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Like a Disco from Another Dimension

May 23rd, 2013

Of Montreal – Music Hall of Williamsburg – May 22, 2013


Just so you’re forewarned, in case you didn’t get the memo, shirts were optional for the encore at last night’s of Montreal show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. The set opened in high energy, the band hopping with an almost punk intensity and white-clad human balloon structures with skeleton masks skulking around the stage. From there it was a stream of constant multisensory activity: thick slabs of psychedelic funk music and plenty of weirdo concoctions to see. This was music you could hear, see, smell, taste and feel. Songs from the entire catalog were stitched together into longer stretches, like a DJ working the dance floor, Kevin Barnes leading a disco from another dimension.

Almost every other song was accompanied by some stage production: “You Do Mutilate?” featured a faux preacher curing the blind as Barnes seemed almost oblivious to the craziness behind him, the band going supergroovy. And then, as the music slipped into a hypersexed prog rock, things quickly went from PG to R with “Plastis Wafers.” Barnes returned to the stage following a rocking jam as a winged angel king, his white shroud serving as a human screen for the Day-Glo projections during “Hydra Fancies.” Every time the stage door opened, you could only wonder what kind of what-is-that!? would emerge.

Still, the closing five numbers, when the antics were kept to a minimum, were the highlight of the show. Beginning with “Sex Karma”—sung as a duet while three keyboards went thick—and ending with “A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger,” the band and crowd locked into an ultragroovy, frenzied fugue fueled by a constant carbonated bass. Well, come to think of it, yes, “Suffer for Fashion” had some sort of giraffe theme going on (because, why not?), and the closing tune did feature He-Man making out with Skeletor under a cloud of confetti, but whatever, it was an otherworldly dance party. The encore started with the guitarist singing a Space Trucks song, a supercharged afrobeat that popped into a fun cover of “I Shot the Sheriff” and finished with Barnes singing “Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider” while large creatures made out of stuffed animals roamed the stage. It was the stuff of a madman’s dream, thankfully with the funkiest soundtrack you could ask for. Oh, and you can put your shirt back on now. —A. Stein

Photos courtesy of Peter Senzamici | petersenzamici.com

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This Time, It Was Unusual

May 20th, 2013

Tom Jones – The Bowery Ballroom – May 18, 2013


Tom Jones dominated the charts in the ’60s and ’70s with megahits like “It’s Not Unusual,” “Delilah,” and “What’s New Pussycat?” But you may also know him from his covers of Prince and Talking Heads, or from James Bond, or even from the Carlton dance on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Now, though, take everything you know about Tom Jones and throw it out the window. He just released a new album, Spirit in the Room, that, at the age of 72, completely transforms the singer. It’s the second album Jones has made with producer Ethan Johns, and it’s stunning. Like their first highly acclaimed collaboration, Praise & Blame, it puts Jones in a minimal setting. Forget the ass-shaking, panties-throwing go-go music of yesteryear—this is Jones, stripped down and personal.

But that’s not to say that Jones stopped being himself: He put on a phenomenal show at—of all places—The Bowery Ballroom on Saturday night. If you were lucky enough to snatch a ticket to the sold-out show, you could hear him in top form. His voice still booms across the room, he still swings his hips onstage and he still screams like James Brown when the moment calls for it. But he played not one of his hits, and it didn’t matter. He’s still got it. Jones opened with Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song,” singing softly to an enraptured crowd: “Well my friends are gone/ And my hair is gray/ I ache in the places where I used to play.” The song served as a sober reflection on his life and career, which, after 50 years, is still going strong. And Jones is enjoying it. “It’s Saturday night, isn’t it?” he asked. “Sometimes I can’t even remember if it’s Saturday night or not. Every night is Saturday night for me. Every day is Christmas Day.” —Alex Kapelman

Photos courtesy of Gregg Greenwood | gregggreenwood.com

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Kurt Vile’s Picking Up Steam

