Grace Potter, with Brett Dennen, at the House of Blues

Many times in the past two years I have thought -- even planned -- to see Grace Potter in concert. Each time there was a reason it didn't happen. But last Thursday, it finally did, at the House of Blues and it was everything I expected. The word was that if you hadn't heard Grace live, you really hadn't heard her, and this is true. The albums do not do her justice. There is an electricity to her, and it runs right through her body from her fluttering fingertips, to her hair-waving head, right down to her high-heeled shoed feet. Whether she's fronting the band playing slide on her flying V or from her perch at her Hammond organ, Grace Potter is in full throttle. I always like to ask myself, "what does this band want to be"? For Grace and the Nocturnals, I think they'd like to be the female Allman Brothers. And they've got a pretty great start. They've added a second guitarist, Benny Yurco, and have a new female bass player, Catherine Popper, a strong voice to the mix which includes longtime Nocturnals lead guitarist Scott Tournet and drummer Matt Burr. They look like they are having a blast up there, smiling away while blasting through "Ah, Mary," showing off their new dueling lead guitars on one of their new songs, and meeting together on the center stage floor for a kneeling group guitar jam during "Stop the Bus." They have always fit comfortably amid the jam band scene, but they are able stand out a bit from the pack, because of Grace. Not only is she a woman (and a great-looking woman!) amid the sea of guys, but her songwriting is also stronger than most in the jammy genre. She debuted six new songs, including one called "Tiny Light," which starts slowly and builds to a rocking crescendo filled with guitar feedback. She wound up nearly two hours onstage with an encore of the Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," which fit her band perfectly. She closed the show with her a cappella-to-full blown rocker "Nothing But the Water."
A couple of other notes: I wasn't sure what the crowd would be like for the show. I was initially worried that the place would seem empty. But I was pleasantly surprised. I estimate the crowd at a couple thousand, filling about three-quarters of the place. Brett Dennen was a pleasant surprise and weird sort of cat. And he's got quite a fan base. When he was onstage, the front of the house was packed. It seemed to be less crowded when Grace came on... like all Brett's fans either left or moved back to the bars. That was fine. It left more room for Grace's fans -- which included a large majority of college girls (unusual for a jam band) -- to dance.
One more note about Brett Dennen. He's an odd mix of performer, not really sure where to place him. He's got a unique-sounding voice, a huge mop of hair, and has the stage presence -- dancing and moving his hips that puts him somewhere between Neil Diamond and David Bowie.
All in all, a really fun show.
Check out some great photos from the show (not mine, which were shit), HERE and HERE
Also, a video (not mine, either) from the show of new song "Only Love")



The setlist (from the blog This Is Somewhere)
Medicine
Joey
Mastermind
Apologies
Oasis
Stop the Bus (not on setlist, played after mention of bus fire incident)
Goodbye Kiss
Ah, Mary
Big White Gate
Things I Never Needed
Low Road
Only Love
If I Was From Paris
Tiny Light
Sweet Hands
——————-
Watching You
White Rabbit
Nothing But The Water I
Nothing But The Water II

Regina Spektor at the House of Blues

Forgot to post this review when I wrote it... Here it is...


Regina Spektor
At the House of Blues, Sept. 22

Standing in line before the show, you would not have guessed you were at a concert with fervent Regina Spektor fans. The mostly 20-something college crowd was content conversing, texting, even doing their homework. But once they were inside the House of Blues entrance, and had enjoyed the decent opening act Little Joy and what seemed like an interminable equipment setup, the crowd got what they came for.
From the moment Regina strode on stage, love was in the air.
As she sat down to her piano for the first tune, “The Calculation,” off her new album “Far,” whooping and hollering and multiple calls of “I love you” filled the hall. Regina genuinely smiled, and almost embarrassingly responded “I love you, too.”
Sitting behind a grand piano and backed by a drummer, a violinist and a cellist, she performed most of her new album, including “Folding Chair,” “Dance Anthem of the ’80s,’’ and “Two Birds.”
“Far” was only released in late June, yet the audience seemed to know every word of every song and sang along in mostly hushed tones so as not to drown out the main attraction. It actually made for an interesting effect since they seemed to know every nuanced turn of the sometimes complicated vocal acrobatics. And luckily for them, Regina didn’t stray too far from the originals.
Among the highlights was an amped-up version of “Eet,” on which she played on electric organ, and “Fidelity” and “On the Radio” from her “Begin to Hope” album. She also played a short set of solo tunes from “Soviet Kitsch” on her fabulous green Gretsch guitar.
At one point, sound from her piano was giving her trouble so she spontaneously performed a song about eye color done a cappella.
Her encore was a thing of beauty. After playing “Samson” and “Fidelity,” she brought out a shofar to help ring in the Jewish new year. And she ended the night with what she called her first-ever, unrecorded country song “Love, You’re a Whore,” which brought the crowd to a roar.
Too bad the audience didn’t know the words. They would have loved to sing along.

