30 November 2008

Shows of the Week

Welcome December...

Enjoy

Click here for upcoming shows

Monday:
Tina Turner @ Madison Square Garden
Snow Patrol @ Bowery Ballroom
Dave Mason @ BB King's
*Les Paul @ Iridium (early/late)
Oz Noy Trio @ Bitter End

Tuesday:
*The Bulletproof Lincolns @ Fat Baby
Hot Tuna (Ollabelle opens) @ Town Hall
Dr Dog @ Webster Hall
Steven Bernstein's MTO, Curtis Hasselbring et al @ Knitting Factory (all club)
Butch Morris Orchestra @ The Stone (early/late)
Doug Wamble (w/ B. Marsalis) @ Joe's Pub
Bruce Hornsby, Dar Williams, Felice Bros et al @ The Concert Hall
Jenny Scheinman @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (early)
Nellie McKay @ (le) Poisson Rouge
Wayne Shorter @ Carnegie Hall
Stellstarr* @ Piano's

Wednesday:
Tina Turner @ Nassau Colesium (Uniondale, LI)
Vampire Weekend @ Terminal 5
Stellstarr* @ Piano's
Sylvie Courvoisier @ The Stone (early)
Gods & Monsters et al @ Cake Shop
*Hot Tuna (Larry Keel opens) @ Town Hall
Kevin Costner @ Blender Theater
Organ Summit @ Iridium (early/late)
Digable Planets @ Highline Ballroom

Thursday:
Jose Gonzalez et al @ BAM (Brooklyn)
Stellstarr* @ Piano's
Organ Summit @ Iridium (early/late)
Vampire Weekend @ Terminal 5
The Radiators @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
*The Nouvellas et al @ Zebulon (Brooklyn)
BB King @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)
K. Andreasson/J. Hamer @ Banjo Jim's (late)
Philip Glass, Zeena Parkins et al @ Roulette (benefit)
Sugar Hill Gang @ Blender Theater

Friday:
*Grace Potter & The Nocturnals @ Webster Hall
BB King @ BB King's
Stellstarr* @ Piano's
Ha Ha The Moose @ Sullivan Hall
Jose Gonzalez et al @ BAM (Brooklyn)
O'Death @ Bowery Ballroom
Organ Summit @ Iridium (early/late)
FREE Ben Allison @ LaGuardia PAC
Crooked Still @ Drom
John Prine @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)
Twisted Sister @ Nokia Theater
The Squirrel Nut Zippers @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
Charles Gayle Trio @ The Stone (early)
Peter, Paul & Mary @ Carnegie Hall

Saturday:
Budos Band @ BAM Cafe (Brooklyn)
Twisted Sister @ Nokia Theater
Vampire Weekend @ Terminal 5
The Hungry Ghosts @ The Stone (early)
Organ Summit @ Iridium (early/late)
Ha Ha The Moose @ Sullivan Hall
Stellstarr* @ Piano's
Nada Surf @ Bowery Ballroom
Yuka Honda & Petra Haden @ Joe's Pub (midnight)
Michael Blake's Hellbent @ The Stone (late)
The Clarks @ Highline Ballroom
*Phonograph, Salt & Samovar @ The Studio at Webster Hall

Sunday:
*Ceramic Dog @ The Stone (late)
The Seldom Scene @ BB King's
Steve Cardenas Trio @ 55 Bar (late)
Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (late)
Erin McKeown @ Ailey Theater
Love Is All @ Bowery Ballroom
Nada Surf @ Webster Hall
Organ Summit @ Iridium (early/late)

Click here for upcoming shows

23 November 2008

Shows of the Week

This week's a little light on music, but heavy on calories, so it all evens out.

Enjoy!

Click here for upcoming shows

Monday:
Les Paul @ Iridium (early/late)
Family Guy Sings @ Carnegie Hall
Shayni Rae w/ Kevn Kinney et al @ National Underground

Tuesday:
Tea Leaf Green @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
Nasheet Waits w/ J. Moran et al @ Tap Bar
Tony Trischka @ Joe's Pub (late)
Family Guy Sings @ Carnegie Hall
Nasheet Waits Trio @ Tap Bar
Jerry Joseph/Bret Mosley @ Union Hall (Brooklyn)
Paul Motian Trio 2000 + 2 @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Sean Wayland w/ T. Lefebvre, K. Carlock et al @ 55 Bar (late)
Hubert Sumlin @ BB King's
Ludacris @ Highline Ballroom

Wednesday:
Tea Leaf Green @ Highline Ballroom
Steel Train @ Bowery Ballroom
Paul Motian Trio 2000 + 2 @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Tina Turner @ Prudential Center (Newark, NJ)
Hubert Sumlin @ BB King's
Erik Friedlander @ The Stone (early)
Jean-Michel Pilc w/ W. Krantz et al @ 55 Bar (late)
Steel Train @ Bowery Ballroom
Los Amigos Invisibles @ Fillmore
Joey Baron solo @ The Stone (late)

Turkey Thursday:
Paul Motian Trio 2000 + 2 @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Serena Jean @ National Underground

Friday:
Dark Star Orchestra @ Nokia Theater
Dave Brubeck @ Blue Note (early/late)
Reed Foehl et al @ Rockwood Music Hall
Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout @ 55 bar (late)
Paul Motian Trio 2000 + 2 @ Village Vanguard (early/late)

Saturday:
Dark Star Orchestra @ Nokia Theater
Lotus @ Fillmore
Paul Motian Trio 2000 + 2 @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Ned Rothernberg's Aggregate @ The Stone (late)
The Moonlighters @ Barbes (brooklyn) (late)
Guthrie & Seeger @ Carnegie Hall
Dave Brubeck @ Blue Note (early/late)
Fishbone @ Knitting Factory

Sunday:
They Might Be Giants @ 92Y Tribeca
Eskelin/Saft/Black @ The Stone (late)
Dave Brubeck @ Blue Note (early/late)
Ollabelle et al @ Banjo Jim's
Paul Motian Trio 2000 + 2 @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes (brooklyn) (late)
Butch Morris Orchestra @ The Stone (early)

Click here for upcoming shows

22 November 2008

Nedstalgia: 15 Years Ago

I've been horrible at keeping up with all the nostalgic posts I had meant to do, but couldn't let this one slide by, even if I am two weeks late.

