Arcade Fire and more, Las Vegas, Nevada

 April 12-15 2011

Given that I don't much care for gambling or strippers Las Vegas has never been my favorite destination but over the years I have found myself occasionally bouncing around The Strip. In  this instance the National Association of Broadcasters convention was held (as it always is) in Vegas and since I had a good reason to attend this year I found myself in Sin City once again. I have always found good music difficult to come by in Las Vegas and that hasn't changed a great deal. If you are into Celine Dion, Barry Manilow or Donnie and Marie, then this is the place to go.

Arcade Fire 

However, in recent years both B.B. King's  Blues Club and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville have opened franchises in the city and while not perfect, they offer some outlets for decent music. The other happy musical coincidence was that Arcade Fire, recent Grammy winner for Album of the Year, had a concert scheduled for The Joint a the Hard Rock Cafe during my visit.
Arcade Fire put on a great show. They are a band that cultivates an obvious Indie vibe but with an arena rock kind of energy that I hadn't seen in years. As you will see from these videos, I was about 20 feet from the stage. I could feel the waves of bodies ebbing and flowing around me in beat to the music. It was particularly interesting to see the odd instrumentation the band used introducing kazoos, violins, bass fiddles and I think a hurdy gurdy into the mix. It also appeared that everyone in band got a turn at playing drums with two drum sets going at once on  several occasions.
Beyond Arcade Fire the rest of the music I ran into was a mixed bag. Some decent party bands and some talented entertainers. Of course it is impossible to check out all of Las Vegas in a few days because it is so difficult to navigate around the constant traffic, gamblers with oxygen tanks and the hookers so I won't pretend that I investigated every decent musical venue. I'll start the videos with three from Arcade Fire. You will notice the use of an interesting multimedia display that was on evidence during the entire show.

The Los Angeles band Local Natives opened the Arcade Fire concert with an appropriate amount of musical fury. I liked the energy and the musicianship of the band but, as I told Dr. Mark Chase during the concert, they couldn't write a decent hook to save their life. This clip is representative of their sound. Notice the use of multiple drums again. The obsession with the drums reminds me of Adam and the Ants. Does anyone remember Adam and the Ants?

Grant Garland was the guitarist Wednesday night at B.B. King's Blues Club. He is an excellent blues/rock guitarist out of Memphis. Here is his rather unique take on an old Hendrix standard.

The Bashers is a great rock party band that plays most weeknights at the Carneval Court. This is their version of a White Stripes song.

This band was at Carneval Court on Friday and I still haven't figured out the joke. The lead singer is pretending to be a Nazi Stormtrooper while the rest of the band wear Devo hats. You'll notice they have the same lead guitarist as The Bashers which leads me to think they are really the same band with a girl vocalist added in for the afternoon crowd.

This band was playing at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville on Wednesday night. You will notice the lead singer is trying to signal me to do something. Apparently he didn't want me to take a video and the bouncers almost kicked me out. I guess this band is very protective of their intellectual property rights as they relate to their interpretation of a Poison cover.

This band is called Mr. and Mrs. Smith and they were playing at Carneval Court on Friday night. They are an odd rap/hip-hop/rock mash-up and seem more concerned with getting people to drink than their music.

I soon tired of Mr. and Mrs. Smith and wandered down the Strip only to end up in a crummy little casino called O'Shea's which had a couple of surprisingly good bands. This was the closing band for the night. They are a cover band but at least they do it well and with enthusiasm.

This was the first band I saw at O'Shea's. A little cornier and but still entertaining and a better use of time than  losing your shirt at the roulette table. Overall, Las Vegas remains a town that is primarily about gambling and breasts and that probably is never going to change. At least there are a few interesting musical experiences available for those of us that are looking for such things. And of course, there is always Donnie and Marie.

7th Annual Pittsburgh Blues Challenge, Pittsburgh PA

Midnight Express take their turn in the competition.

