Tag: photos

4 Comments

Trampled by Turtles/The Infamous Stringdusters at the Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio, 11.6.10

  By

Trampled by Turtles

Many times, when you hear one song by a band and are instantly excited
by it, the rest of that band’s repertoire can be disappointing. I
heard Trampled by Turtles’ “Wait So Long” a while back and loved it
instantly, so when they started off their set at the Beachland
Saturday night with a mellow number, while it was a lovely song, I
wondered if I was in for impending disappointment. But all misgivings
were completely wiped out by the second song when TBT launched into
the thrash-grass sound that’s been garnering them fans all over the
country.

TBT played a very good mix of slower tunes with their fast tunes, but
it was obviously the fast ones the audience had come for, and I don’t
think anyone was disappointed. Between the foot-stomping that was
going on out on the floor and the guy who was headbanging to my left,
for a moment, I wondered if a mosh pit was going to erupt in the
ballroom.

The band themselves seemed to be having a great time, too, smiling and
laughing often. They traded off lead vocals once to let their talented
bass guitar (note: not upright as you usually see in string bands) Tim
Saxhaug take the reins on a good-feeling-inducing song about wishing
you knew then what you know now. And with their talented roster (Dave
Simonett on guitar and lead vocals, Dave Carroll on banjo, Ryan Young
on fiddle and Erik Berry tearing it up on mandolin) and amazing
energy, they are able to pull off what not many other bands of any
genre can without losing the audience halfway through: instrumentals.

(Sidenote: Even though TBT are from Minnesota, I couldn’t help wishing
they would cover the classic “Rocky Top”.)

They played for an exhilarating hour, closing with a rendering of
“Wait So Long” that seemed to work the whole of the Beachland into a
frenzy, resulting in the first time I’ve ever experienced an opening
act being called back for an encore. They certainly made a lot of new
fans in Cleveland.

The Infamous Stringdusters

The Infamous Stringdusters (Andy Hall on resonator guitar, Andy Falco
on guitar, Chris Pandolfi on banjo, Jeremy Garrett on fiddle, Jesse
Cobb on mandolin, and Travis Book on upright bass) are musicians’
musicians, centering many of their extended songs around trading off
solos and flexing their chops. They’re a bluegrass jam band, in other
words. There are a lot of solos… and a lot of “faces” (you know
those faces that some musicians make when soloing hard), especially
from Pandolfi and Falco.

Despite a couple of sound system issues (the between-set house music
wasn’t turned off until midway through the first song and there seemed
to be interference in Falco’s equipment late in the set), the
Stringdusters played through tunes like “I Am a Stranger”,
“Blackrock”, “Deep Ellum Blues”, a great cover of U2’s “In God’s
Country”, “High on a Mountaintop” and more straight country get-downs
like “You Can’t Handle the Truth” and “Why You Been Gone So Long”.

(Props to Garrett for his Google search and destroy T-shirt.)

For their encore, the Stringdusters teamed up with Trampled by Turtles
and brought the show down to the ballroom floor… which I’m sure was
great if you were part of the inner circle that gathered around the
bands but was barely audible to those of us left on the outskirts.
Though I can report from the singing along heard from the audience
that the bands played a sped-up version of the classic “Sittin’ on Top
of the World”.

One Comment

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Titus Andronicus/The Felice Brothers

  By , ,

NTSIB loves the Felice Brothers. NTSIB also loves boys in dresses. Now we can enjoy our two great loves together! Hurray for Halloween!

Continuing my ongoing life-theme of music related traveling, last weekend NTSIB friend Joy and I drove up some twisty mountain roads to Poughkeepie to see Titus Andronicus and the Felice Brothers. Trivia: Joy first saw The Felice Brothers when they were playing on the subway platforms in Brooklyn; I only learned about them this past January, and for all of the times I’ve seen them this year, this show was the first one in an actual club. And it was wonderful.

IMG_3861

Titus Andronicus was once again amazing. The crowd was of course much smaller than the one at Webster Hall, and during the first song I thought they might be a little bit lukewarm. Oh, was I ever wrong. As soon as the second song started, they began moshing. And I do mean moshing; there was hair, beer and limbs flying everyehere, Joy almost got knocked over four times, there were dudes in tweed sport coats pummeling the bejsus out of each other in a circle pit during almost all fourteen minutes of Battle of Hampton Roads, and it was fantastic.

