Tag: show review

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The Dead Exs, Bowery Electric, 7/10/11

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Last month, NTSIB friend @popa2unes reported on The Dead Exs record release party, and now I’m here to heartily second his ringing endorsement of the band. I got to see them this weekend, when they were back at the Bowery Electric for an early show. One of the highlights of the evening was that I was not the only one dancing this time.

The Dead Exs are David Pattillo (dp) on vocals and guitars and Wylie Wirth on drums, and their sound is a delicious blues-funk stew lightly seasoned with garage-rock flair.  If you get a chance to see them live, do it; their show is a raucus good time, messy and loud in all of the best ways, if sometimes unintentionally so. And by that I mean dp’s finger-slide made a break for freedom half-way through the evening, but it was swiftly recaptured and they went right back to rocking out.

As an example, here is Shut Up and Love Me, from their Bandcamp:
 

 

Here are a few more pictures from the evening:

 

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David Pattillo (dp)

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The Wild Joys of Living: Emily Zuzik

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IMG_9432Emily Zuzik

Emily Zuzik is a veteran of the New York City music scene, but you might also recognize her voice from Moby’s latest record – she collaborated on a track called The Low Hum – or from television and movies: her songs have appeared in Smallville, Ticking Clock, and Fifth Form.

 

IMG_9436L to R: Wes Hutchinson, Ryan Vaughn, Emily Zuzik and Brian Killeen.

 

She has just released her seventh record, The Wild Joys of Living, and I had the pleasure of attending her show at The Living Room – a venue as tiny and cozy as the name would suggest – this past Saturday night, where she played the record in its entirety. Ladies and gentlemen, it is delicious. The songs run the gamut from sweet pop morsels to fuzzier, more aggressive rock and roll. I was especially fond of Motels, which is about naughty things people do in motels, and also You’re The One, which is sweet but not treacle-y love song.

As a taste, I give you a video of her singing Want to Go Out Tonight?, which is the first single off of the new record:

 

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Postcards from the Pit: Whitesnake

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I saw Whitesnake at Irving Plaza last week – now there is a sentence I never expected to write – and about two songs into their set, it occurred to me: these are the kind of rock stars I fell in love with the first time. Not these specific rockstars, maybe, what with Whitesnake having been reconstituted several times since they started, but certainly of this general type: the shredding, hair-flying-everywhere, flowing-shirts-and-leather-trousers flavor of musician.

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Though I certainly do have a massive soft spot for Whitesnake in particular, and this incarnation of the band is a solid one. David Coverdale sounds great, and he’s got some heavy metal all-stars behind him, with Doug Aldrich (Dio) and Reb Beach (Winger) on guitars, Brian Tichy (Foreigner) on drums, Michael Devin (Lynch Mob) on bass and Brian Ruedy (Bret Michaels, Brian “Head” Welch, of KORN) on keys.

The set was a mixture of old and new songs – Whitesnake has a new record out! – and from what I could tell they were really enjoying themselves. This is one of my favorite pictures from the evening, taken during the “epic battling guitar solo” portion of the evening, and I love it mainly because Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich are grinning at each other like they have just invented a new holiday and it involves electric guitars:

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In short, it was a fantastic evening. Here are a few more pictures:

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Reb Beach (“former singing waiter of this parish”- David Coverdale) mugging as he shreds

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Doug Aldrich

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Brian Tichy, mid-solo

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L to R: David Coverdale, Michael Devin, Brian Ruedy

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David Coverdale, listening to the crowd sing to him.

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Rock and Roll Dreams Come True: Meat Loaf at Irving Plaza, 2/23/11

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This is Evan Watson , of Evan Watson & The Headless Horsemen . He’s a bluesman from Indiana, though right now his home base is in Tarrytown, NY. I saw him last week when he opened for Meat Loaf at Irving Plaza (!) by himself, minus his Horsemen, and, while I’m not much for the blues, I could tell he would be delicious for people who like fancy picking over a steady slow roll. He’s also got a fantastic rumble-growl voice to go along with all of that, so, blues enthusiasts: you should check him out.

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And here is where I have to back up and explain that, for all I was on “spring break” last week, by Wednesday I was inexplicably thin-skinned and heartsore, and in dire need of some cheering up. Meat Loaf at Irving Plaza turned out to be exactly what I needed. I have to explain also that Irving Plaza is tiny, or at least, it is significantly smaller than the places Meat Loaf normally plays, in the sense that it only fits 1,200 people. (I normally see punk bands there; this show was one of the few times I wasn’t the oldest person waiting in line.) The last time he was in town he was at the United Palace Theater, which is somewhere around 3,000 people.

