Month: November 2009

Last night I warmed some baked ziti Jill had made earlier in the week so we could eat quickly after she got off work, then headed over to the Barns at Wolf Trap. We did not get there early enough to see all of Lucy Wainwright Roche, but we caught several songs, then got to chat with Shelly and the Jewells (Stuart and Olivia) at intermission.

Robbie Schaefer was playing his first solo headlining gig, and for the third time in a year we saw him joined by John Jennings on stage, along with Danny Schwartz who was a talented multi-instrumentalist. Robbie played a number of tracks off his recent album, as well as some brand new ones (I’m particularly fond of “No More Words And No More Goodbyes”). I ducked out at the encore break (Jill was getting a ride home with the Jewells) and made the quick drive over to the State Theatre (less than fifteen minutes).

The Nervous Cabaret had opened, but I missed them, Amanda Palmer was performing solo when I walked in. She soon brought them up, and they played some of her solo songs, some Dresden Dolls songs, and the highlight of the evening: a cover of The Ting Tings “That’s Not My Name”:

Friday I picked up Jill from the Vienna Metro. She was finishing her travel from Hartford and had her luggage with her. It was better that way, as we were close to Jammin’ Java where Ellis Paul was playing. We got our usual meal (cup of the pork ‘n tomatillo chili, half roast beef sandwich and a side of the house salad) and sat down. I knew Michael Clem would be performing with him, but he also brought Robbie Schaefer on stage and kept him for the rest of the set, he and Mike had some great harmonies. Ellis started out the second set solo, but brought Mike back for “Let It Be” through the rest of the set. We left right before the end as Jill had a headache – I brought my video camera but it refused to work (could be a new purchase very very soon).

Saturday we slept in, then I whiled away the afternoon reading newspapers and watching TV. We headed over to RT’s Restaurant for a quick dinner before the show. I wanted something different, so I had the Alligator Stew and the Spicy Crawfish Red Beans & Rice (the crawfish was very good, the stew was ok) while Jill had the She Crab Soup, salad and shrimp in a Jack Daniels sauce (tasty). Then we headed over to the Birchmere, got some drinks and watched The Rhythm Angels (ok) and Dar Williams (yay!). She was joined by pianist Bryn Roberts for most of her set, really added some nice texture (I love that keyboard riff during “Buzzer”).

Sunday we didn’t sleep quite as late, but I had a busy day planned. First we went to some open houses in Reston, then I watched the Redskins lose another one (though if they’d played the first half like they played the second they would have won) and grilled some brats for dinner with some oven baked sweet potato fries. After dinner it was back to the Birchmere (solo, Jill wasn’t interested) to see Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (from the Bangles).

Matthew & Susanna had first performed together as Ming Tea in Austin Powers. I’d love to hear them write songs together, but their record company decided to capitalize on a trend and paid them to do a covers album as Sid ‘n Susie. Their first one was ’60s songs, and that was successful enough they released a second one hitting the ’70s. And most importantly now they’re touring together. Needless to say I really like the way their voices work together and was eager to see how it would be live.

It was an all acoustic set, with two additional guitarists to lend a hand. They were very low key, flubbing verses and ending songs prematurely, but I found it charming (especially Matthew commenting on wearing his Vibram FiveFingers shoes on stage). Standouts of the set included “I’ve Seen All Good People” and “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”. But the real treat was the first encore. “Here Comes The Sun” just killed, and the fact they had to start over at the bridge just meant more harmonies. Even better was ending some Bangles and Sweet songs, Susanna taking “In Your Room” into “Manic Monday” and Matthew breaking out the rare (for this tour) “Sick Of Myself” and “I’ve Been Waiting”, all with great harmonies.

I’m a big fan of multi-artist shows and festivals, and love collaborations. So when the shows at Madison Square Garden went on sale, I knew I wanted to go (especially since there have been many of the induction ceremonies I would have loved to attend). They were moderately expensive, so I decided to go to just one, and since Jill had picked the next week to go on vacation, going to the Friday show made everything easier. I thought it also had the edge on the best lineup of the two nights, but that changed somewhat a week before the show when Eric Clapton dropped out due to imminent surgery, and they got Jeff Beck to sub in (although it does make sense since he replaced Clapton in The Yardbirds). After reading reviews of the first night, I was hoping for something really special.

