2006 Concert Journals

[enemy anemone]

looks like the Friday and Saturday Chris Thomas King concerts I was planning to attend have been canceled; his site lists them but the venue's site doesn't, and ticketmaster indicates that a previous date was canceled. on the bright side, I just found out that Eleni Mandell will be playing at the Troubadour on Saturday. I've been anxious to see/hear her again. I'm hoping she has the full band with her this time.

[enemy anemone]

got back a little after midnight from seeing Eleni Mandell open for Stuart Staples. she came in costume!


no band, just Eleni and her small guitar, but she was great, as usual. she played a few new songs I hadn't heard before, plus a couple new songs I was hoping to hear again.

setlist:
Personal (new song I hadn't heard)
Dreamboat
new song with the phrase "there's still time for parting glances"
Makeout King
My Twin (my favorite of the new songs)
Gris Gris Gumbo Ya Ya (Dr. John cover. first time I've heard this song. I had to grin when she drawled "all y'all", and the way she sang the "gris gris gumbo ya ya" part was shiver-inducing. what a great Halloweeny song.)
Girls Girls Girls (or maybe it is just called Girls, as that is what I saw on the setlist. I was hoping she'd play this song again, as I like the way it is written but can never remember how it progresses.)
Salt Truck (another one I was hoping to hear again. love it. it addresses a salt truck, telling it "I need roads I can drive on; I need a friend I can rely on".)
Needle and Thread Keep Me Together (another nicely Halloweenish song. I had read in a magazine article that Eleni has sewn her own clothes, so that and this song give her lots of crafty points in my book.)
Yellow Light (this song is really growing on me.)
Nickel Plated Man (the way her voice skewed down to a croak on one of the "I love him"s--so perfect.)

I picked up the only other cd of hers that I didn't have yet, Afternoon. most of the songs were on a mix cd that a friend sent to me as an intro to Eleni's music, but there are a few that I have never heard till now. also got a copy of her side project with The Grabs.

I wasn't familiar with Stuart Staples or the band he started, the Tindersticks. wasn't sure if I'd stay for the whole set or not but I did. he had a guitarist, drummer, keyboard player, and bass player (on electric and electric upright) with him. they were pretty cool but I couldn't make out the lyrics to the songs. they covered a Townes Van Zandt song but I couldn't catch the title. for one song the keyboard player blew into a tube connected to the keyboard. for another song they used a metronome as an instrument; it had its own mic. the song mentioned time and a heart beating so it seemed appropriate. 
it was a very small crowd. I heard they sold 65 tickets total (the venue holds maybe 150?) but those who were there were very enthusiastic and into the music. when Stuart and the band came back for a three-song encore, Stuart said that Maria McKee was there, so she joined him on a song.

the night was a nice little Halloween weekend treat. I still need/want to hear Eleni play again with a full band.

[murlough23]

Jars of Clay was excellent tonight. That's not much of a surprise coming from me, but it was a great setlist showcasing a great album, and scaling back a bit on the old "We must play them every time" type songs. Having it in an outdoor venue in November was a bit dicey - temps pushing 60 degrees (you laugh, but for Southern Californians, that's cold!) can make singing and playing guitars tricky in the open air. But it was nice to be under the stars, overlooking the ocean - Pepperdine University is a great venue, and the band specifically requested it.

