One thing I freely admit about myself when it comes to finding new music to listen to is that I'm lazy. I'm not the type to just try whatever in hopes that I might like it, I don't really like weeding things out. I love the things I love and every now and then, something else gets added to that list, but I'm impatient and usually want to try things that I think I'll at least have a shot in liking. Sometimes, it's a suggestion from a friend who knows my tastes and thinks I would like a particular band. A lot of the music I try, though, is in some way related to what I already listen to. Whether it be solo/side projects of band members, opening acts from concerts I've been to or bands/musicians who run in the same circles and are recommended by mutual fans and the bands themselves. I know it's not the most adventurous way to find new things to try, and I realize there's probably a lot that I could be missing out on because of this mindset, but for the most part it works for me. I'd have a nice looking web if I were ever to sit down and figure out the actual pattern of liking what I do and I think that's pretty cool. Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, Everybody Else, Sister Hazel, Green River Ordinance and Trevor Jackson are all recent examples of bands I probably wouldn't have paid as much attention to if they hadn't somehow been related to other stuff I was into and I can barely remember a time when I didn't love any of them.
Not too long ago, I listened to Marc Broussard for the first time. His name had been coming up a lot in a few different circles and I figured he'd be a good one to give a shot. I downloaded a song I'd heard buzzed about quiet a bit, "The Wanderer". I was immediately sold. Like, immediately. I got my hands on his first album, Carencro, and I couldn't stop listening to it. He's the kind of rock that's really rooted in soul and blues and has that kind of feel to it that is completely irresistible. It's catchy and it's sexy and it's raw and it's so damn good. One of my favorite songs quickly became "Home", which sums up a lot of what I love about him. That voice, that style, the way the song builds into total awesomeness. Not all of his songs have the southern feel this one does, but it's one of the reasons why I love it so much. I just love that kind of grit sometimes.
I was pretty surprised and excited when I looked up Marc's tour schedule a few weeks ago and saw that he was doing a short set in NYC tonight as part of The Gap's 40th Anniversary celebration. It was just Marc and a guitar, which was a cool way to hear him, since a lot of his songs have solid percussion and a few even have horns (which, please. I love brass instruments! Instant points). He only played a few songs but I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. He played "Saturday" with a sample of "A Lovely Day", which was cool, and he did "Real Good Thing" from his most recent album. His last two songs were the best, though. I'm a total sucker for songs that musicians write about missing their young children while they're on the road. Stephen Kellogg's "Father's Day" absolutely kills me, I can't listen to Peter Cetera's "Daddy's Girl" without crying and Marc has one song for his older son, "Gavin's Song", about staying strong for his mama while he's gone, a peppy and adorable one about his younger son "Gibby's Song" and one for his youngest child, "Evangeline Rose", about missing his baby girl, who's growing so fast and looking beautiful in her ribbons and bows. It's so gorgeous and so sweet and it was really nice to hear him play. After he finished the song, he told a goofy story about how since they've started calling her Evie, she refuses to be called Evangeline and he tells her "But that's your whole name! That's why I wrote a song called 'Evangeline Rose!'" Gah, I don't know why these kind of songs hit me so hard, but they do! And then he closed it out with "Home", which was really kick ass. Everyone there was clapping along and rocking out and helping with the harmony. It was really cool to get to see him, especially since I can't make his show later this year. I have a feeling I'll be sticking with this one though. He's a good one.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
I say of, you say a, I say revolution and you say jah
The first time I heard Matt Nathanson's "Come On, Get Higher", I was standing on a stool at The Cutting Room. I remember my knees getting a little weak as he did his little hip wiggle thing and if the opportunity to make out with someone, anyone, had come up at that moment, I would have full on taken it. That's the kind of song it is.
