Livin' Live In The Midwest

12/09/10 The David Wax Museum

2011-02-02T15:45:00.002-06:00

This was an opening set they did for the Langhorne Slim show. If you like Mexican flavored Americana music, they you will like The David Wax Museum. You have to love any band that utilizes the Jaw Bone to the extent that these guys did. David Wax is a Columbia, MO native, so this was a homecoming show for most of the band. They played a solid set that included some new tracks from the forth coming album and some pretty solid work from their previous releases. They continued the tradition that the Builders and the Butchers strated for bands opening up for Langhorne Slim at mojo's, and played the last two songs off stage in the middle of the audience. I have seen a few videos of them on the internet doing this, so it appears to be a DWM live show standard. I will say that the audience songs worked well, and I got a reasonable recording of those even though I had to stand in the middle of the audience holding my mic stand over my head. Here are the details of the show recording and the setlist. Enjoy the recording.

The David Wax Museum
12/09/10 Mojo's
Columbia, MO
SBD+Aud
Set List:
1) The Persimmon Tree
2) Donkey In My Soul
3) Jalopy Heart
4) Colas
5) Beatrice
7) Carpenter Bird
8) Unfruitful
9) Yes, Maria, Yes
10) Let Me Rest
11) Night Was A Car

12/09/10 Langhorne Slim at Mojo's

2011-02-01T14:11:00.002-06:00

Once again Langhorne Slim rolled into Columbia, and threw it down!! The singer-songwriter of the group Sean Scolnick, was in constant motion on stage at time coming into the crowd in the middle of the song with his acoustic guitar. The only problem being that he didn't have a wireless guitar, so his cord got wrapped around mic stands a couple of times, including my mics that I had on stage. That was fun having to plow through the crowd to untangle my mics and set them back up with their guitar tech in the middle of the show. Sean kept the large and appreciative crowd engaged throughout the night with engaging between song banter, sing-a-long moments, intimate slow and frantic danceable songs.

The set was a good mix of classic Langhorne anthems and a few new songs mixed in for good measure. They opened the show with Cinderella, a frantic song with a driving beat. Not the bold statement song that Cut It Down made the last time they played Columbia, but it got the crowd dancing from the first note. The dancing continued with rebel side of heaven. A pleading Colette (partially inspired by a Mojo's bartender) quieted the night down, and gave the dancers respite. The night progressed to a two new songs that were one of the highlights of the night for me. I ain't dead anymore is one of the strongest songs Sean has written in my opinion with the line "when they said I was dead, it wasn't true I was just dead to you, I ain't dead, I ain't dead anymore". What a great breakup screw you line!! Pairing this song with the pleading It's time to love your man, genius. They of course played worries, which you should recognize from the insurance commercial and is a favorite of my kids, to slow the set down and lead into a solo acoustic Take My Hand. Take My Hand ended with Sean moving away from the Mic and singing to the crowd without the assistance of amplification, forcing you to listen to each aching word that flowed from his lips. A great way to make an already attentive crowd to hang on your every word. Take My Hand lead into For A Little While, that started out slow and acoustic and exploded when the full band kicked in. This really punctuated the relationship turmoil that the line "I said I'll be good, girl I'm beggin you, just believe me, for a little while!!" implies. How do you follow this tour de force? By playing a barn stomping Mary and Cut It Down that left the crowd breathless, at least the ones by the stage, and begging for more. During Mary Sean actually hopped off the stage and lifted the stairs that lead to the stage up on the stage. Now it could be that he wanted to get a little taller for the next few songs, or he was having flash backs to the last time he played Columbia and the ladies in the audience invaded the stage during I Love to Dance. Eiher way, it was something I had never seen happen before at a show. They then rolled through Diamonds and Gold and She's gone to finish the main set for the night. The encore started with another solo acoustic number Don't Be Scared flowing into I Love You But Goodbye where he once again sang to the audience without the mic. The night ended with the full band playing I Love to Dance. An amazing show, and if I do say so myself, a great recoding.

Here is the set list and show info for the recording that I have posted on my site.

Langhorne Slim
12/09/10
Mojo's
Columbia, MO
Multichannel+stage mics
1) Cinderalla
2) Rebel Side Of Heaven
3) Colette
4) In The Midnight
5) Be Set Free
6) Honey Pie
7) I ain't Dead Anymore
8) It's Time To Love Your Man (False Start)
9) It's Time To Love Your Man
10) Hello Sunshine
11) Worries
12) Take My Hand
13) For A Little While
14) Mary
15) Cut It Down
16) Diamonds and Gold
17) She's Gone
18) Don't Be Scared
19) I Love You But Goodbye
20) I Love To Dance

12/09/10 Langhorne Slim at Mojo's Set List

2010-12-13T16:07:00.003-06:00

Langhorne Slim tore it up at Mojo's for this show. I have posted my recording of the show on my site for download as proof. Here is the setlist for the show. Enjoy

Langhorne Slim
12/09/10 Mojo's
Columbia, MO
1 Intro
2 Cinderella
3 Rebel Side of Heaven
4 Colette
5 In The Midnight
6 Be Set Free
7 Honey Pie
8 I Ain't Dead Anymore
9 It's Time to Love Your Man
10 Hello Sunshine
11 Worries
12 Take My Hand (solo)
13 For A Little While (solo)
14 Mary>
15 Cut it Down
16 Diamonds and Gold
17 She's Gone
18 Don't Be Scared (solo)
19 I Love You But Goodbye (solo)
20 I Love To Dance

10/26/10 Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys

2010-10-29T13:26:00.002-05:00

It was time to jump into my wayback machine with Mr. Peabody and Sherman and land myself squarely in the 1950s. That's right it's time to bee-bop with Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys like it was 1955. If you enjoy that amalgamation of western swing and bee-bop rock, then Big Sandy is the man for you. He fills the stage with his larger than life persona leading his band of wayward troubadours through the annals of early American rock music.
The band hit the stage with Joe Perez on drums, Jeff West on upright bass, Ashely Kingman on electric lead, and Big Sandy on acoustic guitar to the delight of a medium sized but enthusiastic crowd. They opened with Little Cabin Home On the Hill and the dancing started. OK that should really be that one couple did some swing dancing and a few women from "the party bus" did that dancing that girls do at rock shows. You know, stick the arm in the air and start gyrating the hips. Sandy kept the mood light and really engaged the crowd as always. He was the picture of the perfect 50's rock star with his guitar hung high on his chest and schtick well in hand. At one point in time during the show the Band took a "request" via text to show that they were thoroughly modern and embracing the new technology. The best crowd moment had to be when the most consistent dancing girl of the night gave Sandy a shot of tequila and they brought her on stage to dance while they played Tequila Calling. It was a great show that also included Jeff West singing Mad in honor of there being family memebers in the audience at the show. The only potential downer for me was the lack of Black Berry Wine in the set, but I guess you can't have everything, and they were a great warm up for Los Straitjackets.
Here is the show info.
Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys
10/26/Mojo's
Columbia, MO
SBD+AUD recording
1) Little Cabin Home On The Hill
2) Hey Lowdown
3) If You Fall Out Of Love With Me
4) Chalk It Up To The Blues
5) The Greatest Story Ever Told
6) Spanish Dagger
7) Mad
8) True Blue Papa
9) Good Bye Little Star
10) Don't Sweetheart Me
11) Tequila Talking
12) My Eyes are Open (But There Ain't Nobody Home)
13) I Thought It Over*
*not sure of this song title if you know it let me know.

10/03/07 Yonder Mountain String Band The Blue Note, Columbia, MO

2010-10-26T13:50:00.003-05:00

This was my first time seeing Yonder Mountain String Band, and witnessing the Kinfolk in action. I have to say I was impressed, and the crowd was CRAZY about this band. this was the first show of the fall tour, so the band was full of energy and ready to play, and The Blue Note was packed to the rafters and ready to party from the first note to the last. It was pretty obvious that Jeff Austin and Ben Kaufmann front the group, doing most of the singing and crowd interaction.
The band played two solid sets of music full of covers and originals. The first set consisted of 13 songs and ended with If There's Still Ramblin' In The Rambler (Let Him Go) leading into Catch A Criminal and then back into If There's Still Ramblin' in the Rambler (Let Him Go). This mash up of songs is a Yonder tour staple from what I can tell, and they did it with another set of songs when I saw them the next year. I will say that the transition wasn't from Ramblin to Catch a Criminal was not smooth like it was the next year, in fact the blending of songs was actually done at the transition from Catch a Criminal to Ramblin, and not between Ramblin' and Catch a Criminal. Of course, when you transition between songs with a shot, that is still a good transition.
The second set had 14 songs that varied more in temp, texture, and mood compared to the first set. Ranging from the barn stomping (most of the set) to feedback laden I'd Like off, an outrageous 15 minute version of Snow On the Pines, and the rollicking Town. I think the emotional peak of the whole show happened during My Gal when the crowd stomped so hard that the balcony actually shook. I had never seen that happen at the Blue Note before, and I have been to a LOT of shows at the Blue Note. They ended the show with Crow Black Chicken, and I have to say I never felt that song was dirty until I heard Yonder play it live.
Here is the show info:
The Blue Note
Columbia, MO
10/03/07
SBD+AUD matrix
Set 1
1) intro
2) Years With Rose
3) The Bolton Stretch
4) Fine Excuses
5) Mental Breakdown
6) 40 Miles From Denver
7) Only A Northern Song
8) Ain't Been Myself In Years
9) If Lovin' You Is Killing Me
10) Night Is Left Behind
11) Kentucky Mandolin
12) If There's Still Ramblin' In The Man (Let Him Go)
13) Catch A Criminal
14) If There's Still Ramblin' In The Man (Let Him Go)
Set 2
1) Intro
2) Sideshow Blues
3) Elzic's Farewell
4) Another Day
5) Just The Same
6) How 'Bout You
7) Snow On The Pines
8) I'd Like Off
9) Don't Let Your Deal Go Down
10) Town
11) My Gal
12) Angel
13) Ten
14) Raleigh And Spencer
15) Crow Black Chicken

09/23/10 Robbie Fulks & Jenny Scheinman Mojo's

2010-10-05T08:03:00.002-05:00

This was another great Robbie show at Mojo's. I didn't know what to expect from this show since he was bringing Jenny Scheinman along instead of a band, so I wasn't sure how the set list would go. However, since half the fun of seeing Robbie live is the banter, I wasn't too worried about the songs they were going to play. It turns out I had nothing to worry about because Jenny's songs fit in nicely with Robbie's songs.

For those who don't know, Jenny Scheinman played violin and Robbie played acoustic guitar. During sound check Robbie played banjo, but sadly, it didn't make an appearance during the set. They played 20 songs, but only 18 of those were from the normal catalogue of Robbie and Jenny shows. The musical highlights of the night for me were Cocktails, The Hangman's Reel, and I'll Trade You Money For Wine. I also really enjoyed Moses with Robbie providing a stomping beat to drive the song along.

The Robbie moment of the show had to be the proposal that happened during Little Darling. It turns out that if you need a little help popping the question to your lady, Robbie is your man. Of course his way of helping is by writing you a soliloquy that you read on stage while he plays the song of your choice. It's Romantic Gold, and hilarious! I always learn something at a Robbie show and this show was no exception. Turns out Robbie's kid isn't going to get an Ipad, and Jenny really like New Castle Brown Ale.

If you like Robbie I am sure you will love this show. I imagine this is the kind of show he been putting on at the Hideout or the Old Town School of Chicago. I have heard about these shows and it is nice to get a chance to experience the show in person. If you listen the to show and realize it is nothing like the shows at the Hideout or the Old Town School of Chicago, don't tell me. I like to keep my illusions alive.

