kmmmusings... Top Shows of 2008

Because the world needs another top ten list from a dorky blogger. Trust me.

1. My Morning Jacket at Madison Square Garden -- 12.31.08



Expectations were high for this one, as New York City abounds with options (musical and otherwise) as the days expire on a calendar year. From this vantage point, the lofty expectations for this New Years party were met--and surpassed. From the opening waterfall of tumbling horns that introduced Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" through to the always-mindblowing "One Big Holiday", Jim James and crew delighted the nowhere-near-capacity dressed-to-the-eights crowd at MSG. The extra space made for ridiculously easy maneuvering to be with loved ones as the balloons fell: nuzzling up sidestage with a hundred of your closest friends to welcome '09 made this the year's top show for me. Steven Bernstein's horn section was used judiciously and superbly: to augment funky covers that would have been impossible without brass (Charles Wright's Express Yourself, Kool & The Gang's Celebration, James Brown's Cold Sweat), but also used on occasion to bolster some MMJ staples (Evil Urges, Dancefloors) making them the perfect accoutrement for the Jacket on this special evening. Very close to being this here dorky blogger's perfect show.

2. Marco Benevento, Joe Russo, and Brad Barr at Sullivan Hall -- 01.10.08

I'm going out on a limb, perhaps, by identifying this little gem as my second favorite show of the year, but for anyone who was in attendance, you can corroborate my wonder at the amazing energy and spontaneity this trio displayed on the old Lion's Den stage. Maybe it was because Brad was arrested on his way to the gig and arrived JUST in time to plug in onstage to soundcheck a note or two before diving headfirst into a first-set jam with his old friends, or maybe not. Who's to say where synergy like this is derived: these long-time collaborators have a vast amount of trust in each other's talent and each other's listening skills. The trio had played a small run of shows together in Nov 2007, where Brad was mostly providing complement to The Benevento/Russo Duo's material, but this show didn't even remotely resemble a Duo show. Without an ounce of premeditation on what the set should contain, these three poured out a symphony of rock n' roll, with Barr touching on riffs from Chuck Berry to Jimmy Page, from Django Reinhardt to Trey Anastasio, all with a good dose of Slippy guitar in there for good measure. Benevento delighted in having a new partner with whom he could tag team tangling with his regular bandmate, Sir Russo, and the interplay between Russo and Barr was (for lack of a more sophisticated word) SICK. Video footage of this little gem is currently under lock-and-key at Shine A Light Productions, but will surely see the light of day soon, and in the meantime you can enjoy this clip from Benevento's 2008 residency:



3. Trey Anastasio at Music Hall of Williamsburg -- 08.07.08

He sounded good. Really good. It was worth the second mortgage I took out on my home to procure that tough ticket. From the oddly-familiar first notes of his new tune,"Alaska" right through to the sweaty last notes of the now-epic "Bug", I was in the zone that I can only get into with a few performers, and I was happy to have him back. Clean and sober Trey has an undeniably purer tone despite still being able to unleash some of the dirtiest licks in guitar history.



Adding the amazingly-underappreciated Ray Paczkowski to his inaugural TAB team (Tony Markellis and Russ Lawton), the quartet debuted newer versions of some TAB standbys (when did "Gotta Jibboo" become sooooo irresistibly nasty? when did Driftin' lose all the schmaltz and deliver Jerry-esque elation?). The intimacy of the venue fed the frenzied energy in the room, and it's safe to say that most in attendance had their aural tubes cleaned out upon leaving the newly-appointed venue almost four hours later. Money well spent, in my books.