May 17th, 2013

Kurt Vile and the Violators – The Bowery Ballroom – May 16, 2013


Kurt Vile cares a lot about his sound. This could be said of most musicians, of course, but anyone familiar with Vile’s work knows that it’s all those little details that make his music so remarkable. All those guitar ditties that weasel their way into your head and never leave end up defining his songs as a whole. A lot of bands tend to leave these nuanced details out of their live show—or bury them sonically so that they’re hardly audible under everything else. But with Kurt Vile, he ensures that all those nuances are accounted for. And with the help of his backing band, the Violators, and a stage littered with effects pedals and guitars of every stripe, there’s an impressive depth to his live sound that’s easy on the ears.

Vile kicked off his show last night at The Bowery Ballroom with the title track to his latest album, Wakin on a Pretty Daze. He came out wearing a white denim jacket, white denim jeans and white Converse. All this white made his iconic gnarled mop of hair all the more noticeable. And when the jacket came off by the second song, you could see that it was lined with leopard print. For such an unassuming fellow, Vile’s got some subtle swag. While watching his guitar skills on “Jesus Fever,” it became noticeable that he comes from the J Mascis school of “let me throw down a huge and searing guitar riff without making it look like it takes any effort at all.”

Vile’s guitar playing is fun to watch, in part for how unconventional it is. At times during “Was All Talk,” he bent his thumb over his guitar neck to assist his other fingers. Toward the middle of the set, the Violators left Vile behind with just an acoustic guitar to play softer renditions of “Snowflakes Are Dancing” and “Peeping Tomboy.” The band returned for the loudest moment of the set, “Freak Train,” played with such krautrock momentum that the song seemed unstoppable. It eventually wound down out to an end, as did the show, but for the Kurt Vile train, this thing’s just starting to pick up steam. —Dan Rickershauser

Photos courtesy of Peter Senzamici | petersenzamici.com

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MS MR Release New Album, Sell Out The Bowery Ballroom

May 16th, 2013

MS MR – The Bowery Ballroom – May 15, 2013


MS MR set the bar high for their first headlining tour by playing a sold-out show at The Bowery Ballroom last night one day after the release of Secondhand Rapture, the New York City–based electro-pop outfit’s highly anticipated first full-length album. Following a splendid set from openers Magic Man—who endeared themselves to the crowd with infectious energy and great rock and roll sensibility—MS MR took the stage to uproarious applause. Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow, the MS and MR behind the band’s moniker, took hold of the audience from the outset and delighted us with a set that sent emotional electricity pulsing through the air.

Crowd favorite “Bones” opened the set, instantly sending the audience into an enraptured state. Eerie candelabras that produced syncopated lighting furnished the stage, and the lights changed color throughout the set to reflect the evolution of MS MR’s symphonic sound. The performance bloomed with renditions of “Salty Sweet,” “Think of You” and “BTSK.” The cover of Patrick Wolf’s “Time of My Life” that followed garnered plenty of adoration. Plapinger and Hershenow danced mischievously during “Fantasy” and then dipped into a darker realm for “Dark Doo Wop” and “Head Is Not My Home,” both of which are filled with apocalyptic visions and brooding lyrics.

Plapinger then launched into the simple, anthemic “Ash Tree Lane.” To the crowd’s surprise and delight, the next song was a clever cover of LCD Soundsystem’s “Dance Yrself Clean.” “We’ve always wanted to do that!” she said, beaming at its conclusion. “Hurricane” provided the ideal finale for a theatrical journey through the band’s repertoire. MS MR’s music is simultaneously tragic and euphoric, making the nuanced experience of hearing the music live greatly satisfying. The band brought an appealing sense of humility to performing a sold-out show at a venue they so admire. MS MR make their television debut tonight on The Late Show with David Letterman, and they’re sure to continue their tour with the same gusto and grace they showed us last night. —Schuyler Rooth

Photos courtesy of Lauren Glucksman

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Foxygen Close Out NYC Road Trip at Mercury Lounge

