Reviews of A Tribute to Natasha Shneider; Gravel Truck/Pylon; Michael Hurley/Ida
A Tribute to Natasha Shneider
Tenacious D/PJ Harvey/Queens of the Stone Age/Desert Sessions, featuring Josh Homme, Troy van Leeuwen, Joey Castillo, Dean Fertita, Michael Shuman, Alain Johannes, Chris Goss, Jesse Hughes, Matt Cameron, and Brody Dalle
August 16, 2008- Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles
The evening got off to a late start due to a conflict in Jack Black’s schedule. While the crowd waited for Tenacious D, a DJ played random music from techno to metal while the movie Russian Ark played on a large screen.
Tenacious D finally hit the stage and played a short, fun set including “Fuck Her Gently” and “Tribute”. When Black’s mic went out he traded with Gass, blaming Satan, since they were singing about the greatest song ever written. The crowd loved it. Those guys can rock it out, and the night needed their humor.
Following Tenacious D’s set the screen was lowered for a lovely tribute to Shneider, a photo montage lovingly put together by Johannes, that included candid shots of Shneider throughout her life, with Johannes, as a little girl, with her son Robin, and ending with a gorgeous shot of her smiling down on the crowd. The slide show was accompanied by “Howling Book”, the only Eleven song of the night.
The screen rose to reveal Queens of the Stone Age, who began with “Go With the Flow”, beginning acoustic and building to the sonic onslaught which is Queens. The crowd cheered at the first sight of Johannes when he came out for backing vocals and some maraca shaking during “Turning on the Screw”. Queens played five songs, ending with “3’s and 7’s”, and were followed by one of the quietest moments of the night, PJ Harvey singing “Desperate Kingdom of Love”, backed by Johannes on guitar. One more Harvey song and then she announced it was time for the Desert Sessions portion of the show. Highlights included Johannes finally getting to sing “Hanging Tree” live – a song from Desert Sessions 7 & 8 that he penned; covers of The Doors’ “Not to Touch the Earth” and Cream’s “I Feel Free”, on the latter of which Tenacious D joined in, on vocals and full-on, free-form, hippie dancing; and watching Matt Cameron and Joey Castillo playing duel drum sets on many of the Desert Sessions songs.
To begin the encore, Johannes stepped out on stage, followed by most of the Desert Sessions musicians, and sang a new song written for Shneider titled “Endless Eyes.” It was sung falsetto with acoustic accompaniment, while the other musicians lent support by clapping time. Also during the encore Jesse Hughes stopped by for a manic “Speaking in Tongues”. Homme dedicated the last song of the night to Shneider and the magical show ended with “Long Slow Goodbye”. It was an emotional rollercoaster of an evening - a fitting musical tribute to the beauty and talent that was Natasha Shneider.
Lois Razonski
Gravel Truck/Pylon
August 8, 2008- Wherehouse, Winston-Salem
My oh my. What a great evening! Imagine getting to see two legends play in a big, airy room with vintage schoolhouse furniture as tables and chairs to sit at (if you made it early) and lots of standing (or dancing) room, plus access to those legends for conversation before and after their performances.
Gravel Truck (a song by Let's Active), fronted by Mitch Easter and friends (including his wife, Shalini, on keyboards and Tim Lee of Windbreakers fame on bass) did nothing but vintage '80s Let's Active songs as their set, and it was sublime. It took this goer back to 1987, seeing Let's Active perform in a club one hot, humid night in Charleston, SC. That was good. This was better (perhaps it's because absence makes the ears grow fonder). Easter and friends did a great set, and the crowd (including me) was thrilled.
Gravel Truck
Then came Pylon.
Pylon
For this attendee, it was almost a religious experience. Two Southern rock 'n roll musical deities in the same room the same night. And, you could talk to them and snap your picture with them! It was, for me, the night of nights. It was one of those nights where you think, now I can die happy; I've truly lived life to the full. You couldn't have any more fun if you tried.
Mark Staples
Pylon
Michael Hurley/Ida
May 26, 2008- The Iota Club, DC
Susan and I saw Ida at the Iota Club and Café on Memorial Day, a band I've loved for a long time. The band has a new record out, Lovers Prayers, and unfortunately I haven't heard it yet. But it looks like a generous, sixteen-song record, and listening to it on their website shows that it offers all of Ida's usual charms: tight duet harmonizing, touching intimacy, and a classic and timeless approach to folk-inflected music that somehow doesn't sound like an attempt to be "old fashioned." There is a Richard and Linda Thompson cover, "For Shame of Being Wrong", that's great, just like their old cover of "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight", and a song about "The Killers", a 1964 action movie, with a lyric about punching Ronald Reagan in the face. Other highlights of the new record include "The Love Below" and "See the Stars", all featured on Monday's set.
The most noteworthy item about their performance on Monday was that the band was not touring with Karla Schickele, the daughter of PDQ Bach, the fictional composer/conductor who is the alter ego of Peter Schickele. Karla has one of my favorite indie rock singing voices, a round, controlled alto that is as clear and limpid as springwater, and she's also a gifted songwriter in her own right; "Poor Dumb Bird" is one of the highlights of Ida's back catalogue. Without her, Ida was at its minimalist-est: husband and wife Elizabeth Mitchell and Dan Littleton, who have performed together for sixteen years, with an additional violinist, and periodic contributions from their longtime idol/collaborator, old-time folk/country dude Michael Hurley.
I've seen Hurley play with Ida before. They tend to tour with him, and his presence always seems to make an Ida show more tedious. Hurley did a long opening set, which was sporadically interesting, but didn't offer a lot of variety -- folk-country, folk-blues, folk-gag songs about extraterrestrials, and a rowdy version of the old "Ragmop" song. Ida joined him on a bunch of his songs, which added depth and harmonies at least.
We saw only about half the set; sadly, 8 1/2 month pregnant women don't do well with late night rock clubs. But what we saw was, in typical Ida fashion, ravishing and lovely. The Richard Thompson was spectacular; but they have done great cover songs throughout their career -- everything from Bill Monroe to Spacemen 3 and Brian Eno. The new songs were great too, including some amazingly candid, human-scale love songs, like "See the Stars." The entire history of the band is effectively an extended love song between Littleton and Mitchell, from love to marriage to kids records for their daughter (an excellent pick for indie rock parents).
While little about the "new" Ida sound is a major shift from the band's long history, their albums and concerts are consistently, quietly, revelatory. With the pared-down sound of their current touring lineup, the band's sound is well-suited for the 1960s and 1970s country-folk that they clearly adore; Levon Helm of the Band produced on Lovers Prayers. It's a modest sound, perhaps, but it's timeless, sincere, and welcoming.
Michael Zwirn