Craig Wedren/Greg Dulli at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, OH, 10.16.10

Craig Wedren

Given my long-standing love for Greg Dulli (generally referred to in my world by his proper name: Greg fucking Dulli), it was a given that I would jump on tickets to this special acoustic show, Dulli’s first solo tour. When it was announced that Craig Wedren of Shudder to Think would be opening, my eyes nearly rolled back in my head. In the later 1990s, before bands began breaking up and band members died, my holy triumvirate of music was topped by the Afghan Whigs with Morphine and Shudder to Think anchoring the other corners. I was fortunate enough to see each of these bands play before tides turned, and I cherish the memory of those shows. To be able to check in with the frontmen of two of those bands in one night was a special treat.

Wedren looked exactly as I remembered seeing him back in 1997 when Shudder to Think toured in support of 50,000 B.C.: fresh, lean and handsome with a spectacular smile and a sparkle in his eye. Mixing his solo and film work (including a song from his project Baby) with a few Shudder to Think favorites – like the ubiquitous “Red House”, “Hit Liquor” and “X-French Tee Shirt” – Wedren switched off between acoustic and electric guitars and occasionally employed a loop station to create a rich layers of sound. And he was as at ease on stage as ever, cracking wise, musing and making dedications to his mother and his wife.

Craig Wedren’s best instrument has always been his voice, and it remains strong and supple. He ranges from baritone to falsetto and back again with ease, sometimes using the loop station to create eerie harmonies with himself. Beautiful from start to finish.

Greg Dulli

When Greg Dulli took the stage, flanked by frequent collaborator Dave Rosser on guitar and Rick Nelson on cello and violin, it seemed he might be satisfied to rest on his laurels for this low-key “Evening with”. While the first four songs of the set, which included the Gutter Twins’ “God’s Children” and brand new Twilight Singers’ track “Blackbird and the Fox”, were good, something was missing. The renowned Dulli fire was set to low. But with the Twilight Singers’ stormy “Bonnie Brae”, the burner was turned to high, and that familiar, scorching howl rolled forth from Dulli’s ragged throat.

Though the evening was heavy with Twilight Singers songs, Dulli did, as promised, trot out some Afghan Whigs classics like “Let Me Lie to You”, “If I Were Going” and “Summer’s Kiss”, and even, per an audience request, an unscheduled turn on “66” (the first time played on this tour, Dulli quipped that Cleveland had broken his cherry).

The encore, which kicked off with the Twilight Singers epic “Candy Cane Crawl”, contained the only true non-album cover of the night, a passionate take on José González’s “Down the Line”, culminating in Dulli’s repeated howl warning “Don’t let the darkness eat you up”. It was a goosebumps moment.

Dave Rosser already has a solid reputation as a stand-up guitarist and didn’t fail to impress, but it was Rick Nelson who really shined on the strings this night, sometimes flowing a layer of incomparable beauty under a song and sometimes ramping up the passion to roof-blowing proportions.

But it wasn’t a perfect evening. In attendance was the drunkest crowd I’ve ever experienced in such a small venue, and they kept sending their loudest, gabbiest emissaries to stand right in front of the stage and chit chat, both to Dulli and among themselves, through both sets of the night. One particular offender, who had bullied her way rudely in front of people who had been holding their spots for two hours, had to be called out by Dulli twice before she got the message to “shut your fucking mouth”. It was possibly the first time I’ve ever left a show annoyed.

Greg Dulli Setlist

Notable Shows in the Greater Cleveland Area

Shows worth checking out this week in and around Cleveland:

The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

  • Fri, Oct 15| 9 PM (8 PM door)
    Boom Box
    Freekbass & Tobotius
    $15
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Fri, Oct 15| 9 PM (8 PM door)
    Deadbolt
    Cult of Psychic Fetus
    Scoliosis Jones
    $15
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Sat, Oct 16| 9 PM (8:30 PM door)
    Melvin Davis & The United Sounds
    Torrey Canyon LTD
    DJ Race Card
    DJ Mr. Fishtruck
    $10
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Sun, Oct 17| 4 PM (4 PM door)
    All Faiths Pantry Benefit