May 16th, 2013

Foxygen – Mercury Lounge – May 15, 2013


Bicoastal buds Sam France (Olympia, Wash.) and Jonathan Rado (New York City) comprise the duo known as Foxygen. And after hearing their song “San Francisco,” this City by the Bay native couldn’t help but get hooked on the sounds reminiscent of late-’60s Haight Ashbury. After a close call at SXSW, the boys have rested and recovered to play a trio of New York City shows this week, culminating in a sold-out Mercury Lounge gig last night. Appropriately, the venue served as the breakthrough for the band since they passed along their Take the Kids Off to Broadway EP to eventual We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic producer Richard Swift (the Shins, Damien Jurado) at a Mynabirds show at the Merc in early 2011.

Amongst a largely male crowd, France greeted the crowd with an ecstatic “Wassup?” followed by a scream that opened into “Jesusss.” Clad in black, France pranced around stage singing “On Blue Mountain” and emphatically thrusting his fist into the air. His usual stage antics had him confessing, “I don’t care if I’m in trouble at all. I’m an idiot. I don’t care. I don’t blame you. I suck.” Fans soaked up his banter and rocked along to “In the Darkness” and “Make It Known.”

As bassist Justin Nijssen sipped from his bottle of wine, France took a moment to introduce his onstage cast of characters before getting into fan favorite “Shuggie,” to a sea of bobbing heads, and then Foxygen’s recent single, “No Destruction.” The remainder of the evening was set to a cacophony of France’s screeching vocals, organ chimes and heavy basslines. The frontman climbed atop amps and the drum kit for their recent LP’s title track, “We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic.” No encore was played: “Our shit’s broken,” announced France. But that didn’t seem to bother exiting concertgoers. One even playfully concluded, “I want what they are on.” —Sharlene Chiu

Photos courtesy of Mike Benigno | mikebenigno.wordpress.com

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Shout Out Louds Dazzle a Bigger Room

May 13th, 2013

Shout Out Louds – Webster Hall – May 10, 2013


It seems like it would be tough to quickly one-up a sold-out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg that happened just days after releasing a new album (Optica), but Shout Out Louds found a way to do just that with their massive show at Webster Hall on Friday night. The Swedish pop-rock band performed with humble grins as they played songs primarily from their last two albums, and they—or specifically, lead singer Adam Olenius—seemed overwhelmed by the crowd’s familiarity with the new material. The two floors of fans cheered from the moment Shout Out Louds opened with Optica’s first track, “Sugar,” and they didn’t settle down until after the band had finished, more than an hour and a half later.

The five-piece’s live show isn’t necessarily remarkable in any outrageous way, but that also means they shy away from leaning on gimmicks and distractions. But since the band’s songwriting is so strong (see: “14th of July” or “Fall Hard”) and their performance is so earnest, they still know how to wow a crowd. Surrounded by a constant fog, which, lit by towering light posts around the stage, glowed ice blue and wood-fire orange, the band split time between recreating more lively versions of those recorded tracks and engaging the Webster Hall audience. Olenius even told a story about the group’s first New York City show, at which there were fewer people than there were buckets on the floor catching rainwater leaking through the dingy venue’s ceiling. Not long after his tale, Olenius had to struggle to make his way to the middle of the venue before sitting down in the crowd during the end of show-capper “Tonight I Have to Leave It.” Oh, how far they’ve come. —Sean O’Kane

Photos courtesy of Sean O’Kane | seanokanephoto.com

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The Legendary Steve Earle Never Disappoints

May 9th, 2013

Steve Earle and the Dukes – Music Hall of Williamsburg – May 8, 2013


Steve Earle is a lot of different things to a lot of different people. He was first introduced to me as the character Walon on The Wire, the kind-hearted sponsor seeing Bubbles through rehab. More recently he was the street performer Harley on the New Orleans–based, post-Katrina Treme. In the mid to late ’80s, he was a country rocker getting a taste of mainstream success. In the ’90s, he battled his way through drug addiction, becoming stronger in the process, and put out some of the best music of his life—moving much closer to the folk-rock singer-songwriter realm, penning songs designed to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Earle’s never shied away from politics, taking on all kinds of activist roles. With his heart on his sleeve, Earle’s an easy guy to like, and through all these chapters of his life, he’s built an interesting persona.

