys of playing outside, under the stars with the city’s skyline in the back, an inside joke played at the expense of those at home who may be under the delusion ‘ACL’ is taped al fresco.
Continuing with the set stuffed with a majority of tunes from the recently released “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King,” Jeff Coffin’s delicate soprano sax sounds punctuated the mystical aspects of “Lying in the Hands of God,” a song that had the plastic feel of commodified spirituality. The song did offer the chance for the band’s first full-on jam, highlighting the freakish drumming of Carter Beauford, whom I am not ready to declare has only four limbs. As they have throughout their history, the band does an excellent job of giving each of the players space to shine, communicating through subtle nods and inflections.
Here it should be noted that one of the great products of DMB’s popularity is how the band has made better listeners out of many of its fans. I would argue that many devotees over the years first came to appreciate the art of the solo, in particular that of horns, strings and percussion, by way of listening to DMB. In fact, I imagine the band was my rickety on-ramp to John Coltrane and Miles Davis in 1993.
With “Why I Am,” Matthews gave a nod to deceased sax man Leroi Moore, when introducing the song he said began initially as a chaotic cacophony before developing into a wonderful vehicle this night for the shredding of guitar virtuoso Tim Reynolds.
Halfway through the set that would feature almost all of the group’s new material, the band finally gave some old diehards what they had come to see, as they launched into “Jimi Thing,” a song from the band’s break-out “Under the Table and Dreaming,” that was spiced by Coffin’s sax and trumpet player Rashawn Ross trading lines. The raucous throwback allowed the band to fully stretch out, where they are at their best, and for the first time of the evening give the studio the feel of a small club, with older and younger fans alike bobbing and swaying.
It would be one of the few times when everyone in the room seemed equally invested in the band that they had come to love at different times throughout the winding career of arguably the world’s longest-running college party band.
Matthews seemed intent on giving a platform to his newer tunes on this night, but he is not unaware or unappreciative of the fans of his older work. While he seemed reluctant to go back to his formative musical years, as a departure from the night’s intended set list (which I acquired), the band’s final encore of the 16-song set was “Two Step,” off the 1994 live EP “Recently.” Not coincidentally, it was also the song requested on a handmade sign held by a girl in the front row.
If only the whole night had contained the energy and passion of the song which ended it. Alas … musicians change … often becoming something less than what we once thought and hoped they were.
Dave Matthews Band at Austin City Limits studio, 08.10.09 (setlist)
“Funny the Way it Is”
“Spaceman”
“Squirm”
“Lying in the Hands of God”
“Alligator Pie”
“Gravedigger”
“Why I Am”
“Seven”
“Jimi Thing”
“Shake Me Like a Monkey”
“Sister”
“You and Me”
“Time Bomb”
“Ants Marching”
E: “Whiskey, Rye Whiskey”
E: “Two Step”
Fans cheer for the Dave Matthews Band during a show Monday night at the “Austin City Limits” studio (Kelly West AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Music
July 14, 2009
Radiohead's online digital department offers new green product
Those who saw Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” undoubtedly remember the haunting and searing soundtrack produced by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood.
Radiohead recently unveiled its online digital department, where you can now purchase the MP3 of the soundtrack for £ 7.50, which is about $12.
The most recent addition to the store, which opened about a month ago, is a lightweight jacket made of recycled plastic bottles.
Fans can also purchase disc 2 from the “In Rainbows” discbox and Thom Yorke’s album, “The Eraser.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
May 26, 2009
ACL headliners The Beastie Boys get down with The Roots
So, we knew that The Roots being the house band on Jimmy Fallon’s show would make for some pretty sweet musical moments, not just with tight bumper and bed music but also in the form of backing a guest from time to time. Point in case, Monday night, The Beastie Boys (one of this year’s headlining acts at Austin City Limits Festival) stopped by Fallon’s show to pimp their new four-vinyl, B-side-packed box set of “Check Your Head” and then got up on stage to throw down “So Whatcha Want” as the band from Philly laid down the grooves.
Despite being in their mid-40s, the New Yorkers still have it, even if MCA looks like journalist Chris Connelly, or a Ben Affleck character in a political thriller. Will their sound be able to move an outdoor crowd as big as the one expected in Zilker in October?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Music
May 13, 2009
Catching up with Ghostland Observatory
While they defy classification, Ghostland Observatory was thrilled to take home 72 percent of the vote in this week’s Your A-List poll as Best Electronica/Dance Band. It is the second year in a row the band has won this category.
“I am honored and very humbled by the support Austin continues to show us,” Ghostland’s Thomas Turner told me by email this week.
Call them electronica, call them dance, call them sex rock. Whatever you choose to call them, Turner and frontman Aaron Behrens only care about staying true to themselves and playing music that inspires them.
“We’re trying to stay away from trendiness and focus on something that’s more timeless,” Behrens told me recently over tacos at Izzoz.
The Austin band started as a small but intense flame in the Austin clubs four years ago before setting Zilker Park on fire at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2007, a set that had thousands drop what they were doing and take notice of the soft-spoken duo that runs on thunderous beats and lightning clap vocals.
Since their eye-popping, ear ravaging set at ACL, Ghostland has toured the States, shocked Scandinavia and released their third album, “Robotique Majestique.”
After their stadium-sized laser light extravaganza in 2007 that left fans and critics raving, Behrens admits he initially felt pressured to constantly strive to enhance the band’s production in an effort to match their memorable ACL set.
“But I’m starting to realize that there’s more to it than just upping the ante,” Behrens said. “It’s about being comfortable with who you are and what you are, and doing that 100 percent. We’ll still be reaching out creatively, but it’s about being comfortable in your own skin.”
That ethic of trusting themselves and being present permeates not just the duo’s live act, but also influences how they write and produce records. Asked when fans can expect a new album from the band, Turner said, “You never know. We never planned out the other three records so best not to change anything.”
In the meantime, Ghostland will perform shows from San Francisco to Tokyo, as they work their way through a summer schedule that will end up where it all really kicked into high gear for the two unassuming, married fathers.
As for what fans can expect in Zilker in October, Behrens says simply that the band will bring 1,000 percent to the stage, just like they do every time they take the stage, whether in front of 200 or 20,000 people.
Asked whether the newfound fame has noticeably affected the way they live their lives, Behrens joked that he now walks around naked all the time. Kidding aside, in private, Behrens and Turner’s flamboyance on stage is belied by a startling and refreshing humility. But that does not mean the two are not confident.
“We believe practice makes perfect,” Behrens said. “We put a lot of work and effort into what we do. Why should we step on the stage and not be confident about what we do?”
Ghostland Observatory’s next local gig is at the Whitewater on the Horseshoe in New Braunfels on July 17 and 18. Aaron Behrens and The Dirty Banquet perform Saturday, May 16 at The Hole in the Wall in Austin.
Others receiving votes in the Your A-List poll
- DJ Manny, 11 percent
- D:Fuse, 4 percent
- Trey Lopez, 2 percent
- Govinda, 2 percent
- Charanga Cakewalk, 2 percent
- Whatamelon, 2 percent
- Ohn, 1 percent
- Learning Secrets, 1 percent
- J.A.M.O.N., < 1 percent
- Bird Peterson, < 1 percent
- Zom Zoms, < 1 percent
- John Gomi, < 1 percent
Photo by Brian K. Diggs AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment Categories: Music
April 13, 2009
Irie comedy
Reggae Fest — a time for college kids, stoners and a smattering of actual reggae fans to gather at Auditorium Shores for some sunshine and music. While much of the music (including the Skatalites) should be legit, there will undoubtedly be a few heads whose adoration of Haile Selassie and praise of Jah will be questionable at best, despite their Alpaca Peruvian ponchos and patchouli aromas.
With that said, I offer you Rast Trent (a stereotype with whom we are all likely somewhat familiar), who has been “trodding on the winepress much too long.” Big ups, Trent, for refusing to be what they want you to be.
As for the actual Austin Reggae Fest, you can get all the needed information by checking out the official site.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
March 5, 2009
Radiohead plays with Miley Cyrus's achey-breaky heart
Apparently someone forgot to tell the marginally talented bumpkin’ Miley Cyrus that her appeal does not have quite the reach she thinks it does. But I think Radiohead just did.
Yes, a story about Radiohead and Miley Cyrus. That’s not in “The Onion.”
MTV.com is reporting that at last month’s Grammys, Cyrus was dying to meet just one group. Not the Jonas Brothers. Not U2. Definitely not Chris Brown. But Radiohead.
“I’m like, these are the people I really want to meet,” Miley said on the Johnjay & Rich morning radio show on Tuesday. “I’d freak out. They’re my rock gods. These are the only people I would cry over.”
Well, if you’re gonna cry about it …
“[I told my manager], ‘Pull as many strings.’ My manger asked and said, ‘Miley’s really obsessed.’ And they were like, ‘We don’t really do that.’ ”
Even though “they’re the reason I love music,” according to Cyrus, the band wasn’t budging. Making the fantasies of 16 year-old schoolgirls, regardless of how rich and powerful they are, just isn’t their bag, it seems.
“Just to say you don’t really do that — it’s not like I was going to bring my crew. I had already texted all my friends that my life will be complete [if I got to meet them],” Cyrus said.
Just to make clear how badly she wanted to meet Thom Yorke and co., Cyrus repeated her mantra: “This is someone I would cry over.”
And nobody puts Hannah Montana in a corner. Upon reading the snubbed Cyrus’s comments, I fear Radiohead’s fixin’ ta be done for good, by golly. After the, like, total dis, Cyrus proclaimed, “I left ‘cause I was so upset. I wasn’t going to watch. Stinkin’ Radiohead! I’m gonna ruin them, I’m going to tell everyone.”
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Music
February 27, 2009
It's the weekend, time to get 'Yakety'
In honor of what should be another wonderful weekend here in Austin, I thought I’d get you all started with a fabulous tune (that may very well drill its way into your head and make you curse me till Monday. And beyond.)
If this doesn’t make you wanna chase British women around a park bench (or a bottle of bourbon down Red River), I don’t know what will.
Yakety Sax - Yakety Sax
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
February 24, 2009
Mardi Gras music on your computer: Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler
Want a taste of New Orleans and Mardi Gras but stuck at your computer on this beautiful day? Check out the play list below from Sarah Green Eyes on imeem.com. I woulda made my own playlist, but Sarah did such a good job, I figured why spend 30 minutes putting together a playlist when I can just link to her excellent one. Thank you, Intertron.
Mardi Gras in New Orleans
And, since there is sadly no Kermit Ruffins in the above playlist, here ya go …
Kermit Ruffins - The Big Butter and Egg Man
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
February 13, 2009
Andrew Bird enchants crowd at The Paramount
Multi-instrumentalist and whistler Andrew Bird took to the stage at the Paramount Theater last night backed only by a romantic, art-deco set of oversized gramophones. For those worried that the Chicago native would not be able to fill the massive space all by his lonesome, Bird quickly quieted their fears by starting his set with a couple of beautiful and haunting songs enhanced by his intricate looping and splendid bow play. The opening tune evoked feelings of a classical Russian piece, after which he picked up the pace with a darkly romantic jaunt that had wisps of the Emerald Isle.
Before one could wonder if they were going to actually hear Bird’s voice during the show, the musician stepped to the mic to thank the audience for letting him indulge himself in the enchanting acoustics of the Paramount, which he compared favorably to Carnegie Hall — no small praise. Given the sighs and moans of the women behind me, Bird had nothing for which to apologize. From the first notes, he had the sold-out crowd eating from his hand. Contrary to the concerns expressed to me by some before the show, Bird’s playing didn’t lull them to sleep, but rather entranced them into an ethereal state, making the audience as vulnerable as the music he would play.
