Dr. John - Turner Hall

I wish I had blogged the last 20 concerts or so. It has been a slow summer season--but the whole point was to put a few words down about each show and then read about it in 50 years.

Anyway,

Usual cast: Sepp and Me.

Band guitarist had an opening solo set. Loved it. Polished session guitarist with southern blues comps.

Dr. John: polished New Orleans blues act. Not as funky as I expected. Several moments of voodoo trans during the show. Nothing too flashy from the band, but enjoyable. Slower tempo but fun group groove at time. Dr. John has excellent stage presence and overall it was a fun show. It would be nice to see a younger generation bring more energy to the style, but I enjoyed it.

Kings go Forth Turner Hall

Very good rhythm section. Some decent R&B comps. They need to drop the lead singer, front left guitar, and they don't need the tambourine/singer on the right. Bring in a hot chick lead and keep the rhythm guitarist. You don't actually need a horn section until you're booking fancy gigs, so why pay those guys. You may want to find a better bass player, but this guy is passable. I'll give them a C+. Not sure why they get so much pub on local radio. XMU hasn't heard of you yet...and there is a reason for that.

Ok Go! 4/16/2010

I originally gave them an F but the reality was that I drank too much whiskey and shouldn't really judge. Sepp gave them a 'C', so I'll go with his assessment. I remember a lot of band chatter between songs and lame comps. I also remember saying a lot about how this band won't be making any money within 2 years.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 3/26

Very Loud. Simple power chord rock comps. Peter Hayes switched with another guitarist/bass on songs. Few harmonies, but good when they surfaced. Total rock chick drummer that looked more like a 12 year old kid.

Not much to say. I actually had a ridiculously hot date that night...which is a rarity. Suffice to say, Smashy stole the show that night, but BRMC was good too.

Cowboy Junkies Turner Hall 3/25

Very drunk post:

Falsetto voice complimented with an exceptional band. They muddy the drums and meld the melodies together so they don't interfere with the voice. I don't know what they sang about. We missed 1/2 the set and got super drunk post show. Lots of fun.

Dan Hicks 3/11 Turner Hall

I can't remember the name of the opener. I only heard 2 songs from each band. I won free tickets and couldn't find a date in time. I ended up catching as much of the set as possible and then going out to play hockey.

This is what I saw:

Hicks and and the Hot Licks are a country swing outfit from San Fran. The arrangements include Hicks on guitar, plucking rhythm guitar soloist, fiddle, upright bass and 2 doo wop singers. It had a western vaudeville feel and mixed it with a Deadwood aesthetic. I didn't stay for the whole concert, but enjoyed the songs. I'd see it again.

Magnetic Fields w/ Laura Barrett 3/4/2010 Pabst Theater

Laura Barrett: Very interesting melodies. She played some sort of bass instrument with her feat to compliment a kalimba. I didn't know anything about this act (didn't even know there would be an opener) but was impressed with her compositions. She exchanged vocal harmonies with another female voice (forget the instrument) while a banjo player syncopated the melodies. All original compositions--I remember one song about a robot pony--a few others delved into sexual innuendo. Very good performance on the whole.

Magnetic Fields: I tried to bone up on this group before the show by listening to all 69 Love songs. The performance met my expectations. However, I was surprised to see that the lead Stephin Merritt didn't dominate every song. In fact, he played a ukulele and only sang on 1/2 the songs. The 2 female vocalists, Claudia Gonson (keyboard) and another female on (can't remember name of instrument) did most of the singing. Merritt has a wonderful bass voice. It clashed a bit (in volume) with the other 2 singers--but just a unique and original sound. I loved it.

This isn't my cup of tea as far as style. nevertheless this was an unbelievably creative musical performance. They sang songs about vampires and sex and porno starlets. I lost myself in the cello drones. And the (non Claudia) female vocalist held my attention on each song. The magnetic fields kept it interesting for me. I don't know what genre to put this music because it's not rock, it's not pop and it's not folk. It's original however and I really enjoyed it.