Tag: Smithereens live

Live: The Smithereens and Driver 8 – Pierre’s – Ft. Wayne, IN – June 18, 2022

Coming back after a cancelled show back in the spring, The Smithereens had an enthusiastic crowd to greet them in Fort Wayne on June 18, 2022.

Walking in with my daughter, my immediate reaction was, “That sounds like an R.E.M. cover.” Sure enough, the opening band was a local R.E.M. cover band called Driver 8 (named after the song from R.E.M.’s 1985 album Fables of the Reconstruction). I didn’t know who was going to open for The Smithereens, but a cover band wasn’t among my ideas. That being said, Driver 8 were solid. It was the singer’s first gig with the band, and he showed no signs of nerves and knew how to work a crowd. Hearing a live version of “Superman” was a treat, as I hadn’t heard that song in years.

Driver 8

Thanks to someone forgetting to put a microphone on the stand for lead singer Marshall Crenshaw, The Smithereens’ Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken, and Severo Incarnacion started the show with a drum solo by Diken (who has always been one of the steadiest rock drummers of the last few decades) and a Link Wray cover while Crenshaw found a microphone backstage. The first Smithereens song they played was “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” and, despite Crenshaw forgetting some of the first verse lyrics, they were off to the races.

Jim Babjak still shreds, and it was great to hear them play a lot of tracks from the Especially for You album and to just watch them remind everyone how they’re still America’s Rock Band after forty years. They closed with a couple Beatles covers, delighting my daughter and everyone else.

They still cook, and they still have many, many hits that you love to hear.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Smithereens – Live in Concert! Greatest Hits and More (2008)

Recorded over the course of four nights at The Court in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Live in Concert! Greatest Hits and More by The Smithereens was a great return to the band’s home state and a familiar venue to a raucous crowd.

The album captures the band’s raw, rock sound well. Consider yourself lucky if you got to see them live in their heyday. They were one of the best touring bands in the United States (and a new iteration of them still tours with Marshall Crenshaw on lead vocals, no less).

Opening track “Behind the Wall of Sleep” still punches hard, and “Drown in My Tears” somehow hits even harder. Jim Babjak and Pat Dinizio‘s guitars are a tremendous one-two punch throughout it (and the whole album, really). “Miles from Nowhere” builds like a strong, chugging engine in a hot rod warming up before a drag race down a long stretch of highway. Dennis Diken‘s drumming propels the track, and he sneaks some jazz swing into the mix.

“Room without a View” slows things down just enough for you to catch a breath, but not by much. “Only a Memory” keeps your toes tapping, and Severo Jornacion‘s bass work on it is a solid groove that keeps the band locked in tight. “House We Used to Live In” rocks as well as you remember. It’s always better live, and this captured version doesn’t disappoint. It drifts into a bit of psychedelic territory about halfway through the track (which is almost an eleven-minute version) and gives everyone ample opportunity to stretch their muscles and show off their chops (especially Diken).

The slow, lovely “Spellbound” is almost shocking after the previous track, but it soon wraps you in its warm blanket and has you swaying like a reed in the wind. The album contains two new (for the time) tracks, and the first is the haunting, strong “Since You Went Away” – a great example of Smithereens songs about lost love. “She’s Got a Way” is a great example of another type of Smitheerens song – power pop.

“Yesterday Girl” is another power pop gem, with Diken and Jornacion combining their rhythmic powers for all of your benefit. “Well Alright” is nearly a Dinizio solo effort with his acoustic guitar and strong vocals, until the drum fill kicks the song up a couple notches. The version of “Especially for You” on the album has a bit of a bluesy swagger to it that I like. “Any Other Way” is the second new track on the album, and it’s a hip tune about (you guessed it) Dinizio finding and losing love.

“Top of the Pops,” one of their biggest hits, sounds a little extra grungy here, which I don’t mind at all. Their cover of “Time and Time Again” is a blast and always a wonderful salute to one of their biggest influences – Paul McCartney. The album ends with three classics: “Blood and Roses” (with a downright furious solo from Babjak), an eight-minute version of “A Girl Like You,” and – a welcome addition and a salute to their old school fans – the theme to the Batman TV show from the 1960s (which was a staple of their early live sets).

It’s a fun album and a great reminder of why The Smithereens are one of the best American rock bands of their era (or any other, really).

Keep your mind open.

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