Celebrity Concert Review

One of our not so frequent contributors, the ubiquitous TT has submitted the following. In an attempt to pander to the masses:

Be Good Tanya’s Belly Up Tavern,
May 18, 2007 Solana Beach, CA.

I first heard the BGT’s on NPR’s “All things considered” about 6 months ago; NPR will occasionally feature artists with a distinctive sound and try to give them broader exposure. To be sure, they have a distinctive acoustic sound using guitars, harmonica, violin, bass, and mandolin to their most clever advantage. But when combined with the blended harmonies and thoughtful lyrics, the female trio really sets themselves apart and above most other artists in this category. I suppose the best categorization is alternative country, but give a listen and decide for yourself.


Now, I am not a music snob by any means; I represent the mainstream of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-America. Artists like.Norah Jones and Jack Johnson have done very well with this, my segment, because their acoustic sounds are comforting, but still retain personality. The industry intelligentsia may rail against such artists because they are not sufficiently edgy or arcane, but this music scratches an itch for a customer segment that is still comfortable paying $15 for a CD rather than downloading mp3’s of dubious origin. I was hopeful the BGT’s would show me something to keep me hooked.


The Belly Up is a great bar venue to see a band; located 2 blocks from the beach in a laid-back southern California beach town, the Belly Up has good food, cheap tickets, and better than average selections of bourbon, beer and tequilia. In California, smoking isn’t permitted in such venues, so you can see the stage without the filter of cigarette haze, and not have blood-shot eyes the entire next day.


The ladies were fairly reserved for the first several songs. I became nervous for them as they stuck to standard versions of their albums with little or no improvisation. I’d hoped to see some personality, some spark, or some of the back-porch feel that is so evident in their music come through in the concert performance. Still, maybe it is too early in the life cycle of the band to play games with the music’s essence, at least until more people become acquainted with them. Because the music is so dependent on the strength of their vocals and harmonies, and they don’t hide behind electronics, the ladies hydrated frequently. It was then that hope-for-personality assertively raised its head; two of the Tanya’s were hydrating with red wine. I relaxed a bit. They were artists who were trying to strike a balance between enjoying themselves, cultivating a following, and respecting the casual listener. And they were doing a fine job.

As the set went on, they engaged each other and the crowd in conversation. At one point, the ladies were in animated agreement as to their unrequited attraction to Jeff Tweedy. They were showing some personality and were getting closer to the back-porch feel. I enjoyed the remainder of the show with a tumbler full of good tequilia in bare feet.

The band is touring to support their third indie album. They have published and performed enough original material so that the performances can each have its own flavor. I’d encourage you to catch them while they’re still playing smaller venues like the Belly Up as the setting is a natural complement to their music. But, once the fans of Norah Jones, John Meyer, and Jack Johnson catch on to the BGT’s, the ticket prices will jump and the venues will be far more up-scale.

Diner Review III: River Side Diner

Sometimes I fall in love again with St. Louis. Not often but sometimes. One of the fabulous things about having a passion for Diners is that I am always trying new places I find, stumble upon or have know about for a long time but have never gotten to. Such was the case today when I visited the River Side Diner on south...south Broadway. Do NOT confuse this with the faux hip City Diner on Grand (not a Diner).

I first saw the River Side Diner a number of years ago on a morning driving tour. It is on Broadway south of the brewery by about 4 miles...almost to Lemay...just down the hill from Alexian Brothers which is up on the bluff. This is a hard scrabble part of Broadway right on the river with barge traffic and oil storage tanks, metal salvage yards, pawn shops and bars. It is definitely an area where people work, live, eat and drink and some never leave in part because their cars are broken down and..well...with a few DWI’s driving does not make a lot of sense anymore. It is right down the street from the bar “Slo Toms” with which I have had an epic fascination for at least 10 years. It is a part of town which although sketchy at best, I have never felt unsafe in.

