Rock & Roll Means Well with the Hold Steady and the Drive By Truckers; November 14, 2008; Riviera Theater

The pairing made perfect sense, but at the same time made no sense. After all, the Hold Steady and the Drive By Truckers are both permanent residents on my Greatest Live Band on the Planet list, and both are certainly members of a mutual admiration club. Despite those facts, there doesn’t seem to be any overlap between their fan base. We figured that in the Venn diagram of their fans, quite possibly the only folks in that overlapping section were the three people in this car. In that respect the show offered a perfect opportunity to introduce one band's fans to the others.

While both bands are undeniably terrific on their own, the possibilities for the encore were what made this a must see. We were not disappointed. Following their set the Hold Steady returned almost immediately with Truckers leader Patterson Hood right behind them, stepping up to the mike to sing backing vocals on their ridiculously catchy “Your Little Hoodrat Friend.” For the next number Truckers bassist Shonna Tucker emerged from backstage to play the part of Elizabeth Elmore to Patterson’s Dave Pirner on the one of the greatest duets ever “Chill Out Tent.” It should have been great, it wasn’t- Shonna’s vocals were barely audible and what I could hear didn’t sound great, but it didn’t matter. What did matter was the infectious enthusiasm evident in everyone on stage.

Members of DBT kept appearing; drummer Easy B shared the drum riser with Bobby before moving to his own mini kit stage left. The Stoker Ace Mike Cooley traded wicked guitar licks with Tad Kubley (making their side “the hottest side of the stage” according to a friend. Agreed.). Shonna also picked up a guitar, which with DBT’s John Neff, brought the total to six guitars and one bass on stage at once, ah, the bliss. The hits kept coming too, a cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Burning For You” (awesome!) and AC/DC’s “Ride On,” before the Truckers pulled out their traditional closer, the rock anthem “Let There Be Rock.” Truer words have never been spoken. As the bands moved back stage and the ROCK AND ROLL MEANS WELL banner disappeared back into the ceiling, you had to suspect that the biggest party yet was about to happen.

What made the whole night even more remarkable was that both bands had turned in killer performances on their own. I felt like the Hold Steady’s last Madison appearance had been a little lackluster, falling well below the impossible bar they had set for themselves. Tonight the caught fire all over again, and I could feel it even though I was miles away from the band (having retreated to the balcony) in a way I couldn’t standing twelve feet in front of them at the Majestic. Lead singer and guitar holder Craig Finn felt the need to apologize after a particularly aggressive version of “Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night,” a song that used to be part of every live set but hadn’t made an appearance lately. “But it wasn’t like that tonight,” he claimed, “you guys were amazing.”

The Truckers put on a show of their own, though it seemed like they were just getting warmed up when their short set (by their standards) came to an end, but favorites like “Sinkhole” still sizzled. Patterson was on all night starting with opener “Bulldozers and Dirt” through the Southern Rock Opera rocker “Ronnie and Neil,” both seldom played and therefore an extra treat. Cooley on the other hand seemed a little out of it, and he stumbled several times during “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac,” which I’d never seen before. It seemed the Hold Steady fans didn’t quite know what to make of the Truckers. They hung back during their set only to make a move for the stage after they were done, precipitating our retreat. Hopefully by the end of the night both bands picked up a lot of new fans.

Steve Wynn & the Miracle Three/Walter Salas-Humara; November 13, 2008; Martyrs’

Ever since the Silos played at the House of Righteous Music in March ’07, I’d been looking forward to having Walter and the band back at the house. I thought we finally had that date worked out, but Walter’s plans changed and he wanted to do this weekend instead of the date I was holding for the next weekend. Unfortunately I already had tickets to tomorrow night’s (sold out) Rock & Roll Means Well tour with the Drive By Truckers and Hold Steady, and another house concert already booked for the next night. It was a somewhat last-minute decision to tag along with Alex on her trip to Martyrs,’ but one I was ultimately glad I made.

What actually persuaded me was the e-mail that Walter had sent out. He mentioned that he not only would he be playing solo, but that he would also be featuring some of the songs from the I’m Not Jim CD. A curious collaboration with genre bending author Jonathan Lehmen, You Are All My People contains some of the most interesting and experimental music I’ve heard from the Silos frontman. The unusual writing format found the two of them collaborating on the words and bares-bones melodies. The rest was filled in later by the Elegant Two a production team consisting of Chris Maxwell and Phil Hernandez who used some of Walter’s melodies, but in some cases came up with something completely new… which made it a “remix without an original release. An original remix.”

