I'm sitting here enjoying my coffee at Loop here in Tremont, and the daunting task of getting back into the swing of things at Citizen Dick involves getting up to speed with local things going on here in Cleveland.  James is busy in Brooklyn, and we're over here sorting through all the LeBron James muck for signs of life.  Luckily, starting on July 14th, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame begins their annual Summer in the City concert series.  Last year, Akron/Family zapped every last bit of oxygen out of the Cleveland lakeside air, and we're stoked to see an even heftier lineup of shows this year.

Here's the lineup:

Wednesday, July 14 – Carolina Chocolate Drops with Lighthouse and the Whaler

Wednesday, July 21 – Free Energy with Founding Fathers

Wednesday, August 11 – Deer Tick (Yeah!)  with The Modern Electric (Double Yeah!)

Wednesday, August 18 – Trans Am with Megachurch

Sign us up immediately for the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Deer Tick show.  The Modern Electric playing at The Rock Hall?  Are you kidding?

Here are a few MP3's of the bands to whet your appetite.  Stay tuned for more info as the dates near.

Free Energy – Hope Child

Carolina Chocolate Drops – Cindy Gal

Deer Tick – Dead Flowers (Rolling Stones Cover)

The Modern Electric – As Sharp As Knives

Fellow Readers,

It's been weeks since I've logged on to post daily content on my beloved blog.  We've left our readership high and dry.  Not only that, but anyone visiting our site has had to look at a dead page for well over a week.  We've been busy folks, and we saw this coming.  Luckily, things have officially eased up and we're throwing our hat back in the ring.  We've missed you, and we certainly hope you've missed us.  We're not going to belabor you with excuses and explanations of our whereabouts.  Just let it be something along the lines of, "we've all had shit to do," and leave it at that.  In a nutshell, we're stoked to get back into the swing of things.

Sometimes it takes a catalyst to get movement going, and this year's Record Store Day probably served as the primary nudge we needed to finally launch back up.  As the temperatures dove to just above 40 yesterday in Cleveland, the warmth of this damn-near holiday spread over anyone that took a short drive up to Waterloo just before noon.  The fine folks at Music Saves and Blue Arrow (along with all of the galleries, shops, and eateries) do a hella job of making Collinwood the best place to be each RSD.  The line of eager music consumers was well over 35 people when I arrived nearly an hour early, and when I saw fellow Citizen Dick writer, Justin, walking up and down the line filling cups of coffee, I knew it was going to be an excellent day.  All of the businesses on Waterloo band together to put on a whole host of events.  Whether it was the short DJ set by White Hinterland, the raucous garage jams of Cloud Nothings or Prisoners, the edgy art gallery exhibits, or the sweet nectar being served at Beachland Tavern, folks that aren't informed really need to head up to Waterloo, not only on Record Store Day, but as much as possible.  The gentrifying nature of the old-school neighborhood is on the up and up.

I got out of there with a pretty good haul, as well.  Music Saves isn't exactly set up for a 200 person onslaught, but Melanie and Kevin did an excellent job labeling everything and making it easy to find.  It was a mad dash for some of the good stuff, but I ducked and weaved and got (just about) everything I was looking for.

1. Pavement's Quarantine The Past special edition LP (This one's going to Brian)

2. Ramones Mania compilation 2LP on this wicked half and half blue/green vinyl.

3. The Flaming Lips Dark Side LP

4. Antlers/White Rabbits split 7"

5. Fanfarlo 7"

6. Soundgarden 7" (This one's going to Brian)

7. Beach House – Zebra 12"

8. Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros – Streetcore LP

9. Roky Erickson/Okkervil River LP

10. Surfer Blood with Marnie Stern/Holiday Shores split 7"

11.  Built to Spill 7"

The nugget I wanted most, however, evaded my grasp.  I really wanted the Rolling Stones 7" and scoured Cleveland to try and snag it.  I obviously had a successful RSD, but there's a bittersweet caveat added without this one in the mix.  If anyone knows where one is lurking quietly, shoot me an email.

I'll conclude this post with a few MP3's related to this year's Record Store Day, and give my added commentary on the event as a whole.  As the event grows larger each and every year, my only hope is that its success does what it's supposed to do – bring people into the store for the remainder of the year.  I sat and chatted with Justin about this a bit yesterday.  While hordes of folks come out to the record store and make huge ticket purchases, the entire event becomes pointless if these same consumers don't end up supporting local independent record stores as a general philosophical rule for the long haul.  As a blogger, I get albums for free, primarily, but whenever I get behind an album 100 percent, I always buy the vinyl to help the industry.  Hopefully, as more and more people get involved with this "holiday," we begin to see a thriving vinyl market.  If we don't, then this turns into a Black Friday kind of thing, where people go back into their caves and don't continue to support the movement until the following year arrives.  Truth be told, these record stores are probably not turning over a large profit annually, and if you know store owners, then you know that they're in it for the love of music generally.  We should continue to support, but the frenzied nature of the Record Store Day energy shouldn't dissipate.  If it does, it's lost its ultimate purpose.  Get out to Music Saves and Blue Arrow, or any local store in your own neck of the woods.  Do it weekly.  Do it monthly.  Set up a layaway plan.  If you're consuming music for free, you should absolutely be throwing money back into the industry to keep it alive.

Enjoy the tunes, folks.  I've included two tracks from Cleveland's very own Cloud Nothings.  He absolutely killed a quick set outside Music Saves late in the evening.  I've also got an Arthur Russell cover from White Hinterland, who DJ'd at the store and then opened for Dosh at Beachland later in the night.  Last, I've included two featured MP3's from split 7" albums that flew off the shelves today.  The newest from The Mary Onettes, The Love Language, CocoRosie.  Great day had by all.  And, damn, it feels good to be back.

Cloud Nothings – Can't Stay Awake

Cloud Nothings – Old Street

White Hinterland – Lucky Cloud (Arthur Russell Cover)

The Mary Onettes – The Night Before the Funeral

CocoRosie – Lemonade

The Love Language – Heart to Tell

Something is pretty awesome in the state of Denmark. This ham-fisted MacBeth reference is doubly pertinent for the city of Aalborg, the nation’s fourth largest city (after Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) and, according to Professor Wikipedia, the one designated as “The Paris of the North.” There are a lot of other facts I could include about the city of more than 120,000, which has settlements dating back to around 700 AD and is currently in the midst of a transition from a working class industrial city to a knowledge-based one, but I’ll stick with the most important characteristic these days: it is home to pop quintet Oh No Ono.

The band, which has been steadily building critical and popular support in ever larger concentric zones emanating out from their homebase, has only recently started to take the American market by storm, but boy is the storm now brewing epic. Although the band’s new record, Eggs, just hit shelves (virtual and otherwise) this week, tracks and accompanying videos have been bouncing around ye olde internets for a while now, garnering the kind of healthy buzz that precedes mega-stardom (or at least an invitation to a timely and well-curated ATP stage somewhere in the developed world). Listeners and snooty bloggers alike are going ape over this record, and for good reason: it’s killer. The record is just familiar enough, harkening as much to fellow Scandinavian imports I’m From Barcelona and (especially) Peter, Bjorn, and John as it does to sprawling indie orchestras like Danielson and The Polyphonic Spree to generational debts paid to The Beatles and Aaron Copland, but doing so in a way that is arguably more experimental and psychedelic than any of the obvious influences one hears. Except, perhaps, the Rubber Soul/Sgt. Pepper era Fab Four.

