Tag Archive for new-york at Candied Pop

Tag Archive for 'new-york'

Bobby Bare Jr. at Mercury Lounge, NYC - November 17 & 18, 2006

Published by David November 23rd, 2006 in Review and Concert. 0 Comments

This past weekend I caught the last couple of shows that Bobby Bare Jr. did with his current line-up of the The Young Criminals Starvation League. The YSCSL are a rotating cast of stellar musicians that Bobby hand picks for each album and tour. Bassist Richie Kirkpatrick will pick up his guitar and head out on the road with his band Ghostfinger and fellow band-mate and former YSCSL member Matt Rowland will be rejoining him after spending the past couple months in Los Angeles recording an album. The drummer Van Campbell will be going back to record and go on tour with his own band The Black Diamond Heavies. Bobby will be heading to Barcelona for the 1st and 2nd of December along with Corey Younts who has been playing keyboards on tour for the past three months and has a long past with Bobby that goes back before they were both as both of their fathers played together. Original Bare Jr. members will take reigns in the vacant spots.

After seeing the band two months apart with this line-up they really have grown and tightened up in that short time-span. After the show on Friday Corey spoke to me about it and it’s a little sad to think that this lineup will not be playing together for quite some time if ever again. Although Bobby has strong personality on stage he allows his band members to show off their qualities as well. He has no objections when Richie presents us with power stances or jumps down from the stage and into the audience where he showboats his playing. Bobby encourages Corey and Van to give us everything they got as well. The highlight song from their set on both nights was “Borrow Your Cape” from The Longest Meow which on the album you can clearly hear the backing of Jim James and his band My Morning Jacket. Live Bobby and the band are able to transcend the composition and make it into their own.

Centro-matic were the headliners so-to-say during this tour, but Bobby got the better time spot at these Mercury Lounge gigs starting at 10:30. There were two opening acts who rotated spots both nights: Charles Bissell of the Wrens and David Vandervelde. I am not familiar with the Wrens but I think Charles Bissell needs accompaniment by another human rather than his own feedback and echos. I caught Vandervelde on Saturday night, who had his friend Ben Clark with him. They did a stunning rendition of Phil Ochs’ “Pretty Smart on My Part”. After a couple folkie type songs, Richie and Van joined them on stage for the first time with a rousing number and Corey came on for their final upbeat and rocking song. On Friday night, I stayed for a little bit of Centro-matic’s set and I enjoyed them, but just like their recorded works they never seem to break out out of the warm fuzzy shell that surrounds them. After hearing a couple of my favorites such as “The Mighty Midshipman” I didn’t need to hear anymore. Their foggy sound does not hold up after the rollicking mayhem that Bobby Bare Jr. and his Young Criminals create. By Saturday I was too wiped to stay even for a note of their set. Hoping next time Bobby’s in town he’s the main act so we get the full set treatment.

Bobby Bare Jr at Mercury Lounge photo 2

Michael Franti & Spearhead at Webster Hall, NYC November 11, 2006

Published by David November 17th, 2006 in Review and Concert. 3 Comments

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On an unusually warm Saturday night in November, Michael Franti and his band Spearhead performed to a sold-out crowd at Webster Hall in New York City. As soon as we arrived to our chosen spot on the floor: stage left and close to the bar, the band walked on stage and began performing without Franti. Mysteriously the vocals emerged to one of latest songs by the band which calls for our troops to come home from Iraq “Time To Go Home”. At first it seemed like it was a recording until Franti walked in and received huge welcome. In an instant the crowded audience immediately became hot and sweaty; I don’t think I was the only one to become very drippy.

All of Franti’s songs with Spearhead are written with the intention to be played live, embedded with call-outs and response getters such as “How you feelin’?” He also ignites his fans to from group hugs and prompts them to jump up and down somehow creating a positive pogo mob. Whether it be a small audience of three of a couple tens of thousands his message is always the same: peace not war or to put in his words “Power to the Peaceful”. The songs are combination reggae-funk-pop-acoustic-soul infused with politics in a non-forced humanizing fashion. The fact that show was on Veteran’s Day made it feel somewhat special since most of the songs on the latest album Yell Fire are about war and in support of the soldier as an individual. Franti, the band, my friends and the audience were all on an emotional high after the past weeks Democratic victory, which Michael expressed after the first song by saying, “I had an amazing week! How bout You?”

