Thievery Corporation - 9:30 Club - Jan 28 2009

This was the second of five sold out shows. I find that amazing based on what I've heard from this duo. Still I wanted to check it out and see for myself.

Thievery Corporation - Although a duo, the show was augmented by six musicians and eight singers. The duo were on a platform at the top rear of the stage performing on keyboards, electronics and computers looking down from Mount Olympus. The music was heavy dub worldbeats electronica, I suppose. It had people swaying and dancing nicely, but it was a bit slick and at times empty. Washington Post writer Mark Jenkins is someone I almost agree with. He stated that since their material relies more on groove than melody, it tends to be samey. I think he's got it right. I didn't get to see enough of my favorite Brazilian singer, Karina who was briefly used.

Charity of the night: Since there were no good quotes or stories from the evening, I will mentin the Thievey Corporation's charity booth they had at the show. It is the UN World Food Program (www.wfp.org) who works on global food programs.

Vic Chesnutt/Elf Power - Black Cat -Jan 22 2009

Back to the Black Cat, small stage tonight, although it should be packed. It was although it thinned out considerable as the night wore on. Late starts on weeknights? I would like to be optimistic about that, but I really don't know.

Elf Power - I didn't care much for their recent album but was looking forward to seeing them live. And I was right, they were much more interesting and fun. I have heard the genre psychedelic given to them and have never heard it much until their last song which was a great psyche nugget. The rest of the time, they were a good steady rock band of the modern era with folk touches resulting in easy access. They are from Athens, GA so that says a lot.

Vic Chesnutt - A cult songwriter who even brought Ian MacKaye out of the woodworks. He has recorded with lots of people but was promoting an album he did with Elf Power, so they obviously backed him. A good set of songs, some wry commentary and a very likable set. A very interesting artist that is worth seeing. He said he wrote a song over a year featuring names like "Dick the Bruiser and John the Piper" with the connector and profession in them. It was going well until "Joe the Plumber" threw a blanket of piss over it.

Quote of the Night: "How I got into acting? It was a combination of laziness and stupidity" Earlier that day, I saw Che with Benicio del Torro doing a Q+A. He further explained that he took an acting class in college as he needed an easy class to fill out his schedule. He then was rejected by an agent who wouldn't work with him but recommended him for a Stella Adler scholarship who he had never heard of. But he got it and the rest writes itself.

Mumiy Troll/Force Major - Black Cat - Jan 21 2009

Force Major - A power trio whose guitarist/singer had trouble with his pedals and switches losing the sound a couple of times. The band was Russian (but from Rockville, Maryland) and all stage patter was in Russian (oddly lyrics were in English). The large crowd in attendance (at least 400 people, probably more) seemed like they were mostly Russian, too. as the headliner is well known there. This band seemed younger and pretty good. Oddly, they reminded me of the brief period in DC between the early harDCore days of Minor Threat and Fugazi. There were some pre-Fugazi sounding bands like Rites of Spring who were very similar to what I heard here. Nice cello solo, too.

Mumiy Troll - Apparently a well known band in Russia, formed in the latter days of the Soviet Union and receiving lots of grief and banned performances in that era. The lyrics were all Russian, and most of the stage patter was, but a couple time the singer proved he had a good grasp of English. It was interesting to see so many people in the crowd roar their approval with the opening notes of a song that is pretty much never been played here on radio, on a movie soundtrack, or whereever. The band was energized, had a few reggae and even klezmer rhythms mixed in to their accessible rock sounds. I enjoyed what the singer described as a brand new Russian Song, "California Dreaming" with Russina lyrics. They even had an anthemy break at the end with an Obama chant that the Russian fans embraced almost as enthusiastically as the Rock the Vote Fans did the other night.

I didn't sense a real wildly unique vision here, but the cultural influences did create something a bit unique and quite fun. The fact that the singer looked like a manic Ron House (my buddy from Columbus' Great Plains) was fun, too.

Quote of the Night: I don't speak Russian, so it was slim pickings. I'll go with Mumiy Troll's lead guitarist's T-shirt... "Who the fuck is Mick Jagger?"

