Live Review: The Dead Weather

The Dead Weather
The Fillmore
4.15.10
San Francisco, CA

There are shows, and then there are shows. The Dead Weather Thursday night was a show. In fact it was a fucking show - it was that good. Having missed them last summer at Outside Lands, our crew was eager to hear the dirty, skuzz rock blues of their debut album Horehound at full amplification. The band did not disappoint, and even played a handful of new songs from the upcoming Sea of Cowards album coming out on May 11^th.

Frontwoman Alison Mosshart is a force to be reckoned with as she stalked the stage with a vengeance, brimming with confidence. This is saying something considering she is prowling the same stage with Jack White, who has the ability to quickly overshadow musicians who share the stage with him. Keyboardist/guitarist Dean Fertita and Bassist Jack Lawerence more than held their own as well. In fact, I’ll go on record and say this is the first band I’ve seen Jack White in that is truly the sum of its parts. 

And in my best Jeff Spicoli voice, I’ll say this band slays live bro.

With a dimly lit stage, the band let the music do the talking and the songs pretty much cold-cocked the crowd. Beginning with the scrapes of White’s drum sticks along the rim of his snare drum, the band let off a few warning shots with the loud/soft dynamics of “60 Feet Tall” and let the amp buzz build the rest of the night. The new songs are even heavier and darker, particularly “Die by the Drop”, “Hussle and Cuss” and “Blue Blood Blues”.

A solid year of touring has sharpened the band musically. Jack White played some thunderous drum rolls while Dean Fertita peeled off sick guitar riff after sick guitar riff from his white hollow body Falcon. Mosshart is the femme fatale, luring you in seductively and then ripping your heart out of your rib cage with her bare hands.

Easily the show of the year and we aren’t even halfway through 2010. 

Setlist:

60 ft tall
Hang you from the heavens
You Just Can’t Win
So Far From Your Weapon
No Horse
Child of a Few Hours
Die By the Drop
Blue Blood Blues
I Can’t Hear  You

Hussle and Cuss

Rocking Horse
Will There Be Enough Water

-Encore-
I Cut Like a Buffalo
New Pony
Treat Me Like Your Mother

Live Review: The Black Crowes

The Black Crowes
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA
December 2nd & 4th, 2009

Same Time Next Year

Since regrouping in 2005 and playing a run of shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco, California, The Black Crowes have made multi-night runs at the historic venue an almost-annual event. True to form, the band capped their tour supporting 2009's Before the Frost...Until the Freeze double album with a five night run at the historic music venue.

HF hit two shows of the 2009 run and witnessed the Black Crowes flexing their musical muscles to produce two musically different shows, both in song selection and overall vibe . Where Wednesday night was a seamless journey through the band's musical wheelhouse, Friday night was a rock'n roll show that left the crowd simultaneously scratching our heads and picking our jaws off the beer-soaked dancefloor of the Fillmore at the amazing music blasting out from the stage .

Opening a cold and windy Wednesday night with the trippy "Movn' On Down the Line", the band allowed the psychedelic opener room to slowly bloom into a celebratory jam. This is the type of song many bands would close a show with and yet we were only one song into the set.

The swirling organ and slide guitar of "Under a Mountain" followed as the band embarked on a guided tour of their songbook: new song "Shady Grove" brought some Midnight Ramble boogie to the evening, while first album classic"Twice as Hard" reminded longtime fans what got them into the band almost 20 years ago. A thoroughly jammed-out cover of Delaney and Bonnie"s "Poor Elijah - Tribute to Johnson", and finally the drifty balladry of "Wyoming and Me"off the previously unreleased Band album

At this point in the evening, the message was clear: this is going to be one of those nights for the faithful fans in attendance.

In this day of AutoTuned vocal performances, sample triggering and outright lip synching, The Black Crowes play their music organically and the result is a performance that is unique to the day, the town, the crowd and the venue they happen to be playing on that given night.

Maybe it was the cozyness of the five show run at the Fillmore. Perhaps it was the culmination of a band being on the road for the majority of the last two years. Whatever it was, the Crowes' relaxed stage presence made the evening feel like we were getting to watch the band's private music jam, only with a cool light show and full service bar.

Their road chops shined brightly on the poly rhythms of "Another Roadside Tragedy" (complete with percussionist Joe Magisttro, who sat in for the entire Fillmore run), a thunderous "Sometimes Salvation" and the one-two punch of "Girl From a Pawnshop" and "She Gave Good Sunflower".

