Over the last half decade or so, an increasing amount of bands have played the gambit of digging back through their discography to play an LP in its entirety, so much so that it’s become as a de facto move for bands as for chess players using the Ruy Lopez opening. DAVID LOWERY is ahead of most of the competition in that he’s got the luxury of playing favorites with two still-functioning bands, the Santa Cruz-spawned CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN (a band that launched a thousand ‘quirky’ references in record reviews) as well as the post-CVB band CRACKER. And since both bands share a drummer (FRANK FUNARO) and utlity fielder-type DAVID IMMERGLÜCK who can sing, play guitar, keyboards, pedal steel, and mandolin with equal adroit, logistically it’s pretty easy to get a double dose of these bands as a single tour package.
CVB pulled opening duties and played their swan song Key Lime Pie (at least that was their final statement until their somewhat unexpected return in 2002 when they re-recorded FLEETWOOD MAC‘s Tusk, another unexpected move from a band full of them…and VICTOR KRUMMENACHER*‘s spoken threat of CVB playing Yes’ Tales of Topographic Oceans instead didn’t materialize). As a final statement, it’s more direct and less playful than their earlier records; after the instrumental intro of ‘Opening Theme,” Lowery walked out on to the stage and set up between Krummenacher on bass and GREG LISHER , a macbook peering at him to give some lyric help if needed. Some serious subject matter was covered early on, from the post-Dallas darkness of “Jack Ruby,” (searing slide work from Lisher!) to the deceptively light and sweet but inwardly cynical “Sweethearts. “When I Win the Lottery” and “(I Was Born in A) Laundromat” did little to bring levity, but were testament to how far Lowery had grown in his songwriting as CVB progressed. Any song that opens with the protagonist losing an eye in Mexico, and forgetting where he lost his teeth is a good way to grab a listener by the ears and drag him into the song, and the tale of politics, bad luck, good luck, and dreams of recognition amid hypocrisy is timeless.
The record still bears distinct marks of the post-Reagan years and what was then the overall mood of the country, but this can still be applied very aptly in these post-Bush times. The dark mood gave way to bursts of joy and color, even the solemn “All Her Favorite Fruit,” a truly touching vignette about unrealized dreams, and the updated version of psych classic “Pictures Of Matchstick Men,” with JONATHAN SEGEL sawing out the distinctive riff on his violin. A definite drawback to the album as concert format is a very predictable set list, but if the songs were played out of order, it would belie the importance of track sequencing to the album’s vision. This is certainly one record, with the closing of “Come On Darkness,” where you wouldn’t want that song in any other position.
Closing with a short encore (“Eye Of Fatima, pts 1 and 2,” “Take The Skinheads Bowling” and “Sad Lovers Waltz”), there was a short break before Cracker came out to play their second LP, 1993’s Kerosene Hat. Their eponymous debut helped bust them out of the indie rock ghetto and put them on the map with “Teen Angst” but it was the followup that really got them recognized. As a band, Cracker is a lot more straight-forward than CVB, in part to JOHNNY HICKMAN‘s guitar style. He’s a strong, solid player, but plays his cards a lot farther from his vest than Lisher does. If CVB is a spicy Hungarian goulash, then Cracker is a chicken-fried steak, albeit with a side of jalapeño-spiked cornbread. I’m a lot less familiar with Cracker’s material, but it’s hard to be even a passive music fan and not recognize the gut-punch yowl of “Low” or the two parts catchy to one part slinky “Get Off This,” and Kerosene was off in fine fashion.
The pacing of Cracker’s set suffered a bit, due to my unfamiliarity with the material and the slower pace of the set until the honky-tonk swagger of “Sweet Potato” picked it up once again, with Hickman throwing toothy grins and ripping quick riffs from his black Les Paul. The album “proper” was closed out by the cover of Jerry Garcia’s “Loser,” but as anyone who has a copy of the cd knows, there are 99 separate tracks on the cd, and two of them aren’t just a few seconds of silence. No, “Eurotrash Girl’ (track #69) is also one of the band’s most well-known tracks, and they ended it with a blistering “I Ride My Bike,” before the rest of Camper came out to close with the customary celestial journey known as “Interstellar Overdrive,” their incendiary cover of the Pink Floyd psych chestnut. Segel in particular was playing some blistering leads on guitar, something that caught me by surprise. Great evening all around, and a pretty special opportunity to see two sides of a songwriter back-to-back like that.