ROCK THE VOTE Inauguration Celbration - 9:30 Club - Jan 20 2009

The city was very happy on Inauguration Day, if not the whole weekend. People in the streets were courteous and smiling despite the frigid temperatures. It didn't hurt that major streets were closed to automobiles which added to the fun of just walking around DC for the day. I decided to end the day by heading off to a Rock the Vote celebration at the 9:30. I had only heard of one band, but what the hey, here goes.

Bug?/Bud?/Burke? - Damn British accents. I didn't catch the name and my web research has left me with lots of other bands, none of which I saw. But that's no problem, because this act is easily forgotten. This is a positive day so I won't complain and they were a good competent pretty rock band, but something was just a little safe and clean about them. I sensed they were going after the younger fans, the more mature of the young, not the teeny boppers. Then it was all clear when after their set, the video screen came down and they showed a Calvin Klein ad featuring the singer and the last song helping to sell their aroma, CK. Thank you Calvin Klein, indeed.

The Honey Brothers - A fun little group of guys rotating instruments and churning out quirky rock songs. I thought they may have been americana seeing the banjo and ukelele on the first song, but they never really went that route. JUSt a nice bang bang set of fun songs that the crowd warmed to pretty quickly. Nice job.

The Dresden Dolls - They say they sound like punk cabaret. I can't top that. A duo of a female pianist/vocalist with a drummer who strums a bit of guitar, too. The drummer is one of the best I've seen with great skills and an attacking showmanship that is hard not to watch, which really helps in a two person band. The singer/keyboardist was also quite fun as they had great energy with their music. I think I read positive reviews in Jack Rabid's Big Takeover magazine but wasn't sure until their closer and second cover. They first covered a Fugazi cut which was quite good an appropriate for the evening. They went on to finish with Sabbath's "War Pigs" (dedicated to the outgoing administration) with no guitar or bass. It was one of the most brilliant cover songs I have ever seen. The drums were overwhelming with the keys and strong vocals handling all the melodical parts brilliantly. It roared into a frenetic ending. Utterly brilliant. Worth the hefty admission price all by itself.

Talib Kweli - A decent enough hip hop act which I am not sure I am qualified to critique with such limited knowledge in the genre. The crowd was into it and he did a good job as far as I could tell.

I called it a night prior to Grace Potter and Michael Franti although I think I would have enjoyed the latter. But two more nights of music led me to the long cold walk home. Man was traffic bad even late and considering bridges to Virginia were closed all day.

Quote of the Night: When leaving my condo, the Building Manager (think M. Emmet Walsh) asked "Where's your tux?". Not for this party, thankfully, although I saw one tux and at least ten suits which was highly unusual for this club. More importantly, I had a great winter coat.

The Raveonettes/Nickel Eye - Black Cat - Jan 17 2009

Late sell-out, so I am glad I had my ticket. But there were two good shows elsewhere in town, so lots going on this Saturday night pre-Inauguration.

Nickel Eye - Four piece with three axes and drums, two of the guys singing sometimes off key. Now that Idol season has invaded the airwaves, I can start talking about pitch being off I guess. I think Vetiver does this better as do others. A couple of songs were ok and the last one rocked and was good. So, if the band knows the rocker will excite the crowd and closes their set with it, why don't they write more that way?

The Raveonettes - Male/Female guitar and vocals duo backed with a standard rhythm section. The vocals are sung together almost all the time and add to the lush arrangements of their interesting pop songs. They are clearly shoegaze, but on the very accessible side of that scene. A very good act that was never dull and have a captured a fairly unique sound to my mind.

Quote of the Night: "Like, I didn't have a light and I go dude, you got a light and like he said no, so I went over and told this guy like I totally need your cigarette for a light. He said I could like take his matches, so I go back to the guy and like, Dude we are so there cuz now we have matches."

I'm paraphrasing a bit here, but I may have made it a bit more grammatically correct than it was.

The Sword/Year Long Disaster/ Nihilitia - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - Jan 14 2009

Does seeing two metal bands that you've seen in the last year make you a metalhead? I hope not, but am beginning to wonder. This over indulgence in metal didn't deter me from joining the packed house at the Rock'n'Roll Hotel to see a what is likely the only band that has ever showed up there in a full size bus with trailer. But if Metallica likes you enough to invite you as an opener (on more than one tour) and you have a free night before your Verizon Center show, why not?

