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Mon 5 Oct – Bob Dylan

If you get a chance to see Bob Dylan on this tour, take it. No matter what you've heard, you need to see the man now. He has not been this good for at least six years. Charlie Sexton, former lead guitarist for Bob's band in the early 2000's, has rejoined Dylan and re-energized his band. The song choices are inspired, Bob's delivery is more precise, he's playing harmonica and dancing at center stage, looking more like the song and dance man he once claimed to be. He's even picked up the guitar again, after a few years of playing keyboards on nearly every song. I was lucky enough to be on the rail, immediately in front of the stage, and the experience was mind blowing. I won't include a song-by-song description, but certain tunes stood out, particularly Forgetful Heart, from this year's Together Through Life album. A whisper-soft arrangement featured Donnie Herron on violin and Tony Garnier on bowed stand-up bass. Bob sang the words clearly and, for Bob, tunefully, emphasizing the song's tender, regretful tone. It felt as if all 7,000 people in the arena were completely silent and completely still for three minutes, as we all felt the power of a living legend, still able to give us all chills after nearly fifty years on the road. The Bob Dylan Show rolls on, and I hope it rolls into your town soon. Don't you dare miss it.

Here Comes Science
Curse Your Branches
Popular Songs
There Is No Enemy
the Life of the World to Come
Christmas In The Heart

What do I listen to? There's just too much new goodness!

Sun 23 Aug – Elvis Costello and The Sugarcanes
Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery is a music venue seemingly designed for upper middle class, mostly middle aged couples and small groups whose idea of a rocking good time centers around lawn chairs, picnic food and bottles of wine. Should you prefer actually dancing at a concert, there is a small patch of grass reserved for you on one side of the stage, where you cannot actually view the performing artists, nor will you block the view of the lounging, dining, drinking patrons, most of whom seem fairly unconcerned with exactly which artist is playing, as long as they have their wine and their cozy spot on the lawn.

One inevitably wonders what the Elvis Costello of 1977 would have thought of all this. Actually, I wouldn't mind asking the 1977 version of many of these "fans" what they'd think of it. As I awaited the opening act, sitting on my tiny blanket as far forward among the lawn chair dwellers as possible, I couldn't help hearing Elvis' voice in my head: "There's gonna be No Dancing..." Grumble, grumble.

I needn't have worried. What took place on this gorgeous late afternoon and slightly chilly evening was one of the most enjoyable concerts I've attended. The Lovett Sisters opened, and it was impossible not to love them. Three VERY young girls, all of whom are genuinely talented vocalists and instrumentalists, they told how they'd just arrived on a plane from Georgia following a tour of Sweden and Norway, where it was "really cold!" Their sparkling bluegrass licks and clear, clean voices set the tone for the evening, and while the audience wasn't entirely into it, they were at least very polite.

Elvis and the Sugarcanes took the stage at 8 p.m., and it didn't take long for them to establish the ground rules. This was going to be an evening of bluegrass and country music played absolutely perfectly by astoundingly good musicians, and Elvis was going to go all out on every song, sounding as good as he ever has, his voice blending beautifully with Jim Lauderdale's on the new stuff, the old stuff, and the brilliantly chosen covers, the first of which came right off the bat with that "other Elvis" classic, "Mystery Train."

What followed was a performance of such energy and power, it was easy to forget most of the crowd had never heard most of these songs before. E.C. pulled the majority of the setlist from the new album, "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane," and from his other T. Bone Burnett collaboration, "King of America." In between, there were drastically re-arranged versions of "Blame It On Cain," "Mystery Dance," "Everyday I Write the Book," and "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes." But it was the covers, along with a stunningly good encore set (more on that later) that really got the crowd excited.