I'll start with the good. Most of the new songs sounded wonderful in a live setting, and all of the new album was played, minus "Water Under the Bridge", plus the iTunes-only "Love Me". They had a longer setlist than I expected, and it included some new songs that I honestly didn't expect to make the cut. "All My Tears" was quite surprising as an opener, and while they didn't use the abrupt vocal ending from the CD, it was still a beautiful way to get things going. "Dead Man (Carry Me)" made me want to get down with my bad self even though my self is particularly bad when dancing. "Even Angels Cry" was a surprising highlight, with a sensitive reading of the chorus from "Sweet Dreams" (don't know the original artist, but you guys know, that song that goes "Sweet dreams are made of these"?) tacked onto the end. There was a non-stop string of tracks from the new album that just didn't relent, that ran almost until the end of the main set. I wouldn't say that most of them were notably different from the album, but they were almost universally spirited performances. The encore surprisingly included "Liquid" - the acoustic incarnation previously heard on their tour for Redemption Songs, and one of the only versions that doesn't irritate me - and a radically different version of "Light Gives Heat" as the closer, recognizable mostly from the drums and bass line. Dan played some sort of mini-keyboard that you blow into on this song and a cover song leading up to it that I didn't recognize. Charlie's keyboards were also more electronic this time than last, which sounded neat on "God Will Lift Up Your Head" - that song makes a lot of sense when juxtaposed with "Flood", by the way. Speaking of "Flood", I didn't even recognize its intro this time around. They did something funky with the rhythm and chords - people only screamed in delighted recognition when Dan got to the verse. All in all, JoC was heartfelt and energetic, and their set only dragged in one or two small spots (mostly when I was waiting for a song I feared I might not get during the encore). Even the expected Africa speech was a breath of fresh air, as it appealed to the logic of one American dollar being able to provide water for one African for a year, and it didn't try to play on exaggerated emotions and bloated promises and guilt trips like your average Compassion International speech does.

Matt Wertz was a pretty good opening act. His set was mostly acoustic, with a buddy switching back and forth between acoustic and electric guitar. He's got a thing for rhythm, funky licks that make up for the lack of drums, and he's got a winning, humorous personality. He kind of reminded me of early John Mayer with a little less wit, but also a lot less cockiness. He may have name-dropped California to get applause one too many times (including transplanting the location named in his song "Carolina" midway through, but Steve Mason came out to play mandolin on that song, so it's all good), but he said Jars had invited him to warm up the audience, and he did that quite nicely, even persevering on the highly infectious song "Heartbreaker" after realizing he had broken a string. (Easy to do when it's cold and you're near the ocean.)

Also cool: Free In-N-Out Burgers for everyone in attendance! (Doesn't mean much if you're not from California, but, YUM.)

Now for the bad: First of all, Kate York was almost completely useless. I was under the impression that she had been brought on to replace Leigh Nash as an opener. I like her soft voice and all, but she seems to have studied the Coffeehouse 101 rule book and her songs are completely slow and boring (by her own admission, several are depressing as well). The inclusion of a background singer to doublke up on harmony didn't help, and neither did having Charlie Lowell and the bass player and drummer from Jars act as her band on a full songs. I was elated when she left the stage, because she was precisely the wrong artist to open with on a chilly evening when people didn't need an excuse to bundle up, lay back on the mats/blankets they had brought, and start dozing off under the stars. To add insult to injury, Jars didn't bother to use Kate in Leigh's place when they performed "Mirrors & Smoke". Dan just did the whole thing himself, with Steve filling in during a little bit of the vamp. Kate was still around - she had appeared to sing her background part on "Even Angels Cry", which was as useless and unnoticeable live as it is on the album. I had been sitting down for a little lovey-dovey time with the wife during that song (which, as I said earlier, was a lovely rendition), and when I got up at the end of the song, they thanked Kate and I hadn't even realized she had been on stage. Thanks for nothing, Kate!

The drawbacks with the Jars set mostly had to do with variations on songs that weren't as cool as the recorded versions. Nothing major, really. The usual "no bridge to 'Flood' will be as cool as the one with the strings" problem came to mind. "Take Me Higher" seemed to lack punch due to not having much of an intro or outro. "Light Gives Heat" is never gonna sound as cool without the African children (even if the extended ending where they left the stage one by one was kind of neat). You couldn't really hear Steve's guitar solo during "There Is a River", and that song seemed a bit phoned in. I could complain about all three of my favorite Jars albums - Much Afraid, If I Left the Zoo, and Who We Are Instead - not making a single appearance in the setlist, but I kind of expected that, at least of the first two. What did surprise me was that the Africa speech didn't precede "Light Gives Heat", which would have been better in the middle of the set, as I don't think it's well-loved enough just yet to serve as a show closer. I also thought the encore wasn't well-paced. I didn't really need to hear "Liquid" again; it was a poor time for a cover song that I didn't even recognize, and really, is "The Eleventh Hour" worth digging out of the vaults when they've left so much else behind? One woman behind me kept screaming "Play Worlds Apart!" after every song during the encore, which irritated me. I love that song, but I was glad they didn't play it. Lady, if you wanted to hear "Worlds Apart", you could have gone to ANY OTHER JARS OF CLAY SHOW WITHIN THE LAST 13 YEARS. Shutthefrakup.