[Download Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit playing the Paradise in Boston, MA on 12 November 1993]

See it was 15 years and 2 weeks ago that the Col. Bruce Hampton (ret.) and the Aquarium Rescue Unit returned to Boston, MA. Seemed like they came through town about once a semester and played an almost identical setlist to the same bunch of folks that about half filled a club. Yes, the situation was almost the same to the point of getting a wave of deja vu around the time Bruce introduced "Jimmy Herring from Boston, Massachusetts" somewhere between "Yield Not To Temptation" and "Basically Frightened." And yet, in the warped time/space continuum of the Aquarium Rescue Unit everything was exactly the same and yet worlds apart. It took me a while to get hip to the magic otherworld that Bruce had created with this band, the way he could take the same lump of clay and reform it again and again, the musical sleight-of-hand he employed with perhaps the greatest band of talent ever assembled.

As I walked up to the Paradise on that cold night in November, waiting in line to get in, I noticed the marquee advertised the opening band: The Dave Matthews Band. Something struck me as familiar about that... then I remembered a friend from Virginia extolling their virtues and became psyched that I'd have a chance to check them out on a certainly rare trip up north. The names of the bands that opened for ARU through the years are the names of the bands that fill many of your hard drives right now: Phish, WSP, Dave Matthews, MMW, Flecktones, Leftover Salmon... these guys weren't just supporting acts, they were disciples learning from the masters and on November 12, 1993, a hot-to-go crowd in Boston was allowed to sit in on a lecture of the highest degree.

The DMB set was about a solid opener as you could ask for. In fact, they came off as anything but a supporting act -- they were a fully formed, formidable live act and it was clear they'd be opening for no one in the near future. They had it, no doubt. The cool thing about the whole night was that they had two drum kits set up side by side the whole night. Jeff "Apt Q258" Sipe and Carter Beauford played in tandem for the entire Dave Matthews set and you can just imagine! Pound for pound, two of the hardest hidden, skin-pummeling, nasty, nasty drummers you can find, playing at the same time for extended bouts of music. Sure, there's the chance it could be too much. But it wasn't. This was no throwaway opening set, it was a leading indicator: this was going to be a special night. This was not just a concert but a celebration of what live music can be. The club was the perfect size, the crowd within it was tuned in, the caliber of music was of the highest quality from the first hit of the opening set. The tapes were rolling right of the SBD so we'd still be able to listen to it 15 years later. Sometimes the stars are aligned and if you're lucky, you're standing there with your thighs banging against the stage to every single note.

The ARU set started off in standard fashion. Their shows were like Choose Your Own Adventure books, where the first couple of pages were always the same story and then before you knew it there was a point at which things would diverge. The thing was, though, that they were the ones doing the choosing, and that quite often the new directions had no root in the physical universe. Standard blues and bluegrass would explode in fractals of jazz and jam, musicians would appear and disappear from the stage, the bassist became the lead guitarist or lead vocalist... and then things would get really weird. Somehow, going into an ARU show I was always incredibly excited to see Oteil play and not even think about Jimmy or that wicked, wild drummer, the Apt Q258... but in about 2 songs time I had the same thought: "man, I forgot how fucking amazing Jimmy Herring is!" Eventually, I was able to remember past the encore and came to be the sycophantic Herring nut I am today, but for a while it was actually quite nice to be blown away again and again like it was the first time.

Anyway, so the band is grooving and doing all their nutty ARU things. Bruce was especially active on his "chazoid" (a kind of cross between a guitar and a mandolin that Bruce would play with his fingers, a slide or any other crazy shit he would pull out of his pocket) that night and you can hear he is constantly engaged with Jimmy and Oteil, which wasn't always the case. It was hot shit, but really, there'd been no way to pull out that first 45 minutes and say it was any better or worse than the last time they'd come through town. Then, at some point, Carter comes back out, kinda just snuck up on stage. I can't recall exactly when it was, but by Time Is Free, he's up there and like a little spark to a pile of dry leaves, shit just got combustible. We're not talking about just a little campfire, nosiree, things exploded into full-on book-burning caliber bonfire, consuming ever bit of sanity in its path. The 258/Beauford combination which had gotten its practice work in during the opening stanza were as locked in as any two drummers I'd ever seen or ever seen since. That Time Is Free is what I'd call a definitive version, just totally epic. Jimmy's as raw as ever and just banging back and forth between the two drummers in what feels like a 5 minute pure-climax orgy of notes that finally gives way to the requisite Oteil bass solo. That bumbles and builds and almost lets the fire die until the two beatmeisters return to the pulse and it explodes once or twice more. Totally exhilarating.