Bird’s 90-minute set (and 20-minute encore), that included works from several of his albums (“Weather Systems,” “The Swimming Hour,” “Mysterious Production of Eggs,” “Armchair Apocrypha” and his latest “Noble Beast”) along with gospel cover “In My Time of Dying” and two Handsome Family songs, featured him re-working these songs, challenging the audience’s previous understandings of their pacing and structure. Each time I see Bird in concert, I see him anew. I’ve seen him play with only a drummer, with a full backing band and now solo. Each time his music took on a different feel, and none disappointed. Thursday night he was like a kid in a musical toy store, but a kid with the heart and soul of an earnest poet.
For someone who plays such delicate music and relies so heavily on the precocity of his whistling and endless looping, you may get the feeling that Bird is a bit of a self-indulgent music geek who may have the tendency to put you to sleep after awhile, but as he crooned, at times in half-spoken-word with smoky voice, and interspersed his virtuosic playing with self-effacing humor and charm to spare, it became clear that Bird has redefined what it means to be a sexy nerd. Just ask the hundreds (of men and women) who were left swooning outside of the Paramount following the show.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
February 11, 2009
If rappers were characters from 'The Wire'
Apparently I am not the only person who misses “The Wire.” Misses it badly. The folks over at smokingsection.com put together an awesome side-by-side list of rappers and the corresponding characters they could portray on “The Wire.” Below are the comparisons and pics of some of the characters/rappers. My co-worker, Flintstone Chad Swiatecki, and I (with an assist from Statesman music critic Joe Gross) added some of our own annotations in bold. (For the full list from smokingsection, click here.) Disclaimer: If you have not made it through season four, you may not want to check out this list. (Update: I was just sent this other piece of “Wire”-obsessiveness. What if “The Wire” characters were all on a football team together? Brilliant.)
Nas as Avon Barksdale — Okay, so maybe Nas isn’t really a hustler or a gangster. But he is an older figure who has seen more dominant days, finding his way in an environment that may/may not be suited to his tastes any longer. Oh, and he evolved as the opposite of…
A decent comparison, but we’ve got to go with Puffy here. Both are puppet-masters and kingpins. Of course, Puffy isn’t a gangster, but he is definitely a hustler, but not on the level of a kingpin like Stringer Bell/Jay-Z.
Jay-Z as Stringer Bell — The intelligent hustler. Does/did anyone so knee deep in their respective field have a more savvy business sense than these two?
Spot on. Stringer is the coolest cat in the game, ditto Jay-Z.
Andre 3000 as Lester Freamon — These wise vets are intensely cerebral while having a creative outlet that helps them make money while expressing themselves. Both have also expressed discontent or disinterest with the state of their environments.
Andre 3000 may be a little too whimsical for the cerebral Lester Freamon. In this instance, we opt for Q-Tip of Tribe Called Quest. Composed and old-school.
Shyne as Wee-Bey — Down to take a charge for their crews, maybe a little thick-skulled at times, but they know how to keep it real emotionally when the time presents itself. Plus, they’re both still in prison.
Perfect.
Lil’ Wayne as Bodie — Both progressed from bouts of juvenile delinquancy to mature into effective salesmen. Bodie met a tragic ending after some rash decisions, perhaps the same fate awaits Wayne after his foray into rock?
Not a bad choice, but we opted for Sonsee, the least known of the three rappers from Onyx. He seemed hardcore, but made bad choices and never was good enough to go solo.
The Game as Senator Clay Davis — One second he’s your friend, the next he’s your enemy. They may be sly and even slimy with their beef preparation, but they know how to cook that sh** up so it tastes good pause.
What about Russell Simmons here? Respected by many but loathed by some he double-crossed, see: Beastie Boys and Public Enemy. Plus it would be cool to see Simmons and his lisp pull off Davis’s trademark “Sheeeeeit.”
LL Cool J as Cutty — Old veterans who used to be known for their hard-nosed antics, but have now evolved into harmless old men who come across as a little too (radio) friendly.
They also both have an affinity for boxing and are ladies’ men. Perfect.
Rick Ross as Bunk — Kinda chubby? Check. Present or past involvement in law enforcement? That’s a yes.
Gotta go with Dr. Dre here. He may have not been involved in law enforcement, but he has antagonized them and is kinda avuncular like Bunk, but not the kind of uncle you would want to cross.
Da Brat as Snoop — “How my hair look? You look good, girl.”
Da Brat was kinda hard back in the day, but she seems to be sweet at her core. There is nothing sweet about Snoop. Nothing. She may be the hardest woman on the planet. So it is hard to find a better comparison, although my friend Lauren, with a stroke of genius, suggested Born Gangstaz.
50 Cent as Marlo Stanfield — Masters in exaggerated acts of self-promotion for the sake of their own names, these dudes are cold hearted, and not afraid to stoop to any level in their pursuit of power, typically at the embarrassment of their opponents.
Couldn’t be more perfect.
Killer Mike as Omar — Both are killers, have high levels of respect in the trenches, and have a pronounced sense of street justice that is difficult to argue against.
Gotta go with Tupac here for the same reasons. And neither one of them scares.
Now for the rapid-fire edition, courtesy of Swiatecki: Everlast as Herc, DMX as Chris Partlow, Lyor Cohen as Carcetti and Mike D as Pryzbylewski
There are about 10 other comparisons on smokingsection.com, so check ‘em out and debate with yourself and your friends all afternoon.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Music
February 9, 2009
Radiohead will melt your face
The band’s performance of “15 Step” from “In Rainbows” last night was the highlight of the show (which I can say with extreme confidence, even though I only saw two or three others). For those who didn’t see it, Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood were backed by the sonic rhythmic accompaniment from the USC marching band, a la Fleetwood Mac. I also really enjoyed the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow, married to Chris Martin of the über-tepid Coldplay, was the one who introduced Radiohead, fawning over them like a high school girl. If Chris Martin is still insecure about the fact that his wife once dated Brad Pitt, I am sure he was writhing backstage as Gwyny introduced the “utterly brilliant Radiohead,” which is one of the “most influential, adventurous and thoroughly artistic musical groups of all time,” (even if Yorke’s new haircut looks like a hybrid of one of those twirly pencil trolls and Clay Aiken’s do).
All of that being said, the actual point of this post is to tip you off (if you haven’t seen/hear it already) to a complete live performance of the band from last summer’s tour, made available from NPR’s All Songs Considered. Listen to it here. Perfect for a rainy Monday.
And, for those who didn’t see it, here is video from last night. (And, yes, the audio was better on the broadcast.)
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment Categories: Music
February 3, 2009
Bonnaroo: The 1927 New York Yankees of music fests
ACL Fest, you have been put on notice. The Bonnaroo Music Festival set for June 11-14 in Manchester, Tennessee announced its lineup today, and it is a Murderers’ Row of amazing acts.
At my advanced age, I’m not too down with the festival scene, — in fact, the last non-Austin festival I went to was the original Bonnaroo Festival in 2002 — but this lineup is really amazing, and were I a little more ambitious, I would give serious thought to considering attending again this year. Alas, with the traffic, people, bad sight lines, heat, short sets and general exhausting nature of the scene, I will probably just stay home and listen to my iPod at Barton Springs Pool. A few names that piqued my interest:
- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
- Phish
- Nine Inch Nails
- David Byrne
- Wilco
- Al Green
- Snoop Dogg
- Elvis Costello Solo
- Erykah Badu
- The Mars Volta
- TV on the Radio
- Gov’t Mule
- Andrew Bird
- Band Of Horses
- MGMT
- The Decemberists
- Girl Talk
- Bon Iver
- Bela Fleck
- of Montreal
- Allen Toussaint
- David Grisman Quintet
- Animal Collective
- Neko Case
- Santogold
- Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
Austin acts announced: Okkervil River and Alejandro Escovedo
Ticket information here.
The full slate of artists will be announced at a later date.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment Categories: Music
January 16, 2009
Joaquin Phoenix tries his hand as a rapper
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Music
January 5, 2009
Jeff Tweedy's son, Spencer = Budding legend
This has apparently been making the rounds on ye’ olde Internets, but I just saw it today. Apparently Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy’s son Spencer, he of the band formerly known as The Blisters, started a blog at the end of last summer. What on earth could the son of a music legend have to say that I would find informative or entertaining, you may rightly ask. Well, quite a bit, actually, thanks to both the topics and his well-defined writing voice. As with any 13 year-old, he covers on his blog the basics — you know, humorous and irreverent postings about his Bar Mitzvah, spending vacations in New Zealand hanging out with Neil Finn and celebrating his birthday in the company of TV stars. The usual.
Spencer explains the reasons behind his blog thusly:
Beginning in 2007, Spencer Tweedy’s Blog has seen many different faces, its own and others. Whether I’m writing the ramblings of a travel fanatic or those of an internet geek, my blog has come a long way from its beginning. At first, it was solely a review page that analyzed different websites. But as my enthusiasm grew and my writing skills improved, I needed a more wide category to base upon. I tried many; politics, music, technology. But it wasn’t until recently I realized what my blog should be: My blog. Why didn’t it occur to me sooner? The name is ‘Spencer Tweedy’s Blog’ after all! I can write what I want! So, after being reborn on my 13th birthday, Spencer Tweedy’s Blog now stands as a/an [insert appropriate adjective here] figure in the internet community.
I officially feel old and incompetent. Either this kid is genius or has a ghostwriter. Although I am leaning toward the former. However, he does proclaim to be a fan of both the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs, so how much could he really know anyhow? Damn kids.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Music
August 14, 2008
Rage Against the Machine to, well, rage against the machine in Denver
Anyone who has seen YouTube footage of (or was lucky enough to be at) Lollapalooza in Chicago knows that Rage Against the Machine is back, in full effect. The politically charged band which recently got back together to the delight of fans everywhere were on fire in Chicago, and now they are bringing their message this month to Denver, site of the Democratic National Convention.
From the press release:
Rage Against the Machine has joined forces with the Iraq Veterans Against the War and Tent State University to perform as part of the “Tent State Music Festival to End the War” on Wednesday, August 27 at the Denver Coliseum. They will join the Flobots, The Coup, State Radio, and Wayne Kramer. Doors open at 9:30 AM, show begins at 11:00 AM. Tickets are free and available by lottery. Sign up for the lottery, with a valid photo ID (person must be present) at Tent State University at Cuernavaca Park between 11AM and 6:30 PM (look for the Tent State Music Festival booth near the IVAW Tower) Sunday, August 24 through Tuesday, August 26 during the D.N.C. Winners will be notified by email Tuesday evening, August 26. Go to tentstate.org for more info.
For a taste of what fans in Denver can expect, check out this Rage clip from Lollapalooza.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
August 11, 2008
Kanye West vs. The Charlie Daniels Band
For years now, political strategists have studied consumer habits in music, food, shopping, etc. to help gauge voters’ political affiliations and to better target their candidates’ communications.
For instance, these highly paid strategists look at research data on whether people prefer to shop at Whole Foods or Wal-Mart, drink Bourbon/Scotch or Gin/Bourbon, etc. Very scientific stuff.
It looks like these pollsters can now add a few more questions to their list, such as Black Eyed Peas or The Charlie Daniels Band? Willie Nelson or Gretchen Wilson?