Having had an infection for the entire week that caused me to have a sore throat, making singing at the top of my lungs in cold air not a very good idea, wasn't cool either, but that obviously isn't the band's fault. Neither is the really long drive to Malibu 'cause there's no direct route. So those things didn't ruin the evening for me.

Overall, I give this show a B. Excellent Jars performance, one good and one boring opening act.

[plvarona]

^It looks like your impression of the Jars concert was fairly similar to mine when I saw them last month.  The set list for the concert I saw was also similar to the one you did, although there were a few changes.  When I saw them, they did not play "Oh My God", "Surprise" or "The Eleventh Hour."  In their place, they played "Show You Love" and "Nothin' But The Blood."  Additionally, the songs at the middle and end of the set were shuffled a bit.

I was also disappointed to hear that Jars did not insert Kate into Leigh's place during "Mirrors & Smoke."  Interestingly enough, I actually commented to Dan after their show last month that they really needed a female vocalist for that.  Dan laughed and joked about getting a random singer from the crowd.

Also FYI, the "Sweet Dreams" song tacked onto the end of "Even Angels Cry" was by Eurythmics.  I too was surprised as to how much I enjoyed that song live, considering it is one of my least favorite songs on the CD.

As for the unknown cover song, did it have some lyrics that went something like "You used to think that it was so easy, but you're crying, you're crying now?" and have a chorus that was primarily instrumental?  If so, that was a cover of "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty, which was actually a favorite of mine when I was a kid.  They played that during their GA show, so I won't be surprised if that was the cover.

BTW, I realize I've been way behind on posting my detailed concert accounts.  I've been very busy with out of town job interviews (and in fact I'm leaving for another one today), so I've been a bit slammed lately.

[murlough23]

Oh, I forgot to mention - Before the concert, people whose cell phones had video capability were instructed to come up front and record the band performing during the song "Dead Man (Carry Me)". All of that video is going to somehow be uploaded via the web, and the band's gonna make a big mash-up of all of it that will become the song's music video. Prepare yourself for the motion sickness!

[enemy anemone]

some new concert dates for David Rawlings Machine:

The Dame in Lexington, KY on Tuesday, November 14th

The Pour Haus in Louisville, KY on Wednesday, November 15th

Bluesboro Rhythm and Blues in Murfreesboro, TN on Monday, Nov 20th

if you can go, GO!

[enemy anemone]

in case you're interested, mur:

KT Tunstall
Key Club, Los Angeles, CA
Thu, Dec 7, 2006 08:00 PM

[dgp11776]

I went to see Switchfoot with Moses Mayfield on Friday night in Charlotte.  What a great show!  Moses Mayfield impressed the whole crowd as openers.  Well, they weren't technically the openers.  Some guy named Ryan somethingorother opened.  He played acoustic guitar and sang.  We were out at the merch tables during quite a bit of his set, and only caught the last two songs.  He wasn't bad.  And Switchfoot was so much better than I had ever seen them.  Very impressed.

Moses Mayfield
They are a five piece band made up of two guitarists (one is the lead singer, Matthew Mayfield), bass player, drummer, and keyboard player.  They have a fairly common modern rock sound about them, but they still have a good overall sound.  Matthew Mayfield has a solid voice - almost like Coldplay's Chris Martin, but with much more power and range.  The one drawback to their set was the lack of guitar solos.  They have several on their albums, but only had one during their set.  A bit odd, if you ask me.  Another odd thing is the lack of background vocals.  Normally, the band backs up the singer, but not with them.  And, on a side note, the non-singing guitarist had a cool guitar strap that said "GOSPEL" on it.  A very solid opening set, much akin to what I would have expected from Switchfoot several years ago. 