This is a REAL diner with REAL people who have jobs and work or...are just living off their disability or social security checks. I walked in at 7:00 on a Saturday and the small place was absolutely packed with all the 7 or 8 tables were full. There are no booths but they did have a nice counter which was more then adequate. Linda was the only waitress and after she wiped the counter she asked what I wanted and i did not have the balls to ask for a menu. I ordered hash browns, (shredded as God inteded), a couple of sausage patties and toast. She also got me an iced tea (brewed).She wrote my order down on a simple notebook pad instead of any tyoe of ordering pad.
There were 20 people in the place and most all of them new each other as well as Linda and indeed even Scott the cook. Scott was a 6’ 4” 315 pound doo ragged white guy who...cooked really well but you would not want to fuck with him under any circumstances. Scott was the ONLY person in the place other then me who was not smoking. It was yet another place that proved the socio-economic arguments about cigarette companies praying on the poor and the stupid. Every table had an ashtray and every ash tray was being fully utilized.
I got a menu to look at as I watched my food cooked about three feet away from me on a hot griddle. The pancakes look awesome and Scott was man who clearly knew his way around an egg mixing up some excellent omlettes as well as some delicate over easy and over mediums that would have made my wife’s heart beat faster. The menu was excellent with VERY low prices and all the breakfast stapes including biscuits and gravy and the dreaded and much discussed, analyzed and treasured “slinger”.

Regulars as I said were everywhere and the obligatory older loud mouthed guy (Bill) came in and started trading sexual inuendos with Linda and was told by Scott to “shut the fuck up” several times. Local color. You wonder if every good diner has regulars like this who just come out to have someone to talk to but are so poorly socialized that they stir it up wherever they are. Bill and Scott made plans to go down the street later that night for a beer and you did get a feeling that most of the people in the place walked there. The place did not sport a juke box but did indeed have one of those “shifty” free standing video poker machines where it is never spoken outloud about whether they pay in cash or not. It looked poorly used but..who knows. The coffee looked strong, the tea was good and fresh. It looked relatively clean and in most cases was probably cleaner then most of the patrons who frankly looked lijke people who worked hard every day. I think the most expensive thing on the menu was biscuits and gravy with sausage and hash browns for $5.00. My bill came to $3.50 after I went to the counter and cash register and she added it up. Being used to paying twice that much at the Courtesy or Chile Parlor I was able to tip generously and work my way out of the smoke out to the morning on Broadway.

River Side is probably only 100 yards off the river but the view is blocked by buildings and tanks but a short drive north on Broadway provides access to the river and you can drive your car to the edge and take in the morning and watching that deceptively slow river as it swirls and eddies south never knowing your there.
The River Side Diner is a 9 Slinger Rating out of 10. It is worth the trip.

Return of the Silver Surfer!

Soooo...the new Fantastic 4 movie will be coming out soon...this summer or something like that. I assume the perennially hot Jessica Alba will be in it as Sue Storm and hopefully consumate her relationship and become Mrs. Reed Richards and have babies... BECAUSE that is what happened in the comic book. I was never that big a Fantastic 4 fan but there was some very good stuff in the old Fantastic 4. It was written and drawn by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. Geniuses both. The Lennon and Mc Cartney of comics. Comics dealt with big issues....love, death, cosmic nothingness...serious stuff that helped get me through adolescence. There was something about the way they were drawn...the way they were inked...and the overly dramatic story lines...it was all good.


Never DC Comics. DC was the bastion of the stodgy and poorly drawn classic comics like Batman and the droning and annoying Superman. DC Comics were like my parents comics and even though Kirby did things like Captain America, Marvel was edgy, sexy, hot...and really violent. The Fantastic 4 was really boring I thought. Ben Grim was not a compelling character. he was a pile of orange stones who had clever lines like...”It’s Clobbering Time!” Johnny “The Human Torch” was good looking and there was an air of Greek tragedy to his obsession with his sister. Reed Richards and Sue Storm? I never got it. Still the first movie was not disasterously bad and it looks like there might b e some more drama this next time around. But for all the boredome the Fantastic 4 engendered they were part of the Marvel universe as such part of the mythology...cosmology...idiotology of that Universe.

They introduced som very complex characters, villians and plot threads. Dr. Doom was dark and unhappy and...very steel covered. Galactus was...God and then there was... The Silver Surfer! There was never a comic book character like The Silver Surfer. The Silver Surfer had...issues. The Silver Surfer is the sad Norin Radd from the planet Zenn-La. Galactus was about to destroy his planet and he negotiated with Galactus to find other planets for him to destroy and be his emmissary. Eventually that lead him to earth where he was setting it up to be destroyed by Galactus when he was so moved by the nobility of the earth people he battled Galactus, lost and was banished from the Universe to Earth....very, very sad story. The Silver Surfer is a metaphor for..everything. He was well intended, he got corrupted by power and used and... broke free and had his own cosmic morality but paid a price for it and was banned forever to our little planet...harsh punishment indeed.

