I hadn’t seen electro / industrial legend Gary Numanlive for many years. His new album, Savage, is getting rave reviews and debuted as high as #2 in the U.K. His live shows are loud, dazzling, and impressive affairs, and his November 29th show at Chicago’s Thalia Hallwas no exception.
Opening for him were the Brooklyn quartet Me Not You, who put on a nice set of shoegaze and synth-rock. I’d like to hear more of their material. Unfortunately, I missed part of their set due to getting a phone call from work that I had to take.
Me Not You
Numan and his four-man band came out and immediately kicked down the back wall with a blast of industrial rock on “Ghost Nation” – the lead track from the new record. Upon hearing it, I immediately thought, “Yeah, I need to get this record.”
“Ghost Nation”
Although he’s not much for nostalgia, Numan delivered a great version of “Metal” right afterwards. He had the crowd in his hand by this point, and it was only the second song. Other solid cuts from the new record were “Bed of Thorns,” “Mercy,” “Pray for the Pain You Serve,” “My Name Is Ruin,” and “When the World Comes Apart.”
Gary Numan might be a Green Lantern. It wouldn’t surprise me at all, really.
“Down in the Park,” of course, remains one of the best electro-goth songs ever, and Numan’s path down more industrial roads puts a new spin on a lot of his classic material. He has the bass brought up on “Cars” to make it almost a metal track, for example. “Love Hurt Bleed,” from his Splinter album, is a new highlight to his show. It’s everything Trent Reznor owes Numan in one song.
Perhaps Mr. Numan is actually a herald of Galactus. I’d believe that, too.“Cars”
He performed “M.E.” and “Are Friends Electric?” for an encore. Both were stunning, especially “Are Friend Electric?” – which is the greatest song Phillip K. Dick never wrote.
“Are Friends Electric?”
This was easily one of the best performances I’ve seen all year. The crowd was a fun mix of aging hipsters like yours truly, young industrial fans, old punks, metal heads, and goths. I know this makes me sound old, but it was great to see people younger than I having a great time at the show. It ensures me that Numan’s music will continue through new generations of fans. Don’t miss this tour if it gets close to you.
Thanks to the lucky lady who scored this set list for letting me take a photo of it.
I wanted to see Flying Lotus‘ 3-D show since I saw it without 3-D glasses at Mamby on the Beach earlier this year. He put on an impressive set there, so I figured one in an enclosed venue like Chicago’s Riviera Theatre would be a good time.
It was, albeit the place was packed once you got past the bar in the main theatre because everyone wanted the best spot to see the visual spectacle. It was indeed impressive, and I sure a wild trip if you were high during the thing. A guy next to my friend and I snapped at her when he thought she had been staring at him every time she turned around to talk to me. We explained that he had misread all of it and nothing was intentional. As my friend told me later, “If you can’t handle your fucking drugs, don’t come to a Flying Lotus show.”
He put on a good set, spinning in some stuff he did with Thundercatalong the way. That was a big hit with the crowd. The visuals were mostly different from the ones at his Mamby set. Some of the best were a “Flying Lotus” logo that seemed to push from the screen to above the crowd and a floating woman’s head that would curl out from the screen like a snake. It probably gave some chemically altered folks nightmares.
Just a floating wheel made of human limbs. Nothing to worry about.
Go see this tour if you’re able. It’s worth it for the visual feast, and Flying Lotus is one of the best experimental artists out there right now. His future is bright if he’s already doing stuff like this.
Keep your mind open.
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Imagine what it takes to be a successful musician. There are many long hours of touring, rehearsing, writing, negotiating, hustling, and branding. This is hard enough for your Average Joe or Jane, but imagine doing this in the 1960’s when you couldn’t release a single on the Internet and have it heard by millions within moments, pay-for-play was still legal and widely practiced, and record labels held your master recordings in a vise-like grip. Now imagine doing all of this before the civil rights movement while you’re black in an industry dominated at the top levels by white people. Now imagine doing this as an openly transgendered woman in the same time period. Jackie Shane did all of that, and she made it look easy.
