Flatfoot 56 @ Warped Tour 2010
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Columbia, MD
July 20, 2010
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Anarbor @ Warped Tour 2010
Yesterday was the Warped Tour stop . Over a month ago, I got the press request form, filled it and…didn’t send it back. When I hadn’t heard anything last week, I emailed, found out they didn’t have my request and then sent it. I was thinking I was just too late, but Monday evening, I did get the confirmation. Despite the encroachment of corporate sponsors (which is really not so bad as it sounds) and the shift away from its old “punk rock summer camp” ethos that dominated my first run of attendance (1997-2002), the last three years have still been a lot of fun and I’ve seen far more good performances than bad. This was probably the leanest year yet in terms of punk, but the sets I caught from Flatfoot 56 and Face to Face were great. As always, Warped Tour’s schedule means that tough decisions will be made and good bands will be missed. In choosing Flatfoot 56 over Dillinger Escape Plan, I got the better end of the deal (especially with a stirring singalong of “Amazing Grace”), but in catching the end of DEP’s set let me know just how high a price I paid. I missed the Casualties Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band altogether. I did see Andrew WK who I’d always heard put on a good show, but nothing prepared me for just how good he was. Despite songs that revolve around partying, there’s an incredibly positive vibe embodied by his parting comment to the crowd: “Life is too good not to live.” Amen, brother. All in all, it was a solid day of sun and tunes. Last weekend was Baltimore’s Artscape festival. In the past, I’ve seen Los Lobos, Joan Jett and Robert Randolph (the last two with my daughter), but this year, the best they could conjure up was Gov’t Mule. I debated going. Then I was looking at the Gov’t Mule website and saw that they record and sell most of their shows as downloads. Cool, right? Not at $12.95 to $14.95! What a slap in the face to their fans. They make money on the show and the merch and then they turn around and charge more than the cost of a standard album download from iTunes. Needless to say, I didn’t bother fighting the crowds to see a band that I have no great interest in and then found that I couldn’t even respect. Last week, I said that I’d have more on my playlist this week. Well, I’ve been spending a lot of time watching two cartoons with my kids: Avatar: The Last Airbender and Invader Zim. Oddly enough, the cartoon doesn’t make me want to see the Last Airbender film. The cartoon is so full of adventure and character that I really think boiling it down into a movie won’t hold up to the expectation the animated series sets. Invader Zim, in contrast, is just goofy and fun. Anyway, that’s why I haven’t listened to as much music this week as I usually do. Face to Face on Warped Tour: Madness – One Step Beyond
Released: July 27, 2010 Label: MVD Visual Back in 1998, I was lucky enough to catch the Specials on the Warped Tour. Despite being only a subset of the band’s classic line-up, they were outstanding. Nonetheless, the constant parade of half-hearted reunions that permeate the rock scene today still kept my guard up for this release of the 2009 reunion show. Once again, and this time as the full line-up (minus Jerry Dammers), the Specials prove that the years have not been unkind to them. Thirty years from the release of their 1979 self-titled debut, the Specials are still excited to play and exciting to watch. They’re all in their 50s (some of them in their late 50s) and yet nothing about them (or their three decade old songs) seems old. They’re so tight that it’s hard to imagine that this unit was apart nearly ten times as long as they were together. The crowd, young and old alike, responds appropriately with sing-alongs and non-stop dancing, just as it likely was back in 1979. The sound and video quality is flawless and far exceeds the expectations set by most live films. The highly professional production does all that can possibly be done to capture the essence of this live performance. The Specials music was always a great mix of joy and hope and that often included lyrics that spoke to the problems of the day. Many of the songs are still relevant, partly because things haven’t changed, but also because the songs are infused with a hope that is timeless. Whether due to a lack of real social change or simply that the path to the human heart remains the same, the Specials still connect. They still matter. While it is, in a sense, sad that their songs are still relevant to today’s problems, it is simply wonderful to see these problems