Jack White Columbia, SC 9/24/14

The last time I went to South Carolina after having seen a band earlier in the tour in Atlanta, I endured the exact same set list.  Thank you, Jack, for breaking that streak early.  Now, he did play a handful of the same songs, but mixed with others from his many bands including a funked up version of "I Cut Like a Buffalo" by the previously unheard The Dead Weather.  Opening with the latest album's, Lazeretto, instrumental "High Ball Stepper" he went on to play piano for "Three Women" and then the Beatle-esque "Apple Blossom".  Energy was high for one of my favorites "I'm Slowly Turning Into You" and ended the night with the unforgettable riffs of "Seven Nation Army".  Certainly glad I went to both shows but somehow disappointed I didn't attend even more. Never mind that out of key guy singing along in the "Steady as She Goes" video above...

Jack White 9/19/14

not that crowded, really

Jack White was the only reason I bought a ticket to Music Midtown this year.  And he made it totally worth it.  He opened with "Icky Thump" and played songs from all of his bands except The Dead Weather.  Jack and his drummer seemed very connected and looked to really enjoy jamming with each other.  As amazing as he's always been, I've always thought the better the drummer he has, the better he becomes.  It was also instruments galore with several fiddles, ukeleles, and guitars being traded around from song to song and Jack hopping on piano now and again.  Can't wait to see him on Wednesday in South Cackalaki!

Manchester Orchestra 5/30/14

 Damn, it felt good to be at a show again!  Felt good for the local boys to be home, as they proclaimed many times.  I should have boned up on the music a little because I caught myself not remembering lyrics for opening tunes "Shake it Out" and "Pensacola".  Gotta turn that Pandora station back on.  Plus, I hadn't heard anything off the latest set, Cope, except for their performance of the song by the same name on Letterman.  But, thank God, it was LOUD.  I haven't had my ears tuned like that since Halloween.  Seven months without a show...  for shame.  They came back for several encores, however, during the first break, a strange thing happened.  The Tomahawk Chop and chant started up.  When the group returned, frontman, and expectant father, Andy Hull told us, "Man, I wish we liked baseball."  That statement made the T-shirt I bought exceptionally ironic.

 

Music Midtown 9/20-21/13

Adding a third stage is a sign of expansion, but makes scheduling overlaps a little difficult to maneuver.  Friday night I opted for Cake, whom I'd never seen before, over the previously attended Jane's Addiction.  Cake's songs all sound fairly similar but are still fun and groovy, as was their performance.  The eccentric lead singer rambled a little much between songs but the sound quality was stellar.  They played all their radio hits and threw in a cover of "War Pigs".

pretty far back for Weezer

Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys

Saturday was in a word "soggy."  The rain didn't let up until late afternoon.  I missed almost all of Weezer waiting to get in the park with hundreds of others, but I could hear them.  I finally got in to see the last 3 or 4 tunes of their set.  Arctic Monkeys were next up and blew the doors off the joint, as usual.  The fast paced Brits burst on the stage and filled their hour long set with tracks from their new album as well as their hits like "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor".  Leader Alex Turner kept a comb in his pocket and slicked back his greaser hair due between songs which the ladies loved.  After their set, I waited at the back of the crowd of Imagine Dragons until they cleared out so I could get close for Queens of the Stone Age.  A huge mud hole prevented me from getting even closer, but I still had a good spot.  Hard-charging Queens came on stage loud and proud, aggressively jamming through older hits and a selection off the latest, ...Like Clockwork.  Josh Homme slayed his guitar with the confident swagger a rock star is born with.  They played a little over their short one hour set while Red Hot Chili Peppers started on the other side of the park.  By the time they finished, it was way too late to get a good spot and where we were the sound was awful and we couldn't really see them anyway, although I could see that Flea is still a total maniac.  So, we decided to beat the traffic and headed home early. 

Homme on "The Vampyre of Time and Memory"

Muse 9/4/13

Pretty sure I only suffered 2 or 3 epileptic seizures from all the strobe lights, so I'm good.  Phenomenal stage production started with an Aztecan pyramid of video screens dropping in layers over the drum set and then lifted to inversion to reveal the boys underneath.  Next came a solid 2 hours of dazzling lights, lasers, screen images, and smoke effects (guess you can't have an open flame in Gwinnett Arena).  Leader Matthew Bellamy even busted out a little "Star Spangled Banner" on guitar before tossing it in the air and briefly walking off stage.  He came back to play on a baby grand with an open transparent lid and lights that corresponded with notes being played from the guts of the piano.  They ended the main set with "Uprising" and opened the encore with "Starlight".  In between, during the anticipation filled darkness, the flashlight app was used in full capacity around the fan-filled bowl.  One guy about 10 feet in front of me held up a lighter, so at least I saw some pyrotechnics.  That's old school, baby.

The Black Crowes 7/20/13

Learned a lot about Susan Tedeschi:  total babe, talented guitarist, and has a hell of a set of pipes

20 times in the books!  But they played mostly big hits and nothing all that obscure, so kinda bittersweet.  I prefer to hear the deep tracks, but still good energy and great sound.  Although they did meld the end of "Descending" right into a funked up cover of the Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash", which was cool, but again, that song is played on the radio several times a day.  And they did Deep Purple's "Hush" in the middle of "Hard to Handle", again.  Variety is the spice of life, boys!

Most of Tedeschi Trucks Band joined the Crowes for a 2 song encore