Bob Dylan @ The Hollywood Bowl (10.26.12)



Bob Dylan

For the longest time Bob Dylan has been at the top my list of bands to see before they die.  This might seem an odd list to keep, but it all started when I just missed my chance to see the Greatful Dead for the first time. I had tickets to see them close the Boston Garden in the September of 1995 and Jerry sadly died that August.  I got nervous when I saw Obama give Dylan the medal of freedom and decided the next time he came around I had to see him.

There's always a crew of people that like to knock Dylan for half heatedly putting on shows and generally sounding terrible.  It's true that he didn't have the same energy he did when he was 30, he didn't touch a guitar all night, his piano playing was a bit sloppy and his voice sounded more like Tom Waits than Bob Dylan.  While all that's indisputable, it was still amazing to see him perform some of the best songs and lyrics ever written.  I've always maintained that Dylan sang poorly back in the day because it's not about how pretty his voice is, rather its about what the songs were about.  Nashville Skyline is evidence of the fact that he could sing clean if he wanted to back then. 

Dylan's setlist included a wide range of songs including some of my favorites like Desolation Row, All Along the Watchtower and Tangled Up in Blue.



As a singer-songwriter I did find myself compelled to shout the obligatory "JUDAS" during "Like a Rolling Stone."  Not because I hate rock and roll though. In fact Dylan plugging in was one of the best things to ever happen to rock.  It was more because that one action set the folk music movement back so far that it is only in the last 15 years or so that it has started to recover.  Don't worry... I wasn't loud about it.

Bob Dylan's songs have meant so much to me over the years. I often felt that what Woody Guthrie is to Dylan, Dylan is to me.  I've heard stories of him visiting Guthrie on his death bed and seeing him in various states for better or worse.  He didn't go because he expected Guthrie to be "on," he went because of the man's importance to both the music world and himself.  To all those thinking of going to see Dylan themselves, I suggest keeping an open mind and appreciate it for what it is, a chance to see a living legend.

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* Author's Note: The Hollywood Bowl is a good sounding venue, but has a terrible sound reinforcement system.  I was sitting in the middle of the bowl and even there, people were "shushing" each other for talking during the show.  I can't remember the last time I went to a rock show so quiet that was even an issue.

The Lumineers @ The Observatory OC (10.7.12)



The Lumineers

I still remember the day my friend sent me a link for the Lumineers. I was blown away by genuine heartfelt music clearly written by people who love what they do. I found myself wondering if they were capable of bringing that to the stage or if it would fizzle in the spotlights. Clearly my doubts were unwarranted. So glad I went!

Wesley Schultz

These guys get it. Folk music is not about playing ridiculously fast or crazy arpeggiation. It's about keeping it simple and approachable. Something everyone can sing. The reason most popular folk melodies move in such small intervals is because everyone can sing them together (unlike our national anthem). There is nothing quite like an entire _building_ of people singing along. Much like Pete Seeger before them The Lumineers seem to recognize, the more involved people are with the music the more they will enjoy it.

Jeremiah Fraites

Now being old school in my music consumption, I have been spinning their CD for a while and recognize how solid an album it is. What surprised me is that in the middle of this iTunes era so much of the audience knew ALL of their songs not just their single. To me it leaves hope that the album might be not quite dead yet.

Wesley Schultz

One of the great discoveries during the show is how amazing Neyla Pekarek's voice is. When they did their new song Falling, it blew my mind what they had been hiding.



Admittedly, it might be a bit outside of the sound they were going for on the first record, but hopefully the next time they sit down and track an album, they find a way to use it more! It's much like Laura Marling backing up Noah and the Whale or subsequently Marcus Mumford backing her up.


Neyla Pekarek

There were plenty of other nice surprises during the show including a Dylan cover and the band jumping into the crowd to play a fully acoustic version of Darlene. I've seen plenty of bands do variations of this, but I've never seen one get so in the dead heart of the crowd and take a full setup with them.



