Note: In a few weeks, my students will read this entry as part of a music analysis lesson. That is why some of their achievements appear in it. ;)
There are many perks to being a teacher: working with hilarious students/colleagues, creating meaningful lessons, seeing students improve, etc.
One specific perk I get every November is participating in Rock and Cole. In the Rock and Cole project, students create their own mixed CD, matching five characters from the novel Touching Spirit Bear to five songs. (The project gets its name from Spirit Bear’s central character, Cole Matthews.) In the days leading up to the in-class concert, students scour book passages and song lyrics to find things that connect. On concert day, each student analyzes another student’s CD, trying to match the characters, songs, traits, and quotes. It’s also a pretty entertaining day, considering the desks are filled with 30-plus CD players, boom boxes, and headphones, and several students rock out as they work.
The best part for me is that I get to listen to all the CDs. New discoveries this year were The Apache Relay’s “Power Hungry Animals,” Weezer’s “Islands in the Sun,” Kansas’ “Carry On, Wayward Son,” The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated,” Ylvis’ “The Fox,” Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball,” and Disney’s “Colors of the Wind.” (Ok, so the last three weren’t ‘new discoveries.’ I had, sadly, heard those three 300 times before.)
Student award winners for this year included:
-- Star Performers MO, JF, AB, JM, JL, SG, LV, DD, AA, RH, JZ, MG, AN, MC, JS, MD1, MD2, AN, HD, JL, LA, KS, NT, BG, BY, JC, CM, JS, and Skrillex-victim / Carter-Brown-impersonator BJ. These students proved they did not need a band or stage to perform. They could rock out in a DESK!
-- Rock Survivors JM, ND, MT, BH, ON, NT, GD, NN, SK, LA, YS, CN, AN, and CM. These students made it all the way through their CDs, despite multiple CD / headphone debacles.
-- Star Vocalists TS, AM, BG, MD, HD, and DK. These students totally understood how to speak with headphones on. They always spoke AT AN APPROPRIATE VOLUME…
-- Star Reviewers SR, MO, JM, EK, EB, DD, LK, SC, MT, BH, KB, JJ, AT, KP, AF, LS, CE, AN, EO, SM, AV, NT, MG, MS, GU, KB, MD, YK, KS, GD, GC, SF, DC, AN, JM, and CN. These students reviewed their CDs with the precision of professional rock critics. Wonder if Rolling Stone magazine is in any of their futures…
-- Rock Comics MD, AN, AM, JJ, CK, JS, MC, HH, DK, and JC. These students should be recognized for filling the concert with funny moments. MD reacted “Omg, this is the scariest song ever” to Simon and Garfunkel, and AN reacted “Omg, this is the best song ever” to One Direction. These descriptions may have been inaccurate, but they were both funny. Even though they heard it separate periods, as they heard “The Gilligan’s Island Theme Song,” AM and JJ both squawked, “This song is too catchy – stop being catchy!” CK and JS were also in separate periods, yet their anthropomorphic computers both decided to blast out Phillip Phillips’ “Gone Gone Gone” despite their attempts to stop them.
No one tried to stop MC from transforming Eminem into Bob Marley; it just happened. The way MC karaoked “Lose Yourself,” it sounded more like “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” Eminem The Jamaican – interesting interpretation. ;) A hilariously ironic interpretation was HH’s reaction to George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone.” HH insisted, “I love this song. This is my jam.”
DK could not choose a ‘jam’; he was too busy getting amusingly angry at the number of songs that matched Spirit Bear’s main character. The songs prompted DK and other students to ask the same basic question, “I get that Cole is a round, dynamic, three-dimensional character, but does EVERY song have to fit him?” All periods got to share in the amusing misery in the preceding days, as they heard parts of that song and other ridiculous songs: “I’m a Little Teapot,” “I’m a Gummy Bear,” Frank Sinatra’s “Happy Birthday,” and [thanks to JC], Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” / “Living in the Sunlight, Loving in the Moonlight.”