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Anyway, not only was it an amazingly intimate show, he also played my favorite song, which is You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth. Though I suppose if I’m being honest they’re kind of all my favorites. He also did a rousing Bat Out of Hell as the third song of the evening, and I tell you what, there is nothing that makes my black little heart expand three sizes like 1200 people singing along at the top of their lungs. It makes Meat Loaf happy, too:

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At one point during You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth he gave up on singing and started conducting the crowd:

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In addition to the old stuff, he also did three songs from his new record, Hang Cool Teddy Bear, including Los Angeloser. The riffs were big and the melodies as catchy as ever; I was surprised when he said the record hadn’t done well. Then again, I was also surprised to find out there was a new record, which, uh, maybe part of the overall problem there.

The other highlight of the evening was Paradise By The Dashboard Light, which is really a piece of theater disguised as a song. Patti Russo, his long-time duet partner, displayed her usual excellent comic timing throughout the piece.

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Here’s a better picture of her, from earlier in the show:

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In summary: it was a fantastic evening, and I walked out into the freezing night with sore knees and warmed heart, refreshed and ready to deal with the rest of my week.

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Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Gold Motel

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Greta Morgan of Gold Motel at the High Line Ballroom

The day I saw Gold Motel was bitter, bitter cold, and windy. In addition, New York has, like everywhere else, gotten a lot of snow this winter. Basically: I was ready for a burst of summer. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what I got, because they played a set full of songs that made me want to find a convertible and drive towards the sea with the wind in my hair. Including my favorites Safe in L.A. and The Cruel One.

The tour they are on with Hellogoodbye, Jukebox the Ghost and Now, Now Every Children is winding to a close, but if you are on the West Coast you can still catch them.

A few more pictures from the evening:
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Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Biffy Clyro and Moving Mountains

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So, the night before I witnessed loud music performed by men in suits, so did Jennifer. And then she witnessed loud music performed by half-naked men. Sounds like a good night to me.

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This is Moving Mountains; they are from Purchase, New York, and, while they might be wearing suits and grandpa sweaters, their music is like an oncoming freight train. I seriously was not expecting the periodic bursts of James Hetfield-style ogre roar that I heard Saturday evening, but I assure you I enjoyed them tremendously. Also they sound very different live then they do on MySpace, much heavier, and the drums and bass combine into a tidal wave of percussive power. If you aren’t headbanging during their set, I think you might be dead inside.

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And this is Biffy Clyro, of Kilmarnock, Scotland. They’ve been around since 2000, but I only learned about them this year, via the unlikely agency of UK TV show The X Factor, when contestant Matt Cardle covered their song Many of Horror and won, and the UK portion of my Internet got very cranky. Having now heard the song live, I can see why. It’s a little bit like if someone on American Idol decided to cover Patience and somehow contrived to make it sound like disposable elevator music, and then renamed it and sold it as a single.

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Simon Neil

Note: Biffy Clyro sounds absolutely nothing like Guns n’ Roses, but the song is a gem of a hard rock ballad, the kind of thing audiences can (and did) sing back to the band. All I can say is, I’m glad no-one involved with televised talent shows has yet gotten their hands on one of Biffy Clyro’s other slower songs, the spare and lovely Folding Stars, which they also played on Saturday. (Equivalents in emotional punch: Wake Me Up When September Ends, Green Day and Helena, My Chemical Romance.)

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James Johnston

Anyway, naturally after that I had to know more, so when their name floated up on one of my concert alerts, I made plans to go. I also did some digging into their back catalog, though I only got as far as Puzzle (2007) and their more recent Only Revolutions. So I went into the show not quite cold, but not quite totally up to speed, either.

I can now tell you that going to that show was among my finer decisions, in terms of random acts of concert-attendance. Like Moving Mountains, Biffy Clyro are heavier live than on the internet, and they are not like anything else I have heard recently. Especially notable is the way their drums and bass have complex conversations that sound like the oncoming apocalypse, and that their ballads are distinctly lacking in excessive sentiment and schmaltz. Their back catalog is deep and I recommend you explore it.

Meanwhile, their tour with Moving Mountains is slowly wending its way west. Looking at the schedule they seem to be stopping mainly in smaller clubs – the Gramercy Theatre is tiny – and while it may be a function of them being less known here than at home, it’s also truly a treat for anyone who is able to see them.

