Robert Loerzel's blog on music and the arts
My photos from the Bloodshot Records party during South By Southwest, March 14, 2014, at the Yard Dog art gallery, including: the Deslondes, Robbie Fulks, Rosie Flores, Bobby Bare Jr., Luke Winslow King with Esther Rose, and Ha Ha Tonka. (I have a separate gallery of Lydia Loveless photos from the same party.)
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Country singer Lydia Loveless has a terrific new album out on Bloodshot Records called Somewhere Else, and she played a bunch of times last week in Austin, Texas, during South By Southwest. The show I caught was her performance on Friday afternoon (March 14, 2014) at Bloodshot’s unofficial SXSW party at the Yard Dog art gallery on South Congress. It was just the sort of passionate and fierce performance I expected after listening to her record many times, enhanced by the fact that her backup band really kicked ass. At the start of the show, she introduced the crowd to her tour mascot — I believe she said its name is Baby Monty. “Rescued from a Denny’s in Kansas City.”
Near the end of her set, she sarcastically remarked, “I hope you’ve enjoyed our Neko Case tribute set. … We’re ‘Little Neko Case.'” She was alluding to the critics who have said she sounds a lot like Case. I can see why people would compare them, but the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. Loveless has a distinctive personality and singing style all her own.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
My photos from the nighttime showcases on Day 3 of SXSW, March 13, 2014, including: Smacksoft, Arc Iris, Utopians, Laura Cantrell and Honeyblood. (I have separate galleries for a couple of the bands I saw this night — Dog Trumpet and the Launderettes — plus another post of photos from day parties.)
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
My photos from the first half of Day 3 at South By Southwest 2014, including: Gary Numan, the “Warehouse: Songs and Stories” songwriting panel (with Bob Mould, Steve Wynn, Britt Daniel, Matthew Caws and Jeremy Messersmith), Rebel Cats, Air Traffic Controller, Elizabeth & the Catapult, Tereu Tereu and the Blind Shake.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
The Launderettes, an all-female rock band from Oslo, Norway, who have been together since 1999, played the final time slot of the night at B.D. Riley’s on March 13, 2014, at South By Southwest — and it was one of the most fun shows I saw all week. The Launderettes play songs in the style of 1960s girl groups, occasionally dipping back into 1950s styles or evoking later punk-era bands like the B-52s and throwing in a few Theremin solos. A good way to acquaint yourself with this group is the best-of collection Fluff ‘n’ Fold, which came out in 2007 on Steven Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Record Co. label.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
The Australian rock band Dog Trumpet has been together since 1990, and its two key members — brothers Peter O’Doherty and Reg Mombassa (aka Chris O’Doherty) — have been playing even longer than that. They were members of another Australian band, Mental as Anything, which formed in Sydney in 1976. And yet, somehow Dog Trumpet had escaped my attention until now. And the band had never played in the U.S. until a visit to Austin, Texas, last week for South By Southwest.
I saw Dog Trumpet play a gig at B.D. Riley’s on the third day of SXSW, and the group’s songs immediately hooked me. Something about the way the brothers sing reminds me of the Faces, especially Ronnie Lane’s songs. They also came across as talented musicians who know how to play guitar solos in the classic rock style. And if I had any doubt, how could I not like a band with a song about the Kinks?
I liked Dog Trumpet enough that I decided to buy a copy of the band’s double CD from 2013, Medicated Spirits, and sure enough, it sounds terrific. Now, I’ll have to dig deeper into the Dog Trumpet discography. And hope that these guys decide to visit our shores again sometime soon.
(A note on these photos: Can you tell I was struggling to overcome the terrible, i.e., heavily red, lighting at B.D. Riley’s?)
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
My photos from Day 2 of the South By Southwest festival, March 12, 2014, including LosPetitFellas, Jarvis Cocker, R. Ring, Birth of Joy, Señor Faraón, the Haden Triplets, Lyenn and Damon Albarn. (I have separate galleries for three of the other performers I saw on March 12: Mothercoat, Jambinai and St. Vincent.)
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
In 2007, I caught a SXSW set by the Japanese band Mothercoat, which sticks in my memory for being so frantic and strange. As far as I know, the group hasn’t really broken through to audiences in the U.S., but I’m heartened by the fact that they’re still at it seven years later. Mothercoat was back in Austin last week for another round of SXSW appearances, including a set that I saw early in the afternoon on the International Day Stage inside the Austin Convention Center. Once again, these musicians showed that they have great technical skills and a peculiar intensity. The twitchy music reminded me of Radiohead, Talking Heads and math rock, and the group even gave a shout-out to Michael Jackson.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
One of the best groups I saw at SXSW this year was a South Korean band called Jambinai, which uses some traditional Korean instruments, along with electric guitar, bass and drums, creating a dramatic combination of Asian music with heavy metal and the orchestral sweep of ensembles like Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Jambinai’s great 2012 album Differance is available at Amazon.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Here are a short video and several photos I took of Jambinai’s performance on March 12, 2014, at SXSW’s International Day Stage:
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
My photos of St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) on March 12, 2014, at South By Southwest — including a couple shots of her during an interview at the Austin Convention Center and at a concert later that night at Stubbs.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
My photos from Tuesday, March 11, the first day of South By Southwest, including: Neil Young, Shelby Earl, Mozes and the Firstborn, Mister and Mississippi, Landlady, Those Howlings, Quiet Company, GHXST and Together Pangea.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
Click here for an index of all my photos at SXSW 2014. And here’s my recap of the festival.
This was the year people died at South By Southwest.
The sprawling, raucous, nebulous combination of a trade show, academic conference, rock festival and backyard barbecue went silent for a minute on Thursday night. I happened to be at a bar called Holy Mountain, waiting for a band from Glasgow called Honeyblood to play on the “backyard” stage, when a 20-something woman in a green SXSW shirt stepped up to the microphone and asked, somewhat meekly, for quiet. She had an announcement to make.
It took a minute for the usual bar chatter to subside, but fairly soon, everyone paid heed to the chorus of shushing. And then the woman at the mic asked us all to be silent for a moment of reflection about those who were killed and injured the night before, by an allegedly intoxicated motorist who has been charged with murder. The silence was not complete, of course — sounds floated into the room from the city around us — but for a tent in the middle of a rock festival, the hush seemed remarkable. A full minute or more elapsed.
And then, glancing at her watch and exchanging a look with another SXSW volunteer, the young woman thanked us. People returned to their conversations and drank their beers. The two young Scottish lasses who make up the band Honeyblood took the stage and began pounding out their scrappy songs. The moment had passed. The music went on. But I think it’s safe to say that the tragic events of the week remained on the minds of many people throughout the rest of SXSW. (The SXSW Cares Fund is accepting donations to help people affected by the tragic events of March 13.)
As David Carr and Manny Fernandez wrote in The New York Times, the tragedy “crystallized a question floating around the edges of the festival for years: Has South by Southwest become too big and too rowdy, and has it lost the original spirit of what it intended to be?” Based on everything I’ve read so far about Thursday night’s terrible incident, I don’t believe it’s fair to hold SXSW itself or Austin officials responsible for what happened. Anywhere large crowds gather, it’s always possible that that someone will create havoc. There’s only so much authorities can do to prevent crimes and accidents.
And yet, it’s true that downtown Austin’s main east-west drag, Sixth Street, which is closed off to motor vehicles, gets alarmingly crowded every night of the festival. Unlike Lollapalooza, Pitchfork and other music festivals where audience members need to a ticket to enter a fenced-in area, SXSW unfolds at nearly 100 nightclubs and other venues spread out in and around downtown Austin, without any wall to keep out anyone.
That’s part of what makes it so great, but it also makes it an attraction for people who just want to party in the middle of the street. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, either, but it can result in dangerous crowding, rowdy behavior and many near collisions involving pedestrians, bicyclists, cars and Austin’s increasingly plentiful pedicabs. In the midst of this chaos, people like me are rushing from one music venue to another to see short concerts by the thousands of bands SXSW has imported into Austin for the week. It’s a wonder more people don’t get hurt.
At one point on Friday night, en route to catch a band from Greenland, I approached Sixth Street, looking for the entrance to Esther’s Follies. Several people came running recklessly around the corner. At first, I thought it was just a few revelers goofing around, but as I turned onto Sixth, I saw dozens of people were scrambling down the street. A man held his arm protectively in front of me and gestured for me to stand against the wall. I asked, “What’s going on?” A man passing by told me, “There was a huge brawl in the middle of the street.” We both looked up the street to the area where the action seemed to be happening. The noise subsided and the wave of people stopped rippling. “Oh,” the man said, “it looks like it’s over now.” It turned out to be just a passing moment of panic in the midst of the Sixth Street scene. [Update: This video on the Total Frat Move website, titled “Guy Nonchalantly Eats Pizza In Middle Of Chaotic Brawl At SXSW,” might be the same incident. Either that, or yet another brawl during SXSW.]
So, is SXSW too big? Perhaps, but I don’t see how it’ll ever shrink. As annoying as the sprawl can be, it’s also what makes SXSW special. The week of SXSW offers far more than just the official music, interactive and interactive conference. Countless unofficial parties and concerts are happening in just about every nook and cranny of Austin. The whole city feels alive with music and its legendary weirdness. It all adds up to an impossibly long list of entertainment options.
Think of SXSW this way: At a festival like Pitchfork, with three stages, you can see around 50 percent of the musical performances if you attend for the whole weekend. Lollapalooza has several stages, so you’ll probably see something like 10 percent of all the performances. How about SXSW? At any given time during the week, close to 100 official concerts are happening, plus dozens of unofficial shows. Now, many bands play multiple gigs, which does make it easier to catch them at some point during the week. But in the end, you’ll see only a fraction of 1 percent of everything that happened.
As a result, SXSW is an event where your experience may be utterly different from someone else’s.
For someone focusing on the big names, this was the year Lady Gaga ruled SXSW, delivering the keynote speech and faux-puking during her concert. And, according to another New York Times article, this was the year that “South by Southwest Festival Starts to Feel Corporate.” (“Starts?” you may be thinking… Austin Bloggy Limits has a good response to that review and some of the other SXSW press coverage.)
I really don’t care about Lady Gaga (or Keith Urban or Pitbull or Justin Bieber), so I avoided all of that folderol. This was my first visit to SXSW since 2008, and for me, this was a chance to see a lot of bands I haven’t seen before. I ended up watching full sets by 62 musical acts, plus portions of another eight shows. The vast majority of these bands and singers were completely new to me. In most cases, I’d listened to a song or two by these artists when I was trying to decide what to see.
And in most cases, these bands delivered some really good and even great performances. Stipulating that my SXSW was different from everyone else’s, for me this was the year that guitars and garage rock were stronger than ever. On the final night at Hotel Vegas, located over on an increasingly popular stretch of East Sixth Street, the young fans moshed like mad and tossed beers as bands like Dirty Fences and Bad Sports bashed out their songs.
I didn’t deliberately set out to see a lot of bands led by women, but the ladies dominated the stages this year, from the hard-rocking country singer Lydia Loveless (who wedged her guitar neck between her legs at one point) to St. Vincent, who moved like a wind-up doll in a bloodstained dress. Compared with those theatrics, Laura Cantrell and the Haden Triplets each gave low-key performances, and yet their vocals were among the most beautiful things I heard all week.
I did try to see as many artists from distant places as I could, including musicians from the Netherlands, South Korea, Uruguay and other countries. The Norwegian bands Death By Unga Bunga and the Launderettes topped almost everyone else with their sense of fun showmanship. The Japanese band Mothercoat, which I saw at SXSW in 2007, impressed me all over again with its jumpy, tricky art rock. And South Korea’s Jambinai gave me goose bumps with the powerful, almost orchestral sweep of its compositions, which blended traditional Korean instruments with elements of heavy metal.
Some bands traveled a long way to perform in front of just a few people — how disappointing that must be — while hundreds of people lined up elsewhere to see bigger-name and more-hyped artists. But you could sense how gratified and pleased musicians from distant shores felt when they roused even a small crowd with their music. The Australian band Dog Trumpet, which formed all the way back in 1990, had never performed in the U.S. until now, but it didn’t take long for these veteran roots-rockers to win over new fans — including me — with their instantly catchy songs.
My other favorites of the week included Ex Hex, Smacksoft, the Blind Shake, Burnt Ones, Cosmonauts, Warm Soda and Connections, a young group from Columbus, Ohio, that sounds so, so much like Guided By Voices in its prime. On the first night of SXSW, I stopped to watch the Dutch band Mozes and the Firstborn just because I liked the sound of their music coming from Bar 96 as I was walking past. At the end of the night, I spotted some of the guys from that band in the audience at another gig, by the excellent California group Together Pangea, moshing like true fans.