IMG_3864

Then the Felice Brothers came out. They had gotten properly into the spirit of the weekend and busted out some costumes. I’ll just let the pictures do the most of the rest of the talking:

IMG_3895

IMG_3907

IMG_3902

IMG_3899

Various members of the Diamond Doves came along to play the horns and the occasional drum, and they also dressed up for the occasion:

IMG_3914

And there was a costum contest in the middle of the show. Here’s Ian Felice with his favorite, the girl who was dressed as a refrigerator:

IMG_3943

And in conclusion, one from the encore. This is the one that Joy leaned over to say “I like that one” after I took it:

IMG_3949

As for the music – I’m completely useless with setlists, and can only tell you that the songs they played included Run, Chicken, Run, White Limosine, River Jordan, Frankie’s Gun, Ballad of Lou the Welterweight, and Take This Bread, and that overall it was much more up-tempo than they have been recently. By which I mean, they didn’t play Damn You, Jim this time, to my everlasting relief. It’s a beautiful song, it’s just I find it unutterably depressing. (Song I really wish they would play live: Cooperstown.) In any case, it was a great night, and a great show.

— Jennifer

No comments

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Black Cards

  By , ,

Jennifer re-employs her uncanny ability to get killer shots of Pete Wentz as he broadens the current trend of bands with “Black” in their names. While my taste frequently diverges from Jennifer’s, and NTSIB would not have any Wentz-related content without her, I’m truly proud to be able to feature her great shots here.

Black Cards

IMG_3745

Pete Wentz amid a forest of hands and cameras

Apparently I have some mysterious talent for taking reasonably good but yet oddly blown-out pictures of Pete Wentz. I took this a week and a half ago in a teeny-tiny club in Poughkeepsie. The occasion was the last night of a three-show mini-tour by Black Cards, which is his new band. Blown out or not I’m fond of it, though, because, well, look at his little grinny face. He was having fun, y’all, and I was glad I could be there to see it. (Also, that forest of hands and cameras? They were there ALL NIGHT. I was three rows back from the stage and that was essentially my view!)

As for the music: it was great. Their sound incorporates elements of reggae and dance-pop and is wholly different from Fall Out Boy, but is still definitely rock and roll. They don’t have a record out yet, but based on what I heard, I’ll be picking it up when it does appear. Meanwhile, you’ll find links to listen to and/or download the two singles they have on the internet here. Note: the singles are representative of their dance-pop side. They’re much heavier live, and the drums and guitars have a larger, more solid presence. I won’t make April’s head explode (today) by using any “sounds like” comparisons, but I will say: imagine what No Doubt might be like if they had Chicago grit and New York City glamour going for them.

IMG_3759

Bebe Rexha, Nate Patterson, Pete Wentz


You might now be wondering whatever possessed me to take a two hour train ride to Poughkeepsie to attend a show in a teeny-tiny bar by a band with no record out and only two singles on the internet. The answer is: April has Greg (fucking) Dulli, I have Pete Wentz. Also, while I’m not going to get into the tedious gory details, suffice it to say, the tour and the music were and are the physical fruits of Wentz’s recovery from a rough year. And it was really, really good to see him happy on stage again.

Meanwhile, here is another one of my favorite pictures from the evening:

IMG_3752

Bebe Rexha


This is Bebe Rexha (of Staten Island!), lead singer for the band. Her voice is delicious, and her stage presence is killer. I believe I used the phrase “hot reggae swagger” to describe it to people.

I’ll conclude now with an atmospheric shot of the alley next to the club, in honor of Halloween. And because everyone needs some spooky lights and shadowy dragons in their Wednesday, right?

IMG_3783

— Jennifer

No comments

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Mark Ronson and the Business INTL

  By , ,

This week, Jennifer reveals the quirky interests of her childhood and sees Q-Tip! (Oh, and this Mark Ronson kid.)

