Robbie Fulks; February 15, 2010; The Hideout

I’d been cutting back on my trips to Chicago the last couple years, but the combination of Robbie Fulks Monday night February residency at the Hideout and Marcus’s birthday proved to be a good enough reason to make the drive. I adore the Hideout. The tiny little bar is the only business for blocks, nestled amongst warehouses and next to the city’s maintenance vehicle lot. I’d wonder how they survive, but I already know- loyal customers and quality booking. If I lived in Chicago I would be there all the time.

The room was packed when we arrived slightly after the listed 7 PM start time, but luckily we ran into Alex Millar at the bar and he had room at his table. Each week Robbie has been featuring a different line-up, the week before had been Nora O’Connor and next week’s show was with the band. Tonight’s show was listed as a string trio with bass fiddle. Since it didn’t give any names, I was expecting a fiddle to complete the group. So it was a pleasant surprise when the second person on stage was the immensely likeable Robbie Gjersoe, an amazing guitarist. The first song took place in near darkness, the only light a flashlight that Fulks held under his chin, ghost story style. Over a walking bass line, he intoned a “song” about how they “were putting on a show.” For the rest of the night whenever something started with that same sort of bass line, Fulks would joke that “it sounds like the first song.”

When the lights came up, it revealed Fulks, always the height of fashion, in a flowered shirt and big, thick-rimmed Harry Carey style glasses. The show went back and forth between obscure covers and Fulks’ originals, with slightly more emphasis on the former. The title track from Georgia Hard and “Rock Bottom,” off his debut Country Love Songs, were two of the original highlights. Since Fulks tends to surround himself with excellent guitarists, one tends to forget how amazing a player he is. During solo exchanges between the Robbies, there were several moments of jaw dropping guitar playing. Gjersoe also kept things interesting with his changing line-up of guitars. The most intriging of these was a tiny guitar that his brother brought him from South America, about the size of a parlor guitar, which was a big hit with the audience, especially Alex Millar who was very vocal in his appreciation.

They wrapped up the night in just under two hours, allowing us to get back to Madison at midnight. Since it was so unusual, I told Marcus we should go out for one more beer, but he declined. I guess technically it was no longer his birthday.

Ha Ha Tonka/Golden Coins; February 12, 2010; Club Garibaldi, Milwaukee
Golden Coins






Ha Ha Tonka

German Art Students; February 12, 2010; High Noon Saloon

The German Art Students were my first favorite local band. They were opening for the Gigolo Aunts at the Club Tavern in what had to be one of their first gigs. They wore black and pretended they were German. Sure, it was a little hokey, but they easily won me over with their high energy and catchy songs. Amazingly that was twelve years ago. Since then I’ve seen them play at practically every venue in town, from the long gone O’Cayz Corral to street fests to the Rathskellar to the High Noon. Even as their lives changed with marriage and children, the line-up stayed the same and they could always be counted on for a few gigs a year. Until now. The bad news is that bassist Andy Larson is leaving the band; the good news is that GAS will continue on. As a three piece of course, since no one could ever replace him.

Tonight was their one last hurrah with the original line-up, and it seemed no one wanted to miss it. An impressive crowd, along with possibly the most children I’ve seen in the bar outside of the Old Tin Can String Band’s Sunday afternoon shows, filled the High Noon for two hours of all the hits. Granted many of the children there probably belonged to band members or to Andy’s extended family many of who had come from out of town. The early happy hour show was in keeping with their theory that their audience had grown older along with them.

It had been awhile since I had seen them last, but with only three full length releases in their discography I wasn’t too worried about not knowing any of the songs. In fact, I’m hard-pressed to think of any they didn’t do, going all the way back to “News Nugget,” which was my favorite from that very first show. I remember it like it was yesterday. The hilariously clever “Civil War Re-enactor” and the high-art mocking “Left of Center” were there, as well as period piece “Eighteenth Century Love Song.” It remains to be seen who will take over Andy’s vocal as the Colonel, though my bet is that drummer Randy Ballwahn will be doing more singing than just his lead vocals on “Dick Clark.”

