Captain Phillips - Movie Review

I did manage to watch the movie Captain Phillips. It was pretty intense at times, but slow as well.

I 'm not sure why they don't carry fully automatic weapons or at least AR-15's to protect themselves. Still playing it safe, they did the right thing.

What they should have done is spent more time focussing on the Seal Team setup and execution of the task. It truly is amazing that they had 3 snipers all who had to get in sync to take out the pirates from a moving ship and shooting at a moving ship.

Overall a pretty good movie, but I wouldn't put it in the Oscar category.

Lone Survivor - Movie Review

Watched the movie Lone Survivor staring Mark Wahlberg before I head out to deer hunt tomorrow. Here's a summary of the story:

“ Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to be very close to Bin Laden with a small army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS made it out alive.

This is the story of the only survivor of Operation Redwing, SEAL fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American Navy SEAL history. His squadmates fought valiantly beside him until he was the only one left alive, blasted by an RPG into a place where his pursuers could not find him. Over the next four days, terribly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell crawled for miles through the mountains and was taken in by sympathetic villagers who risked their lives to keep him safe from surrounding Taliban warriors.

A born and raised Texan, Marcus Luttrell takes us from the rigors of SEAL training, where he and his fellow SEALs discovered what it took to join the most elite of the American special forces, to a fight in the desolate hills of Afghanistan for which they never could have been prepared. His account of his squadmates' heroism and mutual support renders an experience that is both heartrending and life-affirming. In this rich chronicle of courage and sacrifice, honor and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers a powerful narrative of modern war.”

Marky Mark plays Marcus Luttrell in the movie along with a couple of other known actors, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster and Taylor Kitsch. Play the four men who go out to do recon work for the US Military.

The film gets pretty intense with a lot of blood and violence. They do a great job of keeping up the intensity from start to finish.

As we all know there is one survivor, but what they do well in this film is to show us how insane the members of al Qaeda are and how relentless they are.

By the end of this film you may want to hunt down all kill every al Qaeda member around.

I highly recommend seeing this film.

Jeff Tweedy - 12/03/2013 Uptown Theater, Kansas City, MO

Wilco's frontman Jeff Tweedy 

This was a fantastic show at the Uptown Theater to start off Jeff's solo acoustic tour.

Jeff played a brilliant set of music that spanned his whole career including songs he wrote for Mavis Staples.

There was one joker in the crowd that pissed him off at the start of the show and progressively got worse until he addressed it.  He put the guy in his place and had the fans behind him the whole way.

The whole night was filled with gems including I'm Trying To Break Your Heart, Jesus, etc and Bob Dylan's 49th Beard.  Shot In The Arm & New Madrid were really amazing and finished off the show strong.

The sound was a little rough at the start but progressively got better over the rest of the show.  Jeff complained about the lighting but from the seats it seemed fine.

If you ever get a chance to see Jeff Tweedy Solo I would jump on it.

Set List: Solitaire; I Am Trying to Break Your Heart; Remember the Mountain; Sunken Treasure; Long Time Ago (Golden Smog); Passenger Side; Dawned on Me; Radio Cure; Chinese Apple (Loose Fur); Kamera; One True Vine; Ruling Class; You and I; Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard; Jesus, Etc.; Born Alone; Laminated Cat (aka Not for the Season). Encore: New Madrid (Uncle Tupelo); California Stars; The Thanks I Get; Shot in the Arm; Acuff Rose (Uncle Tupelo).

 

The Shining - Stephen King Book Review

The Shining is a classic today as much as it was over 30 years ago.  Stephen King has written many books over the years and in my opinion the original ones are still the best ones.

This is the story of an unemployed writer named Jack Torrance who gets setup with a job as the caretaker of The Overlook Hotel in Colorado just outside of Estes Park to get a fresh start and a chance to write.

The Outlook hotel is an old historic hotel with quite a past and that past will come back to haunt them.

Jack, his wife Wendy and son Danny will spend the winter watching the hotel and keeping the place running if they don't go crazy.

As we find out earlier, Danny has a bit of a gift in seeing things and knowing what happens before it does, this is called The Shining, he learns about this from an old black cook, Halloran, that worked at the hotel.  He tells him if he ever has any trouble to call out to him.

