Barnstormer 5 at Chaseland barn. New Wilmington, PA

8/30/2011
       I guess it makes sense that the Barnstormer tour takes place in rural barns but it still seemed like an odd place for a concert to me. But as it turns out the Chaseland barn turned out to be the perfect venue for a great night of alternative rock/ alt country music. I was truly surprised by the quality of all the bands on the tour and the unique setting just added to the experience.

I missed the first band (Hacienda) to play but got there in time to catch most of Doug Paisley's set. Paisley is an alt-country singer from Toronto and this was his first night on the Barnstormer tour. Paisley has a warm voice and a folk/country sound that recalls fellow Canadian Gordon Lightfoot.

Princeton was a little too '80s for me with their multiple keyboard setup but I did like their dry ice effects although I initially thought the barn was on fire. Later in the night the lead singer got trashed and began screaming and yelling and running around the Chase pool until someone dumped him into it. Rock and Roll.

Wildfire was my favorite band of the night. Their raw power and vocal harmonizing reminded me of Arcade Fire. The lead singer did the whole show in some kind of medical boot because apparently he had broke his foot recently.  I had about a 30 minute chat with the band after the show. Like Doug Paisley they are from Toronto and were completely mystified about how people can bear to live in rural Pennsylvania.

I have a soft spot for White Rabbits since the band was initially formed in Columbia, Missouri although they are based out of Brooklyn now. I liked their sound although the plunky keyboard playing of the lead singer reminded me too much of  Coldplay.

Christopher Paul Stelling finished off the night with a strong acoustic set. His best moments were when he harmonized with his girlfriend (?) and her hippie hat. I enjoyed their take on this Hank Williams classic.

Lyle Lovett, Stage AE, Pittsburgh PA

8/23/2011
     On a whim I decided to check out my old friend Lyle Lovett at Stage AE in downtown Pittsburgh last Tuesday and was pleasantly surprised by both. I have been a fan of Lovett since his great album Pontiac and saw him about 8 years ago over in Station Square. Back in those days Lyle traveled with his "big" band which was composed of an entire horn section for his ventures into big band type jazz and rhythm and blues. These days he travels with his "large" band which is still quite extensive with multiple vocalists but no horn section. The sound wasn't quite as rich but the band still sounded great.
    This was my first trip to Stage AE, the new mid-sized venue in downtown Pittsburgh and for the most part, I found it to be a great venue. It was much smaller than I had imagined it (this show was set up outside, they can turn the stage around for indoor shows as well) but the stage was large and there were lots of of drink vendors and nearby bathrooms, always important. One complaint about the venue is that it bumps up against Heinz Field and you could literally hear the sound bouncing off the stadium and creating an echo effect. Lovett even commented on how annoying it was during the show. This probably isn't a big deal with heavy metal or rap acts but for music like Lovett's it created a distracting reverb sound. I got one not great video of Lovett and part of the band and I will include it because it is my favorite song of his: If I Had A Boat.

If I had a boat
I'd go out on the ocean
And if I had a pony
I'd ride him on my boat
And we could all together
Go out on the ocean
Me upon my pony on my boat

If I were Roy Rogers
I'd sure enough be single
I couldn't bring myself to marrying old Dale
It'd just be me and Trigger
We'd go riding through them movies
Then we'd buy a boat and on the sea we'd sail

Frenchman Street and the French Quarter, New Orleans, LA

This was my second trip to New Orleans in less than a year and as usual, it didn't disappoint. On this particular trip I tried to spend more time in the sophisticated Frenchman Street area of the Quarter because eminent music critic Colin McGuire of PopMatters and The Frederick News-Post fame met me to check out the musical scene. But as is my habit I wandered the whole Quarter and found some of the best music on the sidewalks but we also managed to see well known NOLA personalities like Kermit Ruffin and John Boutté.

This first video was taken on Frenchman Street outside of d.b.a.'s. It is an excellent clip featuring a street brass band of two generations. The man in the white shirt playing trumpet is the father of four of the boys playing although he informed us that they all have different mothers. It is a long clip but watch the whole thing as it gets better as it goes along.

