Summer 2016 Concert Capsules
It's been a long time since my last concert calendar and it's going to be at least a bit longer, but I do have some concert summaries for you. I've seen ten shows since then, which isn't too shabby given how that I've been out of town a solid month of that time and have seen a lot of baseball. Even better, most of the shows were pretty darn good.
1. I finally made my first visit to Now That's Class, a divey skate punk bar near the Lakewood/Cleveland border. The occasion was a more or less ad-hoc trip to see Kid Congo Powers & the Pink Monkey Birds on Sunday, May 15. Basically, I'd played his new album on my radio show that day, and I like most of the bands he's played with (notably: Nick Cave, Cramps), so why not? It wasn't a great show and almost nobody was there, but I had a good time. There was an opener, whose name I've mercifully forgotten.
2. Matt Harnish & Googolplexia in my living room!
3. My employer has had free tickets to a box at Quicken Loans Arena, which I've gotten for a bunch of shows over the years, including Nine Inch Nails, Van Halen, Roger Waters and Dolly Parton. This year they branched out and got a box at Blossom. I snagged it to see The Dixie Chicks with M on Friday, June 3. I like the Dixie Chicks a lot and had a really good time, although it must be said that the sound mix was a hot mess in close under the canopy where our seats were located. On the plus side, VIP access meant that M got to avoid the otherwise ridiculous lines for the women's bathroom.
4. The very next night M and I went to a Prince Tribute Show at the Beachland Ballroom. Two local bands covered Prince with great enthusiasm and reasonably skill. Scarlet & the Harlots were on first followed by Tim Moon. There was dancing. Nobody is going to claim it boasted the greatest Prince covers ever, but good enough, good enough.
5. The following Friday night gieves and I saw Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. It was her first time and my third. Like my prior two outings, it was at Cain Park, where Fleck is basically an institution. We had Turkish food prior and enjoyed a lovely evening on the lawn with several other WRUW staffers. They killed it, unsurprisingly.
6. Phil Alvin has been on my list of people to see for some years, but even though he comes through frequently I never quite managed to see him for one reason or another. Procrastination was rewarded because he came to the Beachland Ballroom on Sunday, June 12, with his brother Dave and some of the original lineup of his first band, The Blasters. It was a straight up nostalgia show for people who like straight up rock & roll. I had a good time, but I don't need to see it again.
7. I saw King Khan & the BBQ show last November and loved it. Given that the albums for King Khan & the Shrines are significantly better than the BBQ show albums, I had high hopes for their gig at the Beachland Ballroom on Friday, June 17. My co-host, her husband, rock photographer extraordinaire Judie and myself snagged pizza at Citizen Pie and were joined by herpdaddy for a beer at the Millard Fillmore Presidential Library before heading into the Ballroom in time to see Shitbox Jimmy open up. From there Khan & company took over the stage with an extremely high energy stage show and uptempo happy horn section driven music. I had a great time and will be back. I even bought a CD.
8. I went to Solstice at the Art Museum on June 25 with gieves, darlox, Adam, M, CG and a bunch more people who I only saw in passing. Most of the focus was on conversation, dancing and drinking, but I did see Giorgio Moroder, Centavrvs and L'Orchestre Afrisa International perform. Centavrvs was very good, the others made little impression on me.
9. Guns N' Roses performed at Heinz Field on June 12. It will almost certainly be my show of the year for 2016, and if not that'll be great since I'll have seen a second fantastic show.
10. The day after I got back from Oregon (Wednesday, July 27) onabus and I caught Lyle Lovett & His Large Band at the Rocksino. They aren't kidding about the large band. Lyle brought 12 musicians with him, and a local gospel band with another 12 members bolstered their ranks on most songs. The only person I can think of who put more people on stage was Aretha Franklin, but unlike Aretha this didn't feel like a nostalgia show. Lyle spread the love around to everybody in the band, going so far as to announce an album from another band member, which they sold in the lobby. That's only the second time (David Byrne) that I've seen that. The gospel band kicked in at key moments to up the energy, but even without them it was fun show that flew by with plenty of banter and conversation. I'm not sure I'd rush out to see it again at that price point, but I'd consider it. As a plus, we had great sight lines, albeit tight seats from our place on the bleachers at the back. The Rocksino is actually a surprisingly good place to see that kind of show.
