Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Cleveland

This Labor Day weekend, I was in Cleveland, OH, excited to finally set foot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and maybe check out some live music in the area as well.  I think I built it up a little too much, or perhaps just visiting a place like this doesn't really do justice to all the behind the scenes action that occurs there and of course actually hearing the music!  Even so, it was well worth finally seeing the outfits, instruments, and various artifacts of so many legends.  

The location is excellent and befitting to such a monument of Rock music and its ancestors - right on Lake Erie, next to the Browns stadium.  There is a large courtyard out front, plenty of grass and walking room by the water, and behind you is the skyline of Cleveland.  It would be a great place to enjoy lunch or dinner and walk around for an hour or two, that is if it isn't pouring like it was for us!  (On a side note, I would recommend planning your meals elsewhere or bringing one to enjoy, the cafe in the museum had awful, barely recognizable food)

The banner on the front of the building  was advertising the Bruce Springsteen exhibit, located on the fifth and sixth floors.  The very top of this pyramid had a large screen playing live concerts and many of his instruments and notes on song lyrics.  This exhibit changes every so often and usually hosts bigger acts, the most pervading in popular culture ie. Michael Jackson recently (who eerily started playing on the radio as I was typing his name!).  The following picture shows a large replica of his glittery glove holding a purple guitar featuring various likeness of the King of Pop.

Its currently located in the lobby as are the following two guitars, including one commemorating George Harrison.  This is, sadly, the only place in the building you can snap photos, but it keeps the artifacts in better condition and doesn't ruin the surprises for your visit.

  

Also located in the lobby was a stage.  There was about to be a man and his guitar performance as we were leaving, but it wasn't compelling enough for us to stay.  I'm also disappointed that we were there during the 15th anniversary weekend, but there were no major acts playing as I would have expected.  I would like to go back if they ever have a big party and a decent concert. 

The basement is where the majority of the collection is.  One gem here was interactive consoles that allowed you to click through major artists and listen to their direct influences.  Some influences were career wide while others demonstrated the inspiration for a particular song.  Some relations I had no idea existed.  This exhibit could be improved if the influences flowed more like a timeline.  They were very abrupt featuring only one artist and two influences, not who the featured artist influenced or any elaboration.

This was next to an exhibit where visitors could listen to The Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.  I thought it was these interactive and listening venues that were the most interesting and brought back the most memories of when certain songs came into my life.

I also enjoyed the panorama of the history of rock (see here and here) with encased exhibits of each decade featured outfits, the front heads of the bass drums with various band logos on them, articles, posters, and instruments.  It was a great visual as to how music evolved and the major players in the game.

Other than that, if you go, you need to see all of Jimi Hendricks guitars and Michael Jackson's and Stevie Nicks outfits.

One of my favorite installations on the second floor was a video collage of ground-breaking and widely loved MTV videos designed to illustrate the history of the music video, MTV's major role in propagating them, and those artists who contributed to their artistic development.  I sat here watching this one for awhile.  There were plenty of other videos and theaters in the museum to visit, but some of these cost extra cash on top of the pricey entrance ticket and others were only playing infrequently.  I suppose we could have spent more than the afternoon there, but I think I'd rather read more about the history of my favorite performers than gawk at their stuff, and of course I had some cravings to listen to the music which had to be taken care of right away.

Irish Session at Lillie's in NYC

Exactly a week ago now, I was in New York City.  After lunch at a Cuban restaurant, we headed across the street to Lillie's, an Irish-Victorian bar and recommended for its Saturday afternoon Irish seisiún.  The bar itself is impressive - the detailing, the decorations, the sheer size of the insides, which you wouldn't guess from looking at the outsides from across the street.  The seisiún was equally good.  Initially there was a harp, maybe a fiddle or two, and a small accordion.  It began small although still larger than some of the gatherings that I've happened to see here in Louisville or even Buffalo, NY.  I know I've become a little weary of checking out a new session since so many have been disappointing in size or the atmosphere of the bar.  Luckily, we weren't the only ones there specifically to scope out the vent.  The number of instrumentalists nearly tripled in size by the time it was 4pm "Irish time" (closer to 5 or 5:30) and now included banjos, multiple flutes, and a bodhrán.  A good variety of tunes, but maybe a little lacking in harmony or counter-melodies, or perhaps the acoustics aren't quite good enough to really hear what the flutes were doing.  A definite must to visit if this sort of music interests you and you happen to be in the area. 

Check out these pictures as more musicians showed up and a video for a little aural taste.

