27th Annual John Lennon Tribute @ First Ave 12/8

On what was certainly one of the saddest days in 20th Century Music History, John Lennon was shot outside the Dakota Hotel where he, his wife Yoko, and son Sean were living in New York City on Dec 8th, 1980. The loss to popular culture was devastating, perhaps even unprecedented. In the sadness and mourning and frustration that immediately followed, local musician Curtiss Almsted put together a group of people who were no doubt shook up and deeply saddened, but felt moved, compelled even, to react to this tragedy. And what could be a more optimistic and positive way to pay tribute to the lengend than a celebration of the music he created.



Now in it's 27 year, the John Lennon Tribute again brought together hundred fans of Lennon's music, be it the old school clean cut "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" Beatles, the decidedly more subversive and counter-culture, pshychadelic "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" Beatles, or the eloquent humanist anthem "Imagine". It was a sold out show, with a noticably older crowd than you would normally find at First Ave. Some in attendnace have been coming to pay tribute at this consoling event every single year since 1980.

Here are some shots of the band, with Curtiss A. front and center stage. He was accompanied by anywhere from a few to well over a dozen musicians on stage at once, and they covered the Lennon catalog pretty well, doing what must have been over 60 songs in the several hours they played.

































There was a brief, sitar centered George Harrison tribute as well:







It was an entertaining, but ultimately bittersweet evening, with everyone looking back on what magical things John Lennon accomplished. I suspect though, that I was not the only one wondering what the man would have done had he not been taken from this Earth far too early.

Jim Walsh's "The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting" Book Release Party @ First Ave 11/28

Jim Walsh, local rock and roll writer extraordinaire for some 25 years, has written a book about the definitive 1980's Minneapolis band, The Replacements. The 'Mats, as they have come to be known after one cynic dubbed them "The Placemats", started in 1979 and ended in 1991, a relatively brief lifespan for a band that influenced countless musicians after them, including the likes of Kurt Cobain.
As if to crazily foreshadow what was to come in future years, The Replacements were kicked out of their first gig, at a halfhouse, for being wasted. They were known for such reckless and unpredictable shows, and were banned from Saturday Night Live after a thouroughly drunken performance that featured a lovely "fuck" on live tv.



There is a fucking ton of Replacements videos on youtube, so you should go there and check out a couple, like this one:






Mr. Walsh has put together a critically acclaimed oral history of the legendary band, with interviews/commentaries from dozens of Replacements afficianados, including rock stars such as Billy Joe Armstrong and Brianna Riplinger. Needless to say, there are countless stories about the band and their antics, so this should be a fascinating and insightful read, and I am really looking forward to checking it out.

At the show we saw several bands perfrom lots of 'Mats songs. It was really special to see that many people congregated to see bands performing cover songs. The place was packed. There was one guy there from Sweden (seriously) who was such a fan that he came just for the hoopla surrounding the book. We met him last Wednesday at First Ave, at the Ike show, and he was ecstatic to be here in Minneapolis where it all went down, discussing the scene and the city that produced one of his favorite bands. I suspect there were many people hoping that Mr. Westerburg, who is somewhat reclusive these days and rarely perfoms, would make an appearance and maybe do a song or two, but they would have been dissapointed. What people did encounter tho, were a whole lot of bands who went to a lot of trouble to get on stage and play three or four songs each because they love the Replacements and appreciate their legacy. I mean, these were local bands performing very short sets in support of a book release, and people were out in droves to see it. Jim Walsh, when not signing books, was doing his best to recreate the feel of a 'Mats show, jumping onstage without warning every so often to sing backup vocals and generally agitate the crowd and keep the bands on their toes.


Here is Revolver Modele, whose unfortunate guitarist was the first victim of Jim Walsh's onstage harrassment which included pushing and kicking the guitarist as he attempted to play:





The Alarmists, who did a fantastic version of "The Ledge":



and here's One for the Team with DC (with Jim on the right hand side of the stage, in black):



All in all it was a special evening, celecrating The Replacements' music, and an excellent kickoff to what will surely be a fun and enlightening read.

