Until last week, I’d only seen and heard a few minutes of live performance by A Place to Bury Strangers, back in 2008 at SXSW. It was a brief encounter in an unlikely setting — the convention center’s day stage — but even that blast of shredding guitar music caused me to write: “Man, those guys were LOUD.” They were LOUD once again when they played March 26 at the Empty Bottle — but it’s a beautiful sort of loud, with waves of electric guitar pouring forth. And all of that majestic noise comes out of just three instruments — guitar, bass and drums. An impressive feat. A Place to Bury Strangers, which has a new EP called Onwards To The Wall, cranked its tunes through banks of pedals and amps amid fog, flashing strobes, and darkness pierced by beams of light: a perfect visual accompaniment.
The March 26 show also featured two strong opening acts: Chicago’s Apteka, who sound better and better each time I see them, and The Big Sleep started out the evening with even more shoegazy goodness.
The Empty Bottle has been offering free admission to a lot of shows lately — as long as you RSVP by midnight the night before. It’s a great deal, and it seems to be opening the door for concerts by some fledgling bands. One such Chicago band is Super Minotaur, who headlined March 20 … unfortunately, to a pretty small crowd, in spite of the free admission. Super Minotaur was celebrating the release of its cassette, Dead Dino, and playing fast, ragged punk pop. The trio has a couple of cool songs, “Phantom Brat” and “Trip,” streaming on bandcamp. If Super Minotaur keeps building on the potential of those songs, it should be drawing bigger crowds in the future.
The typical Chicago rocker isn’t in just one band — he (or she) is in two or three. At least, that’s how it seems if you try to keep track of all the overlapping lineups, especially in the garage rock scene. So it’s no big surprise that Mac Blackout, the lead singer of Mickey (who put out one of my favorite records of last year, Rock ‘n Roll Dreamer), has a separate band called, simply enough, Mac Blackout Band. If you like Mickey’s scrappy, glammy rock as much as I do, Mac Blackout Band is essential listening, and the band delivered with a loud, fun performance at a March 15 show at the Empty Bottle. Check out some songs from Mac Blackout’s album America Stole My Baby at bandcamp and myspace.
Singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten has been getting a lot of press this month, and deservedly so. Her third and latest album, Tramp, is a strong collection of songs, with some of the moody introspection of her previous records as well as a new, harder-charging sound on the standout track “Serpents.” Van Etten played to packed houses last Thursday and Friday nights at Lincoln Hall in Chicago; I was there Friday (Feb. 17).
When Van Etten played the very first afternoon set of the 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival, her seemed a little tentative, like someone unaccustomed to playing on such a big stage. On Friday night, her singing was more assertive, and she had a trio of musicians helping to give her music a fuller sound. She still seemed a bit unnerved or uncertain about being in the spotlight. Van Etten was in a silly, giggly mood, joking around quite a bit in between songs, creating a strange contrast with her more serious lyrics. The fumbling around in between songs was charming at times, but after a while, the show’s erratic pacing became a distraction. Van Etten joked that we were watching her learning how to have a band, and that’s just what it felt like — not entirely a bad thing. Most interesting was the way Van Etten and her band stretched out the openings of some songs, creating drones that set the mood for the songs that eventually emerged. sharonvanetten.com myspace.com/sharonvanetten
Sharon Van Etten's band Sharon Van Etten's band
Opening act Shearwater played an impressive set dominated by songs from its new record Animal Joy. Although most of the musicians backing Shearwater’s singer-songwriter Jonathan Meiburg were new to the lineup, but they played tight, rocking versions of the band’s art rock. shearwatermusic.com myspace.com/shearwater
Shearwater
At the end of the night, when Van Etten played her encore, the members of Shearwater came back onto the stage, too. Van Etten and Meiburg swapped lead vocals in a cover of Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty’s “Stop Dragging My Heart Around.” From what I hear, they teamed up the night before on a cover of the Soft Boys’ “I Wanna Destroy You.”
The record I’ve listened to the most so far in 2012 is probably the self-titled album by the British band Veronica Falls. It came out last fall, escaping my attention at the time. It probably would have ended up somewhere on my best of 2011 list if I’d known about it. Anyway, I’m catching up now, and I caught Veronica Falls playing Thursday night (Feb. 16) at the Empty Bottle.
Veronica Falls is a standout in the school of recent bands reviving the sounds of 1960s girl groups, garage bands and one-hit wonders. At least, that’s my impression, but they’re making other critics think of ’80s British rock bands such as the Smiths. I can heart that, too. In any case, Veronica Falls’ melodies — both the melodies being sung and the ones being played on the guitars — are especially strong and catchy, which was just as obvious at the Bottle concert as it is listening to their record. The female-male harmonies are a delight, reminding me a touch of Sons and Daughters. And the contrast between the bright tunes and the often melodramatically dark lyrics (just look at the song titles: “Found Love in a Graveyard,” “Bad Feeling,” “Misery”) adds to the charm. Veronica Falls included a few new songs in its set, making me all the more eager to hear their next record. The band closed with a fine cover of Roky Erickson’s “Starry Eyes.” veronicafalls.com myspace.com/veronicafallshard
The show also featured opening sets by the affable Halamays and the scrappy Brilliant Colors (who did a fine cover themselves, of the Who’s “So Sad About Us”).
Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon’s really grown as an artist since I saw her playing some solo acoustic music at SXSW in 2008. That was nice, but her new record, Cyrk, is simply great, going deeper into the folk melodies of the British Isles while turning up the electric guitar a bit. Le Bon was also pretty great when she played a set dominated by those new songs Tuesday (Feb. 14) at Schubas. Le Bon sometimes sang with a touch of Nico in her delivery, but Le Bon’s vocals aren’t quite as chilly or monotone as that. Her hair hung in front of her face as she sang, and she spent most of the show playing electric guitar, moving over to the keyboards for a couple of songs. The climax of the set was the terrific two-part suite that also ends Cyrk — “Ploughing Out 1 + 2.” The moment where part 1 shifts into part 2 is a brilliant example of a transition that enhances the music on either side of it, and it worked just as well live as it does on record. catelebon.com myspace.com/catelebon
Jeff Mangum is surrounded by mystique. He’s one of those musicians who stop making music and giving interviews, causing people to wonder and worship. None of that matters if the music isn’t good. In Mangum’s case, the last music he made before he seemed to fall off the face of the earth was a masterpiece, the 1998 Neutral Milk Hotel album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. In the 14 years since it was released, the album has gained a well-deserved cult following.
The enduring strength of the songs on Aeroplane is clear now that Mangum has finally emerged to play concerts. He delivered powerful performances of that Areoplane material and a few other Neutral Milk Hotel songs when I saw him Monday, Feb. 6, at the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago and Wednesday, Feb. 8, at the Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee.
Other than a few moments when other musicians joined him onstage to blow horns, bang drums or bow cello strings, the shows consisted entirely of Mangum sitting down on a chair, strumming acoustic guitars and singing. Mangum has one of those loud, proclaiming folk-singer voices — early Bob Dylan filtered through the droning British accent of John Lennon, with a touch of Syd Barrett — and his singing has changed very little in the years he’s been missing. Mangum showed that he’s capable of subtlety with a few, quieter turns of phrase, but he was more interested in belting out notes for the whole world to hear. When he slipped into wordless phrases, singing syllables such as “dee dee dee dee dee,” the melodies sounded like ancient folk laments and marching tunes.
The opening sets both nights were by a trio of musicians from the Elephant 6 collective, who also helped out with cameos during Mangum’s set: Scott Spillane and Laura Carter, both of whom played with Neutral Milk Hotel back in the day as well as the Gerbils, and Andrew Rieger of Elf Power. Spillane and Rieger each sang some nice songs, but the musicianship was ramshackle and sometimes blatantly off-key. The Elephant 6 scene and other lo-fi rock bands have always had a touch of amateurism, which can be charming in a naïve way, but these performances just made me wish they’d tuned their instruments better. And the songs paled in comparison with Mangum’s.
The crowds in Chicago and Milwaukee greeted Mangum rapturously, but the rapture felt a bit more intense in Milwaukee. Fans at both venues shouted questions in between songs, eager to hear some words from Mangum, but the questions tended more toward the sophomoric in Chicago. One audience member asked Mangum to compare Superman and Batman. Another asked his opinion of Stravinsky. One of these off-the-wall questions did generate an interesting response. Someone asked, “Jeff, how do you feel about reincarnation?” Mangum replied, “I’m doing it right now.” Despite his reputation as a recluse, Mangum seemed completely at ease performing onstage and interacting with the audience.
At the Pabst, a few audience members walked up to stand near the stage as Mangum played the second song of the night. At first, the venue’s ushers shooed those fans back to their seats, but then Mangum encouraged fans to get up if they wanted to. The whole front part of the main floor filled up soon with a throng of enthusiastic fans, standing and swaying to the classic Neutral Milk Hotel songs they’d never had a chance to hear live. Mangum remarked how gratifying it was to see his songs reaching people out in the world, years after he’d sent them out — “messages in a bottle.”
Four and a half years have passed since the last time indie folk-rock band Ida played in Chicago. And the group hasn’t had a new record since Lovers Prayers, one of my favorite albums of 2008. But the trio was finally back in town Sunday (Jan. 29). One member, Elizabeth Mitchell, was playing a concert of children’s music early Sunday at the Old Town School of Folk Music, which led to an opportunity for Ida to play a free show in the evening at the Saki record store.
The members of Ida remarked that they’d barely had any time to prepare for the show, but they certainly didn’t skimp on playing a generous selection of songs for the 40 or so fans at Saki, performing for 90 minutes. It was a delightfully intimate show, showcasing the hushed harmonies of Mitchell, Daniel Littleon and Jean Cook. They played some of Ida’s best songs, along with covers of songs by Richard and Linda Thompson, the Band, Bill Monroe, the Minutemen, Michael Hurley and the Secret Stars. A former member of that last band, Geoff Farina, opened the show and joined Ida for a couple of songs. Jon Langford also sat in with Ida for one song. But the main attraction was seeing Mitchell, Littleon and Cook sitting together and quietly meshing their singing, guitar, harmonium and violin into lovers’ prayers.
This show was the latest in a series of performances at Saki recorded by Epitonic, so look for a recording of it to show up in the Epitonic Saki Sessions.
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra makes stirring, majestic rock music with a strong orchestral sound that rivals anything else today. Few bands deliver live performances as powerful as Silver Mt. Zion’s, and the ensemble proved its excellence once again with its show Saturday (Jan. 28) at Lincoln Hall. It wasn’t just the beautiful sound of those violins melding with the guitar, drums and upright bass to create epic peaks of sound — it was also the way all five of the musicians joined their voices together in otherworldly hymns.
