The Band of Heathens 11/26/10

This was a Thanksgiving homecoming for sure, at Momo's.  As many folks know, this is a band that got their start at Momo's, but the 3 guitar/songwriter leads were originally billed as 3 separate acts on a weekly basis on the same night.  Their collaborative spirits started improvising on each other's works, bass was added, later drums, and a band was organically formed.  Their first two albums were live recordings in Austin clubs, and they didn't even name themselves.  They did have a name (The Good Time Supper Club), but "The Heathens" was a misprint that stuck.  And the ball has been rolling for barely 5 years now..

The Band of Heathens are: Colin Brooks, Gordy Quist, Ed Jurdi-- all 3 on lead vocals and lead guitar (and sometimes switching things up with keys, harmonica, or lap steel)-- Seth Whitney on bass, John Chipman on drums, and now Trevor Nealon on organ (who normally plays with Wisebird).  

They guys really are collaborators and improvisers.  Every time I see them, they are grabbing a guest onto the stage, likely unrehearsed.  The Band of Heathens is one part country, one part rock, one part soul, and five parts Austin.  It's a testament to talent and authenticity when a significant portion of a band's crowd is older than the band member and the venue is enthusiastically full.   

Colin, Gordy, and Ed regularly rotate the turns to sing-- when they aren't harmonizing.  Their 3 voices are uniquely different-- from husky to clear and ringing to softly adaptable-- and comprise much of the textured personality of the Heathens' sound.     

They opened with "LA County Blues",  layering those 3 lead guitars as an immediate signature declaration.  It's been awhile since I've seen the Heathens, and their years on the road-- their dedication to the live music experience-- really shows.  "Golden Calf" was relaxed, smoky, and moody, but "Heart on My Sleeve" whipped us right back into the world of rock and roll.  "Miss Ohio", a Gillian Welch cover, had Ed sit down on keys while Colin and Gordy revved up the guitar work..  this band really knows how to conjure the energy, and the climactic guitar 'jam' (for lack of a better word!) was proof..  John on drums was incredibly grounding during this moment, which was probably why Gordy turned around and played exclusively only to the drummer for the remainder of the piece.

"Somebody Tell the Truth" had an organ solo at the end from Trevor that started out innocent enough, but somehow roped all 5 others on stage into his domain.  All band members were laughing by the end, because they all clearly caved to a musical moment they couldn't deny-- so fun to see!  And soon the side of the stage became a revolving door-- guest after guest kept stepping up, some of whose names I don't know..

Other songs they played  are "Jackson Station"-- with all 3 vocalists taking turn, and the slow roadhouse blues of "Second Line" (different from the studio version).    A friend of theirs stepped up to play some guitar for my favorite of all Heathens' songs, one penned by Gordy Quist, "Judas 'Scariot Blues".  This song is a lyrical gem, perfectly matched by the haunting and urgent mood of the music and vocal delivery.  Judas Iscariot is the Biblical apostle who betrayed Jesus, ended up hanging himself (according to the book of Matthew-- there are different versions!), and this song is sung from Judas' perspective--  darkly, bitterly.  The Band of Heathens' songs range from lighthearted to foreboding and worrisome..  and "Judas 'Scariot Blues" ranks extremely high in the murky part of my heart that needs fulfillment

Austin's Drew Smith-- another great songwriter/vocalist/guitarist who will get his own blog entry--  stepped up for a few songs, including his own "Silver Pictures" and played backup on the Heathen's smoky, soulful "Bumblebee". 

Another friend stepped up to deliver "Odysseus"-- a hilarious cowboy adaptation of Homer's Odyssey, and then came the horns!  3-players-- on trumpet, trombone and  saxophone-- stepped up to add the arrangements created by the John's brother, Chris Chipman.  The Heathens always have a soulful, southern sound, but the horns really brought us all straight to New Orleans!  They added to "Shine A Light" (not the Stones song) and the gravelly sass of "You're Gonna Miss Me"-- complete with harmonica and funky organ solo.

True to their Southern-American musical roots, and delivered with smoothly hones harmonies, the Heathens' encore was the traditional prison work song "Ain't No More Cane"-- a song covered by such artists as Leadbelly, Bob Dylan, Lyle Lovett, and the list goes on.  

The Heathens tour pretty heavily for much of the year, so tonight was a great kickoff to the holiday season-- they even get to stay in Texas for a month or so.  Lucky for all of us, their ball keeps on rolling.. ! 

Phish 10/7/10

If Phish happens to perform on July 15, 2011, I will be there.  That date will be the 20 year anniversary of my first Phish concert.   

For a crash-course on what Phish is about, check out LMC Radio's Inspiration page, because the station is partly dedicated to/inspired by Phish.  The last time they performed full-on in Austin was in 1999 (and I was there!) at Southpark Meadows..   Remember Southpark Meadows?  ...     ???!!!

