Seen & Heard vol. 3

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 5^th 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!