We have a neighborhood event in Dayton called Porchfest. This event has a simple premise. Many homeowners in a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood offer their front porch (or their back yard) as a venue where an artist can perform. The performances are staggered by location and scheduled in order to avoid too much sound overlapping. This event is free to attend, and it's something I look forward to... walking around listening to live music for a few hours is exactly my idea of a good time.

This summer, I was invited to play Porchfest for the first time.  I was very much looking forward to participating in an event that I enjoy attending as well, and I convinced Ray Owens, Brandon Berry, and Jeremy Raucci to spend time learning my songs so that I could give a full band performance.  (Thanks, gentlemen!)  I was scheduled to play at 5:00 PM.  Porchfest started with a drum corps in the 1 o'clock hour, then the first slot for the artists throughout the neighborhood was to be at 2:00 PM.

One of the bands I enjoy ran into a problem.  They are called Sadbox.  Wait, the name of the band isn't the problem, stay with me here. Their bass player had been possibly exposed to COVID-19, and as a responsible citizen and fine upstanding member of society, was self-quarantining.  This meant he was not able to play Porchfest, and the folks in Sadbox found this out the night before the show.  I found this out the morning of the show, shortly before noon, as I was borrowing their drummer, Ray, for my set as well. Guess what instrument I play?  Yep, bass.  I immediately offered my services.  Sadbox accepted. Great!  But there's a challenge here...

You see, dear reader, I enjoy listening to Sadbox songs, and know many of them fairly well, but there is a difference between knowing a song from listening to it and knowing it well enough to actually play it in front of people.  I had less than two hours to mentally prepare for the show... oh, and I also had to deal with preparations for my own set later in the day.  Once my offer to fill in on bass was accepted, I immediately started listening to both Sadbox albums again, working my way through the songs, specifically listening for the bass parts, and trying to internalize the music.

I went to the designated porch, and participated in the age-old ritual of setting up gear prior to a show.  Then, the ebullient and gregarious lead singer and songwriter of Sadbox, Paul, gave me a 20 minute crash course on how to play the songs on the setlist.  This is what my notes look like:

I didn't draw that cool thing at the bottom of the setlist, Paul did.  My handwriting is the stuff in black.  I took a selfie as we were setting up in order to memorialize this occasion.

Time sure flies when you're getting ready to jump in and play rock & roll songs that you've never played before live and in public.  Before we knew it, Porchfest was under way.  You know what?  It was great.  I made my share of mistakes to be sure, but I didn't feel much pressure because, well, I think Sadbox were kind enough to keep their expectations low. I was able to relax and enjoy making music with friendly people in front of a good-sized crowd of other friendly people.  I repeat, it was great!  Making music feels good.  Doing a favor for someone feels good.  I had the privilege to combine the two on this hot Saturday afternoon. In fact, I enjoyed playing with Sadbox more than playing my own songs during my own scheduled set. 

Photo by Art Jipson

Photo by Tom Gilliam

Behold! Three-fourths of the mighty Sadbox, with yours truly on the porch tagging along!  This is a moment that I'll remember for a long, long time.

Welcome to Concert Memories May!  All of my Monday blog entries this month will be about memorable concerts.

Toadies had to tread a long and winding road on the way to getting their second full-length album released.  That's a strange thing to write, and is indicative of how much nonsense comes with the music business.  Toadies had a massive radio single and a platinum album, but still had to fight with their label to get Hell Below/Stars Above released.  The release was unsupported by their label, which never made any sense to me.  I think it's a stronger album than their debut.  For me and a few of my friends, it was certainly highly anticipated.  Once the album was released, Toadies hit the road to support it.  They played three shows in Ohio.  I attended all three.

My memories of these shows are too thick and convoluted to write into a cohesive narrative.  I think a bullet list would better fit here.  Here are just some of the things I remember:

• Driving to Columbus, meeting up with friends, then driving to the show in Cleveland
• Meeting Diffuser, conversing with Lawrence, the bass player, and him remembering us at future shows
• Seeing "Dollskin" live for the first time
• Walking down the street with Toadies after the show because we had parked in the same general direction as the tour bus
• Stopping for a snack in Lodi and having that stop be longer than anticipated because the keys had been locked in the car
• Learning all of the Diffuser songs by the next time we caught the show
• Talking to Toadies about Bands on the Run
• Realizing that "Paper Dress" was making a serious challenge as my favorite Toadies song 
• Enjoying the Toadies' nod to their influences, as they covered "Where Is My Mind?" every show

Here's a picture with my friend Brandy after the Cincinnati show, with Mark and Clark from Toadies.

Welcome to Concert Memories May!  All of my Monday blog entries this month will be about memorable concerts.

This time we're going to party like it's 1999... well, because this show happened in 1999.

The third Local H album was Pack Up the Cats, and even though it was released in 1998, the band was still on tour to support it in 1999.  Local H had a massive radio hit single from their previous album, and I had seen them before when they were on the road touring with that one.  They opened for Stone Temple Pilots on an arena tour, and I caught them at the Nutter Center in Dayton.  This show though, instead of being in an arena, was in a properly sized venue for a rock and roll show.

Normally at the Newport Music Hall, there is a crowd control barrier in front of the stage.  This serves to give a space of a few feet between the crowd and the stage, and this space is populated with security staff and professional photographers for the more crowded shows.  Immediately upon entering the big room for this particular show, my group and I noticed that the barrier was gone.  Indeed, we could lean right up on the stage, giving the show a much more intimate feel.  We were actually able to talk to the musicians during the show, as we were close enough to be heard. I swear that I could even feel the air being pushed by Joe Daniels' kick drum.