God Johnson Stops Making Sense @ Trocaderos 11/24

What a brilliant and obvious idea this was: Take a band of Talking Heads heads and do an interpretation of the classic Talking Heads film, "Stop Making Sense". The show had all the essential elements of such a tribute: A dead on David Byrne impersonator, a fantastic funk band, chicks in grey spandex outfits, and of course, the famous "Big Suit". They weren't able to inflate and deflate the suit the way they did in the movie, but this humble yet spectacular performance was done with a budget considerable smaller than $1.2 million. The show began as does the great concert film, with Byrne walking on stage with a boom box, then casually starting "Physcho Killer" with nothing but an acoustic guitar backing him up. Then the rest of the band slowly joins him onstage, one by one, and eases into the rest of the set. The lovely and aptly dressed backup singers did a fantastic job with "The Genius of Love", the Tom Tom Club hit, as Mr. Byrne took a little break offstage. They also did a fine job with the simple choreography (mostly thrusting hands in the air and running in place) that makes the original film so much fun to watch.

Opening the show was Heatbox, a lone young man representing Minneapolis in high fashion with a red "612" sweatshirt, whose sole instrument was his voice. He had a looping machine that he has obviously spent countless hours with, putting together lots of different vocal tracks and sound effects. The result of his hard work was an astonishing display of talent. The guy beatboxes, sings, raps, etc, and was a fantastic start to the night.




"Stop Making Sense", shot over three shows back in '84, was shot mostly from one camera angle, fixed squarely upon the star of the show, David Byrne. God Johnson's performance featured the appropriately lanky GJ keyboardist Scott Roerick covering most of that starring role. Roerick does an uncanny impression, with great adaptations of David Byrne's jolting dance moves and the creepy, unfocused, distant stare that Byrne is famous for. Tom Collins helped out with that physically demanding role for part of the show as well. In addition to the strong, standard lineup of God Johnson was Aaron Peterson (of WBPN and formerly of Sweet Potato Project) helping with guitar duties, Al Oikari (of Big Wu fame) on keyboards, and Mellisa Klocke and Kari Marie doing the sexy backup singer/dancer thing. Man those grey sweatshirts and little skirts looked way better on them than in the original flick.








Then it was a short but sweet God Johnson set, with a few choice GJ songs like Squirms and Electric Shoes getting the crwod grooving before the nightclub raised the lights and sent us all into the night.

The Ike Reilly Assassination @ First Ave 11/21

Fresh off the network television debut of Ike Reilly (one of his songs was just prominently featured on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money"), and wrapping up a tour before a temporary hiatus, The Ike Reilly Assassination was in fine form Wednesday night at First Ave.

Now in it's fifth year, the night-before-thanksgiving gig at First Ave has become a tradition for many local music fans. This was my third time attending the "I gotta make sure I don't get too drunk because I don't want to be hungover at Thanksgiving" show, and the first time I have been successful in my quest for said Holiday serenity.


First up on the bill were The Falls, a young Minneapolis thrashabiily outfit made up of four young dudes who absolutely rocked the Mainroom. Lead singer Matt Walsh showed unrelenting energy and excitement to be playing for so many people, exclaiming that they had only played for about ten people before then. I figured that that couldn't possibly be true, so after the show I asked him if they had really only played for very small crowds. He said that they had indeed only played bars "with room for about 30 or so people", so he was in fact being serious. Featuring a stand up bassist, hammering drums, a great guitarist, and a lead singer who strode about the stage menacingly with a faded black skull and crossbones t-shirt, this band is like the Danzig of rockabilly.



Local indie rock superstars The Alarmists took the stage next as the place began to fill up with eager Ike fans.



Ike's show began with a surprising solo acoustic version of "I Don't Want What You Got", with Ike appearing suddenly in the spotlight on the landing of the stairs in the middle of the club. The Ike-ettes, a fairly recent addition to Ike's bag of tricks, chimed in with some backup vocals, and the rest of the IRA came out after that song. Joining the band for a couple songs later in the staggering evening was Little Man guitarist Chris Perricelli, who is an awesome guitarist as well.







oh yeah, and backstage there was this wonderful little note written on the wall that Slug from Atmosphere wrote for one of his idols, Rakim, who would be at First Ave the next night. this was extremely cool to see, as Rakim is one of my old school faves as well.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings @ First Ave 11/16

Sharon Jones is a powerhouse of vocal abilities, and her voice booms with conviction, strength, and soul. Hearing her sing makes you want to dance, and when you throw in the phenomenal sound of the Dap Kings, you've no choice but to get up off of that thing. The Dap Kings are all-stars of big band funk, worth every penny of the door charge in their own right. The eight piece group features two saxophones, a trumpet, hand drums, a drum kit, two guitars, bass, and eight sharp looking gentlemen in suits. The 51 year old soulsterss, wearing a black dress with crazy fringes that she proclaimed she wore at the beginning of the tour at the Apollo, also looked quite dapper.