The Steve Earle of today is one happy fellow. It shows onstage, and he’ll be the first to admit it. “This is the best band I have ever had,” Earle told the Music Hall of Williamsburg crowd last night as he introduced the four backing members of his band, the Dukes. He repeated this claim when discussing his inspiration for his latest album, The Low Highway, telling the audience, “I wanted to record an album with the best band I’ve ever had.” This doesn’t feel like hyperbole: The band is perfect for Earle, and it’s a demanding role considering his music hits on just about every genre, seems to involve every instrument imaginable and is as powerful as it is in hard-rocking loud moments as it is in hushed and fragile ones. The back of the stage was filled with an impressive lineup of guitars, mandolins, banjos and just about every other stringed instrument you could imagine.

Earle’s set included favorites for every fan imaginable, classics like “Copperhead Road,” “Guitar Town” and “Hard-Core Troubadour,” plus newer tunes like “The Galway Girl” and “You’re Still Standing There.” Earle introduced his heartfelt tribute to New Orleans, “This City,” as a song that now also speaks just as well to the hurricane-ravaged neighborhoods of our own New York City. For “I Thought You Should Know,” he blew through a gnarled harmonica solo, playing the instrument so close to the microphone that it simultaneously sounded familiar and rough around the edges, with the wailing harmonica sounds barely escaping through layers of distortion and grit. If there ever were a moment to perfectly capture what Earle’s music and life are all about, it was this one. —Dan Rickershauser

Photos courtesy of Mike Benigno | mikebenigno.wordpress.com

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The Breeders Celebrate a Milestone

May 7th, 2013

The Breeders – Webster Hall – May 6, 2013


Kim Deal deserves more credit—much more. Between her years as the bassist of the Pixies and her follow-up career as the lead woman of the Breeders, she’s earned her spot on the short list of rock musicians who have changed the course of music for the better. The last time I saw her perform was for the Pixies’ reunion tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of Doolittle. I remember thinking then if Doolittle had been released that day, it would still have been incredibly well received. Fast-forward four years and I’m watching Deal perform again, this time with the Breeders in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their iconic album, Last Splash, and feeling exactly the same way about this LP. It sounds as fresh today as it must have in ’93. This is for two reasons: The obvious being that each album was way ahead of its time. The other being that the music world we live in today is built on a foundation laid in large part by these two albums. We’d have neither without Kim Deal. We owe her the world.

The best thing about concerts where an album is played in its entirety is that you already know what to expect. So last night at Webster Hall no one had to wait for the distorted opening or the drumstick taps to know “Cannonball” was about to barrel its way through the venue. The arrangement of an album works out as well live as it does etched in record grooves. “Do You Love Me Now?” fits in perfectly as a concert’s midpoint as it does as the LP’s halfway mark. With it’s brittle arrangement, the song’s sparse instrumentation seems there only to hold up Deal’s soft-spoken vocals. The crawling guitar riffs are there at first only as embellishment to her tender singing. And even having heard the song hundreds of times, when it explodes with Deal’s sudden delivery of the loud plea “Come back to me right now!” it still has the power to turn up hairs.

