Things have been picking up in the last month or so. More tours coming through, one of the welcome harbingers of springtime for me.
Just a few noteworthy shows I’ve seen lately:
Son Volt, Bobby Bare Jr:
Wow, this was a good lineup.
I wasn’t all that familiar with Bobby Bare Jr’s quirky brand of folk-rock. Wonderfully emotive, strained singing voice, and songs that somehow managed to be folk, country…and…i guess….arena rock? Hair metal? all at once. This was a lot of fun.
Son Volt was absolutely fantastic. I’ll confess that I only own Trace, so a lot of the set was new material to me. (Why in the hell don’t I have Wide Swing Tremolo? What is my problem, anyway?) They were polished, and though the slow- to mid-tempo bent to their music seemed to make the set lag a bit toward the middle, they could really cook when they turned up the rock.
This show ended with something I haven’t seen before- a second encore as people were streaming out of the 9:30 club, causing an excited rush back to the stage.
New Pornographers w/ Okkervil River
So, for me the New Pornographers have not held more than a passing interest. I think they’re a very talented bunch of songwriters with a really unique sound, but it just doesn’t hit me. I really enjoyed their set though- they were an extraordinarily tight band, engaging performers and their set was sequenced very well, crescendoing in all the right places.
I hear a lot of moaning about Neko Case from fans who argue that she doesn’t show up often enough, isn’t dedicated enough, etc. I went to the 2nd DC show; she’d been sick the previous night and nobody knew if she’d be on stage the second night.
Well, she showed up. Hobbled onto the stage, in fact, having sprained her ankle shortly before set time. And was still coughing occasionally. And she was there for the whole set, in fine voice, through the encore, before being helped off stage by her bandmates.
You won’t see me questioning her dedication.
I was primarily at this show to see Okkervil River. I hate how much I love this band. I’m supposed to hate them, what with Will Sheff’s affected, melodramatic and kinda sloppy singing. Like I say in the “About” section, “If you’re pretentious, melodramatic, or a lazy musician, I probably hate your band.” There it is. And yet….I can’t help loving them; they’re like a girl I know is no good for me that I can’t stop seeing. The songs are just too good.
They got off to a bit of a slow start, but soon proved themselves the ferociously good live band I’d been promised. The songs have such huge drama inside of them, and they positively exploded in a live setting. A big, moving, soaring performance; they were a thunderstorm gathering in the sky and then dropping all it’s got.
The Beanstalk Library
Dear Gypsy Eyes Records: Just freaking sign these guys already. Their 1970s AM Radio sound is right in your wheelhouse, they’re one of the best bands in the city, and they’re stupidly overlooked (though their profile seems to be rising.) These guys are always a rewarding live experience. They were great on the Black Cat’s backstage last month, and every new song they debut seems better than everything before.
I’m going on rock-strike if I don’t see the following lineup at a show within the next two months: These United States, Justin Jones & the Driving Rain, The Beanstalk Library.
