Last Band Standing V; January 16, 2009; High Noon Saloon

Last Band Standing proudly encourages what the Onion used to call “the despicable practice of drinking” on both sides of the stage. Fans join band members in rounds of shots to see who can drink the most and still maintain their dignity, or at least follow a set list. Hell, just remembering how to play their songs in the face of adversity, otherwise known as whiskey, is sometimes enough for a win. After missing LBS IV for a rather silly reason and not remembering much of LBS III, I was determined to make a better showing this year. Despite nursing just two glasses of wine the entire night, my bar tab was nearly $40. Such is the way of Last Band Standing.

Who actually “wins” is always a subject of much debate. This year my vote would go to the Runners Up. Playing their last official show as a band, they were given more shots than a college kid on their 21st birthday. I’m actually surprised the High Noon had enough shot glasses. We were actually responsible for the first round, buying any after that would have just been cruel. As the buyers taunted them to drink, the band begged for mercy. “After this song, I’ll do two, I promise,” singer/guitarist Erika begged (it should be noted she was last year’s winner, even though she didn’t play), while Bob Koch just stared them down, “Can’t you people see I am already drunk?” In fact the only member of the band who didn’t seem to mind the wealth of alcohol was nothing-but-trouble bassist James Leaver. “Who said we don’t want any more shots?” he laughed, downing two more.

Despite the fact that Bob claims to not even remember most of what happened on stage, they still sounded great. I’m going to miss their ridiculously poppy songs and enthusiasm. At least they put out a CD that captures their quirky, irrepressible charm earlier this year, and the girls in the band have already formed a new venture the Hemlines, sure to feature a few Runners Up songs. At one point their protest led them to ask why they hadn’t done this to the previous two bands, Goat Radio and Shazy Hade. Other than the obvious fact that neither of them were playing their last show, the other answer was that the audience wasn’t that drunk during their sets. “Looks like you caught up,” James laughed at Goat Radio’s John Wiedenhoeft as he stumbled on stage, I’m assuming to defend his band’s honor. I don’t even think he said anything before stumbling off again.

I think that’s why they like to play first, during Goat Radio’s set he was not only coherent, but quite chatty, giving several of his trademark, rambling introductions to their songs. It had been a long time since their last show (June), but the rust didn’t show. Songs like “Nadine” and “Hell on Wheels” were still barn burning rockers, but disappointingly there weren’t any new songs in the set. I know Wied has been job hunting since being laid off from the State Journal, but c’mon; he hasn’t had time to put together the artwork for the CD that they released last year at Last Band Standing? As a world class procrastinator myself even I have to be impressed by that. The good news is that they seem to be back on track as far as playing shows and already have a happy hour show booked for February.

The first time I saw Shazy Hade they were inexplicably the first band on a bill that Okkervil River was headlining. I had enjoyed Eric Shinker’s (Shinky) previous band, the booze-loving, Robert Pollard-channeling New Recruits the one time I saw them, but the best thing about Shazy Hade that night had to be their name. A too loud, too long set had scared me away from them ever since. I was hoping they would be better tonight, and they were. Most of the songs were ranting three minute pop songs, and in between, well, there was more ranting. As he babbled about how we should all get out and take a walk every once in awhile and about how happy he was to be there on January 17th (it was the 16th), I spent most of the set trying to figure out why I didn’t hate it.

The Motorz have been on hiatus even longer than Goat Radio, playing what they kept calling a farewell show at a MAMA after party back in May. As this show approached, lead singer/songwriter Kyle Motor insisted they weren’t even going to do any Motorz songs, they were just going to do Cheap Trick covers all night. While I can’t think of any band that could have actually pulled that off better than the Motorz, I would have been disappointed if that’s all they had done, and I found myself singing long to all of their much-loved songs about girls, cars and summer. They finally did get around to doing perhaps the ultimate Cheap Trick song toward the end of their too-short set. Despite the fact that the cheers were obviously louder for a Motorz song during an informal poll, Kyle insisted “Surrender” had won.

