Everyone Orchestra Prepare for Sandy with a Cover-Filled Set II at Sullivan Hall

Matt Butler may have the best job in the world.  As conductor of the Everyone Orchestra, he gets to assemble an ever-changing supergroup of his favorite musicians and make them jam together.  They play songs in whatever style he wants, and he chooses who he wants to solo and where.  Last night's show was the second in a three-night run at Sullivan Hall, assuming Hurricane Sandy doesn't cancel tonight's.

Like Friday's sold-out show following Trey Anastasio's Beacon Theatre concert, this show was also sold-out.  Jam band fans, some in costume for Halloween, packed the 350-person club to capacity.  I spotted a pig, a wizard, and the Super Mario Brothers.  In the front row, two 6'6" guys in hats went as inconsiderate people.  The players this go-round were Jon Fishman (drums), John Kadlecik (guitar and vocals), Dan Lebowitz (guitar and vocals), Zach Gill (keyboards and vocals), Reed Mathis (bass), Jamie Masefield (mandolin), Jessica Lurie (saxophone, flute, and vocals), and Katy Gaughan (percussion).

Though the venue's website said the show would start at 8:30pm, the band didn't take the stage until 10, Fishman looking just like some guy in a t-shirt without his dress on.  Donning a psychedelic top hat, Matt Butler placed himself at the center, and revealed the words "Funk A" written on a dry erase board.  (The setlist at the bottom includes the whiteboard instructions that were visible to the crowd.)  The orchestra charged headfirst into a furious funk number (no doubt influenced by the horn-heavy funk tracks the DJ had been spinning) cooking at a pace where Reed Mathis barely had time to scratch his nose.  The jam ended with Butler conducting the audience to scream, "Yes!" to the beat.  Butler scrawled "Follow Zach" onto his slate, and Zach Gill pulled out his melodica to start a simple melody.  Reading lyrics off his iPhone, he sang about Sandy, a wild woman with wipsy twig hair that spun him 'round and 'round like a hurricane.  Gill worried that his flight home would be cancelled, "But if I had to be stuck in one place in the world, I think I'd choose New York City."  The crowd ate up the topical ditty, and under Butler's lead, the band enacted the parts of the storm from the outer bands to the eye.  John Kadlecik had the next pick, and settled on a happy groove that would've felt at home in a 1970 Grateful Dead concert.  When it came to Lebo's part, he shifted the song dramatically, taking it into dark Neil Young territory, one of the boldest and most welcome choices of the night.  Butler softened up the section, and Lebowitz and Kadlecik doubled up on the melody, Jon's drumming helping the song to begin to delve into a Phish-style jam.  I guess Butler thought it smelled too Phishy, and instead of encouraging Kadlecik to soar like Trey, he shifted the focus to stage right, Jessica Lurie.  While moments of her sax solo came together powerfully, some bits, particularly at the onset, fell out of place.  The group ascended with the sax, and segued into a new jam led by Lebo.  Starting with a chord progression similar to "Pobrecito," the song never really developed into the funky workout that the ALO song becomes.  Butler attempted to save it with some rabble-rousing, getting the crowd to chant "Hey!  Vote!"  After a string of the voting chants, the song was over, and the set was over, a scant 49 minutes.

When the band returned for the second set, the crowd had noticeably thinned.  Perhaps those who left had been disappointed by the short first round that started off so promising and fizzled out at the end.  I found Jessica Lurie's showboating a little off-putting, especially when she'd try to put a spin on the vocal licks.  Ironically, it was her riff in set two that inspired one of the night's hottest improvised jams.  After a "spacious and groovy" mandolin-based exploration by Masefield, Butler wrote "Follow Jessica" on the board.  She laid down a chugging sax riff that recalled the night's earlier funky foray, and although Butler tried to change it up with some swing in D, he always found himself re-scribbling "Back to Jessica's riff."  Some flourishes on the theme by Lebo, Zach, and Reed had everyone smiling onstage and off.  John K. got his second turn, and commenced with a cover of "Walking in Your Footsteps" by the Police.  Reed thickened it up by inserting a P-Funk bassline, and played so fervently that he broke a string.

While Reed repaired his instrument, Dan was chosen to lead again.  He decided on the ALO song "Try."  I've seen ALO three times this year (at Brooklyn Bowl, on a boat, and at Farm Aid), but this time the song went places not even Lebo had predicted.  After a once-through shouting out the key changes to keep everyone on track, he started singing the often JGB-covered "Shining Star" by the Manhattans.  I'd seen him sandwich other tunes in "Try" before, most notably "Helpless" at the Troubadour, but after returning to the song, Butler held a sign up to Zach, requesting "funny lyrics."  Zach said he would rather speak from the heart, and admitted, "I'm gonna be honest with you guys.  I have a flying phobia."  Narrating his trip here, where he watched an episode of 30 Rock to quell his anxieties, things weren't funny enough for Butler, who egged him on.  "When in doubt, tell a joke," said Zach, choosing the silly one from childhood where you look down your shirt and spell attic.  Repeating "A-T-T-I-C" several times became its own melody, and shortly thereafter Dan and Reed started singing "You've got to try / just a little bit harder" into one mic.  As Zach expounded upon all the things in his attic including Christmas decorations and CD jewel cases, everyone was singing the line from "Try" together like a gospel song at the Grand Ole Opry.  Even after the number had ended, Dan was still joyously singing "You've got to try," and we can all hope this new version finds its way into some ALO sets.  With a laugh, Butler commented on Zach's fears, "You don't need therapy."  "I just need Everyone Orchestra every 6 weeks or so," Gill quipped.

Matt took some time to introduce the band, not referring to Jon Fishman by name, but saying, "He works on a phishing boat the rest of the year.  They practice sustainable phishing."  Zach introduced Matt Butler, but Reed was curiously left out.  Butler turned to Mathis and introduced him as starting the next journey, which was a mellow, meandering beauty.  Once the jam had reached its climax, Butler turned things over to Zach, who started up a howling cover of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London."  When the song felt too structured, Butler ripped it open by demanding increasingly longer measures of chaos, from 8 beats, to 16, to 32.  Turning to Kadlecik in the aftermath of the chaos, John K. only took it further, charging into the riff from "Crazy Train."  Everyone joined in on the instrumental tease, and the song ended with a roar.