Jackie Shane’s Any Other Way is a stunning collection of rare singles and live tracks from perhaps the most remarkable performer you haven’t heard and easily one of the best collections and reissues of 2017. Ms. Shane burned up stages in Toronto throughout the 1960’s, releasing a handful of singles and recording some amazing performances, before disappearing for nearly half a century (relocating to Nashville to tend to her ill mother and deciding to stay after her passing).
The double album opens with the sizzling “Sticks and Stones,” a burner in which Shane sings about people trying to shame her and bring her down, but she really doesn’t give a damn. This is a common theme in her catalogue. Shane lived by her own rules and refused to compromise. Her vocals are fierce and almost race ahead of the song, but the horn section of the Frank Motley’s Motley Crew band (for which she sang at the time) keeps up with her well. The title track is a sad song about Shane trying to to convince an ex-lover that she’s happy. The horn section almost has a Latin flavor to it that sets it apart from other similar tracks of the time period.
“In My Tenement” has horns that belong in a Bond film soundtrack. “Comin’ Down” has Shane coming down “with a heartache” as her band’s surf guitar and tight drumming back her assured vocals. Her cover of “Money (That’s What I Want)” is fun as a bit emblematic of Shane’s life, who never gave away her skills for free. “I’ve Really Got the Blues” swings as hard as any Chubby Checker or Fats Domino record ever did. “Send Me Some Lovin'” has Shane pining for even a photo of her distant lover. “Walking the Dog” is full of sass and a groove you’ll have in your head all day. The funky organ on “You Are My Sunshine” brings in a bit of a gospel groove, which is no surprise since Shane has openly spoken on the influence of gospel and spiritual classics on her. “Stand Up Straight and Tall” is pretty much the theme of Shane’s life. She lived how she wanted to live and never gave a damn what people thought. You can’t help but wonder about the possible symbolism of “New Way of Love,” especially since Shane sings it with such fire (and the Motley Crew band slays on it). “Cruel Cruel World” has Shane calling for someone to love and not needing sympathy from anyone. It’s a great example of how her vocals could go from soulful ballad to rock wails all in the same song.
That’s just the first disc of this release, by the way. Disc two is a compilation of rare live cuts (with backing band the Hitchhikers including Frank Motley leading it) that are jaw-dropping at times. It opens with “High Heel Sneakers” and Shane singing / tearing through an ode to stepping out in high fashion and being ready to kick ass and take names. Pharrell Williams wishes he could write a groove half as good as the one on “Barefootin’.”
Shane warns that the live version of “Money” is so dangerous that her doctor warned her that performing it could be bad for her heart. It’s over nine minutes of funk, sass, and defibrillating beats. The breakdown on it is fabulous as Shane talks about not caring about what others think of her as she smiles on her way to the back. “I’m going to live while I’m here,” she says. “I don’t satisfy nobody that’s a square,” she also says at another point.
Other high points among the live tracks are “You’re the One (That I Need),” which features some of Shane’s best torch song vocals, the tight horn section groove and Shane’s heartbroken vocals on “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied),” her fun cover of “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (in which Shane appears to be cheering on an elderly man dancing in the crowd), the version of “Any Other Way” in which she sings, “Tell her that I’m happy. Be sure to tell her this. Tell her that I’m gay.” (which Shane claims wasn’t her openly admitting her sexuality, but the symbolism is hard to ignore), and the squawking, jumping “Shotgun” in which Shane advises, “You got to shoot your man before he runs.”
It’s a shame that Jackie Shane wasn’t bigger across the world and for longer a time than she was at her peak. There are rumors that she might emerge from her self-imposed (and apparently enjoyable) exile in Nashville and return to perform in Toronto, so we can hope to see and hear more of her soon. In the meantime, get this collection and be stunned by it.
Keep your mind open.
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We got to Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom not long after they opened the doors for the second of three sold-out shows for LCD Soundsystem. We were hungry and hoped to grab a bite before the show. I asked a bouncer outside when LCDSS would start their set. “Nine, I think,” he said. “There’s a DJ opening, I think.” We went to a nearby Thai restaurant, had a nice meal, and then headed to the show to line up around the corner of the building and nearby some vendors selling street tacos that smelled delicious. We got in without trouble, although one bouncer thought my earplugs were pills for a moment, and went upstairs to the main floor. The DJ was spinning a remix of the Police‘s “Voices Inside My Head” as we moved up toward front stage left.
