A District Ex-Pat, Wishing Ruefully

One of the not-that-many reasons I lament having left big city life in 2005 can be summed up in one online stroll.

1. Go to any of the websites/apps featuring a calendar of live arts performances for a city/region*.
2. Select Norfolk, VA.
3. Peruse.
4. Select Washington, DC. (Or New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; or even Raleigh, NC for that matter.)
5. Peruse.
   
6. Review comparatively.

*My site of choice has been Pollstar for years, but I also call upon JamBase and others for no real reason from time to time.

I miss out on a massive slew of during-the-week or inconvenient-weekend shows in larger areas.  The most prominent acts of our time only hit the big stadia where they can get the most bangin' bang for their buck. Even the bands that are throwin' back mid-range gravitate elsewhere first. It's simple economics.

Norfolk/Virginia Beach/etc. -- once known as Tidewater, then christened Hampton Roads 30+ years ago, occasionally called Coastal Virginia or SEVA, then rebranded ham-fistedly as "The 757" this past December . . . whatever it's called, it suffers from the French syndrome known as cul-de-sac-itis, as we are a distanced offshoot on the East Coast rock and roll corridor of I-95, and we are a road to nowhere. This pleases some xenophobic residents, impacts supply chain, and limits performing arts visitors. Sad but true.

So we starve, musically speaking, or we overpay. In 2012, a local venue paid $140,000 to land The Black Keys. That seems steep for this middle-sized burg to be plunking down on someone not prefixed as Sir and who dropped their first record post-9/11. Again, just for dollars and cents reasons. But I had GA Floor tix and dug that show.

Perhaps someday Pharrell and company can help elevate this corner of the state up from a cornerstone of Colonial American history into something more culturally and rock-relevant. This was a start. In the meantime, I'm left to lean on my monitor like it's the plate glass of a storefront and window-shop at concerts in other towns.

Case in point: The Exile Follies

Three indie-rock stalwarts whose commercial heyday... okay, indie acts don't have a commercial heyday. Let's just say those of you who drift (Rob) or even dwell (Squeaky) in the realm of sub-superstar bands of the 80's and 90's know these three cats from back then.

Grant-Lee Phillips
Band: Grant Lee Buffalo
GLB Songs I Like Best: "Mockingbirds," "Truly, Truly"
Also: His solo album Nineteeneighties acoustically covered alt-rock tunes from... guess when. "Love My Way" stands out. Plenty of other chill albums through the years.
Fun Fact: He's of Native American heritage and a direct descendant of those who walked the Trail of Tears. And he's cool.

Kristin Hersh
Band: Throwing Muses (with the fantastic Tanya Donelly)
TM Songs I Like Best: "Bright Yellow Gun," "Mexican Women," "Not Too Soon"
Also: She has a fairly robust solo catalog, but the first song off her first album is my favorite -- "Your Ghost," with Michael Stipe on the chorus.
Fun Fact: She once sent a direct Twitter message to me about something I said. (It wasn't "cease and desist."). She's cool.

John Doe
Band: X (with the fantastic Exene Cervenka)
X Songs I Like Best: "White Girl," "The World's a Mess, It's in My Kiss," "Under the Big Black Sun," "4th of July," etc.
Also: Solo stuff and collaborations abound. Saw him do "Gimme Shelter" live, and it was blistering. Like "The Golden State" a lot.
Fun Fact: I almost ran him over backstage in Tipitina's in 2008. My starstruck response to him: "Hey, it's John Doe... I mean, uh, sorry." And he chuckled. He's cool.

The aforementioned Gimme Shelter before the aforementioned near-collision:

In 2002, after each of their bands had pretty much ceased to be, these three happened upon each other and launched a small, quiet tour of intimate venues called The Exile Follies.

I read about it much later. Sounded intriguing.  As described by Phillips:

I suppose there was a curiosity about pooling our strengths together in such a way that it allowed for some creative elbow room. The old tradition of songwriters in the round, where everyone sits in a circle and swaps songs was hard for any one of us to imagine. We came from the sticky clubs, where the speakers were always on the blink and chairs were a liability. We decided to tweak it a bit.
Our show was broken up into individual sets, just one of us on stage until the moment when the next performer would take the mic. As a transition, two of us would perform together. Vaudeville stuff. The running order came down to a coin toss until we settled into a comfortable rhythm. The evening would culminate with all three of us performing together.

They're running it back this year. Aaaaaand, circling back to my point, they are only hitting:

• DC - Tues, Feb 4
• Philly - Weds, Feb 5
• NYC - Thurs, Feb 6
• Boston - Fri, Feb 7
• Cleveland - Weds, Feb 12
• Chicago - Fri, Feb 14

Oh, well.  Had I not moved, I'd definitely drop $32 and hit the City Winery in DC on a Tuesday for virtually on-stage seats and tables and bevs and rock and/or roll.  

Anyway... go check it out, big city types. Maybe I'll see you there.