I literally could write a book, but these posts are to chronicle one night of music here in Austin, and that is what I will do.  Somewhere in the first hour of Phish's set, I ended up alongside a young lady who cheered at the start of each song, anticipated musical changes, had the biggest smile on her face, and danced like there's no tomorrow.  She was about twice my size and half my age, and neither of those is a bad thing.  Partway through "You Enjoy Myself", a Trey Anastasio composition from the 1980's that the drummer Jon Fishman refers to as Phish's "bread and butter", she turned to me and asked: What's  the name of this?  That stunned me--  I suddenly realized this was a brand new Phish fan who must have somehow heard the music, but just not long enough to learn the names of things, even the staples.  She looked about 19, the same age I was when I first saw Phish.    ..So this post is for her.  And for anyone else who has a curiosity about this band, or even just good old-fashioned respect for them.  Old school fans will enjoy reading this too-- because this old school fan is having fun writing it.

Phish fans have a tendency to call the band members by their first names mostly-- as if we all know them personally?-- so, band member lineup: Trey on guitar, Mike on bass, Page on keys, Fish on drums.

Before I tell you what they DID do, let me tell you what they did NOT do.  Let me tell you!  They did not play the vacuum, did not play from the top of an airport landing tower, and did not ride a giant hot dog over the heads of audience members.  They did not form an Acoustic Army, cover The White Album or Exile on Main Street, or create a snowfall indoors.  They did not design an outdoor camping festival with themed art installations, ferris wheel, FM radio station (The Bunny), and post office.  (Some of their festivals had their own zip code-- we were a city, see?  Details.. priorities!)  They didn't switch instruments, play from midnight to sunrise without breaking, weave esoteric samples of other songs into their own, or throw 3 giant beach balls into the audience for a crowd-directed Ball Jam.  They didn't engage us with Phish Talk, sing in Hebrew, or shoot the drummer through the roof with a catapult.  They didn't go from metal to bluegrass, get esoteric or evil, or get bluesy or reggae on us.  They didn't set aflame a symbolic sculpture, get naked (OK, only the drummer ever got naked, briefly and bravely), or jam on a flat-bed truck rolling through a camping crowd at 3am.  They didn't play with Sharon Jones, a Seminole Indian Chief, B.B. King, or multiple Elvii (plural of 'Elvis').  They didn't sing a barbershop quartet, wiggle the Punch You In The Eye Storm Dance, play chess with the audience, or bury the meatstick in Japanese.  

Phish = Composition + Improvisation.  Jazz + Classic Rock.  Geeky respect for music + slap-happiness.  Letting it all hang out + hinting at the inside joke.  What inside joke?  That's what we're always trying to figure out. 

Close your eyes during any given "jam", or extended musical conversation of theirs, and just try to follow what each of the four is saying to the other three.  It's a fun game to play, and always leads me back into the entirety of the music.  "What song is this?", asked after 10 or more minutes of music, is a classic sign that Phish is really flexing their improvisational, experimental, and mind-melting muscles.  It's more than possible to get so lost in the music that you forget what song the conversation originally sprouted from.

Tonight was the debut of Fish's new "geriatric" drum chair.  All these years, he's been sitting on a stool, at one point nicknamed Mrs. Fishman.  The new improved Mrs. Fishman provides back support, and the removal of the stool provides room for more drums-- "like knocking down some walls and adding two new rooms onto the house".  Room for the kids!!   

What Phish DID do tonight: play a perfect set for a giant music festival.

What they played:

Down with Disease -- Possibly Phish's only attempt at a pop hit song in their history, punctuated with some macho guitar riffs--including bass, a danceable beat, and sealed with Trey's signature soaringly happy high-note climaxes.  This is the one song they made a video for (like, Mtv style)-- a video that demonstrates one more trick they didn't pull this evening-- turn the stage into a giant fish aquarium.  For the un-indoctrinated this evening, this was a pop-song-turned-listening-exercise, as Phish delved into a characteristic 4-piece musical conversation before neatly wrapping up.

Cities -- A Talking Heads cover, less funkified but no less classic, classic even for Phish to play-- in my recent acquisition of a musical cassette tape (plastic rectangle, holes in center) from December 1, 1984, I learned Phish covered this song during what many consider to be the first official Phish show in Burlington, VT.

Possum -- This is as barefootin, dust-kickin, and down-home as Phish gets-- and marked with some classic Phish musical tension-and-release-- plus it's an oldie from  the 1980's, from Trey's senior thesis at Goddard College (a liberal arts college in VT).  The thesis has an official title (he Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday), but most fans call it Gamehendge, which is the setting of the thesis' fictional story, songs, and characters.  If you ever want to be really confused, read Gamehendge on paper as a story.  Then, go listen to it-- if you can find a performance of it-- the band has performed it in its near-entirety, complete with story narration, 5 times.  It all comes together.  Except for the Possum, whose poor end was the road.  So wonderful to hear this outdoors, and I think Trey made his guitar talk at the beginning of it..