I saw some great blues music last Saturday at the 7th Annual Blues Challenge sponsored by the Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania. The blues challenge is an all day contest to determine the area's representatives (one band and one solo act) to the International Blues Competition held each February in Memphis. (I haven't a clue why there are having the competition now other than they might need the time to raise some money to help sponsor the contestants.) The bands started at 1pm and were allowed exactly 20 minutes to highlight their skills.  I was generally impressed by the quality of the bands at the competition. I had seen about half the bands before and about half I had either never heard of or had not seen before. The sad thing is it made me realize how few live music venues exist in the Pittsburgh area and the odds of seeing any of these bands again soon are slim and none. Jill West and the Blues Attack won the award for best band. Jill's band always puts on a solid show although I have to say I've seen her run  through this exact set of songs every time she enters this competition. Chris Yakopcic won the solo category. He is certainly a talented musician although his brand of country blues isn't my favorite style. Below you will find video clips from most of the bands and a few examples of the jam session that occurred after the competition.

I had never heard of Melinda before but she has a great blues voice and a style very reminiscent of Bonnie Raitt.

Wayne and the Wild Root were impressive for featuring a complete horn session and a lead singer in a trench coat and sunglasses. Okay.

Chuck Beatty and Stanley J did some nice acoustic work. Chuck's voice has a definite Howling Wolf quality to it.

It's been a while since I have seen  Dave Iglar's band. They always put on an energetic show and he is a good guitar player. His daughter plays saxophone and....that is all I am going to say.

I had heard of The Blues Junkies but never had a chance to see them before. They play good melodic party blues.

My old favorite Jimmy Adler was great as usual. I would have picked him to win but I think his particular style is perhaps not as user friendly as Jill West's.

Ron Yarosz and The Vehicle was last year's winner and they were impressive again this year. Ron is known for playing a B3 organ but he only played it on one song so I just got him on harmonica.

Midnight Express was a band I had not heard of before the competition. They are a good, if unexciting jump blues band.

Jill West and Blues Attack performed a professional set as always. This clip features Greg Krupa, their excellent guitarist.

Here is the winner of the solo competition. A little too much thumping and growling for my taste.

It had been awhile since I saw Angel Blue as well. Her band is always fun to watch and Angel always puts on a decent show.

She doesn't look like your typical blues singer but Nancy McKeen can really wail. I hope she plays more gigs in the Pittsburgh area soon.

I've seen Craig King before and this was not one of his better nights. He seemed almost sleepy during most of the set. I guess we had all had a long day at this point.

First song of the blues jam after the competition. I'm not sure if Angel Blue knew all the words but she faked it well.

A nice relaxed version of Bill Wither's Use Me to close things down.

Fell's Point in Baltimore (Night Two)

3/11/2011

Nate Myers

My second night in Fell's Point was a surprisingly successful journey through a variety of musical genres from blues to rockabilly to alternative to bluegrass (?). One of the amazing things I discovered tonight was that virtually EVERY club in Fell's Point features some kind of music on the weekends. I saw numerous acoustic duos and solo performers of various qualities along with some of the bands featured below. This variety and quantity of live music is in stark contrast to the South Side in Pittsburgh which features virtually no live music in its clubs outside of concert performances at Club Cafe, The Rex or Diesel. The Smiling Moose, a heavy metal venue, is the only club I know of on the South Side that features local bands. I understand Pittsburgh's obsession with sports and chugging large volumes of cheap beer but the comparison between these two blue-collar towns is both depressing and embarrassing.

Ironically the best band I discovered on this night hails from Pennsylvania but they call Harrisburg home, not Pittsburgh. Nate Myers and the Aces put on the best live show I have seen in a club not located in Memphis, Nashville or New Orleans in a very long time. The band bridges an amazing number of genres playing blues, rockabilly, country and funk--the kind of musical mash-up usually identified as Americana these days. I have featured three videos of Nate and his band to give you an idea of their musical breadth.

