Tag: show review

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Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: The Lemonheads, and a vast amount of feelings

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Jennifer has promised a forthcoming post on the Newport Folk Festival, but first she has some feelings about the dreaded “nostalgia act” vibe to work out.

Internet, in the last two weeks I have, among other things, seen the Gin Blossoms, Soul Asylum and The Lemonheads, and I have a lot of feelings on the subject that I’d like to discuss, but first I’d like you to meet two fantastic newer bands: The Shining Twins and The Candles.

These are The Shining Twins:

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Alex Weiss (bass), Marisa Kreiss (drums), Xanax Aird (guitar, lurking in the background)


They were the first band at the Lemonheads show. I knew a little bit about them before I got there, enough that I had them in my mental “you should maybe check them out” file, and so I was excited to see them on the bill. I wasn’t too sure how I was going to feel about the music, because the two songs I had heard – I Hate You and Stix + Stonez – were towards the whinier end of the punk spectrum. I am pleased to report that they are a lot of fun live, and that any whininess was overpowered by their Ramones-inflected groove. I particularly enjoyed Gregory and Why Won’t You Walk Me Home From Avenue C?

They were followed by The Candles:

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They’re a little bit country but mostly rock and roll, and with three (!) guitars, a bass, two sets of keys and drums, there’s a lot of layers to their sound. Also, this is where some of my many feelings come in, they are beautifully congruent with the Lemonheads’ sound. But before I go off on the related tangent, here’s a picture of Evan Dando, weatherbeaten but unbowed:

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He sounded good, and made my evening when they played Into Your Arms. I couldn’t stay for their whole set, but what I did hear was well worth the wait, both the 20 years and the 3.5 hours. The Lemonheads was one of those bands I never, ever thought I would get to see, and so catching them in a tiny club was a particularly special treat.

Which I suppose is as good a segue as any to the tangent, which is: How Do You Solve a Problem Like The Support Bands? It’s something I have been contemplating lately, as various of my best beloved bands from my high school and college years are popping back up and heading out on the road, in some cases with each other. I could not be happier to see Soul Asylum and the Gin Blossoms together, in fact for my 14 –18 year old self, that practically qualifies as a dream-come-true tour. (Remind me to tell you about the time I planned an entire vacation inspired by Runaway Train, which involved an actual train ride that was later cancelled (the train ride, not the entire vacation) due to flooding in Iowa. I was 17, and there was definitely poetry involved.) But as much as I enjoyed it, I felt like it put some unnecessary limits on them: the burnished brass shackles of the “nostalgia act.”

Sure, they were really big a long time ago, in the 1990s, in those dark days before mp3s. Okay, their fanbase skews a little bit older. But their tunes have stood the test of time, and, most importantly, they are making new music. They are not getting up on stage and rolling through their hits, note-perfect: they’re jamming through fresh ideas. And I’m sitting on the balcony in a community theater, watching my fellow fans clap, stomp and sway along, hemmed in their seats while Robin Wilson hops from the stage to various risers and outcroppings, tambourine in hand, and I’m thinking, Someone needs to get these people a club tour.

This is partially a reflection of selfish desire, because I want to dance in the pit. But also I think it could work. Filling the club would be the easy part; the challenge is in selecting the right support band. The Lemonheads and The Candles worked well together; if I was designing a tour for, let’s say, the Gin Blossoms, I think I’d pick Matt Nathanson , or, drifting a little towards the more folksy-side, Cadillac Sky. I still haven’t decided who I’d pair with Soul Asylum, though their Minneapolis neighbors Motion City Soundtrack are on the short list, as are Hacienda .

— Jennifer

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Jessica Lea Mayfield and the Black Keys at the Nautica Pavillion in Cleveland, OH, 7.24.10

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If the quality of a Black Keys show can be judged by the number of times Dan Auerbach shouts a non-lyrical interjection into a song (think James Brown), this show was stellar.

It was an intensely hot day in Cleveland, the kind where just standing in line can make you break a sweat, but spirits and anticipation were high, and I was pleased that the show had finally sold out.

The audience was decidedly split on opener Jessica Lea Mayfield, but this was not terribly surprising considering how different Mayfield’s music is from that of TBK. While it was disappointing that big brother David Mayfield was not on string duties, it was good to see JLM broadening her sound (and, one imagines, allowing David more time for his work with Cadillac Sky and his solo work) with keyboards and electric bass. And guitarist Richie Kirkpatrick is always entertaining to watch. The new song from Mayfield’s forthcoming album sounded solid, and early word is that the whole album is killer (in an interview, Dan Auerbach, who created the Polymer Sounds label in order to get Mayfield’s previous album out there, mentioned that he was trying to get the new album released on a bigger label to give Mayfield more exposure).