The band’s sound shifts throughout the new record, and if one didn’t know better or wasn’t listening carefully, they might be likely to double down on the losing side of a wager concerning whether this is a Danish indie rock sampler, rather than the complex and genre-vexing contribution of a single group. Putting out a record where every song sounds so distinct is not only a difficult exercise, but a risky decision, as well. So often, similarly diverse albums by less inspired bands fall on their face, leaving listeners unsure of what a given band’s “real” sound is or leaving them inclined to relegate favorite tracks to the randomness of the iTunes shuffle (such as the hardly random algorithm that dominates that sequence is … don’t get me started) rather than dig – or even think seriously about – the album as a whole. Eggs avoids that trap, and does so because the ethos of joyful experimentation persists from track to track, linking the songs philosophically even as they differ on the sonics and aesthetics.

The record opens auspiciously, a few seconds of barely audible thunder before the choral melody hammer drops, followed by some quasi-Chinese orchestral strains before proto-Scandinavian vocals drop. In many ways, the track (“Eleanor Speaks”) reminds me of the last Taken By Trees album in its marriage of the region’s general pop sensibilities with a particular global impluse, though unlike that album, where Victoria Bergsman immersed herself in Pakistani culture, the boys in this band holed up on the little known Danish island of Mon for nine months in order to get deep within themselves.

The album continues in a different direction on “Swim,” arguably the record’s strongest track, with its combination of twee lyrics and a heavy chamber sound. Although the video for this song has received loads of much-deserved attention, I encourage readers to dig into the track itself a few times before watching the video. It’ll create two different and equally brilliant experiences if you do so.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Notable tracks populate the rest of the album, including “Icicles,” with its deranged male glee club tenor vocals over pompy instrumentals, the new-school, Rush-inspired cantata “The Wave Ballet,” the mermaidesque dynamics of the vocals on “The Tea Party,” and the Rentals meets 8-bit maestro vibe of “Internet Warrior.” The album’s first proper single, “Helplessly Young,” features an ascendant chorus and an odd Salt n Pepa instrumental underbelly pairing so irrefutable in its charm it isn’t surprising that the band released not one but three separate videos for the song. My favorite is posted below, but you can check out the other two here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The trio of tracks that conclude Eggs are a particular riot. “Miss Miss Moss” alone could’ve gotten the band a contract with Sounds Familyre. As much as it channels latter-day Daniel Smith work, the sincerity of the guitar work calls to mind something more like jangly 60s radio rock with just a bit of Jimi in it. On “Miss Miss Moss” and the final two tracks, “Eve” and “Beelitz,” the band stretches things out a bit, with an average run time of about 7 minutes per. The changed pacing is particularly evident in “Eve,” with its languid tenor vocals caressing the narrative as if Vivien Leigh descending an antebellum staircase. There is no hurry here, ironic for a song concerned with time running out, and the deliberate clip is worth the extra couple of minutes, particularly with its hasty mid-track transition into something both more opulent and somehow more simple and its American folk symphonic culmination that begged my earlier Aaron Copland reference.

The album closes with the nearly ten minute “Beelitz,” a song as sprawling as its duration might suggest. Beginning with some speed-tracking tomfoolery, the jibberish soon gives way to church organs and a half-Enya, half-Duran Duran sequence that eventually shows off the percussive skill set of the team. By the 6th minute, however the atmospherics dissipate and the song becomes decidedly prettier and more melancholy.

With “Beelitz,”, Oh No Ono shows that even as its “hidden track” of slow-distorted human speech, following about 140 seconds of increasingly white noise, with the occasional solitary bow pull across a cello strings, is a throwback to bygone times and technology, the band is poised to bring America’s flag-swaddled shores something new, but with Eggs and beyond.

Eggs, the U.S. debut for Danish rockers Oh No Ono, dropped stateside yesterday via Friendly Fire Recordings. The top-notch Brooklyn label – which is also home to favorites like Asobi Seksu, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, and Windmill – released the record in North and South America; The Leaf Label is handling the release everywhere else (except the band’s home country). Although the rest of the country is currently out of luck, the band is in New York this week to play shows at Mercury Lounge tonight (with another Citizen Dick-approved band, Bear in Heaven) and Union Hall tomorrow, before returning to Europe to tour the old country.

Oh No Ono – Helplessly Young

Oh No Ono – Internet Warrior

]]> http://citizendick.org/2010/01/27/oh-no-ono-eggs-album-review/feed/ 0 http://citizendick.org/2009/12/29/lazy-saturday-special-holiday-tuesday-edition/ http://citizendick.org/2009/12/29/lazy-saturday-special-holiday-tuesday-edition/#comments Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:09:14 +0000 brian http://citizendick.org/?p=7430

We’ve been enjoying the holidays here at Citizen Dick, tending to the homefires and (for the most part) neglecting the blogosphere.  You, faithful reader, probably have been doing the same, making the jaunt from hearth to hearth, exchanging the gifts, roasting the Yule log and so forth.  Tomorrow, we kick our Best of 2009 retrospective back into high gear, tossing our last few choice picks into the ether.  A few days after that, we’ll all be back to work cramming you full of new things to listen to and think about.  It’s been a whirlwind first year for us and we’re glad that you’ve been with us for the ride.

Last Saturday was right in the middle of all of my family obligations, so I’m a bit tardy on this one.  It’s the last Lazy Saturday of the year, so I’m going to wrap up at more or less the same place that I started: hard jamming hippie music.  I love “Backwoods Rose” like a sister and this version is particularly stellar.  Enjoy.  Next Lazy Saturday is in a new decade; I’m stoked.

Ekoostik Hookah – Backwoods Rose – Live, 2009

To be honest, Schubas is not one of my favorite places in the city to see a show. For starters the location is less than ideal for someone coming from the Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village area, and though the room is cozy enough it lacks the dive-like appeal that my favorite venues are known for. Not to say that I haven’t seen mu share of great shows there, but they could have easily taken place elsewhere and likely been even better. Years ago the space seemed to be far more indie-friendly, but as the neighborhood has gentrified into Lincoln Park north, the bookings have trended far more toward the mainstream. Again, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I feel as though it certainly had an effect on the attendance on Tuesday. Despite being a major metropolis, getting people in Chicago to go out on a Tuesday night is often like pulling teeth: unless something really big is going down you are going to have a hard time packing the room. And therein lies the biggest downfall of Schubas on this particular evening. The band on the stage was so immensely talented that it was almost painful for me to watch them pour their souls out on the stage for a semi-lifeless crowd of maybe thirty people. Selfishly I was fine with catching an incredible band in a non-crowded and intimate environment, but altruistically they deserved much better.