IMG_3650

Mark Ronson and the Business INTL

I have spent a certain amount of time in the last couple of weeks listening to Record Collection and pondering the question of how to descibe the sound of Mark Ronson and the Business INTL. A potpourri made of hip-hop and synth-rock electronica? The soundtrack to someone else’s glamorous life? The kind of thing that would be playing the background of a Wes Anderson movie? All of the above? I finally settled on: a delicate, complicated game of vocal pick-up sticks with hot dance beats, though The Business’ Twitter bio says they’re “Nature’s The Traveling Wilburys”, which might also be a wholly accurate description.

IMG_3607

Stuart Zender (Jamiroquai) and Alex Greenwald (Phantom Planet)


Ronson has certainly managed to pull in an eclectic collection of musicians, representing multiple generations of multiple genres. I was at the Webster Hall show, where in addition to the Business – Rose Dougall, Alex Greenwald, Stuart Zender, MNDR, and MC Spank Rock – hip-hop artists Q-Tip and Pill showed up to jam. At his UK shows, audiences were treated to Boy George (!) and Duran Duran (!!).

IMG_3619

MC Spank Rock

What all of that talent in one place translates to is some great tunes amd a really, really fun show. I’ve already expressed my appreciation for the title track; I’m also especially fond of You Gave Me Nothing and The Night Last Night. It’s important to note here that I am normally not so much into synth-pop; back in the early ’80s, while my sister was wearing out her Rio tape, I had my radio dial tuned to hockey games, Larry King Live and Loveline. But these grooves are kind of irresistible.

IMG_3632

Q-Tip

Also, for those of you who are squinting at your screen right now thinking Mark who?, his previous (concurrent?) incarnations include being a DJ and, perhaps most notoriously, Amy Winehouse’s producer. Though he’s worked with a whole lot of other people as well, in fact he made a handy flow chart for an interview he did with New York Magazine.

IMG_3628

MNDR and Mark Ronson

In conclusion: If you did like synth-pop, or still do, and in particular of you prefer your synths poppy and untroubled by industrial undertones, there is a lot for you to love here, and you should totally check them out.

— Jennifer

4 Comments

Craig Wedren/Greg Dulli at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, OH, 10.16.10

  By

Craig Wedren

Given my long-standing love for Greg Dulli (generally referred to in my world by his proper name: Greg fucking Dulli), it was a given that I would jump on tickets to this special acoustic show, Dulli’s first solo tour. When it was announced that Craig Wedren of Shudder to Think would be opening, my eyes nearly rolled back in my head. In the later 1990s, before bands began breaking up and band members died, my holy triumvirate of music was topped by the Afghan Whigs with Morphine and Shudder to Think anchoring the other corners. I was fortunate enough to see each of these bands play before tides turned, and I cherish the memory of those shows. To be able to check in with the frontmen of two of those bands in one night was a special treat.

Wedren looked exactly as I remembered seeing him back in 1997 when Shudder to Think toured in support of 50,000 B.C.: fresh, lean and handsome with a spectacular smile and a sparkle in his eye. Mixing his solo and film work (including a song from his project Baby) with a few Shudder to Think favorites – like the ubiquitous “Red House”, “Hit Liquor” and “X-French Tee Shirt” – Wedren switched off between acoustic and electric guitars and occasionally employed a loop station to create a rich layers of sound. And he was as at ease on stage as ever, cracking wise, musing and making dedications to his mother and his wife.

Craig Wedren’s best instrument has always been his voice, and it remains strong and supple. He ranges from baritone to falsetto and back again with ease, sometimes using the loop station to create eerie harmonies with himself. Beautiful from start to finish.

Greg Dulli

When Greg Dulli took the stage, flanked by frequent collaborator Dave Rosser on guitar and Rick Nelson on cello and violin, it seemed he might be satisfied to rest on his laurels for this low-key “Evening with”. While the first four songs of the set, which included the Gutter Twins’ “God’s Children” and brand new Twilight Singers’ track “Blackbird and the Fox”, were good, something was missing. The renowned Dulli fire was set to low. But with the Twilight Singers’ stormy “Bonnie Brae”, the burner was turned to high, and that familiar, scorching howl rolled forth from Dulli’s ragged throat.