And Mayfield managed to finish her set looking just as fresh as when she started.

The Black Keys, on the other hand, seemed to be sweating as soon as they started. Making a triumphant entrance to the strains of GZA’s “Liquid Swords”, TBK got right down to business with “Thickfreakness”, possibly the best show-opening song ever written with its build-up-to-an-explosion intro.

The setlist was split nearly 50/50 between Brothers and older material. They played one of their fine Junior Kimbrough covers, “Everywhere I Go”, and “Till I Get My Way” blew a few heads off. Really, it is impossible to note how balls-out shredding any one song was without mentioning how equally rocking all the other songs were. TBK are probably the most consistently high-energy, high-quality live band around.

That being said, the songs off of Brothers seemed to light the audience up even more, and, in turn, fed into TBK’s energy. “She’s Long Gone” packed a magnificent punch, with “Ten Cent Pistol” making a great follow-up. Auerbach bounced behind his mic while singing out the “da da da-da”s of the “Howlin’ For You” chorus as the audience shouted along with him, fists pumping. The breaking out of “Chop and Change” (from the soundtrack of that movie the kids like so much) was an excellent surprise with Auerbach taking maraca duty very seriously (and putting out some of the best vocals of the night).

Even in heat that would debilitate other people, TBK went full throttle all night and Auerbach could frequently be seen smiling as he took in the cheers and screams of the “hometown” crowd (one wonders if he might have been remembering his early days playing in bars when he would break into N.W.A. covers when the audience stopped paying attention). Between Auerbach’s wall of guitar sound and Patrick Carney’s ever-evolving drumming, if you can come away from a Black Keys show without being energized, then I don’t envy your mental landscape.

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The Felice Brothers at Lebowski Fest in Louisville, KY, 7.16.10

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The recounting of the NTSIB roadtrip to points south will begin with the end. We are, as regular readers have surely noticed, a little fannish about the Felice Brothers, so when the opportunity presented itself to cap off our roadtrip by seeing the Brothers play Lebowski Fest, we couldn’t pass it up. It was the fourth Felice show for me, the third for Jennifer and our first show together. All very exciting, I assure you. And it was, for me, the most fun of the Felice shows I’ve experienced.

We set off from the hotel a little late and, sadly, missed “The Greatest Show on Earth” (a favorite of mine), but we sang along to “White Limo” as we crossed the parking lot and weaved our way as close to the stage as we could. The Brothers kept it upbeat for the drunken party crowd and Lebowski-ized a couple of songs, transforming “Where’d You Get Your Liquor?” to “Where’d You Get Your Caucasian?” and “Roll On, Arte” to “Roll On, Donny”. Other highlights included a guest spoon-player on “Whiskey in My Whiskey” and a cover of The Big Lebowski end credits tune “Dead Flowers”, which James introduced as a song from the Felice Brothers’ subway days.

It was, by far, the most effusively Felice-loving audience I’ve been in (well, at least the third of the audience that was crowded around the stage), and that certainly contributed to the enjoyment factor. Jennifer and I were even roped into what Jennifer later characterized as “a dude-bro kickline” during “Take This Bread”.

Due to the time constraints of Lebowski Fest, there was no encore, but after the equipment was loaded out and the big screen went up, the Felice Brothers perched atop their Winnebago to watch The Big Lebowski with us. A pretty sweet ending to a wonderful week.

(We failed to connect up with our friend Digger from Take This Bread, but he has promised me he’ll come to Cleveland in the autumn so we can take in a show at the Beachland Ballroom together. You’re all witness to this now so he can’t back out.)

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Hacienda at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, OH, 6.19.10

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[No photos for this review as I was, sadly, too far back to get good shots. Which is a shame as Hacienda are handsome dudes.]

If there is a word that means loose and laid back, yet still full of great energy, Hacienda should be the illustrating photo for that word’s entry in the dictionary. From the moment the band came out and broke into their cover of the Everly Brothers’ “You’re My Girl” (a surprisingly dirty-minded song from the Everlys), the world just felt good. As they played great, dancing-required songs like “Who’s Heart Are You Breaking” and “She’s Got a Hold on Me”, I couldn’t help wishing I could see these guys play on their home turf of San Antonio, Texas, in some informal, small, outdoor venue with good beer, good people and barefoot dancing in the grass under the stars.