The band (which includes members of the older and recently revived group Godspeed You! Black Emperor) played three new songs that carry on Silver Mt. Zion’s tradition of making long, dramatic pieces of music: “Take Away These Early Grave Blues,” “The State Itself Did Not Agree” and “What We Loved Is Not Enough.” That last song, along with another new one called “Psalms 99,” were for sale at the merch table in a limited-edition set of two 7-inchs — the songs are so long that each is split up into Parts 1 and 2 on these singles. Now there’s something you don’t see too often. Silver Mt. Zion played eight songs Saturday night. Few, if any, clocked in at less than 10 minutes, but every minute felt absolutely necessary.
Glen Campbell is running out of time. We’re all running out of time, but with Glen Campbell, you really know it. In the coming years, memories will drain out of him or jumble together in his mind. If the dreadful illness he’s suffering from runs its usual, unstoppable course, Campbell may lose most of his power to communicate. No cure is known for Alzheimer’s disease, and it’s almost inevitable that Campbell will suffer the same horrible symptoms that millions of others have experienced.
Campbell bravely let the world know he had Alzheimer’s disease. And he announced he would make one final album (2011’s Ghost on the Canvas) and tour one last time. His “Goodbye” tour included two shows this week at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet.
At the concert on Thursday evening (Jan. 25), Campbell never directly said anything about his illness or his imminent retirement from making music. It didn’t need to be said. You could sense the deference, love and admiration that Campbell’s backup musicians (including three of his children) and the audience of longtime fans felt for him. And Campbell kept saying how glad he was to be there and thanking everyone for showing up. That’s boilerplate stage banter you might hear from any musician, but it took on a whole different depth of emotion this time. Campbell seemed to be thanking all of the fans who had ever come to his concerts and bought his records, thanking them one last time while he still could. It was a sad occasion, but it was also a beautiful celebration of this man’s terrific career as a singer-guitarist who transcended genre boundaries and recorded some of the great songs of the ’60s and ’70s.
Campbell showed some of the effects of his illness and age, but he seemed remarkably sure of himself. It helped that he had such a good band playing behind him, and it must have been comforting for him to know that his children were there at his side. But he was still essentially standing alone out at the front of the stage, a 75-year-old man who’s losing his memory facing an auditorium full of people. It appeared that he was reading lyrics off three screens arrayed along the front of the stage — his need for the prompter was more obvious when he performed a few of his new songs than when he did the old standards. Whenever one of the new songs started, he would declare, “I like this song!”
Campbell seemed uncertain where to stand. He kept moving the microphone stand away from center stage, as if he were being drawn to the side for some reason. But when he sang one of the old songs, you could almost see the memory of those words and melodies clicking into place and bringing a smile to his face. His voice was a little weathered, but still strong and confident. At a few points — including the last note of “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” — his voice ascended into a falsetto and hit a high, lovely “ooh.”
During “Galveston,” composer Jimmy Webb’s lyrics took on a new poignancy, as Campbell sang about being afraid of death: “Galveston, oh Galveston, I am so afraid of dying/Before I dry the tears she’s crying/Before I watch your sea birds flying in the sun/At Galveston, at Galveston.” As the song ended and the applause welled up, Campbell started playing the opening riff of “Galveston” all over again on his guitar — until his daughter, Ashley, interjected: “We just played that, Dad.”
Campbell spent much of the show with his blue Strat strapped over his neck, holding onto it for the moments when he would play a guitar solo. (He complained a couple of times about how heavy that guitar felt on his shoulders.) When those moments came, Campbell looked down at the neck of his guitar — and you had to wonder: Can a man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease remember all those notes? Campbell hesitated a few times, but once his fingers started moving, they really moved, and the notes rang out loud and clear. All of the night’s guitar solos belonged to Campbell, and they offered plenty of proof of his skills.
At one point during the concert, Campbell apologized for playing something not quite right — whatever it was, it was a barely noticeable mistake. Campbell told the crowd, “Always remember this, friends: If you do it perfect, they’ll want it that way every time.” Wise words worth remembering from a great musician.
Glen Campbell finished the show with a lovely, wistful song from his new record, “A Better Place,” which he co-wrote with producer Julian Raymond. Campbell sang: “One thing I know/The world’s been good to me/A better place awaits, you’ll see.”
SET LIST: Gentle on My Mind / Galveston / By the Time I Get to Phoenix / Try a Little Kindness / Where’s the Playground Susie / Didn’t We / I Can’t Stop Loving You / True Grit / Lovesick Blues / Dueling Banjos / Hey Little One (sung by Ashley and Shannon Campbell) / Any Trouble / It’s Your Amazing Grace / Country Boy / The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress / Ghost on the Canvas / Wichita Lineman / Rhinestone Cowboy / Southern Nights / A Better Place
The Louisville singer-songwriter Cheyenne Marie Mize has performed with Will Oldham, and now she’s establishing a solo career of her own. Her introspective 2010 debut, Before Lately, had an intriguing mix of styles, and her adventurousness continues on the new EP, We Don’t Need. When Mize performed Wednesday (Jan. 25) at Schubas, she started off her set with the song that opens the EP, “Wishing Well,” which features little more than her singing and chanting to a drum beat. Throughout the rest of her set, she switched between guitar, keyboards and violin, while two other musicians (a drummer and a multi-instrumentalist) provide subtle backing but kept the songs sounding spare and direct.
The Montreal band Plants and Animals doesn’t easily fit into any of the typical rock genres. Their music has a bit of late ’60s/early ’70s hippie vibe, and there’s a tendency toward jamming, but they don’t sound to me like a jam band. Their 2008 record Parc Avenue is a strong set of songs with unusual turns that stick in your mind. Somehow, I completely missed their 2010 album La La Land until now, and now they’re on the verge of releasing another album, The End of It. They played at Schubas on Jan. 12, part of the bigger-than-ever Tomorrow Never Knows festival. The Parc Avenue songs were excellent in concert, and the new ones were promising.
The evening also featured opening sets by Canon Blue, Herman Dune and the local acoustic folk-rock trio Cloudbirds, who include former members of The M’s. (Cloudbirds are giving away their album online.)
Cloudbirds Cloudbirds Herman Dune Herman Dune Canon Blue\Canon Blue
The psychedelic Chicago band Secret Colours celebrated the release of its new EP with a show Jan. 7 at the Empty Bottle, with opening sets by a couple of cool Chicago bands: E+ is a new outfit featuring members of Disappears, Heavy Times and Verma. And the middle band in the lineup, fApteka, had the strongest set of the night, with an intense, swirling sound.
I’m catching up on some recent concert photos — or not so recent, as the case may be. Here are some pictures from the Flat Five shows Dec. 18 at the Hideout. They were as wonderful as always.
The album is still king for me. In an age of singles, these albums were my favorites of 2011. I heard plenty of other good records beyond this top 50, and I don’t doubt for a second that I missed a myriad other worthwhile recordings.
1. BILL CALLAHAN: APOCALYPSE (Drag City) — Bill Callahan speaks as much as he sings. It’s as if he’s telling you something important in a private conversation. Something important, and yet cryptic. Afterward, you find yourself asking: Just what did he mean when he told me, “Hey, no more drovering”? This recording lets you play back the conversation, and the next time you hear it, it sounds as if he means something different than you’d thought before. The words become more and more musical with each listen, until the lines that seemed like monotone spoken word become indelible melodies. His sentences transform into songs, and the songs themselves seem to morph as they go along, dancing from one shape into another, trembling and buzzing as they go. A strange and singular masterpiece. dragcity.com
2. GILLIAN WELCH: THE HARROW & THE HARVEST (Acony) — Old-fashioned musical idioms — mountain folk songs and murder ballads — become timeless and somehow even contemporary when channeled through the intertwined voices and guitars of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Welch’s rustic tales of woe are as evocative as ever, and there’s no need to add effects or other instruments when the music is this perfect and beautiful. gillianwelch.com
3. THEE OH SEES: CARRION CRAWLER/THE DREAM (In the Red) — They turned it up to 11. Everything is cranked up to almost alarming levels of intensity on this California band’s newest record, with one rampaging garage rock tune after another. When Thee Oh Sees get into a groove and keep it going for a while, it pummels you into a trancelike submission. It all crackles with electricity, while the constant male-female harmonies emit a spooky, ethereal atmosphere. intheredrecords.com
4. BONNIE “PRINCE” BILLY: WOLFROY GOES TO TOWN (Drag City) — The latest in a string of very, very good records by Will Oldham. No further proof was necessary that he’s a genius singer-songwriter, but here it is anyway. Gentle folk rock with a sense of stillness and introspection at its core, the music is punctuated with a few of Oldham’s typically shocking lyrics, as well as some beautiful harmonies with a spiritual air about them. The sacred and profane are both in abundance here. dragcity.com
5. TOM WAITS: BAD AS ME (Anti-) — So many of Tom Waits’ strengths as a storyteller, musical craftsman, songwriter and singer — yes, a singer! — are on display here. It’s a well-rounded collection of memorable new songs by one of the all-time greats, with poetic and funny turns of phrase, a little bit of the Spanish tinge, roadhouse rock ’n’ roll, wistful ballads, and even a touch of Waits’ early Beat-poet-hanging-out-at-the-bar vibe. On songs like the opening track, “Chicago,” Waits channels one of the great American musical genres, the blues, into a dark, churning form that’s all his own. And when he breaks out into a chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” at the end of the album — well, haven’t we all been waiting years for him to do that? tomwaits.com