-- All students, for making this Rock and Cole the best in seven years. New policy changes made everything smoother: i.e. using more laptops than CD players, including friends’ names on friends’ folders, writing concert achievements directly on the whiteboard, making whiteboard students eligible for White Chocolate Oreos, etc. More students also submitted full folders and got playable CDs than ever before, and all students were able to find classmates’ Favorite Word on their folders, which has not been true in previous years. In the end, SS and JL still said it best: “Couldn’t we listen and learn from music every day?” If only…
Grade: A
Monday, December 30, 2013
146 -- Kanye West -- Thursday, November 21, 2013 -- Verizon Center -- DC
Ummmm, what did I just watch? This was my reaction as I walked out of the Kanye West Verizon Center show. It was surreal, one of the strangest concerts I have ever been to – yet utterly engaging the entire time.
Grading the show is tricky. A lot of it was unpleasant, yet it was almost always gripping. How do you balance Kanye’s ambition and self-absorption? It turns out you balance it with a B+. It was not an A, it did not succeed on all levels, but it threw in everything it possibly could to get there. B+ keeps it honest and rewards the risk-tasking.
Writing about the show for a mass audience is trickier than grading it. How do you include details from a song that rhymes Judge Joe Brown with.....well, there’s the problem. It turns out you do it with dashes. Lots and lots of dashes. ;)
Flicking through the live blog below will not give you the full experience of being at a Kanye West show. Only Jimy Shah can know that. If anything I’ve typed seems strange, though, I’ll have done my job. If he seems to veer from careful plans to stream-of-consciousness rants, you’ve gotten the idea…
> First thought: Whoa. This is the polar opposite of where I was for Monday’s Macklemore show. It’s like listening to an autotuned fire ant.
> The voiceover word-checks “truculent” and “bellicose.” That’s a good sign. He must know an English teacher’s in the building.
> All these discordant alarms in “Send It Up” somehow work live. They add to the train wreck. Hard to tell why someone would want to listen to it on an album though. Must be the Skrillex effect. I.E. Some people’s confusing attraction to electrocution.
> Apparently he is a god. And you should get on with his ---- massage. And his ---- croissant. And get his car out of the ---- garage. HA: “I just talked to Jesus, he said what up, Yeezus?”
> This crowd is so into everything; they may be the best upper deck crowd I’ve ever been in. Wish it wasn't wasted on this.
> Lol, the guy a row in front of me shouting “yes” like nine times for "Lost in the World." A single plink of the piano, and the guy is at it again. HA: Kanye waits like 30 seconds, plinks one more time, waits again. Yes Guy: “Kanye is such an -------." Yet he means it as a positive… One genuine positive: the Bon Iver section of the song.
> “There are leaders and there are followers; I'd rather be a ---- than a ---------.” Lol, this young girl in front of me is all about it, finger wagging word for misogynistic word. I feel like wagging a finger at her parents…
> How can I find it depressing? I never feel that way about Muse, Alkaline Trio, or Rise Against, who have much darker content. What's the difference? Hmm, they have melodies, instruments, and talk with the audience. They seem like punk rebels, not brooding jerks.
> Intro the “Black Skinhead”: “DC, can you hear me tonight?” Whoa, we do exist. He acknowledged other people; that must make him feel dirty.
> “Power”: Yay, a song I mostly like. “Runaway” is also hilarious: full-arena ‘toast’ and all.
> What is this song? The lights are on, the lyrics are good, and the crowd is singing more. This must be from an earlier album. [Yep, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” off Graduation.] He incorporates some of "Gorgeous" as well. “Choke a South Park writer with a fish stick”: lol, nice.
> Intro to “Coldest Winter”: some actual humanity comes through! “When I was in London, my mother died. I felt like I was losing my religion, losing myself.”
> “I’m In It.” Features his best line in months: “Pop a wheelie on the zeitgeist.” HA.
> “Heartless”!! By far the best of the night. Coincidence: an actual melody!
> Gah, can’t take any more chirping from “Blood on the Leaves.” At least there's fire and a darkly gripping blare. Now it's a swirling volcano.
