Part two of the concert reviews. As always, I’ll be putting together CDs of all the artists seen in the past year. This (and the concert year in review from 2004 on) is available upon request. Tonight, let’s finish off the Missouri concerts.
Beaumont Club (Kansas City, Missouri)
1) Gomez (Opening Act: Ben Kweller): The Beaumont Club has the worst sound of any venue that I know of in Kansas City. It’s just this very long room with pillars and dead spots and a mechanical bull in the back. I stand by the sound board for shows here just in a hope that it will sound decent, which also provides me with moments like Ben Kweller’s soundperson turning to me and going “Does the sound always suck here?” As for the show itself, Ben Kweller sounds and looks like someone whose entire purpose is to get their music featured on a WB show. I’m a huge fan of Gomez but I’ve seen them play better. They’re a great band out of England who seem to grow more talented and less popular with each record.
2) Jack Ingram (Opening Act: Billy Doores): First rule for an opening act: avoid cover songs. Second rule: if playing cover songs please have them be by decent acts. This guy violated both rules. I’m probably even more disappointed in Jack Ingram who has apparently sold his soul to the devil or Nashville. Basically this guy is a great songwriter who I used to see in small clubs and have a beer with after the show. He decided to turn in his Nashville card and now opens for big name acts, has dancing girls with him on stage, and decided that the title track to his new record should be a Hinder song. His songs are great but you should never be chanting “You sold out” at a show that isn’t.
Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club (Kansas City, Missouri)
1) Jon Dee Graham (Opening Act: The Silos): The man I’ve seen in concert more often than anyone else in the past four years. What’s funny is I can think of at least two occasions where I would have gone to see him but I was out of town. My best explanation of his music is that he is a more accessible Tom Waits. Gravelly voice, often dark lyrics, but much more approachable musically and personally. Just an overall nice guy who has carved his place in the music business. This wasn’t his best show but he still has more fun onstage than almost anyone I know.
2) Eleni Mandell: The first time I went to see Eleni in concert was due to the following reasons a) the girl I always ran into at concerts talked about her and b) her photo on the concert poster was really, really attractive. That’s how you get a guy like me to show up at your show. I think every review of Eleni has to use the word “silky” at least once. That’s what she sounds like; a smooth, silky lounge singer who can grab your attention by darting her eyes and swaying her hips.
3) Abra Moore (Opening Act: Garrison Starr): Best line from the stage came from Garrison who talked about running into a friend from high school at a show recently who went “I really like your music.” Her response “Thanks, but where were you for my first six records?” That’s kind of how she is, this rather rough and tumble southern girl with an interesting drawl and really, really good songs. No one stayed for Abra Moore even though she was grammy nominated at one point in her career. I listened for a bit but even I can grow tired of the pretty girl with a guitar at some point.
4) Kelly Willis: Ah, the love of my life. Or at least one of them. I’ve written more than enough about Kelly in this blog that I won’t need to go into detail about. She’s one of the few singers who can put chills down my spine with her music. I was just happy that I got to see her play and that she finally released a new record. I could do without the songs where she puts down the guitar and just sings as that’s a little too much American Idol country for me. But she still is darn near perfect and I got my picture taken with her, which was probably the highlight of my year.
5) Mark Olson: The former Jayhawk. I went to this show just so I could hear Blue sung by the man who originally recorded it. Still not the way it was meant to be sung (as you need all of the harmonies) but that song is about as perfect as you can get. Show is also memorable because while at it I started feeling the initial symptoms of my medical misadventure. At least that weekend started out well.
Starlight Theater (Kansas City, Missouri)
1) Alison Krauss and Union Station: Probably the tightest band I’ve ever seen. Bluegrass is insanely difficult to play and this band has an almost unnatural sense of timing. To the point that they must finish each other’s sentences constantly. Alison sounded brilliant even if she spent the entire show fighting a sound system that never seemed quite right. I went to this show mainly because I owed it to myself to see what musical mastery looks like.
2) Lyle Lovett and his Large Band (Opening Act: K. D. Lang): Never in my life would I have thought that I would pay to see K. D. Lang. That said, I’ve seen Ani DiFranco three times and I still can’t figure out how that happened. K. D. sure can sing, you have to give her that. And she played Halleluiah, which is always a plus in my book. Lyle released one of the best discs of the year with “I Will Rise Up” being my favorite track of the year. It really made you feel the power of the Large Band where you have fifteen people all playing their hardest and creating a real tapestry of music. I really admire Lyle’s career. From his look you’d think that he’d be almost a joke performer but he’s become one of the most respected artists around. If you haven’t seen him you really should.
