14 posts tagged “concerts”

Finally got around to posting the link from YouTube of that Gourds set from Valentines day that we went to.  You can find the full show embedded in the review of that concert here.  Enjoy.

Wow, it's 2 am on a Saturday night and I just spent the last 14 hours working on the final project for my marketing class.  What a drag.  I'll have you know, too, that I have been working on this over the last couple of weeks, so it wasn't like i did it all at the last minute.  Just takes time to get it all together at the end.  I didn't even bother with the summary PPT we were supposed to post for peer review.  Just gotta let some things go.

One reason things were late today was because I decided to go out last night to see Carrie Rodriguez, who played at the Warner Grand Annex.  Awesome.  Glad I went even if it means getting a lower grade in this class.  Man's gotta have priorities.  Carrie is so full of talent and has such a wonderful voice.  If you haven't heard her yet, you should check out her first solo album "Seven Angels on a Bicycle".  Includes great fretwork by Bill Frissell to boot.  Unfortunately, he's not part of her touring band.  Still, it was a great show.

Alright, you've all been very patient and I shan't make you wait any longer for that concert review of the Gourds on Valentines Day.  First of all, the set list:

Sweet Lil' Lub
Country Love
Bridget
Waxies Dargle (Trad.)
Blankets
Pill Bug Blues
Promenade
Country Gal (interlude Fat Bottom Girls - Queen)
Spivey
New Dues
Luddite Juice
Valentine
Take Me Back to Tulsa (Bob Wills)
Do 4 U
Right in the Head
All in the Pack
Whiskey in the Jar  (Trad.)
Caledonia
How Will U Shine?

Encore:
Feelin on Yo Booty (R. Kelly)
Plaid Coat
The Titanic (It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down) (Trad.)
Hellhounds
Boil My Strings
I Know I'm Not Wrong (Fleetwood Mac)
Lower 48
Goodnight Irene (Trad.)

UPDATE:  Here is the entire show in YouTube.

Still with me?  Good.  The gig was at the Mint, which is pretty close to South Fairfax, and S. Fairfax is Little Ethiopia, so we started off the night with a nice meal at Nyala.  We've been there a couple times before and always enjoyed it. Nothing like some good injera to fill your bucket.

The club itself is quite small, especially as at least 50-60% of the floorspace is dinner tables.  I'm guessing there's a capacity of about 100-150 people.  Nice and intimate.  We were lucky to find some seating near the back, so we didn't have to stand through the show but still had good line of sight to stage.  As usual for the Gourds, they took a long time tuning up and the show didn't start until around 11pm. 

But, oh what a show.  By the time they got into Waxies Dargle, a traditional Irish pub song that the Pogues popularized, I knew this was gonna be a great night.  There was serious chemsitry between the band and the audience, and the guys were just in a great groove.  When Kevin broke into the chorus of Fat Bottomed Girls in the middle of the new song Country Gal, I was grinning from ear to ear.

Another great thing about this set was the range of songs they played.  There's a good sampling from all of their albums in that set list, showing how well it all fits together over the years.  By the time they came back for the extended encore, folks in the audience had plied them with several rounds of firewater.  They were loose, but not sloppy.  Just feelin' good.  Listening to Kevin do R.Kelley's Feelin' on Yo' Booty is a true delight.  As with Gin & Juice, I've never even heard the original, and I don't need to. 

Lower 48 was probably the only real dud of the night in my opinion, just cuz I think it's such a weak song with a stupid premise, so not the best way to end the show.  Still, I was actually pleased they did not play G&J  -- back in October it just sounded tired.  And to top off the evening, they did a great rendition of Goodnight Irene a capella with plenty of "inventive" lyrics, especially from Jimmy, and the whole crowd singing along to the chorus.  All in all, another memorable evening from my favorite band from Austin.  If the guy who was videotaping the show ever posts his tapes (said he would), I'll embed them here.

So pending my review of the awesome Gourds show at the Mint on Valentine's Day, here are youtube clip from the show last October at Safari Sam's.  The show at the Mint was much, much better, so this is just a teaser.

In all honesty, I should be asleep right now.  Or at least doing something productive.  But, noooo, I've just spent the last, oh, 2.5 hrs. digesting the "debate" and the blog/msm analysis.  I still haven't even seen the whole thing since I couldn't catch the live webcast and the clips so far are incomplete (esp. the last bit on foreign policy).  But, it seems it mostly went ok for Obama, so I'm pleased.  For me, the highlight was when he answered healthcare is a right, whereas McCain said it is a responsibility.  I think he nailed that one.  Interesting to read the National Review blog -- they were all beating up on McCain!  Complete resignation.  Good riddance, I say.

