Somehow in my 12+ years of fandom, I’d never made it to see Evan Dando and Co. in concert before Saturday night’s show with “The Lemonheads” at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver. There was a deep sense of goodness & nostalgia permeating the show, which I was more excited about than any show I’ve seen recently.
The warm and golden voice of Evan Dando soundtracks many many good memories for me, and I’ve loved him from his early days of alternative poster-boyhood (with the flowing long hair), through his Oasis/party hearty/crack cocaine days (though I was with you on that ‘what’re you doin’ man?‘ train of thought), the solo albums, on up to this year with the fantastic new Lemonheads album.
(yes, that photo’s upside down)
On a freeeezing Saturday night, the venue was intimate, the setlist fabulously varied, and Dando was still rocking the stoner-sailor look with a striped long-sleeved shirt, although a bit older (aren’t we all?). The crowd was a mix of reminiscing fans in their 30s-40s and beyond, some barely 21-plus who probably were playing kickball on the blacktop when It’s A Shame About Ray came out, and the same enthusiastic Japanese girl from the Ben Kweller show a few months ago who brought presents for the performers and pom poms for cheering.
Check out some video: the stage was quite dark so photos didn’t turn out too hot.
GREAT BIG NO (loooooove the way this video turned out once the song starts – gorgeous lighting, sounds fantastic)
THE OUTDOOR TYPE (a divergence from the setlist, a happy surprise)
INTO YOUR ARMS (also a bonus, a lovely little acoustic version, just a minute and a half of sweet goodness)
MORE VIDEOS: It’s About Time (audio is pretty out-of-control fuzzy loud, sorry), Become The Enemy (love this from the new album, again watch the fuzz-audio), and a snippet of My Drug Buddy (which I think I may have been, uh, singing backup to as I filmed). Also very good were the renditions of Ride With Me and Rudderless, but I didn’t get video. And he did Being Around, which you either love or hate, eh?
The impending concert date inspired me to go into the basement and open my box of high school ephemera in search of a little tongue-in-cheek zine I ordered back in the day called “Die Evan Dando, Die.” At least I hope it’s a joke.
I think the author of this photocopied, hand-addressed bit of ’90s lore was just jealous of Evan’s sunny good looks, and annoyed with his sensitive-strummer persona.
If I had gotten to talk with Evan (I didn’t), I was considering asking him to sign it, but also a little worried that he’d think it was a bit scary (and me as well, by extension). So I think that maybe it worked out for the best for everyone involved that’s he’s a bit reclusive nowadays after shows.
Here is a helpful guide from the zine, which I hope you can read because it’s awesome:
Fresh from the studio recording her sophomore album with T Bone Burnett, Brandi Carlile passed through Denver last week on her current tour with Shawn Colvin. I’ve seen Brandi twice before, and as you may recall was thoroughly impressed by this twenty-something with a huge and expressive voice. The show did not disappoint, and this time I was able to take some video to share.
“Hallelujah” (cover of Jeff Buckley’s take on the Leonard Cohen classic) Got chills taping it, got chills again watching it. Man alive can she wail with that emotion. [direct link to video if embed doesn’t work]
“Tragedy” with cello accompaniment (a gorgeous song featured on Grey’s Anatomy)
Hurrah and yee-haw. Forget that other low-quality recording I posted of Trent Reznor’s Bridge School performance a few weeks ago. Delete it from your computer. Done? Now, thanks to an anonymous Polish music fan, I have a great-quality recording of his set.
Visit the original post for new links to mp3s of the songs he scorched through (check out “Something I Can Never Have” and “Piggy,” probably my two favorite re-interpretations).
I would have had these up sooner, but I am still having pain-in-the-arse hosting troubles since EZArchive sucks on something unattractive and sweaty. The hosting alternatives I am looking at are all considerably more expensive than what I had set aside for a year of EZArchive, but seem more reliable. If you regularly visit this site and would like to pitch in a few bucks to make your downloading experience here simple and easy, please consider tossing me a few kopeks through the PayPal donation button on the bottom right of the toolbar, which a reader recently recommended that I add. I feel weird even asking, but it would help me help you and be able to afford a better server. Win-win-win situation.
OH! And hot dang part II: Pearl Jam Bootlegs blog has up stupendous audio from both nights of Pearl Jam, complete with album art and some nice photographs. Looks like whoever took the shots was about fifth row or so. A huge hurrah there too.
Well, my trolling through the world of the internet has finally yielded a good quality recording of one of Trent Reznor’s sets at the recent Bridge School Benefit show.
