Manchester Orchestra 11/23/11

"I'VE GOT THAT ROCK AND THAT ROLL!" we all chanted during the second tune of the night, "April Fool."  Energy was high, thanks partially to openers The Dear Hunter and Cage the Elephant.  I hadn't really heard much by The Dear Hunter but I got their groove and they had some tasty licks.  I know I poo-pooed on Cage the last time I saw them and I'm still not convinced of their future longevity.  But Matt Shultz is an undeniable front-man.  I could barely peel my eyes away from the skinny little egotistical punk skipping around the stage (see youtube clip below, have to wait until the end to see what I mean).  His incoherent vocals are still questionable for a live show, but he enjoys a good stage dive.  On the third one, he was held by just his feet and stood up straight above the crowd which was pretty cool (check pic below, kinda hard to tell he's not standing on stage).
    

So, back to Man O.  I just saw them at Music Midtown, but I had to check 'em out when they were headlining a gig.  It's been a while since I have found a band that has a way of playing soft, yet eerie, melodies that spiral to the darkest depths of the soul in the blink of an eye.  "I've Got Friends" is a fair example of pop melody that is offset with dark lyrics, strained vocals, and sudden guitar thrash.  Man, its fun to sing along with live, too.  Especially when everyone in the house harmonizes.  "Pensacola" is another good one to unify voices.  Except for one drunk chick that had many miscues and a shrieking, off-key voice that garnered her quite a bit of heckling.  Sadly, we could only really hear her during the toned down portions of songs that never became loud.  There's one in every crowd, I guess.  The only thing she didn't do was holler out "Freebird."  It's alright, I barely remember the first time I got a hold of some brown liquor, either.

The Raconteurs 11/13/11

Who says you have to have a new album to go on tour?  Not Jack White.  He and his boys know they can bring the sold-out body heat to the Tabernacle mid-November, even after a bummer of a Falcons game.  They busted on stage with probably my personal favorite "Consoler of the Lonely" and didn't let up for a second.  The modestly dressed crew, containing a skinnier Brendan Benson with longer, curled locks; a less stoic than usual Jack Lawrence; and a heat wave emitting Patrick Keeler on drums know how to bring it upside your head without a lot of flash and theatrics.  Its all about the RAWK with them, people.  They can do a brass-less "Switch and the Spur" and a banjo-less "Top Yourself" and still kick you in the teeth.  But at the same time, they also know they can't do "Old Enough" without a bad-ass fiddler violently sawing the strings and stabbing the air with his bow.  "Blue Veins" ended the main set with JW attacking his guitar with hurricane veracity and evoked an instinctual mid-solo applause from a crowd so unified with his energy that I believe we all forgot where we were, but it didn't matter.  We didn't need or want to be anywhere else.  There wasn't anywhere else.  The rest of the world disappeared and I, for one, have never been more elated to be lost in the cosmos with a building full of fans.  That's the effect a band should strive for every show.  Leave a pint of blood on that stage or don't even bother.  Being in charming company instead of going it alone, like I had originally planned, probably didn't hurt either.  At the end of the song, he tried to give away his guitar to a lucky fan in the front row but a roadie wrestled it away from the many hands holding on to the axe (check video link below).  Had it been me, wild horses couldn't have dragged it out of my death grip.  The encore consisted of "Salute Your Solution," the hooky first single by the boys "Steady, As She Goes," and the powerfully melancholy "Carolina Drama" respectively.  Bring on the next album and tour, fellas.  I'm already ready.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W89IVbBwmi4&feature=feedu

