Walk Me Out by the Water's Edge...

After a day of selling my life away and dickering with old women on the price of board games, I was in need of a refreshing beverage and some live music. My brother S had strongly recommended that I go see Junior Brown who was playing here last night, but I have been feeling the need lately to do things unique to St. Louis as much as possible before I leave. The Live on the Levee music series was happening last and we have never gone, so I asked K if she wanted to go down and see Pete Yorn. I usually don’t like going to events with such huge crowds, but since I have a soft spot in my heart for Pete and his magnificent head of hair, I was willing to go check it out.

The humidity broke this weekend so the night air was perfect. The stage was situated right in front of the Mississippi River so the performers faced the large staircase that led to the Gateway Arch. It really is a perfect setting for a summer concert.

I was going to title this post “St. Louis Likes Free Things” but thought instead to use some lyrics to a PY song. The reason I say that St Louis likes free things is because I was shocked at the number of people that had come out for the event. As I climbed the top of the stairs to take some pics of the stage below, there were people passed out on blankets on the grass under the arch oblivious of what was going on below, and lots of people my dad’s age, who wouldn’t be coming to The Pageant to see this same show if it had a ticket price. The crowd was enormous.

Pete put on an excellent show. He said it was their first night of their tour and he was happy to be in St. Louis and loved his view from the stage. He ran through a lot of songs from all three albums but leaned closely to his first. As usual, he also peppered in some covers like Warren Zevon’s Splendid Isolation and The Smith’s There is a Light that Never Goes Out.

After he performed, we sat on the Arch steps and watched fireworks accompanied by tunes of local celebrities like Chuck Berry and who could forget---Head East! We sang along and then called it a night.

When I got home later that night, I had Harrah’s Lucky Break on as I wrote some posts for the blog. If you live in St. Louis and you have not seen this show, you have got to see it. It’s a karaoke contest hosted locally at Harrah’s casino and it’s a trainwreck. They cut into the programming to report that due to a power outage there were 200 people stuck in the Gateway Arch. We were right there and had no idea. When the reporter on the television was talking to a guy that was stuck at the top, she asked him how they were doing and he said, “We ain’t doing anything. There ain’t no fireworks to watch now”. I felt bad laughing having been up in that thing and thinking about the panic attack that I would be having if it were me, but you just never know how redneck someone is going to say on live television. --J

One Part Bar Band, One Part Balladeer

K and I, with another work colleague, had a very stressful customer meeting from 6 to 7:30 pm Tuesday night. We had basically worked on and off for about three days preparing. The only thing that was getting me through was knowing that as soon as the meeting was over, we were going to run out of the building straight for The Pageant to see Pete Yorn.

We missed most of the opening band, Minibar, and arrived in time to grab a drink and get comfy to watch the next opener, Aqualung. Aqualung is kind of like the poor man’s Coldplay. Even though I like their single Brighter Than Sunshine, I was unmoved.

Pete took the stage and launched into a set of fast and slow songs, covers and originals. Here’s the setlist.

· Black
· For Us
· Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen) > Murray
· Long Way Down
· Just Another
· Maybe I'm Right
· Closet
· The Man
· Undercover
· Splendid Isolation (Warren Zevon)
· Ice Age
· Life on a Chain
· Dead Flowers (The Rolling Stones)
· For Nancy
Encore:
· Policies
· How Do You Go On
· Strange Condition
· Crystal Village

My one disappointment was that I really didn’t like the live arrangement for the song The Man. It is my favorite on his new album but it sounded different. I think someone was playing steel guitar or there was some weird keyboard effect. At the time I had an obstructed view and couldn’t see the entire stage to figure it out. Everything else sounded great and he played many of my favorites like Strange Condition, For Nancy, and I loved the Rolling Stones cover. We sat in the balcony of The Pageant for most of the performance watching the super mellow crowd below. For most of the shows that we attend, K and I are usually scared to get into the pit because we don’t want to have to lift a crowd surfer over our head. At this show, there were lots of couples spooning and people gently swaying from side to side in front of the stage. I went downstairs to take some pics and easily walked through the pit area and never got kicked in the head doing it. Very unusual!