3) Arcade Fire (Opening Act: LCD Soundsystem): My pick for concert of the year. The crowd was on their feet from the moment the opening act took the stage. LCD Soundsystem was loud and gains points for titling a song “Daft Punk is Playing at my House.” Arcade Fire was everything that I expected them to be and more. High energy, exuberant, often on the verge of going off the rails but always seeming to come back to the center. Bonus points for their video backdrop, which is the first time I’ve seen one that added to a show. It was haunting and exhilarating at the same time.
Grinders (Kansas City, Missouri)
1) Lucinda Williams (Opening Act: Charlie Louvin): It was very cool to see Charlie Louvin sing Atomic Power at the exact moment that a 40 mile an hour wind gust hit the stage. Now that’s legendary timing. Lucinda is growing tougher and tougher to review. She’s still a poet but her performances are growing more and more confusing. First off, you can never quite tell if she’s drunk or just letting her drawl come through. But mainly while I can understand having a music stand with the lyrics in front of you I really don’t see a need for a guy to come on stage and flip to the exact page on every single song. You’d think that she’d know how to do that.
2) Wilco (Opening Act: Andrew Bird): I’ll admit that I don’t know why I didn’t include this in my top concerts of the year because it definitely was. Andrew Bird suffered from playing outside in the rain. Partly because violins don’t really react well to dampness and partly because he just got lost in the big space. Wilco played with more joy than I have seen them play with in maybe ever. They were really enjoying themselves up there. It was a huge thrill for me to hear them play the tracks from AM my favorite album that critics hate. I still can’t believe that people went to see Elton John instead of this show.
Voodoo Lounge (North Kansas City, Missouri)
1) Chris Isaak: Every once in a while I find myself at a concert going “why am I here again?” I didn’t have a great reason other than I literally had nothing else to do that night. I have listened to Chris’ stuff before though and I knew it was going to be a good show. I think I was the youngest one there and let’s face it, seeing a show at a casino is never a good thing.
2) Rufus Wainwright (Opening Act: Neko Case): I’ll talk about Neko tomorrow. I first started listening to Rufus because everyone would compare him to Jeff Buckley and that was good enough for me. I’m not a huge fan of his new record (and the first half of his set was all from the new record) but the older material is spot on. Plus, it’s the only show I went to that featured costume changes. Taking the stage in lederhosen, understandable. Dressing up as Judy Garland? Not as much. Oh, and this show also had the most members of the local trivia alliance in attendance, which might be saying something.
KC Irish Fest (Kansas City, Missouri)
1) The Saw Doctors, Searson, The Fuschia Band: I’ve been told by people from Ireland that it is not cool to like The Saw Doctors. It’s apparently the same as liking Hootie and the Blowfish. But, I’ve been wanting to see these guys for years and I finally got the chance. So I went up to the stage with the other fans who apparently travel with these guys like the Dead. They are also well organized. They brought props for use in certain songs. I kind of stepped away from the stage at that point. Well that and it was 100 degrees out and I needed a beer.
The Brick (Kansas City, Missouri)
1) The Chiara String Quartet: In between all the rock and country shows I somehow found myself listening to a Julliard trained string quartet who were playing in a bar. It’s very seldom that you can enjoy Mozart while simultaneously watching a football and drinking a Pabst. What I liked was the fact that this is what the quartet was aiming for; their goal is to see how this music works in different spaces. When you’re in a really small club music like this engulfs you. It was a rather wild experience.
2) Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys (Opening Act: The Rural Grit All Stars): Another New Year’s Eve, another Rex Hobart show. I think it is a tradition for me. Basically whenever you are depressed about life you should see Rex in concert. All of his songs are about being a screw up but somehow you end up smiling through it all. He seems to take my view of life: you can view this world as a tragedy or a farce and I choose farce.
The five random CDs of the week:
1) Alejandro Escovedo “The Boxing Mirror”
2) Cracker “Garage D’Or”
3) The New Pornographers “Electric Version”
4) Fionn Regan “The End of History”
5) The Minus 5 “Down With Wilco”
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