6. YUCK: YUCK (Fat Possum) — So they sound like some other band. Or a bunch of other bands. So what? Who doesn’t sound like someone else? Influences and resemblances don’t matter as much as whether the songs stand up on their own. And Yuck’s songs were among the year’s catchiest, filled with wonderfully loopy guitar riffs and power-pop choruses. What an enjoyable listen this album is. myspace.com/yuckband
7. P.J. HARVEY: LET ENGLAND SHAKE (Vagrant) — The always-inventive P.J. Harvey did something novel on her latest record: She sampled. Not the sort of sampling heard in hip-hop, but borrowing some unexpected musical elements. A xylophone melody lifted from the old novelty tune “Istanbul (Not Constantinople.” Some Russian folk lyrics. A line from Eddie Cochrane’s “Summertime Blues” (“I’m going to take my problem to the United Nations”). A bugle call grafted onto one of Harvey’s songs, sounding at first like it’s jarringly in the wrong key and out of tempo with the song, but then gradually defying logic and seeming like an indispensible part of the track. These mash-ups seemed to inspire Harvey to make one of her most diverse and unusual sets of songs, with a lyrical point of view that’s both expansive and introspective. pjharvey.net
8. MICKEY: ROCK ’N ROLL DREAMER (HoZac) — Garage rock was hot in 2011, especially in Chicago, where the HoZac record label is the center of an exciting scene. One of the bands in this scene, Mickey, plays fun but frequently sloppy live shows, filled with drunken energy. The band tamed that rambunctious recklessness just enough to let the strength of its songs shine through on this debut studio album, which sounds like a lost classic of the ’70s era of proto-punk and glam. Long live rock ’n’ roll dreamers! hozacrecords.com
9. CHARLES BRADLEY: NO TIME FOR DREAMING (Dunham/Daptone) — Charles Bradley’s bio was one of the year’s most moving stories, and he had a terrific debut album to match — a debut album he recorded at the age of 62. Like Sharon Jones before him, Bradley is a soul singer who performed for decades without getting much attention until being discovered by the folks at the Daptone label. The songs are inspired by the frustrations and tragedies Bradley has dealt with in his life, including the murder of his brother, and they sound like classic ’60s soul. Despite the retro sound, the record is a searing and powerful statement on today’s America, a plea for a better world delivered with passion by a man who really, really means it. thecharlesbradley.com
10. RADIOHEAD: THE KING OF LIMBS (TBD) — Radiohead carries on with its transformation, heading further in the direction of experimental and ambient art rock … and yet, underneath all of the pulsing sonic haze, the band is still making songs that stick with you. Somehow, Radiohead manages to sound chilled-out and twitchy at the same time, and the results are consistently intriguing, whether you’re dancing or supine as you listen. radiohead.com
11. The Feelies: Here Before (Bar None)
12. Sam Phillips: Cameras in the Sky (self-released)
13. Wild Flag: Wild Flag (Sub Pop)
14. Wussy: Strawberry (Shake It)
15. Mekons: Ancient & Modern: 1911-2011 (Sin/Bloodshot)
16. Drive-By Truckers: Go-Go Boots (ATO)
17. Wilco: The Whole Love (dBpm/Anti-)
18. Chad VanGaalen: Diaper Island (Sub Pop)
19. Cults: Cults (Itno)
20. Cave: Neverendless (Drag City)
21. Low: C’mon (Sub Pop)
22. Cass McCombs: Wit’s End (Domino)
23. Woods: Sun and Shade (Woodsist)
24. John Luther Adams (performed by Stephen Drury, Scott Deal and the Callithumpian Consort): Four Thousand Holes (Cold Blue Music)
25. St. Vincent: Strange Mercy (4AD)
26. The Skull Defekts: Peer Amid (Thrill Jockey)
27. Lyyke Li: Wounded Ryhmes (Atlantic)
28. I Was A King: Old Friends (Sounds Familyre)
29. Tinariwen: Tassili (Anti-)
30. Eleventh Dream Day: Riot Now! (Thrill Jockey)
31. Heavy Times: Heavy Times (HoZac)
32. Marissa Nadler: Marissa Nadler (Box of Cedar)
33. Fungi Girls: Some Easy Magic (HoZac)
34. My Brightest Diamond: All Things Will Unwind (Asthmatic Kitty)
35. The Go! Team: Rolling Blackouts (Memphis Industries)
36. Mannequin Men: Mannequin Men (Addenda)
37. Raphael Saadiq: Stone Rollin’ (Columbia)
38. The Singleman Affair: Silhouettes at Dawn (Cardboard Sangria)
39. A.A. Bondy: Believers (Fat Possum)
40. Bodies of Water: Twist Again (Secretly Canadian)
41. yMusic: Beautiful Mechanical (New Amsterdam)
42. The People’s Temple: Sons of Stone (HoZac)
43. Boston Spaceships: Let It Beard (Guided By Voices)
44. NRBQ: Keep This Love Goin’ (Clang!)
45. Girls: Father, Son, Holy Ghost (True Panther)
46. White Hills: H-p1 (Thrill Jockey)
47. Tune-Yards: Whokill (4AD)
48. Disappears: Guider (Kranky)
49. Nick Lowe: That Old Magic (Yep Roc)
50. Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)
These are my favorites out of the photos I took at concerts in 2011.
SCREAMING FEMALES Jan. 14 at Lincoln HallHANDSOME FURS Jan. 15 at Lincoln HallLITTLE DRAGON Jan. 16 at Lincoln HallKINGS GO FORTH Jan. 21 at the Double DoorBUDDY GUY Jan. 23 at Buddy Guy's LegendsYO LA TENGO Feb. 4 at MetroTHE DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS Feb. 26 at the VicRON SEXSMITH March 22 at SchubasWHITE HILLS March 23 at the Empty BottleWHITE HILLS March 23 at the Empty BottleGODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR March 26 at MetroSKULL DEFEKTS March 31 at the HideoutSILVER ABUSE April 16 at Permanent RecordsLOW April 21 at Lincoln HallELEVENTH DREAM DAY April 22 at Lincoln HallTHE SPITS May 27 at the HoZac Blackout FestivalNONES May 28 at the HoZac Blackout FestivalEARTH June 8 at Mayne StageGRUFF RHYS June 9 at SchubasHANGGAI June 9 at the Pritzker PavilionSWORD HEAVEN June 11 in the Neon Marshmallow Fest at the Empty BottleCENTRO-MATIC July 3 at SchubasEMA July 15 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalTUNE-YARDS July 15 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalGUIDED BY VOICES July 15 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalNEKO CASE July 15 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalZOLA JESUS July 16 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalOFF! July 16 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalKURT VILE July 17 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalODD FUTURE July 17 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalODD FUTURE July 17 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalODD FUTURE audience July 17 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI July 17 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalHEALTH July 17 at the Pitchfork Music FestivalGILLIAN WELCH July 22 at the Vic WILD FLAG July 23 at Wicker Park FestWILD FLAG July 23 at Wicker Park FestFOOTBALL July 24 at the Illinois Centennial MonumentTHEE OH SEES July 24 at the Illinois Centennial Monument THEE OH SEES July 24 at the Illinois Centennial MonumentANATOMY OF HABIT Aug. 7 at the Empty Bottle MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND Aug. 8 at the Pritzker Pavilion MAGIC KEY Aug. 21 at the Illinois Centennial MonumentTERRY ADAMS with NRBQ Aug. 27 at FitzGerald’sSCOTT LIGON with NRBQ Aug. 27 at FitzGerald’sSOUL TRAIN CONCERT Sept. 5 at the Pritzker PavilionTHE EMOTIONS Sept. 5 at the Pritzker PavilionBILL CALLAHAN Sept. 16 at Brilliant Corners of Popular Amusements CHARLES BRADLEY Sept. 17 at Brilliant Corners of Popular AmusementsWHITE MYSTERY Sept. 24 at the Hideout Block PartyWHITE MYSTERY Sept. 24 at the Hideout Block PartyBOOKER T. JONES Sept. 24 at the Hideout Block PartyMAVIS STAPLES Sept. 24 at the Hideout Block PartyLE BUTCHERETTES Nov. 4 at SubterraneanROCKET FROM THE TOMBS Dec. 7 at the Empty BottleALABAMA SHAKES Dec. 15 at the Hideout
These are my favorite musical performances that I saw in 2011, with quotes from my original blog posts.
1. ALABAMA SHAKES (Dec. 15 at Hideout). “Wow, did Alabama Shakes live up to the hype. This was the most joyous, energetic and lively musical performance I’ve seen in 2011, and a Hideout crowded with enthusiastic fans was the perfect place to see and hear Alabama Shakes. … The crowd was shouting for more at the end — even if it meant playing some of the same songs over again.” (Original blog post and more photos.)
2. CHARLES BRADLEY (Brilliant Corners of Popular Amusements festival Sept. 17). “Some of his soul shouts gave me chills. … His feelings clearly came out of real experience as he belted the chorus, ‘Why is it so hard to make it in America?’ As the curtain closed on the stage, Bradley jumped down and hugged everyone he could.” (Original blog post and more photos.)
3. THEE OH SEES (Nov. 23 at Empty Bottle). “Somehow, Thee Oh Sees manage to make everything sound like it’s turned up and sped up a notch beyond expectations. … The fantastic, charged music of Thee Oh Sees … sent the crowd into a writhing frenzy.” (Original blog post and more photos.)
4. WILD FLAG (Oct. 9 at Empty Bottle). This was the second time I’d seen Wild Flag perform in 2011, following a July 23 set during Wicker Park Fest. That was a great set, but the four members of Wild Flag were really on fire on the second night of their fall return to Chicago, lifting their songs to another level as they jammed out with joyous abandon.
5. GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR (March 26-27 at Metro). “The eight musicians … said barely a word to the audience over the course of the last two nights, concentrating intently on their dark, brooding and apocalyptic music. … The visual accompaniment added to the sense that these ‘songs’ (if that’s even the right word) tell stories, despite the lack of lyrics. And no singing was necessary to convey emotion, either. It was music capable of raising goosebumps.” (Original blog post and more photos.)
6. ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS (May 15 at Chicago Theatre). “It was truly a ‘show,’ not just a typical concert. Reviving a gimmick he featured in a 1980s tour, Costello gave audience members a chance to come up on stage and spin the big wheel, which had about 40 songs or ‘jackpot’ slots on it … Costello put on a top hat and grabbed a cane … (and) guided Sunday’s audience through a diverse set of songs…” (Original blog post.)
7. MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND WITH THE CHICAGO YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Aug. 8 at Millennium Park). “How beautiful it was to hear the concert begin with the opening notes of ‘Dragonfly’ from My Brightest Diamond’s 2006 debut album, Bring Me the Workhorse — those swooping, sweeping violins. The concert was filled with terrific moments like that…” (Original blog post and more photos.)
8. SKULL DEFEKTS (March 31 at Hideout). “With his gray beard, (Daniel) Higgs resembled an Old Testament character or a crew member of an old whaling vessel as he commanded the stage Thursday with his unrestrained vocals. The rest of Skull Defekts — two drummers and two guitarists — never let up with their jagged punk-garage riffs.” (Original blog post and more photos.)
9. WILCO (Dec. 13 at Riviera). “This is one exceptional group of musicians, seemingly capable of playing anything. … It felt like the band could play until morning…” (Original blog post.)
10. RICHARD THOMPSON (Sept. 12 at Evanston Space). “As always, Thompson made his guitar sing, often sounding like an entire band — or two or three guitars, anyway. … The dark, quiet songs were especially haunting…” (Original blog post.)