Over the first couple weeks the story really ties around what Danny sees and feels and what Jack learns as he finds an old journal with the history of all that went on.

Jack was fired from his last job for attacking or putting in place a student who slashed his tires.  He also liked to drink a lot a and now had been sober for several months.

As the story goes on Danny keeps learning more through his visions and Jack from the journal.  Once the snow sets in and they are essentially trapped at the hotel until winter is over.  This is when Jack starts having hallucinations as if he's hanging in the bar drinking and Danny goes to room 217 and discovers that not everything is in his mind as the dead lady in the tub tries to strangle him.

Things intensify and Jack loses his mind and goes after his own family, essentially being sucked into the evil of the hotel.

I really enjoyed how the book messes with the minds of the characters and before you know it things are out of hand.  Kings writes this one in a way to keep you on the edge of your seat.

The funny thing for those who have only seen the movie there are many differences in the details and of course in the ending of how things go down.

If you plan to read the sequel I would suggest reading the book to better understand Danny and the history.

Enjoy!

Mazzy Star - Season of Your Day - CD Review

17 years have gone by since we last heard a new Mazzy Star album and now we have a new one.  Seasons of You Day will be available on September 24th on CD, Download or Vinyl.  Probably a good choice since I think many of the fans will be vinyl junkies.

Once coined as Dream Pop or Psychedelic Rock is also sort of known as California Surf Pop to some these days.  These dreaming songs are very mellow and have a sort of soft depressing feel to them, but for me this is the best style of music out there.  I love the work that Hope Sandoval and David Roback have made together.

Hope Sandoval put out a Warm Inventions album a couple years back and has now returned to the Mazzy Star project teaming up with Dave Roback.  The songs on this cd are quite the same feel as the past with mellow acoustic tones with some glockenspiel played by Hope.  The dreamy, haunting sounds with that soft amazing voice of Hope.

Common Burn was released as a single last year and California was the pre-release song, both are in the same realm as the rest of the tunes.  I really like this cd and look forward to seeing them live even though Hope is an introvert and doesn't do well with crowds - I'm sure she will find a way to make it happen as she always has.

Track List:
1. In the Kingdom    5:14
2. California    5:23
3. I've Gotta Stop    4:04
4. Does Someone Have Your Baby Now?    4:08
5. Common Burn    5:09
6. Seasons of Your Day    3:41
7. Lay Myself Down    4:31
8. Sparrow    4:04
9. Spoon    6:09
10. Flying Low     7:36

Jack Johnson - Live iTunes Festival 9-16-2013 London

Jack Johnson introduced many of his new songs to the world via the Internet and the iTunes Festival App.  Playing on, Monday, September 16th to a packed crowd at The Roundhouse in the Camden area of London.

He came out and played a few solo acoustic songs telling the story of how he locked his bike to his now wives bike so that he could meet her.  This song Do You Remember started it off then going into a story about there being a hail storm in London and went into I Got You from the new album.  He then jumped into a story about how he was asked by a reality tv show to use one of his songs and didn't find that to be a good idea and jumped into Good People.

Shortly after he brought the band out to sing a mix of songs from new to old.  Zach parked himself on the right side with his piano, keys and glockenspiel dancing around during the songs having a good old time.

People were yelling requests but Jack said he couldn't hear them or that he would get to it.  Switching between acoustic and electric through out, we got a mix of fun songs like Bubbletoes, Flake & Bannana Pancakes.  Merlo rapped out as JRadio during Staple It Together.

Mixing up verses and various lyrics throughout, Jack adapted as he went along and made it seem like it was just a part of the show.  He also brought out the opening band Bahamas to play a few tunes.

Overall a really fun night of music that you can rewatch on demand through the iTunes Festival App.

Jack has a new album out this week, you can pick it on iTunes, Amazon or at http://jackjohnsonmusic.com/ 

Setlist:

Do You Remember

I Got You

Good People

Washing Dishes

Taylor

Sitting Waiting Wishing

Flake

Shot Reverse Shot

Fortunate Fool

Radiate

Bubble Toes

Wasting Time

Don’t Believe A Thing I Say

Banana Pancakes

Tape Deck

Staple It Together

At or With Me

Encore:

Gone

Ones And Zeros

Angel/ Better Together

Home

Steve Martin, Edie Brickell & Steep Canyon Ranger Live in Omaha, NE7/21/2013

On Sunday, July 21st at the Holland Center in Omaha, NE, Steve Martin & Steep Canyon Rangers played an evening with Edie Brickell and what a fabulous night it was.

