WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 – Citizen
Cope at Center Stage Theater (Atlanta, GA)
I know that the ladies love
cool James, but they also have an affinity for Clarence Greenwood. Maybe
not his guitar playing, but his unmistakable, bluesy voice and delivery had the
predominantly female crowd paying attention to every lyric. Enough that
the women sitting across the aisle “shushed” me for talking during a song early
in the set. However that all changed when a man sitting about 5 rows back
from the stage got the audience participating with hand claps on the 2004 song
and crowd favorite, "Bullet and a Target". But hand
clapping was about all we would get for beats at this show. Even though
the show was billed as solo acoustic, based on the fun rhythms of a lot of the songs
in his catalog, I was surprised that he did not use more looping or a drum
machine. Instead he treated the 400+ in attendance to his honest, well
thought out tunes and focusing on the lyrics.
As a visitor in Georgia and
seeing my first show, it was at no surprise that Mr. Greenwood worked a veteran
move by making local references. He discussed how he had recorded songs
off his 2002 debut album (“Citizen Cope”) 30 miles outside of Atlanta in
Alpharetta. He also talked about his previous life of being a “ticket
scalper” and how a night in an Atlanta jail led to his song
“Salvation”. Other highlights of the show included “Son’s Gonna
Rise” and “Healing Hands”.
And for the record the man in
the 5th row never sat down again for the rest of the show.
Thank you Rival Entertainment in Atlanta for the tickets.
THURSDAY, MAY 12 – Avett
Brothers at Stage AE (Pittsburgh, PA)
When I first moved to
Pittsburgh, my wife worked at Schenley High School where we had fun watching
DeJuan Blair lead Schenley to the 2007 state basketball championship. It was also very cool to see him playing in a
NBA game for the San Antonio Spurs in 2009.
Similarly, it was an amazing experience to once see the Avett Brothers
play at Club Café in 2004 and then in 2016 to a sold out show outside at Stage
AE.
I know the band has not been
a 3-piece since cellist Joe Kwon joined the band in 2007, but the band has
really expanded. Now appearing with a
drummer, piano/organist and fiddle player (making the Brothers a party of 6),
the band’s sound has magnified for a classic like “Talk of Indolence” and the
new foot-stomping, hand-clapping “Ain’t No Man”. That does not mean the band has forgotten
their roots, since they are still not your grandfather’s bluegrass music. The band also impressed me with 2012’s “Down
with the Shine” and another fresh jam called “True Sadness”. Considering that the new album is not
scheduled to be released until June 2016, it was fun seeing the crowd
throughout the venue singing along to every song.
So after a solid night of
music, I am excited to see what the album brings for the Avett Brothers in
2016. They joked throughout the evening
that they would retire and play Pittsburgh every weekend, but I believe a day
off in one of their adopted “favorite” cities will have to suffice.
Hard to believe that this was
the first concert I attended with my wife since we saw Smokey Robinson together
in September 2014, but maybe being treated like royalty by the staff at venue
and getting a solid show from a band that is now been playing live since 2000,
will get us both out more as we approach the summer concert season.
SATURDAY, MAY 21 – The Milk
Carton Kids at Carnegie Lecture Hall (Pittsburgh, PA)
Like a Mitchell & Ness
throwback, warm-up jacket in hip-hop, The Milk Carton Kids stepped onto the
stage last night as if they were ready to perform on the WWVA-1170 AM Wheeling,
WV “Jamboree” radio program. Comparing themselves to Simon &
Garfunkel before anyone else in the crowd could, the band with their
stripped-down equipment of two acoustic guitars, one microphone and a
mysterious bag sitting on a stool launched into a 75 minute set with what I
thought was well-rehearsed stage banter, but filling in “Pittsburgh” in all of
the right spots.
I was initially introduced to
the band by way of their regularly performed, closing cover song of the Pink
Floyd classic, “Wish You Were Here”, and was extremely interested to see them
live with Jon H. when he approached me back in December 2015 to see the Grammy
Award winning duo.
In fact, is not too often
when a band plays an ideal venue. And with approximately 500
loyal-listening fans in attendance the very Everly Brothers-esque duo
entertained at a lecture hall turned theater style setting into a fantastic
place to hear live music. Songs that stood out were “Honey Honey” and
“Memphis” which both appear on their 2013 record, ‘The Ash & Clay’.
And speaking of the city of Memphis, their overall performance reminded me of
what is now known as the "Million Dollar Quartet" - the impromptu jam
session involving Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash
from December 1956, at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, TN.
Touring in support of 2015's
“Monterey”, I will be interested to check out the next chess move by TMCK
as they navigate the current landscape of neo-folk music.
Thank you for reading!