I do have to say that the Lumineers did manage to make me feel a bit old. To be fair, I was born in the 80's (just), but was amazed at the number of fans that didn't know "The Weight" by the Band. Only about 4 people in the entire audience knew the song AND THEY HAD JUST PLAYED IT ON THE PA BEFORE THEIR SET (whoops)! They ended up having one of the four come up. The woman they chose was awkward, funny and slightly out of tune. Probably the best person for the job. I was one of the other four who knew that song because it's the sort of thing my friends and I sing when we're hanging out having a few drinks. It made me happy that that was the sort of thing they did as well. I guess what I dug most about these guys that they share their genuine enjoyment of the music with the people.

The Lumineers

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* Side Note

Sound at the observatory was amazing. It was even good in the corner. Not sure if that's the Lumineers or the local guy, but keep it up!

Conor Oberst @ The Fox Theater Pomona (10.3.12)



Conor Oberst

There's been a thought rattling around my head for a while that Conor Oberst is our generation's equivalent of a Bob Dylan that grew up without the war, segregation, and massive cultural upheaval. Granted some of those things have happened in recent times, but not on the same scale. 

One of the interesting early elements of Bob Dylan is his relationship to Joan Baez.  I would never dare claim that Oberst and Jenny Lewis are as close, but there does seem to be a symbiotic relationship between them.  Having now seen Lewis and Oberst on stage together, I found that there was something reminiscent of the iconic pair.

As this was the night of the first debates Oberst was particularly talkative about how he felt that there was no hope and change this time around, just two guys with one slightly less bad to vote for.  He leaned over into the crowd, looked at people and interacted with them. Oberst spat quite a bit, mostly not on people (just on the stage) but when he was shouting it would occasionally fly. There was a feeling he spoke from a place of raw, bitter unchecked emotion, slightly falling apart at the seams.  He managed to keep it together and it was nice to see how strongly he felt about the well crafted words in his songs.

Going into the show I was wondering what kind of material we would hear given it was a show billed as Conor Oberst, not Bright Eyes.  Sometimes when artists plays under his own name it can mean he intends not to play songs from the other moniker. It ended up being a variety of songs, including his Bright Eyes material (even the electronic album), songs from the Mystic Valley Band, and a song from the Monsters of Folk.  In other words Conor Oberst, Bright Eyes, The Mystic Valley Band, and bits of the Monsters of Folk were all at the Fox Theater in Pomona tonight and we were all the better for it.

The night was full of guests. Opener Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins returned to the stage to back Oberst up for "Make a Plan to Love Me" and "Lua." 

Conor Oberst and Friends

A little later in the performance Oberst, introduced a "Mystic Valley Band Reunion" giving the impression no one liked what they were doing. As he put it, "No one hated the MVB more than the MVB itself."   While I would say its true that more people prefer the Bright Eyes records, I quite enjoyed the MVB.  In fact, I thought they put on the most enthusiastic performance of the night.  At the end of the night, everyone returned to the stage to sing "Make War."  Followed by an acoustic number by Oberst.

Tonight's show was a hodgepodge of performers, material and songs.  Honestly I think I preferred seeing that to a just Bright Eyes show.


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* Authors note: Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins


Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins

Jenny Lewis. Wow. Was surprised by her. I liked her country oriented stuff more, but overall it was good material. Some of the people there were clearly there to see her. The Watson Twins performed with her all night as backup. Not knowing who they were at the time, when they came on stage, I fought back a "boo" because I loath backup singers.  The twins won me over with their beautiful voices and corny 1950's style dancing with Lewis. That and because one of them played something for a bit. It looked a bit like a lapslide but I think it may have been some keys... Not sure at this point.

To close Lewis did a guitar and choir song called Acid Tongue reminiscent of Dylan singing blowing in the wind with Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger and other backing him up at the end of the Montgomery folk festival.

Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins

Nice touch to close a set.

Ben Harper @ Del Mar Racetrack (8.18.12)

The third in my many recent concerts was Ben Harper at the Del Mar Racetrack. It would seem that whomever was in charge of the booking this year really had their act together. Ziggy Marley, Ozomatli, the Offspring, Cake, Ben Harper, but to name a few.