Surprisingly, or maybe not, the songs held up quite well stripped back to their inception format. He stayed clear of the more difficult tracks like the spoken word piece “Howard” and the joke and punchline (though not necessarily in that order) composition “Walks In” which probably couldn’t be translated to a live setting anyway. Straightforward standout tracks like the true story “The Pitchers Gave Up” (about a ridiculously high scoring game) sounded terrific, while the more ordinary track “Uncomplicated” positively blossomed live. Miracle Three guitarist Jason Victor joined Walter for a handful of Silos songs in the second half of his set. While he concentrated on the most recent Silos release, Come On Like the Fast Lane, older tracks like the epic “Drugs” also made a welcome appearance.

Steve Wynn has been around for quite awhile, starting with his seminal Paisley Underground band The Dream Syndicate through this year’s Baseball Project release with the charming Minus 5/Young Fresh Fellows mastermind Scott McCaughey. I wish he would have played some of those songs. The American Pastime-centric tracks on the Project record are entertaining and engaging, but it was all I could do to keep my eyes open during his set. Ably backed by the Miracle Three (which included the talented Linda Pitman on drums, she’s no Janet Weiss, but she’s pretty damn good), it all certainly sounded good, but I was, um, bored. I feel bad admitting that, especially since Walter and some fellow Twangfesters in the audience seemed to love it, but maybe it just wasn’t my thing. But, as always, I’ll certainly give it another shot next time he comes around.

This Bright Apocalypse; November 11, 2008; The Frequency

I’ve always liked This Bright Apocalypse (or TBA, best acronym ever) more than I thought I would. After all, when I first saw them they were a band of three drummers- Luke Bassuener (Elden Calder), Chris Sasman (Classic Tawnies and globe-trotting drum tech) and Adam Cargin (Blueheels). Despite the fact that Adam was a truly terrific guitar player in this band he always felt more comfortable behind the drum kit, and recently bowed out of TBA to concentrate on his main band, which honestly has to already take a big chunk of his time.

If I liked them before, I absolutely adore them now since Adam’s replacement is my cousin Johnny Maloney (bias alert). After all, blood is thicker than Blueheel. Whereas Adam would really only sing under protest, there’s never a time that Johnny isn’t singing and if he can do it into a microphone, well, that’s all the better. He’s also managed to significantly increase the energy on stage. Luke’s powerful vocals and bass make him the anchor, while Johnny’s inertia carries him all over the stage, occasionally pounding the large African drum in the center while mainly wailing on guitar. The drum isn’t the only native instrument they use, an mbira, or thumb piano, also made an appearance. While it apparently worked perfectly in sound check, it produced more feedback than music during the actual show

It no longer surprises me how much I enjoy their African-inspired rhythm rock songs, after all Paul Simon hit that genre right out of the park with Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints, but it still surprises me how well these boys do it. I guess Luke’s time in Africa has been well spent. In addition to his humanitarian efforts there, he has incorporated their music here. Predictably, their next gig is an Action in Sudan benefit at the Mercury Lounge. Stop by, maybe the mbira will actually work this time.

Bob Dylan; November 6, 2008; Riverside Theater, Milwaukee

I’ve seen Bob Dylan many, many times. So many, in fact, that I don’t even know the exact number anymore (OK, I looked, it’s 34). There were a lot of bad shows of course, most of the Eighties and the first half of the Nineties were a blur of half-hearted shows and non-enunciation. All of that changed in the mid Nineties, seemingly right about the time of his MTV Unplugged special. It was like one morning he woke up and decided he articulate in a way that people would actually understand. Now it seems that age is bringing us right back to where we started.

I’ve read rumors of the onset of arthritis which precipitated his switch from electric to acoustic and eventually now to keyboards. Tonight he did more singing and blowing on his harmonica at an old-timey mike located almost center stage, as he frequently strayed away from his keyboard located off to the side, like he were part of the band instead of the focus of everyone in the audience. It has been easier to accept this change, age is a much better reason than simply not caring, but this show was a far cry from one at the Milwaukee Arena in 2002 when I nearly fell to my knees and weep tears of joy after a stunning set (which strangely enough included “Lay Lady Lay,” a song I swore I never wanted to hear live after hearing multiple mangled live versions).