> HOLY!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! That was twenty minutes of unhinged narcissism. Honestly, though, that may have been the most memorable moment of all of the fall concerts. Here’s the transcript: “I think for the first time in my ------------- life, I'm gonna be politically correct. A lot of people stop talking when they get money. Not me. I'm not narcissistic; I'm doing it for creativity; I'm doing it all for you. [Wait: what?] Nike wouldn’t take a meeting for me for EIGHT MONTHS. Yee, you see, IS US. Don't you see?? [I see what you’re saying and reject it.] You going to tell me I can't be a black Steve Jobs?? [Who on earth is telling you that?]
> Comes out of the rant with a solid song (“Stronger”) and his all time best (“Jesus Walks”). Awesome to see actual music shine through!
> “All of the Lights.” Fireworks, red demon flares, him screaming “ghetto university”: powerful.
> Whoa, he wasn’t done. BLOODCURDLING RANT # 2: “They just wanna make jokes on South Park and ----. They think it’s a joke. Like I said on Jimmy Kimmel, I live this ----. I don’t give a ---- about no press; it's keeping me up at night. All I care about is God and my family. Cuz when I go, I know I'm gonna see all of the lights and my momma again. I'm gonna give ya about 35 more seconds. Nike don't want your ideas; they just want you to be the face of the company. These ------ be playing me; they never got some good ----- in their life. Forget Nike; I am Disney! When I walk down the street, the street is happy!!! I may not be liked, but I will be respected, I will not be neglected, and all those ------ that passed on me, they will be AFFECTED.”
> Gotta admit: absurd as it was, I was affected by it. The next song, “Good Life,” is normally mediocre, nowhere near as good as the Weezer song whose title inspired this blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjLt0LS1M0I. After hearing the rant, though, I was so amped up that I got into it.
> He gives a single shoutout to the keyboardist, lies that “y'all are the reason I talk so much ----,” and then…it just ends. With cacophonous chords half-playing on the way out...
> Tweet at the end of the night: Whatttt did I just watch? Incredibly unlikable person, incredibly memorable show. # kanyewest
Grade: B+
Grading the show is tricky. A lot of it was unpleasant, yet it was almost always gripping. How do you balance Kanye’s ambition and self-absorption? It turns out you balance it with a B+. It was not an A, it did not succeed on all levels, but it threw in everything it possibly could to get there. B+ keeps it honest and rewards the risk-tasking.
Writing about the show for a mass audience is trickier than grading it. How do you include details from a song that rhymes Judge Joe Brown with.....well, there’s the problem. It turns out you do it with dashes. Lots and lots of dashes. ;)
Flicking through the live blog below will not give you the full experience of being at a Kanye West show. Only Jimy Shah can know that. If anything I’ve typed seems strange, though, I’ll have done my job. If he seems to veer from careful plans to stream-of-consciousness rants, you’ve gotten the idea…
> First thought: Whoa. This is the polar opposite of where I was for Monday’s Macklemore show. It’s like listening to an autotuned fire ant.
> The voiceover word-checks “truculent” and “bellicose.” That’s a good sign. He must know an English teacher’s in the building.
> All these discordant alarms in “Send It Up” somehow work live. They add to the train wreck. Hard to tell why someone would want to listen to it on an album though. Must be the Skrillex effect. I.E. Some people’s confusing attraction to electrocution.
> Apparently he is a god. And you should get on with his ---- massage. And his ---- croissant. And get his car out of the ---- garage. HA: “I just talked to Jesus, he said what up, Yeezus?”
> This crowd is so into everything; they may be the best upper deck crowd I’ve ever been in. Wish it wasn't wasted on this.
> Lol, the guy a row in front of me shouting “yes” like nine times for "Lost in the World." A single plink of the piano, and the guy is at it again. HA: Kanye waits like 30 seconds, plinks one more time, waits again. Yes Guy: “Kanye is such an -------." Yet he means it as a positive… One genuine positive: the Bon Iver section of the song.
> “There are leaders and there are followers; I'd rather be a ---- than a ---------.” Lol, this young girl in front of me is all about it, finger wagging word for misogynistic word. I feel like wagging a finger at her parents…
> How can I find it depressing? I never feel that way about Muse, Alkaline Trio, or Rise Against, who have much darker content. What's the difference? Hmm, they have melodies, instruments, and talk with the audience. They seem like punk rebels, not brooding jerks.