    BALLROOM
    Carlos Jones & The Plus Band | 8:45 PM
    Mifune | 7 PM
    Umojah Nation | 5:45 PM
    Revolution Brass Band | 5PM
    Emcee: Packy Malley

    TAVERN
    Lubriphonic | 10 PM
    Ernie Krivda’s Jazz Workshop | 6:15-7:45 PM
    Emcee: Packy Malley

    $10 adv / $15 dos
    Ballroom & Tavern | All Ages

  • Tue, Oct 19| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    Dr. Dog
    Here We Go Magic
    $16
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Wed, Oct 20| 8:30 PM (7:30 PM door)
    Chuck Prophet and The Mission Express
    Ryan Humbert
    $15
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Wed, Oct 20| 9 PM (8:30 PM door)
    Amplified Heat
    Octolope
    Black Light Betty
    $6.00
    Tavern | All Ages

Grog Shop

  • Sat, Oct 16| 9 PM
    Greg Dulli
    Craig Wedren
    $15
  • Sun, Oct 17| 7:30 PM
    Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
    Langhorne Slim
    Jesse Sykes and Phil Wandscher
    Mimicking Birds
    $13 adv / $15 dos
  • Thu, Oct 21| 10 PM
    Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
    Rustlanders
    $13 adv / $15 dos

Now That’s Class

  • Fri, Oct 15| 9pm
    Agent Orange
    Raw Nerve
    Manipulation
    Vile Gash
    Skin graft
    CIDER
    Bad Noids
    Ex-Whites
    $10

Musica

  • Sat, Oct 16| 9 PM
    Tony Joe White
    Billy Smith Band
    $15
  • Tue, Oct 19| 7:30 PM
    Empires
    Kevin Smith
    City of Invention
    Gavin the Third
    $8

Kent Stage

  • Thu, Oct 21| 8 PM
    Great Big Sea
    $27 / $37

Hell and Half of Georgia: Men Destined to Hang Cain’t Drown

Good friend to NTSIB Sean Fahlen has been promising us new Hell and Half of Georgia tunes for a while now. In early spring, he let us know that a gig mix-up would result in some new song recording, so we eagerly waited. And waited some more. Then we forgot about it for a while. Then we remembered. And waited some more.

Then, in a virtual ambush, he dropped a spankin’ new EP on us yesterday.

“first recordings with th full band,” Sean told us. “put down basic tracks in one day, then th Capt. fucked up his back pullin up an anchor, got laid out perty bad. pieced it together hour by hour from there. what shoulda took 3days lasted 3month. it’s been a slow summer…”

While Men Destined to Hang Cain’t Drown was a more democratically-produced effort for HaHog, it finds their sound more cohesive. A shiny thread of honky tonk glitters brightly throughout, aided greatly by some beautiful lap steel. And don’t forget ol’ Captain Ed Brady.

“th Capt. has become absolutely indispensable, this band could not continue without him,” Sean notes. “he’s th rugged free-spirit in th band, sometimes we gotta reign him in. he is in his 60s and has more excitement and passion for this band than anyone else. “

We’re happy to have the new batch of songs and offer you a couple of our favorites.

Hell and Half of Georgia – I Got a Girl

Hell and Half of Georgia – In the Way

Go download the whole shebang yourself right now because the HaHoG boys are giving it away for free again. Do it, people.

Hell and Half of Georgia – Men Destined to Hang Cain’t Drown

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Fall Mix

Not the Fall as in Mark E. Smith, but fall as in the season. This week, Jennifer shares some thoughts on her current favorite tunes.


School foiled my concert-attending plans last week, so today you get a selection of things currently in heavy rotation on my iPod, along with some pictures from my recent travels.

1. Love Hurts, Grievous Angel, Gram Parsons feat. Emmylou Harris – Yes, it’s that “Love Hurts.” You may be more familiar with the Nazareth version — I was — but this one is 90% less cheesy and ridiculous. The song is infinitely better as a country love song than as a heavy metal power ballad. The lyrics have a lot more oomph now that I can listen to them without laughing.