This song features Nate's introduction of the band. 

This song features a brief discussion of  Myer's time spent in Clarksdale, Mississippi recording a CD.

This song features a classic country song most recently associated with Johnny Cash. This is one you couldn't sing drunk or high.

Lower Case Blues were playing a few doors down at at Slainte's Irish Pub. They also played a mix of genres but seemed most interested in old R&B, playing a number of Stax classics including Rufus Thomas's "Walk The Dog". This is their take on an Aretha Franklin classic.

I honestly don't remember where I saw this band, by this time in the night I was bouncing around trying to avoid the dreaded band breaks. I was surprised to encounter a bluegrass band, not one of my favorite genres of music, but these guys were pretty good at playing it.

I saw this duo earlier in the evening at the small bar called Ledbetters II. They do a pretty good job for a duo and the lead guitarist is especially impressive on this Van Morrison cover.

I just happened to run into this singer in a bar called The Whistling Oyster. I recorded this because she said it was an original song. She should have kept doing covers because she seems to have difficulty finding the melody for this song.

All in all I was very impressed with the music scene in Fell's Point. I had considered this more or less a one time trip but I think I will head back here sooner than I had originally planned.

Fell's Point in Baltimore (Night One)

3/10/2011

Thames Street in Fell's Point

Fells Point has always been one of my favorite neighborhoods to hang out in and listen to music. When I lived in central PA I generally got down to the area about three times a year but it has been about five years since I last spent any time here. The area hasn't changed too much, some of the bars have changed but all the old favorites seem to be here with the exception of the Full Moon Tavern. I had heard about the demise of my favorite Fells Point music dive so I wasn't surprised but I did miss her grimy floors a little last night. But I still found a pretty good batch of live music. Most of the bars that feature music are on Thames, the main drag of Fells Point that borders the harbor. This street is still cobblestone so it is amusing to watch the semi-drunk patrons stagger out of the bars and try to negotiate the street without falling on their respective faces.It had been raining all day in Baltimore and this made the cobblestone particularly dangerous. Luckily the rain slowed down to a trickle for most of the night so I didn't get completely drowned. (I brought a Slippery Rock hat to wear in case of rain but I hate wearing hats and in the course of the evening I lost it somewhere. I hope someone is enjoying my hat.) Here are some of the better bands I saw last night.

This girl was playing acoustic guitar at Ledbetters II. She has a nice voice but she sounds a little shaky on this song because she obviously can't remember the lyrics. You can't hear it on this video but bar patrons were actually trying to help her with  the words.

This was the happy hour guitar player in The Horse You Came in On, a great old bar with a great name. He kept telling us he had a cold but he sounds okay on this song. He later covered some John Denver which I should have caught on video for Dr. Quinn but I had lost my Flip camera somewhere in the pockets of my coat and missed the song.

This band was playing at the Cat's Eye Pub, another great old bar on Thames Street. The Skyla Burrell band was supposed to be playing but for some reason that I could never get the bartender to divulge, she didn't show. This was the band that replaced her and I gather that they were rather quickly assembled because there were long discussions between each song about what they were going to do. When they came back from a long break they chatted with the crowd for 10 minutes about what they were going to play. I finally told them to play ANYTHING but just stop talking about it. I pissed them off but at least they played something. Ironically they are pretty good and they were the only real blues band I saw this night.

This video was taken at the Waterfront Hotel Bar. This guy looks more like a grade school teacher than a singer but he isn't bad and he tried to cover Bowie although with  limited success. After this song he told the audience that he had just sang a David Bowie song. No one had a clue who he was talking about.

This video was taken in the Slaine Irish Pub, about two doors down from the Waterfront Hotel Bar. This band did a lot of interesting covers and worked harder than any other band I saw on this night. You can see the wind whipping around through the front windows of the club and the harbor is visible in  the distance.