The night started out with Steve & Steep Canyon Rangers playing a series of songs and joking about as they played showing that it was going to be a fun night for all. 

The Holland Center in Omaha, NE is a very beautifully designed building with fantastic acoustics.  There isn't a bad seat in the place and the sound was amazing.  The crowd was a mix of fans and those with season tickets.  All seemed to really enjoy the show.  It was a sold out show.

Edie joined the guys after about four songs to play a series of songs off the new album Love Has Come For You as we'll as several other classic songs.

There was a lot of fun bantering going on through out the show from Steve, the guys in Steep Canyon Rangers and Edie.  It was a really fun night of great music the band was really on.  

I loved seeing this show with them all together playing some amazing songs, but the guys from Steep Canyon Ranger were all so talented, I would live to see them on their own.  Each and everyone of the guys were amazing.

We had the opportunity to meet Steve after the show and took a picture good time.

Here was the set list from the show.

Setlist:

• Katie Mae

• Rare Bird Alert

• Yellow-Backed Fly

• The Crow

• Get Along Stray Dog

• When You Get to Asheville

• Yes She Did

• Love Has Come For You / Knob Creek

• Atheists Don't Have No Songs

• Jubilation Day

• The Great Remember / Sun's Gonna Shine

• Fighter

• Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby

• Pretty Little One

• Auden's Train

ENCORE

• The Dance at the Wedding

• Remember Me This Way

• Another Round / Pitkin County Turnaround

We had the opportunity to meet the guys from Steep Canyon Rangers as well.  They were all a great bunch of guys and very welcoming to us visiting.

This was a picture of us with Edie after the show, my son kept hiding and missed out.

Steve Martin & Edie Brickell - Love Has Come For You - Album Review

After The New Bohemians. A solo career, collaboration with Harper Simon and a couple albums with The Gaddabouts, Edie Brickell has now teamed up with Steve Martin for a great new Bluegrass album.

Over all the years of the different styles of music, I really think Bluegrass really suites Edie well.  It brings out a certain beauty in her voice.  

There are a lot great stories and  catchy riff as well as some great banjo playing by Steve.  Edie & Steve met years ago and somewhere along the way decided to collaborate on some song.  Steve emailed Edie some songs and she added  lyrics and it all started there.

My favorite song on the album is the first track When You Get To Asheville.  It seems funny that a Bluegrass song would start, "When you get to Asheville, send me an email". I always think of Bluegrass as unplugged old time music.  Well, now it has been modernized.

There are a lot of fun songs and catchy tunes that make you want to get up and dance around or just clap your hands.

Sarah Jane in the Iron Mountain Baby is an interesting song.  A sad but happy as well.  It's about a boy thrown out a train and surviving for a man to pick him up and delivered him to Sarah Jane.

Lots of great songs and beautiful music.  Edie has a brilliant way of writing and an amazing voice to add to the songs.

I highly recommend going out and picking this album up.  You will live it.

Track List:

 1.  When You Get To Asheville 3:15 

 2. Get Along Stray Dog 2:10 

 3. Love Has Come For You 3:08 

 4. Friend Of Mine 2:36  

 5. Siamese Cat 2:57  

 6. Yes She Did 1:34 

 7. Sarah Jane And The Iron Mountain Baby3:12 

 8. Fighter 2:40  

 9. King Of Boys 2:51  

10. Sun's Gonna Shine 3:05  

11. Who You Gonna Take? 2:40

12. Shawnee 2:29

13. Remember Me This Way 3:31

Grateful Dead - Sunshine Daydream (Veneta, OR 8/27/72)

Another one of the many live Grateful Dead live releases releases that have come out over the years.  This one is accompanied by a full DVD of the show.

There are many great comments throughout this show.  Much talk about how hot it was out and Bobby even says that it's hard to keep his guitar tuned because of the heat and sun.