I found myself surprised by the number of people that have only see him play festivals or open for someone else. Ben Harper tends to ramp in his shows, so if you only catch a short set, you tend to miss out on the best bits. It had been a while since I'd had a chance to see him play a full show, so sufficed to say I was quite excited.

Up until now I have only seen Harper with the Innocent Criminals. As he toured with them for so many years there was a certain tightness that formed so when Harper locked in, they locked in. Not so with the Relentless7. They started out with a bit more energy, but didn't really ramp up with Harper. Rather they had a monotonic energy level throughout. That's ok though as Harper's intensity and stage presence made up for it.


Today's show was a bit odd. He gave extended solo time for him and his band mates early in the show (first three songs). Usually that's something you do at the middle/ end of a show, but whatever. Perhaps he was trying to motivate them or bid farewell before his acoustic tour, on which I would assume they are not going. The majority of the show did focus heavily on the Relentless7 material. There are some good songs on those albums, but limiting yourself to two albums when you've got 10 or so makes for a less interesting show. This is of course to be expected, but the man has so much material its a shame to overlook all the other things he's done.

Fortunately he did play a few of the older songs towards the end such as Burn One Down, Diamonds on the Inside, Better Way, and Amen Omen.



Due to a roadie mistuning a 12 string for "Fly One Time" Harper played an impromptu solo fingerstlyle electric version of "When She Believes" which completely blew my mind. Even more so, strangely I did not have the whole of the album it was on so I had never even heard it before.

Additionally to fill time Harper was happily admiring all the things being thrown up on stage at him. There was a wide variety of things from nuts, to shredded wheat, to skittles, to art, hats etc. Some artists just ignore the people in the crowd, but I think he feels they're as much a part of the show as the band itself. A very good attitude to have.

One of the highlights of any Ben Harper show is always his acoustic set. Usually he does a longer one, but I suspect that the earlier 12 string issue ate into the time he had for that. That said he played an awesome rendition of "walk away" followed by "Burn One Down."



He closed out the show with "Better Way." Just completely blew me away the amount of energy and emotion that he put into it eight years on. So much fun seeing him play again. It really makes me want to go check out his "acoustic tour" assuming it comes to town.

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Side Note:

Of course I was also really excited about the fact that on all the acoustic bits he actually played his Ben Harper HM signature model Martin. Which for anyone reading this, if you can get me one without the signature I will take one please! I have played two over the years in my search for the perfect "heirloom" to pass to future generations. Such an amazing sounding guitar, but I just can't justify buying something with someone else's name on it. I think it's just that I play my own music not someone else's. That said, it completely turned me on to the M series body (aka 0000). I've been playing something similar for years but with a bit more depth. Not sure if its all the endangered species woods in it, but damn... me likey!

Phish @ Long Beach Arena (8.15.12)

Can't I live while I'm young? For a very long time I have had Phish on my list of bands to see... I've had this list really since Jerry Garcia died one month before I was to see the Grateful Dead for the first time. I have been kicking myself since 2004 for having missed my chance to see them at their Coventry, VT show, which was subsequently their last before the reunion.

In any case, such a great show! Great people, great music, great vibe. So chill didn't need to bust out the hippy digger and was able to get right down front and snap off a few.


There really were so many different types of people there. Unfortunately, you don't see enough of some of them in Orange County. My friend suggested I start asking all the hippie chicks where they hang out here because clearly it's not in plain sight. I was also surprised to find the standard OC bro's and the default OC girls represented as well.

The sound quality was actually very good at the Long Beach Arena. That's based on the spot I was in for the first set (towards the front dead center). My concert co-conspirator wasn't really feeling the squeezin in up front though so we were at the edge of the stage on the right for the second set, but that's ok because we had more room to dance around and get videos like this:



So many projectiles... You damn kids... Gonna put someones eyes out.

