Archive
REVIEW: Over the Rhine @ the Triple Door (Seattle, WA – 11/17/12)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
How many times can you see a band and finally get tired of them? I honestly can’t answer that question. After 50+ times seeing Over the Rhine over more than a decade, in various venues and cities and states, I’ll still drive 10 hours over a 30 hour period to go see them because they’re not playing anywhere closer.
I had seen Jeffrey Foucault in September at the Triple Door in downtown Seattle. At that time, I had never been there, and after seeing the set-up, tasting the menu, and witnessing their light-show, I viewed their calendar and noted that they had the sole Over the Rhine show in the PacNW this fall. I bought my OTR tickets via my iPhone during the Jeffrey Foucault intermission.
This show was billed as “An Acoustic Evening with Over the Rhine,” and it featured the husband-wife duo of Linford Detweiler (piano, guitars, vocals) and Karin Bergquist (vocals, guitars) with drums/percussive support from Nick Radina.
The set was heavily from The Long Surrender (the album from late 2010/early 2011, depending on how you got it). That record is a gem; so I didn’t mind its heavy presence on Saturday. They also threw in some new songs that should make their way onto their upcoming album, The Farm (GO HERE for more on how to support that 2013 album)…
Setlist: ~1 hr 45 mins
- Born
- All My Favorite People
- The Laugh Of Recognition
- Undamned
- Sacred Ground [new song]
- Earthbound Love Song (aka Johnny & June)
- Gonna Let My Soul Catch My Body [new song]
- The King Knows How
- Suitcase
- Blue Jean Sky [new song]
- Favorite Time of Light
- Let It Fall [new song]
- Little Did I Know
- Trouble
- All I Need Is Everything
- Encore: Rave On
- Watching the Wheels [John Lennon]
- Drunkard’s Prayer
- Latter Days
As far as the new songs, “Sacred Ground” seems like a classic favorite already. They debuted it last fall, and I loved it immediately. The chorus doesn’t seem like a “tradition OTR song,” but it really works well with both Karin & Linford singing. “Blue Jean Sky” had some nice imagery, as well as a repeated line of “kick ass beauty.” The main set and encore cappers from Good Dog Bad Dog made me happy as well… all in all, another gorgeous evening by two of my favorite musical friends.
more photos below
they’re a bit grainy when
you blow them up (sorry…
we were mid-crowd)
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Over the Rhine’s Site
- Over the Rhine’s Social Media Links (see below)
- My Other Related Reviews~
- Aladdin Theater (Portland – Nov 2011)
- Aladdin Theater (Portland – Nov 2010)
- WOW Hall (Eugene – Nov 2010)
- Doug Fir Lounge (Portland – Sept 2007)
- Bogarts (Cincinnati – March 2001)
- Canal Street Tavern (Dayton – June 2000)
- The Triple Door’s Site / Facebook / Twitter
Next show for me… Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band at the Rose Garden (Portland 11/28).
OVER THE RHINE PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2012 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Wussy “Waiting Room” & “Asteroids” (live on Ultra Sessions)
One of the best indie rock bands around, Wussy, had an Ultra Sessions. Here’s “Waiting Room“…
http://ultrasessions.com/home/wussy-waiting-room/
And “Asteroids“…
http://ultrasessions.com/home/wussy-asteroids/
Check out their latest album, Strawberry, listen and buy if you like it on Amazon.
I saw Over the Rhine last night at the Triple Door in Seattle. Review, setlist, and photos up before Thanksgiving!
REVIEW: Radiohead @ Key Arena (Seattle, WA – 4/9/12)
The last time I saw Radiohead was in a large outdoor amphitheatre (White River, Aug 2008), and I’ll say the move to indoors was much appreciated. This was my first time to Key Arena. Pretty basic arena… stage set up at end. I arrived just as the opening band was wrapping up… the TicketMaster/Radiohead paperless ticketing was great from a no-scalpers perspective, but it took a bit longer to file everyone in timely.
Radiohead started off the set with “Bloom,” featuring the double drum set-up with both Phil Selway and touring member Clive Deamer (from Portishead) in addition to Jonny Greenwood on a small drum kit. Jonny hit the mini-kit again (along with Ed O’Brien) for “There There” later in the set.