According to a report in the New York Times Caucus blog, the two parties being planned for the national political conventions could not be more opposite, with the Republican National Convention’s line-up looking ready to party like it’s 1988.
A sampling of what to expect at each convention:
Democrats National Convention in Denver
Music
- Black Eyed Peas
- Willie Nelson
- Kanye West
- Jerry Jeff Walker
- Jennifer Lopez
Celebrities
- Quentin Tarantino
- Spike Lee
- Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Neil Patrick Harris
- Cheryl Hines
Republican National Convention in St. Paul:
Music
- Gretchen Wilson
- Cowboy Troy and John Rich
- The Charlie Daniels Band
- Sammy Hagar
Celebrities
- Tim Daly
- Kerry Washington
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Music
July 8, 2008
Wilco's Nels Cline playing Stubb's this weekend
Sunday, July 13
Stubb’s inside
Doors at 8 p.m.
[Tickets]
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
June 24, 2008
Waterloo records gets bestowed another honor
The blurb from the July issue of Paste, which features My Morning Jacket on the cover:
Best Record Store to Grow Up and Grow Old With Austin’s Waterloo Records has not only grown up with the Texas college-town/cultural crux, but has also stayed weird over the years. Teens find cool indie-rock 7-inches; college kids pick up Vampire Weekend or Criterion Collection DVDs, while their parents can buy Willie Nelson boxed sets and vintage Stevie Ray Vaughan posters.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Music
May 30, 2008
Radiohead "Creep"ed out by Prince
Long known as a complete control freak and a bit of a paranoid, Prince is making news again for trying to control his image. The rock legend shocked and awed fans with his cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” at Coachella in April. Soon after, the clip made it to YouTube, of course. That did not please the Purple One, who soon had the clip taken down.
In a recent interview, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke talks about his bemusement regarding the clip and says he thinks that his band, which owns the copyright to the song in question, should be the ones who decide whether the clip is online or not.
From the AP story:
“Really? He’s blocked it?” asked Yorke, who figured it was their song to block or not.
“Surely we should block it. Hang on a moment.”
Yorke added: “Well, tell him to unblock it. It’s our (expletive) song.”
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Music
May 19, 2008
Mind officially blown
Check out photos of this show here.
Although I grew up in Houston, it takes a pretty monumental event to get me back to Space City. In the six years since I moved back to Texas, those events have been almost exclusively limited to a death in the family, the World Series, and the opportunity to meet a presidential candidate. Adding Radiohead to that list was an easy call. Having not seen the band in almost 10 years, and only having heard the new album “In Rainbows” a half dozen times or so, I was not sure what to expect. What I got was a super-sensory experience from a band at the height of its powers that left me thirsty for more.
Although I unfortunately had seats on the lawn, the visual elements and sound were still wildly impressive. A screen behind the band, composed of LED lights showed each of the five band members at play, while tendrils hanging in the foreground offered a technicolor veil for the images behind it. The tight shot of the musicians offered a touch of reality and humanity to a band whose music often seems in this world but not of it.
The sound Saturday night in Houston, despite our less-than-perfect vantage point, was flawless. For those not familiar with the band’s live sound, you might assume that the layered, dynamic sound perfected by Radiohead in the studio could not make a flawless transition to the stage. Such assumptions would be erroneous. The production was seamless, with every beat, distortion, chaos pad manipulation, harmony, guitar riff and cymbal crash coming across perfectly. Yorke’s falsetto, grating to some, held its ground, never breaking or giving off the sense that his hallmark sound is anything approaching an affectation. Backed by the searing, and at times psychedelic guitar of Johnny Greenwood and a rhythm section that sounds like the machinations propelling a dark musical beast, one sent not to lay waste to the land with its fiery breath but to throw audiences on its back and transport it. At once kicking you in the chest and massaging your weary temples, the physical gateway of our post-modern ennui, the band epitomizes the sound of the beauty and ache of the world (“Everything all of the time,” as York sings). Radiohead’s music is both tempestuous and tranquil, rising from the storming sea, then settling gracefully in the eye of the hurricane, before raging back to life. Considering the disparate styles the band has perfected and toyed with over the years, it is sublime to see them produce so flawlessly songs ranging from a 13-year stretch of recordings.
For their second encore, the boys offered up a beautiful and aching “You and Whose Army?” before blowing the night out with the pulsating “Idioteque,” a song that made it clear that if there is a rave at the end of the world, Radiohead will be headlining. With the animated lead singer and overworked crowd coming back down to Earth in a blissfully cathartic state following the two hour show, I trudged up the hill and out to my car, hidden in the concrete monument to capitalism that is the Woodlands (an irony that must slightly turn the stomach of the politically charged Yorke), I found myself wondering how far it was to Dallas (for the next show). Now that’s really saying something.
I cannot stand the amount of LED screens that litter the sea of people in front of the stage at shows these days, but if it were not for those folks, I guess I wouldn’t be able to link YouTube footage. Here is a small sampling of pieces of the show that have popped up online since the show.
“There There”
“Climbing Up the Walls”
“Everything In Its Right Place”
Radiohead at the Woodlands, 5.17.08
- 1. “15 Step” (“IN RAINBOWS”)
- 2. “Bodysnatchers” (“IN RAINBOWS”)
- 3. “Lucky” (“OK COMPUTER”)
- 4. “Morning Bell” (“AMNESIAC”)
- 5. “Nude” (“IN RAINBOWS”)
- 6. “Pyramid Song” (“AMNESIAC”)
- 7. “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” (“IN RAINBOWS”)
- 8. “The Gloaming (“HAIL TO THE THIEF”)
- 9. “National Anthem” (“KID A”)
- 10. “Faust Arp” (“IN RAINBOWS”)
- 11. “Videotape” (“IN RAINBOWS”)
- 12. “Optimistic” (“KID A”)
- 13. “Where I End and You Begin” (“HAIL TO THE THIEF”)
- 14. “Reckoner (“IN RAINBOWS”)
- 15. “Everything In Its Right Place” (“KID A”)
- 16. “All I Need” (“IN RAINBOWS”)
- 17. “There, There” (“HAIL TO THE THIEF”)
First Encore
- 18. “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” (“IN RAINBOWS”)
- 19. “House of Cards” (“IN RAINBOWS”)
- 20. “Climbing Up the Walls” (“OK COMPUTER”)
- 21. “Planet Telex” (“THE BENDS”)
- 22. “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” (“THE BENDS”)
Second Encore
- 23. “You And Whose Army?” (“AMNESIAC”)
- 24. “Idioteque” (“KID A”)
All still images courtesy Mr. Front Row, Sunjay Arya.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
May 12, 2008
Review: Wilco at Stubb's
Deborah Cannon AMERICAN-STATESMAN
As the sun sets on Sundays, folks are often lulled into a peacfeul rest on the comfort of their couch, winding down from the weekend and preparing for the long week ahead. Early in the Wilco set at Stubb’s Sunday night, it seemed lead singer Jeff Tweedy would have been more happy on said piece of leisure furniture than on stage, the band sputtering to find its rhythm and a unified energy in the first quarter of the set. Considering the band has played roughly two dozen shows in Austin over the past 13 years, maybe Tweedy just felt so at home that he was not compelled to rush things.
Dressed in a green blazer, and backed by his five bandmates who were dressed in various shades of blue and black, Tweedy began the set with the haunting beauty of ‘Sunken Treasure,’ his tender voice buttressed by the whispering slide guitar of Nels Cline and the percsussive rumblings of drummer Glenn Kotche.
Following the dark romanticism of ‘Sunken Treasure,’ the band eased into ‘You Are My Face,’ from its most recent album. The song shifted from lush harmonies to guitar-driven rock, carried by the sharp, edgy guitar lines from Cline and onto the tasteful churchlike organ phrasings of Mikael Jorgensen, before returning back to the soft melodies and crooning of Tweedy, the song a perfect example of the soft to raucous and back-to-soft transitions for which the band is legend.
Unwilling to build on the momentum of the second tune, the band chose to return to the feel established by the opening tune with the subdued and poetic ‘Remember the Mountain Bed’ from the band’s joint with Billy Bragg, ‘Mermaid Avenue Vol. 2.’ Although Tweedy treated fans to the tune at his solo show in Austin in 2006, it was the first time the full band had played the song for an Austin audience. Following the relatively obscure ‘Mountain Bed’ with ‘Company in My Back,’ in which Cline had a chance to provide the show with some much-needed energy, Tweedy finally addressed the audience, wishing the crowd a happy Mother’s Day (the ‘best day of the year,’ according to the songsmith). The first song offering opportunity for a group sing-along, ‘Handshake Drugs,’ gave me the impression the band was about ready to turn the page on its languid start, the crowd, with help from Cline’s dramatic flair on guitar, seemingly trying to will energy into the set.
After brushing off ‘Pick Up The Change,’ the first time they’ve played the song in Austin since 2001, the band began to engage the crowd with a little more animated playing on the bouncy and sweeping ‘Hummingbird.’ But, as they had for the first third of the set, the band refused to ride the momentum of the previous song, instead playing a gentle version of ‘On and On and On.’
With the following ‘Pot Kettle Black’ and ‘Shot in the Arm,’ the band finally seemed to find its stride, exciting the crowd with some more familiar tunes, with Tweedy coming to life with more banter and mussing his hair to humorous effect. By the time they trotted out crowd favorite ‘Jesus, Etc.,’ the night finally seemed to have taken form after an organic, if disconnected start. Near the close of the set, the band took the opportunity to reintroduce fans to some old songs that had not seen the light of an Austin day in ages. The band used a five-night run of shows in Chicago in February, in which they played every song from their extensive catalogue, to dust off some of the cobwebs from early recordings. That bit of nostalgia led to the reappearance Sunday of two songs that last surfaced in Austin when high-rise condos were as foreign here as French-style cooking, ‘It’s Just That Simple’ and ‘That’s Not the Issue,’ two Wilco classics the band had not performed in Austin since 1995 and 1997, respectively. For many fans, I’m sure it was a first for them to even see bass player John Stirratt sing lead, with Tweedy on bass, on the Stirratt-penned ‘It’s Just that Simple.’
The band closed the set with a rollicking version of ‘Walken,’ a jam that worked the crowd into fevered dance mode before closing the set with fan sing-along-favorite ‘I’m the Man Who Loves You.’ After popping off stage for the briefest of intermissions, the band reappareared for its first encore, a coda of sorts that began with patient and heartfelt renditions of ‘Misunderstood,’ ‘Poor Places,’ and ‘Reservations’ before making the dissonant leap to rocker ‘Spiders (Kidsmoke),’ a song that’s wild guitar, driving bass, tasty perscussive fills and dramatic changes epitomize Wilco at its highest rock form.
After a night that moved, clumsily at times, from soft ballads to uptempo rock songs, the band’s second encore kept the foot on the gas, pleasing the crowd with ‘I Hate it Here,’ ‘Heavy Metal Drummer,’ ‘Casino Queen’ (which may or may not have been a nod to the dude yelling for the song from behind the soundboard the entire night), the rare ‘Hoodoo Voodoo’ and finally ‘Outtasite (Outta Mind).’