The show could've (and maybe should've) ended there, but Butler wanted one more song.    He wrote "Disco" on the board, and the band embarked on a peppy jam, led by Fishman's hi-hat and Gill's croaky keyboard.  Butler took to the mic to sing "Goodnight to you" to the crowd a few times, but the song was essentially a cool-down.  One hour and 47 minutes after Masefield kicked off set two, the orchestra came center stage and took a few bows.  "We'll see you tomorrow night, guys, God willing," Butler said hopefully.  Even if Sandy is determined to thwart his gig tonight, his job is still the coolest gig out there.

EVERYONE ORCHESTRA – 10.27.12 – SULLIVAN HALL

SET ONE (49 minutes) –

Funk Jam (Funk A, Short Hello Solos, D Triumph!, Yes!) / Hurricane Song (Follow Zach, Simple, This is Part A, Outer Bands, Back to Part A, Closer to the Eye of Storm, Vocal) / John K. Jam (This is Part A, Part B Lebo, Part B Soft, Unison Guitars, Unison Ascending Sax) > Lebo Jam (Follow Dan, Hey!, Vote)

SET TWO (1 hour, 47 minutes) –

Jamie Masefield Jam (Spacious & Groovy, Part B Reed, Tom Tom Groove, Part B Add Vocals, Just Vocals, Mando End) / Jessica Jam (Follow Jessica, D Swing, Back to Jessica Riff, More Drums) / Walking in Your Footsteps (Foot Steps, Chorus) / Try > Shining Star > Try (Funny Lyrics, Laugh!, Lebo End) / Band Introduction (Laugh!, Ha Ha) / Reed Jam (Spacious, Ascend) > Werewolves of London (Follow Zach, 8 Beats Chaos, 16 Beats Chaos, 32 Beats Chaos) > Crazy Train / Goodnight to You (Disco, Part B Jessica, Speed Up)

The Last Picture I Will Take with My LG Cosmos.

Antibalas and Ted Leo Take the World Financial Center to Africa

When I found out a few months ago that Antibalas would be doing a free concert at the WFC Winter Garden, I immediately put it on my calendar.  When I found out a week ago that Ted Leo would be opening, I was even more pumped.  Two politically charged bands playing a free show at the World Financial Center this close to the election?  I'm there.  I'd somehow forgotten that the show was going to be taped for public radio, so things didn't get as political, but it was still way more exciting than any of the debates.

Ted Leo, backed by a band of two of his Pharmacists, Chris Wilson and James Canty, along with Canty's Ideal Forms' bandmate Robert Austin, performed three interpretations of songs by Hugh Masekela, the South African trumpeter perhaps best remembered for his 1968 number one hit "Grazing in the Grass."  Opening with "Mace & Grenades," the sound hit us like a shock wave, with the volume louder than anyone had expected.  The drums careened off the walls and ceiling of the 120-ft. atrium, creating soul-shaking reverberations intensified by additional echos from Leo's guitar run through an Echoplex tape delay.  John Schaefer of WNYC's Soundcheck and New Sounds came onstage to conduct an interview with Ted about why he chose a tribute to Masekela.  (If there was ever a person whose singing voice differed from their speaking voice, it's Leo, the nasal tenor in his songs replaced with a bass tailor-made for voiceovers.)  "I think it would be silly of us to try and replicate Hugh Masekela," Leo justified his decision in putting his own spin on the tunes.  He then told of how he saw Masekela perform outside on the plaza at the WFC mere weeks before the attacks of September 11th.  The experience coupled with his brother doing DJ sets at Windows on the World had an effect on Leo: "I started like enjoying this area of Manhattan for once," and he was visibly choked up telling the story.  Leo and band followed with "Riot," the instrumental b-side to the previous song.  With its cascading guitar riffs interlaced between Leo and Canty, it was probably my favorite of the evening.  They finished with "If There's Anybody Out There," the most TL/Rx-sounding of the bunch.  Ted Leo will be touring solo with Aimee Mann starting tomorrow at the Birchmere in Alexandria, and you can read my review of another of his downtown shows here.

I saw Antibalas open for Sharon Jones in the summer, and like many have before me, incorrectly identified them as the pit band for the musical Fela!  While several of he members were instrumental in the development of the show, only three played in the orchestra.  "I think it's very important for us to make that distinction whenever we can," said trumpet-player Jordan McLean, who looks like Jack Skellington wearing an Adrien Brody mask.  Martin Perna, baritone sax, founded the Afrobeat band 15 years ago this December, and they've been continuing Fela's legacy and reinvigorating the genre ever since.  When asked about how the pieces in an Afrobeat composition all fit together, he responded, "It's sort of like a sports team.  The goalie's going to stay in the goal.  He's not going to come out and score a basket."  Okay, so maybe he's not the greatest at making sports analogies, but he can play the hell out of a saxophone.  The group started with new tune "Gold Rush," commenting that it seemed an auspicious place to be performing a song with such a title.  They followed with the ebullient "Him Belly No Go Sweet," Ticklah playing a Nord keyboard instead of his normal Farfisa organ.  With a click of the drumsticks, they cruised right into the cowbell-heavy "Dirty Money," which came to its close with Amayo suggesting, "Let matriarchy take over... in a subtle way."  That was the end of the broadcast (You'll be able to hear the performances on Soundcheck sometime in the near future.), but the band came out once more for a 10-minute "Rat Catcher."  The crowd leapt to their feet and started a dance party in the aisles.  "Let's sing together while this place is bubbling," Amayo urged, and we joined in on the call-and-response.  It wasn't quite the "Filibuster XXX" I had hoped for, but I'll be damned if it wasn't fun.

TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS – 10.23.12 – WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER WINTER GARDEN (18 minutes)

SET –

Mace & Grenades / (Interview) / Riot / If There’s Anybody Out There

ANTIBALAS – 10.23.12 – WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER WINTER GARDEN (46 minutes)

SET –

(Interview) / Gold Rush / Him Belly No Go Sweet > Dirty Money

ENCORE –

The Rat Catcher

Sea Wolf: Middle Distance Runner in the CMJ Music Marathon

I decided to limit myself to only one CMJ show this year because the three- and four-concert weeks have been a little taxing.  I went with Sea Wolf headlining Le Poisson Rouge last night.  The last time I'd seen Sea Wolf was in 2009 when I was driving cross-country, and planned a day's mileage based on getting to their free show at St. Louis University.  Having not slept much the previous night, and driven all day, I was exhausted, nodding off occasionally during the songs.  It was sad because it was such a great show.  I bought their new album (at the time) White Water, White Bloom, and it became my soundtrack for the rest of the trip west.  I was overdue for a reprise.

