Drive By Truckers; July 11, 2010; Otto’s, DeKalb

I had a secret hope that no one would be at this Drive By Truckers show in DeKalb. It was a Sunday night after all, and DeKalb is not really a major music market, especially during the summer when all the Northern Illinois University students are gone. It was a hope that went unfulfilled. The floor was pretty much packed by the time we got there (ten minutes after show time due to an incredibly slow, but ultimately delicious, pizza). Not that it really mattered, I’d lost the desire to be close to the stage at a DBT show a long time ago when it proved to ruin more shows than it enhanced. Standing at the back of the crowd on the floor with some friends still gave me a fine view and kept me well out of the way of the fight that took place. Given the typical DBT crowd it didn’t really surprise me, but that didn’t mean that lead singer Patterson Hood was going to stand for it. He stopped the show with an exclamation. “Get out of here, both of you,” he bellowed, “I don’t care who started it.” “There’s no fighting at a Drive By Truckers show, it scares off the ladies… and we like the ladies.”

Over the years the Truckers seem to have become a gentler band. Their new record The Big To Do is good, but it lacks the sort of tear it up rock songs that made Southern Rock Opera and Decoration Day such revelations. The addition of bassist Shawna Tucker has certainly helped soften their image, even though I’ve seen her lift the ever-present bottle of Jack with the rest of them. She’s also contributed songs to the last couple records. In a set that sadly lacked some of my favorite songs (which I can’t really blame on them) her “(It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So” was a definite pleasure. Cooley’s “Carl Perkin’s Cadillac” early in the night and “Marry Me” later, as well as “Birthday Boy” the stand-out track from the new record, were all highlights. “18 Wheels of Love” has always been a live favorite as Hood tells the story of how his divorced mother fell in love with an actual trucker named Chester whom she married in Dollywood. A few years back Chester was so ill he had moved to hospice, but had somehow recovered and was back on the road. Tonight however he said he that Chester’s memorial service had been the day before. Since he’d been unable to attend he dedicated it to him, complete with story. Since it had been written as a wedding present, it was as if it had come full circle.

The weekend with two shows in two states and an all-day art fair excursion had taken its toll on me or I would have been outraged that the show was only two hours long. I’ve grown to expect two and a half as the norm, and three isn’t uncommon. Still, for a Sunday night one should be happy with an encore that included a raucous version of “Buttholeville” with Springsteen’s “State Trooper” slipped into the middle, and a very unexpected cover of Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talking About Love.” As with the Hold Steady, I’ve learned to enjoy these shows from a little further away.

United Sons of Toil; July 10, 2010; The Lift, Dubuque

United Sons of Toil/Geronimo!; July 9, 2010; Memory Lanes, Minneapolis

A show in a bowling alley always seems like it would be cool, but my experiences prior to tonight have not backed that up. There was Desaparecidos one July at Chicago’s Fireside Bowl, a miserable, un air-conditioned, all-ages death trap that should have been condemned long before Conor Oberst brought his punk band there. Now that the state-wide smoking ban is in effect I could probably go back to the Badger Bowl on Madison’s south east side, but the couple of times I was there seeing Cherry Pie it felt like I was eating cigarettes the smoke was so thick. Consequently, I didn’t have my hopes set too high for tonight’s show at the cleverly monikered Memory Lanes.

Which is probably what made it that much cooler. Even though it sounded like it should have had pin setters and hand scoring, Memory Lanes was a modern, well-lit facility with probably twenty lanes. But the best part of all was that the stage was ON THE LANES! A surprisingly permanent looking structure, it covered four lanes (which obviously hadn't been oiled in awhile) and sat so close to the end that Jason tripped the foul line loading out. All my years of bowling made me hesitant to even get close to the stage, the “No street shoes past this point” signs clear in my mind. And I was convinced that the Twin Cities version of Tomah’s Bun Janney was lying in wait to yell at me the second I set foot on the lower level. That didn’t happen and I spent the Toil’s set standing between the second and third dot on the floor. Now this is what I call playing at a bowling alley. Too bad the rest of Minneapolis wasn’t aware of how awesome it is.

I was so excited at the whole concept that I failed to even notice that there wasn’t much of a crowd there. In fact, most of the handful of people watching the show were in the other bands. I was pleased to find the very nerdy, but totally rocking Geronimo! also on the bill. It was nice to put a face to the T-shirt with the dead pig (cow?) that my cousin has been wearing every other day since his band This Bright Apocalypse played with them. The Toil’s leader Russell Hall, who believes in a dress code for bands, was pleased to note that Geronimo! seemed to have the same policy. While it didn’t look as sharp or premeditated as the Toil’s blue work shirts, it seemed unlikely that they were all wearing red T-shirts and raggedly cut-off shorts by coincidence. I also liked their band, so in my mind the whole evening was a success.

Next time I will be slightly less suspicious of a show in a bowling alley.

Geronimo!