Chris Robinson Brotherhood 11/12/11

I guess an optimist would say that Center Stage was half-full.  Chris and company just couldn't seem to fill the place, but I guess that happens.  The first set was OK, I'm not familiar with his solo stuff but they did throw in a Crowes cover of "Appaloosa."  If I overheard correctly, the entire set list was scattered, or littered, with Grateful Dead tunes.  Wouldn't know, never could get into those guys.  So that gives you an idea of what sound was like all evening.  The second set, after at least a half hour intermission, was really jammy and I damn near left early.  But then they roped me in with a couple more Crowes numbers, including "I Aint Hiding."  Not that that was the reason I went, I wasn't expecting to hear any.  It was at this time I really began to become aware of and annoyed by this guy next to me who apparently thought it would be a good idea to have a first date at a friggin rock show.  He's telling this chick, very loudly, all about his family and I even heard him say his grandparents were in a concentration camp.  Now, far be it for me to make light of the Jewish plight, but this Gentile would have preferred to hear a little more music and a little less family tragedy at that moment.  That's the beauty of a general admission show; one can move around to a spot that isn't next to someone who thinks they're at a random bar listening to house music and not have to go to jail for smacking the Hell out of them.  I hate to go against one of the founding members of one of my favorite bands, but if I had it to do over again, I would have probably gone and seen The Australian Pink Floyd Show that was right down the street at the Fox.  Tickets went on sale for Chris before they announced they were coming to Atlanta.  Damn those double booked days. 

Foo Fighters 11/7/11

Yep, they're still around after 16 years and don't seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon.  Kinda like openers Social Distortion, who put on about the same show as when I saw them the first time, only it was about 30 minutes instead of a couple of hours.  The Foo's have quite a play list to choose from after eight albums and jammed on a wide range of songs, spanning their career.  Gwinnett Arena isn't nearly as intimate a setting as the Tabernacle, but it did afford Dave a cat walk stretched almost to the back with a rising platform about 15 feet off the ground.  He told us up front that this was going to be a long night and that they were going for a 2 1/2 hour plus gig.  But, turns out that meant that he was going to kill a significant amount of time by hamming it up with the crowd and attempting to be a stand-up comedian.  A little goes a long way, especially when you have so many songs that want to be heard.  As far as rock star humor goes, keep it short, dry, and obscene.  They made up for it by bustin out some cool covers like Pink Floyd's "In The Flesh?" and a dueling guitar solo between Dave and Chris Shiflett in the middle of "Stacked Actors" that sounded loosely akin to the solo in Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker."  At one point they had all the lights turned down and I was surprised to see a 50/50 ratio of the archaic yellow glow of hand-held fire to the blue and white illumination of modern communication devices.  Does anyone remember going to shows without those distracting text machines?  Ancient memories, huh?  The encore set brought Dave back to his perch for a couple of acoustic tunes but then brought the whole band back in the middle of "Times Like These."  The next tune, "Dear Rosemary," was off the new album, Wasting Light, and unexpectedly faded into Tom Petty's "Breakdown."  With a dazzling light show throughout the night they closed it down with "Everlong."  Arena Rock lives on.

Rich Robinson 10/28/11

New venue!  I'd never been to Smith's Olde Bar until tonight but hope to visit again soon.  Nice, small joint to observe some tunes.  Rich (guitar playing brother from The Black Crowes) certainly didn't put a sour taste in my mouth for the quaint stage in the attic.  He may not have the soulful range of his lead singing brother, but he's got some chops.  I went into this without hearing a single note of his solo stuff, hoping to be pleasantly surprised.  Although continually stoic-faced in his stage presence, the man can write/sing/jam a song.  I guess a big part of being a front man is attitude, which Chris (whom I'll be seeing Nov 12) obviously exudes.  You would never know Rich was part of an internationally toured band for almost 25 years.  Never underestimate the value of modesty in a rock star.  His mellow, laid-back grooves accompanied by some obscure covers of rock history, including Velvet Underground, Fleetwood Mac, and Pink Floyd's "Fearless," filled the room with smiles from wall to wall.  Visually speaking, I've always enjoyed watching the hands and fingers of a musician on stage as well as the facial expressions.  Perhaps that's inherited from my Mom's therapist fascination with hands and the effortless maneuvering of a musicians' digits up and down the neck of an axe or across the ivories of a piano.  Audibly speaking, my brother's influence can't help but be recognized when a single note can evoke the hair on my neck and arms to uncontrollably stand on end and my skin to goosebump spontaneously after being kicked in the teeth with raw, honest, LOUD, power (even though we currently disagree on the validity of a lot of past and modern bands).  Even the suppressed admiration of a lot of 60's and 70's groups from my Dad can't help but find the light of day in my soul.  I remember him briefly telling me about Led Zeppelin (which he described as "Acid Rock," a term I hadn't heard before) as we drove past what is now Pueblo's in D-town.  A more attentive audience he had never captured, whether he knew it or not.  I stumbled over his vinyl collection after he died and it was like the scene from Almost Famous.  Oh, the questions forever unasked and, in turn, forever unanswered.  