Other stuff:  well, we had an enjoyable trip to Legoland this weekend.  Little One has been pining to go for months now, and we had a good opportunity given that we were taking care of one of her friends for the weekend.  Cuz two adults and one kid at Legoland is not the right balance -- 2/2 works much better.  And it was good.  Much more mellow than DLand, and the kids really dig it b/c they can actually do everything they want to do.  She didn't even try (much) to get us to buy a bunch of junk.

Little One's bike riding has been improving, though we had some regression about a week ago.  Prior to that, she has begun to start pedaling on her own without support.  Doesn't get it every time, but we're getting there.  Which means, since she can already brake and steer, we're pretty much good to go.  Next thing is to try out on some bike paths that have a little more traffic, but are still wide and easy.  That way she can get comfortable with oncoming bikers and people passing her.  And then i figure we're ready to do that bike tour of Africa I've always dreamed about :)

In case you forgot, I am a bonafide Gourdhead.  The lads were in town last week for a show at Safari Sam's.  'Twas a school night, but I still could not resist going.  I guess after being six years in the desert (i.e. no shows between 2002-2008), a man works up a thirst, you know?  So, yeah, a second show in 2008 after the great one in SF in February was definitely called for.  The show opened with Kevin Russell playing solo under the moniker of Shinyribs, as he had in February.  Probably no more than 20 people in the crowd at that point, but he still put his all into it.  The setlist (no doubt, with errors since there were many tunes I didn't not know):

1. Sweet Potato
2. Me & Jesus (Tom T. Hall) -- serious white boy gospel.  hard to tell if he was earnest or ironic
3. The Devil's Song (?)
4. Image of Me -- "one fo the best country songs ever written" by Harlan Howard (who??)
5. Fisherman's Friend (?) -- a song for travelers
6. Dang Me --  Roger Miller tune
7. Who built the moon?  -- pretty silly ditty
8. Highway 61 Revisited -- "Bobby" Dylan countrified.  Changed all the verses 'cept the first.
9. For the turnstiles -- excellent cover of Neil
10. Waterfalls -- apparently a cover of some R&B group called TLC

Shinyribs was followed by a gawd awful local troupe called Stampead.  The less said the better.

By the time The Gourds came on, the crowd had built up some.  Not packed, by any means, but at least not embarrasing (if you forget the fact that some 15 mil. people live in metro LA).The set was spirited, though not quite the knockout that Slim's was.  They played:

1. My Name is Jorge
2. Arapahoe
3. Old Man from the Mountain
4. Jesues Christ with Signs Following
5. Gyroscopic
6. Maria -- Jimmy at his maniacal best
7. Yoli Find a Possum -- not sure where this one comes from
8. LGO
9.O Rings
10. Roll & Tumble
11.Take Me Back to Tulsa
12. All the Labour -- one of my favs!
13. I'm a Man -- very impromptu Muddy Waters with different lyrics.  Actually, Jimmy just sang about one verse.
14. Flavor on Your Tongue -- ending with the "do do do doo doos" from the Stones' "Hangfire" and followed by a few bars of Chariots of Fire((!!)
15. Promenade -- nice ballad, but the line about Southern Democrats is really weak
16. Red Letter Day -- Max on vox
17. Dr. Spivey -- Jimmy at his maniacal worst. Too bloody loud. (tho' I liked how he snuck in a bass line from "I Want You (She's So Heavy)
18. Mr. Betty
19. Gin and Juice -- snippets of The Hungry Wolf (X), Surrender (Cheap Trick), and The End (The Doors)

Frankly, I could of done w/out G&J.  It's just getting too cliche for them to play and they looked bored playing it.  They do a great version and it's a lot of fun, but it just doesn't make sense to make a cover your signature tune and play it at every gig.  I liked it back in, oh, 1998 when they stopped playing it at every show for a while.

And with that, I really will go to bed now.

Epic is really the best word to describe the show I saw Sunday night.  Had third row center seats at the Greek Theatre to see My Morning Jacket, a band I'd barely even heard of a year ago, and they pulled out all the stops to put on an incredible concert.  These guys have got a total lock on the whole slow-burn jam that just explodes at the end in an orgy of wailing guitars and thundering drumming.  And I haven't seen that much hair on stage in ages  -- it was like we'd be transported back to the 70's, and I mean that in a good way.