Speaking of good people, one of two complaints I could lodge about the evening was the audience (the other being the vocals mixed too low in the sound levels).* I did see people dotted through the crowd who were obviously enjoying Hacienda’s set as much as I was, but the majority of people seemed to be just waiting for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (whom I didn’t stay for), more interested in looking around at other people in the crowd than watching the band. (I don’t expect people to always be interested in the opening act, but if you’re not there for the opener, how about moving to the back and sides of the venue so the people who do like the opener can enjoy them more?) And what was with all the middle-aged-and-older people again? Was Grace Potter on NPR recently or something? Still, the audience did give Hacienda the cheers that their final, ripping number (the only song of their set I didn’t recognize, likely off their first album) deserved.

*This is likely my own fault for not getting to the Beachland early enough to be up front. You might notice I complain about the audience less when I’m front and center at a show.

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JP and the Chatfield Boys & Cadillac Sky at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, OH, 6.5.10

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JP and the Chatfield Boys

The evening began a little quietly with JP & the Chatfield Boys playing straight-up bluegrass of a somewhat sedate nature. While they’re certainly a skilled group, they were pretty by-the-book. But the harmonizing on “Midnight Moonlight” stood out, as did the fiddling on “Stoney Lonesome”. They would be a great group to catch at an evening outdoor event.

Cadillac Sky

A sure sign of a good show: when you, as an audience member, are exhausted, yet the band is still going.

To call a Cadillac Sky show a bluegrass show would be akin to attempting to recreate a Brueghel painting with one brushstroke – there is so much more going on. Cadillac Sky assured us they meant business by opening their 2-hour-plus set (from my calculations, but I didn’t pay close attention to what time they came out, so I may be off – I can tell you they played longer than I’ve seen any band play in years) with a high-energy rendition of “Trapped Under the Ice” that only hinted at the levels of energy and excitement they would build up as the night moved along. Exuberantly rambling through nearly all of the songs on their upcoming album, Letters in the Deep, all the songs from their Weary Angel EP and some earlier fare. My favorite CS song, “3rd Degree”, was wrenching. “Weary Angel” became a blistering rock-out with David Mayfield taking the lead on electric guitar. The Stanley Brothers’ “How Mountain Girls Can Love” was given the barbershop quartet treatment. And I may have embarrassed myself by actually jumping up and down to CS’s stellar cover of “Video Killed the Radio Star”.

It was possibly the best show I’ve ever attended, combining elements from all of my past favorite shows: the joy of a Hothouse Flowers show, the fun and humor of a They Might Be Giants show, the crowd-hushing ability of an A.A. Bondy show, the heart-aching beauty of a Church (the Australian band) show, the full-on rock of a Black Keys show. There was laughter, dancing, booty-shaking, beatboxing (yes, seriously – and, yes, it worked), and it was difficult not to get choked up when Ohio-born David Mayfield grew teary-eyed as he sang the last verses of “Tired Old Phrases” (And I’m sorry for being so bad/To my dear old mother and dad/I threw some fits/They put up with it/And now I owe them all that I am. And some day when my folks meet their end/If by chance I live longer than them/For the love that they gave/And the music we made/I’ll be proud to have called them my friends.) to his parents, who were in the audience.

Inevitably, when I go to a show, I begin writing my review in my head as soon as the show is over. My initial review of the Cadillac Sky show was going to be one line: If you were in Cleveland the night of June 5 and weren’t at the Cadillac Sky show at the Beachland Ballroom, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? But perhaps berating you is not the best way to talk you into seeing Cadillac Sky when they play near you. How about this: Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog, Jennifer, said of the CS show she attended at Union Hall in New York that it was possibly the happiest she’s been at a rock concert in her life. A Cadillac Sky show makes you feel good to be alive.

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Muamin Collective & GZA (and many others) at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, OH, 5.29.10

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Not only was this my first hip hop show outside of a festival, but it was also my first show at the Grog Shop, so I am unqualified to say how much of the chaos was the norm for either aspect. But GS is notorious for their late start times, and nothing really kicked off Saturday night until after 10:00. Fortunately, up unil then, members of Muamin Collective served as DJs, spinning fine tunes that had the heads of those of us who were there “early” in constant motion. Unfortunately, once the show did start, I kind of wished they’d go back to straight deejaying. For one thing, there were a freaking lot of openers – even more than the four openers slated for the night, as additional acts who were brought on to fill time. All the acts had a lot of heart, but none of them had much game (and even when they had promising beats, the GS sound system rendered them unappetizingly muddy).

