Saturday, October 30, 2010

My Morning Jacket - 2010-10-29 KFC Yum! Center - Louisville, KY

Photo by MMJ Forum member toretm.
That was quick! Thanks Brian Porter for taping this! I'll get some artwork up on Monday. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Check out Jim all decked out Colonel Sanders style below:


1. Wordless Chorus (+ LYSO)
2. Evil Urges (+ LYSO)
3. Gideon ( + LYSO)
4. The Way That He Sings (+ LYSO)
5. Heartbreakin Man
6. Golden
7. Thank You Too! (+ LYSO)
8. Evelyn Is Not Real
9. Anytime
10. Mahgeetah
11. Carried Away
12. Wonderful (The Way I Feel)
13. I'm Amazed
14. Circuital
15. Dondante
16. Smokin From Shootin
17. (end of) Run Thru
18. Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.2
19. (end of) Lay Low
20. Phone Went West
----------
21. Bermuda Highway (+ LYSO)
22. Librarian (+ LYSO)
23. Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.1
24. Highly Suspicious
25. Off The Record
26. Move On Up (Curtis Mayfield) (+ LYSO)
27. One Big Holiday

Friday, October 29, 2010

Model Stranger - 2010-10-28 - The House Cafe - DeKalb, IL

My favorite Chicago band came through old corn country last night and torn down the walls at The House Cafe. Model Stranger once again proved that they are a premier live act that is constantly growing and expanding their unique sound all while staying true to the Model Stranger formula. They just rock. And look damn good doing it. Front man Stephen Francis belts out the notes and shreds his guitar with an evil grin, bassist Kevin James thumps away on his bass while occasionally hitting some keys (Jack White style too, he'll even hammer on notes on his bass while hitting keys) and drummer Vincent Joseph keeps it all together while putting on one of the best drummer faces I've seen.


They put on a chilling rendition of "Where Do We Go From Here" and played a stable of their classic tunes (gotta love Stephen's guitar work on "'Dreams & Bones") but where they really shined was on their new material. WOW! Mind was blown. They had a very Pink Floyd Meddle sound, for those not familiar, that's a good thing. Stephen's guitar on the new song "Balance" has been stuck in my head since last night.


I'll have the soundboard from the show this Monday so get ready to download that bastard. It was a helluva night (as it always is with these guys) and it's going to be great to relive it.








Based on the taste we got last night, Model Stranger are on an interesting path to their next batch of songs and I for one am excited to be able to watch this excellent Chicago act grow right before my eyes.



My Morning Jacket - 2000-04-05 - 2 Meter Sessies - Byton Studios


Excellent FM recording from 2000 when the boys were in the Netherlands. If you can fight a full body chill during "I Will Be There When You Die" then you're a better man then me.



1. Old September Blues
2. Picture Of You
3. I Will Be There When You Die/Sunrides And The Girls Scream 
4. Lil Billy
5. The Bear
6. I Think I'm Going To Hell

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Jeff Tweedy w/ Glen Kotche - Chelsea Walls Demos


Jeff Tweedy did the score to Ethan Hawke's directorial debut Chelsea Walls, these are the demos. I've never actually seen the film (but I just put it to the top of my Netflix queue, awful reviews, less than 2 stars) but I thoroughly enjoy all of these tunes. "Red Elevator" is one of my favorites on this disc (sort of reminds of something of The Flaming Lips Embryonic).

01. Opening Titles 
02. Promising 
03. Red Elevator 
04. Frank's Dream 
05. The Lonely 1 * 
06. Jealous Guy @ 
07. The Wallman 
08. When the Roses Bloom Again 
09. Hello, Are You There? 
10. Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling * 
11. Finale 
12. Promising (alternate) * 
13. End Credits

[@] vocal by Jimmy Scott - [*] vocal by Robert Sean Leonard 

The White Stripes - Piano Songs - 2005 Tour Compilation

Picture by Kelly.C.
Here is a unique little compilation of The White Stripes 2005 tour. Missing a week of work has got me playing some pretty heavy catch up but it's worth it. I'd exchange about anything on this planet to relive last week.

