The Black Crowes 8/26/07

Even after the 10th time seeing the whole band, with various guitar players depending on the year and this time with a new keyboardist ("Weird Ole Ed" Harsch aging gracefully in retirement), they still manage to put on a solid rock show.  We got there a little late and in the middle of "Seein' Things for the First Time," not sure how many we missed, probably not too many.  Luckily, I was there for one of my favorites, "Thorn in my Pride," which always includes a drum solo from Steve.  Chris was in normal fashion when he had to push a guy off of the stage with his mike stand.  A group of very inebriated fellas some how got front row seats, the punks, and decided to sit on the edge of the stage with their back to the band.  No surprise here that Chris did not appreciate that at all.  He had to do it again during "She Talks to Angels" in the encore set.  Where the hell were ya, Chastain Security???  I really thought he might walk off the stage after that time, the look on his face, if you looked through the long beard and hair, was priceless.  They "appropriately" ended the night with a bluesed up Nazareth tune, "Shape of Things to Come," which they also recorded with Jimmy Page on the Live at the Greek album.  It still kills me that they had to cancel that tour short with Jimmy's bad back before they got to Atlanta.  The Robinson's did announce that they have recorded a new album that should be coming out soon.  They didn't play any new tracks from it, but they did play a new one, "Saddle Your Pony", when I saw the brothers play by themselves acoustic style back in April.  Plenty to look forward to in the coming months from the Crowes.

The White Stripes Birmingham, AL 6/30/07

Leave it to the White Stripes to host the most unusual and unique venue I've ever attended.  Try to imagine being in the factory on the cover of Pink Floyd's Animals album (minus the pig).  Apparently the Sloss Furnace was an old iron mill for about 90 years.  The actual stage and floor were in an old warehouse with only one outside wall still standing and the concrete floor slanted down towards the stage.  Old hanging cranes; heavy, rusted machinery; aged smoke stacks; a water tower; and a left over boxcar on the side with people standing on it adorned the scenery of the dilapidated but charming site.  It probably held about 10,000 people that were being served $5 beers by wandering beer girls throughout the crowd, an idea that should start being used in Atlanta.  The mildly entertaining Dan Sartain, a Birmingham native, and his trio opened the show with their hard-core rockabilly sound that grows on you after a while, even in the sweltering heat of Alabama.  After what seemed like an eternity (in the heat) Jack and Meg busted on the stage and opened with "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground."  The stage set up was, of course, all peppermint colors with huge red wall that had three sets of stairs leading to a platform about a third of the way up.  When stomping around up there, Jack released a fog from underneath his feet as he traveled back and forth which made for a pretty cool effect, not to mention the lights that were set up to cast their giant black shadow silhouettes against the huge red wall.  He and his black zoot suit with red tie clad roadies had to keep a close eye on the guitar cord while he was up there to keep it from getting caught on the amps down below.  Meg got to be in the fore-front when she sang "In the Cold, Cold Night" while Jack sat with his back to us and played his six string.  Just before the break, they started playing "Seven Nation Army" and stopped in the middle to say that it might be inappropriate to play that song in this country anymore and went on to play another tune.  Didn't really bother me, I've heard that song a million times, but none the less, still kinda strange.  Jack seemed a little put out by the crowd, whose energy was admittedly bled from the heat.   Playing songs spanning all of their albums, including a handful from the new one, the set list was very pleasing, even without playing some of my favs like "Catch Hell Blues" (bummer, huh Shelton).  I was a little disappointed that they didn't play an encore set and that he didn't use his piano much, but genius is not to be questioned.  All in all, worth every second of travel time.

Roger Waters 5/22/07

It's hard to find words to describe this show.  Not surprising when talking about Pink Floyd.  To start with, Mr. Waters kept us entertained before the show started with a huge movie screen behind the stage that had a close up shot of an old timey radio on a table and an enigmatic arm periodically changing stations (which would change the music we the audience could hear), ashing a cigarette, and pouring Johnny Walker Red Label into a shot glass.  As usual, the lights went out and the crowd went wild when a wave of sparks went off around the gigantic screen.  He opened with "In The Flesh?" and a few other tunes from The Wall and then played "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" followed by most of Wish You Were Here.  With a few obscure songs here and there and a brand new one, they took a short break.  After the intermission they played Dark Side of the Moon straight through and ended the night with "Another Brick in the Wall."  Roger only sang about 50% of the time but put on a show reminiscent of Pink Floyd in the good ole days (so I'm told and have seen in pictures, I recommend the book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd written by the drummer Nick Mason).  He had an inflatable astronaut and huge pink pig that was littered with anti-Bush propaganda and the phrase "religion divides us all."  Amen, brother (pun intended).  With a tremendous light show and fireball explosions and all kinds of different happenings on the screen behind them and just enough Bass Ale, it was hell of a night.  The chick that did the screaming during "The Great Gig in the Sky" was as good but not better than the one from The Australian Pink Floyd Show.  "Run Like Hell" would have been a nice addition to the set list but who can complain, really.  I feel as though I got my money's worth, $125 for the ticket and $15 in "rape me" fees thanks to Ticketmaster.

