The Lemonheads / Meredith Sheldon / Billy the Kid & the Southside Boys ~ February 18, 2012 ~ Vinyl Music Hall, Pensacola, FL   

On a windy and rainy Saturday night, we arrived at Vinyl Music Hall in Pensacola, FL, in excited anticipation of a show that would fulfill one of our youthful dreams.  For many of us who spent some teenage and college years in the 1990s, The Lemonheads were one of those bands that were in heavy rotation in our CD players.  In particular, I have fond memories of riding in the car, windows down, and the album It’s A Shame About Ray blaring from the stereo.  So when we learned that Evan Dando and band mates were coming to Vinyl to play that iconic album in its entirety, we were determined to be there, and not even the awful weather would keep us away! 

The evening began with Billy the Kid & The Southside Boys, a band strongly fronted by Canadian songwriter Billy (The Kid) Pettinger.  She began the set in solo spotlight with her acoustic guitar, and her gentle, lovely voice.  Billy is a true songwriter, putting depth and truth in her lyrics, whether she’s singing about young soldiers “Back In the Sand”, or a girl in a destructive relationship like “Alison”.  She was joined onstage by the Southside Boys, featuring drums, bass, and electric guitar.  The set was a nice mix of reflective ballads and danceable folk rock.  Billy’s friendly stage presence and the feel-good vibe of the band made for a fun start to the night. 

After a long interlude, Meredith Sheldon came onstage with her electric guitar and sang a slow thoughtful solo piece.  A drummer, bassist, and synthesizer player were added to the mix, and the set got progressively hard-rocking and had a soothing groove to it.  I particularly enjoyed the interplay between the drums and bass, as they held the driving rhythm with a solid intent.  I must admit, though, that two acts and two hours are a long time to wait for a headliner, and it seemed the crowd was beyond ready to see The Lemonheads. 

Finally, Evan Dando appeared; and it seems the years have been kind to him, and perhaps his long hair helps keep his appearance youthful.  He strolled over to stage right and picked up an acoustic guitar, and from the first notes it was clear that his voice has also stood the test of time.  Seeing Evan play like this, solo and acoustic, allowed the poignancy of songs like “All My Life” and the humor of songs like “Being Around” to shine.  He seemed very comfortable in this mode, and would often say “Thank You” as the audience responded to each song with applause.

When Evan traded in his acoustic for his electric guitar, and current Lemonheads drummer Chuck Treece and bassist Vess Von Ruhtenberg came onstage, the crowd ignited in a frenzy of nineties nostalgia, knowing that the crushing guitar opener of “Rockin’ Stroll” would next ensue.  The next half hour was a pleasing pursuit down a lane laden with memories, and the Vinyl audience was glad to be along for the ride.  With genuine Lemonheads flavor, we rocked through “Confetti”, “It’s A Shame About Ray”, and with hope in our past, Evan Dando nailed “Ruderless”.  “My Drug Buddy”, “The Turnpike Down” and “Bit Part” held up to expectations, and Vess Von Ruhtenberg provided some of the familiar album harmonies.  “Alison’s Starting to Happen”, “Kitchen”, and “Ceiling Fan in my Spoon” rocked intensely as they should, while “Hannah and Gabi” was as sweet as ever.  “Frank Mills” found many of the guys in the crowd in a sing-along, which I found amusing.  And I was pleased that “Mrs. Robinson”, which was NOT on the original release of It’s A Shame About Ray, did not find its way into the setlist, though some in the crowd would certainly disagree with me. 

Another Evan Dando solo acoustic segment followed, and then Chuck Treece and Vess Von Ruhtenberg returned to rock out, with the final encore of “Style” closing out the show.  It was well beyond the alleged midnight curfew when we left the venue, after a long fun night of musical delight.  I’m not sure what turn of fate allowed Von Ruhtenberg to join us at Vinyl (Fred Mascherino has played bass for many recent shows), but he and Treece were confidently entertaining, providing the punch needed to allow Dando to perform in Lemonheads style.  Vinyl Music Hall definitely did Pensacola a favor by bringing us The Lemonheads, giving us a reminder that music is a great way to stay young-at-heart.

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Review by: Rosemary A.W. Roberts

Edited by: Rosemary A.W. Roberts

Photos by: Clayton Roberts

Bruce Hornsby ~ February 14, 2012 ~ Carolina Theatre, Durham, NC

“An Intimate Evening with Bruce Hornsby”  

The evening had all the makings of a great night – a concert on Valentine’s Day at the Carolina Theatre, a beautiful old movie theatre recently renovated for shows.  As we walked in, there was just a Steinway & Sons concert grand piano on stage.  Would Bruce live up to the excitement in the air?  He sure would – he more than met expectations.  If you were expecting to see Bruce belt out many of his greatest hits from the late 80’s and early 90’s, you probably ended up being disappointed with the show.  But if you came into the building with an open mind, you probably ended up more than satisfied.  We both felt it was one of the best shows we had seen in a long time.  Personally, I had no idea the price of the ticket included both a music show and a comedy hour!!  Bruce greeted the crowd in a very casual look in jeans and a long sleeve green shirt.  The green color was apparently to show support for one of his sons who is a track runner for the Oregon Ducks.  The other son plays basketball for UNC-Asheville, which he later referenced to rev up the Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill fans. 

