3 Gigs in 5 Days
Apparently my concert-going is feast or famine. Since I knocked out 5 gigs in 11 days I hadn't been to a single show, then I went to another 3 in 5 days. That brought my yearly total to 23 concerts featuring 37 bands. I've got tickets for two more on my dresser which gets me to 25 for 2019, which is a little behind the last few years but not notably so.
21. On Halloween night, my radio station did a live remote from Brothers Lounge for the Live From Cleveland show. This is very near my house, and they called for volunteers, so I turned up. I didn't actually end up doing any work because so many people turned out, but I did enjoy a nice set from a local band called The Bad Boys of Blues, which on this night at least was three older gentlemen doing some blues and rock & roll covers. A lot of my station friends were there. Dot bought me a beer. I bought me a beer. Filthy Rich looked disturbingly like Alex Trebek in his suit and tie. Good times.
22. The next night, M and I headed down to Kent to kick off November by seeing the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at the Kent Stage. The band was touring on the strength of its new CD "A Tube to Cuba", and as such there was a brief opening act from a woman named Yusa who played guitar as well as a Cuban guitar-like instrument. She was the very definition of high energy as she sang in both Spanish and English and badgered the mostly older NPR crowd into singing along.
The headliners are a six piece: piano, drums, bass/tuba (depending on song), trombone, trumpet, tenor sax. Despite the recent album, they mostly stayed in the classic New Orleans jazz that they are known for, with a more modern updated sound than they played at their home venue. It was fun, but it was definitely better when Yusa came out on stage to join them for some numbers. Overall, I think I liked Trombone Shorty's take on New Orleans jazz better when I saw him in 2010 and 2012.
23. Back in June I won tickets to the Beachland to see a local band called Thee Affections. On Monday, November 4, I won another pair of tickets from the Beachland. Both were via their mailing list, so that was nice. This time the tickets were for a show in the Ballroom by Big Freedia with support from Low Cut Connie. I had seen the latter band in 2016 but hadn't managed to see them in their return visits, so I was pretty excited about this. I dragged my friend EJW along with on the +1.
Low Cut Connie came out and commanded the ballroom. Since I last saw them their over the top stage show has been augmented by two back up singers, and their piano player / lead singer has gotten even better at playing the crowd. He's got a strong stage presence that can make even their weaker material seem pretty good. As a bonus, they closed with a cover of Prince's Controversy that worked surprisingly well. As I told EJW, I'm not convinced they're actually good, but they're certainly entertaining.
Big Freedia is another New Orleans artist, this one big in the hip-hop subgenre of Bounce. The show turned out to be her doing a lot of call and response lyrics over a track from a DJ, while six very good looking backup dancers (4 female, 2 male) entertained the crowd and shouted out response lines. There was a lot of twerking. It was definitely not my usual type of show, nor was it the typical Beachland crowd (it was younger with a lot more women, particularly African-American women, than typical) which definitely helped amp up the energy. I enjoyed it, but I'm glad I didn't pay full freight for it and probably wouldn't go again.
21. On Halloween night, my radio station did a live remote from Brothers Lounge for the Live From Cleveland show. This is very near my house, and they called for volunteers, so I turned up. I didn't actually end up doing any work because so many people turned out, but I did enjoy a nice set from a local band called The Bad Boys of Blues, which on this night at least was three older gentlemen doing some blues and rock & roll covers. A lot of my station friends were there. Dot bought me a beer. I bought me a beer. Filthy Rich looked disturbingly like Alex Trebek in his suit and tie. Good times.
22. The next night, M and I headed down to Kent to kick off November by seeing the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at the Kent Stage. The band was touring on the strength of its new CD "A Tube to Cuba", and as such there was a brief opening act from a woman named Yusa who played guitar as well as a Cuban guitar-like instrument. She was the very definition of high energy as she sang in both Spanish and English and badgered the mostly older NPR crowd into singing along.
The headliners are a six piece: piano, drums, bass/tuba (depending on song), trombone, trumpet, tenor sax. Despite the recent album, they mostly stayed in the classic New Orleans jazz that they are known for, with a more modern updated sound than they played at their home venue. It was fun, but it was definitely better when Yusa came out on stage to join them for some numbers. Overall, I think I liked Trombone Shorty's take on New Orleans jazz better when I saw him in 2010 and 2012.
23. Back in June I won tickets to the Beachland to see a local band called Thee Affections. On Monday, November 4, I won another pair of tickets from the Beachland. Both were via their mailing list, so that was nice. This time the tickets were for a show in the Ballroom by Big Freedia with support from Low Cut Connie. I had seen the latter band in 2016 but hadn't managed to see them in their return visits, so I was pretty excited about this. I dragged my friend EJW along with on the +1.
Low Cut Connie came out and commanded the ballroom. Since I last saw them their over the top stage show has been augmented by two back up singers, and their piano player / lead singer has gotten even better at playing the crowd. He's got a strong stage presence that can make even their weaker material seem pretty good. As a bonus, they closed with a cover of Prince's Controversy that worked surprisingly well. As I told EJW, I'm not convinced they're actually good, but they're certainly entertaining.
Big Freedia is another New Orleans artist, this one big in the hip-hop subgenre of Bounce. The show turned out to be her doing a lot of call and response lyrics over a track from a DJ, while six very good looking backup dancers (4 female, 2 male) entertained the crowd and shouted out response lines. There was a lot of twerking. It was definitely not my usual type of show, nor was it the typical Beachland crowd (it was younger with a lot more women, particularly African-American women, than typical) which definitely helped amp up the energy. I enjoyed it, but I'm glad I didn't pay full freight for it and probably wouldn't go again.