For more than four hours Friday night at Radio Radio, The Elms said goodbye the best way they knew how – they played heartland rock and roll.
Billed as a final performance as the Seymour-based group disbands, singer Owen Thomas and the rest of the gang went out on their terms. The show was Springsteenian in length, and showcased what they were ultimately best at: crafting memorable – and many times anthemic – pop/rock songs, showing roots of artists like Mellencamp and Petty.
The crowd (the show sold out well ahead of Friday) hung in there all night, through a 40-song set, rewarded with a sprint to the end that rocked heartily. They came to bid goodbye and fed energy back to the band, who was near the top of their game all night.
Thomas struggled to maintain his cool (though never lost his composure) early on, fighting back some tears as he talked to the crowd. As he told the audience before introducing the band, “You have two options: you can either be ‘profesh’ (as in professional) or you can let it all in.”
An early highlight was “Strut”, as guitarist Thom Daugherty showed why he may be one of the best rock and roll guitarists around, mixing sweetly nasty chords and powerfully elegant leads all night long. “Thunderhead” included great harmonies and the familiar “we can make it if you trust me” theme that permeates much of their best work.
Thomas told a story about a $150 jean jacket, with a flower sewn on it, that he bought in LA at a vintage clothing story, and that he had never worn it because the sleeves were too stiff. He said he washed it 40 times, and nothing worked to soften it. So he off cut the sleeves, and pulled it out of his closet and wore it for the last show.
Such was the tone of the night, with many songs, and lots of talking between them. Sometimes Thomas recounted a story about a bandmember, and other times said “I love you, I love you” to the crowd.
The others, including Owen’s brother Chris on drums and Nathan Bennett on bass, were more stoic, though Daugherty, who has been a friends with the singer since fourth grade, sweetly laid his head on Thomas’ shoulder at the end of the duo playing “Smile at Life Again”.
“You Got No Room to Talk!” from 2002’s Truth, Soul and Rock and Roll album mined the Bryan Adams territory they visit so well; Sugary-yet-powerful chord changes, drums that pushed the song and lyrics specific enough to mean something, and universal enough that you can make it your own story.
Hitting their stride with “The Workingman”, dedicated to their dads, and “Unless God Appears First” (possibly the best performance of the night), “The Tower and the Trains”, from 2006’s The Chess Hotel was introduced as an ode to their hometown, and Daugherty tore it up on guitar, while the rest of band broke out of the three-chord rock and roll songbook to get a little Zep-like.
A sprint to the end included “This is How the World Will End”, from The Great American Midrange album, and another example of why it is their best record. Gospel mixed with rock mixed with Elms. The same can be said for “The Way I Will”, one of the Chess Hotel’s pieces of power pop brilliance, and the energy of the night made the live version memorable.
Rockers “Back to Indiana”, “The Shake” and “Nothin’ to Do with Love” set the stage for “A Place in the Sun”, the final song off their final album. In the days leading up to the final show, Thomas has posted on his blog how the song had become his favorite. It’s message of finding one’s place in the world no doubt resonated deeply as the band prepared to quit.
There’s two questions to be asked: Was it a great show, and what made it worthy of a final performance?
The band answered with a show epic in length and heartfelt in delivery. The Elms were tight and aggressive when they played, and there was certainly no mistaking the love of the crowd for the four guys who grew from kids into adults in ten years, four albums, and hundreds of shows (and van rides) together.
For one last night, the bandmembers wore their hearts out in the open, and made some loud – and hopeful – noise, much like they have been doing in their decade together.
And if you are going to say a rock and roll goodbye, have a final blowout. And that’s what they did.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McFOB90imQM]
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Petty Plays Two Songs from New Album on SNL – The verdict? Petty Zep, Man
Tom Petty on SNL 5.15.10
Petty with no guitar? That never happens. Heavy duty, Jimmy Page-ish Mike Campbell guitar playing? That should happen more. The longtime Heartbreaker guitar slinger stretches out and added a dirty slide solo as they played “I Should Have Known It” (from their new album) for their first song on the season finale of Saturday Night Live. It was Zeppelin Blues, wrapped into a Petty sound we haven’t heard from him for, maybe ever. I like it. More interesting than recycling his “Learning to Fly sound” It makes the Hearbreakers a suddenly retro-but-not-like-themselves band – though the Mudcrutch swamp fury obviously rubbed off on what they have done for the new record, Mojo, due out June 15.
