Concert reviews and mp3s from Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Relient K, Buddy Guy, the White Stripes, Lost and Found, and anyone else who currently piques my interests.
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Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Tenacious D live at Rock'n'Roe '06
With their new movie "The Pick of Destiny" just out, it seemed like a good time to post a great recent D concert. While they hadn't been touring at the time (this is their only concert in a 14-month period), they came together to play, of all things, a benefit concert for Planned Parenthood. "Rock 'n' Roe" (as in Roe vs. Wade) had been going for a few years, but had just had local California musicians, so they clearly tried to amp it up a notch. And the D, made up of Jack Black and Kyle Gass (yes, "that other guy" has a name) delivered, playing a concert heavy on debuts of songs that wouldn't be officially released for almost a year, including "Kickapoo", "Dude, I Totally Miss You", "Master Exploder", and "The Government Totally Sucks". While the versions released on the soundtrack album have full instrumentation, this is just the D playing as they do best: two guys rocking the hell out of acoustic guitars. It also features some of their great covers, including Flash leading into Wonderboy and a Tommy Medley. Enjoy.
Tenacious D 1/14/06 Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA "Rock 'n' Roe" Benefit
01. Flash 02. Wonderboy 03. Kickapoo 04. Dio 05. The Road 06. Tribute 07. Dude I Totally Miss You 08. Saxaboom 09. I'm Toasted 10. Master Exploder 11. Special Things 12. Lee 13. Explosivo 14. The Government Totally Sucks 15. Fuck Her Gently 16. Sex Supreme 17. Tommy Medley
Well, last Bob Day for a while. And it was a great one. Had a nice pre-show get-together with Marcel, Cece, handlevandal, The Fortune Teller, dancin' neath the diamond skies, dangling rope, and one or two others. It took me a while to haggle my way into the bar to hang out with them, but it was worth the stress. After a couple hours hanging out and talking Bob, we headed over to the show. I had, in addition to my backpack, a huge trash bag full of clothes from the Garment District's "a pound for a dollar" room. Thrift-store shopping at its finest, but I did get some funny looks from some people at the venue. They let me chuck it all under a stairwell though, so it wasn't a problem. It also allowed me to bring in a camera, in addition to my binoculars, but it turned out not to matter.
I was sad it would be my last time seeing The Raconteurs live, but maybe I'll catch them again down the road (although hopefully the White Stripes will get back together and make it a moot point). They mixed up their set list a bit this time, which was nice. They didn't actually add any songs, but they mixed up the order, kicking it off with Hands (good to get out of the way) before Intimate Secretary. It Ain't Easy vanished from the set, as did I think another song, but weren't replaced by anything. I'm not sure where the freed-up time went. Bang, Bang was incredible again, but for me the stand-out track from this set was Broken Boy Soldiers, which Jack rocked out. A cool feature of a few songs, this especially, is a mic he has set up in the back by the drum kit which is heavily distorted, making his words even louder and weirder sounding. Everything came out yelling like a banshee yell through that and it was fun to see him the few times he used it. Will probably just sound bizarre on the recording, but was great to see live. Blue Veins was better than the previous two I'd seen, and they wrapped it all up with Steady As She Goes. I bought a poster during the break then got back into my seat with a little time to spare. The guy in the seat next to me, a senior at BU, was very excited about Bob when I talked to him before the Racs set, and pretty well informed...but then he left after the first Racs song and never came back. Very weird. I was hoping to convert him; he already had asked me to send him Cynthia Gooding and knew about the pool, but I never saw him again. Oh well.
I was hoping, for the third night in a row, for Absolutely Sweet Marie to open the show, and finally Bob granted my wish. Even though it was only done decently, it's still clearly a great way to open the show. The riff could be a little louder, but it was still fun to hear.
Things really got started with Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) though. I had been hoping for this song, and thought it was likely because it was Sunday, but was overjoyed to hear it nevertheless. And what a great version. Delicately done and sublime. An early highlight, and my first new song.
I recognized the opening riff immediately to the next song, but couldn't quite place it until he started singing. I just wasn't expecting Honest With Me at all, much less in the third slot, but it was great to hear (and, amazingly enough, to only Love and Theft song of the night). The signature fill between lines was gone, but a version of it showed up in between solo lines (only with the chord played three times, instead of two). It was very well done too, best version I've seen, and the show was certainly off to a great start both setlist and performance-wise.