The show itself was an hour-long onslaught of some of the best shoegaze-garage music that I have had the opportunity to witness up close and personal. The entire band oozed with talent and their chops were on full display throughout the evening. Singer and guitarist Gareth Liddiard put on a mesmerizing performance, belting out infectious hooks in his thick Australian accent while shredding his fingers on against his own guitar strings. No exaggeration, the white pick guard on his Fender Jazzmaster was stained with his blood by the time the band was into their third song. Beyond his intense vocals, Liddiard was otherwise quiet throughout the set, seemingly comfortable to defer all witty banter to guitarist Dan Luscombe, who had no trouble keeping the crowd entertained. Typically it is hard to maintain interest in a show when you are unfamiliar with the majority of the songs, but The Drones had me sucked in entirely from the opening note, an incredible testament to what this band is able to do on stage. Though the set was short and there was no encore, I left more than please with the performance that I took in. Unfortunately I can’t comment on the setlist given my relative unfamiliarity and the fact that the band did not leave one on the stage for me to snag, but I can tell you this: if you have a chance to see these guys play, do it, and if you don’t, at least buy their records. You won’t regret it.

The Drones – Nail It Down (Live)

Buy The Drones @ Insound!

Next up is a brand new track that I got just a few days ago and have been spinning habitually ever since. As you might imagine, I get a ton of songs in my inbox on any given day, and though I try to listen to everything eventually, sometimes one of them catches my eye right away and I just need to hear it immediately. This was the case when I came upon Real Ones on Wednesday afternoon. Not only did it come from one of my favorite PR folks to work with, but the notes that accompanied it compared the band to both The Flaming Lips and Wilco. I’m aware that most of the time you can take those types of comparisons with a grain of salt, but I have a habit of being instantly intrigued by any band that welcomes a comparison to The Lips. The vast majority of the time I end up thoroughly disappointed, but Real Ones offered me a very pleasant surprise. I wouldn’t that they are really all that similar, but I can see the similarities in a RIYL sort of way. In any event, this is clearly a band that can stand on its own merits. When you venture into the realm of melodic acid folk-pop, there typically isn’t a lot of room for error, and these guys have absolutely nailed it. “Every Dog Has His Day” is criminally addictive and will be included on the Norwegian quintet’s US debut All for the Neighbourhood, which is dropping next week.

Real Ones – Every Dog Has His Day

Buy Real Ones @ Insound!

Ryan Adams has always been an artist that I have fallen in and out of love with throughout the years. I loved everything he did in Whiskeytown and Heartbreaker will always be on my list of albums I would want if I were stranded on a desert island. Beyond that, with the exception of Gold, which was a big part of my life for a few years, the rest of his records sort of come and go on a whim. While I like everything, I tend to go through phases and move on. As a lyrics person, I feel that this is easy to do with Ryan’s records given their relatability and often very personal content. The nice thing about that is that every now and then, when a song catches me or comes up in a shuffle, I can go back and rediscover pieces of his catalog that I had previously neglected or under-appreciated. This has been the case for me over the last week or so with Demolition. I used to like “Starting to Hurt” a ton, but never gave a whole lot of thought to the rest of the record beyond the initial infatuation the first week that I had it. Fast forward to now, after falling in love with the track “Cry on Demand,” and Demolition is my current favorite Ryan record. While I know that may change by morning (though I doubt it; I’m going to give it at least a few months at this point), it’s yet another gem that I can now stow away in my list of albums that I can play from start to finish and love every second of.

Ryan Adams – Cry On Demand

Buy Ryan Adams @ Insound!

To begin this review, it’s important to make our apologies for getting this review up nearly a month after the show took place.  This isn’t our normal operating procedure, and folks, we feel terrible about it.  Of all of the shows this summer, these two early August gems were among the best we’ve seen all year.  We don’t have a worthwhile excuse, other than blaming our tardiness on our weak Citizen Dick filing system.  Not only were James and his adjoining musician Brian Lowery excellent to speak/drink with, but their quick collection of crafted balladry was superb, as well.  Whether he’s playing in his side project, The Jescos, or touring as Wand or Wooden Wand, James Toth is an absolutely intriguing and worthwhile show to catch.  His country/soul/punk sound aptly fills the room, and hipster attendees listen to what the man’s belting out.  His witty and sharp lyricism stands front and center, and for the shows at Rumba Cafe in Columbus and The Empty Bottle in Chicago, the two-man traveling sets were short and sweet in all the right ways.

If you’re a regular reader, then you’ll no doubt remember how high I am on Wand’s most recent release, Hard Knox, a collection of rarities and B-sides Toth has recorded through the years.  I snagged the album immediately upon hearing “Arriving” and “Soldier Movies,” and it’s been in immensely heavy rotation ever since.  I must admit, Hard Knox was my first taste of Toth’s work, and a scan of the back catalog suggests a prolific career predating his 2009 release.  Born Bad was just recently released, as well, and if you’re into the full band sound, we suggest picking that one up immediately. Throughout his career, Toth’s edgy folk sound has been acclaimed and we’re glad we hopped on board this year.  As a literature teacher, I’m immediately drawn to how intelligent Toth is lyrically, and his semi-narrative pieces swing through a myriad of shadowy topics.  He splices symbolically driven words with epithets of dark wisdom, and even in an intimate and quick live set, everything transfers beautifully.

Columbus Show @ Rumba Cafe

Rumba Cafe is located just off the beaten path in our state’s capital of Columbus.  It’s a smaller venue but that doesn’t stop some big name indie acts from popping in for a show during tour routes.  There’s an eclectic decor, with an oddball mix of spanish inspired artwork and traditional English pub woodwork.  Cafe tables nestle tightly up against the lengthy bar that runs from the entrance to back of the establishment and a tiny stage sits in the corner with a couple dimly lit stage lights overhead.  The obligatory strands of Christmas lights are loosely strung behind the performers and, for at least this show, the entire bar is dark as hell and sobering when the acts start to play.  In one sense, this was perfect for Toth’s set, but conversely, it made for horrible photo conditions.  The pre-show festivities were a mixture of ups and downs.  The tone was set early when I had forgotten my driver’s license back in Cleveland, and although I have a full beard, was on the guest list, and was bantering back and forth with Toth and Lowery, I couldn’t snag a single beer out of the rigid Rumba staff.  Although I was relegated to strong espresso coffee for the night, I was able to chat a little with James before the opener began playing.  At the time of the show, they were midway through the tour and had just driven fifteen hours to arrive in Columbus an hour before the show’s start.  He looked tired but was completely affable and stoked to play for the small crowd.  Later stops with bands like Akron/Family and at more esteemed venues like The Empty Bottle were no doubt boons on the future calendar, but Toth treated this tiny cafe as if it were the Metrodome, and it’s always great to meet a gracious musician who just likes to perform.  Meeting Toth confirmed my expectations; he’s wickedly smart and well traveled.  He knows music, and even more importantly, he knows how to play a live show.

