Ha Ha Tonka/SSLYBY/Letting Up Despite Great Faults; December 9, 2011; Bootleg Bar, Los Angeles

My trips to California so far have been limited to San Francisco, so this was my first time seeing So Cal. It’s a long drive from San Fran to LA, but as usual it didn’t seem long riding in the van with HHT. Lennon had opted to ride with the Boris boys today, so I took this opportunity to ride shotgun. The landscape was beautiful and unusual, what really stood out was a barren hilly area topped with motionless wind turbines. I had my first In & Out burger today, and yes, it was better than a regular fast food burger though I’m not sure I liked it better than my beloved Whopper. The menu was simple, burger, fries, soda, shake, but apparently there is a whole secret menu that you have to be in the know about to order from.

I spent a lot of time in a hospital waiting room earlier this year and while there I completed a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of the LA skyline. It was odd to see the real life versions of these things, the W hotel, the Fitzgerald, and of course the HOLLYWOOD sign. The Bootleg Bar was in an odd location, surrounded by businesses instead of other nightclubs, but it was a great space. Doors led to hallways which led to party spaces, outdoor decks and a theater. As luck would have it, there was a benefit fashion show happening in the theater prior to the rock show and the venue invited all of us back. It was one of those crazy shows with un-wearable fashions that yet were all for sale. We saw dresses made from playing cards, Mylar balloons and X-Men comic books, heard commentary from the cross-dressing fashion police, and were treated to a few cabaret-style songs. Bonus. The only food nearby was down the block where $1 tacos were served from a stand on the sidewalk, and they were delicious.

There was a local opener tonight, who had a name even more awkward that SSLYBY, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, um, huh? They had an Asian singer who sounded surprisingly like the Psychedelic Furs’ Richard Butler. They were good, and definitely had some friends who came out just to see them. SSLYBY played second tonight, and I again I enjoyed them immensely. Guitarist Will, who already stands out as a long-haired blond in a band of brunette preppy haircuts, had picked up a cowboy hat today that he wanted to wear. He rounded out the ensemble with Luke’s cowboy boots which he drew attention to by tucking his jeans into them. It was night two of my “merch-off” with Nathan, and again I think he might have won, though it wasn’t for lack of enthusiasm on my part. I like touring with Boris, I wish I had been on this tour longer.

Letting Up Despite Great Fault


SSLYBY




Ha Ha Tonka

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin/Ha Ha Tonka; October 8, 2011; Hotel Utah Saloon, San Francisco

The Hotel Utah Saloon has its charms- the food was delicious, the staff super friendly- but its capacity as a venue is not one of them. In fact, I’m not even sure why someone thought they should have shows here, at least not ones they expect to draw more than twenty people. And this co-headlining bill certainly did that. The room was tiny and oddly shaped, with a balcony above it that offered a right on top of the band view of the stage, still, over a hundred folks braved it. My friend who lives in San Francisco picked a safe corner to watch the show from. It was her first time seeing Ha Ha Tonka and she reported that she really enjoyed them and that the sound didn’t suck in the back. I was glad on both counts, especially because the sound did suck in the space stage right that the merch area was wedged into. In fact Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s very entertaining merch guy Nathan elected to wait the show out just outside the music room. Good call.

I had seen SSLYBY several years ago at the Belmont Street Festival in Chicago. I watched one song before deciding they weren’t my thing and wandering off to another stage. I feel bad about that now, because as it turns out they are exactly my thing. There are two lead singers in the band, John and Phil, and they split the set between them. It would be hard to pick who I liked better if it weren’t for Phil’s song “Yellow Missing Signs,” which became my new favorite song tonight and I looked forward to it every night. It’s actually a sad song about three women who went missing several years ago in Springfield MO and still haven’t been found, but it’s disguised in a ridiculously catchy dance beat. I look forward to seeing them again the next two nights.