Buzz has been building around this band for some time, helped by the fact that English beehived diva Amy Winehouse borrowed the Dap Kings for her second record and tour. Acting as house band for the 2007 MTV Video Awards and ESPN's Espy Awards show certainly didn't hurt their popularity either, but it was on our own fantastic radio station The Current that I first came across the mighty funk of the Dap Kings. The wildly funky "How Long Do I Have to Wait for You?" had me grooving like this dude and in a mad dash to pick up some of their retro and/or neosoul music.




I've been rockin out to that song ever since.

The tv screens at First Ave displayed the band in black and white, giving even more of an old school soul feel to the performance. The whole vibe of the show was classy. Original yet classic. First Ave was among the most packed I have ever seen it, and the diverse crowd loved every moment of the high energy show.

At one point, with Ms. Jones taking a breather offstage, the bandleader/MC of the show invited some members of the audience to hop onstage and dance with the Dap Kings. A couple dozen or so young ladies were happy to oblige, and the stage quickly filled up with dancin fools. When Sharon returned, she too joined in and danced with frenzied audience members.



One of the highlights of the show was a smooth cover of James Brown's "It's a Man's World", with Sharon's sultry voice knocking that song out of the park. Like The Godfather of Soul himself, Sharon hails from Augusta, Georgia, and has aquired herself an impressive and deserved title, "The Queen of Funk". Jones got her start singing in church, like J.B., and may have the fastest feet of anyone in the business today. Jones also worked as a prison guard at Riker's Island and an armored car guard. What a tough lady she must be.

Another highlight was the cover of "This Land is Your Land" by Woodie Guthrie. Again, Jones' vocals were dynamite.

Atmosphere @ First Ave 11/10

Saturday night was my first time seeing the group that put Minneapolis hip-hop on the map, and the legendary Minneapolis nightclub was the most appropriate venue imaginable. This was the last stop on the "Everybody Loves a Clown" tour, which sold out venues across the country before ending up back home in the mini apple. It was the second of a sold out two night stand, with the majority of people seemingly under legal drinking age and bopping they're heads in unison in frot of the stage. Alcohol is not allowed on the main floor for such all ages affairs, and youngsters are not permitted upstairs, so there was way more room upstairs than what I am used to. This being my first Atmosphere show, I am not sure how often they have live musicians onstage with them, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a bass player, keyboards and a drummer in addition to the core duo of Slug on vocals and Ant on the wheels of steel. I was impressed both with Slug's quick but clear lyrical delivery and the beats laid down by the man on the turntables. The rest of the band added to the funk, and I always appreciate some live music being made onstage at a hip hop show.




The last song they played was their shoutout to Minneapolis, "Say Shhh", which was the first song ever played on the best radio station on the planet, 89.3 The Current.


Say Shhh...

I wanted to make a song about where I'm from
You know? Big up my home town, my territory, my state
But, I couldn't figure out much to brag about
Prince lives here, we got 10,000 lakes
But wait, the women are beautiful, to me they are
And we're not infested with pretentious movie stars
And it hit me, Minnesota is dope
If only simply for not what we have but what we don't
It's all fair, it ain't out there, it's in there
It's in the mirror, behind the breast under the hair
Follow the dream doesn't mean leave the love
Roam if you must, but come home when you've seen enough
I love New York and Cali, but I ain't movin'
Too overpopulated saturated with humans
And I'm not big on rappers, actors, or models
If I had to dip, I'd probably skip to Chicago
None of this is to diss no one, nowhere
Like damn, I'm from Minnesota, land of the cold air
Too many mosquitoes and our fair share of egos
But like my man Sabe says, that's where my mommy stays


So if the people laugh and giggle when you tell em where you live
Say shhh, say shhh
And if you know this is where you wanna raise your kids
Say shhh, say shhh
If you're from the Midwest and it doesn't matter where
Say shhh, say shhh
If you can drink tap water and breathe the air
Say shhh, say shhh

Got trees and vegetation in the city I stay
The rent's in the mail and I can always find a parking space
The women outnumber the men two to one
Got parks and zoos and things to do with my son
The nightlife ain't all that, but that's okay
I don't need to be distracted by the devil every day
And the jobs ain't really too hard to find
In fact, you could have mine if you knew how to rhyme
This is for everyone around the planet
That wishes they were from somewhere other than where they standin'
Don't take it for granted, instead take a look around
Quit complaining and build something on that ground
Plant something on that ground, dance and sleep on that ground
Get on your hands and knees and watch the ants walk around
That ground Make a family, make magic, make a mess
Take the stress, feel your motivation and build your nest
It sucks that you think where I'm from is wack
But as long as that's enough to keep your ass from coming back
And with a smile and a hint of sarcasm, he said
"I beg your pardon but this is my secret garden"