It was sad to hear the ending reprises of “Roi” knowing that the show was ending the same way as Last Splash, but the band came back out to play through a hefty seven-song encore that was long enough to feel like the second act of the show. The encore included a Guided By Voices cover (“Shocker in Gloomtown”), a Beatles cover (“Happiness Is a Warm Gun”) and some non-Last Splash Breeders favorites. So happy 20th birthday, Last Splash! Enough time has passed that it’s now OK to consider its legacy. And hopefully the world fully realizes how incredible of an album this is and that those who crafted it get their rightful place in rock history. —Dan Rickershauser

Photos courtesy of Stephanie F. Black | www.flickr.com/photos/blackfrances

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Jim James Lights Up Webster Hall

April 30th, 2013

Jim James – Webster Hall – April 29, 2013


Jim James is a human sunset: the multihued snapshot-worthy phenomenon bridging day and night. So it made perfect sense that the stage backdrop for his way-sold-out Webster Hall show last night was an array of LEDs spoked like the rays of the sun as it passes over the horizon—and it even displayed the colors to match. Opening with “State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.),” the lead track off his new Regions of Light and Sound of God album, James appropriately sang, “You need the dark as much as the sun” as his backing band laid down a vicious nighttime groove.

The rest of the show was essentially a live version of the album, a set that felt broken into a few smaller parts. The opening number coupled with the heavy keys-and-bass “Know Til Now” represented James’s “Don’t worry, Webster Hall, I brought my own disco” portion of the night, the audience matching the energy from the stage as best they could. Next was a quieter, more acoustic section, marked by the beautiful instrumental “Exploding” followed by the pretty-melody section highlighted by “Of the Mother Again,” the lights flipping between sky blue and cloud white while a very funky extended Rhodes vamp churned the crowd. The set closed with a dark last-purple-throes-of-daylight pairing, headed by “All Is Forgiven,” with a constant swell of bass guitar and a marked rise in intensity that was stretched out into wonderful, mysterious-shroud territory.

Throughout, James’s presence was the focus. His activity was like an ’80s movie montage of motion, touching the extended fingers of those in the front row with his own, like E.T. with a cosmic cure-all, dancing away like an extra in Footloose with uninhibited glee and even doing some sort of mutation of Daniel LaRusso’s crane technique. Still, when it came down to it, his band carried the show. Whether it was an early set drum solo, full-groove keyboard playing, heavy guitar distortion or the constant funky bass, members of the audience were constantly craning their necks to see who was playing what and from where which sound was coming. As they followed James through a five-song, B-sides and rarities kind of encore that included “His Master’s Voice” and “The Right Place” off the Monsters of Folk album, it seemed this band needed their own name, an identity of their own. I think Jim James and the Sunsets has a nice ring to it. —A. Stein

Photos courtesy of Gregg Greenwood | gregggreenwood.com

(Jim James and the Roots play Celebrate Brooklyn at Prospect Park on 6/18, and My Morning Jacket, Wilco and Bob Dylan play Pier A in Hoboken, N.J., on 7/26.)

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Josh Rouse Is Totally in Charge

April 29th, 2013

Josh Rouse – The Bowery Ballroom – April 27, 2013


Usually if you look around a room, it’s the person who’s most relaxed who’s actually in charge. That was definitely the case on Saturday night at The Bowery Ballroom as Josh Rouse, with his easygoing vibe and laid-back sound—singer-songwriter folkie with a no-worry groove and a tinge of country—was in complete command. Rouse’s organic- honey voice was matched perfectly by a backing band that filled in with sweet-aroma guitar riffs and spring-breeze bass playing.

It turned out to be date night, couples of all stripes singing along as Rouse and his band played from his entire catalog, including most of his new album, The Happiness Waltz. These were the kinds of songs that you’d put on a mixtape for the girl you were sweet on, each tune seemed to be somebody’s highlight, with someone turning to a significant other to say, “This one’s my favorite!” Whether it was “Flight Attendant,” with its long intro and hint of a Latin beat, “1972,” with its nostalgic storytelling, or “Summertime,” with its delicious-watermelon groove, the crowd was rapt and the band was just chilling. Seventy minutes in and Rouse had barely broken a sweat with his hammock-swinging, lemonade-sipping repertoire, while the audience’s screamed requests grew increasingly desperate.

