Dave
Marls
Zman
Stepbro Ian
Juan Carlos
That frat guy Matt guy
Zman's chum John Paul III
me
After a bland dinner, chugged pints, and a lousy performance by a dweeby band that questionably lip-synched cover songs (Cheap Trick / Maroon 5 / The Ramones / One Direction), we made our way to the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ.
Act I was the Old 97's, one of my personal favorites, and a band I most recently saw last month in Charlottesville. They opened with "Barrier Reef" and ripped through a solid set; highlights included "W. TX Teardrops," "Every Night is Friday Night (Without You)", "Victoria Lee," and the ubiquitous "Timebomb." I, of course, liked it all, and older stuff like "Salome," "Indefinitely,"and "504" was more enjoyable for me than for the unfamiliar in our midst.
Act II was the Drive-By Truckers. They crushed it, and for a co-headliner set they played for quite a while. All told, the combined show was four hours long. The DBT's played much of my favorite stuff, including "Women Without Whiskey," "Used to Be a Cop," my favorite "Where the Devil Don't Stay," and the always venue-shaking "Let There Be Rock."
Folks can weigh in as they choose. I thought both sets were terrific, but I agree with Zman's sentiment that the demons that haunt the Truckers and make their sets more rousing have long since left Rhett and the 97's. I've long hoped for some turmoil in Rhett Miller's daily life so as to re-evoke the angst of their first few albums. As it is, they're too happy. (I temper this by saying nothing too terrible. The last time I hope for hard times to befall a musician, it was Springsteen, and then 9/11 happened. The Rising was great, but come on.)Surly Ian, of course, thought the whole concert left something the be desired. Dave had some weird thoughts, as always. But I loved it.
And the boozing afterwards.
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20 comments:
The best Rhett Miller is an angst-y Rhett Miller
I did an Allman Bros/Steely Dan weekend in Raleigh with Ian once, probably 96 or 97. He passed out at both shows. At the end of Steely Dan on night 2 he woke up and was furious that he'd spent $80 on a hat, since he slept through both concerts.
Ah, the rare story where Ian woke up furious.
Was on a flight to Atlanta and they re-routed us to Charleston because of baseball-sized hail. I watched the movie Flight last week. I am very okay with this decision.
The San Antonio chop?!?!? Has anyone ever ordered that item at OBFT?
pork antonio, squeak. and he did the jerk chicken. i've never had either. but he did seem to enjoy the tortuga's experience. we may need to get there before they open this year.
Fitz is a Titan. He's officially dead to me.
read about one of my "weird thoughts" on sentence of dave.
my other weird thoughts:
where is my ticket? (i thought this about clarence, who i thought was supposed to be "checking on" tickets)
four hours is too long for a rock concert
this calamari sucks -- despite the waitress touting it
bars are supposed to close at 2 AM in new jersey
If the Old 97's played more songs like "Every Night is Friday Night Without You" I could get on board. I understand that their earlier stuff has more of the bitter edge that gets my toes tappin. DBT's evil guitar licks were a stark contrast.
I also think the Wellmont might want to get new speakers--this is the second show in a row where the vocals sounded a little muddy.
I just took a look at the setlist for the show, and I regret my early exit (I was really dragged out to prevent someone's violent meltdown) because I missed "Angels and Fuselage." I'm probably the only person in the world who likes a plodding 8 minute long song about a plane crash ... but damn I wish I heard that one.
But the evening was a categorical success in my view. I had a great time with great friends and I even managed to use up all of my old rotten mustard.
And don't forget that the dweeby band briefly covered Primus.
By "briefly" you mean for 7 seconds. Not enough to outweigh their exended suck.
In other news, Louis Farrakhan and Da Lench Mob will be confounded to learn that President Obama is the devil:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/what-the-devil-obama-lookalike-cast-as-satan-in-american-tv-show-the-bible-8538656.html
I can't reiterate enough how amazing the Pink concert was. She's very Gheorghe in that she clearly takes nothing seriously, except entertaining her fans. Speaking of which, if you are in need of filler, I got a picture of one of said fans with a kickin neck tat.
Da Lench Mob! Gorillas in the Mist does not get a lot of play these days.
I've got four extras for Califone, May 10 at casa de squeaky.
Will try to liveblog event as it happens as well.
Why isn't it called womenopause?
Or womenstruation?
One more music note--watch Dave Grohl's keynote at SXSW. It's on you tube. Even if you don't like the Foo Fighters, you'll like his speech.
robert morris beat kentucky in the nit. haha!
/muntz
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