00 hello there intro
01 im finding it harder to be a gentleman > whispering sea
02 threw it all away > im lonely, but i aint that lonely yet
03 the denial twist (w/ beck)
04 passive manipulation
05 white moon
06 take take take
07 im lonely, but i ain't that lonely yet
08 truth doesnt make a noise
09 whispering sea
10 the big three killed my baby
11 forever for her (is over for me)
12 fell in love with a girl
13 st james infirmary
14 hotel yorba
15 i want to be the boy to warm your mothers heart
16 dead leaves and the dirty ground
17 passive manipulation
18 My doorbell

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

My Morning Jacket - 2010-10-23 - Evil Urges & Week Wrap Up

Saturday marked the last night of My Morning Jacket's glorious run at New York's Terminal 5 and as usual they put on a jaw dropping performance that left myself (as well as many many others) filled with conflicting emotions. On the one hand, a select group of us, got to witness our favorite band play every one of their albums from cover to cover and this was the culmination, the peak of Mt. My Morning Jacket live events. On the other though it also marked the end of the most fantastic run of shows ever witnessed by us, and perhaps by anybody.



Everest got the night warmed up in a serious way, those boys know how to put on a show. The highlight of their set was Neil Young's "Revolution Blues" off of On The Beach, probably my favorite Neil record. I was JUST about to hit the washroom before the crowd got to thick and I turned away from the stage and heard the opening notes to one of my favorite tunes, one of many unexpected treats.



Every night MMJ hit the stage at about 9:30pm but on Saturday night they went on about 9:15pm to everbodies delight. Evil Urges was excellent, I think the record as a whole flows tremendously well and seeing it live cover to cover was no different. "Highly Suspicious" had an unreal display lights and the version of "I'm Amazed" was seroius business, all night (all week really), their guitars sounded like they had some extra oomph, some extra edge and this really came through on these two tracks.



"Aluminum Park" had enough energy to run NYC for a night, "Smokin' From Shootin'" was gorgeous and "Touch Me Pt. II" is such a proper way to end the album.



The encore. All week the encore has been a show in itself. The night was techinally labeled "Evil Urges & Beyond" and the "Beyond" part wasn't anything that we've never heard but I think it pointed in the direction of things to come. The excellent new track (that seems like it was made to play live), "Circuital" was a blast to hear again, Jim sounds marvelous on it. "Friends Again" was good to actually see live. In Columbus, OH last May they sound checked it and that was the closest I've been to see it, awesome tune. The Carl Broemel song "Carried Away" is a friggin' powerhouse when played with MMJ. The song on it's own is excellent and it's a treat to watch Carl play it solo but with Jim on backing vocals and the power of the band as a whole behind it, man o man. "Wonderful (The Way I Feel)" is possibly the most beautiful song ever written. The omnichord made another visit for the tune "Tonite I Want To Celebrate With You" and then the covers began. MMj absolutely kill The Velvet Underground's "Oh Sweet Nuthin'" and "Hot Fun In The Summertime" by Sly & The Family Stone. The Al Johnson tune "Carnival Time" is a lot of fun to watch MMJ play and ending the first encore with the Curtis Mayfield tune "Move On Up" was an excellent choice.



But they couldn't end the night there. In grand My Morning Jacket fashion they came back and played, to quote Chris, "the One Big Holiday from hell." (One other really good quote from Chris: That was one constant stream of holy f*ck") Chips of the ceiling were practically falling from above at this point.



My week spent in New York was absolutely fantastic. But only a portion of that cake of fantasticism can be cut and labeled "My Morning Jacket concerts." The group of people I had the absolute honor to spend time with over the course of the week really took things to the next level. I guess I'll stick with this whole cake deal I've got going on and say that going into the week I thought the MMJ shows were the cake, the whole thing, but looking back I now know that they were just the icing. From Monday the 18th to Sunday the 24th I essentially lived with strangers. Of the bunch that were splitting an apartment for the week I'd only met one and the rest were just email addresses with MMJ Forum handles attached to them. Brand new city. Don't know anyone. Needless to say, I had my concerns. Within the first 10 minutes of walking into that apartment and meeting Ky and Rob I knew everything would be just fine. Over the course of that Monday I met everyone else I'd be bunking with as well as a slew of other MMJ forum members. Let me tell you that the My Morning Jacket Forum members are the greatest group of strangers, from all across the world, that I've ever spent time with. Every single person was warm, inviting and eager to mingle. It was as if everybody had known everybody for years. The experience I had with these people was a first for me and it's one I look forward to having many more times.