I was a little disappointed to get Positively 4th Street, the first song that I'd already gotten this tour, but my frustration quickly abated as I heard the delivery. Much like Chicago's version, the bitterness was quickly stated, but furious nevertheless. This song is as good as it's been for years, and didn't have a hint of upsinging.
Wow, Masters of War, I didn't see that coming either. While not ground-breaking, the set had been quite surprising so far. It was a solid version, though it didn't particularly stand out for me.
Alright, another first time for me, and one I definitely didn't see coming, Til I Fell In Love With You. And another highlight, not quite as good as last fall's versions, but still one of the best Time Out of Mind songs live these days. Totally reinvented from the mediocre album version and another huge highlight.
Easily the second best live song off of Modern Times so far (what's first? scroll down), When the Deal Goes Down was done to perfection. This song didn't get the attention it deserved when the album was released, but at least Bob seems to understand what a great song this is. It's not often you hear Bob play a waltz, and a woman in front of me took advantage of that, waltzing around by herself all over the floor. Kind of weird, but it was nice to see her so into it. With her and the romantic couple in Chicago, this song seems to fire up the emotions.
But Cold Irons Bound was nice to hear again, and made three very recent songs in a row, a rare occurance. It was done well, but nothing too outstanding. Quite a number of people (myself included of course) cheered on the "winds in Chicago" line, so I clearly wasn't the only one from out of town. I feel like the riff wasn't quite as prominant as it was this summer.
Every Grain of Sand solidifed this as the best setlist in a while, some real gems being tossed in. I'm not as big of a fan of this song, but he really nailed it tonight. Absolutely gorgeous. I've managed to see this song three times live in thirteen shows, which is pretty good.
Rollin' and Tumblin' still sucks live. Denny's "solos" weren't such at all, just him playing the guitar chords up and down the neck. Awful. Hopefully hearing this so late in the set meant we weren't going to get Highway 61.
I was hoping we'd avoided Tangled Up In Blue, but it seems to have become a regular. It's funny how one of the songs I really wanted to see live before this tour started has already become dreary. Just shows you the power of setlists. This version was somewhat different though, as Stu had changed his riff. It was lower on the next, and the second chord was higher than the first. An interesting change, and made it nice to hear. This was one of the best versions I've seen though, with no flubbed lines.
I'd been waiting five shows for Nettie Moore, and this was my last chance this tour. And not only did I get it, but boy did Bob deliver! The easy highlight of the show, and a highlight of my concert-going experience overall. I'd heard how great this one was live, but had avoided listening to any recordings so I could hear it live for the first time in person. It was everything it was cracked up to be and more, even better than the already-great album version. During the verses there was a little more instrumentation than on the album, but not much, and it was sung very faithfully. The main difference was he did something totally different with the "Oh I miss you Nettie Moore" line than on the album. I don't think it was quite as good, but it was fun to hear anyway.
I guess with the elaborate light show, every concert has to have Highway 61 Revisited these days, but seeing it end the set instead of Summer Days was a welcome relief. Every little surprise is a good one, and having only one of two songs each concert is great as far as I'm concerned. I'm not sure which one the band does better, so perhaps alternating them would work fine. They both could use a periodic break.
Thunder on the Mountain is always good as the first encore song, but I feel like it could use a bit more oomph. The instrumentation is a little muddy.
As I've said in my previous reviews, taking away the lights from Like a Rolling Stone kills it dead in the water. This did feature my funniest audience moment of the night though, where a guy who'd been higher in the stand came down next to me at ground level and started spastically dancing. The best part was, since he was trashed, he would yell every line after Bob would so out of tune it would seem he was trying. He was also about as off-rhythm as one could be. Normally this would be annoying, but he was just so horrendously bad and obnoxious that it was just funny to hear him and watch everyone's reactions. Definitely livened up another warhorse.
I was sick of him by All Along the Watchtower, though, so I headed up to where he had been. It was the best version I've heard this tour, not hard-rocking enough, but getting closer. The riff is more defined than the mess it had been, and it definitely was closer to the energy it used to have.
