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the_dala at 05:51pm on 10/07/2003
the_dala at 05:51pm on 10/07/2003I have been a busy little bee lately and there are tons of things to write about, but first and foremost: CONCERT.
So, Jackson Browne, Wednesday night with Dad. Well, and Steve Earle and Keb' Mo' were on the bill too, but that's not important. I was actually not at all excited about this concert beforehand. However, I really enjoyed listening to The Stanger in the car, which I hadn't heard before ("Linda Paloma"! I lurve it!). We ate at Columbia Mall first. Ahhhh, they have a pet store -- with PUPPIES! *whimper* Puppies. And we had "smooshings" at Maggie Moo's, where they smoosh the ingredients into the ice cream. Strawberry cheesecake, my friend, strawberry cheesecake.
Anyway, then it was on to Merriweather Post Pavillion, which is where Jackson recorded Running on Empty (Jimmy Buffett's been there the most, they had a list of frequent performers, he was at like 40). Alright. Let me explain something about Running on Empty. It connects to childhood memories so dear I don't even want to share them because they're mine. Suffice to say that when I was about seven or eight, I stole my dad's tape and wore it out (I did it with "The Big Chill" soundtrack too, but that was a few years later). "The Load-Out/Stay" has a place on my Top Ten list -- and anybody who has ANY idea of how very much I love music knows what that means. I have hundreds of favorite songs. Only a few touch me as deeply as "The Load-Out/Stay."
So we get to Merriweather just as the rain is slowing down, and I'm starting to get all excited. Bought a truly bitchin' green tank tank, hunted down the 94.7 booth to request that they play more Queen. Then we listened to a damn good free performance by a band called Ordinary Way. It was this funky mix of reggae, folk, jazz, soul, rock -- lots of people playing lots of instruments, and two amazing lead singers. Dude, anybody who can boast bongos and a mandolin is okay by me. Dad actually bought their CD.
We wandered over to our seats, which were great in comparision with any seats we've ever had at MCI (not that I'm complaining about nosebleed stadium seats, mind; I'm just happy to be in the same building as the music). They were a hell of a lot better than the Loge seats we had for Stevie Nicks, where we couldn't see the entire right side of the stage. To everyone's complete surprise, Jackson and Steve Earle walked out onto the stage at 8:00 sharp, the time the concert was supposed to start. The two stars and they were there on time! It was inspiring. Plus, funny to watch all the latecomers sneaking in, already having missed the beginning. Jackson and Steve did a nice acoustic "Cocaine," adding what Jackson called rehab lyrics. (Sidenote: Jackson has aged the best out of all the classic rock acts I've seen. He both looks and sounds exactly as he did twenty-five years ago. It's pretty amazing.) Then they did some vaguely patriotic song other people seemed to know, and then Jackson left.
Now I started out disliking Steve Earle, and then he started growing on me, and then, as the hour went on and on and on ... bleah. Kind of a country-Southern-rock vibe. His band was playing too loud for Merriweather. It's an ampitheather, folks, not an arena. Merriweather has perfect acoustics if you use it correctly, as Stevie's band did last time we were there, and as Jackson did later that night. It was like all those concerts where some obscure opening act is playing with the amps too loud and then the star comes out and the sound is perfected. As far as Steve's voice went, it...didn't go very far at all. At times he seemed to be imitating Bob Dylan, which is fucking ridiculous, because Dylan? Fantastic songwriter. National treasure. One of my all-time favorites. But not a vocal style you want to emulate. We put up with Dylan's voice because he's Dylan, and even when he sings badly he still owns his words. On Steve it just sounded bad. I couldn't make out most of his lyrics because he sort of slurred. I didn't recognize any of his songs, and none of them had decent hooks or memorable choruses (see more on that later). At one point they played this song that I swear was the opening of "Southern Man" -- I even leaned over to Dad and said "Isn't that a Neil Young song?" Sadly, it was not, and Steve is no Neil.
To his credit, he had the Nerdiest Guitarist Ever! (with the exception of Buddy Holly). Dude looked like the Rusty character from "MadTV."
And then...and then...there was Jackson.