This a clip of John Boutté of Treme fame at d.b.a's. He gave a great performance and was one of the highlights of the trip. He did sing the Treme theme song at the end of the show but the crowd was too thick by then to get a video.

Another street band--this time a drum corp. 

Okay, I included this video even though the visuals aren't very good because it features Kermit Ruffins playing at his home base Vaughn's. The video quality is bad because they have no stage lights in this place and it turns into a dark swamp after about an hour. We talked to Kermit for about 15 minutes before the show which was a thrill.

I included this clip because this is a good example of a Cajun band singing in their traditional French slang dialect.

A nice little jazz combo on Bourbon Street of all places.

Dwayne Dopsie and the Hellraisers are always fun to watch. This clip is interesting because it was taken in the middle of the Red Dress Run for charity which is why there are so many men in the bar in red dresses. In case you were wondering.

Nice funk band upstairs at The Blue Nile on Frenchman Street.

More Dixieland oriented jazz--again on Bourbon Street of all places.

This jazz combo was recorded in the early evening at The Spotted Cat on Frenchman Street. It was a nice club that I had never been to before.

As always I end most days at NOLA with a visit to the Bonoffs--a long time zydeco favorite of mine.

Bob Dylan and Leon Russell, Nautica Pavilion, Cleveland Ohio

8/6/2011

Bob Dylan  and his band perform at Nautica Pavilion on the West Flats of Cleveland.

      Bob Dylan and Leon Russell both gave great performances last Saturday on a hot and muggy night in Cleveland. The show took place at the Nautica Pavilion on the West Flats (I know it has some new corporate name attached to it but I long ago stopped trying to keep track of such things),  The first that I noticed is what a great facility Nautica is and how much more impressive it is visually and acoustically than any similar sized venue in Pittsburgh..  I dare to say it is even better than AE Stage which I have not been to yet. I assume this simply because AE Stage is  an example of the new "black box" style of mid-sized arenas--functional but uncomfortable. At least from an aesthetic point of view there can be no comparison.
   The night began with an energetic set by Leon Russell. After clearing out a few frogs in his voice his singing was up excellent and his band was obviously enjoying playing in a larger venue than they are probably accustomed to playing. As always Leon's piano playing was superior but the one unnerving thing about his performance was that for some reason he took off his sunglasses for the last few songs. I can't remember any picture taken in the last 30 years that actually showed Leon's eyes so it was an eerie experience (I was in the second row so I could see them clearly). He looked a little like a large hairy Yoda.
   After an efficient break down and set up Bob Dylan's band took the stage about 30 minutes after Russell finished. The first thing that was unique about this show was that the entire band was dressed in beige suits although  Dylan maintained the same look he has had for the last few years with his porkpie hat and dark suit. Amazingly, I recognized the first five songs Dylan played and I even understood a vast majority of the lyrics. Unlike the charging blues band sound of the last few time I have seen Dylan, this time the band seemed to be going for a rockabilly, almost country sound. This allowed Dylan to focus less on his crummy keyboard and guitar playing and more on his singing which was typically croaky but almost melodic in spots. The most interesting thing about Dylan's performance was that he seemed almost jauntily happy, dancing at the  keyboard and smiling through several of the songs. I have seen him  when  he seemed visibly annoyed at the proceedings but on this night, he obviously was enjoying the crowd and the band. At one point he and the entire band burst into  laughter at what I suspect was a blown conclusion  to one of the longer songs. All in all a great night for music and as always at a Dylan show, an intriguing and unique crowd to watch during lulls in the music. No videos this time. The intellectual property police were working overtime. They wouldn't even  let me text during the concert. I did manage to sneak the pirate photo you see above.

U2, Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA

7/26/2011
Last night I had the opportunity to see the roving U2 extravaganza due to the benevolence of the ubiquitous Dr. Mark Chase. I was also accompanied on this journey by Dr. Joseph Harry and designated driver extraordinaire Jeremy Saylor. I don't have much to say about the show other than it was a competent arena rock show with the requisite flashing lights, giant TV screens, and pompous posturing. I have to say I have gotten spoiled over the last few years because most of the shows I see are in smaller venues so watching a concert on giant TV screens leaves me a little cold. Below is a brief clip of the concert that will at least give you an idea of their immense stage set up for the show.