Perhaps doing a bluegrass version of "Friend of the Devil" isn't particularly surprising, but did anyone who hasn't been checking out this tour online expect the Velvet Underground and Nico's "Femme Fatale" or the Rolling Stones' "Happy" to work so wonderfully with this group of musicians in this style? In any case, they all worked, as did Elvis' entertaining narrative between songs, in which he described the background stories for several of the newer tunes, as well as musing on playing a show in a field behind a winery, describing his father's advice concerning the music business, dedicating a song to the late Larry Knetchel, and pointing out the oncoming "sign" that reads "55" which he'll be passing in the next few days as he reaches that particular birthday. It's obvious that his stint as a talk show host was well earned, and the crowd seemed to get a good laugh out of many of his remarks.

As for the encore, by that point in the evening, there was no security keeping anyone out of the reserved seating area, and when E.C. and the Sugarcanes returned to the stage after a very short break, many in the crowd finally stood and surged forward, myself included. I ended up easily planting myself no more than 10 or 12 feet from the man himself, dead center, and proceeded to completely eat up what followed. A cover of "The Race Is On" was followed by bringing out the Lovell Sisters to add their beautiful voices to "American Without Tears," "Crooked Line," and, most poignantly for me, the gorgeous ballad co-written with T. Bone and given to Allison Krauss, "The Scarlet Tide." From where I stood, the three young Lovell girls looked to be almost as in awe as I felt as they sang along with Elvis, their faces beaming. Something about the moment moved me to tears, and I can tell you it wasn't the wine, since I'd only consumed one glass at $10 per, and that was several hours earlier.

After the Lovells gracefully exited, Elvis closed the evening with a few more recognizable hits, including a stirring, quiet version of "Allison," and a racous, country-tinged rendition of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding," during which he broke not one, but two guitar strings. This was especially meaningful for me, since I've broken more than one guitar string playing that song myself over the years.

Thank you Elvis and friends for a truly magical night at the Winery. In the end, even the young punk would have appreciated the fiery show put on by the old geezer he has become. And the rest of us geezers appreciated it as well.

2006: K'naan - In The Beginning

2007: Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

2008: Mates of State - Get Better

2009: Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is the Move

Discuss.

Thanks to iTunes' "last played" column, I was able to determine that Simple Pages was played on my eMac at work on September 1, 2005, which was a few days before my daughter started her freshman year of high school. She'll be graduating tonight.

It's always slightly bugged me to see that particular song so high on my Most Played Tracks list, since I rarely recall ever having listened to it. I know that Miranda was mad for Weezer for a couple of years, most notably right around the time she started high school, so it's easy to imagine her using my computer a number of times over the course of a few years to somewhat falsely run up the totals.

However, when I checked iTunes more carefully, I noticed that not only had Simple Pages not been played since 9/1/05, it was only added to my computer on 8/1/05. Between those two dates, the song received over 100 plays, meaning that Miranda had to be listening to it relentlessly in the weeks before she started high school, then not at all (at least not on my computer). What was it about this song?

"Gimme some love, gimme some love..." over very basic rock power chords. "Can't you see where to be this time? Simple pages on my mind. Give me something I can believe. Oh baby." Nothing earth-shattering here, just basic and pure rock and roll. "There's a long long way to go" is how it ends, and how it began, and again, how it ends.

Sweet.

No Line On The Horizon

"I was born, I was born to sing for you/I didn't have a choice/I didn't have a choice but to lift you up/And sing whatever song you wanted me to/I give you back my voice/From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise..."

I have been a U2 fan since 1983, when I somehow discovered War, in spite of the fact that all the radio stations where I grew up played was Journey and Van Halen. Back then, Bono was a revolutionary, being a Christian was some kind of act of bravery, and a song like Sunday Bloody Sunday could change the world, via satellite.

Obviously we've been through a few things since those days, and so have U2. I stopped being really excited about new albums right around the time of Pop, and even though seeing them live is still a transcendent experience, I haven't really felt connected to U2 as a fan for a long time.