> Intro the “Black Skinhead”: “DC, can you hear me tonight?” Whoa, we do exist. He acknowledged other people; that must make him feel dirty.
> “Power”: Yay, a song I mostly like. “Runaway” is also hilarious: full-arena ‘toast’ and all.
> What is this song? The lights are on, the lyrics are good, and the crowd is singing more. This must be from an earlier album. [Yep, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” off Graduation.] He incorporates some of "Gorgeous" as well. “Choke a South Park writer with a fish stick”: lol, nice.
> Intro to “Coldest Winter”: some actual humanity comes through! “When I was in London, my mother died. I felt like I was losing my religion, losing myself.”
> “I’m In It.” Features his best line in months: “Pop a wheelie on the zeitgeist.” HA.
> “Heartless”!! By far the best of the night. Coincidence: an actual melody!
> Gah, can’t take any more chirping from “Blood on the Leaves.” At least there's fire and a darkly gripping blare. Now it's a swirling volcano.
> HOLY!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! That was twenty minutes of unhinged narcissism. Honestly, though, that may have been the most memorable moment of all of the fall concerts. Here’s the transcript: “I think for the first time in my ------------- life, I'm gonna be politically correct. A lot of people stop talking when they get money. Not me. I'm not narcissistic; I'm doing it for creativity; I'm doing it all for you. [Wait: what?] Nike wouldn’t take a meeting for me for EIGHT MONTHS. Yee, you see, IS US. Don't you see?? [I see what you’re saying and reject it.] You going to tell me I can't be a black Steve Jobs?? [Who on earth is telling you that?]
> Comes out of the rant with a solid song (“Stronger”) and his all time best (“Jesus Walks”). Awesome to see actual music shine through!
> “All of the Lights.” Fireworks, red demon flares, him screaming “ghetto university”: powerful.
> Whoa, he wasn’t done. BLOODCURDLING RANT # 2: “They just wanna make jokes on South Park and ----. They think it’s a joke. Like I said on Jimmy Kimmel, I live this ----. I don’t give a ---- about no press; it's keeping me up at night. All I care about is God and my family. Cuz when I go, I know I'm gonna see all of the lights and my momma again. I'm gonna give ya about 35 more seconds. Nike don't want your ideas; they just want you to be the face of the company. These ------ be playing me; they never got some good ----- in their life. Forget Nike; I am Disney! When I walk down the street, the street is happy!!! I may not be liked, but I will be respected, I will not be neglected, and all those ------ that passed on me, they will be AFFECTED.”
> Gotta admit: absurd as it was, I was affected by it. The next song, “Good Life,” is normally mediocre, nowhere near as good as the Weezer song whose title inspired this blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjLt0LS1M0I. After hearing the rant, though, I was so amped up that I got into it.
> He gives a single shoutout to the keyboardist, lies that “y'all are the reason I talk so much ----,” and then…it just ends. With cacophonous chords half-playing on the way out...
> Tweet at the end of the night: Whatttt did I just watch? Incredibly unlikable person, incredibly memorable show. # kanyewest
Grade: B+
145 -- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis -- Monday, November 11, 2013 -- Verizon Center -- DC
[Note: The first two paragraphs below are taken from my review of Macklemore’s Philadelphia show. If you already read that review and are interested in the DC show, skip to the third paragraph.]
Macklemore changed the way I look at rap. I had always thought that rap’s intense focus on language would make it a perfect genre for me, and I had heard flashes of brilliance before: “Jesus Walks,” “The Prayer,” “Lose Yourself,” etc. All too often, though, I found myself bogged down by overused curses, minority-bashing slurs, and topics I could not quite relate to. (Hard as it may be to believe, I do not regularly encounter blood-crip drive-bys on my way to work. I’d admit to having at least 99 problems, but a habitual need to trash women is not one of them.)