All right
(In the land of ice and snow)
Well okay
(In the land of ice and snow)
Well all right
(In the land of ice and snow)
Well okay
(Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minneapolis)


If the playground is clear of stems and syringes
Say shhh, say shhh
If there's only one store in your town that sells 12-inches
Say shhh, say shhh
If no one in your crew walks around with a gun
Say shhh, say shhh
And if you ain't gonna leave cause this is where you're from
Say shhh, say shhh

Well alright, well okay [repeated in background]
St. Cloud, Minnesota
Mankato, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesnowta
Kansas City
St Louis, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Madison
Milwaukee
Cincinnati, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Boulder, Colorado
Lawrence, Kansas
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Indianapolis

Say shhh..
Minneapolis







Let us thank our lucky stars that we have such talent to rep the six one duece.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band @ Xcel 11/2

"Is there anybody ALIVE out there???!" Bruce questioned the audience upon taking the stage Friday night at the Xcel Energy Center before launching into the first single from his new album, "Magic". The legendary performer immediately dazzled me with his level of energy and intensity. That song, "Radio Nowhere" like the performance and the Man himself, is an indictment of today's radio and the lack of conviction, inspiration, and quality that defines it. Bruce complains of looking for direction, for meaning, for just even some *rhythm* for god's sake, and finding none on today's typical radio station.

Yet even with that sense of dissappointment with popluar music that he conveyed, with all the overt talk of disillusionment with the Bush Regime and their illegal antics and dirty tricks, I cannot imagine anyone out there bringing more hope and joy to audiences than The Boss. Indeed, Jon Stewart, on a recent episode of the Daily Show, could barely contain his excitement after seeing a Bruce show the night before, exclaiming, "Do you like Joy? Are you a fan of Joy? Then you should go see Bruce Springsteen."





From "Radio Nowhere":

"I want a thousand guitars
I want pounding drums
I want a million different voices speaking in tongues"

That's what music should be, and that's what I got at my first Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band show. I got my face rocked. I got my batteries recharged, I got my fucking Joy on.

I had the pleasure of seeing Bruuuuuuuuuce last year with the Seeger Sessions Band, when he was touring with about 17 poeple onstage and an album of Pete Seeger's folk ballads of American Life. That was the best damn hootenanny I have ever been to. That was like a revival of American music folklore and energy, but this - this was, as I was told repeatedly, a different thing altogether.

We were at the venue six hours before the show started to get wristbands that gave us a chance to be among 480 lucky super fans who would occupy the Orchestra Pit right in front of the stage. Over 1100 people lined up for a shot at the best seats in the house. When the announcement was made, and we realized we had lucked out and got the fantastic seats, I felt like an American Idol contestant being told "You're through to the next round!" Maybe that is a sad comparison, but I felt, as I'm sure those brave contestants did, like fate had smiled upon me and decided to place me 20 feet from a real American Idol.

Bruce ripped through the first few songs of the set with no more than a heroic "1, 2, 3, 4!" between songs as he lead the incredible 8 piece E Street Band through a powerhouse of an opening. Clarence Clemons aka The Big Man, the 65 year old saxophonist who just had fucking double hip replacement surgery, was on fire as he nonchalantly strode to center stage to take a sax solo during nearly every song. Little Stevie Van Zandt stood to the left of The Boss and frequently was summoned to the mic to sing and/or yell backup vocals. Max Weinburg, on loan from Conan O'Brien, hammered away on his elevated drum set. Patti Scialfa, Bruce's wife, who normally tours and plays with the band, was at home with the kids in Jersey, so fiddle player Soozie Tyrell, who was one of very few E Streeters on the Seeger Sessions Tour, took over her singing duties.







"Living in the Future" was preceded by a sobering listing of some of the many very unamerican things our current uber-american administration has perpetrated, like torture, wiretapping, indefinite imprisonment without chrages or trial, and general whittling away of civil liberties.