Toth and bandmate Brian Lowery didn’t have a huge blistering set for us, but the ten or eleven songs they did play were quietly entrancing for the crowd.  Two small amplifiers, one electric guitar and one steel slide guitar was all the two needed to get gutsy for a few tunes.  They began the show with “Saturday Delivery,” one of my favorite Hard Knox tracks, and while I’m uncertain if the stone quiet crowd had ever heard it, they certainly dug it.  I have to confess that I’m a sing-along kind of guy, and because of how quiet everyone was, I had to tone it down a notch.  I’ve posted this track below if you haven’t heard it yet.  It’s completely kick-ass live.  Toth has a muted confidence and swagger on stage, and if you’re an indie fan, you know that some folks hop up on stage with a basket of taut nervousness.  Toth fires off at the opposite end of that spectrum.  He’s ready to play and “seasoned pro” is an apt descriptor.  As the two moved through Dylan covers and some Jescos material (Brian Lowery is also a member of that project), it was easy to become engrossed. Tracks that were unfamiliar to me, like “Heartbroken Haywire” and “Eagle Claw” became intimate favorites within three minutes of the first guitar strum.  Thought-provoking lyricism and witty conversational banter between tracks made this two hour drive down from Cleveland a pleasant diversion for the middle of the week.  In true folk fashion, Toth tells stories in between songs and creates a personal connection with the audience.  It’s a nice contrast to some of the more brooding content in the music and only serves to point to his versatility.  Pairing his recorded material with the live show really begs us to wonder why he hasn’t received more press than he has.  He’s a musician and poet and writes gorgeous songs.  The 45 minute quickie in Columbus was well worth my time, and if you’ve got a chance to see Toth, Wand, The Jescos, or in whatever particular capacity is available, you won’t be disappointed.

Chicago Show @ Empty Bottle

As far as the Chicago show goes, things were similarly low-key on a Wednesday night at The Empty Bottle.  I must admit that I was feeling a bit lazy on this particular evening and decided to skip out on the opening acts.  I realize that is poor concert etiquette, and not a practice that I typically engage in, but it was a Wednesday after all.  After checking ahead to find that WAND was hitting the stage at 11:30pm, I downed a few beers at the casa and made the short walk to the venue a few minutes past 11.  Upon arriving, the hoard of pseudo hipsters standing around outside smoking their hand-rolled cigarettes let me know that I had gotten there just in time for Mr. Toth’s set.  Unlike Kevin I had the foresight to bring a state issued ID along with me, so after checking my name off the guest list I headed straight to the bar for my usual $2 bottle of PBR.  The scene was decidedly mellow for an Empty Bottle show, even one on a Wednesday just shy of midnight.  Even with the smokers back inside, the crowd was sparse and, for the most part, kept a safe distance from the front of the stage.  There were undoubtedly more folks here than in Columbus, but for the normally raucous venue the energy in the air was decidedly mellow.  While everyone was attentive as Toth took the stage, it was fairly evident that the weird rockabilly guy in the straw hat was the only person besides me who was ready to crowd close and sing along.

Upon taking the stage, Toth picked up his guitar and settled into a stool on the right of the stage before setting the tone of the evening with some witty banter about his love for Chicago and Black Flag tattoos.  The banter is something that would continue throughout the night, showing that Toth is one of those rare musicians with an innate ability to connect with his audience on a personal level without seeming contrived or cheesy.  As in Columbus, the set opened with “Saturday Delivery,” followed by a new song that I was unfamiliar with and an oldie from way back, “Wand Arrives.”  At this point, three songs in, Brian Lowery made his way to the stage to contribute his skills on the slide guitar to the set.  The duo worked their way through a few favorites, including “Born Bad” and the intense “Arriving.”  Lowery then took the vocal reigns, playing one of his own songs, “Catch You,” with Toth looking on in approval.  From there the set wound down with a Dylan cover and what should have been the closer, “Eagle Claw.”  By this point in the night WAND had managed to win over the vast majority of the previously subdued crown, eventually giving in to the chants for an encore.  The encore ended up being a new track that the duo has been working on for an upcoming Jescos record, the retro ballad “Stones or Beatles.”  The song’s narrative voice states that loving his woman is easy, unlike trying to choose between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.  After the set I had a brief chat with Toth and made a point to ask him about that particular song, and if that was really a tough decision for him.  His reply?  “Shit no, Stones all the way!”  Personally I couldn’t agree more, and that’s just another reason why I love WAND and you should, too.

Wand – Trails

Wand – Arriving

Wand – Soldier Movies

Wand – Saturday Delivery

All of us here at Citizen Dick are very excited to bring you an amazing opportunity to win a pair of tickets to the Eulogies show here in Chicago at the beautiful Lakeshore Theatre, where they will be playing with The Dears and Great Northern on Wednesday, May 13th.  In case you missed it, we reviewed their latest album, Here Anonymous, right here on our site in an earlier post, and we also covered their last Chicago show in this post.  As you can tell, we are big fans of the album and even bigger fans of their incredible live sets.  If you missed the show at Ronny’s a few months ago, you are in luck because the band is back on the road right now for yet another tour, this time hitting some larger venues along with their friends The Dears and Great Northern.  I promise that this is going to be a show you will not want to miss, and we have an awesome opportunity to help get you there.  All you have to do is drop us a line by clicking RIGHT HERE and including the words “Eulogies Contest” in the body of the message.  We will select one winner at random to receive a pair of tickets to the chicago show on May 13th at Lakeshore Theatre, which is one of the best places in all of Chicago to catch a live show.  We will be accepting entries from now until Sunday at midnight, and the lucky winner will be notified via e-mail on Monday.  Good luck and we’ll see you at the show!  In the meantime, check out Eulogies brand new video for the latest single from Here Anonymous, “Eyes on the Prize:”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s a free download of “Two Can Play” from their recent album, Here Anonymous, out now on Dangerbird Records.  Also, the band is giving away a few tracks at their own site as well, so be sure to check those out  at www.eulogiesmusic.com.  And for those of you not in Chicago, be sure to check out the rest of the dates from their current tour and grab some tickets if they are headed to your town:

Eulogies – “Two Can Play”

Tour w/ The Dears & Great Northern
May 7, 2009 || Black Cat || Washington D.C.
May 8, 2009 || Diesel || Pittsburgh, PA
May 9, 2009 || Grog Shop || Cleveland, OH
May 10, 2009 || Skully’s || Columbus, OH
May 11, 2009 || Magic Stick || Detroit
May 13, 2009 || Lakeshore Theater || Chicago, IL
May 14, 2009 || Blue Note || Columbia, MO
May 16, 2009 || Hailey’s || Denton, TX
May 17, 2009 || Warehouse || Houston, TX
May 18, 2009 || Parish || Austin, TX
May 22, 2009 || Casbah || San Diego, CA
May 23, 2009 || Echoplex || Los Angeles, CA
May 24, 2009 || Independent || San Francisco, CA
May 26, 2009 || Douglas Fir Lounge || Portland, OR
May 27, 2009 || Crocodile Cafe || Seattle, WA

Buy Eulogies @ Insound!