Entering the club, the most noticeable difference from my last visit was that the tables and chairs had been removed.  This show was standing room only.  While that meant more chatter from the crowd, it also meant I was able to secure a great spot in the center of the room.  An album by the Decemberists played over the PA, priming us (or perhaps ruining us) for opener Hey Marseilles.  The Seattle seven-piece share much musically with their Portlandian neighbors, with their folky tales of the sea backed by accordion and bowed instruments.  Lead singer Matt Bishop sounds more like Ben Gibbard than he does Colin Meloy, but unfortunately his lyrical prowess is not up to par with either.  They played mostly new songs from an album to be released in February, "Heartbeats," with its chugging drums being the standout.  Closing with a duo of "Rio" and "From a Terrace" from their debut album, they had the crowd cheering, but I wasn't sold. While all talented musicians, I wish they'd do more to distinguish themselves from their forebears of the Northwest.  If you're still intrigued, however, here's a free fall sampler of theirs to download, which includes the single "Elegy."

Jim White opened with the melodica-spiced "If Jesus Drove a Motor Home," backed by guitar, bass, and a drum machine supplying the beat.  "Just imagine if your dad was up here on stage, slightly stoned, singing songs for you," White suggested to the young crowd.  At 55, White is no spring chicken, though you'd never know he was that old by appearance.  Aside from a touch of grey at his temples, he is a very Hollywood-looking 55.  His years have imbued his alt-country songs with a level of depth not always found in the recently fashionable genre.  He shared stories with the audience about his time as a NY cabbie ("For every year you drive a cab here, that's seven human years.") and his thoughts on the 6% that will determine the upcoming election ("You know why they don't vote?  'Cause they're drunk.  So on Election Day, take a drunk off the street, make him vote for Obama, and give him a six-pack.").  In an age where it seems like everyone has a harmonica holder hanging from his neck, White is the real deal, casually slipping a blues harp from his chest pocket during "Jailbird."  Though it was disappointing to witness a crowd that had remained silent for the derivative Hey Marseilles talking during White's songs, the audience was taken by the hilarious "Newspaper," the story of an inebriate attempting to buy a newspaper to get his life together only to find out that they are sold out, and settles for a beer.  I even noticed They Might Be Giants' bassist Danny Weinkauf cracking up in the crowd.

Sea Wolf took the stage a little before 9pm, starting things off with "Miracle Cure" from their recently released Old World Romance.  Alex Brown Church played all the instruments on the album, from the sparklingly clean guitars to synthesized drums, but there are not as many standout songs as on his previous effort.  The band I saw last night wasn't the band I saw in 2009 either.  Even though I was half-asleep, I remember really enjoying the orchestral feel brought by the cello, now having to settle for the keyboards of Lisa Fendelander.  It wasn't a bad show; just not what I wanted.  And I'm glad I chose this night to as opposed to Thursday's at the Bowery Electric.  Church remarked, "Last night was a weird show.  This is much better.  CMJ's always kind of a clusterfuck, you know?"  Some crackly farting sounds from the speakers marred most of "Middle Distance Runner," when Church wasn't forgetting the words.  He couldn't remember the lines at the start of "I Made a Resolution" either, relying on the audience for support.  The highlight of the night for me was the one-two punch of "Turn the Dirt Over" going directly into the Marxophone intro of "Wicked Blood."  The encore came down to an audience vote, and while "Black Leaf Falls" was the clear victor, ABC vetoed and chose "Saint Catherine St."  "If you wanna hear 'Black Leaf Falls,' come see us in the spring," he offered.  If you bring the cello, I'm there.

HEY MARSEILLES – 10.19.12 – LE POISSON ROUGE (30 minutes)

SET –

Hold Your Head / Elegy / Summer Skies, Winter Cold* / Dead of Night / Heartbeats / Rio / From a Terrace

JIM WHITE – 10.19.12 – LE POISSON ROUGE (38 minutes)

SET –

If Jesus Drove a Motor Home / State of Grace / Keep It Meaningful You All / Chase the Dark Away / Jailbird / Sunday’s Refrain / Newspaper

SEA WOLF – 10.19.12 – LE POISSON ROUGE (1 hour, 3 minutes)

SET –

Miracle Cure / Winter Windows / The Traitor / Old Friend / Dew in the Grass / Priscilla / Middle Distance Runner / I Made a Resolution / Turn the Dirt Over > Wicked Blood / Kasper / Black Dirt / You’re a Wolf

ENCORE –

Saint Catherine St.

An Acoustic Evening with Ben Harper at Carnegie Hall

Wednesday night, Carnegie Hall hosted an acoustic evening with Ben Harper, the final stop on the 42-year-old musician's first solo acoustic headline tour.  I arrived at the legendary venue with enough time to peruse their museum (Did you know Carnegie Hall narrowly escaped demolition in 1960?) and a gallery of handwritten sheet music by composers (Terry Riley's crayon-accented, undulating staffs were my favorite.)  I ascended the stairs to find my seat on the left side of the dress circle in the Stern Auditorium, and gazed downwards.  The Perelman Stage was set with 13 guitars, an upright piano, and a vibraphone on top of a large rug.  A chair draped with a blanket sat in the center.  It appeared like the living room of a rockstar or a posh instrument store.

The playbill foretold of an opening act, singer-songwriter Grace Woodroofe.  Ben produced her debut album, the program reading, "In the words of Ben, 'You are not going to believe this girl.'"  He should have said, "You are not going to see this girl," because she never came out.  It was never explained why.  Who misses their gig at Carnegie Hall?

At 8:24, Ben walked across the wooden stage, chose his famed Weissenborn guitar, and took a seat.  He opened with an instrumental mélange of "All My Heart Can Take" and "Mutt," crescendoing to a series of palm hits on the body, which resonated off the walls nicely, before segueing into the first song Ben ever wrote, "Pleasure & Pain."  He selected a ukulele for "Blessed to Be a Witness," inserting the lyric, "I am blessed to be with you at Carnegie Hall," which elicited claps from the floor and balconies.  After "Witness," Harper traded out the uke for his '54 Stratocaster (So much for an acoustic evening I guess.), taking a moment to give a lesson on the Weissenborn, which is hollow through the neck, fretless, requires a tool to be played, and although it's more closely related to the cello, is considered a lap steel.  Ben relayed a text from a friend: "'I've never known anyone that's played Carnegie Hall before.  How do you get to Carnegie Hall?'  Before the text even got dry, I shot back, 'Lap steel.'"  Not two notes into "Excuse Me Mr." Ben stopped and gushed authentically, "Thank you all for being here very much."  It was during this song that I discovered the beauty of the room's acoustics.  Ben would occasionally reel back his head away from the microphone and sing to the room (A suspended mic dangling above the stage amplified some of this sound.), and it just sounded so incredibly rich and soulful, that I wish he had done the entire show off-mic.

