I'm a 36-year-old gal, living in the Washington, DC area, who loves going to concerts of all kinds. My blog tracks most shows I attend. Hope you enjoy, and feel free to comment!
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Alberta Cross Rocks the Black Cat
Alberta Cross w/ Hacienda
The Black Cat, DC, February 3
recommended beverage:
water. It was wicked hot packed in that little room.
Formed in London though now based in New York,the all-bloke band Alberta Cross played a soulful set at the Black Cat. Packed into the sold-out little Backbar, the crowd listened to a band playing their hearts out with the talent to fill an arena. Singer-guitarist Peter Ericson Stakee, looking a little like Kid Rock and decked out in a big black hat, filled the room with powerful, pure, gorgeous vocals. This ain’t imported Brit pop; this is a sound built on bluesy, folk-rock.
The band’s debut album, Broken Side of Time, is a gem. The folksy ballad, “Ghost of the City Life,” features slide guitar and evokes traces of Neil Young, one of their big influence. One of the catchier tunes from the album, “The Thief and the Heartbreaker,” is also the title of their 2007 EP.
Opening band, Hacienda, from San Antonio, Texas, three of whom are brothers, was a rocking surprise. Had seen them play acoustic opening for Los Lonely Boys at the Birchmere a few months ago but had no idea they could rock out with such aplomb. They were also out supporting their newest album, Big Red and Barbacoa, due out this spring.
2/3: Alberta Cross @ Black Cat 2/12: Pinetop Perkins @ The State Theatre (OLD blues great) 2/14: Songwriters Circle tribute to the Beatles (love songs)--aww for V-Day, Jammin' Java (another great option is Tab Benoit at the State Theatre) 2/21: The Editors @ the 9:30 Club (thx Jan for grabbing me a ticket) 2/23: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears @ RocknRoll Hotel (the musical highlight of my month!)
3/1: Muse w/ Silversun Pickups @ Patriot Center 3/4: Jamie Cullum @ Town Hall, NYC (this jazzy young Brit rocks my world)
Recommended: ClubD recommends Trombone Shorty at the State Theatre in Falls Church on 2/25. Not sure I can hit this show but, if you have not seen this New Orleans great, it's quite the musical party. Go!
Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans
The Barns of Wolf Trap, Vienna, Virginia, January 22
A couple of years ago, the last time I saw Paul Cebar, he was walking solo into Rock ‘n’ Bowl in New Orleans, guitar in hand, ready to jam with whoever was on the bill that night. It’s appropriate to conjure up this image, that of a man who just soaks in different musical influences around him and infuses his music with them.
He’s been at it for decades. Feeling like some jump blues? Some reggae? Some Caribbean? Some New Orleans zydeco? Some Afro-Cuban funk? You get all of that in one Cebar show.
Cebar’s two sets at this sold-out Barns of Wolf Trap show were filled with his usual high-energy tunes, but what made this show especially fun was Cebar’s exceptionally good mood. He was really letting loose and having fun up there and both his band and the crowd responded.
Ever wonder if eclectic, free-spirited folks [who dance at live music shows] exist in this town? The room was filled with them, colorfully clad folks of all ages, forming conga lines, swing dancing, having a ball.
While Cebar fans will come to his shows regardless of when he last released new material, the Milwaukeeans do have a new album out that includes some prefiously unreleased songs he’s been playing for years at shows such as “Her New Church” and “I Got Trouble.” Some songs on the new venture, Tommorow [sic] Sound Now for Yes Music People, are co-written with such musical notables as zydeco great Terrance Simien and Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos fame. One song he played from the new album, is a beautiful tribute to guitarist Marv Tarplin, Smokey Robinson’s right-hand man for the last 40 years, called “Marv’s Fluttering Guitar.”
The show featured songs from Cebar’s entire catalogue. Longtime band member Bob Jennings put down his saxophone and picked up an accordion for the zydeco tune, “Twice Little Sixteen,” a gem from Cebar’s 1993 debut album, That Unihinged Thing. Cebar closed the show with a dedication to the late great Eddie Bo from New Orleans, a cover he’s been performing for years, “Check Your Bucket.”