That is, until Muamin Collective stepped up. These guys had some of the most amazing energy I’ve ever seen, with great beats and great spirit. They rocked the crowd and, for a while, made us forget how long we were waiting for GZA. I’m looking forward to seeing Muamin Collective again.

Perhaps inevitably, the night hit another lull after Muamin Collective’s set, as 1:00 a.m. was within view but GZA was not. One of the Collective tried to keep the crowd entertained, but there was only one person who could entertain at this point, and chants of “G-Z-A”, “Wu-Tang” and “G-ZA” were going up around the room.

The Grog Shop stage is short. I am also short. So I didn’t see GZA when he hit the stage, but I certainly felt him. While GZA the Genius has always been one of the more understated members of the Wu-Tang Clan, relying more on his skill with words and ideas than theatrics, he still maintains a presence that you can’t ignore (and I spent most of his set standing on the rungs of the stool I had been occupying so I can take that presence in).

GZA is royalty who, along with his cousins RZA and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard (who was paid tribute during the show), forms the backbone of the Wu-Tang Clan. As royalty, he can get away with taking it easy, and he let the audience fill in a lot of rhymes throughout a number of songs, but just when you think he’s going to phone the show in (because he could have gotten away with it, and we would all have been happy just to be in a small room with the GZA), he rockets in with a gut-punching rendition of “Crash Your Crew” (after one of two mis-starts, the other caused by a mic that went out in the middle of a song) or pulls out a mellow, lights-down “Animal Planet”.

At one point, GZA broke into an impromptu reading of “B.I.B.L.E.”, which I found hypnotic. But he apparently didn’t think the crowd was feeling it and abandoned the rap halfway through.

Of course, the show was replete with crowd-pleasers like “Cold World”, “I Gotcha Back” and “Breaker Breaker”. And you know you can’t have a GZA show without “Clan in da Front”. He brought the show to a close with a medley of songs from the Wu-Tang Clan’s benchmark debut Enter the Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers), including “Shame on a Nigga”, “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Protect Ya Neck”.

There were aspects of the show that could have been better, but seeing GZA in a small club is not an experience many people who were in that room Saturday night are going to forget.

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Futurebirds & Jessica Lea Mayfield at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, OH, 5.19.10

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Futurebirds

With six members playing pedal steel guitar, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, mandolin and drums – switching off instruments and vocals throughout the set – Futurebirds have a hell of a lot of strings, but you wouldn’t mistake them for a string band. You might mistake them for a really big bar band, though. I’ll just be honest and say that their music didn’t do much for me, but their sense of humor did. A band who can play to a nearly-empty hall and still enjoy the hell out of themselves is okay in my book. The crowd was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and they were rewarded when the band kicked in three great songs at the end of their set, one led by drummer Payton Bradford who came out from behind his kit to strap on a Fender and go.

(One song was dedicated to LeBron James. “This one’s for LeBron. Maybe he’ll stay,” they said, perhaps in a bid to further endear themselves to the crowd. “He won’t,” came the reply out of the audience. The blacklash has begun. Have fun with that, King James.)

Jessica Lea Mayfield

Jessica Lea Mayfield is so laconic in speech and movement that you may sometimes feel as though you’re watching slow-motion film when you see her. This has led some to deem her bland. But Mayfield’s true talent – that of holding a microscope up to emotion, whether good, bad, ugly or indifferent – doesn’t require glitz or stagey charisma. But don’t think for a moment that Mayfield doesn’t know how to capture a catchy tune. The wordless refrain of “Kiss Me Again”, as one example, will lodge itself in your brain the first time you hear it.

Mayfield, who is impressively pale and is all skinny arms and legs, seems shy between songs, bowing her head bashfully as she thanks the audience for their cheering appreciation. But in her song subject matter and in her voice, Mayfield is bold. Though only 20 years old, she has long had an old soul self-awareness, and while she seems her age between songs, once she is playing and singing, Mayfield becomes an ancient sage, holding up a mirror to all of us as she holds one up to herself.