The entire set was short for what the band usually plays at under 2 hours, due to the fact that Webster Hall usually has dance night on weekends at 11:00. They played a great mix of new and old songs, including one new one “Everything Has Changed”. The highlight of the night was a speedy fast rendition of Sublime’s “What I Be” mixed in with a little “Twist and Shout” “ahhhs” and hand gestures as well as incorporating the Sesame Street theme song, C is For Cookie and other SS favorites. This was my second time seeing the band, the first being back in September 2003 at the Austin City Limit’s Festival, and strangely even though three years has past it was a very similar show. That would be the only negative thing to say about Franti. He is always on and continually influences great massive vibes but he is at fault for sounding repetitious. I recently watched his captivating film “I Know I’m Not Alone” which focuses more on his experiences in Iraq, Israel and Palestine and the people of those countries and less on music. But some of the same raps he used in this film, as well as the show I saw three years ago were virtually the same he is still using. With that said, I still fully enjoyed the show and would see him dish out these same raps over and over again because the message is important and needs to be beaten into everyone’s skull. And like I said in my review of Yell Fire if for some crazy conservative reason you don’t want to listen to his message you will certainly get a workout if you compy with his direction to move.

Setlist
Time To Go Home, Yell Fire, People In The Middle, Sweet Little Lies, East To West, Crazy Crazy Crazy, Rock The Nation, Stay Human, Sometimes, Hey Now Now, All Night Long Aint, Hello Bonjour, Light Up Your Lighter, What I Be (Sublime) + Sesame Street Medley, (Encores) Everything Has Changed, Please Take Me Home, I Know I’m Not Alone, Everyone Deserves Music, Everybodyonamove
got the list from Spearhead message boards but my wife pointed out they missed “One Step Closer” and we think the songs are little out of order.
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During “Light Up Ya Lighter”

Karsh Kale - Broken English

Published by James April 5th, 2006 in Album, Review and 2006. 2 Comments

I’ll admit that I had some serious reservations about this album after sampling the single “Manifest” as I found the inclusion of lackluster rhyming to be a tad off-putting and it did not help my impressions of the album much on first listen that this track is the opener. That being said, the rest of the tracks on the album quickly changed my bias and even warmed my slightly to the single I had maligned. Broken English is Kale’s super star album featuring cameos from many of his labelmates at Six Degrees Records and possessing a decidedly radio friendly slant though maintaining the Bollywood influenced worldliness that his work is known for, though it is interesting to note that as cultures continue to cross pollinate music such as this sounds less exotic each day which isn’t to say that it is mundane, just more familiar. From the Kale’s page at Six Degrees Records:

Recently, Karsh Kale has been increasingly adamant that words like “exotic” don’t really apply to his music. “This music comes from New York,” he told one writer. “It really shouldn’t be treated differently from any other music that comes from New York.” And he’s right: it’s the Bhangra and Bollywood of Jackson Heights, the hip hop of Brooklyn and the South Bronx, the electronica of the Chelsea nightclubs, and the rock-n-roll of the Lower East Side.

Broken English spans multiple genres and often in the span of a single song. “Free Fall” is a dance track that spins wildly about with a catchy pop hook with Trixie Reiss offering a vocal performance that locks tightly to the bump and grind of the drum programming. Layered on top of it is a lush flute arrangement that cools the tempo slightly and provides a nice backdrop for Sabiha Khan’s Indian vocals. It is a piece infectious confectionery possessing actual substance and is by far one of my favorite tracks on the album as well as from Kale’s catalog.

“City Lights” finds Kale mining completely new material as the track is a straight ahead power ballad, though not in the traditional 80’s definition of the genre. Rather it is more of a blend of Rock and Electronica, similar in feel to what was popularized by bands like Garbage in the mid 90’s, but still maintaining a contemporary feel. Todd Michaelsen provides the vocals and while on earlier tracks he sounds like he is channeling Thom Yorke, “Dancing at Sunset” being the prime example, here he sounds as if he is projecting his personality and his voice fits well with the crunching guitars and reverb drenched piano and string swells. The commercial feel of the track is tempered by the inclusion of Indian style arrangements that flesh out the performance. On another ballad Dierdre of Ekova fame lends her talent to “Innocence and Power” which seems tailor made for her ethereal voice with soft string pads, flutes, and hushed piano line all supported by a glitchy drum and bass rhythms and serves to remind the listener at Kale’s talent of composing for and around artists.

By the last track Broken English had won me over. It is a testament to Kale’s strength as a composer and a producer to create an album that sounds at once familiar and new by blending so many varied musical traditions into one appealing Pop construct. Very highly recommended.

You can pick it up at either eMusic or Amazon.