Spring Break came with impeccable timing this year. Brian and I both filled our briefcases full of student homework, shuffled out of the school doors and entered break with a little Dr. Dog and Golden Boots on the brain. Fate was on our top album list in 2008, and Winter of our Discotheque was one of the first Park the Van albums we reviewed in this new budding year. The fact that the double bill was going down in our state’s capitol, a mere two hours away, was an added bonus. The Monday night may well have been a weekend for us. We’re teachers and only get paid to work a measly 180 days of the year anyways.

The dimly lit Basement is an interesting Columbus venue, with a subterranean vibe enhanced by dark exposed brick and chain linked fences blocking off unfinished areas. Brian and I couldn’t come to a distinct conclusion as to whether these blocked off areas were indeed unfinished, or purposely constructed for ambiance. The low ceilings and strangely long bar area create two distinct sections to the hall. The stage area is super small and intimate, with a sunken floor immediately in front with enough room for about thirty noble fans willing to deal with elbow-to-elbow hispster nodding. (We stationed ourselves at ground level, just behind the lowered area and were constantly jostled by folks thinking they could squeeze into the tiny recess; they were all wrong, but we did get that old-timey sardine feeling.) The bar is more spaced out and spans from the diminutive stage area clear to the back. Our initial impression was that The Basement was more bar than concert hall, but when Golden Boots hit the stage it all made sense. The ownership of the club had intimate concerts in mind, and bands that play here are front and center playing their guts out for audience members just a few feet away.

When we first rolled in, Golden Boots were knee deep in sound check and once we had found our spots, the band quickly decided the levels were close enough for government work and launched into louder and more provocative renditions of Winter of our Discotheque material. The five piece had two drummers, one playing the snare with a tambourine and the other banging mallets and sticks on the skins; the percussion kicked ass all set, and the album’s studio bells and whistles were recreated well with the two extra arms holding it down behind the scenes. Another flourish of the recorded work is the electronic beeps and pings, which Dmitri Manos was able to match with a keyboard synthesizer linked up to his guitar. The acoustic qualities of the record took on a more bluesy and muscular tone when translated live, and although the two sounds were markedly different we came to a solid conclusion. On one hand, this Tucson band’s studio work exhibits a tightly constructed effort of musical arrangement. The live sound, however, is grumbly and visceral. On the album, Golden Boots wears the finest business attire, but let down their hair and kick off their shoes when people ask them to play.

Golden Boots is eclectic. Their sound has been described as alt-alt-country on previous efforts, and the overall sound is difficult to pinpoint. When they played songs like “Heatwave” and “Black and Blue,” however, a psychedelic blues tour-de-force leaped outward into the packed house. Dudes came to play ball and the audience did, too, with many fans belting out the lyrics line by line along with the band. Hand-claps and trippy solos drizzled the entire set until everyone was good and ready for Dr. Dog to take the stage; given the psych-rock edges to Dr. Dog’s work, Golden Boots both pleased the crowd and primed them for the next act. It should be mentioned that Golden Boots held their own entirely and we’d certainly hop on board to see them in a headlining role as soon as it happens.

From the moment they stepped on stage, it was clear that Dr. Dog were immensely talented, joyously energetic and a lock tight live unit. All three qualities were on display in the set’s opener, “The Ark.” Bassist Toby Leaman pulled gravelly vocals from his gullet before stepping back to lay down fat riffs while doing a shuffling jig, while guitarists Frank McElroy and Scott McMicken bounced around the stage; it was miraculous that they didn’t collide on the small stage, let alone mange to eke out a near telepathic level of musical unity; dudes have clearly been playing together for a while. (It probably sucks to play euchre with them.)

Everybody in the house was sweating after that first song; the joint was packed, people were grooving hard and the band was letting it all hang out. Dr. Dog was clearly in town to rock as hard as possible; the songs themselves are chockful of emotion and the band wrenches every drop of it out of them. It seemed that they were playing each song like it was their last shot at it. Songs that kill on record are, shockingly, better live. While they played some old favorites, like “Worst Trip, ” there was a clear emphasis on material from Fate. (Sadly, we did not retrieve a setlist, but our notes indicate that they played everything but “100 Years” from that record.) The songs on that album that hit the hardest, “Army of Ancients” and “The Beach” absolutely murdered live. When Leaman grabbed that “I’m sorry” in the middle of the former song, there wasn’t a neck in the house that didn’t have raised hairs.

Dr. Dog appears to know that their songs are good; they’re not doing a lot of fiddling with the songs themselves on stage; while they’re pumping in energy and fervor, they’re still hewing fairly close to the recorded material. What’s clear throughout is the level of sheer talent on display; many of the songs are intricate and complex, and Dr. Dog didn’t dumb anything down. McElroy shredded all night, perhaps most notably on the set closer “The Rabbit, The Bat and The Reindeer.” (That song, by the way was a perfect closer, big and bold with sing-alongs and hand-claps.) The multiple part harmonies were also sweet throughout, dancing behind both McMicken and Leaman with aplomb.

Leaman wrapped up the set by announcing “We’re going to play a few more and let you get on with your week.” This summed up the evening fairly well. Dr. Dog and Golden Boots are both working bands; you get the sense that they’re lunchpail kind of acts, going to the office, kicking out the jams and then packing up for the next town. We’re sure that wherever they are tomorrow night, they won’t leave anything on the stage. You’ll leave sated.

“Love is in the Air” – Golden Boots

Grab some more Golden Boots at Insound.

“Worst Trip” – Dr. Dog

Round out your Dr. Dog collection at Insound.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we are involved with a very special show coming up this week that we are excited to tell you about.  Citizen Dick has teamed up with Beachland Tavern and Misra Records to help bring you Southeast Engine performing live on Thursday April 9th at Beachland Tavern in Cleveland, OH.  Personally we all have a lot of ties to the band, which makes this a truly special show for us to be involved with.  Beyond the fact that we are all native Ohioans, two of us are alumni of Ohio University, located in the town that Southeast Engine calls home, Athens, and also two of us are teachers, as was singer/guitarist Adam Remnant before focusing full-time on his musical endeavors.  And did we mention that the music is amazing?  Southeast Engine has quietly put out one of the best Americana albums of the year in From the Forest to the Sea, a heartfelt and delicate concept album chronicling the struggles of a young man trying to find his place in the world.

Tickets to the show are on sale now for $7 and are available online by clicking HERE.  We are also giving way two tickets to the performance here at Citizen Dick on the band’s guest list.  If you would like to be entered, drop us a note  BY CLICKING HERE with ‘Southeast Engine’ in the message field.  Winners will be notified at least 36 hours before the show, so get your entry in quick if you haven’t done so yet. In the meantime, enjoy a track from The Engine’s latest album to get your juices flowing and be sure to check out our REVIEW OF THEIR LATEST ALBUM.

Southeast Engine – “Black Gold”

Buy Southeast Engine at Insound! – Enter code ‘foolsgold10‘ at checkout for 10% off!