The light show was a LED wall behind the band with moving, suspended video screens (see photo above and slideshow below). The moving video screens had been slowly coming down on the band until they were under an archway of lights by the time “Airbag” came around. Ed make a half-hearted leap to hit the screen above him with his hand.
The band stuck to a lot of new stuff for this show, only digging into the first half of their catalogue a handful of times during their 23-song set. Some highlights were the wall of Thom eyes during Thom’s piano close-up on “You And Whose Army?,” the grandeur of “Lucky,” the wild strobe and raucous “Idioteque,” the subtler / gentler piano-driven “Daily Mail,” and Jonny’s bowed guitar combined with the piano intro to “Pyramid Song.” I’m still getting used to The King of Limbs, and while I don’t think the rockier songs worked (for me) live, the gentler stuff really hit the mark, especially “Give Up the Ghost” and the aforementioned “Daily Mail.” “Little by Little” seemed a little off at the beginning, but other than that, no major disappointments…
Setlist: about 2 hours
- Bloom
- 15 Step
- Airbag
- Little by Little
- Myxomatosis
- The Gloaming
- Morning Mr. Magpie
- Pyramid Song
- The Daily Mail
- These Are My Twisted Words
- Nude
- Identikit
- Lotus Flower
- There There
- Feral
- Idioteque
- Encore 1: How to Disappear Completely
- Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
- You and Whose Army?
- Lucky
- Encore 2: Give Up the Ghost
- Reckoner
- Everything In Its Right Place
Soundcheck songs were Supercollider, 15 Step, Identikit and Meeting in the Aisle, but I was not in attendance for those…
A few iPhone shots from
Radiohead Seattle 4/9/12:
Matthew Lamb’s Pro-shot concert photos here on Key Arena’s FB page.:
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Radiohead’s Site
- Radiohead’s Social Media Links (see below)
- My Other Radiohead-related Posts~
- The Universal Sigh (RSD 2011, PDF download)
- White River Amphitheatre (Seattle-area – Aug 2008)
- Key Arena’s Site / Facebook / Twitter
Check out more RH tour dates below.
Next show for me… Glen Phillips (of Toad the Wet Sprocket) in Portland 4/12.
~Dan – np: Tyler Fortier – Bang On Time
Radiohead North American Tour 2012
February 2012
Mon 27 American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL, USA
Wed 29 St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL, USA
March 2012
Thu 1 Philips Arena Atlanta, GA, USA
Sat 3 Toyota Center Houston, TX, USA
Mon 5 American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Wed 7 Frank Irwin Center Austin, TX USA
Fri 9 Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO USA
Sun 11 Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO USA
Tue 13 1st Bank Center, Broomfield, CO USA
Thu 15 Jobing.com Arena, Glendale, AZ USA
April 2012
Mon 9, Key Arena, Seattle, WA – USA
Wed 11, HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA – USA
Thu 12, Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA – USA
Sat 14 Coachella – Indio, CA – USA
Tue 17 Foro Sol, Mexico City, Mexico
Wed 18 Foro Sol, Mexico City, Mexico
Sat 21 Coachella – Indio, CA – USA
Iron Mike Savoia’s U2/Kravitz pics (Seattle 6/4)
“Iron Mike” Savoia of Savoia Photography Live just posted his beaufitul Lenny Kravitz & U2 shots from Saturday’s show at Qwest Field in Seattle, WA… click the photo of each artist to hit Mike’s Facebook album for each. If you want to check out my review of the show, GO HERE (setlist/review/photos). #U2360SEA
REVIEW: U2 & Lenny Kravitz @ Qwest Field (Seattle, WA – 6/4/11)
photo by Soren McCarty (Denver show)
U2 is one of the biggest rock bands in the world. They’ve been a band for almost 35 years – all the same four guys. Sit back and think about that for a minute. Sure, they haven’t been without struggles, but they’ve been a solid force in rock music for a long, long time. Saturday night was my third time to see them (PopMart 1996, Elevation 2001), and based on the reviews and photos I had seen, I knew I was going to be blown away…
Qwest Field started being configured for U2’s 360º Tour earlier that week. The 360º Tour features the largest concert stage structure ever and a 360-degree staging/audience configuration that allows fans to surround the stage from all sides. The large parking lot full of semi-trucks wasn’t just for Bono’s sunglasses supply. Check out the GeneStout.com media recap of the stage build out (with Mike Savoia’s photos – more from Mike below, too). See a time-lapse build-out of the Denver show (FB video link).