The Motorz have broken up once before, but with a new line-up and a show in front of an enthusiastic crowd I am hoping that maybe they will realize once again that they are all on the same page. While he isn’t as good a guitar player as he was a drummer, the completely adorable Josh Motor seems to be having even more fun than he did before. Watching the enthusiasm of the new drummer, who is “playing in his favorite band,” I have to hope they start playing shows again. It just doesn’t seem to be fair to him if they don’t.

Marty Finkel (CD release)/Adam Hooks/Box of Baby Birds; January 10, 2009; The Frequency

I’ve known Marty Finkel for almost two years now, but I’ve know his music even longer. I reviewed his first CD Sleeping With the Stars for Rick’s Café and had already written the reviews for his second release plus a side project called Spinning Swords when the paper folded unexpectedly. Since then he has released two (!) more CDs, last year’s self-titled effort and his newest, the charmingly idealistic The Good Life. Tonight was the latter’s release party and as always I was impressed with the number of people in attendance, perhaps the biggest draw I’ve seen for a local act at the still young Frequency. In addition to his family there were scads of friends, which is no surprise given the fact that he’s one of the genuinely nicest guys I’ve ever met.

Following protocol for a new release party, the band played the disc straight through before playing a whole ‘nother set of older songs. Yep, I did say band. This was only the second band show he has done, and the first I’ve gotten to see. The band had opened for the unexpectedly popular Why? (as I’ve said before, why? indeed) back in April and I was left standing on the sidewalk when they inexplicably sold out Montmartre in advance. I’ve always enjoyed Marty solo but the band keeps him honest, and keeps his sincerity from being misconstrued as sap.

While the drummer looks like he should be holding down the rhythm for a hip hop crew, he does just fine with the pop songs and sweet ballads that Marty writes. The percussionist adds even more than you would expect with his collection of shakers and tambourines, and best of all a toy piano featured on the record’s title song. The bass player began the show on the stately upright bass but switched to electric for the show’s second half. Admittedly if I had been paying more attention I would have all their names since Marty did an excellent job of introducing them.

Marty predictably embarrassed his girlfriend by telling the non-joke, “How do you make a girl turn red?” “By telling her you wrote a song about her,” before playing the sweet “Love is Blind” with its border-line overly sentimental chorus “Even if I lost my sight, I’d still be seeing you.” After playing through the Good Life, Marty excused the band and played a number of songs on the keyboard. This also seemed to be a cue for the crowd to head for the bar as the room emptied for a handful of songs. While Marty isn’t the strongest player ever, in fact he often looks like he is concentrating too hard on the keys; the songs aren’t any less good. His fans louder (and probably drunker) than ever, shouts of “We love you Marty!” were quite common the rest of the night, for a second set of band songs, and demanded an encore even though Marty protested. “We’ve already played like 30 songs,” he beseeched them, “we don’t have any more,” before settling on a Coasters cover.

Openers Box of Baby Birds couldn’t have known what they were getting into. Instructed by the Frequency’s owner and booker to pick a band on the bill that they would be interested in playing with, Marty’s show seemed to be the only thing on the extensive schedule that complimented their sweet, mellow Pernice Brothers-style music. This was the Baby Birds first time playing outside of Chicago, but the band’s members are certainly no stranger to the stage or crowds. Surprisingly their bass player was none other than Matt Focht, lead singer-songwriter of Head of Femur, last seen in town in my basement, a band which got its start in Omaha alongside Bright Eyes and the other Saddle Creek bands. In fact Matt had just opened for Conor Oberst on several stops of his most recent solo tour.

