Filling in the Blanks Part I - Patty Griffin @ Schubas, 1/28/07

So one of the original intentions of this blog was to track concerts I go to and music I listen to. The first half of the year is almost over and I have failed miserably. I really do want a record of the shows I've seen, so I'm going to attempt to backtrack a bit.

If you're not one who goes to concerts or follows music, here's a nugget of info you might not know - before embarking on a major tour, most artists do some warm up dates - shows at smaller venues intended to give the band a chance to gel and work out the kinks in the new songs. This was the gist of this Patty Griffin show.

I first discovered Patty when she was doing a sparsely attended in-store at Borders on Michigan Avenue behind her debut "Living With Ghosts". I showed up on the strength of a recommendation in the Reader, but having not previously heard her music. I was instantly hooked. She played Schubas a number of times over the next few years, but I always had some other pressing commitment, and I didn't get a chance to see her again until she was playing larger venues (The Park West in Chicago) on the 1000 Kisses tour. So, an opportunity to finally see her at my favorite Chicago venue, even though she's outgrown it, was an awesome prospect.

So, 4+ months later, what do I remember about this show? First, Ryan Bingham opened. Never heard of him, really liked him, though I don't have a very clear memory of what he was all about. Loud, hard, country-folk-rock if I remember correctly. Almost bought a CD, but didn't.

Patty was great. The setlist was almost all songs from the then unreleased Children Running Through (still probably my least favorite Patty album, though I haven't given it a whole lot of time). She did a few older ones (and one really old one, 'Regarding Mary', I believe, that I recognized from an old bootleg I have). She played some piano. Had a great band with her. She was relaxed and funny. It was a great show...well worth it. It would have been nice to hear some more familiar tunes, but we went into it understanding that the point of the show was to work out the new stuff, so there really wasn't any disappointment. She came back in March and played the Vic for what I assume was probably a more balanced show, but we opted to sit that one out.

Some other notes - ended up standing next to a girl I knew from North Park. Always thought she was an English major as she was in so many of my classes, but turns out she wasn't. Her companion for the evening, who I didn't know, turned out to be the former roommate of a good friend of mine.
Standing in line for the bar, veritable Chicago radio personality Lin Brehmer was standing right next to me not doing anything, but I passed on the opportunity to chat him up. Though there was a time I listened to him nearly everyday, I couldn't come up with anything worth saying to him.

Bobby Bare Jr. at Schubas w/Dr. Dog and Jeffrey Lewis 3/24/07

I only have this to say about opener Jeffrey Lewis at Schubas Saturday night - If you're a relatively unknown opening act, you have not earned the right to scold an audience for talking during your set. Yes, it was rude. Yes, I'd be frustrated too. But you have to do your time before you get to tell people to shut it. I don't care if you have quirky visual art to show while you sing a Nirvana cover. I don't care if you have a song that name drops Will Oldham and whines about being an indie artist no one has heard of. I don't care if you run your acoustic through a processor that makes it sound like an electric on almost every song. I might have been interested. The second you started whining at the audience, you lost me.

Everything about Dr. Dog screams jam band to me, but they don't jam. They look like a jam band and their audience seems to have that kind of devotion, and they definitely seem to owe some musical debt to the Grateful Dead, but their songs are way too tight for the analogy to go any farther. Their music definitely lives in the 60's / 70's. Beatlesque seems too light of a term to describe many of their songs. One of their 2 lead vocalists is a dead ringer for Lennon (while at the same time looking much like that Muppet who plays the saxophone, with the hat and shades), and they don't work very hard to keep anyone from drawing the Beatles' comparison. I had checked their album out a bit before the show and kind of liked it. I find the songs sticking in my head quite a bit. They were even more interesting live. I still can't count myself a big fan, but I wouldn't go out of my way to avoid seeing them again, nor would I advise anyone against checking them out.