2. Slink (A Hymn), Theme song for The Good Guys, Locksley – This band signs off all of their news emails with a cheery “Be in love” which makes me both grin and half-roll my eyes every time. Oh, babies. I’ll work on it, okay? I’m a cranky old lady, though, so you have to give me a running start. Meanwhile: this song is a delightful story about falling in love with someone else’s lady on the dancefloor, or maybe just about flirting via dancing. I’m not quite sure. But it’s definitely a whole lot of fun, and never fails to pull me out of the end-of-a-12-hour-day dumps.

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Waterfire, Providence, Rhode Island, October 2010

3. Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Flamingo, Brandon Flowers – This song should be the first thing travelers hear upon deplaning at McCarren Airport. And it should be turned up loud enough to drown out the sound of the slot machines. (I was sure “slot machines at the airport” was an urban legend until I walked off the plane and saw them, and the lights of the Strip flickering in the distance.) There are a lot of love songs on this record; this one is for Las Vegas herself.

4. Cheat on Your New Lover With Me, Inconvenient Dreams, Jail Weddings – From what I can gather from the Internet, there’s a kind of ’60s revival going on in certain circles of the Los Angeles music scene. There’s the mods ( The Like), the surf-pop (The Young Veins), and then there’s the rockers: Jail Weddings. If I was put in charge of remaking Grease, Frenchie and the rest of the Pink Ladies would totally get down to Jail Weddings’ grooves. I think of this one as Rizzo’s song. It’s a filthy, irresistable suggestion, the kind of thing one would whisper to a hot boy in a fast car before hopping in and putting your feet up on the dash while he guns it for the state line. I like to listen to it while I walk to the train in the morning. True confessions: I had the whole five song EP on repeat for a while. It really is that good.

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A seabird @ Asbury Park, New Jersey, September 2010

5. Blackhawk, Wrecking Ball, Emmylou Harris : Listening to Grievous Angel and Wrecking Ball on shuffle will break your heart, because when she comes up on her own, her sweet clear voice sounds so lonely without his warmer tones harmonizing. Blackhawk is a requiem for a love story — though not theirs, necessarily — and it is a gem. Also beautiful: Wrecking Ball, the title track, and Waltz Across Texas Tonight.

6. Brian Eno, Congratulations, MGMT – I’m so late to the MGMT party that everyone who’s already there is at the “sitting on the front stoop looking mournfully at empty solo cups” stage of the evening. Okay, I’m not going to abuse that metaphor any further. I love their second record, and this song in particular, because it sounds like Scooby Doo. If I was making videos for them, there’d be lots of cartoony effects and “RUT ROH!” thought bubbles. Also possibly willowy boys in miniskirts and go-go boots chasing a caped miscreant through a candy-colored dreamscape.

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Lion statue, Washington Heights, September 2010

7. Love Drunk, Love Drunk, Boys Like Girls – The first and so far only time I have seen Boys Like Girls live was in the summer of 2009, at the (unintentionally hilariously misnamed) MTV Sunblock Fest, on a miserable, wet, cold July day at Jones Beach. It was raining so hard there was water whipping across the stage in sheets, and the crowd was huddled in hoodies and ponchos, sipping hot chocolate. I had gotten good and mostly-soaked watching the opening bands I had come to see (Gym Class Heroes and The Academy Is . . .) but for whatever reason – curiosity or cussedness – I stuck around for Boys Like Girls. This song is one of the many reasons I was glad I did. It’s a classic break-up song of the “Don’t let the door hit you on the behind on the way out!” variety, and it’s got a satisfyingly bouncy melody as well as entertaining lyrics.