Thank you everyone.

I'll be posting pictures tomorrow (left my USB cable at work darn it) as well as a show (NOT a MMJ show).

P.S.- THANK YOU for the birthday wishes!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Nuevo Para Lunes


Ahhh, Monday, how we hold you in such contempt, how we wish you would go the way of the Atkins diet and become irrelevant.  But, alas, you're here, the bane of our weekly existence, the inevitable blight that I like to call, "the herpes of the week."

Some of us were lucky enough to have good weekends that involved Patron and seeing two transvestite Elvis impersonators duke it out of who gets to sing, "Jailhouse Rock" (no, as a matter of fact, I'm not talking about myself).  Some of us stayed close to our families (although I can't imagine why ANYONE would do that) and some of us, AHEM, have spent the last week buried somewhere, under an avalanche that was My Morning Jacket performing each of their albums in its entirety.  That being said, I hope everyone had an outstanding weekend and managed to fall in love with some new, unknown band.  If not, you, the loyal readers of The Steam Engine, have me for that very reason.

If you remember, I dedicated this space to a few bands from Mississippi last week.  This band is a holdover from that bit of info simply because I was really trying to decide if I liked them as much as I actually do.  The verdict is in.  They are a seriously good band.

It says, quite plainly, on their website that Colour Revolt is Jesse Coppenbarger and Sean Kirkpatrick.  They trace their beginnings back to Jackson Academy in Jackson, MS and then to the University of Mississippi in Oxford.  Their career has seen them shuffle members in and out, have the recording of their debut EP delayed by Hurricane Katrina and tour with bands the likes of Dinosaur, Jr., Okkervil River and the geniuses that make up Explosions in the Sky.

I have all of their stuff and, initially, I struggled to figure out how to describe them without just playing a song.  Then, for whatever reason, I was listening to their new album and it hit me.  The album opens with a searing, free associative song called, "8 Years."  As I listened to this song, it reminded me of "popular" by nada surf, but then I heard other things and the most glaring comparison is the one I'll use here, now.  The really remind me of "Gentlemen" era Afghan Whigs.  Until then, I hadn't listened to Afghan Whigs since college.  They were critical darlings in the post grunge era and Colour Revolt reminded me of how a band could write great songs and play great music with no trade off.  Listen to "8 Years" and tell me you don't hear Afghan Whigs.  You can preview their new album at the link I provided above and you can also get their Daytrotter Session HERE.

Alex Brown Church fronts a band called Sea Wolf, and I've been listening to them for a few years now. For their last two albums, they have worked with producers, Phil Ek (The Shins, Band of Horses) and Mike Mogis (Monsters of Folk, Bright Eyes, M. Ward) and if you like any of the bands you just saw, you're going to like Sea Wolf.  With them, you get a very accessibly organic sound that brings to mind bands like Okkervil River, Fleet Foxes, Matt Pond P.A. and the early work of Sufjan Stevens.  Church began playing as Sea Wolf and enlisted a myriad of musicians playing in Los Angeles and working on demo songs.  Of his debut LP, Interview magazine said, "His music is both erudite and unvarnished, a blend of swirling melodies, literary balladry and damaged art-rock composition."

Personally, his music just fits perfectly with the changing of the seasons.  That probably sounds sappy, but it's just what I think about when I hear Sea Wolf's music.  Listen to "Leaves in the River" and tell me that you don't hear the rain in the background with the lyrics and think about autumn.   Sea Wolf is worth listening to and you can check out their Daytrotter Session HERE.

If you're interested, you can check out my autumn playlist right here.  You can check out what I've been listening to lately (which includes both Colour Revolt and Sea Wolf).  You can also check out a little Kings of Leon write-up at the same place. 