He played a lot of new material that I didn't know, but unlike all the other concerts I've been to, that didn't hinder my ability to connect with him. It's a weird thing to try and explain. It was easy to be engaged when Jackson sung unfamiliar songs, which is something I don't find often. It didn't annoy me at the time and it doesn't annoy me now (mostly), because he gave us a solid hour and a half of great music. I totally underestimated Jackson's ability as a songwriter. He may not be as popular as some other 70's songwriters, but he's incredibly talented and eloquent, and I didn't discover that until last night. I was, more or less, totally enchanted.
The crowd was yelling out requests, all songs I recognized, and he didn't take a one of them. He was there to play his set the way he intended to play it, and I had to respect that. The only really commercial song he played was "For Everyman" (there was the closer, but that's not yet). I'm sure some of the other material was on the older albums we don't have, but we do have the Greatest Hits album, and he only did two songs from that -- "These Days" and "Lives in the Balance." My favorite of the songs I didn't know was one off the newest album, "The Naked Ride Home." It was soft and a little sad. He chose "Running on Empty" as his set closer -- I knew that would happen, I knew he wasn't going to be able to leave that venue without playing that song. It was perfect. That whole crowd of middle-aged sixties babies were on their feet by the end of the first verse, and I was right there with them. The only live song approaching that feeling was "Sunshine of Your Love" at Clapton (not even Fleetwood Mac, much as I love them, had anything approaching Jackson's energy on "Running on Empty."
He brought Steve out to do an encore. They dueted on "Take It Easy," which was a lot of fun, then Jackson said they'd do one more song. I was sure it was going to be "The Load-Out/Stay." I mean, he played that song for the very first time at Merriweather; it's a perfect concert closer. But they did a unmemorable Steve Earle song instead. Disappointed. I loved that concert, but I was terribly disappointed that I didn't get to hear my song performed live. Now I have to go see him again just to hear than damned song.
That's another unique thing about this concert -- I left it wanting to go to another one. This doesn't happen to me. I don't feel a need to see even Fleetwood Mac again (I certainly don't want to see CSN again, not when they've lost their Y), but I want to see Jackson again. Sigh.
It was full of mixed blessings, but it was a good concert. I'm now a true Jackson Browne fan. Yay me.
So, Jackson Browne, Wednesday night with Dad. Well, and Steve Earle and Keb' Mo' were on the bill too, but that's not important. I was actually not at all excited about this concert beforehand. However, I really enjoyed listening to The Stanger in the car, which I hadn't heard before ("Linda Paloma"! I lurve it!). We ate at Columbia Mall first. Ahhhh, they have a pet store -- with PUPPIES! *whimper* Puppies. And we had "smooshings" at Maggie Moo's, where they smoosh the ingredients into the ice cream. Strawberry cheesecake, my friend, strawberry cheesecake.
Anyway, then it was on to Merriweather Post Pavillion, which is where Jackson recorded Running on Empty (Jimmy Buffett's been there the most, they had a list of frequent performers, he was at like 40). Alright. Let me explain something about Running on Empty. It connects to childhood memories so dear I don't even want to share them because they're mine. Suffice to say that when I was about seven or eight, I stole my dad's tape and wore it out (I did it with "The Big Chill" soundtrack too, but that was a few years later). "The Load-Out/Stay" has a place on my Top Ten list -- and anybody who has ANY idea of how very much I love music knows what that means. I have hundreds of favorite songs. Only a few touch me as deeply as "The Load-Out/Stay."
So we get to Merriweather just as the rain is slowing down, and I'm starting to get all excited. Bought a truly bitchin' green tank tank, hunted down the 94.7 booth to request that they play more Queen. Then we listened to a damn good free performance by a band called Ordinary Way. It was this funky mix of reggae, folk, jazz, soul, rock -- lots of people playing lots of instruments, and two amazing lead singers. Dude, anybody who can boast bongos and a mandolin is okay by me. Dad actually bought their CD.
