Q1 Concert Summaries
So far this year I have been to six concerts, four at the Grog Shop (including three in six nights) and two at the Beachland Ballroom. I already have tickets to five more concerts cued up.
1. My coworker Powers couldn't stop talking about the new album from Cherry Glazerr, a rock band from Los Angeles fronted by a young woman named Clementine Creevy. I did some online listening and enjoyed their older stuff, so I went with Powers and some other coworkers to see them at the Grog Shop on January 27. My fall radio trainee Heather was there as well.
I honestly remember very little about the opener, a band called Slow Hollow, but Cherry Glazerr put on a fun, energetic set for a nearly full house. I bought their new album Apocalipstick and... I am somewhat underwhelmed. That's ok, the show was fun, and I'd consider seeing them again.
2. I can no longer remember how many times I have seen Mike Doughty in concert without consulting my lists. Off the top of my head, there was the one time with Soul Coughing, one time opening at CWRU, at least twice at The Odeon and, counting the February 23 show, at least four times at the Beachland, and I may be missing a few. So at least seven? That puts him up near the top of the all-time list.
For this show Mike was touring with the largest band I have seen him with. In addition to long-time sidekick Scrap, he had four other musicians on stage with him, more than doubling his prior record band size. This allowed some more interesting arrangements of older songs as well as full support for the newest album The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns. It was a typical Doughty show; solid performance of new songs, a few crowd pleasing older songs (now including his Soul Coughing catalog since he started playing them again), and a good time by all. I don't need to see Mike every time he comes to town, but once in a while it is a good time.
3. My friend Judie has been raving about Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears for a few years, so I happily went to see them with her at the Grog Shop on March 2. They are from Austin and do a mash up of blues, funk and soul, or so they say. I mostly found it to be underwhelming. When I'm standing in the front row, have had a few drinks and am trying to dance, and I still am not impressed, I'm not the problem. Maybe Joe Lewis being stoned out of his mind was the problem? I'm not sure.
The opener was a boring rock band called Dams of the West, whose sole claim to my interest was that they were produced by Patrick Carney of the Black Keys. More interestingly, after the show a random woman approached me and started talking to me about bands in one of those conversations that after the fact made me say "huh, I wonder if she was hitting on me." If so, she was disappointed because I disliked all the bands she brought up.
4. Two nights later I was back at the Grog Shop for Los Campesinos!. fadat got shut out when the show sold out, but Heather was there. Los Campesinos! had been on my "see them one day list" for some years, and I was not disappointed. The sold out crowd was mostly younger and energetic (I was one of the oldest 5% there) and were singing along with all the songs from the new album Sick Scenes as well as with most of the older songs. You can't ask for much more than that. I had a good time and bought the new album, which has one fantastic track (No. 6, "5 Flucloxacillin") and several solid ones.
5. Three nights after that I returned to the Grog Shop for the rarest of shows: a bill where I cared about not one but two of the openers. I didn't catch the third opener, so from my perspective Guttermouth led off with their unique brand of sarcastic (some might say stupid) punk rock. They put on a solid opening set, and I'm glad I saw them, but once was probably enough.
The Queers have been on my "see one day" list for nigh on 20 years. They are the closest thing to the Ramones that I will likely ever see unless Johnny, Joey, Tommy and Dee Dee come back from the dead. If you like that kind of fast-paced pop punk, you'll definitely have fun at a Queers show. Even if you don't know all the songs (I did), their so short and fast and energetic that it will hardly matter. I stood on the edge of the pit and watched younger fans slam into each other at high speed. This directly led to my being in substantial physical pain the next day from the collisions I withstood, but such is life.
Site note: The long-time Grog Shop bouncer (John, I think, but I mean the one featured on the cover of Faces of Cleveland says that Joe Queer is one of the three nicest musicians he has ever worked with.
Anyway, long-time California punks Agent Orange headlined. They've somehow only done three studio albums since their formation in 1979, but Living in Darkness is one of the great skate punk albums. The pit continued during their set, but I moved back a few yards. They were good, but not as good as The Queers, probably because I had less familiarity with their overall work.
6. I originally bought tickets to see Dinosaur Jr for M for Valentine's Day because they are high on her list of favorite rock bands. She ended up being too exhausted to go (note to self: not a good Valentine's Day gift) so when March 12 rolled around I went by myself. I did run into Brandt & Candy and EJ & Lydia there. We all got to see a high octane show with the classic line up. I'm hardly an expert on their music, but judging by Brandt's FB posts during the show it was just as good for the hard core fans as it was for the casual fans. I bought the new album on purple vinyl for M.
In addition to songs from throughout their catalog, Dinosaur Jr. also did their cover of Just Like Heaven during the encore, which I was not expecting. Heck, even The Cure didn't do that song when I saw them. Overall, a really good time, but I'm probably not enough of a fan to see them again.
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A. After some deliberation, I have decided that the performance of Songs From Liquid Days that I saw at the Rock Hall on Sunday January 29 will be counted on my theater list instead of my concert list. The performance was in honor of Philip Glass's 80th birthday on January 31 and capped off a weekend where I saw Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi on Friday and Saturday. Although Songs From Liquid Days was performed at the Rock Hall and has lyrics from musical luminaries Paul Simon, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson and Suzanne Vega, it was staged by Cleveland Opera Theater complete with minimalist sets and a program. It was really good (especially considering the price point of "free") but it was theater, not a concert. Barely. I'm glad to have seen another part of the David Byrne catalog live.