Wolfman's Brother -- A slow funky rock number with a bit of soul, this song really lept out as something new and different when it first emerged in 1994, and really came into its own by the end of the 90's.  This would be a great moment to point out that Phish's lyrics are sometimes a head scratcher, with this song being a case in point.   The band relaxed into Wolfman's tonight, perhaps to save it for..

Chalk Dust Torture -- An upbeat rocker that never fails to reach every person present--  we've all been bored at school or (unless we're lucky) bored at our current jobs.  I've never seen this song performed mildly, or without the centerpiece lyric can't I live while I'm young belted out with crowd in unison.  This is almost 2 decades old now, written by Trey and his songwriting comrade Tom Marshall.  Great example of Trey mixing some swampy/butt-heavy riffs with a screaming solo in the same piece.  They once played this on the David Letterman show in 1994, back when David had hair, and the same sense of humor. 

Rock and Roll -- A classic Velvet Underground cover that is the story of our lives.  Many times Trey is the main vocalist, but this is a good time to point out that all band members take turns singing & often harmonize.  Page sings this one, and seemed especially into it tonight.  Maybe his life was saved by rock and rock and roll too.  After the mandatory Rock and Roll jam (mandatory because Phish is known for adding jams to songs, and mandatory because..  look at the song!)-- with Trey's articulate guitar in stark forefront--and Mike's serpentine and insistent bass underneath-- the spacey ending after the close of the song was ambiguous for awhile, perfectly Phish, until the drums kicked in, leading us to.. 

Also Sprat Zarathustra (also known as "2001")--  This is..   is..   in my Top 3 favorite live Phish pieces, and has been for decades.  This is a symphonic poem (go look it up) first composed by Richard Strauss (Germany) in 1896.  Sounds stuffy, eh?  No way-- at least not when Phish gets their hands on it.  This composition, in part or whole, has been borrowed, used in films, and covered by other musicians for more than a century.  During the gigantic December 31, 1999 ("Y2K") Phish concert in southern Florida (85,000 people attended, the largest concert on earth that night) my friends kept throwing out the phrase Dance Party 2000!! The phrase stuck with me, and any time Phish turns us all into dancing fools, like they did yet again in Austin 2010, I shout it out.  This is a good time to give props to lighting director Chris Kuroda, whose colors, timings, and patterns make Phish's music a visual experience, and highly aesthetic..  Except during the musical peaks of "2001", when Chris turns a white light- the most evil and naked of all lights- to the audience, burning all of our retinas and temporarily blinding us.  We scream in agony , and the band likely thinks we scream because the music is climaxing or we are having fun or something.  We are screaming from damaged vision, temporary stupefaction, and potentially permanent brain damage -- but we press on with our funkiness.  Dance Party 2000!!

Backwards Down the Number Line --  This is a song by friends, for friends.  This is a newer song with a sweet and poignant origin-- I won't tell the story, but I recommend you read about it from a hopefully reputable source, maybe Phish.net, or find the NPR Morning Edition interview with Trey and Page from September 2009.  The accompanying jam to this song tonight was at first buoyant, and then increasingly rocking!

Harry Hood -- This is an oldie from the 80's, performed continuously for decades, and appears on no studio album.  This is Classic Phish.  Why?  Because it is a beautiful composition with several movements that show off the band's ability to be delicate, relaxing, scary, funny, weird, ambient, concentrated, and beautiful.  Within and between the movements is plenty of room for improvisation, which the band has explored with different faces in Harry throughout the decades.  Harry Hood is Classic Phish because this is a prime example of where composition meets improvisation, and where the band goes "in" at some point, brings us to stillness, to pure listening attention, and usually brings it back "out" with cascading musical majesty.  (Many times there is a "glow stick war" amongst the crowd during Harry-- first born when one time the lighting director was told to turn all stage lights off during a certain section-- to place all attention on the music-- and evolved into a dazzling display of flying colored sticks.)  Of course, this is also Classic Phish because all the loveliness revolves around a cartoon character from a New England dairy company commercial.  Plus, before the Internet, you'd never know who Mr. Minor is-- one of those things that draws you curiosity.  The inside joke!  And the joke was on us-- the band ended Harry Hood early, did not bring it "back" from the exploratory jam..  and instead led directly into "Light".

Light -- A new song from their most recent album Joy(2009).  Enlightening and spiritual lyrics-- not always Phish's specialty.  Light is based on Eckhart Tulle's book The Power of Now -- but it works, especially because the accompanying "jam" to this song is increasingly complex and dense in the past two years.  This exploratory rock song is in its relative infancy in the Phish timeline, and I look forward to watching it evolve.   