The fans were reminded to keep cool and take breaks from time to time to drink water.  There were also quite a few from the kids tent where many people left their kids as they watched the show.  

The show started off with a nice version of Promised Land that wend into a nice but short version of Sugaree.

Although you could tell they were hot and miserable through the show, they just played on and had some really nice jams.  I could always do with a little less Donna, but still some great jams including a really nice Dark Star.  Playing into He's Gone into Jack Straw was a nice set of tunes as well as the China Cat > Rider was pretty awesome.

Overall this 3 cd set compares to many of the other great 1972 shows that have been released.

I highly recommend picking up this set which is available next week in stores as well as at www.dead.net.

Track List:

1. Intro (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 4:00

2. Promised Land (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 3:23

 3. Sugaree (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon)7:30

 4. Me And My Uncle (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 3:15 

 5. Deal (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 4:55

 6. Black-Throated Wind (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 7:01 

 7. China Cat Sunflower (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 7:58 

 8. I Know You Rider (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 7:02

 9. Mexicali Blues (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 3:49

10. Bertha (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon)5:59  

11. Playing In The Band (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 19:56

12. He's Gone (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 9:32

13. Jack Straw (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 5:06 

14. Bird Song (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 13:16 

15. Greatest Story Ever Told (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 5:36

16. Dark Star (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 31:27 

17. El Paso (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon)5:04

18. Sing Me Back Home (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 10:50  

19. Sugar Magnolia (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 8:45 

20. Casey Jones (Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon) 6:25 

21. One More Saturday Night ( Live - 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon)

Jack Johnson - From Here Now To You - Album Review

Jack Johnson puts out his first studio album in 3 years following up To The Sea.  In similar fashion Jack mixes both acoustic and electric guitars into this album.

The album brings back the usual suspects Adam Topol, Merlo Podlewski and Zach Gill to create another amazing album with a great mix of catchy lyrics tied to a compliment of great music.

Jack really likes to tell fun stories through his songs, some a little darker and some about love for his wife and others about silly things his kids do, that spark songs out of him.

At first listen there are a lot of similar tunes to the style of To The Sea, but nothing wrong with that at all.  I Got You was the first single release, a good fun tune.  Shot Reverse Shot is a catchy tune with a nice beat.   Those who listen to a lot of Jack will recognize the song Home as he's played it on the En Concert album and DVD.

Another fine piece of work by Jack and crew.  They will be heading out on a tour, hopefully we will get the opportunity to see him here in Kansas City again like on the last two tours.

Track List:

1.  I Got You 2:59

2.  Washing Dishes 3:23

3.  Shot Reverse Shot 3:10

4.  Never Fade 4:02

5.  Tape Deck 3:21

6.  Don't Believe A Thing I Say 3:14

7.  As I Was Saying 3:45

8.  You Remind Me Of You 2:24

9.  Radiate 4:15

10.  Ones and Zeros 4:27

11.  Change 3:14

12.  Home 3:02

Paul Simon - Live In New York City (2012)

Filmed for a PBS/BBC Special last year, Paul Simon - Live in New York City captures a special evening live at Webster Hall with Paul and his band from June 6, 2011.  Webster Hall is a smaller intimate setting which to me would have been an awsome place to see Paul perform.  I was fortunate enough to see him perform in December on this tour in Kansas City and it was a brilliant show in a nice venue as well. 

This performance was released as a 2CD/DVD set in 2012.  The performance contains 20 great songs from over the years and starts off with a great version of one of my favorite, The Obvious Child.  Paul and the band do a great version with a really nice jam on the drums.

I love the versions of everything from Mother & Child Reunion, Hearts and Bones, Gumboots, Diamonds and a bunch more.  Even at 70 years old, Paul still plays the guitar and sounds as great as he has over the last 30 years I've seen him.

One of my favorite live performance of any band has always been Simon & Garfunkel Live at Central Park.  I wore through the double vinyl and and the cd versions.  What an amazing performance that was.  Now in 2012 we get a really nice solo collection of the best of all the years live.  This one is a must for all Paul Simon fans, pick it up.