8. Na Na Na, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, My Chemical Romance – I did not want to like this song, or their new record. I was fully prepared to be sulky and cross about their metamorphasis into brightly-colored dance punk being broadcast from 2019. (I like brightly colored dance-punk and post-apocalyptic futures, mind, but we had been teased with early reports of a gimmick-free punk rock record.) I may have done some grumbling about too much California sun rotting their brains. And then somewhere between a killer opening guitar riff, eight legs to the wall/hit the gas/and the wall/and we crawl and let me tell you ’bout the sad man/shut up and let me see your jazz hands, I caved, and now I’m hooked. I take it back, My Chemical Romance; I’m in. Bring on the candy-colored cap guns and awe-inspiringly ridiculous stage costumes. If you’re ready to dance, I’ll pogo with you.

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Cactus from Brown University greenhouse, October 2010

9. Club Can’t Even Handle Me Right Now, Step Up 3D (soundtrack), Flo Rida , feat. David Guetta – This song is ridiculous and I love it. It’s bubblegum pop from a movie whose main conflict resolution device is dance-batttles and I can’t stop listening to it. I suggest you put this one on if you have a tedious chore to do and need something fun to ease the pain and/or pass the time.

10. Record Collection,Record Collection, Mark Ronson and The Business Intl. , feat. Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon and Wiley – Part of the peculiar alchemy of this record, and also this song, is how many people Ronson has brought in to share
the singing duties; the overall effect is of a big game of vocal pick-up sticks. This particular track, sung by Mark Ronson, Simon Le Bon and Wiley is a sweet synth-pop confection of a tune that is mainly about the perks, trials and tribulations of being a pop star. Sample lyrics: I drive ’round cities in a chariot, I get preferential treatment at the Marriott, but if the truth be told I’m naked under all these clothes. I’ll tell you what it is on my mind, I only want to be in your record collection.

— Jennifer

Die, Sloopy, Die: Rocket from the Tombs

Die, Sloopy, Die is a tribute to great Ohio bands of the past and present. The name is an anti-tribute to our official state rock song “Hang On, Sloopy” by the McCoys because, while it is awesome that we were the first state to declare an official state rock song (and, so far, we are one of only two states to do so, Oklahoma having declared the Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize??” their official state song), we chose one of the lamest songs it was possible for us to choose.


Rocket from the Tombs

Music lineage can be a tangle, especially when it comes to punk. (The family tree of British punk band London SS would take an entire gymnasium wall to itself.) Most music lovers probably know that if you follow the trail backward from the 2006 team-up of Nine Inch Nails and Peter Murphy for “Final Solution”, you’ll light on Murphy’s 1986 version of the song for his album Should the World Fail to Fall Apart before ending up on Pere Ubu’s 1976 release. But there’s another step back, to a Cleveland band who existed for a year. If you trace back from the Dead Boys’ “Sonic Reducer”, you’ll stop on that same Cleveland band.

Having been only a year old at the time of their existence and having parents who continue to be a prime target for mainstream pop, I was unlikely to ever hear Rocket from the Tombs. In their short lifetime, beginning in 1974 and ending in 1975, RFTT never released an album, and they played only a handful of shows. Yet they ended up leaving an important mark on music.

Ain’t It Fun

The core line-up of Rocket from the Tombs included Dave Thomas, Peter Laughner, Craig Bell, Gene O’Connor and Johnny Madansky (with a “guest” appearance by a guy named Steve Bators at their last show). A powder keg with a short fuse, when RTFF imploded, Thomas and Laughner formed Pere Ubu, while O’Connor became Cheetah Chrome, Madansky became Johnny Blitz, and they joined Steve (now Stiv) Bators to become Frankenstein, which later became the Dead Boys.

Rocket From The Tombs 30 Seconds Over Tokyo

Rocket from the Tombs might have only existed as a name in a footnote… but then came the internet, and the knowledge of a continued and widespread interest in this proto-band propelled the release of The Day the Earth Met the… Rocket from the Tombs, 19 tracks comprised from radio and concert recordings from the band’s short life. And what an amazing racket it is. My view is skewed and insular, but it’s difficult to believe this sort of music existed in Cleveland in the early ’70s. The jagged urgency of these songs is still stunning and compelling. In fact, listened to back-to-back, the original “Sonic Reducer” makes the Dead Boys’ version sound polished and mundane in comparison.