In spite of last week’s tragedy outside the Mohawk, SXSW 2014 was fun and even inspiring. So many people, speaking in all sorts of accents and languages, gathered in one weird place to make and hear music.
A list of all the bands I saw at SXSW is below. A separate blog post compiles some of my tweets from throughout SXSW. And what about photos? Well, I took more than 29,000 over the five days of music, and I’ve barely had a chance to look through all those pictures to choose the best ones. My plan is to take my time and post a number of galleries in the coming weeks. Stay tuned…
WHAT I SAW AT SXSW 2014:
(*=partial set)
LINKS TO MY PHOTO GALLERIES
TUESDAY, MARCH 11
Neil Young SXSW interview
Shelby Earl (Seattle) at Javelina
Mozes and the Firstborn (Eindhoven, Netherlands) at Bar 96
Mister and Mississippi (Utrechet, Netherlands) at Bar 96
Landlady (Brooklyn) Trinity Hall @ Old School
*The Sour Notes (Austin) at Cheer Up Charlie’s
Those Howlings (Austin) at Cheer Up Charlie’s
*Quiet Company (Austin) at The Main II
GHXST (Brooklyn) at Lit Lounge
*banks (Los Angeles) at Haven
Together Pangea (Los Angeles) at Haven
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12
LosPetitFellas (Bogota, Colombia) at the Radio Day Stage
Mothercoat (Japan) at the International Day Stage
Jarvis Cocker lecture
St. Vincent SXSW interview
Jambinai (Seoul, South Korea) at the International Day Stage
R. Ring (Dayton, Ohio) at the Sub Pop Licensing Party at North Door
Birth of Joy (Amsterdam) at BD Riley’s
Señor Faraón (Montevideo, Uruguay) at Speakeasy
The Haden Triplets (Los Angeles) at St. David’s Sanctuary
Lyenn (Brussels) at Stephen F’s Bar
St. Vincent (New York) at Stubb’s
Damon Albarn (London) at Stubb’s
THURSDAY, MARCH 13
Gary Numan SXSW Interview
“Warehouse: Songs and Stories” songwriting panel with Bob Mould,Steve Wynn, Britt Daniel, Matthew Caws and Jeremy Messersmith
Rebel Cats (Mexico City) at the International Day Stage
Air Traffic Controller (Boston) at Berklee’s Party
Elizabeth & the Catapult (Brooklyn) at Berklee’s Party
Tereu Tereu (Washington) at the DC vs. the World Party at New Movement Theater
The Blind Shake (Minneapolis) at the DC vs. the World Party at New Movement Theater
Dog Trumpet (Sydney) at BD Riley’s
Smacksoft (Seoul, South Korea) at Icenhauer’s
Arc Iris (Providence, R.I.) at Bungalow
*Alika & Nueva Alianza Buenos Aires, Argentina) at Vulcan Gas Company
Utopians (Buenos Aires, Argentina) at Vulcan Gas Company
Laura Cantrell (New York) at the 18th Floor at the Hilton Gardens
Honeyblood (Glasgow) at Holy Mountain Backyard
The Launderettes (Oslo, Norway) at BD Riley’s
FRIDAY, MARCH 14
The Deslondes (New Orleans) at the Bloodshot Party at Yard Dog
Robbie Fulks (Chicago) at the Bloodshot Party at Yard Dog
Rosie Flores (Austin) at the Bloodshot Party at Yard Dog
Bobby Bare Jr. (Nashville) at the Bloodshot Party at Yard Dog
Luke Winslow King with Esther Rose (New Orleans) at the Bloodshot Party at Yard Dog
Ha Ha Tonka (Springfield, Mo.) at the Bloodshot Party at Yard Dog
Lydia Loveless (Coshtocton, Ohio) at the Bloodshot Party at Yard Dog
EMA (Portland, Ore.) at Central Presbyterian Church
The Shilohs, (Vancouver, B.C.) at Maggie Mae’s
Connections (Columbus, Ohio) at Lamberts
Death By Unga Bunga (Oslo, Norway) at Icenhauer’s
Nive Nielsen & the Deer Children (Nuuk, Greenland) at Esther’s Follies
Gulp (Cardiff, Wales) at the Hideout
Songs of Water (Greensboro, N.C.) at the Hideout
SATURDAY, MARCH 15
WatchOut! (Santiago, Chile) at the International Day Stage
Sivu (Cambridge, England) at the International Day Stage
*The Griswolds (Sydney) at the Aussie BBQ
Protomartyr (Detroit) at Beerland
Ex Hex (Washington, D.C.) at the Brooklyn Vegan Party at Red 7
The Melodic (London) at the Flat Stock Stage
*Ditch Witch (Austin) at Burgermania at Hotel Vegas
Burnt Ones (San Francisco) at Burgermania at Hotel Vegas @ Volstead
*AJ Davila (San Juan, Puerto Rico) at Burgermania at Hotel Vegas
Coathangers (Atlanta) at Burgermania at Hotel Vegas @ Volstead
Fletcher C. Johnson (Brooklyn) at Burgermania at Hotel Vegas
The Bad Lovers (Austin) at Hotel Vegas
The Yolks (Chicago) at Hotel Vegas @ Volstead
Gap Dream (Akron, Ohio) at Hotel Vegas
Gal Pals (Austin) at Hotel Vegas
Bad Sports (Austin/Dallas) at Hotel Vegas
Shocked Minds (Brooklyn) at Hotel Vegas
Cosmonauts (Fullerton, Calif.) at Hotel Vegas
Warm Soda (San Francisco) at Hotel Vegas
*Dirty Fences (Brooklyn) at Hotel Vegas @ Volstead
Habibi (New York) at Hotel Vegas @ Volstead
*Mozes and the Firstborn (Eindhoven, Netherlands) at Hotel Vegas
Selections from my tweets at South By Southwest 2014. (Follow me at @robertloerzel.)
TUESDAY, MARCH 11
2:37 p.m. Landed in Austin #sxsw
2:52 p.m. I think those are grackles I hear. #austin #sxsw
3:11 p.m. Saw some actual longhorns grazing along the interstate. #SXSW #austin
5:33 p.m. Neil Young at #SXSW: “I’m running for president.” (Laughter) “I’m Canadian. No. That’ll never happen. That’s a joke.”
5:56 p.m. Neil Young at #SXSW: “I always thought the ‘loudness war’ was something that was going to be really fun.”
5:57 p.m. Neil Young at #SXSW, on computer speakers: “Why don’t they make some computers that have balls?”
6:31 p.m. Overheard at #SXSW: “Jesus is white people’s fan fiction.”
7:21 p.m. My first Google Glass spotting #SXSW
7:26 p.m. The rickshaws/pedicabs are out in force. #SXSW
7:45 p.m. Starting off the #sxsw music with Shelby Earl (who sounds great) at Javelina. Not sure about the rest of the night.
8:16 p.m. Totally random stop at Bar 96, which has Dutch bands all night. I am liking this one (Mozes and the Firstborn) a lot. Catchy, 60s-ish. #sxsw
8:44 p.m. I’d consider going to a venue with a power strip near the stage for cellphone charging. #sxsw
8:46 p.m. I’m sticking with the Dutch bands for now. Next up is the curiously named Mister and Mississippi, which I had on my “to see” list. #SXSW
11:20 p.m. Asian dude in a mosh pit wearing 3-D glasses: check #sxsw
11:36 p.m. This was a #sxsw first for me: a venue where the doorman didn’t know the name of the venue (the confusing “Trinity Hall @ Old School”)
1:30 a.m. Spotted at #SXSW: Chick in a black dress wearing a GoPro on her head.
1:56 p.m. Finishing my #SXSW night with a raging set by Together Pangea. Mosh pit is hopping.
2:03 a.m. I saw a Dutch musician, his shirt torn from the mosh pit, take off one of his shoes and sing into it. #SXSW
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12
10:08 a.m. SXSW band bio: “their DNA is undeniably rock and roll.”
10:58 a.m. Starting off my #SXSW day with an 11 a.m. set by a band from Bogota called LosPetitFellas … because … why not?
11:00 a.m. The Japanese band mothercoat, which impressed me several years back with an insanely intense show, plays at noon at the Convention Center.
11:13 a.m. There are 11 people here to see the band from Bogota, in a room that could hold more than 1,000. #sxsw
11:20 a.m. An annoying thing about photographing people on Austin Convention Center stages: ad logos in the background for Penzoil, Deloitte etc. #SXSW
12:53 p.m. Attending a lecture by professor Jarvis Cocker #SXSW
12:58 p.m. “Oh, I *hate* that noise,” Jarvis Cocker says — as his Apple makes that volume-adjusting “bloop.” #SXSW
2:29 p.m. St. Vincent, describing her early recordings: “It was a little more ‘jazz hands.’” #SXSW
2:53 p.m. St. Vincent on singing about sex: “It’s not being done to me. I’m in control of this. I’m a human being with sexual faculties.” #SXSW
3:27 p.m. Holy crap, this South Korean band Jambinai is incredible. Traditional Korean instruments plus heavy metal. #SXSW
4:16 p.m. I got close enough to hear @AngelOlsen singing in the next room at Mohawk, but it was too crowded to get closer than that. #SXSW
5:12 p.m. No sign of Murray Hewitt at this New Zealand #SXSW party.
5:14 p.m. But there is dude wearing a black robe. #SXSW
6:06 p.m. This is where the action’s really at. #SXSW
6:47 p.m. Up next for me at #SXSW is more Dutch rock: Pride of Joy, from Amsterdam, playing at B.D. Riley’s
8:10 p.m. Beautiful performance by Uruguayan singer-guitarist Senor Faraon, marred by sound bleed from the back room of the venue (Speakeasy). #SXSW
8:37 p.m. Someone just asked me, “Are you Hector?” #SXSW
8:40 p.m. St. Louis hip-hop act Doorway is rapping through the windows of a truck driving down Congress. #SXSW
11:26 p.m. After seeing a lot of bands no one has heard of, I am finshing the night at Stubbs with St. Vincent and Damon Albarn. #SXSW
12:56 a.m. RT @statesman Reports are coming in of a car accident involving several people outside the Mohawk. Story is developing.
2:55 a.m. At 2 a.m. I left Stubbs, a block and a half south of the hit-and-run scene. This was the view down the street.
THURSDAY, MARCH 13
10:05 a.m. I think this is because of the songs that bands tend to put on Soundcloud, but a lot of SXSW bands have cover tunes as their preview tracks.
10:06 a.m. Back to tweeting about the music at SXSW, I guess. Last night’s tragedy certainly casts a pall over things.
10:22 a.m. Bad planning by someone last night at Stubbs. Damon Albarn was supposed to play 12:30-2 a.m., but didn’t start until 1:20…
10:22 a.m. … And even then, there were sound problems. Needed more setup time after St. Vincent’s set. She played a little long (but was awesome).
11:14 a.m. Gary Numan: “I’ve met Bryan Ferry twice — both times in toilets, doing different TV shows.” #SXSW
11:15 a.m. Gary Numan: “If I’m recording a song and I think, ‘That would sound good on radio,’ I erase it.” #SXSW
11:42 a.m. Gary Numan says he has Asperger’s, which made it difficult to deal with stardom circa 1980: “I just wanted to make it go away.” #SXSW
12:00 p.m. I’ve seen 3 Dutch bands at #SXSW this week. Great folks. I may well have encountered Steven Craenmehr, one of the victims, at these gigs.
12:52 p.m. Bob Mould doing an impromptu solo acoustic “Hardly Getting Over It” at the songwriting panel discussion #SXSW
1:31 p.m. Bob Mould, picking up the acoustic guitar at the songwriting panel: “If I hit this hard, will it be OK?” #SXSW
2:48 p.m. Chicago dude @babystew‘s #SXSW party is fricking crowded.
5:19 p.m. The Blind Shake are kicking out the jams at @babystew‘s #sxsw party. Also, nearly kicking me in the head. (Better back up…)
6:44 p.m. Starting tonight’s #sxsw music with Dog Trumpet (from Sydney) at B.D. Riley’s.
10:37 p.m. Rickshaw traffic jam at 6th and Neches. #SXSW
12:02 a.m. #SXSW pauses for a moment of silence. (At least it did at this venue.)
12:54 a.m. Walking in the alley because the street is too crowded. #SXSW
12:58 a.m. I didn’t plan this, but 8 of 12 bands I saw at #SXSW today had female lead singers.
1:15 a.m. I saw bands at #SXSW today from Mexico, Australia, South Korea, Argentina, Scotland and Norway.
1:17 a.m. Checking it off on my #SXSW bingo card: Hot Norwegian blonde playing Theremin.
FRIDAY, MARCH 14
10:52 a.m. Instead of attending Lady Gaga’s #sxsw keynote, I am at my hotel trying to figure out what I should see today.