Sometimes patience is a virtue, and such was certainly the case at Stubb’s Sunday night. Whether Tweedy and Co. were disinterested or simply taking time to find the night’s pulse early in the show, by the end of the night, Wilco’s legion of faithful fans were rewarded, as the show organically grew to reflect all that is great about the band — raw, honest lyrics, flawless musicianship and a lead singer who knows how, when he wants to, give the crowd exactly what it wants. And, just as the crowd obviously appreciated the 135-minute set that was packed full of songs from all eight of the band’s studio albums, Tweedy was equally appreciative. While he admitted the band usually lied and told every city that they were the best, before the night ended, Tweedy confessed, ‘You really are the best, Austin.’ Whether his tongue was planted in his cheek or not is not certain. And, that is the beauty of Wilco’s enigmatic frontman, sometimes you just don’t know quite what he’s getting at. But, as with any old friend, you’re happy to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Setlist
- 1. Sunken Treasure
- 2. You Are My Face
- 3. Remember The Mountain Bed
- 4. Company In My Back
- 5. Handshake Drugs
- 6. Pick Up The Change
- 7. Hummingbird
- 8. On And On And On
- 9. Pot Kettle Black
- 10. A Shot In The Arm
- 11. Summer Teeth
- 12. Jesus, Etc.
- 13. Impossible Germany
- 14. It’s Just That Simple
- 15. That’s Not The Issue
- 16. Walken
- 17. I’m The Man Who Loves You
Encore 1:
- 18. Misunderstood
- 19. Poor Places
- 20. Reservations
- 21. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Encore 2:
- 22. Hate It Here
- 23. Heavy Metal Drummer
- 24. Casino Queen
- 25. Hoodoo Voodoo
- 26. Outtasite (Outta Mind)
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
May 9, 2008
Jason Marsalis to serve up tasty jazz at Central Market
Frank Stallone. Ashlee Simpson. Eric Roberts. All are B-List talents living in the shadow (and on the gravy train) of their more famous and accomplished celebrity relatives.
Jason Marsalis should be confused with none of these. While the son of Ellis and brother of Wynton and Branford may not have the national recognition as his musician relatives, Jason is a giant in his own right.
Find out for yourself next Sunday, May 18, as the amazing percussionist visits Central Market for a free springtime musical treat of the highest order. The talented composer and musician, as well as New Orleans music scene staple, who has collaborated with internationally recognized jazz performers such as Joe Henderson and Lionel Hampton, will be playing tunes from his recently released album, “An Open Letter to Thelonious.”
Marsalis will play from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. and you can count me as one of the many who will be making the early drive back from the Radiohead show in Houston to catch this set by one of jazz’s finest.
Jason Marsalis [official site]
Central Market [site]
4001 North Lamar
206.1000
Free
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
April 1, 2008
Just what the Dr ordered?
Update: I emailed with Chris Kooluris over at Kethcum Public Relations and he assured me that the campaign is not a hoax. “The release is 100% valid and over at Dr Pepper, we are huge Guns fans and hope this is the year,” Kooluris wrote.
OK, so i know this is a few days old, but I’ve been busy celebrating my 21st birthday.
Dr Pepper, the soft drink that implores you to do what you do and be original and don’t give a damn, or something like that, has made quite the bizarre pitch (of sorts) to Axl Rose and the American people, promising everyone in America a free Dr Pepper if Rose releases his long-awaited album, “Chinese Democracy,” by year’s end.
Rose, the troubled and sometimes-braided former lead singer of Guns N’ Roses, has been working on what was supposed to be the next GNR album, and the first since “Use Your Illusion I & II,” “Chinese Democracy,” since about the time of Chiang Kai-shek. But he just can’t seem to get it together. Constantly at odds with bandmates and seemingly trying to rule the band like, well, a dictator, Rose has pushed ax legend Slash (and the rest of the band) to the edges, along with his sanity, apparently.
Rose has now been “working” on “Chinese Democracy” for 14 years, costing $13 million in production expenses, a feat of mismanagement that had gone “through at least three recording studios, four producers and a decade of music business turmoil” led the New York Times to call the album “The Most Expensive Album Never Made.” Oops.
Apparently the Dr Pepper company feels that 14 years of failed production can be overcome by a giveaway gimmick. Last week, PR Newswire released a statement saying that Dr Pepper would give a free Dr Pepper to everyone in America (excluding guitarists Slash and Buckethead) if Rose released the album by the end of the year.
From the release: “It took a little patience to perfect Dr Pepper’s special mix of 23 ingredients, which our fans have come to know and love,” said Jaxie Alt, director of marketing for Dr Pepper. “So we completely understand and empathize with Axl’s quest for perfection — for something more than the average album. We know once it’s released, people will refer to it as “Dr Pepper for the ears” because it will be such a refreshing blend of rich, bold sounds — an instant classic. Show your support for Axl and get on the nightrain of encouragement at chinesedemocracywhen.blogspot.com
Rose responded on the band’s Web site saying that they were “surprised and very happy to have the support of Dr Pepper with our album “Chinese Democracy,” as for us, this came totally out of the blue. If there is any involvement with this promotion by our record company or others, we are unaware of such at this time. And as some of Buckethead’s performances are on our album, I’ll share my Dr Pepper with him.”
Whether this is a scam, a ploy by Dr Pepper to support an album with a controversial name, especially considering its timing with the 2008 Beijing Olympics, or just some Pepper marketing exec’s love of Axl is unclear.
Weird.
Guess David Naughton is busy:
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Music
March 25, 2008
Fleetwood Mac may (or may not) tour with Crow
Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Such a lesson would have behooved Sheryl Crow before she started talking to the press in recent weeks about joining Fleetwood Mac for a tour. According to Spinner.com, “We definitely have plans for collaborating in the future, and we’ll see what happens,” Crow said. As to when fans might hear those collaborations, she says, “I think that’s going to be next year.” And what songs would she ideally like to perform onstage with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham? “I’d love to do ‘The Chain’ and ‘Second Hand News,’” she says. “There’s so many great songs that I absolutely love, and just to get to sing harmonies on them is going to be a thrill.”
Looks like Crow may have gotten ahead of herself.
Fleetwood Mac co-founder Lindsey Buckingham finally addressed the possibility today to Billboard. And it seems Crow may not want to pack her bags for the tour just yet. And leave the announcements to the people doing the hiring.
From Billboard.com
“I think we were all a little surprised (Crow) was announcing that to the world with such certainty,” Buckingham says with a laugh. “We have talked about the possibility of bringing another woman into the scene to kind of give Stevie a sort of foil and shake it up a little bit. (Crow) was certainly a name that has come up. We’ll have to see.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
February 15, 2008
Mini KISS, Big Disappointment
Check out my campy and affected video recap by clicking here.
The band did not play any of their own instruments, excepting an aborted guitar solo on “Sweet Child of Mine” (which KISS album is that on, anyway?). I knew this going in, but seeing it actually transpire made it feel like karaoke with makeup. The backing music wasn’t even the actual KISS but some awful, bass-heavy programmed Casio KISS. I figured that if they weren’t going to play instruments, they could at least blow people away with strong vocals, good stage presence and flamboyance. Instead they had voices that cracked, the lead singer fell down repeatedly and even dubbed himself (along with his guitarist) Ace, even though he was supposed to be the Paul Stanley character. I will give it to the guys (and female drummer), they were affable and good sports. They just lacked any discernible talent.
The group butchered a handful of KISS tunes, including the Valentine’s-related “Hard Luck Woman,” as well as “God Gave Rock and Roll to You” and “I Was Made for Loving You.” The crowd seemed stunned by the lack of any original instrumentation and seemed dumbfounded for much of the show, but did seem to gather some steam with the crowd favorite “Rock and Roll All Nite.” Check out these pics of Mini KISS from Statesman film critic Chris Garcia, a true KISS fan who left truly outraged.
Here is Mini Kiss playing “Hard Luck Woman”
And a brutal dance clubish version of “I Was Made for Loving You”…
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Music
January 14, 2008
Ghostland Observatory announces CD release party
Tickets for the show go on sale on GetTix.net at 10am this Saturday. Ghostland’s Aaron Behrens has told me that he expects DJ Dr. Jack to be on the tables for the evening.
Ghostland links:
- Story: Ghostland earns band of the year
- Photos: Ghostland Observatory on stage | A-List photos from Emo’s, 6.20.07
- Video: Interview with Ghostland from ACL 2006
- Audio: Listen to Ghostland on Soundcheck360
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Music
January 9, 2008
The New Yorker gives praise to Austin artist
National attention for Austin musicians seems to be at an all-time high, with stalwarts Spoon leading the way. But there’s enough ink to go around, as shown by the recent issue of The New Yorker. The Pop Notes - Instant Replay section of the January 7 issue highlighted 11 albums from last year that deserved a second listen, and one of them is from Austin-based musician Bill Callahan.
From The New Yorker piece:
Kudos to Callahan. For more information on the prolific songwriter, check out Statesman music critic Joe Gross’ profile of Callahan from 2007.
Photo of Bill Callahan by Kelly West/AMERICAN-STATESMAN.
Correction: The original post stated that Miranda Lambert, also mentioned in The New Yorker, was an Austinite. Alas, the native Texan is not an Austinite. My apologies.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music
December 10, 2007
John C. Reilly is Dewey Cox
With a large contingent of media and Austin music and film scene folks milling about the downstairs bar at Stubb’s, about 250 more folks who had seen a sneak preview of the film earlier in the evening streamed in to the club, bringing the crowd to around 350. The packed house was buzzing with anticipation as the lights came down and Cox’s band ran onto the stage for the first few bars, followed by the man of the hour.
Dressed in tight black pants and jacket, red shirt and matching silk scarf, Cox took the stage with an Elvis-like swagger and a billowing pompadour that would have made Roy Orbison blush. Cox tore through a rousing set of mostly originals from the movie’s soundtrack, backed ably by a professional group of musicians that swung and rocked with such authenticity that you could easily imagine them being the house band at the Continental Club. The rock-star-for-a-week played a high-energy set which he interspersed with ridiculously hilarious banter, full of double-entendre jokes that played off of the singer’s surname.
Introducing the song, ‘Dear Mr. President,’ Cox took aim at the former Texas governor currently residing in the White House, while acknowledging that had he been a legal resident of Texas, he would have gladly voted for that ‘Kinky Jew’ who ran for governor last time. The aspersing of Bush and the nod to Kinky Friedman brought a wild cheer from the audience, who hung on the singer’s every tawdry and ridiculous word. At one point, Cox made reference to his having escaped rehab four times, and said he’d like to see the obese David Crosby try and hop a fence. He then broke into a spot-on cover of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’ that stunned and awed the crowd. Cox introduced another song as one stolen from him by J.J. Cale who subsequently had it stolen by Eric Clapton. That white lie led to an up-tempo version of ‘Cocaine.’ The night’s performance was pure brilliance, and highlighted some of the film’s best songs, with their delicious dichotomy of quality songwriting and absurd lyrics leaving the audience stomping their feet and holding their sides. Following the hour-long set, Cox left the stage but had only taken a few steps off before rushing back on shirtless for a two-song encore.
The night was one of the most entertaining and bewildering I have ever witnessed in an Austin club, and it was probably my second-favorite music concert of the entire year. But beyond the music, the night was about watching one of America’s greatest character actors commit with all of his being to the Dewey Cox character. As Reilly mentioned to me (in an interview that will run later), it is fun getting to step into the skin of a rock star, and there was no denying that Reilly was having as much fun on stage as any performer I have seen in years. Judging by the reaction of the packed house, which included legendary ZZ Top member Billy Gibbons and screenwriter Anne Rapp, the fans had as much fun as the star they came to celebrate.