Brothers of a Feather night #2 4/4/07

Universal truth:  It doesn't get much better than 4th row center.  Thank you, Variety Playhouse, for having general admission seats.  Getting in line by myself at 5:30 for an 8:00 show really payed off.  The first ten rows or more were plastic patio chairs in front of their normal playhouse theatre-type seats.   Opening up with "Cursed Diamond," I knew I was in for another great night of tunes from the brothers.  Sven Pipien joined the duo for 3 songs throughout the very layed back, peaceful night.  After about the 3rd song or so, they began their jovial comments to the crowd when someone in the back screeched out "DAAAHLOOONEGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!."  That didn't go over too well with Chris.  He commented "Maybe some day our audience will be too old to yell that loud," but he wasn't too upset.  Thanks, jackass, whom ever you were, for representing our town so admirably, you prick.  I swear it wasn't me or Melissa Howard (haven't seen her since graduation) who was sitting in the seat in front of me... I guess 3rd row center is a little better.  Way later in the show, Chris commented that something was "far out" and told us not to let that saying die, that it was hard core old school.  Then Rich asked him "What about 'right on'?"  Chris said that was serious hard core old school.  Then Rich asked "Well, what about 'Dahlonega'?"  Chris replied "That one is for the real old guys.  Guys that wear nurses' shoes and go pannin' for gold."   After reminiscing about hanging out in little five points as young men and other places around Atlanta, they took a break and came back for a 2 song encore joined by Sven for one of the songs.  Ending the night with hugs and handshakes around 10, we all left with the impression that the feuding brothers days were over... probably not though.

Brothers of a Feather 4/3/07

Well, the Brothers Robinson put on a hell of a show last night.  A very intimate acoustic show in a very intimate setting at Center Stage.  The legendary arguing, feuding, and fighting was completely absent between the brothers and they even seem to have a lot of fun together what with their witty banter between songs.  They played several cover songs I wasn't familiar with but enjoyed.  Rich sang a hand full of songs, with which I was impressed, and played immaculately.  It was just two guys (who happened to be brothers) sitting with their guitars and playing calm, cool, and collected, Chris drinking beer and Rich sipping bottled water.  It was a new experience for me, one I won't soon forget and get to enjoy again tonight at the Variety Playhouse, a venue I've not been to.

The Australian Pink Floyd Show 11/19/06

For being as close to the real thing as I will probably ever get, pretty damn good show.  Opening the show with none other than "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" was worth the price of admission alone.  They could have walked off the stage after that 10 minute song and I would have been just as happy as I was after seeing the whole show.   Rolling through a lot of hits without a lot of interruption, the keyboardist finally spoke to us for a minute and then the band took a 20 minute break.  Accompanied by three very attractive female back-up vocalists throughout the night, the tribute group rocked through about 25 or more Floyd tunes covering most of their album catalog.  Arguably playing a little too much Division Bell and only one off of Meddle, the continuous light show was very impressive and certainly set a euphoric mood for the evening.  One of the supporting sirens melodically whined her way through "Great Gig in the Sky" perfectly without a single note missed, in which she received the largest "standing o" of the night with the exception of the curtain call at the end of the show.  With my only complaint being that they could have turned up their amps a little more (but that could be because of my own hearing problem listening to my car stereo way too loud for years), I recommend checking these guys out if you have a chance, and, of course, if you happen to bleed Pink.

The Raconteurs 9/19/06

Some people are born to lead countries to greatness, others are here to entertain with brilliant acting or stunning athletic ability...  Jack White exited the womb with a Les Paul in his hands and euphoric creativeness in his mind.  To say the least, The Raconteurs rocked my face off.  The slowly creeping in "Level" was the perfect tune to lead in to what would turn out to be an unbelievable experience, even though the right side speakers cut out for about 40 seconds.  With terrestrial radio over playing "Steady as She Goes," the band wisely decided to get it out of the way by the third song instead of saving it for the encore set.  Followed by a couple of unknown, yet still strangely familiar cover songs, the boys then played two different versions of "Store Bought Bones" back to back.  The first being more of a medium paced almost kind of a rockabilly feel, which I barely recognized until I listened to the lyrics, they then suddenly blasted into the version on the album.  Now standing in an orthodontist's paradise with every jaw dropped to the floor, we gazed at Mr. White as his tall, built frame jammed through the solo with his signature choppy, epileptic, jerky movements.  His wispy mop of jet black, near shoulder length hair danced around his pale, jovial face as if caught in an unpredictable tornado of rhythm.  Straining his voice to point of gargling rusty nails during "Broken Boy Soldier" opened a window into the heart and soul of a true "born to be" rock star.  Not to mention the other band mates, with Brendan Benson taking over a solo on guitar now and then, and the plain, almost forgettable stage presence of Jack Lawrence on bass.  Phenomenally pounding on the skins, Patrick Keeler had never before seen (at least by this concert goer) dual bass drums of different sizes.  Rounding out the main set with abysmally dark and bluesy song "Blue Veins," a track that would even make Led Zep's "No Quarter" seem cheery, the fellas took a short break.  They came back for the encore with another cover song I wasn't familiar with and then left us begging for more, as they should, by blowing our hair back with "Hands."  Even though I slightly missed the wardrobe out of A Clockwork Orange the White Stripes are known for wearing, after seeing that performance I couldn't help but wonder if maybe Meg White could be holding back all the talent Jack has to offer.  Owning and loving all of the White Stripes albums, it feels dirty saying such a thing but maybe a duet just isn't enough for JW's infinitely creative mind.  Either way, having now seen both of the bands in concert, I'm left thirsty for more shows in a desert of waiting, willing to pay just about any price and travel just about anywhere to experience musical genius like that again.