We positioned ourselves at near the north side of the outside of the loop for the show – as we hadn’t gotten there early enough for the inner loop. After running into a bad batch in the crowd (i.e.- drunk as hell d-bags), we backed off and watched from a nice safe distance. Opener Lenny Kravitz hit the stage around 7:30 and played a solid 50 minutes set. One new song, and a cadre of his hits. Cindy Blackwell was not on drums – that was the only noticeable absence. Lenny had some ear-monitor issues near the end, which was frustrating him, but he put on a great show regardless.
Lenny’s Setlist: 50 minutes
- Come On Get It [new song]
- Mamma Said
- It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over
- Let Love Rule
- American Woman [The Guess Who]
- Fly Away
- Are You Gonna Go My Way
After a short break, the David Bowie tape intro started, and U2 walked out onto the stage…
U2’s Setlist: 2+ hours
- Space Oddity [tape intro, David Bowie]
- Even Better Than The Real Thing
- I Will Follow
- Get On Your Boots
- Magnificent
- Mysterious Ways
- Elevation
- Until The End Of The World
- All I Want Is You
- Stay (Faraway, So Close!) [acoustic]
- Beautiful Day with NASA video* & Space Oddity snippet (*video below)
- Pride (In The Name Of Love)
- Miss Sarajevo
- Zooropa
- City Of Blinding Lights
- Vertigo
- I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight with Discothèque and other snippets
- Sunday Bloody Sunday
- Scarlet
- Walk On
- Encore 1: Aung San Suu Kyi Message [tape]
- One
- Where The Streets Have No Name
- Encore 2: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
- With Or Without You
- Moment of Surrender
They rocked out, and from our vantage point it was like watching alien TV. Some of the best moments for me… The kick-off “Even Better Than the Real Thing” followed by the throwback “I Will Follow” (this show was going to be all over their catalog). The NASA Commander Mark Kelly video intro to “Beautiful Day” (from space – video below). The snippet of “Discotheque” was excellent (POP is a great, under-appreciated album). Bono swinging out on his lit-up microphone during “Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me.”
Oh, and Zoo-fucking-ropa. The expanding televisions caught me off guard… it was a circus of sights and sounds.
A massive spectacle from a massive band. A truly entertaining experience. U2 blows about any other live show out of the water as far as sheer force, light, power, and energy.
My Photos from the show:
(really, just shots of the TV… sigh…)
Mike Savoia’s Pro-shot Photos:
(used with permission)
check out the links to Mike Savoia’s work below
The Appropriate Linkage:
- U2’s Site
- Amnesty International
- One Campaign
- U2.com splash page for Seattle show (with photos & video)
- U2’s Social Media Links (see below)
- Lenny Kravitz’s Site
- Lenny Kravitz’s Facebook / MySpace / Twitter
- Mike Savoia’s Digital Photography from the Seattle Show (6/4/2011)
Check out more tour dates below. #U2360SEA
~Dan – np: Rage Against the Machine – Evil Empire
U2’s rescheduled 2011 North American dates:
- May 21 Denver, CO Invesco Field (formerly June 12/10)
- May 24 Salt Lake City, UT Rice Eccles Stadium (formerly June 3/10)
- June 01 Edmonton, AB Commonwealth Stadium (formerly June 23/10)
- June 04 Seattle, WA Qwest Field (formerly June 20/10)
- June 07 Oakland, CA McAfee Coliseum (formerly June 20/10)
- June 17 Anaheim, CA Angels Stadium (formerly June 6/10)
- June 18 Anaheim, CA Angels Stadium (formerly June 7/10)
- June 26 East Lansing, MI Spartan Stadium at MSU (formerly June 30/10)
- June 29 Miami, FL Sun Life Stadium (formerly July 9/10)
- July 05 Chicago, IL Soldier Field (formerly July 6/10)
- July 08 Montreal, QC Hippodrome (formerly July 16/10)
- July 09 Montreal, QC Hippodrome (formerly July 17/10)
- July 11 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre (formerly July 3/10)
- July 14 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field (formerly July 12/10)
- July 20 East Rutherford, NJ New Meadowlands Stadium (formerly July 19/10)
- July 23 Minneapolis, MN TCF Bank Stadium (formerly June 27/10)
U2 & Lenny Kravitz tonight in Seattle!
