POSTS OF JUNE 3, 5, 13, 16, 19, 22 and 23, 2006
CALEXICO Has Calexico mellowed into some sort of Tex-Mex lite rock? Some people apparently think so, after a cursory listen to the band's latest CD, Garden Ruin. While the record does have more than its share of quiet moments, it has some rockers, too, and this album's a grower. And in concert, Calexico is just as fiery and nimble as ever. It was another top-notch performance by Calexico tonight. Joey Burns is sort of an assuming frontman – not super showy – but that just adds to feeling that this one-time duo has truly become a full-fledged band. Especially impressive is that German/Latino duo swapping instruments all night long – trumpets, vibes, keyboards, guitar, accordion, percussion – those guys (Martin Wenk and Jacob Valenzuela) are great. John Convertino got some excellent rattlesnake noises out of the drum kit. There were a lot of old songs, plus a good sample from the new record. "Bisbee Blue" and "Letter to Bowie Knife" sounded especially good, as did the Feast of Wire tunes like "Not Even Stevie Nicks" (that one veered off into a new section that sounded much different from the studio version). Calexico also played its nice cover of Love's "Alone Again Or," and during the encore, opening act Jason Collett and a bunch of other musicians came onstage for Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody." Other guest musicians included Doug McCombs of Tortoise and Eleventh Dream Day sitting in on guitar for a few songs and Chicago's go-to guy on trumpet, Dave "Max" Crawford (who's also a bartender at Metro... nice to see him on the stage there for a change). A screen behind the band showed grainy footage of bullfights, horses wading through water and demolition derbies. It was just grainy and abstract enough to work as a nice visual backdrop without being too distracting, and it matched Calexico's Southwestern vibe perfectly. I don't know the solo music of Jason Collett, who opened the concert, but it sounded pretty darn good. Mellow pop taken up a notch by some talented musicians (including guest players from the Stills, who were in town for Intonation Fest.) Soul music and R&B are alive well these days, not because of the usual slickly produced fare you hear on the radio, but because of rawer, back-to-basics acts like Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, the Detroit Cobras and the BellRays. The BellRays put on a lively performance before a small crowd (about 50 or so, not pathetic, but they deserved a bigger audience), with lead singer Lisa Kekaula exhorting everyone to dance and holler. The BellRays play a mix of soul with some hard-rock or garage-rock guitars. I like their new album Have a Little Faith pretty well, but it all sounded better in concert. SEE PHOTOS OF THE BELLRAYS. The opening acts were Bottles of Wine (who did not leave much of an impression on me... reasonably well-played but not very interesting blues) and SSM. I'm not sure what to make of SSM. The guitar-keyboard-drums trio had a pretty good sound, but the songs didn't stick with me. SEE PHOTOS OF SSM. The Radiohead faithful thronged Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre on Monday night – including those without tickets, who paraded up and down the crowded sidewalks with cardboard signs. One fan wore a sandwich board with stenciled letters that reflected the paranoid bent of so many Radiohead lyrics: “THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T WANT ME TO HAVE A TICKET.” Another fan made the more plausible claim: “WE DROVE 12 HOURS.” Other fans had come from as far away as California. Radiohead concerts are events. This British quintet is quite simply one of the world’s best and most exciting rock bands, and anytime Radiohead records new songs or tours, it’s big news in the world of rock music. The Auditorium Theatre provided an elegant setting for Radiohead’s singular blend of art rock, great guitar riffs, electronica and emotional yet enigmatic vocals. Following a strong opening set of hard blues rock by the Black Keys, the crowd erupted into thunderous, even ravenous applause as the auditorium fell dark and Radiohead entered. What followed were 23 songs spanning Radiohead’s career – including nine songs that may end up on the group’s next album, likely to be released in 2007. The question on every Radiohead fan’s mind: How are the new songs? Most of them seemed good, even very good, but not great. However, first impressions of Radiohead music can be deceiving, so one hesitates to make a definitive pronouncement. A couple of the new songs actually sounded a little like soul music, a new trend for Radiohead. “15 Step” featured hand claps and a techno-dance beat, while “House of Cards” was a quieter number with a mellow guitar rhythm and a falsetto by Thom Yorke that wasn’t far off from “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.” “House of Cards” was one of two new songs that were strong enough to give hope that Radiohead’s next album could be yet another classic. The other impressive new song, “4 Minute Warning,” featured an instantly catchy melody, with Yorke playing the electric piano amid an echo-laden arrangement. Radiohead still knows how to fashion a straightforward rock song, and some of the new tunes did rock, including “Bangers ’n’ Mash,” which featured Yorke taking a drum solo; “Spooks,” a surprising instrumental with Dick Dale-style surf guitar; and “Open Pick,” which had all three of Radiohead’s guitarists going full-out on their axes. “Videotape” had Yorke sitting at the piano, with an off-kilter drum pattern entering the song at an unexpected point, eventually making sense as the rest of the band kicked in. Other