Here is the set list and show details:
Robbie and Jenny Scheinman
09/23/10 Mojo's
Columbia, MO
Multi SBD+AUD matrix
1) Bill Cheatham
2) Goodbye Virginia
3) Houston
4) Shanty In The Holler
5) Newspaper Angels
6) Run Run Run
7) Cocktails
8) Waitin On The New Things To Go
9) The Broken Spoke Waltz (Alvin Crow)
10) Brother
11) Little Darling-Proposal (The Diamonds)
12) The Honeymoon Song
13) Hangman's Reel
14) My Old Man
15) Satisfied
16) I'll Trade You Money For Wine
17) Moses
18) The Palms Of Maracaibo (Lionel Belasco)
19) Busy Not Crying
20) Let's Kill Saturday Night

08/26/10 Richard The Lionhearted Forrest Rose Park

2010-09-02T12:19:00.005-05:00

Richard The Lionhearted was the second opener for Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin at Forrest Rose Park. I had never even heard of the band, much less the music, so I didn't know what to expect. They hit the stage with two guitars, bass, key boards, drums, and an extra percussionist that played things like a washboard and another tom from what I could see. All and all they played a solid set and were tight as a band, which does not always happen with the "local" opening bands. At the time of the show the most interesting part of their show were the vocals. While they did appear to have a lead singer, he almost always had at least one person in the band harmonizing with him, which resulted in a rather interesting sonic vibe. When the songs had a faster tempo the harmony gave the song more of a campfire sing along feel, which is very noticeable in the songs My, My, My, You've Heard That One Before, and O' California. The slower tempo songs actually had a very monkish feel to my ears most notable on songs like Ain't Been Straight, Son House, and Adieu. I am not sure if the change in vocal style varied depending on who was singing lead, I was back by the soundboard and it was hard to see who was leading the vocals on each song, or if the lead singer just changes his style more than most based on the tempo of the song. Even after mixing I still don't know, but I do like the variety; and I like the fact that the harmony builds up the lyrics, but doesn't make them sweet.

I left the show not sure what to think of the band. The music sounded solid, but there weren't any hooks, nothing that would grab me if I heard it on the radio. There wasn't an anthem or catchy pop rif in the mix that slapped me in the face and made me take notice. However, I left the show wondering if I saw something worth more than a good hook that gets old way too fast.

While mixing the show down I get a chance to listen to a show more and really start to digest the contents of the songs. Some shows I have loved on the night turn out to be shows that don't hold up to the light day during processing. Every so often there is a show that I am not sure about that night, but I grow to love during the mixing process where I get a chance to appreciate what the band is trying to achieve. The last time that really happened to me was Quien es, Boom! a number of years ago when they opened up for Cary Hudson. This show has creeped up on me just like Quien es, Boom!.

So now I have to try and describe the sound of Richard the Lionhearted. They say they are Rock/Folk/Country, and I definitely hear all of these components in the music. I would say they have a good Rock Country sound on some tracks that hearkens to say a CCR, but the majority of the music has a moody and textured darkness that is more 120 minutes and less Country Brunch. As I said, there are not real hooks, no chorus you are singing an hour after you listen to the music. What you do get are well crafted songs full of dark harmonies and bit of country flair that is well worth sitting down and digesting.

Here is the set list for the show:
Richard The Lionhearted
8/26/10 Forrest Rose Park
Columbia, MO
1) Ain't Been Straight
2) Anatomy Lesson
3) My, My, My
4) Son House
5) Whale Bones
6) You've Heard That One Before
7) O' California
8) Adieu
9) Ghost

08/26/10 Someone Still Loves You Borris Yeltsin posted on site

2010-08-31T10:05:00.001-05:00

I have added my recording of this show to my site for download. Enjoy

08/26/10 Someone Still Loves You Borris Yeltsin at Forrest Rose Park

2010-08-30T09:48:00.002-05:00

This was a free outdoor show at Forrest Rose park beside Mojo's in Columbia, MO. It was a nice night for a show, but the temporary outdoor setting resulted in an interesting show. First, since it was an outdoor show we got a shortened set without an encore. Second, there were technical difficulties like the original subwoofers didn't work and I think the replacements did not give as much bass to the live mix than i would have liked, and a piece of equipment powered down for a minute at the beginning of the set resulting is a significant drop in sound level. However SSLYBY ripped through a fast set with minimal crowd interaction and managed to play a 16 song set in an hours time, not bad. They did mix in quite a few songs off the new album including let it sway and All Hail Dracula (which I enjoy purely for the fact that it's a vampire song). The best banter of the night was when they talked about their new album and then told people that they could go by the merch table now and steal the album since they are their own merch people and no one was watching the table while they were on stage. They then proceeded to have a quick discussion of whether they would go over and steal they album if they had the chance. I let you listen to the show to find out the results of the discussion. I have to say you don't often have such moral/ethical discussion from the stage, and it gave me a true laugh for the night. They played a solid version of Modern Mystery and Darn Right, so the rest was really just cake for me. If you like SSLYBY, then you should really enjoy this set. I will say the vocals on the recording are a little less clear than I like, part of the problem with temporary outdoor show recording, but over all it is a nice recording that captured the moment well.
Recording details:
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
08/26/10 Forrest Rose Park
Columbia, MO
SBD+AUD matrix
Set List:
1) Banned (By the Man)
2) Everlyn
3) Heers
4) Pangea
5) The Beach Song
6) Made To Last
7) Glue Girls
8) Think I Wanna Die
9) House Fire
10) Back In The Saddle
11) Sink/Let It Sway
12) Dead Right
13) In Pairs
14) My Terrible Personality
15) Modern Mystery
16) All Hail Dracula

02/26/08 The Felice Brothers at The Blue Note

2010-08-23T13:08:00.004-05:00

For this set The Felice Brothers were opening up for The Drive By Truckers. I had never heard of The Felice Brothers before the show, and had no idea what to expect, but I was not prepared to be blown away. They ripped through a frantic set that had me stomping one song and swaying the next. The energy and companionship on stage was infectious, and the band easily won over the assemble crowd. I found their sound to be an amalgamation of Appalachian, vaudeville, and zydeco; similar to The Asylum Street Spankers without the tongue and cheek humor. They included drums, fiddle, harmonium, guitar, and washboard to encase the vocals and harmonies that had just enough rough edges to suit the subjects they were singing about. And the songs, oh the songs. They sang of love, loss, drugs, drink, the lord almighty, and the devil himself. I love this show and listen to it often. I have since acquired the recorded works of the band, and while solid, do not truely capture the live show that this band can lay down on a stage. So if you have listened to a CD and potentially been left a little less than impressed, you must see them live. You will find the energy passion in the songs that the studio just can't caputre with this group.

I have posted my recording of the show on my site for free download in both MP3 and FLAC formats, so enjoy. The first song or two there were some issues with the vocals, but it is still a very nice recording with a good representation of their songs live from the time. Oh, and if you know the band please tell them to come back to Columbia, MO. Enjoy.

The Felice Brothers
02/26/08 The Blue Note
SBD+AUD matrix
Track list:
1) Intro
2) Lord, Send Me An Angel (Blind Willie McTell)
3) Her Eyes Dart Around
4) Whiskey In My Whiskey
5) Rockefeller Drug Law Blues (Gap in song due to recording error)
6) Radio Song
7) Wonderful Life
8) Cincinnati Queen
9) Helen Fry
10) Run Chicken Run
11) The Devil Is Real
12) Frankie's Gun

08/10/10 JBM at Mojo's

2010-08-22T13:07:00.002-05:00

This is my second JBM opening set this year, which is crazy because I have only been to two shows this year! This was the first stop on the tour he is currently on with AA Bondy, but he seemed more at ease than he did during his opening set for the Rouge Wave show. He played a total of 8 songs, two of which he also played a kick drum and cymbal during. He opened the set witht he first two songs (Years and Cleo's Song) on his new album Not Even In July. Years is an instrumental that flows very nicely into Cleo's Song. After that he flowed through a nice set of music hitting many of the same songs that he played the last time he came around. He did play a song that I can't identify from the album or anything I can find on the web, so if you can help me identify that song in the set I would really appreciate it. He also interacted with the audience this time a little bit syaing hi, thanking AA Bondy for taking him on tour, and telling us about his new CD. He ended this set with one of my favorite songs of his From Me to You and You to Me. The use of looping really expands the songs depth beyond his solo presence on stage. His live show vascilates between a wisper and a scream, and it is worth the time to investigate the wispers while letting the sonic blast flow over your ears. You can download this show from my site, and I hope you take the time to learn about JBM. Here is the set list.

JBM
08/10/10 Mojo's
Columbia, MO
opening for AA Bondy
1) Years>Cloe's Song
2) Going Back Home
3) Winter Ghosts
4) Swallowing Daggers
5) In A Different Time
6) ?
7) From Me To You and You To Me

08/10/10 AA Bondy at Mojo's Set List

2010-08-12T16:04:00.006-05:00

I have figured out most of the setlist for the AA Bondy show. Here are the details of the show, and of my recording. If anyone can help with the song I can't ID that would be great. I will not be posting the 24/48 flac files to the site, but will post 16/44 FLAC and MP3 to the site as soon as possible.

AA Bondy
08/10/10 Mojo’s
Columbia, MO

Multi Channel SBD+Mics (Studio Projects C4) On Stage>FA-101>Laptop (Tracktion)>24/48 files>Cool Edit Pro for mixdown etc.>CD WAV to split tracks>FLAC Front End level 6 compression

Track List:
1) To The Morning
2) Low And Slow
3) Another Country
4) Mightiest Of Guns
5) There’s A Reason
6) Black Rain, Black Rain
7) ?
8) When The Devil’s Loose
9) A Slow Parade
10) Of The Sea
11) Killed Myself When I Was Young
12) Encore Start
13) Suicide Doors
14) Oh The Vampyre
15) I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Sr.)

08/10/10 AA bondy and JBM Mojo's Columbia, MO

2010-08-11T15:22:00.002-05:00

I went to this show last night, which was the first show of this tour, and it was a good time. I wouldn’t call it a rockin’ good time, but I would call it a moody and sonically layered good time. The show started with JBM, who played a solid set of music that was very similar to the set he played when he opened for Rouge Wave a couple of months ago. He seems to be more comfortable in front of an audience this time around compared to last time, and he actually had a little banter with the crowd. I really enjoyed his set, especially the last song From Me to You and You to Me, during which he does some nice looping (is that what it is called when they record a part of a song on stage and then loop it while they play another part over the top?) work. If you haven’t seen him he for a couple of songs he becomes a one man band playing guitar, kick drum, and cymbal, and it is these songs that really makes me hope he will be able to add a few band members in the future to fill out his songs live. He did have his new album with him, and I hope to pick that up in the near future to see what he does in the studio. This was my first time see AA Bondy live, and didn’t really know what to expect. He is touring as a 3 piece, not sure if that is what he normally does, and he had a drummer that also played steel guitar and a bassist that also played keys. For the show they meandered through a nice set of songs that cycled from whisper quiet to wall of sound. At the end of the show bondy left the stage and out the back door (Mojo’s doesn’t have a backstage, just a back door leading to the parking lot where the band parks the van). While he was outside there was confusion as to whether there was going to be an encore or not, the other two band members didn’t know and neither did the new sound guy, so they actually put on the house music and the sound guy started “undoing the board”, much to the disappointment of the crowd. However, Bondy came back in and the rest of the touring crew scrambled to get ready for the 3 song encore. The final song of the encore was AA Bondy solo doing Hank Williams Sr. I’m So Lonesome I could cry for a girl in the audience. All and all, not a bad way to spend a Tuesday night. Also, this was about the most respectful audience I have seen at Mojo’s for a quieter show like this. The crowd was engrossed in the show, and there was very little chatter, even for JBM. Here is the set list (as written, not full titles) according to the paper I snagged off stage. I will have to confirm with my recording when I get it done, but I am pretty sure these are just the songs they wanted to play, and not the order. I will be posting the recording to my site for free download as soon as they are done.

AA Bondy
Mojo’s
Columbia, MO
Suicide Doors
There’s A Reason
Of The Sea
Devil’s Loose
Jazz Waltz
Low N Slow
Another Country
To TH Morning
Killed Myself
Black Rain
Slow Parade
Pines
Gunz
Motown
Put Out The Light
And for sure played:
I’m So lonesome I could cry (hank sr.)

I have started back up!!!

2010-05-04T17:32:00.002-05:00

After a rough 2009 (where my site crashed), and a catch up 2010 (where I started rebuilding a little bit), I am starting back up. I just added my recording of JBM and Man/Miracle opening for Rogue Wave at Mojo's in Columbia, MO on 4/20/2010. They are multitrack recordings from the soundboard with mics on stage. Here is the link for the site to download the shows. I will post the set lists in the next couple of days. Enjoy the shows.