The Avett Brothers at the House of Blues

The Avett Brothers are family. The two leads, Seth and Scott, are real brothers, and bassist Bob Crawford and cellist Joe Kwon are extended family. And the crowd at their shows? Yes, we're family as well. Before they even played a note on Sunday at the House of Blues, the band sincerely thanked the ecstatic audience for showing up, saying "We never thought Boston would feel so much like home." It was a snowy (Oct. 18??!) and cold night, probably not like their home in North Carolina.
And then they ripped it up, played their hearts out and jumping up and down for those crazy relatives who just can't get enough of them. They fuze their country-rock tunes with an indie-rock energy. The Avetts' stellar new album, "I and Love and You," has brought in some new fans -- me included. I didn't know exactly what to expect from them live, though watching clips of their performances on YouTube, I had a good idea what was coming. The new album has some seemingly low-key tunes, including the show opener "January Wedding," but those worried that the new material would slow the boys down were mistaken. By the second tune, "Salvation Song," they were full-on.
Scott and Seth take turns on vocals, even seamlessly on verses of individual songs. They also shared drumming duties, giving up their guitars or banjos between tunes to whack on the kit. Crawford moved between electric and stand-up bass and Kwon added some expressive strings even in pogoing, high-energy songs you wouldn't expect it to work. Another tip-of-the-hat to the House of Blues for near-perfect sound. This is my fifth show there, and the sound has always been great.
While I don't know a lot of the older Avett material, I know they did cover a good cross-section of their past ("Will You Return" from "Emotionalism" and "Pretty Girl From Matthews" from "Country Was") and present ("Laundry Room" and "Tin Man" from "I and Love and You"). The setlist is below, courtesy of the Avetts message board.
After a solid hour and a half of frenetic fun, the boys came back on stage and twice thanked the crowd for coming out. Then finished up with a great pairing of new and old with "And It Spread" and "If It's the Beaches." We thanked the Avetts and went back out into the cold.

the setlist:
January Wedding
Salvation Song
Head Full of Doubt Road Full of Promise
Talk on Indolence
Tin Man
Tear Down the House
Pretty Girl from Matthews
Slight Figure of Speech
Living of Love
Paranoia
Incomplete and Insecure
Gimme a Kiss
I Would Be Sad
It Goes On and On
Laundry Room
Wanted Man
Left On Laura, Left on Lisa
Perfect Space

And It Spread
If It's the Beaches

A video from the show is below: I didn't shoot it because the HOB police came over and specifically told me not to shoot video. I did take pics.
Click HERE for the pics

The Avetts... and Dragonforce!

I can't wait for the arrival of the Avett Brothers this weekend (House of Blues, Sunday). Their new album, "I and Love and You," is definitely one of the best of the year. Almost every song is great. More to come on them after the show.
I'm still loving my trip to Worcester last weekend to see Dragonforce with my son Adam and his friend. For those unfamiliar with the band, their name pretty much gives away what kind of music they play. While I can't say I'm a fan, I certainly enjoyed the show -- something I never would have seen if it weren't for Adam's interest. The band is sort of goth, speed-metal -- fantasy lyrics (not that you could make them out in concert), two guitars, a keyboardist who also wailed on the keytar!, bassist and singer. The light show was great, dry ice, posing, fans blowing back the bands hair... it was AWESOME!
Anyway, I will write more about my experience in my next issue. Yes, something to look forward to.
Below is a clip someone else took from the show. That's my pic at the top of the keyboard players from Dragonforce and Sonata Arctica in a keytar duel. Told you it was fun.

New album from Gillian Welch and David Rawlings!