Music Midtown 2011 9/24/11

AHH, the return.  OK, so it was only one evening instead of two and a half days and more expensive than ever.  And the line-up was nowhere as diverse as the good ole days, what with it being entirely modern rock.  Hey, if you can't keep your finger on the pulse of new music, I'll see ya in the rear view.  Not that I don't love my dinosaur rock of the 60s and 70s.  Hell, I've got the ink on my arm to prove it.  But, I'll admit, I only went for three bands in particular:

Manchester Orchestra

Local boys starting to hit it big on the alt-rock scene sweatin' it out in front of thousands.  I've just recently gotten in to this band after having seen them on Letterman and ended up drooling on myself watching their performance with my jaw in my lap (see link below).  After that, I was fairly disappointed in myself for not knowing more about these guys.  Luckily, a buddy hooked me up and I went to the show not quite as ignorant of their sound.  A lot of their tunes are light and artsy but with dark lyrics and when you least expect it, they bring the CRUNCH!  Not to mention lead singer Andy Hull (who bears a striking resemblance to Zach Galifianakis) straining his voice to the point of shredding vocal chords.  They played a set limited to an hour spanning all of their albums including "Pensacola," "I've Got Friends," and "Shake it Out."  Next time they're in ATL/home, I'll probably be there.  If nothing else but to see Chris Freeman play both keyboards and percussion.

The Black Keys

This band has been around for a while but, again, I only discovered them about a year ago.  Matter of fact, the near entirety of my last birthday/Christmas list was all of their albums.  The duo brought their garage blues vibe full force in front of a packed field in first-time host Piedmont Park.  Surprisingly, they pulled out a set of mostly older tunes but still gave the occasional listener that has only heard them on the radio what they wanted with hits from their latest album, Brothers, like "Tighten Up" and "Howlin' For You."  During one song, leader Dan Auerbach played guitar while also holding a maraca.  Not to be out done, stiff-shouldered drummer Patrick Carney used it in his left hand instead of a drum stick (Jablonski... your move, bro!).  The good thing about them is that most of their songs are less than 4 minutes each, which makes for a long set list.  Due to festival time constraints, I'll just have to wait until they come back on their own for more tune-age. 

Cage the Elephant

These guys are an example of the perks of a festival.  I would probably never pay a ticket price to see them by themselves, but since we're both there, why not?  I had heard front-man Matt Shultz had a hell of a stage presence, and he does.  He's very energetic and seizure-like, but it does take away from the comprehension of his singing.  If he keeps up that kind of activity, he'll never spiral into being the dreaded "fat, old, rock star."  He may not have to worry about that anyway if they don't find more range, musically.  Granted, I only know about four of their songs, but they all sound somewhat similar.  Popularity can be a fickle trend, fellas. 

Coldplay

"You know how I know you're gay?...  You like Coldplay."    I didn't stick around for them.

As I said before, Music Midtown just isn't the same as it was.  No sneaking in liquor to save on over-priced beer, although security was a joke.  I could have smuggled in a keg.  No piling 10+ people in a suite at the Georgian Terrace across from the Fox.  No ordering 18 pounds of chinese food on saturday morning to last the rest of the weekend and having the concierge shooting authoritative looks from outside the room trying to figure out how many people were going to eat all this food that he had to help carry with the delivery boy.  No hanging out the window and freakin out Heather.  No wandering the halls at 4AM looking for a blanket and having to settle for a robe I found in a closet (still got that puppy).  No more meeting new friends that end up becoming life-long friends (what up Daniel!).  No more using a part of a festival pole to urinate in public.  No more <-Scatter-> (or skater, as it was sometimes pronounced) festival poles.  No more being a drunken buffoon and bothering innocent teens by standing too close during the White Stripes.  No more getting lost trying to get back to the hotel and ending up way past Krispy Kreme.  Maybe the end of some of these things is not such a bad thing.  Perhaps I'm being a little too pessimistic.  For all I know, this year could be the first step towards a return to nostalgic normalcy.  Dare I dream?