— Jennifer

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Rainy Day Saints/Frosting/The Godfathers at the Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH, 2.13.11

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Rainy Day Saints

When I had previously seen Rainy Day Saints, their sound mix was muddy, making it difficult to gauge anything but a beat. Sad to say, this night was more of the same. Even sitting at the bar situated at the back of the Grog Shop, the sound seemed to be mixed for some point 20 feet behind the back wall. They might be a great band, but if they don’t gauge their sound mix down a little, it’s going to be hard to tell.

Frosting

“This song’s on capo 1, everybody.”

Chicago band Frosting have a full complement of women and bald dudes and a good sense of humor. The group, led by a singer/guitarist who is not bald or a woman but does sort of look like a mashup of Doug Fieger and Mark Arm, powered through an upbeat set of guitar pop. A post-song comment from the singer gives a good idea of their sound: “I tried to sell that song to Matthew Sweet. He said, ‘No fucking way.'” An enjoyable set from a solid band with good stage presence and some nice harmonies.

The Godfathers

The fucking Godfathers, people.

As I’ve noted before, the Godfathers’ album Birth, School, Work, Death has been a staple for me since youth. In that previous post, I mentioned that I had never become a big enough fan of the group to pursue any of their other albums (which, in Ohio in the late ’80s/early ’90s, would have taken a good amount of effort), but seeing them Sunday night for their first show on American soil in over 20 years has changed that.

From the moment the Godfathers – singer Peter Coyne, guitarist Del Bartle, drummer Grant Nichols and a bassist whose name I did not catch, filling in for Chris Coyne who was detained in the UK as he’s apparently a threat to national security or something – stepped on stage, it was clear that there would be no fucking around. Peter Coyne still seems pretty pissed off, and the Godfathers’ music still carries the same intense energy. Still sharp in their pinstripes, the band delivered a punishing set spanning back to the Sid Presley Experience (the band from which the Godfathers formed in 1985) all the way up to brand new song “Back into the Future”, hitting some amazing high points in between: “‘Cause I Said So”, “Walking Talking Johnny Cash Blues”, “When Am I Coming Down”, “This Damn Nation” and on.

Coyne cuts as imposing a figure as ever, gripping the microphone like he’s going to shoot you with it, spitting lyrics with as much vengeance as he did 20 years ago, grazing the audience with his blue-eyed, hard-edge stare between snarls – though he was never anything less than gracious to the appreciative audience. “It’s been too long,” he told Cleveland at one point.

Almost as a counterpoint to Coyne’s ever-serious demeanor, Nichols’ drumming was almost gleeful, backing the songs with on-point propulsion. Bartle’s guitar playing is so precise you wouldn’t know he hadn’t written the lines himself (he played in the Sid Presley Experience and joined the Godfathers in 2008). And the low end was more than competently held down by the bass player.

It was a gratifying show on a number of levels, not least of which was being able to shout along to “Birth, School, Work, Death” and have it feel just as vital now as it did when I first heard it 20-some years ago. This is no nostalgia act. This is goddamn rock ‘n’ roll.

(And while I don’t usually do this, I feel so strongly that you should see the Godfathers live, here’s a list of their remaining U.S. dates:

Feb. 15: Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ
Feb. 16: Johnny D’s, Somerville, MA
Feb. 18: Black Cat, Washington, D.C.
Feb. 19: Frankie’s Inner City, Toledo, OH
Feb. 20: Double Door, Chicago, IL
Feb. 21: Club Garibaldi, Milwaukee, WI
Feb. 22: Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO)

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Benjamin Riley Band/Cassie Morgan and the Lonely Pine/Patrick Sweany at Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO, 2.10.11

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To continue Patrick Sweany Month here at NTSIB, we are pleased to have a guest review of Patrick’s recent CD release show in St. Louis by our friend Nate Burrell, along with some wonderful photos by Nate and another talented photographer, Kate McDaniel.