Suzy Greenburg --  Of the entire Phish song repertoire, a list several hundred pieces long, there is no single Phish lyric I relate to more than the line: "Little Suzy Greenburg, with her head caved in."  If you have ever had a crush on a wacky gal, or have been a wacky gal, this song is for you.  Completely fun, an oldie from the 80's written by Phish friend The Dude of Life.  Page usually has several openings in Suzy to funk it up on the keys, and tonight he went back and forth between an electronic and classic key sound.  In the words of one fan tonight, "Page owned it."  Although there were no horns tonight, it's worth mentioning this piece is perfectly embellished by brass, including the "monster" Suzy Greenburg of Festival 8 (featured in the Phish 3D concert film) with Sharon Jones, Saundra Williams, and several members of the Dap Kings on lavish backup.

You Enjoy Myself --  Another Phish Classic, a composition by Trey from the 80's.  It's long, complex, with several moods and movements-- but none of them are ever rushed.  This is one piece of music that tells a story.  There are some pieces, and some nights, I think Phish takes us "underwater"-- where the ebb and flow of the melodies, with Fish's soft jazzy timing underneath, combined with supple blue and purple lights, literally makes you feel buoyant, peaceful-- like you're in another world-- namely: underwater.  The first section of YEM (a lazy nickname I'm not a fan of) is like climbing magical stairways, and showcases some fancy fingerwork and timing..  but then the band slides underwater..    and they will stay there for as long as they wish.  When they decide to surface, there's a beautiful section that features Page on keys and is enough to get any real-life music box dancer twirling..   eventually leading to a suddenly staccato segueway, exciting chord progressions, and the ..  setting of the trampolines.   After some interestingly timed conversation between drums & guitar,  some screaming notes from Trey, the tension builds, the notes climb higher, higher, higher..  until all four members literally shout on the top of their lungs.  BOY.  MAN..   complete signature tension and release.  The band moves to groovy funkland-- you don't know how we got here--but it sure feels good.  All that funk deserves bouncing.  Such as..  the synchronized trampoline dance by Mike and Trey.  Yes, while still playing guitars-- and Mike holds it down as solid as he ever does.  When trampoline time is over, the funk jam adventure begins, never going the same place twice.  Again, Phish will stay here as long as they wish, and they have their choice of neatly wrapping up with a refrain of the minimal lyrics (wash Uffizi and drive me to Firenze, or, it could be "wash you feetsie"..) or they begin a vocal jam.. which they did tonight.  All four members start making random sounds-- with the only instruments they are playing-- their voices.  It's usually trippy, textured, eery, sometimes funny-- tonight was all three--  bringing this masterpiece to a psychedelic close.    I was jealous of folks hearing the likes of this for the very first time.  What's the name of this? she asked.

Encore:

Cavern --  A straight-up rock number with a declarative ending--  the song has a plot, and a moral--and good luck discerning what either of them is ..   it's easy to get lost between the primal soup, septic maidens, and rudiments of gruel.  This is the song that references Nectar (in a vague and veiled fashion), the club owner who let Phish gig and gig in the 80's.  What is not vague or veiled is the 1992 album from which Cavern came-- A Picture of Nectar-- or the album's cover, which is a photograph of an orange, with the shadowed contours of Nectar Rorris' face transposed onto it.  True story: When Phish reunited in 2009 after a 5 year breakup, their reunion set of shows were at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia.  Fans from ALL over flew in.  As one plane was about to empty, the pilot, after the usual time and weather shpeal, quoted the last lines of this song: "Whatever you do, take care of your shoes."  The plane's passengers erupted.  Phish fans-- we're everywhere.

First Tube --  This piece will drive you straight across the country-- or into outer space.  Many times a show opener or closer-- perhaps to send us all home with a kick in the pants, or ants in our pants-- this electrifying and propulsive instrumental is a little over a decade old.  Constantly pushing forward, First Tube has Trey picking in 3, Fishing sharply cracking the kit in 4, Page embellishing throughout, and is a great example of Mike's rhythmic, thumping prowess on bass.  (After almost 2 decades of listening to this band intently, I would say Mike is the musical "center" of their most musically dense and experimental moments..)   This piece is not experimental, but straightforward, increasingly energetic and triumphant-- with an enjoyable space-loop Trey throws in halfway through with one of his toys/pedals-- and closed with some playful, climactic guitar feedback-- in case we forgot this is rock and roll.