You need to hear his face-melting set; you can read my review here. I reiterate my unbridled desire for Trent to embark on a small-venue tour with these kinds of acoustic reinterpretation of his songs, because they seriously blew my mind.
NEW FILES! Updated 11/2, good quality. #2 and #3 are especially recommended. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find #9, “Hurt,” which was a popular one, so I have re-upped the link to the older, lower-quality version of Hurt from the last set I discovered.
In 1985, Pegi Young (Neil’s lady) helped to start a school in the San Francisco Bay Area for local children with severe physical and speech impairments (their son Ben is affected by cerebral palsy). The Bridge School helps to remove expressive barriers for these children through augmentative and alternative means of communication with the world around them.
The nice thing about being associated with a respected member of the musical community is that The Bridge School received the seed money needed to open, as well as ongoing financial support for the last 20 years, with an annual star-studded, quality benefit show organized by Neil & Pegi. The Bridge School Benefit has had some amazing artists over the past 20 years.
I’ve gone to as many of these shows as I could afford, and have seen more phenomenal acoustic performances than I can even remember. This year it was a happy & nostalgic coincidence that our family vacation to California to see family lined up with the 20th annual benefit show weekend. I was able to stay one extra night so that I could attend the Sunday night show after seeing the lineup this year: Devendra Banhart, Gillian Welch, Death Cab For Cutie, Trent Reznor, Foo Fighters, Brian Wilson, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, and Neil Young.
There was not one artist going into this show that I didn’t want to see — we all know that often with festivals there are one or two duds that you could care less about, but for me I was curious to see everyone, so I spent the 15 minute set-change breaks running to get what I needed so I could get back to catch each artist’s performance. As I started the beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon at Shoreline I had a space on the lawn, then some kind and fantastic stranger walked up to me and gave me his single ticket in the seats for unknown reasons. So that was a huge bonus and one of those fine things that just reaffirms your faith in humanity. Thanks “Tom” (from your e-ticket)!!
After the usual 2-song opening dealie with Neil and Pegi Young, Devendra Banhart took the stage with his newly-christened band “The Bridge” (wonder how he came up with that?) which included Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch on guitar. Banhart was more rocking than some of his folksier and warbly works I’ve heard off his latest album Cripple Crow (“Quedate Luna,” “Luna de Margarita”). He seemed to channel a bit more rock, in the vein of The Black Crowes, and overall I liked him. He looked a bit overwhelmed with the massive crowd — I’d like to see him in a smaller setting.
Gillian Welch is a giant of the bluegrass/country/folk scene, and I get the feeling that she is very well-respected among her musician cohorts. Regrettably, I have not been super familiar with her work beyond her collaborations with Ryan Adams and her contributions to the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack (I do a mean lullaby rendition of “Go To Sleep Little Baby” from that collection, a song that she performed at the show with the help of longtime musical partner David Rawlings and Petra Haden). She was confident and rocking, with a gospel tune in the mix, as well as a handful of her own songs and I believe a Neil Young cover (maybe “Country Girl,” it’s hazy).
Death Cab For Cutie may have converted me from hesitantly standing on the sidelines into a full-contact player/supporter/fan. I thought their set was really lovely and sounded great. Their cover of Graham Nash’s “Military Madness” with Neil Young was fantastic, and Ben Gibbard started the show with a solo “I Will Follow You Into The Dark,” which is an undeniably poignant & beautiful tune. Some of the other song choices may have been a little questionable (a note about the Bridge School shows: children from the school sit on the stage as a special audience), such as the “second most depressing song” in their catalog, “What Sarah Said” (“There’s no comfort in the waiting room, just nervous pacers bracing for bad news . . . who’s going to watch you die?”).
There was a bit of discomfort (or should I say, a sense of heightened awareness) listening to those lyrics being sung in that setting. Every year there is a conflict that I see of artistic freedom: the artists aren’t there to do a kiddie show, and yet there those little ones are, sitting there watching with their parents, ears and eyes wide open.