The end of the 18 song set (not including the 5 song encore) made for a kind of American reckoning, with heavy modern political themes abundant. "The Rising" is a powerful call to solidarity post 9/11. The last note of "The Rising" became the first note of "Last to Die", a rousing indictment of the Iraq war ("Who'll be the last to die for a mistake?"). Then "Long Walk Home" summed up the difficulty of soldiers returning home from an unpopular and mentally exhausting war, and finally "Badlands" brought the optimism, proclaiming "It aint no sin to be glad you're alive".

Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason to Believe
Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
The Promised Land
Your Own Worst Enemy
Incident on 57th Street
Working on the Highway
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
American Land



"Girls in Their Summer Clothes" went out to 83 year old Bruce ultra fan
Jeanne Heintz, who we met before the show, who had already been to about a dozen shows in various cities on this tour.

I also met a 17 year old whose lifelong dream was coming true as he saw Bruce for the first time, and a middle aged man who hadn't seen Bruce for 15 years. I was somewhat surprised by the age range of fans, with every age group having significant representation.

Thunder Road was played for only the second time this tour, and kicked ass. And of course "Born to Run" (B2R for Bruceheads) was a high energy staple.


"Dancin' in the Dark" had me uncontrollably dancing like Courtney Cox in 1984. I suspect thousands of other concert-goers felt the same way, but didn't care either as they grooved side to side like Jon Stewart in the above video. By the way, the video for that song, which won Bruce his first Grammy, was shot at a St. Paul concert in '84 and attended by Brianna's dad. It was directed by Brian DePalma.

The show ended with a heartfelt "Long live happiness!" shout from Mr. Springsteen, and a hearty response of glee from the sold out crowd of 19,000.

I left the show thinking, "That was among the most amazing things I have ever SEEN!" To clarify, not only was it one of the best shows I have ever seen, it was one of the most spectacular, awe-inspiring, magical displays of Humanity and Hope that I have ever witnessed.









Long Live Happiness indeed.

Gov't Mule @ The O'Shaughnesy Theatre 10/31

The O'Shaughnessy Theatre, on the campus of St. Cate's University in St. Paul, is a fantastic place to see a show. It's an intimate venue, with room for about 1800 costumed partygoers. I had visited the Theatre at my Mom's alma mater way back in 2001 to see Medeski, Martin and Wood, and remember thinking then that there couldn't be a bad seat in the house. Tonight we were seated in the second row of the balcony, on Warren's Side, and having only seen the Mule outdoors at big festivals, this was really cool to have such a spectacular view of the band. Being able to see Warren crank out those nonstop powerful riffs made me almost immediately think to myself that he is one of the best guitar players I have ever seen. Indeed, it wasn't until right now that I remembered that Rolling Stone named him the 23rd greatest guitar player of all time in 2005. Here's a look at the top 30, just for fun:

1 Jimi Hendrix
2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
11 Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
23 Warren Haynes
24 The Edge of U2
25 Freddy King
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy

*Fun fact-That makes Warren the 2nd highest rated guitar player I've ever seen, behind Jon Friscante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but there were tens of thousands of people between him and I at Lollapalooza 2006.

*Not so fun fact-Jack White's ex wife's anxiety just kept me from seeing him play in Austin.

*Really awesome fun fact-Tom Morello is the only one of the 100 greatest guitarists that I have met.

*Bullshit fun fact-Trey Anastasio, my favorite guitar player of all time from what may quite possibly be my favorite band of all time, is way on down the list at #73, right behind -you guessed it- Joni Mitchell.


On to the show. Mule is a very tight, talented and experienced band. Aside from the aforementioned critical acclaim, Gov't Mule has Matt Abts on drums, who rocked a mean 10-15 minute drum solo mid second set, some of it without drumsticks. Then you have Danny Louis on keyboards, who played with Warren in the Warren Haynes Band, opening for the Allman Brothers Band before there ever was a Gov't Mule. Louis also played with Joe Cocker, and played trumpet for UB40 right when "Red, Red Wine" hit #1 on the charts. Andy Hess, who took over for the original bass player Allen Woody after his untimely death in 2001, has played with the Black Crowes and John Scofield, and recorded with Tina Turner and David Byrne. An impressive collective resume for any band. As if that wasn't enough rock for one stage, joining the Mule for the entirety of the second, "Houses of the Holy" set, was Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed.


First set started off with a cover of The Rolling Stones "Play with Fire", which is on their new album of reggae style remixes of Mule songs and some covers. The heavy rude boy groove continued throughout the set, and an extended, lyrics free "That's it for the Other One" jam was an always welcome touch of #13 on the list, Jerry Garcia. A Zepplin tease during "Blind Man in the Dark" was the only foreshadowing of the incredible second set, which was the entire "Houses of the Holy" album. This was a special Halloween trick and/or treat and/or tribute to #9 on the list, Jimmy Page.


