Month: October 2006

It’s funny, there’s been a lot of great shows this year, a lot of big names, but I’m always looking forward to the next ones.

I’m psyched with news of two reunions for next year: Van Halen will likely tour with David Lee Roth as frontman, and Genesis will tour with the classic lineup (Collins, Banks & Rutherford), but without Peter Gabriel (at least so far). Both must sees for me.

Now if we could just get reunions happening for the Police and Led Zeppelin I’ll be all set.

Tuesday I headed to DC to see John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton do a book reading. I’ve seen a number of book readings over the years, but never one with musical accompaniment, and you know I find that intriguing. I got to the Warehouse Theater with 15 minutes to spare, and got in line as soon as I picked up my book (one came with a ticket). They seated us promptly at 7, and I was a little surprised by how small the theater was (120 seats). Very intimate – we had to come across the stage to get into the seats. They waited a bit for stragglers (and made fun of them), then got started. Adam Mazmanian was the MC, and he also read a funny story about a son asking for an allowance increase. David Rees was next, and was sometimes funny, sometimes going too far (even for a liberal leaner like me).

Hodgman and Coulton were next, Coulton starting with “John Hodgman’s Theme Song” (because every writer needs one). Hodgman read a couple excerpts from the book (“Six Oaths Of The Virtuous Child” and “Secrets Of The Mall Of America”), then went into the hobo material with musical accompaniment by Coulton, followed by Coulton singing the hobo classic “The Big Rock Candy Mountain”. We listened to a prerecorded CD of “Jokes That Have Never Produced Laughter” (because if you tell the jokes you’ll never hear laughter again), then Hodman did a question and answer session, mostly by walkie talkie (the sound was poor, but it was still pretty funny). Finally Hodgman read the “Hobo’s Code”, again accompanied by Coulton, then we got a couple songs just by Coulton, “First Of May” and “Re Your Brains” (with a great zombie chorus).

I actually got in the signing line, then started looking at the schedule and saw the earliest I could make it home was 10:30, and decided to leave. I called Jill when I got to West Falls Church Metro and was waiting for my bus, and found out she’d had an eventful night. She’d left a full cup of coffee unattended in the living room while doing laundry, and Illa had drank all of it. We knew he liked the taste of coffee, but prevously he’d only gotten a sip or two. She told me he’d been wired for a couple hours, pacing and never settling down. Even playing with him hadn’t helped. And he’d had some diarrhea in our bedroom she didn’t find until she was ready to go to bed. When I got back, he was a little rambunctious, but not bad – she got the worst of it. She soon headed for bed, I watched “Studio 60” first then took Illa on a walk before joining her.

Wednesday I was going to try and get up early again, but I think two days of short sleep in a row is my limit now – I hit the snooze until an hour had passed and it didn’t go off anymore. Got in late to work, but I ate at my desk and got out as soon as I could. I rushed home and fried some chicken breasts with a nut and cheese breading and stir fried some bok choi for dinner, then relaxed for a couple minutes before I headed back to DC. This time it was Alice In Chains at the 9:30 Club. Yes, lead singer Layne Staley passed away from an overdose in 2002, but guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell was the main songwriter and often sang harmony vocals with Layne. I loved those tunes and never got a chance to see them when they toured.

I just drove in for this, figuring the show would end too late to use Metro. I prepurchased parking with my ticket because I (rightly) assumed the lot would otherwise be sold out when I got there since I was skipping the opening act. I got there around 10, and they’d already played a couple songs. I didn’t miss “Them Bones”, and that was pretty good. New vocalist William DuVall proved to have an uncanny ability to reproduce Layne’s vocals. One of the highlights of the night was their acoustic set in the middle. They were joined by Scott Olson, who’d also played on their MTV Unplugged album. “No Excuses” and “Got Me Wrong” were excellent. I think my favorite moment (and AIC song) was “Heaven Beside You”, which Jerry sang lead on. His singing and soloing were amazing, both on that and “Man In The Box” (which I didn’t realize he used a talk box on). A good show, but I was out of there right at the end and headed home, arriving at 12:30. I had a pear and some cookies for dessert, then watched “Lost” before going to bed.