If you're not familiar with Pack Up the Cats, well, it's a concept album about playing in a rock and roll band.  The band leaned into the album, opening the concert by playing the first 9 songs from it in order.  For a group who wrote a self-deprecating song about not being a very good live act, they brought the frenetic, high-energy performance they were known for.  These guys have been road warriors for years, both before AND after this date in 1999, going out and earning it night after night in town after town.  In fact, Local H are still at it. 

One of my favorite lyrics from the album - and from this show - is from the song "Hit the Skids"... .
I'm in love with rock and roll / but that'll change eventually

I related to those lyrics when I was 22, and well, it hasn't changed yet... but maybe eventually.

Welcome to Concert Memories May!  All of my Monday blog entries this month will be about memorable concerts.

Oh look, what do we have here?

That's right, a superstar Canadian band, who were accustomed to playing arenas and stadiums in their home country, played back-to-back nights at a dance club in Dayton, Ohio for SEVEN DOLLARS each night.  How in the world did that happen?  

These shows happened just after a creative crossroads with the band.  Guitarist Mike Turner had left the band, and there was an open audition process for the job.  Once the position was filled, the band finished up Gravity, which was their fifth album.  When a superstar band releases a new album, they generally go on tour to support it... at least, this is how things used to work.  Of course, they would probably have to play the singles and crowd favorites from their earlier work, and gel properly with the new team member in front of an audience.  If you were part of a superstar Canadian band, and you wanted to put in some work in front of a live audience whilst remaining somewhat off the radar, where would you play the show?  Our Lady Peace chose to play in Dayton, Ohio.  These two shows were the first shows that new guitarist Steve Mazur would play with them.

I remember being a massive fan of this band since their first album Naveed came out while I was in high school.  They didn't get to popularity in the United States until their second album Clumsy showed up in 1997 with hit singles "Superman's Dead", "Clumsy", and "4am".  Their third and fourth albums weren't remotely as popular here if memory serves, but strangely enough, I liked them both even better.  I am pretty sure that several of my friends agree with me on this... and we jumped at the chance to catch an act like this in a small venue in our home state.

I fondly remember waiting in line outside for the doors to open, and hearing the soundcheck happening inside the venue.  This surely doubled as extra rehearsal, as one of the songs we could hear was "The Story of 100 Aisles", and they didn't play that one during either night's show.  I also remember having a nice conversation with some folks who drove all the way from Toronto to catch both shows.

The shows themselves featured plenty of songs from Gravity, which hadn't been released yet.  The lead single had hit radio and MTV, so that one was familiar.  Our Lady Peace were definitely working out the kinds for their upcoming tour.  It was interesting to see professionals like these gentleman have some bumps and stumbles along the way during the two shows, it made them seem more human.  (The younger version of me who went to these shows was even more inept at playing his instrument than the current version of me, and was easily awed by rock stars.)  We could tell they were shaking off a bit of rust at times. Raine completely forgot the words to the verses in "One Man Army", but it was ok, because the audience gleefully sang them. They made sure to "play the hits", and a coupe of other favorites from their older albums, making for consecutive excellent nights of rock and roll.

One last thing that I'll add, on brand for me as a bass player.  I always quite enjoyed Duncan Coutts' work, but I found his live performance extra inspiring.

Welcome to Concert Memories May!  All of my Monday blog entries this month will be about memorable concerts.

Once upon a time, I was somewhat obsessed with The Cranberries.  Not only did they have a tastefully named bassist, their Irish roots shone through the singer's voice, making them a new thing to me in the world of rock and roll.  I mentioned this show briefly in a previous blog entry, as a background detail to a sad story.  This show was enjoyable enough that it's a shame that I usually remember it that way first.

This happened at Veterans Memorial in Columbus, Ohio... which isn't there anymore.  There is a museum with that name on the site in Columbus, but that is not the concert hall where I went to this show.  The venue had your classic concert hall seating, surely intended as a home for an orchestra.  Our seats were in the balcony, way up high... in fact, I think we might have been in the very last row.  (Give me a break on the details, this was a LONG time ago.)  I attended this show with a group of good friends, some of whom are no longer with us, and some of whom I have lost touch with.  That detail in itself is kind of a sad reminder of the passage of time.

At this time, The Cranberries were still touring in support of the No Need To Argue album, which brought them international stardom.  With only two albums out at the time, we all knew every song, and as happens at shows like this, there was a great deal of singing along.  We were all in for a surprise... they played one song twice.

Dolores told the audience at one point that they were shooting a music video for "Ridiculous Thoughts", and that they would need to play the song again.  There was a wardrobe change involved for this.  (The outfit was the pattern of the flag of the United States, and not, strangely enough, the flag of Ireland.)  That's kind of cool... not only did we get to hear a very good song twice in the same night, the music video is a permanent memento of this specific concert.  In case you have never seen the "Ridiculous Thoughts" video, here it is:

Here's another concert that, if it were a human being, would be of legal drinking age in the United States.  In case you are wondering, yes, this makes me feel old.  Here's how long ago this show was:

That's right, almost exactly 22 years ago.  Also, I understand that inflation is totally a thing, so maybe I shouldn't gaze too terribly long in wonder at three bands for $15... but the Internet tells me that the value of that in today's dollars is $23.55, and that's still pretty great for a show of this quality.

The openers were a band from Missouri called Flick.  I had never heard of them before.  I loved them from the first ten seconds of their set, their sound was pretty much dead center on my musical interests at the time.  After their set, I wandered on out to the lobby area to meet them... and that was difficult, because a LOT of people were doing the same thing.  I made sure to speak to their bass player, whose name is Eve.  This might not have been a good idea, because I had a couple of very large beers before the show and during their set... on an empty stomach... and this was just a few months after I was old enough to purchase alcohol, so I was a rather inexperienced imbiber... I remember not making any sense while trying to talk to Eve, and possibly slurring words just a touch.  She was kind enough to sign my ticket stub as you see above.  I didn't have another drop of alcohol the rest of the evening.