After the show I scurred out, got a ride to South Station with The Fortune Teller (thanks again!) and caught the late-night bus back to Hanover. Til next tour.
After a nice day off hanging out with friends from the Oklahoma play this summer, I headed down to Boston. I had been hoping someone would organize a pooler get-together, but no one did, so I threw one together at the last minute. I just picked a place at random that Mapquest said was close to the venue, and it turned out it had changed its name. People figured out though, and a few people showed up: Joe and a non-pooler friend, Kathleen, Saul, and Paul, whose ticket I had. One hot pastrami sandwich later, we headed to the venue. The seats Paul and I had turned out to be perfect. At an angle to the stage to see Bob’s face, but not at such an extreme angle that you got a crappy view of everyone else. I’ve got the same seats for tonight, only farther forward, so I’m psyched.
The Raconteurs came on right at 7:30 to a mostly empty arena, and kicked into another killer set. The only problem: it was the exact killer set I saw in Portland. Not one song changed. With a frontman whose previous band was notorious for never even having a planned set-list, this repetition was somewhat discouraging. There were a few differences though; such as a very different, slowed-down ending to Steady, As She Goes which really differentiated it from the album version. It also made the song much longer and was nice to see. Bang, Bang was probably the highlight tonight, the version even better than in Portland. Closing with Yellow Sun and Hands is incredibly anti-climactic though; they have so many better songs, I have no idea why that’s the impression they want to leave.
During the break I got a call from a good friend who lives in Boston saying she was actually at the show. Apparently about an hour beforehand a friend had said she had a few extra tickets, so she said, why not? Who don’t I ever snag free tickets to these shows? So I spent most of the break trying to push my way to the opposite side of the venue and back to see her.
Got back to my seat a couple minutes before Bob came on. I saw Donnie on the pedal steel and thought, uh oh. And yeah, it was Maggie’s Farm. But, it was the best version of the song I’ve ever seen. He was on tonight right from the beginning, playing the song as if he never would again (though let’s not get our hopes up). Absolutely nailed it from beginning to end, singing each line a different way, throwing in some staccato periodically, or pausing and then firing back in with the lyric. If he was this inspired you think he would have chosen a different song to open with, but at least he blasted the hell out of this one.
The momentum only grew with She Belongs to Me, by far the highlight of the night (how often can you say that about the second song?). He put his heart and soul into every line, not relying on the downsinging that made the earlier versions fun, but was starting to wear thin. His voice sounded in top form, and his delivery was flawless. Can’t wait for the recording of this one. He closed it out with an excellent harp solo that went on for a long time, well over a minute. Bob was in top form for sure.
But if he was in such top form, why was he playing such a standard set list, I wondered as Lonesome Day Blues began. It’s always a good song to hear, one of the best off of Love and Theft, but as I’d just gotten it in Chicago (after Maggie’s and She Belongs of course) a couple weeks ago, I wasn’t too excited. It was a very nicely done version, but not up the level of the amazing Chicago rendition.
I was thrilled to hear the opening chords to the next one. Kind of strange that it took me twelve shows to get Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright, but there you go. It is one of my favorite Dylan songs, and I enjoyed every minute of. A bit of periodic upsinging for sure (especially in the middle), but I enjoyed it regardless. A bit of a lyric flub with “It ain’t no use in calling out my name babe/The light I never knowed”, but what are you going to do. The last verse, incidentally, was stellar, and was capped off with some nice harp.
I saw Donnie picking up his violin and thought, son of a… And yes, it was It’s Alright Ma, again. No Bob, it’s not alright, stop playing this damn song so often. Or at least play it every night so we’re not disappointed when it shows up, taking up a slot another song could have used.
I was somewhat surprised to hear the intro to Workingman’s Blues #2, as I think of it as usually being the penultimate song of the main set. I hoped this meant I’d get my first Nettie Moore later. This version was far better than average, not award-winning, but at least he was trying to incorporate a tune. I’ve enjoyed this song live all three times I’ve seen it and tonight was no exception.
As the intro to Tangled Up In Blue began, I started to get a little disappointed by the lack of variation between this and the other three shows I’ve seen this tour. The audience flipped out over this one though, and it was decently delivered. A few lyric flubs, such as him saying the thing about the Tropicana, but never rhyming it with Atlanta. If I recall correctly, Denny did some nice solo work on this one.