The eight hours I got Tuesday night let me short my sleep again, and I was into work Thursday by 9 (I also wanted to get there early enough I could go out to lunch with our Lost discussion group). I was fading a little in the afternoon (didn’t have the coffee I brought in to make a latte, and it was late by the time I remembered), but decided I still wanted to go see We’re About Nine and Girlyman at Jammin’ Java. I like We’re About Nine and love Girlyman, and I’ve only seen ’em once apiece this year, plus Girlyman only played a short set at the Herndon Festival. So even though it would make three nights out in a row, any other time I’d go, plus there are only four shows I’m definitely going to in November, so I went. I left work around 7 to make it to Vienna a little after 7:30, stopping for gas.

Stuart and Janice showed up early and grabbed seats near the front, but I had my camcorder and needed room, so I didn’t join them. I ordered dinner – the ballpark chili combo (cup of chili, half a roast beef sandwich, and a side salad), but it didn’t come up until after We’re About Nine started. I ate quickly at the bar, then went back to my seat for their set (short but good). I chatted with Stuart and Janice during the break, then got ready for Girlyman. Their set was heavy on new songs (they’re currently recording their new CD), and I have a new favorite: “Hold It All At Bay”. Not to say my old one was bad (“St. Peter’s Bones”), and there’s another great new one (“Through To Sunrise”). The club was packed, came within a whisker of selling out. That’d be kind of a shocker to those of us at their Iota show in December 2003 when I think they played to about 12 people (including me). The crowd was very into it, even with an emphasis on new songs. I was kind of surprised that they didn’t play many songs (four) off their second album, but I can’t complain about getting some classics off their first one (I’ve always liked “Say Goodbye”). I was a little disappointed they didn’t pull out “Postcards From Mexico” or “Amaze Me” – those are the songs that made me a fan in the first place. By the time they wrapped things up with their cover of “Son Of A Preacher Man”, I’d switched tapes (so we’d cracked 90 minutes) and it was after 11. I said my goodbyes, then scooted home. Jill was in bed, so Illa and I had dessert (fudgesicle for me, pork bone for him) then I watched “Smallville” while I pet him, then went to bed after 1:30.

Tough getting up again Friday, but I made it around 10. I brought lunch so I left around 6:30. Jill was studying so she could take off tomorrow, and I made pizza dough as I watched “Arrested Development” and “Drawn Together”. I finished making calzones after the dough rose, then I made salad. Had to clean up some Illa mess – that’s twice today, we may take him to the vet tomorrow morning. After dinner, I walked him, now I’m catching up on my web surfing while Jill hits the sheets. Later I’d like to catch up reading the paper while I watch a Joe Satriani concert.

Nice article (and don’t forget to watch the video for White & Nerdy – another classic).

I was in Seattle. Seeing Roger Waters recently made me think of seeing David Gilmour in Toronto, and that made me think of traveling to see shows. Now I’ve seen acts in further away places – No Doubt and Green Day in Sydney, Australia or Heather Nova in London, UK, but the farthest I’ve traveled just for a show was Seattle.

I’ve been a Dave Matthews Band fan since the first time I saw them, at the Bayou in Georgetown on a rainy night in November 1993. My sister, Sharon, was going to school at the University of Virginia at the time, and she was telling me about this great band I had to see. So we went down there with a couple friends without tickets, only to find it was sold out. We waited outside as the rain came down off the Whitehurst Freeway onto us while Sharon begged for spare tickets in her UVA hat. Eventually we got enough tickets to get in, and we worked our way to the side. We only caught half the show, but it didn’t matter as I just fell in love with the band.

After the show, I got copies of the tapes Sharon had of the band, recordings from Trax nightclub in Charlottesville where she went to school. They were helpful in those pre-interweb days as I had copies of “Halloween” and “Two Step” years before they showed up on studio albums, not to mention songs like “Blue Water” and “Spotlight” that never did. One particular song on those tapes I just loved was “The Maker”, a sweet ballad that turned out to be a cover of a Daniel Lanois song. I saw Dave Matthews Band every chance I got over the years, but they never played “The Maker” when I saw them (though it did show up on Live in Chicago 12.19.98).

During the summer of 2001, the Groundwork 2001 concerts were announced, a week-long series of concerts to benefit the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, which provides the hungry with seeds, livestock and tools to produce their own food. Dave would headline as a solo act at the Paramount Theatre on Sunday, October 14th. That was pretty tempting on its own merits (Dave had only played solo a couple of times after the band got big), but the kicker was not only was Daniel Lanois on the bill, Emmylou Harris was also playing, and she had also covered “The Maker”. So I told myself if I could get tickets, I’d go.