I think with the wristband I had, I could have waited on a line to be on the side stage, with strangers who potentially don't know or even like this band.  Why would I do that, when I can be with my friends on the lawn, strategically placed in front of the soundboard?  And then watch the clouds change colors with the sunset, follow the mass of iridescent dragonflies glowing in the dusk, circling above.  Just before the music began, someone let go a helium balloon in the shape of a red heart.  It floated up and up and up.  I kept watching, with the skyline of Austin below it, the orange clouds alongside it.  I got to thinking, about the twenty-something years this band has been together, their dedication to the live music experience, to the art they constantly evolve, my relationship with this live music city, my seemingly permanent admiration for this band's music.  I watched that balloon for a long time.  Some powerful combinations are meant to keep going, and some old loves never die.

     

    

   

ACL Music Festival Highlights 10/7/10 - 10/9/10

This post is more of a narrative and less of geek journalism-- I was very involved in the ACL festival, and just wanted the full-on experience, not very interested in note-taking (yet I still took some notes-- doh).  For my second year, I performed with the West African Dance & Drum ensemble Lannaya on the side of the kid's stage (Austin Kiddie Limits).  This meant I got to see morning and evening shows around the festival, but unfortunately missed a lot of the mid-afternoon action..  and with the park full of ten thousand extra bodies (AHEM), peaking in late afternoon, it was impossible to 'zip around' between Lannaya sets-- regardless of a fancy wristband.

If you think the park was too crowded, I recommend kindly informing both the city of Austin and the festival organizers how you feel.  It's respectful to thank them for their work and for a (usually) great festival.  However, what used to be a clearly all-ages experience (kids, elders) was instead a zoo this year.. a rather animalistic experience.  In the snapshots below, I do not bring this up again.  

Big Phish post coming soon.  LMC Radio is partially dedicated to them, so that post will be separate.  I saw many bands, but these are the ones who impressed me.  In chronological order: 

JJ Grey and Mofro -- I hauled ass from one side of the park to the other just to get to see one and a half songs from this Jacksonville, Florida band--  very worth the haul.  By 12:20pm on Festival Day One, I was already completely musically satisfied.  I didn't expect that much mojo to be handed out so early in the day.  The full song I happened to catch was "Georgia Warhorse", a song JJ Grey wrote "for his grandmother"..  and it's also the name of a hardy grasshopper.. and also the name of JJ Grey and Mofro's latest album!  This was a striking piece, with lyrics of tenacity,  riddled with swampy blues riffs, and climaxed with a slightly possessed solo from Daryl Hance on slide guitar..  resulting with the instrument being flipped from his lap and thrown to the floor.   Damn!

­First Aid Kit -- A duo of sisters from Stockholm, Sweden with heavenly voices.  This was one of those early performances that made me stop in my tracks.  Klara and Johanna Soderberg harmonized perfectly in their own style of folk, kinda mystical and earthy at the same time, a hint of country here and there..   Acoustic guitar, some light keyboards, a washboard..  a fellow on a kit adding a little bit of drumming.. I caught "Ghost Town", and another lovely number sung straight-up a capella.  These voices in person were a sweet sedative.

Silversun Pickups -- To be fair to this band-- I barely know their work, but they came recommended, so I made sure I was able to catch a chunk of this LA-based band.  Having followed and seen the Smashing Pumpkins in their peak in the early 90's (amazing), that's the part of my brain the Silversun Pickups ignited.  Fuzzy distorted guitar, longing and breathy, vocals, a little bit of dreaminess and a lot of electric guitar with momentous blasts, clearly articulated riffs, and extended feedback..  even the rhythm section had me flashing back.  The Silversun Pickups are a quality nod to the Pumpkins.  As performers, they kept building the energy, even facing the afternoon Austin sun, with a rather hot and thrashing ending.  Yow.

Gogol Bordello --  Highlight.  Highlight.  If you watched Gogol Bordello's performance, and happen to see some ladies jumping out of their skulls in the right back corner of the stage ("stage left"), that was me plus friends.  For once I took advantage of the artist wristband in this way.  And for once, there was no scene or line waiting to get on the side stage.  What???  

..Perhaps because being in Gogol Bordello's audience is the bigger point -- to jump and chant in unison with hundreds, thousands?, to watch the band members weave in and out of each other as they samba, swivel, belt, rap, thrust, pound, and dart-- and if you're close enough, to have red wine spouted upon you from the mouth of lead vocalist Eugene Hutz.   

A perfectly international tribe that formed in New York City-- Gogol Bordello's members are from Ukraine, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Scotland, USA, Russia, Israel..    on bass, electric violin, drum kit, accordion, electric guitar, percussion, acoustic guitar..   busting highly energetic and infectious Gypsy Rock...  or to borrow from one of their own song titles: "Immigrant Punk".  Makes you want to jump up and down (rock) and twirl (gypsy) at the same time..  it's a physics thing.