1. I finally made my first visit to Now That's Class, a divey skate punk bar near the Lakewood/Cleveland border. The occasion was a more or less ad-hoc trip to see Kid Congo Powers & the Pink Monkey Birds on Sunday, May 15. Basically, I'd played his new album on my radio show that day, and I like most of the bands he's played with (notably: Nick Cave, Cramps), so why not? It wasn't a great show and almost nobody was there, but I had a good time. There was an opener, whose name I've mercifully forgotten.
2. Matt Harnish & Googolplexia in my living room!
3. My employer has had free tickets to a box at Quicken Loans Arena, which I've gotten for a bunch of shows over the years, including Nine Inch Nails, Van Halen, Roger Waters and Dolly Parton. This year they branched out and got a box at Blossom. I snagged it to see The Dixie Chicks with M on Friday, June 3. I like the Dixie Chicks a lot and had a really good time, although it must be said that the sound mix was a hot mess in close under the canopy where our seats were located. On the plus side, VIP access meant that M got to avoid the otherwise ridiculous lines for the women's bathroom.
4. The very next night M and I went to a Prince Tribute Show at the Beachland Ballroom. Two local bands covered Prince with great enthusiasm and reasonably skill. Scarlet & the Harlots were on first followed by Tim Moon. There was dancing. Nobody is going to claim it boasted the greatest Prince covers ever, but good enough, good enough.
5. The following Friday night gieves and I saw Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. It was her first time and my third. Like my prior two outings, it was at Cain Park, where Fleck is basically an institution. We had Turkish food prior and enjoyed a lovely evening on the lawn with several other WRUW staffers. They killed it, unsurprisingly.
6. Phil Alvin has been on my list of people to see for some years, but even though he comes through frequently I never quite managed to see him for one reason or another. Procrastination was rewarded because he came to the Beachland Ballroom on Sunday, June 12, with his brother Dave and some of the original lineup of his first band, The Blasters. It was a straight up nostalgia show for people who like straight up rock & roll. I had a good time, but I don't need to see it again.
7. I saw King Khan & the BBQ show last November and loved it. Given that the albums for King Khan & the Shrines are significantly better than the BBQ show albums, I had high hopes for their gig at the Beachland Ballroom on Friday, June 17. My co-host, her husband, rock photographer extraordinaire Judie and myself snagged pizza at Citizen Pie and were joined by herpdaddy for a beer at the Millard Fillmore Presidential Library before heading into the Ballroom in time to see Shitbox Jimmy open up. From there Khan & company took over the stage with an extremely high energy stage show and uptempo happy horn section driven music. I had a great time and will be back. I even bought a CD.
8. I went to Solstice at the Art Museum on June 25 with gieves, darlox, Adam, M, CG and a bunch more people who I only saw in passing. Most of the focus was on conversation, dancing and drinking, but I did see Giorgio Moroder, Centavrvs and L'Orchestre Afrisa International perform. Centavrvs was very good, the others made little impression on me.
9. Guns N' Roses performed at Heinz Field on June 12. It will almost certainly be my show of the year for 2016, and if not that'll be great since I'll have seen a second fantastic show.
10. The day after I got back from Oregon (Wednesday, July 27) onabus and I caught Lyle Lovett & His Large Band at the Rocksino. They aren't kidding about the large band. Lyle brought 12 musicians with him, and a local gospel band with another 12 members bolstered their ranks on most songs. The only person I can think of who put more people on stage was Aretha Franklin, but unlike Aretha this didn't feel like a nostalgia show. Lyle spread the love around to everybody in the band, going so far as to announce an album from another band member, which they sold in the lobby. That's only the second time (David Byrne) that I've seen that. The gospel band kicked in at key moments to up the energy, but even without them it was fun show that flew by with plenty of banter and conversation. I'm not sure I'd rush out to see it again at that price point, but I'd consider it. As a plus, we had great sight lines, albeit tight seats from our place on the bleachers at the back. The Rocksino is actually a surprisingly good place to see that kind of show.