Best of 2008 Live

2009-01-04T11:51:00.001-06:00

Well it has been another great year of live music here in BOCOMO, and I have the music to prove it. As always thanks go to my wife for accommodating this silly hobby of mine, and putting up with the time I spend going to shows and editing my recordings. I would also like to thank Richard, Dylan, Pete, Jared, and the rest of the Blue Note and Mojo’s staff for being just great people. It was a great year of music, and I have to say it appears that the trend in new bands is alternative percussion schemes. I saw more bands with multiple drummers and spilt kits than any year before. I also saw many great opening acts that blew me way, including The Pomegranates, Gentleman Auction House, The Felice Brothers, and the Builders and The Butchers. I took some risks on a few headliners that paid off, including Macon Greyson (Thanks to Postcard), Langhorne Slim, Bon Iver (not recorded sadly), and the one man band spectacular of Possessed by Paul James, Scott H Biram, and Bob Log III. Perennial favorites The Drive By Truckers, Built To Spill, Blue Mountain, Old97’s, The Gourds, Cracker, and Yonder Mountain String Band all came back to town much to my delight. I was able to catch a lot of local acts including The Foundry Field Recordings, Casey Reeves, Molly Trull, the Hipnecks, and two of the last three shows by Witch’s Hat. I only have a few regrets this year (1) that I didn’t try harder to record the Death Cab For Cutie show (2) that I didn’t get in the soundboard for The Avett Brothers (3) that Bon Iver didn’t let me record the show (4) that I didn’t get my ass to the Blitzen Trapper and Stephen Malkmus show. After all the shows here are my picks for best songs of the year in no real particular order. The compilation is available on my site for download in MP3 format.

1) 03/16/08 Built To Spill-Time Trap “It’s barely yours on loan, what you think you own, place that you call home” This opening line is one of the best for describing 2008, add the power guitars and you have a great song.
2) 02/26/08 The Drive By Truckers- Putting People On The Moon I debated between this song and sink hole here, but the message of unemployment, questionable priorities for government spending, and health care all seemed to hit the other side of the coin better for 2008.
3) 10/15/08 Old97’s-The New Kid This is the last song for 2008, the rest are just in an order that I felt sounded good. I know this is a streach, but this is my song to represent the election this year.
4) 03/18/08 Man Man-Mister Jung Stuffed These guys are crazy on stage, and it is a show you just can’t miss if you get the chance to see it. It is actually hard to capture the energy of the performance on stage, and since they do a sold set of music without much between song breaks, you lose a little when you only hear one, but the music does stand on its own.
5) 02/26/08 The Felice Brothers- Frankie’s Gun The first big surprise opening act of the year. These guys are sloppy, but in a good way. If you can’t have fun at a Felice Brothers show you are either old or lame.
6) 09/13/08 The Builders and The Butchers- Down In This Hole Another big surprise opener, and a band with a couple of percussionist. They used the Piano at Mojo’s for this song.
7) 06/06/08 The Gourds- Burn The Honeysuckle How can you not love the Gourds.
8) 04/19/08 Big Smith-Burn Down The House The big boys from Springfield came to town, and brought Blue Mountain with them. For me they were the cool down act, but they are great live and this song had a great audience participation moment.
9) 10/22/08 Yonder Mountain String Band- Two Hits & The Joint Turned Brown I know it’s a shocker, but this was a crowd favorite at the show.
10) 09/17/08 The Avett Brothers- Distraction #47 The Avett Brothers have at least one great amazing line in every song. For me it hits at the end of this song.
11) Casey Reeves & The Goldbugs-Carolina Casey is still one of my favorite local artists, and this is one of my favorites done better than ever.
12) Molly Trull-Get Your Way Molly is a new up and coming local artist. To give an idea of her style, the name of her band is Anodyne. For this show she was solo, so it is a little more intimate. I find she has a great style and voice.
13) The Spring Standards-Trouble Here is another great surprise opening act. Sadly I had recording problems, or there would be more songs. However, with a split drum kit played by all three members of the band, and a great there part harmonies, this is a band that will make you hum.
14) 12/03/08 Gentleman Auction House- The Rules were Handed Down One of the best St. Louis bands I have heard in a while. This is actually the second time I got to see these guys and they are great live. They pack the Mojo’s stage and put on a high energy set of music.
15) Dr. Dog- The Way The Lazy Do I was so excited to have Dr. Dog in town for a headliner, because they were one of my favorite openers. Sadly I did not get the full Dr. Dog show as one of the singers had injured his voice. While the show was still great, it could have been epic. They opened with this song, and it was actually my favorite of the night.
16) Ha Ha Tonka- ? Southwest MO is putting out some good bands as of late, and this is another great one.
17) 09/13/08 Langhorne Slim- Cut It Down This guy was a risk, because I didn’t know anything about him when I went to the show. However, from the proclamation of this opening song he had me hooked. Be warned, he has rabid (and very drunk) fans that sing and dance the entire time, so don’t go expecting a low key night.
18) 02/19/08 Macon Greyson-Fine Line (Between Lovin’ You and Suicide) This was another leap of faith show. I didn’t know anything about these guys, but Postcard pimped them pretty hard and I gave it a shot. These guys were great and worth the trip out on a cold night.
19) 04/19/08 Blue Mountain-Skinny Dippin’ Of all the Cary Hudson solo songs they reworked, I liked this one the best.
20) 09/17/08 Back Yard Tire Fire-Jimmy and Bobby and Jack I was not a huge fan of this band, but I love story songs about crimes gone bad.
21) 05/09/08 Witch’s Hat-Glodyany 1972 This band is what Jack Black’s band would be if he had any true talent. This is a song about a Vampire, and it represents this now defunct band well.
22) 07/30/08 Cracker-Movie Star Cracker is a great band that I have not seen live for years. Playing on 9th street under the star was a great way to meet this band again.
23) 07/15/08 Bob Log III-Goddamn That Sounds Good The motorcycle helmet wearing one man band with a show that is a spectacle.
24) 06/26/08 Colourmusic- The Gospel Song This was another what the hell show. I went in expecting a pop band and ran smack dab into a sonic blast. While the pop was there it was layered in clockwork orange all white jump suits and an assault on the senses that shattered everything I thought I knew about this band.
25) 07/29/08 The Foundry Field Recordings- Holding The Pilots/Holding The Facts This is another local group that I just love. It is the vehicle for Billy Schuh and it is the best pop band playing in Columbia right now.
26) 03/18/08 The Pomegranates- Nursery Magic This band has the sweetest sounding music I heard all year. It dripped with sugar, but not all of it was happy. The cool thing about this group was that they kept switching instruments.
27) 05/09/08 Ryan Groff- Lines It is hard to believe that this is just one guy on the stage, amazing what you can do with a little looping and sampling. His band is call Elsinor, and I hope to be able to catch them live in 2009.
28) 07/15/08 Possessed By Paul James- ? This was the first act for a night of one man bands. The music was quieter and purer than the acts that followed, but had an intensity that drew me in, and is the show from the night that I listen to most front to back.
29) 07/15/08 Scott H Biram- Still Drunk etc. Ok, so this was most likely not the title, but I am not sure if the song has a title yet. It was the quietest song of the night from the Dirty Old One Man Band, and when I say dirty I mean filthy, and my favorite of the night.
30) 09/17/08 The Avett Brothers- The Weight Of Lies The opener for the night. Talk about starting on a high note.
31) 02/26/08 The Drive By Truckers-You and Your Crystal Meth My favorite new DBT song
32) 02/26/08 The Felice Brothers-Rockefeller Drug law Blues (gap in song) It’s a shame that I lost a part of this song, but it is one of their best
33) 09/13/08 The Builders and The Butchers- Bottom Of The Lake
34) 06/06/08 The Gourds- Do 4 U (midnight Rider Middle)
35) 04/19/08 Big Smith-Brady and Duncan
36) 10/22/08 Yonder Mountain String Band- Let Me Fall
37) 07/30/08 The Hipnecks- Takin’ Out The Trash Another local band that has that jam band feel and enough musicians on stage to fill out the sound.
38) 09/17/08 Ha Ha Tonka- ?
39) 03/16/08 Built To Spill- Mess With Time
40) 07/15/08 Scott H Biram- Get Me Religion
41) 03/18/08 Man Man-Easy Eats or Dirty Doctor Galapagos>Zebra Yes this is two songs, but they go well together and give and idea of how they transition from song to song live
42) 06/26/08 Colourmusic- Circles This is the song that got me to go to the show.
43) 03/18/08 The Pomegranates- Whom Who
44) 07/29/08 Dr. Dog- The Old Days
45) 12/03/08 Gentlemen Auction House- Call It Casual
46) 09/13/08 Langhorne Slim- Love To Dance During this song some women actually got on stage and danced. Sadly one of them decided that she could keep going up on stage and annoyed the singer.
47) 12/03/08 Billy Shuh- ? A solo acoustic show from a guy that I normally hear play complex songs with his band The Foundry Field Recordings.
48) 02/19/08 Macon Greyson- One Week
49) 07/30/08 Dirtfoot- Give Your Life To Jesus This was a fun band from Louisiana. They passed out can filled with beans to the crowd, and you actually hear people shaking them during the song.
50) 09/13/08 The Builders and The Butchers- The Coal Mine Fall
51) 02/26/08 The Felice Brothers- Whiskey In My Whiskey
52) 07/15/08 Bob Log III- Boob Scotch Yes, a woman got on stage and put her boob in his scotch.
53) 02/26/08 The Drive By Truckers- Sink Hole
54) 07/30/08 Cracker- 100 Flower Power Maximum
55) 04/19/08 Blue Mountain Midnight In Mississippi
56) 07/30/08 The Hipnecks- Mighty Mississippi
57) 09/17/08 The Avett Brothers- Die Die Die
58) 06/06/08 The Gourds- Motherless Children
59) 10/22/08 Yonder Mountain String Band- What You’re Selling
60) 07/15/08 Possessed By Paul James- ? Part of why I love this song is that he has technical difficulties during the song and rolls with it great.
61) 04/19/08 Big Smith- No Sir
62) 03/16/08 Built To Spill- Car A quite song amidst the onslaught
63) 12/03/08 Billy Schuh- ?
64) 05/09/08 Casey Reeves & Wes Wingate- Radio King (Golden Smog)
65) 10/17/08 Molly Trull- Melt Down (Slobberbone) That’s right, a Slobberbone cover
66) 05/09/08 Ryan Groff-Wooden Houses
67) 09/17/08 Ha Ha Tonka-Hangman An accapella version of a traditional song that was done by Led Zeppelin.
68) 03/18/08 The Pomegranates- Osidius The Emphatic
69) 07/29/08 Dr. Dog- The Breeze
70) 07/30/08 Cracker- Euro-Trash Girl
71) 10/15/08 Old97’s- Question The ladies love this song.
72) 10/15/08 The Spring Standards- Premonition
73) 02/26/08 The Drive By Truckers- Margo and Harold
74) 02/19/08 Macon Greyson- Beams
75) 12/03/08 Gentlemen Auction House- The Match Book
76) 03/18/08 Man Man- Big Trouble
77) 07/15/08 Bob Log III- Mr. Sis Boom Bah
78) 07/15/08 Scott H Biram- You Better Run Son
79) 03/16/08 Built To Spill- Third Uncle (Brian Eno)
80) 06/26/08 Colourmusic- You Can Call Me By My Name
81) 10/22/08 Yonder Mountain String Band- East Nashville Easter>Follow Me Down The River>East Nashville Easter The classing YMSB show ender of starting a song, playing another song, and then ending the first song.
82) 09/13/08 The Builders and The Butchers- In The Branches They had the audience sing and hold that initial note for the song. You can hear the crowd singing if you listen closely in parts.
83) 02/26/08 The Felice Brothers- Run Chicken Run
84) 06/06/08 The Gourds-Ant On The Melon
85) 09/17/08 The Avett Brothers- Pretty Girl From Raleigh
86) 10/17/08 Molly Trull- Before The Bombs Came Down
87) 12/03/08 Billy Schuh- Millitary Madness (Graham Nash)
88) 04/19/08 Big Smith- Backwater
89) 09/13/08 Langhorne Slim- Hello Sunshine
90) 07/30/08 Cracker- Take The Skin Heads Bowling
91) 10/15/08 Old97’s- Niteclub
92) 12/03/08 Gentlemen Auction House- Abcdefgraveyard I love when the whole band yells the lyrics of during this song.
93) 07/29/08 Dr. Dog-My Old Ways
94) 09/17/08 The Avett Brothers- Paranoia In B Major
95) 03/18/08 Man Man- Top Drawer
96) 03/18/08 The Pomegranates- Thunder Meadow
97) 09/13/08 The Builders and The Butchers- Black Dress
98) 07/15/08 Bob Log III- Bubble Strut
99) 06/06/08 The Gourds- Gin & Juice (Everyday People and Dirty Deeds Middle)