I’m heading out soon to catch two indie artists – Lenny Kravitz & U2 – tonight at the Qwest Field in Seattle, WA. Wish them luck… it’s so hard for these up & coming indie bands…
Check back on Sunday night for my review & setlist (and hopefully with photos).
Update 6/5: GO HERE for my review.
If I don’t get any good shots, I’ll post/link to Mike Savoia’s awesome shots… I know he’s pro shooting it.
#U2360SEA
Tres Mts in Seattle (3/16)
So, I got stranded in Eugene, and wasn’t able to go up and shoot the debut Tres Mts show at the Showbox at the Market in Seattle… :(
Well, “Iron Mike” Savoia took some great photos… check them out at his Facebook page… dUg Pinnick (King’s X), Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam), Richard Stuverud (The Fastbacks), and Mike McCready (Pearl Jam)… Savoia Digital Photography does amazing work!
Also, check out Jason Tang Photography, too…
While I missed this great show, I was able to hit the excellent Punch Brothers (with Chris Thile) at McDonald Theatre that night. My review with photos will be posted this weekend.
REVIEW: Reptet @ Luckey’s (Eugene, OR – 1/14/11)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
A rare nice, non-rainy evening in Eugene on Friday… how do you start a show? You get your gear and head outside! Reptet did just that… wearing drums and horns, they hit the street right outside Luckey’s to get the crowd pumped as well as bring in some surprised passersby. After their Reptet-ization of a Chamillionaire song, they shuffled and bounced back inside, bringing more people in after them than were originally were in the bar. First song, first stroke of genius.
This was the first show of their West Coast CD Release tour (see dates below). Their 4th studio album AT THE CABIN just came out, and after a couple spins… I’m totally digging it. Great fun-romp of a jazz sextet. A little bit of goofing around, a little bit of standard following mixed with standard setting, and a little bit of punk & experimental sensibilities with a solid rhythm section. To me, this is what a jazz combo from (my) young generation should be like. Plus I’m a sucker for brass & reed-based jazz…
Reptet is made up of Samantha Boshnack (trumpet & vox), Chris Credit (sax/clarinet/flute), Izaak Mills (sax/clarinet/flute & vox/fake phone calls), Nelson Bell (trombone/sousaphone), Tim Carey (acoustic & electric bass), and John Ewing (drums & vox). They played about 70 minutes, and hit a few unidentified songs, but here are the ones I know they played…
Setlist:
- Chamillionaire on the street
- Zeppo
- Snow Leopard x 3
- unknown
- Skcorcissalc
- Something Like What.
- brains
- Fish Market
They ended about 15 minutes ’til midnight, and while I wanted to stick around for Eugene-based jazz combo Eleven Eyes, I had to call it a night. Thanks for making Eugene a part of your CD release tour, Reptet! See you again soon!
more photos below
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Reptet’s Site
- Reptet’s Social Media Links (see below)
- My Other Related Reviews~
- Cozmic Pizza (Eugene – Dec 2007)
- Luckey’s Site / MySpace / Twitter
Check out more tour dates below.
~Dan – np: Reptet – At the Cabin
REPTET PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2011 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Tour Dates
- Friday January 14th at Lucky’s Club in Eugene OR – 10 pm, $5
- Sunday January 16th at Jub Jub’s Thirsty Parlor in Reno, NV -10 pm, free
- Monday January 17th at The Press Club in Sacramento, CA – 9 pm, $5 (w/ Harley White Jr. Orchestra and The Flower Vato
- Wednesday January 19th at TAIX 321 Lounge in Echo Park (LA), CA – 10 pm, free
- Thursday January 20th at ResBox – The Steve Allen Theater at The Center For Inquiry in Los Angeles, CA – 8 pm $10 general, $5 CFI Members
- Friday, January 21st at Live Culture in Santa Barbara, CA – 9 pm, free
- Saturday January 22nd at Cafe Van Kleef in Oakland, CA – 9 pm, $5
- Sunday January 23rd at Applegate River Lodge in Jacksonville, OR – $10
REPTET ::West Coast CD Release Tour 2011::
Seattle jazz sextet REPTET is at it again, following up their 7″ vinyl single Agendacide from late 2009 with a new full-length album – entitled At the Cabin. It’s set for release on the Artists Recording Collective on January 11, 2011.