We got to the show with a little extra time, as they were advertising it to start right on time. And it did, though that meant fifteen minutes of videos first. But soon Tom Hanks gave a nice speech and then introduced Jerry Lee Lewis to play “Great Balls Of Fire.” He’s not so young anymore, but still played and sounded pretty good. They lowered the video screen while they got Aretha’s set ready, then the band was lit up and played her on. She started out with some of her early singles and a song from Ragtime before bringing on Annie Lennox to duet on “Chain Of Fools”. She played to the hometown crowd with “New York, New York” before Lenny Kravitz joined her for Think. She sounded great, and was brought back for an encore (a little “Respect”, of course).

Metallica had been billed second, but they had more star power then Jeff Beck, so he went on next. He smartly started with his cover of “Drown In My Own Tears” (a Ray Charles classic), then brought out the big guns as Sting joined him to sing People Get Ready (happier to see him than original singer Rod Stewart). I didn’t know “Freeway Jam”, but I was familiar with his bluesy take on Stevie Wonder’s “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers”. The blues continued as Buddy Guy joined him on “Let Me Love You”, then we reached a lull with “Big Block” and “Rice Pudding” (though bassist Tal Wilkenfeld was a joy to watch). ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons joined him next and surprisingly did his own band’s “Rough Boy” (not a big hit but a good song), then they had a smokin’ take on Hendrix’s Foxy Lady. Beck saved his best cover for last, an instrumental version of the Beatles’ A Day In The Life, earning a standing ovation.

With a simple “We are Metallica and this is what we do”, James and the boys tore into “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and “One”. They were the only band of the night where people stood for most of their set, although some folks sat down as they let their foot off the gas a bit to do their cover of Bob Seger’s “Turn The Page”. But everyone was up again and the Garden was resounding with howls of “Louuuuuu” as Lou Reed joined them on fiery versions of the Velvet Underground’s Sweet Jane and “White Light/White Heat”. The crowd got even louder as Ozzy came out for Black Sabbath’s Iron Man and “Paranoid” (I was hoping for “War Pigs”, but those choices can’t be denied). I thought it might slow down a bit after that but Ray Davies of the Kinks proved he still was a superb frontman on his You Really Got Me and All Day And All Of The Night. Were they done – heck no! Then they pulled out my favorite cover they do, Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy” and finished with “Enter Sandman”. I haven’t seen them live in fifteen years, but that set made me realize I shouldn’t wait that long until I see them again.

After that I was expecting U2 to bring it all home, but they didn’t, something was off with them that night. It started with “Vertigo” when we couldn’t hear Bono’s vocals until a minute in, but it was their choice to play new song “Magnificent”, which really slowed things down (as far as I could tell it was the only new song performed both nights). Bringing out Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen and Roy Bittan got the crowd pumped again, but there were problems as they did Springsteen’s “Because The Night”, and a first take was deemed insufficient, so they gave it another go. Springsteen stayed on stage for a good version of I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, then the energy did pick up as a performance of “Mysterious Ways” segued into Where Is The Love and The Black Eyed Peas joined them. Fergie and will.i.am remained as it sounded like the band was beginning “Gimme Shelter”. It was and Mick Jagger bounded on stage for the loudest cheers of the night. I can’t say I’m the strongest fan of Fergie’s solo stuff, but she held her own with Mick, best performance of the set. Mick hung around for Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of which was ok, then everyone left before U2 returned with a quick encore of “Beautiful Day”.

I was a little disappointed we didn’t get the six hour epic show of the night before, but more so that U2 was sluggish. I couldn’t help but wonder if having a giant teleprompter in his face was throwing Bono off his game – it was odd that all his between song patter was scripted. Bruce actually cut one bit of patter short and the best joke was unexpected – after Mick was done he mentioned what “a great house band U2 have been,” and Bono cracked “We do weddings, funerals and Bar Mitzvahs too.” Overall I’d have to award best set honors to Metallica, brought their A game all night. There are lots of reviews out there, but I like the NY Times because I can’t help smirking at “Mr. Jagger” and “Mr. Osbourne”.