4. Radiohead at All Points West -- 08.09.08



It was almost too good... Really. The sound was so good that I felt like I had headphones on. The lights were so good I almost cried. The music, well, there's no one else that does what Radiohead does. How sparse arrangements of songs (like the haunting Nude, which prompted a hilarious "That was impossible!" outburst from my friend) can sit side by side with meticulous cacaphony (the delicious 15 Step) is something to behold live... and yet, I almost felt like it wasn't live. Like it was a pre-recorded show, somehow, too perfect in its delivery (despite a late-concert flub, which friends tell me was executed with the exact same script in Montreal days earlier). I was left loving the show, and yet strangely unsatisfied by how perfect it was. My suspicious sentiments were seconded by a much-respected musician who shared that while he was undeniably impressed with their show, he prefers his rock with a little more danger, and I realized that despite the wild rapids of Radiohead's wizardry, I, too, would prefer musicians going into the unknown and risking a little more for their rewards. That said, any person who listens to music in this decade owes it to themselves to go see this band, and any musician playing in this decade who doesn't cite them as an influence is a total lying bastard.

5. The Slip at Paradise Rock Club -- 12.27.08



I'm not going to lie to you, I don't recall the details. I spent the day geeking out in the car on the way to Boston with two fellow Slip-enthusiasts, and thus I was fully prepared to launch into outerspace with the opening notes of Airplane/Primitive. Fact: this was The Slip's third concert of the year. Fact: it fucking rocked. I've double checked this fact by re-living it through the hard work of Clinton Vadnais, and I stand by my evaluation. There is only one Slip. These guys are it. They owe it to the world and to themselves to let the Slip out of the bag more often, for they are able to incorporate genres like no other trio, and the intense rapport that comes from playing together for over a decade is something that few young bands can hope to have. It was extra-special to see the boys in their backyard of Boston, for Slip fans have proved time and time again to be my favorite live music concert-goers -- attentive, respectful, and totally into it. Let's all please say a prayer that 2009 sees this trio popping up in lineups all over the country, and do yourselves a favor and go listen to what awesome music sounds like.

6. Neil Young & Wilco at Madison Square Garden -- 12.06.08

While the sound in MSG was poorly suited to display the rich tapestry of Wilco's sound, I had to admit that Wilco -- a band who could headline most festivals around the world -- was serving as perhaps the most wonderful opening act in memory. It seems as though Wilco is distinguishing itself as the quintessential modern American Band, as I recall getting whiffs of ZZ Top in there amidst the usual overtones of The Band that Wilco invokes.



And Neil, well, I couldn't have more respect for the aging Canadian icon, and when I compare the energy and preparation that his show requires with the lucklustre performances of some other legends I saw this year (but who will remain nameless because it's sacreligious to say anything bad about Bobby Dylan... I mean, uh...), it is clear that Neil's passion for the music, for performing, for leaving it all out on the stage has not diminished with age. When he closed his set with The Beatles' "A Day In The Life" (featured below), he gave the lyrics a haunting immediacy (not unlike when he sang "Campaigner" at the United Palace last year), making Lennon & McCartney's words from 1967 seem like a current critique of modern media, social apathy, and war.




7. Jay-Z at Pemberton Music Festival -- 07.27.08

I had never seen anything like Jay-Z. I was floored. I want more. When Jay-Z suggested to the burly British Columbian crowd that we ought to get rid of the border between our respective nations so that we could do a whole lot more hangin' out, well, I thought that was a swell idea. His undeniable magnetism and gift for spontaneity become painfully clear seeing him live, where he can deliver several minutes of improvised valentines to the crowd (as he did in the amazing "Girls, Girls, Girls") that are shockingly well-delivered off-the-cuff. Sample the blissful energy that explodes during the "99 Problems" below:



For a gal who doesn't get much hip hop in her musical diet, I was admittedly surprised by how much I loved his set, but that is the gift of a true performing star -- the ability to connect and delight crowds supersedes the confines of any genre. Don't ever miss an opportunity to see him for yourself, please.

8. Kronos Quartet with Glenn Kotche at Carnegie Hall (Zenkel Hall) -- 12.05.08

As difficult as it may be to believe, not all of the aural titillation that I enjoy comes at the hands of an electric guitar. This remarkable classical concert featured a handful of world premieres, as well as the seminal 1970 George Crumb piece "Black Angels", which was the inspiration for David Harrington to form the Kronos Quartet in 1973. Kronos Quartet is difficult to categorize, as you will see from their rendition of Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" below.



