Hangout Fest Day 1: Damn Near Perfect

I realize it’s early in the festival season, but my addition this year of Hangout Fest in Gulf Shores, AL, is now on my yearly list and if days 2 and 3 are anything like day 1, Hangout could end up being festival of the year for me (yes, maybe even over Bonnaroo). It was a damn near perfect music festival day.

In it’s third year Hangout Fest, has grown into one of the elite and was named Best U.S. Festival last year by Pollstar.com.

The competition is stiff with Washington State’s Sasquatch Festival for most beautiful setting. Being on an open air raised press veranda of sorts, the view of the stage was perfect, framed as it was by a row of up-lit, color-changing palm trees against the backdrop of the Gulf of Mexico. So far it’s been totally chill and stunningly beautiful with amazing weather.

HEY ROSETTA! got the unenviable task of opening the entire festival at 11:30 am Friday morning on the (entirely covered) Xbox Stage. When you’re trying to build a following, these are the kinds of dues-paying gigs you need to take, but it only matters if you can deliver.  They did. Despite the hour, the six-piece outfit from Canada’s Maritime Provinces put in an hour of highly charged, hook-laden power pop, anchored by Tim Baker’s emotionally drenched vocals. The bad news for them was that only 2,000 people showed up to watch. The good news is those 2,000 people will be telling all their friends about Hey Rosetta!

“C’mon Brittany.“ ALABAMA SHAKES lead singer Brittany Howard sings to herself and the crowd in the wonderful slow jam “Hold On”—and boy did she c’mon, as did the rest of the band. Weeping Elvis analyst Erik Huey has dubbed her voice “the love child of Janis Joplin and Otis Redding”…needless to say she sings her face off. The band itself is about as low-fi as you can get and there is nothing complicated about them. All of their equipment looks as if it came from a Muscle Shoals pawn shop after having been used by a high school jazz band for 10 years. It would be tough to deconstruct them as they are already exist at the basest of musical levels, but that is part of what makes them great. It’s the Muscle Shoals soul sound with a funky, unique twist that you can’t help but love. After their appearance at SXSW, Huey dubbed them..”the first GREAT band of the 21st century. Could be. I will say that you should expect to hear their name quite a bit come year-end “Best Of” lists” and Grammy time.

I don’t think the folks of the deep south knew exactly what to do with COHEED AND CAMBRIA. There were the rabid fans screaming every word and those that didn’t know them seemed to love them, but it was not the craziness of, say, their 2009 Lollapalooza appearance, where 20,000+ fans slammed themselves into each other for two hours. One possibility for the slightly less crazy response may have been the construction of their set list, which was a bit mellower than usual. A new drummer is on board and they sound quite possibly tighter than before. I had a total Spinal Tap moment as new dude on the skins was totally channeling Ed Begley Jr. as John Stumpy Pepys, one of the constantly changing Spinal Tap drummers. Lead singer/guitarist/writer Claudio Sanchez is back to his full-on Cousin It look but, that is one of the charms of Coheed and Cambria—not to mention that they rock enough for the straight ahead rock fans and are “proggy” enough for us music geeks.

CHRIS CORNELL sang his ass off! It was just him and a collection of acoustic guitars moving thru his history as one of rock’s greatest singers…I’m gonna call him in the top 20 for sure. No one has a more controlled “scream on pitch” sound as the Audioslave and Soundgarden singer. Just when you think he’s blown it out he moves into a perfect falsetto and then on to cleanly sung notes that are in the canine hearing range…the man is in total control.

It’s no secret that Grammy Award winning WILCO is a great band but Jeff Tweedy and company were on it during their sunset set yesterday. Again, the scenic backdrop didn’t hurt anything but it was musically brilliant. If somehow you have missed Wilco in their 18-year existence, describing their sound is difficult. Much like like My Morning Jacket, they’re very difficult to pin down style-wise. Put a gun to my head and force me to utter genres and adjectives and I would say solid alternative rock with definite folk/country influences. But they aren’t afraid to go experimental or full-on noise on your ass. But at the end of the set, Wilco sounds like…well…Wilco. I had to be sure to check that Nels Cline was on the recently published and much maligned Greatest 100 Guitarists list by SPIN magazine. Mr. Cline played some of the sweetest most tasty, musical, inventive solos I have ever heard. Wilco’s story is significant, as they were a popular band when Reprise Records turned down their fourth album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and stupidly released them from the label. The band streamed the album for free and they soon found a home on Nonesuch Records. Both Reprise and Nonesuch were subsidiaries of Warner Bros. and the whole debacle prompted noted Rolling Stone critic David Fricke to point at the mess as a perfect example of what is wrong with the record business in the 21st century. Love the record or hate it, YHF and the label issue thrust Wilco into the spotlight in 2002 and Fricke’s words became prophetic as the major-label record business has been in a nose dive ever since. But let’s forget that ugliness and focus on the fact that Wilco played a stunning 1 1/2 hour set yesterday— SO good that I could not drag myself away to see my beloved Umphreys McGhee. It was just one of those moments that you are glad good music—and beautiful settings in which to hear it—exist.