10/22/08 Yonder Mountain String Band The Blue Note

2008-10-23T18:05:00.003-05:00

This is my second time trapsing down the Yonder mountain path, and once again they brought the festival blue grass to the Blue Note. The played two sets again, like last time, but this time they were at the end of the tour instead of the beginning. I am not saying they put on a bad show, because they didn't, but you could tell by the faces that they were wearing down a little bit. They made mention of sickness tearing through the bus, so that might have had something to do with the tired looks from the band. So you could say that despite being worn down and wrung out, they played over two hours of great music with energy to spare. I am not familiar enough with the touring of YMSB to tell if there were any "OMG they haven't played that in years" moments, but I will say that for the night 2 hits and the entire last half of the second set. The setlist below was taken off of a setlist site that I think the soundguy for YMSB posts, since it has all the setlists for all the shows and I know that he keeps his set list. However according to my recording they did not play half moon rising. Now it could be that I just didn't catch the transition between instrumental songs, but it sounds like the same song to me all the way through. I have posted my recording on my site Lovin Live Music for download in MP3 or SHN formats. Enjoy

Set I:
Little Maggie>
Sometimes I've Won>
Little Rabbit,
Bloody Mary Morning,
Don't You Lean On Me,
Spanish Harlem Incident,
California Zephyr,
Hill Country Girl,
River,
Darkness and Light,
Picture In A Tear,
Easy As Pie,
Half Moon Rising (I don't think they actually played this song),
2 Hits and The Joint Turned Brown>
Casualty
Set II:
Dawn's Early Light>
Cuckoo's Nest>
Fingerprint,
Steep Grade Sharp Curves,
What You're Selling,
Night Out,
Rain Still Falls,
Fastball>
Mother's Only Son,
Rambler's Anthem,
Midwest Gospel Radio>
East Nashville Easter>
Follow Me Down To The Riverside>
East Nashville Easter

Encore:
Let Me Fall

10/15/2008 Old97's and The Spring Standards

2008-10-21T22:16:00.004-05:00

The Old97's took 7 years to come back to Columbia, and it was worth the wait. Now I will be the first to admit that I have not warmed up to much of the last two albums, however the first 4 albums the 97's put out contain some of the best music recorded in the last 15 or so years. Now I first saw the Old97's play in Columbia at the Down Under Bar back in the mid 90's. The down under bar no longer exists, and they have played the Blue Note and Mojo's many times since then. Now the band has changed a lot since the days of the Down Under Bar (marriage, kids, age, solo careers, Lasik, etc.), but Rhett still shakes his hips for most of the show and does that hand circle thing when he strums the acoustic guitar fast, and Murry is up to three songs in the set list now. If you remember the 97's of old the show is not much different, just a little less twang and a little more pop. I got a really good recording of the show and have posted it on my site. Here is the set list for the 97's

Set List:
The Fool
Lonely Holiday
Melt Show
No Baby I
Crash On The Barrelhead (Murry)
Designs on You
I Will Remain
The New Kid
Doreen
Color Of A Lonely Heart Is Blue (Murry)
Question
Niteclub
Indefinitely
Victoria
Smokers (Murry)
My Two Feet
Early Morning
Barrier Reef
Rollerskate Skinny
The Easy Way
Encore:
Stoned
Won't Be Home
Dance With Me
Timebomb

The Spring Standards was the opening band, and I have to say the surprised me! They play some fun acoustic/folk/country/pop music. It was a nice way to open the night of music. This was yet another interesting percussion band the three piece members of the band (two guys and a gal), play guitar, bass and keyboards as well as different parts of the drum kit. One guy would play a cymbals bell set up, another guy plays the kick drum, and the girl plays the snare and high hat. They played a great set of music, and it turns out that Rhett Miller produced their latest EP, which must be how they got the opening spot for the Old97's for this stretch of the tour. I missed most of the set on my recording due to a technical issue with the software. Turns out a "button" I never press got pressed while I was using the mouse pad on the old laptop causing the software to go into loop mode. I didn't notice until 2/3's of the way through the set. Therefore, I only have a partial show and partial set list for this band. Here is what I have:

Reply (most of beginning cut)
Premonition
Trouble
Your Lie
Little Bug

I have now posted the shows for download on my site Lovin Live Music. Enjoy

09/17/2008 The Avett Brothers, Backyard Tire Fire, Ha Ha Tonka shows posted

2008-10-07T20:49:00.002-05:00

I have now posted my recordings of the Avett Brothers, Backyard Tire Fire, and Ha Ha Tonka 9th Street Summerfest shows. The details are below. Here is the link for my site Lovin Live Music. Enjoy.

09/17/2008 The Avett Brothers, Backyard Tire Fire, & Ha Ha Tonka

2008-10-07T10:50:00.005-05:00

This was an interesting night of music and a great way to close the 9th Street Summerfest for the season. This monthly outdoor concert put on by the Blue Note has been a favorite of mine for the last few years. This year they closed the season off with The Avett Brothers, Backyard Tire Fire, and Ha Ha Tonka. For me this was a night of all new music. I have been wanting to catch Backyard Tire Fire and Ha Ha Tonka for a while, since they play Columbia rather often, but have not been able to make a show until now. The Avett Brothers played Columbia back in June, but I decided to see the Gourds that week instead, so I was glad that the people at the Note decided to bring them back to town just a few months later.

The show started with Ha Ha Tonka, and I was rather surprised at how much I liked these guys. They play a nice blend Midwestern alternative, country, and pop. The show was well paced and the music interesting from beginning to end. The show featured three covers Black Betty, Hangman (acapella version of Led Zeppelin's Gallows Pole), and a classic Big Smith tune 12 Inch 3 speed oscillating fan. During the Big Smith song they included a section of the Avett Brothers song Weight of Lies. All and all it was a great version of the song. My recording of their set was weak on the lyrics for the first two and a half songs of the set, but after I switched a couple of inputs it fills in very nicely. I have some holes in my set list, but here is what I have for the Ha Ha Tonka set:
1) ?
2) St. Nick On The Fourth In A Fervor
3) Gusto
4) ?
5) Falling In
6) Hangman (Traditional)
7) Black Betty (Traditional)
8) ?
9) 12 Inch 3 Speed Oscillating Fan (Big Smith)
10) Caney Mountain

After Ha Ha Tonka Backyard Tire Fire hit the stage and ripped into a set of classic bar rock. They are really good at what they do, and moved through the set like seasoned professionals. Overall they weren't to my tastes, but they played one original that I loved. I think the title is Jimmy and Bobby and Jack. It reminded me very much of Robert Earl Keen's The Road Goes On Forever. They also played a cover in the set, Warren Zevon's Lawyers, Guns, and Money. Thanks to the adjustments I made for the Ha Ha Tonka set, I got a pretty good recording of the Backyard Tire Fire set. Here is the set list for the show:
1) Downtime
2) 1000 Gigs Ago
3) Welcome To The Factory
4) The Places We Lived
5) One Wrong Turn
6) The White On My Walls
7) Time With You
8) Jimmy and Bobby and Jack
9) Food For Thought
10) Skin and Bones
11) Lawyers, Guns, and Money (Warren Zevon)
12) How In The Hell Did You Get Back Here

The Avett Brothers ended the night with their brand of sparse acoustic Appalachian pop. They hit the stage with a banjo, acoustic guitar, upright bass, and cello. The banjo player (Scott Avett) also played kick drum during many songs and moved back to a drum kit for a few. The acoustic guitar player (Seth Avett) played a cymbal from time to time and also moved to the keyboards for a few songs. The cellist was an interesting addtion to the set, and the interplay between the two bass instruments was nice on the ears. There were times during the set that the bass was a bit high (mostly from the kick drum) or that the vocals were less than I would have liked, but it was a fun show that flowed well. It was interesting watching the Seth do his running shoulder rolling dance move during the build up and intense parts of many of the songs. I will say there were three downers of the night. The first two are recording related, first, I didn't get to plug into the SBD for the Avett Brothers, second the crowd was loud and the levels from the PA were a little low, so my AUD recording is rather chatty. Finally, they didn't play Murder In The City. What's up with that! Oh well, they did play a great set of music with three new songs. This was also the first time I have heard a crowd sing for an encore. The crowd continued the La La's from Go To Sleep right through the encore cheering. Here is the set list for the night:
1) Weight Of Lies
2) Pretty Girl From Raleigh
3) Paranoia In B Major
4) Die Die Die
5) Distraction #74
6) All My Mistakes
7) Wanted Man
8) Laundry Room
9) At The Beach
10) Please Pardon Yourself
11) Backwards With Time
12) Kick Drum Heart
13) Talk On Indolence
14) St. Josephs
15) Salina
16) Tin Man
17) Go To Sleep
18) Will You Return

09/13/2008 Langhorne Slim & The War Eagles

2008-10-07T10:47:00.003-05:00

I have finally posted my recording of the 09/13/2008 Langhorne Slim & The War Eagles on my site Lovin' Live Music. This is a multichannel SBD+AUD matrix recording. I don't have a setlist for the show, so if someone can help me out that would be great. Enjoy the recording.

09/13/08 The Builders and The Butchers Setlist and show download

2008-10-07T10:39:00.003-05:00

I have posted my recording of the 09/13/2008 The Builders and The Butchers show at Mojo's in Columbia, MO on my site Lovin' Live Music. Here is the setlist for the show:
The Builders and The Butchers
09/13/08
Mojo's
Columbia, MO
Multichannel SBD+AUD matrix
1) Red Hands
2) Short Way Home
3) Bottome Of The Lake
4) Down In This Hole
5) Devil Town
6) Raise Up Them Weary Hands
7) In The Branches
8) Teh Coal Mine Fall
9) Black Dresses
10) When It Rains
11) Bringing Home The Rain

07/29/2008 Dr. Dog Setlist and download

2008-10-03T22:38:00.003-05:00

After a long break in the action I am about to start posting some new shows on the site. The first to hit the site is the Dr. Dog show from July.
You can download the show from my site: http://lovinlivemusic.googlepages.com/home
Here is the set list:
Dr. Dog
07/29/2008 Mojo's
Columbia, MO
Set List:
1) The Way The Lazy Do
2) The World May Never Change
3) The Old Days
4) Ain't It Strange
5) The Breeze
6) Oh No
7) Today
8) The Girl
9) From
10) My Old Ways
11) Easy Beat
12) The Rabbit The Bat The Reindeer
13) Livin' A Dream
14) My Friend
15) I Hope There's Love
16) I Know I Tried

09/13/2008 Langhorn Slim with The Builders and The Butchers

2008-09-14T08:19:00.003-05:00

This was a fun night of music, and a great way to lead into my 36 Birthday. The night started with The Builders and the Butchers, a five piece out of Portland, OR. They played with a lot of energy and reminded me of a tighter Felice Brothers. The lead singer played acoustic guitar and various tambourine type instruments; there was another acoustic player that also played banjo; a bass player that looked like Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) from Spinal Tap; one percussionist that played a pair of toms with what looked like tambourines attached; and another percussionist that played two bass drums (one laying on the floor that he just pounded), piano, trumpet, harmonium (I think that is what it's called), and mandolin. Obviously they had a lot going on up on the stage, it was like being at a hootenanny and I rather enjoyed the unique percussion section. Interestingly I found that some of their songs had a flamenco-mariachi band flare. There were some obvious fans in the audience that danced and sang each word throughout the set, and the band fed off the energy of the crowd. They ended the show by playing a song unplugged in the middle of the crowd. The passed out various percussion instruments to the crowd and it ended up like a campfire sing-a-long. My recording of this song is crap but I kept it as a record of what happened that night. I would highly recommend seeing these guys if you get a chance.