Of course, this was just the beginning. Next they bring up (the late) Leroi Moore on saxophone to join in the fun as they slink their way into the Sun Ra phantasmagoria Zambi/Space Is the Place. Under Bruce Hampton's tutelage, the Aquarium Rescue Unit always created just the right amount of musical space. They could expand or shrink the sound as much as necessary seemingly at will. Almost every time I saw them, there was a different collection of musicians, either in the core unit or with a variety of guests and yet it was always the right group at that certain moment. When Moore hops on stage, the sound grows, the right moments get stretched out, the music gets a little more focused and a hell of a lot more jazzy. Later on, when Boyd Tinsley joins in, they elongated over a completely different axis and got down with a totally down-country "Fixin' To Die." That was the thing -- there weren't 3 dimensions in the ARU universe, well, unless there had to be 3. Sometimes there were 12 and sometimes there were just 1 or 2. They were the original string theory and there were never too many guitars. Moore brought a sultry, grooving saxophone to Zambi and, listening to the recording I've heard again and again, seems 100% right in place as he leads the band through a short jam and a perfect segue into the Space Is the Place section. The band perfectly encapsulates the saxophone, it's like it was always there and always meant to be there.

The jam melts away into a more extended drum section where Sipe and Carter really go at it once more time before closing out the entire section with a wild, egg-to-strings Col. Bruce chazoid belch... something that probably needs to be seen to be appreciated in full. Finally, the band, as if coaxed through telepathy, pulses as one underneath Bruce's insanity, counting out beats in the perfect syncopated countermeasure to the chazoid's self-possessed meandering. Next thing we knew, we had passed through the looking glass, the band had gone from silky smooth saxophone jazz to free-flowing Sun Ra weirdness and came out whitewashed in an uptempo bluegrass jam as Fixin To Die. Tinsley has joined them on stage and it's a ARU-style hoedown... which is to say a totally freaky, up-is-down bluegrass jam.

That whole 3 or 4 song stretch (depending on how you count) was and is the perfect embodiment of what the Aquarium Rescue Unit stood for. There were rules, but the main one was that there were no rules. Seeing a show like this wasn't just a concert experience --yes, it was amazing on just a music-being-played showcase, but it was also a seminar in what live music means and a field trip into the unknown. The next thing you know Oteil is dedicating a song to "Curious George... the monkey" and you're not sure if Col. Bruce Hampton is just some wild, fictional mind trip. Fun while it lasted, but wait, where was I??

Anyway, it's fun to go back and listen to this show and to think about how things turned out for so many of the players on the stage that night. Like a breeze to a dandelion, the seeds have floated all over the music world and made their own little universes almost always for the better and most certainly deeply influenced by nights like that one in Boston.

Review: Widespread Panic

(by request... haven't gotten crazy wordy for Panic in a while, so here you go, a full blown, take an hour off review)

The Fillmore at Irving Plaza, 19 November 2008

As I stood there Wednesday night, sardined between people I knew and people I didn't, the sweat of Panic fans mixing in the air as we pumped our fists collectively, I had a revelation. I was now on the other side of the mountain. I had climbed and climbed and climbed with Widespread Panic, reached the summit and now was making my way down the other side into the valley. My relationship with the band was now "over the hill." As my shaking body and permanent grin might have informed those around me, being in my Spreadhead middle age, was a good thing... a great thing. Being over the hill meant that not only was I dancing my ass off in the here and now, absorbing every scintillating moment from ear to toe, but I was also appreciating every note and every song for what they once were and how they came to be what they were on that night.

When the band broke out into "Pigeons" near the end of the 1st set, I screamed in approval -- I thought, "I love this song!" and immediately prepped my not-as-supple-as-it-used-to-be body for some serious grooving. But as the song went on, I thought back to Buffalo 6/20/96 when somehow it first clicked for me how fraggin' brilliant that tune was, and then flashed forward to Warfield 97 when Michael Houser did things in the middle of a Pigeons that haunted my consciousness for weeks afterward. All this swirled around in my head as my hips swirled around an imaginary axis of Herringness. Jimmy playing riffs that somehow encompassed enough of the past without sacrificing his unique voice sharpened the effect. That was a fine Pigeons, but it was made all the better by being informed by every other Pigeons that came before it. Looking down into the lush valley of present day Widespread Panic just wouldn't be the same if not for the glorious climb up the craggy slope of a decade of shared experience.

There were moments like that galore Wedesday night as the overly packed Irving Plaza (now the Fillmore) got treated to what I personally found to be the best Herring-era WSP show I've seen yet. This is WSP version6.2 or something like that, and without my realizing it, they've moved beyond the beta phase and are ready to rock and roll with all past versions... that's right, all of them. Wednesday night was a benefit show in a venue that was too small for the band 10 years ago, so it had the markings of an "event" through and through. Of course, there is always a fear that the band might pussyfoot around the night, go into self-promotional safe mode and keep the die-hards yearning for more. It wasn't even 100% clear to me that we were going to get 2 sets out of the evening, although the ticket price certainly would warrant at least that much music. Thankfully, the band gave us our money's worth and then some, blasting their way through a jam-packed show that lasted, start-to-finish, nearly 4 hours.

My train was delayed getting into town, so my plans to get there early and get as close to the front with as large a friendly group as possible got nixed pretty quickly. Still, got inside around 8:15, worked my way to the far side of the room (which happened to be the Schools side), and immediately realized that it was elbows-to-tits scrunched in there. But, hopping to my tip-toes I saw some friendly faces in the morass and decided to piss a few people off and see how far I could make it. Thankfully, there were little oases of "hello there" friendly faces along the way, so I was able to "excuse me"/"what's up" my way to the front without much incident. Next thing I knew I was a couple men and a couple ladies short of the rail dead in front of Schools and the show was just about ready to begin. Boy, am I glad I took the chance, I hear some horrible things about the middle of the room, but we were just fine up there. Lights go down, band comes to stage, flashbacks to 1995 and away we go...