Speaking of that very conflict, Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) was up next. And he summarily blew my mind, moreso than any artistic act I have seen in the last several years. I cannot express how transfixed I was. I have been an unabashed Nine Inch Nails fan since I discovered Pretty Hate Machine in the mid ’90s, a disc that I think still sounds fresh and innovative and lyrically honest (brutally so). I wasn’t sure how Reznor would possibly fit into this acoustic setting. But he gets major, major props from me for meeting the challenge and using the opportunity of the setting to try something new. Get this: he comes on stage with a string quartet and a piano. The only percussion is little egg shakers. He has arranged 5 of his songs into orchestral pieces, and it was freaking *#%!! amazing. (AUDIO HERE)
He started out at the piano with a reinvention of “Something I Can Never Have,” almost unrecognizable at the start but then those familiar lyrics kick in and all that raging earnestness and nihilism is there, floating atop gorgeous strings and various dischordant sounds from striking the inside of the piano. He stands in front of the mike for the second song, holding the shakers and kicks into a steady rhythm. Not sure where he’s heading and then he whispers the opening lines: “Hey pig…” Fantastic. He also completely nailed “The Fragile” and “Hurt” (little blurry video clip here that gives you the idea). Mr. Reznor goes down in my book as an absolute genius for that set and I wish he would do a full tour like that. Amen for continuing creativity and not being content with staying musically static.
I seriously could have just seen Reznor’s set and gone home happy, but luckily there was more to come. I’ve never seen the Foo Fighters live before but thought that their set was great. Dave Grohl is an affable frontman (“Don’t invite me to your party,” he warned, after “clumsy Dave!” tripped over a microphone cable). After starting with “Times Like These,” they performed a nice rarity that Dave wrote on the spot a few years ago during a BBC interview, “Skin and Bones.” Even though the set was acoustic, Grohl headbanged his way through some ferocious strumming on the acoustic guitar, and drummer Taylor Hawkins tightly bashed and banged his way along. I thought it was notable to see Pat Smear perform with them again (he’s a bit of a legend in my book) and Petra Haden was sizzling on the violin and mandolin.
The bittersweet version of closing song “Everlong” was riveting — I never really listened to the lyrics before but ouch, they’re good and really shine in that arrangement. Dave recounted the story of a few years back at the Bridge School Benefit when they performed “Everlong” for the first time in such a stripped setting and Dave returned to his trailer and cried like a baby after it was over.
Brian Wilson was a bit puzzling and disconcerting. I was greatly anticipating his set, hoping for some of that same acoustic creativity that Reznor displayed. I know he’s not in the best health (I believe he has suffered a stroke?), and the bright and loud performance tried its best to camouflage that through amped up backing vocals, a huge band, and lots of assists on his microphone. Wilson seemed to often get lost in space or stare off into the distance. He was wearing a long-sleeved baggy white t-shirt and blue running pants, looking as if he had just come in from a sedate jog, or maybe practicing tai-chi in the park. He just ran through the standards, which were fun and I admit I sang along to pretty much every word, but something was lacking overall in the energy of authenticity. Neil Young joined Wilson to play organ on “Good Vibrations” which was full and gorgeous.
Pearl Jam took the stage next for their 7th year performing at Bridge School, and it is always great to see them. Perhaps I am biased, but I love how they dig deep for a great set of eclectic tunes. They started with an impassioned cover of Dylan’s “Masters of War,” followed by a soaring acoustic version of “Gone” off the new album. I was mightily hoping for “Parachutes,” which they had busted out Saturday night but it was not to be. The full setlist was:
(AUDIO FROM BOTH NIGHTS HERE) Masters of War Gone Around The Bend (hurrah! great song) Thin Air (another hurrah! video @ end) Lukin (ha) Betterman Black Throw Your Hatred Down (with Neil Young, WATCH VIDEO)
Every time that Pearl Jam plays the Bridge School, they dedicate a special song to a Bridge student named Maricor who has become a friend of the band. She always looks so embarassed, yet overjoyed. Saturday night it was “Crazy Mary,” and the night I was there it was the sweet gem “Thin Air” (“and I know she’s reached my heart, in thin air“). PJ honored another song request from one of the male students who, as Ed said, “likes it a bit rougher.” He then aggressively launched into “Lukin,” a one-minute hard punk song from 1996′s No Code. I laughed. The closer with Neil Young (from their joint 1995 album Mirror Ball) was impassioned.
Dave Matthews Band bored me to tears. I’d say I am a DMB fan, in the sense that I have their albums and they’ve written some crackingly good tunes over the years. But I felt his performance was just so standard and a little too indulgently jam-heavy. It was like your average DMB concert, instead of taking advantage of the setting to bust out some rarities or other acoustic gems. The songs they picked were just the radio hits, “Crash,” “Everyday,” “Jimi Thing,” etc. Each was stretched into 10-15 minute jams, during which I found my mind wandering. If I could have handpicked a better set (presumptuous! I know!) I would have voted for things like: “Say Goodbye/#41″ “Pay For What you Get,” “Busted Stuff” or “Lie In Our Graves” and a few covers. Neil Young joined him at the end for an almost 30-minute version of “Down By The River.”