The B&B set the bar high for Langhorne Slim, but the crowd was primed and ready for the band hit the stage. While The B&B brought a frantic energy to the stage, Langhorne Slim brought more of a swagger. By the by, the show was listed as a Lanhorne Slim show, but I think this would actually be a Langhorne Slim & The War Eagles show since it was a full band. The band consisted of Sean Scolnick (Langhorne Slim) on acoustic and lead vocals, Paul Defiglia on upright bass, and Malachi DeLorenzo on drums. The stage was set up with the drums and bass pushed to the back and right of the stage, giving Sean plenty of room to move about with the music. I would compare the show to perhaps a Johnathan Richman or Chuck Prophet show. It rolled through songs about women and love, and like these artist it is the lead singer that moves the show along and sets the pace. It was interesting to me to see the crowd going wild and dancing like crazy to music that did not match pace of the frantic dancing. However, at least they were having a good time and letting the band know they appreciated the show. I have two highlights of the show, and both were a result of audience interaction. The first was during what I think is honey pie the lyric asks if you like Macy's or JC Penny's, and then a guy yells "I like Target", and Sean sings "Targets Nice Too". Classic off the cuff banter in the middle of a song. The second was during the song about dancing with women when a couple of older (compared to the drunk 20 somethings that were at the show) came up on stage and started dancing unbeknownest to Sean. When he turned around it gave him a jolt and he said it scared the hell out of him. Fun times. Sadly this incident also led to the most pathetic moment of the night as well. One of the drunk 20 somethings came up on stage with the other two dancing ladies, not a problem right, wrong. It turns out that the drunk 20 something felt that because she was on stage and got to talk with Sean, they were establishing some kind or rapport. After the song it took her forever to get off stage, then she came back on stage after the next song to share a shot Sean, and stayed on stage for way to long, even after they started the next song. Finally Sean had to tell her that she needed to disappear for a while. Quite the nice way to say get your ass off the stage and let me work. It's a sad thing when people refuse to respect the sanctity of the stage. All in all it was a great night of music and I got a couple of pretty good recordings from the night. I will post setlists when I finish mixing the shows and get them posted on my site. Tonight I am off the Back Yard Tire Fire, Ha Ha Tonka, and the Avett Brothers. Here's to hoping for another night of great music and great recordings.

07/30/08 Cracker at 9th Street Summerfest

2008-08-07T07:39:00.003-05:00

This was my first Cracker show, and I have to say it was great. Cracker, and front man David Lowry, is one of those band that you can sometimes forget how great their songs are until you browse through your MP3s and realize just how many songs you actually own by this great song writer. For those of you who don’t know, and if you don’t know please get out of the box and experience the world a little bit, David Lowry was the front man for one of the best indie bands of the 80’s Camper Van Beethoven. In the 90’s he formed Cracker and put out string of great albums starting in the mid-90’s. I don’t know what the hits for the band might include beyond Teen Angst because I don’t really listen to the radio anymore, but there are some amazing classics in this bands repertoire. This show was a part of the 9th Street Summerfest put on by the Blue Note here in Columbia, MO. Performing on the night was Cracker, Dirtfoot, and The Hipnecks, all for free. This was a great eclectic night of American music. Cracker hit the stage with the least number of people, just four, David Lowery on acoustic, "Black" Sal Maida on Bass, Frank Funaro on Drums, and of course Johnny Hickman on lead guitar. The great thing about Summerfest shows is the atmosphere of being on a street surrounded by old buildings while it gets progressively darker through out the show. By the end of the night you get the added light show of the stop lights that change during the set. Cracker played a great set and high lights of the show for me included Euro-trash Girl, Movie Star, 100 Flower Power Maximum, and Camper’s Take The Skin Heads Bowling. Songs of note include a cover of Bob Dylan’s Man In Me and Happy Birthday to Me for the Bassist. A great show for any fan of the band.
Come on over to my site to download the show.

Cracker
7/30/2008
9th Street Summerfest
Columbia, MO
Multichannel SBD+AUD
Set List:
1) Intro
2) One Fine Day
3) Gimme One More Chance
4) The Riverside
5) Teen Angst
6) 100 Flower Power Maximum
7) Mr. Wrong
8) How Can I Live Without You?
9) Euro-Trash Girl
10) Man In Me (Bob Dylan)
11) Waitin’ For You Girl
12) Everybody Gets One For Free
13) Movie Star
14) Low
15) Take The Skin Heads Bowling
16) Sweet Thistle Pie
17) Get Off This
18) Happy Birthday To Me
19) St. Cajetan

Scott H. Biram and Possessed By Paul James live Ready to Download

2008-07-27T17:31:00.002-05:00

Hey All-I have finished mixing the shows, and now have them ready to download on my site: http://lovinlivemusic.googlepages.com/home . I have not worked out the set list for these two acts, but will post them on the site as soon as I work them out.

Bob Log III 07/15/2008 Set list

2008-07-27T17:29:00.001-05:00

Well I have worked out the set list for the Bob Log III 07/15/2008 show I recorded. Here is the set list. Just go to my site: http://lovinlivemusic.googlepages.com/home to download the show in SHN or MP3 format.

Bob Log III
07/15/2008
Mojo's
Columbia, MO
Multichannel SBD+AUD
1) Six Stringer kicker
2) God Damn That Sounds Good
3) Mr. Sis Boom Bah
4) Bubble Strut
5) Shinkansen Teh
6) Boob Scotch
7) I Want Your Shit On My Leg
8) Look At That

07/15/2008 Bob Log III, Scott H Biram, & Possessed By Paul James

2008-07-16T09:08:00.004-05:00

This was a Bluebilly Hillgrass Production featuring threesome of "one-man" bands. The night started with Possessed by Paul James. Possessed By Paul James is the Konrad Wert, A rather high spirited man and the cleanest act of the night. His style of music worked well with Scott H. Biram and Bob Log III, but his lyrics were in stark contrast to the debauchery that followed his set. Normally his music consists of Konrad playing either guitar, banjo, or fiddle while stomping the beat out on a guitar case. However, tonight the banjo broke a string, so we only got the guitar and fiddle songs. His songs centered around love, loss, and the church. He featured snippets of hymnals and redemption. He was an unassuming and modest man and really a pleasure to meet. I really hope he comes back soon.
After Konrad it was time for the dirty old man to take the stage. Scott H. Biram is a dirty dirty country blues man. He packed the stage with amps, sang into 4 mics and stomped the beat out on a peddle that was attached to I have no idea what. I will say that the "drum" part was so commanding that it actually moved my mics around on stage. (I am not sure how the mic feed for this set will sound). He was offensively hilarious all through the set, fans of Mojo Nixon would be happy with the between set banter. Early in the set he did 3 shots of whiskey right in a row, and he really got his groove on as the shots took affect. The between song banter was great, and he played some great slide guitar. The set was loud, the crowd interaction inspired, and the music interesting. If you like your Blues and Country dirty, this is the man for you. He ended the set by striking a note on his guitar and then messing with it using the many peddles that he had up on stage. It was an interesting affect. I did get confronted by Scott after the set because I recorded the show. I forgot to introduce myself when I got to Mojo's, and he was not happy with me because he thought I hadn't asked to record. After I told him I was the guy who e-mailed him for permission to record a couple of days ago all was cool. I am happy that he remember the e-mail, cause that could have ended in a situation.
After Scott brought evil to the house, Bob Log III brought the crazy. There are not words to adequately describe a Bob Log show. To start of with Bob wears a leather jumpsuit on stage with a line of mirrors on the sleeves and legs. He wears a motorcycle helmet with a phone mic attached, so his lyrics are distorted. He plays guitar, a drum with one foot, and a cymbal/tambourine with the other foot. His mic and guitar are wireless so he can move around while playing if he feels the urge. He started playing the guitar to start the show outside of Mojo's and then walked in the back door and proceeded to rip the roof off the place. His music is crunchy, and the vocal are hard to understand at best. So, really you are heading to the show for the feel of the music and the show that is Bob Log, not the content of the lyrics. His between song banter was immodest to say the least, and kept me laughing for the rest of the night. Bob has two big gimmicks during his set. The first is the Boob shot, where he gets a member of the audience to put their boob in a shot of whiskey and then he drinks from the glass. He also dips his boob in a shot of whiskey and passes it around the audience. I wonder how many of the many guys in the audience were there hoping to catch a peek at a boob? The other major one is he plays a song with a girl on each knee. Since the song is I want your shit on my leg, it's a pretty fun moment.
The night ended with me walking out while Konrad Wert was spinning Scott H Biram around on his shoulders. All and all it was a great night of drunken music

06/26/2008 Colourmusic Set List

2008-06-30T21:10:00.003-05:00

Well I have finished mixing down the Colourmusic set they played at Mojo's. Here are the details of the show and the link to get to my site to download the recording.

SBD+AUD multichannel Matrix recording
Set List:
1) Intro
2) Put In A Little Gas
3) You Can Call Me By My Name
4) The Gospel Song
5) Circles
6) ?
7) ?
8) Yes
9) ?

The highlight of the show for me was tracks 3-5. Pop greatness. Just come on over to my site (LovingLiveMusic)

06/26/2008 Colourmusic, Witch's Hat, Gentleman Auction House

2008-06-29T09:45:00.004-05:00

This was an interesting night of music featuring Colourmusic out of Oklahoma, the Local band Witch's Hat, and the late addition of Gentleman Auction House out of St. Louis. I planned to see the show based on the myspace tracks for Colourmusic, but thought the pairing of Witch's Hat with Colourmusic was a bit odd based on the Colourmusic tracks I had heard. I went to the show expecting Colourmusic to be a gentle pop band, but the first note of the first song proved that impression to be 100% wrong. I will get to that later though.
So the night started out with Gentleman Auction House, and I was very suprised by this band. First of all, I don't think I have think I have seen the stage at Mojo's stuffed with as many people before. They had two drummers, two keyboard, a bassist, an acoustic guitar guy, and a lead guitarist. However, the acoustic guy also played xylophone and did something else, the guy keyboardist also played guitar and trumpet, and the girl keyboardist also played flute. Needless to say they have a lot going on up there on stage, and the music had a very nice complexity to it while somehow having the feel of an old tent revival band. I found the music to be very entertaining and original. It had the Jam band feel based on instrumentation, without the extended instrumental noodling. If you have a chance to check this band out I would highly recommend going to the show. I would also like to note that the female keyboardist played the keys about as brutal and angry as I have ever seen the instrument played.
Next up was the ever entertaining Witch's Hat. This is my second Witch's Hat show, and it was a similar experience from the last one. Great music, entertaining stage show, and lyrics that I have a hard time getting crazy about. Don't get me wrong, the lyrics are clever and well written, I just don't get into fantasy based songs about battles and Knights etc. The highlight for the night for me was their song Lazer. For this song the lead singer uses a Bullhorn instead of the microphone (which really makes it hard to get a good live recording of the song by the way), and during the song he will jump off stage and runs through the audience while singing. He did this last time, and I still find it entertaining. I would say that everyone needs to experience a Witch's Hat show at least once in their lives, but the band is playing their last show on August 8 at Mojo's here in Columbia, MO, so I doubt most people will be able to experience greatness that is the Hat. My only downer for the night was that they didn't play Glodyany 1972, I love that Vampire song. I will say that the guys at Colourmusic loved the show, and actually begged them from the stage not to break up and come to Stillwater to play a show with them in September.
After Witch's Hat, it was Colourmusic's turn to take the stage. The band all wore matching white Clockwork orange outfits and all the instruments and amps were white. That was my first indication that perhaps they had a little more of a stage persona for the show, and that the pairing with Witch's Hat made a little more sense. They opened the show with Put In A Little Gas, and my first impression of the band was shattered. This song assaulted the ear with a tumultuous sonic blast, with the lead singer shouting his lyrics above the cacophony with a thrust of the fist to emphasize his point. This band has been described as a combination of The Flaming Lips and The Polyphonic Spree, and I would have to agree. Like these bands, they put on a show live, and Colourmusic can play the fun me low pop songs, but they have a hard complex edge to most of the music that borders on noise will not lend them to extensive radio play. However, if you are a fan of this style of music, you will love Colourmusic. They put a great show full of complex sonic combinations that ebbs and flows from quite melody to earsplitting assaults. I hope these guys hit Columbia again, because I will be there.

I got good recordings of all of these bands, and I will post set lists and links to download the show after I finish mastering them all.