One of the more interesting things that this band does is how it defies conventions, while simultaneously embracing them.  You've got this bear-like lead singer looking a little like a young Sammy Hagar with even longer hair who suddenly comes out singing in a startling falsetto.  Or there's the way they started out a song with a reggae downbeat and transformed in the end to a stoner-rock anthem.  On the convention side, there was plenty of Zeppelinesque arena-rock antics, which I suspect was both tongue-in-cheek and just a load of fun at the same time (cuz secretly we all just want to jump up and down like Pete Townsend while power riffing).

Did I mention they have a song called "Librarian"?  What more do you need to know?

Many thanks to Bun E.'s Twin for scoring the seats and backstage passes (a first for me).  Props to Dr. B for introducing me to the band last year.

Here's the set list:

1. Evil Urges
2. Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.1
3. Off The Record
4. Anytime
5. I'm Amazed
6. The Way That He Sings
7. Two Halves
8. Thank You Too!
9. Sec Walkin
10. I Will Sing You Songs
11. What A Wonderful Man
12. Mahgeetah
13. Lay Low
14. Phone Went West
15. Gideon
16. Dondante
17. Librarian
18. Smokin From Shootin
19. Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.2
----------
20. Golden
21. Wordless Chorus
22. Highly Suspicious
23. Run Thru
24. One Big Holiday

More going on or has happened than I can possibly write about.  I just don't seem to find the time these days to keep the blog updated, much as I would like to.  But, I'll keep trying.

Let's see, Dr. B's visit was a lot of fun.  We went out to SaMo and what had started as a rainy day turned into glorious sunshine by the time we hit the beach and pier.  Little One had a blast on the rides.  We later went over to T&K place for a fabulous fondue feast that lasted well into the night.  Was nice to be able to crash at their place and not have to worry about getting back to get LO in bed as well as to enjoy some adult beverages (tried a BeTon for the first time -- Becherovia [a Czech schnaps] and Tonic; for the non-German speaking crowd, it's a play on words, as Beton in German means concrete).  On Sunday we then drove Dr. B. to the airport and said good-bye.  What can I say about that?  Being able to see each other regularly over the past two years has been really great and I will miss that opportunity to arrange such visits.  Even talking on the phone is much easier when you don't have to be concerned with a 9 hr. time difference.  I always feel like my closest friends lives so far away.  Anyway, while I will miss Dr. B and his family, I know that we will also still stay in touch and hopefully will at least be able to get together once a year.

I've started my summer class -- it's all about learning HTML and CSS , the code for writing websites.  Most people use software like Dreamweaver  to write websites, but we're learning to hand code.  Basically, the idea is that if you learn to hand code, you're in a better position to edit code that has been written using software.  Anyway, it's reasonably interesting to me, and I hope to use what i learn in helping to redesign our library website (which needs a serious overhaul) as well as to write a personal homepage.

Little One is in her final week at school.  Next Wednesday will be her last day.  Technically, Thurs. should be the last day, but we've already been told in no uncertain terms, they don't really want the kids to come on Thurs.  These kinds of skipping out of their responsibilities pisses me off sometimes, but not enough that I'm going to complain about it.  Anyway, for the summer, we've signed her up for a day camp MWF at a local park.  That should be fun.  On Tuesdays, Better Half will be home to look after her, and on Thursdays, the Schmaz will be the resident babysitter.  So, we're basically covered for the summer.  Yippeee.

Now that it's summer, I'm working a regular M-F day shift, no Sundays.  Like that a lot.  Hoping that I can get in shape enough to begin riding to work again.  Just haven't found the time to do any exercise, and you don't just start riding up that hill cold --- you've got to train or you're gonna be hurting.

On the job front, since being reinstated at f/t, I've also learned that the tech services librarian is leaving.  Most likely beginning of August.  So, now I'm thinking I'll apply for that job when it becomes available.  It requires cataloging and ordering in addition to reference and instruction.  There's a lot I could learn and do in the position -- we need a new online catalog and I'd be interested in working on that.  The other attraction, of course, is better pay/benes and better hours.  Meanwhile, i'm also on the search committee for a new Library Director.  Interesting experience to see what that is like, and worth a posting on its own.

Went to the Police/Elvis Costello gig at the Hollywood Bowl a few weeks ago.  T&K had an extra tix, so impulsively nabbed it.  I wasn't really thinking -- it's not the kind of show I usually go for these days, being in a large stadium and quite pricey.  In the event it was fun and okay, but definitely not stellar.  Frankly, I would have rather seen EC as the headliner and the Police as the opener.  I mean EC is actually still vital, still recording new material.  The Police set is all greatest hits, like a revue set.  Makes me feel old.  The LAT review was telling -- it was written by a mom who talked about what a family-friendly show it was.  "Family-friendly" is not how I like my rock and roll concerts.