Stew and the Negro Problem; December 5, 2011; Mitchell Theater at Vilas Hall

Mark “Stew” Stewart is an unlikely UW Madison professor. He’s critically acclaimed musician and the author of a Tony award winning semi-autobiographical musical Passing Strange. Yet, here he was hosting his last Monday night of music and interviews as he finishes up a semester teaching a songwriting class. While other nights have featured guest speakers and musicians, his final show was with his band the Negro Problem, enhanced with a few of the students from his class. The young trumpet, trombone and violin players all held their own even though Stewart himself admitted they had no idea what was going to be thrown at them that night. Often he would just point their direction, encouraging them to take a solo, and they would oblige. The rest of the band consisted of regular members, the drummer, the expressive keyboardist and bass player Heidi Rodewald, who is also his songwriting partner

I wasn’t really sure what to expect tonight, I was only marginally familiar with TNP and hadn’t actually heard any of the music, but I went anyway because it was free, early, nearby work, and most importantly, my friend Bill was going to be there. He had been to one of the earlier shows which featured noted faculty member Richard Davis. He said that night had consisted of Stew playing a song and then asking Davis about it. This was much more music and less talk, though Stew is an excellent and humorous storyteller. He has a warm, smooth speaking voice that accurately predicts his singing voice. Surprisingly, the performer I was most reminded of while watching him is Van Morrison. I couldn’t quite explain it, but there was something in his vocal and performance style that reminded me of one of Ireland’s most famous musicians.

It definitely wasn’t his songs, since I have a hard time picturing Van singing the line “The naked Dutch painter in your kitchen does not want to sleep with you,” from my favorite song of the night. Another memorable one was “Black Men Can Ski” which resulted from a stay at a ski lodge. The song which gained him the most cred with the younger audience, the much younger audience, was a song called “Where’s Gary?” that was featured on an episode of Sponge Bob Squarepants. Many of the songs came from the musical and had that musical quality to them… you know what I mean. It wasn’t necessarily my kind of music, but I still enjoyed the night as something completely different from what I am used to.

M Ward/Carlos Forester/Mike Coykendall; December 4, 2011; Schubas

I felt like I had won the lottery. Tickets for M Ward’s one-off Schubas show sold out in three minutes, and I had a pair. It was still somewhat of a mystery why he was even playing the much-too-small club on a Sunday night, but I wasn’t questioning it. He’d spent the last few years concentrating on She & Him, a duo with Zooey Deschanel. Surprisingly I don’t despise the band because of Deschanel (who I think is one of the worst actresses ever) or because of their awkward syntax moniker, but because for all the time he spends on that project that means no new M Ward records, and the years since Hold Time have felt like an eternity. He had played a Daytrotter benefit in Rock Island the night before (that I certainly would have been at had I not had Robbie Fulks playing at my house) and we theorized that he was playing the show tonight just because he could. In fact, he called the two night run his “Rock Island Line” tour. And as you may have guessed, that song showed up in the set as part of a terrific encore.

One of the first times I saw M Ward I didn’t like him, I couldn’t figure out why a guy who was supposed to be such an amazing songwriter was playing so many covers. Tonight however I embraced the covers. The aforementioned “Rock Island Line” was fantastic, and “Roll Over Beethoven” was equally inspired. The energy of the entire show is in a large part due to the stellar band Ward assembled for the tour. Longtime sideman and opening act Mike Coykendall was joined by fellow opener Carlos Forester, both on guitar or bass, whatever the song called for, while Scott McPherson was behind the drum kit. A most pleasant surprise was seeing Nashville musician Chris Scruggs on steel guitar (and sometimes other guitars). I had seen the very recognizable Scruggs only once before playing with BR5-49 and instantly fell in love with him.

Last year I saw Jason Collett with Zeus and Bahamas, and Collett who was ostensibly the headliner played the first song of the night. The revolving door of musicians on stage kept it interesting for those who only knew the headliner. While not quite as integrated as that show, the lines between openers and headliner were blurred. Coykendall took the stage first but only played a song or two before calling up McPherson and Forester soon after that. I liked both of them, especially Forester whose gentle voice was hypnotic, and I picked up his new release. Eventually Scruggs joined them and soon after Ward. The duet “Campfire Songs” that he sang with Forester was the highlight of the first half the night.