Pete provided great witty banter ranging from a kid in St. Louis hounding him over MySpace to do the Springsteen cover, to learning a new pop chord years ago on the guitar which prompted him to write Life on a Chain. I think that every town on a tour stop wants to be remembered by the artist. I’ve heard from a number of fans how they like for the artist to say “Hello Chicago!” when in Chicago, etc. Pete took it to the next level. I have read that since the late 90’s he has pretty much toured non-stop so I was really impressed that not only did he tell the audience that he ate a hamburger down the street at Blueberry Hill that afternoon, which is where he had played a gig back in the summertime, but he also told the audience that the first time he played in St. Louis was at Mississippi Nights and went on to tell some stories about the night. He also knew that Mississippi Nights had recently closed. He also said hello to Beatle Bob, a local fixture on the St. Louis music scene who was standing right up at the front barrier. Of course K and I were fixated on the fact that if we weren’t so stressed out at work, WE probably would have had lunch at Blueberry Hill in hopes of running into him!

We went and stood in the pit for the encore and thoroughly enjoyed it. I told K when it was over that I didn’t want to go home because then I would just go to bed and have to wake up and go to work and I wasn’t ready to face it. It’s been pretty stressful with lots of changes. On the way to work on Wednesday I played For Nancy on repeat and sang along with Pete, “Convince yourself that everything is alright, ‘cos it already is” and prepared myself for another rollercoaster ride. --J

2006 Concert Survey

It’s December and Judakris has decided to put together our own survey of the live shows we’ve enjoyed, hated, and obsessed about in 2006. Most of the shows and acts were seen here in St. Louis where occasionally the local time is 1840. Every act and show we mention in this survey has been reviewed somewhere on this blog.

Individual Acts:
Best Opening Song
J: Wolfmother - Dimension
K: Muse - Knights of Cydonia

Most Anticipated
J: Foo Fighters – Since this was a completely new setting, and the tickets were purchased so far in advance, I would definitely say this was the most anticipated for me.
K: HIM. It was my first time.

Best Storyteller
J: Dave Grohl easily! Who doesn’t want to hear a story about the first time he met Kurt Cobain?
K: I could only wish to be as engaging as Pete Yorn the morning after an all-night bender. The most I can usually pull off is to somehow find a way to say “shut the fuck up” politely.

Best Showman
J: Richie Kirkpatrick of Ghostfinger – I was very impressed at the energy and liveliness of the show when there were about 20 people in the whole bar. It was awesome.
K: Yeah, Richie. Gotta love that guy.

Show That Gave Us Best Story to Tell
J: This one is kind of tough but I’m going with Wolfmother. When is the last time I’ve been invited to a private performance? Never. Also the guys were so great that it made it extra special. I also loved being there with K and D.
K: J and I get a lot of mileage out of the Wolfmother night, but to me it’s the Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders show in Chicago. My head was practically in Taylor’s bass drum all night, the slutty white jeans girl was pretty engaging and the fact that Taylor used my skin as a canvas after the show gave me some pretty bloggerific material this year.

Most Disappointing Act
J: Hands down – Living Things
K: Living Things

Best Production
J: Muse
K: AFI

Best Sound
J: Muse – Their album sounds like it’s got a lot of studio wizardry so I didn’t expect them to sound so good live but they were amazing.
Foo Fighters – The acoustics at the Auditorium Theater were impressive and really enhanced the experience.
K: Nightmare of You.

Funniest Act
J: Under the Influence of Giants – They were so over the top with the clothing and the onstage antics, it was worth the price of admission. By the way, this is a compliment!
K: I don't know if this is a legit answer, but the Bonnie Prince Billy in-store at Vintage Vinyl had me rolling internally for most of it.

Best Connection with the Audience
J: Foo Fighters – The banter with the crowd makes even the largest venue feel intimate.
K: AFI. The fans loved Davey and he loved them for lovin' him.

Most Creative Production
J: As overwhelming as it was, Panic! at the Disco
K: Ditto

Most Impressive Production
J: For a band with only one album, Panic! at the Disco
K: I’m not trying to be a copycat; I have to agree with J once again.