As the crowd thinned with couples heading out to catch a train, pay off the babysitter or do whatever it is that couples do after a commanding Josh Rouse set, the band closed with an appropriately sexy “Comeback,” laying down an acoustic disco that continued as Rouse left the stage. What could be more laid-back than having your band vamp a killer set closer while you chill backstage? Just in case the audience really believed Rouse and Co. hadn’t been working their butts off all night, they returned for a three-song encore of “Lemon Tree,” “Sad Eyes” and a high-energy “Love Vibration,” once again, leaving no doubt who was in charge. —A. Stein

Photos courtesy of Mike Benigno | mikebenigno.wordpress.com

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A Big Sound in a Small Room

April 18th, 2013

The Joy Formidable – Music Hall of Williamsburg – April 17, 2013


Now known very well for their dreamy brand of ear-shaking indie rock, the Joy Formidable spent their first night of two in New York City playing a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg on Wednesday. The Welsh band sped through their set at a torrid pace, only letting up here and there to engage the crowd. In tandem with the ongoing musical mayhem, the whole show was accompanied by a wide range of visuals projected behind the trio, ranging from black-and-white desert scenery to colorful graphics to a clip of willing-to-eat-anything Internet star Shoenice during the loudest parts of “Maw Maw Song.”

Lead singer Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan strutted across the stage in all sorts of quirky ways, especially when she wanted to accent a different part of the song she was playing. And while the Joy Formidable are perhaps most recognizable for their thrashiest, distortion- laden spacey guitar parts, this atypically small-sized show helped them display their dynamic side. During the new song “Silent Treatment,” bassist Rhydian Dafydd switched to an incredibly roomy-sounding acoustic guitar—and a few songs from their very first EP particularly showed from where the band’s musical depth comes. Of course, they returned to their anthemic ways, closing the set and bookending that shift with their biggest hit, “Whirring,” which helped send home a happy Brooklyn crowd, including many who will surely return on night two at Webster Hall. —Sean O’Kane

Photos courtesy of Diana Wong | dianawongphoto.com

(Watch an interview with the Joy formidable and see them play “Silent Treatment” in a hotel room for The Bowery Presents Live.)

 

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs Give Fans a Reason to Believe

April 8th, 2013

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Webster Hall – April 7, 2013

Belief in the idea that one’s art shouldn’t just tap you on the shoulder but elbow you in the ribs is what’s propelled the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ music for more than a decade. It’s puzzling at first to consider that this fantastic trio has been around that long, especially since their discography is so concise. The upcoming Mosquito, will be the band’s fourth album, but it warrants respect and admiration that each offering has seemed so well timed, as if there were this uncanny sense of when their music was needed most. The music has always been delivered with heedless conviction. When a Yeah Yeah Yeahs record has come out with live shows to follow, the bellowing message resonates for a while afterward.

New York City’s patience in waiting for their hometown favorites’ latest declaration was rewarded last night at Webster Hall. It’s fitting that Karen O’s famous stage attire could have been read as a sexy interpretation of a prize fighter’s outfit, with an oversize glittering robe, satin shorts and even a couple of knee pads. Like a trained fighter, Yeah Yeah Yeahs measure their moments to strike and let go with abandon when they find their opening. The set was a barrage, fluidly covering their entire discography with each song leaving its mark. Classics like “Gold Lion” and “Black Tongue” were belted out with a fresh new purpose while attention-grabbers like “Zero,” “Heads Will Roll” and their newest, “Sacrilege,” exhilarated to the point of spreading pulsing waves across the floor from the crowd’s collective hopping.

In their trademark approach, the band hurled themselves into the performance. Karen O demonstrated why she has become a rock icon, delivering shivering vocal punctuation amidst all the physical exhibition she is known for. Her flair and gusto were matched by Brian Chase’s controlled fury on the drums and Nick Zinner’s precise and penetrating structure on guitar. Chase in particular, smiling gleefully, arms swinging and pounding away, captured a palpable mood of celebration shared between the band and their passionate local following. There was no doubting the mutual love in the room, and you got the sense that no one there would’ve wanted to be anywhere else in the world. “Love is in the air tonight!” proclaimed O, and that energy remained through the show’s end when the beloved “Maps” was finally played in the encore, the entire crowd singing along.  

