Jonathan Coulton

John Hodgman + They Might Be Giants / Weird Al Yankovic.

Work out this equation and you get Jonathan Coulton. Witty lyrics, but not clownish. Thoughtful subjects, and not obnoxious. He had a good line at last Friday's performance at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA: a young man in his early teen years in the 80s reading Omni magazine. Songs about moving to suburbia and owning a Shopvac; a love song between Pluto and its moon; mad scientist love and the stretch one takes to make a gift for his love: a half-monkey, half-pony monster. All done with dry wit and humor and touching sentimentality.

It was quite possibly the most entertaining evening I've had at a musical performance in a long, long time.

Here are some videos from my seat at the performance. I hope you enjoy. JoCo rocks!!!

Eric Clapton...with a surprise ROGER DALTREY

OK, so on a whim over this past weekend, I realize Eric Clapton will be in concert Monday night in Raleigh. Had no clue. And it so happens I worked 8-4 Monday. Out of the blue, I decide to trek on over to the RBC Center in Raleigh to see a blues guitar GOD. (As a non-religious man, I drop the term "god" discriminately.)

So I leave at 5:00 so I can sit in Triangle rush hour traffic for quite some time, then arrive in my seat by 6:40. At 7:30, the opening band is making its way to the stage. I have absolutely no idea who it could be, and stare in amazement as the singer's identity is made clear...

ROGER FUCKING DALTREY. The lead singer of my ALL-TIME favorite band, The Who.

I frantically wave my arms and soil my trousers repeatedly. OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!

Amazing....

Esperanza Spalding

Friday night I traveled over to Raleigh on the campus of NC State to see a gorgeous and up-and-coming bassist: Esperanza Spalding. Esperaza, a pianist, guitarist, and drummer entertained for two hours. Jazz, both classic and modern, filled the air. Soulful ballads, upbeat numbers, offbeat acid beats; Esperanza manages to command her bass with virtuosity.

Really an exciting and mesmerizing performance. Here's a video I took on the iPhone:

Harry Connick, Jr.

What a fun Mardi Gras I just had! For whatever reason, instead of partying in his home of New Orleans, Harry Connick, Jr. was on tour and in Durham! Worked 8-4, let the dogs out, then headed over for dinner at Tyler's and then the show at the Durham Performing Arts Center. It was a LOT of fun! Between the Saints winning the Super Bowl recently and Mardi Gras happening, he was in a REALLY good mood. Some of the lovey dovey songs (which he mentioned might make those not in love "a little awkward") were a little awkward for me. But other than those two songs out of the 2-hour show, it was FUN!!!

Sadly, I don't have any video or photos from the show. I was too close to the aisle and the DPAC camera gestapo. But here's a fun toe-tapping number I found online that brings me right back to Durham and last Tuesday's show:

Two Greensboro bands in two nights

In a fit of local music appreciation, I hit up two local bands in two local venues: Amelia's Mechanics on Friday at The Blind Tiger, and Holy Ghost Tent Revival at the Green Bean on Saturday. Both bands were a little out of my "element", but I quickly became fans of both.

Appears my iPhone video microphone is a touch sensitive. Sorry for the boisterous audio.

Amelia's Mechanics, one my own video and one not:



Holy Ghost Tent Revival, again one video my own and one not:



Fun nights.

Chicago - Day 2

Woke up Saturday excited and ready to go. My first day in Chicago was a BUSY fun-filled one. Today looks to be another great day out of town for more friendship, more beverage, and more Pixies.

Hopped on the "El" train again and traveled northward to meet up with Jonathan and Robin again. Stopped off at their place to meet Lily and Alice: two chihuahuas of infamous repute. After an interesting and novel display of barking, it was time to lay on the floor and get my ears and nose cleaned out by voracious tongues. Dogs rule.


We walked over to the El through their neighborhood and had lunch at Belly Shack for some Asian/Latin fusion sandwiches. Meatball pita with noodles for me. Appetizers of maple squash and fried plantains. Tasty.

