About Last Night... Pearl Jam

The long cold winter of my Pearl Jam discontent was finally over on Monday night as the last of the international grunge boys made their way to Kansas City.

The set meandered through all eras of their music and started off strong with one of my favorite songs, "Of The Girl," from Binaural and continued with "Animal" and "World Wide Suicide." However, for me the show bogged down a little bit with their newer material. "Unknown Thought," "Among The Waves" and "Johnny Guitar" don't have the rockin' sting the band once carried. It probably springs from the fact that as the band approaches their 50's (yes, fifties) they just aren't as pissed off as they once were in their twenties... and the newer songs show as much as they may still have the same opinions and feelings they should be shaking their fists instead of yelling.

But, here's the rub... the songs through 2003's Riot Act, even 2007's self-titled album still have all the piss-and-vinegar they once did and still hold the same emotion.

That being said, they are still, and will probably continue to be one of the most entertaining live acts that are on the road.

Of The Girl
Animal
World Wide Suicide
Got Some
Unthought Known
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
MFC
Johnny Guitar
Amongst The Waves
Even Flow
Gods' Dice
Present Tense
Daughter
Wishlist
Insignificance
Do The Evolution

Encore 2

Off He Goes
Just Breathe
Given To Fly
The Fixer
Life Wasted
Porch

Encore 2

No More
Black
Better Man
Happy Birthday
Alive
Rockin' In The Free World
Yellow Ledbetter

About Last Night... BFD Showcase

Saturday night was a good night for local music. We were fortunate enough to have a great turn out for our first showcase.

First up was Ronnie Fauss, the husky voiced troubadour armed with only his guitar and harmonica he showed off his singer-songwriter chops to a crowd. He moved through works from his two albums and EP with stunning results. Hopefully people were paying enough attention to tell their friends about him or check him out online. But, he's going to be playing with Danny Balis in the next month or two... so hopefully that will be a bump in his profile.

Elkhart opened up their set with their fantastic take on Radiohead's "House of Cards," a favorite of mine. It's always nice to see Elkhart in such an intimate setting, because really, that is where the group excels with their personal, heartfelt take on americana.

Lastly, the great Bosque Brown rounded out the bill with a full band, which was really nice to see. Mara Lee Miller, has one of the most amazing voices you will ever hear. For my money, the only other woman on her level, at least locally, is Sarah Jaffe.

All-in-all, it was a great night... thanks to everyone who came out.

About Last Night... Neko Case

I've had the opportunity to see Neko Case in concert twice now and I've not been disappointed either time. She is in a category with the like of Alison Krauss as far as her voice is concerned, they both have pure singing voices where they don't have to strain to hit the notes needed in a performance.

You can check out my "Last Night Review" of the show for The Dallas Observer here. Last night the place was packed and I was sandwiched in between a few really tall guys, so, I only got a few pics an no video this time.

About Last Night... Pretty Lights

Last night was a testament that you don't have to have a major blog presence to be able to draw a strong crowd. Granted, it wasn't a sold out crowd, but, the floor level was pretty packed most of the night as revelers danced around to the electronic beats provided by Pretty Lights and his touring drummer.

Any apprehension I had about a live drummer being a part of the show was gone by the first song. He mixed in seemlessly with Derek Vincent Smith's glitchy melodies and brain-rattling bass. From "Keep 'Em Bouncin'" to "Who Loves Me?" the SMU crowd was getting sweaty moving around that much. It was nice to see a crowd so responsive and active during a show. There wasn't a moment during the show when there wasn't a body moving to the music.

The least impressive part of the evening was the "visual" element to his show. Touring with a huge LED screen lit up behind them the images they were showing were less than impressive. It seemed like they bought up a bunch of Flash movies and screen savers and added them to the show. Granted, this isn't a big deal, but, when you've seen DJ Shadows audio/visual elements to his shows it's a high bar to reach. But, I digress as some of the images were interesting to look at.

You can check out the pics from the show on your Facebook page.

On a different note: is every 14-16 year-old kid in Dallas a little shithead or was it just the ones who were at the show last night? They were some of the rudest kids I've ever witnessed.

About Last Night... Har Mar Superstar

So, it was technically like three days ago, but, it's all good. You can check out pics from the show here. And you can check out the "Last Night Review" of it here on DC9.

Ft. Worth's Best Fwends were, for me, the unlikely hit of the night. You have to give it to two nerds who perform back by music loaded on their iPod. Their stage presence was stellar and they knew how to work a crowd. And, throwing two large gargoyles into the crowed for them to bounce like balloons didn't hurt either.