Ft. Myers Beach, Florida

7/23/2011

Ft. Myers Beach at sunset.

I recently took a quick trip to Florida and spent most of my time on Sanibel Island. Sanibel Island is a pleasant place but not terribly exciting so I did manage to make a side-trip to Ft. Myers Beach on my last night in Florida. Ft. Myers Beach has a nice assortment of beach bars and I enjoyed walking the "Times Square" area bar-hopping and people-watching. All of the bars I went into had some form of music although most of the places featured one-man band set ups, not full bands. I did find two clubs that featured full bands and I a brief video of each of the bands. The first band was in a nice outside venue called Top O' The Mast.  I thought the  band had a nice contemporary sound although they did some classic rock as well. They had a very dedicated female fan club as well.

The second band video was, I believe, taken at The Beached Whale although I admit things were getting a bit fuzzy at this point. As you can see in the video everyone was having a good time at this point in the evening.

All in all I enjoyed my visit to Ft. Myers Beach and next time I'm in Western Florida I'll spend more time checking out the local clubs.

The Sauce Boss, Quaker Steak and Lube, Sharon, PA

7/11/2011
The Sauce Boss (Bill Wharton) returned to Sharon, PA last Monday night to provide his usual mix of music, hucksterism and gumbo. I've seen Wharton four or five times over the last few years and his schtick is always the same. He plays a little blues, works the audience into a fever with some rants while simultaneously cooking a big pot of gumbo for the audience to eat at the end of the show. Monday night's show was interesting because the crowd was relatively small and not very interested in participating or dancing. Wharton even exclaimed at some point that this must be a "listening" crowd and perhaps the bikers and  party people were waiting for his appearance Wednesday night at a Biker and BBQ event at this same venue.  In any event, Wharton put up a good fight and provided some entertaining moments as always. The clip below is of a particularly good guitar solo of Wharton 's. I include it because with all the rants and comedy bits it is easy to forget he is a pretty good blues guitarist.

This next clip is more typical of Wharton's act. He is behind the bar giving a rant about relations between men and women while drumming a couple of beer bottles into a state of excitement. You'll see what I mean. I didn't include any clips of Wharton singing because frankly, that is the weakest part of his performance. By the way, his gumbo isn't that great either. To be fair, you can't cook a great gumbo in three hours so it is pretty good for the time he has available. I wish he would start cooking the gumbo in the afternoon and let the crowd eat it during the show but I guess that would disrupt the structure of his act. Oh well.

St. Louis, St. Joseph, Kansas City, MO

7/5/2011-7/11/2011
Last week I went on a road-trip to visit the city of my birth St. Joseph, Missouri. On the way I stopped in St. Louis, Columbia and Kansas City and found a few musical experiences. There are actually three excellent music clubs across the street from the baseball stadium in St. Louis. My main goal was to see Kim Massie at Beale on Broadway but typical of my luck, the club picked this night to close unexpectedly (I assume because it was the night after the 4th of July). Instead I checked out the club across the street called BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups and saw a great blues band fronted by Miz Shay. She is a superior blues belter and does a great version of Let The Good Times Roll on this video clip.

I then ventured to the Broadway Oyster Bar across the street. They had a fill-in band there and I didn't catch their name but they are what I would call a Missouri hillbilly band. They were great instrumentalists and put on a nice demonstration of this genre of music.

A statue to Coleman Hawkins.

Later in the week I was staying in downtown St. Joseph when I discovered that the town sponsors musical concerts in the Coleman Hawkins Park in the center of town (this despite the fact that the town is rotting around this little oasis).According to our good friends at Wikipedia Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist born in St. Joseph.  Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn". While Hawkins is most strongly associated with the swing music and big band era, he had a role in the development of bebop in the 1940s Phil Vandel was the act on this night and he proved to be a competent country-rock band and the crowd seemed to enjoy him. Sorry, I forgot my flip cam so I took this video on my phone.