The highlight of the show, for me, was when Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche joined the quartet to perform the NY debut of his piece "Anomaly", which is the first piece Kotche has penned for instruments beyond percusscion, and in which the strings are meant to emulate the limbs of a percussionist. The 25-minute piece was mesmerizing, clearly demonstrating that Kotche is so much more than a mere Heavy Metal Drummer.

9. Earl Greyhound Acoustic at Calhoun School -- 09.12.08

Nothing against turning the knob to eleven, but when the strumming comes unplugged there is just something so real about it. Brooklyn's Earl Greyhound is known for making a whole lotta noise, but for those who aren't initiated with their honky tonk roots, Kamara Thomas and Matt Whyte have been performing acoustic for some time, and thus when they bring the EG material to this stripped-down format, it is truly something special. The audio from this concert is available in a limited release, and the video is (again) in the tank over here at Shine A Light Productions, so you'll have to make do with pictures of this one-of-a-kind show. You'll want to try to get your hands on a copy of "I'm On Jupiter Waving My Arms at You" because it features Thomas at her most riveting (causing chills when I witnessed "My Kentucky" from behind the lens, and thereafter in the edit room) and Whyte at his most swoon-a-licious (on tunes like "Someone" and "Out of Air"). It was particularly heart-warming to witness EG get the high school crowd to sing along with them on Whyte's children's song, "This Tree". A truly touching show from a trio that is more apt to melt your face off. Seeing them acoustic is a rare, delicious treat.

10. Bustle In Your Hedgerow at The Knitting Factory -- 12.28.08



Cover bands are supposed to be kind of lame, even if the band they're imitating is cool. That has never been the case for Bustle In Your Hedgerow, who have always been so-much-more than just a cover band. Why? Because of the talent on the stage, duh. But this particular show was so-much-more than even that -- on this evening where Marco Benevento, Joe Russo, Scott Metzger, and Ween's Dave Dreiwitz would say goodbye to 14 years of memories at the fabled Knitting Factory (over and done in Manhattan, at least, as the club is heading to what we used to call The Luna Lounge in Williamsburg), the quartet truly went beyond any boundaries that were drawn in the sand by Page and Plant so many years ago. Sure, it's always awesome to hear your friends rock the living daylights out of some of the best songs ever written, but this time, they really did it as a band: they went out on a limb and re-arranged my concept of what Zep should sound like, and that's no small task. Witness the transformation on "Out on The Tiles" above, and on "The Song Remains The Same" below:



Honorable mentions:

• Ruby Benevento making her big-stage debut at High Sierra Music Festival, 07.03.08

• Steven Bernstein's Millenial Territory Orchestra at 55 Bar, 11.14.08

• Good Enough For Good Times at Le Bon Temps Roulé, 05.03.08

• Lizzie Powell fronting Land of Talk and then joining headliners Broken Social Scene as the new girl in town. Brooklyn Masonic Temple, 10.24.08










• Brad Mehldau at (le) Poisson Rouge, 10.10.08

• Marco Benevento with Reed Mathis and Jon Fishman at Drom, 11.07.08

• Surprise Me Mr. Davis at Sullivan Hall, 04.20.08

Rocktober continues with the Incomparable Brad Barr

The second installment of ROCKTOBER from Shine A Light Productions presents The Slip frontman Brad Barr's solo work. The selections for this week come from Barr's performances at Pete's Candy Store last autumn (which served as the capper for a magnificent wedding weekend, which partially explains why Barr is in a suit and tie for this performance); at Sullivan Hall this past January where he opened on the final night of Marco Benevento's residency; and his recent appearance at the Bowery Ballroom where he graced the stage twice, first as a solo performer and later with his Slip bandmates backing Sonya Kitchell. You can view the videos HERE.

Barr's songwriting has become increasingly prolific and poignant, and the rare chance to catch him play solo is something not to be missed. His guitar chops are widely heralded, and here at Shine A Light Productions we don't think it's an understatement to call him the best guitar player of his generation, for he can deftly channel Chuck Berry or Jimmy Page, Django Reinhardt or Jimi Hendrix. Most importantly, he also can sound like Brad Barr, and that's something no other player out there can claim.

