SHOW OF THE MONTH
Sonic Youth, Vivian Girls, Times New Viking, Wolf Eyes
McCarren Park Pool
Brooklyn, NY
August, 30, 2008
A crowd of thousands - twenty-somethings and “oldsters” alike - descended on the McCarren Park Pool on August 30, for the last show at the outdoor Brooklyn venue before it is fixed up and converted back into the public pool it had once been before closing in 1984.
A huge concrete space, the Pool was originally built to hold a capacity of 6,800 swimmers. Although well attended, the show was not sold out, and many chose to sit on blankets and towels on the grassy area outside the venue, or sit in tree braches to catch a glimpse of the performers from outside the walls. It was a smart way to catch the show and avoid paying the steep $35-plus-surcharges ticket.
After a short set, Times New Viking, a three-piece from Columbus, Ohio took the stage, and as they began to play, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon watched from stage right. Recently signed to Matador Records, TNV balances the melodic vocals of drummer Adam Elliott and keyboardist Beth Murphy with the distortion of guitarist Jared Phillips’ raw, lo-fi riffs. “This song is about drugs,” Elliott said, before launching into the sickeningly catchy “My Head.”
A decent-sized crowd of the young and hip danced and sang along. The sun was starting to set as the three imposing men of Wolf Eyes took the stage. A larger crowd had gathered at the front by now, cheering loudly as the Detroit noise band screeched and thudded into their set.
For lack of a better description, “improvisational noise” is perhaps most appropriate to describe the trio’s gnarled screams punctuated by feedback, a synthesizer, a discordant saxophone, and - finally – a homemade instrument that looked like a fretless bass neck with one string. By all accounts, Moore is apparently a big fan of the group, which is not too surprising when examining SY’s art-rock noise roots. As SY’s sound has become more musically accessible to the masses through the years, Wolf Eyes seemed a shocking contrast, and even as some in the crowd pumped their first, others shouted emphatic “boos!” and “you suck!”
When Sonic Youth finally took the stage, it was to a chorus of a couple thousand cheering fans, and the excitement of being a part of it was intoxicating for the hour and a half that they played.
“We wrote a couple of songs the last couple of days,” Moore said. “They don’t have any names or words, but I’m going to sing whatever comes to my head.”
In classic SY style, Moore launched into a meandering rock song, followed by another new one sung by Gordon in her signature pillow talk vocals.
From unknown song two, the band seamlessly tore into “the very first song we ever wrote,” an energetic version of “Burning Spear,” with Moore using drumsticks to bang sounds from his guitar. The smell of summer – a mix of body odor and barbecue - wafted in the breeze as SY played six songs from 1988’s Daydream Nation.
After playing a dozen songs, from albums including Goo and Rather Ripped, SY left the stage for a few minutes as the crowd roared.
Looking overhead, I was thankful that the clouds that had threatened rain all evening remained intact but for a few raindrops.
The audience clapped and hooted as Moore, Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley and Mark Ibold (bassist, formerly of Pavement) took the stage for two short encores.
“This song is for the working girls who used to stand on Chrystie Street in a row,” Gordon said, before ripping into an electrifying version of “Making the Nature Scene.”
“All right, we’re gonna do one more,” Gordon announced at the end of the second, two-song encore. “Thanks for coming and celebrating with us by the Pool.” And with that, cheers and cries arose from the crowd as all seemed to recognize the very appropriate end to both the show and the venue.
-Review by Erika Gully-Santiago; photos by Hank Hauptmann
Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the True Loves
Club 939, Boston, MA
September 10, 2008
Opting for a sharp suit over his trademark newsboy cap, Eli Reed led the True Loves back to their native stomps for an SRO show at Berklee’s hip new venue. Though he was the only non-Berklee alum in his band, Reed’s orchestrations and sense of space were definitely Berklee-level.
Opening with a drubbing drum line and brassy fanfare, the True Loves show swept from up-tempo and even accelerated numbers to drawn out soulful ballads, with Reed turning from husky whispers to let-it-all-out howls. Starting off with a cover of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “You Never Miss Your Water,” the band went original, offering nearly every track on their new album (on vinyl too), Roll With You.
Although the songs were originals, they all dripped of a Stax-y Motown groove that made even the newest offerings as rich and rewarding as old, classic tunes. Among the best were a cooing “Stake Your Claim” that was pummeled forward by the heavy rhythm section, a groovy “Getcha Back” that got the crowd back in the mood, and a sped-up “Satisfier.”
The easier pace of “It’s Easier” brought the tempo down but allowed the revelation of an even deeper soul that elicited screams from both sides of the microphone in a call-and-response scenario. When he was about run out of songs, Reed asked his supportive band for ideas. After going through a series of smooth jazz riffs, the night closed with a two-fisted bang as the band launched into a hand-clapping rendition of “Boom Boom” that shook the joint and sent the crowd home dancing and smiling.
Review by Matt Robinson; photo by Nicole Tammaro
The Reel Blues Fest
The Roxy, Boston, MA
September 12, 2008
In an effort to give back to his adopted home, Detroit-born bluesman James Montgomery gathered some powerful friends and neighbors for the latest installment of the Reel Blues Fest, his annual fundraiser for the music and film communities. This year, Montgomery’s special guests included guitar man Jay Geils, fellow harp king James Cotton and drummer Joey Kramer, as well as the Uptown Horns and the Boston all-star band known as Ernie and the Automatics.
Backed by members of Boston and The Beaver Brown Band, as well as alumni from Peter Wolf’s bands, car guru and Berklee grad Ernie Boch, Jr. showed his stuff, as he and his band previewed their forthcoming album, Low Expectations. Aside from a roadhouse rock through James Cotton’s “Here I Am,” the band offered mostly original material, much of which sounded like songs from the members’ former bands. From the low-down Shoals-like blues of “Dead Man” to the echoey simple rhymes of “Empty Head” to the hopeful closer “The Best is Up Ahead,” EtA (a driving pun, perhaps?) gave the crowd something to dance to as it grew and moved toward the raised ballroom stage.
 When Montgomery came on, the room came alive as he offered his famous mouth-strafing, leg-kicking, high-energy riffs. Paying tribute to personal heroes like Muddy Waters and the city of his birth with the John Lee Hooker warble “Motor City is Burning,” Montgomery also wailed through covers of “I Thank You,” a gruff and punchy “Who Do You Love?” that included a long and fuzzy bass solo and plenty of playtime for Montgomery, a more-vocal-than-harp rendition of “Baby, Please Don’t Go” that actually got the crowd singing along and a vintage take on “Big 10-inch Record,” with which Kramer was clearly familiar. When Geils and Cotton took their seats at the front of the stage, the Boston Blues Summit continued with performances of “Good Time Charlie,” a loping and mumbly ramble through Muddy’s “Ready” and a Vaudevillian hoedown through “Mojo Workin’” that allowed Cotton to show that, even at 73, he still has it and that, though Montgomery is ready, the torch does not necessarily need to be passed just yet.
Review by Matt Robinson; Photos by Barry M. Miller-Beshert
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