But a Jessica Lea Mayfield show is not a solemn occasion, partially thanks to her support band which, this evening, consisted of her brother, David, on upright bass, Richie Kirkpatrick (in unnervingly tiny shorts) on electric guitar and a drummer whose name I didn’t catch (not Anne Lillis). Kirkpatrick is sometimes caricaturish, but entertaining, in his rock and rolling, and David Mayfield is a powerhouse of energy and vitality. During the scorching crescendo of “I Can’t Lie to You, Love” (don’t let it be said that Mayfield and company don’t know how to kick it), the Mayfield brother could be seen laying on the stage, holding the bass up with his feet as eh played, then laying the bass down and beating percussion on the strings.

Perhaps Jessica Lea Mayfield’s music is not for everyone, but it’s still surprising – and disappointing – how small the audience was for the northeast Ohio native’s show. But , as seems so often the way within our little cradle of civilization, Mayfield will gain more recognition and success ass he continues to tour with friends like the Avett Brothers and the Black Keys, and then NEO will embrace her with open arms after the rest of the world warmly embraces that which was right under our noses the entire time.

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Suckers & Local Natives at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, OH, 5.11.10

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Local Natives (in-store performance at Music Saves)

Playlist
Wide Eyes
Cards & Quarters
Warning Sign
Airplanes

I may be a big puss and a little too easily affected by music, but as soon as Local Natives broke into their trademark harmonizing at the beginning of their Music Saves pre-gig in-store performance, I felt a little moisture trying to escape from my face. I wasn’t crying – just… leaking a little awe.

This was quite a turnaround considering it hadn’t been that long ago that I was finding myself unable to get into the Local Natives groove (it was that backyard SXSW performance captured by Yours Truly that finally got me to tap in). Lucky for me that there’s no expiration date on good music.

It struck me that Local Natives’ performance was almost the antithesis of the Felice Brothers’ performance I had just experienced the night before. I am a big fan of slopping, emotional music, which the Felice Brothers are pros at creating, but there is certainly something to be said for the ability of a band like Local Natives. As a unit, they are so tight and their talents s complement each other so well that it’s easy to tell that some of these guys have been playing together half their lives. Though that’s certainly not to say that Local Natives’ music lacks emotion. Their song subject matter often sprouts from a very personal level and the musical accompaniment can tap straight into the listener’s center. Plus, Kelcey Ayer has a howl that makes you want to give him a hug and ask if he’s okay.

Experiencing the music of Local Natives in the small space of Music Saves, with acoustic instruments and no mics, mere feet from where you stand, accentuating their immaculate vocals and the warm heart of their music, is extraordinary. If you have the chance to hear them this way, jump on it.

Suckers

A guy who looks like he just escaped from a John Hughes movie casting call walks out on stage. He’s wearing a striped shirt with a red tie screen printed on the front, red sneakers, and he has straggly designs markered across his face.

“My name is Brian, and my talent is drumming.”

He sits down behind his kit (also red) and goes to work. After a little showing off, his compatriots take the stage. There is another refugee from the John Hughes extras pool (guitarist Austin Fisher), someone’s dad (bass player Pan) and a spectacularly colorful grunge glam rocker (singer Quinn Walker). This is Suckers, and they’re going to go straight to the good stuff with “Before Your Birthday Ends”.

I had heard Suckers around the ‘net thanks to the likes of Daytrotter and Stereogum and liked what I heard, but by the time I was standing in front of the stage, I had forgotten what they sounded like. I couldn’t have been more happily reminded when they broke into “Birthday” with its bouncing groove and Walker’s falsetto vocals (not to detract from his normal voice, but I almost wish Walker sang in falsetto all the time).

Keeping up the groove through the show, the band members did double- and sometimes triple-duty on vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion percussion percussion and even a little brass, Fisher being the only one who didn’t seem like he was going to jump out of his skin with ebullience. Even without Walker telling us what a “great space” we had in the Beachland and how much fun he was having, their joy was apparent. The audience felt the joy and returned it, giving the band some of the biggest parting cheers I’ve ever heard for an opening act. If Suckers aren’t headlining their own tour the next time around, it’ll be a surprise.

Other songs played (in lieu of an actual set list): “Black Sheep”, “It Gets Your Body Moving”, “Roman Candles”.