I’ve been a member of the Dave Matthews Band fan club, The Warehouse, since it was formed. In addition to getting exclusive live discs each year, they truly reserve the best seats for their members, and since these days I usually only request one show a year, I almost always get the orchestra pit. The tickets for the Seattle show were in high demand, and I was shocked when I got a pair through the Warehouse ticket lottery. But I was happy and bought airplane tix to fly in on Saturday, the 13th and back home Monday morning after the show.

I know some people were worried flying so soon after 9/11, but I didn’t see what the big deal was – after all I was in Hawaii that week in September and I had to deal with trying to find out if the airports would even be open for my return flight. The flight to Seattle was fine, and I took a bus into the city (my first time being on a hybrid gas/electric bus). I stayed in a hostel downtown, put my luggage away and went out to explore Seattle. I don’t remember where I ate that night but do remember it was somewhere near the monorail, as that was when I went to the EMP museum. The museum had some nice exhibits, but the coolest part was the interactive music area. There was one area where you actually played for real like you were in a studio, and I played drums for the first time in years.

I had a pair of tickets to the show, and could have just sold one on eBay, but came up with a more creative solution. At the time, I was dating women I met on match.com, and I decided to look at Seattle women and ask one to the show. I think the third one said sure, why not? For the life of me, I can’t remember her name now – probably because we didn’t keep in contact (not much chemistry, certainly not worth the long distance effort). We met at the Gordon Biersch for dinner, then went to the theatre. Quite a crowd outside, I could have made a good deal of money if I’d chose to sell my tix. But we went inside and sat down.

Daniel Lanois kicked off the show, and he had a good set, but he did not play “The Maker” and had no guests. Avant garde composer Philip Glass and gospel singers the Blind Boys of Alabama were up next, but also did not play “The Maker” and had no guests. For some reason, Artis The Spoonman (as seen in Soundgarden’s “Spoonman” video) came on during the next break to play his spoons, but did not play “The Maker”. Emmylou Harris came out and played a nice set, and Dave did come out near the end, but it wasn’t to play “The Maker” – it was to play “My Antonia”, off her then current CD, “Red Dirt Girl”. So I was 0 for 2 but still had high hopes as Dave came out for his set. He did sparse versions of some classics, great versions of “The Stone” and “Bartender” as well as the premiere of “Where Are You Going” (which coincidentally Jill and I got the band premiere of the next April).

Finally, for his last song of the set, he brought both Daniel Lanois and Emmylou Harris, and they did “The Maker” together. I have a copy of Dave’s set, but it fails to capture the transcendence of that moment. Their voices blended so beautifully I just got lost in the moment and emotion overcame me. I thought it was fitting that when Dave returned alone for an encore (after thunderous applause), he played another cover, this time Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away”. Definitely one of my favorite concerts ever.

No, I’m not talking about that disco crap. As much as 70s music is reviled, there was great music coming out then as well (Sturgeon’s Law, as always, applies). I always think about my favorite troika of Rush, Queen and Led Zeppelin putting out great music in the 70s, but there were plenty of other acts I have a great and undying love for. Two of those were Fleetwood Mac and Eric Clapton, both of whom I got taste of this week.

I’d skipped going out Sunday so I could stay in, marinate and grill some ribs while I finished catching up on TV (I figured out I watched 16 hours during the weekend, including football, but I did skip the commercials from everything except football). I decided 3 shows in 3 days was pushing it as well. I got to bed at a reasonable hour and was up at 6:30 and into work by 8 on Monday morning. Originally I’d thought I had the day off, but we get Veteran’s Day off, not Columbus Day. I’d scheduled a massage but decided not to cancel it since I needed it. Jill warmed some wings for me after I ran out for the massage and I had a quick lunch with her (she did have the day off), then went back to work. We left for Falls Church around 6.