Macklemore changed all that by offering songs of conscience (“Wings,” “Other Side”), songs of compassion (“Same Love,” “Starting Over”), and songs that made me start dancing...and not feel gross at the end (“Thrift Shop,” “B Boy”). His attention to detail in the lyrics and Ryan Lewis’ attention to detail in the videos enhanced the style and substance of each song. As with Bruce Springsteen, the songs felt not just exciting, but urgent – these were about real people and real issues. Three tracks on his first album, “I Said Hey,” “Contradiction,” and “White Privilege” even address all of my prior rap issues! (I.E. Overused curses, minority-bashing slurs, and socioeconomic rifts.) If you’ve only heard The Heist, I strongly recommend these off Language of My World. I can’t recommend the DC live blog as strongly (you’re probably better off listening to the linked songs), but if you’re interested, keep reading…
--- I walk down sketchy back stairs, a sketchy hallway, and emerge on the floor. My first floor tickets for a Verizon show.
--- Macklemore walks on to “BomBom,” Heist’s all-instrumental track. Clever! It works as a mood builder, a transition from small clubs to an arena, and a shoutout to indie rock. All good signs this will be a good show.
--- HA, he’s already priming the crowd with “DC! DC!” This guy’s a pro.
--- The video backdrop for “Ten Thousand Hours” features typed words, handwritten words, so many beautiful WORDS. It’s like he’s catering the show directly to me.
--- As the song ends, he pauses, soaks it all in. Nice.
--- “Life is Cinema”! Killer(s) sample / song. Hope this means there will be a bunch of other non-Heist tracks.
--- Story time! Like Dave Grohl, Ben Folds, and Bruce Springsteen, Macklemore recognizes the importance of telling stories between songs. Musicians that don’t must think doing so is pandering or takes away time from playing more music. They could not be more wrong. Songs that have stories introducing are always better than those that don’t.
--- Short Story [summarized intro to ‘Can’t Hold Us’]: “This one time, on the road, I had hot dogs with Snoop Dog and Bill Clinton.” There was not much more to the story, but its random humor fit “Can’t Hold Us.”
--- Long Story [summarized intro to ‘Thrift Shop’]: “Usually I’m all about the snooze button. This was DC, though, so I had to wake up at 4:45. I had to meet with senators. I had to see Obama’s house. There was ---- to do. To get it all started, I decided to go meditating in the Potomac. I did not have a swimsuit, so I had to go with a birthday suit. This probably wasn’t smart because it was freezing in there. I’m swimming away, my stroke’s on point, when I see these two dudes on the shore, going through my stuff.
Within a few seconds, my clothes were gone. I try to get out and intimidate them, but bicep flexing doesn’t really work when you’re shriveled... I think maybe I can get this woman to help me, but she’s busy feeding the birds. Plus, she’s 90 years old, and her fists are about 110, so that wouldn’t work. She did, however, give me an idea. She said, ‘Hey, if you don’t have any clothes, I know a great place for you to get new ones…’” [Thrift Shop’s trademark trumpet blares, delivered by Owuor Arunga, the ‘Dizzy Gillespie of hip hop.’] It was a long road getting there, but it was worth it.
--- Moving Audience Story [intro to “Same Love”]: “Steve and Dan have been together for 16 years. Steve and Dan, come out on stage…” He later used this as an intro to a freestyle rap with Talib Kweli: “In the age of YouTube, I’m afraid and most rappers are afraid to freestyle in public. You know that, though, if people in ten states can put themselves out there, if Steve and Dan can do that in front of 18,000 people, I can take that risk.”
--- Moving Personal Stories [intro to “Otherside” / “Starting Over”]. The ‘stories’ here are the addiction backstories the audience already knows. Deciding to do “Otherside” acapella and sampling Band of Horses in “Starting Over” makes them even more powerful.
--- Huge tone shifts with “White Walls,” “Wings,” and “And Then We Danced.” Love the pause / glance at the hanging shoes at the end of “Wings.”
--- Smart to end with “Irish Celebration.” I’m not thrilled about him wearing a Wizards' jersey during it, but at least the Supersonics jersey also made an appearance. I’m not thrilled that he has not featured a single song off Language of My World (he better do that next time!), but at least he mentioned its producer.
--- HA: “They're tellin' us we've reached our curfew. We have to shut it down.” Translation: YES, one more unexpected song. What will it be though? They’ve played all other major ones.
--- “Barack Obama’s in a suite here tonight, so we must do something special.” Hard to tell if he’s joking about the Obama part. Maybe it’s true; there is photographic evidence of Macklemore at the White House earlier in the day.
