Hugs and handshakes

It's a rare time when I can say I saw two of the best concerts I've seen in the past 18 years in less than a week, but it happened.

We took a road trip to Dayton to see David Byrne last Saturday. It had been over thirty years since I saw him with Talking Heads during the infamous Stop Making Sense tour in Buffalo. I was excited to see this tour as friends of mine had seen him earlier this year and had glowing reviews.

This was my first visit to the Rose Music Center and I was very impressed with the venue. Good sight lines, very good sound, friendly enough staff and the facilities were clean. Very classy.

The Sway Brothers in front of me, who stood the whole show despite having no one in front of them, were not classy at all. They were That Guy.



Despite the Dude Bros being Dude Bros, I managed to enjoy the performance. The staging was the boldest I'd ever seen - a bare stage surrounded by a grey beaded curtain on three sides. No amps, no drum risers, no cords. Just a troop of 14 musicians in synch with each other. It was magnificent. The lighting was awesome.



Byrne is still fit and in fine voice. The set was about a third of well chosen Talking Heads material and the theme was rhythm and joy. There is an underlying message though, during one song the entire band took a knee and the last song was Janelle Monae's Hell You Talmbout in which the band chanted the names of African Americans who have been murdered by police. It was a very powerful show that is just below that old Talking Heads show if I was ever to rank concerts I've been to.

It was with reservations five nights later that we went to the Basement, a venue I really do not like. When Nicole Atkins is coming through town though, you have to make the sacrifice. There was not that big of a crowd, so we managed to find a spot near the stage to see the opening band Ruby Boots. I was not familiar with her at all, but she made a more than a few fans with her strong voice and poignant songwriting. Best Australian opener I've seen since Kasey Chambers so long ago. We talked to her after the show and my wife and her bonded about Glasgow, where she's going for the first time later this year.

The Basement has this pit in front of the stage, where I have not been for a show due to my claustrophobia and not wanting to be where it's loud, but a friend of ours was down there so we gave it a shot.

We had very good stage proximity, so close that Nicole urged us all little closer after the first song.



The sound was not overpowering, there were no dude bros invading people's space or sight lines. It was a great show. It was wonderful to see Atkins after wanting to for so long. When I saw her perform the first time, on Letterman years ago, I was a fan then and there. Her voice is a gift and in a decent and kind world she should be better known.

So go out and get Goodnight Rhonda Lee.

After the show we hung out and talked to Scott, her guitarist. Very good dude who played with Ruby Boots her whole set so he pulled double duty. I have not mentioned the place was a freaking sauna and much respect for the bands to get through it.

The guitarist went for a drink and I left my wife for a moment, when I got back Nicole came out and went right toward her. She said she saw us dancing and they bonded over Scotland, I did not know her husband was Scottish. She's really cool, and genuine. Emma got the hug, I got the handshake. It helps to have a mad hot wife with a killer accent.

It was a fine, albeit an exhausting week.

2014 in pictures

Put this slideshow together on my Macbook Pro, the acquisition of which was a highlight of the year. The soundtrack is Who Killed the Moonlight by Nicole Atkins, my favorite song of the last 12 months.

Enjoy.

On influence and what we hear

This is one of my favorite songs of the year, off one of the year's best records.

As I was in the car, hearing it for the first time, could not help but be reminded of the chorus and another song. Now what did that sound like?

Did not take long for it hit to me.

The hook was right there. Influence can be a cool thing. There's no writer or musician who does not nick a phrase, or a couple of words in their work. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not to be trusted.

Because it did not take long to find this.

Nicole Atkins - The Killing Moon

There's no malice intended here. I think the circle is pretty awesome. It's cool to take some of what we love and pass it on, as what got us to this point in our own process and life.

Time to break out

About seven years ago I saw her do "The Way It Is" on Letterman and have been following her career since. She's had some record company difficulties, as many artists have had.

Nicole Atkins' new record Slow Phaser was recently released and it's one of the best of the year so far, and probably will stay so. There's a good psychedelic rootsy groove going, it's got sass and can be quite danceable. There's also a little 80's nicking going on as one riff from Who Killed the Moonlight was definitely inspired by an Echo and the Bunnymen song. She may have steered away from the sixties pop of her first release and the bluesy jams of her second but her voice, as a fictional child of Roy Orbison and Ronnie Spector, remains powerful and intact.

The first video is a catchy little number that has a good beat that you can dance to.



Maybe this time Atkins will get the larger audience she deserves. She put another solid brick into her canon.