Nihilitia - A local three-piece with a female bassist who only sang on occasion in a Flipper like manor (meaning a voice was present in the mix more than a singer hitting clean notes above it all). Not really metal or even oldschool hard rock, but more of a post-My War Black Flag. The guitarist was clearly like a Greg Ginn with almost a bit of King Crimson at their most manic tossed in. No metal posing, just a good opening set.

Year Long Disaster - I saw the band open for Motorhead/Misfits/Valient Thorr in Denver last year and enjoyed their set. I thought they were even a bit better last night on the smaller stage. They are at their best when they feature a driving rhythm and hit a bit of a groove to work off of. They appear to be playing with Sword on many "in between" shows on the Metallica tour. A worthy three piece band that I won't mind on any bill.

The Sword - The Sword is a four piece with two guitars. They clearly fit in the metal scene and have Metallica style chops going on much of the time, but they bring a Sabbathy feel along with unpretentious singing. Overall, a really good mix of styles and some creative songs that allow non-metal fans who want to put a toe in the water to come out and have a good time. I am impressed that they want to play just about every night in small clubs and out of the way cities in between the big nights with Metallica. That's worth a lot of respect, right there, even if I didn't enjoy the set as much as I did.

Quote of the Night: "Make everything louder" -- except your voice, asshole. I don't where earplugs, although I wished I had them for previous sets by Kawabata and Dinosaur Jr. Most of the time, I don't need them, but between the guy yelling right behind me and the whistling guy beside me at the end, I really needed them. I am curious why the wall of amps and the p.a. are tolerable, but the one shrill voice really hurts. I'm certainly more curious of that, then engaging in a conversation with these yobbos.

Camper van Beethoven/Mystery Band - State Theatre - January 8 2009

Some unknown band from Arlington who was not on the State's website or their posters or anywhere aside from the merch table which I forgot to visit on the way out. Oh well, a nice young slightly garagey rock band that was perfectly acceptable to open the show for a half hour. And those key buzzwords above generally mean I enjoyed the outing, but not enough to pay to see them or even grab their free CD-Rs. But it was close and they looked young.

Camper van Beethoven celebrated their 25th aniversary recently, although members also play as Cracker and various solo projects, they still make it out in their original form now and then. I remembered them as a college rock outfit but didn't have a whole lot of specific memories. As they played, they certainly had some nice things going in in a light psyche, folk, rock format with some catchy riffs now and then. I did enjoy the covers I picked up on. Their take on Status Quo's (yes, the Quo back when they were psychedelic for about 4 minutes) Pictures of Matchstick Men was great with the violin taking on the cool guitar parts. Truth be told, I thought it was a Pretty Things song until I went through my CD collection. Anyway, Camper also did a punk medley of slow versions of White Riot by the Clash, Wasted by the Circle Jerks and a third song I didn't recognize. Angry Samoans maybe? And just when I thought I wouldn't recognize an original song, they went into "Take the Skinheads Bowling" which is a cute song and quite hard to forget.

A good fun ninety minute set plus encores. Another bonus that always seems to get lots of extra credit is when a band uses a violin, viola, or flute. In Camper's case, the violin was used over half the time, with a third guitar going the rest of the time in a non-Molly Hatchett sort of way, thankfully.

Odd Moment of the Night: No interesting quotes, unless it was the scream done by the guy in my metro car that everyone tried to ignore as he screamed an laughed constantly through about five stops. He also rode between the cars when moving and joined us in the car on the stops. We all did are Big City best in the art of ignorng, while keeping peripheral vision active. Fun, fun, fun.

Jucifer/Death by Sexy/Abiku - Black Cat - January 2 2009

Time to settle in on an evening of local bands on the main stage at the Black Cat to start the New Year. Only a few more people than what would fit in the backstage, but the headliners' wall of cabinets wouldn't fit.

Abiku - Two humanoids, one female, playing a guitar and a Gary Wright style key-synth (remember those early videos?). Their costuming was quite nice with shimmering, silver robes making them look like 1970s SciFi invaders from 1970s Doctor Who or perhaps the Outer Limits. Very noisy, but a few turns of melody and purpose snuck through. Not bad at all, Chrome did it first and better, but someone always does it first and better.

