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.