Barr's new solo album, The Fall Apartment (Tompkins Square Records), features 11 instrumental tracks, and if you visit the Tompkins Square release page, you can get a free mp3 of "Newst Flurries". The album features imaginative arrangements, including a haunting cover of Kurt Cobain's "Heart Shaped Box".

Barr is currently on tour with his Slip bandmates backing Sonya Kitchell, and Barr is oftentimes performing a solo set to open the show, so be sure to go early to catch these rare solo sets. Full tour dates and more information about Barr available on his MySpace page.

Shine A Light Productions Presents: ROCKTOBER

After a lengthy blogging absence, we are jumping back into the thick of things here at Shine A Light Productions, and we are going to be providing you with some of what we've been working on over the summer months.

Over the course of the next five weeks, we will release live footage of some of our favorite artists every Friday through a series we're deeming ROCKTOBER. These exclusive videos will be released via the Shine A Light Productions Live Music Page and through our Facebook page, so be sure to become a fan so you will receive updates announcing the latest live video releases.

October 3 - Surprise Me Mr. Davis
October 10 - Brad Barr solo
October 17 - Marco Benevento
October 24 - Earl Greyhound
October 31 - Nathan Moore and release of new Surprise Me Mr. Davis video

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The first featured artist is Surprise Me Mr. Davis, an innovative electro-folk quartet which is comprised of singer-songwriter Nathan Moore and what is surely the most under-rated band in modern rock, The Slip. The story goes that Nathan was on the road as The Slip's merch guy when the acoustics in some hotel shower convinced the Boston-based trio that they should begin collaborating musically with Moore.

Many years later, we are lucky to be witnessing the bounty of this musical partnership in venues all across the country, and nowhere are the boys more at home than at the High Sierra Music Festival, where they have reigned as unofficial good times amabassdors for the last decade. Shine A Light was on hand at the 2008 festival to capture some of the many sets that these fellas offered, from the Davis performances at all hours of the day and night, two rare and hotly anticipated sets from The Slip, and solo sets from Nathan Moore (which didn't necessarily feature Mr. Moore... a late-in-the-festival troubadour timeslot saw Brad Barr fill in and play the songs of the vocally-overworked Nathan Moore).

The Davis boys did a quick run through the North-East in August, landing in New York during what was surely the most heavily-laden week of music in recent memory, with an All Points West Radiohead double-header sandwiched in between shows from Trey Anastasio, Wilco, and Bob Dylan. However, Union Hall played host to SMMD for a fantastic Sunday evening show, and the following day before the boys left town, Shine A Light caught up to the boys to shoot a music video for their new song, "I'm No Good At All'.



Surprise Me Mr. Davis doesn't have any tour dates on the radar until their huge New Years Eve show with their good friends the Benevento-Russo Duo at B.B. Kings in New York (conveniently located down the street from what promises to be a monster celebration at Madison Square Garden when My Morning Jacket rings in 2009). However, the Davis boys will be busy touring in other incarnations: the fall season will see The Slip touring with Sonya Kitchell all over the lower 48, and Brad Barr will be promoting his new instrumental album, The Fall Apartment, by doing solo performances to open most shows; Andrew Barr and Marc Friedman will appear in Marco Benevento's trio in November, and Nathan Moore will be the featured opener for a handful of these dates.

Rocktober's inaugural live release is featured below, and remember that you can only check out the rest of these exclusive (that means not on YouTube) videos at the Shine a Light Live Music webpage.

Langer-ruminations...

It had been just over 8 years since my last trip to Big Cypress Seminole Reservation, and as I drove up snake road I had many flashbacks to the 24-hour period of anguish and anticipation that I had endured on the same stretch of pavement in 1999. This time we were driving at speeds that cars normally go on highways and not staring at tail lights through the night. So that was a good thing. I hoped it was a sign that Langerado had made the right move by upping from Markham Park and heading further from the environs of Fort Lauderdale.