As always, feel free to leave your comments and feedback in the comments section or you can always email me and suggest new music to me.  I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting stuff, or, if you like, you can send me love letters or hate mail.

Have a good week, boys and girls.  By the time I'm back here next Monday, both Halloween and my birthday (they're both 31 October) will have happened so I'll have plenty to say.  For extra credit this week, check out Easy Star All Stars.  Any band that takes Radiohead's "Kid A," Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and the Beatles, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" and transforms the albums into reggae masterpieces is worth looking into.  I have and I highly recommend it.

No felonies this week . . .

Chris

Saturday, October 23, 2010

My Morning Jacket - 2010-10-22 - Z

Once again I found myself leaving Terminal 5 saying "that was the best f*cking thing I've ever seen." "It Beats 4 U" was particularly rocking, Jim went nuts on his acoustic at the end. I always enjoy watching Jim pick up the 12 string (which he had a lot last night) and rage the solo in "What A Wonderful Man." "Off the Record" was incredible and insanely high voltage (frat boy douche bags aside, you know who you are). We got to see "Into The Woods" and "Knot Comes Loose" which was exceptional. I honestly do not know what happened during "Lay Low." It rocked so f'ing hard it was stupid. I'll say "Lay Low" is my favorite guitar song ever. Jim and Carl were having a blast on stage, guitars and heads practically touching, Jim breaking away doing 360's while running, ugh, what a show. "Dondante" was larger than life. Patrick was pounding away, I thought the roof might collapse it was so powerful.


The encore was possibly the best of the week (but also damn near impossible to gauge because they've all been mind altering in their own right). We got "Chills," "Where to Begin," AND "How Do You Know," all songs that were high up on everyone's list of songs to see.


The covers were nuts. It started somewhat tame with a Shel Silverstein "Lullabys, Legends And Lies" and then we got some funk via Funkadelic "Hit It And Quit It." As soon as they went into that riff the floor erupted. Carl did some serious shredding, getting really nasty with it followed by a Jim solo that was razor sharp. Awesome. When The Who's "A Quick One While He's Away" was over I thought to myself "there is no way they will play another tune after that, it can't get better than that." And guess what? It did. "I Could Never Take The Pace Of Your Man" by Prince was a treat but the mind blowing end tune, George Michael's "Careless Whisper." Carl had his sax mounted and his guitar on his back and when he started playing the "Careless Whisper" riff on the sax the floor blew up more so that they did "Hit It And Quit It." I can't really even explain what happened mid song. Let me just say it was bananas and then direct you to the below video. Do yourself a favor and watch it.


Another spectacle. Another mind bending experience. It doesn't get any better than My Morning Jacket.


If you haven't been following The Steam Engine on Twitter or Facebook I suggest you do! I've been posting lots of pictures from NYC as well pictures from the shows, it's sort of a time line of my trip to NYC and the most amazing run of MMJ shows. 


And, if you're not following the My Morning Jacket family on Twitter, I suggest that as well. @MyMorningJacket - @Eric_Mayers - @mspark


1. Wordless Chorus
2. It Beats 4 U
3. Gideon
4. What A Wonderful Man
5. Off The Record
6. Into The Woods
7. Anytime
8. Lay Low
9. Knot Comes Loose
10. Dondante
----------
11. Chills
12. Lullabys, Legends And Lies (Shel Silverstein)
13. Where To Begin
14. How Do You Know
15. Hit It And Quit It (Funkadelic)
16. A Quick One While He's Away (The Who)
17. I Could Never Take The Pace Of Your Man (Prince)
18. Careless Whisper (George Michael)






Friday, October 22, 2010

My Morning Jacket - 2010-10-21 - It Still Moves

The human body is not designed to attend consecutive My Morning Jacket concerts. It just isn't. I thought my chest might explode after "Mageetah" and "Dancefloors" (horns!!). Elvis Perkins provided an excellent opening band (all throughout the show the whole horn section would be up on stage fist pumping with the crowd, too cool) as well horns on select Jacket songs, even on "One Big Holiday." Speaking of "One Big Holiday," we got the original lineup as well as Carl and Bo all on stage, amazing. Carl was a f*cking mad man last night. I've never seen him rock like he did last night. Going to the edge of the stage, thrashing his head, jumping around; he upped his game last night (which didn't seem possible), well done sir. "Run Thru" had the most intense light sequence ever and I may have actually snapped my neck head banging. "Steam Engine" was an absolute treat with Jim playing a funky guitar solo before going into the last verse. "One In The Same" brought tears to many sets of eyes, true beauty.