After reuniting in 2008 with his former Florida-based band (which was actually Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, plus original Mudcrutchers Tom Leadon on guitar and vocals and Randall Marsh on drums), they made a a heavier-than-Petty jam-based rock album. It still had roots in the Petty base of pop/rock sound yet probably was recorded puffing on some good weed; more “Exile on Main Street, less “Turn, Turn, Turn”
And that sound, from what I’ve listened to online and now seen, has carried into this TP and the Heartbreakers album. And the first song Saturday night on SNL rang with that vibe
Hear’s a peek at the album version – Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers – “I Should Have Known It” – official video
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_iBKacXIA4]
For their second tune, which was slotted into the final ten minutes of the broadcast, they came with a new blues-rock number, with Scott Thurston holding down a pulsing harp and a band rocking a Chicago electric blues groove. Much more tangibly retro, with a vibe culled from old Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley records. Not as interesting of a performance, until the two Mike and Tom guitar solos, played simultaneously with echoing leads.
Here’s what it is: You’ve got the kind of music that sounds good turned up loud, after three beers and some grilled burgers in a garage or backyard patio, on a summer night. The album and sound may be his most interesting and gut-invoking music in ten years. Or since that last Mudcrutch album.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (with Drive By Truckers) play at Deer Creek (Verizon Wireless Music Center) in Noblesville July 10.
One more thing: In November 2009, Petty told Rolling Stone’s David Fricke that it was his intention to record the album live in the studio without overdubs. He said the album is “blues-based. Some of the tunes are longer, more jammy kind of music. A couple of tracks really sound like the Allman Brothers — not the songs but the atmosphere of the band.”
Concert Review: Truth & Salvage Co. in Indianapolis
It was 50 minutes into the Truth & Salvage Co. concert Thursday night that the band, in the midst of a bang-bang-bang succession of songs from their upcoming self-titled album, leapt, without a bit of irony, into a cover of The Band’s “The Shape I’m In”.
The group, six guys who joined together in LA, though none from there, decided to reach into the songbook of the one band — The Band — that is so obvious of an influence, that by playing the song, Truth & Salvage Co. gave a wink to those who thought they might not want to hear the comparison.
They had been building up to some sort of musical climax. Within each song, and from one song to the next, they piled harmony upon four-part harmony, two guitars, drums, electric piano and Adam Grace’s thrilling and spiritual Hammond B3 on live versions of nearly every cut on the new album, due out May 25.
With abandon and smiles, the happy gang of six jumped, hopped, sang and looked at each other like they had found the magic. They took the great original version and gave it a shot of Midwest spark, something they did routinely during the 70-minute show.
Concert Review: Will Hoge Brings His Influences to Indianapolis
Will Hoge began the final night of his 2009 tour by sitting in a chair at the front of the stage, playing acoustic guitar. By show’s end Saturday night at Radio Radio, he was in full Pete Townshend windmill, testifying frontman mode. He was sweating, screaming and generally doing what Will Hoge does in a live setting: channeling his inner Petty and Springsteen to create Memphis via Nashville soulful rock and roll. And damn, if he isn’t about the best at what he does.
Ambling on stage in a white dress shirt, back vest, and black tie with an unbuttoned collar, Hoge dotted his 2 hour, 10-minute, 28-song show with songs from his five studio albums, leaning most heavily on his first (“Carousel”) and his latest (“the Wreckage”). Opening with the title cut to the new record – it served as a metaphorical reminder of the nearly year-long battle Hoge fought to recover from a serious scooter accident in August 2008, suffered on his way home from a studio session during the recording of the album.
While the sold-out show (a sign was posted on the front door of Radio Radio just before 8:30pm) pushed showgoers together and created a palpable energy of expectation, Hoge’s initial two songs, played seated, had much of the audience struggling to see the singer and dive into the moment. His voice is gritty, blue-eyed soul when he slows his music down, and his plaintive, tough yet-sensitive lyrics shine.