And somehow...in a comic book form for a late blooming teen ager...it worked. All of this huge morality play worked in the form 05 twenty five cent and thirty cent comics which came out on a monthly basis bringing along fantastic story and plot lines. I could feel empathy with the shiny, well drawn surfer and it will be interesting to see whether with all the fabulous computer tricks and graphics whether they can turn a Quarter comic book into a 30,000,000 dollar franchise. Stay tuned.

Do not poke With fork...I am not done.

The Haitus Ends! I have been taking a break to deal with all the stupid self invented trauma in my life but...gosh there is just way too much bull shit going in the world right now to lay off. Sooooo....lets begin at the beginin.
***
Don’t Pump Gas On May 15th? What the hell? Who thinks this stuff up? I know it is a big Facebook and MySpace event so it is dominated by well intentioned High School and College students but does anyone really think that an industry which can take over the most powerful country in the world (not just the free world but THE WORLD), dramatically raise oil prices when there is no new threat to supplies and in between the Winter heating oil season and the summer driving season and has innoculated us to the point where we shrug off $3.00 a gallon for our 80 gallon Escalade tanks cannot figure out how to deal with one day where their captive constituents do not buy gas? (That was an awesome sentence). As a counter balance I have launched a Facebook event called “Don’t Pump Gas On May 15th AND Stop Whining and Go Give Blood.” How about we...do something? For once? Please?
***
Barack Obama. I am ready to jump on the bandwagon. How great would it be to have a President with command of the english language and an ability to use it to inspire people...hell...to inspire me to want to do something better, to want to be something better, to ...God forbid...expect something better? The rap on him and there are many that he is unexperienced, green in the gills, an uncle tom, someone without substance, no proven track record, no serious governmental experience.... PLEASE! Is that all they got? With the numb nut we elected and God have mercy on all of our souls, re-elected, can we do any worse. People say that he is nothing but a canvas on which people like me can paint their dreams. Is that supposed to be bad? How much better is having a canvas to paint my dreams then the FOX covered technicolor nightmare that our current President brings into our lives every day and night? The other candidates, Republican and Democrat all seem more of the same. Rich kids from political families. Think about this nightmare. Hilary Clinton (who has briliantly reinvented herself) can be elected for four or eight years just to get us ready for another four or eight years of Jeb Bush? This is America and although we have a lot of Anglophiles we do not have dynasties and these people have all just become inbred and nasty. We can do better. And Obama is better. He is smart, hard working and he speaks in a manner which makes me want more for my country, my children and the world. Get on the band wagon now. You will thank me later.
***
Ben Stein was on the radio the other day. “Bueller?....Bueller?...has anyone seen Ferris Bueller?” Stein is one of the best, smartest observers of our time. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. had nothing on his pithy review of our nation and it’s foibles. Stein wrote a great book directed at teens called “How To Ruin Your Life” which gives on instructions on being selfish and stupid and ruining their life. But...I digress. Stein was on the radio talking about what a bad situation the country was in while at “war” in Iraq. He stated that on the same day, within the same hour when he heard 7 more American soldiers were dead he got to watch a group of brokers on Wall Street stand around and and clap regarding the new high for the Dow. He was saddened and he told us that as long as we are at “War” and we are more worried about our investments then the lives of Americans who are dying for that privelege...we will lose, and it will devestate us. He is right. When the war started the President told us that the best thing we could do to support the troops was to spend more. Once again, God forgive us for re-electing him. If we are at war...lets do something as a country to share the suffering rather then sending other peoples children to fight for our freedom. If people of my age and education were asked to send their children on this failed clause we would have a revolution in a minute and not just against the President but against the Democratic congress who does not have the backbone to reign in this misguided atrocity that we were lied into for reasons I cannot even speculate on. If you want this “war on terror” support it and send your child. I do not have the heart or the stomach and I am embarrassed that I have not done more...done anything sooner.