11/19/08 Irving Plaza, New York, NY
1: Heroes > Disco > Angels on High, Smoking Factory > Fixin' To Die > Henry Parsons Died > Green Onions > Henry Parsons Died > Dark Day Program, Pigeons, Ain't Life Grand
2: Space Wrangler, North > Smokestack Lightning > Jam > Protein Drink > Sewing Machine, Let's Get The Show On The Road > Airplane > Under The Radar Jam > Papa's Home, Holden Oversoul > Conrad
E: Expiration Day, Pilgrims, Goin' Out West
[Bill Graham Memorial Foundation benefit]

By the time the first notes of Disco filled the room, it was clear the band was clicking. The sound could not have been any better where I was standing. Which isn't to say that I had the perfect mix... as it turned out, I could barely hear most of what Jojo was playing. Did I say it could not have been any better? From my vantage point, I got the full Dave Schools treatment all night long. It was fun to watch, remember and relearn how much of the show runs through him. He practically lead the whole show like an orchestra conductor, using his bass in lieu of a baton.

Two new(er) songs followed Disco which was the clear low point of the night, if it had one at all. Angels On High had some nice moments and let Jimmy get his legs under him, I think that song has a nice future ahead of it. Smoking Factory continues to disengage... it's like there are two songs in there, one quite good and one quite craptacular. If there was some way to exorcise the shit, we might be OK. Still, Jimmy's unbridled enthusiasm to just play, play, play makes even the iffiest of tunes worthwhile. Song after song he would just go at, sometimes in the most inappropriate places, sometimes for much longer than necessary, but the rest of the band wisely doesn't try to rein him in. Why should they? Better to err on the side of ass-whooping guitar nastiness than the alternatives. The addition of Fixin' To Die to the regular repertoire perfectly personifies this attitude and seems to be an almost pure let-Jimmy-at-it maneuver by the band. Somehow it feels like I've been getting a lot of the same songs in the rare instance that I get to see these guys, so I could do without a Fixin To Die (and North, Conrad, and Wrangler while we're at it) the next time. But I guess that's what happens when you only see a band like Panic twice a year.

Midway through Fixin To Die, the show kind of segued from a 50/50 proposition to something that was no-doubt-about-it going to rage. You could just tell from the looks on their faces, the way everyone was bringing things up just a little bit, the way the 6 teeth of the gears were clicking into place, fully lubricated and churning and chugging along without effort. These guys are professionals and will make shit happen one way or another, but sometimes it seems to come a bit more effortlessly than others. You can tell pretty quickly if they're in that zone, and it's what separates a good show from a great one. They can make up for lack of "it" by setlist choices or some other intangible, but when they're on, it don't matter what they play. That's something you learn from climbing up the mountain. You see when it happens and you see when it doesn't... for a while there it wasn't happening at all and that's what makes you appreciate it that much more when you're making your way back down.

Suffice it to say, it did not really matter what they played Wednesday night. As it so happens, starting with Henry Parsons, they made turn for the dark, deep, evil, mysterious Panic. The air inside Irving was thick, people were passing out, it was nearly impossibly to get a drink from most parts of the venue. JB, Todd, Dave -- they didn't care. They turned that room into a dungeon. They strapped the crowd to the rack and commenced with the torture. Sweet, sweet torture.

Henry Parsons -- my mind flashed back to 12/30/95, the date that that song really clicked for me in my mind. Every time I've heard it since has been influenced in some way by that night in Spartanburg, SC. No one clamors to hear this song, but when it starts up, there is a ripple of energy in the crowd. "Yes!" They stretched out the intro a bit, either intentionally or not, and just let the crowd simmer in the possibilities. I was in full eyes-glazed-over mode by then, I couldn't see Sunny from where I was standing and I couldn't hear Jojo barely at all. I was fully zoned in on JB's scorching vocal, Schools carpet bombing bass, Todd's steady pacing and Herring's past/future mind meld of a guitar lead. The playing was like an fight scene from the old school Batman TV show, like splotches of color and text were exploding from the speakers: "POW!!!' "BONK!!" "SPLAT!!!" Damn, that was hot and got even harder. For all that history and orienteering I've done with Panic through the years, there are still surprises lurking over the hill. I had no idea they even played "Green Onions," let alone had started to sandwich it in the middle of Parsons, but cool, calm and collected -- like they'd done it countless times before -- they one by one -- first Todd, then Schools and on and on... -- made their way into a pretty neat Booker T jam. I'm not sure this is the best cover for Widespread, but by putting it in the middle of a smoking Henry Parsons, it was a perfect elevate-your-game choice. When they went back into it, whew... hot shit!

The set closed with the aforementioned Pigeons and a crowd-pleasing Ain't Life Grand. I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing a set end with Ain't Life Grand. Feels good. Felt good.

During set break the crowd thinned out... for a moment. Then it got even more crowded. Thankfully there were good people nearby and, personally, I've dealt with crazier, more packed situations many times in the past. Until I'm being pressed so hard against a rail that my feet aren't even touching the ground (again), I think I'll be OK. Unfortunately, the set break was a little longish, which is always tough. I could only hope that they were resting up for the goods. As we grew restless, we played the "what they going to open with" game, and it grew increasingly obvious to everyone that it was going to be Space Wrangler. It was destined to be true. Finally they returned, Dave barely brushed his bass and I knew from the sound that came out, that it was, no doubt about it, Space Wrangler.

They opened the second set with Space Wrangler. That was about as tame as the rest of the set would be, because it was about to get hell raiser evil on Irving Place. North followed and is one of those tunes I seem to catch every time they play it... or that they play every time they come to NYC, which is probably the case. Still, like I said, they were in the don't matter what they play zone and they were pretty much bulldozing everything in their path. As usually is the case, Jimmy H was jamming the shit out of everything. Like any spot where he saw an opening he filled it with a zillion notes played at a frenetic pace. I'm quite certain after watching him play for hours on end Wednesday night that he powers his own guitar and amp by sheer perpetual motion. If he hits the wrong note, you'd never know it, because he's on to the next one so quickly. The more you think about it, the more you watch him play in this band, the more you realize that he is a terrible guitarist for this band. There is no logical way for his style of guitar mangling to work in Widespread Panic, and yet, you listen to the way his notes fit in with the rest of the band and the way the rest of the band fits their notes around his and it's quite clear that this is the right thing. The only way.