Death by Sexy - This power trio started strong and faded into a comfortable steady background by the end. Still, worthwile, but nothing much to go over the top of the average bluesy rock band power trio. I wouldn't walk out on them if they played again

Jucifer - White Stripes style duo with the genders revered. Ok, this band is the poster child of a question I've long pondered. If you are going to shriek, scratch and scream your way through inaudible lyrics the whole night, why bother writing lyrics? Further, why write a rock opera album about Marie Antoinette? I didn't stay after the show to find out as it was lated and I'm not comped for this. Anyway, Vanilla Sludge of lowest order. Great cabinets, though.

Quote of Night: From Death by Sexy's guitarist... "This next song is about having sex and listening to Bachman Turner Overdrive"

TOP TEN of 2008.

In a year, where I may have set a record for a quantity of bands seen live, I've certainly had some of the best adventures I have had since the early punk rock days. Here are a few highlights:

1. Flew to Sweden to see bands on a boat between Stockholm and Helsinki and back.
2. Flew to London to see a reunion show (and bumped into two friends before the show).
3. Drove cross country to Louisville, KY to see 39 bands in 3 1/2 days.
4. Went to Monolith Festival at Red Rocks.
5. Saw live music in four states that I resided in this year (counting DC-MD-VA as a state for music scene purposes).

But now, the list.

10. Valiant Thorr - Who were these weird biker looking guys taking the stage prior to Motorhead and the Misfits? I was prepared to wander over to the merch stand, when an MC-5 styled assault hit. Although they fit into a metal show, they really blast out killer hard fast rock as good as it gets. Fun, crazy and a nice surprise.

9. Kinski - I really enjoy this Seattle four-piece who plays everything from attic shows to opening spots for Tool. This was the second time I saw them at a Terrastock festival and the third time I saw them. Great grinding, intelligent, tuneful songs--mostly instrumental, but enough lyrics to round it out a bit. Covering Hawkwind with Acid Mother Temples' Kawabata Makoto guesting was the highlight.

8. Motorpsycho - A powerhouse trio from Norway that is far too neglected in the US. They ripped into their very melodic but ultrastrong songs at Terrastock. Really outstanding choices in the playing and such simple power. It felt like they were moving in on and surrounding the crowd during their too brief set. Hard to categorize this band, but a joy to finally see.

7. LoveLikeFire - One of my breakout band predictions. Other breakout predictions were for Husker Du, Nirvana, Wipers and Ragged Bags. We'll see where they fall on that scale. Hopefully north of Ragged Bags (stll great in my mind). Three great shows in DC, Denver and Red Rocks. Hopefully their label deal resulting in their first album in 2009 will lead to great things. See below review for more.

6. Motorhead - How did I make the ripe age of 48 without seeing Motorhead or the Misfits ever. Well, the Misfits had a bad rep as a live act and there is only one original and is now 2/3 Black Flag, so I can see that. But Motorhead rocked the Fillmore hard and heavy. Truly a perfect hard rock sound. Not much more to say about these proud dinosaurs.

5. United Bible Studies - Another big surprise at Terrastock. This Irish ensemble flowed from experimental to traditional to whatever they felt like playing in a seamless beautiful manner. Just a high quality, thoughtful approach with some of the more accessible experimentation I've heard.

4. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Finally saw my first Cave show although I've admired him for years. Excellent show as my review below describes.

3. Spiritualized - As an earlybird to the Monolith Festival (to ensure catching LoveLikeFire), the parking lot guy gave me two tickets for Spiritualized at the Ogden next week. I was thinking of going, but was now committed. Wow, what a great freebie that was. Jason of Spaceman 3's newer band was brilliant. Great psychedelia and lovely mesmerizing tunes. Very exciting show, better than the few CDs I've heard by them. Although most acts you should see live, this one is one of the most worthy I've seen this past year.

2. Pentangle - I've been a huge fan for a number of years now as I discovered their place in the English folk-rock revival of the late 60s where Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention were the better known stateside. I have seen four of the members solo and duet in the past decade or so, so it was without hesitation, I snapped up a ticket for their 40th anniversary show at the Royal Albert Hall in London where they recorded a live album in 1968. Just two quality sets of their wonderful material, but a magical night. As a bonus, I bumped into Pentangle's friend, Wizz Jones who I've met before and my old friend from Massachusetts, Charles Reynolds (now in Germany). Great band that still had enough in the tank to rekindle their musical magic from the past.