The only problem with doing that would be controlling the volume of the crowd.  When people started clapping along to a song, it was covering the performance, so Ben changed the tempo, and hands dropped to laps.  "I'm always fascinated by time," Ben laughed.  Even whispers could be heard in the space, let alone the shouts of "WOO!" and "HARPER!" coming from the couple directly behind me. You're not at fucking Bonnaroo.  You're at Carnegie Hall.  Have some class.

Photography of any kind was not allowed during the show (That explains the lack of pics.), but pockmarks of luminance from cell phones were visible on the floor below.  Ushers would generally stop photographers by shining a flashlight on them.  When someone was daring enough to use a flash, Ben heard a commotion from somewhere in the crowd and remarked, "It's the flash picture police.  You're gonna go to the flash picture jail.  It's ugly.  There's flashes everywhere."  I can understand wanting to snap one photo, but there were some who just couldn't bring themselves to pocket their phones.  I wished it were 1891, when the hall opened, because it would've been purer.  The hum that accompanied the electric guitar also wouldn't have existed.

Segueing from "Diamonds on the Inside," Ben played new song "Masterpiece," which is a sweet love song with the chorus "Loving you is my masterpiece."  It was inspiring to watch Ben decide which guitar to grab for each song, so many instruments from which to choose.  He played piano for "Younger Than Today," and then traversed the stage to the vibes for a covers medley of Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" and Pearl Jam's "Indifference."  Ben shared his three career highlights: getting to sing with Eddie Vedder, seeing Solomon Burke perform an arm's length away, and Jeff Buckley (orgasm from the loud woman behind me) coming up to him backstage at a festival in France and saying, "You're gonna teach me some of that slide guitar."  He played a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," popularized by Buckley, to a standing ovation.  After the applause died down, he commented, "Jeff accomplished in one record what the rest of us are left here to try and do in a lifetime."

After the instrumental "Number Three," Ben closed his set with one of his signature songs, the pro-marijuana "Burn One Down."  "Not at Carnegie Hall," he advised with a chuckle.  At least he knew he wasn't at Bonnaroo.  Midway through the tune, he disclosed that Damian Marley once questioned him, "'Is it if you don't like my fire, or if you don't light my fire?'  I said, 'Damian, you know better than anyone, it's both.'"  When the song was over, Ben waved to the balconies, and exited stage right.

Two minutes later, he returned and took at seat at the piano to hammer out new song "Trying Not to Fall in Love with You."  He admitted that he was more excited than nervous to play Carnegie, explaining with a story: "These kids came up to me and said, 'You're playing 3-hour-plus shows.  You're like the new Boss.'  And I thought to myself, 'I'll be damned if affirmative action doesn't work.'  That's what I thought.  I said, 'No, branch manager.'"  The Boss had invited Harper to play at Bruce's Kennedy Center Honors, and described performing in front of Springsteen, Mel Brooks, Rober De Niro, and President Obama as "the ceiling of nerves."  In tribute to Bruce, he did an exciting rendition of "Atlantic City," turning the mic to the crowd to the crowd for the final refrain.

But that was only the start of what would be the 54-minute encore, where Harper reached back into his catalog to revive old favorites like "Not Fire Not Ice," "Power of the Gospel," and "Welcome to the Cruel World."  The show could have bookended with the instrumental "Exhale," but surprisingly, Ben brought his chair downstage, even in front of the suspended stage mic, to play "Suzie Blue" on ukulele.  I'd been sitting on the edge of my seat the entire evening, and when the song ended, it was only natural to stand fully and applaud the first musician I'd seen at Carnegie Hall.  Before leaving the stage, Ben looked out into the audience and said, "This city has defined me in more ways than any other city in the world.  Thank you all so much for a night like tonight."  Thank you, Ben.

BEN HARPER – 10.10.12 – CARNEGIE HALL (2 hours, 32 minutes)

SET –

All My Heart Can Take > Mutt > Pleasure & Pain / Blessed to Be a Witness / Excuse Me Mr. / Fight Outta You / Diamonds on the Inside > Masterpiece / Younger Than Today / Trouble Man > Indifference / Number with No Name / Please Bleed / Another Lonely Day / Walk Away / Hallelujah / Number Three / Burn One Down

ENCORE –

Trying Not to Fall in Love with You / Atlantic City / Not Fire Not Ice / Forever / Power of the Gospel / By My Side / I Shall Not Walk Alone / Welcome to the Cruel World / Exhale / Suzie Blue

Really, Dictionary.com, Really?

Doug Loves Movies: Tig Notaro Loses the Game, But Wins the Crowd

Doug Benson brought his popular podcast Doug Loves Movies to New York's Gramercy Theatre tonight.  The last time he held DLM at the theatre in August, it was a sausagefest, but tonight's show was a total clambake.  Comediennes Amy Schumer, Nikki Glaser, Sarah Silverman, and Tig Notaro joined Doug for an almost two-hour show that included games "Build a Title," "How Much Did This Shit Make," and of course, "The Leonard Maltin Game."

I won't give away the winner, but I will say that this is a must-download when it plops. While her infrequent movie-watching usually makes her a hit-or-miss guest, Tig Notaro was on fire during the show.  After being chided by Doug for not talking enough, Tig began interjecting everyone, adding her dry bits of ignorance at just the right moments to make comedy gold.  When she failed to remember the punchline of a Todd Barry joke, Doug, Sarah, and herself all called Todd's phone simultaneously.  Receiving his voicemail, Tig proceeded to leave a continuous message from each person's phone.  The nametag of the audience member she picked to play for was a Han Solo doll, which she configured to hold her mic cable, swing from it, and drop into a bag of Chipotle chips that served as another nametag.  Sadly, listeners at home won't be able to hear the subtle, nonverbal interplay between her and Silverman, but at least her quest to have the bartenders make her an egg nog will be audible.  

You can download the episode here, and be sure to buy Tig's new album Live (pronounced like the verb), currently being sold for $5 via Louis CK's website. I'm going to right after I post this.

Virgin Mobile Freefest 2012 Setlists, Photos, and Review

My friend got tickets to Virgin Mobile FreeFest, so we headed down to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland to check it out.  We entered through Symphony Woods, walking by Sharpie-on-cardboard signs denoting the box office and other lines.  Considering it was a free concert, they couldn't be wasting money on fancy signage I guess.