Honorable mentions:
Bill Callahan (Brilliant Corners of Popular Amusements Sept. 16)
The Flaming Lips (July 7 at Aragon)
Le Butcherettes (Nov. 4 at Subterranean)
Neil Young and Bert Hansch (May 6 at the Chicago Theatre)
M. Ward (Dec. 4 at Schubas)
NRBQ (Aug. 27 at FitzGerald’s)
Drive-By Truckers (Feb. 26 at Vic)
Gillian Welch (July 22 at the Vic)
Tune-Yards (Pitchfork Music Festival July 15 at Union Park)
Mavis Staples (Hideout Block Party Sept. 24 at Hideout)
Screaming Females (Tomorrow Never Knows festival Jan. 14 at Lincoln Hall)
Soul Train 40th anniversary concert with the Chi-Lites, the Emotions, the Impressions, Jerry “The Iceman” Butler (Sept. 5 at Millennium Park)
The only music they’ve released so far is a four-song EP, but Alabama Shakes are already getting a lot of attention. They wowed a lot of people at CMJ in New York earlier this year. I heard about them through the Twitter/Facebook equivalent of word of mouth — comments from people bowled over by Alabama Shakes concerts. Paste magazine named them the best new band of 2012. Arriving this week for their first gigs ever in Chicago, the band sold out the Hideout on Thursday night (Dec. 15). And wow, did Alabama Shakes live up to the hype. This was the most joyous, energetic and lively musical performance I’ve seen in 2011, and a Hideout crowded with enthusiastic fans was the perfect place to see and hear Alabama Shakes. (They’re playing again tonight (Dec. 17) at SPACE in Evanston — see it if you can!)
The bespectacled young woman at the front of this band, Brittany Howard, has a powerful, soulful voice. But she’s also a talented guitarist, and it was just as thrilling to hear her playing riffs and solos as it was to hear her belting out the words. What a passionate, uninhibited performance it was. The band seamlessly blended Southern rock and soul — like country cousins of the Dap-Tone bands, or a more R&B-leaning version of the Drive-By Truckers. Alabama Shakes played a solid hour of songs, sounding vibrant throughout, and the crowd was shouting for more at the end — even if it meant playing some of the same songs over again.
This jaw-dropping show was preceded by a nice opening set by the Lawrence Peters Outfit, led by Hideout bartender and drummer-about-town Lawrence Peters, featuring some tasty, old-fashioned country music. Quite different from Alabama Shakes, but a good complement. Alabama Shakes attracted a fair number of people who had never been to the Hideout before, and they seemed a bit confused by Hideout owner Tim Tuten’s typically long and strange band intros, but Tuten seemed to win them over with his final rousing words, encouraging everyone to start shaking for Alabama Shakes.
The New York band Woods was back in Chicago last week (Dec. 10) at Subterranean, with what seemed to be a temporary change in its lineup. The band didn’t explain why, but the usual tape-effects guy and harmony singer, G. Lucas Crane, was absent. Matt Valentine, who is the “MV” half of the duo MV + EE, filled in for Crane, adding another guitar to some of the songs, while playing bits of harmonica and keyboards at other moments. It’s always hard to tell exactly what sounds Crane is adding to the mix as he hunches over his cassette tapes and sings into headphones. With his contributions absent, Woods’ sound was touch less psychedelic and more direct. Lead singer and guitarist Jeremy Earl’s stage demeanor was as low-key as usual, but he really let loose on some of the guitar solos, making for a hard-rocking set.
Although I missed Wilco’s concert Monday at the Civic Opera House, the band’s website helpfully provides not just a set list, but also a pie chart showing how many songs Wilco played that night from each of its albums. From all reports, it was a pretty epic concert, and I sure wish I’d seen that encore with Nick Lowe and Mavis Staples teaming up with Wilco. The pie chart reveals that Wilco played songs from each of its albums except for the two Mermaid Avenue records, Wilco (The Album) and one of my favorites, A Ghost Is Born. One of my favorites, you may say with shock and amazement? Yes, although some folks slag that 2004 record, I insist it’s one of Wilco’s pinnacle achievements. The three studio albums since then have all been fine, with several great songs scattered across them, but they pale in comparison to Ghost and the few albums preceding it.
I did see Wilco’s second show in its five-concert Chicago run, Tuesday night’s (Dec. 13) gig at the Riveria, a venue that almost feels like home for Jeff Tweedy and his band. And this time, the band was in more of a Ghost Is Born mood. Shockingly, Wilco opened the show with “Less Than You Think” — the much-criticized Ghost track that meanders off into seemingly endless and tuneless electronic hum. (All that hum has never bothered me, but like everyone else I often skip past it; I think that was part of the idea.) In concert, the song began quietly, and the crowd hushed to hear Tweedy whispering the words into his microphone. The song dissolved into a drone that simulated the buzzing on the album, but with an actual beat pulsing through it. This was not a crowd-pleasing choice for an opening song, but Tweedy and his bandmates know just how fervent and devoted their fans are — and that some fans would appreciate or at least tolerate seeing the show begin with an unusual song.
The concert turned out to be an interesting and frequently surprising mix of songs from throughout Wilco’s huge and excellent catalogue. Wilco repeated only seven of the songs from the previous night’s show. Some regular concert favorites were omitted, such as “Jesus etc.” Some of the mellower recent songs weren’t all that exciting, but the band did a beautiful job of rendering them. This is one exceptional group of musicians, seemingly capable of playing anything. Is Wilco almost too good? At times, the band’s proficiency starts to sound like self-indulgent wankery, but just when I’m about to scoff at a guitar solo that goes slightly over the top, the band pulls off some subtle musical turn of phrase and I find myself surrendering to the experience.
Wilco continues to tinker with its old songs. Jarring outbursts of dissonance and drumming were layered on top of “Via Chicago,” somewhat awkwardly. “Reservations,” which started off the second encore, was more beautiful than ever, a lovely blend of Tweedy’s original acoustic version with the moody, atmospheric arrangement on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Just when it seemed like the concert was about to end, Wilco launched into its epic-length Ghost track, “Spiders (kidsmoke),” giving it a jazzier, funkier groove than past renditions, and giving Tweedy a chance to scrape out skronky solos on the electric guitar. (Nels Cline is Wilco’s resident guitar whiz, but I’d like to hear more of Tweedy’s rough-hewn solos.) Improbably, the song featured an audience clap-along before finally returning to its signature power chord riff. And then Wilco extended its marathon with one more track, not shown on the set list, “I’m a Wheel.” It felt like the band could play until morning, but Tweedy and the guys finally called it a night.
The evening started off with a strong opening set by Eleventh Dream Day, who have added Jim Elkington of the Zincs as a second guitarist. The five-piece lineup gave Rick Rizzo more space to play, and it bodes well for the future of this band with a long and illustrious past.
WILCO SET LIST: Less Than You Think / Art of Almost / I Might / Black Moon / Bull Black Nova / Side With the Seeds / Red-Eyed and Blue / I Got You (At the End of the Century) / Born Alone / You Are My Face / Open Mind / Kamera / I Must Be High / Always in Love / Capitol City / Handshake Drugs / Can’t Stand It / Dawned on Me / Hummingbird / ENCORE 1: Via Chicago / Whole Love / Late Greats / Walken / Just a Kid / Monday / Outta Mind (Outta Sight) / ENCORE 2: Reservations / Spiders (kidsmoke) / I’m a Wheel
This is one of the most unlikely reunions in the long history of rock ‘n’ roll reunions. Rocket From the Tombs was a short-lived protopunk band in Cleveland in 1975 that broke up before releasing a record. Barely anyone heard Rocket From the Tombs, and barely anyone had heard of them. But the former members of Rocket formed a couple of other famous bands, Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys. And some of the early songs they played with those bands had actually begun as Rocket From the Tombs tunes.
All of this was an interesting but obscure footnote in rock history until Smog Veil Records released the band’s long-forgotten rehearsal tapes and some live recordings in 2003. Rocket From the Tombs reunited, with legendary Television guitarist Richard Lloyd taking over for the late Peter Laughner. In 2004, the new lineup of the band finally recorded studio versions of those songs from three decades earlier. And most of us figured that was the end of that.
But Rocket From the Tombs reconvened this year, releasing an unexpected album of new songs, Bar Fly, and heading out on tour once again, including a stop Wednesday night (Dec. 7) at the Empty Bottle in Chicago. The current roster comprises David Thomas, Cheetah Chrome, Craig Bell, Steve Mehlman and Richard Lloyd. The show got started with strong opening sets of power pop by Warm Ones and reverb-drenched psychedelic noise rock by Plastic Crimewave Sound.
Pere Ubu’s mad genius weirdo, Thomas, sings most of RFTT’s songs, too, and he dominated the center of the stage, standing mostly still in a long trench coat. “Punk rock,” he grumbled at the start of the show, as he took out his reading glasses and began peering at lyrics sheets. Thomas can get cantankerous, and he showed a bit of that crankiness Wednesday, cutting off one song when he was unhappy with the shaky start it got from the band, insisting that the band forget playing it altogether. Despite that moment, there were only a few times when RFTT sounded rusty. More often, the band cranked out great guitar riffs, sounding like Pere Ubu’s punk-rock cousins. The new songs were good, but it was the old classics that the crowd really wanted to hear, and RFTT delivered, with strong renditions of “Amphetamine,” “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” and “Sonic Reducer.”
The sparse attendance Tuesday night (Dec. 6) at Schubas confirmed my suspicion that few Americans know anything about the French-Canadian rock band Karkwa — despite the fact that the group won Canada’s prestigious Polaris Music Prize in 2010 for its fourth album, Les Chemins de verre. (Previous winners: Final Fantasy, Patrick Watson, Caribou and Fucked Up.)
About 40 people showed up to hear the band at Schubas, and singer-guitarist Louis-Jean Cormier sounded almost apologetic as he explained that he was about to — gasp! — sing lyrics in French. The fans in attendance clearly didn’t mind, of course. Karkwa’s art rock sounded even better in live performance than it does on record, with sophisticated but not overly fussy layers of guitar, keyboard and percussion that sounded a bit like early Radiohead at times. When the band returned to the stage for an encore, at the insistence of the crowd, Cormier seemed surprised to hear a few people calling out requests for songs. Yes, there are at least a few Americans who’ve caught onto Karkwa. myspace.com/Karkwa karkwa.com
One of the first times I saw M. Ward perform in concert was at Schubas. It was Feb. 25, 2005, and the opening acts included a band almost no one had heard of called Dr. Dog. Both performers have since gained considerable fame and acclaim, and gone on to play much bigger venues. So it was a real treat to see M. Ward back at Schubas on Sunday night (Dec. 4). Chicago got lucky with this gig. Ward played a charity gig in the Quad Cities, and played this one additional show, calling it his “Rock Island Line” tour.
One thing that made it special was the opening set, which featured longtime Ward sideman Mike Coykendall along with their mutual friend, singer-songwriter Carlos Forster. Forster has a new record out, Family Trees, which was recorded by Coykendall and produced by Ward, with Ward signing a duet with Forster on the song “Campfire Songs.” Coykendall and Forster are both nice singers in their own right, and they were joined by Ward for a few songs, giving the whole thing the feeling of a basement jam session by old friends.