On a cold and icy Thursday evening in south city St. Louis, music fans braved the elements to go out and see an absolutely stellar 3-band bill at Off Broadway – our city’s premier music venue. With the stage lights beaming down, headliner, Nashville-based rhythm and soul rock-n-roller, Patrick Sweany grabbed his pale green guitar, stepped to the mic and shouted out “All right, St. Louis, how ya doin’?” and immediately started into a hot set that melted the stage and unthawed the ears of anyone unfamiliar with his signature sound. Backed by an extremely tight bassist and a drummer with metronome like precision, Sweany burned through a few numbers from early in his catalogue before unleashing live versions of tracks from his recently released 5th album That Old Southern Drag. Showcasing his commanding guitar work and his beautifully raspy, soul-filled voice, Patrick stomped, shredded, and howled out tune after tune for 75+ minutes, leaving the crowd wanting more. With an applause that could be heard three blocks down, Sweany played one last song before stepping off of the stage and into the masses, where he began handshaking, talking eye-to-eye with every approaching fan, and thanking the out-of-town crowd that he had just won over.

Opening the evening and warming up the stage were St. Louis-based indie folk darlings Cassie Morgan and the Lonely Pine. Morgan, whose song craft is as brilliant as anyone in the industry today, and her band mate, the endlessly talented Beth Bombara, played a delightfully beautiful set of original tunes that held the room at a captivated stand-still. With songs formed around Morgan’s eerily delicate vocals and outstanding use of space in her guitar playing, while Bombara sang in deliciously on-point harmony as she laid down layer after layer of percussive accompaniments, these two multi-instrumentalists were able to let their uniquely organic sound breathe a melodic breath, that was warmly welcomed by their appreciative hometown crowd.

Rounding out the evening was the ever-energetic Benjamin Riley. With a five-piece band backing him, Riley took control of the center stage and absolutely let loose. Belting out a series of upbeat songs, Benjamin let his gritty soul-soaked vocals do the rolling, while he and his band did the rocking. At one point, Riley and bassist Kit Hamon were so into the moment that they were literally stomping and playing in unison – completely awesome to see. Just as they did for the Sweany, Morgan and Bombara, the crowd showed their appreciation and respect to this up-and-coming St. Louis band.

Three bands. Lots of people. One kick-ass venue. All coming together for an excellent night of live music.

St Louis music photographers Nate Burrell and Kate McDaniel were in the front row capturing it all as it went down. See the show as they saw it – both in black & white and color. And when you are done with the visual stimulation, go get the sounds of each band at their website. You’re sure to be a fan when it’s all said and done. Rock on!

Links:
Bands
www.patricksweany.com
www.cassiemorgan.com
www.benjaminrileymusic.com

Photographers
www.flickr.com/natebnate or www.beforetheblink.com
www.flickr.com/kate_pequeno

Who Kate and Nate often shoot for:
www.kdhx.org

Venue:
www.offbroadwaystl.com

Label:
www.ninemilerecords.com

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Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Panic! at the Disco / Walk the Moon

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This week, Jennifer reconnects with one of her favorites and discovers a new Ohio band.

Last Tuesday, Panic! at the Disco played their first U.S. show in almost two years. It was an amazing evening, but before I tell you about it, I’d like to introduce the opening band, Cincinnati, OH natives Walk the Moon:

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I am not quite sure what the facepaint has to do with anything, but: they have hot funk grooves powered by two drummers – one whom is also the lead singer – and in addition said lead singer is in possession of a killer disco falsetto. They immediately engaged and kept the attention of a restless crowd, and the reason I took so few pictures of them was because I was busy dancing. I’d also totally go and see them at their own show in the future. You can listen to them on bandcamp and also they will be at SXSW. If you’re going down there check them out, you will not be disappointed.

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Spencer Smith and Brendon Urie

But now, onwards to the main event, with some brief background: In July 2009, Panic! at the Disco split in half. Ryan Ross (guitars, lyrics) and Jon Walker (bass) became The Young Veins, while Brendon Urie (vocals, guitar, piano) and Spencer Smith (drums) continued as Panic! at the Disco. Following a short tour with Fall Out Boy and Blink-182 in the summer of 2009, Panic! have been largely incommunicado while working on their next record.

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Ian Crawford

On Tuesday night, Urie and Smith were joined by traveling members Ian Crawford (Stamps, The Cab) on guitar and Dallon Weekes (The Brobecks) on bass, and from what I saw, the time away has had a rejuvenating effect. The dance party started as soon as they played the first notes of The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage – their early song titles are kind of ridiculous – but ridiculous titles or not, the old songs sounded new and the new songs fit in with them seamlessly. And by “old” songs I mean Fever era tunes. A few tracks from the more recent Pretty. Odd. were in the set, but they were beefed up to fit with Panic!’s current modern pop sound, which MTV’s James Montgomery has dubbed “baroquetronica.” Whatever you want to call it, Panic! at the Disco’s sonic Summer of Love has pretty clearly come to an end.