After picking up a complimentary blanket at the LG Chroma Cube, we made our way to the Pavilion Stage to see Justin Jones.  A bartender at D.C.'s 9:30 Club, Jones became the first artist signed to 9:30 Records when he released The Little Fox EP in 2010.  This year, he dropped Fading Light, his fourth full-length of blues-influenced Americana.  Styles onstage ranged from the bluesy stomper "I Can Feel It" to the atmospheric guitars of "As It Turns Out," its intro "Ghosts" initially sounding like when you turn on a Nintendo Wii.  I spotted next performer Allen Stone in a seat nodding his head to the beat.

Though I was interested in seeing Stone, I had to see if Penguin Prison were going to play instruments or if it was just going to be a Chris Glover DJ set.  Situated on a hill in the woods, the Dance Forest Stage was located directly beneath a canopy of oak trees, with acorns and branches dropping onto spectators as the wind picked up.  We found a relatively level piece of ground and were delighted to find Chris backed by his band.  He played a similar set to when I saw him at Brooklyn Bowl, and he was killing it vocally, especially his exuberant scream in "Don't Fuck with My Money."  It was great to finally see him perform outside again, like I did when I discovered him in '05.

My brother was working at the show, so we stopped by to say hi, and then ventured over to the West Stage to catch what we could of Portugal. The Man.  The transition in vibe from the pavilion to the open parking field was substantial.  Hula hoops, people on blankets, and a Ferris wheel made it feel like a festival, not just a concert.  We made it in time to hear an extended jam out of one P.TM song and their closer, "All Your Light (Times Like These)."

The mass of people dissipated, and we snagged an insanely close (second row) spot for the Dismemberment Plan.  I'd seen Travis Morrison open for They Might Be Giants back in 2004 (At the merch table, he personally taught me the trick of unhinging the front of a jewel case to remove the sticker on the spine.), but I'd never seen the Plan in their heyday or since reuniting.  "I wore my special Misfits shirt just for all y'all.  We're gonna do 'Mother' in a little bit," Travis joked.  Maybe they did (We had to leave early to see Ben Folds Five.), but while we were there, we got a mix of old favorites and new tunes.  They are, in fact, going to release a new album, and I got to hear two of the songs, including one that is sure to be a featured member in the D-Plan canon, "Waiting."  "Can everyone salute me?" Travis asked as they started the grooving tune.  His interaction with the crowd extended to having us all greet the people on the Ferris wheel with "Hi Ferris wheel!"  And then he started picking out specific cars: "Yeah, you in the kind of lime green one.  Keep waving."  As I was departing during "You Are Invited," Morrison messed up the second verse, announcing, "I'm gonna start the verse over again."  When he flubbed it a second time: "No!  What is happening to me?"  I trust they eventually made it through the song, but briefly flirted with the idea that I may have been the band's good luck charm.

As we were walking back to the pavilion, I saw someone wearing a t-shirt that read, "Sex, Drugs, and Dubstep."  I decided it was the worst thing I'd ever seen, shuddering when I realized the implication that dubstep has replaced rock 'n' roll.  A video played on the screen of Virgin Mobile Live's Abbey Braden announcing a Skrillex lookalike contest.  "If you look the most like Skrillex, we have a prize for you."  "I hope it's plastic surgery," I jested.  (If you can't yet tell, I didn't see Skrillex, so stop reading now if you thought I was gonna review him.)

 

We took our seats for Ben Folds Five just as Ben took his seat… and slammed it into the keys of a Baldwin grand piano.  I'd seen Ben solo way back in the Jenny Eats Something days, and was amazed by his energy.  I suppose Darren Jessee and Robert Sledge subdue him a little because the stool-hurling was the most raucous he got.  While the mixture of fuzz bass, jazzy drums, and staccato piano was still captivating after all the years apart, it didn't sound too good due to some technical issues and the bleed of Nervo's set from the Dance Forest.  However, that didn't stop the crowd from singing along on "Underground," "Song for the Dumped," and their biggest hit, "Brick."  "It's good to be back in this part of the country.  We used to play the 9:30 Club a lot," Ben told the crowd, many of whom had probably seen BFF there sometime in the '90s.  Other songs included Folds' "Landed," latest single "Do It Anyway," and the closer, "Army."

After being impressed by Santigold at StePhest Colbchella, I wanted to see her again, but needing nourishment and wanting to keep our fourth row seats, I stayed in the pavilion.  On the roof, Virgin owner, Sir Richard Branson poured champagne on concertgoers to thank us for coming and flaunt how rich he is.  In his defense, proceeds raised from previous Virgin Fests have built a homeless youth shelter in D.C. called RE*Generation House, and this year's donations will open its doors.  My friend went to get our dinner while I saved the seats.

A girl seated next to me chose me as her Alabama Shakes comrade.  I told her about how when I saw them at Summerstage in June, I was impressed by the musicianship, but not their stage presence.  They'd have to win me over, and guess what, they did.  While bassist Zac Cockrell still only moved slightly more than a well-timed bobblehead, Brittany Howard was absolutely magnetic.  She was wearing a blue dress with red dots and sporting a straightened hairdo, but you couldn't take your eyes off her face.  If you were a deaf person, you could've learned all the vowel sounds just by the way her mouth moved, soulful howls bursting out of the gaping hole.  She also backed away from her mic stand to move around more when not singing, which was an improvement.  As "Be Mine" started, the girl beside me grabbed me by the hand and shouted, "This is our favorite song!"  I'd only just met her, but judging by this performance, she was right.  Brittany went guitarless, walking around the stage with purpose and shouting the lyrics with passion.  The crowd roared its approval at its close.  Unfortunately, and this was the only problem I had with the festival, my friend was trapped outside of the pavilion for every song but the final "You Ain't Alone" because security wasn't letting anyone in.  This would've been justifiable if it was at capacity, but there were still some seats available, and they kept the whole left canopied section empty for the entire festival.

We sliced our way through the thickening crowds to head back over to Nas at the West Stage.  We made it time to hear some of his hits like "If I Ruled the World" and "Hate Me Now," the crowd performing Lauryn Hill's parts on the former.  Nas was only backed by a DJ, a live performance technique that I've never found very visually arresting, so I spent much of the set watching my hand wave up and down in the crowd shots on the screen.  "It's because of you that I made music all these years.  You and one little person," Nas confessed before the recently released "Daughters."  He closed it out with "One Mic" followed by a singalong of the Wailers' "One Love."