11:13 a.m. “Drawing inspiration from bands like Weezer, Talking Heads, and the entire Tom Petty catalog, the band is pure songwriting excellence.” (Another SXSW band bio)
12:24 p.m. I think I’ll be safe from being puked on by Lady Gaga if I hang out here this afternoon.
12:36 p.m. Though I’m trying to focus on seeing musicians at #SXSW I haven’t seen before, I’m about to watch Robbie Fulks for the jillionth time.
12:59 p.m. Robbie Fulks to @BSHQ crowd at Yard Dog on his lost-cat saga: “The cat is now indoors. The house is locked.” #sxsw @gapersblock
1:05 p.m. Robbie Fulks, pointing out Rosie Flores in the Yard Dog crowd: “I’m only calling out famous people. The rest of you can go to hell.” #SXSW
5:52 p.m. Had a great time this afternoon at @BSHQ party at Yard Dog… Now, back to downtown Austin for some official #SXSW shows.
5:54 p.m. “We hope you’ve enjoyed our Neko Case tribute set… We’re ‘Little Neko Case,’” Lydia Loveless said. (They were actually her songs.) #SXSW
5:58 p.m. According to the hotel where I’m staying, #SXSW will end before it began.
6:27 p.m. My close-up view of a Blind Shake guitarist’s foot yesterday.
6:30 p.m. And yeah, my camera got pretty close to Luke Winslow King’s guitar today. #sxsw
6:31 p.m. And yes, I was standing awfully close to Lydia Loveless at Yard Dog. She didn’t seem to mind. #SXSW
7:03 p.m. Randomly hearing Roky Erickson singing as you walk down the street. #SXSW
7:31 p.m. I’m sitting in a pew at the Church of Pitchfork. #SXSW
7:43 p.m. I hope Central Presbyterian Church sounds better for Angel Olsen than it does for EMA. Horrible mix, way too much bass. #SXSW
8:04 p.m. “This is mental!” — @jasonsaldanha of @soundopinions describing the huge line of people to see Angel Olsen and Pitchfork showcase #SXSW
8:13 p.m. Audience pro tip: Worst time to try engaging musicians in conversation is when they have 30 minutes to play. #SXSW
8:45 p.m. Was that Debbie Harry strolling down 4th Street? #SXSW
8:50 p.m. Oh, look. More people waiting in lines. #SXSW
9:09 p.m. If you like GBV, you will like this Columbus, Ohio, band I’m watching now at Lambert’s: Connections #SXSW
9:54 p.m. I’ve walked 30 blocks in the last 80 minutes, just so I could see Connections AND Death by Unga Bunga. #sxswworkout
10:33 p.m. “We’re from Norway. Or is it Sweden? Nah, it’s Norway.” — lead singer of Death by Unga Bunga #SXSW
10:58 p.m. Big brawl in the middle of 6th Street. People running. … Now the havoc seems to be subsiding. #SXSW
SATURDAY, MARCH 15
10:15 a.m. I forgot to drink coffee yesterday. #sxsw pro tip: Don’t forget to drink coffee.
10:57 a.m. Last night’s random #SXSW find: I quite enjoyed the set by Gulp, a band from Cardiff that includes Guto Pryce of Super Furry Animals… with a great frontwoman, Lindsey Leven.
11:02 a.m. OK, let’s get this thing stated: Seeing Chilean garage rockers WatchOut! at the International Day Stage. (They were just in Chicago.) #sxsw
11:03 a.m. I am the only person in the audience right now for this set, which was supposed to start at 11. Sound check still in progress. #SXSW
11:04 a.m. Audience is up to 3 people. #sxsw
11:20 a.m. The audience is up to 7 people. WatchOut! is sounding great… No mosh pit, unfortunately.
11:21 a.m. Too early to mosh?
11:42 a.m. About 25 people in the room by the end of WatchOut!’s set. #sxsw
11:45 a.m. I think I’ll hang out at the International Day Stage to see the next act, Sivu, from Cambridge, UK… #SXSW
11:46 a.m. … and then maybe I’ll go to the @brooklynvegan #sxsw party at Red 7 for a while…
11:50 a.m. The #sxsw website has some pretty basic navigational problems. Like: Uh… where is that page I was just looking at?
11:56 a.m. I’m thinking that Hotel Vegas is the place to be tonight. #sxsw
11:56 a.m. I haven’t been over there yet.
12:21 p.m. Enjoying the lovely, wistful songs of English singer-songwriter Sivu at the International Day Stage. #sxsw
1:21 p.m. Pro-gun-rights group marching down Sixth Street #SXSW
1:52 p.m. I just saw a fierce set by Protomartyr in the dim confines of Beerland. #SXSW
2:01 p.m. Dude in a patriot outfit walking down 7th Street. #SXSW
3:03 p.m. They did rule. RT @brooklynvegan: Ex Hex ruling on the outdoor stage at the BrooklynVegan day party #sxsw #marytimony http://bit.ly/1kTCpgJ
4:11 p.m. We’re in the home stretch here… #SXSW
5:50 p.m. I guess this is where I’ll be the rest of the day (and night). Hotel Vegas. #SXSW
10:09 p.m. That was quite a mosh pit for Bad Sports. #SXSW
10:10 p.m. I asked Shocked Minds’ guitarist if they’re going to play “Kalamazoo” (one of my favorite songs of 2013), and he said, “Oh, yeah.” #SXSW
1:39 a.m. March 16 “Someone just unplugged me.” –Guy singing Johnny Cash songs in the food truck court on East Sixth, after his power is cut off. #SXSW
1:45 a.m. There’s a crowd in the Chevron parking lot and a man with a megaphone. #SXSW
1:49 a.m. The Doritos “Bold Stage” is quiet. #SXSW
1:51 a.m. A guy yells, “Want some weed?” at passing cars. #SXSW
2:01 a.m. Heading back to my hotel even though I COULD’VE SEEN ONE MORE BAND. Thus ends my #SXSW.
2:24 a.m. Keith Urban tweeted, “Keep Austin weird.”
See my SXSW recap. … Photo galleries are coming!
I’m at the South By Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas — the first time I’ve gone since 2008. It’s good to be back. The first thing I did this afternoon after picking up my badge was to hear Neil Young talking about his new Pono audio system. It’s a quixotic quest for him to introduce a whole new system for playing music, but his heart is definitely in this project, and his talk turned out to be more than the informercial I had feared it would be. He spent the first 20 minutes or so pacing the stage by himself, talking about his lifetime of listening experiences. Here are a couple of photos:
I tweeted a few of Young’s more memorable comments:
“I’m running for president.” (Laughter) “I’m Canadian. No. That’ll never happen. That’s a joke.”
“I always thought the ‘loudness war’ was something that was going to be really fun.”
Monday night at Constellation, Fred Frith shook and scraped and stroked and beat his guitar. He set a can on top of the strings and ran a red ribbon through them. And that isn’t half of what he did. He had a whole table of implements ready to coax noises out of his guitar. He made it rattle and rumble and ring out. Very little of what came out of the amplifier sounded anything like conventional musical structure, and yet it was undeniably musical. At one point, Frith succeeded in making his guitar sound extraordinarily like a dulcimer.
Near the culmination of Frith’s hourlong improvisation, he sang wordless melodies. And when the whole remarkable performance was over and he left the room and everyone applauded, he came back and gave a bow. The crowd clapped more, and Frith came back one more time. He told us he wouldn’t be playing an encore, because he had just tried to take all of us on a journey with his music.
“We finally get somewhere and what do we do? Get back on the bus and go somewhere else? Nah.”
Photos of Precious Blood on Feb. 25 at the Hideout, featuring Nora O’Connor, Danny Black and Kevin McDonough, a show that wrapped up O’Connor’s outstanding February residency at the Hideout.
Photos of the Pussycat Trio (Robbie Fulks, Robbie Gjersoe and Beau Sample) Feb. 24 at the Hideout.
A hundred-some people turned out at the Hideout on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 22, for a folk music concert organized by local music journalist Mark Guarino. Billed as “From Old Town to Greenwich Village: Songs of the American Folk Revival,” it featured Ed Holstein and Steve Dawson.
Holstein, a well-known figure in the Chicago folk music scene of the late 1960s and early ’70s, had never played at the Hideout before. “I always wanted to play by a whole bunch of dump trucks,” he remarked. Holstein played songs by Bob Dylan, John Prine, Mississippi John Hurt and others, interspersing the music with entertaining stories from Holstein’s own early experiences as a folk singer. He reminisced about his first gigs at the Earl of Old Town, which just happened to fall during the Democratic National Convention of 1968. “The opening act was the National Guard,” he cracked, noting that Vincent Price was in the audience, trying to impress a young woman with the fact that he had all of this singer’s recordings back at his hotel room (apparently thinking — or hoping that the woman would think — this was Bob Dylan or someone more famous than the young Holstein).
Dawson started off the show with a several of his own songs as a couple of folk covers, then returned to play with Holstein at the end of the concert. The crowd sang along with a few of the tunes. Although the Hideout has been hosting folk musicians for years, this was an unusual example of the venue attracting Chicago’s older folk music fans. It would be cool to see more shows like this.
Nora O’Connor’s monthlong residency at the Hideout continued on Tuesday, Feb. 18, with a show by the band that Hideout owner Tim Tuten called the club’s very own supergroup. It’s no longer the “Best Cover Band That Plays One Gig a Year,” but that’s just because the Flat Five have slightly increased their performance schedule.
And “cover band” isn’t really an adequate description for this quintet of masterful musicians and singers, who assemble a few times a year to indulge in their love of finely crafted pop songs, with an emphasis on obscure gems with harmony vocals. Just peruse this week’s set list (scroll down below the photo gallery) to get an idea of the Flat Five’s electric and impeccable musical tastes.
The Flat Five are Nora O’Connor, Kelly Hogan, Scott Ligon, Casey McDonough and Alex Hall. (Ligon, McDonough and Hall also perform in the Western Elstons, who have a regular gig at Simon’s Tavern, and on Tuesday at the Hideout, they were joined for a while onstage by another member of that band, guitarist Joel Paterson.)
During Tuesday’s marvelous Flat Five show, O’Connor remarked, “This is my favorite band in the world to be in. I feel like I’m playing and watching at the same time.”
SET LIST
The Raven
The Party (Henry Mancini)
Treat Me Like a Lady (Lesley Gore)
Little Bell (The Dixie Cups)
Birds of a Feather (Joe South)
I Went to Sleep (The Beach Boys)
Mama Don’t Like My Man (Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings)
Caroline (Randy Newman)
Life Line (Harry Nilsson)
Poli High (Harry Nilsson)
Without Rhyme or Reason (Fran Landesman and Bob Dorough)
All Kinds (Dan Wilson)
Florida (Chris Ligon)
Kites Are Fun (The Free Design)
The Winter Is Cold (Wendy & Bonnie)
Love Is Only Sleeping (The Monkees)
No True Love (The Dixie Cups)
[set break]
Sermonette (Lambert, Hendricks & Ross)
Niki (The Third Wave)
Lil’ Darlin’ (Neal Hefti)
When I Stop Dreaming (The Louvin Brothers)
I Want Some More (Colin Blunstone)
Lazybones (Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael)
Don’t Forget to Cry (Everly Brothers)
Grey Funnel Line (Cyril Tawney)
Sad, Sad Girl and Boy (The Impressions)
Love Lotsa Lovin (Lee Dorsey)
Friends (The Beach Boys)
Tomorrow Won’t Bring the Rain (Dion)
Almond Grove (Chris Ligon)
Plastic Man (The Kinks)
That’s Alright (Fleetwood Mac)
Poop Ghost (Chris Ligon)
Let Him Run Wild (The Beach Boys)
Sunday Will Never Be the Same (Spanky & Our Gang)
Don’tcha Hear Me Callin’ To Ya (The Fifth Dimension)
In addition to his recordings as Dolly Varden’s main singer-songwriter, Steve Dawson has released a couple of solo albums, and now he’s getting ready to record another. He played a free show Sunday night, Feb. 16, at Simon’s Tavern in Andersonville (a cozy drinking establishment that features live music on Sundays and Wednesdays, without ever doing much in the way of publicity).
Dawson was fronting a band he calls Funeral Bonsai Wedding — Frank Rosaly on drums, Jason Roebke on bass and Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone. I’m not that familiar with Roebke, but I know Rosaly and Adasiewicz as two of the most inventive and hardest-working players in town. With this stellar lineup, Dawson’s music took on a jazzy vibe, though it still sounded solidly within the realm of rock music. As the band stretched out some of the songs, Dawson took it as an opportunity to let loose on electric guitar solos. His wife and fellow Dolly Varden member, Diane Christiansen, also joined in on vocals for a few songs.