I don't remember if I bought the Flick CD that evening, or if I picked it up at Best Buy or something the following week.  I still have that CD, and I still like these songs, even though I don't think I've ever met anyone else who has heard of this band.

Placebo were next.  They were on tour in support of the Without You I'm Nothing album.  I had already been playing that album, and if memory serves, I had gone out to get their previous album as well before the show.  Shows where you know the songs are a different level of enjoyment.  Placebo were outstanding.  I'm glad I got the chance to see them on this tour... I had no idea they were going to have the level of success that they ended up having.  After their set, I headed back down to the lobby to talk to them.  It was impossible to get anywhere remotely near Brian Molko.  As is my custom, I was sure to talk to the bass player, whose name is Stefan.  I expressed how much I enjoyed their set and the album... he commented that he could see me rather clearly in the audience (I'm taller and blacker than most everyone at rock shows), and then tried flirting with me a little.  

The headliners for this one were Stabbing Westward.  They were still touring for Darkest Days. This band was my first significant exposure to "industrial" music, if you don't count Nine Inch  Nails... but I had never considered going to check out NIN in concert.  

Stabbing Westward brought fog machines and an interesting light show.  I don't think I really "got" all of that extra stuff back then, I remember wondering why they didn't just bring the rock.  These days, I think I am more understanding of some of the other artistic things that can come with the rock show.  Also, there was certainly some kind of drum programming, loops, and/or synth happening with these songs, but I also didn't think very deeply about that at the time.  I gave Wither Blister Burn & Peel and Darkest Days a cursory listen to go with this blog post... trying to remember what I liked about this band back then.  Not all of the songs still hold up for me... also, the music is a great deal angrier than most of what I listen to these days.  I clearly understand why 21 year old me dug this though.

This was definitely a memorable show, and I certainly got my $15 worth of value.

This show was a long time ago.  How long ago?  This long ago:

$12.50 for two bands on a national tour! I kind of miss the prices from back then. 

The capitol of Ohio, Columbus, has changed quite a bit since 1999.  The part of town where this establishment was located is the Brewery District.  It used to be a very frequented part of town with bars and restaurants and such... then Columbus got a hockey team with a fancy new arena, and a new entertainment district  sprouted forth around it.  This spelled doom for many businesses in the Brewery District, and Ludlow's was one of these.  Alas, it is no more.  I remember it as a cozy place to see a show. Ugh, I miss cozy shows.

This particular night, both bands on the bill were from the state to the north.  At some point in the evening, I struck up a conversation at the bar with a gentleman who turned out to be the bass player from Papa Vegas.  Many of you have surely never heard of that band.  They were excellent.  As I write this blog post, I've revisited the album that they were touring to support at the time, called Hello Vertigo.  I still have it on CD.  The songs are still catchy, I still remember the words even though I haven't listened to these songs in at least a decade (!), and the album holds up. 

The band whose name is on the ticket is The Verve Pipe.  At the time, perhaps slightly to their chagrin, they had a massive radio/MTV hit single.  I owned and loved their album Villians.  For some reason, I don't have my copy of that CD anymore, which is a shame, because the version of the aforementioned massive hit song on my copy of the album is very different than the version that went to radio and MTV.  I remember picking up that album pretty much immediately after hearing "Photograph".  We did not know it at the time, but The Verve Pipe had another album on the way (The Verve Pipe), and they played a bunch of songs from it that were, of course, new to us.  The ones that jumped out and grabbed me at this show were "Hero" and "La La"... "La La" remains my favorite song on the album.  I will admit that I should have paid more attention to this album, which was their third... like Radiohead before them, they have a song on this album that is a reaction to their big radio hit.

Both bands were sufficiently entertaining that I was sure to catch them later that summer on the same tour.  I saw a ton of shows around this time of my life, and not all of them were all that great in retrospect... but this one... I still have fond memories of this one.

Once upon a time, in a far away and mysterious land called The Nineties, there was a band called Failure.  The much younger version of me discovered them somehow, via their single "Stuck on You".  That song came with a very cool music video that was clearly inspired by the opening montage from a James Bond movie. That song came from the album Fantastic Planet, which I did not hesitate to procure, and that was my first experience with a concept album.  Alas, Failure broke up before I could see them live.  I bought their other two albums (Comfort and Magnified), I bought everything Ken Andrews released with his solo project On, I listened to the Greg Edwards project Autolux... and time passed.

After much time passed, the gentlemen of Failure - Ken Andrews, Greg Edwards, and Kelli Scott - literally got the band back together.  They discovered that people out there still loved Fantastic Planet very much.  They went on the road to play music.  This was my chance to see them... and see them I did, almost exactly six years ago.

I flew to Atlanta to see them at The Masquerade.  As is my custom, I got to the venue very early, well before the doors opened.  I was expecting most of the concert attendees to be my age or older... after all, this band had vanished for seventeen years.  I was surprised to see some young folks in line waiting for the show.  Then I remembered, that there are some younger artists who dig Failure, and other well-known bands who aren't so young who dig Failure, and maybe that's how a different generation came to discover them.

They couldn't have picked a more appropriate song to open the show.  I mean, it was the TREE OF STARS tour, they had to play this one:

Notice how perfect and pristine their sound is?  You're probably thinking that they sound this way because this is a controlled studio environment in the video.  Yes, this is... but this is EXACTLY what they sound like in a less-controlled concert environment.  This band... they are obsessive about their sound.  Due to their lengthy career and changing gear, in order to replicate all of the sounds on their albums, they use fractal technology.  I am not an expert, so I can't explain all that well how it works, but if you really want to know, Ken Andrews can tell you.  What I do know is that Failure concerts are the best-sounding shows I have ever attended.  (Side note:  Even if you don't want to watch the entire last video I posted with Ken talking about fractal audio, at least watch the beginning.  He films himself rehearsing after ten months of not having done any singing.  He sounds great.  He essentially used his engineering experience to mix the vocals and the guitar out of the recorded song, and is playing guitar and singing along to the rhythm tracks.)