Setlist:  Control; Element; Fall Behind; Swing Low, Sweet Chariot/Strange New Place; The Inside; Enough To Let Go; Hiding
Grade:  B-

Switchfoot
So I wasn't really sure what to expect from Switchfoot.  I had seen them twice before, and they did a fairly good job.  Nothing mind-blowing, but good enough to make me want to see them again.  Well, forget about my expectations.  These guys were AWESOME.  Excellent job working the crowd, picking the right songs to sing at the right time, and just the right amount of experimentation or unexpected twists to make it interesting.  Like Jon playing the dobro on "Dirty Second Hands," and then picking up one of Chad's cymbals at the end of the song only to beat the crap out of it while everyone else in the band erupted in a cacophany of sounds.  Or Jon singing into his guitar at odd times to bring out spacey sound effects.  Or Jerome playing guitar and keyboards almost simultaneously - and that piano part on "Oh! Gravity." is fabulous live.  Or the extremely high range harmony singing in the new song "American Dream" that had me saying to my wife, "that sound like something The Shins would try!"  There always seemed to be something unexpected that creeped up.  The new songs all translated very well to a live setting, and now I can't freaking wait to get their new album in my hands.

Setlist & some commentary:
1.  Stars (Great way to start things off - there was even a disco ball going that gave the effect of, uh, stars)
2.  Politicians (Awesome 1-2 punch to start things off.  When the beginning guitar lines immediately followed the outro of "Stars," I admit to screaming like a girl)
3.  Gone (Jon was an animal on this song, climbing all over the stage set - I was certain he would fall and break something)
4.  We Are One Tonight (the crowd nearly drowned Jon out on the chorus - it was a very good moment)
5.  This Is Your Life (see #4.  Jerome and Tim's background vocals on this song made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.  They were fantastic and completely made the song.)
6.  Happy Is a Yuppie Word (Jon left the stage and sang from the very back of the room at the top of the bleachers - pretty cool.  Nice keyboard work by Jerome on this one.)
7.  Chem 6A (they tried to work in "Sweet Home Alabama" as an intro, but it didn't work.  A real crowd favorite - it's always nice when they play this, because the old school fans show themselves here.)
8.  Awakening (this is a new song that has an anthemic feel to it, but not quite in the vein of "This Is Your Life" or "Dare You To Move."  It has a quicker pace.  The chorus is killer.) 
9.  On Fire (finally, they slowed down a little!  Great swaying song.  Piano by Jerome was lovely.)
10.  Dirty Second Hands (quite literally, this is one of the best songs I've ever seen performed live.  First there was the dobro, which was awesome.  Then you have the wacked out 5/4 signature - it was funny watching people try to clap to it.  The chorus is just musical madness, which leads to a more traditional 6/4 bridge, then back to 5/4 for the rest of the song.  Then, just when everybody thought it was over, as I said earlier, Jon grabbed one of the cymbals off the drum set and started beating it senseless.  There almost no rhyme or reason to what anybody in the band was doing at that point.  Just experimental noise that nearly made by eardrums bleed...and it was incredible.)
11.  Ammunition (and now, back to the singalong.  I think it was either this song or the next that they stopped in the middle of the song and froze in place for 30 seconds.  It looked quite odd.  Then, they resumed rocking.)
12.  American Dream (another new song with the aforementioned Shinish harmony in certain spots.  It is mostly a conventional punk rock song, but with twists in it.)
13.  Company Car (ah, yes, another crowd favorite.  This one was a lot of fun.)
14.  Oh! Gravity (I was surprised by the number of people that knew all the words already.  This was a great song in a live setting.  The piano break is killer, and Jon's wailing "WHY" at the beginning of the lines in the chorus was wonderful.)
15.  Meant To Live (they tricked everybody with a minute-long intro before the dead giveaway beginning.  Predictably, the crowd went nuts.  Great singalong, great smashing, crashing finish to their set.)
(Encore)
16.  24 (Just Jon and his acoustic guitar on this one.  A very different sound from the rest of their electrified set.  It was very well done, and very moving.  Lines such as "You're raising the dead in me," "Spirit lift me up," "I want to see miracles," etc. gave a nice direction for the closing moments of the concert.  As he closed the song, he said something about all of the mistakes he and everyone has made in their lives.  They keep building, but, as he put it, it's ridiculous to think that grace isn't bigger than our greatest fall.  And with that...)
17.  Dare You To Move (even more powerful live than on CD.  An absolutely perfect way, though predictable, to finish off the night.  The singalong on the chorus was the best of the night, and left me nearly moved to tears.  There is just something special about singing at the top of your lungs with 1200 other people.)