It all made for a very fine evening of music — except for the unwelcome vocals of one drunk guy yelling from the bar, who was eventually ejected from Simon’s, much to the relief of everyone nearby. Hey, when you play in a bar, these things are going to happen sometimes.
Norwegian singer-songwriter Ane Brun’s songs sounded delicate and intimate Saturday night, Feb. 15, at Schubas. As she explained to the audience at the sold-out concert, it took her years to gain the confidence to build bigger arrangements for her songs, turning more of the music she’d written over to other musicians. For her current tour, she decided to bring the songs back to a more elemental level — playing with just one other musician, Swedish cellist-singer Linnea Olsson. When Brun introduced “This Voice,” she noted that she played much “bigger” versions of the song over the years. But this time, she said, “We’re going to bring it down to the smallest version ever.”
But as Brun plucked the strings of her guitar and Olsson bowed her cello, those two instruments sounded at times like a miniature orchestra. Brun played songs from throughout her career, including covers of Amerie’s dance hit “1 Thing,” Henry Purcell’s 1688 aria “Dido’s Lament” (which Brun renders as “Laid in Earth”) and Arcade Fire’s “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels).”
Saturday’s concert also featured a delightful opening set by Olsson, who performed solo — using looping pedals to build her cello lines into rich arrangements. It’s a technique many other musicians are using in recent years, most notably Andrew Bird, but Olsson did it as skillfully as anyone I’ve ever seen. On one song, Olsson effectively turned her cello into a percussion instrument, tapping on it to create the rhythmic underpinning of a song from her new album, the aptly named Ah!
Three bands that excel at trippy garage rock reminiscent of the 1960s played Feb. 6 in the Volcano Room, upstairs at the Bottom Lounge. The headliners, People’s Temple, have a new album, Musical Garden, out on Chicago’s consistently marvelous Hozac Records. The same label also just put out a new 7-inch by one of the other bands at this concert, Chicago’s Radar Eyes. The night also featured another outstanding Chicago band, Outer Minds. It was a solid night of great songs, though it seemed to fizzle out at the end, when some technical difficulties resulted in People’s Temple playing without drums for a couple of songs. Despite that anticlimactic ending, People’s Temple had sounded great when they were jamming out at the start of their set.
Underground Bee is 10 years old today.
I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing when I started this website on Feb. 12, 2004 — sometimes I’m still not sure — but I wanted to create a place where I could write about the arts. I also wanted to display my photography, though I didn’t foresee how big a part of the site that would become.
So, what’s with the name, anyway? Underground Bee? Well, it’s one of those somewhat random titles that doesn’t reveal exactly what the website is about. That’s the sort of name I was looking for. A friend mentioned that bumblebees often live in holes in the ground — and are sometimes known as “underground bees” — and it struck me as an interesting phrase.
It reminded me of the names of newspapers such as The Sacramento Bee. (When that paper published its first issue in 1857, here’s how it explained the name: “The name of The Bee has been adopted as being different from that of any other paper in the state and as also being emblematic of the industry which is to prevail in its every department.”) And while it’s debatable what qualifies as “underground,” starting my own website to cover the arts felt like something of an underground endeavor.
I stumbled for a while with my efforts at Web design, before switching over to blogging platforms. If you poke around in the older portions of this site, you may find some broken links — not too many, I hope — as well as some blog posts that don’t exactly match my current format. (The pictures you see here on this blog post include previous versions of the Underground Bee logo — some of which I believe I abandoned before using.)
And you’ll see some rather awful photos from my early years using a point-and-shoot camera. Looking at those pictures now, I can’t believe I ever thought those photos looked good enough to post online! Although I’d started taking photos as a hobby in high school, I didn’t start taking pictures at concerts with any regularity until the early 2000s. Like countless other music fans, I simply realized that I had a new digital gadget allowing me to snap pictures at concerts, and as long as I was standing there in front of the stage, I thought: Why not take some pictures?
That offhand idea grew into an obsession. Over the years, I’ve purchased better cameras and lenses. And I hope that my photographic skills have also improved. And while I do enjoy photographing big stars, I really treasure those moments at smaller venues where I may be the only photographer — or one of a few — documenting a performance.
More than anything else I’ve done with this blog, I ended up reviewing and reporting about concerts, with photos to go along with my words. (Or in some cases, photos without any words.) I still write here from time to time about films, plays, albums and other arts topics.
I don’t try to cover everything in the Chicago music scene here. I do hope I’ve helped to document what’s happening. This website is a one-man operation. It has no advertising. I get paid nothing for any of the reviews or photos that run here. (I do get paid for my writing and photography for other media outlets.)
Underground Bee has had about 1,000 blog posts so far. According to the stats from my web server, Underground Bee usually receives 25,000 to 30,000 visits per month — though that total shot up past 50,000 in December and January. It seems that a lot of people end up on my website after searching for photos of particular musicians. (I do need to work on improving my SEO.)
Looking back at everything I’ve posted on Underground Bee over the past decade, I feel a new appreciation for all of the music and other art I’ve experienced during that time, including so many concerts that tickled, thrilled or thrashed my ears and my brain. And I’m grateful that so many venues and musicians have been kind enough to allow me to take photos at these performances.
Thanks to everyone who has been paying attention.
One of Chicago’s best singers, Nora O’Connor, is performing every Tuesday night in February at the Hideout. Despite being a regular at the Hideout and collaborating with many other musicians, including Andrew Bird and Robbie Fulks, she’s had only one solo album — the delightful Til the Dawn, released a decade ago by Bloodshot Records — and she doesn’t headline all that many gigs that are billed as Nora O’Connor shows.
O’Connor kicked off her month of shows on Feb. 4 with an intimate set, performed in front of one microphone in the Hideout’s front room. This show as originally billed as the return of Cantina, her old duo with Matt Weber, but he was unable to make it, so it ended up being more of a solo Nora set, with accompaniment from Casey McDonough and Gerald Dowd — plus Hideout sound man Ryan Hembrey, who jumped in on bass guitar for a few songs from Til the Dawn. They called themselves Mantina. And on Facebook, Dowd said they were “a soft-rock trio juggernaut.”
You have three more chances to see Nora O’Connor this month at the Hideout. On Feb. 11, she’ll lead a band in performing the entirety of the 1973 album Buckingham/Nicks. On Feb. 18, she’ll perform as part of the Flat Five. And on Feb. 25, she’ll play as part of Precious Blood, her new band with Danny Black and Kevin McDonough. Here’s Jay Ryan’s poster for the series:
Elastic Arts is one of those odd little Chicago venues where you walk up a flight of stairs and find yourself in an unassuming room, surrounded by people who have gathered for what seems more like a casual party than a concert. But when it’s time for the music, everyone sits down and quietly listens. And the music itself is often experimental and exploratory. On Friday, Jan. 31, Elastic hosted the first night of what it calls the “Elastro Winter 2014 series of electro-acoustic collaborations.”
The headliners were two great Chicago musicians who dwell on the fringes of jazz, rock and experimentation: Jeff Parker and Joshua Abrams. Parker is best known as a guitarist, and Abrams is best known as a bassist, and they played those instruments during this set — but both also played keyboards or electronic devices, creating a droning hum that floated through their delicate improvisations.
The evening had begun with acoustic music by guitarist Ben Remsen (I walked in toward the end of his set), followed by a truly peculiar performance by Olivia Block and Peter J. Woods. As they began, pieces of lumber were leaning against the walls on either side of the stage. Their music — if that’s what it was — consisted of moving those pieces of wood to the middle of the stage and piling them up and then taking apart the pile and hauling the wood back to the edge of the stage. Block and Woods had contact microphones set up at various places on the stage, amplifying the creaky sounds of those boards being dragged and dropped. The whole thing felt more like a piece of performance art than music — or what most people think of as music, anyway. Whatever it was, it was strangely mesmerizing.
Chris Mills smiles a lot when he sings, and it’s a big, beaming smile. His voice is big, too. As he was belting out the notes of his memorable songs on Friday, Jan. 24, at Schubas, it was obvious that he was having a great time.
Mills hasn’t lived in Chicago for several years now — what, it’s already been a decade? — but as the Tribune aptly put it in a headline over a recent interview: “Chris Mills is a Chicagoan no matter where he roams.” At least, that’s how I think of him, even if he’s living in New York. When he was still in Chicago, Mills seemed like he was part of the local alt-country scene, but his music was never really alt-country: more like singer-songwriter rock, folk and power pop. During his set on Friday, Mills joked a couple of times about the phrase that Reader critic Peter Margasak had used to describe some of his new songs: “genre-neutral.” Even if that sounds vaguely insulting, it does accurately point out how hard it is to put a genre label on Mills’ music.
Mills has a strong new album called Alexandria, his first record in five years, which he funded with a Kickstarter campaign. (I was a contributor.) The fact that he was able to raise $20,389 just goes to show that his fans haven’t forgotten him.
On this record, Mills worked with Norwegian producer Christer Knutsen, who also played guitar, piano and organ and sang backing vocals. Knutsen and drummer Pal Hausken came over from Norway to play on this current tour. Mills’ backup band, the Distant Stars, also includes a familiar face from the Chicago music scene: bassist Ryan Hembrey, who often runs the sound at the Hideout.
The Schubas music room wasn’t quite as full as it should have been — possibly because it was snowing that night, and the roads were treacherous — but the people who did turn out clearly knew Mills’ songs, the new ones as well as the older ones he has played over the years. Mills took some requests, challenging his new Scandinavian bandmates to figure out some songs they hadn’t rehearsed, such as “You Are My Favorite Song.” Highlights of the night included “The Silver Line” and “Living the Dream.”
Mills and the Distant Stars ended the night with a spirited cover of Big Star’s “Thank You Friends,” which was Mills’ way of thanking everyone who came to the show and all those who pitched in money to help him make Alexandria.
The opening act, Irish-American singer-songwriter Niall Connolly, was charming and funny as he introduced his folk songs, which were spare and lovely. Mills remarked later that Connolly is something of a leader in a scene of musicians in Brooklyn, and it was easy to believe that, based on his performance Friday.
Oh, and Chicagoans: You have another chance to see Chris Mills. He and his band will play a free show Sunday, Feb. 2, at the Saki record store in Logan Square, with an opening set by Jon Lindsay starting at 3 p.m.
Correction: An earlier version of this post included an incorrect name for the drummer in Chris Mills’ band.
Welsh singer-songrwiter Cate Le Bon got stuck in a terrible traffic jam on her way to play on Thursday, Jan. 23, at the Schubas nightclub in Chicago. Forty or so trucks and cars crashed in a pileup on I-94 in Michigan that afternoon, and three people died. Le Bon and her touring bandmates weren’t injured, but they were among the many people who sat in their cars without moving for several hours. As audience members showed up for the concert, the Schubas staff said Le Bon was late — but that she was on her way. The opening act, Kevin Morby, was traveling in the same vehicle, so he was late, too.
Morby was supposed to start playing at 9 p.m., but it wasn’t until sometime after 10:30 p.m. when all of the musicians finally showed up. The bands quickly set up and did a sound check. Morby (of Woods and The Babies) played just three songs, but they packed some punch. And then, just a few minutes later, Le Bon took the stage, apologizing for the delay. The audience members who’d stuck around for this belated gig greeted her warmly — and were rewarded with a stellar performance.
Le Bon’s 2013 album, Mug Museum, sounds lovely, but her music was even better live — and not just because of her beautiful vocals. The riffs and lines Le Bon played on her electric guitar were sharp, almost spiky, intertwining in intricate patterns with the rest of the band. In the hardest-rocking songs, the riffs bounced back and forth between Le Bon and guitarist-keyboardist H. Hawkline, adding a stereo effect to the psychedelic folk-rock — and reminding me a bit of the great late ’70s band Television. (I thought I might be the only one to make that comparison, but then I noticed what the Chicago Reader’s Peter Margasak had written earlier: “The shapes of her angular guitar lines suggest Tom Verlaine at his most minimal…”)
In spite of the delays earlier in the evening, when it seemed uncertain whether this concert would even happened, it turned out to be an outstanding show.
January’s Tomorrow Never Knows festival keeps getting bigger, featuring more shows at more venues in Chicago. I saw two shows in this year’s festival: A fantastic, energetic set by Superchunk on Jan. 18 at Metro, which I did not photograph, except for a few cellphone pictures; and a lively evening of music on Jan. 19 at Lincoln Hall, featuring Alvvays, Pink Front, Diarrhea Planet and Yuck, which I did photograph:
I’ve posted my favorites of the concert photos I took in 2013 on Flickr (just a few of which you can see below…)
These are my favorite musical performances of the past year, out of the 104 concerts I attended. (I’m counting each day of a festival as one “concert,” with a total of 323 or so sets. Maybe 20 of those are fragments of sets that I caught while dashing around taking photos at festivals.)
2. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, April 1 at the Chicago Theatre
3. Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Dec. 13 at the Majestic Theatre, Madison, Wis.
4. The Replacements, Sept. 15 at Riot Fest in Humboldt Park
5. Bill Callahan, May 6 at the Garfield Park Conservatory
6. Fatoumata Diawara, July 13 at Square Roots Fest
7. Laura Marling, May 23 at the Athenaeum
8. Neutral Milk Hotel, Oct. 15 at the Canopy Club, Urbana
9. Superchunk, Sept. 7 at the Hideout Block Party
10. Jason Molina tribute concert, May 11 at the Bluebird Nightclub in Bloomington, Ind.
Honorable mentions:
The Handsome Family, July 22 at the Pritzker Pavilion
The Rolling Stones, May 28 at United Center
Will Johnson, Nov. 11 house concert in Humboldt Park
Girl Group Chicago, Sept. 7 at Hideout Block Party
Low, March 7 at Saki
Charles Bradley, Aug. 3 at Lollapalooza
Scott Lucas & the Married Men, March 9 at the Hideout
Nick Lowe, Oct. 2 at Evanston SPACE
Twin Peaks, March 9 at the Hideout
Shoes and Green, May 4 at FitzGerald’s
Lee Ranaldo Band, May 27 at the Pritzker Pavilion
Jason Isbell, June 8 at North Center Ribfest
The Bats, June 9 at Schubas
Robbie Fulks, Sept. 5 at Lauries Planet of Sound
Mavis Staples, Sept. 6 at Hideout Block Party
Pere Ubu, Sept. 21 at the Empty Bottle
My Bloody Valentine, Nov. 3 at the Aragon
Bill Callahan, Oct. 14 at Alhambra Palace
Savages, July 20 at the Pitchfork Music Festival
Björk, July 19 at the Pitchfork Music Festival
Mavis Staples, Sept. 6 at the Hideout Block Party
Belle & Sebastian, July 20 at the Pitchfork Music Festival
Treasure Fleet, July 28 at Wicker Park Fest
Jack DeJohnette, Aug. 29 at the Pritzker Pavilion (Chicago Jazz Festival)
Billy Bragg, Sept. 27 at Evanston SPACE
Diarrhea Planet, Nov. 16 at the Beat Kitchen
The National, Aug. 3 at Lollapalooza
Laura Veirs, Sept. 25 at Schubas
These are my favorite records of 2013, the ones I enjoyed the most. Betraying my personal tastes, the list is dominated by alt-country and artists working somewhere around that genre’s vague boundaries. Simply put, a lot of my favorite artists came out with new records in 2013, and a lot of those records were very good. My honorable mentions include quite a few records I wish I could have squeezed into my top 10 — and I wish there’d been enough time to listen more closely to hundreds more.
This is the quietest Nick Cave has made in a while, but it’s hardly mellow. In this tense and brooding suite of songs, Cave seems to be drifting in and out of dreams and unsettling nightmares, a world-weary traveler whose memories are slipping away. The fleeting images in his phantasmagoria flash with menace and yearning, climaxing in the epic “Higgs Boson Blues.” nickcave.com
The latest in a succession of masterpieces by one of the most accomplished singer-songwriters of the past decade and a half. Neko Case has said she drew more on her personal life for her lyrics this time, but the evocative poetry of her songs has always been a bit mysterious, and it remains so. Her voice is as beautiful as ever, too, surrounded here by an alluring variety of musical textures, including sonar blips, jingle bells, trumpets and cellos. Case seems to be creating her own genre, even as her innovative songs echo with the radio signal of classic tunes of the 20th century. nekocase.com
Many of the smart songs on this intimate, acoustic record could have been written in the 1930s, or maybe even the 19th century. With a couple of exceptions, they’re actually new, but this is music with a true old-timey spirit. Renaissance man Robbie Fulks pulls it off with apparent ease, drawing on his encyclopedic knowledge of classic and obscure country, folk and bluegrass. He knows the old stuff, and how to make it new again. robbiefulks.com
As the title hints, this album feels like a nocturnal journey that flows with the logic of a dream. (In that way, it has a passing resemblance to the aforementioned Nick Cave record, though the two artists have distinct styles and personalities.) There’s a loose, jazzy vibe, punctuated at almost every turn by a singular guitar fill from Bill Callahan’s remarkable sideman Matt Kinsey. It all reaches shimmering perfection on my favorite song of 2013, “Summer Painter,” which finds Callahan musing on the meaning of work, as he sings about a summer job painting rich people’s boats. Then the story takes a turn toward the apocalyptic, when a hurricane hits and people blame the narrator: “Like all that time spent down by the water/had somehow given me control over the rain.” As peculiar as Callahan’s dreams may be, after a while, they start to seem like your own. dragcity.com/artists/bill-callahan
Like other records of the recent garage-rock explosion, Mikal Cronin’s second album is bursting with exuberance and energy. But it’s also carefully crafted, with a string section adding a touch of grandeur to all of its heartily strummed guitars and pounding drums. The spirit of late ’60s music is alive and well here. One song after another has the sort of melody that makes you want to sing along, thanks in no small part to the vulnerability in Cronin’s voice. mikalcronin.bandcamp.com
Dawn McCarthy has sung haunting harmonies on previous records by Bonnie “Prince” Billy, aka singer-songwriter Will Oldham. On this tribute to the Everly Brothers, they get equal billing. That’s apt, since the combination of these two voices was one of the year’s delights. The album doesn’t include Don and Phil Everly’s biggest hits, but the song list reminds us just how noteworthy that duo was. In the elegant folk-rock renditions on this record, what the brothers sang sounds beautiful and brand new. dragcity.com/artists/dawn-mccarthy-and-bonny-billy
David Bowie’s new album seemed to come out of nowhere. And it sounds like it came from another time and place — maybe the 1980s, maybe somewhere on Planet Bowie. This artist who’s legendary for his innovations and constantly shifting persona isn’t necessarily trying to invent anything new this time around, but it’s a batch of excellent songs. The dense rock-band-orchestra arrangements deliver one great hook after another with some wallop, but more than anything, it’s terrific to hear Bowie singing again, sounding like classic Bowie. davidbowie.com
The former Drive-By Truckers singer-guitarist finally came into his own with this masterful album, striking a chord with memorable turns of phrase and the rueful wisdom of a man who’s made mistakes and learned from them. jasonisbell.com
Producer Jeff Tweedy’s clean, simple arrangements bring a warm glow to Mavis Staples’ glorious voice in this stirring set of gospel, soul and folk rock. The first song and the last are modern hymns (one written by Low, another by Tweedy), gracefully restrained prayers to the world. mavisstaples.com
A family album in musical form, with Steve Dawson’s memories filling each page like tantalizing old snapshots. This is the sound of a songwriter and a band at midlife, contemplating their past, present and future, and transforming it into beguiling ballads. dollyvarden.com
Molly Drake — Molly Drake
Yo La Tengo — Fade
Kelley Stoltz — Double Exposure
Veronica Falls — Waiting for Something to Happen
Laura Mvula — Sing to the Moon
Richard Thompson — Electric
Heavy Times — Fix It Alone
Cate Le Bon — Mug Museum
Low — The Invisible Way
Laura Marling — Once I Was an Eagle
Charles Bradley — Victim of Love
Waxahatchee — Cerulean Salt
Rose Windows — The Sun Dogs
Twin Peaks — Sunken
I Was A King — You Love It Here
Sam Phillips — Push Any Button
The Sadies — Internal Sounds
David Lang — Death Speaks
Laura Veirs — Warp and Weft
Superchunk — I Hate Music
The Cairo Gang — Tiny Rebels
Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood — Black Pudding
Cave — Threace
Patty Griffin — American Kid
My Bloody Valentine — m b v
The Handsome Family — Wilderness
The Liminanas — Costa Blanca
The National — Trouble Will Find Me
Arcade Fire — Reflektor
Chelsea Wolfe — Pain Is Beauty
Disappears — Era
Midlake — Antiphon
Thee Oh Sees — Floating Coffin
Various Artists — Good God! Apocryphal Hymns
Pelican — Forever Becoming
Rokia Traoré — Beautiful Africa
Black Bug — Reflecting the Light
Kronos Quartet/Bryce Dessner — Aheym
Phosphorescent — Muchacho
Shocked Minds — Shocked Minds
Ensemble Signal — Shelter
Alvin Lucier/Janacek Philarmonic Orchestra — Orchestral Works
Cass McCombs — Big Wheel and Others
Dobrinka Tabakova — String Paths
Frank Rosaly — Cicada Music
Savages — Silence Yourself
Bonnie “Prince” Billy — Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Kurt Vile — Wakin on a Pretty Daze
Nadia Sirota — Baroque
Jacco Gardner — Cabinet of Curiosities
Foxygen — We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
Guided By Voices — English Little League
Mind Spiders — Inhumanistic
Ty Segall — Sleeper
Dumpster Babies — Dumpster Babies
Faun Fables — A Table Forgotten
“I heard that Beyonce put out a record today,” singer-songwriter Bonnie “Prince” Billy (aka Will Oldham) said during his concert Friday night, Dec. 13, at the Majestic Theatre in Madison, Wis. Noting that Beyonce had put her album out on iTunes (actually, the night before) without any advance publicity, Oldham said he’s done the same thing.
Then he wryly claimed credit for giving Beyonce the idea:
Before anyone takes this too seriously, we should mention that Oldham has a sideline as a somewhat strange stand-up comedian. While it’s doubtful Beyonce has copied anything from Bonnie “Prince” Billy, it’s true that he’s taken some unusual approaches to releasing music.
Oldham has always been prolific, with so many semiofficial releases under various guises that it takes some homework to keep track of what he’s doing. The homework is worth doing — Oldham is one of the most consistently interesting songwriters of recent years. He hasn’t had a proper album of original songs since 2011, but during that time, he has released EPs, singles and collaborative projects (including an album last year with Trembling Bells and another this year with Dawn McCarthy, the wonderful Everly Brothers tribute, What the Brothers Sang).
And now he has a new album called simply Bonnie “Prince” Billy — which he is selling at the merch tables during a short concert tour, and virtually nowhere else. I snagged a copy for myself and another for a friend on Friday night. I think the guy selling records said that only 23 copies are for sale at each show (though it looked like there more than that). He said the album will come out next year with wider distribution. It’s a spare solo recording, and the only label information listed on it is a P.O. Box in Louisville. During his set, Oldham called it “the yellow record,” adding that the color came out a little greenish.
I made the drive to Madison for this concert because Bonnie “Prince” Billy didn’t include Chicago on his brief 2013 itinerary — unless you count the set he’s playing at 7 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, during the Second City’s annual “Letters to Santa” benefit. His other stops on this tour include St. Louis, Iowa City and Minneapolis.
After a lovely opening set of instrumental music by the Chicago group Bitchin Bajas, the stage was set for Bonnie “Prince” Billy: just a table and one microphone. It became clear that this would be a solo performance, something I’ve never seen Oldham do. He sang and played his unamplified acoustic guitar into that one mic, performing a set of more than 20 songs, including many that he recorded in his early years under the Palace Music and Palace Brothers monikers.
He opened with a song I didn’t recognize, which eventually morphed in the Palace Music track “New Partner.” Was it a medley or an extended version of that song? I’m not certain. I jotted down some of the lyrics, which seemed like Oldham’s way of introducing himself to the audience:
Oldham often lifted one foot and twisted his posture as he sang, employing some of the same gestures I’ve seen him use when he’s in the full throes of a more rocking soon with a band. And as always, he bared his teeth and rolled his eyes at key moments of his songs. He was more talkative than usual in between songs.
After the first song, he asked, “Does anybody here have Black Panties?” After a woman in the crowd shouted that she did, Oldham said, “Oh, you’re wearing them? I meant the R. Kelly CD. … This next song exists only due to the inspiration of your neighbor to the south, Robert Kelly.” He then sang, “You Remind Me of Something (The Glory Goes)” — a song that doesn’t sound anything like Kelly’s music.
[UPDATE Dec. 18, 2013: I picked a bad time to drop a casual reference to R. Kelly. The controversy over rape and abuse allegations against the R&B singer has erupted again, driven by this Village Voice story. If you haven’t already, I urge you to read it. And I should add that I don’t understand Will Oldham’s fascination with Kelly.]