Though the evening was heavy with Twilight Singers songs, Dulli did, as promised, trot out some Afghan Whigs classics like “Let Me Lie to You”, “If I Were Going” and “Summer’s Kiss”, and even, per an audience request, an unscheduled turn on “66” (the first time played on this tour, Dulli quipped that Cleveland had broken his cherry).

The encore, which kicked off with the Twilight Singers epic “Candy Cane Crawl”, contained the only true non-album cover of the night, a passionate take on José González’s “Down the Line”, culminating in Dulli’s repeated howl warning “Don’t let the darkness eat you up”. It was a goosebumps moment.

Dave Rosser already has a solid reputation as a stand-up guitarist and didn’t fail to impress, but it was Rick Nelson who really shined on the strings this night, sometimes flowing a layer of incomparable beauty under a song and sometimes ramping up the passion to roof-blowing proportions.

But it wasn’t a perfect evening. In attendance was the drunkest crowd I’ve ever experienced in such a small venue, and they kept sending their loudest, gabbiest emissaries to stand right in front of the stage and chit chat, both to Dulli and among themselves, through both sets of the night. One particular offender, who had bullied her way rudely in front of people who had been holding their spots for two hours, had to be called out by Dulli twice before she got the message to “shut your fucking mouth”. It was possibly the first time I’ve ever left a show annoyed.

Greg Dulli Setlist

No comments

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Fall Mix

  By ,

Not the Fall as in Mark E. Smith, but fall as in the season. This week, Jennifer shares some thoughts on her current favorite tunes.

School foiled my concert-attending plans last week, so today you get a selection of things currently in heavy rotation on my iPod, along with some pictures from my recent travels.

1. Love Hurts, Grievous Angel, Gram Parsons feat. Emmylou Harris – Yes, it’s that “Love Hurts.” You may be more familiar with the Nazareth version — I was — but this one is 90% less cheesy and ridiculous. The song is infinitely better as a country love song than as a heavy metal power ballad. The lyrics have a lot more oomph now that I can listen to them without laughing.

2. Slink (A Hymn), Theme song for The Good Guys, Locksley – This band signs off all of their news emails with a cheery “Be in love” which makes me both grin and half-roll my eyes every time. Oh, babies. I’ll work on it, okay? I’m a cranky old lady, though, so you have to give me a running start. Meanwhile: this song is a delightful story about falling in love with someone else’s lady on the dancefloor, or maybe just about flirting via dancing. I’m not quite sure. But it’s definitely a whole lot of fun, and never fails to pull me out of the end-of-a-12-hour-day dumps.

IMG_3552

Waterfire, Providence, Rhode Island, October 2010

3. Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Flamingo, Brandon Flowers – This song should be the first thing travelers hear upon deplaning at McCarren Airport. And it should be turned up loud enough to drown out the sound of the slot machines. (I was sure “slot machines at the airport” was an urban legend until I walked off the plane and saw them, and the lights of the Strip flickering in the distance.) There are a lot of love songs on this record; this one is for Las Vegas herself.

4. Cheat on Your New Lover With Me, Inconvenient Dreams, Jail Weddings – From what I can gather from the Internet, there’s a kind of ’60s revival going on in certain circles of the Los Angeles music scene. There’s the mods ( The Like), the surf-pop (The Young Veins), and then there’s the rockers: Jail Weddings. If I was put in charge of remaking Grease, Frenchie and the rest of the Pink Ladies would totally get down to Jail Weddings’ grooves. I think of this one as Rizzo’s song. It’s a filthy, irresistable suggestion, the kind of thing one would whisper to a hot boy in a fast car before hopping in and putting your feet up on the dash while he guns it for the state line. I like to listen to it while I walk to the train in the morning. True confessions: I had the whole five song EP on repeat for a while. It really is that good.

IMG_2734

A seabird @ Asbury Park, New Jersey, September 2010

5. Blackhawk, Wrecking Ball, Emmylou Harris : Listening to Grievous Angel and Wrecking Ball on shuffle will break your heart, because when she comes up on her own, her sweet clear voice sounds so lonely without his warmer tones harmonizing. Blackhawk is a requiem for a love story — though not theirs, necessarily — and it is a gem. Also beautiful: Wrecking Ball, the title track, and Waltz Across Texas Tonight.

