Last night it was Steve Earle at the Southern Theater in Columbus.
I’d never been to the Southern Theater, but it looks lovely on the website. Upon arrival I’m quite pleased that there’s a parking garage directly across the street which is offering $3.00 “Special Event” parking. Can’t beat that. I pick my ticket up at Will Call and make my way in. The place is gorgeous! My seat is in the front row, almost uncomfortably close for an intimate acoustic show such as this.
Allison Moorer was amazing. I’d have to say that she’s probably the most gifted technically of any of the singers I’ve ever heard live. She really showcased her voice on her version of Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot”, as well as on Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now”. I think I may have to pick up her new album, Mockingbird, whereupon she pays tribute to some of her favorite female singer-songwriters. Thanks to this performance, I think Allison Moorer has earned a place on my ‘favorite female singer-songwriter’ list.
When the lights went down for Steve Earle, Steve wasted no time, bounding to the stage and immediately launching into “Steve’s Last Ramble”. What we have here is a quieter, dare I say, gentler Steve Earle. Through the course of the night he spoke of politics only briefly. I loved his line that he knew that if there were a candidate he supported the best thing he could do for them was “stay as far the fuck away as I can from ‘em”. You can tell that the angry young man still dwells within (which Steve alluded to, saying he’s “working on a bunch of shit”), but for now he’s been pushed to the background by a Steve Earle who seems very much in love with (his wife) Allison Moorer, his adopted home of New York City, and of course, just playing music.
He played much of his set unaccompanied, then was joined by a DJ (yes a DJ, dropping beats and what-not) for a few songs. There has been some pretty heated discussion of Steve’s choice to use a DJ, but I really felt like it worked. I don’t know that I’d want the DJ out there for the whole set, but for the songs he played on (such as “Satellite Radio”, “Oxycontin Blues”, “CCKMP” and “Transcendental Blues”) it worked perfectly, to my ear.
Allison Moorer also came back out, lending her guitar playing and beautiful voice to a few tunes, including the lovely duet “Day’s Aren’t Long Enough” from Washington Square Serenade.
One of the highlights of the night for me was when Steve (unaccompanied) played the powerful “Billy Austin”. The intimate venue, being so close to the stage, it was truly transcendent. Another high point was Steve’s amazing guitar picking on “Tom Ames’ Prayer”, the constant touring has definitely kept his chops honed. I also got a good laugh when, after playing “City of Immigrants” Steve said; “In case your wondering, this instrument is called a bouzouki everywhere except airport security. There it’s ‘a banjo or something’.”
All in all, a fantastic show; 3 hours well spent.
I hit the Waffle House on the way home for some coffee, hashbrowns, and a ham & cheese omelet. The perfect ending to a great night.
If you’ve really been paying attention, you might remember me mentioning that I bought tickets for the Steve Earle concert in Columbus during the ‘pre-sale’.
I just got confirmation on my seat assignment.
Pit Section
Row AA
(I’m not telling you which seats; army of web-stalkers).
That’s right, just like the great Bob Uecker
“I must be in the front row!” (How many times do you think I’ll use that line that night?)
You know how now they’ve got those musical greeting cards that actually sound “musical”? Well, my mother, always one to embrace our Irish heritage (she hoped I would be born on St. Pat’s day; my middle name would have been Patrick) sent me a St. Patrick’s card that plays music. Imagine my surprize when I realized that it was playing a Dropkick Murphys song.
More specifically, this one:
There’s also a really good live performance here, it’s a Live on Letterman Web Exclusive!
That’s right, good news! Something that’s been sorely lacking on my blog of late. I know what you’re saying; “What, pray tell, is this news, Greg?”
I’m going to see Steve “By Gawd*” Earle on May 6 at the Southern Theater in Columbus. I snagged my tickets from the pre-sale on his website just minutes after it was announced, so I should have great seats. Hooray for my team!
*Just to inject the (evidently) obligatory downer, “Mr. ByGawd” / “Steve ‘By Gawd’ Earle” were the names assigned to him by a dear-departed friend of mine.
Today (Jan 24, 2008) would have been Warren Zevon’s 61st birthday. It’s hard to believe that he’s been gone for over 4 years now. Anyway, in celebration of Warren’s birthday I present you with the following video from the Late Show with David Letterman.
The news of Warrens terminal cancer diagnosis had recently come out and Warren’s old pal Dave Letterman dedicated an entire show to his friend, giving him the whole hour. This was the show where when he was asked by Dave how his work now (as he worked feverishly to complete one last album with the time he had left) compared to before, when he assumed he was healthy Warren replied:
You’re reminded to enjoy every sandwich and every minute of playing with the guys, and being with the kids and…
I never get tired of seeing this, despite how heart wrenching the reality of it is.
Since JW pointed out the Dylanesque feel of Steve Earle’s Jerusalem video, here’s its inspiration. Compare and contrast, this will be on your exam.
So many classic lines:
‘Johnny’s in the basement, mixing up the medicine.’
‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’
‘The pump don’t work ’cause the vandals took the handles.’
Thanks to the combined efforts of “the terrorists”, the news media, and the Bush administration, it appears that we are becoming a nation of trembling Chicken Littles frightened by our own shadows.
I just came across this AP news story by way of Boing Boing, which I will use to illustrate my point.
Basically, here’s what happened:
A Connecticut teacher thought she was alone in the school building. Two teenagers and a custodian, also thinking they were alone in the building began singing “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses over the PA system. Upon hearing the lyric
You know where you are?
You’re in the jungle baby
You’re gonna die
the teacher loses her mind, and fearing for her life, barricades herself in a room then notifies the authorities. Six troopers and three police dogs show up and the kids are handcuffed until the “investigation” reveals that there was no threat or danger.