Some of the songs we heard are "My Companjera ", "Trans-Continental Hustle" (with some heavy-duty guitar strumming from Eugene Hutz and later an electric violin solo from Sergey Ryabtsev ), "Break the Spell" (surely an invocation), and the song that Eugene Hutz and Sergey Ryabtsev once performed with Madonna: the celebratory "Pala Tute".  Before you snort, read the passionate and transcendent passage by Eugene Hutz on the band's MySpace page, called "Intro Word"..   note what he says about popular music, about the truth of sound, sacred art, about garbage on the airways.  It's pretty fierce.   And maybe one of the best pieces about music I have ever read.  

Eugene Hutz is a perfect madman performer, with handlebar moustache, bare chest, guitar continuously spun from back to front, serenading, climbing atop equipment, growling, hooting, left-right- upstage-downstage..  conjuring band and crowd alike into a frenzy..   and the full band deserves props in keeping up with--if not matching--his energy level and stage presence.  

Experiencing this band in person, especially close up, is nothing less than magical.  Will wake up every cell in your body.  I thank myself that I sought them out.  

Immigrant Punk?  Yes.  More please.  They reassured my chronic quest for that natural musical high.  In the words of Eugene Hutz:  "..So if you don't mind an extra fuel for your life you just may have to make music research your task, for information on good music is not provided, and not searching for it is basically stealing from yourself."

Amen brother.

Muse --  While conversing with friends, I said before the band came on, thinking of Mathew Bellamy's dramatic vocals, the band's rock composition: "They kinda remind me of Queen..." I trailed off.  A friend finished my sentence "...meets Tool."  Yes, meets Depeche Mode meets Rush and Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine.  The list of influences goes on, and makes a rich musical stew, with falsetto sprinkled on top.  They blend rocks-- classic rock, rock opera, metal, progressive rock, hard rock--  with electronica, harmonies, and laser beams.   Did you see those green things flashing past you , even though you were a quarter mile from the stage?  Holy shit.

This trio (Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme, Dominic Howard) from Devon, England is no stranger to stadium rock, and it shows.  Their presentation is something akin to "cell candy", a whole-body experience.  Phish trained me well.  I was completely neurologically equipped to absorb the layers of instruments (we got a key-tar at one point!), muli-colored/textured lights, flashing graphics, sparkly suits, balloons, smoke..   all a physical expression of the emotional urgency of the music.  Although I have little idea of what an actual Muse classic is, I'm still going to say we heard some Muse classics-- pieces really representative of their style.. "Uprising", "Supermassive Black Hole", "Hysteria", "Time Is Running Out", "Stockholm Syndrome", the encore "Man with a Harmonica" into "Knights of Cydonia".. yes, played with real harmonica (very grounding and sweet)..  with bits of covers woven throughout the show..  like the "Star-Spangled Banner" and "House of the Rising Sun"..       and in the middle of all that, possibly my favorite..  the not-as-urgent but still completely enrapturing "Undisclosed Desires".  Mmmm.  Witnessing Muse, you are either completely involved or completely involved-- there's kinda no choice.  I didn't mean to stay until the end, but I did, and still wanted more.

Ruby Jane -- This young native Texan fiddler is on fire, with fingers of lightning.  At 11:15am Sunday morning, she had quite the crowd assembled.  The energy of a teenager and the talent of a prodigy, before noon, is a great combination.  She started playing violin at age 2, performed at the Grand Ole Opry at age 9, has already toured with Willie, is being mentored by Ray Benson, and the list of awards and accomplishments go on..  She dedicated years to studying old-time bluegrass on the fiddle, but is recently branching out to express herself further-- writing her own songs, playing with a rock band, wielding an acoustic guitar. mandolin, acoustic guitar.  If you didn't have your coffee that morning-- no need--Ruby Jane took care of waking everyone up with her expertly verbose fiddling, center stage pronto, not to mention simply running back and forth elatedly shouting at other soloing players.  She mixed up her instruments, and genres-- country/blues/ jazz/pop/rock/boogie woogie-- playing all her own work with the exception of Djanjo Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli's instrumental "Minor Swing" and Townes Van Zandt's "Be Here To Love Me"..   (Stephan Grapelli is one of Ruby Jane's biggest violin inspirations!)..  At age 15, this completely gifted wonder of a gal has a long career ahead of her..  lucky us!

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue -- Any guess where they're from?  The front man Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews is from NOLA's Tremé neighborhood, the oldest black neighborhood in the states, to be exact.  Boy, did he bring it-- on trombone, trumpet, vocals, showmanship.  And so did his full band-- on electric bass, electric guitar, baritone sax, tenor sax, drum kit, and hand percussion.  The only time I wasn't dancing was when I was gaping at how long Shorty can hold a note (circular breathing?) or how cleanly he can do the moonwalk.  He and the band blend jazz (from bebop to big band to all flavors of vocal and trumpet Satchmo), funk, soul, hip-hop, and even a little rock.  He hip swivels like James Brown, can command several genres of singing-- including skatting, and smoothly hit the notes like Stevie Wonder..  not to mention expertly lead the band, even when stopping to give generous solo time to the other players.  When it came for his own solos, he's a straight-up master of the trombone (playing since age 4)-- it's a dramatic instrument to watch to begin with-- not to mention the lack of frets/keys/buttons  that really must make it an instrument of brilliant intuition and musician's ear .  When I woke up that morning I didn't expect myself to be bopping out to a ten minute version of "When the Saints Come Marching In".   I really did feel transported to New Orleans.  In the words of one fantastic online comment:  He snuck up on us at ACL 2010... played the smallest stage and ended with the largest crowd.  