On previous occasions that I had seen Ward, he’s had the venue request no photography. The Pabst didn’t look for cameras but the politely worded signs were enough to keep me from taking pictures. It seems his time in the spotlight with Deschanel has accustomed him to the attention, and there were no such requests tonight. Still, I hesitated to take more than a handful of pictures and few short videos; sure he would abruptly change his mind if he spotted me. He was still wearing a baseball cap pulled low so that most of his face was in the shadow, but I swear sometimes he was smiling.

I know I was. The set list couldn’t have been better. Other than the exclusion of “Big Boat” (the song that got me into after Ward after that less than amazing show), I heard everything I wanted to, most notably “Chinese Translation” whose forlorn questions like “What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart?” are belied by the lighthearted melody. It’s impossible to pick a second favorite, “Whole Lotta Losin’,” “Never Had Nobody Like You,” “Fisher of Men” and the appropriately titled “Magic Trick” were all terrific. My only complaint was that it was too short, just over an hour. Winning the lottery couldn’t be as good as this.

Robbie Fulks; December 3, 2011; Kiki’s House of Righteous Music

Used to be Robbie Fulks and his band played Madison frequently, a festival here, a Harmony (and eventually a High Noon) show there, but in recent years he’s been lying a little low. It’s not just Madison, he tends to stick closer to Chicago these days, playing a weekly residency at the Hideout and only occasionally hitting the road. After seeing him this summer at the Marquette Waterfront Festival I decided it was time to ask if he wanted play another house concert. His schedule was pretty tight up until Thanksgiving, but we picked this day not knowing it would be the same date as the Big 10 Football Championship Game. There was still a sold out crowd but I did have a few cancellations in the week before the show, including my best house concert customer.

It had been three years since the last time Fulks had played at the house, accompanied by the fantastic Robbie Gjersoe. This time at least I knew Gjersoe was coming, avoiding an embarrassingly speechless moment when I opened the door. I’ve been a fan of the journeyman guitarist, who plays with the Flatlanders and Kelly Willis to name a few, ever since I saw him single-handedly save a Jimmie Dale Gilmore show which seemed destined to crash and burn. The Robbies play well together; both are fantastic guitarists and share a goofy sense of humor. When Fulks pulled out his new ukulele, Gjersoe leaned over and whispered, “If you eat right, you’ll be a big guitar some day.” The unveiling of the ukulele was accompanied by an amusing story of the very serious instrument dealer Fulks had bought it from.

In addition to indulging an impressive and serious bluegrass jones on several occasions, Fulks played a lot of fan favorites. Last time through the basement I knew only a fraction of the songs he played, many of which were from his 50 VC Doberman, a download only record which contains a whopping fifty songs that I never had the courage to tackle. This time however I knew the bulk of them, and the set included several excellent selections from his extensive catalog, like “Took A Lot of Pills and Died,” “Tears Only Run Way” and “North Carolina is the Cigarette State.” He also took requests, “Parallel Bars” and “God Isn’t Real,” while turning down some, “(I Love) The Bangle Girl” (“Because I don’t anymore” he explained). In addition, the new songs he played, like the observant “Normal People” and the hilarious “Fine Batch of Biscuits” were instantly memorable.

He seemed to enjoy the unplugged setting immensely, commenting on how many times you sound great in the dressing room and then terrible on stage due to poor sound systems. Fulks certainly has the power to play this way, even though the basement was packed, you could hear every word. Always the professional, he wrapped up the set at the agreed upon hour and a half on the dot. It was one of the easiest shows I’ve done, and one of the most fun. Hopefully I won’t have to wait three years for him to do it again.

Social Distortion/Chuck Ragan; November 29, 2011; Orpheum Theater

Chuck Ragan



Social Distortion