There haven’t been any new songs since the release of their 7 inch featuring “Pompeii,” but it wouldn’t surprise me if their subject matter moved from dating, as detailed in “Shitty Directions” and “Nightmare Date Experience,” to the joys of parenthood. I knew the evening was close to over when they played their dance sensation “The Bumblebee” followed by the absolutely hysterical true story “Steve Vai Boyfriend.” Guitarist/vocalist Anneleis Howell had been on fire all night, obviously excited to be back on stage after the birth of her second child, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her kick higher or sing with more fervor than on that pair. But they weren’t quite done. Andy handed his bass over to Anneleis, commenting that we should get used to how that looks, and he took lead vocals on one last cover song.

We’ll miss you Andy. I give him six months.

Ha Ha Tonka/Chaperone/Beautiful Collision; February 11, 2010; House Café, DeKalb

Ha Ha Tonka was supposed to come through Madison opening for Cross Canadian Ragweed on December 10. Unfortunately that was the date of the single biggest snowstorm I’ve seen since moving back to Wisconsin fifteen years ago. The University closed and the buses weren’t running, and I got my first snow day since I’d started at the UW. In light of the predicted weather, the bands had the good sense to postpone their stop at the Majestic Theater. I knew they had to, but I was still disappointed that I wasn’t going to see them. After all, I hadn’t seen them since the end of October, and that seemed like years ago. They’ve rescheduled that show for April, but in the meantime they were playing a few shows temptingly close to Madison.

DeKalb is an easy enough drive, less than two hours from Madison and without the traffic that makes Chicago travel so unpredictable. I’d even been to the House Café before and found it eclectically charming. I wasn’t sure why they had put together a four band bill on a weeknight but figured they knew what they were doing. I was less sure of that after the bulk of the crowd left after the opening band, an engaging group of kids with a Wilco bent, finished their set. If they hadn’t already left, it’s possible that Beautiful Collision would have chased them out. Not that there was really anything wrong with them musically- they were all solid enough and the dude had a good voice- it was just that they were completely unoriginal. While I did find myself fascinated by the drummer’s gigantic ‘fro, I daydreamed through most of their set before being rescued by Brett and ushered downstairs to the green room.

There I met part of the third band on the bill. Chaperone’s vocalist Mary Spadaro and bass player Miles Doornbos who were also bemoaning a scheduling order that ensured that only a small portion of the original crowd would still be around by the time they played. The Chicago band is ridiculously high energy, incorporating extra percussion to ensure everyone was bopping their heads and shaking their butts during their set. While their vocals weren’t always spot on, I couldn’t help but get caught up in their music. I’d seen the dude with awesome mustache earlier, and was pleased to find out he was the lead singer/guitarist Shaun Paul. Mary and second vocalist Shaylah Kloska augmented their performance with a variety of percussion, maracas and tambourines were always close by. Miles had his own drum that he pounded with enthusiasm, but that didn’t prepare me for his turn on lead vocals, where he turned into a dynamo, cranking the energy up to 11. He was already my favorite before he gave me one of his chocolate, caramel, and sea salt cookies. Absolutely delicious, I recommend pairing it with a pale ale.

A small but enthusiastic crowd gathered in front of the stage as Ha Ha Tonka came on. They may have been disappointed by how much the crowd had dwindled, but they certainly didn’t let on. Their set hadn’t changed much from the last time I’d seen them, but that didn’t really matter. “Close Every Valve to Your Bleeding Heart” is still the highlight. A slow builder that has Brett switching from mandolin to electric guitar as the song gains momentum, only to slow again at the end. “I ask you why, you reply the death of hope hit you hard too,” Brian sings, and it kills me every time. I couldn’t skip back to it like I do nearly every time I play the CD, but that was the only disappointment.

If I had to vote which band member would be most likely to take off his shirt it would be bass player Luke Long. Surprisingly when it happened, it wasn’t on purpose. In an attempt to remove the outer of two shirts both came off, and with the song already underway he shrugged and put his bass back on. After the song he separated his T-shirt and put it back on. Sorry, I did not have my camera out. Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South has been out just under a year, but they are already at work on the next record. If all the new stuff sounds like the track they played tonight, they’re gonna be huge in no time (I hope they remember me). While South was somewhat of an acquired taste, starting good and getting better every time I listened to it, this new track was immediate. Super catchy, with Brian, Brett and Luke all singing, I felt like I knew it by the second chorus.

It was a comfort leaving tonight knowing that it wouldn’t be long before I saw them again. The show the next night was in Milwaukee, which is even closer to Madison than DeKalb, of course I’m going to be there.

Beautiful Collision

Chaperone







Ha Ha Tonka