Now honestly, I can undestand how that would startle, even frighten a person, but come on! Surely most rational people would immediately recognize it for exactly what it was; kids goofing off.
Similarly, apparently all it takes is a “suspicious package” or an errant piece of pipe to fling an entire community into mass-hysteria. Recently our local news reported that a man had found what he thought might be a pipe-bomb in his garage. As you can imagine, the response was immediate and overwhelming. With the help of all manner and sorts of high tech equipment, the bomb squad determined that the “device” didn’t contain any explosives. But even after this discovery, they (the reporters and law enforcement) continued to refer to it as a “pipe bomb”.
Uh, excuse me, but isn’t it the addition of explosives that makes it a “pipe bomb”? Without something that goes “boom”, it seems to me that all you have is a pipe.
The sad thing is, as society becomes further indoctrinated into the culture of fear, this type of incident will become more commonplace and, I’m afraid, eventually accepted.
The other day I was listening to John Prine’s ‘’Fair and Square'’ CD (a great CD which I highly recommend, by the way) in the car on the drive home from work. As I stopped at a stop sign a man came around the corner pushing a baby stroller.
This guy looked like he could be the guitar tech for the Doobie Brothers. I’m talking early 1970’s-pre-Michael-McDonald here people!
Anyway just then John Prine hit the “Lord, this world will make you crazy” refrain in “Crazy as a Loon“. Not missing a beat I sang along:
“I believe that hippie stole that baby…”
As always, I laughed at my cleverness all the way home.
Posted by Greg Evans in humor, music Comments: Comments Off
Back in October of last year I saw the band ‘Brazilian Girls‘ perform on The Late Show with David Letterman. I was really impressed with them, great music coupled with an innovative and arresting stage show (bordering on performance art), but somehow still managed to promptly forget all about them.
So anyway, this past Sunday I was watching A&E’s ‘Breakfast with the Arts’ and guess who was on? Brazilian Girls! Let me pause a moment to explain one thing, “Brazilian Girls” is just the name of the band. There is only one girl, Sabina Sciubba, who is drop-dead gorgeous, but is not Brazilian, hailing instead from Italy and Germany. The 3 guys in the band (Didi Gutman, Aaron Johnston, and Jesse Murphy) are also not Brazilian, nor are any of them girls. Anyway, they’ve become my new musical obsession and I can’t wait to get both of their CD’s.
Here’s their video for “Jique” which Sabina sings in English, Italian, French, and German (by my count). The title, “Jique”, is apparently a word of her own invention.
You can find videos, wallpapers, and lots more on their website, including the aforementioned Letterman and “Breakfast with the Arts” appearances.
Back on May 9th I ordered a hard to find CD (Together at the Bluebird Cafe - Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark) through an “Amazon Marketplace Seller”. The confirmation email said that they would ship my CD by the 11th. The 23rd rolled around and still the CD hadn’t shown up, so I decided to drop them an email and see what was up. They promptly emailed me back saying:
Hello Greg,
thanks for your mail.
We already shipped your order, please remember that shipping from Germany to the USA may take 5 to 15 working days.
kind regards,
Sonja Foelsch
Oh!
I wrote back:
My apologies, I didn’t realize (or had forgotten) that it was being
sent from Germany. Thanks for the quick response.
Greg
As I sent my reply, I laughed to myself, “Of course, that means it will come tomorrow.”
It did. They always do! I can’t count the times I’ve gotten impatient while awaiting a package, emailed the sender, then had the package arrive the next day. What’s the moral to this story?
Should I:
Be more patient, or;
Get impatient sooner, thus expediating the package’s arrival?
I wonder.
Posted by Greg Evans in general, music Comments: Comments Off
In the spirit of John Cusack’s Character, Rob Gordon, in High Fidelity (itself a worthwhile piece of cinema and recommended viewing), I have compiled my list of the Top Ten Live Rock Albums. While I share John/Rob’s obsessive desire to make lists, I find I can’t seem to limit mine to just the “Top Five”, Letterman’s “Top Ten” format suits me better.
Without further ado, here they are, in no particular order (mostly).
Warren Zevon - Stand In The Fire Finally available on CD after all these years, this one is not to be missed. Take Warren’s songwriting genius, throw in an inspired, manic performance and top it off with with a stellar back-up band and what do you have? The Greatest Live Album, Ever!
If your tastes lean more toward Warren accompanying himself on 12-string or piano, Learning to Flinch is a sonic masterpiece as well and might just be the cure to what ails you.
KISS - Alive
The greatest stage show in rock and roll, brilliantly captured and preserved in all its bombastic, fire-breathing, blood-spitting, rocket-shooting guitar glory.
Ian Hunter - Welcome to the Club
Most of what I wrote about “Stand In The Fire” applies here as well. We’ll call this one the best of the rest.
The Kinks - One for the Road
The Kinks at the very pinnacle of stadium-rocking Kinkdom, what more could you want?
Lou Reed - Rock and Roll Animal
Lou strips these songs of their pretty Velvet Underground veneers and presents them in true, snarling, sneering rock and roll style! Kickin’ ass and takin’ names!
BB King - Live in Cook County Jail
Not a rock album, per se, but this album belongs on this list. Listen to the man, consider the men…
The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!
The self-appointed “Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World” at the peak of their live prowess.
The Who - Live at Leeds
Worth the price of admission for that version of Magic Bus alone, stellar!
The Band/Various Artists - Last Waltz
The Band’s legendary 1976 All-Star farewell concert. Featuring performances/farewells by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, and Muddy Waters. One incredible night! Do yourself a favor, If you don’t already own it, get the DVD, too.
So, what are your top five/ten albums? Any genre; just try to run a common thread around them. Share away, the comments await!
Posted by Greg Evans in music, video Comments: Comments Off