At another point, Oldham played “Horses,” a song originally recorded by Sally Timms and Jon Langford of the Mekons. That prompted Oldham to tell the story of how he’d encountered Langford one time in a bar, dragging Langford out to his car to play him Oldham’s recording of the song. Oldham said Langford’s reaction seemed to be: Who the hell is this guy? “One of the high moments of my life,” Oldham said Friday, recalling that moment. An even higher moment, he said, was the time in 2007 when Oldham filled in for Tom Greenhalgh during a few songs when the Mekons played two shows in one night, at the Hideout and the Mutiny. (That was a great night for me in the audience, too.) As he remembered that night, Oldham compared it to watching Casablanca and being asked to fill in for Humphrey Bogart on the screen. Then he changed his mind, adding:
Oldham also commented on his love of craft beer, noting: “You can’t download it.” He mentioned that during his introduction to his most famous song, “I See a Darkness.” Tired Hands Brewing Co. is making a beer named after that song. “I’ve gotten a lot of joy out of beer in my life during the last few years,” Oldham said. (Who can forget the time he interviewed a beer-brewing robot in a video for Dogfish Head Brewery?)
While he was in Madison, Oldham and his tour mates visited the Wisconsin State Capitol to get a look at Old Abe, Wisconsin’s Civil War eagle — “who flew into battle Lord of the Rings-style,” as Oldham put it. They heard a tour guide explaining how the original taxidermied Old Abe was destroyed a long time ago in a fire. “The Old Abe that’s in there is an impostor,” Oldham said. That led him into his 2011 song “Quail and Dumplings,” which he described as “my song about being disillusioned with America.” (As political protest songs go, it’s somewhat obscure.)
After an enthralling hour and a half of music and banter, Oldham closed the night with a cover of R. Kelly’s hit “The World’s Greatest,” transforming it into his own style of folk rock. The words seemed both goofy and anthemic coming out of Oldham’s mouth:
[UPDATE Dec. 18, 2013: See above.]
Unknown song? / New Partner (from Palace Music’s Viva Last Blues)
You Remind Me of Something (The Glory Goes) (from Lie Down In the Light)
Black Captain (from Wolfroy Goes to Town)
The Mountain Low (from Palace Music’s Viva Last Blues)
I Heard of a Source (from Bonnie “Prince” Billy)
Wolf Among Wolves (from Master and Everyone)
Rich Wife Full of Happiness (from Ease Down the Road)
The Risen Lord (from Guarapero/Lost Blues 2)
Omaha (Everly Brothers cover from What the Brothers Sang)
Death to Everyone (from I See Darkness)
Horses (Sally Timms and Jon Langford cover from a Palace Music single)
The Brute Choir (from Viva Last Blues)
Love Comes to Me (from The Letting Go)
Quail and Dumplings (from Wolfroy Goes to Town)
(I Was Drunk at the) Pulpit (from Palace Brothers’ There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You)
I See a Darkness (from I See Darkness)
The Weaker Soldier (from Palace Music’s Arise Therefore)
Gulf Shore (from Palace Music’s Lost Blues and Other Songs)
We Are Unhappy (from Wolfroy Goes to Town)
May It Always Be (from Ease Down the Road)
The World’s Greatest (R. Kelly cover from Ask Forgiveness)
The Denton, Texas, band Midlake has pulled off a rare feat — losing its primary singer-songwriter (Tim Smith) and emerging with a strong new album (Antiphon). Playing Thursday night (Dec. 5) at Schubas, Midlake also proved that it can still play the music from its earlier albums just fine. Guitarist Eric Pulido has taken over as Midlake’s new lead singer, and his vocal style isn’t too far removed from Smith’s. His harmonies — and the singing by the rest of Midlake’s virtuosic players — were always part of what makes this artsy folk rock band’s sophisticated, haunting music so special.
During Thursday’s show, Midlake played several of the new Antiphon songs, but it didn’t shy away from the old material, even playing the early song “Kingfish Pies” (from the 2004 album Bamnan and Silvercork) — the weird little anthem that attracted my attention to Midlake in the first place. And of course, Midlake performed key tracks from 2010’s The Courage of Others and 2006’s The Trials of Van Occupanther, the album that stands as its masterpiece. Flute melodies, guitar arpeggios and vocal harmonies meshed into enchanting forest folk music and soaring, powerful rock.
The opening act was another artist from Denton, singer-songwriter Sarah Jaffe, who was accompanied by Midlake drummer McKenzie Smith (who also produced her recent songs, “Satire” and “Defense”). Turning up the volume on her electric guitar, Jaffe pushed her usually mellow songs toward a more hard-edged sound as the set progressed.
There’s a tall guy named Pat with dark black hair and a dark black beard who shows up at a lot of garage rock shows at places like the Empty Bottle. So (in the interest of full disclosure) it’s not too surprising that I know this guy named Pat. Pat likes a good mosh pit. In fact, he champions the motto “No Weak Pits.”
Pat started a record label this year. He called it Tall Pat Records. Tall Pat’s first record is by a Chicago band called Dumpster Babies. The album is called Dumpster Babies, and the first song on it is “Dumpster Babies.” This is rough-edged, fun and slightly sloppy rock, bashed out the way good garage bands have always bashed.
On Friday, Nov. 22, Dumpster Babies and another three Chicago bands connected with Tall Pat — Flesh Panthers, the Man and the Bingers — took over the Empty Bottle for a night of music called (for reasons that remain mysterious to me) Cuddlestock 2013. Why not, I guess? And why not get the evening started with a Gin Blossoms cover by Flesh Panthers? OK, that’s an odd choice, but whatever. I was especially impressed with the Bingers, who showed off some subtlety in their songwriting and musicianship even as they leapt off the drum kit and writhed upon their backs.
Dumpster Babies caught a bit of a Mats vibe, and their song “Bloody Nose” sounded especially great — it has one of those indelible punk-rock stuttering rhythms in the chorus. The moshing wasn’t as intense as the wild action I witnessed a week earlier at the Diarrhea Planet show, but there was some spirited dancing, to be sure. (Photos here.) No weak pits were seen. Cheers to Tall Pat and all of the guys who start record labels for the love of it.
In 2003, I saw a cool concert by Dave Davies of the Kinks at the Abbey Pub, but a year later, the news came that he’d suffered a stroke. I wondered if I’d ever get the chance to see him perform again. Eight years later, Davies returned to Chicago, playing Monday, Nov. 18, at City Winery and Tuesday, Nov. 19, at Evanston Space. I saw Tuesday’s show.
Davies has recovered from his stroke well enough to play the guitar again and record new music — including the recent album I Will Be Me. (The Chicago Tribune’s Mark Caro recently interviewed Davies about his album and tour.)
Davies played a few of his solo songs on Tuesday, but he largely stuck with old Kinks classics. He performed his own songwriting contributions to the Kinks catalog (“Strangers,” “Death of a Clown” and “Living on a Thin Line”), but most of the songs were written by Dave’s brother, Ray. However, it feels like Dave has a stake in their ownership, too. The sibling similarity in their vocals is unmistakable, and Dave is the one who played the famous riffs on “You Really Got Me” and other hits.
Dave’s voice was a bit ragged at moments, and his guitar playing isn’t as fleet as it once was, but these were respectable renditions of the old songs, and it was touching to see this key player from one of the truly great rock bands taking the stage again and giddily proclaiming, “I’m having a great time!”
Dave and Ray have had a contentious relationship over the years. (In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Dave said of his brother: “But I have to thank him, because if he wasn’t so fucking horrible to me I wouldn’t have understood more about life. When he was a real cunt to me all those years ago I took up astrology so I could understand why people behave like that.”)
On Tuesday, Dave said, “I want to dedicate this song to my dear brother Ray,” before playing “Young and Innocent Days,” from the 1969 Kinks album Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). It sounded heartfelt as Dave sang Ray’s words: “I see the lines across your face/Time has gone and nothing ever can replace/Those great, so great/Young and innocent days.”
So, what about it, guys? Will Ray and Dave ever play together again? I hope so.
SET LIST: I’m Not Like Everybody Else / I Need You / She’s Got Everything / Little Green Amp / Tired of Waiting for You / See My Friends / Strangers / Flowers in the Rain / Death of a Clown / The Healing Boy / Young and Innocent Days / Dead End Street / Living on a Thin Line / Where Have All the Good Times Gone / All Day and All of the Night / ENCORE: You Really Got Me
First off, it seems impossible to write about the band Diarrhea Planet without commenting on its name. These rockers from Nashville must’ve wanted people to say, “Ewwww,” when they decided to give themselves such a disgusting moniker. The music itself, however, isn’t as subversive as the name suggests. This is basically full-on hard rock music with no less than four guitarists going at it simultaneously. Maybe the “diarrhea” in the name alludes to the outpouring of riffs and solos. In any case, the group barely let up for a minute during its set on Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Beat Kitchen. And the fans, who had crowded into the small club, responded with nearly nonstop moshing.
Until last year, concert audiences hadn’t heard from Jeff Mangum in years. Neutral Milk Hotel’s singer-songwriter finally emerged out of what seemed like seclusion to play his old songs, which had been growing in popularity ever since he put them on record. During those concerts in 2012— I saw one in Chicago and one in Milwaukee — it felt like a solo acoustic set by Mangum was all we really needed. After all, his voice, lyrics and acoustic guitar strumming are really the heart of Neutral Milk Hotel’s best-known (and best) album, 1998’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.
But a Jeff Mangum solo concert wasn’t quite the same thing as a Neutral Milk Hotel concert. And now, continuing to move at his own strange pace, Mangum has decided to bring the band back together for an extended tour (including original members Jeremy Barnes, Scott Spillane and Julian Koster as well as a couple of auxiliary players). The first dates that were announced didn’t include a stop in Chicago, but I snagged a ticket for Neutral Milk Hotel’s Oct. 15 concert at the Canopy Club in Urbana. (Since then, the band has scheduled two concerts at the Riviera, on Feb. 6 and 7, both of which have sold out.)
The Urbana concert had moments similar to last year’s Mangum solo concerts, when it was essentially a solo performance in front of an enraptured crowd (including a sizable contingent of young folks who were toddlers the last time Neutral Milk Hotel performed). Mangum was all alone when he came out for the first song, “Two-Headed Boy” — with a long, shaggy beard and a green cap, giving him a look somewhat like Woody Allen disguised as the banana-republic dictator in Bananas, except for an incongruous brown sweater.
But then, as “Two-Headed Boy” segued into “The Fool,” another five musicians joined Mangum on the stage. When the horns and accordions and drums kicked in, the songs took on a much more rollicking air. At times, Mangum even danced. This was the full Neutral Milk Hotel experience — those intense, pleading, acoustic exclamations by Mangum, juxtaposed with Salvation Army band tunes, Eastern European funeral marches and a touch of psychedelic rock.
The songs sounded much as they did on the original records from the 1990s. This band clearly remembered well how to play those tunes. But more importantly, it was a spirited and stirring performance — even better than last year’s Mangum solo shows.
Another group from the Elephant 6 collective, Elf Power, opened the show with a set of buoyant psychedelic rock. And as in the past, Mangum forbade photography. As he got ready to play the first song and a few people held up their cellphones, Mangum wagged a finger and urged people to enjoy the music in the moment it was happening. (The security guards did their best to make sure no one took any pictures or video after that.)
And so, the only photographic evidence I have to show for the evening is the above cellphone picture of the marquee outside the Canopy Club. The last time I was at this venue, it was the Thunderbird movie theater, and I was a college student scrounging up loose change to see “Platoon.” It was startling to see that some of the decor from that era, including paintings of totem poles, still survive.
SET LIST: Two-Headed Boy / The Fool / Holland, 1945 / A Baby for Pree / Gardenhead / Leave Me Alone / Everything Is / The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One / The King of Carrot Flowers Pts. Two & Three / In the Aeroplane Over the Sea / Oh Comely / Ferris Wheel on Fire / Naomi / Song Against Sex / Ruby Bulbs / Snow Song Pt. 1 / ENCORE: Ghost / [untitled] / Two-Headed Boy Pt. Two / Engine
Bill Callahan returned to Chicago on Monday for his second concert of the year in this city. Both of his 2013 Chicago concerts, presented by Land and Sea Dept., have been at unconventional venues. In May, he performed at Garfield Park Conservatory. This time, he played at Alhambra Palace, a cavernous Middle Eastern restaurant on Randolph Street with ornate decor, including lush red curtains. The stage is flanked by a couple of Lamassu.
There’s little, if anything, Middle Eastern about Callahan’s music, and the grandiose surroundings created a strange contrast with Callahan’s laconic personality. And yet, even though Callahan’s songs can seem modest and simple on first listen, they’re often miniature epics — and ornate in their own peculiar way.
The last time Callahan was in Chicago, he didn’t play any new songs, despite the fact that he was on the verge of releasing a new album, Dream River, the follow-up to his 2011 masterpiece Apocalypse. It’s another beautiful and compellingly odd collection of songs from Callahan; as the title indicates, there’s a drifting, dreamlike atmosphere this time. (The new record has prompted some great press coverage, including this feature story by Spin.)