We returned to the amphitheatre to find it packed for ZZ Top, the entire crowd on their feet for the first time.  We were standing in the aisle for a minute before security told us we had to move, and miraculously, I found two seats on the end of a row.  The bearded rockers chugged their way through a set of newer songs and the classics.  After a one-handed guitar solo by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill raised the question, "How's that guy playing guitar with one hand?"  Billy flipped the guitar around to reveal the word "BEER" on the back of its body.  Although I have no clue what that's supposed to mean, it sums up the Top perfectly: authentic hard blues rock with a campy white-trash exterior.  They conveniently modified "My Head's in Mississippi" to "My Head's in Maryland," and introduced new number "Chartreuse" as "so new I've gotta have Elwood bring me the words," with their longtime guitar tech taping the lyrics onto the stage.  After the crowd-pleasing "Sharp Dressed Man," they busted out their Persian cat-looking, furry guitars for "Legs."  An uninterrupted threesome of "Tube Snake Boogie," La Grange," and "Tush" ended the show with cheers for an encore.

We squirmed through the forest to see what was left of M83.  The opening notes of "Midnight City" were met with shrieks of delight, only topped by the explosive saxophone solo at the song's end.  The light show for M83 was the best I saw at the festival, and keyboardist Morgan Kibby's boob was the only one I saw at the festival, sneaking out from the inside of her flowing, white dress.

Having no desire to stick around for Skrillex, we joined the march of fans heading back to the pavilion for Jack White.  Finding the seats to be blocked to anyone but VIP ticket holders (and the invisible people in that left section), we stationed ourselves on the hill.  Accompanied by a band of women dressed in white, Jack took center stage dressed in black.  Blue lighting cast a spooky glow on the scene, transforming the women into specters as White enchanted them with his guitar.  Starting with songs from Blunderbuss, "Sixteen Saltines" and "Missing Pieces," Jack paid tribute to ZZ Top by injecting a bit of "Jesus Just Left Chicago" into the mix.  A duet with Ruby Amafu on "Love Interruption" was followed by the rollicking "Hotel Yorba."  The set continued with songs spanning White's career with the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, the Dead Weather, and solo, concluding with "Ball & Biscuit."  The encore started with the rocking "Steady, As She Goes" right into "Freedom at 21" before taking a gentler turn with "We're Going to Be Friends," "Blunderbuss," and Jack taking a seat at the piano for "I Guess I Should Go to Sleep."  The evening came to its end with "Seven Nation Army," the Maryland crowd chanting the guitar riff "Ohhh-O-O-O-O-Ohhh-O" as much for the Baltimore Orioles making the playoffs as the man onstage.  "God bless you so much.  Thank you.  You've been wonderful," White obliged.  After last week's Radio City walkout, I felt special to have gotten the full show, for free, with so many fantastic openers.

JUSTIN JONES – 10.06.12 – MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION, VIRGIN MOBILE FREEFEST (41 minutes)

SET –

Fading Light / Little Fox / Grandma She Can’t Hardly Get Around* > I Can Feel It / Racine / Miracles / Ghosts > As It Turns Out / My Father’s Gun

PENGUIN PRISON – 10.06.12 – MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION, VIRGIN MOBILE FREEFEST (42 minutes)

SET –

Golden Train / The Worse It Gets / Something I’m Not / A Funny Thing / Fair Warning / Hollywood / Don’t Fuck with My Money / Blue Jeans / Multi-Millionaire

THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN – 10.06.12 – MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION, VIRGIN MOBILE FREEFEST

SET (incomplete) –

Time Bomb / The City / A Life of Possibilities / 3AM (The Window)* / Gyroscope / Girl O’Clock / Waiting* / The Ice of Boston / Following Through / You Are Invited

BEN FOLDS FIVE – 10.06.12 – MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION, VIRGIN MOBILE FREEFEST (52 minutes)

SET –

Michael Praytor, Five Years Later / Jackson Cannery / Hold That Thought / Erase Me / Underground / Landed / Magic / Kate / Brick / Do It Anyway / Song for the Dumped / Army

ALABAMA SHAKES – 10.06.12 – MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION, VIRGIN MOBILE FREEFEST (50 minutes)

SET –

Hang Loose / Hold On / Always Alright / I Found You / Rise to the Sun / I Ain’t the Same / Boys & Girls / Be Mine > On Your Way / Mama / Makin’ Me Itch / Heavy Chevy / You Ain’t Alone

JACK WHITE – 10.06.12 – MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION, VIRGIN MOBILE FREEFEST (1 hour, 24 minutes)

SET –

Sixteen Saltines > Missing Pieces > Jesus Just Left Chicago > Love Interruption / Hotel Yorba / Top Yourself > Weep Themselves to Sleep > Cannon > Dead Leaves & the Dirty Ground > Cannon > I’m Slowly Turning Into You / I Cut Like a Buffalo / Fell in Love with a Girl > Ball & Biscuit

ENCORE –

Steady, As She Goes > Freedom at 21 / We’re Going to Be Friends / Blunderbuss / I Guess I Should Go to Sleep > Take Me with You When You Go / Seven Nation Army

Easy Star All-Stars Almost Thrill Irving Plaza, Need a Little Help from Their Friends

Known for their reggae cover albums of OK Computer, Sgt. Pepper's, and their masterful debut Dub Side of the Moon, Easy Star All-Stars brought together these dub tributes with ones from their latest record, Thrillah, last night (and into today) at Irving Plaza.

I decided to have a delicious meal in Brooklyn over getting there for Passafire, another Sublime clone.  Thankfully I arrived just in time to see this video playing on the screen in between sets:

I could have watched it all night, but L.A.'s Aggrolites had to go on.  They opened with a medley of "Free Time," "Work It," and "Faster Bullet," and rarely took time to pause for the duration of their 53-minute set.  Their brand of "skinhead reggae" was enjoyable enough, mainly thanks to Roger Rivas' impressive organ workouts.  With shoutouts to Delroy Wilson and Ernest Ranglin, the fellas have obviously done their homework, and it paid off with crowd singalongs for "Mr. Misery" and closer "Don't Let Me Down."