Concert Review Number 4: Southern Culture On The Skids

Sooooooo...what do you say about Southern Culture on the Skids (SCOTS)? Kukla and I went out for a mad evening of some live music and a few beers at the Duck Room. Kukla is a sometimes willing accomplice to go see music with but I only drag him out when I know he will like the show. We last saw SCOTS at The Pageant when they opened up for BR-549 and frankly stole the show. That having been said they seemed like a safe bet for the intimate Duck Room on a week night. With the closing of Mississippi Nights if you want an intimate venue to see a show there is now really only The Duck Room and Off Broadway and sometimes The Lucas School House. If you get their early enough and stand in line for a little you can always stand right in front of the stage. The beer is always cold, the bar is always undermanned but it is also ALWAYS a good time.

The show opener was Brian Henneman and he showed up at 9:00 with his guitar and was on stage by 9:05 with very little tuning or bullshit. The Bottlerockets, his band trace their roots all the way back to Chicken truck which predated Uncle Tupelo. Henneman cut his teeth in those days as guitar tech (roadie) for Tupelo and then picked up some of the guitar work on their later albums. He has stayed around and frankly...after losing wight and sobering up has become a local treasure. He always wears hats to cover his bald head and he could use a little dental work but he looked good and he played...great. From the start he called out for what people wnated him to play and the crowd called out for the mellower and older stuff and we heard a ton of great music. Welfare Music, Gravity Fails, Kerosene, Smoking 100s, 1000 Dollar Car (both requested by Kukla), a brief Waylon Jennings set and then back for some more of his stuff. he can flat out play and his voice has held up well. He got done with a pleased group, packed up quietly...and disappeared.

Beatle Bob showed up later (perhaps he does not like Henneman?) By the time of the SCOTS show the place was packed but Kukla and I were right up front directly in front of the stage. Studio monitors at me knees. The bands drummer came out and set beers and water by everyone’s spot...Rick Miller and Mary Huff were no where to be seen. Miller showed up eventually in plaid shorts, green Converse and a Hillbilly Surf T-Shirt on and then at about 9:20 the fabulous Mary Hiff showed up. I say fabulous because with a red full wig, blue eye shadow and red metal flake lip gloss she is a site. I have no idea how old Huff is but she has been with the band since 1987 so...well lets say she is in her 40s but she looks pretty good and between her and Rick Miller and even their drummer who wears a straw pork pie and stands while he drums...it is as much performance art as a rock and roll show.

They finally all came out together and immediately broke into one of their first hits...”Too Much Pork For Just One Fork.” They then broke into Huff’s best vocal performance, the awesome “Nitty Gritty”. Huff plays a beautiful sea foam green bass which she immediately after the first soing stock her wad of gum on the head of the guitar. Miller plays a beat up old plastic Danelectro guitar. Off tot he side of the stage there were several beautiful Gibson and Fender hollow body electrics but Miller does not need any of that. With his cheap guitar and an effects box that looks like an HVAC system he simply tears it up. I have never been able to see Dick Dale but I have seen Junior Brown and The Flat Duo Jets and quite simply Rick Miller is my favorite surf guitar player. His work is precise and economical but never seems to bore or repeat and it is very accesable. Dave Hartman just stands behind the two of them sometimes beating the skins and cymbals with a maracha in one hand but always keeping...perfect time.

The band started in 85 out of North Carolina about the same time the B-52s were hitting the scene. I do not know who sported the big hair wigs and dramatic eye make up first but these guys certainly have held onto that retro look....with a passion. It was a great show with a lot of high spots including “Mexcian Radio”, Liquored Up and Lacquered Down” and a whole lot more. I managed to get a decent pic of the set list. This is a band that everyone should see...cars, bar-b-que, fried chicken and sexual pecadilloes all provide grist for entertaining guitar, twangy vocals and a damn good time.

Record Review 11 Fountains of Wayne: Traffic and Weather

Soooo... what do we say about Fountains of Wayne? A couple of clever kids who named their band after a sign they saw of the Jersey Tunrpike advertising a fountainse store in Wayne New Jersey. There are more then two of them in the band but Chris Colingwood and Adam Schlessinger have provided all the songwriting preffering the “Lennon and Mc Cartney” way of giving credit for it rather then breaking it out. they are competently backed by Jody Porter of Guitar and Brian Young on Drums.

