Last Night... Or What I Remember of It

I saw a good number of bands this weekend, two on purpose and about five others collaterally. Not all of them were good, but some of them impressed.

First off, as I wrote earlier in the week, The Divorced came down from Boston Saturday to play the Annex. Definitely a good show and it was great to see the continued evolution of the band. The last time I saw them, their lineup was a bit different and original member Juliet Nelson was not with them. Her presence, as it turns out, was sorely missed. Her cello adds a nice texture to the songs, but it's her singing that really makes the difference. Her clean delivery offers a nice counterpoint to JR Gallagher's impassioned, grizzled vocals. I liked some of their songs more than others, but some really hit their mark, most notably "I Miss My Home." Good stuff. Hopefully a longer set, next time.

The other bands I saw Saturday night were all solid. Red Datson, despite a great name and some real talent on stage, wasn't quite my style. Their frat-punk sound was polished, if uninteresting to me. Still, many thanks to their Timothy Hutton lookalike lead singer for the drink ticket. The final band, Bella Noir, was much more my speed. Very spacey, atmospheric music and the lead singer has a great voice. She really owned the stage. I wasn't totally focused on their set, but I will be next time.

On Friday, I had a very different musical experience. I went out to Goodbye Blue Monday in Bushwick to see Nattahnam. Nattahnam is an "experiment in avant-garde," according to their website. Basically, it was four guys playing deliberately unpracticed free jazz that hit more often than missed, but had plenty of moments of each.

I saw three other bands that night, of which I only remember the name of the last: Hollow Jones. Hollow Jones is a jam band that plays a fantasy-based rock opera. They clearly have backgrounds in theatre and weren't tremendously courteous to the other bands. Now, I'll fully admit that they can play their instruments and do a decent job of incorporating the familiar sounds of Phish, the Dead and other like-minded bands of that scene. The problem is, they have no soul. They stripped out the bluesy roots of the genre and replaced it with D&D inspired cheese. I suppose I can respect their efforts at invention, but the invention itself we could do without.

All told, good musical weekend, despite getting shut out of Phish tickets. If anyone has an extra, send it my way! And don't forget, Bruce's new disc comes out on Tuesday.

(Full disclosure: JR Gallagher of The Divorced and Bjorn Roche of Nattahnam are friends.)

Update: 1/29/08 12:47pm

In fact, JR and Bjorn are both friends of mine. However, although they have never met, I suspect they would be fast friends should that occasion arise.

Allmans and Phish and The Dead... Oh my!!

Well 2009 could not be off to a faster start on the concert front. In the first six months of this year, the New York area has a chance at jam-trifecta! I'm just hoping to bear witness.

First, the Allmans will be back at the Beacon this March, after a one-year hiatus. Gregg is fully recovered from hepatitis C and the brothers are ready to rock the Upper West Side for another 10 nights. I've seen the Allmans in a bunch of different venues and let me tell you, they're always better at the Beacon. I've seen them sound sleepy and lackluster, but when they take up their yearly residency in my neighborhood, they're wide awake. I'll be there Saturday, March 14th. Yogi's will be missed.

Next up, the Dead in April. The boys are back together, joined by Ratdog's Jeff Chimenti on keys and the hardest working man in show business, Warren Haynes, on vocals and guitar. Warren, of course, will have just been here with the Allmans and will be joining the Dead tour just three weeks after the Beacon shows wrap up. This is the first tour to reunite Bobby, Billy, Mickey and Phil since 2004 and was brought about by a successful one-time effort last year on behalf of Barack Obama. Presale Dead tickets go up today at noon. I'm nervous and excited. It's not a cheap ticket, but it's a show I can't miss.

Finally (phinally?), Phish is back and will make their way through the area in June. This is their first tour together since before Trey's drug DWI up in Vermont. Fortunately, his fans weren't bound by the same conditions of his probation. The great news, they're playing Jones Beach! I've always felt they're more of a club band than a stadium band, despite their outsized fan-base. Granted, the shitty news is exactly the same. I have my ticket requests in for both shows, but I'm not particularly hopeful. A lot of folks are hoping to cram into that amphitheater. We'll see how it goes.

So that's the morning word. I'll be sure to let you know how I do on the Dead seats. And of course, if you find yourself with an extra, you know how to find me!