How was Neil Young‘s closing set? Rumored to be with Elton John? Donno. My parts were freezing (toes numb, nose cold) and I was exhausted so I actually bailed early. I’d seen Neil already several times during the day with the other artists and sleep beckoned to me mightily.
Here are a few select tunes from Bridge School years past (links re-upped 11/12/06):
Some of the best news from the event was that in honor of the 20th anniversary, the Bridge School plans to offer a selections of songs from that last two decades for download on iTunes starting November 14. If they offer anything from Trent Reznor’s piece de resistance, I will download them as quick as lightning. It will be interesting to see what they select to make available, they have ample high-quality fodder.
Great music for a great cause, gorgeous day. Yay Neil & Pegi!
Recently I had the pleasure of sharing some Japanese food with San Francisco singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson before his show in Boulder, catching up with him about his current tour, the music he loves, and new album coming in 2007. You’ve heard me talk abouthimbefore; a bonus discovery for me when he opened for G. Love and Special Sauce, of all people. He’s currently co-headlining a tour with Carbon Leaf, and has played with folks as varied as Fiona Apple, Toad The Wet Sprocket, O.A.R., and Train.
Matt is a compelling songwriter with a biting edge and a fiercely humorous energy. No moon-faced mopey songwriting here, he’d rather strike with a sharply incisive lyric or a driving melody. Even his acoustic shows rock pretty hard, and this current tour is with a full band, so it is exciting to see that side of his music as well. As Matt said once in concert, “Tonight is going to rock, I guarantee you. You are going to run home tonight, naked, and possibly on fire.”
How could you resist? I hear nothing but good things in the future for this fellow.
A CONVERSATION WITH MATT NATHANSON
Let’s start with a hard-hitting and serious journalistic question: If you were a white rapper, what would your street name be?
(no hesitation) MC Bitch Tits.
Niiice. I first saw you as an opening act last March in San Francisco, and the crowd was happy but not always, shall we say, attentive. What have you learned from being an opening act that you now use in your headlining shows? I imagine it must be quite an acrobatic stunt trying to hold the attention of some of these crowds.
Sometimes it’s a better fit opening for certain bands vs. others. When I opened for Tori Amos it was fantastic because the crowd was really ready to listen. G. Love can be a little bit more of a tough crowd. But I’d say I like being the opening act better, actually, than headlining. I like being the underdog and being underestimated and kind of trying to win my way. It’s much better than being in a position of, “Put on a great show. I came here to see you.” Much cooler. I mean, both are good shows, but I think opening is just fun in general. I like it.
It seems as if you are a total cover whore, which I can appreciate because I am too. Some are serious and gorgeous, like Romeo & Juliet, or Springsteen, but others are not so much (White Snake, Rick Springfield). How do you decide what covers to do, and what do you bring to it that makes it worthwhile?
People don’t always appreciate the Boss, but every crowd appreciates White Snake. For us as a band, it’s fun to do covers that are stupid, like last night for fun we did “Dancing With Myself,” didn’t really rehearse it. So it’s usually just like you’re in middle of a song and something makes you think of something, you follow the train of thought and all of a sudden you’re at “Crazy Train.” Occasionally, tags on the end of songs or at the beginning just pop into my head, like “Anna Begins” (or “Such Great Heights”) with “Bent,” or “Pictures of You” with “I Saw.”
Are there any covers you want to do that you haven’t tried yet?
Ohhhh . . . I want to do “Dreaming” by Blondie. I think that’s a great song. Ah, I love that song. But I don’t think we’ll ever do it.
Dual pronged question about music, take your pick:
-What do you find yourself listening to most often now?
-Top 5 Desert Island Discs
Oh, I buy records all the time, I go every Tuesday to the record store. It depends which one — Best Buy is cheap, but I go to Amoeba first . . . great. And Tower on Columbus, before Tower went belly up, they were great. My top albums? Man, how about…
U2 – Achtung Baby
Def Leppard – Hysteria
R.E.M. – Life’s Rich Pageant
Lou Reed – New York
Jane’s Addiction – Nothing Shocking
aaand . . . maybe Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (Black Crowes) if I can take six onto this island.
Music that’s blowing my mind; John Darnielle / The Mountain Goats. I’ve known him for a really long time, since college and he’s just soooo good (see A Violently Perfect Song). The first song on the new Ani DiFranco record blew my mind. I was really excited about that new Black Crowes double record thing that came out. I bought the My Morning Jacket live record, and last week I bought ummmm . . . Fergie (yeah), and Luna’s greatest hits. It just piles on, stacks and stacks of CDs, and eventually I get there and find time to listen to it all.