But with “Highway Wings” from the new record, Hoge stood up, the audience energy came with it, and the rock and roll began. The three song-suite, featuring the ultra-hooky “Secondhand Heart” and the rocker “She Don’t Care”, played to Hoge’s strengths: Petty-esque, anthemic pop/rock, dirtied up with loud Fender Telecaster rhythm and a band that fits nicely and loudly into the mix.
The sound at Radio Radio is always some of the best for any venue in the city, and this night was no exception, treating the audience to clean, crisp instrument separation: just the right thump of Adam Beard’s bass and Sigurdur Birkis’s drums (and they may be the best rhythm section I have seen in 2009), with dueling, jagged guitars, and vocals that rode just atop the mix. Nearly perfect.
Hoge and his band built energy in five or six song bursts, starting with an acoustic song or two before heating up the room with the electric guitars. As the band rocked Hoge would hold his blond Tele above his head, and lean backwards and sideways into the microphone to sing a lyric.
He mentioned how nice it was to have an audience that knew the words, and responded by playing “Heartbreak Avenue”, a song he said the band rarely tries, pulled from the “Carousel” album. “Favorite Waste of Time” had a Smithereens crunch to it, while “Better Off (Now that You’re Gone)” from his underappreciated “Blackbird on a Lonely Wire” album showcased the band’s ability to take a sugary rock song and infuse it with off-the-beaten-Nashville-path twang. Halfway through the show, it was evident Hoge was back. Sure, he sat a few times, either to rest or for effect. Either way was OK, because when he did stand, strap on the electric guitar, and rock, that’s the Will Hoge experience that most seemed to relish.
And you have to be proud of Indy to pack 500 or so into a club for a band whose music doesn’t fit neatly onto the radio in 2009. It’s a shame, a sham, and a pity; Hoge is the guy delivers energy and connection with his rock music, not to mention some great fuckin’ lyrics on top of the guitar snarls and snare snaps.
The staccato riffs of “Your Fool” revved the song and audience up, and the current radio song “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” proved to be anthemic, as expected, singing about the powers of ambition filtered through the radio of a kid. It began a sweep into the back half of the show that found the audience finding their voice, and singing with Hoge.
The crowd knew and sang with “Ms. Williams”, the Elvis Costello-ish “Hard to Love” and laughed along with a story of him breaking into one of the band’s two hotel rooms to find the guitar and bass players on the web, watching video’s of 80’s heavy metal band the Scorpions..
Ending the set by sitting at the piano for “Too Late Too Soon”, Hoge and the band soon came back for a nine-song, end of tour blowout encore, channeling the Georgia Satellites, Todd Snider, The Faces and The Who as they sweated their way through “Just Like Me,” , Long Gone” and a beautiful “Highway’s Home” featuring guitarist Devin Malone on pedal steel.
Near the end. Hoge said the band was going to do a “social experiment” and took them into the back of the room, with only acoustic instruments, and sang and played unamplified, quieting the crowd with harmonies, before he jumped back on stage to perform a sublime, gospel-influenced, “Washed by the Water”. It found Malone moving over to play the keyboard, and eerily emulating a church organ. The audience sang the chorus back to Hoge as the singer waved and walked off the stage.
Will Hoge’s ability to rock and roll with aplomb and walk away with a big smile was a far cry from the days following his accident, after a van driver failed to yield and Hoge smashed into the side of the vehicle. He broke numerous ribs, his sternum, leg, knee cap, shoulder blades, and required more than 100 stitches. So it’s quite a distance traveled for Hoge. Just only once did he quickly mention how “tough it had been” before he fell back into his show, performing like he was glad to be back.
Great, up-close video from the show – November 21, 2009 at Radio Radio
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_3PzKRvwaw]
Concert Review: Old 97's at The Vogue in Indianapolis
Here’s one fact we can agree on: Old 97’s leader Rhett Miller is a young looking 38 years-old. Full of rock star bravado wrapped in an alt-country package, Miller played the arm-swinging, hair-thrashing, jump-off-the drum riser role with aplomb on Thursday night at the Vogue.
The band, formed in Dallas in 1993 (Miller is an Austin native) powered through 90 minutes of music, mixing a healthy portion of older tunes with many from their 2008 release “Blame It On Gravity” and also from Miller’s self-titled solo album that he put out this year.