Box of Baby Birds’ lead singer Gary James was delighted that I found their name so adorable since several people have expressed their distaste with what they perceive as negative imagery. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Conor was the first person who told him he thought the birds were dead. Like those who think Jeremiah Nelson’s Mysterious Bruises refer to domestic violence, their perceptions say a lot about a person. Anyway, the club was already so full before the listed 10 pm start time that they went on early, and unfortunately I missed their first three songs. They certainly enjoyed their time in Madison and I am guessing that it won’t be long till they are back, hopefully in the basement.

Adam Hooks’ last show at the Frequency, also with Marty, found him struggling to keep his 12 string guitar in tune which meant more time spent tuning than playing. Tonight he opted for the lower maintenance 6 string and was able to get most of the way through his set in the middle slot before disaster struck, this time in the form of a broken string. Luckily he was able to finish his enjoyable set with only five string strings. He has a great voice and a knack for catchy melodies, in addition to having a sense of humor. Early in the set he played a song about seeing Neil Patrick Harris in a burrito place in Albuquerque at bar time, which pretty much sums up the song. Seeing his NPH PHD! T-shirt after his set I asked if he had known that the Doogie Howser actor was hosting Saturday Night Live that night. He confessed that if he had he might not have been there. He finished the set with another celebrity tune, one which poked fun at Isaac Hayes for leaving South Park.

It can be hard to get people to come to shows in this town, so it was nice of Marty to give local boy Hooks and out-of-towners Box of Baby Birds a chance to be heard by a good crowd. Of course, he can’t seem to help being nice.

Henhouse Prowlers/Kentucky Waterfalls/Barley Brothers; January 2, 2008; High Noon Saloon

Three bands, ten musicians, no drums. While that’s an unusual night at the High Noon, it’s business as usual for any traditional bluegrass band. Middle band the Kentucky Waterfalls aren’t bluegrass, but the duo gets along just fine without any one keeping the beat. They weren’t my favorite band of the night, but they sure seemed to be everyone else’s. The surprisingly large crowd seemed to have shaken off whatever hangover they might have had the day before and was ready to start 2009 with a party. The crowd sang along and danced up a storm to the Waterfalls’ collection of classic and newer country standards. Katie Powderly and Evan Murdock both have good voices, but the songs they did as duets just didn’t blend the way those of the couples they were trying to emulate always did. Or maybe it was just that visually it was hard to put words made popular by June Carter Cash, or even Lucinda Williams, together with the dreadlocked Katie. I certainly can’t argue with the songs they chose since I probably have most of them in my CD rack at home

Openers the Barley Brothers have had a standing gig at the Alchemy since forming earlier this year. Until recently it was on Tuesdays, which meant that I was never going to get there (because of Honky Tonk Tuesday of course). Now that they have switched to once a month on Thursdays I should finally make it. The High Noon’s big stage had to be a lot different than the Alchemy’s cozy corner where they play unplugged, but they seemed to adapt well. A trio consisting of Brian O’Donnell on fiddle, Colin Baszali on banjo and Jeff Burkhart on guitar, they draw their material from traditional folk and bluegrass songs, the occasional vocal taken by either Jeff or Colin. They all play in other bands together, Brian and Colin in the Cajun Strangers and Jeff and Colin in the Dirty Shirts so they share an easy rapport on stage. In fact other than bumping a microphone once or twice, their transition to the High Noon stage seemed pretty effortless.

They weren’t the only ones who weren’t used to the big stage. Chicago’s Henhouse Prowlers usually play their sets with the whole band gathered around one microphone. In fact, it is sort of their shtick, and they apologized for all having their own mikes. (Although with the surplus of space it seemed a shame that they relegated their upright bass player to the back row.) It was a good decision; as the volume of the boisterous crowd grew throughout the night, it would have been difficult to hear them. And since their instruments are also un-amplified, that meant you likely wouldn’t have been able not to hear their Dobro player who was impressive. Though it seems unlikely, if you were to believe the band they had just picked him that day to fill the void left by their fiddle player who couldn’t make it. All of the musicians were great, but it did start to sound a little samey after while, often my complaint with this type of music. Still it was good to get out and hear something new.