1. Comus - It's no secret of what a huge fan I am of Comus, a British band who did two albums in the early 70s and dropped off the face of the earth. Just check my Myspace page for proof of that. So when a Swedish record dealer sends me an email showing the Meloboat ad listing the bands that would be on their annual cruise, I had to look twice when I saw Comus listed with the more expected names (Opeth, Leafhoud, Bo Hansson and others). I had trouble believing this so I decided to investigate. Comus had a new Myspace page that wasn't there when I last checked, so I wrote them to ask if it was reall them? Bobbie Watson (fem vocals, percussion) wrote back and said it was them and I wasn't dreaming. They had all original members except one and were rehearsing pretty hard to get ready for this one show. It was uncertain if they would play others. That was enough positive points for me to book my passage on the Meloboat from Stockholm to Helskinki and back. And I'm so glad I did. There were fans from Canada, US, UK, Europe, and Asia that all came out of the woodwork to see Comus. The band was overwhelmed by the crowd support and delivered a brilliant set featuring their absolute best songs and a Velvet Underground cover they used to encore with. Saw the soundcheck, chatted with them a bit and their original manager that they pulled into the mix and had a fabulous time. They still haven't played a show since, but they are trying to set a few things up. I am there to help if they need it, as they really deserve to get the accolades that eluded them in 1970 when no one could understand what they were doing. I am not sure many people can today either, but those that do will have a magical time.

Strip Mall Ballads/Southeast Engine/North of Canada - Red & the Black - Dec 12 2008

Another cold night in the funky Northeast quarter. I do enjoy H Street up here as it reminds me of Broadway in Denver, places that could be used for movie backgrounds from the 60s and possibly earlier in some spots.

North of Canada comes from the south part of DC and was a four-piece with two guitars. Started and finished strong with a middle that had my mind drifting a bit. Vocals were ok when they were straightforward and not straining to hit notes. Nice guitar rock at times and perfectly decent for an opener in an upstairs loft which this club pretty much is.

Southeast Engine comes from Southeast Ohio, Athens in particular--home of Ohio University. I spent a night there once in 1976. They had keys, guitar, bass and drums and kind of ran the gamut from California stylized 70s rock to more of a rootsy midwest sound. A couple of songs went a bit quiet, a couple of times the keyboardist did some honkey tonk, and once they even went part mystical ala Woven Hand. The variety and quality worked with me. Good set, not something I want to go nuts over and buy their back catalogue, but a band I was happy to see.

Strip Mall Ballads - This DC outift had some amusing songs from the lyrics I could pick out (not my strong suit). The singer played banjo and acoustic guitar with a guitarist, bassist, and harmonica player helping out. This sounded more of a talented busker playing with some other musicians who laid some notes out there without anyone really caring what the full effect was. And the effect was just a bit on the dull side for me. Nothing hdeous, just les interesting than I had hoped. I think there were some good songs there, but I would like to hear them in a different way. After writing this review, I looked for a weblink for them and found no website of Myspace page, so that kind of proves my point I guess.

Quote of the Night: "Thanks for being quiet during the quiet song" from Southeast Engine's bassist. The crowd hushed considerably when the singer was accompanied by light drumming in a couple spots which was nice as there were other times that it was the typical people carrying on loud and long conversations while the band played. I mean there are only a thousand other bars without cover charges that you can converse in along with plenty of down time between bands as well as a downstairs bar you can go. I did see less cell phone checking on the plus side, but I was kind of toward the front.

Love is All/Darker My Love/The Strange Boys - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - Dec 6 2008

A pretty nicely packed house nearly filled the Rock'n'Roll Hotel, the finest club in Northeast DC (which isn't saying much if you know the Northeast, although I really enjoy this little two block area of H street).

The Strange Boys began things with a 2-guitar, one voice jangly garage pop-psyche sound. They even covered a Nugget (I think it was Baby, Please Don't Go by the Amboy Dukes). They were a young band from Austin Texas. I thought the vocals were more Meat Puppets than Standells, but an adequate opener made a nice start to the evening.