Last night at Madison Square Garden, the size of the stage alone was probably about as big as the Cutting Room. If not that, at least the size of The Living Room, where I also saw Matt perform the song. This time, MSG was pretty much full to the rafters with people, the majority of whom were singing along. Now, I love intimate concerts. I love being close to the stage or in a small room full of people who really know the music. However, it is beyond fucking cool to be in an ARENA and see someone you've only seen in fairly small venues rock that joint and have SO many people be into it. The best thing about it is that he's still Matt. Sure, the set is shorter and a little more geared to an audience who may not know him as well. But he's still that hilarious guy that starts out PG-13 (ICE CREAM!) and quickly turns R ("I want to be there while you're having sex tonight. Even if you're having sex with yourself. I want to be there.") who also has amazing songs. He started with "To the Beat of Our Noises Hearts", played "Princess" complete with full-on "Jessie's Girl" sing-a-long, "Still", "Wedding Dress", "Car Crash" with a little bit of Prince thrown in and of course, the hit single. The reaction, it was amazing. He had them all. He's like the king of openers, he's everything that I personally love in an opening act, so it's no surprise that he's opened for a gazillion different people (five this year alone). Now, sir, it's time to headline your own damn tour again. He's amazing.
And O.A.R. The first time I ever heard "Crazy Game of Poker", I was 18 and had just moved into college. My roommate and I lived next to two girls on the swim team and they would blast the song daily. We loved it every time they did. We'd always sing along. It wasn't for awhile before I found out who sang it and started to become a fan. I saw them live for the first time in 2006 and had a great time and really started getting into them around then. They're just SO fun, especially live. It's weird, I don't always have a whole lot of patience for long songs and it surprises even me how into their jam songs I am, but I just love them. They go and on and build and are just so kickass! And there's saxophone! They have such great grooves and hooks and sort of manage to be relaxing and energizing at the same time. It was awesome being toward the side of the stage last night and being able to see everyone rocking out. Marc was a bit overwhelmed by the size/excitement of the crowd and I always think it's cool when the band is kind of like "holy shit, we have THIS many fans?" Awesome.
Setlist:
1. About Mr. Brown
2. About An Hour Ago
3. Untitled
4. Conquering Fools
5. Something Coming Over
6. I Feel Home
7. Love And Memories
8. What Is Mine
9. On My Way
10. Shattered (Turn The Car Around)
11. Black Rock
12. City On Down
13. Lay Down
14. War Song
15. Whose Chariot?
Encore:
16. Fool In The Rain
17. This Town
18. That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker
19. With A Little Help From My Friends
I was super excited about "About an Hour Ago", "Conquering Fools" and "City on Down". I'm more a fan of their older stuff, though I'm getting into the new stuff too, and those songs are particularly awesome and faves of mine. Loved "Something Coming Over", "I Feel Home" was really cool because it was just Marc solo and yet he managed to have the attention of the whole audience, "Love and Memories" is a great song and one of their first more mainstream tunes, I've come to accept "Shattered" way more than I had at first (it's just SO different from their old sound), "Lay Down" is awesome and there was a kickass drum contest in the middle that I couldn't tear my eyes away from, "War Song" was intense with a really strong bass sax line and "Whose Chariot?" was a great closer, especially since Jerry the sax player relocated to the back of the arena, which caused pretty much everyone to flip out. And the encore! Robert Randolph came out to join the guys on a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain" and is there a song with a deeper groove? Don't think so. "Poker" was epic, as it always should be, I think it clocked in around 12 minutes. That's the song that essentially everyone knows and it was just so awesome to hear everyone just screaming along as confetti guns sprayed playing cards and spade and clubs shaped confetti (not even kidding). And then holy crap. Ok, so the Woodstock reunion is now, essentially, and to celebrate, Marc called out Robert Randolph again, the DJ who mixed on "This Town" and Matt. The first second of organ, I knew what it was because Joe Cocker's cover of "With a Little Help From My Friends", especially the version from Woodstock is one of my favorite things ever in the world. And this was absolutely KICK. ASS. Marc took the first verse, Matt took the second and actually did the Cocker wail while falling to his knees, I seriously almost lost it. SO awesome.
I love Matt Nathanson and I love O.A.R. Period. I have seen Matt in eight venues now and I will continue to see him any chance I get. O.A.R. is also now on this list. They put on an amazing show, I didn't stop moving the entire time and I love their sound. And both know and appreciate where they came from, how they built up to be where they are now and that is one of my favorite things about them. Awesome guys, awesome music, awesome shows. Holy crap, I love concerts.