So my expectations for this new album aren't exactly what they were ten years ago. Still, it's pretty weird that my pre-paid iTunes download was available on Tuesdday, and I'm just now listening to the songs on Sunday. I'm thinking it was important to wait until Sunday, though.

"It’s not if I believe in love / But if love believes in me / Oh,
believe in me / At the moment of surrender / I folded to my knees / I did not notice the passers-by / And they did not notice me."

Who could understand what it's like to be Bono? Muhammad Ali maybe? Michael Jordan - nah, he's totally apolitical. There just aren't a lot of humans on earth who've lived that kind of life. I could drop names like McCartney and Dylan, but that would invite musical comparisons that are useless at best. Suffice to say, the guy has experienced things none of us will ever begin to understand. And it sounds like he's trying to get back to where he once belonged. Paul would understand, of course, as would John Lennon if he'd made it out alive. If Bob understands, he's not telling. And Mick and Keith don't even give a fuck.

"I was right there at the top of the bottom / On the edge of the
known universe where I wanted to be / I had driven to the scene of the accident / And I sat there waiting for me / Restart and re-boot yourself / You’re free to go / Oh, oh / Shout for joy if you get the chance."

That's from Unknown Caller, which, like everything else so far has a bigger, deeper sound than anything on the last two albums. So of course, there's the inevitable who-has-the-Edge-been-listening-to-lately question. Musically, U2 is always just U2 though, in the same way the R.E.M. is always R.E.M. and Neil Young is always Neil Young, even when they "radically" change their sound. You still hear the same heart beating at the bottom of it all.

Side note: Bono's a Mac user: "Force quit and move to trash" is totally a Mac line. But then, how could it be otherwise?

"Everybody needs to cry or needs to spit / Every sweet tooth needs just a little hit / Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot / How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?"

Of course, because it's Bono, and because he's 48 and not 28, you know the idiot in question is the one singing the song.

"Every generation gets a chance to change the world / Pity the nation that will listen to your boys and girls / ’Cos the sweetest melody is the one we haven’t heard / Is it true the perfect love drives out all fear? / The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear"

Amen. And my apologies to readers who belong to the latest generation with a chance to change the world. I hope you do it, I really do, but I pity the nation that listens to its 17 year olds without hearing that sweetest melody -- that's not the one on "The Hills," a'ight?

"Stand up, this is comedy / The DNA lottery may have left you smart / But can you stand up to beauty, dictator of the heart / I can stand up for hope, faith, love / But while I’m getting over certainty / Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady."

Some of us got over our certainty awhile ago, Bono, but then, if you'd done that, you wouldn't be where you are. I love the bit about not helping God across the street -- what a beautiful metaphor for all those despicably smug Xians with their bumper stickers -- I saw one today that said "If you don't believe in God, you'd better hope you're right." Yeah, like God is this cranky old bastard just waiting to beat up everybody who disagrees with YOU. Ugh.

"C’mon ye people / Stand up for your love / Love love love love love... / God is love / And love is evolution’s very best day / Soul rockin’ people moving on..."

Sometimes inarticulate Bono is my favorite Bono.

But the next song starts out like a remix of "Boots." It's not.

Fez - Being Born is a whole other thing. First, it grabs you with the voice samples, which kind of sound like backstage before a concert at first, then become some kind of middle Eastern street scene, all accompanied by that "let me in the sound" refrain. But just as that gets cozy, Eno & Lanois whack you on the head with a swirling Edge effect and some trademark Mullen Jr. drums, with Bono just moaning over it:

"Six o’clock / On the autoroute / Burning rubber, burning chrome / Bay of Cadiz and ferry home / Atlantic sea cut glass / African sun at last / Lights... flash past... / Like memories / A speeding head, a speeding heart / I’m being born, a bleeding start / The engines roar, blood curling wail / Head first then foot / Then heart sets sail."

Musically there's some trace of ancient The Unforgettable Fire in there, but of course, digitally enhanced and DEEP. This album is sonically so DEEP. I can't really put it any other way.