Ok -- nuff for now.  Gotta go eat.

What a great weekend!  Just got back from the Bay Area for a short visit that was fantastic.  I got to see lots of old friends and hear great music.  On top of that, the weather was perfect.

Flew out Saturday morning.  It's been a long time since I've traveled solo and it was really amazing to me just how easy it was to get around.  I felt like I could just zip from place to place at lighting speed.  From the plane I could see both the snow-capped Sierras to the east and the ocean to the west almost the whole way up.  Sweet.  Hoped on BART to get to a friend's house in Oakland.  I love BART.  I miss sensible public transport.

My first stop was to see Ms. Emo, whom I hadn't seen in almost four years.  She's one of the people I biked across country with back in 1990, and we kept in touch afterwards cuz she had stayed in DC and later was living in Berkeley when I was also living in the Bay Area around '96-'97.Anyway, we had a nice time catching up and sitting out in the backyard of their new house in the Oakland hills soaking up the sun.  She is very domestic now, and loving it.  She'd had a rather uncharacteristic upbringing, complete with lots of moving about and she feels like she missed having a rooted, nuclear family existence, so she's more than happy to be providing that now for her family (5yr old daughter, second bun in the oven).

Then Dr. B came and picked me up and he and I headed across the bay to the city.  We first had dinner at Walzwerk, an East German restaurant.  It was quite the experience.  They had lots of East German objects that they used to decorate the place, served typical German food and East German beers.  I loved the sign in the bathroom: Das Flaschenpfand ist das Kapital des kleinen Mannes (Bottle deposits are the capital of the common man).  It was pretty authentic.  Oh, and I saw someone there I recognized.  Took me awhile to figure out who it was, but then I realized it was a student from the College who I had seen in the library pretty regularly. So I asked as she was leaving if she had gone there, and she said yes and that she had transferred to Cal.

We then made our way down to the gig at Slim's.  Searched in vain for a brew-pub first, and settled for a quick beer at a funky bar across the street.  I'd asked Dr. B if he could remember when the show was that we had last seen the Gourds at in Utrecht, Holland.  Turns out it must have been spring of 2003, so five years ago.  Well, it was worth the wait.  It was a fantastic show.  Kevin Russell, the lead singer, came on first and did a solo set under his pseudonym of Shinyribs.  He had some great songs and they were all new to me.  Shortly after that, the whole band come on and tore the roof off the house.  Here's the setlist:

The Gourds
2008-02-09
Slim's
San Francisco, CA
USA

01. Crowd and Stage Chatter
02. My Name is Jorge
03. Hellhounds
04. Lower 48
05. Take Me Back to Tulsa
06. All in the Pack
07. New Roommate
08. Jesus Christ with Signs Following
09. Burn the Honeysuckle*
10. Steeple Full of Swallows
11. Dooley
12. Rugged Roses
13. Mister Betty
14. Pill Bug Blues
15. Shake the Chandelier
16. Nitty Gritty
17. Red Letter Day
18. Ants on the Melon
19. El Paso
20. Chatter
21. Plaid Coat
22. Maria
23. Chawin' Chewin' Gum
24. Merch Talk
25. Gin and Juice^

26. Feelin' on Yo Booty
27. Ride Captain Ride
28. Fine Leather Truck
29. Teacher

* with Fire on the Bayou intro and outro

^ including Dock of the Bay, Cupid, Surrender, Looking Out My Back
Door, The End, If You Want Blood You've Got It

I sure hope the show gets posted on the Internet Archive, cuz I'd love to relive it.

After the show we went for one more drink at the Albatross back in B-town and basically closed out the place at 2 am.  By then I was pretty hammered.

It was rough getting up the next morning, but we had made plans to meet an old college friend for brunch at 11 am.  So, after a much abbreviated visit with Dr. B's parents and kids, we were off.  Seeing Udo von DuYu was wild.  I had not seen him since I left Santa Cruz.  He looked exactly the same.  Lots of tales were told of what we'd all been doing in the intervening years and who we still kept in touch with.  Among other things, we learned all about his parody band, Pink Steel, a gay heavy-metal band.  Sounds like he's been having a lot of fun with that.

From there we headed over to Marin to hang with the Bikeman.  Heard all about his travels to Pyongyang.  Bikeman works at a foundation that funds projects related to disarmament and he had been invited to go there by one of his grantees.  It sounded pretty unreal.  Again, it was really nice to catch up with an old friend.