Blind Willie McTell was the first song I hadn’t seen this tour yet (other than Don’t Think Twice of course) and it was performed quite well, as always. Spooky as hell of course. I don’t know how Bob can make a line like “Nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell” seem so threatening, but he manages. Featured an interesting calypso-esq solo from Denny, unusual chords being played fast up the neck. Not as good as his amazing solo in Columbus on this song (best I’ve seen him do), but nice nevertheless.
From the beginning I thought this was going to be an inspired show, and perhaps it was performance-wise, but setlist-wise it wasn’t looking so hot. A lot of people say they’d rather see good versions of standard songs then mediocre versions of unusual songs. Well give me the unusual songs any day. Instead, we got Most Likely, which was played at the Portland show Thursday (though, for the record, it was the highlight of that show). Not quite as good tonight, but a solid performance. Didn’t close with a harp solo as it did in Portland.
I saw Donnie grab the banjo again and, with Stu on upright bass, knew it was The Ballad of Hollis Brown. Once again, this would be a song I was much more excited to see if I hadn’t caught it in Chicago. Plus the Chicago one was a little better. Oh well, it’s still nice to see this one back in regular rotation. It was probably better than I’m giving it credit for, but as an avid setlist-watcher, I was becoming aware that the number of surprise slots left was getting low.
Highway 61 Revisited came next, and was perhaps another highlight. Bob and the band absolutely nailed this one. That’s not to say they changed much of tried anything different; they just did it the way they usually do it…really well. And, unlike in Portland, the light show going on behind them was timed perfectly, and really helps get the energy of the song going. I certainly don’t want Bob’s shows to become a tightly choreographed Rolling Stones-style show, but he could use a few more of these visual things going on. A blistering version.
I was praying for Nettie Moore, the one Modern Times song in rotation I haven’t yet seen, but no luck; Spirit in the Water again. I really enjoyed it once again though, and love the fact that the performance is already so drastically different than the album version. And it’s pretty impressive that such a new song gets such a strong audience response, ala the naked president in It’s Alright Ma. Why everyone cheers after “I think I’m past my prime” is a little unclear though; hopefully it’s a way of saying, no you’re not Bob. Then everyone cheers even louder after “We can have a whoppin’ good time”. Whether that has to do with the sentiment, the fact that it’s the last line in the song, of the fact that Bob said “whopping”, I’m not sure. At any rate, it nice to see the audience responding so strongly to a new one.
Summer Days, of course, rounded out the main set, and closed things off with a bang. This band has gotten quite proficient at this song, though I think Donnie would contribute something if we could ever hear him. Bob was swinging though, and definitely seemed to be enjoying himself up there.
Another perfectly timed intro/banner unfurling led into another nice Thunder on the Mountain. This song is good live, but I feel like with only a little more energy or inspiration it could be great. It always seems to be close, but never quite makes it there. Perhaps a slightly more dynamic arrangement would do the trick, cause Bob is certainly doing all he can with the vocals.
A longer pause than usual before George did his drum bash to lead into Like a Rolling Stone. The chord pattern of the intro seemed a little muddy, a little less distinct, which I thought sounded good. It took the audience until the first lines to figure out what it was though. The fact that Bob is doing this song better than normal this tour, however, doesn’t mean it couldn’t use a break. I was most disappointed, however, to see that the lack of the lighting going on the crowd during the chorus in Portland wasn’t a fluke, as it was MIA here too. That alone is enough to kill it, as the audience doesn’t get permission to sing along to the one bit of the show they all know.
The band intros featured some classic Bobtalk. After introducing everyone, the band was about to kick into Watchtower, but Bob kept talking. He said, “I want to play guitar, but then who would play this thing here? One of these days.” A sign of things to come? Probably not, but it was cool to hear nevertheless. Watchtower was good, with a mistake at the end that got Bob and George grinning at each other. Instead of repeating “know what any…any of it…is worth” like he usually does, he mistimed it, saying “know what any of it is…is…is worth.” A pretty funny moment that closed out a good, if not great, show. Here’s to tomorrow!