The DJ, it turns out, was Derrick Carter– one of Chicago’s most legendary DJ’s and a pioneer of Chicago house music. He’s spun all over the world and was putting down a solid set that no one in our area seemed to notice. The bouncer outside and the Aragon Ballroom massively undersold this. Carter’s name should’ve been on the marquis under LCDSS. It was a wonderful surprise and we would’ve come up extra early to catch his whole set if we’d known he was going to be on the bill.
LCDSS shot out of the gate at almost exactly nine o’clock with “Get Innocuous.” The whole place was jumping and then went positively nuts when light bounced off LCDSS’ massive disco ball above the stage.
The moment before Murphy announced Daft Punk was playing in his basement.
Not ones to rest soon, they followed it with their mega-hit “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” and the electro classic “I Can Change.” The band was cooking with gas for the whole set, and were obviously healthier than when I saw them at Pitchfork Music Festivalearlier this year when lead singer James Murphy openly spoke about getting over a cold and keyboardist Nancy Whang having “a bum knee.”
“I Can Change”
“Tribulations” was another crowd favorite and is one of those songs that sounds even better live. The crowd disappointed me when no mosh pit broke out during “Movement” (as it rightfully did at Pitchfork). In fact, the crowd was a bit subdued compared to the Pitchfork crowd. I don’t know if the outdoor venue and nice weather of Pitchfork made everyone a bit looser, but many around us at the Aragon weren’t even dancing. “Tonite,” one of the best singles of 2017, was another sharp cut and I was happy to hear it live for the first time.
“Tonite”
After taking a break “to go pee,” as Murphy put it (“It’s hard. A two-hour show. You know, you get older, you have to pee,” he announced before they played a great rendition of “New York I Love You, but You’re Bringing Me Down.”), they came back onstage to play “Oh Baby,” the lead cut from their excellent new record, American Dream. They followed it with another track off the new record and one that should’ve inspired the second mosh pit of the night – “Emotional Haircut.”
“Dance Yrself Clean” still ranks among the greatest of their hits and is easily one of the best parts of their live performances. They closed with “All My Friends” and Murphy wished everyone a safe trip home.
All of Murphy’s friends were in the audience, it seemed.
It was good to see them again and good to see them all healthy. LCDSS have become one of those bands I will see at any opportunity, as should you.
Keep your mind open.
Thanks to the lucky chap who scored this and let me take a photo of it.
Heartless Bastards leader Erika Wennerstrom has announced a series of winter tour dates through the United States to promote her upcoming solo album.
Nov 25 – ACL Live – part of Bob Schneider’s Holiday Show – Austin TX – TICKETS Dec 8 – Andy’s Bar – Denton TX – TICKETS (Full Band show)
Dec 10 – The Listing Loon – Cincinnati OH – TICKETS Dec 13 – High Noon – Madison WI – TICKETS Dec 14 – The Hideout – Chicago IL – TICKETS Dec 15 – Soulful Space – Lexington KY – TICKETS Dec 16 – Songwriting Clinic at Historic Herzog Studios – Cincinnati OH – TICKETS Dec 17 – The Listing Loon – Cincinnati OH – TICKETS
Wennerstrom has one of the best voices you’ll ever hear – raw, sultry, angry, and caressing all at the same time. Don’t miss out on these rare acoustic show dates in small venues.
The last time I saw horror / prog-rockers Goblinwas in 2013 at Chicago’s Metro during their first tour of the United States. It was a sold out show and one of the best I saw all year, so I was keen on catching them again on their “Sound of Fear” tour, especially since the lineup included four of the five original members – Massimo Morante, Maurizio Guarini, Fabio Pignaetti, and Agostino Marangolo (along with Aidan Zammit replacing keyboardist and founding member Claudio Simonetti). They fact that they were playing in Thalia Hall – a former opera house – was a bonus.
Opening for them were the psychedelic / prog rockers Morricone Youth. My friends and I arrived in time to catch the last two songs of their set. Both were songs written as an alternate soundtrack to Night of the Living Dead. The film played behind them as they rocked out and it was a great set-up for both Goblin and the Halloween season.