Track Listing:

Disc: 1 
1. The Obvious Child 
2. Dazzling Blue 
3. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover 
4. So Beautiful or So What 
5. Mother & Child Reunion 
6. That Was Your Mother 
7. Hearts and Bones 
8. Crazy Love, Vol. II 
9. Slip Slidin' Away 
10. Rewrite 

Disc: 2 
1. The Boy In The Bubble 
2. The Only Living Boy In New York 
3. The Afterlife 
4. Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes 
5. Gumboots 
6. The Sound of Silence 
7. Kodachrome 
8. Gone At Last 
9. Late In the Evening 
10. Still Crazy

Jason Mraz - 09/12/2012 Starlight Theater, Kansas City, MO

I was doing a volunteer gig with Headcount to get folks to register to vote for the 2012 presidential election as well as just to register to vote in general.  We are there to answer questions and encourage people to register who are not.  So if you haven't registered or you have moved since you last registered, I would go out to Headcount and get it done.

It was a really nice night out at Starlight Theater in Kansas City.  There was a pretty sizable crowd of people mixed with young and old.  But everyone was into the show from the start and Jason really interacted well with the crowd and his band.

He started off the show with some classics, Ray of Sunshine and then into Remedy.  Throughout the set the crowd was singing and dancing along throughout the whole show.  The band really jelled together from beginning to end.  There was certainly a lot of talent within his band with a great horn section. 

I found it to be pretty entertaining show from end to end and would highly recomment seeing him play if you get a chance.

Set List:
Ray of Sunshine, The Remedy (I Won’t Worry), Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Make It Mine, Butterfly, Lucky, Up, Plane, You and I Both, Living in the Moment, 5/6, Frank D. Fixer, You (expletive) Did It, Love Looks Like, I’m Coming Over, The Woman I Love, A Beautiful Mess, 93 Million Miles, I’m Yours, Three Little Birds, All Dialed In, Distance, I Won’t Give Up

The Gaddabouts - Look Out Now!

The Gaddabouts second album Look Out Now is a follow up to the original self titled album release in 2011. The Gaddabouts are Edie Brickell, Steve Gadd, Andy Fairweather-Low and Pino Palidino. Formed out of a meeting between Steve and Edie that turned into this band that has given us some beautiful music.
The new album contains 17 songs on two cds. There is quite a variety of music styles brought out in this cd that go from soulful to bluesy to a real jazzy feel. That's really the only way I really can descripe the style as it's all over the place because of the different styles that each musician brings to the table.

Meat On Your Bones is a wonderful start to the cd with a short one minute track that gets you hopping around and then it kicks into the really jazzy style of Look Out Now, which in itself is a brilliant tune with fulll interaction of the whole band.

Wicked William was started with Edie working on her finger picking techniques and evolved into a wonderful full band version that I really enjoy as my son's name is William even though he isn't wicked. This is by far my favorite song on the double album.

House on Fire was originally played by the New Bohemians live I believe, but certainly is a song that fits really well with the style of The Gaddabouts. Very blusey and the style of the song really brings out with Edie's beautiful voice. I'm A Van is slow paced tune with a really nice beat.

This album is full of great songs from funny tunes like The Horses Mouth to the soulful tune Blessed Day as well as Down and we haven't even gotten to the second cd of music.

The second cd starts off with a sort of samba style beginning tune that sounds like something you'd hear in a lounge bar. The song Free mixes piano, horns along with some really nice beats. Then is continues on that softer style with the song The Mountain mixing again a nice acoustic guitar in with a great compliment from the piano.

The album continues with a nice acoustic jazz feel with the mellow sone Don't Take All Day. This tracks into a really nice acoustic pop style song called How I Love You that keeps a real nice clapping type beat through the song.

Things pick up with a really nice upbeat song Can You Feel It that has a nice Sax solo and Steve Keeps you with a bouncing beat on the snare that keeps your foot tapping. Younger Woman is really sort of bluesy tune that seems like something that should be in one of those old mystery movies or that's how I picture it.

The album finished off with the song Corruption which has a nice beat and seems to tell a little story about the corruption of the world and where does the money go. But has a good message about the good people. This whole album has a great feel from end to end. I love to play it while sitting on the porch on a nice night with a fire in the fireplace and a cold beer in my hand. Scotch would actually fit this album a little better I think.