From the swingin’ “Please Don’t Tell Me More About My Baby,” off of Upstroke for the Downfolk, to the gospel-tinged “Who Can Love Who and How,” from his newest album, Cebar and his band cranked out one danceable song after another to an elated crowd.
The Blind Boys of Alabama w/ the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
January 8, The Warner Theater, Washington, D.C.
In the presence of great New Orleans jazz, your body cannot sit still; when there’s great gospel, your soul is moving too. Such was the case last night at the WarnerTheater, where an incredible double bill featured Preservation Hall Jazz Band with the Blind Boys of Alabama.
Preservation Hall played a peppy set of traditional New Orleans jazz, including a sultry “St. James Infirmary,” and concluded with a traditional second-line parade, with some of the crowd (me included) getting in line behind the band, marching up the aisle, and getting on stage to boogie to a rousing “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Next up, the Blind Boys of Alabama took the stage and had the crowd clapping and swaying to their unparalleled gospel. They played several songs backed by Preservation Hall but mostly performed backed by organ, drums, guitar, and bass. The three singers (two of them second-generation members) harmonized, were funny and charming, and brimmed with soul.
And, as five-time Grammy winners, they played several songs from Grammy-winning albums, including Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready” and “There Will Be a Light,” written by Ben Harper. In the last decade, the Blind Boys won a Grammy for best traditional gospel album four years in a row. Last year, they won one for their latest album, Down in New Orleans, a collaboration with Preservation Hall that also featured the legendary Allen Toussaint. Last year, they also were honored a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Both bands have had turnover throughout the years. In fact, three of the original singers of Blind Boys (founded in 1939 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind) are deceased; Jimmy Carter still fronts the boys (along with Bishop Billy Bowers and Ben Moore). Another founder, Clarence Fountain, no longer tours due to health reasons. Preservation Hall also has seen quite a bit of turnover in its five decades though clarinetist Charlie Gabriel and trombonist Frank Demond have been with the band for decades. And tuba player Ben Jaffe, the guy with the wild hair, is the son of founding member Allan Jaffe.
One highlight was a soulful version of Amazing Grace set to the music of the folk-rock classic “The House of the Rising Sun.” The encore, amplified by Preservation Hall’s horns, was a spirited version of the gospel classic, “Down by the Riverside.” The crowd left light-hearted, with a sprightly step and a smile.
Emmet Swimming w/ No Second Troy
Iota, Arlington, Virginia
New Year's Eve
photo: Todd Watts (rt.) and Erik Wenberg
Emmet Swimming played two long sets to a crowd of longtime and newer fans at Iota to ring in the New Year. A small club with great acoustics, Iota provided the perfect intimate setting to enjoy this seminal Washington-area rock band.
The quartet sounded tight as usual as they rolled through several albums of original material and a couple of songs from their most recent release, the EP Bathing in the New Economy. “Please Don’t Call Her” from that EP showcases guitarist Erik Wenberg’s sweet vocals. And, in “The Dance,” lead singer Todd Watts enjoys emphasizing the line, “thanks Epic Records,” a jab at the record label that carried a couple of their later albums before splitting off due to creative differences.
One good piece of creative advice from the label was adding a piano part to the song, “Motorway.” Generally, that part is omitted live for lack of a keyboardist, but that night the part was ably played by the band’s friend David Strickland, who also sat in on a couple of other tunes on accordion.
Three of the boys are original members: Watts, Wenberg, and drummer Tamer Eid. Bassist Scotty Brotemarkle was a longtime band friend before finally joining them. He throws every emotion behind playing and singing backing vocals, and remains endlessly entertaining to watch.
Something did seem strangely absent from their set that night. It was most curious that they didn’t play a single song from their debut album, Dark When the Snow Falls, notably “Hey Jesse” which has been a staple at their shows. But I am eternally happy to hear my favorites from their second album, Wake, including “Listen to the River,” “When Morning Comes,” and “Expect Me,” the latter of which was the first song they played in the new year.
Ringing in the new year with Emmet—a band I have loved and gone to see in concert since they began in the early 90s when I arrived in the area to begin college at Maryland—seemed not just appropriate, but the perfect thing to do as I reflect on recent years and look forward toward what I hope will be an exciting decade.