Heading to Ronny’s tonight for the Eulogies show, I must admit I was a bit apprehensive having never been there before and basing my expectations on the less than favorable Yelp! reviews I had read.  Needless to say, I was not all that surprised when I walked in.  The main area of Ronny’s Bar is a strange mix of dive bar and grandma’s basement, complete with a strange odor, low ceilings, excessive wood paneling, and a variety of video poker machines lining the wall.  Personally, I love a good dive bar so I took to the place right away and actually quite liked the joint.  The “garage” portion where the “stage” is located, however, was a bit of a different story.  As it turns out, Ronny’s Garage (the area that houses the live music) is quite literally an actual garage, but the “stage,” on the other hand, is quite far from anything resembling an actual stage.  Which is to say that there really isn’t a stage at all, rather the band performs at ground level in the tiny, concrete-floored room with the fans basically standing as close to the performance area as they would like.  Bear in mind that this isn’t a knock on the place at all, just a comment on how strange the setup is.  I actually quite enjoyed it; I mean, it’s not every day that you get to see a great band perform in virtually the same setting as your friend’s band in high school that used to play Weezer covers at keg parties.

The show itself was actually, well, awesome for lack of a better word.  There wasn’t much of a crowd, about 15 people including myself, so given that, the size of the room, and the proximity of the fans to the band it was an incredibly intimate environment.  In most cases I would say it was like seeing a band play in your basement and mean it as a simile, but in this case I am saying it and meaning it quite literally.  Perhaps even cooler than the setting was the way that Eulogies’ music comes to life when performed in a live setting, and particularly the way that frontman Peter Walker goes to town on the guitar.  Songs that seemed mellow and soaring on the album suddenly become pulsing rockers thundering into your eardrums.  Though the set was short, it was packed with highlights such as the incredible rendition of “How to Be Alone” running seamlessly into “Bad Connection,” the stunning closing combo of “This Fine Progression” and all-out rocking “Eyes on the Prize,” and the impromptu birthday poem (the same poem that Judge Smails reads in Caddyshack when he christens his “sloop”) that bassist Garrett Deloian read to guitarist Drew Phillips.  Needless to say, I left wanting more and will be sure to catch them again next time they are in town.

Given Eulogies’ furious tour schedule, it’s likely they will be coming to a town near you soon.  I suggest making your way out and catching their set for yourselves; you will not be disappointed:

3/25 – Ferndale, MI, USA @ Magic Bag*

3/27 – Pittsburgh, PA, USA @ Thunderbird Café*

3/28 – Arlington, VA, USA @ IOTA Club & Café*

3/29 – Baltimore, MD, USA @ Metro Gallery*

3/31 – New York, New York @ Piano’s

4/2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Hall**

4/4 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern**

4/6 – St. Louis, MO, USA @ The Firebird**

4/7 – Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge**

4/8 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge**

5/1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Bell House***

5/2 – Albany, NY @ Valentines***

5/4 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom***

5/5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s***

5/7 – Washington D.C. @ Black Cat***

5/8 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Diesel***

5/9 – Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop***

5/10 – Columbus, OH @ Skully’s***

5/11 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick***

5/12 – Chicago, IL @ Lakeshore Theater***

5/14 – Colombus, MO @ Blue Note***

5/16 – Denton, TX @ Hailey’s***

5/17 – Houston, TX @ The Warehouse***

5/18 – Austin, TX @ Parish***

5/22 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah***

5/23 – Echo Park, Ca @ Echoplex***

5/24 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent***

5/26 – Portland, OR @ Douglas Fir Lounge***

5/27 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Café***

* = w/Middle Distance Runner
** = w/Bad Veins
*** = w/The Dears

And in case any of you forgot, Citizen Dick ALWAYS gets the setlist:

And because we love you, here is another mp3 from The Homespun Sessions:

Eulogies – “The Fight I’ve Come to Like” (Homespun Sessions)

Music Saves is a perfect little record shop. The side walls are lined with the latest new releases on vinyl, and I can get lost digging through albums and arguing with Brian about the merits of this or that. The bright neon sign outside the shop, along with the neon of The Beachland, are beacons in a tired area of Cleveland, struggling to revitalize and gentrify in a sagging economy.  We’ve been to a whole slew of live shows over the past couple of weeks, and although the edges are worn in the old Colinwood area, the shuffling feet of scene kids and hipsters from all over the city are a welcome nightly sound; even if just for a few hours several nights a week, the street brightens vividly under the flickering lightposts. This is concert zone in Cleveland and this great little record shop may just be the best damn place to buy some vinyl in northeast Ohio.

Melanie and Kevin at Music Saves had the place ready to go for Cotton Jones to arrive.  The crushed velvet armchairs in the “listening area” were set up for some acoustic rocking, as Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw graciously agreed to perform an intimate pre-show performance for Citizen Dick and the store.  At 7:45, Brian and I were getting a tic nervous, and through some comforting words from Melanie and a little Sholi on the speakers, we twiddled our thumbs waiting for everyone, including band, to arrive for the performance.

The band arrived in grand fashion; a van rolled up alongside the store and when the door opened, a flannel-clad disheveled man stepped out carrying a rickety guitar case and sporting a brown, riveted porkpie hat.  Also in tow was a brunette, subtly beautiful with a whole aura of shy grace.  When I reviewed Paranoid Cocoon before it came out at the end of January, I described it as “Maryland Creek Music” in my best attempt to capture the vibe of what Michael Nau and crew have pumped out with this record.  I suppose I wouldn’t have pictured this rather silent entrance happening any differently than it did. Kevin snagged a couple of beers for the two and a small and super laid back crowd of about 25 in-the-know people got to enjoy a kick-ass three song acoustic set to whet their appetites for the regular show down the street at Beachland Tavern.  The videos we captured were of “Blood Red Sentimental Blues” and “Gone the Bells” off of the current release.  The third song was “Less Than Positive,” which Michael and Whitney told us afterward is going to be on a forthcoming EP (to be released in April or May).

One of the best things about Michael Nau is the emotion and semi-brooding soul he puts into his lyricism and vocal sound.  Just watch the embedded youtube clips and you’ll see exactly the treat the limited few of us got to check out tonight.  Likewise, Whitney’s voice is a haunting blanket, bouncing off of Michael perfectly.  If her visage signifies shyness, her voice emits smoky assuredness.  Her launch into the solo section in “Gone the Bells” is worth a few minutes of your time to watch.  The Page France days may be done, but this slightly different spin on similar styles exudes a natural blues-based aura and a retro cool and extremely full sound emerges.  It’s a safe bet anyone in attendance at the pre-show walked out a little cock-eyed at how such a rich and textured sound could be created by two voices and one plastic stringed and war-beaten classical guitar.