Top Twenty CDs of 2008

1. Dietrich Gosser What the Buzzsaw Sings
2. Sleeping in the Aviary Expensive Vomit in a Cheap Motel
3. Blake Thomas Flatlands
4. Felice Brothers s/t
5. Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band s/t
6. Hold Steady Stay Positive
7. Bound Stems The Family Afloat
8. Frightened Rabbit The Midnight Organ Fight
9. Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands Cody’s Dream
10. Chris Mills Living in the Aftermath
11. Okkervil River The Stand-Ins
12. Eef Barzelay Lose Big
13. The Baseball Project Vol. 1 Frozen Ropes & Dying Quails
14. Ben Weaver The Ax in the Oak
15. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!
16. Langhorne Slim & the War Eagles s/t
17. AA Bondy American Hearts
18. Blueheels Lessons in Sunday Driving
19. Firewater The Golden Hour
20. Blitzen Trapper Furr


Top Twenty Shows of 2008

1. Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands/Jentri Colello; April 4: Kiki’s House of Righteous Music (KHoRM)
Pickerel charmingly proclaimed he felt like playing drums and “started a band” with Blake Thomas and “Dash” Harty
2. The Drive By Truckers/A3/Alejandro Escovedo and Lucinda Williams; July 3; Summerfest, Milwaukee
A3 were nothing short of jaw-droppingly amazing as part of the best Summerfest line-up in years
3. Josh Ritter; May 14; High Noon Saloon
to think I almost didn’t go to this show
4. Drive By Truckers/Felice Brothers; February 26; Pabst Theater
the Truckers were great as always, but I fell in love with the openers
5. Chris Mills & the New Miserable Basatards/Anders Parker; April 25; KHoRM
um, duh
6. Dietrich Gosser & Dan Kuemmel; September 27; WPT Studio
Dietrich & Dan played their gorgeous songs on the 30 Minute Music Hour
7. James/Amy MacDonald; September 25; The Vic Theater, Chicago
I thought I would never see them live again, I was wrong
8. Rock & Roll Means Well w/ the Hold Steady and the Drive By Truckers; November 14; Riviera Theater
stunning sets from both bands, but the encore was legendary
9. The Magnetic Fields/The Forewords; October 11; The Capitol Theater
best show I’ve seen from the curmudgeonly Merritt
10. Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles/Blueheels; February 18; KHoRM
I saw the Borgeses several times this year, but never better than in the basement
11. Gurf Morlix & Sam Baker/Blake Thomas; April 12; KHoRM
a surprise sell-out, “handsome as a trout” Baker kept us all laughing
12. The New Pornographers/Okkervil River; April 21; Orpheum Theater
Okkervil River (with the Wrens Charles Bissell on guitar) blew away the headliners
13. Pale Young Gentlemen/Amo Joy/Sleeping in the Aviary; November 22; High Noon Saloon
one of many amazing shows this year from Sleeping in the Aviary
14. Ha Ha Tonka/The Aaron Scholz Trio; November 2; KHoRM
I wish more people had been there for this super show
15. Ian Moore; October 18; Vnuk’s Lounge, Cudahy WI
since he had to cancel his KHoRM show I was especially happy to see him
16. The Successful Failures/The August Teens; April 19; KHoRM
a killer power pop bill, and so much fun
17. The Shotgun Party/Blake Thomas & Shauncey Ali; December 15; KHoRM
an unexpected delight and some wicked fiddling
18. Super Band (Blake Thomas, Jeremiah Nelson, Josh Harty & Chris Sasman)/The
Mysterious Bruises; December 12; Peabody’s Ale House, Oshkosh
perhaps the best sets I’ve seen from some of my favorite local boys
19. Jon Dee Graham/Josh Harty; May 11; KHoRM
as always, he played “Airplane” just for me, aaawwww
20. Jens Lekman/The Honeydrips; March 30; Old Music Hall
I smiled a lot at this show