Bellies full, we make our way over to another of the best bars in the land: The Map Room. The Ohio State/Michigan game was on the TV, Great Lakes Brewing's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter was going down the chute, and on a Saturday afternoon the bar became more and more lively with patrons. The place is just so cool. National Geographic magazines line the shelves on the wall. The wallpaper is comprised on (surprise!) maps. Belgian lambic Cantillon Lou Pepe quickly became a winner as more and more goblets of the tart nectar were ordered up.

From here, we walked some blocks over to Piece Brewery & Pizzeria for (surprise!) beer and pizza. The beers here have a decidedly, um, naughty air. I asked for something hoppy, so instead of their Full Frontal pale ale the waitress suggested the Camel Toe IPA. Giggle giggle. Also, some tasters of their Moose Knuckle barleywine were presented. Tee hee hee.

With excellent public transport instructions from my Chicago hosts, I hopped on a bus, then the El, and again arrived at the Aragon Ballroom for my 2nd concert in two nights. Another great set. Now since they're playing their Doolittle CD in its entirety, the bulk of it is the same. However, they ended with my two all-time favorite Pixies songs, making it the best night ever.

1. Dancing The Manta Ray
2. Weird At My School
3. Bailey's Walk
4. Manta Ray
5. Debaser
6. Tame
7. Wave of Mutilation
8. I Bleed
9. Here Comes Your Man
10. Dead
11. Monkey Gone To Heaven
12. Mr. Grieves
13. Crackity Jones
14. La La Love You
15. No. 13 Baby
16. There Goes My Gun
17. Hey
18. Silver
19. Gouge Away
20. Encore:
20. Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
21. Into The White
22. Encore 2:
22. Holiday Song
23. Something Against You
24. Vamos
25. Where Is My Mind?
26. Encore 3:
26. Gigantic

Chicago - Day 1

I've been home for a few days now, so I guess it's time to post about my 3-day weekend in Chicago. Why Chicago? The 20th anniversary of the seminal Pixies album Doolittle. The band went on a small tour to celebrate and will play the album in its entirety. The closest town they were coming to for me was Washington, DC. But those dates occur the Monday/Tuesday after Thanksgiving. And as a retail grunt, those dates are virtually impossible to get time off for. So looking at the tour schedule, Chicago fell on my normally-scheduled 3-day weekend off.

HELLO CHICAGO!!!

I was supposed to fly out of Raleigh Thursday night (an hour away but super cheap Southwest fares), but that FAA computer glitch from that morning rolled along and affected later flights. I thought I'd be out of the woods with my 6:30pm flight, but it ended up delayed 4 hours...making me miss my connection. Soooo....EARLY Friday morning it was. In bed by 10pm, up at 3:45am to have enough to time to drive over to make the flight.

By 8:30am Friday I am in Chicago. And by 10:00am I am here:

103 floors up and 4 feet out. "The Ledge" on the Sears, er, the Willis Tower. Took a cab from the airport, dropped off my bags at the hotel, then walked the 2 blocks from hotel to the tallest building in the U.S. Incredible views. Ears popped constantly on the elevator rides up and down. Unbelievable structure.


Chicago is a great beer town. Fellow beer geeks Jonathan and Robin moved from Chapel Hill to Chicago a few years ago. Since I was in town, we planned to meet up and do some pubcrawling together. First stop for lunch? The Lincoln Park neighborhood and Goose Island - Clybourn. A tasty burger with bacon of course was my fare. Delicious Belgian-inspired Matilda, offered a sample taste of their new altbier, then their dark Belgian Noire, Imperial Brown Goose, and finally a Black Cat Espresso Stout. (Wow, we went through a bunch of beverages didn't we?)

From here, it's to a divey bar with plenty of taps called Local Option. Just had a couple here, most notably the hoppy sensation from Three Floyds Brewing Co., Dreadnaught. On tap. Hear that Bones? Dreadnaught on tap. It was quite delicious.

From here, it was to one off the better beer bars in the country let alone Chicago: Hopleaf. Surly Brewing's Bender and a Stone/BrewDog collaboration called Bashah were the hits. Robin got some sort of muddy silty creation from Belgian brewer Wostyntje: Mustard Beer. Looked absolutely disgusting, but was actually pretty tasty. Looks nasty. I mean, look at it:

For dinner, I did have a delicious sammich: a CB&J. Cashew butter, fig jam, and gruyere cheese. Serve it with mac-n-cheese? Sold! YUM!!!

