Photos: Old Crow Medicine Show :: November 8, 2009

Review: Bon Iver w/ The Tallest Man on Earth

December 19, 2008; The Barrymore Theater

Believe the hype! Bon Iver (aka Justin Veron) and The Tallest Man on Earth was another top notch show. Playing to a sold out crowd at The Barrymore Theater, Bon Iver played a majority of the critically acclaimed For Emma, Forever a Ago as well aa a couple from the upcoming EP titled Blood Bank (soon to be release on CD) [MORE...].

Photos/Review: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings w/ Menahan Street Band

At last night’s Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Show at the Barrymore in Madison we indulged in our nation’s finest soul groove revivalist band. The Dap-King Crew served up a long and tasty hot bowl of old school, hambone funk, while Sharon head-chefed...[READ MORE]

Photos: Broken Social Scene :: Oct. 11, 2008; Memorial Union Theater

All Photos FJ Simani

Photos: Dr. Dog at High Noon Saloon - Oct., 1st, 2008

Playing to a packed house on a Wednesday night, Dr. Dog once again captured us all up in their nostalgic net. Anyone who has experienced this band in a club setting knows that the energy level is intense and the performance is always tight. Throughout the night the band mostly picked from the Fate and We All Belong song catalog and for the encore brought out the band members from Delta Spirit (photo 1 & 2) and Hacienda for a one last goodbye.

Photos: The Walkmen at The Barrymore

Photos: The Walkmen  Sept 14, 2008; The Barrymore Theater (Photos by FJ Simani)

Quick Review - Eef Barzelay

I had such a good time at the Eef Barzaley show the other night. His powerful performance in the living room like intimacy of Cafe Montmarte made this a “show of the year” contender for me. The sound at Momo was quite good – apparently Eef had truly been striving to get “everything perfect” as he wryly and ironically suggested.

You should know that anytime a band introduction includes the phrase “we’re from Nashville” then odds are you are in for an excellent show. Eef claimed that they were all “failed musicians” - but this would be the type of “failed musician” that you should strive to see at every opportunity. Nashville is much like New Orleans – a musical mecca and therefore very competitive. Tough on musicians no doubt, but as a listener – it’s just awesome because every little bar has a band playing that is loaded with talent.

Eef brought it to the Momo on Thursday night. He played to a comfortably full house of appreciative listeners. Alex and I joined together in hoping that this would be one of the fantastic nights when the audience gets engaged and quiets down appropriately– and I was quite satisfied.

After the show, Eef was offering a package for $30 including his new CD – Lose Big – two cool Clem Snide CDs (Early Home Recordings Volume 1 and Have a Good Night: Live Recordings 1999 – 2005), AND a very cool poster from Clem Snide’s End of Love Tour 2005. As you can imagine, I jumped on this bonanza – and Eef signed my CD which I still find adds sentimental value to my show memorabilia.

If you get a chance to see Eef Barzelay and his Band on tour, do not let it slip by you. . . You won’t be disappointed.

- Mister Bill

Cowboy Junkies at Majestic Theatre, 11.28.2007

Perfect band at a perfect venue with a perfect audience. For 250 or so lucky (or smart?) folks - the show of the year.

For more photos, go to madisonmusicreview.com

Project/Object - Surge for Zappa Music Tour@ Majestic Theatre, 10.23.2007

I'm a fan of Frank Zappa. A small "f" fan - but one with a real appreciation of his brilliance. . . On the other hand, my old friend Paul Schroeder in Chicago is a FAN! He introduced me to Zappa back when we shared the same dorm floor as college freshmen. And he now has the most complete collection of FZ recordings you could imagine - both audio and video. . . We saw a lot of great shows together. So when Paul recommends a band performing the music of Frank Zappa - as he did with Project/Object - I take notice. [. . . more]

Drive-By Truckers w/ Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses @ The Barrymore Theater, October 20, 2007

The Drive-By Truckers brought their “Dirt Underneath” Tour to Madison (sans Spooner Oldham) on Saturday night. The show opener was Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses from Austin, TX. Every once in a while you are lucky enough... [more]

Drive By Truckers Patterson Hood
transforming from man to beast with
a little help from Jack D.