Are there any songs that you ever don’t feel like performing because they are so wrenching and, well, a lot of the situations are pretty crappy? Like, Ryan Adams wrote: “there are just some songs that are too painful, not in an emo-core way or whatev, but in a personal way, that i see in a way that makes me uneasy and unable to translate from the frame of mind i am in now . . . and that song [Come Pick Me Up] doesnt speak to me. it isnt what i would say if i were being myself . . . i respect the song enough not to sing it and lie.”
Can you relate to that at all with any of your songs?
There may be songs that I don’t sing, just ones that don’t translate anymore . . .But that stuff’s all still in there, inside me. It hasn’t been solved. You know, it’s all kind of still — you can get to it pretty easy. It just sort of sits in a corner and waits for you to sort of be like, “Heyyyy!”
I don’t think I’ve had any trouble relating still to my songs. That’s probably not a good sign for my development as a human, but I can still pretty much relate to everything in there, all the ones I play.
In the past 11 years that you’ve lived in San Francisco, are you finding any specific influences from the city in the music you’ve written? Is there a sense of place that comes from songs written in different locales?
Unh-unh. Songs may be about different places, that happens. Like this song’s kind of a New York song or that one is somewhere else, based on the characters in it or whoever I wrote about. But most of my songs are just really specific about events, they’re mostly letters to people.
Like, a record from me will be, like, 12 letters to the same person. They’re not hybrids of different situations in the same song — I try not to do that because I want to communicate something to that person that the song is written about, that’s usually how it works. Almost to a fault, I feel that I really adhere to that concept, like trying to explain this situation in a song, what’s really going on in my life.
As far as San Francisco goes, as a songwriter I haven’t really written any songs that for me feel like San Francisco. I tour a lot. I try but — in songwriting I am working on kind of expanding the palette a little bit, so things get a little more dynamic, a little more soundscapey, you know?
I was talking to my friend today and I feel like I do a lot of, like, “Here’s a song. Here it’s delivered, here it is.” And it’s time to stop doing that, it’s time to start delivering them in a little bit more of a — Like making greatness, or trying to make greatness. It’s like when you have a record like the first Sheryl Crow record, that’s pretty much a singer-songwriter record, but like “Strong Enough” is just amazing because they totally went left field with how they made it, like what kind of guitar they used, and rhythm.
Once you’re confident in the songs, I think the next step (and I’ve never been able to do this) is to sort of step outside the confines of the song and see what it can be. There’s a couple on the new record that feel like they’re closer to that.
What do you think it would look like to reach that elusive quality of “greatness” in a song that you spoke of?
Ohhh, I don’t know. Like . . . Springsteen. Springsteen has moments. Springsteen is actually an example of someone who does the opposite of that concept. He adheres to strongly to the traditional structure — they sound like a rock band, but the lyrics, that’s where he gets away with it. “Born To Run” makes you feel like you’re on the Jersey shore, but it’s not because of the music, I don’t think. It’s more about his lyrics. Or like with U2, you hear “Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World” and, holy shit, it’s like it’s 6am on some street corner somewhere, like you are actually there.
It’s almost done, actually. There are 11 songs done, and we’ll record another 4. We’re recording it in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and it’ll probably be out in April of 2007. I’ve got a couple of titles floating around; it can be hard to name the album but eventually it just comes to you. I was thinking The Knife-Thrower’s Wife, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen now. I don’t actually know what it will be called right now.
Here are some unreleased songs you’ve done live that we’re curious about. Can you tell me which of these might be on the new album?
(Looks at paper)
*Prove to Me — “that’s never gonna make a record”
*So Long — “that’s so long gone”
*Car Crash — “that’s new, yep”
*Bulletproof Weeks
*Stay
*I Can’t Get to What You Need
*Winter Dress — “that’s called Wedding Dress now”
*Detroit Waves
*Come On Get Higher
*This Heartbreak World
So, yeah, pretty much all of those except “Prove to Me” and “So Long”.
You’ve worked with some awesome musicians on your last album: Matt Chamberlain, Glen Phillips, David Garza. Who would be on your dream team of collaborators for the future?
A couple of records ago I had Charlie [Gillingham] from the Counting Crows come in and play piano and he is just great. I loved working with Matt [Chamberlain], who was in Pearl Jam for like three weeks. I just totally just saw Pearl Jam in Irving Plaza, it was a fucking incredible show.
David Garza is amazing, just constantly creating. Our bass player John played with his band for a while around the time of This Euphoria.