Then it slips into a major key for a bit, with a pseudo-mysterious (ways) keyboard thing over it all. Eventually the drums fade, then the song fades, and the whole is actually less than the sum of its parts. Promising, but on first listen, not what I was hoping it would be.

Appropriately, the next track, White As Snow is simple, spare - the melody aping "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" --

"Once I knew there was a love divine / Then came a time I thought it knew me not / Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not / Only the lamb as white as snow."

This is pretty much The Joshua Tree seriousness, but unfortunately it doesn't quite work, until the soaring vocal line of "to sleep the night shooting out the stars," after which I'm pretty sure Edge joins on harmony, and it's a brief reminder of the days when Bono wouldn't even overdub his own voice for fear of damaging the purity of the sound.

The sound gets louder again on Breathe, and the sound is ultimately what Bono wants it all to be about:

"We are people borne of sound / The songs are in our eyes / Gonna wear them like a crown / Walk out, into the sunburst street / Sing your heart out, sing my heart out / I’ve found grace inside a sound / I found grace, it’s all that I found / And I can breathe / Breathe now."

I'm going to say yes to this album. Yes we can maybe? It has that vibe, definitely, even though I'm sure most of it was written well before the election. But then, we knew the road we were on well before the election -- that was just a formality. Bono's ready to walk into the future, and, as usual, he's a few steps ahead of the masses.

If he walks away walks away, will they follow? Damn, I hope so.

Epilogue: Cedars Of Lebanon

When has the last song on a U2 album ever been significant enough to mention? Usually it's just an afterthought. Mothers Of The Disappeared was probably the last one that really shook me.

This time, it's Bono out there somewhere, saving the world, knowing he's a big sham, sitting in a bar in some godforsaken hellhole, thinking of HER. What's it like to spend 20 years airing one's relationship dirty laundry right there in public for 10 million people to hear? It's well established that his wife is a saint -- hell, if it weren't for her, he'd probably spend 90% of his time at the pub instead of the 40-50% he does anyway. Yes kids, U2 are an IRISH band...

"I haven’t been with a woman, it feels like for years / Thought of you the whole time, your salty tears / This shitty world sometimes produces a rose / The scent of it lingers and then it just goes / Return the call to home / The worst of us are a long drawn out confession / The best of us are geniuses of compression / You say you’re not going to leave the truth alone / I’m here ’cos I don’t want to go home."

The verses are two chords, simple bassline, rhythmic trickery. The line "return the call to home" is the one set apart, melodically and harmonically beautiful, shimmering.

This isn't that different from Miami or whatever the last three I-love-my-wife-but-I'm-a-world-traveling-rock-star-asshole songs were. But yet, yet... I want to feel it. I want it to hit me. It may be the Lagunitas, sure, but I'm going to play this one again, just to see if something hits me.

"Choose your enemies carefully ’cos they will define you."

I don't know for certain what he means here, and that's fine. But it's the last thing he says, and maybe this time that's important.

Anyway, I think I'll listen to this a lot for awhile, and then hopefully it won't become like the last two albums and just fade away. It could happen, though. U2 doesn't need me to like them anymore. They've grown up, and I've grown up, and I guess that's the whole point.

So if you didn't have enough reason to subscribe to eMusic before, you do now. Dark Was The Night came out on Monday, and it's yet another triumph from the fine people who gave us all those alternative samplers back in the day (No Alternative, Red Hot & Rhapsody, and about a dozen more dating from 1993 till now). You want indie artists? Here ya go: The Decemberists, Bon Iver, Arcade Fire, Beirut, Andrew Bird, Yo La Tengo, Spoon, Cat Power, My Morning Jacket, and the list goes on and on. Every song unreleased. Every song amazing. And you can get the whole thing plus a bunch more great stuff for FREE on eMusic if you subscribe and get however many free downloads they're giving away these days.

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Cool.