Concert Reviews

Thanks to HearYa reader, Vanessa, for providing the pic!

I am too old for this shit. I’m writing this the morning after seeing my third show in three nights.

First up was The Deep Dark Woods from Saskatoon at The Hideout. They drew a solid crowd for a Tuesday night and for a band that is just starting to buildup a fan base here in the States. Those that made it out were treated to a special night of music. The band has added a full time keyboardist which is like adding butterscotch to your hot fudge sundae. You didn’t know it could get any better, but it just did.

The Canucks played for about three hours, combining alt-country with a Grateful Dead vibe, including rousing renditions of Jack A Roe and O Babe It Ain’t No Lie. They also fired up two new tunes that my man-date Jefe said were hands down his favorite tunes of the night. Lucky for you, they are also part of our live session with Deep Dark Woods.

My next show was Deer Tick at a packed Empty Bottle. After sitting through a couple opening acts, McCauley and crew hit the stage at 11:30. Muzzle of Bees, a fantastic blogging counterpart, wrote a great review so I will not reinvent the wheel here. He’s bang-on in his assessment that this isn’t alt-country – its just homegrown rock and roll. They are tremendous live act and do a great job of breathing life into their songs. Also, banged out a nice cover of Petty’s Breakdown.

Last up was Elton and Billy at Wrigley. I will admit that this was met with trepidation on my part as I couldn’t get “We Didn’t Start The Fire” and “I’m Still Standing” out of my head. And, Sweet Jesus, those songs suck. But you kind of forget that there was a time when the two of them were making some unique music. After the cheesy beginning where they were trading verses of their tunes, Elton hit a nice run where he played “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding,” “Levon” and “Madman Across The Water.” After that it was back to the schmaltzy “Crocodile Rock” and the aforementioned mind-numbing “I’m Still Standing.” Madman was a real nice surprise but I would have liked to hear “Take Me To The Pilot.”

Joel followed and played a couple of his decent tunes including “Angry Young Man,” “Zanzibar” and “Allentown.” The trade off was sitting through “Uptown Girl,” “River of Dreams” and “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” which besides being a blatant rip off of “Its The End of The World” by REM, is just about as bad a song as one man could write.

Then it was back to the dueling piano lounge act with “Piano Man” and “The Bitch Is Back.” While there were some truly awful parts during the show, there were enough very good moments that made it worthwhile, with “Madman Across The Water” leading the way. Its amazing to think that the two of them once wrote truly unique music in the days before MTV came along. After that, they started chasing the four minute hit single.

The Gaslight Anthem make me want to dance like Kevin Bacon in Footloose. Do you know the scene I’m talking about? He flails his arms at the steering wheel, dramatically blows cigarette smoke into the air out of his mouth and nose holes and then chugs a beer before run-dancing his mother effing ass off through an empty warehouse. I listened to “The ‘59 Sound” in my office the other day and would have done flips off a gymnastics high-bar, had one been strategically placed outside of my cubicle.

Anyway, you may have noticed that the blog was a little neglected last week. I spent most of the week on cross-country flights, but I did find myself in Atlanta and was able to make time to catch Heartless Bastards and The Gaslight Anthem at Masquerade. A college friend is part-owner of this spectacular (and haunted) venue and the night of music was fabulous.

I walked in halfway through the Heartless Bastards set and lead singer Erika Wennerstrom’s voice filled the cavernous room. The setup at the Masquerade allowed you to stand in front of the stage, behind the stage or elevated on the sides of the stage looking down at the band at arms length. It’s rock walls and gothic vibe make you feel like you’re literally in an underground club catching the best kept secrets in music. And we were.

Heartless Bastards won over anyone in the crowd that was unfamiliar with the band, but the mostly tattooed crowd was there to see New Jersey rockers, The Gaslight Anthem. Once the band took the stage people started to lose their shit. I’m not joking. Fists were pumping and the entire crowd knew every word to every song. Two guys were holding up an American flag, women were dancing with their eyes closed, tattooed guys were hugging, one tough guy with a beard was crying. I’m serious. I’ve never seen anything like it at a small venue with bands that aren’t mainstream. It reminded me of a Lucero show, but with more energy.

I had a long drive back to Marietta after the show and I felt something that I haven’t felt for a long, long time. I truly thought I had just experienced a band on the cusp of real greatness…and not just the indie music cult kind. These guys have catchy hit-ready singles like “Great Expectations” and “The 59 Sound” and a big pop-punk sound that could fill an arena just as well as Masquerade.

All I can really say is go see this band in person. You will not regret it.

From our Heartless Bastards Live Session:

Exclusive: Heartless Bastards – Hold Your Head High

Exclusive: Heartless Bastards – Sway

Acoustic tracks from The Gaslight Anthem, courtesy of blog pal Fuel for Friends:

The Gaslight Anthem – The ‘59 Sound

The Gaslight Anthem – Great Expectations

You can download a full zip of the acoustic tracks over at Fuel for Friends.

Video: The Gaslight Anthem – Even Cowgirls Get The Blues @ Masquerade, Atlanta GA

And yes, I did find the Footloose Video…

Justin Townes Earle and Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit were in San Francisco last week, so I made the 40 minute commute into the city to check out the show at The Independent. I hired a babysitter and took the wife with me, so I didn’t take any pictures. You can’t interrupt date night with music blogging antics, but it was a great night of music. Several moments gave me chills and made my neckbeard stand up on end.

If you like country music and haven’t seen Justin Townes Earle yet, you’re missing out. Watching the stage banter between he and his long time friend, Corey Younts, is entertaining in itself, but these guys are truly talented musicians. I’d recommend situating yourself in front of Corey to watch him switch off between banjo, uke and harmonica. It’s jaw-dropping.

The song in Justin’s set that gave me chills was “Mama’s Eyes.” He gave an intro talking about how he wasn’t miraculously conceived as a Steve Earle solo project and, contrary to what you may have read, he actually does have a mother. I’ve seen similar interviews where Justin says that this song is just a way to give credit where credit is due in his upbringing. It’s his momma who raised him while daddy was on the road.

Video: Justin Townes Earle – Mama’s Eyes (Live at Spaceland in LA)

In contrast to Justin’s stripped down, country ho-down set, Jason Isbell took the stage next with his band, The 400 Unit, and exploded with their electric guitar driven, southern rock sound. The goosebumps popped up when he introduced “Dress Blues” and dedicated it to his childhood friend who died in the war. I love the song because Jason doesn’t point fingers or take pot-shots at the government. He paints a picture of family, friends and small towns coping with the loss of a loved one. It’s not a protest song. It’s just a tribute to his friend that we can all identify with. You could hear a pin drop when he performed it.

Video: Jason Isbell – Dress Blues (Live at Stubbs)

After I dried my eye, I recognized the first chords of the follow-up song which stood in stark contrast to they cry for peace on “Dress Blues.” Jason Isbell’s cover of “The Assassin,” written by former Drive-By Trucker band mate, Patterson Hood, is always a highlight and one that we’ve discussed before. It tells the tale of a professional killer that “loses his taste” for killing.

Video: Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit – The Assassin (Patterson Hood Cover)

The rest of Isbell + 400 were tracks mostly from their new album with some DBT gems like “Goddamn Lonely Love” mixed in. Watching Jason play guitar is worth the price of admission.

These guys are heading into Chicago on April 17th for a show at Double Door. If you’re in the windy city, I’d recommend getting there.

Justin Townes Earle – Mama’s Eyes

Patterson Hood – The Assassin

Jason Isbell – The Assassin (Live, solo)