Still, it can lead to moments of awkwardness. For one, the band seemed to have a horrible time ending songs. I've seen this kind of flu hit them before. There was some sort of disconnect between Herring and Todd Nance on the drums, like they're not quite speaking the same language and if Schools isn't there to act as interpreter, they're just not going to understand each other 100%. I can live with that. More awkwardness was the case during the ensuing "Smokestack Lightning." First of all: sick! Awesome segue into it, the kind of song where you feel like you've heard them going into it dozens of times before but never has it really materialized (at least for me, first time). It was a perfect choice given how well the band was playing, and especially how good JB sounded. He really nailed this one, embodied the old school Blues of it all. The way they eased into it was essentially verse>playing>left field jam>playing>verse.... There were at least 4 distinct jams in this one and each one probably stretched on for minutes that felt like many, many minutes. Is it possible for a capital-"J" Jamband to jam too much? J is for Jamming and J is for Jimmy, coincidence? I think not, the dude just loves to play. And play. And play. The rest of 'em were all too happy to follow him, so that the whole enterprise came off as a Keystone Kops routine. First Jimmy would escape the basic framework of Smokestack, Dave would look at Todd with a "I'll get him back" grin and instead of shackling the fugitive, would get caught up in the chase like a dog after his own tail. Then one by one the rest of them broke away essentially giggling themselves into exhaustion until finally Dave or Todd was able to wrangle them back into another verse. This happened at least 4 times during the course of the tune. It was a standard blues tune and then it was a '73 Dark Star over and over again. Who knows how long they were playing at it, but it felt like forever. And yes, that's fun. A lot of fucking fun for quite a while, but eventually I'm just like "so, does this mean you're not playing Barstools tonight?" {sob}.

Eventually they ran out of verses to sing -- actually that not true, I believe JB made up a couple of them on his own -- and moved on to the next line of the setlist. JB changed guitars for the Vic Chestnutt chestnut of Protein Drink > Sewing Machine. After all said and done, they pulled off another nice segue, letting Smokestack kind of melt away and then Jimmy lifting up out of the pause with the sweet opening riff to Protein Drink. Lemme tell you, this was another great choice for the show... they were feeling the dark side pretty strongly and this gave them every opportunity to embrace their inner Vader. It didn't disappoint. Rather than letting Jimmy lead them around, they seemed to take the plunge together, pricking their fingers and letting the blood mix together in some crackling ritual. Man, did I mention how freakin' good it sounded in there?

The only respite of the set was the "Let's Get the Show on the Road" that came next. Setlist construction is always an important, if underappreciated art. What songs to play and when to play them, it can make or break the show. I never would have guessed that LGTSOTR would have worked in the middle of this set. This set of murky grays and splotches of brown didn't seem like it needed any drips of color to make it any more enjoyable. But, of course, I would have been wrong. This was a perfect interlude, a moment to pull back the curtain and remind us how subtle and beautiful Panic can be. Not only that, but how they can be beautiful and yet brutally intense at the same time. JB, coming off the growling in Smokestack Lightning and the detached depth of his Chestnutt aping was able to open up, dig deep down and show us how absolutely soulful he really is. Jimmy, was able to cool off, slow down and play something nothing short of gorgeous.

This combination of sheer beauty and stark intensity carried over into "Airplane." This was another one of those moments that had me reeling through my Widespread Panic past. Sometimes we can be made to fully appreciate the band we love and think we know only from an outside observer. I remember giving a non-Panic-type a few live shows to listen to back in college. He probably never became a fan, but he made a comment that I will never forget. talking about "Airplane" he was struck how the band could go from a quiet, moody love song to a full-bore raging jam and back again in about 3 and a half minutes. "I've never heard anyone else do that before," he said. Not too many months after that conversation the band decided to take a song that I usually poo-pooed when they played it and tacked on an 8 minute jam that would oftentimes be the highlight of the show in which it appeared. I thought about those past times as the band stretched and stretched and zigged and zagged their way out of Airplane. Maybe I'm just getting older, but I'm not sure it would be such a terrible thing if they went back to the way it was before. So that the highlight wouldn't have been the extraterrestrial orbit that the Nance/Schools/Herring jetpack had brought us to, but rather they way JB botched the lyrics and fumbled his way around before catching his footing... the way he sang "sitting around watching the snow fall" to reflect his southern skin's certain recoiling at the cold temperatures that have overtaken the region the past week. Yeah, the jam was pretty spectacular, but there were plenty of spectacular jams during the course of the evening. This band doesn't need 10 minutes to prove its point. Although it ain't so bad when it takes 'em anyway.