Our encore was "32/20 Blues" and "Come on Into my Kitchen", both by #5 on the list, Robert Johnson.

Here's how it all shook out:


Set 1:
Play With Fire
Time To Confess
Million Miles From Yesterday
Rocking Horse
Birth of The Mule
Larger Than Life
Fallen Down>
Other One Jam
Blind Man In The Dark w/ Zeppelin Medley Tease Jam

Set 2: (Holy Haunted House Set)
w/ Audley Freed on Guitar
The Song Remains The Same
The Rain Song
Over The Hills and Far Away
The Crunge
Dancing Days>
Drums
D'Yer Mak'er
No Quarter
The Ocean

Encore:
Come On Into My Kitchen> w/ Audley Freed on Guitar
32/20 Blues w/ Come On Into My Kitchen Jam w/ Audley Freed on Guitar








Unfortunately, we completely missed the thoroughly enjoyable Grace Potter opening the show. That was really a drag, but nearly making up for that was the after show at the Cabooze with God Johnson and lots of wicked oompa loompa costumes.

Trampled by Turtles @ First Avenue 10/12

October 12th just so happens to be my birthday, and when I saw that colorful advert on the internet weeks ago, I knew I was in for a splendid lil birthday party. TBT have sold out first ave on several occasions now, and this mid october night saw disappointed people being turned away at the door early in the night as well.



Thanks to diligent Trampled fans, and their generous sharing of footage on youtube, I was able to visually refresh my hazy memories from an awesome birthday night.

Neil Youngs' "Harvest", was a highlight. So was Timmy, bassist extraordinaire, singing "Airline to Heaven", a Woody Guthrie by way of Billy Bragg and Wilco number.

what a cool song this is:

There's an airline plane
Flies to heaven everyday
Past the pearly gates

If you want to ride this train
Have your ticket in your hand
Before it is too late

If the world looks wrong
And your money's spent and gone
And your friend has turned away

You can get away to heaven
On this aeroplane
Just bow your head and pray

Them's got ears, let them hear
Them's got eyes, let them see
Turn your eyes to the lord of the skies

Take this airline plane
It'll take you home again
To your home behind the skies

Well a lot of people guess
Some say no and some say yes
Will it take some and leave some behind?

But you will surely know
When to the airport go
To leave this world behind

Oh a lot of speakers speak
A lot of preachers preach
When you lay their salary on the line

You hold your head and pray
It's the only earthly way
You can fly to heaven on time
Fly to heaven on time

Them's got ears, let them hear
Them's got eyes, let them see
Turn your eyes to the lord of the skies

Take that airline plane
It'll take you home again
To your home behind the skies

Your ticket you obtain
On this heavenly airline plane
You leave your sins behind

You've got to take this flight
It may be daytime, might be night
But you can't see your way if you're blind

Them's got ears, let them hear
Them's got eyes, let them see
Turn your eyes to the lord of the skies

Take that airline plane
It'll take you home again
To your home behind the skies



"Old Joe Clark", an old timey fiddle tune, had everyone on the main floor jumping up and down. The song, first recorded in 19-fucking-24, is a classic bluegrass song that has been passed down through generations of string pickers. Pete Seeger, who was in the Almanac Singers with Woody Guthrie, says that Joe Clark was "an actual person, a veteran of the War of 1812," in his book 'How to Play the 5-string Banjo'. I absolutley adore the way TBT can take something that old and traditional and effortlessly make it their own. Few bands are as educational as TBT, since every time they bust out a crazy old number like that I just have to find out about it.

Even "Never Again", which is more of a down tempo song, had people screaming and singing along and all but moshing in front of the stage. It amazes me every time how four or five dudes calmly seated onstage can induce such a commotion on the dancefloor.

"Trouble", the title song of their newest album, is a slow one that lets the boys show off their tender harmonizing, and it brought out the lighters swaying side to side in the air.



"Drinking in the Morning" (featuring Pat Carroll, aka Banjo Dad, on harmonica) and "The One to Save", both stellar, relatively old songs, made an appearance as well.

The always fun Pert Near Sandstone opened the show with their fantastic cloghopper in tow. I wonder how many bands over the years at First Ave have featured someone on the clogs. I would imagine not too many. The Eric Koskinen Band played before Pert, but we unfortunately didn't make it downtown in time for that.