I was looking for a place to eat around the State Theatre and settled on Bangkok Blues, a Thai place that also featured live blues. Jill ordered the pad prig khing (beef sautéed with curry paste and string beans) and I had the “sassy shrimp” (crispy shrimp stir fried with onions and peppers). Mine wasn’t bad, but Jill didn’t like hers, and I had to agree – the meat was way too tough and the beans weren’t cooked enough. We missed the music there, but we had better plans anyway. We got to the State Theatre around 8. Jill proposed getting a drink at a nearby bar, but after seeing the line wrap around the venue, I knew we had to get in soon to get a seat. We got in and headed straight for the balcony, snagging a couple of the last seats in the center. Jill didn’t miss out on her drink, as I went downstairs and snagged us a couple pints of Magic Hat #9. We settled into our seats, and as the 8:30 start time passed, hoped that the show would be close to done when 10:15 arrived and we’d have to leave to get Jill home by 11 (school night, and she was subbing for a friend who was out of town).

I’d always liked Fleetwood Mac, but in recent years I’ve realized that Lindsey Buckingham is my favorite singer and writer from them. I think it started with 1994’s Rare on Air, Volume One, a collection of live tracks from radio station KCRW. Lindsey did a solo “Never Going Back Again” on there that really grabbed me, and I’ve paying close attention to him since. When Fleetwood Mac reunited for the live album and tour in 1997, that was a must see, and an amazing show. We saw them when we went to Vegas in 2003 when they were touring for “Say You Will”, the first Mac album since 1987 with Lindsey. Again a good show, but for both of them I wasn’t anywhere near the front, a disappointment seeing how I love good seats. We actually had great seats for a scheduled stop at Nissan in 2004, but that was cancelled the day of the show when Stevie was having voice troubles and never rescheduled. I’d bought a six pack of concert tickets to get those seats for that show and Rush, and those were pricier seats, but the weasels gave me a sixth of what I paid back (no, I’m not still bitter about that). So when I found out not only would Lindsey Buckingham be coming out with a new solo album, but touring small venues, I knew I’d go if I could. I got psyched last week after buying the new album Under The Skin and hearing his adventurous use of loops (like Howie Day) as most everything was played by him, and the music was good as well – he’s always had a good ear for melody.

The lights went out at 8:45 and the crowd erupted as he came out alone. He played three songs solo: the new “Not Too Late”, “Trouble” (from his first solo album, 1981’s Law and Order – oddly, he never played anything from his last solo album, 1992’s Out Of The Cradle), and a masterful take on Rumours’ “Never Going Back Again”. With the crowd going nuts, he brought on his band (including Brett Tuggle on keys) to tackle another Rumours classic, “Second Hand News”. He slowed it down a bit after that with another new one, “Cast Away Dreams”. The new songs always got an enthusiastic reception (it seemed most of the crowd knew them), but they were softer and slower numbers. “Red Rover” from Say You Will was followed by my favorite new song, “It Was You” (sounded like Fleetwood Mac crossed with Trevor Rabin era Yes). The band left as Lindsey tore into Jill’s favorite Mac song, “Big Love” (from Tango in the Night). The crowd was on their feet as he started into “Go Insane”, from his 1984 solo album of the same name (often played with the Mac), and the band rejoined him on stage.

“Under The Skin” was the last of the new songs performed before he ended the set with Mac classics: “World Turning” and “I’m So Afraid” from Fleetwood Mac, “I Know I’m Not Wrong” and “Tusk” from Tusk, and “Go Your Own Way” from Rumours. Not much standing in the balcony section (Jill was a little surprised) until the song was almost over, and we went down to the floor for the encore. The first song was Holiday Road (from 1983’s National Lampoon’s Vacation soundtrack), a really fun little song I only found out he was playing the morning before, but I found it online here. Big fans, as most of the people around us knew that one. One more new one, my second favorite from the new album, “Show You How”. Lindsey asked us if we wanted one more (I think he expected the yes), introduced the band, then they left and he was left alone for a moving version of “Bleed To Love Her”, one of my two favorites (along with “Steal Your Heart Away”) off Say You Will. About the only song he didn’t do I would have wanted to hear was “Monday Morning” – haven’t seen the Mac do that either.

We were out of there as soon as the last notes faded, at 10:15 on the dot. We were indeed home by 11, and Jill checked email for class (she got a 98 on the second part of her exam from last week) while I stretched and played with Illa while watching “Heroes” (could have done without the the last 30 seconds). Tuesday morning was rough getting up, but I was into work a little after 9, and I’d brought a frozen enchilada meal for a quick lunch. I met up with Stuart at the Herndon Park and Ride at 6 for the 950 , getting to Gallery Place a little after 7. We were hungry and hit RFD for a couple pints and dinner (the Shiner Bock marinated chicken sandwich for me), then made it to Verizon Center a little after 8. Robert Cray was I’m sure a most appropriate opener for Eric Clapton, but we missed him by minutes. I wasn’t too worried, as I knew we’d see him again.