06/12/2006 Loco Macheen & The DeWayn Brothers

2008-06-14T10:58:00.003-05:00

This was a Kansas 2 for 1 show featuring Loco Macheen & The DeWayn Brothers. The great part, they are the same band, mostly. These guys obviously fit into the world of the Jam band, but had a dilemma when they wanted to start a band. What kind of Jam Band do they want to be? On the one side it is a lot of fun to plug in and go electric, but damn that Bluegrass sure is fun with all the murder and the heart ache. It was like Sophie's choice, and when you don't have to make a choice, why do it? (Being from Missouri it would be easy to make a joke about Kansans at this point, but I will digress)
Anyway, I had no idea what to expect when I went to the show. I had never heard of this group of people, but was intrigued by the description on the Mojo's website and was jonesin' for some Bluegrass. I didn't come to the show with high expectations, but I left blown away. Not by the music (though it was well played, well writen, and the show was fun), but by one of the singers. They have one of the best female leads I have had the fortune to stumble upon. Jamie Lee is a fireball with a voice that is powerful and sweet on the ears. She doesn't have what I call a pretty voice, rather it she has a soulful voice that drips emotion. These bands would be worth catching just to listen to her sing, but when you add to the mix that the songs are well writen and the musicianship is solid, you have a great night now matter who they hit the stage as that night.
Now I am not a huge fan of the Jam band scene, so I enjoyed the music of The DeWayne Brothers over Loco Macheen. However, I loved the covers of Loco Macheen, and the Loco Macheen show produced one philosophical question. Can a band cover itself? That's right, Loco Macheen played a song writen as DeWayne Brother's song. So, is this considered a cover, a new arangement, or just a song? I will leave that up to the set list philosophy majors out there to ponder.
At this time I think they are doing more DeWayne Brothers show than Loco Macheen show, at least when they come to Columbia, because they have only returned as the DeWayne Brothers. They always come to town when I can't make the show, so I am hoping that they start asking ME when a good time to come to town will be the next time they make the trip east. I have both shows posted on my site Lovin Live Music so go on over and check them out. Here are the details for both sets.

The DeWayn Brothers
SBD + Aud Matrix
Set List
1) Intro
2) Bacon & Eggs
3) She Lies
4) The Ship
5) Ruthy Lynn
6) Come Over
7) Another Night (Alison Krauss)
8) Right Hand
9) Cousin James
10) Sam & Sal
11) Bastard Son
12) Just To Die
13) Black Eyes
14) Moonshine
15) Pigeon Stew
16) Last Danced
17) Crackhouse
18) Murder One

Loco Macheen
SBD + Aud Matrix
Set List:
1) Give It Up Or Let Me Go (Bonnie Raitt)
2) Want You Gone (DeWayn Brothers)
3) Hell (Squirel Nut Zippers)
4) Brown Water
5) Death Is No Dream
6) GTT
7) Alter Ego
8) Dogtown Grass
9) Finding Treasure
10) Try (Janis Joplin)
11) When At Home & Instrumental
12) Weaszack Crotchbottle
13) Bus Bust
14) Mahatma
15) Right Wing Pigeons (Dead Milmen) >All Day Long
16) Army Of The Ocean
17) Car Wash (Rose Royce)

06/06/2008 The Gourds & Patrick Sweany @ The Blue Note

2008-06-09T08:45:00.005-05:00

Well it was another great night at the Blue Note to watch music when The Gourds rolled into town between stops at Twangfest in St. Louis and Wakarusa in Kansas. Opening the show was Patrick Sweany and his band, and since he is apparently from Jefferson City, it was a little like a family reunion to start the show. Patrick plays a nice brand of bar rock blues, and you could tell from his show that he was good at keeping the drinkers at the bar interested in listening to his music. During the show his stage banter was a cross between a conversation between old friends and a cheerleader keeping the crowd engaged in the show. During the show he stopped twice during a song, one to announce the new tattoo that a friend's son had just gotten, and the other to adjust his sleeves so that he still looked good for the audience. It was actually a rather entertaining show. I am not that into the blues or blues rock, so musically it wasn't my favorite show, but if you do like this style of music Patrick plays a mean guitar and puts on a great show. At the very least it is fun to sit back and have a couple of drinks with a few friends while he is playing in the back ground. The highlights of the show for me included the last song and some of the instrumentals near the middle of the show.

Set List:
1) Intro
2) Instrumental
3) Step Outside
4) Wednesday Night
5) Nobody Dance
6) Instrumental
7) Your Man
8) Instrumental
9) I Want It All
10) Instrumental
11) Instrumental
12) Bad Love
13) Think About It
14) Yeah Man

The Gourds took the stage and brought forth their brand of Americana greatness to the stage. They opened the stage with a Rockin' Do 4 U with Midnight Rider played in the middle. They then proceeded to play through a meandering set that scorched, swung, and swayed. They covered a lot of ground in the Gourds catalogue moving through accordion, key board, fiddle, lap steal, banjo, acoustic guitar, and electric guitar through out the night. I am not familiar enough with the Gourds live set to know what might be a rare track or a interesting version. They of course played Gin and Juice (which seemed to get the best crowd reaction), and part of the fun of Gin and Juice now is to see what songs they transition to in the middle of playing. For this set we go a little bit of Everyday People and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. For the encore Jimmy Smith put down the bass and played acoustic guitar. All in all it was a great show that any fan of the Gourds would love. I will say that highlights for me were Do 4 U, Motherless Children, Burn The Honeysuckle, Ant On The Melon, Gangster Lean, Gin & Juice, and All The Labor.

Set List
1) intro
2) Do 4 U (Midnight Rider middle)
3) Motherless Children
4) LGO
5) Right In The Head
6) Blankets
7) Burn The Honeysuckle
8) Ant On The Melon
9) Big Santiago Bust
10) Illegal Oyster
11) Red Letter Day
12) Bug Blues
13) Shake The Chandelier
14) Mister Betty
15) A Few Extra Kilos
16) Flavor On Yer Tung
17) Collections
18) My Name is Jorge
19) Gangster Lean
20) Gin & Juice (Everyday People & Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheep)
Encore:
21) Plaid Coat
22) All The Labor

I got pretty good recordings of both bands and they are posted on my site Lovin Live Music for download in MP3 or SHN formats.

05/31/2008 Death Cab For Cutie & Rouge Wave

2008-06-04T14:49:00.003-05:00

Well to start out with this show was great. Both bands played great sets, and if Rouge Wave make it back to Columbia, MO I will not miss the show. Now for the bitching. It rained a lot right before doors of this outdoor show, so when I got in line at 6 when the rain was starting to die down, I didn't know I would be waiting until 7:45 for the doors to open. It understandable, but it sucked that I called to make sure the show would still go on, and was told that the show would start as normal. I would have waited quite a bit longer to drag myself downtown for the show if I had known. I also didn't get to record the show, which sucked, but with the rain and everything everyone was a little on edge and i didn't want to push my luck. Anyway, Rogue Wave was really good, but I don't know enough about their music to comment on the set list. Death Cab played all the hits, and the best moment (at least the one that the crowd seemed to pay the most attention to) was I will Follow You Into The Dark. The whole crowd sang from start to finish for this song, and really was the moment of the show. During most of the rest of the show a lot of the crowd seemed indifferent to the fact that Death Cab was on stage playing great music.

05/09/08 Blue Bird Benefit Set Lists

2008-05-24T15:01:00.003-05:00

Well I have finished editing the Casey Reeves & Wes Wingate, Ryan Groff, and Witch's Hat shows, and they are now up on my site for download. Here are the links:
Casey Reeves & Wes Wingate
Ryan Groff
Witch's Hat
I am still working on the King Thief show, so it will be some time still before I have a set list or can post the show on my site. I will keep you posted on my progress. I have to that the Ryan Groff show was surprisingly good, and that I liked Witch's Hat more after I edited the show.

Here are the set lists for the night:
Ryan Groff
Set List:
1) Intro
2) Wooden Houses
3) Lake Water
4) Landlocked
5) Lines

Casey Reeves & Wes Wingate
Set List:
1) Intro
2) Radio King (Golden Smog)
3) Blood On Your Hands
4) 2:45 A.M.(Eliot Smith)
5) You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Bob Dylan)
6) ?
7) Carolina
8) Late Greats (Wilco)
9) ?

Witch's Hat
Set List:
1) Intro
2) Bomb Squad
3) Tizona
4) Behold
5) Tuning filler Song
6) Tonight
7) Popsicles
8) Dance Machine
9) ?
10) ?
11) ?
12) Glodyany 1972

05/09/2008 The Bluebird Music Festival Benefit Show at Mojo’s

2008-05-12T17:02:00.003-05:00

This show was a benefit for the Bluebird Music Festival that they are trying to start here in good old Columbia, MO. It appears to be a SXSW style fest that will include many local and regional acts and occurring in multiple venues around Columbia. Since I liked to idea of supporting a new vehicle for getting good acts in Columbia, and I wanted to catch Casey Reeves, I decided to hit the show. It was a very interesting and diverse line up for the show. The order of the show was Ryan Groff from Elsinore (Champaign, IL), Casey Reeves and Wes Wingate (Columbia, MO), King Thief (St. Louis, MO), and finally Witches Hat (Columbia, MO). The first two acts were singer/song writer solo style shows and were nice and mellow. Then the night took a turn to the rock with King Thief and Witches Hat, but I will get into that in a minute.

The night started out interesting for me. I walk into Mojo’s, and they have a “new” board. It is actually the old monitor board for the Blue Note, but it was a step up from what they used to have. Of course, the problem with a new board is that I have to figure out how to pull the best feed. Since I was the first person trying to record from the board, it took a little doing to figure that out, and I don’t think it was the best option that was settled on in the end. I took what was apparently a tape out feed, but I got clipping out of that feed, so I am going to have to adjust the levels down or try to get the matrix out feeds to work the next time I record at the venue. Also, one final note for anyone that is recording multitrack out of the SBD, the direct out for input 14 does not work. So keep that in mind if you happen to be recording at Mojo’s.

Anyway, as I said the first two acts for the night were solo type performances, and I have to say that I didn’t get to focus on these to acts as much as I would have liked because I was trouble shooting the recording process and adjusting to the new board. However, what I heard of both Ryan Groff from Elsinore and the Casey Reeves and Wes Wingate shows were very interesting. For those of you who don’t know Casey used to be a member of the band Caulfield and The Magic, and Wes has been in The Doxies and The Stingrays. During the set Wes played both guitar and keyboards, and they played a nice set of covers and originals from both singers. When I get done mixing the recording and give the shows a better listen I will comment on the songs etc. I will say that during the set a beer dropped of the amp Casey was using and spilled on the guitar peddles that the guitarist for King Thief used, apparently rendering many of them inoperable. So, I am not to sure how happy King Thief was with the organizers of the evening.

After the quiet part of the show King Thief took the stage. I have never heard of the band, and I am pretty sure that would be because I don’t listen to their style of music much any more. If I had heard them during my early 20’s I would have loved them, and I have a feeling they would have been one of my favorite regional bands. They play a lush and complex brand of hard rock, not fast and furious like metal, but rather a controlled sonic attack. It’s hard to comment on the lyrics at a truly rocking show when you are not familiar with the music already, but what I heard was intriguing, and would have been inspiring to my younger self. I will say that despite the fact that I didn’t enjoy the music, and will more than likely not go to another show, they put on a DAMN good show. The band look, for this night at least, reminded me of mid 80’s era punk/new wave band, and Brooks Bracken, lead singer and song writer, sported a smallish Mohawk that fit in well with the look of the band. The majority of the crowd at the show was there for King Thief, and they played to their fans very well. There were a couple of songs that had crowd interactions involved that the crowd did not require the prompting of the lead singer to perform on cue. The Brooks moved around the stage like a hard rockin veteran working the music and the crowd all at the same time. He had all the poses and moves down, but I am happy to say that it felt neither tired nor contrived the entire time. He walk the fine line between true show man and wanna be rocker very well, and delivered his vocals with style. I was also pleased that the lyrics and the music worked well together. It is hard to listen to hard rock when the lyrics do not interplay with the music at all. Side not from this part of the show, there was this old drunk guy (no not me), who was a little obnoxious and started monopolizing the front stage area (dancing with people he didn’t know etc.), and by the end of the show I think that Brooks was feed up with the guy, because he stood next to him on the speakers that are in front of the stage and then pushed him away from the stage with a kick. The old guy was escorted from the venue after that little incident.

After King Thief left the stage, I think they took all the sincerity with them before Witches Hat took the stage. Now I think they are truly a serious band, but I am not sure much of the act is tongue in cheek. I have a hard time believing that a band playing hard rocking songs about knights and castles and other stereotypical “hard rock” imagery that has been satirized for years by the likes of Spinal Tap and Tenacious D, are not themselves having a laugh in the process. Add to the fact that the lead singer does a great impersonation of Jack Black on stage, and they didn’t appear to be taking themselves seriously the entire time they were on stage, and I have to conclude that they may not be as serious about the music as some other bands. I will say that the show was fun, but for totally different reasons as King Thief. The Withes Hat show had a lot more laugh out loud moments than I was expecting. My favorite moment was when the lead singer, while singing through a bull horn, ran off stage and started singing to the people out on the Mojo’s deck outside the venue. That is just genius.