Robert Earl Keen --  Speaking of the smallest official stage, that would actually be Austin Kiddie Limits.  Twice a day each festival day the AKL stage gets a "special guest"-- and of course the little ones (in green cone spiked and pink mohawk hairdos) have no clue about the specialness, but the parents get a treat.  Today it was Robert Earl Keen with his own flavor of Americana, twanging a song about pizza with onions.  Sorry, if you weren't there, you missed out.  I don't think he repeated this one on the main stage.

The Eagles -- I did not think I would care about seeing this band.  Born in 1971-- I had the Eagles (originally from LA) crammed into my ears from every corner of life-- the neighbor's radio, the background music at the convenience store, floating out of Camaro windows slowly rumbling by and mingled with Marlboro cigarette smoke, maybe my own parent's stereo?  Were they that mean?  And then when Mtv started, Don Henley and Glenn Frey were even on there, frignabbit they were everywhere, and I never liked them.  Auuugh!!!

Six Grammies, five number one singles, six number one albums, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and playing intermittently together since the year I was born..  Now headlining a signature festival in the Live Music Capital, almost 4 decades later.  Did I miss something about The Eagles?  Well, Don Henley and Glenn Frey never triple-spun with a guitar in heeled boots and ruffled blouse the way Prince did.  But, I need to give The Eagles their due credit.  Here's why:

During my post-Mtv coming-of-age years, when I was really starting to learn about rock music, I had a music-fan friend point out to me the electric guitar solo at the end of Hotel California is really a duo, by Don Felder and Joe Walsh-- and the fact it was just plain classic.  So from that point on, I always let the song play if it came on the radio.  I'd enjoy the archetypal/symbolic lyrics over the years, stopping to ask myself: OK, what's the Hotel California of your life now?  

I retreated to the ACL artist village at the start of The Eagles' set, an area that is clearly within earshot of the main stage.  I found myself wandering over to the edges to get a close listen.  Once again The Eagles were floating over a fence at me, and I might as well have been 7 years old, because they sounded like a million moments from decades ago-- in other words, they sounded really good!  They sounded the same.  How old are they?..  I was intrigued, a little awestruck, definitely nostalgic.  They opened with "Seven Bridges Road"-- a Steve Young song they made popular, but I learned to adore through Dolly Parton's version.  Beautiful!  Fittingly it was "Take It To The Limit" playing as I hovered near the fence during song #3.

And then they came-- the opening notes to "Hotel California".  I woke up that morning wishing I could hear that song, convinced they'd save it for last.  I dropped my drink and broke into a spastic and elated run onto the field.  I actually freaked myself out a little, shouting in the faces of strangers on my way, 'They're playing it now!!  They're playing it now!!'-- wanting to shake their shoulders, but not having time.  The funny thing: Every facial response was one of happy agreement and understanding.  And the Eagles played it perfectly.  It was their plan, to get me on the field, so of course I had to stay awhile.  

There we all were, in the middle of the largest sing-along I've ever been a part of.  No I wasn't singing, but there were hundreds of people trying not to, and couldn't help themselves.  The Eagles are as much a part of our country's culture as..  Camaros.. and baseball and apple pie--especially for folks my generation or older.  "Peaceful Easy Feeling".  What other song could fit this completely sweet moment?  

It wasn't only a sing-along though-- The Eagles, by this point the only band playing, were turned up loud enough to show off how good they sounded.  I guess I took their harmonies for granted all these years!  The ones that, coupled with their electrified folk-rock-bordering-on-country, is their own patented Eagles Sound.  

When I heard what felt like long-gone history come alive before my eyes and ears with thousands and thousands of people, it jolted that mystical part of my heart.  I don't think I was alone.  I'm not a suddenly-converted Eagles fan, but I acknowledge special musical moments when I see and hear them.