In concert, they didn’t let their beyond-uptempo songs from the 1990’s go unplayed, and it helped elevate the energy level of the audience. Yet some of their most hearfelt and effective songs come from the recent band catalog.
Following 30-minute solo sets from both Miller and bassist Murry Hammond, the band hustled on stage and cranked up “Won’t Be Home” from 2004’s “Drag it Up” album. Flashing Telecaster guitars, Miller and guitarist Ken Bethea set the tone for a rock and roll kind of night, with Bethea’s buzzsaw playing turned up in the sound mix. Miller sported a Fogerty-esque red shirt, halfway unbuttoned, and was a natural draw for the audience eye.
Early in the show, they hopped between 1997’s “Too Far to Care” record and recent “Blame It On Gravity”. “Niteclub” reminded more of Social Distortion than anything country. The early sound, and this album in particular, would be constant throughout the show.
They then jumped ahead to 2008’s “Dance With Me” that was messy like a not-too-drunk Replacements performance, and bordered on frantic.
“W. TX Teardrops” led to a smoldering “No Baby I” and “This Beautiful Thing”, the latter two from the new record, with the wall of guitar sound and pop sensibilities replacing the thrash-and-bash of the punkier old material. For the new stuff, they ripped a sound from the Jeff-Lynne influenced Petty years that outdoes Tom.
But it was “Roller Skate Skinny” that showed to be a long-lost pop song for the group. The track, from 2001’s “Satellite Rides”, is kissed by great chord changes that can be as rough, or as pop-influenced as the guys want to play it. Thursday at the Vogue, they straddled the line perfectly, and made it one of the best performances of the night.
It also explains why they haven’t become more popular and continue to fall into the category of critic favorite. They are punk. They are obviously familiar with Texas Country. They are a garage rock band, and have some brilliant 60s pop echoes. They are also an unquestioned early influence in the alt-country genre, along with Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown, and Drive-By-Truckers. I even hear some Jason and the Scorchers sounds in them, especially when Miller yelps and yells and screams.
That’s a lot of ingredients for a music mix. Though they are shiny enough to get songs on TV shows, they are, especially live, a rough-and tumble rock band, descended more from the Replacements and similar-sounding groups than from anything else. The rocking “Four Leaf Clover”, again going back to the “Too Far To Care” album, was a perfect example, as it thrashed to a conclusion.
Another mid-show highlight was a band version of Miller’s solo “I Need to Know Where I Stand”, and again it fell into Petty territory (and I’m not complaining). “Barrier Reef” had Miller swinging his hips to the rhythm of the band, with his back to the crowd. “Smokers” from “Drag it Up” (the song that contains the phrase that named the album) somehow grabbed and hung onto an Eric Burdon and the Animals vibe. Who could have known, right? Subtle and terrific, and even if the band didn’t try to do it, I heard it.
“Big Brown Eyes” was a crowd pleaser, while an effective five-song encore kicked off with “Bloomington” (a song that Miller intonated was about Indiana), followed by the nugget “Doreen” (from 1995’s “Wreck Your Life”), and a cover of R.E.M.’s “Driver 8” that Miller said would be on an upcoming covers EP.
“King Of All Of The World”, in all it’s glossy glory, and “Time Bomb” closed the show, with the crowd happy, jumping up and down, and the band standing on the front of the stage coaxing more from the Vogue audience.
There were times the band could have done more of this, letting themselves really go, instead of the control they tended to show, even when crashing through some of their speedier songs. Still, it was a good show from a band that has hung together far longer than most bands of their generation. It’s tough to find too many faults with the good performance. The three-quarter full Vogue crowd left with a keen retrospective of the band’s music, Rhett Miller’s red shirt ended the night nearly completely covered with sweat, and, for better or worse, the Old 97’s proved that they aren’t an easily pigeonholed one-trick rock and roll band.
Concert Review: Bodeans Rock and Roll the Vogue – Again
While there are no guarantees in rock and roll, a BoDeans show at the Vogue is something that rarely fails to inspire an audience with the joy of rock and roll. And there’s always a little bit of muted pain too, because just below the surface of many of Kurt Nuemann’s and Sammy Llanas’ songs are bits of melancholy, rejection and loss.