The encore proved just as random with three more covers- Clapton/Bramlett's "Don't Know Why", the Velvet Underground's "Oh Sweet Nuthin" complete with guitarist Rich Robinson taking lead vocals, and finally a proper show-closing with Little Feat's"Willin'", leaving everyone in the Fillmore with a smile on their face.

On to Friday.

As with any weekend show, the crowd was buzzing to have a good time and the band brought the rock'n roll, opening with "Good Morning Captain" off the new album, followed by the haunting feedback of "Nebekenzer" off 1997s Three Snakes and One Charm album. "Cosmic Friend" followed and while not a personal favorite, the crowd enjoyed it.


The pace came to a halt as drummer Steve Gorman made his way to the front of the stage to play some djembe on "Whoa Mule", the country-folk tune that caps 2008's Warpaint album. A bold move by the band no doubt, but I wonder how the drifty understated tune played to the rest of the Friday crowd, who by now were fully boozed up and ready for the weekend.

The pace picked up a bit as the band plucked their way into the country shuffle of "Roll Old Jeremiah" leading into a jam that allowed keyboardist Adam McDougal to play some bar-room piano fills that twisted together with the percussion until the band collectively spun straight into the hallucinatory gospel goodness of rocker "Good Friday". That my friend's, is a segue.

Suddenly, the rock show was back. After an epic 16 minute "My Morning Song" , the Crowes eased up a bit and gave the audience some Exile on Main Street acoustic blues with new song "Shine Along" before absolutely grinding the show to a halt with the country ballad cover "Lost My Drivin' Wheel". While the song was excellent and allowed Chris Robinson to showcase his vocals, the Friday crowd was collectively too drunk to handle this level of subtlety.

At this point, you really didn't know what was coming next. Groove rocker "Blackberry" got things going again, and was followed by the stomping 60's southern soul of Joe Tex's "Show Me" which absolutely left the majority of the crowd looking dazed and confused as they asked their friends just what the fuck they were listening to at this point in the night.

After departing for the far reaches of outer space on the jam following "Nonfiction", the band must have sensed the crowd was now lost in a Friday night wormhole of musical confusion as they attempted to reel everyone back in with fan favorites "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution" and the classic "Remedy".

The encore began slowly, opening with the ballad "The Last Place that Love Lives" off the new album. A frontier western style ballad that showcases Chris Robinson's pipes, the subtlety of the song could have easily been lost on the crowd, but something rare happened: the crowd shut up and actually listened, allowing the song's damaged beauty to shine through.

A booming "God's Got It", complete with drummer Steve Gorman banging away on a marching band drum got the crowd going tribal, followed by Moby Grape's "Hey Grandma"to finish the show.

While the encore was another head-scratching collection of songs, overall the show was fun and the band sounded great. The seamless ease of Wedsnesday's show might have colored our perception of the evening, but part of the fun of a good Black Crowes show is not knowing what's coming next, and we got that both nights in spades.

*Photos used without permission from the Black Crowes fan board. If you would like your photo removed, contact us.

Wednesday Setlist:
Movin' On Down The Line, Under A Mountain, Shady Grove, Twice As Hard, Poor Elijah - Tribute To Johnson (Medley), Wyoming And Me, Wee Who See The Deep > The Raga > Another Roadside Tragedy, You Can All Join In, Girl From A Pawnshop, She Gave Good Sunflower, Sometimes Salvation, Jealous Again, Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)
E: Don't Know Why, Oh! Sweet Nuthin', Willin'

Friday Setlist:
Good Morning Captain, Nebakanezer, Cosmic Friend, Whoa Mule, Roll Old Jeremiah > Jam > Good Friday, My Morning Song, Shine Along, Lost My Drivin' Wheel, Blackberry, Show Me, Nonfiction > Jam, Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution, Remedy
E: Last Place That Love Lives, God's Got It, Hey Grandma

Can I Get an Amen for Rock 'n Roll?

Live Review: Eagles of Death Metal
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA
February 5, 2009


Sometimes you want to close your eyes, listen to live music and soak in the emotion of the song, the poetry of the lyrics and the melodies so they resonate deep in your soul.

Other times you just want to drink beer, throw devil signs in the air and scream sexually provocative lyrics until you're horse.

Thursday night was one of the latter nights as the Eagles of Death Metal played a sold out show at the Fillmore in San Francisco, California. Three straight weeks of dismal news on our nation's economy, a chaotic week at work and some unwelcome news from my doctor earlier in the week had me more than ready for EODM's chemical and musical tonic.

With his aviator shades, greased back long red hair, skin tight jeans and beverage in hand, ringleader/vocalist Jesse "The Devil" Hughes came to preach the good book of rock 'n roll, and for 90 minutes EODM literally made the floor of the Fillmore bounce up and down to the throbbing beat of the band's songs.

