As always, I start off the new year by looking back at the old one. Tonight I’ll start by reviewing all of the concerts that I went to last year. The count is lighter than in the previous two with my only hitting 33 shows and seeing a total of 53 different acts. It wasn’t my intention to see that few. I had a number of shows (most notably Josh Ritter) cancel on me, I had conflicts arise for others (including Toad the Wet Sprocket and Nickel Creek) and I missed a John Hiatt show because, well, I thought that night was going to be a lot more interesting than it turned out to be.
But mainly there just weren’t that many acts that came through town that I wanted to see. It’s the same with the record releases this year, it just seemed to be an off year in the cycle. But, here are my thoughts for the year for shows from the Kansas side of the border.
(Also, by way of clarification, I only count shows where I paid to see the band. If I included sets of bands where I didn’t pay a cover it would be a lot longer list but I tend not to track those. It’s an arguable decision but it’s a distinction that I find important. Also, concerts that fall into my Top 8 for the year are in bold.)
Liberty Hall (Lawrence, Kansas)
1) Aimee Mann (Opening Act: Adam Levy): This was, without a doubt, the best show that I saw all of last year. I was not a big fan of Aimee going into the show (I knew some of her music but not much) but she just blew me away with her set. It was just her and one backup musician in a really intimate setting and she just sang beautiful songs about dysfunction. There is just something about her manner and her stage presence that draws you in. The show was inspiring and touching and funny at the same time. I really recommend picking up her discs (along with the Live at St. Ann’s DVD to explain why I feel this way.)
2) Ani DiFranco (Opening Act: Jesse Harris): My main takeaway from this show is that a pregnant Ani DiFranco is strangely attractive. I’m not quite sure how I came to that conclusion but I felt pretty adamant about it at the time. Ani is Ani, incredibly talented, brilliant writer, and apparently needing a different guitar for every single song. And yes, I do stand out in the crowd at this show, if only because I’m literally a foot taller than much of the crowd.
3) Old Crow Medicine Show: I am a huge fan of Old Crow. They are a group of young guys who play bluegrass music the way it was meant to be played if it was being played by the Ramones. Just full throttle at all times with some of the most talented musicians you could ever see. Sadly, this show misses my top 8 because Liberty Hall couldn’t figure out how to mike them so the sound was really muddy and there were too many hippies at the show. I know that is a pretty harsh reason to downgrade a show but man, it’s really tough to enjoy the music when the guys in front of you are talking about how awesome Jim Morrison is.
The Bottleneck (Lawrence, Kansas)
1) Pat McGee Band (Opening Acts: Amy Cooper, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (sans Stephen Kellogg)): This show gets the “Strangest Opening Act” award though it didn’t mean to. See, Stephen Kellogg was sick and couldn’t play but his band went “The show must go on” and took the stage anyway. Think of it as forty five minutes of karaoke with a live band who are laughing at just how horrible they sound. Ten out of ten for effort though. Pat McGee is a good college band, lots of nice songs and a good look, but lacking that gear to take them to the next level.
2) Hank Williams III (Opening Act: Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies): Ah, Hank III. Part country legend, part punk rocker, part thrash metal act. All of which come to play during the same set. The Bottleneck is the right place to see him play as he really is a bar act. The type of guy whose show improves if you have a can of PBR in your hand at the time. I always like telling people that I’m going to his show because they recognize the name but have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about. They expect it to be this classic country show as opposed to a well-organized riot.
3) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Opening Act: The Brunettes): Clap Your Hands is an indie darling band, gaining an immense amount of press before having any type of record deal. Which meant that I bought into the hype before I even heard any of their songs. To be honest, I wasn’t that impressed by them. A nice band, but nothing earth-shattering. The Brunettes, on the other hand, are high on my guilty pleasure list. A bunch of kids from New Zealand who play upbeat pop music using the most instruments imaginable. In one song the same guy will be called upon to play a banjo, trumpet and xylophone. Or three people will start playing xylophones for no apparent reason. And they finish their set by wearing Olsen Twins masks. Just a lot of fun to watch.
4) Built to Spill (Opening Acts: Helvetia, The Prids): To be honest, I don’t remember a single thing about the opening acts. Built to Spill was cool, avant garde and somewhat forgettable. I really wish I had more to say here because there is one Built to Spill song I love, but mainly I remember that they were projecting all these weird images on the back wall and that was awesome. Still, just not a memorable show.
5) Matt Nathanson and Carbon Leaf: Much to my dismay, Carbon Leaf continues to not suck. There still is something about them that makes me assume that they’ll just turn awful. Instead, they keep on crafting great songs, put on an entertaining show, and never start pandering to the audience. They are slowly becoming a favorite band of mine, which is just another reason why I probably won’t be accepted into the music critic union. Matt Nathanson is a, uh, Howie Day without the loops but with better songwriting ability? A slightly less successful John Mayer? The type of music a sophomore would put on a mix CD? Something like that.
Replay Lounge (Lawrence, Kansas)
1) Immaculate Machine: I go to shows for a lot of reasons, including some that I probably shouldn’t admit. Like driving two hours to see a forty-five minute set from a band mainly because I think that their keyboard player is cute. Well, Kathryn Calder is incredibly cute and it was worth the drive to see the band playing next to a bunch of pinball machines (including people playing pinball while the band is going). The band is made up of a bunch of art students from Canada and I dig their songs. Don’t know if you’ll hear much from these guys in the future (mainly because Kathryn has joined one of the best bands on the planet, The New Pornographers) but this is one of the shows that I really enjoy. Just a spur of the moment trip to see some good music.
No comments:
Post a Comment