Ryan Young, the Pert Near Sandstone fiddler and frequent Trampled cohort, sat in for a good part of the show with TBT.



TBT has had quite a year, selling out First Ave back in February, netting increasingly high prfile gigs at festivals like 10K, Wakarusa, and even headlining the Oyster Ridge Music Festival way over in Wyoming. Also, they are continuing to build their own Log Jam Festival with The White Iron Band, and played a show at the MN Zoo.

As if that's not enough progress for the year, they will be finishing 2007 on a strong note with their first ever big New Year's Eve show at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. TBT has steadily been growng their fan base across the country for years, and I expect them to blast off like astronauts from the "Trouble" cover into the universe of stardom one of these days.

ACL Festival Day 3

Providing the entrance soundtrack to the final day of Austin City Limits Music Festival was Sound Tribe Sector Nine. STS9, a super spacey phsychadelic trance outfit from Santa Cruz California, is a six piece synth heavy band that has interested me more than any other band in what you could call the electronic jam genre. Having seen them a couple times before in Minneapolis, I wasn't too disappointed to miss them, but it was nice to hear them from a distance and have some cool tunes to accompany the walk into the festival.



The first band we saw on Sunday was one of the best surprises the weekend had to offer, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. I had seen Grace's name around before but never heard her music, and what I had read about her had been overhemingly positive, so we thought it was worth a shot. Grace plays keyboards and guitar, and is quite a musician on both instruments. She was at times literally jumping up and down while playing the keys, she was so overcome with the spirit to move. And although she had a perfectly capable (read: bad-ass) lead guitar player, she still stepped up to the front of the stage frequently to strap on a guitar and rock. Did I mention she can sing? Well she can. She can fucking rip. She has a really cool, big bluesy voice for a skinny white girl, and the way she commanded the stage was downright sexy. Between the singing, guitar playing, dancing and all around rocking, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals made me a fan almost instantly and I am really excited to see her open for Gov't Mule on Halloween at the O'Shaughnessy Theatre.

heres a brief video i took of Grace and her band-the quality is not great, (turn down the volume) but at the end she does this awesome jump while shredding some geet.







We had to leave Grace's dynamite show a little early beacuse Ziggy Marley was playing on the smallest stage of all, the Austin Kiddie Limits Stage. As the name suggests, this was a stage for youngsters, but there were no Teletubbies or Barneys here. They had about the first 50 feet roped off for a nice sit down area for parents and their little children, and there were hundreds of kids around, doing things like getting their faces painted and getting punk rock haridos with painted mohawks, learning to be an M.C., playing around with instruments, and doing breakdancing workshops. Contributing to the abundance of kids was the fact that children 10 and younger got to go to the festival free with their parents, making it a very family friendly atmosphere.

Ziggy was scheduled to play a quick 15 minute set but ended up doing more like 45 minutes or so, and it was a spectacular, intimate, acoustic performance, with everyone being very hush hush and couteous of the youngsters' first taste of the blessed reggae music.












After Ziggy played, Paul Green's School of Rock All Stars played a set, with about 10 or so little teenage prodigies blasting away on guitars, drums, and vocals. Paul Green started the first school of it's kind it Austin, where kids and teenagers learn the finer points of rock and roll. A couple of them were very very impressive, and some of them were clearly no older than 13. They played Zepplin, Black Sabbath, Megadeath, and some originals too. This little kid was sitting next to us, grooving and clapping his little hands.







He kept smiling at Brianna, until I yelled "Quit lookin at my girlfriend you little punk!" His mom gave me a mean look, but the little brat decided to wise up and keep his eyes to himself.


Bloc Party and Lucinda Williams played at the same time, which casued one of surprisingly few scheduling conflicts for us all weekend. Bloc Party is an English band (the fourth immensely popular English act at ACL) that plays English indie rock with a bit of an arty feel. Although it was fun to see a gay, black, British man greet the Texas crowd with a friendly "Howdy y'all!", somehow they were not all that exciting live and we quickly decided Lucida was where it was at.