When I was young, there was a great deal of jumping around and jostling at a loud rock show.  I'm too old for that now of course, and was just a tiny bit apprehensive once Failure got into the groove onstage.  They have plenty of songs that aren't as laid back and restrained as "Another Space Song".  Well, there was no jumping around at this show.  No jostling.  No shoving.  There was some singing along, but barely even anyone nodding their head.  I looked around at the audience, and I immediately understood.  Most of these people were about my age, and none of us ever thought we would see this band play live.  We were all just in too much shock at what we were seeing. I kept watching in awe, trying to figure out how to play songs that had come out of my CD players over and over again by watching Ken's hands. I was also rather transfixed by watching Kelli Scott's drumming in person, especially on their song about Virginia Woolf, "Wet Gravity".  

They didn't disappoint.  They played something from all of their first three albums.  I mean, this setlist, wow.  When they played "Dirty Blue Balloons", it made all the sense in the world hearing the audience sing "I've waited so long without you/ I've waited too long for you"...  Indeed, indeed we had.

Usually, I write these concert memories posts about a show from at least a year ago, and this one just happened in January.  However, it was such a fantastic couple of days that I couldn't help myself.

If perchance you have read my blog before, you know I have seen Elbow live before.  You also know I love them very much, ever since their first album came out. They released a new album recently, Giants of All Sizes, and are out playing shows to support it... as one does.  They only scheduled four (4!) shows in the United States, and quite sadly for me, they were all on the West Coast.  After careful consideration, I decided that this was something my wife and I could not miss, so we flew out to San Diego on a Friday.

San Diego.  What a lovely city!  Let's put that aside for the moment though.  We land rather late, and we get to our hotel.  We are in need of drinks and snacks, so we set out on foot to procure these things.  While walking down one of the streets, I see a gentleman who bears a strong resemblance to Craig Potter.  (Craig Potter plays keyboards and sings harmonies in Elbow.)  As we get within a few meters of this gentleman, I say "Hey, you're Craig Potter."  Call me captain obvious.  Just a few steps behind him, well, there was lead singer and lyricist Guy Garvey.  I had missed Craig's brother Mark, he was a bit ahead of them, and had managed to walk by us without me noticing.  We had a very nice chat with the Elboys.  (Pete was in the hotel trying to sleep off some of the jet lag.) 

If you're wondering if it was cool to meet them, I assure you that is most certainly was.  My wife and I couldn't stop giggling about it the rest of the night.

You see, over in Europe, these guys are rock stars.  They routinely sell out arenas.  They play before thousands of people at festivals.  They even played at the 2012 London Olympics.  Now, here in the United States, yeah, not so much.  For whatever reason, they aren't famous... which is fine, as it means they can walk through the streets of an American city without being mobbed.  (Craig told me that he and his brother and Pete can usually walk around without being recognized, but Guy can hardly be outdoors without people noticing him.)  The other benefit that we have in the United States to Elbow not being overwhelmingly popular is that they play rather small venues, which is really the best way to experience live music.

House of Blues.  That's where they played in San Diego. It's a small room.  The Internet tells me that the capacity there is 1000.  Yeah, that's a small room.  For you Ohioans, that's smaller than Newport Music Hall on High Street in Columbus, and it's smaller than Bogart's on Vine Street in Cincinnati.  Yeah, that's a small room.  That's where Elbow played.  

We showed up early to queue for entry.  We met some lovely people who also made a trek for the show. Cricket was the first person in line.  She's quite ebullient, and is from Seattle.  I don't even remember how many times she said she has seen Elbow, it was 14 or 15 or something insane. Cricket also coincidentally managed to pick the same hotel for her San Diego stay as the band did, and had breakfast with Guy Garvey that morning.  We also met a wonderful couple from New York, the tastefully named Mike and his wife Christine, who were there with a local friend of theirs also named Christine.  It became apparent that although the people who enjoy Elbow in the United States are not numerous, they tend to be passionate about the band and their music.

The show.  The show was great.  Jesca Hoop opened. She was wonderful.  She also contributes some harmony vocals to the first track from Giants of All Sizes, so she came back out to sing those after her set.  In case you are wondering what exactly Elbow played... well, here's a picture of their setlist, which California Christine was kind enough to let me take.

It's not every day you get to see some of your favorite musicians up close.

After the show, we're hanging out and chatting with the folks around us... talking about how great the show was, talking about music in general.  Our new acquaintances from New York tell us that the gentleman who is lead singer for The Verve Pipe was in attendance, and how they had seen him and talked to him at a New York show.  I asked to clarify... "you mean Brian Vander Ark is here"?   See, I love his voice.  Love.  He's a great songwriter, having written one of my favorite songs of the entire nineties.  I also went to a few Verve Pipe shows back in the day.  Christine was kind enough to introduce me.  Again, being captain obvious, I start off by saying "so... I am told you're Brian Vander Ark".... I've really got to get better at opening lines when I meet a musician I respect.  So, I officially meet Brian and his wife Luz.  They came out for the show all the way from Michigan... and Brian was surprised that so many people flew such great lengths to see Elbow.  (Once I learned he was there, I thought to myself that it made perfect sense.  As the kids say, game recognize game.)

All told, yeah, a pretty great weekend.

