this summer’s live shows
- Birds & Batteries (July 5)
- PA’s Lounge is kind of ghetto, and the opening band
sucked badly. But Birds & Batteries—damn! Combining
synthesizers and cryptic lyrics with southern twang and pedal steel, Birds
& Batteries brings indie cred (read: complexity and copious
facial hair) to country rock. They play an awesome live show, and
not a person in the room would have disagreed with me. I hope this
San Francisco-based band makes it big.
- Assassins (August 2)
- One of Stephen Sondheim’s less popular musicals,
it’s certainly unusual to see a production of
Assassins during an election cycle. Company One’s
production, staged in the intimate BCA Plaza Theatre, was
excellent. The casting was first-rate (where did they find a
perfect look-alike for Charles
Guiteau?) and the singing was excellent. The technical aspects
of the show were a little disappointing, as was the band, which
sounded as if it were reading the score for the first time. But
simply seeing this show is a lot of fun. By chance I heard Neil
Patrick Harris (aka Doogie Howser) interviewed by Terry Gross on
Fresh Air the previous night—he spoke at length
about the way Sondheim’s score reflects the emotions of the
characters and his comments were actually pretty insightful.
- Surprise Me Mr. Davis (August 7)
- I have to admit I’ve never been a big fan of The Slip,
but I was pleasantly surprised by this weird
“electro-folk” combination of The Slip and
singer-songwriter Nathan Moore. Jim Hobbs, an eclectic
jazz-saxophone player, opened along with his hyper-focused
avant-garde drummer. That show was interesting enough, but it was
just too much when the two acts took the stage together later that
night: as a rule of thumb, there should never be two drummers on
stage at once. Nor should a jam band take on a saxophone player who
doesn’t know when to stop. In spite of the informality, this
show was a series of good long jams—a fun way to spend a
rainy night.
- Wilco and Andrew Bird (August
12)
- The bass player for Andrew Bird is a friend of the family. How
often do you get to see someone you know play a sold-out show at
Tanglewood? Opening for Wilco? Not often! On top of that, Andrew
Bird is a phenomenal act. And Wilco’s pretty decent too.
I’m pretty damn excited about this show.
- Jake Armerding (August 19)
- This Cantab Lounge show has most of the fixin’s of a rare
Barn Star appearance: Jake Armerding on fiddle, his father Taylor
on mandolin, Zack Hickman on bass… I can only hope to be
present when the old-school bluegrass freight train collides with
some foot-stomping classic rock covers.
Birds and Batteries are pretty good. Another SF countryish band that may be worth checking out are Or, the Whale. (I’m not affiliated, just a fan.)
I was pretty blown away when I saw Andrew Bird. He certainly is a phenomenal act.