That vibe carried on during the main set. As in many past gigs, Ward wore a hat, almost seeming to hide his eyes as he performed. As always, Ward’s guitar playing was excellent, showing his virtuosity without showing it off, and he casually reached over to plink a few notes on the piano at times. Along with Coykendall, the band included drummer Scott McPherson and Nashville pedal steel player/multi-instrumentalist Chris Scruggs. The superb but too short set (barely more than an hour) ranged from hushed acoustic folk to rollicking, old-style rock ‘n’ roll. Ward didn’t say anything about the first song he played, but it was a Howlin’ Wolf cover — maybe a tribute to Wolf’s guitarist, Hubert Sumlin, who had died earlier in the day?
SET LIST: Howlin’ for My Darlin’ (Howlin’ Wolf cover) / Poison Cup / Post-War / Chinese Translation / Paul’s Song / Vincent O’Brien / Cosmopolitan Pap / Fisher of Men / Bean Vine Blues #2 (John Fahey cover) / Whole Lotta Losin’ (Monsters of Folk song) / Rock Island Line (folk song cover) / Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry cover) / ENCORE: Magic Trick / Campfire Songs (Carlos Forster vocals) / We All Gotta Go (Mike Coykendall vocals) / Never Had Nobody Like You / ENCORE 2: 100 Million Years (Ward solo acoustic)
The two Chicago bands playing at the Hideout Saturday night have been around for a few years, but they’ve both just released self-titled records. Does putting out a self-titled record imply that this is the one that defines your sound? Maybe, maybe not. But for both of these bands, Mannequin Men and Vee Dee, these 2011 albums are good starting points for anyone who wants to get familiar with what they’re doing. And both bands rocked pretty hard on Saturday night. Vee Dee’s label, BLVD, describes its music as “scuzz rock.” There’s a good amount of riffing ’70s hard rock, verging on heavy metal, in this trio’s sound, mixed up with garage, punk, glam and, yeah, scuzz.
The Mannequin Men have been playing catchy garage rock (or post-punk or what have you) with deliciously sneering vocals over the course of three albums now, and the new self-titled one is their best set of melodies and riffs so far. There’s even a touch of wistfulness amid the bratty snarling — just a touch. Singer-guitarist Kevin Richard sings lead on most of the songs, but the band’s secret weapon is drummer Seth Bohn, who handled the main vocals on a few of the best tunes Saturday night. The guys sounded loose but never sloppy (it’s a fine line), nailing the riffs when they needed to be nailed.
California’s Thee Oh Sees are one of the best live rock bands at this moment. After delivering strong performances last year at Lincoln Hall and this summer at the Illinois Centennial Monument, Thee Oh Sees were back in Chicago for a couple of shows at the Empty Bottle on Wednesday night (Nov. 23) — and the late show may be the strongest set I’ve seen by them yet.
The prolific band just realized its second album of 2011, Carrion Crawler/The Dream, which was originally conceived as two EPs. Like the group’s live shows, the record is bursting with energy, sounding more intense than the last Thee Oh Sees record, Castlemania. But as well as this great new recording captures the live passion of the band, it’s still no match for seeing Thee Oh Sees on a stage. Somehow, Thee Oh Sees manage to make everything sound like it’s turned up and sped up a notch beyond expectations.
Leader John Dwyer and guitarist Petey Dammit both hold their guitars up high; Dwyer keeps his instrument unusually close to his face as he sings in spooky harmony with keyboardist Brigid Dawson. Practically every line of every song featured Dwyer and Dawson intertwining their voices, giving the’60s-garage-rock flavored tunes a somewhat ethereal mood, even as the two drummers, Mike Shoun and Lars Finberg, unrelentingly pushed the beat forward.
The opening sets by Paul Cary and Total Control were good, but it was the fantastic, charged music of Thee Oh Sees that sent the crowd into a writhing frenzy.
Belatedly catching up now on something I intended to blog about earlier…
The legendary Kinks frontman and one of the all-time great rock songwriters, Ray Davies, performed a pretty delightful concert Nov. 11 at the Chicago Theatre. His new record, See My Friends, is one of those concept duet albums, featuring various stars singing or performing together with Davies on classic Kinks songs. Thankfully, the concert was just Davies and his backup musicians.
The show began with Davies playing eight and a half songs in mostly acoustic versions, backed by guitarist Bill Shanley. This intimate section of the show was really the high point of the night for me, packed with fantastic songs such as “Waterloo Sunset.” The half song was “Victoria,” which led into Davies reading a short bit of his autobiography, which led into “20th Century Man” as the full band took the stage. Davies’ band this time was The 88, who did a good job of sounding like the Kinks, keeping things a little bit loose as they nimbly responded to Davies’ occasional pauses to banter in the middle of songs. The 88 also played a nice opening set of somewhat Kinks-esque pop-rock songs.
As much as I enjoy hearing Davies talk about his songs and make jokes, at times his banter awkwardly interrupted the music. When Davies and his band ripped into the more rocking numbers, such as “You Really Got Me,” this 67-year-old Davies bounced around the stage like a much younger man.
Davies jested that he would fine himself $5 every time he mentioned the Kinks, but in truth, this show was essentially Davies doing a Kinks concert without the rest of the Kinks. He played only one of his recent solo songs (“Imaginary Man”), instead performing an excellent cross-section of the Kinks’ vast catalogue. At one point, someone in the crowd shouted out, “Where’s Dave?”
“Where’s Dave?” Davies replied. “Asleep. When he’s asleep, he can’t do any damage.”
A good-natured barb aimed at his brother. But it really would be nice to see Ray and Dave Davies playing together onstage again someday.
SET LIST: I Need You / I’m Not Like Everybody Else / Sunny Afternoon / Dedicated Follower of Fashion / Waterloo Sunset / See My Friends / Apeman / A Long Way From Home / Victoria (excerpt) + reading from X-Ray / 20th Century Man / David Watts / This Is Where I Belong / Where Have All the Good Times Gone / Till the End of the Day / Nothin’ in the World Can Stop Me Worrying ’Bout That Girl / Too Much on My Mind / All Day and All of the Night / Misfits / Full Moon / Celluloid Heroes / Imaginary Man / Muswell Hillbilly / You Really Got Me / ENCORE 1: Low Budget / ENCORE 2: Lola
Wooden Shjips headlined Saturday night (Nov. 5) at the Empty Bottle, and their set was all about getting into one mesmerizing groove after another — a sort of quasi-psychedelic, quasi-Krautrock with hard-edge riffs over a pounding pulse of bass. The band’s latest album, West, is its first for Thrill Jockey records. Saturday’s show also featured a tight and hard-rocking set by Birds of Avalon, who sounded almost proggy. And the first band of the night, another great HoZac label garage band called the People’s Temple, were pretty hard-rocking, too — once they got started. Their disorganized pauses between songs created a sense of impending musical disaster, but the songs were strong once things started clicking.
The People's Temple The People's Temple The People's Temple The People's Temple Birds of Avalon Birds of Avalon Birds of Avalon Birds of Avalon Wooden Shjips Wooden Shjips
Le Butcherettes inspired some rave reviews from people who saw them play at SXSW and Lollapalooza this year, and it’s easy to see why. The band, led and completely dominated by bloody-apron-wearing and stage-diving singer-keyboardist-guitarist Teri Gender Bender (aka Teri Suarez), plays with almost alarming intensity. Friday night at Subterranean in Chicago, Teri Gender Bender and her cohorts were in good form, playing songs that sounded at times like Rid of Me-era PJ Harvey and plunging into the crowd. Unlike the Lolla set, there was no vomiting.
It’s pretty obvious by now that Girl Groups are back — and I don’t just mean rock bands with female singers and musicians. I mean bands that evoke the famous Girl Groups of the 1960s. Today’s Girl Groups tend to channel the sweetness of that sound through the loudness of garage rock, however. Dum Dum Girls are one of the finer practitioners of this sort of music, and the band put on a fine performance Friday night (Oct. 14) at Chicago’s Empty Bottle, with catchy vocals and crunchy guitar chords. The concert came with an excellent bonus: a thrilling and energetic opening set of shoegazy rock songs by Crocodiles. The main Dum Dum Girl, Dee Dee (aka Kristin Gundred), joined Crocodiles onstage for one stage, ending it by kissing Crocodiles singer Brandon Welchez (who happens to be her husband). The first performer of the night, Colleen Green, was a lo-fi amateur in comparison with what followed; pretty voice, but she needs an actual band.
A long absence makes the legend grow. And when Portishead hibernated for a decade — releasing no records and doing no tours from 1998 to 2008 — the cool, enigmatic English band started to seem like a musical holy grail. Oh, to see Portishead to perform live again — or to see it for the first time, if you were foolish enough to miss their concerts in the 1990s (as I was). And then in 2008, the band finally released its third studio album, sounding edgier than ever. But other than a performance at Coachella, no U.S. tour was forthcoming. Three years later, it has finally happened, and Portishead played Wednesday night (Oct. 12) at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom.
Portishead makes music with a very private sensibility, like feelings and memories echoing inside someone’s head. And so, it seemed appropriate how introverted singer Beth Gibbons was onstage for most of the concert, hunched over the microphone, her hair sometimes obscuring her face. Nodding her head was the closest she got to dancing. Meanwhile, the band — Portishead members Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley plus three more members, shifting around on instruments — played faithful but fresh versions of the studio arrangements. Films flickered behind Portishead as the band played five songs from its classic 1994 debut Dummy, one from 1997’s self-titled album, seven from 2008’s Third and one recent nonalbum track, “Chase the Tear.”
All of the group’s diverse influences were clearly audible — from the twitchy spins of turntables and aggressive dance beats to sophisticated balladry that evokes earlier eras ranging from ’60s soul music all the way back to the German cabaret of Kurt Weill — and yet it all sounded of a piece, fitting together into the distinctive sound that is Portishead. While the Aragon’s acoustics are often atrocious, it sounded all right where I was standing (maybe 100 feet in front of the stage) … except for the grating static crackles that destroyed all the beauty of the song “Mysterons.” When that problem was fixed halfway through the song, a big round of applause went up, but I’d have preferred a do-over of the whole song.
In the middle of the set, the three touring musicians left the stage and Portishead’s core trio played a beautiful, heart-stopping rendition of “Wandering Star,” with just bass guitar, a screwdriver running over guitar strings and Gibbon’s lonesome voice, which soared higher in the song’s final passage, filling the gaps in this spare version of the song with a wordless imitation of a symphony. Then the rest of the band returned, and Portishead launched into the jarring keyboard-and-drums riff of “Machine Gun.” What a contrast.
After acting so shy and understated for most of the concert, Gibbons descended from the stage during the final song of the encore, “We Carry On,” walking along the security barricade and touching the hands of her fans. When she got back onto the stage for the last moment of the night, she was all smiles.