A nice side-note to the evening (before reviewing the full show), is that we got to meet a couple of our Cleveland blogger-colleagues, namely the folks at Sensory Overload, Addicted to Vinyl, and ClevelandBachelor.  We certainly appreciated the support of our blog brethren and it was good to see people coming out to support the store and band.  Some of you reading this now left the store with a CitizenDick dymo-taped business card.  Hey, we’re glad you came, too.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The crowd at Music Saves took their $1 dollar off vouchers and meandered over to The Beachland Tavern, where The Modern Electric got things rolling with an anthemic barrage of keyboard piano wizardry and some new tracks on an upcoming self-released debut that’s in the works.  This is a band worth keeping an eye on, as the lead singer, Garrett, is slick and multi-talented shifting between the electronic piano (his forte) to the acoustic while belting out vocals with alarming emotion.  They punched us in the face for a few songs, wrapping things up with an original number called “David Bowie is my Hero,” which did an excellent job of reminding us that we were at a rock show and to loosen our collars a bit.  Good Morning Valentine served as the middle act in this threesome, and hit the audience with some no-nonsense pop-rock.  The telecaster wailed, the cymbals crashed, and the guy in the squirrel costume sat in awe during some of the slower numbers.

This was the first tour stop for Cotton Jones, and to tell a family secret, we were completely unaware of this coming into the show.  The band played a healthy mix of older tunes from EP’s released under the moniker Cotton Jones Basket Ride and current tunes from Paranoid Cocoon.  In quite a surprise, a six piece stepped onto the stage of the tavern.  It was cramped, and despite some feedback kinks, all were able to share the stage and absolutely rock the house.  They opened with “Blood Red Sentimental Blues,” and while the added instruments augmented the aforementioned sound, Michael still clicked away at the same battered classical guitar, it’s tinny whine hovering beneath all of the sonic the six-piece created.  ”Gotta Cheer Up” is a great track on the album, but CJ killed it live.  The stompy rhythm and edgy undertones translated well.  As with the in-store session, the band closed out with the new track “Less Than Positive” which peaked the concert at the best possible moment-at its finish.  Throughout the night, Michael’s blues roots and Jim Morrisonesque delivery shook the room.  Brian and I couldn’t help but wonder how extensively better the entire band will sound in a larger venue.

What stood out throughout tonight’s full set is that Michael Nau gets after it vocally.  The six piece obviously adds many layers to the sound but at the heart is Nau, his guitar, and Whitney crooning alongside.  Lyrics about listless emotion, happiness and despair juxtaposed, and contemplative poetry shot out from the stage tonight.  Listed below are the remaining dates of the tour.  Be sure to catch Cotton Jones and the sweet, sweet retro country-cooked soul when they hit your town.

March 12 – Schubas – Chicago, IL

March 13 – The House Cafe – Dekalb, IL

March 14 – Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL

March 15 – The Record Bar – Kansas City, MO

March 16 – The Firebird – St. Louis, MO

March 17 – Lola’s Stockyards – Fort Worth, TX

March 18 – SXSW – Austin, TX

March 19 – SXSW – Austin, TX

March 21 – The Bottletree – Birmingham, AL

March 22 – Local 506 – Charlotte, NC

March 23 – Black Cat – Washington, DC

March 24 – First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA

March 25 – La Poisson Rouge – New York, NY

March 26 – Union Hall – Brooklyn, NY

March 27 – AS220 – Providence, RI

March 29 – The Space – Hamden, CT

March 30 – The Ottobar – Baltimore, MD

March 31 – The Bog – Scranton, PA

April 1 – Thunderbird Cafe – Pittsburgh, PA

April 2 – Howard’s Club H – Bowling Green, OH

Diamond Jim Reporting from Chicago

If you caught Friday’s entry, you probably already know that I love the Empty Bottle.  I would have been stoked to go there just for the cheap beers and to hang out with Radley (pictured below), the black cat who calls the bar home; so the fact that Blitzen Trapper happened to be playing two shows there on Thursday had me overwhelmed with joy.  For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting the Empty Bottle, you should know that it is definitely not your typical concert venue.  It is, however, your typical neighborhood dive bar that just happens to feature some of the best live indie rock shows in Chicago.  As you might imagine, the place is a small, dark, and intimate no-frills type of joint, just the way I like it.  It is so intimate, in fact, that no one in the room could have possibly been more than 30 feet away from the band when Blitzen Trapper took to the small, dimly lit stage, which was packed full with 6 grown men, 4 guitars, 2 keyboards and a drum kit.

The first set of the night started off with one of my favorite tracks from Furr, “Stolen Shoes & a Rifle,” and took a mellow tone early on with a heavy dose of more material from their most recent album such as “Sleepytime in the Western World” (after which singer Eric Earley reminded the crowd that the first headlining show they ever played was right there at the Empty Bottle just a few years ago), the title track “Furr,” and “Lady on the Water.”  But once the band fired up “Black River Killer,” followed by the hard rocking classic “Murder Babe” from Wild Mountain Nation, the crowd really started to get going and the show took on a new, slightly more intense tone.  From there the set was sprinkled with a mix of old and new material, with the standouts including “Big Black Bird,” “Love U,” and another of my favorites from Furr, “Fire and Fast Bullets.” All in all, it was a very strong and diverse set, closed out with a stellar rendition of the Blitzen Trapper anthem, “Wild Mountain Nation.”  And by the way, I stole the set list.  Check it out below:

*Although “Devil’s A-Go-Go” is listed here, they did not play it due to time constraints.  Good thing I was able to take in both shows, eh?

After the first set came to an end I was forced out into the cold Chicago night for a bit while the venue prepped for show number two, so I strolled a few doors down to the Blind Robin where I enjoyed a pint of Cleveland’s own Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold and a quick game of Scrabble.  About an hour later, after getting my ass thoroughly kicked at Scrabble, I was back at the Empty Bottle waiting for Blitzen Trapper to take the stage once again.  As soon as I returned I could sense a completely different energy in the bar, and at that point I realized that I was about to experience a completely different show from the one I saw just a few hours earlier.

The late show began just after 11:30pm with a hard and fast rendition of “Fire and Fast Bullets,” followed immediately by an absolutely epic romp through “Saturday Nite” which ended with an outrageous mini-jam session that featured Eric Earley wailing on the electric guitar.  At that point, Eric mentioned to the crowd that they might have gotten a bit “too crazy” (not possible), with drummer Brian Koch reminding us that this is what the band is capable of when they “reach for the stars,” providing some memorable banter for the crowd;  this something that was missing from the first set, likely due to the tight time constraints of the early show.  The next several songs, including “Stolen Shoes & a Rifle,” “Murder Babe,” and “Big Black Bird” maintained a high level of energy and kept the crowd rocking until a small acoustic break midway through.  The acoustic portion of the show featured Eric and Marty on stage alone performing a cover of “Cocaine Blues” and a few other tunes.  When the rest of the band returned they picked up right where they left off, rocking out with “Black River Killer,” “Gold for Bread,” and a handful of others before closing out with a mind-blowing one-two punch of “Devils A-Go-Go” (thankfully they actually played it this time) and “Wild Mountain Nation.”  In this blistering section, the band was able to treat us to a small and stripped down encore that consisted of Eric, Brian, and Marty performing an acoustic cover of Dolly Parton’s hit “9 to 5.”  To wrap this all up, after two complete shows I actually left wanting to hear more; that is when you know you just witnessed a phenomenal performance. And by the way, I stole the set list (picking up on a possible theme here?).  Check it out below:

Citizens Brian and Kevin Reporting from Detroit

Our journey was a touch different from James’ in that we had to burn through three hours of highway before the show.  Diamond Jim can hop on a train and rock out; we’ve got to trek across Ohio, slog through Detroit construction and sort out where to park in a foreign land.  Happily, we made it to The Magic Stick relatively unscathed, sound in mind and body, but with a speeding ticket from Ohio’s finest in the glovebox.