Bobby Bare Jr. and the Young Criminals Starvation League took the stage about 12:30am (after quite a few Dr. Dog fans had cleared out). I'm getting way too old for a show that starts that late. He was well worth it though. He opened the show solo acoustic with "Let's Rock and Roll", then added banjo or mandolin plus vocals from Deanna Varagona for 3 more songs (Valentine, Mayonnaise Brain, and I'll Be Around) before breaking out the electric guitar and full band. Aside from the acoustic opening, this was a pretty standard BBJ show - which is to say it was great. This was the first show I've seen since Longest Meow came out (though he done some songs from it at the earlier shows I've been to) and I was really looking forward to seeing Deanna pumping out the Baritone Sax on "The Heart Bionic" - she didn't disappoint. Deanna really is the YCSL's secret weapon and I hope they keep her around for a long, long time. I wish they'd use her more vocally too. I'm dying to hear a live version of "Your Favorite Hat" with her and Bobby, but so far they've never delivered. The rest of the band was superb as usual too - and really enjoying themselves, which from an audience standpoint always makes a show a bit more fun.

The rest of the set list, in no particular order:

Monk at the Disco
Demon Valley
Bionic Beginning / The Heart Bionic
Gun Show
Uh Wuh Oh
Back to Blue
Flat Chested Girl
Borrow Your Cape
Motherfucker

Encore:
Sister Golden Hair (Solo acoustic) - there is a version of this up on his MySpace page
Where is My Mind (Solo acoustic)
The Lion Sleeps Tonight (with Dr. Dog)
Terrible Sunrise
Stop Crying

I'm surprised there isn't more to this setlist, but as I scan over album track listings I'm fairly certain I'm not missing anything. I know there weren't any other covers, new songs, or Bare Jr. songs.

Filling in the Blanks Part 2: Canada, Page France, Margot & The Nuclear So and Sos - Beat Kitchen 3/9

Second in my attempt to revisit shows I saw this year but failed to blog about at the time - some of this post was actually composed shortly after the show, but never finished.

I took indie rock Jason (from here on referred to as IRJ) to the Beat Kitchen to see Canada and Page France (Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos were headlining, but I wasn't so much there to see them).

I thought I had never been to the Beat Kitchen and was excited to check out one of the few venues in Chicago I haven't seen, but after getting there I was fairly certain that I saw Starflyer 59 there some 10 or more years ago. I was very happy with the venue in that parking was easy within a block.

I arrived a few minutes before the schedule 10pm start time and was disappointed to find Canada already in the middle of a song. Who starts a show early? I had only become familiar with this band earlier in the week in anticipation of the show. I like quite a few of the tracks from their album "This Cursed House" and like them even better live. They've got a fun setup with 2 cellists, xylophone, keyboard, tambourines, and guitar/bass/drums. They do some very nice stuff instrumentally and I find myself wishing they did more instrumental numbers. The closest comparison I can come up with The Danielson Familie on prozac.

Page France came on shortly after, with a very similar setup and MO (more xylophone), but much more upbeat. I came to this band through Pitchfork and was instantly smitten. I've since come to the conclusion that they are somewhat Christian (they're playing Cornerstone this summer). While their lyrics make unique and regular use of Christian imagery (and make up quite a bit of their own), their never seems to be any message (this is a good thing in my book). They put on an excellent, all to be brief, set made up of about 1/2 songs I knew and 1/2 I didn't. The biggest disappointment was the female vocals were not nearly loud enough. The band was clearly enjoying themselves. Canada joined them at the end for a number with lots of handclaps, tambourines, and a drum circle. Fun stuff - can't wait to see them again.

I tried to stay for Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos. I've heard such good things about them. I listened to a bit of their latest album but it didn't really grab me. I stayed through one song, but if this band is going to hook me, it's probably not going to be a midnight with a mostly inattentive crowd.

Rhett Miller at The Chicago History Museum, 2/7/07

A fun, lightly publicized show tonight at the Chicago History Museum. We'd never been before, so I suppose the show served its purpose. Escaping the opening set by Dave (wanna be Matthews) Tamkin, we wandered around a bit and found it pretty interesting - lots of stuff on the World's Fairs, Sports Teams, The El Trains. We didn't get around to the Chicago Fire or Al Capone, and I am remiss that I didn't find the special exhibit on Chicago music, which apparently features Bloodshot Records.

It was a nice setup. Your $15 (advance) ticket got you into the museum and the concert, as well as a free cocktail. The exhibits weren't crowded at all, which was very nice, and the room where the music was was full, but not packed in.