SET LIST: Silence / Hunter / Mysterons / The Rip / Sour Times / Magic Doors / Wandering Star / Machine Gun / Over / Glory Box / Chase the Tear / Cowboys / Threads / ENCORE: Roads / We Carry On
The Hideout celebrated its 15th anniversary in true Hideout style, with a day full of top-notch music. Even the weather turned out pretty nice on Saturday (Sept. 24) — a little chilly at times, but without the downpours of rain or hail that had been predicted. It was a perfect day for the Hideout Block Party, and the diverse concert lineup was a superb representation of musicians who consider the Hideout as their home base, stars who have played there in the past and simply great musicians.
During his set (the final one of the night), Andrew Bird reminisced about sleeping in the Hideout’s upstairs offices a few times! “I don’t know what would’ve happened if it weren’t for the Hideout,” he said, echoing remarks a lot of people on the stage made throughout the day. Bird played several of his most popular songs, but he also tried out several new tunes, bringing out Nora O’Connor to sing harmony vocals (and a verse on one of the songs). His encore was a lovely cover of the Handsome Family song, “So Much Wine” — an apt choice.
Earlier, Bird and O’Connor both made guest appearances during a rousing set by Mavis Staples, who raved about how much she loves the Hideout. “If I could be, I’d be here every day,” she said. “They treat us like royalty.” Staples also made some cutting remarks about the turmoil in today’s American politics, adding an even more passionate edge to her songs that evoke the civil rights movement of the 1960s. That “tea” that’s become a symbol of conservative Republicans? Staples said it’s Kool-Aid. Bird joined in when Staples played the Band’s “The Weight,” and Staples called Nora O’Connor (who did backup vocals on the last Staples album) her “sister.”
Another highlight was the set by the legendary Booker T. Jones, who played some of his recent material as well as the most famous songs he wrote back in the ’60s: “Time Is Tight,” “Born Under a Bad Sign” (originally recorded by Albert King, written by Jones and William Bell) and, of course, “Green Onions.” Jones played guitar on a few songs, but the Hammond organ (played through the Leslie rotating speaker cabinet) is truly his instrument, and those thick notes sounded as cool as ever.
The set by Jon Langford’s Skull Orchard was deepened by the inclusion of the Burlington Welsh Men’s Chorus, who added their strong voices to Langford’s songs inspired by his memories of Wales. Earlier, White Mystery rocked with typical abandon for the small crowd that showed up at the start of the day, with their red hair flying. Kids These Days played a lively blend of musical styles (hip-hop, indie rock, horns). The Eternals were even funkier than usual. Andrew Bird’s drummer, Dosh, also played a short set of his multilayered instrumental compositions, which led into Bird’s set and the appearance of an illuminated whale coming through the crowd, courtesy of the musical performance art group that calls itself Opera-Matic. That’s just the sort of thing you’d expect to see at a Hideout Block Party.
White Mystery White Mystery White Mystery White Mystery White Mystery Kid These Days Kid These Days Kid These Days Kid These Days The Eternals The Eternals The Eternals Booker T. Jones Booker T. Jones Booker T. Jones band Booker T. Jones Booker T. Jones Opera-Matic Opera-Matic Opera-Matic Jon Langford's Skull Orchard Jon Langford's Skull Orchard Burlington Welsh Men's Chorus Jon Langford's Skull Orchard Jon Langford's Skull Orchard Mavis Staples Andrew Bird with Mavis Staples and Rick Holmstrom Nora O'Connor (singing with Mavis Staples) Mavis Staples Mavis Staples Dosh The Opera-Matic whale Andrew Bird Andrew Bird Andrew Bird
As some of that coverage notes, the Hideout’s actually much older than 15 years. That’s just how long it’s been a music venue. The bar itself has been there since 1934, or longer. (Prohibition? What’s that?) Curious, I hunted through the searchable archive of Chicago Tribune article, looking for any references to the old Hideout. I didn’t find any, but I did find a few stories about happenings near the corner of Wabansia and Elston, which is the Hideout’s neighborhood.
According to this story, from Dec. 7, 1899, the area was known as “The Valley” back then, and it sounds like a rather ramshackle sort of place. If you wanted to demolish a building in that era, you could just put up a sign saying “HELP YOURSELF,” and the neighbors would promptly tear it apart. And there was a character in the neighborhood known as “Jack the Ripper.” Note that the address of this house and stable is shown as 55 Wabansia. This was Chicago’s old street numbering system, which changed over to the current system in 1909. 55 Wabansia would have been very close to where the Hideout stands today, at 1354 Wabansia, maybe a few doors away. According to this story, the house had once been a saloon run by “Old” Keating sometime around the late 1860s or early 1870s.
On Jan. 20, 1925, the Tribune published this reminiscence of what the larger area including Wabansia was like in the 1880s and 1890s:
Not surprisingly, the area near the Hideout saw its share of crimes over the years. Here’s one from Feb. 27, 1902, when a man was robbed of 20 cents.
The industrial neighborhood around the Hideout included a beer warehouse, which suffered this unfortunate incident, reported on Jan. 8, 1940:
Crime struck again when $25,000 worth of “soap products” were stolen in a hijacking at Wabansia and Elston, as reported on July 18, 1963:
Too bad there isn’t more in the archive about the Hideout itself. But then again, guys hanging out in a bar isn’t the sort of thing newspapers generally write about … unless something bad happens.
It’s hard to believe that the legendary punk (or post-punk?) band the Raincoats, which formed in the late ’70s, had never played in Chicago until Monday night (Sept. 19), when they headlined at the Double Door. Then again, this is one of those bands whose legend has grown over time, thanks largely to a famous fan, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, who sang the praises of the Raincoats and helped the band to revive its career.
Their reason for touring now and finally coming to Chicago was the re-release for their second album, 1981’s Odyshape, which is a prime example of what makes the Raincoats’ music so striking and unusual. That sound came through in their live show, too — which included songs from Odyshape as well as the Raincoats’ 1979 self-titled debut. The music does seem to form odd shapes, as the violin, guitar, bass and drum lines twitch around one another. The group always sounded a bit primitive and imperfect — thankfully, they didn’t fall into the hands of a producer who tried to smooth out all of the rough edges on those early albums. The current lineup of the band includes founding members Gina Birch and Ana da Silva, along with violinist Anne Wood and drummer Vice Cooler. In concert Monday, their music still sounded primal and peculiar.
Chicago’s Hungry Brain hosts improvisational music every Sunday — jazz and other hard-to-define sounds — with help from the Umbrella Music organization. It’s a quirky little venue that feels like a Beatnik’s living room grafted onto an old-fashioned bar. This past Sunday (Sept. 18) the Hungry Brain hosted a rare local appearance by the esteemed Australian band the Necks. This group sticks with a formula — album-length pieces of music that build from a quiet motif to layers of shimmering sound and then subside back to silence — but it’s a formula with infinite possibilities, after all. The two sets they played Sunday proved that. The Necks did it all with piano, upright bass and drums, a fairly standard jazz combo arrangement that yielded far from standard results. At times, the oscillating patterns of the three instruments sounded electronic or orchestral, despite the apparent lack of special effects. thenecks.com
Another one of the year’s standout records is No Time for Dreaming by Charles Bradley, a terrific soul singer in the style of James Brown who’s belatedly getting attention after decades of obscurity. Read his bio here: http://thecharlesbradley.com/#bio. Bradley’s been through a lot over the years, including the experience of grieving over his brother’s murder. He pours those experiences into his songs, and when he played Saturday (Sept. 18) at the Brilliant Corners festival, the songs were bursting with emotion. There were sexy songs, too, and Bradley danced with come-hither moves. And what a voice this guy has. Some of his soul shouts gave me chills.
He asked the crowd to listen to the words of the final song of the set, “Why Is It So Hard,” saying, “Listen to the lyrics and you’ll know the story of my life,” he said. “It’s taken you to bring me forward to do some good.” His feelings clearly came out of real experience as he belted the chorus, “Why is it so hard to make it in America?” As the curtain closed on the stage, Bradley jumped down and hugged everyone he could.
Cryptic singer-songwriter Bill Callahan’s record Apocalypse is one of the year’s best, and his new songs sounded brilliant Friday night (Sept. 16) at the Brilliant Corners of Popular Amuseuments festival in Chicago. So did his older songs. Callahan’s two backing musicians fleshed out Callahan’s spare guitar playing without overwhelming it. Matt Kinsey’s electric guitar lines sounded like extensions of what Callahan was playing, integral and necessary parts of the melodies, as opposed to decorative layers. Neal Morgan’s drumming did more than keep the rhythm, adding colors to the sound, and intensifying the aggression in certain key moments. “We’re having a slightly better time with each song,” Callahan remarked midconcert, in his low-key manner. That indeed seemed to be the case.
Callahan’s lyrics are sometimes puzzling, inviting listeners to impose their own meanings. During one of the quirkiest songs on the new record, the anti-anthemic anthem “America!,” Callahan slipped into a bit of “Amazing Grace.” Callahan’s singing was understated, but he conveyed a great deal of melody in a few notes.
A new festival made its debut in Chicago this past weekend: Brilliant Corners of Popular Amusements, which combined rock and world music with circus acts and a carnival in Eckhart Park. I was there Friday and Saturday. The festival is an interesting concept, and the music lineup was strong, but attendance was spotty. The chilly weather may have been partly to blame, as well as the admission prices: per night to see music, per circus act. Those aren’t exorbitantly high prices compared to many concerts, but they’re steeper than what people expect to pay for a street festival. And what about getting some interaction between the circus acts and the musicians?
I’ll post separate reviews and photo galleries for the two acts that were the main attractions for me: Bill Callahan on Friday night and Charles Bradley on Saturday. I also dug the Krautrock grooves of Chicago band CAVE, and Sidi Toure’s hypnotic African guitar music on Friday. On Saturday, A Hawk and a Hacksaw were another highlight, with their Balkan and Greek dance rhythms. The final band of the night Saturday was School of Seven Bells, who sounded all shiny and pretty but not terribly exciting, in my opinion. I missed Sunday’s part of the festival, though from the comments I saw on Twitter, it sounds like headliners Shellac drew a good crowd and Dan Deacon was his usual entertaining self.
The carnival grounds George Orange CAVE CAVE Bomba Estereo Sidi Toure Sidi Toure Sidi Toure The Lonesome Organist Dark Dark Dark A Hawk and a Hacksaw A Hawk and a Hacksaw A Hawk and a Hacksaw A Hawk and a Hacksaw A Hawk and a Hacksaw School of Seven Bells School of Seven Bells School of Seven Bells School of Seven Bells
For a long time now, Richard Thompson has been one of the best singer-songwriter-guitarists around, and if you’ve ever seen him live, you’ll know that he’s also an affable raconteur with a charming personality and a quick wit. It was a great pleasure to see Thompson again on Monday night (Sept. 12) at Evanston Space, an intimate venue. And I was fortunate to get a chance to speak with Thompson earlier by phone, for an interview that appeared in Pioneer Press.