When they played Stash I was a bit surprised by the clapping as I was convinced some of the claps only happened twice instead of 3 times. In the original recording it's more "two-ish" than three. Probably easier for a group clap along to do 3 always though.



For those looking for specific songs, they played Bathtub Gin, Rift, and Down With Disease of course and even a great Zeppelin cover. Their encore Julius was great too. Really though it was just so much fun listening to them jam regardless of songs. I would have taken more detailed notes about what songs they were playing and more photos etc, but I was having too much fun dancing around and watching the people. If you are dying to know though, the set list is here. It was the perfect chance to surround myself with good music, good people and just blow off some steam.

Cake @ Del Mar Racetrack (8.4.12)

Oh I should mention I saw Cake a few weeks ago. It was cool if for no other reason that old time sentiment of finally seeing them after 18 years. Sadly no rock and roll lifestyle songs :/

In any case, the band had lots of energy and played two great sets.



The singer John McCrea really loves the vibraslap for some reason. I'd say he played the thing during at least 10 songs. Just one of those things about cake. BOC has cowbell and I guess they have vibraslap. I originally felt McCrea was acting a bit cocky during the first bit of the show and found it moderately annoying. That said, after spraining his ankle in the first set he still went on to play a full second set (albeit elevating) which gained back much of what was lost for me.

Oh and I got a rad old school transistor receiver Cake shirt. Looks much like one of the receivers I have hooked up to my record player. Very cool design Cake, very cool.

Horse Feathers @ The Echo (5.31.12)

If there is one band that is ever evolving it's Horse Feathers. The moniker much like Bon Iver, Great Lake Swimmers and Badly Drawn Boy is built around one guy, with a cast of rotating characters. For Horse Feathers that guy is Justin Ringle. What is unique about this band is that the additional musicians have a huge impact on the overall sound. When listening to the albums there was little percussion, but having a percussionist at the show resulted in more upbeat versions of songs. Having a talented female vocalist resulted in a lot of thoughtful down home harmonies. Not having a dedicated guitar and banjo player meant that Justin had to pick one of the two on each song. Even with that limitation, the band managed a full engulfing sound that only can be achieved through the pairing of a full string section with Justin's uniquely mornful longing voice.


Before the show, I found myself debating if I really wanted to schlep up to LA. It had been a long day and I was fading pretty quick. I knew that the band had a huge collection of mellow music.



Having just been to a very unnecessarily mellow show (diazepam please), I was worried I would zonk out during. Sufficed to say, I was pleasantly surprised. They hit it hard from the start and kept the energy level up the entire night.

Playing with a modified trap kit allowed for more energetic interpretations of songs. As a result some were even a bit danceable. There were also greater dynamics in the songs (both volume and energy)which can be a bit monotonic on the records. This is exactly what one hopes for out of live show. True artistic expression in performance. Recording is about capturing ideas for a song to it's fullest, but in doing multiple takes you tend to lose a lot of the energy and emotion.



At a few points during the show, the violinists played saws. It was a very cool "how'd they make that sound in the studio" moment. It's nice to see people bring alternative instruments to the stage filling in sounds that are easy to drop when on the road.



Coincidentally their song Cascades is nothing like the Oliver Nelson song Cascades.

Not sure the reason, but Justin seems to have inexplicably been rockin what I would consider snow boots all night. Something even a New Englander wouldn't wear in the summer. My only theory is that he likes the tone for stomping or had some clam diggin planned.



All in all I was very happy I got my ass off the couch and drove up to the show. It's very encouraging as a musician to see bands experimenting with songs long ago recorded creating new and excellent live renditions. My only complaint was that they didn't play a long enough set!

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* Side Note: I had the chance to say hi to Justin and thank him for a great show. At that point I noticed he was drenched to the bone. I had thought the lights were much brighter than when I had seen Those Darlins there. I guess there is a reason why they were lower then. Nothin less sexy for a girl band than to be sweatin like a pig. That said the Echo really needs to find a happy medium between playing in the dark and an Indian sweat lodge.