Back on the road for three more Bob shows. Yee-haw! And for this Portland show I also had a Dartmouth friend tagging along for her first show. We drove up and found a spot on the floor for one of the few General Admission shows this tour. I'm never as big of a fan of GA as some people; unless you're on the rail, it means part of your attention is inevitably taken up by the people around you instead of the show, and tonight was no exception. I had one guy behind me who created a five-foot radius about him by playing violent air guitar most of the show. A guy with really long hair to my left was head-banging, even during the slow songs, whipping everyone around him with his hair. Not to mention the stoned guy trying the whole show to make it though a solid wall of people to his "woman". He never made any progress and, if she existed, she sure didn't seem to have any interest in him finding her either.
As a whole, the crowd was very different than any I've seen at a Dylan show. More young people than anything, mostly high schoolers. Whether this was the appeal of The Raconteurs opening or the fact that a show like this is a rare event in Maine, the local kids were out in droves. It made for a very enthusiastic, if not particularly knowledgable, crowd. The enthusiasm then led to the most interactive I've ever seen Bob...but first The Raconteurs.
As a huge White Stripes fan (having seen them live in August '05), I was very excited by Jack White's side project...and somewhat disappointed when the CD came out. It grew on me a little over time, but it seemed not much different than a lot of generic pop mixed with indie rock bands. At any rate, I was very glad to have them open for Bob at some of my shows, for the simple reason that I probably wouldn't have paid to see them otherwise. And I would have missed a very good show. I get the sense that anything with Jack White onstage would be great, and they were no exception, making the best of the songs that didn't seem to have too much potential on record. Kicked things off with a nice Intimate Secretary, then into a great version of Level. Steady As She Goes followed, earlier in the set than I would have expected, but with the guitar parts slightly rearranged to great effect, before a not-too-memorable It Ain't Easy. I don't remember the exact order of songs after that, but some highlights were a very nice cover of Bang Bang, switching back and forth between loud and fast and low and soft, and Yellow Sun. The "wow" moment of the set, however, was Store-Bought Bones. The first few minutes were a really slowed-down, riff-free, call-and-response version of the song. It was very cool to hear, but I did think, "The album version is more fun." And then on "You can't buy what you can't find what you can't" they just repeated it over and over again, gradually getting faster and faster until their suddenly at the break-neck pace of the original. Unbelievable to see. The set closed with Blue Veins (disappointing, as it just seemed a vehicle for excessive soloing) -> Hands. The break between the two sets was long, much longer than it had been for Kings of Leon. Maybe the Racs had more stuff to take off or maybe Bob was just feeling lazy, but whatever the reason it just dragged on until past nine. The whole time was spent, of course, jockeying with everyone else for better positions on the floor. GA shows are so stressful. Eventually, however, Bob came on, as he generally does.
Portland
I saw Donnie pick up the violin and thought I got my main wish, Absolutely Sweet Marie as an opener. Well, not exactly, it was Cat's in the Well, but I was still overjoyed for anything but Maggie's. That meant no She Belongs to Me, Lonesome Day Blues, etc. It was a great version. Bob's voice was still in gruff warm-up mode, but he wasn't letting that stop him.
I recognized the opening bars of the next song very distinctly, but couldn't quite place it. It was only when I heard the word Juarez that I realized I was getting my first personal debut of the night, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues. It was a very nice version but, as would be a continuing pattern throughout the night, it was hard for me to focus. The crowd was so tightly packed that I was getting bumped and hit over and over as people around me were talking, blowing smoke in my face, etc. Nothing much worse than a normal GA show, except the crowd was younger and, probably as a result, much closer together. I was very excited to already get a personal debut though; the inevitable first show where I don't get one has been avoided yet again. And Denny's first solo was great.
I expected High Water for some reason next, but nope, Stuck Inside of Mobile. I haven't heard the great Auburn Hills version everyone is raving about, but I don't think this was it. It's one of those songs that I really like, and is never really done badly live...it just isn't done well enough to warrant being included in the set as often as it is. A decent enough version tonight.
Ok, here's High Water. This song is always done well live, and tonight was no exception, but having just gotten it in Chicago a couple weeks ago, I wasn't that into it. The Chicago one was better too, I think.