Biggest Ass-Hole Lead Singer
J: Lillian Berlin of Living Things – You won’t be playing bigger venues than the Creepy Crawl if that’s how you treat people who pay to see you perform. It’s all about karma fellas!
K: I agree with J. Never have I been so disappointed after a performance.

Sexiest Lead Singer
J: I’m gonna go with Pete Yorn here. If you can be sexy at 2:00 in the afternoon under fluorescent lights in a record store when you’ve just rolled out of bed, you’ve got something there.
K: I’m sure it’s obvious what my answer will be. Sick, chain-smoking, and hiding every inch of his flesh, by mid-concert Ville Valo’s 6’1 lanky frame and smoky baritone made me want to jump off the balcony and die for him this year at The Pageant. Luckily, I had J there to keep me in check.

Best Scream
J: Dave Grohl always wins this category for me. I wish I could make his scream the alert sound in my Outlook email at work. I might smile at work every once in awhile if that was the case.
K: Veruca Salt’s Louise. I’m sure she was tutored by Dave. Actually, I remember J and I commenting that she sounded JUST like Dave. We might all know why that is.

Worst Opening Act
J: Dead Meadow – I just wanted them to go away!
K: Oh god, yes, Dead Meadow. I wanted to kill someone by the time they were done.

Honorable Mention
J: Veruca Salt – I have to give Louise props for holding her own in a 2006 concert lineup of men. She was super cool.
K: Alkaline Trio’s opening act, Against Me! For making Judakris stand up and take notice during their set.

Shows:Best People Watching
J: HIM – Since I was just there for the ride, I focused more on the crowd than usual. Also, it was completely diverse from frat boys to goth kids.
K: Muse- Geeks, freaks, gays, fratboys, and a handful of disgruntled library automation coworkers all having a grand time together.

Best Post-Show Feeling
J: Kings of Leon – I wanted to jump in my car and follow them forever.
K: HIM, The Pageant. Again, it was my first time. I found out recently that the reason the band stood us up after the show was for legitimate reasons so I'm over it. Let's face it, I was over all that an hour after the show and practically emigrated to Finland over the following months. Not since seeing U2 for the first time years ago did I feel a post-show love (metal) hangover quite like that one.

Most Disappointing Night
J: I am going to go with HIM because I was hoping to be won over by the music and wasn’t and then to be stood up for the meet and greet was pretty shitty. I hated that for K.
K: Alkaline Trio because I realized I wasn’t as much of a fan as I thought I was that night.

Most Anticipated Song Not Performed
J: Time to Waste at the Alkaline Trio show and also Ain’t it the Life at the Foo Fighters show, especially since that was on the setlist for other venues.
K: In Joy and Sorrow- HIM

Thanks to all the bands in 2006 that made us feel alive. Judakris has already begun planning dates for the 2007 concert schedule. Don't hold back, bands. You know we won’t. XOXO J and K

Another Week...

Labor Day Weekend and the end of summer; it is hard to believe it’s time to go back to work tomorrow. I’m cracking up over the comment on the Pete Yorn – Nightcrawler post. Keep the comments coming! Blues Traveler and work got me thinking about one of my favorite movies of all time, Office Space.

Samir: No one in this country can ever pronounce my name right. It's not that hard: Na-ee-ana-jaad. Nayanajaad.
Michael Bolton: Yeah, well at least your name isn't Michael Bolton.
Samir: You know there's nothing wrong with that name.
Michael Bolton: There was nothing wrong with it... until that no-talent ass clown became famous and started winning Grammys.
Samir: Hmm... well why don't you just go by Mike instead of Michael?
Michael Bolton: No way! Why should I change? He's the one who sucks.

My daughter A, turned eleven this past week and has fallen madly in love with Panic! at the Disco. It’s better than the Hilary Duff/High School Musical stuff she has listened to up to this point so I’m being supportive, but as I said to K, there is “much tinkling of the ivories” in that music (yes, I meant to say tinkling), but it fits the cabaret style of a lot of the songs. Because of this obsession, every time I walk into the living room, the MTV VMAs are broadcasting on the television thanks to TiVo! Boy, kids have no idea how lucky they are these days with things like TiVo, YouTube, and iTunes. It’s good to be a pop culture junkie in 2006.