The United Sons of Toil

Aloysius; July 9, 2010; 501 Club, Minneapolis

Jon Langford & Walter Salas-Humara; July 8, 2010; Memorial Union Terrace

There was a lot of confusion regarding tonight’s show. Jon Langford had told me he was playing tonight when I saw him in Evanston, and an e-mail from Walter’s mailing list confirmed it, but if you looked at the Union website the only thing listed was ska punk band Mustard Plug with Deals Gone Bad. Eventually it turned out that instead of one quadruple bill (which would have still been less bizarre than when I saw the Bottle Rockets with Agent Orange), Langford and Walter would play a 6 PM show leaving the tattooed and pierced skateboard crowd to take over the outdoor stage later that night. Last year the pair did a music and art show at the Hideout, this year they extended that tour to two nights with Walter selling his simple yet charming dogs, and Langford selling prints of his iconic cowboy and skull artwork because we couldn’t afford the originals.

The 6 PM start time would have been a blessing, since I do love the happy hour show, except that I had a volleyball game at the same time. “Don’t worry,” Walter said when I talked to him earlier, “we probably won’t start on time anyway.” Even though we beat the opposing team in record time, and I changed in my car on the way there (leaving a small sand bar on the floor mat), I arrived to hear the last strains of music fading away. Luckily I only missed the first set which they had played together, and there was more of the same. For artists who only play a show together once a year playing a whole evening together can be a problem. This was clearly illustrated when one said to the other, “Let’s play that one we both know.” What to do when you aren’t playing guitar? Why, play bongos of course. Though they both looked like they were having a great time doing it, though Langford admitted later that it was great fun for the first third of the song, and then he just wanted to quit.

This was the third time I’ve seen him do the songs that will make up his new Bloodshot release, and they are starting to feel like old friends. Walter on the other hand mixed new songs with favorites from past releases, including the Silos’ excellent Bloodshot release Come on Like the Fast Lane. As twilight crept up on an absolutely perfect night on the Terrace, Langford thanked us for enduring these terrible conditions to see the show. Um, you’re welcome? Though I do wish we would have stuck around for the ska show once I saw the opening band had a merch tub labeled “mustache T’s.” Damn.

The Hold Steady/The Whigs/Jaill; July 2, 2010; Lac Courte Oreilles Casino, Hayward

For as long as I can remember I have been waiting for something that I actually want to see to play at the casino in Hayward. My family owns a cabin in Trego, about 30 miles away, and every summer I watch the billboards along highway 53 hoping for something other than a washed-up rock band or cheesy country group. It hasn’t happened yet. Normally at least one day of the Fourth of July weekend is spent at Fitzgerald’s annual American Music Fest, the day that Jon Dee Graham is playing of course. As much as I love the festival, and as much as I adore Jon Dee, when I found out that the Hold Steady and the Whigs were playing the LCO on July 2 I knew I was going to miss him this summer.

I’m still not sure exactly how it happened, but the music director for WOJB, a local community supported radio station, was obviously behind it, as it introduced the bands it was obvious how excited he was about tonight’s show. As well he should be, the Hold Steady had me from the first time I saw them at the first Pitchfork music festival. I was walking over to the stage where the Wrens would be playing and stopped to watch the non-rock star guy in the button-up shirt walk around the stage, guitar hanging from his shoulder, unplayed, gesturing frantically as he talk-sang songs about saints and high school. It made quite an impression and I was hooked.

Their new record and fifth release Heaven Is Whenever was a bit of a surprise. Lead singer Craig Finn was actually singing this time around and flamboyant keyboard player Franz Nicolai had left the band. Once I got used to it, I found I really, really liked it. I wasn’t sure what his new voice was going to mean for the old songs live, that ones that had been so obviously spoken instead of sung. Turns out he sings those now too. The gesturing is still there, and he still repeats the last half of phrases off mike, but there’s actual singing on older songs like “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” and “Everyone’s a Critic and Most of Them Are DJs.” Even more amazing was that these songs from the first couple records were in the set list at all, and it made for a very entertaining evening. I had no hope if hearing “Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night” which wasn’t a regular part of the set list even when it was new, but they played it tonight. Finn’s frantic repeating of the line “cigarettes where they’re supposed to have eyes” as he pointed to his eyes and pretended to puff a cigarette was among my favorite moments of the show.

Only to be topped by the absurdity of his enthusiastic “Thank you Hayward!” to end the evening, which may honestly be the strangest thing I have ever heard. Never in my life did I expect to hear those words out of Finn. There was still a pocket of obnoxious fans, and we found ourselves moving further and further back from the stage, but it was nothing compared to the crush at frat boys at the last several Hold Steady shows. There was also a surprising amount of folks older than me, almost as if they just came because something was going on and they were curious about it. That was pretty cool, I wonder what they thought.

At the very least they had to have been impressed with the three piece from Athens Georgia who occupied the middle slot. The Whigs have a remarkable energy, blazing through songs at lightning speed. Lead singer Parker Gisbert is hypnotic to watch, his guitar strapped high up under his arm as he hops around the stage on one leg, the other stuck straight out in front of him in some sort of bizarre duck walk. The bass player and drummer have just as much energy; the latter’s explosive style making his hairs a blur and his long hair into a fuzzy halo around his head. Opening band Jaill (they added the second “l” after finding out there was already another band named Jail) had a number of things going for them, like the cutest drummer ever and Ryan Adams formerly of the Midwest Beat on guitar, but ultimately I found their songs to be a little samey. The recent Sub Pop signees (congratulations!) played a little too long, but it probably only seemed that way since they were separating me from two bands I really wanted to see.

Jaill




The Whigs











The Hold Steady