Their touring partners, Darker My Love, were up next. They were a five piece with keys, two guitars, basic rhythm and two axemen singing. Also in the psychedelic genre, but more of a driving sound that was somewhat in the direction of Spiritualized/Spaceman 3. Really good songs, although a couple toward the end had me daydreaming a bit until their rousing closer. Very good set.

No psychedelia next with Sweden's Love is All. Do you remember the days where punk and new wave blended together into less definable categories? This band hearkened back to that era with its very snappy, jangly danceable pop-punk. The female vocals were a bit like Toyah Wilcox or a slightly lighter Pauline Murray (Penetration). The band had drums/bass/guitar with keyboards and a saxophonist making some great simple tonal thrusts as opposed to heavy soloing. Lots of energy and infectious. Great music and a great Rosemary('s Baby) haircut as a bonus.

Oddity of the Night: Leaving the club at about 12:50am, I walked passed four adult bananas walking the other way. One of them was smoking and I didn't pick up much of their conversation as it was cold and I wanted to get to my car.

O'Death/Wye Oak - Black Cat Backstage - Dec 4 2008

Two outstanding bands in the intimate backstage of the Black Cat with 80 or so patrons. A great Thursday evening as I recover from my cold.

Wye Oak was a duo with a woman on lead vocals and electric guitar; and a guy who drummed with his feet and right hand and played organ/keys with his left and did some harmonizing vocals, too. They reminded me of one of my favorite prog-folk groups, Emtidi in that they played a moody folk style with a rock background and minimal instrumentation. The guitarist really cut loose at times with riffs reminiscent or Wire's Lowdown and even some of the faster stuff from Pink Flag. Intoxicating mix of styles by a duo that knows how to make their musical points.

O'Death had bass/drums/violin/acoustic guitar/banjo-ukelele (I believe) with a couple guys singing. They may be from NYC, but are a perfect fit within the Denver sound that I know too well, closest to Slim Cessna's Auto Club in that they are frantic rootsy rockers with bluegrass and Americana touches. Very fast and catchy. They also reminded me of my favorites, Boiled in Lead, but without the world beats and Irish tunes, although WITH a white-hot violinist. The crowd was dancing and moving quite a bit more than usual. Fun band that should not be mised.

Quote of the Night: My ears were muddled and the music was loud so I'll go back to dinner at Ben's Chile Bowl where this half-nutty lady sitting next to me at the counter commented as she saw the BACK of my north-England police procedural paperback by Peter Robinson: "That's a good book". You don't say?

Karina Zeviani/Aphrodizia - Black Cat Backstage - Nov 20 2008

Ahphrodizia opened the show in front of 5 rabid fans which swelled to thirty something by the end of their set. Yoko K is the vocalist electronics whiz and she did a nice enough job with the electronics and created a harder ambient feel. Augmented with a violinist who mostly plucked lightly and sometimes inaudibly and a percussionist on bongos. Eventually a sax/flutist showed up during the set. Decent set received warmly.

Karina Zeviani is a Brazilian ex-model who sings for Thievery Corporation as well as other projects and under her name. She apparently lives in NYC and just came down for a show with a nice ensemble. A really excellent set with nicely varied songs. The Circus song was a mindblower and there was another hot song that she said she was intending to sing with Os Mutantes, but never got that to happen. A great extension of Tropacalista, I suppose, but that's kind of an obvious reference (which reminds me that I just finished Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso's book which was fantastic--what a writer). Great set which had the swelling crowd of 50-60 happy and swaying. Really a surprise hit for me. I hope her success in Turkey (crowds in the thousands) continues world-wide.



Quote of the Night: Yoko K explaining: "that we are missing a member who had to pickup his daughter, but that's ok because we're a little drunk."

Eagles of Death Metal/The Duke Spirit - 9:30 Club - Nov18 2008

A late show opening at 10pm--another double booking by the 9:30 Club. Quite crowded tonight at $15 per head, although the stage wasn't quite as far back as it could have been.