And that was it.  Dr. B was kind enough to drive back to the airport and I was on my way.  Missed getting to see Little One before she went to bed and only briefly got to talk with Better Half.  But we chatted on the phone after I landed at LAX and it sounded like they both had nice weekends, too.

The big news is that Better Half got the job!  Call came yesterday while she was at work, and she accepted.  She's going to start in two weeks.  She's more than paid her dues at this last place and this sounds like it's going to be a real step up.  Looks like I'd better start looking for something in the area, too.  The experience I'm getting at the College is good, but I think at this stage I should be able to land something at least as good if not better in or around G'dale.

In other news, I've decided to go to the Gourds show in San Francisco instead of here in LA.  Will be another opportunity to hang with Dr. B before the move, and I'm also hoping to connect up with some other folks in the Bay Area I haven't seen in a long time.  Found two old friends through Facebook, one from college (Dr. B's old roomie) and one from Bike-Aid.  Eager to be in the City again, and I have a feeling that Slim's will be a better crowd than Safari Sam's.

Went out to a famous Greek restaurant last nite to celebrate the new job.  At the end of our meal, the waiter and maitre d' did a little Greek dance.  It was cliched -- the usual Zorba the Greek tune.  But the funny thing was at the beginning, the maitre d' comes to Little One and asks her to come up with him.  She goes up.  He takes a small plate and, naturally, proceeds to smash it on the ground.  LO is shocked by this behavior. Then he hands her a plate and tells her to do the same.  Shakes her head, hands back the plate and runs back to her seat.  She later told me she was too shy.  I think she was afraid she might get in trouble.

Boss is going to pay for me to attend two upcoming conferences:  the Calif. Academic and Research Libraries conference in April in Irvine and the ALA conference in June in Anaheim.  Given the need to find a new gig, the timing for networking is spot on.

Got a letter yesterday from an old friend in Leipzig, one of the guys I shared a flat with.  Was great to hear from Beatboy.  Sounds like things are going really well for him and his family.  He sent along a copy of a CD he cut with his band.  Very cool.  Sounds a bit like Rio Reiser (which doesn't mean squat to most of you reading this, so here's a link to a youtube vid with Rio singing in the band he led in the 70's).  Anyway, I'm deeply impressed by anyone who can be the head doctor of a hospital station, a father of two, and still play in a rock and roll band.

Last night's Bill Frisell concert was pretty eclectic.  It was not the best show I've seen with him, but it had some great moments.  The Jazz Bakery is a nice venue, seats somewhat more than, say, McCabes, but with comfortable theatre-style seats, which is quite nice.  Before the show started, I saw Loudon Wainwright III in the crowd, which makes sense given that Frisell played on his album "Here Come the Choppers."  So, I went up and told him I wasn't his biggest fan (an allusion to a song on said album), but that I am a big fan.  But then I could think of nothing else to say, so I left the man in peace.  Must be weird for artists to have random people come up to them and say stuff.

Anyway, in the first set we sat in the second row.  It was just Frisell and drummer Joey Baron who played.  They opened with "You are My Sunshine", which I had heard him do before.  It didn't quite gel though, but then they segued into a great version of Dylan's "Masters of War" (took me awhile to figure out that's what they were playing).  This was as much Baron's show as Frisell's and he did some spectacular drumming on the song and throughout the set.

After the third or fourth song, Frisell announced that there was a friend in the audience who he considered one of his musical heroes.  I naturally thought he was referring to LWIII and anticipated a guest appearance.  But then he introduced on stage Van Dyke Parks, best known for his work with the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson.  VDP came up and they played three songs together:  the old standard, Hard Times (VDP on accordion), a tango (which VDP effused about as having the power to move an entire country; VDP on accordion and switching to piano halfway through), and VDP's own composition, Orange Crate Art (VDP on piano).  Nice songs, but they played them pretty straight and did not expound on them to make them "jazz" tunes.

At the end of the first set I was deciding whether to stay for the second set (extra $10).  I was feeling as though, despite some good moments, the two were not quite coming together and the pacing was odd with songs alternating between very open and expansive and tighter and rocking.  But, hey, jazz is all about the late night set, right? So we decided to stay.  Good decision.  The second set was decidedly shorter, but each song saw the two really feeding off each other.  Whereas the first set was more Baron's moment to shine, this time it was a true team effort.  I was particularly impressed with a West African influenced song they played.  Never heard Frisell play the kind of hypnotic, stringy guitar lines like that, a la Ali Farka Toure.  Meanwhile, Baron is hand drumming on a regular drum set.  Pure magic.  They closed with an appropriately dreamy version of Body and Soul.