Callahan played every song from the new album during his Alhambra Palace show. The live arrangements didn’t include any of that jazzy flute from the studio versions. The emphasis shifted more toward Matt Kinsey’s guitar riffs, fills and solos. (The band also included bassist Jamie Zuverza and drummer Adam Jones as well as Kinsey, a member of the Austin roots-rock band Lil’ Cap’n Travis.) As he did on Callahan’s Apocalypse songs, Kinsey plays an invaluable role fleshing out this music. Kinsey’s ever-changing guitar melodies engage in a duet with Callahan’s vocals. There was nothing flashy — no rock-star drama — about the way Kinsey sat in his chair on Monday night, but if you played close attention to the way he was bending those strings, you could see and hear just what a remarkable performance it was.
Callahan isn’t flashy, either. As you can see from my photographs, he sings close to the microphone, rarely opening his mouth very wide. He raises his eyebrows with a quizzical look, squeezes his eyes shut with a flash of emotion, or turns his mouth down in a somewhat comical expression.
Callahan didn’t speak a whole lot in between songs, other than a few gracious comments, thanking the audience of listening. When someone in the crowd shouted out, “That song kicks ass!” (after he played “Seagull,” from the new album), Callahan replied: “There’s a merchandise table out there somewhere. If you want your ass kicked.”
SET LIST: The Sing / Javelin Unlanding / Spring / One Fine Morning / Too Many Birds / Ride My Arrow / Seagull / Drover / Summer Painter / Please Send Someone to Love Me (Percy Mayfield cover) / America / Winter Road / Small Plane
The opening act was Circuit Des Yeux, aka singer-songwriter Haley Fohr, whose set built from droning folk songs to ear-shattering primal screams.
While Sonic Youth remains on indefinite hiatus, the group’s members have been quite busy with other projects. Lee Ranaldo, who played in Millennium Park in May, was back in town on Sunday (Oct. 13) for another show with his new band, the Dust — playing this time at the Empty Bottle. The group features another member of Sonic Youth, drummer Steve Shelley, as well as guitarist Alan Licht and bassist Tim Luntzel. Following opening sets by drone artist Mykel Boyd and Doug McCombs’ instrumental band Brokeback, the Dust played a fairly long set for a late concert on a Sunday night, more than 90 minutes, stretching past 1 a.m., but it was worth staying around for the end. The group really got into a groove in that final half-hour, including a cool encore cover of the Modern Lovers’ “She Cracked.”
One of the highlights of Mark Lanegan’s enchanting concert tonight at the Old Town School of Folk Music was his performance of the classic Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht song “Mack the Knife,” which he recorded for his new album, the covers collection Imitations. After the concert, I was talking about that song with some friends. It has been a subject of fascination for me — how this grim ballad of murder ever became a jaunty, jazzy pop hit. Lanegan’s version ranks up there with the best, thanks to those gritty, sandpaper vocals of his. But I don’t know that there is such a thing as a definitive version of “Mack the Knife.”
For one thing, which lyrics are definitive? Marc Blitzstein’s translation is the most famous English version, but it doesn’t convey all of the terrifying details in Brecht’s original German lyrics. Here’s a translation I made myself, back when I was taking German classes. (I haven’t stayed in practice, and I’m nowhere close to fluent in German these days. Feel free to offer corrections or suggested changes.) I tried to make the translation as literal as possible.
And the shark, oh, it has teeth
And it wears them in its face.
And Macheath, he has a knife,
But this knife, no one sees.
Oh, how red is the shark’s fin,
when the blood flows.
Mack the Knife, he wears a glove,
From which no atrocity can be read.
In the Thames’ green waters,
People suddenly fall.
Is it either plague or cholera?
No, it means Macheath’s been around.
On a beautiful blue Sunday,
A dead man lies on the beach
And a man goes around the corner
Known as Mackie the Knife.
And Schul Meier is still missing
And so many rich men,
Mackie the Knife has his money,
But no one can prove anything.
Jenny Towler was found
With a knife in her breast,
And on the dock goes Macheath,
Who knows nothing at all.
Where is Alfons Gilte, the cabman?
Will this ever come to light?
Anyone could know.
Macheath knows nothing.
And the great fire in Soho,
Seven children and an old man.
In the crowd, Mackie the Knife —
He’s not asked and doesn’t know.
And the underaged widow
Whose name everyone knows,
Woke up and was raped.
Mackie, what was your price?
For some are in darkness
And some are in light.
One sees those in light,
But those in darkness, one sees not.
The original German lyrics:
Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne
und die trägt er im Gesicht
und Macheath, der hat ein Messer
doch das Messer sieht man nicht.
Ach, es sind des Haifischs Flossen
rot, wenn dieser Blut vergießt.
Mackie Messer trägt ‘nen Handschuh
drauf man keine Untat liest.
An der Themse grünem Wasser
Fallen plötzlich Leute um!
Es ist weder Pest noch Cholera
Doch es heißt: Macheath geht um.
An ‘nem schönen blauen Sonntag
liegt ein toter Mann am Strand
und ein Mensch geht um die Ecke
den man Mackie Messer nennt.
Und Schmul Meier bleibt verschwunden
und so mancher reiche Mann
und sein Geld hat Mackie Messer
dem man nichts beweisen kann.
Jenny Towler ward gefunden
mit ‘nem Messer in der Brust
und am Kai geht Mackie Messer
der von allem nichts gewußt.
Wo ist Alfons Gilte, der Fuhrherr?
Kommt das je ans Sonnenlicht?
Wer es immer wissen könnte —
Mackie Messer weiß nicht.
Und das große Feuer in Soho
sieben Kinder und ein Greis —
in der Menge Mackie Messer, den
man nicht fragt und der nichts weiß.
Und die minderjährige Witwe
deren Namen jeder weiß
wachte auf und war geschändet —
Mackie, welches war dein Preis?
Denn die einen sind im Dunkeln
und die and’ren sind im Licht,
und man siehet die im Lichte,
die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht.
Constellation — Mike Reed’s music and arts venue in the old Viaduct Theatre space — has been hosting some interesting concerts since opening earlier this year. So far, it’s living up to its promise as a home for music of various genres outside of the mainstream. Located on Western Avenue’s frontage street, along the stretch where the main part of Western Avenue ascends on a bridge over Belmont, Constellation has a barely noticeable sign identifying the venue. The front door could be mistaken for an entrance into a warehouse. On Thursday night (Oct. 3), the music behind that door was the elegant and spare quasi-classical, quasi-electronic, quasi-indie rock of Icelandic composer and pianist Ólafur Arnalds.
He played two sets that night in the smaller of Constellation’s two performance spaces; I caught the late show. Before he sat down at the piano, Arnalds apologized for being tired, saying he’d flown from San Diego to Chicago around 3 a.m. and had barely slept. He said he’d nodded off three times during the short interlude between his two Constellation performances. “This is a strange place for a concert,” he said, looking around the room, which has the plain, unadorned style of a music or dance rehearsal space. “It’s the smallest place we’ve played in years.” Later in the show, he remarked: “It kind of feels like playing in my living room, which is nice. … It’s like you didn’t pay 30 bucks to see me and I just invited you.” (According to Althea Legaspi’s review for the Chicago Tribune, he made similar remarks at the early concert.)
Arnalds asked the audience to sing a middle C, which he recorded and played back on his iPad, which was sitting on top of the piano. He joked that he could switch out this crowd’s vocals with a prerecorded track if he needed to, and we wouldn’t realize what he’d done — but then he praised us for doing a good job. With that “ah” sustaining in the background, Arnalds began playing the piano.
Throughout the concert, as Arnalds played songs from his latest album, For Now I Am Winter, and other recordings, he kept his hands clustered together near the middle of the keyboard. His right hand seemed to stay in the octave above Middle C, while the left hand stayed in the space just below Middle C, both playing spare, seemingly simple sequences of notes. Arnalds doesn’t appear to be striving for impressive virtuosity; rather, he’s striving to convey his melodies and musical moods in a clear, distilled form. (His website includes free downloadable sheet music of some compositions.)
Violinist Viktor Orri Árnason (of the band Hjaltalín) and cellist Rubin Kodheli accompanied Arnalds, and so did that iPad, which delivered electronic beats, ambient textures and other recorded tracks, without ever overwhelming the live performers. An extended and expressive solo by Árnason was one of the concert’s high points, leaving the strings of his bow shredded by the end. “I guess I have to buy him a new bow,” Arnalds commented.
Vocalist Arnór Dan Arnarson (of the band Agent Fresco) also joined in with the group on a few songs, singing in a high, quivering voice a bit reminiscent of Antony Hegarty. He had apparently just joined the tour. “He wasn’t supposed to be here tonight,” Arnalds said. “He just showed up.”
The audience applauded enthusiastically after Arnalds and his musicians left the room. Finally, he sleepily wandered back in. Someone in the crowd called out, “Sorry!” Arnalds remarked, “I took a while because I fell asleep … It’s very lovely to play when you haven’t slept for 24 hours.”
For his final song of the night, Arnalds played “Lag fyrir ömmu,” which means “Song for Grandma.” As he explained, the song is dedicated to his late grandmother, “the person who got me into this non-death-metal music.” Arnalds was alone now in the performance section of the room, playing on the piano without any accompaniment. Midway through the song, the sound of Árnason’s violin drifted in from the room next door. Árnason did not come back into the room, but his violin solo sounded like a voice calling from the distance. It was a beautiful and touching moment.
Thursday’s concert also included a lovely opening set by Danish singer-songwriter Lisa Alma, whose soft, meditative ballads started out the evening on a sweet note.
With his last several albums, Nick Lowe has settled into a new phase of his career: more of a mellow crooner than the pub rock and power pop guy he was during his youth. But one thing that hasn’t changed is Lowe’s ability to write perfect little songs, with smart and witty lyrics and catchy melodies, all within the bounds of what’s considered the traditional pop-song format. Lowe’s latest string of records is just adding more depth to his already deep catalog of unforgettable tunes.
Lowe was alone with his acoustic guitar on the stage Wednesday night (Oct. 2) at Space in Evanston. A few simple, strummed chords and his voice were all he needed. Well, that and his personality. What a charming and gracious fellow.
After playing his first two songs, Lowe looked down at his set list and said his “program” for the night included some of his old hits. “They are surrounded by what you might call my lesser-known pieces,” he said. “I want to apologize in advance if I don’t play your favorite.” There was no need for him to apologize, of course; yes, I can think of some favorite tunes he didn’t play, but what he did play was wonderful.
Lowe interjected some humorous asides during “Trained Her to Love Me,” in which the narrator (presumably not the real-life Nick Lowe) outlines his method of getting women to fall in love with him just so he can break their hearts. “Oh, that’s unforgivable,” Lowe said, to laughter in the crowd.
Lowe’s forthcoming release is a Christmas record, and when he introduced a song from him, he hastened to say: “I can feel you all tensing up, but don’t worry — I’m going to play you the least Christmasy tune.” And in fact, the song — “A Dollar Short of Happy,” which he co-wrote with Ry Cooder — sounded just fine in October.
Lowe added an intro with an Elvis Presley-esque flourish to “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ‘n’ Roll),” freshening up a song that had started to seem like a cliche after all of the radio play it got.
As he started his encore, Lowe remarked that Chicago was the first place where his old band Rockpile “took off,” which led him to play one of his songs with that band, “When I Write the Book.” Then came his classic, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,” which was just as touching as ever. And finally, a new song, “Tokyo Bay,” which he has been playing in concerts since last year.
SET LIST: Where’s My Everything / Heart / Long Limbed Girl / Ragin’ Eyes / Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day / She’s Got Soul / Lately I’ve Let Things Slide / Has She Got a Friend? / Trained Her to Love Me / I Live on a Battlefield / A Dollar Short of Happy / Cruel to be Kind / Raining Raining / Traveling Light / Stoplight Roses / Sensitive Man / Somebody Cares for Me / House for Sale / Without Love / I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ‘n’ Roll) / ENCORE: When I Write the Book / (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding / Tokyo Bay
Lowe’s old friend Paul Cebar opened for him Wednesday. (He also opened the last Nick Lowe concert I saw, several years ago at FitzGerald’s.) Cebar’s breezy acoustic songs were a good match with Lowe’s; he played his originals as well as a couple of covers: Magnetic Fields’ “Book of Love” and Lowe’s “Crying in My Sleep.” It’s unusual to see an opening act cover a song by the headliner, but Cebar remarked, “This is one he doesn’t do, so I can do it.” Lowe has songs to spare.
“Americana is country music for people who like the Smiths,” Billy Bragg said during his concert Friday (Sept. 17) at Space in Evanston. A witty remark, with more than a bit of truth to it. He was defending himself against some critics who expressed consternation that he has gone country with his latest record, Tooth & Nail. As he pointed out, there’s always been a bit of country in his music. But it was undeniable that a few of Bragg’s older songs are sounding more like alt-country than they did in their original incarnations, now that he’s playing them with a band that includes the twang of pedal steel guitar.