I am currently working on fixing the shows and will post set lists and links to download the shows as I get them done.

06/03/2006 Cary Hudson at Mojo's

2008-05-04T21:19:00.002-05:00

I have posted this classic show on my site for download. This was a great set of music from Cary Hudson. It had a nice mix of new songs, classic Blue Mountain songs, covers, and great Cary Hudson solo material. This set includes two songs I had not heard before, the cover of Freight Train that Cary had done for a tribute album, as well as Just stuff which was a song he wrote in response to hurricane Katrina's devistation of Mississippi. The great thing about seeing Cary solo is that his guitar work is just amazing. He makes the rocking songs like Bloody 98 and 900 miles sound as full and vibrant as when he plays with a full band. Further, I really think that his improvisations solo bring the songs to life.

Set List:
1) Cool Breeze
2) Free State Of Jones
3) Freight Train (Elizabeth Cotton)
4) Things Ain't What They Used To Be
5) What The Old Man Told Me
6) Pray For Peace
7) Poppa
8) Epitaph
9) Bloody 98
10) Little Darlin'
11) Jelly Roll
12) ZZQ
13) Snow In Mississippi
14) Blue Canoe
15) Just Stuff
16) Passin By
17) Rye Whiskey
18) 900 Miles
19) Banks of The Pontchartrain
20) Oh La La (Ronnie Lane)

04/19/2008 Blue Mountain and Big Smith Set Lists and links

2008-04-22T08:10:00.003-05:00

Here are the set list for the Blue Mountain and Big Smith shows. If you want to download the show just click on the name of the band and you will be directed to my website to download the shows in MP3 or SHN formats.

Blue Mountain
1) Mountain Girl
2) Myrna Lee
3) Skinny Dippin'
4) Butterfly
5) Poppa
6) Lakeside
7) Wink
8) Little Darlin'
9) Jellyroll
10) Wild One
11) 70's
12) Soul Sister
13) Midnight In Mississippi
14) Blue Canoe

Big Smith
1) Mocking Bird
2) Don't You Ever
3) Tongue In Groove (instrumental)
4) I Am A Pilgrim
5) Coal Miner's Blues
6) Got Nobody
7) No Sir
8) Streams of Mercy
9) Backwater (with Cary Hudson)
10) Pray For Peace (With Cary Hudson) (Cary Hudson)
11) Medical Emergency
12) Durang's Hornpipe
13) Brady and Duncan
14) Madahoochi
15) Burn Down The House
16) Go Away Maggie
17) 12 Inch 3 Speed Oscillating Fan
18) Wild Hog
19) Pretty Polly
20) Barrel Springs
21) I Walk Alone
22) ?
23) Cocain Blues
24) Crawdad Hole
25) Trash
26) Big Rock
27) Ride That Train
28) Ponce De Leon
29) Hard Headed Woman
30) Fickel-Hearted Man (with blue Mountain)
31) Y'all Come (beginning cut)

04/19/2008 Blue Mountain and Big Smith

2008-04-20T01:55:00.004-05:00

For me this was a show to go see Blue Mountain with a good band closing the night for them. The good news was that Blue Mountain did get to play longer than the typical 45 minute set an opening band plays, but it was still only about an hour. They played a nice mix of the old songs and "new" songs for the show. If you have seen Cary Hudson solo over the last couple of years, then some of the new songs will be rather familiar. The old songs were great, and they played a number of the slower classic songs for this set including Mountain Girl, Butterfly, and wink. We did not get some of my favorite rockin' BM hits, but they still rocked with some of the newer tracks. The first new song they played was Skinny dippin', which I heard Cary play solo last year and actually included on my best of 2007 mix. This song was a rocker, as was to be expected, and sounded great. I will say that the song had a little bit more of a blues feel to it solo, and felt a little more clandestine as well, like you were witnessing an affair. Little Darlin' has been a favorite of mine from Cary's solo set for for a number of years, and I have to admit that I don't like the full band treatment of the song. It was a little too fast and a little too happy. I have always felt that this was a sweet, beautiful song that had a sad and bitter under current to the song. Perhaps I will warm up to the new version after I listen to it few more times, but right now I am luke warm to the treatment. The did a nice, and apparently impromptu, transition from Little Darlin' to Jellyroll. Cary started playing a guitar riff and then turned back to Frank and started miming a drum riff. Frank got the signal, and they exploded into a great version of Jellyroll. During the song Mark Bilyeu (of Big Smith) came out and did a little hip shake dance thing with Cary, then Cary passed his guitar over to Mark for the rest of the song. It was a fun moment. They played three other new songs, Wild One, 70's, and Midnight in Mississippi, that I have to listen to more to get a better handle on. I will say that they sounded really good, but they sounded a little fresh, and didn't have same polish and swagger that the older songs, or even Jellyroll and Skinny Dippin', had from years of playing and performing on stage. It will be great to watch these songs evolve over time. All in all I came to the Blue Mountain show expecting greatness, and I was not disappointed! Plus, they mentioned that they will be releasing TWO new albums in July and will be touring after the release. I can't wait, and hope they make it back again soon. OK, there was one downer from the night. I had my friend Tim grab the set list off the stage for me, and it turns out that Squeeze box was listed but not played. That would have been great to hear. Also, I don't know how many in the crowd were there for Blue Mountain, but by the end of the night I think a lot more will be catching them live when they come to town. They definitely had the crowd with them by the end of the show.
Here is the set list:
1) Mountain Girl
2) Myrna Lee
3) Skinny Dippin'
4) Butterfly
5) Poppa
6) Lakeside
7) Wink
8) Little Darlin'
9) Jellyroll
10) Wild One
11) 70's
12) Soul Sister
13) Midnight In Mississippi
14) Blue Canoe

Big Smith is a Missouri Hill Billy band from Springfield comprised of a bunch of cousins and a girl on fiddle. They brought a great barn yard stomp to the Blue Note tonight that was a joy to witness. I have to admit that I am not a huge Big Smith band, but I do enjoy seeing them play live. Tonight they played over 2 and a half hours of music, with 2 encores including an after the lights came up and the sound guy had started playing music over the PA singing of Y'all Come to end the night. I love that song and should have known that was going to happen when it wasn't included in the set. Since it caught me by surprise after I had already shut down my software and had started putting up the gear, I missed the very beginning of the song. That's a shame, but what can you do. All the signs pointed to the end of the set.

OK, so if you don't know Big Smith, the basic set up is guitar, upright or electric bass, wash board, mandolin, fiddle (the only female and non-relative in the group), and drums. They add piano on some songs and they all take turns singing. What's cool is that they are often switching instruments depending on the song being played. Little side story about Molly the fiddle player. Cary played Columbia one time after playing Springfield, and Cary told the story of the Springfield show and how he was accompanied on stage by a fiddle player named Molly. Now, I doubt there are that many fiddle playing Molly's that are friends with Big Smith in Springfield, so I bet this was the same Molly. She is an official member of the band now, and did a great job.

Anyway, they had a projector set up to play a slide show of family pictures on a screen during the entire set, and they played long enough to actually run through the pictures a couple of times. It was funny because during the beginning of the set the washboard player kept looking over his shoulder at the pictures. They referred to the pictures a couple of times throughout the set, but not that often to a point that it would distract from the show.

As I said I am not that familiar with Big Smith, so I can't comment on the set list too much. They hit all the songs I knew (12" Fan and Trash) as well as a couple that I had heard during a the number of Mark Bilyeu solo shows I have attend over the years including No Sir and Backwater. I picked up the sound guy's set list, but am not sure how accurate the list might be. Here is why, Cary Hudson came out for Backwater and played with the band (as per the set list), but after that they played a great version of Pray for Peace by Cary Hudson (not on the set list), so I am not sure yet how well the set list matches up to the actual show. When I am done with mixing the show and get it cut up into tracks I will post the set list for all to enjoy.

I did record both shows this night, and when I get them done I will post links to my website to download the show.

04/07/08 Bon Iver with The Palisades Set Lists

2008-04-15T07:47:00.004-05:00

Here is the Bon Iver Set list for the 4.7.08 Mojo's Show
1) Flume
2) Lump Sum
3) Skinny Love
4) The Wolves
5) Blindsided
6) Creature Fear
8) For Emma

Here is the set list and the link to download the show in MP3 and SHN format for the Palisades 4.7.08 Mojo's Show
1) Days of Wine And Roses
2) You Needn't Be So Mean
3) Prayer For A Joke
4) Small World (Tenative Title)
5) Untitled
6) Yours and Mine (Tenative Title)

getting excited for the Blue Mountain show at The Blue Note on Saturday.

04/07/08 Bon Iver with The Palisades at Mojo's

2008-04-08T00:13:00.004-05:00

Tonight had it's highs and it's lows. Here are the two lows:
1) The Jayhawks won the national championship, WTF!!! I have a feeling that there will be some Memphis guys shooting free throws until next season
2) I did not get to record the Bon Iver set for the night, which is a shame because it was a great, albeit short, set of music.

Alright, now on to the highs. I just wanted to get the standard blog bitching out of the way. The night started out with a set by the Palisades. The members of this band used to be in a called Caulfield and the Magic, an Alt-Country band I discovered last year. However, Caulfield broke up and Casey Reeves went one way and these guys went another. While Caulfield was more of an alt-country band, these guys are more of an alternative-pop-synthesizer type band with a folk feel, and I have to say that I think the style of music better suits the lead singers voice. The band consisted of a drummer, bass/keyboard, guitar/lead singer, and guitar/keyboard. They played a solid set of music, and the songs have a complexity that wasn't there the last time I saw these guys play. They are starting to come into their own as a band, and it is obvious that these guys like each other and are having a good time. I will have to listen to the recording and will post a set list when time permits. Fun fact from the night for the Palisades was that you could get a self burned CD from the lead singer if came up and asked. He only burned 10, so by the time I was able to ask at the end of the night he was all out. I guess I will have to make due with the MP3s on Myspace.
Bon Iver (pronounce like it's french Bon eevair), waited to set up their stage until after the end of regulation time for the NCAA championship game. Then, after a quick sound check they didn't get back on stage until after the end of the OT. It was interesting to watch an entire bar of Mizzou fans react to the fact that KU actually tied the game in the last seconds and then went on to win in OT. Fortunately it did not damper the crowds enthusiasm for the show. Bon Iver hails from northern Wisconsin and is a vehicle for Justin Vernon's music. For those who don't know the story, Justin moved into a cabin for the winter and ended up writing an unplanned and beautiful album. For this tour the band consisted of Justin on guitar and lead vocals, another guitar player, and drummer. Both the other guitar player and the drummer provided harmony vocals, and damn they sounded good together. Justin's vocals are high, similar to say Cold Play (but only in vocal style, these guys are NOTHING like Cold Play), and the interplay in the supporting vocals was actually interesting to watch. They play very stripped down songs, and at times they more construct the song on stage rather than just play music. There were two time during the set that they actually deconstructed the songs letting them degenerate into walls of asynchronous sound. They also utilized interesting samples and loops to build and and texture to the music at times through out the night. The show had many quiet and introspective moments, but it wasn't a quiet night of music. They played a short set of music, perhaps an hour, but it was a solid set, and they were very appreciative of the crowd that had gathered on a Monday night to see them play. If you have the chance to see these guys I would highly recommend the show.