As I stood by the side of the stage chatting with the movie’s affable director Jake Kasdan, I just kept shaking my head in amazement and saying, “What a legend. What a freaking legend. This is genius!” There was only one man who could pull off this type of performance as well as the role in the movie, and I congratulated Kasdan for having the foresight to realize that man was John C. Reilly. Excuse me, Dewey Cox.
For myriad Dewey Cox links, click here.
‘Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story’ opens in Austin on Dec. 21.
Check out a YouTube clip of Cox playing his midget protest song, ‘Let Me Hold You (Little Man),’ at Stubb’s last Friday.
And the following night in Nashville covering Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab.’
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Music
November 26, 2007
Quote of the day
Like the mythical Phoenix, cheese-rock band Extreme is rising from the ashes. The band from Boston is reuniting for its first studio album in 13 years and a world tour in 2008, according to Billboard.com.
The band has apparently reached a new audience through inclusion of one of the band’s songs in the video game ‘Guitar Hero.’ Guitarist Nuno Bettencourt says that the band has decided to return to the studio and the stage because there is hardly any real rock ‘n’ roll left in the world and they are prepared to fill that void.
“We realized not only are the people starved for rock and roll … So are we. Let’s eat,” Bettencourt said.
Rock. And. Roll.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music
Bono and The Edge perform 'Desire'
As the wires reported over the weekend, Bono and The Edge showed up at a Mencap charity performance at Union Chruch and opened for Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro with a truncated acoustic set.
“Don’t tell Larry (Mullen) and Adam (Clayton) we’ve done this,” Bono joked from the stage. Cheeky lad.
Of course, thanks to the magic of cell phones and digital cameras, video of the evening showed up online almost immediately. Here is the duo’s version of ‘Desire’ (with a slight nod to INXS), one of the four songs they played Friday evening.
Permalink | | Categories: Music
October 9, 2007
Ghostland Observatory to play Conan O'Brien
Today, I had lunch with Aaron Behrens, who told me the band is “extremely pumped” to get the opportunity to share their music with an even larger audience. With two records under their belt and a growing fanbase that extends from Seattle and London and beyond, Ghostland, whose ACL Fest set drew rave reviews from critics, is excited to release their latest album early in 2008, many tracks of which the band is now playing in its myriad live shows across the country.
The gig on O’Brien’s show will be Ghostland’s first national television appearance, although the band has already done a taping for “Austin City Limits”, which will be released on DVD in the coming months and air in December. You can expect to hear the duo’s radio/internet hit “Sad, Sad City” on Tuesday night.
Ghostland Observatory is scheduled to appear Oct. 16 on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” The show airs at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.
Check out our photo gallery of Ghostland Observatory
Permalink | | Categories: Music
September 21, 2007
Live from New York...it's Spoon
Fans of Spoon take note, Rolling Stone is reporting the Austin rockers will be the musical act on the second episode of ‘Saturday Night Live’ this season. The show will air Oct. 7 at 10:30 p.m. Check this space in the coming days for an announcement about another national television appearance by an Austin band.
Permalink | | Categories: Music
September 4, 2007
Sound off: The Felice Brothers
Not to be outdone, by the two originals, Emo’s Lounge took a more melodic slant on the evening, welcoming the alt-country Mice and Rifles, The Mercers (which features arguably the strongest voice in indie rock in Austin — Peter Wagner), and finally the always entertaining Golden Bear, which played a show to a sadly limited crowd due to the draw of the other bands and the fact that GB was seemingly playing a warm up show for their Saturday night gig at the Scoot Inn. Finalists in ACL Fest’s the Sound & The Jury, Golden Bear took the small crowd in stride and still put on an amazing show.
But despite all of these great Austin bands, the highlight of my evening was taking in a set from The Felice Brothers from New York. The six-man band signed to Loose Records has received quite a bit on attention in Europe but were on their first big tour of the U.S. Earlier this summer, The Mercers (in a bit of a booking oddity) played The Mountain Jam in Hunter Mountain, N.Y., where they played on the same stage as The Felice Brothers. Wagner and Co. told the brothers that if they were ever down in Texas to look them up and come play with them. Well, that time came Friday night.
Following The Mercers blazing set, The Felice Brothers took the stage looking like some kind of hybrid beat Zydeco band, playing wartime mountain blues punctuated with an accordion. The rag-tag band of brothers and friends played with an exuberance that lacked any pretense and centered around the celebration of a blues pathos that seems long forgotten among young bands. They harkened back to another era, as if they had been workers for the Tennessee Valley Authority who quit their jobs and moved up to the Catskills to make music and stomp their feet. It was M. Ward, had he grown up in New Orleans. It was Bob Dylan if he had The Gourds as his backing band instead of The Band.
Hot on the heels of a show at the Viper Room in Los Angeles, where apparently the boys made quite an impression on their impromptu drinking buddy Keanu Reeves, the boys, despite traveling the country in a crammed tour van, were in great spirits and seemed to be relishing the moment. Near the end of their set the brought up another friend made at the Mountain Jam, Papa Mali, who added some funky blues guitar to the mix, proving that these sons of Appalachia are as adept at making friends as they are at moving people’s feet and souls.
To listen to this band from another era, and one of which this era could use a lot more of, check out The Felice Brothers MySpace page. And keep an eye out for the next time they come through town.
(Image from The Felice Brothers’ MySpace page.)
Permalink | | Categories: Music
July 29, 2007
Gonna have a funky, good time
The second annual Funky Batz Funk Fest descended on Austin over the weekend, kicking off with an explosive show at The Parish on Friday night. Following a drum clinic with Stanton Moore (Galactic), Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle took the stage to start an evening of funked-out jazz. J.J. “Jungle” Richards (bass), “Go-Go” Ray Pollard (drums) and the master of the vibes and percussion Dillon were joined on stage by famed saxophonist Skerik as the group tore through a blazing set of controlled musical chaos. With energy to burn, Dillon, the native Texan and former member of legendary Texas groups Ten Hands and Billy Goat, flailed with reckless abandon, exuding a lusty energy that was matched by the uninhibited dancing of the packed house.
Following a brief intermission, the Stanton Moore Trio took the stage to a crowd teetering with anticipation and an urge to move their bodies. Although billed as the Stanton Moore Trio, in the collaborative nature of the weekend Skerik joined Moore, guitarist Will Bernard and keyboardist Robert Walter (20th Congress) on stage after the first song. Dillon would later come out and join the group during the second set.
The crowd, many of whom looked to be seasoned veterans of New Orleans’ Jazz Fest, buzzed with energy before being set into a frenzy by the funky stylings of the quarter, as Moore drove a sound that was punctuated with improvisational strokes of genius by Walter, Skerik and Bernard. Do not be confused, these men are no jam band noodlers who play safe, wandering tunes, hoping only to make people on drugs feel at ease. Conjuring Jimmy Smith, Herbie Hancock, Eddie Harris, Grant Green, The J.B.’s and the Meters, these men are jazz players with an intimate understanding of phrasing and timing who have the ability to blow people’s minds while inspiring visceral reactions that can lead to some of the most un-self-conscious bouts of dancing and exuberance you can find on any dance floor.
On this steamy night at the fittingly named Parish, it felt as if the players, led by Louisiana native Moore, had brought the swamp to Austin. The Colorado had been turned into the Mississippi, and there was some nasty, filthy funk in the air. For a minute, one could easily be excused for thinking they were at a 2 a.m. show at Tipitina’s or the Maple Leaf in Uptown New Orleans. The good times were not just rolling, they were bouncing off the walls and reverberating through the wood work.
Part of the enjoyment of shows such as the one Friday night comes from watching the joy shared by the players on stage. Whether they were sitting back grooving to another’s solo, watching with unabashed glee as one attempts to extricate himself from some tricky phrasing or simply jamming out collectively, it was plain to see that the musicians were having as much fun as the fans.
As the band closed out its first set with a rousing rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times,” with Skerik blazing through the guitar solos on his sax and Moore giving John Bonham a run for his money, the floor was vibrating and so were more than a few souls. If Friday night’s show at The Parish was any indication, Austin wanted and needed a funky, good time, and the musicians of Funky Batz’ Funk Fest II were more than happy to oblige.
Picture of Skerik and Mike Dillon from Bellingham’s Nightlight Lounge in 2005 taken from Moontrolling on Flickr.
Click here to view A-List photos from Funky Batz’ Funk Fest II at The Parish.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music
July 22, 2007
Spoon plays surprise show for the home crowd
News of the show by one of Austin’s greatest recent claims to rock fame had spread via word of mouth and the Internet, and by 7 p.m., 18-year-old Jared Brandner, the first person in line, had some serious company. Once the doors opened around 9:15 p.m. eager fans of all ages poured into the outdoor space under the white tents that had been set up to protect the masses from any rain the night might have in store.
Right on schedule, around 10 p.m. surprise openers Black Joe Lewis of Austin took the stage to a crowd that built steadily to capacity over their 45-minute set. The eight-person band, fronted by former Round Rock High student Lewis, warmed up the crowd with a mix of funky soul, doo-wop and blues. From the tight sound of the horn and rhythm section, I was shocked to discover from Lewis that the band had only been playing in its current incarnation for about three months. While the tie-clad band definitely held their own, the highlight of the set was amazing Lewis, whose blazing guitar licks played sidekick to an amazing set of pipes that echoed sounds of James Brown and Sam Cook. Lewis’ soulful wailing even had Spoon frontman Britt Daniel smiling and bobbing up and down at the back of the crowd by the end of the set.
Following a brief intermission, the crowd had reached a fevered pitch as a team of 25 camera operators moved among Spoon’s fans to capture the night on video, a move Mohawk co-owner James Moody said was to ‘let the rest of the world see what Austin looks like.’
On Friday night, amidst a crowd of old-school Spoon fans and those recently indoctrinated into the indie-rock band’s flock of fans, it looked like a who’s-who of the Austin music and entertainment scene. Among those spotted in the crowd were Michael Booher of Zykos and Emo’s, Jason Reece of …Trail of the Dead, Spoon producer Mike McCarthy, members of What Made Milwaukee Famous, restaurateur and club owner Michael Terrazas, City Editor of The Onion Sean O’Neal, Allen Chen and Paige Maguire of Austinist, Paul Saucido of METV, Marty Hobratschk of The Summer Wardrobe, Ethan Herr of The Mercers, April Burcham of KLRU, and many more than can be named here.
Dressed in a black shirt and dark polyester slacks, Daniel and company took to the stage and kicked off the show with ‘Don’t You Evah,’ a cover of an unreleased Natural History song and the first track of the band’s latest album, ‘Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.’ But it was clear from the beginning that there were problems with the bass amp, and by the second song the amp had gone out completely, which led to a few minutes of technical work as the band departed the stage.
The band eventually returned and Daniel assured everyone not to worry, as we had a long set ahead of us. The band then went into ‘The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine’ off of 2005’s indie hit ‘Gimme Fiction.’ The crowd, still a bit tame from the slow start, finally got rocking as the band launched into the rollicking and politically charged tune ‘The Underdog,’ a song that seemed to have more than a slight bit of ’70s Billy Joel oozing from it.
Throughout the night the band relied on their classic, stripped-down style that counts on the keys of Eric Harvey and drums of Jim Eno to build anticipation and tension, all of which is backed by the steady bass work of Rob Pope. The release is then brought on in the form of the throaty, Brit-pop voiced Daniel, who, while not one of the best guitarists on the block, uses his jarring and frantic playing to get the crowd rocking. The 90-minute set featured tunes from at least five albums, showing this was no typical band-touring-its-latest release concert. Spoon, not inclined to play solely from ‘Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’ or rehash their previous hits, was intent on giving older fans of the band what they wanted. Following the second song of the encore (‘Small Stakes’ off of ‘Kill the Moonlight’), Daniel took requests from the audience and granted a plea from the balcony for ‘Car Radio,’ a song off of 1998’s ‘Series of Sneaks.’