Sonic Reducer

Rocket from the Tombs reformed in 2003, bringing Television’s Richard Lloyd along, to play the Disastodrome festival, which they followed up with their own tour and the band’s first recorded album, Rocket Redux. Since then, the band has been ebbing and flowing through each other’s orbits, writing new material, then straggling off again, but they did manage to release a single, “I Sell Soul/Romeo & Juliet”, this past spring (which was, according to Ubu Projex, recorded at the Red Roof Inn in Mentor, Room 146 – so, now you know where to stay if you find yourself in Mentor for some ungodly reason).

Notable Shows in the Greater Cleveland Area

Shows worth checking out this week in and around Cleveland:

The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

  • Fri, Oct 8| 9 PM (8 PM door)
    The Thermals
    Cymbals Eat Guitars
    The Hundred in the Hands
    $14 adv / $15 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Sun, Oct 10| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves
    The Modern Electric
    $12 adv / $14 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Sun, Oct 10| 8:30 PM (8 PM door)
    Growlers
    Beach Stav
    45 Spider
    $8
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Mon, Oct 11| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    Alejandro Escovedo
    $16 adv / $18 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Wed, Oct 13| 9 PM (8 PM door)
    OK Go
    Company of Thieves
    Summer Darling
    $15
    Ballroom | All Ages

Grog Shop

  • Thu, Oct 14 | 8 PM
    Starfucker
    Octopus Project
    Hot Cha Cha
    $8 adv / $10 dos

Now That’s Class

  • Sat, Oct 9 | 9 PM
    Benefit for April Gaydos
    Femsickliver
    The Plain Dealers
    Bad Noids
    Pigsticker
    $5 donation
  • Sun, Oct 10 | 9 PM
    Joe Jack Talcum & The Powders
    (front man of the Dead Milkmen, playing new songs & Dead Milkmen songs)
    Samuel Locke Ward & the Boo Hoos
    All Dinosaurs
    William H. Michael & the Forgotten Souls of Antiquity
    $6

Musica

  • Thu, Oct 14 | 8 PM
    Dex Romweber Duo
    The Taxidermy Special
    The Velvamatics
    $10

The Agora

  • Fri, Oct 8 | “Headliners will take the stage by 9:15pm”
    King’s X
    Accept
    Shok Paris
    $25

Henry Clay People/Drive-By Truckers at Musica in Akron, OH, 10.5.10

The Henry Clay People

The Henry Clay People took the stage with confidence and ease, and while the beginning of their set struck me the same way their album Somewhere on the Golden Coast struck me – decent but same-y – things picked up with a song dedicated to the Drive-By Truckers (“This Ain’t a Scene”, I believe) and only got better from there. Joey Siara helped endear the band to the crowd by soliciting requests for cover songs… though the crowd was possibly stuck in a time-warp as Siara’s guidance to suggest a band from the ’70s was met with a shout for Guided By Voices. After a creditable rendering of “Game of Pricks”, Jay Gonzalez was brought on stage to join the band for a stop-start go at “Space Oddity” that included audience participation in the form of countdowns and hand-claps.

After a couple more stand-up originals, the band finished out their set with a cover of “Born to Run” that made the now slightly time-worn classic vital again.

Drive-By Truckers

The Drive-By Truckers, too, started their set a little low-key (though not quietly – it was the Drive-By Truckers, after all) and more toward the twangy side of their country-edged rock. I couldn’t help think of Tim Quine’s post on Rubber City Review suggesting that the best soundtrack for Akron was honky tonk and of the pig roasts of my youth which were often accompanied by a bar band of some stripe. Though those pig roasts would have been a hell of a lot more exciting if DBT had provided the entertainment.

After a few songs, the band picked up steam and brought out a string of their rockers, sounding almost like a heavy metal band with their low guitar riffs and Patterson Hood’s impassioned howls. It was impossible not to headbang along. It’s on these songs that the dynamic between the band’s de facto double-lead, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, is best appreciated. Cooley strikes cooler-than-cool guitar god poses (with the chops to back it up) while Hood bounces around and looks like he’s having the time of his life.