For more information about The Gaddabouts you can go to
www.thegaddabouts.com and to learn more avout what Edie Brickell is up to thise days check her website out at www.ediebrickell.com. Pick this new album up today and if you don't have the first one I would suggest getting that one as well.

 

Track Listing:

1. Meat On Your Bones 1:01

2. Look Out Now! 3:41
3. Wicked William 2:56
4. House On Fire 4:31
5. I'm A Van 3:49
6. River Rises 5:50
7. The Horse's Mouth 3:34
8. Blessed Days 4:01
9. Devil's Story 5:47
10. Down 4:04
11. Free 4:22
12. The Mountain 4:29
13. Don't Take All Day 4:37
14. How I Love You 3:00
15. Can You Feel It 3:14
16. Younger Woman 4:08
17. Corruption 4:36

Dave Matthews Band - Away From The World

Dave Matthews Band’s new CD was produced by Steve Lilywhite, who produced their first three cds as well as the unreleased Lilywhite Sessions that eventually became Busted Stuff. The new CD goes a bit back to the style of the first 3 CDs that Lilywhite produced. Broken Things is a nice start to the CD kicking in with a typical Dave style with the horns, strings, drums all predominate in it.

Second song Belly Belly Nice to me is a big funky and odd. It really doesn’t fit the style of what I would expect. Mercy has been released early to get tested as well as being played live for the past year. Pretty mellow, soft style but a nice blend to the CD. Gaucho as a nice mix of the guitar and violin slowly building up at the start and building the song up. A really nice one to have on this collection. A little electric guitar kicks in there as well.

Sweet is a nice little tune that kicks off with a nice acoustic sound and moved out to full band. I haven’t seen Dave Matthews Band in many years as he really seems to sound the same and plays the same tunes every time I attend. I used to really enjoy seeing him until there was a rash of young 13-16 year old girls yelling out the lyrics to every song at the shows and awfully out of tune. But getting back to this CD I like the style and the sound a bunch. The Riff is a sweet soulful tune and Belly Full is a nice acoustic tune that could be one of those nice tunes to throw on in the car as you are driving at night or just sitting and looking at the stars. Sort of Paul Simon like. Actually I would love to hear Paul record that one.

If Only is a nice back to the standard slow style DMB tune that you would hear off Under The Table or Crash. Rooftop gets a really funky feel to it, great beat and pretty cool. Snow Outside is a nice acoustic style mixing in the horns and drums to give it a nice feel throughout. There’s a nice slide guitar in there as part of the mix. The last song is called Drunken Soldier – you hears some guitar play at the beginning with low volume vocals that kicks into the typical jam sound of DMB. It is about a 10 minute tune with some nice instrumental parts as well as vocals. Nice finish to the CD.

This CD has a deluxe bonus version that has 3 live versions of Gaucho, Mercy and Sweet from the 2012 tour.

Dave Matthews Band is Carter Beauford (drums), Stefan Lessard (bass), Dave Matthews (vocals, guitar) and Boyd Tinsley (violin).

Track Listing:

1. Broken Things

2. Belly Belly Nice

3. Mercy

4. Gaucho

5. Sweet

6. The Riff

7. Belly Full

8. If Only

9. Rooftop

10. Snow Outside

11. Drunken Solider

12. Gaucho (Hartford, CT- 5.25.12)

13. Mercy (Bristow, VA-6.12.12)

14. Sweet (Cleveland, OH-6.3.12)

Phish 8-22-2012 Starlight Theater, Kansas City, MO

It's been quite a while since Phish have played in the KC area and it was really good to have them back.  The Starlight Theater is a nice venue with a capacity of around 7,800 people.  It has a nice sloping grade from bottom to top so everyone can see the show and from all angles.

Phish came on just before dusk to kick off the night with a Chalk Dust Torture and the crowd erupted.  There wasn't a single space open in the venue, the isles were crammed with dancers and the whole from area was as well.  I started off the night about 10 rows back just joining in the one big dance that was going on.

There were some really good highlights flowing through the first set with The Momo Dance getting everyone dancing.  From end to end there was hardly a person sitting in a seat anywhere at the show.  I love a nice Bathtub Gin and is was good to hear one tonight at the show along with a Stash getting everyone interacting with some clapping.  I feel like every time I see them they play Kill Devil Falls and this was no exception.  Still a great energetic version.