And because this is a band that may deserve a little more success than the music business has given them.
The two singer/songwriters, who are the BoDeans, pulled into Indianapolis on Friday night, and had, by the end the 16-song, 110-minute show, given the mostly 40-something roots rock fans a reminder of where the buzz started for the band. The songs and music off of the band’s 1986 debut album “Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams” carried the most musical weight and lyrical resonance, and the bands performance helped remind why that album deserved it’s remastering and re-release earlier this year.
Opening with the ethereal “Pretty Ghost” from 2008’s “Still “album, the band proceeded to then knock out two from 1993’s “Go Slow Down”, with the blending of the singer’s voices shining on “Idaho” and then getting the audience bouncing with “Texas Ride Song”, highlighting Bukka Allen’s accordion playing. He was featured prominently on that instrument throughout the evening, giving a uniqueness of sound to add to the harmonies and Kurt’s’s guitar playing, always a integral part of the gig.
After “Everyday”, from their new record, came a surprising early set inclusion of one the band’s regular show closers. “Good Work”, from 1989’s “Home” with it’s Chuck Berry riff and breakneck pace was the first spot for the band to get sweaty and dirty, hear the drums crashing, and crank both the crowd and band energy levels.
Subtly, the sound mix was short of great. While the band would end up trumping what Lucinda Williams had done with her encore three days earlier at the same venue, her house sound mix was superior to the less distinct and at times boomy sound on Friday; simply not as crisp for the BoDeans, though never bad enough to hinder the performance. I moved around to numerous spots in the theatre, searching for a “best” spot. To the right of the soundboard proved to be as good as it got. Within 15 rows of the stage, the volume coupled with band and crowd energy was also a good position, making up for nuances not in the mix.
From LHSD, Sammy introduced “Still the Night” by asking how many had seen them before (big cheer), thanked the audience for being their “little family on the road” and promptly jumped into the song that never fails to get a BoDeans crowd excited. Smartly, they dropped in a lyrical and musical snippet from “Hey Pretty Girl”, from their 1996 “Blend” effort, and was a sweet little teaser for hardcore fans who picked up on it. By the end of the song, the band was again chugging hard, something they did throughout the night – extending the songs, not with noodling, but finding another rock and roll gear.
“She’s a Runaway”, also from the first album, was recast at half speed, as Sammy, who began the song slapping his palm on his acoustic guitar strings, told the audience after playing it that “sometimes Mary needs a new dress”.
Following the sweet harmony showcase of “Stay On”, it was again back to the first record for “Fadaway” and then the sugary melody of “First Time” from their new record – It’s a pretty pop song, memorable in it’s simplicity.
After the slow dance version of “Naked”, they played “Feed the Fire”. The rocker from “Go Slow Down” is usually overshadowed by the same album’s more familiar upbeat burner “Closer to Free”, but on this night provided a podium for the band to drop pieces of classic rock songs onto the end of it. “Gimme Shelter”, “In the Midnight Hour”, “Gloria”, “Light My Fire” and Sly Stone’s “I Want to Take You Higher” found places on the back end. The aforementioned “Closer to Free” closed the set, giving the 600 or so at the Vogue a pairing to keep them wanting more.
Unlike Williams’ trio of encore songs that had fallen a bit flat, the BoDeans used their set coda to do what Sly Stone wanted.
“Misery”, one that sits in it’s groove and burns, kept the connection between band and crowd working, with a spot-on audience effort, shouting back on the call-and-response chorus.
“You Don’t Get Much”, from the excellent “Home” record started with Kurt’s best Edge/U2 channeling (the group had opened for U2 ‘s stadium tour before recording the album) and ended with Kurt and Sammy facing each other at center stage, then heading to stand on the front monitors. They did the same with “Good Things”, shredding the song as they finished, and again six inches from each other’s face before talking, smiling and finally simultaneously jumping up and down to the beat to bring the tune to a crashing finale.
Sam and Kurt and the rest of the band were having obvious fun, sweaty and grinning at the end. It’s what we have come to expect from the BoDeans. They delivered again.