A little after 11pm, the main act crept onto the stage.  They opened with Radiohead's "Electioneering," which they have definitely transformed into their own song.  "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" started off the MJ hits, but as on the album, it was too faithful a cover for me personally.  Following that with "Lovely Rita," it became clear they weren't going to play the LP straight through.  Kirsty Rock sang "P.Y.T." and bassist Ras I Ray and axeman Shelton Garner, Jr. sparred on "The Girl is Mine."  While not bad, "Girl" was lacking the soul it has on the album, where Mojo Morgan (of Morgan Heritage) and David Hinds (of Steel Pulse) trade lines.  This is the main shortcoming with Easy Star live.  For their records, they have been able to enlist the vocal talents of such reggae luminaries as Toots Hibbert, Sugar Minott, and the Mighty Diamonds, but as a touring band, their voices aren't on that same level.  The only guest they were able to wrangle was some Donal Logue-looking motherfucker from Passafire for "Karma Police."  Sure, their dub arrangements of classic songs are inspired, but their original material is limited both vocally and lyrically, "Bed of Rose" withstanding.

After a nice Dub Side trip that went "Climbing Up the Walls," Ras I Ray plucked a string on his bass and instructed the crowd to hum the note. We hummed, but not loud enough. "Although I've been smoking, based on the number of faces out there I see, there should be much more 'mmm' than that," he egged us on. We hit the note louder and longer. Ras hugged himself with delight. "That was one love," he said, and the band went into "With a Little Help from My Friends," a crowd-pleaser.  Then they backed the group's toaster, Ruff Scott, on his dancehall track "Tell Dem Fi Gwaan."  Over the course of the night, all seven singles from the Thriller album were played, finishing their set with the title track, which went into spooky dub territory with Ruff Scott croaking out the Vincent Price voiceover.  "Billie Jean" found its way into the encore after a solo "Redemption Song" by Shelton that was sadly interrupted by some dipshit in a yarmulke.  And it wasn't even a cool yarmulke like this one:

And if you want to see how people dance to this music, here's how their version of "Billie Jean" affected a fan in Baltimore earlier this year.

When the bong hit and cough samples singalled the intro to "Money," my favorite of their Pink Floyd renditions, I got really excited. Unfortunately, they played the song at a quicker tempo that didn't serve it well. With a dub band, it's not about how fast you can play; it's about how slow. While I had a good time, I feel like if they brought along some of their featured guests on tour, the show would've improved greatly. On their own, I wouldn't mind seeing them as the house band at some Caribbean resort.

EASY STAR ALL-STARS – 10.04.12 – IRVING PLAZA (1 hour, 48 minutes)

SET –

Electioneering / Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ / Lovely Rita / P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) / The Girl is Mine / Karma Police (feat. Passafire) / Breathe > On the Run > Time > Climbing Up the Walls / With a Little Help from My Friends / Tell Dem Fi Gwaan / Beat It > Any Colour You Like > Human Nature / Thriller

ENCORE –

Redemption Song / Billie Jean / Money

The Princess Bride 25th Anniversary, or How a Theatre Full of People Ruined My Favorite Movie

Last night the 50th New York Film Festival presented a screening of Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride for its 25th anniversay.  A new 35mm print of the film, courtesy of the Academy Film Archive, was shown at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in the 1086-seat Starr Theater.  A beautiful print of my favorite movie combined with comfortable seats and lots of legroom should have made for one of the best moviegoing experiences of my life.  Unfortunately, the crowd was full of fans who had a little too much fun storming the castle, and behaved as if they were in their living rooms instead of realizing there was a theatre of people surrounding them.

From the start, the volume of the soundtrack was not turned up loud enough, so you could hear every comment from every person in the room.  I don't know which was worse: the two girls to my left quoting the lines just before they happened or the fat chick to my right whispering every line in unison with the film.  Cellphones illuminated assholes in the crowd, and others felt it necessary to act like a live television audience, clapping as characters entered and laughing at things that weren't funny (I will clarify: not meant to be funny).

The restored print was marvel to look at though, allowing me to see things I hadn't detected in so many childhood viewings on a small tube television set.  I'd always noticed the paper Santa Claus hanging on the boy's closet, but I'd never put it together as taking place during the holidays until I was able to look out his window and clearly see Christmas lights on the neighbor's house.  I also think it may have been my first time spotting the cheese and loaf of bread on Vizzini's picnic table.

After the credits, Reiner, writer William Goldman, Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Chris Sarandon, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Cary Elwes, and Billy Crystal took to the stage for a Q&A.  Most of the on-set stories were ones already told in the DVD extras: Mandy Patinkin bruising his rib holding in laughter during the Miracle Max scene, Mandy and Cary swordfighting with no stunt doubles, a little person named Anthony who played a R.O.U.S. getting arrested (although Cary did a nice scene depicting the man arguing with a police officer).

The lameness of the audience even pervaded the Q&A.  When the first guy stood up to ask a question, Crystal asked, "How old are you?"  "26."  "Sit down."  The crowd laughed, but I wish the guy had taken Billy seriously because this was his question for Robin: "You were my first crush.  You and Winnie Cooper.  Can I get a hug?"  What a waste of time by someone likely just hiding his love for Fred Savage.  When Carol and Billy were asked, "What was it like being in that makeup all day?" Billy quipped, "I wasn't wearing any makeup."  Crystal was the star for most of the show, but the
biggest treat was hearing William Goldman reveal that the highpoint of his writing life was scripting the scene where Westley dies: "It's the only thing I ever did in my life that I thought was a successful day."  (Watch video of his answer below.)
Carol Kane's final comment: "Watching the film tonight, I realized that it is a perfect movie."  Cheers from the crowd.  While not exactly perfect (When Westley howls as his life is sucked away, how does Inigo know his true love is Buttercup?), it is my favorite movie.  And despite the unruly crowd, it was only this time seeing the film that I teared up at Peter Falk's final "As you wish."

Phish Announces MSG NYE Run

For the third year in a row, Phish will be playing Madison Square Garden on New Year's Eve.  Like 2011, the jam band will be playing the 28th through the 31st.  I've seen them the past two years for NYE (including the 29th and 30th last year), and this time I'll be attempting to go to all four nights.

Frank Turner Sells Out Webster Hall for Largest U.S. Headline Show

Before summer even started, tickets went onsale for Frank Turner at Webster Hall on the last day of September.  I bought mine the first day, and it was a good thing too, because the show quickly sold out.  The previous night on the calendar was then added for those who missed the first sale and those who wanted a double-shot of the hard-edged acoustic rock of the former punk and brilliant wordsmith.