Whether it was a song like ""Don't Speak (I Came to Make a Bang) from the band's second album Death By Sexy or opening the show with "I Only Want You" from the Peace Love Death Metal the band raised the energy level in the house 1000% and had bodies moving on the ballroom floor of the Fillmore.

For this tour, the band has been graced to have Queens of the Stone Age drummer Joey Castillo behind the kit and the effect has raised the bar on the EODM live experience. Pounding his kit like Animal from the Muppets, Castillo kept the heavy synchronized stripper beats going all night, giving the rest of the band a solid foundation to lay down their sleazy riffs on.

Part of the appeal of EODM is the between song chatter and charisma of frontman Hughes and tonight he did not disappoint. Hughes worked the whole crowd, duck dancing to the edge of the stage, playing a solo rendition of "Midnight Creeper"at the start of the encore and working the ladies in the crowd to a full lather. As someone once said, the ladies in the crowd want Jesse, and the guys in the crowd want to be Jesse.

The crowd got to meet Jesse's son, who stood side-stage and doubled as a roadie by giving guitarist Dave Catching (AKA Darlin' Dave), bassist Brian O'Connor(AKA Big Hands) and drummer Joey Castillo(AKA The Sexy Mexy) fresh towels. Hughes even shared his collection of sweat-laden combs with some lucky female fans close to the stage.

Although the recent reviews for new album Heart On have been mixed, the new songs performed fit in well with the back catalog and covers. "Secret Plans" boogied with it's Devo-esque backbeat and "Anything 'Cept the Truth" showed flashes of the Rolling Stones with it's Keef Richards licks.

Speaking of the Stones, "Brown Sugar" in the encore got the older folks in the crowd (including yours truly) groovin before the band tore the place down with "So Easy" off their debut album. As we patiently waited on line at the coat check, the overheard chatter was mostly "Dude, that show fucking rocked." or "I didn't know they were that good".

For a band that many still consider a jokey-side project of Queens of the Stone Age, the Eagles of Death Metal continue their crusade to have a stripper pole installed in every house in America, and with shows like Thursday night's at the Fillmore, the impossible is now slightly more possible.

Live Review: The Black Crowes

The Black Crowes
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA
12.19.08 / 12.20.08

12.19.08

What a night. From the storm clearing sunset drive into the city, to seeing old friends, to scoring a free ticket to the show, to the actual show, it was as Loud Reed sings, "Just a perfect day..."

Maybe if I referenced astronomical charts from Friday night they would note that certain planets aligned and a breeze of cosmic dust blew right over the Fillmore in San Francisco where the Black Crowes were playing the fourth night of a five night run.

Opening with "Cursed Diamond", the band dug in and let the music explode inside the walls of the Fillmore, playing an amazing set of songs from every era of their nearly 20 year career. New songs like "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution" meshed well with classic Crowes' classics like "Hotel Illness" and "Under a Mountain". Hardcore fans were even treated to two unreleased gems - "Title Song" and "Bewildered", a song that had not been performed live in over 15 years.

The band were also cover song sommeliers. Bonnie and Delaney's "Comin' Home", Dylan's "Girl From the North Country" and a smoking version of The Rolling Stones "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" to close the show gave the Friday night crowd some nice aural surprises.

Ask any longtime fan and they tell that what keeps them going to shows and following the band around the globe is the unexpected, those WTF moments that allow the band and it's fans to share a moment of musical bliss.

From the organ intro of "Under a Mountain" and continuing through the spacey jam of "Bring On Bring On" the evening became a series of WTF moments. The Crowes absolutely own their interpretation of Dylan's "Girl From the North Country" and "Good Friday" was the fourth song of the night off their 1996 underrated and underplayed album Three Snakes and One Charm.

After losing two key members of the band in 2006, a lot of fans questioned whether the Crowes could recover. Witnessing a shambolic show in LA during the fall of 2007 had dimmed my hopes for the future of the band, but Friday's show displayed a new Black Crowes: musically stronger and agile from almost a year of touring with new members Adam McDougal on keyboards and Luther Dickinson on lead guitar and an enthusiasm that flowed from the stage through the songs and resonated with the crowd.

Friday night, the band made me remember why I became a fan in the early 90s.