They kept the pace up throughout the rest of the show, which was a smart move in light of the mood of the audience. The only real break in the pace came with the lovely “The Flying Wallendas” which received a great reception from the crowd thanks to the line about “the fine folks of Akron” (sang as “the good people of Akron” this night).

I try to keep my opinions about audiences to myself, but this audience was something else. While the crowd gave it up good for their favorite songs throughout the night, it was the laziest audience I’ve ever experienced when it came to calling out for an encore. There were long lulls between half-hearted cheers and anemic chants of “D B T”. People mostly stood around as if they were waiting to be served. If I were the Truckers, I wouldn’t have come back, but the Truckers are better people than me, and they came back for a hell of an encore. DBT seem to be able to create their own energy and were in a fine, fine groove. Hood was apparently so excited that he played them into a second go at “Lookout Mountain”. Not that anyone was complaining, especially as it rocked even harder the second time around.

Drummer on Laundromatinee

There will be a Henry Clay People/Drive By Truckers show review later today, but I had to share this now. Drummer, which includes Patrick Carney of the Black Keys on bass, recorded a session for Laundromatinee, and it was just posted yesterday.

Drummer – Buddyscapes from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

Drummer didn’t get the attention it deserved and further activity from the Ohio drummer-comprised “supergroup” seems unlikely, but if you missed their album Feel Good Together the first time around, you should still jump on it. Their Laundromatinee session, which includes mp3s as well as videos, will show you why.

Drummer on Laundromatinee

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Free Energy

Free Energy gets their own spotlight this week. Jennifer digs her some punk pop.


And now, as promised: Free Energy, who were so awesome they needed their own post. I came into the show knowing nothing about them and about three songs in I was up on my toes, grinning at them and clapping along with the rest of the crowd. This band is fun, y’all, in all of the ways pop-punk should be.

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Musically, they have big hooks and catchy choruses; it’s the kind of thing that makes you want to dance, and also sing along. Also, it was the last night of a long tour, and lead singer Paul Sprangers was still bouncing around the stage and dancing with a tambourine. I tried to get a picture of it, which didn’t work so well. The one below conveys the general spirit, though:

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When I checked their MySpace to see if they’d be back to visit New York any time soon, I saw they are starting North American tour with Foxy Shazam in mid-October. Tragically, I will be away for Thanksgiving when they get here, but y’all should check their dates and your calendars make it your business to get out to see them. I promise you it will be an evening of high-energy joy-inducing punk rock. Free Energy is also jumping over to France for a week in November, to play some festivals with, among other people, Surfer Blood. If we have any French readers: You are also seriously in for a treat!

— Jennifer

Bits: The Twilight Singers, Infantree, Devo, The Mississippi Sheiks, Matador at 21

  • The first taste of the new Twilight Singers album is available. Get a free download of “Blackbird and the Fox” here.
  • My Old Kentucky Blog premiered the video for Infantree’s “Slaughter House” today. Check it out. MOKB may be on the fence about the song, but we love it.
  • Devo will be heading out on a tiny, little tour at the end of the month, so hope you Devotees are ready to travel.
  • (Additionally, you can get ready for Halloween by purchasing a Devo costume from their webstore. Yeah, that’s… I don’t know what to make of that.)
  • If you are a casual blues fan, you may not have heard of the Mississippi Sheiks – you may not even realize there were blues bands back in the 1930s since all the focus is usually on the man-with-a-guitar bluesmen of the time – but you’ll likely know their songs as covered by other artists. No Depression is running a contest to win a Things About Comin’ My Way: A Tribute to the Music of the Mississippi Sheiks DVD, CD, poster and T-shirt. Contributors include Van Dyke Parks, Dave Alvin and Alvin Youngblood Hart, among others.
  • If you didn’t make it to the Matador at 21 celebration in Las Vegas this past weekend, check out the recap at Stereogum to decide just how bitter you should be about missing it.