Fountains of Wayne has been a favorite of mine for a long time. They almost ruined it all with the tragic but hooky “Stacy’s Mom” a few years ago on their brilliant pop masterpiece “Welcome Interstate Managers.” That song and it’s hype and overplaying drove their audience down into the 6th grade which for any indie band has to be a little...creepy. Irony is at the heart of so much of their music along with social and relationship commentary that, well... you have to have had some angst in your life to get it. Fortunately you do not have to have had angst in your life to sing along and enjoy the melodies.
These guys know a hook and if you have not done so, go back and buy their previous releases, “Wlcome Interstate Managers,” “Utopia Parkway” and the epynomous “Fountains of Wayne.” Are all beuatiful and to quote the hidious band Better The Ezra the “Got more hooks then Madonna got looks.” Seriously, they have not made a bad album and this one flows right along. Do not look for a lot os apparent substance on this CD or any of the catalogue but the music... and their vocals and harmonies are just so damn good. “Someone to Love” kicks off with a little angst filled tale of a boy and girl working in the city and you just about think they are going to hook up and... Melissa Auf Der Maur (who is not a porn star but is indeed bassist for Smashing Pumpkins) add backing vocals and we are off to a rollicking start. “92 Subaru” and “Yolanda Hayes” are throw aways that any other band would kill for. Traffic and Weather”....crunchy guitars...chorus...”We belong together like traffic and weather....” Say no more. it is a radio song. “Fire in the Canyon” is too pretty like “Hackensack” and “Valley Winter Song” from “Interstate Managers” but there is nothing wrong with pretty. This better be good starts with the singer telling us that “He saw you holing hands with a guy wearing light blue docker pants...” Constant references like this in all there songs...allow visualization of what they are talking about and this song offers Brian Wilson, Beach Boys, dreamy background vocals...good stuff. “Revolving Dora” and “Michael And Heather at the Baggage Claim”mare more pleasant...brilliant fill. “Strapped for Cash” adds a few trumpets and has a different feel but different in a very same way as you get ELO type harmonies which makes it...weird...if you really listen to it. “I-95”...more songs about highways and food...and truck stops. A truckers lament. “Hotel Majestic” could be a Squeeze song from back when we though Squeeze was cool. “The Planet of Weed”? Where well would we be without an ode to getting high and wasting your life. Though the Planet of Weed does sound worth a visit. “New Routine” is another nice throw away set in a Diner...so we like it. “Seatbacks and Traytables”..an ode to flying starts with a nice Bob Dylanesque harmonica whine and the whole thing has another Pumpkin, James Iha on Guitar and is a suitable finisher for this fine, fine, pop CD.

The CD is a MUST buy if you like pop music. It is only pretentious if you really force yourself to listen to it because frankly it is so fucking brilliant. But on it’s surface where most of the listening gets done...you nod your head...you smile (you can undertsand the words) and the more you listen you find layers of meaning and depth int he music that keeps improving on every listen. BUY IT! 9 Slingers out of 10.
On a more disturbing note when I went to get track listings for another Fountains of Wyane CD on Amazon I came upon the dreaded:
Customers who bought items like this also bought
• Out-of-State Plates ~ Fountains Of Wayne
• Wincing the Night Away ~ The Shins
• Utopia Parkway ~ Fountains Of Wayne
• Welcome Interstate Managers ~ Fountains Of Wayne
• Fountains of Wayne ~ Fountains Of Wayne
• Because of the Times ~ Kings of Leon
• We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank ~ Modest Mouse
• The Crane Wife ~ The Decemberists

Since I have already reviewed three of these CD’s this year and am looking forward to buying the King’s of Leone CD I suddenly feel VERY pedestrian and predictable in my “eclectic” tastes. Perhaps O need to find some Bulgarian rock to review. Indeed.

Diner Review II: Big Ed's Chile Mac Diner on Pine

OK...so it has been brought to my attention rather forcefully...by "readers" if they can indeed read, from as far away as California...that...well...there just have not been many Diner reviews. Mea Culpa. I have taken a LOT of great Diner pics and started strong with discourses regarding definitions of a DINER and the imprtance of shredded hashbrowns but a hark and alas...I have strayed...lacking purpose and focus and as such I must return, as it were, to the fold. (tortured sentence structure?)