More pictures from the show here

Dave Mason and John Mayall Rock the HouseNorthern Lights Theatre, 10.19.2007

It was definitely a strange and different scene walking through the Potowatami Casino to get to the Northern Lights Theater where Dave Mason with opening act John Mayall and the Blues Breakers were set to perform. But the theater itself is a wonderful room to see a show. It has a nice large stage, the acoustics are great, and I don't believe there is bad seat in the house. And on this night there was a full house of appreciative listeners on hand. [. . . more]

Live Review: EOTO / Future Rock at High Noon Saloon

As you probably know, I was really excited by the Future Rock / EOTO bill at the High Noon. I've just been listening seriously to electronic music for a couple years now, and really enjoying it. And earlier this year, Ankur initiated me into great dance scene at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival - which plays host to some of the world's best DJs and production artists each Memorial Day weekend.

I have come to really love watching electronic artists perform - because what they do is apparently so simple (Just creating a beat, right?), but is in reality quite technically complex (Have you ever tried using this equipment and software? . . . It's damn difficult). And the best part is that good DJs/PAs are magicians at finding the energy of a crowd and then moving it. So it makes a great tribal community experience. . . which is something we need more often.

EOTO started the night out with a great groove and kept it rollin' for an hour and a half. I've seen Michael Travis and Jason Hann perform with String Cheese Incident several times, so I knew that these percussionists were excellent. But I was amazed by their live performance and really grateful to be able to see them in such an intimate show venue - the High Noon is one of my faves.

It also wonderful to be able to socialize with the musicians before or after the set. I always appreciate musicians like Travis and Jason who despite a long career on the road still remain very open to their fans. . . I've been listening to their 2006 release - elephants only talk occasionally. It sounds great, and if you weren't there it would give you a good idea what you missed.

Future Rock followed - and turned up the heat. Luckily, Felix has got that shirt! You will be hearing a lot more about this Chicago area band, who we want to see play in Madison often!! Their new release - GEARS - is also quite good, and recommended.

http://www.futurerock.net/
www.myspace.com/eotomusic

Photos from The Sea and Cake

A great show last night. More words to follow, as well as photos from malliman. But in the meantime, you can see some of my other shots here.

Cold War Kids and The Flaming Lips Wow Willow Island

SoCo Music Experience – Madison 9/08/2007


All the hype was there with Southern Comfort wristbands, banners, booths, DJs, laptops, and VIP areas to brand, promote and drive sales for the alcohol industry giant. This was the only price an attendee had to pay to see some great music by artists Cold War Kids and The Flaming Lips. . . It was a great deal!
The festival started at 3pm with lesser known bands that kept the limited early crowd well entertained. [READ FULL REVIEW]

Ten Thousand Lakes Festival - 2007

Four days of camping and music sounds like a lot, but when Sunday morning rolled around our little group was not ready for it to end.

There is a lot to like about 10KLF. Soo Pass Ranch is a permanent festival venue, and it is well laid out and very comfortable for this festival. About 15,000 people were spread out among six campsites that surround the "concert bowl." (By way of contrast - over 100,000 turn out to this same site for "WE Fest" the biggest country music festival in the Midwest. Stucker, one of the masters of ceremony, described it to me as "nuts to butts.")

Stucker takes a break – and so do we – to listen to Shoeless Revolution
from the shade of the Saloon deck.

Permanent showers and rest rooms, and plentiful water facilities; wooded and lakeside camp spots; lots of cool clothing and merchandise for sale; general stores for emergency needs. And most importantly the sound systems were really great.

Our campsite

If I have any complaint at all, it is only that our camp setting was so nice and comfortable that it took some real motivation to leave it and head over to the bowl for the shows. But we did see some great performances, including very strong sets by:

• Bob Weir and Ratdog
• String Cheese Incident
• Zappa Plays Zappa
• Galactic
• The Tragically Hip
• Toubab Krewe
• Everyone Orchestra
  

Ratdog on the Main Stage, and joined by Keller Williams

Field Stage was the secondary "main stage"

Toubab Krewe on the wonderfully shaded Barn Stage

Hippies of all ages were in attendance, but as you would imagine this was generally a younger generation of hippies. Music officially ended at 3am, but the party continued in the camps until the sun rose. I’m a heavy sleeper, so got all the rest I needed. Light sleepers might want to bring all their arsenal of sleep aids!