  

 

Forecastle July 11, 2010 - Minus the Bear, She & Him, Company of Thieves, Spoon

Another beautiful, but HOT, day at Forecastle.  We didn't get there until later because of the World Cup game (yay for Spain!).  Minus the Bear played a good set, but I'll have to listen to their albums before I give much of a review.  The music didn't leave much of an impression on me.

We headed down towards the stage near the end of their set to get a spot close to see Zooey Deschanel and M.Ward as She & Him.  I love her acting but so far I'm not sold on the music.  This performance didn't sell me either.  Her voice was way off, especially in the beginning.  M. Ward's voice was barely audible.  Each song was the same 4 chords and a bland melody.  She gets a little credit for switching between multiple instruments (a keyboard, an electric ukulele, and tambourine), but aside from a few jumping jacks, there was no involvement with the crowd and barely a smile on her face.  Very boring like I was expecting.  We left early and gave up our front row spot to fans more interested in her pretty blue dress and bright red lips (she did look cute, although a little bit bummed)

Eager to get away, stay awake, and hear some better music, we made our way over to the North Stage, only to catch the last song from Paper Route, which I really enjoyed.  I'll definitely have to check them out again at some point.  Then we hung around until Company of Thieves came on.

This was absolutely the find of the festival.  These guys are real musicians.  I'd never heard of them or any of their music although WPFK had been circulating them quite a bit the week before.  A lot of reviews compare her voice to Fiona Apple, and I can see where they get that from, but trust me you need to hear it yourself.  For such a tiny girl, there's a lot of power there and a lot of skill.  She slides and pulls on each word as she belts them out.  Then when the song is quiet, her voice gets a bit jazzier.  I enjoyed the band here too.  Not a jam band, by any means, they still are able to draw out the details of each song and explore them in depth as a nice compliment to Schatz's vocals. 

Althought their first album, Ordinary Riches, has been out, reissued, since 2009, everything I heard was new to me, including a few songs which Schatz introduced as forthcoming on their album to be released later this year.  She seemed excited to play them and the crows was very receptive, making this one of the few performances at the festival from not only a musicians, but an entertainer.  This is far too often lacking in real shows.  Here's a few videos of my new favorite band.

So engrossed was I in Company of Thieves, that we were late to the Spoon set. It was too crowded to get anywhere near the stage, but it was easy enough to hear everything from the back of the field.  They played a decent show with lots of sound experimentation and plenty of their better known songs and a few new ones.

Forecastle July 10, 2010 - Umphrey's McGee, Grace Potter & the Nocturals, CAKE

Day 2 of Forecastle was gorgeous.  We got there in time to see Umphrey's McGee, but watched them from the CokeZero party bus.  I don't know if it was the extreme heat (close to 100), but they seemed a little bland.  This is a video earlier in their set.

I was fine watching from the back of the field, taking in the whole scene and the nice view of the bridges that head to Indiana.  It was good background music while we had some more BBC beer.  When the band started a cover of the Beatles' "Dear Prudence," there was a rush down towards the stage.  It woke me up and was a nice break in the drone of their typical jam music.

Luckily for us, and not so lucky for them, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals are still relatively unknown so the crowd wasn't very large at the front of the stage for their set.  We got a great spot near the front, right behind the VIP section, close enough to see all the red flowers decorating the stage.

They are great live, fantastic stage presence.  Its her voice that really carries the music, but the blend of funk, soul, rock, and blues that gives the performance character.  They just released a new album last month, which I'm dying to listen to.  In the past, their produced albums have been lacking compared to their live shows.  I'm hoping this new album has finally captured that something, but still I never mind seeing them live.  This video is of their signature song which they sing at every show, "Nothing But the Water."  Grace is singing it a capella which really showcases her vocal abilities.

By the time Grace Potter's set was down, it was pretty crowded up front.  Everyone was ready for CAKE.  I've been a big fan since high school and was excited to finally see them live for the first time.  Their albums sound so produced and detailed and John McCrea's voice is so unique that I couldn't picture how it would transpose to a stage.

Ultimately, I was a little disappointed with CAKE's set.  He seemed a little condescending and unwilling to relate to the crowd.  With a body of work that large and already well-known and liked by so many fans, I thought he was just resting on it, expecting a good set to happen by just playing crowd pleasing songs exactly as they sounded on the albums without any excitement or creativity.  Ho hum.  To top it off, they didn't really play any of my absolute favorites, but with CAKE I honestly like all their stuff anyway.  So I'm glad I saw them and put a face to their music, but it's not something I would do again.  This is and excerpt from their song "Short Skirt, Long Jacket."  The quality is really bad since we were so close to the speakers.  Just listen to the album version anyway, the live show added nothing.