attacked with the Specials’ own positive vibe. The DVD also includes a short documentary about the anniversary. Usually, such bonus material just features a superficial look at the band preparing for the main event, but this one was different. It focused as much on the fans as it did on the band, including interviews with young and old alike as well as their personal photographs from back in the day. They discuss memories and expectations and why the Specials matter to them (which usually amounts to that mix of fun with “values”). The excitement of both band and fans is as palpable in the documentary as it is in the performance itself. One fan says, “Your biggest fear is that you’re just gonna get a bunch of fat old blokes that just turn up for a paycheck.” It’s clear that, not only was that fear not realized, but the show was probably even better than he could have imagined. Rating: 10/10 Recher Theatre, Towson, Maryland June 26, 2010 When I last saw Thrice in 2002, they were touring for The Illusion of Safety, a young band with promise that was, at that point, unfulfilled. They played with heart and daring, but not all of their ideas worked. Over the course of the next eight years, perhaps no band has grown so much as Thrice though. The band I saw in 2010 had the best of the band circa 2002, but had so much more dimension to their music that they exceeded even their most lofty musical goals. Despite a minute or so of technical issues with Dustin’s guitar, during which the rest of the band kicked into a little Dave Brubeck, the performance was seamless without being sterile. The set just exploded out from the stage, mixing Thrice’s churning hardcore with their airy atmospherics and finding that difficult line between studio restraint and live spontaneity. They mellowed a bit through the middle before mounting a last aural attack. Thrice was a fine young band back in 2002, but since then, they’ve matured into a flat-out amazing one. The three openers weren’t half-bad either. The Dig mixed the manic with the ethereal and wrapped that around vocal melodies worthy of early 60s AM pop. Hipster duo Bad Veins, despite the somewhat contrived stage antiques, old-phone-as-microphone and Natty Boh reference, played a solid set of live drums, guitar, keyboard and vocals over recorded loops. Kevin Devine and company played a set of gritty, but tight punk that was was infused with Devine’s surprisingly strong vocals and overall down-too-earth, human approach. His performance had such intensity that it stuck with me vividly even after Thrice’s performance. All in all, a very good night of music. Thrice:     Kevin Devine:   Sorry I missed the last two weeks. The first I just spaced on and the second I was on vacation with a very, very poor internet connection. Anyway, I’m back now and I’ll try to be a little more consistent. My playlist is thin, because I haven’t had a lot of time for personal listening lately, but that should change as I get back into the swing of things. Just before vacation, I caught Thrice at the Recher Theatre in Towson, MD, so expect some more pics and a write-up on that very soon.
Also, while this feature will remain her at Rock and Roll and Meandering Nonsense, the Metal Minute breathes once again, so go over and see what Ray’s up to at www.metalminute.com. The Specials – 30th Anniversary DVD
Released: June 29, 2010 Label: Ripple Music Stoner rock always conjures up images of slow, sludgy tunes played in dark, smoky rooms…but it isn’t always like that. The bands on this split EP are perfect examples. Stone Axe’s “Metal Damage” is a mid-paced tune that mixes metal heaviness with a 70s hard rock groove. It has more punch and a cleaner sound than the stoner rock for which they’ve become known. Still, Stone Axe’s identity is clear and the departure isn’t drastic enough to confuse fans. They make no sacrifices with this slight change of direction. While “Metal Damage” draws heavily on sounds from 25 to 30 years ago, it isn’t stuck there. Mighty High returns to filter the MC5 through Gang Green once again. “Don’t Panic, It’s Organic” is yet another ode to the supposed virtues of cannabis (and perhaps organic farming) that sounds more like they’re on speed than smoking pot. How does a song like this appeal to a guy who gets as big a charge out of being sober as the boys in Mighty High do out of being stoned? It’s just fun. Pure, unadulterated fun. Best of all, the fun and tunes just get better and better with each release. It doesn’t hurt that Mighty High’s artwork is once again supplied by that son of R. Crumb, Wayne Braino Bjerke. Great package, great tunes! Don’t miss it! Ratings Stone Axe Mighty High If you’re curious about my rating system, it’s explained here.