They’re hitting the road in support of the new CD, and Eugene is the first stop! Yippie! http://reptet.com/
Friday, January 14 10:00 pm
Luckey’s Club
Eugene, OR, United States
Monday, January 17
The Press Club
Sacramento, CA, United States
Tuesday, January 18 6:00 pm
Live Culture
Santa Barabara, CA, United States
Wednesday, January 19 10:00 pm
Taix 321 Lounge
Los Angeles, CA, United States
http://www.taixfrench.com/321lounge.html
Thursday, January 20 8:00 pm
ResBox – The Steve Allen Theater at The Center For Inquiry
Los Angeles, CA, United States
http://steveallentheater.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=318543
Friday, January 21 8:00 pm
CODA
San Francisco, CA, United States
http://www.codalive.com/
Saturday, January 22 9:00 pm
Cafe Van Kleef
Oakland, CA, United States
http://www.cafevankleef.com
For more info, check out http://reptet.com/
Erin McKeown Anniversary tour / Earshot Jazz 2010
Two unrelated PacNW tour updates…
Erin McKeown is hitting the West Coast on her upcoming Distillation Anniversary Tour and the annual Earshot Jazz Fest in Seattle just put out its 2010 program…
Erin McKeown Distillation Anniversary Tour 2010
- OCT 8* One Longfellow Square Portland, ME
- OCT 9* Iron Horse Northampton, MA
- OCT 17* Highline Ballroom New York, NY
- OCT 20* Lincoln Hall Chicago, IL
- OCT 22* Rex Theatre Pittsburgh, PA
- OCT 23* IOTA Arlington, VA
- OCT 24* World Café Live Philadelphia, PA
*with Distillation producer Dave Chalfant - NOV 6 Someday Lounge, Portland, OR
- NOV 8 Triple Door Seattle, WA
- NOV 11 Largo at the Coronet Los Angeles, CA
- NOV 14 Cafe DuNord San Francisco, CA
The Earshot Jazz Festival’s official program is over at: http://earshot.org/Publication/pub/10october.pdf. Or you can check out just the schedule over at http://earshot.org/Festival/schedule.html. Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Vagabond Opera, Toshi Reagon, Dave Peck, Ornette Coleman (film), Brian Blade, Ziggurat Quartet (mulltiple shows), DJ Spooky, Eugene Chadbourne, and more… sounds like a great three week line-up.
I hope to hit Erin’s Portland (Oregon) show… I saw her this past spring, and she puts on a great show. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it to any of the Earshot shows this time. Damn the 5-6 hour drive. Now, if they can get John Zorn back in 2011… I’m there!