I don’t think I was alone in my excitement to see JACK WHITE— there was just such an anticipation and electricity surrounding his 9:30 pm set. I have seen him live with his other bands (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather) numerous times but the anticipation of what he was going to do at his own Jack White Show was the buzz of the crowd. For me it was like when Michael Jordan got the basketball in his hands or when Michael Vick (horrible animal cruelty charges notwithstanding) scrambles with the football— you knew there was the possibility of something wonderfully exciting happening. Leave it to Jack White to trot out two completely separate bands—one all-male, one all female. He’s been alternating them in recent shows, but on this night, they split their time, with the men opening the show. Anchored by Daru Jones, one of the most dynamic drummers we’ve seen in some time, they spent 45 minutes delving into Jack’s back catalog and the current Blunderbuss record, reinvigorating White Stripes tunes like “Black Math” and “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” with new rhythmic structures and jazzy detours. “Love Interruption,” the dark ballad that was the disc’s first single, heralded the changeover to the all-female band, featuring a Danish pedal steel player and a pregnant Bryn Davies on upright bass. The girls hewed to more of a country vibe with jangly takes on “Hotel Yorba” and “We’re Going to Be Friends,” before cloging the night with “Seven Nation Army” as a fireworks display marked the end of Day 1.

What was also impressive to me was Jack White’s sense of humility and selflessness. Not that he is any Cobainesque reluctant rock star— he embraces it in full, but it is obvious that he is there for the music and loves making it with the other great musicians he shares the stage with. It’s clear that he’s now found a group that challenges him as much as he can challenge them. When not center stage singing, he would move as close as he could to the drum kit almost knocking over the hi-hat and microphone on several occasions…it was just so obvious that had to be near the rhythm and connect to the amazing groove both drummers put out.

Once about six or seven years ago, some musical friends and I ran quite the email thread regarding what Jack White’s impact would be in the world of guitar playing. I was in no way remotely prophetic as I lamely said we would have to wait and see. Well, not only is he one of our great players but he and his Third Man Records label are challenging so many sounds in the world of popular music that I now can state the obvious that at the age of 36, with over 10 albums under his belt, that his legacy will be big. File under “For those who give a shit,” but Jack White was recently named the No. 33 greatest guitarist of all time by SPIN magazine (I know let it go Clem, let it go) and I don’t begrudge that at all, but most of what he plays and has played for years is steeped in the blues and Zeppelin. I just find it interesting that not one blues player, nor Jimmy Page, made SPIN‘s list but Jack White and several others who we would not have had it not been for the early greats are on the list. I just don’t get it. If you are interested in more of my rant and rebuttal on this subject check this article from WeepingElvis.com.

Day 2 is upon us and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Skrillex, Flogging Molly and Gary Clark, Jr. await us on the beach.

Additional reporting by Sir Duke. All photos by CLEM.

Tags: Alabama, Alabama Shakes, Chris Cornell, Coheed and Cambria, Dawes, Hangout Festival, Hey Rosetta!, Jack White, Umphrey's McGee, Wilco

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros…Leaders of the Pack

9:30 Club is über packed. The young ‘uns are down front, and they are legion. Palpable electricity accompanies the high levels of humidity that emanate from 1,100 closely compressed beings comprised of 60% water. Anticipation builds as the music fades, the house lights dim…and the band doesn’t appear as telegraphed. Fifteen minutes pass…the crowd is antsy, a bit sweaty and wondering whether or not to hit up the bar once more before the show begins. Or run to the bathroom. Or both. Twenty minutes…the wait ends and the eleven souls who make up Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros take the stage in what seems like waves.

In our anticipatory gestation period, I’ve had the chance to count at least 27 instruments on stage. I’ve seen them before, so I’m expecting a collective the size of a graduate student class, but I hadn’t realized how many different instruments were employed in that earlier set. I did remember the leggy Marsha Brady look-a-like (Nora Kirkpatrick) on accordion and random percussive items. She’s…memorable. As is the blonde in the rear playing violin and assorted other items. This crowd isn’t here for them, them, though; it’s surprisingly 60-70% female and 81% of them are intensely fascinated with lead singer Alex Ebert. That’s right…it’s cultish.  There’s no need for euphemistic church references, as Spin recently pussy-footed around in an interview…there’s a cult-like aura about this band and their devoted fans.