All in all this was a fairly successful night. Fell's Point will never be mistaken for New Orleans or even Memphis but it has some great old bars and some decent music. We'll see how things play out on a Friday night.

Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk and Orgone at The Rex Theater in Pittsburgh, PA

2/24/11
Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk and their opening act of Orgone put on a great funk show at the Rex Theater. I had never heard of Orgone but I later found out they are a well-established funk band out of Los Angeles. They had a great horn section with a trumpet player that wore a cowboy hat all night. Once again the crowd was interesting with a varied demographic and they actually listened to the music which is a rarity in Pittsburgh.

17th Annual Blues for Food at Domenico's in Cranberry Township, PA

2/20/11
This was the fifth year in a row that I attended the Blues for Food concert in Cranberry Township, PA. They always have this benefit show at Domenico's which is not really set up as a music venue so the quality of the sound and the lighting (as you can see in the videos) is never the best. However, the music is always solid and this time was no exception. I purposely came a little later than I usually do so I could see Eugene Morgan and Jimmy Adler who closed the show. I also got the bonus of Miss Freddye sitting in for one song with Morgan and the Nightcrawlers.

C.J. Chenier at Wilbert's in Cleveland, Ohio.

1/28/11

C.J. Chenier dares me to talk to him before the show

I saw C.J. Chenier, son of zydeco legend Clifton Chenier, at Wilbert's in downtown Cleveland. This was the third time I had seen C.J. and this was definitely his least engaging performance. He sounded fine and his band was working hard but C.J. seemed a little distracted the whole night. Usually he will start a congo line at some point in the show and come dancing out into the audience but on this night he just played his accordion and looked pissed. I took a photo of him at the bar before the show and he looked pissed then too. Maybe he was just suffering from one to many one nighters. Anyway, I did get a good video from the show. I particularly like the scrubboard player. He looks like he is in pain the during the entire song.

New Orleans, LA in the French Quarter

1/12-15/11

I try to get to New Orleans at least once a year simply because the music, food and atmosphere charge my battery like no where else on earth. This visit was no exception and I found a lot of old friends and made a few new ones on my musical journeys. One old friend I didn't get to see was Kermit Ruffins who chose to fly to NYC at exactly the same time that I flew into New Orleans. One other annoying aspect of this trip was the temperature. The temperatures were hitting the low 'teens at night which is almost unheard of in Louisiana. The locals were freezing to death and most of the clubs on Bourbon Street have inadequate heating systems and they all leave their front doors open anyway. Most of the following videos were taken in clubs on Bourbon Street or within about a four block radius. Yes, I've seen Treme and I know that Bourbon Street has a well-deserved reputation for tackiness, tourism and often crummy music. But I actually like the tackiness and the truth  is there is a lot of great music on these few blocks (yes mixed in with the strip joints and the tacky tourist traps). You just have to be patient and search it out. For the following videos sometimes I know the name of the band, sometimes I know the name of the club and sometimes I am fuzzy about both--for a variety of predictable reasons.


The video below features Bryan Lee or Braille Blues Daddy as he is sometimes billed. As you might guess, Lee is blind. The strange thing is I saw him at Quaker Steak and Lube in Sharon, PA on  a Monday night about 1 1/2 years ago. I was shocked to walk into this club on  Bourbon Street to find him sitting on the bandstand. I actually knew that Lee had a long previous stint on Bourbon Street but I hadn't realized that he had returned. This video was taken in a new club on the far west end of Bourbon and the place was pretty full which accounts for some of my shaky camera work.

You can tell from  the video below that it was quite cold outside. This band was playing on the street for tips. (Yes, I tipped them.)

This video was shot at the Tropical Isle Bayou Club. I was hoping to see Jimmy Thibodeaux who has moved down to this club from the Krazy Korner but I found out he was in the hospital and had just had surgery that week. I'm not sure of the name of this band but they are a pretty good example of traditional cajun zydeco music. The guy with white hair in the front is playing the spoons. I wish I could make a living playing kitchen utensils.