I wasn't expecting Tangled Up in Blue so early in the show, but there it was. I'd heard this in Chicago for the first time and I was very glad to hear it again. The audience reaction when the heard the opening bars was ridiculous; gotta give them credit for all knowing Dylan one song not from the 60's. It seemed to inspire Bob to deliver a very nice performance, not straying too far from the original, but well done nevertheless.
It was about time for a Modern Times song, and I was glad to hear When the Deal Goes Down. Its Chicago performance is the best MT performance I've seen yet, but this one wasn't far behind. Still quite faithful the original, but nice nonetheless, and featured one of Denny's best solos of the evening.
It's Alright Ma simply needs to be given a break. It's never poorly done...but it's never particularly well-done either. In this arrangement he words come too fast that Bob just barks them out the same way every time. It's always the same and, amazing a song as it is, has gotten tiring. I was, however, happy to hear Watching the River Flow, as I hadn't seen it live since Chicago '05. The crowd around me was being particularly boistrous during this one, however, so I don't remember many details.
I'm not sure why, but for some reason Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine was a major highlight. I'd been distracted when I saw it in Chicago, and here he seemed to nail it. The crowd was loving it and I think Bob must have been just feeding off that energy. It wasn't nuanced, it wasn't subtle, but it was one of the most fun Bob performances I've seen in a while. And he capped it off with by far the best harp solo I've ever seen him do, and better than the recent ones I've heard on tape too. At one part he started playing these three notes over and over again at lightning speed, never missing a beat (if everyone is familiar with Dire Straits, you know that part in Knopfler's Sultans of Swing solo where he starts playing that three-note pattern absurdly fast? Yeah, it was like that.) I couldn't believe I was seeing Bob wail on that harmonica like that. Great stuff.
Another song I hadn't gotten in a year and a half, Desolation Row, is always nice to hear. And it was generally well done, every character (and hair) in place. I don't remember it in too much detail (stupid GA shows...), but I know Dr. Filth was in there (though Nero and his Neptune were MIA). Also, for some reason after one verse Stu moved right next to George and stood playing there the whole time. The speculation, of course, was that he was creating a space for Jack White to come on, but he never showed. After the song Stu went back to his normal spot. and nothing more was made of it. Weird.
Highway 61 Revisited reminded me that I only had one surprise song left, and I didn't think it was done as well as it had been in Chicago. For one, the flashing light thing didn't happen until the second instrumental break, seriously undermining its coolness effect. However, Bob had a nice organ solo to finish it off.
I've heard people complaining about the disappearance of Spirit on the Water's signature riff, but it's still there. It's just been transformed into something more subtle, closer to a bass line. And I think it sounds great that way; hearing that same dominant riff over and over again might have gotten repetetive (as the current Tangled riff sometimes does), so it was nice to make it a less important part of the tune. Which, incidentally, was another highlight of the night (and my second personal debut). Yeah, yeah, it's time for another MT debut, but at least he's nailing the ones he's doing. Well, most of them at least (incidentally, the show didn't have Rollin' and Tumblin', which is already becoming a blessing).
And into Summer Days. Another good, if not hugely remarkable version, in a night charicterized by songs delivered as such.
Into the encore break, now might be a good time to talk about a very strange phenomenon that kept happening throughout the show. Basically, it seemed like something was going to happen. Stu was grinning (believe it or not) and motioning to Tony and George repeatedly. Donnie and Bob kept nodding and talking to each other during the breaks (even more than normal). There was definitely some tension in the air, but nothing ever happened. Who knows what that was all about.
Anyway, Thunder on the Mountain was about the same as the two Chicago shows. They timed it great though, having the banner drop down behind Bob right as George came in with the drum crash. A very cool effect.
Like a Rolling Stone was killed by one fact: the lighting didn't come on the crowd during the chorus. That is what makes this song fun, even for us frequent concert-goers. The energy it fills the crowd with is unparalleled, about as close to interaction with the crowd Bob has. When it was gone, the song lost all appeal for me. And the crowd lost energy. Oh well.
All Along the Watchtower, as seems to be standard this tour, was slightly subpar, but not too bad. Still a nice way to end the show though.
A one-day break to hang out with some Maine friends, then onto Boston on Saturday.
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