Until next time. . .

Pictures from John Doe and Dead Rock West

I don't expect to have a chance to write a detailed review of this show. I need to be up early tomorrow for a business trip, and my buddy Aaron from Munich rolls into town tomorrow evening en route to 10KLF. All I will say is that my instincts were right on - this was a great, great show - full of powerful performances and fun song selections. . . like the encore A Case of You (yes, Joni Mitchell) and Gimme Shelter. Lots of material from A Year in the Wilderness - which I really enjoy and recommend. Dead Rock West was very solid in the opening slot as well as backing up John.

Frank Lee Drennen and Cindy Wasserman of Dead Rock West
He knew how to use these effects, too!

Still hungry for more Afrobeat...check this out.

Did you miss the Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (Madison) and Femi Kuti (Milwaukee) shows?

Well check out Anitbalas and The Chicago Afrobeat Project (CAbP).

Antibalas (pronounced ahn-tee-BAH-lahs) is a Bushwick, Brooklyn based afrobeat band that is modelled after Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra. Although their music is primarily afrobeat, their music incorporates elements of jazz, funk, dub, improvised music, and traditional drumming from Cuba and West Africa.

Currently they are touring mostly outside the U.S. right now with the exception of only one show on Aug 4th - Governers Island, NY. Check out their latest release, Security from their site store.

Chicago Afrobeat Project (CAbP) is a dynamic musical collective rooted in '70s funk and jazz-infused afrobeat. CAbP mixes traditional afrobeat with other dance-invoking musical motifs such as Chicago’s electronic house music, complex West African percussion rhythms and upbeat funk. At each performance, the polyrhythmic groove and sharp horn lines of CAbP stir up energetic momentum, sweeping listeners directly to the dance floor time and time again. (taken from their "about" page).

Their new cd titled, (A) Move to Silent Unrest will be out in September but can be pre-ordered here.

Check them out live (near the MMR area):

Thu, 8/2/07 6:30 pm
Jazz in the Park in Milwaukee
Free, All Ages

Thu, 8/23/07 11:30 am and 6:00 PM (Also 2 sets)
Peanut Butter and Jam in Kenosha, WI
No Cover

Thu, 9/13/07 10:00 pm
High Noon Saloon in Madison
$8 advance, $10 day of show

Hopefully we will see you there.

[phred]

Live Review - Ratdog at Summerfest, 7.05.2007

As usual, I had worked myself into a state of high anticipation by the time Ratdog took the stage at Summerfest. I’m always excited to hear what songs get chosen for that night’s setlist. However, there was much more unfolding this evening. Not only was this the first night of Ratdog’s summer tour, but health issues took long-time lead guitar player Mark Karan off-stage just days before. Luckily, Steve Kimock agreed to fill in . . . and amazingly the show did go on! The band came on to a very warm reception and got a litle jam going before breaking into Shakedown Street. (This opening hearkened me right back to one of my most memorable Dead shows... Did you see my "Countdown to Summerfest" post?)



Here was the night's setlist:
Jam > Shakedown Street > Maggie's Farm > Queen Jane Approximately > Crazy Fingers > Brown-Eyed Women, Blackbird, Friend of the Devil, Victim or the Crime, Even So > October Queen > The Deep End > Milestones > Stuff, Standing on the Moon, Sugar Magnolia, Touch of Grey, Ripple (encore)

Bob was in good voice all night (although I thought the vocals could have been a bit higher in the mix). The only weak point in the set for me was the acoustic "Blackbird." I've never been a big fan of the song for one thing, and this performance just seemed too forced. But this was more than made up by a number of personal highlights. For one, this was the first time I'd seen them play "Even So" and it was great fun to hear Bobby howling at the end! "Milestones" was really cool too.

As Kimock fans would guess, Steve did a very fine job fitting in with the Dogs. I really like his clear tone and his leads were tasty. In general, the jams were sweet- and the entire band played their hearts out in a long, single set. (I couldn’t make myself leave, and so will have to wait to catch Spoon at Lollapalooza.)

After the encore performance of Ripple, the band took their bows and sent good vibes to Mark. (Please take a moment to do the same!)


Ratdog will next be in this region at the Aragon Ballroom on July 19th and at 10KLF on July 21st.