Things got more and more pleasantly old school from there as the jam eventually surfaced into a blisterning set-closing triad of Papa's Home, Holden Oversoul, Conrad. All three were perfectly executed. For once, the jamming was perfectly appropriate in length and style. The shit was tight, the music was flabbergastingly good and the crowd responded with a surge of energy that I haven't felt at a NYC show in quite a while (if ever). Papa's was nice and compact -- there was no sandwich, not even the whiff of a drum solo, no crazy extended jamming, just a really awesome version of this really awesome song. JB sang every word like he meant it: winter is coming, Christmas is coming, we're going home. This final stretch was as tight as I've seen this band in a long time... the soul of Mikey Houser was floating in between the chandeliers, possibly joined by Bill Graham's, probably loving the music, the dancing, the energy and probably wondering why the hell everyone was constantly taking pictures with their phones. I was struck during these last three tunes -- struck again! -- by the lyrics, the songsmanship of John Bell and his band. No one writes songs like these. Probably unnoticed and unappreciated because they are lumped in the "jam" genre with bands who sing about utter nonesense. Just picking out these last three songs, there are enough words to parse, moments to savor and cherish that most musicians would kill to have on a whole album. And here Widespread just goes bang, bang, bang, three every day tunes that work on so many levels, speak to so many truths about life, the universe, the everyday human condition and yet rock so fucking hard that you barely have the breath or wherewithal to stop and listen to the words or appreciate those moments. It should also be said, despite what I may have typed earlier, that with Jimmy Herring in the band, they can close every friggin' show with Conrad for all I care. There are a select few older Panic songs that feel like they've been waiting for Herring to come and play them. There aren't many that I would categorize like this, but Conrad was definitely made for Jimmy's guitar, the fine balance between prog-ish composition and boot-to-skull rocking; the delicate, butterfly wings and the wriggling, gooey fuzziness of a caterpillar all in one. That is Jimmy Herring... he just needs a little room to fly. For better or worse (mostly better) WSP is giving him all the room he needs.

By the time they left the stage it was well after midnight. The sign on the wall when I was walking in stated the second set would end at 11:15. That had been a take no prisoners Widespread Panic SHOW with a "throw you in the dungeon, throw away the key" second set. A set whose only weakness was that it was maybe jammed out too much. It really didn't matter what they encored with. After a kinda long ovation break during which more people caught their breath, fanned their sweaty underarms or apologized to their neighbors for the constant elbowing than cheered for an encore (that shit was tiring!) the band finally came back to honor us with some more music. They opened with Expiration Day, the 3rd brute/Chestnutt song of the night. I noticed here that JB had a guitar specifically for these tunes which I found a bit odd. Any explanation? I couldn't really hear a difference. Another chance for JB to show us his stuff relatively unadorned. He did not disappoint. I thought we'd get a "Blackout" type quick hit and back out into the cold, but no... Pilgrims!!

These guys were not fooling around. Of course, a song I've heard so many times I had another one of those the present-is-the-past moments. This time my mind reached back to one of those moments when I was not just lucky enough to be backstage after a Panic show, but also lucky enough to be in the audience of Dave Schools expounding some knowledge. The conversation that night made its way to the fact that the band was always on the road and rarely had time to write tunes in the studio. In fact, at that moment, he only had two examples of songs they had written, learned and recorded in the studio as opposed to out on the road. One of these was Pilgrims and he was obviously particularly proud of the quality of the result. And why shouldn't he/they be. Quite possibly as perfect a tune as the band has in their repertoire and quite possibly perfectly played. I was reminded of the first time I had written a review of Widespread Panic (and the only time I wrote anything for my college newspaper at the request of a friend) back when the band was in New England in 1994. Pilgrims was the song that I spent the most time dwelling upon... the way the whole thing fits together, the deep, beautiful mystery of the lyrics which, word for word are propelled by a churning rhythm and an otherworldly melody. All these things swirled together like gases in the stars above, ignited, glowing, distant but comforting. Feels good.

They probably should have ended the show there. I was certain they would. It was past 12:30. But it wasn't that kind of night, it was a more, more, more kind of night. Every song went on a bit longer than maybe was necessary. Both sets seemed to extend into space they had no right going into. There were more people than certainly were legally permissible in that space having much more fun than might be legally allowed on a Wednesday night (at least the ones who were left were having fun, a small percentage had certainly left early) -- I for one, was already up well past my worknight bedtime. The stage was set for just one more song. Really any song would have sufficed. The band chose "Going Out West." I see no significance to this pick and found nothing to distinguish it from anything else they played that night. It brought up no memories or flashes from the past. But it felt good. So, I looked down into that valley... and I danced.

17 November 2008

WSP at Irving Plaza

Widespread Panic is playing (formerly) Irving Plaza this week for a Bill Graham Memorial Fund benefit. While they did an album release show there in 2006, I consider this to be their true return to a venue they totally blew the roof off of back in 1995. I made the trek down from Boston for my first Panic road trip outside of New England and it was well worth it. After basically being dared to relearn it on the Spreadnet, the band brought back Curtis Mayfield's Pusherman after a 3 year shelving the first night amongst other spring-95-esque goodies. This paved way for a monster 2nd night. The second set was a sandwich of sandwiches (like those cheeseburgers with 2 grilled cheese sandwiches as buns) -- the first being a killer Driving>Tie Your Shoes>Driving and the bottom being a set closing monstah Chilly>Jack>Chilly. This was the first time they'd ever done that one and the moment when I realized they were going back into Chilly out of a scintillating Jack has to go down as a top ten how-low-can-my-jaw-drop moment in my WSP-going career. Without further ado, here are the sets:

4/7/95
4/8/95 (part 1 part 2)

04/07/95 Irving Plaza, New York, NY
1: Stop-Go > Heroes, Little Kin, Machine > Sleeping Man > Better Off, Let's Get Down To Business, Pilgrims > Rock, Ain't Life Grand
2: Postcard > Proving Ground > Blackout Blues, Pusherman, Impossible, Diner > Papa's Home > Drums > Papa's Home, Love Tractor
E: Porch Song, Can't Find My Way Home > Mr. Soul
[Slow 'Porch Song'; Last 'Pusherman' - 05/29/92, 414 shows]

04/08/95 Irving Plaza, New York, NY
1: Disco > Walkin' (For Your Love), Makes Sense To Me > C. Brown, Airplane > Henry Parsons Died, It Ain't No Use > 1 x 1, Conrad
2: Junior > Driving Song > Tie Your Shoes > Driving Song > Can't Get High, Raise The Roof, Space Wrangler > Hatfield, Radio Child > Chilly Water > Jack > Chilly Water
E: West Virginia > Pickin' Up The Pieces > Red Beans

16 November 2008

Shows of the Week

Enjoy!