This video was taken on Thursday morning  in Jackson Square. The lead singer/trumpet player keeps asking people to take their picture with him so he can ask for a tip. (I didn't get a picture and I didn't tip him. He  was too annoying.)

The video below was taken at Fat Catz, a club that generally features R&B as opposed to blues. They seem to have an ever changing group of singers but they are all pretty good.

I wasn't sure of what to make of the band featured in the video below. It was the first time I had heard anything approaching New Wave music in  New Orleans and it was being sung by a group of white men in colorful suits. This band was in a new club and I'm not sure if everyone was on the same page. I didn't stay long but I took the video just because of the suits.

Contrary to popular belief there is still traditional jazz on  Bourbon Street and this video was shot at Maison Bourbon Jazz Club. The video is short because they frown on videotaping and you can see the trumpet player shake his finger at me at the end of the video.    

This band was sort of a zydeco/rock mix but they did a good job of getting people off their feet and attempting the scrubboard.

Probably the prize for most the most powerful band I saw on this trip to New Orleans goes to Dwayne Dopsie and his Zydeco Kings. This video was shot at the Krazy Korner about 10 in the evening when  they had been playing  about six hours straight. Pretty amazing.

Nice version  of a Supremes song here. I don't know the name of the band and I am not sure where I was at. It was getting late. I remember that much.

Debbie and the Deacons at another of the Tropical Isle clubs. They are always worth a song or two. You will notice the cartoon of a hand grenade on the back wall. That is the deadly signature drink of the Tropical Isle.

This jazz swings more toward dixieland jazz which of course was perfected here in New Orleans. This video was shot at Fritzel's Jazz Club. This club is small so people pack into small seats in front of the bandstand.

This video was taken at Sing Sings which has been my favorite club for my last few visits. Unfortunately the house band at Sing Sings changed since the last time I was there. These guys aren't bad but they aren't up to the quality of their old house band and where did the all the great girl singers go?

Another cold street band. I must have saw these guys 20 times over the course of three days. They never stopped playing.

Another house band change at the Famous Door. This is one of the few clubs that features classic rock that I will go into in New Orleans. The main reason is the lead guitarist with the topknot that you see to the left. But I found out on this visit the rest of band left the Famous Door and now are playing in various configurations all over New Orleans. The replacement band members aren't as good and this isn't a particularly good example of the guitarist's work but you can't beat the song.

And last but not least my favorite modern zydeco band on Bourbon Street, The Bonoffs. The Bonoffs have been playing at the Old Opera House for several years and they always know how to get a crowd moving.

Trombone Shorty at The Rex Theater in Pittsburgh, PA

12/29/10
Trombone Shorty descended on the Rex Theater in Pittsburgh just before the new year and gave a great show. His combination of traditional New Orleans jazz with elements of funk, hip hop and rap creates a musical gumbo that cuts across all demographics. This show was packed and people of every color, age and persuasion were at the show. This was a great warm-up for the upcoming trip to New Orleans. For some reason I neglected to bring my Flip camera to this show so the  video below was taken with my Droid. Not bad but I wish I would have captured some of his horn playing.

Bob Dylan at Peterson Events Center, Pittsburgh, PA

11/7/10
I saw Bob Dylan at the Peterson Events Center (this was the third time) with the ubiquitous Dr. Mark Chase. Dylan was as impenetrable as ever singing with an increasingly frog-like voice and moving from the keyboards, his instrument of choice for the last few years, and his guitar. As usual his band was excellent and on at least two occasions I actually recognized the song that Dylan was singing, a rarity these days. You'll notice that I didn't attach Dylan's name to the video because after this video was initially posted (after a live concert blog experiment with Chase) I was flagged down  by the WebSheriff. Hopefully this time he will leave me alone.