The crowd’s vibe seemed a mix of those who wanted to rock out and those who simply wanted to enjoy the return of their prodigal rock sons, which caused for a bit of unevenness. Still, it was apparent all were happy to see a band having fun back in the place where it all started for them.
Check out our photos from the show.
Permalink | | Categories: Music
July 12, 2007
The Decemberists rock The Mohawk
The nascent Transmission Entertainment and the burgeoning indie rock mecca the Mohawk had scored quite a coup in the first few weeks of their partnership. A live, free acoustic set would surely put their name on the map as one of the best destinations for live music in the Live Music Capital of the World. But can too much press be a bad thing? As it turns out, despite lines that went on for blocks, the evening could only be considered a smashing success.
The bravest (craziest?) of the souls waiting in line was Texas A&M student Brian Prendergast, who drove from College Station, arriving at 9:45 a.m. as the first fan to queue. He was joined around 11 a.m. by two friends, fellow Aggie Emily Jansen and Notre Dame student Alexa Wagner (don’t fret, she didn’t drive from South Bend for the show).
After the MySpace guest-listers were accommodated, the club allowed those tired folks who had been waiting much of the day to join the rest inside for a very intimate performance. As it turns out, as the 230th person entered, bringing the small club to capacity, he informed me that he had waited just over an hour to get inside. All fears that those who suffered a 3-hour wait would have their night end fruitlessly were assuaged. And, in a show of kindness and goodwill, Mohawk staff and management passed out water to those waiting for hours, along with popcorn, which they took back after realizing it would only work to dehydrate the masses.
Once the inside of the club reached capacity, at 8:05 p.m., just 5 minutes before the band went on, the club opened their outdoor space, allowing people to listen to the show through the outdoor PA as they continued to queue to get a glimpse of the band.
As frontman Colin Meloy harked back to his roots with a very Irish Trad-sounding ‘The Landlord’s Daughter’ from last year’s album ‘The Crane Wife,’ the dank venue was transported to a sweaty summer night in Galway. But for those who thought the lit-rockers were simply cerebral minstrels, they gave everyone a fun taste of classic rock, with a tease of the Doobie Brothers’ ‘Black Water’ before a stirring performance of ’16 Military Wives’ and later a bit of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ that led into ‘Here I Thought I Was an Architect.’
An hour into the show, a couple dozen fans were still waiting to get inside, two of whom were father and son Phil and Johnny Butterbaugh. Johnny, an LBJ High School student, had been accompanied by his mother for the first hour of his wait before dad showed up in relief. Both waited patiently, listening to the set through the PA before finally getting in around 9:15. But soon, the Butterbaughs and the rest of the crowd came pouring out of the venue, as the Decemberists brought their encore performance to the masses, playing ‘The Mariner’s Revenge Song’ on the patio surrounded by their adoring fans.
The finale was a gracious move by a band whose fans had waited much of the day to see their musical heroes from the Great Northwest. With fans buzzing for hours after the performance, the night could only be considered a success for all — fans, venue and band alike.
Check out more photos from the night at The Mohawk.
Photos (c) Bret Gerbe FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Not surprisingly, what with them kids and their hi-tech gadgets, a YouTube video of last night’s show appeared early this morning. While the video is mostly dark footage, the audio is quite good and the singing along of fans gives you a feel of what the night was like. Check it…
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music
July 11, 2007
Ghostland Observatory and The Decemberists awe fans at ACL taping
On March 19 of 2005, I went and saw my friend Aaron Behrens (and soon-to-be-friend Thomas Turner) of Ghostland Observatory play upstairs of Treasure Island as part of a non-SXSW showcase. The gig started before the sun went down, and outside of immediate band family and me and my friend Matt Cortez, there were just a handful of bikers there who probably had no idea what they were about to witness.
The duo had been gigging for about six months, playing shows to similarly sparse crowds at places such as Momo’s back in November of 2004 and was still finding its sound and feel.
Over the next two years, they would go from small club, dance-party darlings to playing critically praised sets across the country and in England. In just a few short years, the band has taken off and delivered its unique electronic sex-pop sound to adoring fans and growing media attention from New York to Seattle.
Those Treasure Island and Momo’s shows seemed ages ago last night when we arrived at the KLRU studios to see the band perform with lit-rockers The Decemberists for a taping of Austin City Limits.
A space-limited ticket handout on Monday had led to lines that snaked around the UT campus and spilled out onto Guadalupe. A KLRU employee told me they had not seen such a rush for tickets since jam band Phish visited some six years ago. And the excitement had not died by the time we arrived last night at 7.
After talking to folks waiting eagerly in the space-available line, I soon discovered that those near the front of the line had been in place since 11 a.m. That’s 8 hours for those of you not good with math. It was a complete scene, no two ways about it.
Jason Gonzalez of Houston, who estimated his place at 15th in line, drove into town to meet friends in line about 11:30 a.m. With a double bill featuring two bands with such contrasting styles, Gonzalez figured the drive and wait were well worth it.
“I love both of the bands. I saw Ghostland at SXSW, and they were phenomenal. I also love The Decemberists and the kind of songs they write; they’re just really different from what’s out there,” he said as he tried to contain his excitement in the elevator ride up to KLRU’s sixth floor.
Once inside, Gonzales and the other 300 or so in attendance — including 100 people whose wait for space-available tickets paid off, according to one KLRU staffer — were treated to an explosive night of music featuring performances from The Decemberists and Ghostland.
I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy the music of The Decemberists as much as I did. After listening to their albums, I was a bit worn out by lead singer Colin Meloy’s voice. I felt his nasal tone to be an affectation and somewhat pretentious, but after hearing him sing on the band’s opening number, “The Crane Wife 3,” I was sold.
The nasal quality of his voice gave way to a beautiful timbre that never wavered, as the singer never seemed to try too hard to push his voice beyond its range. He stayed within himself throughout the set, as the band’s narrative lyrics were backed by a lush sound, performed on a variety of atypical rock instruments, that ranged from bluesy rock to a mixture of Irish Trad and Russian gypsy folk-pop.
After the hour-long set by The Decemberists and an extended intermission, Ghostland took the stage with the energy for which they’ve become legend. A raucous “Piano Man” launched the crowd into a frenzy the likes of which I have never seen in my dozen or so ACL tapings.
It was one of those rare times when the studio actually feels like a club, except with perfect sound. For both bands, the sound was absolutely incredible, perfectly balancing the sound of The Decemberists unique instrumentation and not missing a beat throughout Ghostland’s set. Crisp, clean sound that delivers every note with stunning clarity: That is just part of what makes an ACL taping unlike any other live music experience.
Ghostland fired through an extended set featuring crowd favorites and new songs that will undoubtedly have the masses dancing upon release of the band’s next album. Major hits “Sad, Sad City,” “Ghetto Magnet,” and “Silver City” had the crowd singing along with such passion and knowledge you’d think the tunes had been radio hits for the past two years.
During a slight break for technical adjustments, Behrens acknowledged the band members’ family, who were out in full force, before tearing through another half-dozen songs and, finally, a site I had never witnessed at an ACL taping: a two-song encore.
Though seeing The Decemberists live was an unexpected treat that exceeded my expectations, last night for me was all about seeing a band come full circle.
Turner and Behrens’ dream was born here just a few years ago, and last night, the realization of that dream was celebrated with their family and friends and will soon be broadcast to the nation. Just another day in the life of two self-made stars who show no signs of forgetting where they came from.
Last night’s taping will air Oct. 13 on KLRU.
Photo of Ghostland Observatory (c) Jay Janner (AAS)
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music
June 27, 2007
Larry King talks to dead people
[from ContactMusic.com]
“No, this is Ringo… He’s got your name wrong, Ringo, on national television. We can’t cut it, it’s live,” McCartney said. The moment of brevity reminded many fans of the Beatles’ early U.S. TV interviews - when the bandmates poked fun at reporters. Starr later poked fun at King when he told the host, “He’s (McCartney) still the most melodic bass player on the planet,” prompting the newsman to ask, “What does that mean.” The drummer shot back, “It means he’s melodic!”
Hey, Larry, stick a fork it in, you’re done.
To watch part of the train wreck of an interview, check it out on YouTube.
Partial clip here…
Photo (c) Associated Press
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music
June 26, 2007
Led Zeppelin reuniting (if only for a show)
A source said, “Page, Plant and Jones spoke and agreed to do the memorial concert. They are waiting for a definite date.
“And no one can quite believe it, but during discussions about the concert, they all gave the green light to a tour if it all does well and they don’t all fall out.
“It has been hoped-for and denied for years. But this is the closest they have ever come to a reunion tour. The feeling is that this is going to happen next year.”
If it happens, I imagine it would be the largest-grossing tour in the history of music. We shall see …
Image of Robert Plant at the Austin Music Hall in 2005 from Matt Rourke/AMERICAN-STATESMAN.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music
June 13, 2007
Ghostland Observatory to play Surprise Anniversary Show at Emo's
The dynamic duo is riding high following a critically acclaimed set at the Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington state and is preparing for a huge summer. In addition to playing Lollapalooza in August, the charismatic Aaron Behrens and the amazing Thomas Turner will be playing three shows in three separate states the weekend of ACL, with a show Friday night at Red Rocks in Colorado, Saturday night in San Francisco and Sunday night back home in Austin.
Purchase tickets here for the Emo’s show. It is sure to sell out fast.
Listen to Ghostland Observatory on Soundcheck360.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music
Antone's Record Shop 20th anniversary sale
As part of its 20th anniversary celebration, the landmark record store is offering 20 percent off of all used jazz LPs, CDs and 45s.
Antone’s Record Shop (map) Hours: 10-10 Mon-Sat / 11-8 Sun
Permalink | | Categories: Music
May 23, 2007
Emo music wants to eat your children. Film at eleven.
[from ABC4] “ABC 4 News is sounding the alarm about a teen phenomenon sweeping the nation. It’s something we found most teens know about, but few parents had any clue of. It’s called EMO CULTURE.
“Our news team began their study of emo culture on the Internet, where we quickly found hundreds of sites dedicated to teaching kids what emo is and how to be it. One site instructs, ‘dye your hair black. Style it in the gunshot wound and never be happy.’”
I had to re-read the URL multiple times to make sure I was not reading a story from The Onion. I don’t know if it is because Utah is so culturally and geographically isolated from the rest of the world that they would just now be catching wind of this emo subculture or if everyone just lives with their head in the sand there. What’s even more alarming is the way in which they paint a drastically macabre and ludicrous portrait of a rather innocuous musical culture. As a hilarious footnote to the story, they direct concerned parents to Wikipedia for more information about what “emo” is.
The fact that the “discovery” is painted in such an alarmist fashion would be hilarious if it wasn’t so dadgum reprehensible. “Happiness is a sin to emo culture,” the article reports. “In a state where the number two cause of teen death is suicide, experts say parents need to know emo culture and understand it.” It’s like my grandfather is writing about heavy metal or something. Someone get Tipper Gore on the phone before She Wants Revenge kills another desperately lonely and isolated Utah teen!
Some investigative journalists in Salt Lake better start warning the kids about the danger of drinking Coca-Cola and eating pop rocks before somebody gets hurt.