Label: Tiny Engines Released: May 4, 2010 From the phased guitar and lifting leads that open “Tiny Planet,” there is a sense of hope and happiness (even as melancholy tugs at it) that pervades Everyone Everywhere’s self-titled full-length debut. As the album runs between big, loud, ringing chords and quiet, intricate, interwoven guitar and bass lines, it finds itself in a cohesive mix of Hüsker Dü’s melodic wall of noise and the current trend of Smiths-inspired of indie jangle. Throw in a few of those ever-infectious “whoa-ohhhhs” and the album is difficult to put aside. Embodying hope and promise and melancholy, the album is sure to make a great summer friend (that will likely visit for years to come). Interestingly, there is something timeless that Everyone Everywhere taps into, but that is mitigated occasionally when the lyrics are so steeped in the moment, that the songs will be lost down the road. Fortunately, for every reference to Mapquest and GPS (in “Blown Up Grown Up”) there are many lines like, “This boat’s too small, this ocean’s broad” (from “Tiny Boat”) that will hold their meaning so long as the basic laws of nature hold true. That occasional emo-ish foible aside, the album is a big step forward from last year’s promising “A Lot of Weird People Standing Around” 7″. Tiny Engines only pressed 500 (150 off-white/350 maroon) of these and they come with a free download. Get it now! Ratings If you’re curious about my rating system, it’s explained here. Yesterday’s post aside, I haven’t been overly focused on music this week. I am reading a book about bluegrass, so I’ve been randomly running through the Bill Monroe lately. Bluegrass has often been associated with “hillbilly” music, but the reality is it’s very structured and provides maybe the best mix of technical skill and heart of any genre. One thing I learned is that, while it is acoustic music in one sense, it is electric in another. Because band members “took solos” in the same way that jazz players did, bluegrass required a complex choreography as soloists came forward to the microphone in order to stand out. None of the reading has convinced me, however, that a bluegrass cover of Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” wouldn’t be amazing! I got a promo in the mail yesterday for a film titled Paul McCartney Really Is Dead. I’m hoping to watch it in the next few days, so maybe I’ll have a review done next week. I’m really looking forward to it, because, while I doubt it will convince me that McCartney is actually dead, the “Paul is Dead” rumors and clues might be rock’s best conspiracy story. Well, back to the business at hand. Here’s my (partial) list: Carrie Rodriguez – Love and Circumstance This post’s title comes from Paul Simon’s “Boy in the Bubble,” a song about the trials and tribulations of the modern world. We can certainly say that we have come to a very skewed reality when we find our heroes on the pop charts instead of working in orphanages, hospices and soup kitchens or devoting their lives to the cause of freedom and justice. Nonetheless, who these heroes are tend to say something about us and our times. While I would still encourage each and every one of us to look beyond pop culture and find the real heroes among us, the point of this site remains, for better or worse, music and, by extension, it at least wanders around the periphery of celebrity culture in the hopes of getting inside and finding something real. So, what’s the point of this post? Well, a friend and I were discussing who were the “artists of each decade.” That seems simple enough, but as it turned out, we found a great many points of debate. In a sense, this is not a question about great music, but about artists associated with watershed moments in both music and culture. We found that identifying those moments helped us to rule certain artists in and out of consideration. We also found that some decades were more difficult to narrow down than others. Here’s a first pass at the task at hand which came out of our conversation. I’m attempting to link the artist to some moment or cultural change, something more than just musically pivotal. Keep in mind that these choices are not about subjective preferences or the somewhat objective notion about the “best.” This is about music’s role in the bigger picture.
So, what do you think? Who would you consider the “artist of the decade” for each? What do you think are the events surrounding them? What does the ease or difficulty of narrowing it down in certain decades tell us about that time? |
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Nothing I've written here has any kind of copyright that I could enforce even if I wanted to. If you want to steal from me, go ahead. Frankly, I'd be flattered. I'm just happy you're reading my stuff. Peace... |
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