Local Natives

Playlist
Camera Talk
World News
Wide Eyes
Cards & Quarters
Shape Shifter
Warning Sign
Cubism Dream
Stranger Things
Airplanes
Who Knows Who Cares
Sun Hands

After experiencing the beauty of the Music Saves acoustic performance, there was a little part of my mind concerned that the big, plugged-in show would not be as invigorating. But when Local Natives took the Beachland stage, they proceeded to give that little part of my mind a smack in its metaphorical face. Like their tour mates, Local Natives bring a lot of percussion and a lot of joy to the stage. Their amplified performance, while three times more energetic than their acoustic performance, is no less tight and no less affecting.

There was a little instrument switching off between songs, Ryan Hahn putting down the guitar for drums for a little while and Taylor Rice and Kelcey Ayer trading off guitar and keyboard duties (Ayer sometimes playing keys and percussion while singing), while bass player Andy Hamm and drummer Matt Frazier kept mostly to their posts (though Hamm did join Frazier a couple of times to add to the percussion). His time behind the keyboard was the only time Rice stopped bouncing around the stage, sweating all over the place.

While their songs benefit from quieter, stripped down playing, their versatility means they also benefit from big, loud amplification, keeping the crowd bouncing along throughout the show. And you can bet everyone was shouting along to the big chorus on “Sun Hands”.

The drawback of being a headlining band with one album is that you’re left with no songs to encore with, and even though the audience really wanted Local Natives back for some more, there was no more to give. But there was no feeling that we hadn’t been given our money’s worth and then some.

Here’s a video from the Local Natives’ in-store performance of my current favorite from them, “Cards & Quarters”:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSJEF3nZUFk]

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Cassette & the Felice Brothers at the Beachland Tavern in Cleveland, OH, 5.10.10

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Cassette

(I’m not very familiar with their songs, so I wasn’t able to construct a playlist.)

Cassette has a violinist and a cellist. These are good things. Cassette also has a keyboardist who seems to enjoy the hell out of himself and a singer whose voice really shines from time to time. These are also good things. Their songs are of the softer, more subtle variety, which A) doesn’t seem like the best fit for a Felice Brothers opener and B) is not my favorite kind of music, to be honest.

Perhaps it was because they were on their last night of their tour with the Felice Brothers, but Cassette’s music lacked oomph and many songs seemed not so much to end as peter out. Their set ended, however, on a highlight as the band, especially the cellist and keyboardist, let go and played their hearts into a burning crescendo. More fire like that throughout Cassette’s set would serve them well.

The Felice Brothers

Playlist
(?)
Greatest Show on Earth
Love Me Tenderly
Katie Dear
Murder By Mistletoe
Stepdad
River Jordan
Fuck the News
Run Chicken Run
Goddamn You, Jim
Whiskey in My Whiskey
Honda Civic
White Limo
Endless Night
Take This Bread
Frankie’s Gun!
Two Nickels (? – Farley song)
Ballad of Lou the Welterweight
Two Hands
-encore-
St. Stephen’s End
Dancehall
Helen Fry

As soon as the Felice Brothers took the stage, it was obvious they were several sheets to the wind. This is not a bad sign where the Felice Brothers are concerned. If you want a neat, orderly show, the Felice clan was never going to be your best bet. Still, no one fell off the small stage, and the only casualties were some booze and a key from James Felice’s accordion (leaving the instrument on the floor near a dancing Ian Felice was probably not the greatest idea).

I’ve been to a few Felice shows now and can tell you they are consistent in their chaos. They pepper their always crowd-pleasing rabble-rousing tunes like “Frankie’s Gun!” and “Run Chicken Run” with sing-a-longs like “Whiskey in My Whiskey” and their cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Two Hands” with new songs, like “Dancehall” and the funked-up “Honda Civic” and slow numbers that showcase Ian Felice’s stellar songwriting. This night’s “Greatest Show on Earth” was the most spirit-raising version I’ve witnessed so far, and I was immensely pleased to hear my new favorite, the as-yet-unreleased “Endless Night”, which is a bit of a departure in sound and just beautiful. Always a family affair, whether blood or adoptive, the lead duties were shared by James Felice, Greg Farley and Christmas/Josh/whatever-he’s-calling-himself-now, though the majority of tunes are always carried by Ian Felice – and rightfully so with his aforementioned songwriting skills and worn, dusty voice. They also brought Cassette singer Samantha Jones on stage to share vocals on “Ballad of Lou the Welterweight”.