Since it’s cult-like, logic need not apply. This is Jerry Lee Lewis meets hootenanny. It’s burlesque meets vaudeville on the Barnum & Bailey train. It’s country time revival hour meets gypsy jam band. It’s eastern mysticism meets monster ballad. It’s a lust for life that runs out of steam at a commune where Chris Isaak’s Baja Sessions warmly welcomes passengers during their military precise march to their new…home. It’s Alex & Jade (Castrinos) doing Sonny & Cher doing Johnny & June. It’s amazing chemistry, to be sure, with their ashes smoldering brighter than most couples’ full-blown fires. And it’s a dalliance with marijuana, one might surmise, that made them late to the stage. Read the full post…

Tags: Alex Ebert, Alexander, Arcade Fire, Baja Sessions, Barnum & Bailey, Behrnsie, Billy Corgan, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Bob Boilen, Chris Isaak, Concert Review, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros concert review, Howard P. Becker, Howl, Jade Castrinos, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johhny Cash, John Denver, June Carter Cash, Marsha Brady, Nora Kirkpatrick, O Brother Where Art Thou, Power to the People, Queen, Scott Joplin, Sharon Tate, Sonny & Cher, Spin Magazine, The Beatles

Video of the Day, Ian Curtis Departed Too Soon Edition: Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control”

Thirty-two years ago today, Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis shuffled off this mortal coil, committing suicide at the not-remotely-ripe age of twenty-three.  Three decades and change later, his music remains vibrant and influential, as does that of his bandmates who went on to greater commercial success in the band New Order.  The first cut off of the second side of their 1979 album Unknown Pleasures, hauntingly reminds us at the unknown pleasures the world was denied by Curtis’ untimely exit.

Tags: 1980, Behrnsie, British Rock, Ian Curtis, Joy Division, May 18, New Order, rock and roll suicide, Unknown Pleasures, Video of the Day, Warsaw

Happy Birthday Joey Ramone: The First Time I Met The Understated Punk

The first time I “met” Joey Ramone, it was over the telephone. I was doing the overnight shift at WLIR-FM, on Long Island.  As a DJ in the middle of the night, I’d ordinarily be skeptical of a caller identifying themselves as a celebrity, but there was no mistaking the voice on the other end of the line as the leader of the most under-appreciated band in the history of rock.

Joey was completely unaffected by his fame and place in the punk rock universe. He’d say stuff like, “I think your show is great. Thanks a lot man, for playing our records. Can I make a request?” I’d stare at the receiver and think; you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Then I’d play The Damned, and dedicate it to “Joey on St. Marks Place.”

It was around that time, 1980, that WLIR arranged a free concert with The Ramones, to take place on the boardwalk in Long Beach, Long Island, on a Saturday afternoon. Thousands of people stood on the beach in a steady rain waiting for the Ramones, who, for some reason, were flown in from Manhattan by helicopter. The show was scheduled for the early afternoon; we played a waiting game with Mother Nature, but eventually had to bag the performance because of the weather. Now it was showering beer bottles, as the cancellation was announced. Ramones fans were cold, wet and pissed off, but I was elated because I got to meet Joey in person for the first time that day.

A few years later, Joey and I reconnected at WXRK-FM, where I was doing a free-form overnight show at K-Rock in New York City. Joey was a frequent guest on my colleague Vin Scelsa’s “Idiot’s Delight” program. (Vin was immortalized in the Ramones song “It’s Not My Place in the 9 to 5 World.”) Long after Vin’s Sunday night show ended, Joey would be there, hanging with me, asking about some of the new releases I was playing, like Nine Inch Nails‘ Pretty Hate Machine or Ritual De Lo Habitual from Jane’s Addiction. When the Howard Stern Show came on at 6 AM, Joey would say hello, but usually decline the invitation to stay longer. We’d walk out into the early morning light on Madison Avenue. Joey would head downtown, and I back to Long Island.

In 1992, when the Ramones released Mondo Bizarro, the phone rang again. This time, Joey was asking if I’d interview him about the new album, so that the record company (now Radioactive) could release it as a promotional disc that would be serviced to all the rock stations in the country. I was honored. We talked about The Ramones’ durability and that legendary Dingwall’s show in ’76, when The Ramones first visited the U.K., to adoring throngs of fans that included Joe Strummer and Johnny Rotten. As a token of appreciation, he returned the favor by giving me a Ramones leather jacket. Of all the plaques, autographs and promotional shit I’ve collected over the 30 years I’ve been connected to the music business, that jacket was probably the one thing I treasured the most. Too bad I no longer have it. (It’s a long story.)