Show of the Week: Widespread Panic @ (formerly) Irving Plaza on Wednesday

Click here for upcoming shows

Monday:
*Iron & Wine (Blitzen Trapper opens) @ Terminal 5
Steely Dan @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)
Project/Object w/ Ike Willis @ BB King's
Eagles of Death Metal @ Bowery Ballroom
Les Paul @ Iridium (early/late)
Kevn Kinney @ National Underground
Millenial Territory Orchestra @ 55 Bar (late)
Centro-Matic @ Mercury Lounge
Adam Rudolph's Go Organic Orchestra @ Roulette
Roman Klun w/ T. Levin, A. Comess et al @ Living Room (early)
Brightback Morning Light @ (Le) Poisson Rouge

Tuesday:
Ani DiFranco @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)
Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
Jerry Joseph/Bret Mosely @ Banjo Jim's (late)
Steely Dan @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)
*Girl Talk @ Terminal 5
The Secret Machines (Dragons of Zynth open) @ Music Hall (brooklyn)
Ravi Coltrane @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Brightback Morning Light @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)

Wednesday:
Hot Buttered Rum @ Sullivan Hall
*Widespread Panic @ Fillmore
Adam Levy et al @ Banjo Jim's
Marco Benevento (w/ Dreiwitz/Thornton) @ Public Assembly (Brooklyn)
Ravi Coltrane @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
The Bulletproof Lincolns @ Fat Baby
Mephista @ The Stone (Early)
Pharaoh's Daughter @ Joe's Pub (late)

Thursday:
Andy Statman @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (late)
Ravi Coltrane @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
The Aquabats @ BB King's
Sondre Lerche @ Bowery Ballroom
*Doug Wamble @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (early)
Oscar Noriega w. C. Smith, M. Halvorson @ The Stone (late)

Friday:
George Winston @ Abrons Arts Center
Ani Difranco (Pieta Brown opens) @ Town Hall
*Big Sam's Funky Nation @ Sullivan Hall
Sound of Urchin @ Knitting Factory (early)
Ravi Coltrane @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Brian Wilson @ Hammerstein Ballroom
Michael Franti & Spearhead @ Nokia Theater
John Zorn Improv Night @ The Stone (early/late)
Bob Dylan @ United Palace Theater
Turbine @ Knitting Factory (late)
Howard Fishman @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (late)

Saturday:
*Hopewell @ Cake Shop
George Winston @ Abrons Arts Center
Ravi Coltrane @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Ani Difranco @ Town Hall
Ghost Train Orchestra @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (early)
Bishop Allen @ Music Hall (Brooklyn)
Al Green @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)
Your 33 Black Angels et al @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
Michael Franti & Spearhead @ Nokia Theater
Robyn Hitchcock @ Symphony Space

Sunday:
Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (late)
Ravi Coltrane @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Donny McCaslin @ 55 Bar (late)
*Mark Feldman/Sylvie Courvoisier @ The Stone (late)
Bishop Allen @ Music Hall (Brooklyn)
Your 33 Black Angels et al @ Mercury Lounge
Brian Wilson @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)

Click here for upcoming shows

13 November 2008

minimix: Rib08

Here's a Marc Ribot mix all from shit released this year, which is pretty amazing if you think about it. Might not even be catching everything he's done. Not sure anyone else could pull off appearing on 7+ albums of such varying styles. All good, enjoy.

Download the mix

01 Uluwati -- The Dreamers: The Dreamers
02 Lies -- The Black Keys: Attack & Release
03 Gediel -- Bar Kokhba: Lucifer
04 Pinch -- Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog: Party Intellectuals
05 Fouet D'Epines -- John Zorn: Filmworks XXI
06 500 Miles -- McCoy Tyner: Guitars
07 Etude #6 cowboy -- Marc Ribot: Exercises in Futility

09 November 2008

Shows of the Week

Enjoy!

Show of the week: Sea & Cake in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

Click here for upcoming shows

Monday:
*Jim White @ Joe's Pub
The Sea & Cake @ Bowery Ballroom
Les Paul @ Iridium (early/late)
Adam Rudolph @ Roulette

Veteran's Day:
The Decemberists @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)
*The Sea & Cake @ Music Hall (Brooklyn)
Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
Jerry Joseph @ Mercury Lounge (late)
Joe Lovano @ Village Vanguard (early/late)

Wednesday:
*Susan Tedeschi @ Fillmore
Theresa Andersson et al @ Union Hall (Brooklyn)
Joe Lovano @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
AC/DC @ Madison Square Garden
Tragedy @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
Ratdog @ NJPAC (Newark)
Adam Levy et al @ Banjo Jim's
Jamie McLean Band @ Mercury Lounge (late)
Richard Shindell, Ollabelle @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
Ben Sollee @ Mercury Lounge (early)

Thursday:
AC/DC @ Madison Square Garden
Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
Alejandro Escovedo @ Bowery Ballroom
Butch Walker @ Blender Theater
Joe Lovano @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
*Budos Band @ SOB's
The Black Italians @ Cutting Room
Don Byron @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Forro In The Dark @ Joe's Pub (late/midnight)
Edwin McCain @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)

Friday:
Wolf Parade @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)
*Rose Hill Drive @ Highline Ballroom
Don Byron @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
Blind Melon @ Grand Ballroom
Joe Lovano @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Howe, Squire, White @ Hammerstein Ballroom
Phonograph, Wolff @ Piano's
Richard Shindell, Ollabelle @ Tarrytown Music Hall (Tarrytown, NY)
Jonah Smith @ Rockwood Music Hall (late)
Bill Malchow @ Banjo Jim's (midnight)