We are seeing The Stills/Kings of Leon Thursday night. Our friend R is joining us. She has been a longtime Kings of Leon fan since they took off in the U.K. Stay tuned for a review and hopefully some pics! --J

Pete Yorn - Nightcrawler

This week sucks. I just can’t seem to get it together. I’m listening to the new Pete Yorn CD, Nightcrawler, which came out Tuesday the 29th. Am I officially lazy or just forward-thinking because I no longer care to go to a store and buy a CD? It’s so nice to sit in my bathrobe, have a cup of coffee and download a new CD on Tuesday morn.

The first single, For Us, has grown on me. Yeah I admit I gave it a little more thorough listening when I heard Pete’s podcast and he said he had to call Dave Grohl in to do the drum fill because he couldn’t get it quite the way he wanted it.

By far, my favorite song on the album is The Man. It’s a beautiful song and Pete’s vocals are so seductive that even a straight man or two might fall in love with him. I can see said straight guys at the concert, yelling “Dude!” and punching their best guy friend in the shoulder when Pete begins to sing this live. Natalie Maines from the Dixie Chicks sings backing vocals on this track and Martie Maguire plays fiddle. It’s funny that my favorite song off of this CD is Dixie Chicks-related since after a few listens of their new CD, Taking the Long Way, the standout track on that is the song Baby Hold On, which was co-written by Pete. Another favorite is Undercover.

I’m gonna give this record a strange UNFORTUNATE/UNEXPECTED review. There are a few tracks that I really love but the odds aren’t good when there are fifteen on the record. These are unfortunate odds. However, I’m throwing in the unexpected because I never thought I would consider myself a fan of his. My interest was piqued because of the album cover of Musicforthemorningafter. It probably says a helluva lot about me that I’m shallow enough to pick up an album just because of the front pic, but we all do it. Don’t judge, if we weren’t sometimes attracted to musicians because of their looks, no one would buy anything by The Pussycat Dolls or Fergie, but instead our music shelves would be packed with Blues Traveler and Edgar Winters records. --J

Pete Yorn @ Vintage Vinyl

Saturday turned out to be a perfect day. I started out feeling slightly guilty because I wasn’t willing to drive A., my ten year old daughter, to a free B5 concert at the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis. Last year I took her to a Raven Symons concert at the same location and it was a bust. I had to carry her on my back most of the show so she could see the stage, and since she is now five feet tall, I wasn’t in the mood to do that. Also, weeks ago, I had been meaning to tell K that Pete Yorn was playing at the Duck Room at Blueberry Hill in University City, but because of my travel for work, I forgot to mention it. In the interim the damn show sold out! To my delight, I picked up the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Thursday and read that he would be doing an in-store acoustic set at Vintage Vinyl in U. City. We had to go. I told A. she could come along with us. She was excited to be hanging out since I think she thinks K is HER friend, but she was not too thrilled about the musical selection.

We arrived about 12:30 and looked around the store. A. discovered String Doll Gang at the counter. You can see these cute little guys from the following link. http://www.kamibashi.com/papers/stringdolls/ She spent most of her time in the store pouring over the variety before selecting Bella.

Before the set began, K and I were discussing how strange in-store gigs are. Here we are standing among aisles of CDs at two in the afternoon, with the brightest of fluorescent lights, about three feet from the artist. I don’t know if I were an artist, if I could take that kind of pressure. Pete arrived and commented on that very same point in between songs. He sounded really great, even though he confessed being hung over from many shots in Kansas the night before. He didn’t need to confess his sins, no one would have known. He played a great set which made me sad that we didn’t have tickets to the evening’s show. Now I’m playing Musicforthemorningafter nonstop today.

After the set, we did some shopping, grabbed some gyros, a bottle of wine, and headed back to my place to watch Life on the Murder Scene, the My Chemical Romance documentary, then we moved on to Pearl Jam’s Storytellers. The former was good, the latter was preachy. At some point in between, we were playing ‘N Sync and Backstreet Boys songs on the computer. Hey, we’re not too embarrassed to admit loving ‘N Sync’s I Want You Back, at least not after four glasses of wine in the privacy of my home. We also listened to the free download on iTunes by Boy Kill Boy called Suzie. Check it out. It’s a great summer song.
--J