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have always shown that they appreciate and embrace their regard as one of the all time great NYC bands. This recognition comes across in the enthusiasm with which they make and play their music and the ambition they maintain to keeping it substantial. The attitude has always been to put it out there, strut it hard and let the chips fall where they may, and this has continued to result in a glowing response, as it did again last night. Yeah Yeah Yeahs simply believe in their music, which makes everyone who’s listening believe in it, too. —Charles Steinberg

Photos courtesy of Gregg Greenwood | gregggreenwood.com

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Despite Major Changes, the Black Crowes Are Having Fun

April 8th, 2013

The Black Crowes – Terminal 5 – April 6, 2013


The Black Crowes first gained fame with their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, but 23 years later, only three original members remain: frontman Chris Robinson, his brother, rhythm guitarist Rich Robinson, and drummer Steve Gorman. Bassist Sven Pipien has been with the band since the late ’90s (minus a few years), and keyboardist Adam MacDougall came onboard in 2007. As for lead guitar, first there was Jeff Cease, and then for a long time there was Marc “Fucking” Ford. His and Rich’s guitar pairing would define the band’s sound. But then Ford was replaced by Audley Freed, who remained until the group’s first hiatus. When the Crowes returned, Ford was again playing lead—until he wasn’t and Paul Stacey was. And then he wasn’t and Luther Dickinson was. Dickinson returned the band to the twang-y Southern-rock sound of Ford’s heyday, and by the time fans finally grew accustomed to this version of the Crowes, you guessed it, they went on hiatus again.

So when word broke that they’d be touring again, with Jackie Greene as lead guitarist, the news was met with trepidation. But over the course of four shows last week—two each at the Capitol Theatre and Terminal 5—the newest edition of the Black Crowes allayed the fears of any doubters. Turns out, Greene is almost a perfect fit, as the band has bloomed sonically from the bluesy Southern rock they’d first become known for into a patchwork Americana sound studded with folk, rock, gospel and soul. It’s as if they’d traded in their Stones’, Faces’and Allmans’ albums for the Band’s, Mad Dogs & Englishmen and the Rolling Thunder Revue.

On Saturday night at Terminal 5, Greene’s mandolin on “She Talks to Angels” and banjo on “Whoa Mule” helped breathe new life into those songs, and his guitar work on “Sister Luck” was particularly fiery. Greene’s presence allowed Rich to play slide and take on more lead duties, like in terrific renditions of “Thorn in My Pride” and “Wiser Time,” with the two epically engaging each other from across the stage while everyone else took a step back. Of course, it’s not just about the new guitarist. The Crowes have reinterpreted some older material, like Chris’s staccato gospel breakdowns in the middle of “Remedy” (and in “My Morning Song” on prior nights). And the other drastic change was the lack of backing singers, two strong female voices replaced by four- and five-part harmonies.

But it wasn’t just about what was heard—because what was seen proved to be just as important, which in this case, was a band having a good time. There were smiles across the stage, and no one seemed to be enjoying himself more than Chris, whether happily introducing the night’s third song, “Feelin’ Alright,” with “Saturday night in the big city, man,” or inspiring some of the night’s biggest applause with harmonica-led jams, his playful dancing and joy were infectious, spreading across the stage and the room. And following a strong show filled with early material, covers and rarely played numbers, like “Title Song,” plus a three-song encore, the Black Crowes lingered onstage hugging one another, smiling widely and taking in the adulation. —R. Zizmor

Photos courtesy of Gregg Greenwood | gregggreenwood.com

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Frightened Rabbit Leave ’Em Wanting More

April 5th, 2013

Frightened Rabbit – Terminal 5 – April 4, 2013


In the span of just three years, Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit have gone from performing in basement-sized venues to commanding audiences of thousands each time they play in New York City, and after last night’s sold-out show at Terminal 5, it isn’t hard to understand why. In front of what singer Scott Hutchison said was the biggest crowd they had played to in America, the sweet-sounding rock band from Glasgow showed that it wasn’t just the venues that have grown in that time. The band jumped right into showing off their more refined and expansive sound, which is featured on their newest album, Pedestrian Verse (the artwork of which inspired the towering backdrops onstage).