Finally I found my way back to my seat at the intermission of the show.  They took about a 30 minute break inbetween the two 90 minute sets.  When they came back out they ripped it into a Tweezer which only meant that they were going to reprise it at some point, probably the end.  They did a few other newer tunes along the way with a classic harmonizing Bouncing Around the Room to get the folks stirred up.

The best of the show was still to come as they tore into a Weekapaug Groove and continues to get the crowd going with a Harry Hood and into a Suzy Greenburg where somewhere in that tune the was an added line "Todd Akin's a neurologist" yes a nice close to the set to come out and really finish strong with a cover of Loving Cup that was hot and right on as it flowed into the reprise of Tweezer and it was goodnight!

Great energetic show from end to end.  the venue was amazing as it was easy to get in and out of and loads of people just hung out, had beers and talked about previous shows and what they wanted and didn't want to hear that night.  I was quite satisfied with what I heard from end to end.

If you are interested in hearing this show live, you can pick a copy up at LivePhish.com KC Show.



Setlist: Chalk Dust Torture; Skin It Back; The Moma Dance; Rift; Bathtub Gin; Stash; The Ballad of Curtis Loew; Kill Devil Falls; Funky Bitch; Run Like an Antelope. Intermission. Tweezer; Piper; Mike’s Song; Bouncing Around the Room; Backwards Down the Number Line; Heavy Things; If I Could; Weekapaug Groove; Harry Hood; Suzy Greenburg. Encore: Loving Cup/Tweezer Reprise.

Steve Martin - Born Stanfing Up - A Review

As he prefers to call this a biography even though it's his autobiography.  This is from a period in Steve Martin's life where he broke into comedy and made a name for himself as one of the best out there.  This is a great story of how he got started in stand up from working at Knotts Berry Farm to getting gigs at various clubs throughout the Los Angeles area.

The other thing I like about this book is that there is no fluff he talks about when he bombs or struggles. He even talks about an issue he had dealing with anxiety and panic attacks. It's great to see that he was able to get past the issues and how it can really affect you day to day life.

There's some good insight into how he had to go from using borrowed type materials to all original. Taking a 5 minute bit turning it into 20 and more.

Somewhere along the line Steve wrote a movie called The Jerk and that took him from a world of standup to acting and performing music with his band.

I never knew Steve was an accomplished banjo player, but from it being a part his comedy act all the way to selling loads of CDs and touring all over the US.

Great book to read. I highly recommend picking it up.

Death Cab For Cutie 07/08/2012 Crossroads KC

Sunday night prior to the MLB All Star game one of the many events happening in KC was the Death Cab For Cutie show at The Crossroads KC right behind Grinders.  I've heard their music over the past 10-15 years and was there as part of headcount.org volunteering to get people registered to vote who have either moved recently or have never registered.

It was a good experience walking around before the show talking to people who were in town for the show and those who were in town for the MLB All Star game.  The band certainly has a diverse group of followers from young 15-17 year olds all the way up to the 40+ crowd.  I found the crowd of approximately 2000 to be very friendly and supportive of getting people to register to vote for the upcoming elections.

As far as the performace it started out with Ben Gibbard doing a solo tune "Will Follow You Into the Dark" and then set into a full band session the rest of the way through.  The band had a lot of enery and really sounded good on a hot KC night.  The crowd was energetic as well and really sang along and took part in the show.

It was a good night for Headcount in collecting some new voter registrations and a good night of music.  I would recommend checking them out if they play near you.

Set list:

Will Follow You Into the Dark
Home Is a Fire
I Will Possess Your Heart
Crooked Teeth
Why You’d Want to Live Here
Photobooth
Doors Unlocked and Open
Grapevine Fires
Lightness
You Are a Tourist
The New Year
A Movie Script Ending
Pictures in an Exhibition
Cath
We Looked Like Giants
Soul Meets Body
Blacking Out the Friction
Marching Bands of Manhattan

Fiona Apple 07/17/1012 Midland Theater, KCMO

Fiona Apple played Kansas City on her new tour supporting her new album with a name so long I couldn't remember it if you asked. It was an almost full venue with a lot of women and a lot of true fans who knew the songs and sang along.