About Last Night... James McMurtry

I should've had this up yesterday at the latest, but... Saturday night I bore witness to the a James McMurtry show at Sons of Hermann Hall. I took my nephew who is a big fan of McMurtry, I personally only knew his song "Choctaw Bingo." Needless to say, I was impressed by the man's twanged up rock.

What the man lacks in stage presence is made up for with his rapier wit as he commented in between songs. It was one of those shows where you show up only knowing one song and leaving wanting to buy the man's entire catalogue. Not only was McMurtry on fire that night, but, the Hall was like an oven! Apparently the a/c had gone out and it made for a very uncomfortable night in the packed venue.

Openers Eastwood did a terrific job as usual. It was a pretty big night for them opening up for such a well known act... and they delivered in spades.

MP3: James McMurtry - Choctaw Bingo

About Last Night... Jenny Lewis

Last night's Jenny Lewis show at the Granada was one of the best shows I've witnessed in quite a while.  I like Lewis quite a bit, however, I wasn't sure how good her show would be.  It seems the girl who got her start as an actress has learned how to incorporate her skills as an actress into her stage show.  Throughout the evening, as she stood behind a microphone or sat at her keyboard, she acted out each song and worked the crowd like a seasoned pro.

I know I complain about the crowds at shows a lot for talking to each other through the show instead of actually watching the show.  However, last night the crowd minded their manners and actually watched the show.  After each song the crowd literally roared their approval... it was the loudest I've ever heard a crowd there.  

Even though the show was great beginning-to-end the highlight for me was the Opry style way she and her band performed "Acid Tongue."  Lewis was solo on her guitar and her band formed a semi-circle behind her and sang the back-up vocals.  

You can check out the pics of the show on our Facebook page or Myspace page.  If you haven't friended us on either one, you should take this opportunity to do so.

Oh, and since she didn't play "Big Guns" last night, have a taste of it here.

MP3:  Jenny Lewis - The Big Guns

About Last Night... Camera Obscura

Last night was the Camera Obscura show at The Loft.  I was really looking forward to the show and I wasn't let down by seeing them live.  

Probably the best part of the show was that there wasn't all the talking going on during the show.  I couldn't believe it, you could actually hear the band without the din of voices all around you!  

If you want to read my review on the show you can go over to DC9 at Night.  You can also check out pics from the show at our Facebook or Myspace page.

About Last Night... Girl In A Coma

When I read the "Good Friday" post on DC9 last week and they said Here Holy Spain was pretty much in line with the Toadies I thought seeing them would be cool.  But, I didn't realize how much they really do kind of bite their style... even down to using the microphone that sounds like you're singing through a megafone.  But, I really enjoyed their opening set for Girl In A Coma.  They definitely rock hard and put on a great show, now I'll have to catch them again.

The crowd wasn't huge, not even halfway full for the smallness that is Pontiac Garage.  So, I had mixed feelings about the crowd.  However, I realized that it was a pretty good turn out for a band that has primarily received regional buzz through word of mouth... and the LOGO network.  The crowd was estrogen heavy and gay and lesbian friendly.  This has gotten me to wondering if they will turn into a punk version of Indigo Girls.  There is nothing wrong with have a gay and lesbian following, but, I'm wondering if that is the majority of their crowd and if they are fine with that or they want to reach a wider audience.  Girl In A Coma is such a great band I would hate to see them get pigeon-holed and have people shy away from them because of some kind of stigma associated with them.

But, those girls can play their asses off.  Their songs range from punk numbers, to ballady type songs, to just hard rockers.  I'm only familiar with a few of their songs so when they played "Say" and "Clumsy Sky" I was beyond thrilled.  "Clumsy Sky" in particular go a huge crowd response.  During the slow intro lead singer Nina Diaz twice let the crowd take over the singing, to hear them scream the last line of the intro before it goes into rockin' was a highlight. 

But, amidst all the hard rocking was bassist Jenn Alva.  She caught me off guard when she spoke because she has the sweetest voice I've heard come out of a tattooed bass player.  She has a very cute, sweet looking face... but, when she spoke her voice is not what I was expecting.  Nina Diaz on the other hand has a great singing voice and a well honed stage presence that comes from relentless touring.  She didn't work the crowd much, but, she really didn't have too.  She basically let her skills with her geetar and her singing do it all.  And now that I've seen Girl In A Coma live I believe my crush on Nina has gone full blown.

Check out the vidies for Here Holy Spain and Girl In A Coma below.  You can check out pics from the show at our Facebook or Myspace page.

Girl In A Coma


Here Holy Spain