As we neared the stage Lucinda was on, we heard a lazy, slow cover of "Riders on the Storm", and knew we'd made the right call. Lucinda was wasted, that much was clear. Her singing was a little slurred and she was super chatty between songs. Apparently this is not uncommon for Lucinda Williams. Another reason it was obvious she was tipsy was her rant against the war in Iraq. Of course, she didn't actually say Iraq, referring instead to the "fighting overseas" or some such nonsense, but it was obvious she was talking about Iraq. Now don't get me wrong, you don't have to be drunk to publicly take a stand against the war, but you could tell she was a tiny bit unsure of herself as she tiptoed around the subject, and the alcohol was giving her a little extra courage. Before she played a song called "Get Right with God" she called out Christians who support the war, saying that it was an immoral and unchristian war, and then she encouraged Christians to themselves "get right with god" and help stop said war. You could sense that a lot of people in the crowd were not thrilled with this political banter, and one guy nearby us (perhaps jokingly?) yelled, "Stick to the music!"

It was the only mention of the war from any of the performers, (even though it was not a direct mention) and it was great to see someone face that contentious issue, knowing that some of the people in the audience would gripe about it.
The crowd over at Lucinda was much older and whiter than that of Bloc Party, and I felt like her anti-war tirade would have been better recieved and even celebrated by the younger, more diverse Bloc Party fans. In any case, she put on a good show, despite not playing "Passionate Kisses", which may be my favorite song by her. She strutted about the stage dressed in all black with a cowboy hat on, while occasionally playing the keyboards that sat front and center stage.





Regina Spektor, the cute and smiley 27 year-old who was born in Moscow drew so many teenage girls than I thought I may be at a Justin Timberlake concert. There were seriously thousands of little girls huddled around, and this was without question the most packed show of the weekend. Athough she was on one of the biggest stages, it was nearly impossible to move anywhere in the thick crowd, and our usual method of advancing toward the stage on either side was not effective at all. She has a really cool, unique voice and all the little kiddies were singing along with big smiles on their faces.




My Morning Jacket was on the big stage next, and Jim James was rocking a crazy long white wig for the whole show. Common was a last minute addition to the lineup, as Rodrigo and Gabriela cancelled, so we got to check him out for a bit. I really like Common, hip-hop needs more intelligenet artists like him.

Ziggy Marley was, for some absurd reason, booked on the tent stage, one of the smallest stages at the festival. There were thousands of people in that small space. It was, along with Ms. Regina Spektor, the only mismanaged stage debacle of the weekend. We were glad we got to see him earlier in the day, because it was way too crowded and we couldnt get close to the action. As his set went on, I was surprised at how familiar I was with his orginal material. He, like his brother, did some of his father's legendary songs, but Ziggy can draw from a lenghty musical career and moreso than Stephen is his own performer. Songs like "Love is my Religion", "Dragonfly", "True to Myself", and "Rainbow in the Sky" are Ziggy's own fantastic songs. I own his "Draonfly" album, and it is spectacular.




Bob Dylan was hands down the biggest show of the weekend, and it was the very last. Every other stage went dark as the legend had nearly all of the 65,000 people in attendance clamoring for spots to sit. Older folks had staked out their spot with their folding chairs hours beforehand, and young parents with babies excitedly awaited Bobby D to start. We saw one cute lil guy in a stroller wearing a "Baby's first Dylan show" t-shirt. Booby D started off his set with "Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35", and also played classics like "It Aint Me, Babe", "Watching the River Flow", "Tangled Up in Blue", and "Highway 61 Revisited". He also played some newer tunes like "Thunder on the Mountain" and "Workingman's Blues #2". "Like A Rolling Stone" and "I Shall Be Released were the songs he wisely chose for the encore.

At the beginning of the show, his voice was so hoarse, and his lyrics so unintelligible that I thought he may have been intentionally trying to thin out the crowd so that he could really get down to business and rock with his real fans. And, while he started out on the guitar, he soon moved over to the right side of the stage, where he played piano for the remainder of the show. I had seen him do this before, in 2002 when he toured with The Dead, but from what I understand he usually doesn't play the piano. As the set went on, his voice seemed to get looser and he seemed more relaxed. The guy is a living legend at 66 years old, although some people like to complain about his voice, I think we are lucky that he is still tourng at all.




Bob had capped off a fantastic weekend of music, and the festival had impressed Brianna and I to no end. We saw about three dozen or so awesome acts play at the festival, and a couple more at local nightclubs to boot. There was 140 bands at the festival, so even with all we saw, there was tons more action that we missed. Before we left Austin a couple days later, we had the chance to check out Stevie Ray Vaughn's larger than life statue sitting in a beautiful park next to the Colorado River, and visit a small gas station turned bar where Janis Joplin played some of her first gigs. Austin is an incredible town, and I would highly recommend it to any music fan.