-12.19.08 setlist-
Cursed Diamond
Horsehead
Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution
Hotel Illness
Comin' Home
Under A Mountain
Jam -> Bring On, Bring On
Girl From A Pawnshop
Girl From The North Country
Good Friday
Title Song
Bewildered
Soul Singing
Hard To Handle -> Jam
Wounded Bird
- encore -
God's Got It
Can't You Hear Me Knocking



12.20.08

Coming off the musical high of Friday night's show, I could not wait to return to the Fillmore the next night and have friends and family hopefully experience a similar night. Again, we met up with longtime friends and fellow fans at the Boom Boom Room to catch up and make predictions about tonight's show between sips of ale and waiting 20 minutes for the bartender to actually serve you.

It was a Saturday night show and the Fillmore was packed to the rafters with fans and folks who couldn't make the shows earlier in the week. The band gave everyone a nice surprise by starting the show with a cover of Traffic's "Feelin' Alright", a song they had not performed live since 1997.

While Friday night stayed focused on the rock and left the jams far and few between, the first indication that Saturday night would be a different beast came during the 3rd song, "High Head Blues" complete with a trippy ending jam that saw the band stretch out and let new lead guitarist Luther Dickinson do his swampy slide guitar thing.

From the opening riff of "Downtown Money Waster" many fans knew we were in for some big jams and the band proceeded to play/jam through the next three songs and 30+ minutes. And while the band did sound great, the jams meandered and threatened to throw the whole evening out of whack. For every great moment in a song like "Thorn in My Pride", the band would jam out right over the musical cliff. Even the dreaded drum solo appeared during "Thorn".

No band should have a drum solo. Ever.

When the monster jamfest ended, the band stabbed the evening's energy level in the heart with a cover of Gene Clark's "Polly". While it is a beautiful, dusty country ballad, after 30 minutes of jams and drums solos, the crowd needed some uptempo rock to get back on track, and unfortunately the funeral march pace of "Polly" did not make it happen.

But for every musical gamble, the band was able to reel it back in with some quality song selection and playing.

"Feathers" a dark, bluesy psychedelic slow burner started the recovery, and the addition of the uptempo country rock of "Movin' On Down the Line" and the classic cut "Remedy" restored the crowd and band to full Saturday night rock glory before the set ended.

In a week full of surprises, the question of how the band would encore tonight to end the show as well as the week-long residency was the topic everyone openly discussed while the roadies moved around the stage setting up gear and restocking liquids. For Grateful Dead fans in the audience, the encore turned out to be a wet dream.

The Dead's bassist Phil Lesh joined the band with his annoying blue-lighted bass for a run through three Dead classics. "Sugaree" was great, growing from a quiet shuffle to an all-band/crowd sing along during the chorus. "Cold Rain and Snow" and "New Speedway Boogie", two songs the Crowes have played off and on through 2008, allowed Crowes frontman/birthday boy Chris Robinson to indulge his inner-Jerry and jam with one of his musical idols.

Never a big fan of the Dead, the all-Phile Lesh encore was a bit much and left something to be desired, but we were in San Francisco and it was a unique encore to a great week long residency that saw the band dust off many gems from its extensive back catalog. The ability to expect the "unexpected" is back with the Crowes live show experience and that is a thrill to long time fans who wondered if the band would ever regain flight after the exit of longtime members Eddie Hawrysch and Marc Ford from 2005/06's reunion tour.


-12.20.08 setlist-
Feelin' Alright
Stare It Cold
High Head Blues -> Jam
Space Captain
Seeing Things
Young Man, Old Man
Let Me Share The Ride
Descending
Downtown Money Waster -> Jam ->
Mona ->
Take Off From The Future ->
Thorn In My Pride
Polly
Oh Josephine
Feathers
Movin' On Down The Line
Remedy
- encore -
Sugaree
Cold Rain And Snow
New Speedway Boogie

Photos courtesy of the fans on the Black Crowes message board Amorica 2. Photos used without permission.

Black Crowes Fillmore Residency

As The Black Crowes prepare to play the final two nights of their five night residency at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco, here's a taste of the band playing "Long Black Veil" in Minneapolis with Andy Cabic from Vetiver and Gary Louris of the Jayhawks.

Live Review: Rock N' Roll Means Well Tour

Drive By Truckers/The Hold Steady
The Fillmore
San Francisco
11.23.08


The last time I caught the Drive By Truckers in concert they were opening up for the Black Crowes in Alpine, CA., and the potent combination of an early opening time slot and lack of crowd made for a show I'd rather forget.

Fast forward two years and I found myself on a crisp Sunday evening at the Fillmore in San Francisco, CA. taking a much needed 4 hour break from reality. In a time when our national economy yo-yo's between recovery and collapse, the $30 ticket for the Rock 'n Roll Means Well tour would prove to have a solid ROI and a healthy elixir for the soul.