My Best of 2007 Live

2008-04-02T11:09:00.003-05:00

What can I say, 2007 was a GREAT year for live music. I saw and recorded more than my fair share of music thanks to the kindness of the Richard King and the entire Blue Note and Mojo’s staff, as well as some old recorder friends at Twangfest in St. Louis. A very special thanks must also go to my most understanding wife who helps me get to these shows at doors to get set up while she is dealing with getting the kids ready for bed.
Before I get into all the great music I would like to touch on the shows that didn’t get recorded and the shows that didn’t end up happening. My biggest disappointment of the year was not being able to record Neko Case. She has an amazing voice and it was a great show. That show would have added at least 3 or 4 songs to this best of 2007. The same is true for the Modest Mouse/Man Man show that I caught in November. Man Man was an out of nowhere sound explosion for me and Modest Mouse is just a great band that had a great night. The Note was packed that night and the sound was great. The good news is that I actually got to see and record Man Man this year, so check out the site for the Man Man show and great ready for the Man Man additions to the best of 2008 compilation.Now the shows that didn’t happen. I actually bought tickets to two shows that got cancelled this year, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and The Polyphonic Spree. These two bands have a very interesting and different sound that would have fit in nicely with the mix of music that I got to record this year. I am not sure why Clap your hands cancelled, but damn the stomach flu for hitting the Spree before they made it up to Columbia from the big D.It would be impossible to review each and every show listed in this compilation of music. If you want a more detailed covering of the shows just go to my site and check out the individual shows pages and check out how the night went. I will say that there are some great headliners in this set as well as some amazing and surprising opening acts. You most likely know the likes of Wilco, Spoon, Blue Mountain, and Yonder Mountain String Band, however acts like Illinois, Dubconscious, Gil Landry, Tim Easton, Robbie Fulks, and Tapes N Tapes just might grab your attention. Check out the local singer songwriters Casey Reeves (solo and with his band) and Noah Earle. They are starting to play more regional shows, so support them if you can.I only offer the best of sets as MP3 files on my site, and they are only offered as zip files. In this case three sets of zip files. I do this in the hopes of exposing people to some new music, so download, sit back, and enjoy my great year of music.
Here is the link for this set up music: Best of 2007
01) Wilco-You are my Face
They opened the show for this song and it set the stage for a great night of music.
02) Blue Mountain-Eyes of A Child
The Triumphant return of Blue Mountain. Don’t be fooled by this quiet track, these guys bring the rock to every show.
03) Spoon-Mathematical Mind
This song made a good show great. It still blows me away how they build the song’s intensity
04) The Hold Steady-You Can Make Him Like You
An enternal truth from one of the most fun bands on tour today.
05) Tapes N Tapes-Insistor
This is the song that got me to the show. It is their “hit”, and truly a great alternative song
06) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-Berlin
The music and the lights for this song worked as one. You just had to be there, but not to enjoy this great song.
07) The Apples In Stereo-Do You Understand
My favorite song of this night at the True False Film show, live these guys have a great pop sensibility
08) Illinois-Oh Asia
Talk about an amazing introduction to a band. They opened with this song, and let’s just say they had me at hello
09) Dubconscious-Bringers Of The Vibration
OK, I have never been a big fan of the Reggae, but damn these guys are great!!!! You don’t just hear this song, you feel it!
10) Mucca Pazza-?
This is a hard band to capture with mere audio recording. They are music in motion with so many people moving on stage, in the crowd, on the balcony, oh yeah and then there was the cheerleader. This is what happens when the bad band kids keep their instruments from high school
11) Gill Landry-Loneliness
I went to this show based solely on the description, and he was great. He bleeds Bourbon Street.
12) Tim Easton-Runnin Blues
Tim Easton would have been the best thing about Twangfest, if it weren’t for Blue Mountain. He played solo, with a Two Cow Garage’s Drummer, and with the entire Two Cow band.
13) Noah Earle-Dollars To Donuts
I have heard of Noah for a little bit on the Columbia scene, but this was my first time seeing him. This is a great narrative song filled with humor and an interesting story.
14) Casey Reeves-By First Light
The other local singer/songwriter in this mix. They have a very different style, but they both write and sing great music
15) Cary Hudson-Skinny Dippin’
I have loved this man’s music since 1994. This is a new song, check out the Blue Mountain songs to get a since of this man’s history
16) Danny Barnes-Footprints In The Snow
Ok, this is one man and one banjo. That’s it. Outrageous! If you want to see what this man can do with a banjo, check out the rest of the Robbie Fulks/Danny Barnes show.
17) Carrie Rodriquez-I Don’t Want To Play House Anymore
This woman has a beautiful voice, and layers with great acoustic old school country music
18) Robbie Fulks-I Told Her Lies
If you don’t laugh at this, you have no funny bone.
19) Caulfield & The Magic-Wicked People
Remember Casey Reeves up there, here he is with his band.
20) Yonder Mountain String Band-Kentucky Mandolin
Welcome to the Bluegrass. This is a great instrumental.
21) Blue Mountain-Black Dog
Remember when I said these guys can rock? Well here it is.
22) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-Ain’t No Easy Way
This is a more “traditional” from a truly rocking band.
23) Tapes N Tapes-Cowbell
This is a great song.
24) The Hold Steady-Banging Camp
How can you not love the Hold Steady. For a great sample of songs download the best of 2006 as well.
25) Casper & The Cookies-Sea Fingers
These guys opened for Apples in Stereo at the True/False film festival. Hands down their best song of the night. I love how it builds to a raging end.
26) Spoon-Don’t Make Me A Target
This was another show opener, and man did it set the tone for the night.
27) Wilco-What Light
Another great song from the “new” album
28) Dr. Dog-Die Die Die
These guys opened for Wilco, and this song stood out the most. Has the best line about smoking.
29) Dubconscious-Future Eyes
Once again they just move you through the music. They really craft the music well live.
30) The Foundry Field Recordings-?
Hate to say I don’t know the name of this great FFR song.
31) Illinois-Old Saloon
Jaw dropping great!
32) The Apples In Stereo-Same Old Drag
Once again a great pop song from this band
33) Tim Easton-Dear Old Song and Dance
This is practically a rant, and it is great!
34) Carrie Rodriguez-Never Gonna Be My Bride
You have to love the anti-love songs.
35) Yonder Mountain String Band-Town
Conformity sucks, and you must make fun of it.
36) Cary Hudson-Passin’ By
This is a beautiful quiet song
37) Two Cow Garage-Should’ve California
This is actually the lead singer solo, and it was the best moment of the show for me
38) Gill Landry-Lawless Soirez
His voice and characters are enthralling
39) Noah Earle-Gossip Chair
This is just great blues
40) Mucca Pazza-?
What can you say? It’s a punk marching band doing their thing.
41) Spoon-The Underdog
The hit off the new album. Hell they played it on SNL.
42) The Hold Steady-Multitude of Casualties
She drove it like she stole it, hard and fast and with a multitude of casualties. What a great opening line!
43) Wilco-Side With The Seeds
I did not like this song, until I heard it live. Now you can love it like I do
44) Illinois-Nosebleed
Apparently this is on the Weeds soundtrack.
45) Tapes N Tapes-In Houston
The drums on this song just pound to me.
46) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-Took Out A Loan
I loved the guitars on this song.
47) Dubconscious-Stereotype
Once again they just move you with a sweet groove that won’t let you go.
48) Cary Hudson-Dime Bag Boogie
The story that goes with this song is great, and the song is fun as well. Not all songs need to have a deeper meaning
49) Robbie Fulks-Irreplaceable (Beyonce Cover)
Every Robbie show has an ironic cover. Here is this years.
50) Tim Easton-News Black Out
A great rocking song from Tim Easton
51) Caulfield & The Magic-Two Steps Back
My favorite local “alt-country” band
52) Gill Landry-Dixie
This epitomizes the Gill Landry experience IMHO.
53) Noah Earle-Waited All Day
More great blues from a great local guy
54) Blue Mountain-Hippie Hotel
I have the 7” for this song. That’s right, vinyl!
55) Tapes N Tapes-Omaha
A slow quiet song from a normally loud in your face group
56) Spoon-They Never Got You
Who hasn’t felt this way at some point in time?
57) The Apples In Stereo-Can You Feel It
One last dose of pop to sweeten the mix.
58) Illinois-Screen Door
Hey Ladies with a banjo
59) Carrie Rodriquez-Instrumental
I love a good instrumental
60) Yonder Mountain String Band-Crow Black Chicken
I have heard this a number of times, but this is the most overtly sexual version I think I have heard.
61) Tim Easton-Broke My Heart
Can you tell I really like Tim Easton?
62) Gill Landry-Never Come Here Again
And Gill Landry?
63) Cary Hudson-Wink
Oh Yeah, and Cary Hudson?
64) Dubconscious-Old Jamaica
A great homage to the old country (but not their old coutry, these guys are from GA)
65) Tapes N Tapes-The Illiad
Any song that references ancient Greek literature is good stuff.
66) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-Weapon of Choice
I won’t waste my love on a Nation, Harsh!
67) Spoon-The Ghost of You Lingers
A haunting song
68) Wilco-Spiders (Kidsmoke)
A great way to end a show and a compilation

Robbie Fulks 1/26/2008 The Wood House Concert

2008-04-01T15:47:00.002-05:00

It seems odd that the first show I post about on the blog about my concert goings and recordings would be about a concert I neither recorded or attended. However, one of my soundcards was at the show, and it was taped by my long time taping partner Tim, so I am going to count this and tell the world about this show and post the show on my site. This is a show Robbie Folks did for the Wood House Concert in St. Louis. Not Familiar with the Wood House Concerts you say? Well I have to say it is the coolest idea I have heard about in a long time. A guy hosts these small shows in his house in St. Louis. All the money goes to the band, and from what I understand it is really a pot luck with great music. They get some great acts if you like the alt-country side of life.
Anyway, this show is pure Robbie Fulks. He is playing solo acoustic for this one and he ended up playing 2 sets of music on the night. Some great Robbie Moments include the song he wrote for an old couple in the Crowd called Maisy and Al. Another funny Al and Maisey moment is the playing of We Live A Long Time To Get Old after initially talking to Maisy in the crowd. This show also includes typical off the wall covers by Robbie including Cher’s Believe and I Want You Back (kind of) by the Jackson 5. This is one of those shows that you won’t stop laughing at, as are all Robbie shows, and yet will have some of the best country music you will hear all year. Highlight songs for me include See Me Now, We Live A Long Time To Get Old, and That’s Where I’m From. You can find the setlists on my site. When I figure out how to post them without messing them up, then I will start to post them here on the site as well. So, come by the site Lovin Live Music and check out Robbie Fulks in St. Louis.
Robbie Fulks (solo)
01/26/2008
The Wood House Concerts
St. Louis, MO

Howdy

2008-04-01T15:46:00.001-05:00

Well I have started this little venture at the encouragement of my long time friend and blogger Otis. My hobby is live concert recording, and this blog will be focused on my hobby. I will post stories, concert reviews, taping experiences and so forth. More importantly I will use this to let people know when I have posted new shows for download onto my website. I have been recording shows for over 10 years now, and I have come a long way from using the house tape deck to record shows at the Blue Note. My current equipment includes an Edirol FA-101 multitrack soundcard and a pair of studio projects C4 mics. The majority of the shows that I record are multitrack recordings that include the soundboard feed, my mics, and direct feeds from some of the instruments. I personally think that most of my recordings are pretty damn good and worth a listen. On my site I will have links to download my recordings in MP3 or SHN formats. The site will include show information, set lists, as well as anything of interest that might have happened during the set. The recordings are free for all to download and enjoy. I feel that music is best when it is live, and I find that the live setting separates the great bands from the good.
Here is my first piece of advice for all concert goers, show up early. I have found that the bands I like will tour with small regional bands that I end up liking as well that I would never have heard if I hadn’t gone to the show early. You will also find that I record all bands at the shows I go to if I am allowed to tape. This is because 1) for the reason I just stated above and 2) all bands deserve to be taped. Here is my reasoning behind my number 2, even the worst band out there in MY opinion has a fan that would love to hear a recording of the show (even if it’s the bassist mom). Further, every band out there is doing something I could never do, write a song and play it on stage. For that reason alone I like to support the small band and provide them another possible outlet to promote their music. Now back to reason number one. I can name three bands in the last year that blew me away that I would not have known about if I had not gone to the show early and listened to the opening act. For the inquiring mind that would be Illinois, The Felice Brothers, and Dr. Dog. These are three great bands that played mind blowing sets of music, that lead me to buy great CDs of music, and have been added to my list of favorite bands.
If you stick with me and this blog, and if I stick with it as well, you will find that I have a very eclectic taste in music and I try to go to about 2 shows a month. When the times get slow I just might start posting some of the past shows that I have recorded over the years to fill in the gaps. I plan to modify the look of this blog as I get time and get a better understanding of how to monkey around with the site. I hope that my friend Otis will be able to give me some advice on that front. Some of the features I hope to add include an MP3 player to allow people to sample my latest recordings as well as a list of upcoming show I plan to attend. If anything happens to be coming to Columbia, MO that I should not miss drop me a note and I will try to make the show. Enough about me for now. Look for a review of my best of 2007 live recordings that I will be posting to my site soon

Is this the start of something?

2008-03-23T13:03:00.000-05:00

Well, my friend Otis convinced me that I need to start blogging to compliment my live show website. So I plan to post my concert reviews and links to my site to down load the shows I have recorded. I make my shows available in both MP3 and SHN formats. It will be interesting to see how this all works out. Uncle Wilco