Tiffany Miller

After St. Joseph I moved on to Kansas City and found myself in a piano bar. Tiffany Miller was the official talent this evening although she had several guest pianists guesting during her show. Tiffany is not a great pianist or singer but she knows her job as an entertainer and worked the crowd effectively. The club was dark as tar so none of my videos or photos were of an acceptable quality so I stole a photo of Tiffany from her website. Let's hope she doesn't sue me.

The Hern Brothers, Conneaut Lake, PA

7/2/11

This unidentified blonde was typical of the crowd at The Beach Club last night. 

The Saturday during 4th of July weekend is always a raucous time at The Beach Club on Conneaut Lake and last night proved to be no exception The band in residence was The Hern Brothers, a Beach Club perennial and a band I have seen many times. The Hern Brothers have been playing in this area for over 30 years and they have an act polished from years of playing crummy bars and clubs in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. They are probably the best classic rock cover band in the area and they always bring their own wild crowd which turns up  the energy. I have several video clips of them but I chose to include only one because it pretty much encapsulates the night. In this clip you will see several rather unattractive women in even more unattractive bridesmaids dresses serving as part of the entertainment. You will also see a quite inebriated  blonde woman jump up and talk on the mic at the beginning of the song (I still can't figure out what she says-email me with your translation) and about half way through the song the lead singer will stop singing because she has hit the deck. All in a night's fun.

Buddy Guy with Quinn Sullivan and Robert Cray, Youngstown, Ohio

6/25/11

Buddy Guy at the Bluesfest in Youngstown, Ohio.

I got up the courage to make my first trip to downtown Youngstown Saturday night (after living in the area for 13 years) to see Robert Cray and Buddy Guy in a concert outside the Covelli Center. Buddy Guy is now 74 years old and I have been trying to see him for several years so I could check him off the list of great living guitarists I have seen, (Let's face it. He's 74. How many more chances am I going to get.) I expected a competent, generic concert. What I got was one of the top 10 live performances I have ever seen. Guy proved to be a phenomenal guitarist (which wasn't that much of a surprise) but he also was a great vocalist and consummate entertainer It is almost impossible to believe that this man is 74 years old but I know it is true because he sang a song about it and no one lies in a song--right? Anyway, this first clip is the first song of a Muddy Waters medley that Guy did. His command of the audience in this clip is incredible.

At about the half-way point of the concert Guy jumped into the audience and played his guitar while walking through the crowd. This is an old blues artist crowd pleasing trick but I have to say that Buddy did it better than any other artist I have seen. As you can tell from this video I had seats in the front row and because of that got some great video of Buddy soloing.

Toward the end of the concert Guy brought out his protege, 12 year old Quinn Sullivan. I had heard of Sullivan before as Guy has been using him in his concerts since Quinn was about eight years old. Sullivan is one of a series of young guitar hotshots that have been introduced over the last few years as the youthful savior of the blues. I am not sure what kind of career Sullivan will have but on this night he played some great guitar and proved to be almost the equal of Guy in guitar licks.

The official opening act for Guy was blues guitarist/vocalist Robert Cray. I have been attempting to see Cray for about 20 years so I was happy to see him on the line-up for this concert. I have to say that I was slightly disappointed with his performance. He was slick and competent but I felt he leaned too heavily on his recent attempts at pop crossover songs. I would have preferred to hear more from his break out period of the early '80s or more blues-oriented material. It was also amusing when Buddy Guy called Cray up for the encore of his set only to find that Cray had left the venue. The look of annoyance on Guy's face was priceless.

The unofficial opening act for the concert was a duo from Youngstown. I only know the singer's name is Hoss. He did a great job in a tough situation singing some old Blood, Sweat and Tears. I hope I can catch him again sometime in the future.

All in all this was one of the best concert experiences I have had in the last few years. I would advise everyone to see Buddy Guy at your earliest opportunity while you still can.