The Duke Spirit began with a gutsy British rock sound meaning the guitars were headed toward Jesus and Mary Chain although still falling short of Spiritualized perhaps. So distortion was good, but the straight ahead rock rhythms kept the songs chugging along. A cute singer with thinner Deborah Harry hair was center stage leading things. After a few uneventful songs, they threw in a Western sound and rhythm that was quite good and the set took off from there nicely. The crowd enjoyed them and rightly so. They move on to headline status later in the tour and play Letterman December 8th. Not surprising with their look and good catchy rock sound.

The Eagles of Death Metal as most would know or guess, nothing like the Eagles or Death Metal. I would say garage rock band with a dose of early punk augmented by leads straight from Black Oak Arkansas. Good humor and the erratic songs still had more good than dull. The frontman/vocalist did mention the story about Axl Rose firing them which I had heard from a friend of mine. Axl in his usual classy style, got on the mic after their set and told the crowd how they sucked and were more like the Pigeons of Shit Metal. So after a few boos from the 9:30 Club crowd, they applauded the frontman's new tattoo bearing Axl's new name for the band. Duke Spirit's singer came up to sing one song which significantly boosted the ugly rating this band generates on its own. All in all, a good fun show, far better for me than anything Axl Rose could produce.

Quote of the night: While standing in line, a woman said to a guy: "John wants to go see Ray Davies." Guy: "Who's that". Woman: "Oh, some guy from the Stranglers."

Rose Hill Drive/Colour Revolt - DC9 - Nov 12 2008

Colour Revolt from Oxford Mississippi (not sure I've seen a full fledged MS band before) who I had seen in Denver earlier this year did another nice job. Grungy, hooky, intelligent rock with a bit of brooding, but not too pervasive. Solid set. If they keep at it, who knows? I did miss seeing their cover of the Misfits' Bullet. I'm not sure any of them were alive when I bought that record when it came out.

Next was a really good 70s retro rock act from Boulder called Rose Hill Drive. They were an excellent long haired three piece ala Blue Cheer, I suppose. I think the vocals which were closer to REO Speedwagon than Motorhead were the only real weakness, but not nearly as bad as REO. So a good show which the small upstairs DC-9 audience really enjoyed. Actually, it was a good crowd in a small club to be more accurate.

Gutter Twins/Afterhours - Black Cat - Nov 7 2008

Afterhours began with a few utterly brilliant songs before fading into mere decency, only to kick it up a bit at the end. Overall, an eclectic and exciting show with some good songwriting and a style that varied from Beefheart meets Velvet U. arrangements to simple pop-rock. The band is from Milan and was worth seeing all by themselves. A great opener that I hope makes it back to this side of the Atlantic.

Gutter Twins are Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan who spent some time in the gutter between their bigger success, Afghan Wigs and Screaming Trees respectively. Mr. Lanegan helped form Queens of the Stone Age and some great duets with Isobel Campbell as well. They rocked more steadily and consistently than the opener which was both good and bad. Ultimately, the sound grew on me and overally left me happy with their set. The crowd enjoyed it and it was a solid night at the Black Cat.

Joan Baez - Birchmere - Nov 6 2008

A very happy Joan Baez played the second of two nights in front of a very happy Birchmere crowd two days after the election. The genteel supper club atmosphere of Alexandria, Virginia's Birchmere is a good venue to see Joan Baez in her fiftieth year of performing. The voice isn't as strong, but it never really was, was it? Still, she looked great and still had a solid voice and excellent songs to sing. Stage patter was great with a very funny joke, amazingly enough. She covered more songs by Donovan than by Dylan, although Steve Earle (her most recent producer) had more songs on display.

Ms. Baez was augmented by guitarist, acoustic bassist, and a violinist/mandolin/accordian player. Actually they all switched around a bit and took a break so Joan could sing Diamonds and Rust and a couple of others with just her voice and guitar. Nothing off-the-charts unexpected going on, nor would anyone expect there to be anything other than solid rendetions of well known songs and some newer material.

An enjoyable show by a legend in a great post-election timeframe. Catch her before she's doing this 60 years.

Bad Brains/Dub ?? - 9:30 Club - Nov 4 2008

Ok, I gotta take better notes and get these posts in more quickly. A Brooklyn dub band that was more dub-rock than dub-reggae opened. A powerful three-piece supplemented with computer generated sounds did a really good job keeping a dub rhythm going while rocking out and sometimes hitting some reggae chords. I believe they often played with the Bad Brains and they are worth seeing with them or on their own. Good fun.