6. Brian Eno, Congratulations, MGMT – I’m so late to the MGMT party that everyone who’s already there is at the “sitting on the front stoop looking mournfully at empty solo cups” stage of the evening. Okay, I’m not going to abuse that metaphor any further. I love their second record, and this song in particular, because it sounds like Scooby Doo. If I was making videos for them, there’d be lots of cartoony effects and “RUT ROH!” thought bubbles. Also possibly willowy boys in miniskirts and go-go boots chasing a caped miscreant through a candy-colored dreamscape.

IMG_2874

Lion statue, Washington Heights, September 2010

7. Love Drunk, Love Drunk, Boys Like Girls – The first and so far only time I have seen Boys Like Girls live was in the summer of 2009, at the (unintentionally hilariously misnamed) MTV Sunblock Fest, on a miserable, wet, cold July day at Jones Beach. It was raining so hard there was water whipping across the stage in sheets, and the crowd was huddled in hoodies and ponchos, sipping hot chocolate. I had gotten good and mostly-soaked watching the opening bands I had come to see (Gym Class Heroes and The Academy Is . . .) but for whatever reason – curiosity or cussedness – I stuck around for Boys Like Girls. This song is one of the many reasons I was glad I did. It’s a classic break-up song of the “Don’t let the door hit you on the behind on the way out!” variety, and it’s got a satisfyingly bouncy melody as well as entertaining lyrics.

8. Na Na Na, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, My Chemical Romance – I did not want to like this song, or their new record. I was fully prepared to be sulky and cross about their metamorphasis into brightly-colored dance punk being broadcast from 2019. (I like brightly colored dance-punk and post-apocalyptic futures, mind, but we had been teased with early reports of a gimmick-free punk rock record.) I may have done some grumbling about too much California sun rotting their brains. And then somewhere between a killer opening guitar riff, eight legs to the wall/hit the gas/and the wall/and we crawl and let me tell you ’bout the sad man/shut up and let me see your jazz hands, I caved, and now I’m hooked. I take it back, My Chemical Romance; I’m in. Bring on the candy-colored cap guns and awe-inspiringly ridiculous stage costumes. If you’re ready to dance, I’ll pogo with you.

IMG_3389

Cactus from Brown University greenhouse, October 2010

9. Club Can’t Even Handle Me Right Now, Step Up 3D (soundtrack), Flo Rida , feat. David Guetta – This song is ridiculous and I love it. It’s bubblegum pop from a movie whose main conflict resolution device is dance-batttles and I can’t stop listening to it. I suggest you put this one on if you have a tedious chore to do and need something fun to ease the pain and/or pass the time.

10. Record Collection,Record Collection, Mark Ronson and The Business Intl. , feat. Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon and Wiley – Part of the peculiar alchemy of this record, and also this song, is how many people Ronson has brought in to share
the singing duties; the overall effect is of a big game of vocal pick-up sticks. This particular track, sung by Mark Ronson, Simon Le Bon and Wiley is a sweet synth-pop confection of a tune that is mainly about the perks, trials and tribulations of being a pop star. Sample lyrics: I drive ’round cities in a chariot, I get preferential treatment at the Marriott, but if the truth be told I’m naked under all these clothes. I’ll tell you what it is on my mind, I only want to be in your record collection.

— Jennifer

No comments

Henry Clay People/Drive-By Truckers at Musica in Akron, OH, 10.5.10

  By ,

The Henry Clay People

The Henry Clay People took the stage with confidence and ease, and while the beginning of their set struck me the same way their album Somewhere on the Golden Coast struck me – decent but same-y – things picked up with a song dedicated to the Drive-By Truckers (“This Ain’t a Scene”, I believe) and only got better from there. Joey Siara helped endear the band to the crowd by soliciting requests for cover songs… though the crowd was possibly stuck in a time-warp as Siara’s guidance to suggest a band from the ’70s was met with a shout for Guided By Voices. After a creditable rendering of “Game of Pricks”, Jay Gonzalez was brought on stage to join the band for a stop-start go at “Space Oddity” that included audience participation in the form of countdowns and hand-claps.