From here, we parted ways as I had a PIXIES concert to go to. They performed at the beautiful Aragon Ballroom. It was so sweet to see them live!!! People were cramming to get centerstage, but I was interested on hanging around towards the right of the stage in front of uber-cool bassist Kim Deal. Got it. Right up front. Leaning against the barrier. NICE!!!! The concert was a dandy. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

1. Dancing The Manta Ray
2. Weird At My School
3. Bailey's Walk
4. Manta Ray
5. Debaser
6. Tame
7. Wave Of Mutilation
8. I Bleed
9. Here Comes Your Man
10. Dead
11. Monkey Gone To Heaven
12. Mr. Grieves
13. Crackity Jones
14. La La Love You
15. No. 13 Baby
16. There Goes My Gun
17. Hey
18. Silver
19. Gouge Away
20. Encore:
20. Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf)
21. Into The White
22. Encore 2:
22. Isla De Encanta
23. Nimrod's Son
24. U-Mass
25. Velouria

Darwin's Meditation for the People of Lincoln

Drove over to Raleigh and the campus of NC State to see yet another performance by Daniel Bernard Roumain, otherwise known as DBR. This piece, a multimedia production entitled Darwin's Meditation for the People of Lincoln. Two iconic figures born on the same day in 1809. DBR wonders, what would they say to each other if they met? The performance and the piece can be best described by the man himself:



Not knowing what to expect, some "modern" portions of Act I were oddly intriguing. I suppose I had it in my mind that traditional melodic measures would flow. Act I included many sporadic notes and off-tempo beats. Once I settled into the show, it really opened up for me and I enjoyed it immensely.

The treat before the 8pm show was the 6:45pm discussion in the student center on campus. Got there right as it began, and no one was sitting in the very front row! Hell, I'll sit there! Great to hear his thoughts on the piece firsthand. Also cool to hear his tackle audience questions with humility and grace. And finally, even better for him to offer to shake my hand after the discussion. I squeal like a girl.

Pearl Jam

Wednesday night October 28th, after a long wet cold day in Philadelphia, it's time for the main reason for the trip: PEARL JAM. Nice. Ten Club fan club tickets on the floor of the arena. Social Distortion opened up, then Pearl Jam goes on and plays for almost 3 hours. Fantastic. They rocked. Absolutely rocked.

Video from my seat of their opening tune:

The setlist:

Wachovia Spectrum Arena

Oct 28, 2009

Set 1

• Animal
• All Night
• World Wide Suicide
• Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
• I Am Mine
• Johnny Guitar
• Nothing As it Seems
• Gone
• Evacuation
• Even Flow
• Come Back
• No Way
• 1/2 Full
• Down
• Wishlist
• Grievance
• Given To Fly
• The Fixer
• Save You

Encore 1

• Just Breathe
• Lukin
• Speed of Sound
• Push Me, Pull Me
• Garden
• Blood

Encore 2

• Last Kiss
• Wasted Reprise
• Better Man(Save it for Later)
• The Real Me
• Porch
• Yellow Ledbetter(Little Wing)

"Down" featured Mike Ness and Johnny Two Bags. "Just Breathe" and "Lukin" featured a string quartet

Yo-Yo Ma

A bonus program in the Guilford College Bryan Series of lectures, Monday October 26 saw a concert performance and discussion session with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Third row seats in the orchestra pit. VIP, baby! It was intriguing and engaging. He discussed various levels and pockets of development in his life. I was mesmerized.

No embedding onto websites, so you have to go to YouTube for a brief discussion clip here. His main focus on performance was the Bach Cello Suite. He talked about it being the first cello piece he learned. He broke it down for us all. Pattern recognition is the foundation of most of life. Listen to the patterns. Listen to the repeating theme. Beautiful.

Jeff Coffin Mu'tet

Last Thursday, I got the crazy idea to drive over to Black Mountain, NC for a concert. Granted, my presence at a musical performance is not all that extraordinary. But this time it was a 2 & 1/2 hour drive one way to the west to Black Mountain, a lengthy concert, the 2 & 1/2 hour drive one way back to Greensboro, then a little thing called "work"at 8am the following morning. Ah screw it...ROCK AND ROLL!!!