As always, Thompson made his guitar sing, often sounding like an entire band — or two or three guitars, anyway. When Thompson plays solo acoustic shows, such as this one, he shows just how much music one player can make with that instrument. It almost seems like magic when Thompson continues playing chords, bass lines or counter-melodies as he solos on top. He had only one guitar with him on the stage all night. It was all he needed.
Thompson played songs from throughout his career, going back to his early days in Fairport Convention for a tribute to Sandy Denny with “Who Knows Where the Time Goes.” (“It was a band of no great consequence,” he said. “We just invented folk rock. Well, bits of it.”) He also played songs from his years recording with his then-wife Linda, including “Down Where the Drunkards Roll” and “I Want to See the Bright Lights.” And Thompson played what I believe are two new songs, one that included the lines “Northern girls will gut you” and “In the dream I’m running,” and another with the line, “Good things happen to bad people.”
The dark, quiet songs were especially haunting: “The Ghost of You Walks” and the sinister “Hope You Like the New Me.” And Thompson’s classic song “Pharaoh” seemed more topical than ever. Introducing it, he said, “This is my song of financial paranoia. Join me. Wallow in it for a while.”
He played a few of the songs requested by audience members, including “Why Must I Plead?” and “Tear Stained Letter,” although he noted that he needed some help on that one, since he was lacking a band. Glancing around the stage and shrugging, he remarked, “I told the band, ‘9 o’clock. Heathrow…’” One side of the room sang the vocal harmonies and the other side struggled to duplicate the song’s sax section. After hearing the audience’s first attempt at singing, Thompson instructed us further: “Harmony. That’s when notes join in a pleasing manner.”
Although Thompson has no shortage of his own songs, he played a few covers, including Chuck Berry’s “Little Queenie.” Afterward, Thompson said being in Chicago inspired him to play it. “I didn’t want to play that song, but I could feel the pull, Chess Studio pulling me.” Later, just as I was thinking about shouting out a request for Frank Loesser’s song “Hamlet (Dog Eat Dog in Denmark),” which I’d heard Thompson play in concert before, he did it. And near the end of the set, he obliged when another audience member called out for his version of Britney Spears’ “Oops! I Did It Again” — a cover that started out as part of Thompson’s 1000 Years of Popular Music project. Yes, it’s a bit of a joke, but it’s also further proof that Thompson can play just about anything.
SET LIST:
Bathsheba Smiles
The Ghost of You Walks
Valerie
Northern Girls (new song?)
Johnny’s Far Away
Pharaoh
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Little Queenie (Chuck Berry cover)
Who Knows Where the Time Goes?
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Hope You Like the New Me
Good Things Happen to Bad People (new song?)
Why Must I Plead
Hamlet (Dog Eat Dog in Darkness) (Frank Loesser song)
Down Where the Drunkards Roll
Tear Stained Letter
Oops! I Did It Again (Britney Spears cover)
ENCORE 1:
Cooksferry Queen
Persuasion
ENCORE 2:
One Door Opens
Dimming of the Day
Given how popular the TV series Soul Train was for so many years, it was no surprise that a huge crowd turned out Monday night (Sept. 5) for an all-star concert at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion celebrating the show’s 40th anniversary. Estimating crowd sizes is difficult to do with any precision, but the emcees said 20,000 or more people had packed into the park. One thing is for sure: Someone was sitting in nearly every seat in the pavilion, except when they got up to dance.
The stars of the concert were the Chi-Lites, the Emotions, the Impressions and Jerry “The Iceman” Butler, each singing a few of their biggest hits, and all of their voices sounded great. They were backed by an orchestra and band conducted by Tom Tom Washington, with top-notch arrangements that fleshed out the songs without overwhelming the vocals.
Gene Chandler was also billed to perform, but he only made it onto the stage for the big finale, when everyone came out for a rousing rendition of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready.” What happened to the set Chandler was supposed to perform? I suspect that time ran out, because of an alarmingly long gap between the Impressions and Butler, when emcees Herb Kent and Richard Steele were forced to kill time. It’s not clear what was happening there, but it was the one flaw in an otherwise smoothly run variety show. The creator of Soul Train, Don Cornelius, also spoke at the concert, as a new street sign in his honor was unveiled. “This is the biggest thing that ever happened to me,” he said.
Soul Train concert audience Don Cornelius (second from right) presented with street sign Don Cornelius The Chi-Lites The Chi-Lites The Chi-Lites The Emotions The Emotions The Emotions The Emotions Soul Train concert audience The Impressions The Impressions The Impressions Jerry "The Iceman" Butler Jerry "The Iceman" Butler with the Impressions Jerry "The Iceman" Butler
NRBQ played a stupendously fun gig Saturday night (Aug. 27) at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn, but some folks are bound to wonder: Was this really, truly NRBQ? The legendary band was together for a good, long stretch of time, from 1967 until 2004. And now it’s back, but only one of the old-time NRBQ members, Terry Adams, is in the lineup. When Adams formed this newer band in 2007, at first he called it the Terry Adams Rock & Roll Quartet. Now, he’s decided just to call it NRBQ.
It’s essentially a new generation of NRBQ — a key member of the classic band making great music with three talented younger musicians, who are just about a perfect match with the old NRBQ vibe. And they’re not just playing the old NRBQ songs — they have an excellent new album, Keep This Love Goin’. (Order it at www.nrbq.com — and I received a copy straight from NRBQ headquarters in a brown envelope covered with about a dozen postage stamps.)
The lineup includes Scott Ligon, one of Chicago’s most stellar musicians, known for his work with Kelly Hogan and the Flat Five, among many other bands. (He was the subject of a wonderful 2007 cover story by Anne Ford in the Chicago Reader, “The Opposite of Selling Out: How a month of ‘Margaritaville’ and a bald man with a hair dryer convinced Scott Ligon to get serious about music.”) Ligon sings and plays guitar with NRBQ, handling lead vocals on many of the old songs as well as the new ones — including some that he either wrote or co-wrote. NRBQ is a terrific vehicle for Ligon’s talents and his obvious appreciation of a wide range of musical genres.
The new NRBQ also includes Austin, Texas, drummer Conrad Choucroun and Philadelphia bassist-singer Pete Donnelly, who’s also a member of the Figgs, and he’s contributing new songs as well.
Enthusiastic fans danced all night in front of the stage as Terry Adams made goofy faces and bounced around his keyboards. At one point, he even reached over to the accordion mounted on the FitzGerald’s wall next to the stage and pretended to play that. (Sorry, I missed getting a photo of that, alas.) There was no denying Adams’ youthful spirit.
Thankfully, NRBQ did not neglect its new record during the concert, playing plenty of those new songs, which range from rollicking old-fashioned boogie-woogie to Pet Sounds-esque chamber pop. During two long encores, NRBQ dug deeper into its catalog, playing oldies such as “Me and the Boys” “Wacky Tobacky,” “Captain Lou” and “Get Rhythm.” The audience would’ve gladly stayed for a third encore.
The Sanctified Grumblers opened the show with their distinctive washboard-rhythm old-timey blues. It was cool to see bassist Tom Ray supplementing the duo’s spare sound.
It’s been almost three years since the Philadelphia band called The War On Drugs released a great record called Wagonwheel Blues and performed at Schubas. Since then, one musician from the band, Kurt Vile, has attracted some acclaim of his own (and he has more or less left The War On Drugs). Now, there’s finally a second album by The War On Drugs, Slave Ambient. And the band was back at Schubas Friday night (Aug. 26).
It was a four-piece band this time, compared to the stripped-down three-man lineup that played here in 2008. The sounder was fuller, sometimes positively dense. Led by singer-songwriter-guitarist Adam Granduciel, The War On Drugs essentially plays a sort of folk rock, but on the new album, it has a trippy, slightly psychedelic air wafting through it, as the dreamy songs run into one another. Live, that sound was cranked up, and Granduciel let himself get lost in reverb-drenched guitar solos. The new record’s nice, but the band hasn’t topped its excellent 2008 song “Arms Like Boulders,” which was a highlight of the set.
The first band of the night was Tammar from Bloomington, Indiana, who were also bathed in reverb, with barely decipherable vocals echoing inside the rhythms. The middle act on the lineup was Caveman, a Brooklyn band getting some attention lately. From what I heard, the band’s usual drummer was missing, but with two musicians banging the drums, there was certainly no lack of rhythm.
Composer Steve Reich turns 75 on Oct. 3, and musical ensembles have been celebrating that landmark birthday this year by performing Reich’s music. Two estimable new music groups based in Chicago, eighth blackbird and Third Coast Percussion, joined forces and brought in assorted friends to play three pieces by Reich Monday (Aug. 22) at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. It was a magnificent way for Millennium Park to wrap up this summer’s series of “Dusk Variations” concerts.
The four members of Third Coast Percussion started out the evening with Reich’s Mallet Quartet, which was followed by a mixed ensemble playing the Double Sextet (with two sets of musicians on flute, cello, violin, cello, piano and vibraphone) — a piece that Reich won the Pulitzer Prize for, after eighth blackbird played its world premiere.
But the main attraction was the hourlong composition in the second half of the concert, Reich’s seminal masterpiece Music for 18 Musicians. The interlocking, interwoven patterns of notes rising up from the Pritzker stage sounded like a living organism, a whole greater than the sum of its parts — although it was fascinating to focus in on the individual parts as well. The music of Reich and other minimalists such as Philip Glass has a mechanical quality, evoking electronica as well as old wind-up music boxes, but a live performance is never completely mechanical. On Monday evening, the precision of the playing was impressive, but it was the human quality of how those notes meshed together without ever being completely robotic that made Reich’s music sound so sublime.
The Empty Bottle sponsored another one of its free concerts at the Illinois Centennial Monument in Logan Square on Sunday, this time featuring High Places and Magic Key. Both are duos featuring a female singer playing keyboards with a guy playing drums or percussion. Both play music electronic pop songs with an indie-rock edge. High Places got a small crowd of people dancing near the stage, though it was not nearly as mobbed as it was for last month’s concert by Thee Oh Sees. Magic Key was the more intense of the two acts, with Aleks Tomaszewska showing some strong passion and daring in her vocals. (If Aleks looks familiar, you may remember her from the Chicago duo Aleks and the Drummer. Magic Key’s her new band, although as she explained in the Tribune, the new, larger band has morphed back into just Aleks and “the Drummer,” Deric Criss.
One of the summer’s most intriguing musical events in Chicago took place Saturday (Aug. 13). The venue? Various porches, backyards, storefronts and balconies scattered around the West Town and Ukrainian Village neighborhoods. This was Found Sound: Chicago, billed as “a series of intimate music & audio art performances.” I wasn’t able to see it all, but I did catch the first three performances of the day.