On the heels of the Breeders show came Dayton Music Fest.  This is an annual music event mostly featuring bands from the Dayton orbit, but also including some touring artists.  Nathan Peters put together a great lineup of talent representing different genres.  I saw lots of great music, including a group I wrote about last week, and I don't want this post to be several thousand words, so I won't tell you about everything I saw.  How about three things?  That's a nice, easily digestible number, yes?

Let's start with The Mulchmen.

This is a surf-rock band, and their pieces don't have lyrics.  (I find that I can't bring myself to call them "songs" if there isn't any singing.)  Many years ago, I heard their music on the radio on a local music show, but never got a chance to see them play.  Their drummer, a very beloved and respected musician in Dayton, passed away... this is over twenty years ago.  When I learned that Nick Kizirnis would have The Mulchmen make their glorious return on the Dayton Music Fest bill, well, I was all in.  Lots of other folks were all in as well, this was the biggest crowd I observed at Yellow Cab on the evening.

That's Jim MacPherson filling in on drums in the picture there.  If you can't see it from the bass drum, you might recognize him from another Dayton band.

Ok, moving on.  How about some fake news?

Specifically Seth Gilliam and the Fake News.  This was only my second time catching one of their sets, and I didn't even catch the whole set.  (This is a hazard of Dayton Music Fest... there is so much good music spread across multiple venues, so there is no way to see all of it.)  Their songs are well-executed and played with enthusiasm.  If you want a sample, they have a music video, but it's a little frightening.

On to my personal favorite part of the weekend... the return of Captain of Industry.

This is one of my favorite music groups of all time.  It's just a bonus that they're from here.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might remember me writing about them in the first Ohio Spotlight post.

For this show, they brought some additional firepower.  Joseph Remnant came all the way from the West Coast to play some rhythm guitar and sing some harmonies.  (Those of us who have followed this band for awhile remember when he served as the bass player for a bit.)  You can't see him, but Tim Krug is way in the back there on your left (stage right) beside the drummer, making additional keyboard noises.  We got a six-piece Captain Of Industry.  You can only see one of Kevin Oldfield's arms, but I assure you that both of them worked just fine, and he brought his typical Johnny Greenwood-esque fireworks.  You also can't see John Lakes holding it down in the back, but we could all hear him nail those interesting drum parts and sweet sweet harmony vocals. 

They played songs across their entire discography, and although their set was cut short because they took the stage late, everything they played was spot-on.  It's like they never left.  
 

Dayton Music Fest.  Two days of music for only 20 dollars.  Hard to find a better deal than that.

It occurs to me that this blog post would certainly fit in my Ohio Spotlight category, as well as under the Concert Review category.

Levitt Pavilion is a open air concert space in the heart of downtown Dayton.  Think of it like a very small amphitheater... there is a stage, a small area in the front with concrete, and a large grassy lawn that extends outward and upward from those first two areas. This space has 50 free concerts each year, in an effort to build community through art. Their schedule of artists is diverse, with all sorts of genres represented.  I am fairly certain that the most recent show this past Saturday was the highest attended they have had, as thousands of people packed the lawn and even overflow areas in the back.

The Breeders are the reason for the crowd. They were introduced to the crowd as "platinum recording artist, The Breeders".  This is a rock band with albums that have received high critical acclaim.  One of the albums contained a single whose video was in heavy rotation on MTV, back when MTV still played music videos.  The Breeders went on the road with Nirvana for multiple tours, and have played all over the world.  They are from Dayton, Ohio.  One could consider this a homecoming show.

This was my first experience seeing The Breeders live.  Back when you could catch them in the friendly confines of Canal Street Tavern, I wasn't into local music yet and was too young to be going to shows.

You can check the show setlist here, but I'll mention a few songs that were personal highlights for me.

The Breeders opened the show with "Saints", which is my favorite song from their second full-length album, The Last Splash.  The second song was "Wait in the Car" from the 2018 album All Nerve.  After briefly basking in the raucous applause, Kim Deal acknowledged that the band is from Dayton, and then mentioned that there are some other bands from this town... and then they fired off their GBV cover, "Shocker in Gloomtown".

Daylight turned into twilight, and twilight gave way to dark.  During this time, The Breeders played all of "the hits", and many other songs from across their catalog.  They gleefully engaged in banter with the audience, which contained many of their friends and family members.  Kelley said "I was born right over there", before looking around to get her bearings, and then pointing in the direction of Miami Valley Hospital.  Both the Deal sisters and Jimmy Mac name checked several Dayton suburbs and neighborhoods before closing the main set with a song that was specifically for Tipp City.

Personally for me, a bass player, the evening ended the only way it could... with Kim Deal playing bass on a song she wrote while with Pixies.  The set closer was "Gigantic".  When I was first learning to play my instrument, I spent a lot of time with Pixies albums, trying to learn Kim's beautifully simple bass lines.

After the final song, the band said their goodbyes, and again expressed their thanks at such a large turnout.  Kelley made her way to the front of the stage, shaking hands and giving high fives to the folks in the front ranks, many of whom seemed to be friends.  Jim encouraged the crowd to further support local music by heading a few blocks East to attend the first night of Dayton Music Fest (where he would be playing the following night during the triumphant return of The Mulchmen).  The band surely received "a big big love" from the community.  I was thinking that this was exactly what someone had in mind when making Levitt Pavilion a reality.

This happened almost twenty years ago.  Mobile phones weren't ubiquitous.  No social media.  Cameras used actual film.  What follows is a verbatim excerpt from the travel journal I was keeping.  (To clarify, the "money problems" I mention are due to me leaving my wallet in a cab exactly one week prior.  I only had $15 US cash in there - which was not useful, as the currency one needed was francs - but I also had my bank card in there, and my plans to withdraw money from the ATM as needed took a big hit.  Also, at this point in the trip I was staying with some friends in Lyon, so had to travel to get to the show.)