Fiona herself looks like she could put on a few pounds, cheeks are sunken and way too skinny.  Still her voice sounded as good as always.  She danced around, played some drums and had little interaction with the crowd over her 90 minute set.

The best thing to me about the show was her drummer Amy Wood.  She kept a great beat and was quite impressive in her small kit she played.  Amy is from LA and plays with The Donnies and The Amys as well as The Broken Remotes.  Check out her stuff for sure - I bet she will be a top drummer.

A show well worth seeing as this tour will cross over the whole US.

Set list:
Fast As You Can; On the Bound; Shadowboxer; Paper Bag; Anything We Want; Get Gone; Sleep to Dream; Extraordinary Machine; Werewolf; Tymps; Daredevil; I Know; Every Single Night; Not About Love; Carrion; Criminal; It’s Only Make Believe.

The Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part 2

Mike "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "Ad Rock" Horovitz and Adam "MCA" Yauch have completed their eighth studio release Hot Sauce Committee Part 2. The Beastie Boys have been at it for a long time and continue to put out some quality music. The new CD is a good collection of tunes. They seem to have taken a mix of styles from the years and combine them to make the new album.

With a little help from NAS the first single released last year was Too Many Rappers. A pretty killer tune that keeps a great beat as they all rap throughout it. The whole album has some great beats and really rocks you to it. Keeps you pumped up through out. They use many of the old effects that they used with some of the fuzz noise as well as various others. Still there is a lot of regular instruments being played and is in classic form.

Santigold joins in for the song Don't Plan No Game I Can't Win. A nice beat with a little bit of a reggae sort of feel to me. It's great to hear the boys back at it and to hear MCA rapping again after his battle with cancer. Sounds just as good as he did before.

It's been a few years since I've seen them live, but they would certainly be on the list of bands I would really love to see live this coming year. Pick this album up for sure!

Have a listen to the stream here: http://beastieboys.com/preorder/

Track List:

1. Make Some Noise
2. Nonstop Disco Powerpack
3. OK
4. Too Many Rappers [new reactionaries version] (featuring NAS)
5. Say It
6. The Bill Harper Collection
7. Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (featuring Santigold)
8. Long Burn The Fire
9. Funky Donkey
10. The Larry Routine
11. Tadlock's Glasses
12. Lee Majors Come Again
13. Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament
14. Here's A Little Something For Ya
15. Crazy Ass Shit
16. The Lisa Lisa/Full Force Routine

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light Album Review

The new Foo Fighters album was produced by Butch Vig and was recorded fully on analog tape in Dave Grohl's garage in San Fernando Valley, CA. There's a really good mix of songs on this CD, from some songs that sound like classic Foo's to some new sounds with a different touch. They certainly put their time into putting together a really nice collection of tunes for this one.

"Bridges Burning" starts you off with a really good pumped up song that keeps you rolling from the start with the heavy guitars and beats. The first single off the album was released early on iTunes, "Rope" has a different feel to it. Sort of a funky rock feel to start and gets into a really good rockin' song. There are a few ballad type songs as well as a few really all out rock songs that might make your head spin.

"Dear Rosemary" is a slowing song with a nice tempo and then you kick into "White Limo" which is more of a screaming metal type song that seems a bit out of place for this album, but still has a bit of a entertaining Rob Zombie feel to it. "Alandria" goes back to a typical Foo Fighters song with Dave starting out with a little yelling voice into the slow melodic sound that kicks it in with a jam. Quite an awesome song.

"These Days" is like the ballad song that goes from mellow to the rocked out chorus and back to mellow. Great tune for sure.

Most of the album follows a typical format of the Foo's over the years. It really is another really nice to hear summer CD. I would guess that we might even see them out on a tour this summer to support the new CD. Hope they come back to Kansas City. Last show here was a total blast.

Track Listing:
1. Bridge Burning 4:46
2. Rope 4:19
3. Dear Rosemary 4:26
4. White Limo 3:22
5. Arlandria 4:27
6. These Days 4:58
7. Back & Forth 3:51
8. A Matter Of Time 4:36
9. Miss The Misery 4:32
10. I Should Have Known 4:15
11. Walk 4:16