The Hold Steady kicked the evening off with their punked up Springsteen brand of rock, and while the crowd was populated by more Trucker fans than Hold Steady fans, the band's infectious energy won quite a few converts by the end of their set.

Lead singer/guitarist Craig Finn worked the crowd with his manic stage energy, throwing his whole body enthusiastically into each song much like Fugazi's Giu Picciotto would back in the day. Finn's Springsteen/narrator-style lyrics and delivery weren't my cup 'o tea, but I give the band credit for a lively, passionate stage show. Hell, a guy in a gorilla suit showed up on stage at one point. A for effort.

My ear's perked up when THS invited DBT's Patterson Hood to the stage for a casual and spirited rendition of "Burning for You" by Blue Oyster Cult. The crowd erupted at this point, and the smiles spread across all the musicians faces on stage indicated the good times were about to get even better.

DBT took the stage to loud applause. For year's I've read about amazing DBT shows in the Bay Area and whatever the connection is between the band, the Bay Area and their fans, the electricity in the air was apparent and it was time to take a deep swig of whiskey and let the rock show begin.

Ask any longtime DBT fan what it's like for the band to begin a show with "Zip City" off their classic Southern Rock Opera album and they'll most likely tell you it doesn't get much better. The band fired off a trio of songs from that album to begin the show. "Ronnie and Neil" had an appropriate Neil Young/Crazy Horse ragged, dirge-like vibe, followed by the Mike Cooley-sung "72" giving longtime fans a nice tip of the hat to some prime era Truckers.

Picking up the pace a bit, the driving rhythms of "February 14" was a nice surprise as pedal steel guitarist John Neff traded searing licks with Mike Cooley over drummer Brad Morgan's piledriving syncopation. Without pausing, the band sequed to "The Righteous Path" and kept the energy high and opened a selection of songs off this year's Brighter Than Creation's Dark album.

A show highlight was the filthy blues funk of "Goodes Field Road". The band took the songs' swampy groove and opened it up wide in the live setting, giving Patterson Hood the perfect foundation to spin one of his southern tales of misfits and criminals. Bassist Shonna Tucker took a spin on lead vocals on the Who'ish "Homefield Advantage" letting the band jam the song out for a bit.

"The Stroker Ace", Mike Cooley had many shining moments in the evening - "3 Dimes Down" layed down some greasy Keef Richards guitar licks while "Checkout Time in Vegas" and "Ghost to Most" were pure country rock heaven.

Singer Kelly Hogan joined the band for two numbers - " I'm Your Puppet" and a haunting version of "Angels and the Fuselage" that had me hearing Patterson and Hogan singing "I'm scared shitless of what's coming next" for days in my head.

Being in San Francisco, the appropriately titled "Steve McQueen" was a late set special treat, as was a cathartic performance of "Hell No, I Ain't Happy". The set ended with Cooley's "Marry Me" complete with the tour-naming and now famous lyrical line "Rock 'n roll means well, but it can't help telling young boys lies".

While I couldn't put my finger on it, the band was projecting a confidence I had not seen in past performances. Maybe confidence isn't the right word, but the Drive By Truckers had a presence on stage all night long. They were in complete control of their craft and it translated into a monster of a first set.

The encore was full of even more surprises: An powerful cover of Springsteen's "Adam Raised a Cain", Van Halen's classic "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" and Warren Zevon's "Play it All Night" complete with members of The Hold Steady sent the crowd into the stratosphere of rock 'n roll bliss before both groups knocked everyone in the building out with a vicious version of Jim Carroll's "People Who Died".

While The Hold Steady didn't win me over, both bands put on a hell of a show to give fans and new converts a transcendant Sunday night on the town. The Drive By Truckers played an amazing set of music that saw the band raise its game and deliver big time, leaving fans excited at the possibilities for the future.



Drive By Tuckers setlist:

Zip City
Ronnie and Neil
72
February 14
Righteous Path
Checkout Time in Vegas
Goode's Field Road
Ghost to Most
I'm Your Puppet (w/ Kelly Hogan)
Living Bubba
3 Dimes Down
Homefield Advantage
Lookout Mountain
Hell No, I Ain't Happy
Shut UP and Get on the Plane
Steve McQueen
Marry Me
Angels and Fuselage (w/ Kelly Hogan)

-encore-
Adam Raised a Cain (Springsteen)
Where the Devil Don't Stay
Let There Be Rock (w/ The Hold Steady)
Ain't Talkin' Bout Love (Van Halen w/ THS)
Play it All Night (Zevon w/ THS)
People Who Died (Jim Carroll w/ THS)

Check out Alabama Ass Whuppin's great collection of photos from the show here