***

MERCREDI le 27 Octobre 1999

11:04h  I'm up and preparing for the trip to Paris.  I am very much looking forward to the concert, I'll be able to forget about my money problems at least for a couple of hours.

19:29h At the concert.  Security temporarily confiscates my camera. It is like the Newport , but smaller, darker, no balcony.  I remember that Europeans don't mosh. I wish I had some cash on me, because this atmosphere is just screaming for a beer.  There is no opening act.  I met a guy on the crew.  Chris will play for ninety minutes.  I met some other Americans... girls from Wisconsin.  They had backstage passes... girls always get backstage passes.  The place is filling up... if it's not sold out, it sure is close.  This concert brought to us by OUI 102.3 FM, rock radio Paris.  They are doing a live TV appearance tomorrow on Canal+, according to the crew.

20:05h  The set list just got taped down.  

20:17h  It's on now....

Sunshower
Can't Change Me
Flutter Girl (key bass)
Mission (key bass)
Preaching...
Seasons (no keys 2 guitar)
When I'm Down
Pillow of Your Bones
Fell On.... (solo, for Kurt)
Moonchild
Sweet Euphoria  (for Paris, no drummer or bass)
Like Suicide
Follow My Way
-------
All Night Thing
Steel Rain

JEUDI le 28 Octobre 1999

07:29h  It's a six hour ride to Lyon, and I have to change trains in Dijon.  Hope that goes smoothly.  The good thing is that my railpass covers it.  I had expected to get more miles out of my railpass, but I have been rendered rather sedentary.  Last night's concert was great... the only thing that could have improved it would have been meeting Chris.  Chris kept up a good-natured banter with the crowd... in English.  Most of the younger crowd at the concert definitely understands English.  Highlights were the rockin' "Pillow of Your Bones", the crowd sing-along on "Fell On Black Days" and "Like Suicide", and the signature Chris Cornell scream/wail on "Steel Rain".  The crowd was very unfamiliar with the new songs, but they were very enthusiastic.  European concert goers don't heckle like their American counterparts.  And no moshing... everyone is in there all tight, and people kind of dance or headbang a little, but there isn't any real bodily contact.

***

So, those are the thoughts of the 21-year-old version of me.  Looking back, what a fantastic set.  Chris mentioned that he happened to be in that very building - Elysée Montmartre - when he got the news that Kurt Cobain had died, so he dedicated "Fell On Black Days" to Kurt.  He also remarked more than once that Paris is a very beautiful city, and dedicated "Sweet Euphoria" to the city and people of Paris.  As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I had been listening to the Euphoria Mourning album a great deal, so I was quite familiar with all of the new songs.  I would go on to eventually see Chris Cornell solo two more times... but this show topped them.  This is definitely one of the most memorable nights of music in my life.

Also, I miss Chris Cornell about as much as someone can miss a person who they have never met.

When you miss somebody 
You tell yourself a hundred thousand times 
Nobody ever lives forever 
So you give it one more try 
To wave goodbye, wave goodbye

Well said, Chris.  Well said.

I bought tickets a few days ago to see Sleater-Kinney when they come to Columbus this fall.  I've seen them before, 19 years ago.

For a few years in my youth, I had a subscription to Rolling Stone.  That particular magazine helped me to discover a lot of bands that weren’t getting played on mainstream radio.  That’s how I learned about Sleater-Kinney. I seem to remember very favorable reviews of Dig Me Out, which was their third album.  I bought the album. I loved it. I then bought their first two albums, Sleater-Kinney and Call the Doctor. I was hooked. 

I picked up each new album as they were released… and then they went on tour in support of All Hands on the Bad One.  They were going to make a stop at Southgate House, which was my favorite venue at the time. (A brief aside about Southgate House.  It was a house built in 1812… no, not just a house, a big old mansion. The person who invented the Tommy Gun was born in this house. I don’t mention this to glorify firearms or warfare, just to point out that this is a genuinely historic building.  Shows were usually held in what was called “the ballroom”, but there were plenty of other rooms in the house where music would happen during the larger festival-type events.)

The show ended up being sold out.  I got to the venue incredibly early, as is my normal habit, and there was a line down the sidewalk out front of other folks waiting to get in.  I remember not knowing who the opening act would be... it turns out that the opener was a regional band from a few hours' drive up north on I-75... they were called The White Stripes. I was kind of surprised that there were only two of them when they took the stage... and I was a little dismayed because they didn't have a bass player, and you know, that's my instrument.  Then again, Sleater-Kinney doesn't have a bass player, and I liked them just fine.  That said, I was puzzled by the overwhelming simplicity of the drums, as I was used to Janet Weiss. I didn't realize at the time that the simplicity was the point.  I'll be honest, I wasn't all that impressed with the openers, but I thought it was interesting that they coordinated their outfits.  (When they were done playing Jack and Meg retired to the side of the ballroom - not backstage - and were just kind of by themselves for awhile.  If I had known what was going to become of them, I probably would have gone and made friends... then again, maybe not.)

Sleater-Kinney were great.  Here's the setlist from the show. Fantastic.

I watched this show from the balcony, and this was the first time I'd ever done that for an entire show at Southgate House.  The venue was small enough that being in the balcony still had you rather close to the stage, and it sounded great up there as well.  After the show, I made my way down to the stage, as I wanted to tell the ladies how much I enjoyed their show.  Now, I was a great deal younger then, and these days I know better than to bug a band full of strangers while they are trying to load out... but there I was over at the side of the stage... and Carrie Brownstein was headed in my general direction.  I will also mention that at this point, I hadn't been playing music longer than a couple of years, and I was still generally in awe of professional musicians, seeing them less as actual people than as otherworldly talented beings.  I expressed how great I felt the show was.  Carrie walked over, shook my hand, said "thank you very much", and asked for my name.  She was striking in person in a way that the pictures in the CDs do not capture.  I was kind of awestruck.  Looking back on it, she and her bandmates were quite busy, and she certainly didn't need to take the time to acknowledge me, but acknowledge me she did.  That's something I will always remember.