Gone in the newer material was the hyperfocus on Scott Hutchison and his more vulnerable style of singing and songwriting, as it was replaced by a shared load in the vocals—the band often sang three- and even four-wide, including the drummer, Hutchison’s brother Grant. This tonal shift in their sound was perfectly echoed when, following a small stretch of songs performed solo, Scott began “Good Arms vs. Bad Arms” as the rest of the band returned to the stage to a howling crowd for a dynamic finish. With all the extra drum hits, vocal swells and Americana tinges, it would be easy to fall into a trap of pegging Frightened Rabbit’s sonic shift as one toward becoming a folk band, but there were multiple moments that proved that theory wrong, like during the distorted-guitar, strobe-light-backed shredder “Acts of Man,” with which they wrapped the first set.

Other songs on Pedestrian Verse deal with acceptance of change, of growing up and of wanting to be someone new with someone else. Fitting, since Hutchison had joked at the start that he wanted those in the crowd to meet their neighbors and that by the end he wanted “marriages and babies” from them. And while there were no impending nuptials, Frightened Rabbit’s NYC audience had finished its massive evolution. After the band encored with “Living in Colour,” the fans stayed put, belting out and repeating the entire line of “whoa-ohs” that were sung during the song. And even though the band didn’t return, surely no one left with any doubt that they’ll be back. —Sean O’Kane

Photos courtesy of Sean O’Kane | seanokanephoto.com

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Meat Puppets Still Rule

April 5th, 2013

Meat Puppets – Mercury Lounge – April 4, 2013


That the Meat Puppets are even still around is something of a miracle. They’ve lived through multiple decades of adversity that have swallowed up other bands whole. One of those groups, a grunge band out of Seattle that helped the Meat Puppets gain in popularity by covering their songs on national television, has been gone for almost 20 years. The Meat Puppets’ history reads like a Behind the Music clichés grab bag, including everything from stints in prison to hard drugs and an on-again, off-again history spanning four decades. That brothers Cris and Curt Kirkwood are still even on speaking terms having lived through all this is pretty crazy.

One wouldn’t think that there’s any need for the Meat Puppets to prove anything to anyone anymore, but those crazy motherfuckers out of Phoenix are still at it, plowing through a fiery two-hour-plus set last night at Mercury Lounge, giving each song everything they’ve got and then some. Exhibit A: Cris Kirkwood’s face, home to some of the most interesting facial expressions you’ll find in rock music. Grimacing, wincing and pursing his lips like a monkey, it looked as if each bass note he slapped out hits him like a punch to the stomach. Every second got its own performance. Curt stood at the other side of the stage, effortlessly ripping through searing guitar solos like it was nothing at all. The world should reconsider any Greatest Guitarists lists without Curt’s name on it. Few people have the hand gymnastics it takes to steal guitar styles from so many different genres and toss them all into one blazing guitar solo.

The band’s set included songs from every moment of their lengthy career, including some unexpected covers. There was a surprisingly beautiful rendition of the Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B,” which bled into a near-perfect performance of their classic “Lake of Fire,” complete with a raging solo that kept picking up pace until it had nowhere else to go but to dissolve into its own unstoppable momentum. The band ended their set with “Backwater,” which included the appropriate refrains of “some things will never change.” It felt like an appropriate cap to the night’s performance. Against all odds, the Meat Puppets still fucking rule. Some things will never change indeed. —Dan Rickershauser

Photos courtesy of Peter Senzamici | senzamici.smugmug.com

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