You have to watch the video here. It SHATTERS the unintentional comedy scale. Must be a sweeps month.
(Photo of She Wants Revenge (c) AP.)
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music
May 10, 2007
Damien Rice concert review
The modern-day Irish troubadour opened his show at the Bass Concert Hall sitting alone at a piano under a soft spotlight, as he played the eerie ballad “9 Crimes” from last year’s album “9.” The amazing acoustics of the venue gave power to the haunting vocals that, in this setting, seemed to resemble a tortured man emptying his soul in a darkened castle in Killarney.
As the opener’s last notes drifted into the rafters, a thin screen slowly lowered at the front of the stage as the kick drum of Tomo Osander quickly changed the initial mood of the evening. Backlit and projected onto the screen in giant silhouette, Rice and his band launched into a raucous rendition of “Me, My Yoke and I.” The enhanced production value of the number, and the evening, compared with Rice’s previous live performances in Austin, stood in stark contrast to the vulnerability of the opening number.
Rice then treated the audience to the subtle beauty of “Volcano” and “Older Chests” from his debut gem “O,” along with “The Animals Were Gone” from his latest release, before launching into a more upbeat and rocking set than that to which most of his fans have become accustomed. Lacking the angelic backing vocals of his former musical partner, Lisa Hannigan, Rice leaned heavily on the modulated sounds of his condenser microphone and ample feedback and looping.
As opposed to years past, when he was known to chastise a talkative crowd, Rice engaged the audience midway through the set with back stories to various songs, sharing his thoughts on love lost, the cathartic beauty of letting go and the realization that life is an endeavor most fully realized in the present and not the past.
The 800-pound gorilla in the room, or more to the point, the 120-pound Irish lass not in the room, was Hannigan. Rice explained to the crowd that the vocalist was in Ireland working on her own songs and “something more beautiful than what she can contribute to this (his current band).”
Although the lack of Hannigan’s ethereal vocals at times left the music lacking, it allowed Rice’s art to reside in a more corporeal realm, a place much better suited to fight (and play with) his demons.
As with previous American tours, Rice was backed by the cohesive rhythm section of Osander and bassist Shane Fitzsimons, along with cellist Vyvienne Long, who had her moment in the spotlight when she took the piano alone onstage for a delicate tongue-in-cheek rendition of the Flaming Lips’ “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.”
Following an unmiked “Cannonball” to close the set, Rice returned for an encore that included a staged send-up of his painful “Cheers, Darlin’,” a song penned to an unattainable woman. As Rice sipped wine and intentionally slurred each successive line to the song like Peter O’Toole at a wedding before sauntering offstage, it became clear that while he still acknowledges the pain love can make us suffer, he has learned to do so with a wink and a smile, a message that resonated soundly with the audience.
In the words of fellow Irishman Jonathan Swift, “We are so fond on one another because our ailments are the same.”
(Image taken from Rice’s MySpace page.)
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music
April 3, 2007
Those crazy White Ghost Shivers
An email from the band explains:
“The Shivers wanted me to pass along their sincere apologies for any news reports they made you flub or any heartbreak they caused with their “Last Show” jest… Happy April Fools! “Shivers last show? Not in your wildest dreams! They just wanted to give their second-favorite holiday a kick in the pants and remind people how much fun (or trouble) April Fools’ jokes can be. “In case you weren’t at Stubbs on April 1 to catch the show, they wrote song just for the occasion called “Sick of Your S***” which featured never-on-vocals (for a reason) sax/clarinet player John Doyle and bass player Mike Poppitt along with the rest of the Shivers singing about their post-WGS plans: everything from basketball to Broadway to bluegrass. Hilarious!”
So, for all of those wondering, the band is not finished. In fact, they’re playing The Mohawk on Thursday evening.
Party on, Wayne.
Photo of WGS from their MySpace page.
Permalink | | Categories: Music
March 30, 2007
Free De La Soul concert
Quirky superstars of the jazzy hip-hop scene in the late ’80s and early ’90s and prominent members of the Native Tongues Family, New York’s De La Soul will be playing at the Parish on April 16 as part of Scion’s Metro Live Tour. The show is FREE, but you must RSVP. Don’t worry, this isn’t one of those parties that is gonna get shut down. Just follow the link and make sure you get there early on the night of the show, as space is limited and, undoubtedly, more people will RSVP than will be able to get in.
The Rhythm Roots All-Stars open, and there will be a DJ set by DJ Hier.
De La Soul
The Parish
Monday, April 16
FREE
Permalink | | Categories: Music
March 29, 2007
Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan end musical partnership
When I reviewed Damien’s latest album, ‘9,’ for Austinist late last year, I noted how Lisa’s role was much smaller than in Damien’s debut ‘O,’ an absence that diminished for me the power and beauty of the latest album.
An official statement read, “After much thought and discussion Damien has decided that his professional relationship with Lisa Hannigan has run its creative course. As a result Lisa will not be appearing at any of the upcoming live shows. Lisa is embarking on her own artistic endeavours and there are no plans for them to work together in the foreseeable future. The current band on tour at the moment are Damien Rice, Joel Shearer, Shane Fitzsimons, Tom Osander and Vyvienne Long.”
Rice’s show at the Bass Concert Hall in May now will be very bitter-sweet for me, as Lisa possesses one of the most powerful and ethereal voices I have ever heard live. Damien and Lisa’s first visit to Austin in December of 2003 at the Paramount was one of the most moving shows I have ever seen. I always promised myself (half-jokingly) that I would ask her to marry me if-and-when I ever met her, but when I finally did get to chat with her briefly in 2004, I couldn’t pull the trigger. Probably a good thing.
It will be interesting to see Damien without Lisa, although I imagine the music will suffer from losing such a rare talent. I look forward to hopefully getting a chance to see her solo work in the near future.
For prosperity’s sake…
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music
February 19, 2007
Of Montreal at Emo's
Almost a year to the date of the last time I saw them at Emo’s, I headed down to Sixth St. Friday night to check out Of Montreal. (Click here to see photos from the show.) In typical fashion, the band brought their DayGlo dance party to the masses, although the spirit of this show was a little darker than the utter power trip-pop of last year, thanks ,in part, to an overzealous fan and some more introspective lyrical content of the band’s latest album “Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?,” an album that comes hot on the heels of some serious personal drama in the life of band leader Kevin Barnes.
The group still let their freak flag fly, however, as they took the stage to the crescendo of “Carmina Burina” in their bizarre costumes that mirrored both a psychedelic King Arthur’s Court and the fantastical world of Alice in Wonderland, with Barnes peeling back layers throughout the show, morphing from a Ziggy Stardust-themed character into an Alex De Large (“A Clockwork Orange”) look. The set list generally culled from the group’s past three albums, with a nice sampling of songs from their latest “Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?” (“Bunny Ain’t No Kind Of Rider,” “Labyrinthian,” and “She’s A Rejecter,” among them).
The band maintained, as always, exuberant energy throughout, deviating from one style to another, often within the same song. But herein lies my problem with the band: The thing I love about Of Montreal is also the thing that kind of wears on me. While I find it charming and musically challenging to see them jump from a funky falsetto with a beat thumping on the one into a slowed counter-tempo and waltz, as they did in “Labyrinthian Pomp,” after awhile the constant bounce from pop to rock to funk to soul can be kind of jarring, and authenticity gives way to monotony.
In the band’s defense, they continue to take chances and have stayed true to their artistic vision. That vision, however, was called into question during a contentious bit of back-and-forth between Barnes and an audience member who displayed an Outback Steakhouse banner just feet from the stage. The group sold the rights to one of their most popular songs, “Wraith Pinned To The Mist And Other Games,” to the national restaurant conglomerate, and apparently some fans feel this move made the band, and Barnes specifically, a “sell out.” It seemed to me that most of the fans were agitated by the sign, if not for the message, for its obstruction of their view of Barnes, but Barnes seemed the most perturbed. He lashed out at the sign holder, and from what I could discern, said something to the effect of, “You think I’m a sell out? I’m wearing a freaking thong up here.” Right on.
Certainly the band has the right to sell their music to whomever they want. As Barnes told Pitchfork last year, “We thought it would be totally amusing to hear their take on one of our songs as a jingle” And fans have the right to express their unhappiness, but I would suggest if you think your favorite band has sold out, either don’t attend their show or save your trite vitriol for internet message boards. Don’t ruin the show for everyone else.
Barnes bashed on regardless, telling the audience that he wanted to spread good vibes. Fret not, Kevin. As evidenced by the bouncing masses singing along to each tune, Mission: Accomplished.
Image by Jonas Riise Hamre, taken from Wikipedia
Permalink | | Categories: Music
February 13, 2007
Autumn's breeze makes me feel fine
Following the Longhorns’ easy dismantling of Big XII foe Oklahoma State last night, I switched gears completely and headed downtown for a show at the Parish. Moving from a raucous crowd of nearly 13,000 with their almost nationalistic school chants and blaring band to an intimate venue of 70+ folks listening to warm Americana pop is like pulling the emergency break in your car while cruising in the fast lane on Interstate 35.
But unlike the alarming and dangerous act of said driving maneuver, my walk down to the Parish on Sixth Street proved to be the perfect way to unwind following the game. Unfortunately, the length of the game forced me to miss openers Michael Booher and Catherine Davis of Zykos (which I will certainly check out next time they play together), but I did arrive in time to see headliner the Autumn Defense, side project of Wilco members John Stirratt and Pat Sansone. The project gives these two gifted multi-instrumentalists the chance to spread their wings beyond the purview of songwriter Jeff Tweedy.
While Sansone is a relative newcomer to Wilco, I have always been impressed with Stirratt’s acceptance of his role with what is essentially Tweedy’s baby. While he has been given a slightly greater role in helping dictate Wilco’s sound in recent years, Stirratt has been wise enough to know that the Wilco gig is a good one, and that the best way to stay a part of the ever-changing band is to let Tweedy call the shots. Just ask Jay Bennett.
Since the early 2000s, Stirratt seems happy to get his more independent creative and writing jones satisfied by his work with the Autumn Defense, as well as in another project featuring his sister Laurie. The group put on a lovely show last night; the only thing missing was a gigantic fireplace in the middle of the club.
Last night at The Parish, the group played a 75-minute set with songs from their three albums, as well as the EP they recorded with Hem. The band features a warm, lush sound that harkens back to Laurel Canyon in the late ’60s and early ’70s. I spent the evening half-expecting to see David Crosby or Joni Mitchell to walk into the club at any moment. Sansone and Stirratt have perfected a beautiful harmony that was refreshingly, in this era of loud and often derivative indie rock, reminiscent of the sounds of Bread. Mixing in the occasional electric guitar with their friendly and familiar acoustic sound, the band would slip slightly towards a moodier sound only to pull back into its soulful strumming.
At one point in the show Sansone, after realizing the band had indeed played here during SXSW a couple of years ago, said “SXSW is awesome, but it isn’t Austin.” And though the crowd was a little too tame to vociferously respond, Sansone could not have been more accurate. Monday night at The Parish was undoubtedly Austin, even bordering on an Austin from a different era, one of peace, love, marijuana and acoustic sing-alongs, with the band dedicating their encore, Fleetwood Mac’s “Sentimental Lady,” to all the old Austin hippies.
Photo by Amy Lombardi from band’s Web site.