It's probably not fair to liken opener Dave Tamakin to Dave Matthews just because he plays acoustic guitar and his band prominently features a violinist, whose style sounds much like that of the violin player in DMB. But the music was that same slightly jammy, fairly bland acoustic based pop/rock/shlock. Next to nothing stood out. They did a cover of Baba O'Riley and he really sounded more like he was picking wildflowers out in those fields rather than fighting for his meals. Just because your band can pull off a song technically, doesn't mean you should do it.

Rhett on the other hand was a one man ball of fire. He came on right around 7:30 and didn't let up until the 9pm "curfew" required that he take his final bow. While we caught him last year on his solo band tour (is that an oxymoron? I just mean he had a band backing him that was not the Old 97's), which was great, but I really enjoyed seeing him solo acoustic for the first time. He was clearly happy to be there and having a great time. Because Rhett's songs are based around strong melody and wordplay they hold up just as well on an acoustic guitar as they do with a band, and are aided even more by the vigor Rhett puts into his performance.

My attempt at a set list (in no order) -

Big Brown Eyes
This Is What I Do
Help Me Suzanne
My Valentine
Fireflies (Rhett singing both parts)
Buick City Complex
Singular Girl
Our Love
The El
World Inside the World
Come Around
Four Eyed Girl
Terrible Vision
Salome
Melt Show
Four Leaf Clover
The One (he said this was an Old 97's song that never got recorded)
Ziggy Stardust
Rollerskate Skinny
Designs on You
Barrier Reef
Question
Time Bomb

A great set list, and as I recall very similar to the solo band show last year. My only disappointment was nothing from "Fight Songs". But otherwise he hit all my other "must hears".

In one final note, I continue to be a "dumb ass" magnet at concerts. We got stuck standing right next to this lady that 1) kept hitting me with her large purse 2) would "whoop" after almost every line in many songs and 3) sang along very loudly and out of tune. We finally moved back. There was quite a bit of chatter towards the back where we ended up, but it certainly was easier to tune out than someone trying to compete with Rhett. Lets leave the singing to the professionals folks.

Ron Sexsmith at Schubas, 1/16/07

One of my main goals with this blog is to keep track of shows I go to. I would love at the end of the year to have a record of them all. Here it is only January and I'm already two shows behind, with a third coming up this weekend! I better get caught up....

Tuesday night of last week I headed out by myself to Ron Sexsmith at Schubas. I know I'm getting old, as a 9pm show on a weeknight seemed really late to me! I guess it's just me, as he pulled a pretty solid crowd.

Kim Taylor opened. Earlier that day I was downloading some of her stuff to check her out (legally - from EMusic), and first thought "wow - she reminds me a lot of Over the Rhine". Eventually I somehow came around the fact that I had actually seen her open for Over The Rhine in Dec. 2005 at The Old Town School of Folk Music. I suspect the song that was really reminding me of Over The Rhine actually had Karyn Berquist on background vocals. Anyway, she opened the show with her acoustic guitar, and I find her to be a slightly above average singer-songwriter. I definitely enjoyed her more this time than I did the last. Partly I think the smaller setting serves her better. A couple songs from her latest CD particularly impressed me - "People" and "My Dress is Hung". Apparently she owns a coffee house in Cincinnati.

Ron had a band with him - guitar, bass, and drums - all fine musicians, and played a solid hour and a half set. I won't try to attempt a set list, but he hit most, if not all, of his albums, and did 1 cover, though I can't for the life of me remember what. He did a short little solo acoustic section that included Strawberry Blonde and God Loves Everyone.

I can't put my finger on what it is that I love about Ron. In the hands of a less skilled performer his songs could drip schmaltz, but they never do with him. They're often love songs full of sincerity and optimism, with little nuggets of insight into humanity. Great melodies. He's got the whole package, but never comes off as pretentious (on record or live).

I fully enjoyed this show - no complaints, but for some reason can't find too much to say about it. As the evening wore on I got a bit tired and less engaged. Strangely this was my 3rd time seeing Ron (a previous Schubas show, and 1 at Martyrs) and I can barely recollect those sets either. But that is not at all to say that he is not great live - he really is.

If you want more info, you can check out another mini-review from a blog here (with image of actual physical setlist!). Or better yet, watch it - apparently someone was stealthily taping the show and has posted quite a bit of it to YouTube - check it out here.

Oh, and maybe I'm just extra-sensitive after the recent Hold Steady debacle - but huge kudos to Schubas for the sound at this show. It was near perfect.