Grade:  A (the + was taken away because they didn't play "Easier Than Love.")   

[murlough23]

I think it was either this song or the next that they stopped in the middle of the song and froze in place for 30 seconds.  It looked quite odd.  Then, they resumed rocking.

I frakking hate it when bands do this. Jars of Clay seemed to think it was cool to do it during "Flood" for several years, and dc Talk used to do it during "Jesus Freak". It's not cool and it just wastes time. Enough with that cliche already.

[plvarona]

Interestingly enough, I'll be seeing Switchfoot tomorrow night, so it will be interesting to compare notes here.  I'm looking forward to it as well.  Switchfoot has gotten better live every time I've seen them, and I last saw them at Cornerstone Florida 2004, so if they've continued to improve their performance from then, I can only imagine how good it could be.

[plvarona]

Switchfoot turned out to be pretty good on Tuesday night, as their live show just keeps getting better every time I've seen them.  Jon has certainly become quite a showman lately, although I thought he was a bit on the dramatic side at times.  Musically, there were a few rough spots, but the concert was still fairly polished from the get-go, and Tim threw in some nice harmonies with his brother.  The set list was also fairly similar to what dgp reported, with the major differences being that they did not play "Chem 6A" and replaced it with "Easier Than Love", and during the encore they substituted "Twenty-Four" with "The Shadow Proves The Sunshine."  The order for songs 7-13 was also a bit different.  While I was a bit bummed with the exclusion of "Twenty-Four", I hadn't heard "The Shadow..." live prior to this concert, so I'll accept that trade-off.

As for the opening acts, I thought Moses Mayfield was decent-to-good.  They got off to a strong start, and have a pretty good rhythm section.  However, I had a hard time understanding what the lead singer was saying and that annoyed me, and additionally I thought the set lost some momentum toward the end.  Ryan Ferguson performed a solo acoustic set before the scheduled concert time, and I liked what I heard from him.  I found his music to be quite catchy, and was also very energetic for someone just standing there with an aocustic guitar.

[murlough23]

While I was a bit bummed with the exclusion of "Twenty-Four", I hadn't heard "The Shadow..." live prior to this concert, so I'll accept that trade-off.

I'll take any good song that I haven't heard live yet over one that I have. That's why I thought Jars of Clay's latest show was awesome even though they left out "Worlds Apart" and shunned my three favorite Jars albums altogether.

[NinjaRob17]

Just saw Mute Math. I'll elaborate more when I'm not tired.

[enemy anemone]

earlier I was lamenting the fact that I have no concerts lined up for the rest of the year (and a lot of the artists I'd be interested in seeing [again] are actually playing all over the place), so tonight I checked around some sites and saw that Willy Mason will be playing at McCabe's on Dec. 3rd (Sunday). he opened for KT Tunstall early this year and I liked a few of his songs quite a bit. I told myself that I'd like to hear him play again but missed the other dates he played around here. McCabe's is a great little venue so of course I have to go.

[dgp11776]

I went to a Christmas concert on Saturday night featuring Newsong, Todd Agnew, and Rachael Lampa plus some others.  It was a truly great night.  Sixteen of us went and enjoyed the whole thing.  Oddly enough, though Newsong was billed as the top act, they only sang a handful of songs and Todd Agnew closed.  Setlists & comments:

Nate Sallie
1.  "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" - this was just a way to get things going.  Him on the piano singing with the crowd.
2.  Angels We Have Heard On High - ditto.

Everyone
3.  "Oh Holy Night" - Everyone came out for the real opener, a stunning vocal powerhouse piece.  An unbelievable way to open things up!