Permalink | | Categories: Music
February 7, 2007
The M.O. Interview: Austinist writer Tom Thornton and DoneWaiting editor Robert Duffy talk SXSW
The announcement of the SXSW Music band list is imminent. Or is it? While the public waits, bloggers surf the net hoping to confirm the lion’s share of the bands participating.
This year more than ever, the blogosphere has been abuzz about the expected line-up for SXSW. With festival promoters withholding names of bands until much later than in previous years, music bloggers and fans across the country are scouring the Internet in hopes of scooping the list or stealing the thunder of the uber-furtive SXSW honchos.
Chris Gray’s TCB column in last week’s Austin Chronicle (AC Editor Louis Black helped start SXSW) featured an interview with SXSW Music Creative Director Brent Grulke. In it, Grulke comes off as rather arrogant and aloof, making it clear in no uncertain terms that SXSW is an industry event and that organizers are not concerned about the general consumer. “The largest thing is we’re not trying to promote to consumers at all,” Grulke says in the interview.
The fact that the event is intended for industry insiders and corporations is no secret — just ask festival-goers for whom they work come mid-March; or take a look at the number of corporate sponsors’ tents and banners; or the paucity of wristbands (around 3,000) sold to non-registered attendees. But this year the organizers seem to be going out of their way to thumb their noses at the common music fan.
I caught up with Austinist music writer Tom Thornton and Robert Duffy, editor of DoneWaiting.com, two of the bloggers who have been at the forefront of the band, and asked them about SXSW’s strategy and the reasoning behind the bloggers’ labor-intensive endeavors to get the information to the public.
What led to your decision to scour the net and work your sources to get the information to the public? Tom Thornton: Last year, SXSW released a list of around 100 bands by 12/15 (as quoted in Pitchfork), then released a 700(ish) band list on 1/14 and a 1,000+ band list on 1/23. This year, as of today, they’ve announced around 100 acts on the site and in their newsletters and magazines for badge-holders. Obviously the rules have changed for 2007.
So, what was originally going to be a weekly series of posts from 1/1 to 3/15 focusing on day parties, label showcase previews, and “secret performer” type gossip temporarily became a post about “who is actually playing the festival?” We looked through the PR material from indie labels and publicists, at official band Web sites and MySpace pages, at long-established SXSW blogs like Done Waiting, and at Google News for foreign press stories and the like. So far, we’ve been able to find about 500 acts that confirm they are playing the festival.
Robert Duffy: I started the SXSW blog on donewaiting.com four years ago when I was heading to Austin for the first time for the festival. At the time, there wasn’t really any solid source online outside of the main SXSW site covering the event, so I decided to be that person. I’ve always found it funny that my site is such a huge source of information on the festival, considering I’m based out of Columbus, Ohio, but that’s how the Internet works, I guess.
Have you received any backlash from fest organizers? TT: SXSW has not contacted us in any way about the list. We’re using public information and information distributed to music media only, so there’s no cause for them to do so, really. I think there’s simply a big difference of opinion between their point of view (that delaying the list will discourage day parties and be more accurate, from what I’ve seen) and that of our readers (who are trying to book day parties and hotel rooms [bands] or are trying to decide whether to buy a badge/wristband and book a flight [music fans]). There’s a real demand for the information, especially given the precedents set in years past.
RD: I feel like we have a pretty good relationship. Over the years I’ve had a chance to meet some of the people running the fest, and they really have a passion for music. With that said, when I accidentally stumbled upon the entire 2004 schedule on their site before it was officially published, they gently asked me to take it down and I did. I didn’t want anyone losing their jobs over my blog.
What is your take on SXSW’s stance that they are solely concerned about being an “industry festival?” Do you think SXSW is hurting their public image by being so furtive and difficult? TT: I think that there is more of a consumer side to the festival than the SXSW position might indicate. Every year, many people fly from around the world to attend the festival who have little or nothing to do with the music industry. Of course, SXSW is right that some of those people made their plans months ago when hotels were available and badges were cheaper. So it seems that the ‘delayed’ list hurts bands and managers the most, especially from a logistics point of view, assuming some of them don’t yet know if they’re playing.
Finally, let me just say that I love SXSW, and I’ve bought a badge for the last three years. It is one of if not the coolest week of the year to live in Austin. So, we don’t want to cause trouble - we’re just trying to help SXSW attendees make decisions and stay informed.
RD: Their excuses don’t seem to add up. They’ve said that they don’t want all this attention from the consumer audience about trying to get tickets to the big-named bands, but it’s the big names like Iggy Pop that they announce first! It seems like the organizers want to have their cake and eat it too. If it’s just for industry, I don’t know what’s the point of having huge, well-established bands involved.
Like I said, this is the fourth year I’ve covered the SXSW festival on my site. For the first three years, everyone who spoke to me and wrote me spoke of SXSW in a special way only reserved for Mother Teresa and Christmas. This year, it’s a little different. People are really upset about how SXSW is handling the release of the band information. And when SXSW organizers give interviews, it seems like they’re talking down to the public, trying to shame us for being anxious about the festival.
On top of that, not releasing the information is really hurting the smaller bands. In the past, if I was a small band playing at SXSW, most of the industry would know that in January, giving all the booking agents, record labels and press a chance to stumble upon a little band. At this point, these small bands (which are what an industry festival is supposed to be about, right?) are going to get lost in the shuffle, with less than a month to spread the word about their festival appearance…
(Full disclosure: Prior to coming to the Statesman, I worked as editor at the aforementioned Austinist, for which Tom Thornton writes.)
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Music
February 6, 2007
SXSW wristbands on sale? Not so fast
I received a text this morning that read, “What’s going on at Waterloo? There’s a huge line!”
The first thought, naturally, was, “Wow! SXSW wristbands on sale?”
While I was not near my computer, I was fairly certain that could not be the reason. My certainty came from the fact that I had not received a text message from the SXSW SMS service. Last year, that little beauty of the electronic age gave hundreds of us a heads-up on the early wristband sale. Could someone at the Chronicle or with SXSW have leaked information to their friends? Were people simply speculating?
I drove to find out for myself. By the time I got there the line had diminished to the point that it was easily contained inside the store. As it turns out, the mad rush to the record store had come from Waterloo’s exclusive “Hear TX Here” program.
The exclusive monthly promotion allows local musicians to have their music featured at in-store listening stations and in print ads that run during the famous industry-specific festival. With thousands of record label folks in town, along with thousands of music lovers — though the festival is not for them (more on this in a post later today) — the Feb. 22-March 21 installment of the “Hear TX Here” program is the brass ring for local artists in their attempts to reach the widest audience possible. As you are aware, with in-store performances and thousands of shoppers shuffling their way through the store in mid-March, you cannot put a price-tag on the visibility that comes from having the thousands of eyes that see a well-positioned record at Waterloo.
In order to assure a spot in the listening station program, artists must submit CD cover artwork, one or two sentences of promotional copy, a cash or check payment of $1,250 and at least 25 copies of the CD.
Artists must get all of their materials in as soon as possible on the booking date, and are accepted on a first-come first-served basis. For more information, email Jessie Strub at Waterloo or call 512.474.2500.
Or, just head down to Sixth and Lamar now! Good luck.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music
January 25, 2007
Tweedy opens up at Hogg
Hot on the heels of a night of playful back-and-forth with the audience on Tuesday, Jeff Tweedy returned for more of the same Wednesday night. And then some.
Tweedy kicked off the sold-out show with the cautiously hopeful alt-cowboy song/query “(Was I) In Your Dreams.” He then fought through the first of what would become an onslaught of audience outbursts and moved into “Sunken Treasure,” a song that worked well to showcase a voice that seems to have grown significantly stronger since the Wilco frontman put down the American Spirits and took up jogging.
After displaying some fine dexterity with his picking on an Uncle Tupelo classic, “Wait Up,” Tweedy let the audience know that he was in the mood for another healthy dose of the playfulness he exhibited Tuesday night. He offered up a classic open-mawed scream pose for those in the audience who were desperately trying to take pictures of their hero singer-songwriter. He described the pose as, “The only picture I’ve ever seen of me in a newspaper,” and then implored the audience to put away their cameras so we could all enjoy the rest of the show. After the flashes died, the Bud Light-pounding girl to my left finally retrieved her camera and snapped a few shots. My skin crawled and stomach tightened, a reprimand from the notoriously moody performer was imminent, I was certain. “Was that a flash?” he asked incredulously. Following a brief smirk, the potential meltdown averted, Tweedy continued his set with a beautifully stripped-down “Muzzle of Bees.”
Tweedy went on to entertain the mildly annoying crowd with songs ranging across the spectrum of his sizable catalogue — playing tunes from each of the Wilco albums — including a song (“Not for the Season”) from the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos — along with songs from his two side projects, Loose Fur and Golden Smog.
Seeing a Tweedy, or Wilco, show generally poses one of two seriously problems for me. Either Tweedy will be surly and frustrated with a chatty crowd and pontificate about our need to subjugate our individual needs of self-expression and gratefulness, or, as was the case Wednesday night, he will engage the crowd with his banter, which in turn gives the audience the impression they’ve been given carte blanche to be obnoxious. I think I prefer the former. It can grate watching the self-admittedly neurotic performer chide an audience, but it is much more of a beating when he interacts excessively, as it leads to an unfortunate barrage of requests, admissions of love and horrible attempts at humor from the audience. I know adoration and booze can be an elixir that easily compels open expression, but can’t people remain relatively silent for 90 minutes? If Wednesday night was any indication, apparently not.
But I don’t mean to be a curmudgeon. I had a wonderful time, and although Tweedy’s stage chatter may have led to unnecessary admissions and requests from his devotees, it also offered some wonderful insight into one of the best songwriters of the past 25 years.
Tweedy discussed his notorious neurosis with the adoring crowd. “I’m super neurotic. You mighta figured that out,” he admitted. “I’ve got a problem, and it’s you. It’s you liking me a little bit.”
A young lady responded forcefully, “We love you,” to which Tweedy could only respond, “See, that’s worse. Now I don’t trust you.” Now that’s sharing. “I said we are gonna rap about our feelings and I meant it. And sometimes it hurts,” he later confessed jokingly. Talk about sharing.
Wednesday night he shared stories, laughs and some beautiful tunes spanning the last two decades. So, maybe the audience shared a little too much, as well, but if it didn’t bother Tweedy, I guess I won’t let it bother me.
Jeff Tweedy at Hogg Auditorium 1.24.07
Set List
- “(Was I) In Your Dreams” (“Being There”)
- “Sunken Treasure” (“Being There”)
- “Wait Up” (“March 16-20, 1992” - Uncle Tupelo)
- “Muzzle Of Bees” (“A Ghost is Born”)
- “At My Window Sad and Lonely” (“Mermaid Avenue”)
- “Not For the Season” (“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos”)
- “Box Full of Letters” (“A.M.”)
- “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” (“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)
- “Radio King” (“Down by the Old Mainstream” - Golden Smog)
- “You Were Wrong” (“Loose Fur” - Loose Fur)
- “How to Fight Loneliness” (“Summerteeth”)
- “Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard” (“More Like The Moon”)
- “Heavy Metal Drummer” (“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)
- “The Late Greats” (“A Ghost is Born”)
Encore 1:
- “California Stars” (“Mermaid Avenue”)
- “A Shot In The Arm” (“Summerteeth”)
- “Jesus, Etc.” (“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)
- “ELT” (“Summerteeth”)
Encore 2 (sans PA).
- “Dreamer In My Dreams” (“Being There”)
- “Acuff-Rose” (“Anodyne” - Uncle Tupelo)
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music