After a couple more stand-up originals, the band finished out their set with a cover of “Born to Run” that made the now slightly time-worn classic vital again.

Drive-By Truckers

The Drive-By Truckers, too, started their set a little low-key (though not quietly – it was the Drive-By Truckers, after all) and more toward the twangy side of their country-edged rock. I couldn’t help think of Tim Quine’s post on Rubber City Review suggesting that the best soundtrack for Akron was honky tonk and of the pig roasts of my youth which were often accompanied by a bar band of some stripe. Though those pig roasts would have been a hell of a lot more exciting if DBT had provided the entertainment.

After a few songs, the band picked up steam and brought out a string of their rockers, sounding almost like a heavy metal band with their low guitar riffs and Patterson Hood’s impassioned howls. It was impossible not to headbang along. It’s on these songs that the dynamic between the band’s de facto double-lead, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, is best appreciated. Cooley strikes cooler-than-cool guitar god poses (with the chops to back it up) while Hood bounces around and looks like he’s having the time of his life.

They kept the pace up throughout the rest of the show, which was a smart move in light of the mood of the audience. The only real break in the pace came with the lovely “The Flying Wallendas” which received a great reception from the crowd thanks to the line about “the fine folks of Akron” (sang as “the good people of Akron” this night).

I try to keep my opinions about audiences to myself, but this audience was something else. While the crowd gave it up good for their favorite songs throughout the night, it was the laziest audience I’ve ever experienced when it came to calling out for an encore. There were long lulls between half-hearted cheers and anemic chants of “D B T”. People mostly stood around as if they were waiting to be served. If I were the Truckers, I wouldn’t have come back, but the Truckers are better people than me, and they came back for a hell of an encore. DBT seem to be able to create their own energy and were in a fine, fine groove. Hood was apparently so excited that he played them into a second go at “Lookout Mountain”. Not that anyone was complaining, especially as it rocked even harder the second time around.

No comments

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Free Energy

  By , ,

Free Energy gets their own spotlight this week. Jennifer digs her some punk pop.

And now, as promised: Free Energy, who were so awesome they needed their own post. I came into the show knowing nothing about them and about three songs in I was up on my toes, grinning at them and clapping along with the rest of the crowd. This band is fun, y’all, in all of the ways pop-punk should be.

IMG_3220

Musically, they have big hooks and catchy choruses; it’s the kind of thing that makes you want to dance, and also sing along. Also, it was the last night of a long tour, and lead singer Paul Sprangers was still bouncing around the stage and dancing with a tambourine. I tried to get a picture of it, which didn’t work so well. The one below conveys the general spirit, though:

IMG_3231

When I checked their MySpace to see if they’d be back to visit New York any time soon, I saw they are starting North American tour with Foxy Shazam in mid-October. Tragically, I will be away for Thanksgiving when they get here, but y’all should check their dates and your calendars make it your business to get out to see them. I promise you it will be an evening of high-energy joy-inducing punk rock. Free Energy is also jumping over to France for a week in November, to play some festivals with, among other people, Surfer Blood. If we have any French readers: You are also seriously in for a treat!

— Jennifer

No comments

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Titus Andronicus

  By , ,

This week, Jennifer gets excited about some punk fuckin’ rawk.

The best way I can explain The Monitor, the new(ish) record from Titus Andronicus , is to say that it is like two photographs, one from the 21st century and one from the 19th, carefully overlaid so that their elements blend and the eye is left with the challenge of determining what is now, what was then, and what is both, eternally suspended on the thin webbing of successful illusion. Internet, I have listened to this record a lot. I was really, really excited to finally be able to see them live.

IMG_3272

Patrick Stickles (l) and Ian Graetzer (r)

Following opening acts Screaming Females (solid punk band; their singer can also really shred) and Free Energy (pop punk so awesome they get their own post next week), Titus Andronicus kicked off the show last Saturday night at Webster Hall with A More Perfect Union, a song which references, among other things, the Newark Bears, the Garden State Parkway, Born to Run as well as both the Battle Cry of Freedom and the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The recorded lyrics include the phrase tramps like us, baby we were born to die, but Patrick Stickles sang born to run instead, infusing (and transforming) the line with howling punk rock defiance. Naturally the pit went crazy. And it only got better from there.