We wandered over to our seats, which were great in comparision with any seats we've ever had at MCI (not that I'm complaining about nosebleed stadium seats, mind; I'm just happy to be in the same building as the music). They were a hell of a lot better than the Loge seats we had for Stevie Nicks, where we couldn't see the entire right side of the stage. To everyone's complete surprise, Jackson and Steve Earle walked out onto the stage at 8:00 sharp, the time the concert was supposed to start. The two stars and they were there on time! It was inspiring. Plus, funny to watch all the latecomers sneaking in, already having missed the beginning. Jackson and Steve did a nice acoustic "Cocaine," adding what Jackson called rehab lyrics. (Sidenote: Jackson has aged the best out of all the classic rock acts I've seen. He both looks and sounds exactly as he did twenty-five years ago. It's pretty amazing.) Then they did some vaguely patriotic song other people seemed to know, and then Jackson left.
Now I started out disliking Steve Earle, and then he started growing on me, and then, as the hour went on and on and on ... bleah. Kind of a country-Southern-rock vibe. His band was playing too loud for Merriweather. It's an ampitheather, folks, not an arena. Merriweather has perfect acoustics if you use it correctly, as Stevie's band did last time we were there, and as Jackson did later that night. It was like all those concerts where some obscure opening act is playing with the amps too loud and then the star comes out and the sound is perfected. As far as Steve's voice went, it...didn't go very far at all. At times he seemed to be imitating Bob Dylan, which is fucking ridiculous, because Dylan? Fantastic songwriter. National treasure. One of my all-time favorites. But not a vocal style you want to emulate. We put up with Dylan's voice because he's Dylan, and even when he sings badly he still owns his words. On Steve it just sounded bad. I couldn't make out most of his lyrics because he sort of slurred. I didn't recognize any of his songs, and none of them had decent hooks or memorable choruses (see more on that later). At one point they played this song that I swear was the opening of "Southern Man" -- I even leaned over to Dad and said "Isn't that a Neil Young song?" Sadly, it was not, and Steve is no Neil.
To his credit, he had the Nerdiest Guitarist Ever! (with the exception of Buddy Holly). Dude looked like the Rusty character from "MadTV."
And then...and then...there was Jackson.
He played a lot of new material that I didn't know, but unlike all the other concerts I've been to, that didn't hinder my ability to connect with him. It's a weird thing to try and explain. It was easy to be engaged when Jackson sung unfamiliar songs, which is something I don't find often. It didn't annoy me at the time and it doesn't annoy me now (mostly), because he gave us a solid hour and a half of great music. I totally underestimated Jackson's ability as a songwriter. He may not be as popular as some other 70's songwriters, but he's incredibly talented and eloquent, and I didn't discover that until last night. I was, more or less, totally enchanted.
The crowd was yelling out requests, all songs I recognized, and he didn't take a one of them. He was there to play his set the way he intended to play it, and I had to respect that. The only really commercial song he played was "For Everyman" (there was the closer, but that's not yet). I'm sure some of the other material was on the older albums we don't have, but we do have the Greatest Hits album, and he only did two songs from that -- "These Days" and "Lives in the Balance." My favorite of the songs I didn't know was one off the newest album, "The Naked Ride Home." It was soft and a little sad. He chose "Running on Empty" as his set closer -- I knew that would happen, I knew he wasn't going to be able to leave that venue without playing that song. It was perfect. That whole crowd of middle-aged sixties babies were on their feet by the end of the first verse, and I was right there with them. The only live song approaching that feeling was "Sunshine of Your Love" at Clapton (not even Fleetwood Mac, much as I love them, had anything approaching Jackson's energy on "Running on Empty."
He brought Steve out to do an encore. They dueted on "Take It Easy," which was a lot of fun, then Jackson said they'd do one more song. I was sure it was going to be "The Load-Out/Stay." I mean, he played that song for the very first time at Merriweather; it's a perfect concert closer. But they did a unmemorable Steve Earle song instead. Disappointed. I loved that concert, but I was terribly disappointed that I didn't get to hear my song performed live. Now I have to go see him again just to hear than damned song.
That's another unique thing about this concert -- I left it wanting to go to another one. This doesn't happen to me. I don't feel a need to see even Fleetwood Mac again (I certainly don't want to see CSN again, not when they've lost their Y), but I want to see Jackson again. Sigh.
It was full of mixed blessings, but it was a good concert. I'm now a true Jackson Browne fan. Yay me.
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