Pearl Jam night #2 East Troy, WI 9/4/11

about 1/4 to 1/3 of crowd

A 3 ½ hour set ain’t a bad way to celebrate 20 years of existence.  Luckily we had seats for the second night, row W on Mike McCready’s side.  No rain today but it was fairly chilly.  All of the opening bands slayed again with only a handful of repeats.  I didn’t mention it yesterday, but all PJ members, except for Stone Gossard, came out to play with various side stage bands at various times, individually and in groups.  Very cool of them.  Eddie joined New Zealander Liam Finn, aka Animal from The Muppet Babies, and they did a short version of “Habit” and switched out playing guitar and drums.  Later, during PJ’s performance, Liam came out and they played the full version with him helping Eddie out with the vocals.  With that long of a set, he had several folks come out and sing with him.  Chris Cornell stepped on stage again and repeated two Temple of the Dog tunes and sang two other ones. PJ, however, didn’t duplicate any songs from one night to the other.   The second night did include more radio friendly hits like “Jeremy” and “Alive” but still had some rarities mixed in like the opener “Wash” and “No Way,” which was performed much to Stone’s chagrin.  Jeff and Stone even traded instruments for “Smile.”  Hell, I had to fill my empty beer glass up with piss while singing along to  “Pilate.” The Big Show don’t miss songs just to pee, right D-Dog.  That’s amateur-hour bullshit.  We also got to hear a little ditty Eddie had written that afternoon which he performed acoustically by himself.  The band was also nice enough to have an older white-haired lady doing sign language (and dancing along)  for a deaf couple a few rows in front of us.  How she deciphered Eddie’s lyrics and singing is beyond me.   Eddie gave a shout out to the dying record stores around the country and played “Spin the Black Circle” while Mike ran laps around the entire stage set-up playing rhythm.  No real political agenda for the show which was nice.  If not for guest John Doe mentioning that we should never give up hope even if we don’t like our government, I don’t think there would have been any reference to politics at all.  But that reminded Eddie of the recently freed West Memphis Three, to whom he gave a shout out and that was it.  The feeling of the night was more celebratory for the band having survived this long and for the fans sticking with them through thick and thin, and multiple drummers.  He gave major props to drummer Matt Cameron (originally in Soundgarden) for helping them survive the last ten years and bringing the unity that they needed.  So, after several encores, we thought they were going to end the night with “Alive,” but then they had most everybody from all the other bands come on stage and joined them for “Rockin in the Free World.”  The end…  Nope.  Couldn’t go away without playing “Yellow Ledbetter.”  But that wasn’t quite it, either.  Mike busted out a little “Star Spangled Banner” on his six string to finally bid us farewell.  I forgot to mention that we signed up to ride the bus that was provided for people staying in Milwaukee to get back and forth from the venue that was kind of in the middle of nowhere.  The first night, our driver somehow got lost on the way back and it took about 45 minutes longer than it should have.  Passengers with smartphones had to direct him to get back to the drop-off point.  Luckily, that wasn’t the case Sunday night. 

So, you might be wondering:  “Was it worth it?”  Was it worth driving about 28 hours round trip and eating 5 or 6 PB&J’s (had to save some money somehow)?  You’re damn right.  How anyone would think this trip to be excessive and unnecessary is mind-boggling to me.  When it comes to traveling for live music, there are people that ask “Why?” and then there are the rest of us that ask “Why the Hell not?”  Of course, it’s a lot easier to feel that way without having the responsibility and expense of a wife and children.  Maybe that’s why I write these, for those that can’t, but wish they still could.  If I can provide a link for people that long for a former type of fun that has grown out of reach, then mission:  accomplished.  Who knows?  Maybe this will all come to an end for me some day, as well.  Good Lord, the horror.

Josh Homme of QOTSA