Behind the Music: Travis Fans Get a Rare Personal Glimpse
An Acoustic Evening with Fran Healy and Andy Dunlop of Travis November 3, Jammin Java, Vienna Virginia
Fans of the Scottish rock band Travis recently got an incredible opportunity to hear the band's two leading men in an intimate setting. Singer/guitarist Fran Healy and guitarist Andy Dunlop have spent the past few months touring American venues with their nearly three-hour acoustic set that spans the Travis catalogue. The DC area venue? Jammin’ Java!
For us lucky fans who got tickets to this show, (the club's capacity is just under 200) it was a brilliant evening. Healy told sweet, charming, sometimes funny stories between every song, accented by a Power Point slide presentation that began with what else but …a map of Scotland.
Some stories got behind the sentiments of the lyrics but, Healy warned, don’t’ read too much into certain lyrics. He said when writing the band's breakout hit, “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” it was simply raining for his entire vacation. There was no hidden gloomy message behind that chorus. He added, though, that the opening lyrics about not being able to sleep though everyone says everything is all right, were inspired by his manager telling him by phone everything was fine even though he knew, in reality, it wasn’t, that their debut album at the time was barely selling.
In describing his inspiration for another song, Healy managed to connect Noel Gallagher of Oasis with Franz Kafka and the band the Connells. He’d been reading Kafka, fiddling around with the chords from the Oasis song Wonderwall, and a Connells song, when it all came together in the gorgeous ballad, “Writing to Reach You.”
Throughout the night, Healy wore his sweet modesty on his sleeve. He is clearly a regular bloke who never adapted even an ounce of the arrogant rock star persona. His stories were refreshing and utterly humble. He tells of writing a song for a girl he was dating who had moved away. He poured his heart out, recorded it, sent it to her, and then she barely acknowledged it, and he was left brokenhearted. Then there’s the song “My Eyes” in which he showed a slide of his adorable toddler, imploring the crowd to not take photos to protect his son.
What an incredible night of music. Everyone in that little room shed a tear at some point. Healy and Dunlop came out to greet fans after the show but the line was long and it was late and a work night, so my friend and I left. But we left in a dreamy state, with Fran’s gorgeous voice echoing in our heads.
If you haven’t yet seen U2 on this tour, no friend’s story, article, or even photo can prepare you for the massive claw set. It’s almost other-worldly and it’s no doubt utterly awesome. The 90,000 or so attendees all had a great view thanks to a massive 360-degree LCD screen, so big that it reportedly weighs 54 tons! It takes some 200 trucks to carry all the staging and crew.
The last time U2 attempted a stadium show (the last several tours utilized 20,000-seat arenas) was the somewhat disastrous PopMart tour. Even worse than the cheesy set were the horrendous acoustics. But this time, Bono had a vision and it worked. Somehow this claw helps funnel the sound and the acoustics were excellent.
Was surprised not to hear “Pride,” but apparently they’ve done quite a few shows this tour without it. This tour has leaned heavily on the new album though they played five new ones here at FedEx as opposed to the seven at many other shows. Also surprised that of the new ones, they neglected to play “Stand-Up Comedy,” which I think is among the best on the album.
And what’s a U2 show without a political message? During the show, Bono called for the release of Burmese activist AungSan Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been under house arrest for more than 20 years. Her image appeared on the screens as Amnesty International activists lined the stage in unity. Later in the show, keeping with the human rights theme, the band played “Sunday Bloody Sunday” in honor of the brave souls protesting in Iran.
And another observation: It was a great two hours of music but these blokes have more than enough material that they should be going on sans opener and playing a solid three hours. That said, if you’re gonna have an opener, well, ya can’t do better than Muse. This rockin’ Brit band was the perfect complement to a great evening of music.
Breathe, Magnificent, Get On Your Boots, Mysterious Ways, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Stand By Me (snippet), Elevation, Your Blue Room, Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet), New Year's Day, Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of, The Unforgettable Fire, Mofo (snippet) / , City Of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Let's Dance (snippet) / , I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight / Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (snippet), Sunday Bloody Sunday, MLK, Walk On
encores: One / Amazing Grace (snippet), Where The Streets Have No Name, Ultra Violet (Light My Way), With Or Without You, Moment of Surrender