And Glen Phillips sang some backup for me, and that was great. I’ve known Glen for a really long time, I just played a bunch of shows with Toad and we had a great time. He and I have known each other for like 14 years, and we had a fucking good hang, it was great.
There’s not many guests on the new album — my friend Susie sings backup on a couple songs, she was on that show Rockstar. I’ve never seen the show but she just has a great voice.
The new one, it’s kind of a mix of electric and acoustic. We’ve been debuting some of the songs at shows recently, we’ll play a bunch of them tonight.
Last question. I love your “Starfish & Coffee” Prince cover, it is an inspired flash of glory. So . . . what’s the best Prince song ever, and why?
“Never Take The Place of Your Man” live from Sign ‘o’ the Times the movie. Now that’s a great song. Prince is just great.
Matt and his band did indeed rock Boulder that night with a crowd that was extremely attentive and tuned in to the vibe of the show. It was a pretty powerful aura of connection with the audience that evening, and the band seemed to be completely jelling together and really hitting their stride.
Matt played a mix of old and new songs, as well as a nice Violent Femmes cover and their cover of “Laid” by James. Of the new material, “Detroit Waves” was absolutely scorching, and I really liked the maturity and honest incisiveness of “I Can’t Get To What You Need.” Check it out, I think it’s great:
Finally, here’s a bit of his performance of “Bare,” another great song:
As a completely irrelevant postscript, I have to say that one of the funniest parts of the conversation we shared (and my personal favorite quote of the night because I am a total dog person): A golden retriever puppy comes up to our outside table. Matt asks the dog, very enthusiastically, “What are you doing?! Why are youperfect? Oh my god, you’re awesome. You’re so soft. What happened?!”
Come on, fuzzy puppies and good music. How could that not make for an excellent evening? Definitely go see Matt on tour if you can, and I am looking forward to hearing all of his new album next year. The strength of his lyricism and the goodness of the melodies make Nathanson one that I plan to keep an eye on.
Detroit Waves (I think Matt said this was about being in an airplane over Detroit and not able to text message someone who you couldn’t control anymore)
Bulletproof Weeks (Matt said this was about sleeping with someone that you really shouldn’t be sleeping with, and how it gets bad)
Ben Kweller rocked the Gothic Theatre in Denver last night, and he is set to do it all over again tonight in Boulder. I wish I could go again because it was a hot show.
From the moment Ben stepped onstage with his own concert t-shirt on (modified into a sleeveless contraption of some sort) and shook that shaggy hair, we were off and flying. Although Ben plays all the instruments himself on his fine new album, that’s not gonna work so well live (unless you have one of those wearable accordion/harmonica/drum dealies with a cymbal on the side).
On the tour he’s got a tight backing band, and the show opened with “Penny On The Train Track” (love love love it), followed by a scorching rendition of “Run.” His new album sounds even better live, if that’s possible.
His mostly electric show worked through old songs and new, with a nice acoustic breather in the middle and a piano segment (during which he dedicated “Thirteen” to Liz and Dorian Kweller, the wifey and baby). Speaking of his baby, Ben was spotted out in the crowd during opening act Sam Roberts Bandwearing little Dorian in a Baby Bjorn while the tot sported noise-blocking headphones. Start ‘em young, I say! It’s great to see Ben enjoying being a new daddy, and still managing to effortlessly rock his way through the haze of sleeplessness. In my opinion the man should reproduce boldly & repetitively because his tunes have only gotten richer through his growth as a husband and a father. I guess we’d have to see what his wife thinks of that idea.
I highly recommend catching Ben on one of his remaining stops this tour. He’s got a few more weeks of U.S. dates before rocking Europe. The set was nicely varied between older material (“Family Tree,” “Hospital Bed,” “Commerce, TX,” “Wasted & Ready”) and many tunes off the new album. Ben clearly enjoys what he is doing, and is an excellent songwriter — varying between classic slacker anthems, gorgeous love songs, and rockin’ the party riffs.
Check out this performance of “I Gotta Move,” definitely one of my favorite tracks on his new album — it was superb last night (sorry for the loud fuzzy spots on the audio, as usual):
After the show Ben very amicably greeted fans and chatted on cell phones to several elated folks who couldn’t make the show. He is very approachable and friendly, which is always refreshing. Later that night he helped take all my money (okay, like $4) in several rounds of the dice game Cee-Lo (named after our favorite Gnarls Barklian? or vice versa?). I was having a hard time getting the dice to land on the table. I was surprised how much trouble I was having, likely because I am retarded.
Fab musician, gambling whiz, and all along (if you note in the picture there) the new dad had a pacifier in his hand. Aah, the rock ‘n’ roll paterfamilias. Awesome.