The first set started with “The Road Not Taken”, “China Doll”, and “Night on the Town”.  Bruce then proceeded to get on his “soapbox” – his words, not mine.  He talked about his recent musical, SCKBSTD, with Spike Lee.  He discussed his several collaborations over the years with Lee and how SCKBSTD is the license plate version of Sick Bastard, a title that some aren’t thrilled with.  After polling the audience on the title, he stated he “really didn’t give a rat’s ass about Maud from Mobile,” and began a series of songs from the musical starting with “Paperboy.”  “Where’s the Bat?” was a quirky song about a wife who fantasizes about killing her husband with a baseball bat!  Bruce had the crowd laughing between most songs.  The next SCKBSTD song, “Don of Dons” was about an elderly man with Alzheimer's who thinks he is Donald Trump.  This song came with an anecdote about Bruce getting to spontaneously sing his song to the real Donald Trump himself at a NY Knicks basketball game.  I can only imagine the real Don’s face after some of the lyrics of the song.

Bruce then performed a Grateful Dead version of “Valley Road.”  What a great song to play close to home.  You can really hear his soulful voice during this tune.  While deciding what to play next, a fan in the audience shouted “play more Dead!”  This audience participation started a long night of verbal requests from the crowd - and I really think Bruce played off this energy.  He then had some very entertaining talk about basketball, where he explained that his son plays at UNC-Asheville and played UAA basketball with players at both Duke and UNC.  He finally announced to the Durham crowd that he pulled for both UNC and Duke, after UNC-A of course.  He also fielded a question about whether or not he played basketball for the University of Miami.  Bruce explained that while he had offers to play ball, he felt playing the piano was “the better path in life” and that it would work out better for him in the long run – the crowd laughed as everyone understood he made the right choice.  To appease more Dead requests, he next played “Cyclone”, a song co-written with Robert Hunter, off the new album Bride of the Noisemakers.  He also told us that he received a New Year’s Day present of new lyrics from Robert Hunter.  To close out the first set, he played the Bonnie Raitt cover “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” and he reminded us he played piano on her original version.  I have always liked this song, and I can say that his version is just as beautiful as the original.  This was definitely a treat!!! 

The second set might have been called the request set.  Before the show, people in the audience brought requests down and placed them on the front of the stage.  During the set break, someone picked up all of the requests, arranged them together, and placed them on the piano next to his sheet music.  Bruce proceeded to come out, sit down, and sift through the stack of papers with song requests.  “20/20 Vision” won out and started the second set.  The next request was a painting on a piece of paper with a note from Scott, asking to hear “Sad Moon” so his girlfriend would have sex with him that night.  Bruce laughed as he read the request to the audience and explained that he was happy to help Scott out.  Before he started the song, he told us how he grew up in the Newport News, Virginia area.  One night, he was sitting in the parking lot of a Taco Bell eating a bean burrito, when a woman knocked on the window and asked him if he wanted a date.  He declined the women but sat there “where the red lights are low” and wrote the lyrics to the song.  

Next, we were treated with the chorus of “Dirty Ground”, a song he originally played with Jack Dejohnette.  Someone from the audience had written down the entire lyrics to the song, and Bruce was perplexed at how this person even knew the lyrics since it was a relatively new song that came out in January of 2012.  He told us that we only got the chorus because he didn’t know how to play any more of song.  He sure did play the chorus well.  A beautiful, improvisational version of “The Way It Is” was next.  He started this song similar to the radio version and even made a joke after the first solo that he thought that he “wasn’t ever any good at playing the radio version solo.”  As soon as he said this, he completely changed the sound of the song.  After several minutes, he left the song for a Mozart tune and then slowly brought us back to the “Way it is” in the final few stanzas.   

Bruce brought us back to SCKBSTD with the song “In the Low Country” about some “stupid ass country people”.  This was another entertaining lyrical piece with the appropriate lyrics “we’re having a ball in the low country.”  To keep things southern, he went with “Preacher in the Ring.” The next song was “Mandolin Rain”, a completely different version that he does with Ricky Skaggs.  Actually, someone in the audience yelled out “Mandolin Rain” and Bruce said that we didn’t want to hear it, but everyone disagreed at once.  He told the audience that we might not recognize it and might not like it, but he “didn’t give a damn.”  The song was beautiful, yet very sad.  It forced me to really listen to the words of the song in a completely different way.  I had always listened to that song in a cheerful way, but it really made me hear the pain in the lyrics of someone leaving you.  After he finished, he said he is often asked why he changes some of his more popular songs; he said “why wouldn’t you want to change something if you can make it better?”  What a true statement, something we might all strive for in many aspects of life.  The second set ended with the beautiful “Swan Song”, after he told us that we were requesting all of the “pretty songs.”  I was very happy with the audience selections for this show. 