Huckin' Fillbillys and Rock Steady, Conneaut Lake, PA

6/18/2011
I've always had good luck with classic rock cover bands at The Beach Club at Conneaut Lake and last night proved to be no major exception. The first video is of a band called Hucking Fillbillys (how clever) out of Youngstown, Ohio. I have to give this band credit for bringing a huge support crew and putting on a show with all the gadgets (dry ice, laser lights, etc.) that  have become associated with "rock" shows. The band is actually pretty effective although a whole night of this kind of posturing could become annoying.

After the Fillbillys decided to take a break I ventured down the road to Fairway 12 where much to my surprise they had  a stripped down power trio holding court. I found this group interesting simply because the lead singer was also the drummer. I can't imagine the physical dexterity it must take to do both things at the same time. But maybe that is because I am a clumsy idiot. Speaking of idiots, you will notice one jump up on the bandstand about halfway through this video. It got worse later as four or five of these guys jumped up on the bandstand and started picking up random guitars that weren't being used. If it was me I would have kicked them in the gonads but this band was surprisingly cool about it all.

All in all this was a pretty typical night of rock, rowdiness and rednecks at Conneaut Lake.

Elvis Costello, Pittsburgh, PA

6/17/2011
After a long musical break I had the opportunity last night to see Elvis Costello for the second time at Trib Total Media Amphitheatre in Station Square. On this tour Costello is using the gimmick of featuring a large wheel on stage with various "hits" from various points in his career. Audience members were asked on stage to spin the wheel and then whatever song came up, the band was supposed to perform the song. An interesting idea and it let Elvis flirt with some pretty girls that were brought up on stage although I noticed that he tended to ignore the results from the wheel and find a reason to play pretty much whatever song he wanted. In the end this was a solid concert although not as strong as his "greatest hits" tour of a few years ago which I caught in Baltimore. This clip features Costello's "Watching The Detectives." You will notice at the beginning of the clip that the show featured a go-go cage at the left of the stage which usually contained a dancing girl.

Bikes, Blues n Brews, Conneaut Lake, PA

5/20/2011

A biker DJ at the Bikes, Blues n Brews concert event.

      This Saturday saw the return of the Bikes, Blues n Brews concert series at Conneaut Lake Park in Conneaut Lake, PA. This concert series was a popular part of the park's reopening two summers ago but for some reason was discontinued last summer. I was glad to see the concert series return and Saturday was a pretty good indication of what is to come. The series features regional touring bands of a generally higher quality than the average local band in the Western Pennsylvania area and tends to feature tribute bands to older rock legends (Alice Cooper, Van Halen, ZZ Top, etc.) I'm not sure why they use the word blues in the title for the series other than the great alliteration because there are rarely blues bands featured. The target audience for this concert series is bikers and they were out in pretty impressive force on Saturday. The first band to play was called Metal, Inc. from Youngstown, Ohio and they lived up to their name playing a pretty standard assortment of pop-metal over the course of the afternoon. In this video you can see the guitarists' do the mandatory simultaneous head bob while covering Iron Maiden.

The second band on the bill was called Midnight Express. I assume the name comes from the an affection for the Creedence Clearwater Revival cover of the song and not from the Leadbelly original as this band specializes in 70's album rock. Musically this band was superior to Metal, Inc. and did a good job of covering the usual album rock suspects. In this video they do a credible job of covering Boston, which isn't the easiest thing to do. I left about halfway through Midnight Express' set as I was feeling the lingering effects from MSG poisoning from some food I ate the night before. A third band, Jackie, was scheduled for the Beach Club bar later on  this night but I had to forgo that experience. Although I wish there was a little more blues featured in  this concert series I do think it a solid addition to the events at Conneaut Lake Park and will build attendance as the summer progresses.

A street party and beyond in downtown Pittsburgh, PA

5/19/2011

     Friday night was one of the first nights of decent weather we have had in months so even though there were no major musical events scheduled, it seemed like a good time to hit downtown Pittsburgh. First I went to the street party that is usually given by the Pittsburgh Pirates on 6th Street before each baseball game. I have no interest in sitting through a baseball game but I am always up for a good street party. A section of the street was cordoned off for alcohol sales and a band was place in a tent in the center of this area. I honestly don't remember the name of this band but that might be just as well as they are not very good although enthusiastic and at least they are dressed appropriately.