We pulled into the venue just as the doors opened, our brief detours resulting in strangely ideal timing.  The Magic Stick is in an apparently recently refurbished area of Detroit, with high class eateries rubbing elbows with seedy corner groceries.  The venue itself is in the second floor of what seemed to be a manipulated warehouse, with exposed duct work and high ceilings.  It’s a bit cavernous, longer than it is wide, and the acoustics, depending on one’s position, ranged from eardrum rupturing to pleasant.

(Editor’s note:  Keep this in mind  in the following paragraph:  we’re not moist-pantied fanboys, but we’re also not Kurt Loder, dig?  We’re journalists and fans at the same time) We were doing some generalized milling about before the show and bumped into guitarist Marty Marquis.  We chatted for a minute about the tour and the broader world.  We were worried that the Trappers might be tired after two sets in Chicago and a long night on the road, but Marty assured us that they were fresh and ready to kick out the jams.  Best part of the conversation: Marty’s belief that the Obama administration will mandate kindness from border patrol guards.

Marty also talked up opener Alela Diane and his assessment was spot on.  The quintet, fronted by the winsome Diane, played a nuanced set of countrified blues, with soaring three part harmonies and solid musicianship.  The set struck an emotional chord with the audience when the guitarist was introduced as Alela’s father; his work on the telecaster and mandolin were a clear highlight, but the vocal acrobatics with his daughter were both technically astute and indicative of a genetic love for harmony.  We were not familiar with Alela’s work before the show, so a standout track for us was the cover of “Gold Dust Woman.”  It takes some brass to sing Stevie’s songs, but Alela pulled it off.  At the merch table after the show, she passed along that they love playing those more personal covers.  It made us want to wrangle an invite to a Diane family holiday.  They’ve probably got a violin prodigy cousin squirreled away.  Alela Diane was a perfect opening act and someone to keep and eye on in the future.

The crowd was well primed for Blitzen Trapper, and they came out of the phonebooth with the cape on, ripping through four blistering cuts before giving anyone a chance to catch a breath.  The night’s second song, “Saturday Nite” is, essentially, a dance song, and it had everyone, even the hipsters, ducking and weaving.  The cap to the opening blast was a deeply freaked out “Sleepytime in the Western World,” which devolved into clomp and clatter before regaining its composure and shuffling to the finish line.  It’s an intricately crafted song and it’s impressive to see the sensibilities transferred live; this delivery of complexity is a trick the Trappers have down pat and one they pulled all night.

The clear reason that the band’s able to get the live show to sound as smart as it does is that all six members are wildly and diversely talented; nobody does one thing.  Each member has a toybox of instruments at their disposal, which they use with vigor and attitude.  For example, Marty plays the big ass farmer cowbell as acutely as he does the ax.  (Another Marty highlight: his declaration after “Lady on the Water” that everyone should buy melodicas and form a “Grand Melodica Army”)  The band’s chameleonic ability to play a vast array of instruments well gives the band a huge sound on stage; it’s as if the twelve hands on stage are fifty.

The setlist did a solid job delivering both more accessible newer material (the hits, to be succinct) and more raucous and eclectic older material.  “Furr” got everybody to sing along, but only the tuned in were nodding their heads during “Miss Spiritual Tramp.”  A highpoint was the three-song dive into psychedelia of “Gold for Bread,” “Jericho” and “Love U.”  Blitzen Trapper turned up the distortion and hammered through those songs without pause or concession.  It was a thrilling display of power and chops.

As all great things must end, the set closed perfectly with the blistering “Devils A Go-Go” and “Wild Mountain Nation.” (This coincided with the tail end of James’ shows, so  folks in Toronto and beyond should NOT be trying to beat traffic.) In a set that weaved through nearly every song from Furr and half of WMN, it’s a fitting shout-out to their loyal fans to end with the two songs that essentially sparked some of the success they’ve been enjoying.  Interestingly, Marty mentioned in our chat that the last time they played in Detroit, Fleet Foxes opened up for them in the very same venue to a mere 60 intrepid souls.  The 400 fans at Magic Stick tonight, regardless of what songs they came to hear, caught two of the best in the Trapper arsenal at the end of the night.  ”Devil’s” smacked the audience with a palm full of erratic intensity and the guys’ were clearly going for it here.  Maracas, keys, blips, pounding bass lines, punchy guitars and shake your ass rhythm wrecked the audience before “Wild Mountain Nation” gave the couples one last track to smooch to.

The encore involved a three part harmony and reference to Detroit Rock City.  When we talked to Diamond Jim after the show, we figured the encore was very similar to the second set at Empty Bottle the night before, but it had its own highlights, particularly the crushing “Cracker Went Down” off of their first album.  The pulsing blues jam was a fitting way to wrap up an exhaustive and highly charged 3 concerts-in-24-hours marathon.

In two nights, we got a ton of killer live music.  There’s too much that we love to describe in detail.  When we sat down to write this review, we were a tad overwhelmed.  It’s difficult to pinpoint, at least in the Detroit show, what stood out, because everything was a highlight.  We were lucky enough to catch Blitzen Trapper this past September in Buffalo, NY where they opened for Iron & Wine.  Even in a more calm and stripped down set, it was obvious how hard-working and invested these guys are in their craft.  When standing in these tiny venues watching them rock out, it’s almost as if a dual certainty emerges.  On one hand, the personal anthems and quirkily talented musicianship resonates very well in an intimate environment. However, it’s also obvious that these guys are soaring, enjoying making music and getting the crowds asses to shake.  Make sure you get the chance to see them on this tour, becuause tiny venues may be a thing of the past real soon.  Take a cue from your Dicks and pile into the car if they’re not hitting your home town. (We’re looking at you, Syracuse.)

As we left the show completely satisfied (snagged some free stuff on the slide at the merch table, bought a signed vinyl of Wild Mountain Nation and Alela Diane’s new LP), we had just one little job left to finish.  Not with luck, but with great and dexterous skill, as is the pattern, we stole the set-list.  Check it out below this review.  Also, enjoy a few photos from BOTH shows below, and then click on the link to head over to our Eye Candy page where you can view even more.  With a yawn (we’re tired, dudes),  we leave you with two last thoughts:

If you only take two things away from this adventure, let them be:
1. NEVER miss a Blitzen Trapper show if they come anywhere near your town
2. Citizen Dick ALWAYS gets the setlist.  Always.

25-plus kick ass pics from our tour diary-Click Here!

Blitzen Trapper – “Gold For Bread”

Buy Blitzen Trapper music at insound!