new songs – “Nude,” “Down is the New Up” and “Like Spinning Plates” – often turned into showcases for Yorke’s tenor, like miniature art-rock arias. Radiohead is clearly a band in which every member’s contribution is important to the whole. Bassist Colin Greenwood and drummer Phil Selway are an amazing rhythm section, bringing a strange life even to seemingly mechanical beats. Ed O’Brien plays not just great guitar riffs, but he also contributes Radiohead’s important backup vocals, which are often the hooks that make you want to sing along. And Johnny Greenwood is practically a one-man band, hopping between guitar solos, keyboard, theremin and drums, hiding his face beneath a mop of hair but never concealing his musical passion. Yorke is, however, the band’s focal point, one of rock music’s most peculiarly appealing figures. His lyrics would make him appear to be an eccentric introverted poet, but on the stage, fed by the adoration and applause of his fans, Yorke becomes strangely extroverted. During the most rhythmic songs, Yorke danced awkwardly like a marionette operated by a drunken puppetmaster. During “The National Anthem,” Yorke grasped the microphone for a few minutes before he actually began singing – as if in a trance, he squeezed his eyes shut and made hiccupping noises into the mike, before finally spitting out the words. Radiohead played three songs from its last album, 2003’s “Hail to the Thief,” two from 2001’s “Amnesiac,” four from 2000’s “Kid A,” three from 1997’s “OK Computer” and one from 1995’s “The Bends.” Early in the concert, as Yorke began strumming a B minor chord on his acoustic guitar, the audience instantly recognized “Exit Music (For a Film),” a classic track from the landmark “OK Computer.” A number of fans made “Wooo!” noises, followed by another contingent making “Shhhh!” sounds, all of which prompted Yorke to give a sly grin. While the “OK Computer” songs drew some of the most enthusiastic applause all night, Radiohead’s later, more electronic music was also warmly received, showing that the band’s fans have followed it through musical changes, even when skeptics said the group was becoming too “difficult.” The concert closed with one of those electronic songs that originally baffled some listeners, “Everything in Its Right Place,” prompting the crowd to clap along to the track’s insistent beat. That simple little tune, a Radiohead song reduced to bare bones, sounded magnificent. As the band left the stage, its patterns continued to repeat through the amplifiers, a crescendo both noisy and beautiful. SET LIST: First encore: Second encore: Check out www.ateastweb.com for more set lists, comments on Radiohead, etc. The night after this show, Radiohead played another new song, "All I Need," for the first time. Here's some shaky fan video of the song from youtube. That photo at the top, by the way, is not my own, nor was it actually taken at this concert. It's by Jason Merritt, from the Bonaroo Festival, where Radiohead played shortly before coming to Chicago. For more photos of Radiohead at Bonaroo, click here. Son Volt got off to a tentative start – Jay Farrar shook his head a couple of times as he was playing guitar, as if he wasn't pleased with something... But maybe that's just the way he is. The first half of the show was mostly songs from last year's album Okemah and the Riot of Melody. It's a good record, though of course, you sensed the audience really wanted to hear the old stuff. Among the newer songs, "Bandages & Scars" and "Who" sounded especially good. A new song from the album Son Volt has just recorded didn't leave much of an impression on me either way. The old stuff finally came as the concert came to a end, with some of the songs from Trace, including "Drown," "Windfall" and "Tear Stained Eye." The first encore ended with a lively cover of the Kink's "I'm Not Like Everybody Else." (Too bad that song has become known lately as the soundtrack of an IBM commercial, but I won't let that ruin it for me – it's a classic, and it was cool recently to see Ray Davies open his concert at the Vic with it.) I thought that might be the end of the concert, but the band came back for one more song: "Chickamauga," originally played by Farrar's previous band, Uncle Tupelo. We got the best guitar solo of the night as Farrar stretched "Chickamauga" out into a rocking jam – ending with a psychedelic squelching of feedback after the band had left the stage. Black Mountain's self-titled CD was one of my favorites in 2005. This year, I discovered Pink Mountaintops, sort of an alter ego of Black Mountain. Both bands are led by Stephen McBean, and both bands are dominated by his great groove guitar riffs and his vocals, which seem to me to have a certain hippy/slacker vibe. Pink Mountaintops is not as heavy as Black Mountain, but it's not exactly a lite-rock version of that band. I've yet to hear the first album by Pink Mountaintops (Jessica Hopper wrote an illuminating commentary on both of the band's records in the Chicago Reader, and now I'm eager to hear that first record). The new one is very good, though, and this concert was, too. Given the fact that this band is mostly Stephen McBean (or so it seems), it was interesting to see so many musicians crowding onto the stage – seven. Plus, a number of musicians from the two opening acts got onto the stage at times, giving the whole concert a weird party-like atmosphere. McBean is reserved onstage, saying little between songs but letting his singing and guitar riffs say a lot. One of the opening acts, the Black Angels, practically stole the show. I've been wanting to hear this Austin band since I missed them at SXSW. What I heard tonight: intense, psychedelic guitar playing, and more than a few yelps of intensity. Great stuff. I picked up the two Black Angels CDs at the show, and after a couple of listens, the 2006 full-length Passover is sounding outstanding. The first act of the night was Chicago's Catfish Haven. I've said before that I can't quite get into this band. I like their sound for a song or two, but then it wears thin – I think because they don't vary their hard-strummed acoustic guitar/spastic bass/drums formula from song to song. That said, I can hear some good songwriting going on in there, and the spastic bass playing was more spastic than ever. Yet another benefit for a musician without health insurance. Yet another reminder of what an awful system (or lack of system) we have in the United States for making sure everyone gets the health care they deserve. This time, it was Waco Brothers drummer Joe Camarillo, who was recently injured in a car accident.While Camarillo recuperates, some of his musical pals teamed up for a benefit show at the Hideout. I missed the headlining final set of the night by the Wacos (I can only blame sleepiness for my early departure), but caught three wonderful performances. First up was Scott Ligon, accompanied by Kelly Hogan and Nora O'Connor. They'd recently played a series of shows at Davenports, a venue for cabaret music. Now, this is an interesting development, because I've been thinking for a while that the music of Hogan and Ligon would appeal to a lot of people outside the "alt-country" niche. People who like Norah Jones, vocal jazz or plain old Great American Songbook music would find a lot to like in the songs they're doing, both originals and interpretations of classics and obscurities. When Hogan made those live recordings at the Hideout a while back (whatever happened to that album???), I thought the jazz critics should have been there to hear it. Anyway, at tonight's gig, Ligon was the ringleader, playing some really, really nice originals, side by side with songs by Brian Wilson and Hoagy Carmichael, with Hogan and O'Connor adding truly beautiful harmonies. Most of the same musicians stayed onstage for the next set, by O'Connor -- more vocal beauty was in store. It just made me long for her to put out another album. She became a mom recently, so parenthood may be her priority for the moment, but I'd love to hear another recording from her. Next up was yet another Jon Langford band/project. Does this guy ever go to sleep? This latest venture is a duo called the KatJon Band -- Langford plus drummer Katrin Bornfeld of the Dutch band The Ex. I'm not familiar with the music of The Ex, but this set certainly got me interested. Kat's an amazing drummer, playing lively and complex rhythms that sounded almost like a marching band at times. She played with a calm demeanor as if she were barely exerting herself, often breaking out into a smile or smirk. Her drumming brought out some sides of Langford's guitar playing that I haven't heard too much recently -- more aggressive and edgy than the typical rhythm guitar he plays with most of his other bands of late. They played an interesting set of music, including songs by the Mekons, Ex and Three Johns, plus a George Jones cover. It was one of the best Langford performances I've seen in the last few years.
My main reason for going to Schubas tonight was the chance to see Devin Davis with a full band. As I've mentioned before, Davis' record, Lonely People of the World, Unite!, was one of my favorites in 2005. I saw him at the Hideout in February, but I missed the shows he did with his band and caught a solo night -- which was interesting, but not quite the same thing as hearing the songs in the full-band glory. Davis sounded good tonight, backed by pedal steel guitar, drums, bass and keyboard/sax. The songs were a little less polished sounding than the studio versions, but they still sounded pretty darn strong -- and I like the new songs he played. He closed with "Born to Run," which was shown on the set list simply as "THE BOSS." After the show, Devin told me he'd started working at 8:30 that morning on writing lyrics for one of the new songs. SEE PHOTOS OF DEVIN DAVIS. Davis wasn't actually the headlining act -- that honor belonged to the 1900s. I'd read some of the local articles about this band and heard one or two of their songs online, but I didn't know too much about them. They were quite impressive, doing delightfully, well, "twee" music... and I don't mean that as an insult. I like twee. At least, when it's done well. I've always liked Belle and Sebastian, the band shown in the dictionary next to the word twee, and the 1900s play music in a similar vein. Not that you'd mistake it for Belle and Sebastian, but it's another big ensemble (seven musicians and singers, including violin) with guy and girl singers, doing pretty pop ditties. I liked what I heard -- and saw. One of the singers, Jeanine O'Toole, was clearly the focus of much of the audience's eyes as she accented the music with her flirtatious moves. The crowd right in front of the stage was almost all women, obviously big fans of the 1900s, cheering wildly throughout the show. After the show, I picked up a copy of the 1900s' six-song EP, Plume Delivery, and I'm already enjoying it quite a bit. SEE PHOTOS OF THE 1900s. I missed most of the opening set by the first band of the night, Gentleman Caller of Bloomington, Ind., but I liked what I heard. Will definitely check them out. SEE PHOTOS OF GENTLEMAN CALLER.
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ALL CONTENTS © 2006 BY ROBERT
LOERZEL. PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR PERMISSION TO PUBLISH PHOTOS OR OTHER MATERIAL.