The last time I saw Joey, The Ramones were on stage, headlining the HFStival in 1995. At the end of the show, my boss and I kept our tradition of watching the headliner from the worst seat in the house, furthest away from the stage at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The perfect perspective “to take it all in.” Just as I settled into my seat, in the very last row, Joey dedicated “Blitzkrieg Bop” to me in front of 50,000 people. A single moment in time, that has made all of the bullshit I’ve dealt with in this business over the years seem worthwhile.

No matter what the inner turmoil–which we now know was a constant–was in the world of Forest Hills’ most famous sons, the Joey Ramone I knew was an island of tranquility in a sea of conflict. He was one of the gentlest human beings I have ever known, who, ironically, never seemed to view The Ramones as much of a success. Too weird, that a posthumous new solo album sits on my desk as I write this.

Happy Birthday, Joey. Wherever you are.

Bob Waugh is a legendary Washington, DC /New York Radio Programmer/DJ. You can hear him weekdays from 3-8pm at 103.1 WRNR.

Tags: HFS-Tival, Joe Strummer, Johnny Rotten, Nine Inch Nails. WLIR, the Damned, The Ramones, Vin Scelsa, WHFS, WXRK

RoundUp: Donna Summer Dead at 63, Artists React On Twitter

Sad news on the passing of Five Time Grammy Award winning singer Donna Summer. The “Queen Of Disco” died at the age of 63 after a battle with cancer. Artists Tweeted their reaction:

@Questlove: Donna Summer. Man I can’t believe this— like “My Baby Understands” was on my workout playlist this morning! This MORNING! God…I just…Man…I know that the whole “disco sucks” stuff left a bad taste in the mouths of some. But Summer’s work was really a credible legacy.

belle & sebastian ‏@bellesglasgow- So sad to hear the news about Donna Summer passing away

@TMorello: Rip Donna Summer. Thanks for the all time great disco jams.

@DuranDuran: So sad to hear about the passing of Donna Summer. Our condolences.

Janet Jackson ‏@JanetJackson We will miss Donna Summer! She changed the world of music with her beautiful voice and incredible talent.

@Tim_Burgess (The Charlatans) : Wow. Shocking news that Donna Summer has died. Spend 15 minutes listening to this and remembering how brilliant she was.

Slash ‏@Slash RIP Donna Summer. She was the Queen of Disco no doubt. Although I pretty much loathed Disco, I always thought she was pretty cool.

Cut Chemist ‏@Cut_Chemist RIP to a legend. Donna Summer. She’s all over this mix I did a few years back. Her music was a huge inspiration!

boygeorge ‏@BoyGeorge Very sad news, about Donna Summer. R.I.P!

Snoop Dogg ‏@SnoopDogg rip to tha queen of disco donna summers

Tags: Belle and Sebastian, Boy George, Cut Chemist, Donna Summer, Duran Duran, Questlove, Slash, The Charlatans, Tim Burgess, tom morello

Concert Review: Harlan at the Echo, Los Angeles – Let’s Come Right Out and Say It, This Guy Is The Next Prince

Harlan is fine with having his music categorized as “pop.”

His brand of dance-with-your-whole-body, rock, electro-funk is oh so much more. To call it pop would be the same as simply calling The Godfather “a movie.” In both cases, rather than either merely falling into a category and being defined by it, they redefine the category itself and raise the bar for everyone else. Harlan is what popular music should be.

On Monday, during the second show of his month-long residency at the Echo in Silverlake, Harlan and his touring band, The Power, showed just how far everyone else will have to go just to be able to see them in the horizon.

Read the full post…

Tags: Al Green, Chi Lites, Don Henley, Echo, elton john, Eric Clapton, Genesis, George Clinton, Harlan, Jeeves, Jennifer Hirsh, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, Parliament Funkadelic, prince, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Sesame Street, Silverlake, Superfriends, The Godfather, The Power, Yo-Yo Ma

Interview: Harlan – The Nicest Musical Genius You’ll Ever Meet

Before Harlan and his band, The Power, set off every smoke alarm within a file mile radius with their blistering, lights out, get up off your feet and dance performance on Monday at the Echo in Silver Lake (read about it here), Harlan sat down with me and talked about learning the cello thanks to Yo-Yo Ma and some muppets, his love of a Phil Collins-led Genesis, and how his guilty pleasure is listening to regional, accordion-based Mexican music. What he was too modest to talk about however, was that he is kind of a musical genius.

Read the full post…

Tags: Alex and Sam, Alex Elena, cello, Echo, electrofunk, Frank Zappa, Genesis, George Clinton, Harlan, interview, James Brown, Jeeves, Mayer Hawthorne, norteno, Parliament Funkadelic, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, prince, Randy Newman, Sesame Street, Shuggie Otis, Silver Lake, The Band, The Power, Tom Waits., Yo-Yo Ma