Goblin came out to a welcoming, albeit smaller than I expected, crowd. I have no idea why more people weren’t at the show, unless the midweek date had something to do with it. Regardless, Goblin came ready to play and to terrify.
They played a lot of stuff they didn’t play on their last tour, including tracks from the bizarre giallo film Beyond the Darkness (complete with grisly mortuary scenes playing behind them which might’ve made an intoxicated woman in front of us so woozy that she needed assistance leaving the main floor), another giallo Massimo Morante called Killer on the Train, and the bizarre alien invasion film Contamination. I had no idea Goblin did the score for Contamination, so now I have extra incentive to track down that film.
Of course, they played tracks from their most famous film scores, starting with Profundo Russo (Deep Red).
They played not only the “Killer Doll” and main theme track, but also other songs from the film that you don’t hear often. They did the same with Tenebrae, which is a giallo about a killer in an opera house no less.
They did the same with their score to Suspiria, playing music from the beginning of the film and the creepy scene in which the lead characters first start to suspect an evil witch is living among them.
It was another excellent performance that got better as it crawled along like some horrible thing creeping out of the shadows. Goblin rarely get to the U.S., so don’t miss them.
Nashville’s All Them Witches will be returning to the U.S. and Canada for another tour in support of their excellent album Sleeping Through the War. The tour starts November 3rd in North Carolina and ends November 18th in Milwaukee. Don’t miss them if you get the chance to see them. They are great live and amiable chaps to boot.
NOV 3 • Cat’s Cradle • CARRBORO, NC
NOV 4 • The Southern Cafe and Music Hall • CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
NOV 5 • Rock & Roll Hotel • WASHINGTON, DC
NOV 7 • The Foundry at The Fillmore • PHILADELPHIA, PA
NOV 8 • Music Hall of Williamsburg • BROOKLYN, NY
NOV 9 • Higher Ground • SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT
NOV 10 • Fairmount Theatre • MONTREAL, CANADA
NOV 11 • Lee’s Palace • TORONTO, CANADA
NOV 12 • The Bug Jar • ROCHESTER, NY
NOV 14 • Ace of Cups • COLUMBUS, OH
NOV 15 • Hi-Fi • INDIANAPOLIS, IN
NOV 16 • The Mill • IOWA CITY, IA
NOV 17 • Turf Club • ST. PAUL, MN
NOV 18 • The Back Room at Colectivo Coffee • MILWAUKEE, WI
One of my best friends and I first saw and heard the Psychedelic Fursin the early days of MTV and thought they had the weirdest name of any band we’d seen. They soon became favorites of ours and I’ve been keen to see them for years. The day finally arrived when I could see their first of two nights at Chicago’s Thalia Hall (one of my top three favorite venues in the city) on October 17th.
Rockers Bash & Pop opened for them, and my friend, Steve, and I got there in time to check out the last three songs of their set. They had a good blend of hard rock and a bit of garage punk.
Bash & Pop
It was a good crowd for a Tuesday night, and an interesting blend of aged punks, young hipsters, and music fanatics. The Psychedelic Furs came out and opened with “Dumb Waiters.” I’d guessed this would’ve been their closer, but they unleashed it right away and grabbed everyone’s attention.
Getting right down to business with “Dumb Waiters.”
What especially grabbed my attention is how lead singer Richard Butler‘s voice has seemingly not aged. He sounded great, as did the entire band. Mars Williams, the saxophone player (who also used to play for the Waitresses), shredded the entire night.
L-R: Mars Williams, Richard Butler, Tim Butler, and Amanda Kramer
The double whammy of “Pretty in Pink” followed by “Love My Way” had the entire crowd jumping. One guy to my right was almost in throes of ecstasy by this point. “Until She Comes” and “The Ghost in You” were also especially sharp.
“Pretty in Pink”
The lyrics of “All That Money Wants” is rather biting in this country right now, and they ended with “Heaven” before coming out to two encores. The first had a powerful rendition of “Sister Europe” that cooked up a witches’ brew of post-punk, acid jazz, and shoegaze. The second was a performance of the song I thought they’d have as the opener – “President Gas.” Like “All That Money Wants,” you can’t help but hear the lyrics in a new light right now.
A killer rendition of “Sister Europe”
It was worth the wait to see them, and $40.00 for a signed tour poster was a steal.
