I couldn’t have been happier that Ha Ha Tonka brought out a good-sized, enthusiastic crowd to the Frequency tonight, even with formidable competition from Robbie Fulks at the High Noon and Elvis Perkins for free at the Rathskellar, but I had to admit I was still a little bummed out that I hadn’t had a crowd that size in my basement. Now it almost seems they may be too big to play there again. Which is too bad, but on the positive side is they will probably still stay with me, at least for the foreseeable future, and that means more ferocious ping pong like lead singer Brian Roberts and I played after the show that night. Next time I have to remember not to get quite as drunk, because he is good and whupped me all three games.
I really couldn’t help myself though, because I was having a genuinely good time. I love these boys and I was pretty much telling everyone in earshot that. After playing Madison several times in 2008, this was their first show here since the basement. Their first release didn’t make much of an impression on me until I saw them playing for a sparsely populated field as the first band on the main stage at the SoCo Music Experience, but the second record (due out June 16 on Bloodshot) has been in constant rotation since I got an advance copy. It wasn’t love at first listen; it’s a complicated but ultimately rewarding record. After leaving it in the CD player round trip to Milwaukee I found that it got better with every listen. Now I find I can’t go more than a few days without hearing it, and once it gets in the player I almost always hit “play” a second time.
Tonight’s show should guarantee that a few records get sold because they made a strong case for new songs like “Walking on the Devil’s Backbone” and album opener “Pendergast Machine.” The combination of new material, old stuff like “Caney Mountain” and well-chosen covers made for a terrific show. The ever-present, heart-stopping, a capella traditional “Hangman” and their still-surprising, spot-on version of “Black Betty” were joined by an interesting, bluegrassy translation of Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels.” The latter featured the unusual instrumentation of Brett on mandolin, Luke on a unique Jew’s harp with an amplification horn and drummer Lennon on trombone (!). Who knew?
It’s too bad the crowd didn’t show the same enthusiasm for Ha Ha Tonka’s label mate Minneapolitan Ben Weaver. The first time I saw Weaver I was not impressed. So no one was more surprised than me when I fell for his recent release The Axe in the Oak. Weaver has a lullaby of a voice, a comforting baritone that can be easy to ignore if you aren’t listening, but impossible to deny if you are. Unfortunately most of the crowd fell into the first category, not even lowering their voices from talking over the set break music. Weaver fared better on his last visit to the Frequency, a solo turn with Denison Witmer. Personally I would love to see him in the basement where there is always a listening crowd.
I’ve only seen Madison’s Selfish Gene a couple times but every time they seem like a different band. Though I can’t really identify what it is that changes, they were more interesting than I remembered tonight. It probably doesn’t help that they don’t really play all that much these days and I only see them about once a year. Thankfully I can’t ever see having that problem with Ha Ha Tonka.
Have I mentioned that I love those boys?
The Selfish Gene
Ben Weaver
Ha Ha Tonka
No comments:
Post a Comment