Last night at Madison Square Garden, the size of the stage alone was probably about as big as the Cutting Room. If not that, at least the size of The Living Room, where I also saw Matt perform the song. This time, MSG was pretty much full to the rafters with people, the majority of whom were singing along. Now, I love intimate concerts. I love being close to the stage or in a small room full of people who really know the music. However, it is beyond fucking cool to be in an ARENA and see someone you've only seen in fairly small venues rock that joint and have SO many people be into it. The best thing about it is that he's still Matt. Sure, the set is shorter and a little more geared to an audience who may not know him as well. But he's still that hilarious guy that starts out PG-13 (ICE CREAM!) and quickly turns R ("I want to be there while you're having sex tonight. Even if you're having sex with yourself. I want to be there.") who also has amazing songs. He started with "To the Beat of Our Noises Hearts", played "Princess" complete with full-on "Jessie's Girl" sing-a-long, "Still", "Wedding Dress", "Car Crash" with a little bit of Prince thrown in and of course, the hit single. The reaction, it was amazing. He had them all. He's like the king of openers, he's everything that I personally love in an opening act, so it's no surprise that he's opened for a gazillion different people (five this year alone). Now, sir, it's time to headline your own damn tour again. He's amazing.
And O.A.R. The first time I ever heard "Crazy Game of Poker", I was 18 and had just moved into college. My roommate and I lived next to two girls on the swim team and they would blast the song daily. We loved it every time they did. We'd always sing along. It wasn't for awhile before I found out who sang it and started to become a fan. I saw them live for the first time in 2006 and had a great time and really started getting into them around then. They're just SO fun, especially live. It's weird, I don't always have a whole lot of patience for long songs and it surprises even me how into their jam songs I am, but I just love them. They go and on and build and are just so kickass! And there's saxophone! They have such great grooves and hooks and sort of manage to be relaxing and energizing at the same time. It was awesome being toward the side of the stage last night and being able to see everyone rocking out. Marc was a bit overwhelmed by the size/excitement of the crowd and I always think it's cool when the band is kind of like "holy shit, we have THIS many fans?" Awesome.
Setlist:
1. About Mr. Brown
2. About An Hour Ago
3. Untitled
4. Conquering Fools
5. Something Coming Over
6. I Feel Home
7. Love And Memories
8. What Is Mine
9. On My Way
10. Shattered (Turn The Car Around)
11. Black Rock
12. City On Down
13. Lay Down
14. War Song
15. Whose Chariot?
Encore:
16. Fool In The Rain
17. This Town
18. That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker
19. With A Little Help From My Friends
I was super excited about "About an Hour Ago", "Conquering Fools" and "City on Down". I'm more a fan of their older stuff, though I'm getting into the new stuff too, and those songs are particularly awesome and faves of mine. Loved "Something Coming Over", "I Feel Home" was really cool because it was just Marc solo and yet he managed to have the attention of the whole audience, "Love and Memories" is a great song and one of their first more mainstream tunes, I've come to accept "Shattered" way more than I had at first (it's just SO different from their old sound), "Lay Down" is awesome and there was a kickass drum contest in the middle that I couldn't tear my eyes away from, "War Song" was intense with a really strong bass sax line and "Whose Chariot?" was a great closer, especially since Jerry the sax player relocated to the back of the arena, which caused pretty much everyone to flip out. And the encore! Robert Randolph came out to join the guys on a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain" and is there a song with a deeper groove? Don't think so. "Poker" was epic, as it always should be, I think it clocked in around 12 minutes. That's the song that essentially everyone knows and it was just so awesome to hear everyone just screaming along as confetti guns sprayed playing cards and spade and clubs shaped confetti (not even kidding). And then holy crap. Ok, so the Woodstock reunion is now, essentially, and to celebrate, Marc called out Robert Randolph again, the DJ who mixed on "This Town" and Matt. The first second of organ, I knew what it was because Joe Cocker's cover of "With a Little Help From My Friends", especially the version from Woodstock is one of my favorite things ever in the world. And this was absolutely KICK. ASS. Marc took the first verse, Matt took the second and actually did the Cocker wail while falling to his knees, I seriously almost lost it. SO awesome.
I love Matt Nathanson and I love O.A.R. Period. I have seen Matt in eight venues now and I will continue to see him any chance I get. O.A.R. is also now on this list. They put on an amazing show, I didn't stop moving the entire time and I love their sound. And both know and appreciate where they came from, how they built up to be where they are now and that is one of my favorite things about them. Awesome guys, awesome music, awesome shows. Holy crap, I love concerts.
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