So yeah, Sleater-Kinney are back on the road, with a new album dropping soon, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Johnnyswim is the husband/wife team of Abner Ramirez and Amanda Sudano.  I first discovered their music when they appeared on the Tiny Desk show on NPR.  Shortly after, I bought their album, Diamonds.  At the moment they are on tour in support of Moonlight, their newest album that came out this year.  I love their sound, and loved the energy they showed in the aforementioned Tiny Desk show, so really wanted to catch them on this tour.  Usually when I go see a show, I am familiar with the artist's entire catalog... in this case, I only knew one of their albums and I've heard a couple of singles from the latest one, so there was a great deal for me to discover.  

I was surprised at how long the line was for entry to the show.  Now, I am just about completely disconnected from the current musical zeitgeist ; other than the name of the occasional pop artist or rapper, I have no idea what is popular at the moment.  In my circle of musicians, friends, acquaintances, and family, Johnnyswim is rather unknown, so I was unprepared for the size of the crowd.  This is good, it reminds me that we need to step outside of our bubble every now and then... and also, these are musicians and songwriters who I respect, so it was nice to see that they are well supported.

Before I get into the music, let me discuss the visual aspect of the show.  I don't know much of anything about fashion, but this group of musicians took the stage with a look that seemed to be a mix of old and new.  See, the drummer, bassist/keyboardist/noise-maker, and guitarist who travel with Abner and Amanda were dressed in sharp three piece gray suits... white shirts, gray vest that buttoned up quite high.  (Of course, the drummer dispensed with his jacket and vest and rolled his shirt sleeves up about three songs into the set.)  This reminded me of pictures and video I had seen of Motown artists, where the band dressed in matching suits.  As for Abner and Amanda, they were both striking dressed in white... Amanda in a simple and elegant shin-length dress with spaghetti straps, Abner in bright white pants (that looked like a fantastic target for wing sauce) and white shirt, topped off with a wide-brimmed hat.  It seemed to me that white and gray were the colors they had chosen for their brand on this tour... and of course, I am not following them around the country, so I don't know if they are all dressed this way each night, but it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case.

To the songs.  I really enjoy the songwriting from Abner and Amanda.  Now, I must admit that I am not always a fan of their lyrics - although I think they are getting better at that - but I quite enjoy the music.  It is a mix of influences from multiple genres... folk, soul, rock, blues, latin sounds.  It features a great deal of male/female vocal harmony. You know the old adage that "you write what you know"?  Johnnyswim are a textbook case, as the vast majority of their songs are about their love for each other or their relationship. (There was even a song where Abner serenaded his wife alone onstage, appropriately called "Amanda".)  Abner spent most of the night playing acoustic guitar, while one of the gentleman in the back who tours with them filled in atmosphere or little lead licks with an electric guitar.  There were a couple of occasions where Abner played what looked like a hollow body Gibson with one of those Bigsby whammy bars, getting a reverb heavy surf-rock sound.  He tagged the intro to one song with the beginning to "Besame Mucho", and that one was played with an older-looking acoustic guitar that was not plugged into any amplification... they put a mic right in front of the guitar to pick it up... also, for that bit, the vocal microphone was a vintage-looking one of the style where the microphone is suspended inside a ring.  As I am not a microphone expert, I don't have the name or model number, but I think this is one of those ribbon microphones they used to use on AM radio back in the day... indeed, whether due to the mic or the effect that their mixing folks added, an old AM radio sound is what his voice came out sounding like.  I thought this was very cool, a bit more on this later.

Abner and Amanda have undeniably great chemistry, and this was on display often during the show, as they would share a microphone, forcing them to stand very close to each other.

This is clearly an experienced and savvy touring band.  After the first two songs of the night, Abner whooped "O-H!" into the microphone... there is probably no easier way to ingratiate oneself with an audience in Columbus than to start that particular cheer.  I counted at least three different styles of vocal microphones used during this show, possibly for different desired sounds on the songs.. also, Abner and Amanda were not static on stage, switching locations between stage left and stage right a few times, showing some fantastic stage presence, and not forgetting to acknowledge the folks up on the balcony.  They had been to Ohio before, and Abner remarked on two different occasions how there were "only 26" people there to see them the first time they had come here, and how they certainly didn't take this big crowd for granted.  In what is surely a memorable moment for many of the folks on the floor, after mentioning that they missed the intimacy of their previous visit and they wanted to get closer to the crowd, Abner and Amanda made their way to the center of the venue, accompanied by a couple of members of their crew, bringing the microphone along.  Abner sang from here, at one point accepting a beer he was offered by someone in the crowd and taking some deep gulps, while Amanda gladly accepted mobile phones handed to her by audience members in order to take selfies or quick videos.

The crowd was enthusiastic, gleefully singing along to just about every song.  Sadly, I could not participate in most of this shared experience, because as I mentioned earlier, I am only familiar with one album's worth of their songs.  Johnnyswim were expecting a sing-along on some of their hooks, and even encouraged it at various points... on a couple of occasions, they seemed genuinely surprised that their lyrics were being sung back to them.  (A brief aside: as a musician, I find it hard to even imagine how great it would feel to have a thousand people singing along to one of my songs.  This no doubt makes the hard work of touring quite worth it.)  Although the crowd was enthusiastic and supportive for the most part, there were a couple of moments that left me shaking my head.  During some of the more quiet parts of the show, a great deal of random conversation could be heard.  Most unfortunately, all of that conversation drowned out the "Besame Mucho" tag, at least the guitar part of it...  to their credit, several folks in the crowd made an attempt to hush everyone up, but it was to no avail.  Are you people not paying attention?  Do you not see that this guitar is not amplified, and he's playing it directly into a microphone, and he's playing it quietly?  This annoying moment made me miss the much better (albeit smaller) crowds we have at Yellow Cab in Dayton.