--- “We can’t hold anything back it at this point…” Wait, that sounds like…they’re not…are they? They’re playing “Can’t Hold Us” again!!! I flip out; Frost students LH and MM presumably flip out; everyone flips out. 145 concerts in, my first true encore. What a moment.
Grade: A
Macklemore changed the way I look at rap. I had always thought that rap’s intense focus on language would make it a perfect genre for me, and I had heard flashes of brilliance before: “Jesus Walks,” “The Prayer,” “Lose Yourself,” etc. All too often, though, I found myself bogged down by overused curses, minority-bashing slurs, and topics I could not quite relate to. (Hard as it may be to believe, I do not regularly encounter blood-crip drive-bys on my way to work. I’d admit to having at least 99 problems, but a habitual need to trash women is not one of them.)
Macklemore changed all that by offering songs of conscience (“Wings,” “Other Side”), songs of compassion (“Same Love,” “Starting Over”), and songs that made me start dancing...and not feel gross at the end (“Thrift Shop,” “B Boy”). His attention to detail in the lyrics and Ryan Lewis’ attention to detail in the videos enhanced the style and substance of each song. As with Bruce Springsteen, the songs felt not just exciting, but urgent – these were about real people and real issues. Three tracks on his first album, “I Said Hey,” “Contradiction,” and “White Privilege” even address all of my prior rap issues! (I.E. Overused curses, minority-bashing slurs, and socioeconomic rifts.) If you’ve only heard The Heist, I strongly recommend these off Language of My World. I can’t recommend the DC live blog as strongly (you’re probably better off listening to the linked songs), but if you’re interested, keep reading…
--- I walk down sketchy back stairs, a sketchy hallway, and emerge on the floor. My first floor tickets for a Verizon show.
--- Macklemore walks on to “BomBom,” Heist’s all-instrumental track. Clever! It works as a mood builder, a transition from small clubs to an arena, and a shoutout to indie rock. All good signs this will be a good show.
--- HA, he’s already priming the crowd with “DC! DC!” This guy’s a pro.
--- The video backdrop for “Ten Thousand Hours” features typed words, handwritten words, so many beautiful WORDS. It’s like he’s catering the show directly to me.
--- As the song ends, he pauses, soaks it all in. Nice.
--- “Life is Cinema”! Killer(s) sample / song. Hope this means there will be a bunch of other non-Heist tracks.
--- Story time! Like Dave Grohl, Ben Folds, and Bruce Springsteen, Macklemore recognizes the importance of telling stories between songs. Musicians that don’t must think doing so is pandering or takes away time from playing more music. They could not be more wrong. Songs that have stories introducing are always better than those that don’t.
--- Short Story [summarized intro to ‘Can’t Hold Us’]: “This one time, on the road, I had hot dogs with Snoop Dog and Bill Clinton.” There was not much more to the story, but its random humor fit “Can’t Hold Us.”
--- Long Story [summarized intro to ‘Thrift Shop’]: “Usually I’m all about the snooze button. This was DC, though, so I had to wake up at 4:45. I had to meet with senators. I had to see Obama’s house. There was ---- to do. To get it all started, I decided to go meditating in the Potomac. I did not have a swimsuit, so I had to go with a birthday suit. This probably wasn’t smart because it was freezing in there. I’m swimming away, my stroke’s on point, when I see these two dudes on the shore, going through my stuff.
Within a few seconds, my clothes were gone. I try to get out and intimidate them, but bicep flexing doesn’t really work when you’re shriveled... I think maybe I can get this woman to help me, but she’s busy feeding the birds. Plus, she’s 90 years old, and her fists are about 110, so that wouldn’t work. She did, however, give me an idea. She said, ‘Hey, if you don’t have any clothes, I know a great place for you to get new ones…’” [Thrift Shop’s trademark trumpet blares, delivered by Owuor Arunga, the ‘Dizzy Gillespie of hip hop.’] It was a long road getting there, but it was worth it.
--- Moving Audience Story [intro to “Same Love”]: “Steve and Dan have been together for 16 years. Steve and Dan, come out on stage…” He later used this as an intro to a freestyle rap with Talib Kweli: “In the age of YouTube, I’m afraid and most rappers are afraid to freestyle in public. You know that, though, if people in ten states can put themselves out there, if Steve and Dan can do that in front of 18,000 people, I can take that risk.”
