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Got Live if You Want It
What an amazing past weeks! In addition to the historic nature of BARACK OBAMA’s election as President earlier this week and the Phillies winning the World Series the week before (thus creating several victory parades down Broad Street, though one was impromptu), there have been a ton of great shows happening in the area this week. Here are some of them, and some shows from weeks past that I just haven’t listed until now. To cap off the list, I’m also including 3 new releases that I’ve been digging lately.
David Byrne – Tower Theater (Upper Darby, PA) – Saturday, November 8, 2008
Sure this was an expensive ticket, but worth it for the 1978-1980 TALKING HEADS songs (and “Burning Down the House” from 1983’s Speaking in Tongues), a live version of “Help Me Somebody” from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and wonderful performances of the songs from Byrne and BRIAN ENO’s new album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. Oh and did I mention the choreographed dancing and the backup singers? What an extravaganza!
The Mountain Goats with Kaki King – The Theater of the Living Arts (Philadelphia, PA) – Friday, November 7, 2008
What an awesome show! The last time I saw them (at Swarthmore College back in 2005), JOHN DARNIELLE was accompanied only by a bassist, but this time we had a drummer as well and for about five or six songs, opener KAKI KING on guitar as well, allowing him to act like a frontman, complete with all of the histrionics. In any case, there was so much energy and enthusiasm, with the highlights being “This Year” (from 2005’s great The Sunset Tree) as well as covers of MORRISSEY’s “Suedehead” (complete with King on guitar and backing vocals) and THIN LIZZY’s “The Boys are Back in Town” as well as a song by FRANKLIN BRUNO (of NOTHING PAINTED BLUE) that I didn’t recognize to close the set.
Larkin Grimm with These People – First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia, PA) – Thursday, November 6, 2008
Although we didn’t stay for headliner MEG BAIRD (who we’ve seen with her band ESPERS and as part of THE BAIRD SISTERS, but never solo), Larkin Grimm was just great. Concentrating mostly on her excellent new album Parplar, half of the set was played in the dark at the beautiful side chapel of the church, creating an appropriately eerie and spooky effect that matches the haunting power of her music and her voice. Openers These People (that’s what they said from the stage; I’m not even sure if it’s their correct name; if someone knows, please let me know) are a guitar duo who play jams inspired by ‘60s British folk (i.e. BERT JANSCH, PENTANGLE, et al.) and late ‘60s psychedelia.
The Gutter Twins with Afterhours – Theater of the Living Arts (Philadelphia, PA) – Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Honestly, I found it hard to get into this show. Although I like both GREG DULLI and MARK LANEGAN a lot, I much prefer AFGHAN WHIGS to Dulli’s later stuff (in particular THE TWILIGHT SINGERS) and much of their album Saturnalia feels like a Twilight Singers album. The definitive highlight, for me at least, was when they totally rearranged the Afghan Whigs’ “If I Were Going” (from their 1993 masterpiece Gentlemen). Openers Afterhours lived up to their name, playing doomy cabaret-ish rock with a viola player on board ala THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, but their material wasn’t very memorable.
Henry Rollins- First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia, PA) – Sunday, November 2, 2008
In an election-themed special, Henry spoke extensively about his recent trip to Pakistan and his thoughts on the OLIVER STONE film W and politics in general. Of course, these weren’t the only topics covered in his marathon, almost 3 hour spoken word show, and as always when he speaks, it was highly enjoyable and inspirational as well.
Jay Reatard with Cola Freaks- Johnny Brenda’s (Philadelphia, PA) – Monday, October 27, 2008
I felt a bit bad for Jay on this evening as this show was on a cold, rainy night in which the Phillies were also playing Game 5 of the World Series, which ended up being postponed until a few days later after they managed to get 5 and a half innings in. In any case, the game was being shown on a large projector between sets. Nevertheless, Jay played his usual great set, with young fans appropriately going nuts up front. It was a bit mellower and longer (relatively speaking as it was still only a little over half an hour) than usual, as he used an acoustic guitar for some of the newer songs, but still reliably incredible. Openers Cola Freaks played a noisy, spastic set that reminded me a lot of early ‘90s emo-core like HEROIN or RYE (before they became RYE COALITION).
The Figgs with Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears and The Thirteen – M Room (Philadelphia, PA) – Sunday, October 26, 2008
I really came to this show mostly to see The Thirteen. Playing their record-release party, they went on first and despite the so-so sound at the M Room, they were still great. Once again, PETER SANTA MARIA from JUKEBOX JEROS joined them on bass for most of their set, but on “Need It, Want It”, they were joined by Figgs bassist PETE DONNELLY (who played on the record). For all the classic soul and r’n’b comparisons I’ve heard, I thought that Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears sounded like The Dirtbombs, more like a garage/soul mix than a straight-up recreation of a classic r’n’b sound like say, anyone on Daptone.
The Damned – So, Who’s Paranoid? (The English Channel)
I’m pleased to say that, much to my delight, the new Damned album (it’s been 7 years since their last release, 2001’s Grave Disorder) is a total corker! Imagine a transition album between 1982’s Strawberries and 1984’s Phantasmagoria (sort of like the “Thanx for the Night/Nasty” single) with bits of The Black Album (there’s even a 14-minute closer called “Dark Asteroid”, much like that record’s side-long “Curtain Call”) and you’ll get a good feel of the sound of this record. DAVE VANIAN’s voice is amazing and CAPTAIN SENSIBLE’s guitar playing is wonderfully all over the place, too. Wow!
Larkin Grimm – Parplar (Young God)
This is haunting freak-folk at its finest. Unlike DEVENDRA BANHART or JOANNA NEWSOM, who have clear predecessors (TYRANNOSAURUS REX and KAREN DALTON), respectively, there’s not much of a precedent for what Larkin Grimm does. It’s like unearthing some private press record from the early ‘70s and even more so when you consider her bio. The lyrics are brutally honest, dark and despite the trappings, not hippy-dippy in the least.
Belle and Sebastian- The BBC Sessions (Matador)
Although many fans will already have heard these songs on bootlegs and what not, this is the first official release of Belle and Sebastian’s BBC Sessions from 1996 to 2001. Sure one could complain that a few key songs are omitted and that nothing from after 2001 is present, but what’s here is generally phenomenal. The versions of “The State I Am In,” “The Stars of Track and Field” and “Lazy Line Painter Jane” are superior to the recorded versions, I think, and generally this reminds one of what an amazing band they were (and still are) in their early days, particularly around the time of 1996’s Tigermilk up through 1997’s If You’re Feeling Sinister. It should also be noted that there’s a 2-disc version with a live show from December 2001 on the bonus disc. I haven’t heard it yet, though.