Actually it's a David Rawlings album with Gillian on it. The website Broken Wave Music has the info (editor's note: It's acually a Billboard story I found on Broken Wave), and it looks like the first David Rawlings Machine album, titled "A Friend of a Friend," will be released Nov. 17. This is pretty exciting news since it's been 6 years since the duo's last album, the Gillian Welch album "Soul Journey."
Here's part of what Billboard reported:
"Rawlings produced 'A Friend of a Friend' himself, recording it earlier this year at RCA Studio B in Nashville. Welch appears on eight of the nine tracks (and co-wrote five of them), while other players include keyboardist Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, keyboardist Nathaniel Wilcott of Bright Eyes and members of Old Crowe Medicne Show, whose 2006 album 'Big Iron World' was produced by Rawlings."
Among the songs on the album, according to the report, "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)" which Rawlings co-wrote with Ryan Adams, the Rawlings-Welch-penned "It's Too Easy" and the Bright Eyes song "Method Acting"/Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" combo they've been playing in concert.
Click HERE to read the full story; it's got some great quotes.

Issue26, Sept. 2009

Far Out - Regina Spektor blows us away – on her album and live in concert
We were worried for Regina Spektor. Yes, worried.
We first experienced the World According to Regina when she was an opener along with Josh Ritter for Keane at an outdoor venue in Boston in 2005. (Guess who we were there to see!) Regina performed solo on the huge stage, and we remember thinking “who is this strange woman? What planet did she come from?” She was not any kind of singer-songwriter we had seen before and her songs and voice did not fit anything we’d heard before. She seemed a little lost up there, a lone figure sandwiched between the two massive video screens.
The next time she caught our attention was when she released the 2006 album “Begin to Hope.” This time we were blown away. Her tunes, a little less avant-garde and a little more pop, began to make sense to our ears. And her gorgeous, fluttering voice on songs such as “Fidelity,” “Better,” and “On the Radio” affected us like few others. And while commercial radio played these tunes occasionally, a fervent and devoted following grew, awaiting every video and interview she did.
Regina had seamlessly made the transition from quirky anti-folk outsider to quirky indie-pop darling. We loved it.
And that’s why we were worried. Would Regina, with her critical success, journey further into pop, leaving behind her wonderful quirkiness? Would she go all Tori Amos on us? Please no.
Well, our fears were for naught. Her new album, “Far,” picks up where “Begin to Hope” left off, and her live performance, which we caught recently was equally quirky and refreshing. You can read both the review of the album and the show beginning on Page 4.
And speaking of albums and live shows, we’ve noticed recently the trend by musicians and bands performing an entire album, start to finish, in concert. Bruce is playing “Born to Run,” Van Morrison did “Astral Weeks.” Whether you like the idea or not, it certainly makes one pause to think “Who would I like to see play one of their albums live in its entirety?”
We asked our readers what album would you like played in concert? Check out our readers’ poll results to see what others said.
No worries, Rich Kassirer, editor
To read the new issue, click HERE.
To read album reviews of Regina Spektor's "Far," The Avett Brothers' "I and Love and You," Erin McKeown's "Hundreds of Lions," and Thao's "Know Better Learn Faster," click HERE.

More Eilen Jewell, and other bits

I know I've blogged more about Eilen Jewell than about most bands... they may have to put me on the payroll soon! I can't help it. I think the band is great, and their new songs rock. Got a chance to see them a couple of weeks ago (that's how behind I am!) at Precinct in Somerville. I had not been there before. It's a small space under a restaurant that used to be a police station. As usual Eilen and the boys put on a fun show, running through a lot of the "Sea of Tears" album, a few from past albums and a great cover of the Yardbirds' "Putty (in Your Hands)" -- see the video below.
For more photos, click HERE


Another video is HERE

Another fun Eilen note: I recently downloaded the new iTunes 9. Afterward, when I was watching a quick tutorial on the new features, I noticed that "Sea of Tears" was one of the albums featured on the tutorial's playlist. Not bad pub for a small-label release!

A little shoutout to my friend Scott Duhaime and his band Tan Odyssey. The other night I ventured to Harvest Cafe in Hudson to hear the band in a stripped-down semi-acoustic performance. Now these guys all have regular jobs and don't get to practice, let alone play out, much. So this was a big deal and a fun night hearing their mix of originals and covers. A standout tune was their reworking of the Allman's "Whipping Post," done as a slow blues on acoustics. Pretty cool arrangement.

Finally, a couple of shows I'm definitely looking forward to: Regina Spektor next week at the House of Blues; the Avett Brothers also at HOB -- I've heard their new album, "I and Love and You," and it is a knockout. Look for a review of the album in my next mag issue (Late September); Grace Potter, also at HOB. Haven't seen her yet so I've gotta catch her...