Favorite Concerts of 2009
Well, this year’s concert seasons were especially good to me… 365 days, 70 shows, 119 artists, 1 wine-tasting rock show, many long nights driving home, and a lot of photos…
My favorite concerts of 2009:
- Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifer (2 nights) :: Roseland Theater :: Portland, OR {14&16 Nov} [reviews with pictures – night #1 & night #2]
- Nellie McKay & the Aristocrats :: Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley :: Seattle, WA {20 Oct} [review with pictures]
- dredg :: Hawthorne Theatre :: Portland, OR {3 Apr} [review]
- Holy Fuck :: Doug Fir Lounge :: Portland, OR {4 Jun} [review with pictures & video]
- The Swell Season :: McDonald Theatre :: Eugene, OR {23 Nov} [review with pictures]
- Zappa Plays Zappa :: Hawthorne Theatre :: Portland, OR {2 Jan} [review]
- Flight of the Conchords & Arj Barker :: Arlene Schnitzer Hall :: Portland, OR {14 May} [review]
- SFJazz Collective 2009 with Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Miguel Zenon, and more focusing on the music of McCoy Tyner :: The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts :: Eugene, OR {19 Mar} [review with pictures]
- Opeth & Enslaved :: Roseland Theater :: Portland, OR {12 May} [review]
- The Melvins (2 sets) :: John Henry’s :: Eugene, OR {9 Aug} [review with pictures]
- My Weekend with Peter Mulvey & Krista Detor :: Alberta Street Pub/Sam Bond’s Garage :: Portland/Eugene, OR {7&8 Nov} [review with pictures]
- Hiromi’s Sonicbloom :: Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley :: Seattle, WA {16 Jun} [review with pictures]
- David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion) :: House Show :: Eugene, OR {25 Jul} [review with pictures]
- Madeleine Peyroux :: The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts :: Eugene, OR {25 Mar} [review]
- Patton Oswalt :: Newmark Theatre :: Portland, OR {13 Sep} [review]
Runners-Up: Emily Wells & PCP at Cozmic, UofO’s Percussion Ensemble Tribute to Frank Zappa, David Cross at Newmark, Porcupine Tree & That1Guy at Roseland (Portland), Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra at Hult Center, and Spinal Tap at Paramount (Seattle).
Biggest Disappointments: missing Zappa Plays Zappa in Eugene in late November due to them getting stuck in California due to snow, missing Tristeza in Portland in early December due to a bad sinus infection, missing Melt Banana in Portland due to freezing rain & fog, seeing Yann Tiersen play an utterly dreadful show in Portland, and not seeing Over the Rhine for the 2nd year in a row (we’ll have to make up for it in 2010).
And to end on a positive note…
My favorite concert photos of 2009: (in no particular order)
- The Swell Season in Eugene
- Sweethead, opener for Puscifer in Portland
- Carina Round and Maynard James Keenan behind their boxes for Puscifer in Portland
- Sin Fang Bous, opener for Múm in Portland
- Hildur Guðnadóttir of Múm screaming her heart out in Portland
- Nellie McKay in Seattle
- Aimee Mann smiles in Portland
- Sara Watkins of Works Progress Administration in Eugene
- Alice in Chains iPhone shot in Portland
- Gavin from dredg moves too fast for me in Portland
- King Buzzo of The Melvins in Eugene
- Zoë Jakes dancing with Beats Antique in Eugene
- Jerry Gaskill’s stick action with King’s X in Portland
- Brian Borcherdt of Holy Fuck in Portland
(all images are free to use under a creative commons designation, simply identify Daniel Temmesfeld with a photo credit and link to jazzsick.wordpress.com)
Past Favorite Concerts Lists:
Favorite music of 2009 will be coming the week of Dec 28th… EPs/DVDs/etc, vocal albums, instrumental albums, artists of the decade…
~Dan – np: Anthony Coleman – Freakish: A Tribute to Jelly Roll Morton
Nellie McKay (10/20) photos posted
Photos from Tuesday’s show are now posted… go to…
REVIEW: Nellie McKay at
Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley (Seattle, WA – 10/20/09)
~Dan
REVIEW: Nellie McKay @ Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley (Seattle, WA – 10/20/09)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
So, I had tickets to see Ben Folds with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra at Benaroya Hall last night. I hemmed and hawed and finally decided to sell my ticket on craigslist to go see Nellie McKay instead. I dig both of them as artists, and the main reason for the hemming and hawing was the whole symphony aspect (I mean, I’ve seen Ben Folds Five or solo a half dozen times already… so the symphony take on it was my main draw). Ah, but… Nellie totally has my heart when in a piano/vocalist celebrity deathmatch with Mr. Folds. She’s quirky, cute, writes and sings both silly and political songs, has a passionate love for animals (she’s a vegetarian with a stance on animal cruelty that makes me proud), and… you rarely know what to expect from her musically on any given night. I’ve seen her twice prior, and both times were fantastical suprises.
Sorry, Ben. Next time?
As a consolation for the Ben Folds fans, there’s a free mp3 stream (or download if you do some research, i.e.- “view source”) from the Huffington Post of the Ben Folds collaboration with author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, etc). It’s a jab song at the ex-fiance of ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin‘s daughter Bristol… from the HuffPo, I present you “Levi Johnston’s Blues.”