I was aware of Eric’s big hits, but the first album of his I ever bought was 1989’s Journeyman. That whole album grabbed me, from the straightahead blues rock of “Pretending” and “No Alibis”, the softer acoustic “Running On Faith” and “Run So Far” (with George Harrison), and the bluesy “Old Love” and “Before You Accuse Me”. The first time he came around after I started going to a lot of concerts was for his next tour in 1994, for From the Cradle. Now while From the Cradle was an all-blues album I expected out of the tour what anyone expects from an established artist, which was a couple songs from the new album, mixed in with the hits you know and love (kinda what Lindsey had done, and what Eric would do this night). But I was bitterly disappointed by the show, because it was straight blues all the way through – the only halfway recognizable song was “Crossroads”, and it was the original Robert Johnson version, not Clapton’s version from Cream. Considering Unplugged was a monster hit two years earlier, I at least expected the unplugged version of “Layla” and some of his bluesier songs. Before each song, he’d say whose song he was playing, and eventually the crowd grew restless and some called for an Eric Clapton song, but they were ignored. Not that he didn’t do great versions of the songs, but I wanted the songs I grew up with, not the ones he did. Due to the wonders of the interweb, I knew that this tour was the one I’d wanted all those years – in addition to playing the classics (like he’d been doing since the blues tour), he was playing not one, not two, but three songs from Journeyman, and I was psyched to see the show I’d wanted to see 12 years ago. The irony was at dinner Monday at Bangkok Blues, there were two couples sitting next to us, and one was going to Clapton the next night. They asked the other couple if they were going, but the other guy said no, but he wished he could have caught the 1994 tour! I chuckled to myself over that one.

Eric opened with “Pretending” (nice), then his cover of Marley’s “I Shot The Sheriff”, then straight into “Got To Get Better In A Little While”. I knew he was playing a fair amount of Derek and the Dominos songs, but until the show started I hadn’t realized how appropriate that was. Derek Trucks was one of the guitarists playing with Clapton (the other one was Doyle Bramhall II, who I last saw in 1999 playing David Gilmour’s parts for Roger Waters). Besides being a gifted guitarist with his own band, Derek has been a member of The Allman Brothers Band since 1999, and his uncle, drummer Butch Trucks, was a founding member. What made the Derek and the Dominos album special was the presence of Duane Allman playing with Eric, so it felt right that he was playing those songs with someone who’s not only one of the most noted slide guitarists of this generation, but who’s also filling Duane’s place in his old band. Robert Cray came out to join him on “Old Love” (they cowrote the song). “Anyday” was another nice Derek and the Dominos track, but that segued into one of the highlights – I’m quite fond of “Motherless Children”, but with all three guitarists on slide guitar, they just raised it to another level.

They brought out chairs after that, and Derek and Eric played acoustic guitars for “Back Home” (the only song played off his new album). They stayed seated but played electric for “I Am Yours”, “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out”, and my favorite of the Journeyman tracks they played, “Running On Faith”. Chairs went away and they got loud for the classic version of “After Midnight”, then got blue with Robert Johnson’s “Little Queen Of Spades” (not that I mind him doing the blues, I just don’t want a whole night of it). They really jammed on “Further Up On The Road”, nice solos from all three guitarists, then pleased the crowd by whipping out “Wonderful Tonight” (yes, I called Jill and was that guy holding my phone out). If you’re going to play Derek and the Dominos songs, you’ve got to play “Layla”, and it was an epic version. They finished the set by tearing through “Cocaine”, then kept us waiting a couple minutes before coming back with Robert Cray and closing with “Crossroads”.

I knew that was it and we got out of there quickly, getting the next couple of trains and getting back to the Herndon Park and Ride a little before midnight. Jill was in bed when I got home, and I played with Illa while I watched Stewart/Colbert before going to bed. I got a late start today, and didn’t get home until 8. We had hot dogs for dinner, then Jill joined me for “Lost”, now she’s headed for bed while I surf.