Last month I was fortunate to get to see San Francisco band Luce here in Colorado Springs, and was completely blown away by their entire show, but especially thrilled at this Beatles cover. As good of a show as I’ve seen in many moons, their set was melodic, catchy, tight, and fun.
There are three or four moments of loud/scratchy audio on this video (sorry!) but it is worth watching. The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” becomes unrecognizable as a loose, atmospheric, rocking jam — in the best possible way. Oh, and I’ll bet you SO didn’t know that Air Force cadets crowdsurfed:
I shared a few beers with guys from Luce after their show and their whole story as an independent band is fascinating: their struggles, their joys, their pure passion for music. I am looking to do a longer feature/interview with them in October, so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out either their self-titled debut CD (winner of the “Outstanding Debut Album” at the 2003 California Music Awards) or 2005′s Never Ending, which has been getting constant rotation in my car this summer.
Also, if you are a Western U.S. (CA/NV) type, you have a few good opportunities to see them in the coming weeks:
Sept 30 – Little Fox Theatre, Redwood City, CA: This is a “Band Together” benefit/feel-good-vibes event for Luce, who has faced a string of crappy luck lately, with all their musical equipment stolen on the road & a fire that gutted frontman Tom Luce’s SF home. The event will feature some great Bay Area musicians as well as the Luce fellas.
Nov 2, 3 & 4 – The Sweetwater Saloon, Mill Valley, CA (again, a SWEET venue, great band, how can you go wrong?)
I saw The Format last night in Denver as a birthday present from my sis, and what a present it was. Even though Kristy and I questioned that we somehow exceeded an unspoken age limit among the other patrons (which seemed to be about 15? 16?), I was absolutely blown away by these guys and am still smiling the next day.
Background: I have both of The Format’s full-length albums (Interventions + Lullabies and Dog Problems), as well as a collection of other tracks. I like them very much, I sing along, etc. etc. HOWEVER, as good as their CDs are, they truly pale in comparison to seeing them live, which makes everything just click together into one of the best concerts I have seen in a while.
Now, I know that I am an enthusiastic gal, especially when it comes to music that I like. I’ll give you that. And while I certainly stand behind all of the musical recommendations that I have made thus far on this site, this next one comes with a disclaimer that I REALLY MEAN IT. Like, 200% more than other times I have said “Hey, this band is really good.” I wish I had stronger words to express my strong emotion here. So listen:
The Format is essentially frontman Nate Ruess & multi-instrumentalist Sam Means, along with a host of musician friends when they tour. Nate is a fireball of charisma on-stage, with swagger and presence and a magnetism that reminded me of a consummate rockstar like Steven Tyler, oddly enough. He really connects with the crowd and got everyone singing along, jumping & clapping. It is nice to see that confidence and connection in an age of shoegazers and mumblers (nothin’ wrong with that in its place, but I’m just saying . . .)
Nate has an unusual voice, that’s undeniable. I wasn’t sure where to file it in my mental catalogue until I saw them live, and then it all makes sense and I want to hear him sing all day long. It’s a powerful instrument he’s got there in his pipes.
Backing Nate were no fewer than EIGHT musicians of various stripes: guitar, bass, vocals and drums, sure, but also shakers and keyboards and trombones. Come on. Sheer pop goodness. Sometimes it sounds like a circus, and sometimes they channel Queen a bit, but there is no denying the well-crafted nature of their songs, the creative lyricism, and the downright danceability and quality rock ‘n’ roll.
Although they are in completely different veins, my sister remarked that the vibe at the show was like fellow Arizonans Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers in concert, if you’ve heard me rave about them. It was the same electric sensation throughout the crowd that uplifts and unites and (at the risk of sounding like a cornball) reaffirms your faith in the power of a fantastic live music experience.
I agree with blog buddy Nathaniel when he says, “I’ve seen a lot of shows, and The Format rank up there with the very best of them.” Very very best indeed.
TOUR DATES: Here are your remaining chances to see them live on this tour. If you’ve ever said to yourself, “Hey, Heather has made some decent musical recommendations,” then TRUST ME ON THIS, lay down the twelve kopecks or whatever and GO SEE THEM. You absolutely will not be disappointed:
Aug 23 – Salt Lake City, UT – In The Venue Aug 25 - Seattle, WA – Neumo’s Aug 26 – Portland, OR – Loveland Aug 27 – Orangevale, CA – Boardwalk Aug 28 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s Aug 29 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues Aug 31 – Hollywood, CA – Avalon Sep 1 – San Diego, CA – Soma Sep 2 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues/Courtyard Sep 22 – Birmingham – Carling Academy Sep 23 – Manchester – Apollo Sep 24 – Leeds – Leeds University Union Sep 26 – Cambridge – Corn Exchange Sep 27 – Southampton – Southampton Guildhall Sep 29 – London – Carling Academy Brixton
AUDIO: (Note: Does anyone know where I can find a good quality live/electric set from The Format?Here! Right here! Highly recommended: 2006 Western Tread Showcase set)
Tune Out(Interventions + Lullabies) One of the first few songs, and everyone (including me) sang along at the top of their lungs when the chorus broke. It was a great moment.