At 1 p.m., the musician-artist Steve Krakow, aka Plastic Crimewave, was sitting out on his front porch on Winchester with a banjo, an amp, various effects pedals and an extension cord running up to a window a couple of stories higher. Some people, maybe 20 or so, wandered up and sat down near the sidewalk or stood nearby as Krakow created a droning wash of sound, sometimes tapping the body of his banjo, sometimes plucking or bowing it. A few passersby who didn’t appear to know what Found Sound was all about paused to listen and watch.
Half an hour later, many of the people attending this performance walked a few blocks to a backyard, where the Lawrence Peters Outfit played some nicely old-fashioned country songs, including originals that Peters wrote for his band’s brand-new debut album, What You Been Missin’. The sunny day turned dark and cloudy as Peters played, and as a rainstorm loomed and the wind started to toss around the overhead power lines, Peters played an appropriate tune, the lovely and understated closing track from his CD, “The Wind.”
By the time when the third act of the day, Mark Booth, began his performance inside the Corbett vs. Dempsey art gallery, it was pouring rain outside. Some hail even tinkled against the windows. Booth used a laptop to create a sound collage that began with the antique sounds of a gramophone and melted into a variety of creaks, buzzes and hums.
What did I miss the rest of the day? Performances by Heartichoke, Andy Slater, the meme, Matthew Hale Clark, Piss Piss Piss Moan Moan and Shearing Pinx, and Judson Claiborne. Kudos to Penny Duff and Michale Slaboch for creating Found Sound. Wouldn’t it be cool if this sort of thing happened on a regular basis in places around the city?
My Brightest Diamond, aka Shara Worden, deftly bridges the realms of indie rock and classical music. She once aspired to be an opera singer, and her formal training shows in her spectacular vocals. She also studied composition, and that shows in the sophistication of what she writes and plays. She’s one rock performer who really deserves to have an orchestra playing behind her, at least on special occasions, so it was wonderful that she got the chance on Monday, Aug. 8, to play at Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion with fully symphonic accompaniment by the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras.
How beautiful it was to hear the concert begin with the opening notes of “Dragonfly” from My Brightest Diamond’s 2006 debut album, Bring Me the Workhorse — those swooping, sweeping violins. The concert was filled with terrific moments like that as Worden and the young musicians played songs from My Brightest Diamond’s first two records and the new one, All Things Unwind, which comes out Oct. 18 on Asthmatic Kitty. CYSO faculty member Brian Baxter took Worden’s arrangements for six instruments and expanded them into full orchestral scores.
And this was not the sort of staid or restrained performance one might expect in the classical context. Worden, wearing a striking silver-and-black-checked dress, danced with glee and made grandiose gestures as she sang, playing guitar, ukulele, thumb piano and autoharp at various times.
Worden introduced some of her songs with stories, and she even told a children’s story of sorts as she explained how one of her new songs was inspired by the 1871 book At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald.
She said another new song was inspired by seeing Laurie Anderson in concert. The day after the concert, Worden met Anderson, who told her, “Maybe it takes more than a lifetime to learn how to love.” Worden took that line and wrote the song around it.
The weather was lousy for this outdoor concert, with rain pouring down at a few points, but it was dry enough under the pavilion near the stage. During one song, Worden injected some ad-lib lyrics: “Sh-sh-sh-Chicago, we don’t care if it’s raining.”
While watching all of this, I had to wonder whether any of the high school musicians in the orchestra were taking any special inspiration from the experience of working with Worden. She’s a great role model for anyone (but especially girls) who want to find their own musical path.
The concert was part of Millennium Park’s “Dusk Variations” series, which focuses on “music mixing pop and alternative genres with classical music.” Still to come: Rasputina on Aug. 15 and Chicago Counterpoint: A Steve Reich Celebration on Aug. 22. mybrightestdiamond.com cyso.org
Thanks in part to a rave review on Pitchfork, the Danish band Iceage is getting some buzz. These very young noise-punk-rockers from Copenhagen played Sunday night (Aug. 7) at the Empty Bottle. Do they live up to the hype? Well, it was a pretty lively show, especially the second half of the set, when some fans started stage-diving and moshing — or was that just shoving? It’s hard to tell the difference sometimes. At the end, singer Elias Rønnenfelt leaned into the crowd and looked like he might start pushing around some people himself. How were the songs? Just OK — the energy was good, but what the vocal melodies often got lost. myspace.com/egaeci
In fact, both of the opening acts on Sunday were more impressive than Iceage. The Toronto group Metz pummeled everyone in the room with tight, loud riffs that never wasted a note, driven forward by some inventive drumming, many of the songs stopping on a dime. myspace.com/metztheband
The second band of the night was Chicago’s Anatomy of Habit, who deliver epic songs with so much drama that it feels almost like performance art or some sort of ritual. Singer Mark Solotroff dominated the stage, intoning the words in a goth baritone, but the two-song climaxed with the hammering, clanking sounds of the two drummers. (Actual chains were involved.) anatomyofhabit.bandcamp.com
One of the bands that introduced me to alt-country — or whatever you want to call old-fashioned acoustic American string music — is a group that barely anyone has heard of: The Last Straw. Who, you ask? Well, it was sometime around 1988 or 1989 when I recall hearing Paul Budin of the Champaign rock band the Outnumbered saying something about how he was starting a new band that was going to play country music. (Full disclosure: Paul is a good friend of mine.) I graduated from college around this time, and I despised most of the country music I’d heard, which was mostly 1980s mainstream Nashville stuff. But I’d recently been struck by the greatness of At Folsom Prison when I heard it on the stereo in a campus bar called Eddie’s, as if hearing Johnny Cash for the first time. It would be a few years before I discovered Uncle Tupelo, who were just starting around this time. So I recall my reaction to what Paul said about starting a country band: Huh?
The Last Straw (who also featured another member of the Outnumbered, the very talented guitarist Tim McKeage) played a good number of gigs in Champaign, Chicago and elsewhere in the early ’90s, and I saw them several times at the Clearwater Saloon and the Heartland Cafe. They quickly made me a fan of the older sort of country music played by the likes of Hank Williams and the bluegrass of Bill Monroe. With their combination of guitar, fiddle and banjo, they helped me to see all the charms of this music. They released a couple of cassette tapes … and then they faded away. I think they were a few years ahead of their time. If they’d still been around when O Brother Where Art Thou spurred a revival of old-timey music, maybe the Last Straw would’ve gained more recognition.
Last Saturday (July 30), the Last Straw reunited for their first show in a long time — a one-time show organized by Budin at the Highdive in Champaign. And what a fine concert it was — some two hours of rollicking and tuneful original songs as well as the group’s favorite covers, all drawn from a rather big repertoire for a band whose recordings you can barely find anywhere. (The Last Straw was selling a new two-CD collection at the merch table, combining those early ’90s cassettes with a bunch of outtakes and live recordings, but it isn’t commercially available. Parasol Records has one 45 by the Last Straw in stock.)
For this show, the lineup included Budin, McKeage, Karen Lee Larson. Louis Yockey, Alton Patches and Thad Bales. The set included several songs written by drummer/guitarist/singer Matt Quirk, who was unable to attend, but the Last Straw recruited Brian Reedy, known for his inventive work with Lonely Trailer, to sit in on drums.
This gig was part of a weekend celebrating an old Champaign folk and jazz venue, Nature’s Table. The opening set was a sort of variety show, featuring a couple of songs each from Eric Fields, Jeff Barnet, Jeff Michel, Rick Schattnik, Emil Boulos and … Jack Logan?!? Yes, the great singer-songwriter Jack Logan, who hasn’t toured in ages, made the trip from his home in Georgia to see this gig and perform a couple of songs, backed by Budin and Reedy. Logan told me later: “I had a blast with Paul and his cohorts… I will drive any distance to experience Brian Reedy playing drums on ‘Shrunken Head.'” Now, if we could just get Logan to do a proper tour. (He told me he’s recording new songs, but it didn’t sound like he plans to tour anytime soon.) Come back, Jack Logan!
Jack Logan Jack Logan with Paul Budin Eric Fields Jeff Barnet with Paul Budin Karen Hellyer and Mary Hocks
During his July 25 concert at Millennium Park, Ted Leo gave the audience some good advice about what to do later that night: Go see Cass McCombs at the Hideout. McCombs has developed into a songwriter of great subtlety and artistry over the past several years, and his latest album, Wit’s End, is a beautiful collection of soft, sometimes whispered ballads with intricate arrangements. McCombs seems to be taking inspiration from the classic American Songbook style of songwriting as much as he is from the chamber pop music of bands such as the Zombies.
Last week at the Hideout, McCombs and his band played these songs and older tunes with a loose, at times apparently improvisational feel, creating the sensation that they were sculpting each song on the spot. Playing a bit like a jazz combo, the musicians took turns soloing during some of the songs. McCombs sang most of the songs with a light touch, softly hitting the high notes with just a touch of vibrato in his falsetto. The lights were set on dim — which was not helpful with my efforts to take photographs, but did fit the music’s late-night vibe. After starting out quietly, the 90-minute set stretched out into country and folk rock and then more rocking jams. It all wrapped up at a pretty late hour for a Monday night — just past 1 a.m. — but it was dreamy rather than sleepy. myspace.com/cassmccombs http://cassmccombs.com
The opening act, Lower Dens, is the new band led by singer-songwriter Jana Hunter, and the group played a cool set to start out the evening, climaxing with some music that had a strong Krautrock pulse. myspace.com/lowerdens http://lowerdens.com
Millennium Park’s Monday-night rock concert series, “Downtown Sound,” wrapped up on July 25 with a show by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists — but it’s hardly the end of this summer’s music at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. The “Made in Chicago” jazz series begins Thursday, while the “Lunchbreak Music Series” and Grant Park Music Festival continue. And Monday nights will shift to the “Dusk Variations” theme next week — experimental classical music mixed with electronica, folk, rock and the avant-garde — including a must-see performance Aug. 8 by My Brightest Diamond. Check out the schedules here.
Like some of the other concerts at Pritzker, Monday’s featured a somewhat odd pairing of headline band and opening act. Ted Leo is a real rocker, while opener Rachel Ries is more of a troubadour type. Pritzker’s concert bookings can make for some unusual contrasts, but it’s rather cool to see this sort of diversity on the same stage in the same night. Ries (until recently, a Chicago resident) played a nice set of folk rock songs with a jazzy tinge. And then Leo and his Pharmacists treated the crowd to a complete performance of his first album from a decade ago, The Tyranny of Distance, preceded by several songs from his other records. Leo was playing with an injured knee, and he apologized for not being to jump around quite as much as usual, but it didn’t stop him from singing and playing those guitar chords with sweaty vigor.