1. My coworker Powers couldn't stop talking about the new album from Cherry Glazerr, a rock band from Los Angeles fronted by a young woman named Clementine Creevy. I did some online listening and enjoyed their older stuff, so I went with Powers and some other coworkers to see them at the Grog Shop on January 27. My fall radio trainee Heather was there as well.
I honestly remember very little about the opener, a band called Slow Hollow, but Cherry Glazerr put on a fun, energetic set for a nearly full house. I bought their new album Apocalipstick and... I am somewhat underwhelmed. That's ok, the show was fun, and I'd consider seeing them again.
2. I can no longer remember how many times I have seen Mike Doughty in concert without consulting my lists. Off the top of my head, there was the one time with Soul Coughing, one time opening at CWRU, at least twice at The Odeon and, counting the February 23 show, at least four times at the Beachland, and I may be missing a few. So at least seven? That puts him up near the top of the all-time list.
For this show Mike was touring with the largest band I have seen him with. In addition to long-time sidekick Scrap, he had four other musicians on stage with him, more than doubling his prior record band size. This allowed some more interesting arrangements of older songs as well as full support for the newest album The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns. It was a typical Doughty show; solid performance of new songs, a few crowd pleasing older songs (now including his Soul Coughing catalog since he started playing them again), and a good time by all. I don't need to see Mike every time he comes to town, but once in a while it is a good time.
3. My friend Judie has been raving about Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears for a few years, so I happily went to see them with her at the Grog Shop on March 2. They are from Austin and do a mash up of blues, funk and soul, or so they say. I mostly found it to be underwhelming. When I'm standing in the front row, have had a few drinks and am trying to dance, and I still am not impressed, I'm not the problem. Maybe Joe Lewis being stoned out of his mind was the problem? I'm not sure.
The opener was a boring rock band called Dams of the West, whose sole claim to my interest was that they were produced by Patrick Carney of the Black Keys. More interestingly, after the show a random woman approached me and started talking to me about bands in one of those conversations that after the fact made me say "huh, I wonder if she was hitting on me." If so, she was disappointed because I disliked all the bands she brought up.
4. Two nights later I was back at the Grog Shop for Los Campesinos!. fadat got shut out when the show sold out, but Heather was there. Los Campesinos! had been on my "see them one day list" for some years, and I was not disappointed. The sold out crowd was mostly younger and energetic (I was one of the oldest 5% there) and were singing along with all the songs from the new album Sick Scenes as well as with most of the older songs. You can't ask for much more than that. I had a good time and bought the new album, which has one fantastic track (No. 6, "5 Flucloxacillin") and several solid ones.
5. Three nights after that I returned to the Grog Shop for the rarest of shows: a bill where I cared about not one but two of the openers. I didn't catch the third opener, so from my perspective Guttermouth led off with their unique brand of sarcastic (some might say stupid) punk rock. They put on a solid opening set, and I'm glad I saw them, but once was probably enough.
The Queers have been on my "see one day" list for nigh on 20 years. They are the closest thing to the Ramones that I will likely ever see unless Johnny, Joey, Tommy and Dee Dee come back from the dead. If you like that kind of fast-paced pop punk, you'll definitely have fun at a Queers show. Even if you don't know all the songs (I did), their so short and fast and energetic that it will hardly matter. I stood on the edge of the pit and watched younger fans slam into each other at high speed. This directly led to my being in substantial physical pain the next day from the collisions I withstood, but such is life.
Site note: The long-time Grog Shop bouncer (John, I think, but I mean the one featured on the cover of Faces of Cleveland says that Joe Queer is one of the three nicest musicians he has ever worked with.
Anyway, long-time California punks Agent Orange headlined. They've somehow only done three studio albums since their formation in 1979, but Living in Darkness is one of the great skate punk albums. The pit continued during their set, but I moved back a few yards. They were good, but not as good as The Queers, probably because I had less familiarity with their overall work.
6. I originally bought tickets to see Dinosaur Jr for M for Valentine's Day because they are high on her list of favorite rock bands. She ended up being too exhausted to go (note to self: not a good Valentine's Day gift) so when March 12 rolled around I went by myself. I did run into Brandt & Candy and EJ & Lydia there. We all got to see a high octane show with the classic line up. I'm hardly an expert on their music, but judging by Brandt's FB posts during the show it was just as good for the hard core fans as it was for the casual fans. I bought the new album on purple vinyl for M.
In addition to songs from throughout their catalog, Dinosaur Jr. also did their cover of Just Like Heaven during the encore, which I was not expecting. Heck, even The Cure didn't do that song when I saw them. Overall, a really good time, but I'm probably not enough of a fan to see them again.
---
A. After some deliberation, I have decided that the performance of Songs From Liquid Days that I saw at the Rock Hall on Sunday January 29 will be counted on my theater list instead of my concert list. The performance was in honor of Philip Glass's 80th birthday on January 31 and capped off a weekend where I saw Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi on Friday and Saturday. Although Songs From Liquid Days was performed at the Rock Hall and has lyrics from musical luminaries Paul Simon, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson and Suzanne Vega, it was staged by Cleveland Opera Theater complete with minimalist sets and a program. It was really good (especially considering the price point of "free") but it was theater, not a concert. Barely. I'm glad to have seen another part of the David Byrne catalog live.