I arrived at the venue just as Jenny Owen Youngs took her spot stage right with nothing more than a microphone and an acoustic guitar.  I've been listening to Miss Youngs for a few years now, but I'd never seen her live, nor did I know she had a new album out.  The cutie with the potty mouth opened with a trio of tunes from An Unwavering Band of Light, her blue eyes obscured by a curtain of bangs as she belted out her snarky-sweet lyrics to the ceiling.  JOY revealed that an X-Files episode in which cockroaches burrowed under townspeople's skin was the inspiration behind "Clean Break" ("Here is a love song through that filter.  So you're welcome."), and after fumbling through the bridge of the seldom-played "Already Gone," announced giddily, "Guess what?  We just made a new bridge together and it's very exciting."  She explained that she was going to play a cover that was a singalong, and that she wanted us to join.  "Some people are like, 'Why don't you fucking sing along, dick?'" she teased, and went into Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire."  At the song's completion: "You nailed it… to the cross!"  She closed with "Last Person," playing with such vigor that she broke a guitar string.  I saw her after the show giving hugs and high-fives to fans at the merch table.

Having never seen or heard of Larry & His Flask before, I was hoping for some old blues musician, who would sit on a stool, swilling whisky between songs, progressively getting drunker throughout his set.  It turned out to be a sextet who played raucous songs on a variety of organic instruments, including mandolin, baritone horn, banjo, and double bass.   A mosh pit opened up directly behind me, and I wasn't pleased to have to spend their 41-minute set protecting my back.  I wasn't really into them either, but I did enjoy "Beggars Will Ride" and what they called their only love song, "I'll Be Gone."  Guitarist/vocalist/sweatiest man alive Ian Cook descended into the crowd for the last number, urging everyone to squat low to the ground until erupting into a giant brawl at the song's climax.

I moved towards the center of the room before Frank's set, so I wouldn't have to put up with the monkeys on my back.  Turner, reinforced by his band the Sleeping Souls, entered the stage to a recording of the somber horn intro to "Eulogy," proudly picking up the song where the vocals kick in.  Pausing briefly after the song, Turner moved into "The Road," which brewed a moshing hurricane where the pit had been for the Flask.  The floor beneath my feet shook like a bounce castle, but at least I had a good two- or three-person buffer between me and the mayhem.

After the joyous "Glory Hallelujah," the band seamlessly went into an excellent "Reasons Not to Be an Idiot," one of my favorite FT songs.  "Tomorrow we're flying back off to the West Coast to record a brand new album," Frank said, unveiling new song "One Fine Day" as an indictment of the film Amélie.  Turner revealed that we were taking part in a crowd participation exam, and that we'd already passed test one, which was clapping along.  The "ba ba ba"s of "Wessex Boy" would be our chance to complete phase two: singing along.  We passed.

Even though Frank Turner used to front post-hardcore band Million Dead, I'd never seen crowdmembers slamdancing at his shows.  And at any concert, I'd never witnessed people actually pulling unwilling participants from the barriers of a mosh pit into its riotous eye.  While some of Turner's songs could incite this sad excuse for dancing, "Substitute" is not one of them.  A beautiful song about trading music for love, it should never lead to violence.  But it did.  Idiots.

But that's the worst they could do to ruin a song, right?  Nope.  The Sleeping Souls left Frank to perform two solo songs, including the unreleased "Wherefore Art Thou Gene Simmons," which explores the inherent sadness in Simmons' admission to having had sex with 4600 women, remembering them only by a stash of Polaroid photographs.  I wasn't surprised to find out that people who fight each other to music have no concept of rhythm, exemplified by three assholes clapping offbeat during the tender song.

He followed "Gene" with "Dan's Song," where we were informed of the third part of our examination: playing an instrument.  "I'm not Skrillex, so I can't afford to give everyone in the crowd a guitar to play along," Frank laughed.  Instead he walked us through how to play an air harmonica, where you just make loud noises while holding an invisible sandwich in front of your mouth.  We did a trial run, to which Frank responded, "Solid 5 out of 10, New York. You do realize this is the single biggest headline I've ever done in the United States of America."  The revelation inspired us to step up our air harmonica game, but even that didn't compare to the real harmonica played by keyboardist Matt Nasir on "I Knew Prufrock."

My favorite song of the evening was "One Foot Before the Other," which has always sounded out of place on the album, but the combination of flashing lights and driving bass really set this one ablaze.  When it got to the Muse-esque breakdown, I couldn't help but laugh at what a great time I was having.  The tune was followed by "Four Simple Words," in which the final phase of the test was divulged: dancing.  "Now, the people in the middle pushing into each other is a valid form of dancing," Frank claimed, though I have my disagreements.  "But you could also do the Charleston," he offered.  Hyped up by the info that Turner had been keeping stock of which city had the best dancing on the tour, and that the previous night's show held the current record, we danced or hearts out, though our effort seemed to go unnoticed.

After set-ender "I Still Believe" with Jenny Owen Youngs on actual harmonica, Frank revisited the stage alone for an encore.  Twinkling lights behind him, he played "St. Christopher is Coming Home" for someone whose name he couldn't recall.  The Sleeping Souls came back for "If Ever I Stray" along with "Photosynthesis," in which Turner finally acknowledged, "Thank you so much, Dance Champions of the United States of America!"  (Tangent: It's sort of funny how he said the full name of our country, considering we'd say England, or leave out the Great in Britain, or save time with the acronym, UK.  I think the only time most Americans say "United States of America" is when they're reciting the Pledge of Allegiance or talking about that band that sang "Peaches.")

Congratulations to Frank Turner on a successful tour.  I got an insider tip that he'll be back in NYC in April, so get your tickets as soon as they become available.  Unless you're one of the dicks in the mosh pit that only learned about Frank from Bamboozle.  Then just stay home.

JENNY OWEN YOUNGS – 09.30.12 – WEBSTER HALL (28 minutes)

SET –

Love for Long / Pirates / Your Apartment / Clean Break / Already Gone / Ring of Fire / Last Person

FRANK TURNER – 09.30.12 – WEBSTER HALL (1 hour, 29 minutes)

SET –

Eulogy / The Road / Peggy Sang the Blues / Long Live the Queen / Glory Hallelujah > Reasons Not to Be an Idiot / One Fine Day / Wessex Boy / Substitute / Wherefore Art Thou Gene Simmons / Dan’s Song / I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous > I Am Disappeared / One Foot Before the Other / Four Simple Words / Try This at Home > I Still Believe (feat. Jenny Owen Youngs)

ENCORE –

St. Christopher is Coming Home / If Ever I Stray > Photosynthesis (feat. Larry & His Flask)