During other comments Friday, he summarized his recent article for the Guardian, which appeared under the headline, “Billy Bragg: whisper it … but the British invented Americana.” That is a bit of an exaggeration, but Bragg is correct in touting the role that Brits have played over the decades in reviving and/or revising American musical traditions.
If it isn’t already apparent, Bragg spent a hell of a lot of time talking during his concert, which he is wont to do. And Bragg might be accused of preaching to the choir, rousing his liberal listeners with his leftist lectures. (Confounded by the Tea Party’s resistance to Obamacare, Bragg said, “Nobody in my country dies for want of proper health care.”) But Bragg comes across as heartfelt, genuine and smart, and not the least bit boring as he delays his songs to engage his audience in conversation.
The songs from Tooth & Nail sounded great, especially Bragg’s Biblical sermon, “Do Unto Others.” At the midpoint of the show, Bragg’s band left the stage — for a contractually required tea break, he said — leaving Bragg alone on the stage for a mini solo concert within the concert. He took the opportunity to play almost the entirety of his 1983 recording debut, the seven-song EP Life’s a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy — every song from the record, that is, except for “A New England,” which he played later with the full band. After playing the song “Richard,” which mentions a “titanic love affair,” Bragg dedicated it to the late Jay Bennett, who played in the bands Wilco and Titanic Love Affair. And the mini-set prompted Bragg to reminisce about playing at Chicago’s Cubby Bear in 1985, where a fan sitting on a toilet in the men’s room offered to shake his hand.
Whether he’s talking about politics and singing about romance, Bragg showed once again that he’s eminently worth hearing.
Friday’s opening act, singer-songwriter Joe Purdy, entertained with his acoustic folk songs in the Dylan tradition, sardonically observing that his tunes are invariably downbeat. “And now I’m going to play another sad song,” he remarked at one point, prompting someone in the crowd to call out, “Anything happy?” He replied, “Anything happy? Yeah, the drinks I’m going to have after.”
You can count on Laura Veirs. She’s had a string of records filled with alluring songs, and her latest album (her ninth) is no exception. Warp & Weft is a strong collection, and it dominated Veirs’ concert Wednesday (Sept. 26) at Schubas. The live versions of the songs were enchanting, as Veirs and her band played delicate folk rock as well as a few more rocking numbers. These are smartly arranged songs, with guitar, violin and keyboard parts balanced to perfection. Veirs sings her notes straight and cool, with little noticeable vibrato, skipping up to the high notes with ease. Veirs switched from acoustic to electric guitar on a few songs, handling the night’s loudest guitar solos, including the rousing tribute to Alice Coltrane, “That Alice,” which closed out this delightful concert.
A member of Veirs’ band, guitarist-bassist Karl Blau, also played the opening set. Blau began his set with an unusually long spoken introduction, explaining who he is, what town he is from (Anacortes, Wash.) and what he was about to do. As he put it, he does audio experiments and then recites poetry on top of them. But even though he claimed that he wouldn’t be singing, Blau did in fact sing some pretty good melodies above his quirky percussion-bass-and-thumb-piano loops.
When you see concerts week in and week out at the same venues, you start to take them for granted. I haven’t been at Schubas much in the past year, but I’ve been back a few times this week, and it felt like returning home after a long absence. I got the sense that Will Johnson, the frontman of Denton, Texas, band Centro-matic, might be feeling something similar when his band played on the Schubas stage Monday night (Sept. 23). Midway through the set, Johnson paused to say what a pleasure it was to be playing again in “one of the most sacred, sacred” music rooms in the country. Indeed — just think of all the great music that has vibrated that wooden arch above the Schubas stage over the years.
Centro-matic is working on a new album, and the band played a bit of the new music, mixed in with songs from throughout its career. Johnson’s distinctive voice — that magically strange whine of his — was in fine form, sounding beautifully forlorn. And these four musicians have been playing together for so long that they make it look like the most natural thing in the world.
“Like the Rolling Stones, we’re getting back to our club roots,” David Thomas, the lead singer and mastermind of Pere Ubu, said Saturday night (Sept. 22) during his band’s concert at the Empty Bottle. “As you know, tomorrow we begin a string of 17 sold-out shows at Soldier Field.”
Thomas was in a talkative and quite humorous mood. This was the first time I’ve seen him spend a concert sitting down, and Thomas, who’s 60, needed some assistance walking to the stage. But even though he was seated, Thomas was in a lively mood, whether he was bashing the Americana genre (describing a typical song about some guy eating a hamburger) or observing that “for every lady that comes to a Pere Ubu show, five others (guys) come. That’s just a fact.” He reminisced about the time Pere Ubu opened for Kool and the Gang in Denmark, when that band’s stage routine taught him the importance of acknowledging the “special ladies” in the crowd.
Before Pere Ubu took the stage, there was an opening performance billed as a set by Gagarin, a British keyboard player and electronic artist who’s a member of Pere Ubu. But Gagarin wasn’t actually present in the Empty Bottle. As Bill Meyer explained in his preview article for the Chicago Reader, Thomas refused to pay the fee that the American Federation of Musicians requires to vet the merits of visa applicants, so Pere Ubu’s British members (Gagarin and guitarist Keith Moliné) had their applications denied. So, during this opening set, Thomas came onto the stage and sang into a telephone receiver while music by Gagarin was piped in via Skype. For a few surreal minutes, a man with a chicken mask covering his head (I believe that was Pere Ubu synth/theremin player Robert Wheeler) came onto the stage and hovered near Thomas, like an apparition conjured by his brain.
During the main Pere Ubu set, Thomas was joined onstage by Wheeler, drummer Steve Mehlman, bassist Michele Temple and substitute guitarist Dave Cintron. The band’s lean, taut synth/guitar lines left space for Thomas’ distinctive voice, as Pere Ubu played old songs such as “Heaven,” “Vacuum in my Head” and “Goodnight Irene” as well as several selections from its strong new record Lady From Shanghai (the group’s 17th studio album in 35 years). The website for this album proclaims: “Smash the hegemony of dance. Stand Still. The dancer is puppet to the dance. It’s past time somebody puts and end to this abomination. Lady From Shanghai is an album of dance music fixed.”
Pere Ubu closed its set with an unabashedly commercial plea, singing a ditty that Thomas called the “march of mercy,” which encourage audience members to visit the merch table and buy stuff. I did just that, picking up the new album as well as a 100-page book that Thomas wrote about the making of Lady From Shanghai — a sort of extended set of liner notes called Chinese Whispers.
Pere Ubu played on a night with a lot of great concerts to choose from in Chicago; @pkmonaghan tweeted that Steve Earle, one of the other artists playing last night, “is a fucking American treasure.” True — and so is David Thomas, in his own odd way.
With its new album, Era, the Chicago band Disappears continues to make loud, churning kraut rock with an unsettled, occasionally menacing air about it. On its previous record, Pre Language, the group moved a bit away from epic-length drones and jams and more toward concise rock songs. The new record tilts back in the old direction… or maybe it just shows the band finding a middle ground between song structure and full-on sonic assault? In any case, Disappears’ new and old songs sounded powerful when the group played them Friday (Sept. 20) at the Empty Bottle. Since last year, ex-Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley has departed from Disappears, but his replacement, Noah Leger of Electric Hawk and Anatomy of Habit, made an appropriately thunderous noise.
Speaking of thunder, the middle band on the lineup, Weekend, played an equally fierce set, finishing its final song with about 30 seconds of hair-raisingly dramatic crescendo. It was quite an end to an impressive performance.
The Chicago band Outside World started off the evening, beginning its set with shoegaze-style drone but eventually settling into a series of tuneful rock songs. It was the first time I’d heard Outside World; they’re a band that’ll be worth watching.
I’ve never been in a riot
I’ve never been in a fight
I’ve never been in anything
That turns out right
— Mekons, “Never Been in a Riot”
The only thing I saw at Riot Fest that came close to an actual riot was the young guys slam dancing amid the middle-aged Replacements fans on Sunday night. Or maybe the squeals of delight and grasping arms of all those teenage girls and 20ish women who’d thronged a barricade to watch the young men of the pop-punk band All Time Low might qualify as quasi-riotous.
Riot or not,
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts were the high point on Friday; even their new songs sounded good, though the crowd clearly wanted to hear the old hits, which Jett and her band delivered in style. The other bands that I caught on Friday — Screeching Weasel, Bad Religion, GWAR and Danzig — didn’t interest me as much, but I was impressed by Bad Religion’s ferocity. I stayed out of the way when GWAR began spraying fake blood at the crowd. See more photos from Day 1.
Saturday was filled with strong sets by “oldies” acts including an intense early-afternoon performance by X.
Dinosaur Jr. jammed out in the afternoon sun, closing its set with a great cover of the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.”
Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard looked tipsy as he came onstage, quickly chugging down some whisky, but as soon as the band started playing, he was kicking up his leg and twirling his microphone cord in classic GBV style.
Former members of the punk band Black Flag announced, “This is not Black Flag — this is Flag” … and then proceeded to play a bunch of Black Flag songs, prompting youngsters to crowd-surf.
Led by a warlock-outfit-wearing Debbie Harry, Blondie inspired some swooning by the band’s longtime fans. The old hits sounded good, even if the newer tunes and deeper cuts were less distinguished.
Public Enemy gave one of the weekend’s most galvanizing performances, with Chuck D and Flavor Flav jumping in tandem to the group’s political hip-hop anthems. (The area near the stage was so jampacked that I found myself caught in a dangerous crush of people when we photographers had to leave the photo pit.)
The Violent Femmes opened their concert with their biggest hits — which seemed like an odd choice, until it became clear that the group was playing the entirety of its 1983 self-titled debut album in sequence. And it just so happens that the record starts off with the group’s best-known songs. The Femmes played faithful versions of those tracks, prompting the crowd to sing along, but the show seemed to lose energy later on.
Rain came pouring down on Sunday, dampening the spirit at Riot Fest, but the music went on. I showed up in time to catch the last few songs by Mission of Burma, including a solid rendition of “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver.” A bit later, Bob Mould played one of the festival’s most intense sets, joined by Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster and Chicago bassist Jason Narducy (who’s also in the touring version of Superchunk) — an ideal lineup to play the crunchy post-punk power pop of Mould’s solo albums and his recordings with Sugar. Mould told the crowd that he’s coming back to Chicago soon to make a new album.
Other highlights on Sunday included Rocket From the Crypt, who made a joyous racket as the downpour continued. I was less familiar with some of the younger bands that I saw, including Against Me!, Brand New, All Time Low and AFI, all of whom inspired fervent responses from their fans. AFI bounced around on the stage so much that it felt a bit like watching a post-punk version of Riverdance; it all seemed too choreographed. (I skipped seeing some of Riot Fest’s other bands entirely, including Friday’s headliner Fall Out Boy and Saturday’s headliner Blink-182. Not a fan of either.)
I did greatly enjoy the rainy midafternoon set by Chicago’s Twin Peaks. They might have been the youngest band playing the whole weekend, but their excellent lo-fi home recording Sunken shows that they know some garage-rock history. Their exuberant performance at Riot Fest included at least one new song as well as a cover of They Might Be Giants’ “Boss of Me” (the theme to the TV series Malcolm in the Middle).
The rain cleared up by the time darkness fell, though the ground was still muddy in many places, including the goopy photo pit in front of the Roots Stage, where Pixies played the weekend’s penultimate set. This is the first time the band has gone out on the road since founding bassist and backup singer Kim Deal quit. She was replaced by Kim Shattuck of the Muffs. If anything, Deal’s absence may have reduced the onstage tension that was apparent at some previous shows. With lights shining behind them and their faces shrouded in darkness, Pixies opened their set with two covers: The Fall’s “Big New Prinz” and the Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On.” But by the time the Pixies were inspiring a crowd sing-along with “Wave of Mutilation,” I was heading over to the Riot Stage to get in line for the Replacements photo pit. It’s too bad you couldn’t hear the Pixies from over there; I would have loved to hear more of their set, but it was time to snag a spot for the Mats.
See more photos from Day 3 / Photos of the Replacements / A review of the Replacements
Photos from the third day of Riot Fest, Sept. 15, 2013, in Humboldt Park, Chicago.
See: photos from Day 1 / Photos from Day 2 / Photos of the Replacements / A review of the Replacements
See: photos from Day 1 / Photos from Day 2 / Photos of the Replacements / A review of the Replacements
Photos from the second day of Riot Fest, Sept. 14, 2013, in Humboldt Park, Chicago.
See: photos from Day 1 / Photos from Day 3 / Photos of the Replacements / A review of the Replacements
See: photos from Day 1 / Photos from Day 3 / Photos of the Replacements / A review of the Replacements