Speaking of the HuffPo… here’s a recent article / interview with Nellie McKay by Michael Giltz.
Oh, so Nellie’s latest album, Normal As Blueberry Pie, is all about Doris Day (a total of 14 Doris Day tracks in the recording session, and one Nellie original). Two of the 15 session tracks are more difficult to get ahold of, unless you want to buy both the “exclusive” Barnes & Noble bonus track version and the iTunes bonus track version. Have I mentioned that Universal Music Group’s tactics suck!? Anyway, the album is great (special track tactics notwithstanding). The album lacks some of the bite and wit of Nellie’s prior 3 (and a half) solo albums. But, I love it all the same. It’s got Nellie trademark nostalgia / campiness, as evidenced by the photos surrounding the release (see to the right).
OK… on to the review of the show…
I really dig Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley. It’s small and intimate (but large enough for the room to breathe). Also I like the idea of making an experience out of the show – a fantastic meal, great atmosphere, and an attentive audience makes for a wonderful evening. Oh, and free parking in downtown Seattle is like the cherry on top. This was only my second time here (Hiromi in June was my first), but it is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues in the PacNW, if not ever. I just wish it wasn’t so far away from me in Eugene all the time.
Nellie went on around 7:40pm with her backing band, The Aristocrats. This was my first time seeing Nellie with a band. They were excellent. They were all younger than I was expecting. I mean, this wasn’t her studio backing band… but as hired guns solely for touring, they really worked well with Nellie in a fun & playful way. The band was Nellie McKay (piano and ukulele), Howard Fishman (guitar), Charles Schiermeyer (sax), Ben Bynum (drums), Scott Litroff (violin and flute), and Daniel Policar (keys).
Setlist: just shy of 90 minutes
- If I Ever Had a Dream
- Close Your Eyes (Doris Day cover)
- Sentimental Journey (Doris Day cover)
- Send Me No Flowers (Doris Day & Burt Bacharach cover, Nellie on Uke)
- Do Do Do (Doris Day cover) *a fave of the night*
- Mean To Me (Doris Day cover)
- Dig It (Doris Day cover, Nellie dance-off) *a fave of the night*
- The Very Thought of You (Doris Day cover)
- A Wonderful Guy (Doris Day cover)
- I Remember You (Doris Day cover)
- “I Killed Larry David and I Liked It” / Grunge Song *a fave of the night*
- Crazy Rhythm (Doris Day cover) *a fave of the night*
- Black Hills of Dakota (Doris Day cover)
- A-Tisket, A-Tasket (Ella Fitzgerald cover)
- The Dog Song *a fave of the night*
- Encore: Zombie (with Gary Danielson on sax)
- I Wanna Get Married (Doo Wop Version, with Gary Danielson on sax) *a fave of the night*
So, yeah, holy crap… Nellie just keeps on getting better each time I see her. I thought I’d be slightly bummed by a mostly Doris Day set (as I really like Nellie’s original songs a lot), but the Doris Day material was really fantastic in a live band setting. The addition of a jazz combo behind her really made the songs gel, and her interaction with the others was really fun. She’s kinda of a nutty person (or maybe as corny as Kansas in August)… but I wouldn’t want her to be any other way. I didn’t get a chance to meet her after the show, but I had a fun night regardless. Nellie and the Aristocrats are playing a second night (Wednesday, October 21st) at the Jazz Alley. If you go, drop me a line with your thoughts on Night 2.
Some of the best lines of the night by Nellie…
“I still can’t go back to Olympia, because I have overdue library books.”
“There’s hashish in that music… that was a score!” (really funny in context)
The Jazz Alley’s description of Nellie as a “martini cool chanteuse” was kinda of spot on. :) If you don’t have her newest one, get it… it’s fun (and out on vinyl, too):
The Appropriate Linkage:
~Dan – np: Erik Friedlander – Topaz
NELLIE McKAY PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Higher Resolution (12 pics)
Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (49 pics)
Large ZIP file (12.9 Megs)
includes all of the pictures above
CLICK HERE FOR ZIP FILE (right click, save as)