Rachael Lampa
4.  "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - so Rachael Lampa needs to do a jazz album.  Backed by a four piece band, she breezed through this song, hitting those oh-so-spine-tingling high notes.  The band did some cool jazz improv over some nice scat singing towards the middle.
5.  "This Christmas" - the newer Christmas standard, complete with funk.
6.  "Blessed" - her signature song, I suppose.  I still can't believe the sounds coming from this 5 foot package.

Newsong
I've said this before, but Newsong rocks live.  They may be a bit blah on record, but they know how to put on a concert.  They pack the stage with eight guys (three vocalists that also play some instruments, electric guitar, bass, drums, percussion, keyboards).  Their band is really talented, and also pick up the cello and classical guitar during the show.  The vocals are breathtaking, which has always been a staple with Newsong.  Their newest singer, Drew Cline, replaced Michael O'Brien.  This guys range was unreal!  He played a nifty acoustic guitar, too.  The two older guys (they have to be in their 50's) can still sing with the best of them.  Their best song was clearly "The Little Drummer Boy."  The song revealed itself little by little.  The drummer started things off with one of those military drums and sang the opening verse.  Then, the full band kicked in.  By the time the first drum solo came up, there were four guys playing drums (two of the singers as well as their drummer and percussionist).  Rachael Lampa had also joined them on background vocals.  For the second drum solo another three drummers came out (so seven drummers now) and played drumline style.  To top it off, Todd Agnew's violinist came out to join them.  So it ended up with 13 people playing & singing on the song.  It was one heck of a performance.  They were great overall, even "The Christmas Shoes."  They played clips from the movie before the song.

7.  "Sing Noel" - preceeded by Linus's speech from "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
8.  "The Christmas Blessing" - featuring Rachael Lampa dueting with Drew Cline.
9.  "Away In A Manger/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" - featuring Matt Butler on cello.  This song rocked harder than I ever thought Newsong could.
10.  "The Christmas Hope" - great lead vocals by Drew Cline.
11.  "The Little Drummer Boy" - I think I've said enough about this one.
12.  "The Christmas Shoes" - complete with a guest singer, a 7-year old named Jake.  Cute.

Todd Agnew
I hadn't been much of a Todd Agnew fan, so I was surprised to find out that I really like him.  His voice reminded me a little of Johnny Cash, nice and deep and gravelly.  He brought out a lot of guests to sing with him.  He sang selections from his new Christmas album (which I bought), Do You See What I See?  He sang and played acoustic guitar, and was backed by electric guitar, drums, bass, and violin.  His portion of the concert was really cool.  His album is all about the first Christmas from the perspective of those actually involved.  So it was quite thought-provoking, an obvious lyrical step above the previous acts.  His point was that, although we have had 2000 years to figure out the context of the first Christmas, they didn't. 

13.  Do You Hear What I Hear?
14.  No Room (The Innkeeper's Perspective) - featuring a newcomer, Joy Whitlock.  She had a great voice - she's no Rachael Lampa, but who is?
15.  This Is All I Have to Give (Joseph's Perspective) - featuring Drew Cline of Newsong.
16.  Magnificat (Mary's Perspective) - featuring Rachael Lampa
17.  Did You Know? (the Baby Jesus's Perspective)
18.  Glory to God (The Angels' Perspective) - featuring Nate Sallie
19.  God With Us (The Magi's Perspective)
20.  The First Light - featuring Joy Whitlock, Drew Cline, Rachael Lampa, and Nate Sallie.  A fantastic closer for the night.

Everyone
21.  Silent Night - crowd singalong

My only letdown was that Newsong didn't sing "Arise, My Love."  I just thought they sang that at every concert, but I guess not.

[enemy anemone]

I was at a new Borders store and saw that Moya Brennan will be performing there on Saturday. I'm not familiar with her music but have heard of her, and I like some Celtic music and old obscure carols. I also have a coupon for a free drink at that particular Borders so I shall have to make an afternoon of it. 

[enemy anemone]

just found out yesterday that Eleni Mandell's upcoming cd release gig will be Feb 8th (Thu) at the Echo in L.A. then she's going to tour all around Europe for a couple months. one of my hopes/goals for next year is to have the opportunity to catch at least 6 of her gigs. maybe I need to move to Europe.