Big Ed's Chile Mac Diner is indeed a lion among the St. Louis Diner elite. It is one of the former O.T. Hodges Chile Parlous which suffered a rather disasterous family break up causing the chain to disappear...forever under the St. Louis landscape...never to return....at least to the city of St. Louis. One hollow shell of the old place exists. If you hit the O.T. Hodge web site where they use to have 6 or 7 St. Louis locations they now tell you:

"O.T. Hodge Chile Parlors®, founded at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, is enjoying its 103rd continuous year of operation in 2007. Our acclaimed Chile formula, our unique menu, and our affordable pricing have made O.T. Hodge one of the favorite restaurant operations in St. Louis. We are continually rated number one for Chile in St. Louis, and just as consistently rate among the top local restaurant chains for take-out and fast-food popularity.

Our customers represent a wide range. Executives, secretaries, service people, public servants, production workers, judges and families meet at Hodges for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Our wide, affordable menu, prompt table service and clean looks have made us a leader in our field for a century. Come visit us at our new Ferguson, MO location, 250 South Florissant Road. This is 1.25 miles north of Interstate 70 on Florissant Road. It is near the St. Louis Airport."

This Diner reviewer says..."whatever."

Big Ed's keep the tradition with the location on Pine right across the street from Metropolitan Square. There is another one with the same name on North Broadway but this reviewer has not been there and they are...on information and belief...owned by different people. At the end of the day you judge a diner by it's "regulars." Along with my "Artist In Residence" status at the afor reviewed Courtesy on Hampton I am a regular at Big Ed's because it is...after all...right across the street from work. And they have a lot regulars that they take good care of and know by name.

Big Ed's on Pine open at 5:30 every day. For breakfast Charlotte mans the grill and Donna serves customers. A lot of customers. They pack them in and know the orders of their regulars. tehre are several business men and woman, several service companies (elevators and electricians) seem to have work group meetings there. There are always two huge black men sitting at the counter at 7:30 every morning. I mean huge. At that time of morning along with Charlotte and Donna is Lamont who...as near as I can figre does...nothing. But he is a really nice guy as he putters around and smokes.

Big Ed's has classic Diner configuration with a counter running the length of it and 5 groupsings of tables each of which seat 6. If you are a table person (and I am) staking out your position and discouraging other people from disturbing your newspaper reading is a sport similar to blocking out under the boards and playing for position ion the paint. On most mornings it is not a problem but things become dicey when a really big convention hits town. Especially if it is one that comes back every year because people look forward to coming back to good diners and then...sometimes...you throw up your hands as the line extends out the door.

They have great and perfect breakfasts... Charlotte does an awesome job on the grill with the eggs and they have a certain sausage I have not found anywhere else that is simply an excellent breakfast country sausage. They of course have the slinger and serve Edmunds Chile with or without beans. They serve chile, chile mac, chile three ways, they have tamales for the top one... and on information and belief they have an awesome slinger. The Bacon report is...average to poor. It is a weak spot on the menu and my theory is that because their sausage is so good there is not the volume of bacon needed on the grill to make a good consistent product. Additionally...and sadly their hashborwns are not hash browns but the dreaded "breakfast potatoes." I have had the discussion with them many times regarding this egregious shortcoming but for one reason or another (they say these potatoes stand up better to chile) they are not going to change. Of more import to me they have a really thick cream gravy (though a little light on sausage chunks) which i can get with some patties and their breakfast potatoes and make an excellent heavy breakfast. They also do a very nice sausage sandwich...with or without onions...always with American cheese...like God intended.

There are some serious questions regarding their Diner "bonafides" primarily because of their hours. They open early and are closed by 2...or 2:30 though I have been known to get an iced tea there as late as 3. Additionally and showing how beholden they are to the 9-5 crowd and how St. louis rolls up it's streets downtown on the weekend...they are CLOSED. So the hours suck..but the food is good and the service is GREAT. If you don't get the slinger get the biscuits and gravy with a side of sausage. 8 Slingers out of 10 for the rating.