The Tavern at the Beachland is a just a small bar with a stage at one end, making it an ideal setting for a Felice Brothers show as they always excel in intimate quarters where they can feed off the vibe of the audience. This night’s crowd was into it, and there were a number of avid fans littered throughout the room, which was heartening for the Brothers’ first show in the CLE.

Felice Brothers shows are always a good recommendation if you want a ramshackle good time and are especially illustrative of the joy and abandon that music can (and should) encompass if you are used to more removed shows in larger venues.

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The Hiram Rapids Stumblers & Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, 3.10.10

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The first thing to stop me short after entering the Beachland Ballroom Wednesday night was the rows of chairs. The second thing was all the grayhairs who were sitting in those chairs. And they all seemed to know each other. I began to wonder if I’d missed news of a venue change or had somehow arrived on the wrong night. It was only when the Hiram Rapids Stumblers took the stage that I was sure I was at the right place at the right time.

The Hiram Rapids Stumblers setlist
I totally dropped the ball on this one. Here are the songs I’m sure they did:
Hop On Lula
Baltimore Fire

Yeah. I know they did an Uncle Dave Macon song concerning a mule and a semi-original composition that set a Langston Hughes poem to music, and there were a couple of tunes about gals with similar names (Susannah and Susie Anna?), but that’s as detailed as I can get. If anyone can help me fill out the information there, just drop me a line.

The Stumblers are a decent band – a downhome string band whom I suspect were toting moonshine in that shiny, little flask that sat in front of Scott Huge – but they seemed to be suffering from a slight lack of confidence. Perhaps, like me, they were put a little off kilter by the audience composition for the night. They did manage to build up a good head of steam for “Hop On Lula” and the little story about Scott riding a mule backwards while naked in the middle of the night was more along the lines of what I was expecting from this bunch. I’d like to see these guys again in a more intimate setting, perhaps with more liquid courage involved.

Carolina Chocolate Drops setlist
Trouble in Your Mind
Cindy Gal
Your Baby Ain’t Sweet Like Mine
Will Adams Breakdown
Two-time Loser
Sandy Boys
Peace Behind the Bridge
There’s a Brown Skin Girl Down the Road Somewhere (adapted by Flemons for harmonica)
Lights in the Valley
Black Annie
Snowden’s Jig (Genuine Negro Jig)
Cornbread and Butterbeans
Hit ‘Em Up Style
Sourwood Mountain
Travelin’ Shoes [encore]

Introduced by a vibrant woman (whose name I have shamefullly forgotten) from the Roots of American Music organization who met Carolina Chocolate Drops at that fateful Black Banjo Gathering where the seeds for the formation of the band were first planted, it was clear from the start that CCDs were there to entertain and educate. With Dom Flemons as the Performer, Rhiannon Giddens as the Mouthpiece (with a strong touch of the Performer) and Justin Robinson as the Quiet One, CCDs tore through a set heavy with songs from their new album, Genuine Negro Jig, and sprinkled with stories of where the songs came from and how CCDs came to the songs. It didn’t take long until everyone in the place, including (especially?) the comfortably-seated grayhairs, were whooping and hollering their appreciation. While CCDs don’t change up the songs they play much between album and stage, hearing those songs played live brings a whole different dimension, and the energy of the band is inarguable. Robinson spends most of the show standing while Flemons and Giddens are seated, but there is no shortage of motion from those chairs, Flemons windmilling his dobro and double-foot stomping (causing his stylish hat to fall off more than once, prompting someone behind me to comment that he needed a “hat roadie”) and Giddens chair-dancing. They engage the audience immediately with a warm and friendly rapport and build on that rapport with songs spanning genres from traditional string-band music to blues to R&B; to the gorgeous three-part harmony of the a capella show-closer.

With an education-minded band like the Carolina Chocolate Drops, you even get book recommendations. I have added to my to-read list Way Up North in Dixie: A Black Family’s Claim to the Confederate Anthem by Howard L. Sacks, which tells the story of the Snowden family of Mount Vernon, Ohio, whom, it is argued, taught the Confederate-minded tune “Dixie” to the historically-accepted composer of the song, Dan Emmett. As you can gather, “Genuine Negro Jig” was also a Snowden family song.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops will be coming back around in May for the Oberlin Folk Festival at Oberlin College (where Giddens went to school), and NTSIB greatly encourages all you NEOers to make the drive out to see them.

Carolina Chocolate Drops Official Website
The Hiram Rapids Stumblers MySpace
Roots of American Music
Music Maker Relief Foundation