We stuck around enough to see Devo perform "Whip It" and a few covers. What else have they written themselves?

Forecastle July 9, 2010 - Widespread Panic, The New Deal

Well after some plane delays and lots of driving back and forth between my house and the airport, we finally made it to Waterfront park for Widespread Panic on the Main Stage.  They had quite a following, lots of glowsticks, lots of dancing, lots of lights, and lots of guitars.  They were a fun band to see live with lots of talent.  These guys really know their instruments.  The vibe at the park at night is always really good.  It felt like a party.  The beer was from BBC, which made me happy.  It's delicious.  There was a slight problem with them not believing my NYS drivers license was real (they thought it was made of paper) because it's different then the KY license, but I'm used to arguing for common sense in KY by now.  I got the beer (they want me to think they're doing me a favor by giving it to me even though I'm 25) and we headed over to the right side of the stage to watch Widespread Panic groove to some great guitar solos.  I would see them again live, but I'm not sure if I'd buy the album just yet.  WPFK had been playing their single "Shut Up and Drive" all week in anticipation.  That was the only song that really stood out.  I would expect that from a jam band though.  This video doesn't do it justice, visually or aurally, but it's a good taste.

Then we headed over to the Ocean Stage to hear The New Deal from Toronto.  This stage was tucked back in the woods with a hill on either side and in the middle valley was a dance party.

Every second of their set, the music got more interesting.  The lighting reinforced this, syncing to each new sound.  They played their hooks long enough to get stuck in your head, then they changed them, always leaving me wanting more and waiting to see what happened next.  At one point the drummer was beatboxing.  The next he was beatboxing and playing the drum set with his other hand.  I couldn't stop moving despite being completely exhausted.  There's a lot of talent here and I was pretty happy to hear them.  Not what I was expecting at all.  A trance, electronica, jam mix could go really wrong, but to get me excited about music and dancing at midnight after a full day, you know these guys have got something.

Waterfront Independence Festival

Louisville celebrated the 4th with a free two day festival down by the water (http://www.waterfrontindependencefestival.com/).  I made it the second day to see Bettye LaVette, Arrested Development, and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

Bettye LaVette was the big draw for me.  I love her track "Joy" originally written by Lucinda Williams from her album I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, and album solely of covers of songs written by women.  She didn't perform this song, but I wasn't disappointed.  Some of my favorites were "Take Me As I Am," "You Don't Know Me At All," "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," "Reign O'er Me," and, excerpt below, "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad."

She's a great entertainer with a great voice and a lot of personality.  Its modern standards she's creating with her soulful voice and reputation for putting a new personality into new favorites.  Unfortunately my camera died in the middle of her set, but here's a shot of the stage and her band during the day.

Arrested Development was a new band for me.  They were billed as hip hop, but it was more soulful vocals with a hip hop beat and a few rap solos.  I like the song "Tennessee" and that seemed to be a crowd favorite too.  It was a little cheesy or trite, but I suppose that is bound to happen with the messages they put forward like peace, love, etc. and the fact that their heyday was the 90s.    I may not buy the music, but they put on a good show.  It was fun to dance to and an entertaining hour and fifteen minutes.


Michael Franti & Spearhead was a real surprise for me.  I think like everyone else I love "Say Hey" so much that it didn't take much to convince me to see them for free, even for just one song.  He is an amazing time though.  I found my self sad when his set was over despite the fact that he went way over on time.  His messages of love and friendship didn't rub me as anything but genuine.  He was happy and he wanted to share that too.  Each song was catchy, but beware he loves to trick the audience into thinking the song is over...only to start the chorus back up after applause.  After two or three songs though, you know its coming, but he still waits for the applause.  Franti was also all over the crowd.  At one point he set up his guitar way back in the field to perform a song out there, inviting everyone in the back to crowd around him while he did.  On other songs he just ran around through the crowd, making a difficult time for the spotlight guy to do his job.  Some songs he let some of the audience on stage to dance and play his guitars.  Everyone looked like they were having a blast.  Then for the grand finale, he called all the little kids on stage to jump, dance, and sing with him while the band played "Say Hey" and the fireworks went off behind the stage.

I highly recommend a Michael Franti show whenever he's in your area.  Its just feel good, sunshine and summer music.  I couldn't help but dance through the entire set despite the heat and already sitting through 3 hours of the opening bands.  Most of the songs I enjoyed are on his latest release All Rebel Rockers, but a few were from his other albums with Spearhead.  They might all be worth checking out.  I was impressed.