However, I think that Langerado’s leap to the swampy interior of Florida was perhaps premature. I felt that the size and scope of last year’s festival was ideal—I still claim that last year’s offering might have been the most perfect festival I’ve yet attended. Last year’s success can be attributed to the incredibly dense and diverse lineup, a perfectly-sized venue, and it goes without saying that Florida’s weather in early March is simply a wonderful way to awaken slumbering senses. Sadly, this year’s festival paled in comparison, as the size of the venue seemed larger than necessary, the lineup was thinner and less astutely arranged, and the combination of torrential rains, tornado warnings and a Saturday night cold front plagued the festival this year.

There were highlights, of course. Grace Potter’s Sunday afternoon set was one such gem: try as you might to dismiss her as a pretty face with hot red boots, there’s no way you can deny the vocal talents and showmanship that this girl is blessed with. Add to that firstly some charisma on the keys (indeed, she was playing Marco Benevento’s organ that day and fearlessly channeling his rock-neck expression) and secondly some chops on the guitar, and you’ve got a Grade A performer that is a delight to behold. The full-band drum breakdown was an entertaining indication of how Grace and her band-members interact playfully and intrepidly while creating music, and I would endorse their act to any fan of rootsy rock n roll--or to anyone who simply likes to watch babes in boots belt it out. (I think that's most of us...)



The Wood Brothers were my Saturday-in-the-sunshine pick, delivering some tunes from their forthcoming album, Loaded, along with some of the stellar tunes from Ways Not To Lose. Their harmonies and plucky breakdowns are candy to my ears: having seen their very first gig at Tonic in March of 2005, it is a real pleasure to see how they have grown ever-more comfortable making music together, and it is a sound that isn’t being played better by any duo out there.

American Babies had an early set on Saturday, but my fave musical offering of the Brothers Hamilton, Sir Russo, and Scott Metzger was a fortuitous stroll by the JamCruise tent where they were delivering an acoustic mini-set, and Russo invited Metzger up onto his lap for some brotherly love of his own. Danjaboots in action:



Bands I had hoped to see for the first time (and love thereafter) included Of Montreal, The National, and Ghostland Observatory. I was distracted by shaving cream and histrionic stage-wear at Of Montreal, and felt that their music wasn’t as compelling live as it was on my iPod (huh? I know… I, too, thought bands were supposed to be better live than on your F train commute). The National disappointed me by sounding like a thinner, less-spirited version of Arcade Fire, with all the live gusto of a dead legless lizard (see above). And Ghostland Observatory escaped me for scheduling reasons, as I was packing up gear from shooting the previous Chickee Hut pair, The Benevento-Russo Duo.

It is hard to evaluate the musical merit of shows that you are committed to capturing in other ways, so take my shout-outs to The Duo and Earl Greyhound with a grain of salt. But Joe and Marco delivered a truly solid set, in classic Duo form, and their large, enthusiastic crowd (on-stage as well as off) was surely treated to one of the best sets at the festival. Tommy Hamilton sat in for a trio of songs, and while at the time I was more concerned with capturing him in the frame than listening to his sonic output, I will say that he played harder and faster than I knew he was capable of, and I’m beginning to like the sound of the Duo with a guitar. But, hey, I like my breakfast cereal with a guitar, too.

Earl Greyhound had an opening slot on Friday that was well-attended considering the seemingly premature time slot for such hard rock. They have a sound that is very hard for most soundboards to translate: their intricate vocal harmonies need to be balanced with thundering drums and lightening quick electric guitar shredding, so the high winds and short soundcheck didn’t do EG any favors. But they delivered their Soft Targets standards tightly, and their newer songs show great promise in the Rock Your Face category.

Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars were a lovely Friday evening sunset feel-good dance party; Citizen Cope was a mellow but mellifluous surprise; the Beastie Boys were nothing but fun; Phil Lesh sounded kind of like every other Phil Lesh show I’ve seen before; Mickey Hart gave me nothing to complain about but nothing to blog home about either: hosting Steve Kimock and former Deep Banana Blackout front-woman Jen Durkin (whom I recognized solely from her signature spinning moves).