Saturday:
Girl Talk @ Terminal 5
Joe Lovano @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
*AC Newman @ The Bell House (Brooklyn)
Don Byron @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Calexico @ Tarrytown Music Hall (Tarrytown, NY)
Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
Martin Sexton (Ryan Montbleau opens) @ Wellmont Theater (Montclair, NJ)
Bob Schneider @ Bowery Ballroom
Tragedy @ Fillmore
Butch Walker @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
Tower of Power @ BB King's (early/late)
John Zorn Improv night @ The Stone (early/late)

Sunday:
Girl Talk @ Terminal 5
Ollabelle @ Banjo Jim's
Joe Lovano @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Tower of Power @ BB King's (early/late)
Don Byron @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
*Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
FREE Ben Allison & Man Size Safe @ Kingsborough C.C. (Brooklyn) (3pm)

Click here for upcoming shows

06 November 2008

minimix: Change Edition

My mind is going through them changes... 1 track each for 8 years + one for good luck.

Enjoy.

Download the mix

01 A Change Is Gonna Come -- Ben Sollee: Learning To Bend (2008)
02 Changes -- The Nite-Liters: Instrumental Directions
03 Changes -- David Bowie: Changesbowie
04 Better Change Your Mind -- Apollo Sunshine: 27 January 2007
05 Changes -- Jimi Hendrix: Live At The Fillmore East
06 Suddenly Everything Has Changed -- The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin (1999)
07 Changes IV -- Cat Stevens: Teaser And The Firecat (1970)
08 Changes -- Lionel Hampton
09 A Change Is Gonna Come -- The Campbell Brothers: Can You Feel It? (2005)

04 November 2008

On That Note

Maybe need to watch the shrill commentary in our household.

[setting: dinner table, The Boy (4.5 y.o) and his father; television is on]

The Boy: There's Obama!
Dad: Yup. Do you like Obama?
The Boy: Yeah! We hate McCain, right dad? He's a liar!
Dad: Um, right.
The Boy: I don't want to see McCain any more.
Dad: Well, after tomorrow you might not have to that much.
The Boy: Why?
Dad: Because the election is tomorrow.
The Boy: And then they're gonna kill him?
Dad: ...

02 November 2008

Shows of the Week

To do this week: 1) vote 2) rock out.

Enjoy!

Click here for upcoming shows

Monday:
The Wildhearts @ Mercury Lounge
Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
The Black Crowes @ Town Hall
**Robert Randolph, Duo, Stanton Moore, Disco Biscuits et al @ Highline
Ballroom (benefit)
David Byrne @ Count Basie Theater (Red Bank, NJ)
Jamie McLean acoustic @ Bitter End
Les Paul @ Iridium (early/late)
Usher @ Hammerstein Ballroom
Kevn Kinney @ National Underground

Election Day:
Charlie Haden @ Blue Note (early/late)
The Black Crowes @ Town Hall
*Ben Allison & Medicine Wheel @ Jazz Standard (early/late)
Cecil Taylor @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Jerry Joseph @ Googie's Lounge
Ari Hoenig solo @ 55 Bar (early)

Wednesday:
*The Decemberists @ Terminal 5
War @ BB King's
Charlie Haden @ Blue Note (early/late)
Cecil Taylor @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Jake Shimabukuro et al @ Blender Theater
The Heavy/Illinois @ Mercury Lounge
Bad Brains @ Fillmore
Burnt Sugar @ Zebulon (Brooklyn)
Adam Levy et al @ Banjo Jim's
Joe Jackson @ Tarrytown Music Hall (Tarrytown, NY)

Thursday:
Derek Trucks Band (Mocean Worker opens) @ Highline Ballroom
Drive By Truckers/The Hold Steady @ Terminal 5
Smashing Pumpkins @ United Palace Theater
Eric Krasno Band @ Sullivan Hall
Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
*Punch Brothers @ Living Room
Charlie Haden @ Blue Note (early/late)
Cecil Taylor @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Ari Hest, Julian Velard et al @ (le) Poisson Rouge
The Pimps of Joytime, Nickodemus @ NuBlu
Bad Brains @ Fillmore
Joseph Arthur & Lonely Astronauts @ Music Hall (Brooklyn)
John Brown's Body @ Bowery Ballroom
The Bacon Brothers @ BB King's

Friday:
The Hold Steady/Drive By Truckers @ Terminal 5
*The New Mastersounds @ Sullivan Hall
Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
Charlie Haden @ Blue Note (early/late)
Cecil Taylor @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Derek Trucks Band @ Gramercy Theater
Al & The Transamericans, American Babies @ BB Kings (midnight)
Smashing Pumpkins @ United Palace Theater
Joe Jackson @ Grand Ballroom

Saturday:
The New Mastersounds @ Sullivan Hall
*Marco Benevento w/ J. Fishman/R. Mathis @ Drom
Smokey's Roundup @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (late)
The Mountain Goats, Kaki King @ Music Hall (Brooklyn)
Charlie Haden @ Blue Note (early/late)
Melvin Sparks @ Blue Note (late night)
Cecil Taylor @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
Conor Oberst, Ben Kweller @ Terminal 5

Sunday:
Charlie Haden @ Blue Note (early/late)
Marco Benevento w/ J. Fishman/R. Mathis @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
Mavis Staples @ BB King's
*Phil Lesh @ Nokia Theater
Turtle String Quartet play Love Supreme @ Merkin Concert Hall
The Mountain Goats (Kaki King) @ Webster Hall
Conor Oberst, Ben Kweller @ Terminal 5
Marc Broussard @ Fillmore
Cecil Taylor @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Stephane Wrembel @ barbes (Brooklyn) (late)

Click here for upcoming shows