Give It Up(Interventions + Lullabies) They nailed this one last night. This is the first song I heard by The Format, and still one of my favorites.
The First Single(from the EP) The final song, anthemic and sweaty and once again, everyone sang along. (Who names their first single “The First Single”? These guys do.)
TWO BONUS COVERS, just because: The Lottery Song (Harry Nilsson cover, since some say they share a vibe)
VISUAL: For the quantity of Format videos on YouTube, the good quality ones are quite hard to find.
“Tie The Rope” (officially shot video):
If you want to get a sense of The Format from where I was standing last night (in the roiling, churning, 15-year-old crowd), check out this girl’s video clips from the Hartford, CT show. I wanted to embed the one of “She Doesn’t Get It,” but darn YouTube won’t let me. It demonstrates Nate’s patented microphone toss, the clapping and some of the fantastic crowd chemistry.
This one is of a poorer quality, but totally watchable, and I am including it because you can get a sense of how well the crowd knows the songs and sings along: “Tune Out“ video (7/14/06)
And because I forgot my camera, the lovely pictures above come from Taylor’s post.
I had a strong sense watching these guys that they definitely have “IT” — that star quality and superb music that could take them all the way to the top. Why are they not all over the radio and on everybody’s iPod? I have a feeling that they will be soon.
Friday night in Boulder was a tag-team lineup of great acts at the Fox Theatre, and then we were to scurry next door to Tulagi to catch the next act before repeating it all over again. It was great. Here were my two favorites:
Jackie Greene‘s absolutely marvelous set at the Fox on Friday night (and then chatting with him a bit in line while I bought a drink afterwards at the convenience store across the street). Kid’s younger than me, but sounds like he has amassed a lifetime of road-weary wisdom and tight musical chops. Definitely buy his new CD American Myth, post-haste. He’s on tour now.
JACKIE GREENE, SO HARD TO FIND MY WAY (video)
(or click this link if the stupid embedded video doesn’t work. This is my favorite video I’ve shot recently, just an excellent performance. Sorry about the three blips of loud audio.)
Corinne Bailey Rae is absolutely enchanting live – she commands the stage with her voice, but couldn’t be more adorable (and I say that in a completely non-patronizing way – it is effortless charm, not cutesy gimmick). Even though I was about to die during her set from the 147 degree barn that is the Tulagi venue on a hot summer night with NO A.C., I took these two videos for your viewing pleasure (and occasional audio displeasure, sorry for the loud spots), then I almost fainted.
Name: Heather Browne Location: Colorado, originally by way of California Giving context to the torrent since 2005.
"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel." —Hunter S. Thompson
Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.
Somehow in my 12+ years of fandom, I’d never made it to see Evan Dando and Co. in concert before Saturday night’s show with “The Lemonheads” at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver. There was a deep sense of goodness & nostalgia permeating the show, which I was more excited about than any show I’ve seen recently.
(yes, that photo’s upside down)
The impending concert date inspired me to go into the basement and open my box of high school ephemera in search of a little tongue-in-cheek zine I ordered back in the day called “Die Evan Dando, Die.” At least I hope it’s a joke. 
There was not one artist going into this show that I didn’t want to see — we all know that often with festivals there are one or two duds that you could care less about, but for me I was curious to see everyone, so I spent the 15 minute set-change breaks running to get what I needed so I could get back to catch each artist’s performance. As I started the beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon at Shoreline I had a space on the lawn, then some kind and fantastic stranger walked up to me and gave me his single ticket in the seats for unknown reasons. So that was a huge bonus and one of those fine things that just reaffirms your faith in humanity. Thanks “Tom” (from your e-ticket)!!
I seriously could have just seen Reznor’s set and gone home happy, but luckily there was more to come. I’ve never seen the 
:
Fab musician, gambling whiz, and all along (if you note in the picture there) the new dad had a pacifier in his hand. Aah, the rock ‘n’ roll paterfamilias. Awesome.
Name: Heather Browne