But the biggest surprise (read: disappointment) of the festival was R.E.M. Granted, their music isn’t exactly what I would have selected for a Saturday night headliner (you could never top last year’s Sat Night rocker from My Morning Jacket), and granted they had to deal with a brutal change in weather that severely stunted the festival revelry, but the morose and political set –even while peppered with those cool throw-backs like Orange Crush--was just not what the doctor ordered. And there was slim pickins for alternatives between 9-12, so patrons were pretty much forced to stick those sets out. Absolutely none of the late night options (Phix, Disco Biscuits, STS9 and the like…) were enough to tempt me to turn into a pumpkin, so this festy patron got two rare solid nights of sleep. I don’t regret for one moment missing any of the pre-dawn activity—my only regret is not making it to MMW and Scofield’s set post-Duo. That might have provided me with enough warmth to stick out Stipe and company.

It will be interesting to see how Langerado responds with next year’s festival: either they will need a deeper lineup to justify having such a large, remote location or they may have to consider a return to the safe haven of Markham Park. Unless the lineup sees a return to something rivalling last year’s highlights, I have reservations about returning to Big Cypress—pun intended.

All photots courtesy the lovely and talented Mercy Southam.

Tea Leaf Reed's alright with me

The news that Reed Mathis would be stepping in to fill Ben Chambers' shoes in Tea Leaf Green was slightly befuddling to me at first, if only because the news came to me in the form of Marco Benevento enthusiastically belting "Tea Leaf Reed!" to me over a pre-show dinner in Woodstock, NY on the weekend. But once I garnered the facts, I was in full support of the union.

Reed will add some incredible depth to a lineup that that is in need of this kind of injection of sonic originality. Tea Leaf Green has developed a sound that is straight-ahead and rather predictable, but that is not to say they haven't crafted their own distinct sound. I was most impressed to have caught their all-acoustic performance at Mo Pitkin's earlier this fall, and the country-funk vibe came through just beautifully unplugged. I would take an acoustic TLG show over a boisterous frat-boy sell-out at Irving Plaza any day, but now that Reed is on the scene, I will happily get up front to hear some of the amazing basslines that he will spew forth. He will bring only good energy to the band and their sound, and I applaud his bold move to expand on musical horizons. The backlash indicates that perhaps jam fans aren't as ready to think outside the box as they think they are, and Reed's response only indicates what a beautiful human being he is:

"music CAN be a force for unification and community. why are the differences between us our favorite thing about ourselves? why do we want coltrane INSTEAD of the rolling stones. why not coltrane AND the rolling stones? do people need music? if so, what do they need it to do?"

Reed brings up a lot of pertinent questions, and I agree with him when he says this is an important conversation to have. Enjoy the full spectrum of Mr. Mathis' musings here.

And speaking of getting outside the box, the Benevento/Russo Duo invited Brad Barr on a 3-night run in the Northeast this past weekend, and it didn't take long for the trio's sound to convince me that this should be the new band... Their show at the lovely Bearsville Theatre was a heady affair indeed, with Brad providing a whole new level of ethereal range to the Duo's jams. The jams in Woodstock all became quietly intimate and intense, and were just a beautiful antithesis to the Duo jams I've come to recognize. Three sets of ears onstage were wide open, and with the crowd politely following suit, it made for one of the most enjoyable evenings of music in recent memory... (Okay, I confess that the occasional appearance of two guitars onstage was just a small bonus... a little slice of guitar-mony heaven for me).

The following night took the trio to Northhampton, MA where the energy was the polar opposite: the Duo were back up to their typical aural intensity and the crowd had gusto to match. I was behind the camera for this show, so stay tuned for the highlights. Having The Slip's frontman sit-in only enhanced the Duo's dynamic, and it underlines the importance for musicians to keep it fresh.

And while we're on the topic of fresh... sample a sneak peak of Marco Benevento's new album featuring Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr/Matt Chamberlain here. Beware: The Real Morning Party will set up camp in your phonological loop and stay there all day. Album will be out on Hyena Records in January!

musical musings for may...