My next stop was the Backstage Bar in Theatre Square. This is a small bar connected to a theater that is used for small musicals and revues. The bar generally features jazz during Happy Hour only so as not to conflict with the theater next door. The band performing this evening featured some smooth jazz, maybe a little too smooth for my taste, but they were still entertaining.

The band featured below was playing in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel next to a bar called Andy's (in honor of Andrew Carnegie). I had never heard of this bar or hotel before and just happened to be walking by when I heard them so this was a pleasant surprise. I don't have a video of it but later the singer was wandering all over the lobby interacting with people and generally making a nuisance of herself. (By the way, this hotel is beautiful. I wish I could afford to stay at it someday.)

I chose to end the evening by giving NOLA on the Square a second chance. This visit was far more successful than the last. I had the Shrimp and Grits which were very good although not as good as some I had had in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The musical act this night was The Olga Watkins band. They bill themselves as a blues band although they are closer to R&B/pop in my opinion. However, this video show them interpreting an old blues classic, Stormy Monday. You will notice in the background that they opened up the windows on the front of the restaurant and this gave the place a much more open feel. In all this was an eclectic but fairly successful night of music searching in Pittsburgh.

Quaker Steak and Lube, Sharon, PA

5/16/2011

This isn't Harper but another gentleman playing a didgeridoo.

    Most people in this area seem unaware of it but the original Quaker Steak and Lube hosts blues bands every Monday night. Actually the bands usually play in the faux Irish bar Tulley's which is across the parking lot from the actual Lube. Generally they have local or regional bands play but on occasion they will book a national act that happens to be wandering through the region. I suspect even national acts are happy to get a gig on a Monday night which is probably one reason why the Lube has chosen this night.
    Last night Blind Pig recording artist Harper stopped by the Lube and put on a great show in the Thunder Alley section of the main restaurant (Tulley's was hosting a private function). Harper is probably the most unusual blues artist I have ever seen. First, he is Australian. Second, his primary instrument is a didgeridoo. According to Wikipedia, the most reliable source on the earth, a didgeridoo "is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia at least 1,500 years ago and is still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe".
    I actually ran into Harper at the bar before the first set began and had an interesting discussion with him. He currently lives in Michigan and his entire band is from the Detroit or Flint areas of that state. He had a gig in Del Ray Beach, Florida the night before and had spent the night and most of the day driving up to Pennsylvania. This annoyed him primarily because he had recently been arrested for a DUI in Michigan and he wasn't quite sure if he could drive his van legally. He was also annoyed with the United States' obsession about drinking and driving because apparently drinking and driving is a common occurrence in Australia. His final statement to me before chugging his 32 ounce beer and finishing his setup was, "If you want to be poor. Be a musician." Probably true.
    As entertaining as Harper's conversation was, his music was even better. In addition to his expertise on the didgeridoo he is also an excellent harmonica player and a very smooth and soulful singer-his singing voice sounding nothing like his speaking voice. This first clip is an example of his harmonica playing and singing. (Harper is singing in this clip. It is hard to see because he tends to cup the harmonica in front of his mouth.)

This second clip features Harper on the infamous didgeridoo. I like the way he incorporates the instrument into the overall blues sound of the song. It is not an instrument that I would like to hear every night but I enjoyed hearing Harper play it and I thought the band in general was excellent.