--- Moving Personal Stories [intro to “Otherside” / “Starting Over”]. The ‘stories’ here are the addiction backstories the audience already knows. Deciding to do “Otherside” acapella and sampling Band of Horses in “Starting Over” makes them even more powerful.
--- Huge tone shifts with “White Walls,” “Wings,” and “And Then We Danced.” Love the pause / glance at the hanging shoes at the end of “Wings.”
--- Smart to end with “Irish Celebration.” I’m not thrilled about him wearing a Wizards' jersey during it, but at least the Supersonics jersey also made an appearance. I’m not thrilled that he has not featured a single song off Language of My World (he better do that next time!), but at least he mentioned its producer.
--- HA: “They're tellin' us we've reached our curfew. We have to shut it down.” Translation: YES, one more unexpected song. What will it be though? They’ve played all other major ones.
--- “Barack Obama’s in a suite here tonight, so we must do something special.” Hard to tell if he’s joking about the Obama part. Maybe it’s true; there is photographic evidence of Macklemore at the White House earlier in the day.
--- “We can’t hold anything back it at this point…” Wait, that sounds like…they’re not…are they? They’re playing “Can’t Hold Us” again!!! I flip out; Frost students LH and MM presumably flip out; everyone flips out. 145 concerts in, my first true encore. What a moment.
Grade: A
Sunday, December 29, 2013
144 -- Elton John -- Thursday, November 14, 2013 -- Verizon Center -- DC
If you’re a huge Elton John fan, you probably would have loved the show. If you’re a casual Elton John fan (like me), you probably would have been underwhelmed. The main issue was I kept comparing it to the show of another ‘old’ performer with an ‘old’ audience: Bruce Springsteen. Bruce concerts always feel fresh and energetic; this Elton concert seemed to show its age.
One major thing I will give Elton John credit for is he did play virtually all the hits. Coming off an Alkaline Trio show that left out a lot of good songs, I at least appreciated that. Some of those hits, as well as quick hits from the live blog, appear below…
--- Nice prompting the audience during the chorus of “Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.”
--- “Philadelphia Freedom,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and [Baby, You’re] “The One” are meh.
--- All of the audio seems muffled.
--- HA at him standing on top of the piano during “The B is Back” and the bluesy woman Joshua Ledeting the ending of “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.”
--- They weren't kidding with Limited View seats. It's like watching a movie next right in front of the screen -- if the screen were turned upside down. You could crane your neck and get the basic plot of the whole movie, but it's awkward and makes you wish you wish you for there earlier (paid for better seats). He gets out of his seat, walks to us, and directly bows to us after “Rocketman” though. Good for him!
--- Pretty sure they don't offer a senior discount at this show. If they did, they wouldn't break even...
--- The giant chandelier above the stage is hilarious. Looks like the Roundup at the Our Lady of Lourdes carnival.
--- “This next song is a tribute to the men, women, and animals, yes, animals, who gave their lives in WW I and II.” What the? Lol. The actual song, “Oceans Away,” off his new Diving Board album, is surprisingly good.
--- Yay, a big orange circle comes out, time for “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”! Can’t measure up to the James Porter version, but it’s my favorite Elton song, so it’s my favorite part of the show.
Grade: B-
One major thing I will give Elton John credit for is he did play virtually all the hits. Coming off an Alkaline Trio show that left out a lot of good songs, I at least appreciated that. Some of those hits, as well as quick hits from the live blog, appear below…
--- Nice prompting the audience during the chorus of “Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.”
--- “Philadelphia Freedom,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and [Baby, You’re] “The One” are meh.
--- All of the audio seems muffled.
--- HA at him standing on top of the piano during “The B is Back” and the bluesy woman Joshua Ledeting the ending of “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.”
--- They weren't kidding with Limited View seats. It's like watching a movie next right in front of the screen -- if the screen were turned upside down. You could crane your neck and get the basic plot of the whole movie, but it's awkward and makes you wish you wish you for there earlier (paid for better seats). He gets out of his seat, walks to us, and directly bows to us after “Rocketman” though. Good for him!