The Tragically Hip at the Fillmore / Irving Plaza

Did it happen, or was it a flashback from high school?

I think it really happened. The Tragically Hip totally rocked my face off. But instead of being underage and hoping my parents won't smell beer on my breath when they pick me up outside the arena after the show, I'm now over 30 and seeing them at a small, packed venue they're calling the Fillmore East. What the... How did I get here?! No wonder I'm confused.

Bottom line is that this very same lineup has been rocking pretty hard for the better part of two decades, and I was caught unprepared for the freshness with which songs from my youth played out before me. Songs I had forgotten I knew every word to suddenly seemed like... well, old friends who had also turned 30 and found themselves at the Fillmore East. I don't think I'd be out of line to say that the jam during "At the Hundredth Meridian" was one of the best I've heard all year. Which made me think... Hmmm, was The Hip a JamBand all along and we Canadians didn't know any better to categorize it? Regardless, they do jam. And well, considering the wealth of experience they take into each show, a refreshing change from the typical JamBand experience of watching a quartet of seventeen-year olds recycle lesson notes from "Jamming for Dummies".

For those who haven't seen the band, Gord Downie is an absolute magician onstage, a delight to behold as he jerks around like a puppet, spins around on the bottom of his mic stand, calls chords out to the audience as he strums his acoustic... you get the idea. He does things onstage I've never even thought a person could do, and he does it all with total sincerity.

It also occurred to me that The Hip may just be one of the most important seeds from which grew the current buffet of "hard rockin' in an obscure fashion" bands that hail from the north country: Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, and the legion of bands that are splintered from each camp are all indebted to The Tragically Hip. When you listen to The Hip, you'll see why.

In other news...

Bjork is beautiful. So is the Apollo Theater. Together... you should be so lucky to someday take a bath in the result.




Fat Mama needs to get back together. ASAP. Too much talent in that lineup for this NOT to happen... and as we head into some Duo-less days ahead, it just may take 6 other guys onstage to hold down what Russo spews forth. And those horns... c'mon.



The best five dollars you never spent: the unbelievable hour-long set by Bobby Previte and Marco Benevento during the final night of performance (ever) at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Center. It will now revert to its pre-9/11 use of being a bank, but it will hopefully remain filled with the incredible energy that artists like Previte imbued into its walls. His show with Marco capped a week of duets with various madmen (and women), but you can catch these two back at it at High Sierra under the Coalition of the Willing banner. Stay tuned for info on how you can get your hands on a video copy of this set...

Those sweet babies from Rose Hill Drive sure know how to rip a cover tune... while their songwriting as-of-yet is nothing to blog home about, their musicianship certainly is. The balls with which they'll pull off covers like Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots" or Hendrix's gritty "Power of Love" are astounding. And don't worry about their songwriting, as the boys are just in their early twenties, and seeing as they've already opened for The Who, I think they'll be around a while. That's a good thing. You can sample the rest of their blistering set at the Mercury Lounge on April 28, 2007 here.

Arcade Fire sound just like Arcade Fire, even when they're at Radio City. Which is to say, pretty damn good, in that energetic 4-4 time kind of way. And it always fun to watch Canadians scamper around a room like that: playing trumpet on the first Mezzanine, booking across the backs of seats in the orchestra, and generally behaving like RCMH is kind of like a playground... which it kind of is. So, thumbs up, my Canuck friends. C'est bon.

Got a hankering for some country that won't make you cringe? Eat yer heart out, Dolly Parton. We've got Serena Jean performing at the Brooklyn County Fair with some of her Honky Tonk Happy Hour mates here...
You can catch Serena performing with Larune along with some other rather talented Honkytonkers on Monday, May 21st at the Living Room.

And finally, the best part of watching the Greyboy Allstars is pretending that Karl Denson isn't onstage. Then again, if he weren't, we wouldn't get those delicious smug glances shared behind his back by Robert Walter and Elgin Park up there. Their non-verbal communication is almost as tasty as the lick-a-licious grooves they're laying down. Some say the GBA sound just like they always did... I say that so long as RW wants to make that stinky-funk face, I'm down.