Two song encore,  the first of which was "Take the World" from the Diamonds album, one of a number of pretty songs about their relationship.  ("They don't make fairy tales sweeter than ours" is one of the lyrics.)  On the album, this song has some subtle drums with brushes and some strings... for this performance, it was just Abner and Amanda and a guitar.  After that, the gentlemen who back them up on tour came on down front for the last song.  I didn't know this one, and the setlist hasn't been posted anywhere online yet... but it was clear that everyone was enjoying themselves.

If Johnnyswim visits your area, go see them.  They know how to write a hook.  Their songs are bigger and punchier live, trading some of the studio prettiness for a bigger sound to stand up to the size of the venues they are playing.  (I noticed this most in the rhythm section.)  Abner and Amanda are both beautiful singers and energetic performers.  I recommend familiarizing yourself with the songs on Moonlight if you catch them this year, as they are playing most of the songs from that album on tour.

Time to fire up the wayback machine again, and indulge in another concert memory.  Feast your eyes on this well-loved ticket stub. 

Fifteen years ago this week.  Saturday 24th April 2004. Muse.  This was just after the release of their third album, Absolution.  The album had come out in late 2003 over in the UK, but in the United States, it came out in March 2004.  By this time, Muse were already selling out arena shows in Europe, being seen by thousands of people… but they hadn’t blown up on this side of the Atlantic yet, and they were playing rather small venues on this tour.  At Top Cats, I got to see them with about 300 other people. To the credit of the good folks of Southwest Ohio, this show sold out in a matter of minutes. One of my close friends was standing at Ticketmaster right when tickets went on sale, and he bought a supply for our group. 

There are probably only a couple of shows in my life that I was more excited for than this one.  I really loved the first Muse album, Showbiz. I thought the second album was good as well, though I didn’t have quite as much affection for it.  By the time of the show, Absolution was on near constant rotation in my collection. This was before Muse went on their Queen-influenced big grandiose rock star stadium strutting journey… I mean, the band they are now was surely in there somewhere, but they seemed somewhat more down to earth then…still tight and loud and melodic, and there were only three of them. 

I remember how the crowd was packed into the venue.  Moving around was quite near impossible, let alone trying to fight one’s way to the bar for a beer.  I remember the booms for the microphones resembling a futuristic erector set. I remember that opening riff to “Sunburn” being played on piano as it should be, when I had seen it played on guitar the previous time I had seen Muse live.  I remember a light show that seemed way too advanced for a tiny venue like this. I don’t remember a song called “The Groove”, but the Internet surely does, and when I watch this video, I try to find myself and my friends.  (Also, not a mobile phone in sight.)  I mean, look at this video.  Doesn't seem like the same band, does it?

The setlist spanned all three of the albums they had released to that point, heavily leaning toward the most recent one, of course. This was a great rock and roll show from a great rock and roll band, arguably at the height of their powers, and in a venue that was too small for them. 

Matthew Bellamy sang during the show opener, “I’m breaking out / I’m breaking out”... truer words were rarely spoken.

Tuesday 7th November 2017.  This wasn’t a great time in my life… sure, my wife and I had recently returned from a fantastic trip celebrating our ten year anniversary, but my dad had been in the hospital, and this particular week, he had taken a turn for the worse.  (He would eventually die a little more than two months later, but that’s another story.) However, we had those Elbow tickets for months and months and months. Just about immediately after I learned they would be coming back to the United States, we looked for a show we could fit into our schedule.  I love this band. 

We had seen Elbow twice before.  Once in Atlanta. Once in Washington DC.  When they tour the United States, they only do a few shows… maybe a dozen, maybe a few more than that. They only play big cities.  There is no way they are stopping through Ohio (please?), so if you want to see them, you have to be willing to travel. We cashed in a free hotel night for a very nice place to stay in downtown Detroit, and drove on up there to attend the show. 

The venue was Saint Andrews Hall.  It’s a charming little venue, exactly the kind of place I like to visit for a show. The set got off to a great start, as they launched into Side 1 Track 1 from their debut album, a song called “Any Day Now”.  I don’t think they had played that the previous times we had seen them. Alas, this was the only song from the album they would get to on the evening.  I kind of understand, after all, they were touring in support of their newest album, Little Fictions, and as one might expect, they played more songs from this one than any of the others.  After this trip back in time, they tore into “The Bones of You”, a solid track featuring a deep synth bass from the outstanding album The Seldom Seen Kid. 

You can see the full setlist here, so I won’t talk about every single song they played.  I will mention that two of my favorite songs in their entire catalog, “The Birds” and “My Sad Captains” ended up being played consecutively, and that was the highlight of the night for me. 

Elbow’s longtime drummer left a couple of years ago, but as far as their performance is concerned, they are unaffected.  Guy Garvey’s pristine voice and reassuring stage presence lends warmth to their performance, as he implored the audience to sing along time and again, even if we didn’t know the words.  He needn’t have worried, we all know the words. The Potter brothers wove interesting guitar and keyboard riffs around Pete Turner’s solid bass work. On this occasion, Elbow only brought two violinists with them, which was adequate, but made a song like “Magnificent (She Says)” much less full than it sounds on the album.  I would like to see a 30 song show by Elbow… on this cold Midwest night, we had to settle for 16. I shouldn’t complain though, for as Guy sings, “looking back is for the birds”.