IMG_3289

Amy Klein, playing her violin while wearing her guitar

One of highlights of the show came during The Battle of Hampton Roads. The song is 14 minutes long and they played all of it. The middle section is instrumental, a fusion of fuzzy guitars, parade drums and what I thought were bagpipes on the record but live turned out to be keyboard effects. It sounds like a column of weary Union soldier walking home on a dirt road in the rain. It is the kind of thing that just begs for a drum line. And so the barrier provided one: we stretched out our hands, all of us, all the way down as far as I could see, and pounded on the stage. Meanwhile, the floor was vibrating from the pogoing feet of the pit behind us.

IMG_3330

l to r: Patrick Stickles, David Robbins, Eric Harm, and Ian Graetzer

In conclusion: that was awesome, and I can’t wait to see them again when they open for the Felice Brothers in Poughkeepsie in October. If you live in the tri-state area and are waffling about going to that show, BUY A TICKET NOW. It’s going to be good.

— Jennifer

2 Comments

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Blake Mills

  By , ,

As I was nearly employed in nefarious plans to acquire the object of desire in Jennifer’s post today, I am glad for the happy outcome. Jennifer suggests those seeking to obtain the below-mentioned artifact for themselves contact the Venice Beach location of Mollusk Surf Shop.

IMG_2895

Internet, last week I did something I haven’t done since (probably) 1998: I bought music on a cassette tape: Break Mirrors, by Blake Mills, formerly of Simon Dawes, who are now just Dawes. (Trivia: First cassette I bought, in 1986: Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA and The Hooters, Nervous Night; last cassette I can remember, before this one: Jerry Cantrell, Boggy Depot.) You may, rightfully, be wondering whatever possessed me to do such a thing, especially since I had already acquired the actual music on the cassette in digital format and have been happily listening to it for some time now.

IMG_2906

The answer to that question, is, essentially, that this was less about the tunes (though they are very good; more on that in a minute) and more about the artifact. I am not the kind of music nerd that has an opinion about vinyl. That I have three actual records in my apartment right now is more due to the fact that they come as part of special packages then any desire of mine to listen to them in that format. Also, I don’t have a record player.

My first motivation was to see the liner notes and more of the album art – the collage on the cover is only the beginning, but as it turns out, all of that is part of the CD version – but more than that the idea of a cassette tape was weirdly compelling. I suspect because it is the kind of retro I can feel a real connection to, in the sense that I am the kind of music nerd that, in 1989, spent several months carefully combing the aisles at Tower Records to assemble Tom Petty’s entire back catalog, and then spent hours sitting on my bedroom floor with my stereo making three 90 minute mix tapes solely devoted to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Later I would make several driving mixes, one tape on the topic of Heavy Metal I Have Loved, and, finally, six carefully curated identical mix tapes as high school graduation gifts for my friends. I suppose that’s not a lot, all things considered, but my point here is, the prospect of the weight of the tape in my hand made me happy.

And as it turns out, one of the many random objects that has traveled with me through the last nine years, six moves, and three states is my walkman:

IMG_3143

As you can see it’s gotten somewhat battered over the years – when and where someone taped the lid on, I have no idea – but I’m pleased to tell you that, after some judicious wiggling of plastic parts, it still works. And the record sounds just as good, if not better, than it does digitally; I was sure I could hear more layers, and definitely a broader, richer drum sound.

Outside of all of that, I am once again and as usual at a loss for fancy music critic language to describe it to you. I can say that, sound-wise, he’s less country/Americana-y than Dawes has become, with much more of an indie-pop sensibility, and that the lyrics are interesting; he tells stories I want to listen to over and over again.

He’ll be on tour with Band of Horses this fall in Iowa, Ohio and Kentucky, but in the meanwhile, here he is performing Hey Lover with some friends, courtesy of YouTube user seizediem :

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2_bnB6haLA?fs=1]

–Jennifer