And the hits kept coming-- other try-not-to-sing-along moments: "Lyin' Eyes", "The Long Run", certainly: "Heartache Tonight", and the encore "Take It Easy"..   Thanks to a 7am Monday morning job and 3 full days of Festival, I slowly exited myself before the show was officially over, but the sound was so clear and strong, that I basically heard the whole set-- no matter how far away I walked.  Ah, The Eagles:  Their sound still filling the air around me, even in Austin.  I can check out any time I like, but..       ;)

  

Gina Chavez 9/25/10

When someone takes her talent and skills, marries them to a higher purpose, well..  there it is.  Gina Chavez, an Austin folk artist with a Latina twist, spent 8 months in El Salvador-- in a gang-dominated suburb of San Salvador--  doing mission work:  teaching English to girls, living with 15 nuns, and of course singing in between..   and then held a benefit concert back in Austin tonight to help pay for 4 specific girls to go to college.  When it costs $60 a month to attend college in El Salvador, a benefit concert in the USA actually makes a difference.  We even got to see and hear the girls talk about their dreams to study-- Gina brought a slide show of her mission work and film clips of the girls:  Esme, Marta, Sofia y Xiomara!

Tonight we heard a pre-El-Salvador set and post-El-Salvador set, backed by Gina's band: Roel Martinez on lead guitar, Kenneth Null on electric and standup bass, and  Sammy Foster on drums.  The band continued to practice together while she was in El Salvador-->  it shows, and she's psyched!   The only other time I saw Gina play was in an intimate acoustic duo gig that was very folk-based, doing a back-and-forth song swap with a fellow singer/songwriter.  The back-up from the full band tonight gave us the chance to hear more of of Gina's flavors, influences, and abilities-- with thoughtful accompaniments from the band throughout .

Gina is at root a singer-songwriter, folk by nature-- confessional, emotive, and at times playful-  but she can take it in clearly different  directions, and at times steps completely outside the box.   The minute Gina opens her mouth, it's clear she was born with a voice made for singing.  Her guitar-playing is consistently rhythmic, percussive, and clean-- likely under influence of Ani DiFranco, and like Ani, plays with no pick.  Booya.

She opened jazzy, a song about being "so lonely", ending with not only creative and melodic skatting, but with a vocal/"trumpet" solo.  We heard "Love Made Me Skinny", confessional folk-rock with heavy strumming-- also representin Ani with the knack for several movements of emotional crescendo and quietude within a song.    The band got reggae on us for a number they wrote in Gina's absence, and Gina borrowed Gershwin's classic "Summertime" as an a capella introduction for another folk rocker.  She got a little country on us with "Shortstack", complete with some call and response with the audience-- gimme some lovin-- and ended set 1 with possibly her signature song, the one that sets her apart from a 'standard' (if there is such a thing) folk singer: "Embrujo".  (embrujo = spell, charm , magic)  As guitar player she turned rhythmic mariachi and sang perfectly in Spanish..  the first time I saw this song was at the mellow folk-duo gig, and at certain points of the song, her whole family, who filled a table in the corner, started clapping sharply to the timing-- startlingly fun!  Gina got us clapping too..  "Embrujo" was written after Gina studied abroad for 4 months in Argentina, written in an Argentine folk rhythm called "Chacarera".

During the break we learned about two meaningful organizations: Eco-Viva, which focuses on assisting village communities in El Salvador achieve economic self-sufficiency, earthly sustainability, social justice, and peace-- their area of focus is El Salvador's largest protected area (Lower Lempa River Basin and Bay of Jiquilisco)...   and right here in Austin, the Worker's Defense Project, helping low-wage workers advocate for themselves, ensure safer working conditions, and recover lost wages..    how does this grab you:  "Nearly one-third of Austin's construction workers are denied drinking water at work and 41% do not receive rest breaks on the job."   *sigh*

SO..  the Gina that opened set 2 was a very different Gina:  wearing a fedora, sitting down, and playing a djembe (West African style hand drum)..   mellow, bluesy, spiritual-- kinda fit my mood actually after learning about people who work in the sun all day, potentially get hurt on the job, then are denied their pay.  Worker's Defense Project.

To raise awareness for the benefit, appropriately called Austin 4 El Salvador, Gina was on the local FOX network (FOX is good for something?) and performed what we heard next, a tune called "Your Shape", which warranted a disco ball.  Then we reheard a song from set 1-- "Miles de Millas"-- revisited and recently redone, this time with a guest musician who stepped up, playing an instrument known as the "ukulele of the Indies", the Charango.  Sammy Foster played both drums and glockenspiel simultaneously!

Gina grabbed the ukulele of the Indies (official name escaped me) and sang an Argentinian ballad, from her favorite Argentinian singer (and activist) Haydée Mercedes Sosa..   which was so beautiful.. Gina's voice just brought us to the sands of an island..

The full band closed with an unofficial hymn of El Salvador, called "El Sombrero Azul", written by Ali Primera.. which had folks dancing, even after our lovely Argentinian serenade..    the benefit ended up raising over $1300, which according to my calculator, is more than 21 months of college paid for.  Bravo, Gina!  !Muy bien hecho!