My wife and I had missed Brian Wilson at Levitation Austinlast year when the entire festival (and thus his performance) was cancelled due to bad weather. I learned he and his band were touring the world and performing many Beach Boys tracks as well as all of their masterpiece, Pet Sounds. I was determined to catch this tour and to hear such an important record played by the man who wrote it. Luckily for me, Mr. Wilson brought his show to a theatre less than an hour’s drive from my house.
He had a killer backing band that included one of the founding Beach Boys – Al Jardine – and another Beach Boys guitarist – Blondie Chapman, and they opened with the the classic “California Girls.”
Other treats included Wilson having a fun time singing “I Get Around,” a lovely rendition of “In My Room,” and Al Jardine’s son doing a great job on the vocals for “Don’t Worry, Baby.”
The highlight of the night, of course, was hearing Pet Sounds played from beginning to end. I’d been humming “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” all day leading up to the show and the band nailed it right out of the gate to open the second half. “Sloop John B” was a crowd favorite, and I forgot about the two fine instrumentals on the record.
Wilson got a standing ovation for “God Only Knows,” and “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” seems rather relevant today. The encore started with “Good Vibrations.” When Wilson asked, “Did you come here for bad vibrations?” I briefly hoped the Black Angelswould come on stage, but it was fun to hear the best psych-surf ever written live.
Other hits like “Help Me, Rhonda,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” and “Surfin’ USA” followed, but Wilson ended the show, which he dedicated to his wife (It was her birthday that day.), the victims of the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay shooting, and Tom Petty, with the heartfelt “Love and Mercy.”
It was a lovely, fun show. Wilson’s songs are so ingrained into American culture that you can sometimes forget how good and fun they are. See this tour if you get the chance. Wilson is getting up there in age, and sometimes needed a steadying hand to walk him to his piano. He’s claimed this is the final time he’ll perform Pet Sounds, so don’t wait.
I still don’t know why Kasabiandidn’t sell out their Chicago House of Blues show last week. They sold out Chicago’s Metro a couple years ago when I saw them with Bo Ningen. Yet, here they were with fellow Brits Slavesin a venue about the same size, but tickets were still available at the box office an hour before the show. As one guy behind me in the crowd said, “These guys sell out at Glastonbury. Where the hell is everybody?”
That’s not to say there was barely anyone in the place. The venue was nearly full, and I was happy to see so many people there in time for Slaves’ set. I’ve been keen on this duo since I heard their single “Where’s Your Car, Debbie?” Their newest album Take Controlwas one of my top records of 2016.
They came out oozing punk attitude and were soon tearing through songs like “Sockets” and “White Knuckle Ride.” My friend, Portia, had just seen them open for Buzzcocks earlier in the month and knew their set. She and I were the only people in the audience, it seemed, who knew how to reply when Slaves’ drummer and lead singer, Isaac Holman, told the story about how a man once asked him, “Where’s your hi-hat?” after a gig. The correct response, by the way, is “Fuck the Hi-Hat.” My friend and I were yelling it so much during the build-up to the song that people around us thought we were angry drunks.
People were still buzzing about them after their too-brief seven-song set, and I’d like to see them in a small venue where they’re the headliners. I’m sure that would be nuts.
Kasabian soon emerged and ripped into a fun set that had the crowd bouncing for most of the show. They started with “Ill Ray” and “Bumblebee” and had the crowd in their hands by the time they reached “Ez-Eh.”
A funny moment happened when they messed up the introduction to “Underdog.” “That’s the first time that’s happened,” said lead singer Tom Meighan. “I’m glad you were all here to see it.” They jumped back on the horse and nailed the song. Everyone laughed with them. Up next were three solid cuts, “Shoot the Runner,” “You’re in Love with a Psycho” (from their newest record, For Crying Out Loud), and “Club Foot.”
The rest of the show was just as fun, with “Empire,” “L.S.F.,” “Bless This Acid House,” “Vlad the Impaler,” and “Fire” being good highlights. It was a fun Tuesday night crowd (perhaps that’s why it didn’t sell out) rocking to two solid bands. It’s too bad if you missed it. Much praise also to the HOB and tour sound crews. The mix for both bands sounded great.