For the encore, Bruce played the light and lively “Spider Fingers.”  He told us how he remembered playing the song early in his career in Raleigh.  Someone from the crowd yelled “The Brewery!”  Bruce chuckled and said “not that long ago,” since the Brewery is a very small club on the North Carolina State University campus.  He then said he used to get fired from bars for being too jazzy.  He definitely brought that influence into the song tonight.  He finished the song sitting Indian-style on the piano bench.  Feeling the crowd’s desire for the night not to end, he performed a second encore with “Soon Enough,” also from SCKBSTD.  This was a great song to close out one of the best shows I have seen in a while.  It was both comedic as well as musically inspirational.  It was definitely an intimate evening with Bruce Hornsby and I can’t wait to see him again, either solo or with The Noisemakers.

Review by: Courtney and Kerr Wall

Edited by: Rosemary A.W. Roberts

This show has been a long time in the making for me.  I started listening to They Might Be Giants, some twenty years ago.  This chance to finally see them live was one not to be missed.  Touring in support of their new album "Join Us", from which we heard the first track "Can't Keep Johnny Down," TMBG walked out to what appeared to be a sold out crowd at the legendary Tipitina's in New Orleans on the opening day of the Mardi Gras season 2012.  John and John were exhibiting their traditional quirky mannerisms, and the crowd was eating it up.  The concert started out with Johnathan Coulton opening up.  He and his band got the party started and moving in the right direction, setting the mood for the Giants to follow.  TMBG took the stage and we were off and running.  As supporting tracks of "Join Us" were played, we were treated to other classics including Snowball in Hell, Istanbul (Not Constantinople), Birdhouse in Your Soul, and the ever crowd pleasing Particle Man.  During the show TMBG gave a signed vinyl copy of the new album to the birthday boy hanging out on the front row.  The show had John and John leaving the stage at times for hand puppet skits, that were quite humorous and the audience enjoyed as well.  They Might Be Giants was definitely another show for my bucket list, and I'm glad that I was able to witness them in their pure form.

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Review and Photos by: Clayton Roberts

Edited by: Rosemary A.W. Roberts

Widespread Panic ~ The Tabernacle ~ Atlanta, GA ~  January 27^th-29^th, 2012

“Wood Tour”

“Taking a Look Back at the Tabernacle Run from Wood Tour” (Fans' Perspective)

       Driving up to the Tabernacle on Sunday, January 29^th, I was overcome by the cheer and laughter of what had gone on the past two nights in Atlanta, GA.  There would be a line stretched around a whole city block of Widespread Panic fans ready to get in to see their favorite band.  Of course there was a sense of “Panic” in the air on this beautiful winter evening, but very unlike the Panic heard when Sherman’s fleet burned this city down on November 15^th, 1864.  WSP’s “Wood Tour” consists of a 9-show run, which bookended the "Panic En La Playa" Mexico Run.  Atlanta would be shows #3-5 of the nine acoustic shows. All of the “Wood Tour” shows SOLD OUT very quickly, demonstrating the excitement surrounding the Acoustic Tour that was about to hit the road. The acoustic vibe that WSP has carried through the “Wood Tour” has produced some of the best sounds I have heard the band play.  I asked a couple of fans what their experiences were at the shows: 

     “The legendary rock band from Athens, Georgia, Widespread Panic, hosted a “WOODerful” three night revival at the historic Tabernacle in downtown Atlanta. A heavenly experience began the first service with a sneak attack from Col. Bruce Hampton; then the band “got down to business" which included a surprise appearance from the “Big Wooly Mammoth.”  Life was grand on the second night, which included covers of tunes from Neil Young, and Athens’ own Bloodkin,  along with Panic’s first performance of Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross.” On the finale night in Atlanta, the band did a little Wonderin', remembered John and Yoko, and then paid tribute to the late Warren Zevon with “Carmelita” and the late Vic Chestnut with “Degenerate.” In addition, Panic was joined by Colin Vereen for “Trouble,” and of course, the band cannot visit Georgia without being accompanied by John Keane. The three night revival ended with an encore that included Todd Nance keeping rhythm on a classic five gallon bucket, Sunny Ortiz on small bongos, and JoJo Hermann shifting between the tiny keys and upright piano.”---------WSP Fan & Twisted Wanderer ~ Angela Dasher (Athens, GA)

      “The final weekend of January 2012, I set out on a whim to Atlanta, GA to enjoy a final southern evening with Widespread Panic.  From the fall of the first note in "Porch Song" to the "End of the Show" encore, with some Beatles and Colin Vereen in between, this Wood performance left the crowd in tears and Sweetwater cheers.  Hanging out with all your friends in an old church listening to Rock and Roll, now that's a Sunday Funday!”---------WSP Fan & Model Extraordinaire ~ Molli Katherine Baswell (New Orleans, LA)

Overall, though opinions among fans often vary, a shared love for the band is what brings this community together; and the "Wood Tour" seemed to be greatly appreciated and enjoyed by all.   

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Review and Photos by: Tarver Shelton 

Edited by: Rosemary A.W. Roberts