--- Pretty sure they don't offer a senior discount at this show. If they did, they wouldn't break even...
--- The giant chandelier above the stage is hilarious. Looks like the Roundup at the Our Lady of Lourdes carnival.
--- “This next song is a tribute to the men, women, and animals, yes, animals, who gave their lives in WW I and II.” What the? Lol. The actual song, “Oceans Away,” off his new Diving Board album, is surprisingly good.
--- Yay, a big orange circle comes out, time for “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”! Can’t measure up to the James Porter version, but it’s my favorite Elton song, so it’s my favorite part of the show.
Grade: B-
143 -- Alkaline Trio -- Thursday, November 7, 2013 -- The Fillmore -- Silver Spring, MD
The success of an Alkaline Trio show rests almost entirely on their setlist. The shows are absurdly short (66 minutes this time), so every track counts. This show did not feature what I would consider an amazing setlist. I’m interested to see what Casey Cunningham, who was also at the show, thought. Casey’s got incredible punk credentials, having probably gone to more A.T. concerts than me and braving this one on crutches! Navigating mosh pits on crutches? Hard to get more punk than that.
In any case, rather than march through each part of the show, I’ll make my own setlists: that is, divide what I heard into Good, Very Good, Bad, Huh, Hmm, and, (to quote the band itself), Hell Yes. Anyone who knows A.T. and would arrange the songs differently, lemme know…
Good: “I Wanna Be a Warhol,” “Standard Break,” “Bleeder,” and “I Lied My Face Off.” The newborn babies part of “I Lied My Face Off” is so scary.
Very Good: The underrated “Cringe” and “I Found Away.” The whoas make “Sadie;” the lalalas make “Help Me.” Loved that I was thrown everywhere during “This Could Be Love.” “Time To Waste” was the best surprise of the night: they got everyone to clap at the start and built a killer atmosphere by the end.
Bad: “Every Thug Needs a Lady.” It’s not bad necessarily, but they play it every show, and it doesn’t deserve it. “Kiss You to Death” / “Young Lovers.” These two songs, like the crowd that night, were way too tame.
Huh: “Warbrain,” “Queen of Pain,” “Dead and Broken.” (‘Huh’ means I had somehow never heard of the songs -- even though I’ve listen to all albums ten-plus times??)
Hmm: Where was “Armageddon”? Where was “Radio”? Why was the trademark skeleton heart backdrop replaced with a girl with dripping eyeliner?
HY: “Calling All Skeletons.” I heard it two feet from the stage; everyone was so amped up. “Take Lots With Alcohol.” It took me eight shows, but I finally got it!
Grade: B
In any case, rather than march through each part of the show, I’ll make my own setlists: that is, divide what I heard into Good, Very Good, Bad, Huh, Hmm, and, (to quote the band itself), Hell Yes. Anyone who knows A.T. and would arrange the songs differently, lemme know…
Good: “I Wanna Be a Warhol,” “Standard Break,” “Bleeder,” and “I Lied My Face Off.” The newborn babies part of “I Lied My Face Off” is so scary.
Very Good: The underrated “Cringe” and “I Found Away.” The whoas make “Sadie;” the lalalas make “Help Me.” Loved that I was thrown everywhere during “This Could Be Love.” “Time To Waste” was the best surprise of the night: they got everyone to clap at the start and built a killer atmosphere by the end.
Bad: “Every Thug Needs a Lady.” It’s not bad necessarily, but they play it every show, and it doesn’t deserve it. “Kiss You to Death” / “Young Lovers.” These two songs, like the crowd that night, were way too tame.
Huh: “Warbrain,” “Queen of Pain,” “Dead and Broken.” (‘Huh’ means I had somehow never heard of the songs -- even though I’ve listen to all albums ten-plus times??)
Hmm: Where was “Armageddon”? Where was “Radio”? Why was the trademark skeleton heart backdrop replaced with a girl with dripping eyeliner?
HY: “Calling All Skeletons.” I heard it two feet from the stage; everyone was so amped up. “Take Lots With Alcohol.” It took me eight shows, but I finally got it!
Grade: B
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