Though the faces in his band have changed in recent years, only the rhythm section of bassist Tony Garnier and drummer George Recile remain from my favorite era of live shows, the band is as tight as ever. The set list format isn’t much different, there are still the anchor songs, “Summer Days” from Love and Theft is sure to come near the end of every set, and classics “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Blowing in the Wind” and “All Along the Watchtower” are bound to be part of the requisite encore, but what shows up in between is anyone’s guess (I’ve heard the band has to know somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 songs for every tour). He’s still not content with the way these songs were written, changing melody, tempo and words as he sees fit.

One song that benefited from these tweaks was “Highway 61 Revisited,” which became even bluesier than it was originally. Sometimes it becomes a game of name that tune, as the songs have changed dramatically from the originals. Only a snatch of lyric identified “Love Minus Zero (No Limit)” one of my favorite songs. Unfortunately it fell early in the set when the sound wasn’t as good. Always a crowd favorite, “Tangled Up in Blue” seemed more pedantic than usual and “A Hard Rain’s A’Gonna Fall,” sadly, went on forever. Several songs from Modern Times made the list, “Thunder on the Mountain,” “Working Man’s Blues #2,” and “Ain’t Talking,” though I have barely listened to that record, the songs held their own, while other relatively recent compositions like “High Water (For Charlie Patton)” and “Love Sick” were highlights.

Going to see Bob Dylan has never carried a guarantee, but every show has something that makes it worthwhile. Tonight’s show had the advantage of being in the relatively small, and quite gorgeous, Riverside Theater, much better than seeing him in the cavernous Kohl Center and Sears Centre. A superior set list to stops on this tour made me glad I had chosen tonight over other shows. It’s not much, but sometimes it is enough.

And the Moneynotes/Fetch/The MF7; November 3, 2008; The Frequency

The local Onion AV Club editor highly recommended tonight’s show, claiming that the awkwardly named And the Moneynotes were a hoot and that everyone should buy a CD as a reward for a show well done. He was right of course, he usually is, but I still probably wouldn’t have been there if it hadn’t been for the fact that a relatively unknown Chicago band was also on the bill. In the months that the Frequency has been in operation it has impressed me with its wide variety of entertainment, inexpensive, well-poured drinks and reasonably priced shows. The first fact means that any night of the week you might see anything from folksy singer-songwriter type fare to face-melting metal, sometimes even on the same bill, while the other two facts make it pretty easy to give anything a shot.

And the Moneynotes are a garrulous group of ragtag musicians, their difficult to describe style has been summed up as, “A concise medley of country, surf, R&B, jazz, swing, and rock and roll.” The white-boy-blues of the MF7 (the MF for lead singer Matt Fitzgerald, no idea about the 7 since there were only 4 of them) had a bit more in common with them than the forceful power rock of Fetch, but that was exactly what makes many shows here so intriguing. Assembling bands only tenuously related and having them play well into the night may be the area in which the Frequency most resembles the dear departed O’Cayz Corral (a comparison I heard often when they first opened). Monday is a tough night to get anyone out of the house, and there were a few folks there when the MF7 took the stage. The band looked familiar, I knew I had seen lead guitarist Ellie Erickson in several other bands, most recently the Sigourney Weavers. They sounded familiar too, their brand of funky pop similar to Mraz at al is still popular with the kids these days, er, at least I think it is.

They yielded the stage to Fetch who had driven up from Chicago to play their first show in Madison since the O’Cayz days. The band has changed a lot since then, in fact they have changed even since I saw them nearly a year and a half ago. There’s a new face in bass player Jared, who very nearly had nothing to do tonight if the Moneynotes hadn’t helped them out. Inexplicably his bass got left in Odie’s garage and the Moneynotes lent them theirs. Only Jared’s shirt inscribed “Odie, where’s my bass?” let on that all was not right. They seem to have lightened up quite a bit since the last time I saw them, though lead singer Scott Schaefer’s vocals remain the intense core of the band. A few tracks, like the infectious “Jezebel,” even venture into the realm of accessible power pop.

The two bands did as good a job as they possibly could have warming us up for the description-defying headliner. There were only seven of them onstage, but it often sounded like twice that. As they climbed over each other to switch instruments and microphones it often looked like more too. The crush of percussion and vocals in their carnivalesque music might have been a bit too much some nights or for some people, but on a Monday when I was in need of sleep, it was just the pick me up I wanted. There weren’t many people there, but I hope word of mouth can produce a bigger crowd their next time in town.