Music in the city

I know that it is a common theme in the blog for me to rip on Kansas City and it’s nature as a AAA town that thinks it is in the major leagues. It’s easy comedy and for the most part I think I paint an accurate picture in a stranger in a strange land sort of way. But sometimes I realize that the small town nature of this place often works to my advantage. Like the fact that I’ve spent the past two nights going to concerts and I technically never had to get in my car to see them.

Last night I saw The Autumn Defense at the Record Bar. The Autumn Defense is a side project of Wilco and this meant that I had the rather disconcerting experience of finding myself standing next to John Stiratt at the back of a bar. It’s tough to explain what was going through my head when I met him. It’s not like John is one of my idols. He just happens to have played bass and sung harmony for two of my favorite bands of all time (Uncle Tupelo and Wilco). If I met Jeff Tweedy I know that I would immediately turn into a sniveling fanboy talking about how his music has shaped my life. John, well, John isn’t my idol but he has the life that I would most like to borrow.

See, I know I could never be the lead singer in a rock band. Put aside that minor aspect of my complete lack of vocal talent, I just don’t think that I ever would want to be that guy on stage with the spotlight shining down on me and the whole show being about me. It takes a certain type of ego to excel in that situation and I don’t have it. On the other hand, I could see myself playing bass, singing backup and helping out in the songwriting. I’d get to enjoy the music without any of the pressure. So it’s hard to try to convey that to a complete stranger, that you feel that they lead an ideal life.

(So what did I do? Said thanks for coming to town and wished him luck with the new Wilco record. It’s pretty much my default spiel to any musician.)

Their set was extremely good even with my being unfamiliar with most of their songs. It’s a lot closer to the early Wilco with harmonies and acoustic guitars and just really simple but effective songs. I’ll also have to give credit to the Record Bar who had set up the sound perfectly. It’s a small club but they have done an excellent job in turning the place into a music hangout. Oh, and spending a portion of the night talking to a very pretty woman who also is a big Wilco fan just was the icing on the cake. It’s incredible how quickly one can make a connection over music.

Tonight I made the trek over to the Beaumont Club to see Ben Kweller and Gomez. Ben Kweller brought the all ages crowd with him. Which means that I watched his set behind girls in high school jackets indicating that they are from the class of 2008. You wouldn’t believe how depressing that is to me. I am getting to the point where at one of these shows I am going to yell, “Does your father know what you are doing? Hell, do you know that I am old enough to be your father?” I seem to have misplaced my youth. I know I had it here a second ago.

(Also, hopefully when Funk reigns in KC we will get that law passed that will allow me to punch any guy wearing a Jim Morrison t-shirt at a concert. I really feel that I would be doing the world a service.)

Gomez put on another fine show. They’re a band with an interesting history. When they broke in the late 90’s people were calling them the next Beatles. They didn’t live up to that hype, mainly because it was impossible to do so. What they have done is consistently release strong albums that combine rock and blues with a little bit of attitude. It’s the type of music that grows on you. First time you listen to the CD you think it’s ok. Second time you start nodding your head with the tunes and before you know it you are jumping up and down at one of their shows singing “Got a haircut, got a silver tooth, gonna get myself arrested.” I’m bummed they never had the breakthrough success that people were hoping for but they’ve been able to make a living in the music biz and you can’t fault anyone for that.

(Final note: on the news this morning they mentioned the Mass. Street Café in Lawrence is closing. Typically you would think that I would complain here that a restaurant closing should not be considered a news event. However, I was completely bummed out by this. I eat there all the time. If I had time to kill before a show I would head over there, have some gumbo and a sandwich and watch as Lawrence walked by the windows. It was great food and a lot of free entertainment. I’m going to miss the place. And I’ll have to find someplace new for my pre-show meals.)