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L to R: Ian Crawford, Spencer Smith, Brendon Urie, Dallon Weekes

Vices & Virtues is out on March 29, and, seriously, Happy (Belated) Birthday to ME. I am SO EXCITED for this record, y’all, I can’t even tell you. I’m predicting it will be delicious and they’ll have us dancing all summer. I’m especially keen to hear the studio of version of Let’s Kill Tonight, which as best I could tell was a “you do what you want, we’re going to party” song with a headbanging beat and complicated string section accents.

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Dallon Weekes

Panic! has a tradition of playing one cover per tour: in 2006, during the Nothing Rhymes with Circus for their first record, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, it was were Radiohead’s Karma Police; when they went on the Honda Civic Tour in 2008 in support of second record Pretty. Odd. it was The Band’s The Weight ; during Rock Band Live, also in 2008, it was The Isley Brothers’ Shout and lastly in 2009 for the Believers Never Die tour with Blink-182 and FOB it was Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’.

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Brendon Urie

For this show – and I am hoping for the next tour – it was Science Fiction/Double Feature, from Rocky Horror Picture Show, with just Brendon Urie’s voice and the keyboard. It was a beautiful, unfussy valentine to campy ridiculousness, science fiction geekery and musicals all wrapped up into one song. You may, possibly, at this point, be unsurprised to learn that I put it on almost all of my mix-tapes, back when I made mix-tapes, and that it is my favorite song from that movie. Hearing it again, and so unexpectedly, was both a highlight of the evening and the moment that I fell in love with Panic! at the Disco all over again. In conclusion: that was great, and I can’t wait to see them again.

— Jennifer

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Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Iron and Wine with Edie Brickell

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This week, Jennifer visits with a couple of old friends, watches Sam Beam rock out (and get Dylan’d for his trouble) and has some choice words for the monkeys at the circus.

Occasionally my adventures in modern music appreciation feel a bit like being at a big party with a lot of pleasant strangers, where I’m half wandering between intriguing conversations and half hiding behind a potted palm with a cocktail thinking Who are these people and what is going on here? And then the crowd parts and a familiar but rarely-seen face appears, and I feel a surge of relief and affection and want to stop and chat and see what they’ve been up to all this time.

One of these moments occurred last Saturday night, when Edie Brickell & friends (including Charlie Sexton!) took the stage at Radio City Music Hall:

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In case you are now squinting your screen thinking Edie who?: she had a big hit with What I Am in 1988, and then in 1992 married Paul Simon (MTV nation emitted a collective WHAT? at the time) and essentially fell out of pop-cultural memory. She did not, however, stop making music, and now it looks like she’s come back with a new band The Gaddabouts . Also I am pleased to tell you that her voice is as clear and sweet and true as ever, and she sounds comfortable – settled in herself – and best of all, like she is having the most possible fun she could be having on stage. If you’d like to hear more, she’ll be on WFUV this coming Friday night, along with Iron & Wine.

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Iron & Wine were also next up at Radio City. If you haven’t heard of them before, they normally specialize in somewhat mellow folk. Their average tempo is somewhere between gentle swaying and spinny hippie dancing. I say “normally” because that is what they did for the first half of their set: glided pleasantly through tunes like He Lays in the Reins, from In the Reins the album they made with Calexico, and Naked as We Came from Our Endless Numbered Days.

Then the horn section and the drummer came out –

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– Sam Beam plugged his guitar in and SHAZZAMO! Iron & Wine became a rock band and proceeded to stomp through Lion’s Mane like roadhouse veterans and give House By the Sea some jazzy calypso swing. The songs that followed were similarly rearranged and reimagined, and I have never before been as simultaneously baffled and pleased at a show. Though I do have to say it was the kind of reinvention that rewards people who pay attention to lyrics, because there was really no other musical cues to go by to figure out which song they were playing.

While I felt the evening was a success, musically, some of my fellow audience members were less excited. Several people left and one person yelled Judas! at him (Sam Beam: “But Judas was Jesus’ favorite!”) But really the biggest irritant of the night were the people hollering out requests. Ladies. Gentlemen. You are at Radio City Music Hall. The person on the stage 1) can’t hear you and 2) isn’t a jukebox and also 3) please can we all at least pretend to be adults who know how to behave? And really, where-ever you are, unless the artist actually says, “So, what do you all want to hear today?” be quiet and let the artist work whatever magic they feel like working.

— Jennifer