Bad Brains began with a few of their shredding early burners and pretty much whipped the up-front crowd into a frenzy. The rest of us on the perimeter or in the rafters watched HR closely to see if we were going to get another stunning Bad Brains show (I've seen five including one on their first tour) or a train wreck. HR just isn't all mentally there in the Daniel Johnston/Roky Erickson manner. I think he's in a little better shape than them, but I wasn't so sure as he couldn't or wouldn't sing on most of the uber-fast songs in the set. He would intorduce the title of each song probably for his benefit as much as anyone's. Once he proceded to immediately sing the previous song (Sailing On).

However, the reggae and the medium paced numbers (like from I Against I) were very successful and HR's voice was decent. I would say he enjoyed those songs more, but he was smiling all the time in a way that my brother described best (from the New York show) as a cross between Mr. Rogers and Willie Wonka (Johnnie Depp variation).

The band still was supergreat and ripped all evening long. The sound was a little shiny wall-0f-sound as opposed to the individual attacking styles that they tightly put together in the early days.

So, what to make of this? I am glad I saw them one more time. I really enjoyed the songs and HR hung on well enough to allow me to focus on the music sometimes. But compared to those utterly brilliant shows in the past, this was a far cry. Worthwile, but it may be my last time to honor this brilliant band.

Woven Hand/Silver Summit - Iota - Oct 17 2008

Silver Summit opened things up in a club I wish I could like better. It's small, but adequate for the right acts. Sound is iffy and the people talking at the bar can be very loud and distracting (Ask Teddy Thompson who did not enjoy his set a few years back).

Silver Summit is an interesting collection of musicians from Brooklyn. Three females and a couple males play all kinds of strings with a drummer. Very psychedelic, ambient but both a bit edgier and some good Asian traditional folk working within the songs. A really excellent set. I hope to see this band again and recommend them highly.

Woven Hand is one of my favorite bands working today. They were formed out of the ashes of 16 Horsepower which was the forerunner of "the Denver sound" which was sort of a Gothic, twisted, psycho-Americana movement that was anything from dark folk to crazed neo-bluegrass rockabilly.

Woven Hand started pretty much as David Eugene Edwards playing solo with friends. He was the singer/main songwriter for 16HP and continues to be the main songwriter here. Woven Hand was a three piece with Mr. Edwards playing with a rhythm section he's used in recent years as more of a fulltime band. He's backed by Ordy Garrison (formerly of Slim Cessna's Auto Club) on drums and Pascal Humbert (16HP) on bass. Previously they played with a Norwegian lead guitarist, but this time it was Edwards' banjo and guitar carrying the melodies.

Woven Hand's music is more intensely personal than 16HP with a more sparse architecture and intricate lyrics. But they rocked hard at times and kept the mysterious spirit of their music alive and well. Great songs which captivated the audience throughout. The band is huge in Europe and hopefully can continue to grow their base here.

Highly recommended both live as well as their recordings, which should be tried out soon if you haven't already.

Wire - 9:30 Club - Oct 11 2008

A band who's name escapes me opened proceedings with instrumental music featuring four wailing guitars, a couple of drummers and others creating ambient psychedelia which worked quite well. Enjoyable and worth seeing.

Wire came out with three original members, all but BC Gilbert (guitar). They featured a lot of newer material which was edgy and pretty decent in that it hearkened closer to Chairs Missing and 154 as opposed to the much more inconsistent middle period. They did slowly work in songs from all three albums and did two two-song encores with a blistering 12xu finishing off the evening. They cut loose and attacked the material much better than I thought they would.

This was far better than the reemergence into the scene at their 1987 show I witnessed. At that show, they had a new (fourth) album out which was pretty much all they played not touching a note from their classic first three lps. They did give the attendees a nice opener in a band called the Ex-Lion Tamers whose set consisted of playing the Pink Flag album in its entirety in album order.

So a good show with expectations a bit lowered based on my experience. I am surprised to read some comments expecting more older material. We were lucky to get what we did, and more importantly, they had the spirit of the old material more in place than they did in the late 80s and 90s.