The encore. My god the encore. Every night the encore has been diverse and surprising and last night was no exception. "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" by Bob Dylan had the entire place singing once again, Jim seemed like he was having a blast singing it. We got "How Could I Know" AND "Sooner,"just awesome. Uhm, did anyone say "It Makes No Difference?" Hearing The Band classic via My Morning Jacket was mind altering. They closed the night out with Lionel RIchie "All Night Long!" The floor of the venue turned into an instant dance party and you can tell Jim had a blast with the vocals.

Eric Mayers - MMJ Tour Manager/The Man and myself pre-show




Another amazing night with the planet Earth's best band. My ears haven't stopped ringing since Monday.

1. Mahgeetah
2. Dancefloors
3. Golden
4. Masterplan
5. One Big Holiday
6. I Will Sing You Songs
7. Easy Morning Rebel
8. Run Thru
9. Rollin Back
10. Just One Thing
11. Steam Engine
12. One In The Same
------
13. Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You (Bob Dylan)
14. How Could I Know
15. Sooner
16. Head Held High (The Velvet Underground)
17. It Makes No Difference (The Band) 
18. All Night Long (Lionel Richie)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Carl Broemel - 2010-10-20 - Joe's Pub

Every My Morning Jacket fan in attendance last night got an amazing treat last night at Joe's Pub.


On top of Carl putting on an amazing set (like he always does) we had the pleasure of having the boys of MMJ (sans Jim) hop on stage for a few numbers. Johnny Quaid was in attendance too! "Carried Away" was incredible, "Lollipop" had the entire place singing. It was a magical night.


After the show pretty much everyone got to meet the guys! I had a chance to talk with Bo Koster, Two Tone Tommy, Patrick Hallahan, Carl himself and Johnny Quaid. Bo mentioned that they practiced for one week as a band and then one week on their own for the Terminal 5 run. Pretty crazy when you think about how much material they had to absorb.


We got some "Rock my f*cking panties off" tee's made and had all the guys sign the printout. Everyone was awesome with meeting the people from the MMJ forum and they all were kick ass with taking pictures.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

My Morning Jacket - 2010-10-19 - At Dawn

At Dawn!!!!!!!!!

Another mind blowing night from the gents of My Morning Jacket. Going into this show there was definitely some concern that "The Tennessee Fire" could not be topped, or even matched, but they did it again, equally mind blowing, my panties were rocked off again.



"Honest Man" defined rock and roll, "X-Mas Curtain" was a tune I've wanted to see since day one of Jacket obsession and I got to see an incredibly powerful version last night, "Stragulation!" was, well, to quote Ryan Adams "For everything there is a word, for everything but this." "Phone Went West" was amazing.


The encore. Oh my god, the encore. The started it with an incredibly dark Danzig cover, they KILLED "O Is The One That is Real," another tune I've wanted to see live from day one and never have was out of control. "Miss You" by the Rolling Stones into "Cobra" was maybe the single best live music moment I've ever had.


1. At Dawn
2. Lowdown
3. The Way That He Sings
4. Death Is My Sleezy Pay
5. Hopefully
6. Bermuda Highway
7. Honest Man
8. X-mas Curtain
9. Just Because I Do
10. If It Smashes Down
11. I Needed It Most
12. Phone Went West
13. Strangulation!
----------
14. How The Gods Kill (Danzig)
15. O Is The One That is Real
16. Come Closer
17. Miss You (The Rolling Stones)
18. Cobra
19. Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath) 

Don't be surprised if Terminal 5 implodes by Saturday. At the rate we're going that's where we are headed.