North Park Lounge, Cranberry Township, PA

5/14/2011

Cranberry Township has to be one of the most boring places in the world and yet I find myself there a lot because it is the closest place with a decent book store, a movie theater and restaurants with edible food. In Western Pennsylvania this constitutes culture. In any event, I started out my day yesterday with no agenda to see bands but found myself trapped in the North Park Lounge for a few hours waiting out a violent rainstorm that hit the area. North Park Lounge has new owners and they have done a good job of remodeling the place, particularly the modular trailer in the back lot that serves as an outdoor bar. They opened up the front of the "trailer" and they cleaned up the rather moldy interior. And to their credit, they still have bands on Saturday night even though they sequester them to the far end of the bar and close off doors so the rest of the patrons won't be bothered. I'd be insulted if I was a band playing this place but I guess beggars can't be choosers given the state of live music in Western Pennsylvania. The first band I saw was named Acoustic Jammage. I had never heard of them and was encouraged during their warm-up to hear them play some power blues songs. And they did play a Stevie Ray Vaughn song early in their set but then wandered off into pop-country (?) and jam band territory. I have to say the most annoying thing about this band was their one light which you can see behind the bassist. It's bad enough that this place offers no stage and no lights for their bands but then  this band brings a light which merely makes it harder to see them or anything else clearly. The horrendous lighting screwed up the look of this video as you can see. (Another amusing thing you will notice in this video is a bathroom sign placed behind the band. Yes, there is a bathroom back there and periodically you will see people walk past the band to relieve themselves. Classy.)

After a sleepy 40 minutes Acoustic Jammage announced that they were going to have their friends play a set. I figured they were just going to sit in but a completely different band began to set up. Thankfully they used the same drum set but it still took a good 20 minutes for this band to get organized. It became apparent fairly quickly that we were privileged to watch The Tar Benders have a rehearsal and by the looks of it, one of their first. I did record this song which has some competent blues noodling by the lead guitarist but I made a run for it shortly after this while the rainfall was still relatively mild. All in all a depressing example of the state of live music in this area.

Villa, NOLA and Little E's, Pittsburgh PA

3/4/2011

NOLA on the Square

Many people don't know this but Pittsburgh has a rich jazz history that has largely been decimated by urban renewal of the former jazz district and a general neglect of the city's musical heritage by its residents. At one time or another significant jazz artists like George Benson, Art Blakey, Billy Eckstine and Billy May all called Pittsburgh home. Jazz still survives in Pittsburgh although it has become increasingly difficult to find. I still mourn the loss of Dowe's on 9th, the best jazz venue in Pittsburgh for many years. On this night I decided to discover what kind of jazz was available on an overcast Wednesday evening in Pittsburgh. I headed for Villa on the Southside of Pittsburgh because I saw on their website that Etta Cox, a frequent performer at Dowe's on 9th, would be performing there at Happy Hour. I apparently didn't pay enough attention to the website because I missed the part about a women's business networking event proceeding the performance. After an hour of exchanging cards and handshakes with a large group of middle aged business women I got to hear Etta sing for the first time in years. She was in fairly good voice although she covered three Carole King songs in less than an hour which I thought was an odd choice. The song in this video is not a Carole King song. You can hear the business women chattering in the background.

I left the South Side to head for NOLA at Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh. NOLA is the new New Orleans themed restaurant in Pittsburgh. First I must say that I thought the food was very disappointing. Since eating there I have read several online reviews of the food at NOLA which were all very positive. Either I am crazy or none of these people have ever left Pittsburgh. The food wasn't inedible but resembled nothing I have ever ate in New Orleans on my many visits. However, I am willing to give them another try later this summer in hopes I just came by on a bad night. As a music venue NOLA is merely okay. The band is jammed up against the front window with no stage and no real sight lines available to the rest of the club. The band was guitarist Colter Harper and friends. They were interesting although a bit low-key for a New Orleans themed bar/restaurant.

From NOLA I ventured to Little E's, a cute little second story jazz club on Liberty Avenue. This place has an odd set-up in that the bar is at the very rear of the club, far away from the band. However, I have found out that if you plop yourself down on one of the couches right in front of the stage nobody seems to mind. The band this night was the Duke Hunter Band although, as is common with jazz, a variety of random musicians popped up on the bandstand to sing or play an instrument. The first video is a charming song in the samba/jazz vocal tradition and the second video was later in the night and features what I think is a bass clarinet. I guess the positive outcome of this night of jazz is the discovery that this genre of music is still available in Pittsburgh and in fact every venue I went to on this Wednesday evening had a healthy crowd.

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.