I went to see Andrew Bird and Josh Ritter tonight...
Oh wow! - I've been into Andrew Bird for a quite a while, and I enjoy him immensely, but it's been a while since I've listened to his I knew he was great on the violin (i'm pretty sure it's violin, not fiddle. His lines lean more classical than they do blue grass), and his singing is fantastic, or perhaps, croontastic...But what i'd forgotten about was his whistling!...maybe the sexiest whistle i've ever heard. Whisting, hand claps, violin, all through a loop pedal and then piped through a spinning double gramaphon - amazing...not to mention his great band.
eh - I'd heard Josh Ritter's name around quite a bit, and someone recommended his album "The Animal Years" to me, to I checked it out. It's great, cool neo folk vibe to back some stand-up lyrics. He's got a new one out called "The Historical Conquest of Josh Ritter," which I hadn't heard any of until tonight....I wasn't impressed. He came out with this big goofy grin on his face, all nervous because he's playing his home state. Ok, it was kinda cute...for 2 songs maybe...but he was just giddy and cheesin' all night... The hip textures from the Animal Years turned into some cheesey, straight country and the lyrics? - a little cheese sauce on the side. Occasionally he played one of the older tunes, which kept me around, but really the only thing he had going for him was this kick-ass bass player. He was dressed all classy with matching slacks and vest. To add to his class points he sported some dark horn-rimmed specticals and a big, fat, handlebar mustache, you know, the kind that culrs up on the end....oh yeah and he was a great musician as well.
Bleh (this is the throw up sound)- When I got home i made myslef a little plate of Nachos ( i know, it's late but I didn't have a chance to eat dinner) and sat down to watch some Conan. It was a re-run with an uninteresting guest, so I flipped over the the Craig Fergison show to check it out. Ooo, just in time for the musical guest...no namer? well, i'll give 'em a whirl. NO NO! what is this?
This is what he sang (well something like this, cuz it's late and I was trying to block it out):
Things are gonna get better
Things are gonna get better
This is true
Things are gonna get better
Things are gonna get better
For me and you
Are you serious? This is when I threw up. Really? If that's what it takes to sell records, I think I could write like 4 a year that would sell and still have to make some real music....
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4 comments:
wow. cheese sauce on the side huh? and the mustache bass player is the only thing he's got going for him? little harsh maybe? have you heard the song "Kathleen"?
ok karli, yeah maybe a little harsh...but wait till you see that mustache! I can only hope to someday have a mustache as brilliant as his. For real though, I did enjoy "Kathleen" at the concert and the rest of the more chill, folky tunes. But the country ones, the smirk that he couldn't wipe off his face, and the fact the andrew birds and his whistling/violining/crooning magic had just graced my ears...he was in a tough spot. And do keep in mind that i'm mostly just jealous because he's got a few albums worth of good songs (weather i like the new ones or not) and that's a whole lot better than I can say...
yeah, it's a pretty good mustache. (:
i think i enjoyed josh's band even more thoroughly after hearing andrew bird play though. after andrew's set i wanted to go home and die and never touch an instrument again. then josh played and i felt a little more cheery about music. but i do agree about the newer songs...not my favs. but i imagine they are more fun to play with a band.
YAY...marc. Glad to see you'll be doing this. Especially if you and your hands scamper away from Boise. I need to go to a show of some sort, ALL my live music lately involves people I talk smack to daily, so I need something new. *sigh*
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