The performer? The Jeff Coffin Mu'tet. Who is Jeff Coffin you ask? His website is here. He plays horn for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and I was introduced to him via the two Dave Matthews Band concerts I attended this past spring where he filled in on horns.

The venue? Pisgah Brewing Co. A quirky brewery set inside an industrial park. The bar is no nonsense, cash only. Plenty of Pisgah taps along with a smattering of guest taps. L-shaped bar with seats for about 20 or so. Oktoberfest, Red Devil, Porter, Solstice all made their way down my gullet throughout the course of the evening's festivities. And at $3.00 for a pint (or $5 for a higher gravity offering) it was easy on the wallet too. All organic brewing here. Means they have to be creative in their concoctions as not all ingredients they might want to use are certified organic. But what they do have at their disposal for ingredients turn into some phenomenal beer...as the medals on the wall would suggest.

The performance was outstanding. The garage doors were open, a fire was roaring in the center of the picnic tables outside, the beer was flowing, the hippies were out, and some funky jazz was permeating your essence and making your feet tap and your head bob. A late, late night that offered me 3 & 1/2 hours of sleep before work, but that's what a barrel of coffee is for. FUN!!!

Sorry the videos are so dark, but I'm sure you can get the idea with the music...

Silversun Pickups in Charlotte

Saturday night and yet another concert. This time around it was to see the Silversun Pickups. The setting was the GORGEOUS Fillmore down in Charlotte. Photos of the venue are on Facebook here. Just beautiful. Chandeliers, tiered platforms to maximize your view of the stage, bars all around the perimeter. Just beautiful.

Local Charlotte band Sugar Glyder took the stage at 9:00pm. Nice. The lead singer sounded like a meld of Geddy Lee of Rush and Tommy Shaw of Styx. I liked 'em.

Next? Australian duo An Horse on stage at 10:00pm. A woman singer on guitar and a man on drums. Pounding rhythms from just two performers. She reminded me of Tanya Donelly of Belly. Again, I liked 'em.

Then, at 11:00pm, the main event: Silversun Pickups. Loud, grungey, reverb, noise, melodic, quiet, screaming, pulsing bass, violent drumming. WOW. Just such an invigorating show. At 1:00am I was in the Jeep, and at 2:20am I was home to let the dogs outside. This morning I awoke quite sluggish and with a hefty case of tinnitus. An incredible evening. Great show!!!

And to follow along with the lines of my many crushes, in the mold of the girl bass player, I go from (still) adoring Kim of the Pixies to adoring Nikki of SSPU. Ahhhh....

And I already have the glasses and beard like the SSPU keyboardist, so now I just need to get me a hat to complete the enemble.

Tori Amos at the Durham Performing Arts Center

Headed over to Durham tonight for a Tori Amos concert. 8th row center. And I mean CENTER. As in, Tori's piano bench was right in front of me, separated by a mere 8 rows of seats. Nice.

She made a point to mention it was good to be back home. She was born in NC. Granted she moved away when she was 2 but she was born in NC nonetheless.

Maybe it's something about a hottie on the piano (Tori Amos, Amanda Palmer,...) that gets my blood rolling. But tonight's concert found me leaning forward in my seat with mouth agape and just awestruck. Mesmerized. Intoxicated. Dare I say, enchanted.

A pixie, a faery on the keyboards. She waltzed in with a blue dress and shiny metallic silver leggings and that hair. That long red hair. That awesome long red hair. Beautiful. Looking damn good for 46.

Here's the setlist from tonight's show:

Give
Beauty of Speed
Cornflake Girl
Starling
Black Dove (January)
Glory of the '80s
Pandora’s Aquarium
Marys of the Seas
1,000 Oceans
Landslide
Upside Down
Lady in Blue
Bliss
Police Me
Precious Things
Strong Black Vine
-----
Body and Soul
Big Wheel

Just her on piano and organ and keyboards, Matt Chamberlain on drums, and Jon Evans on bass. Three performers producing a big, big sound. Loved it. A good time.