 Though too few people are actually aware of this, one of the great things about living in Little Rock is its access to live music. Not the over-hyped sold-out arena style, but the small venue, up close and personal performance where you can actually sense the emotion of the artist. With the obvious exception of Green Day’s alter-ego, Foxboro Hot Tubs, playing at Juanita’s, you’re not going to see the biggest acts at the several places here that offer up live music on a regular basis. But what you will find is an incredible array of talent, real talent, from those just breaking onto the scene, to the ones who are really ascending to musical success. It is becoming a weekly event now, to go to a concert without much advance knowledge of a group, only to be blown away by what you see and hear. And let me say, Friday night’s set at the White Water Tavern was certainly no exception.
What started as a decision on a rather slow Friday night to go and check out The Good Time Ramblers, a very talented local alt-country group, resulted in, from beginning to end, an unbelievable evening of entertainment. It all began with a band from Raleigh, NC, the American Aquariums, whose lead singer, BJ Barham could be described as a cross between two rough voiced balladeers, Ryan Bingham and Ben Nichols of Lucero. The music was strong, well-performed (even without female violinist Sarah Mann), and had the small but growing audience on their feet. The band had performed at White Water a couple of times before, and the affection of the group for the bar matched that of the listeners for the band.
Nathan Singleton and his Sideshow Tragedy, whom we thought would be playing last, followed with a performance with so much verve and energy that words will not fairly describe it. The Austin-based band rocked the place with what might be called their own brand of punk-laced Texas rock, but don’t try and pigeonhole this band – their musical tastes are quite diverse. Singleton is an incredible guitar player, whose Dobro looked like it had logged a lot of Texas highway miles. Even the broken string (“luckily it was the high E, so it didn’t affect me much”) couldn’t slow the virtuoso, whose youthful appearance belies his road-warrior years. And the inappropriately named Sideshow Tragedy was anything but -- bassist Justin Thompson, active and rambunctious, was just as much an integral part of the show, and it was all held together by the strong, rhythmic beat of Singleton’s long-time musical accompanist, drummer Jeremy Harrell. In this set, the audience appeared almost stunned, as though they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Only the fact that the band was returning to Austin after 2 weeks of touring prevented a trip to see them again the following night. And once more, homage was paid to Matt White and White Water, as Singleton seemed very sincere in his praise of the venue as his favorite place to play, anywhere.
Wrap all this with the Good Time Ramblers, giving you an hour and a half of self-styled “delta rock” music, including a number of covers very popular with the crowd, and you’ve had yourself a hell of a night. And oh, there was a cover charge by the way – a whopping five bucks.
So what makes a particular place so musician praiseworthy? That can be debated of course, but include the fact that the artists are accessible, that they can relate to the audience, and the audience back to them. That those attending are a diverse group, and free to be themselves. That the venue (this one in particular) bears little or no presumption – come as you are – any style, any age, any personality – just have a good time and join in the fun. There are not a lot of places like this anymore. Give me the White Water Tavern over Alltel Arena any day.
-C
 "I was born in the back of a Yellow Cab in a hospital loading zone and with the meter still running. I emerged needing a shave and shouted 'Times Square, and step on it!'" Thomas Alan Waits was born on December 7, 1949 just one day after the late great Leadbelly died in New York City. Later Tom mentioned in The Many Lives of Tom Waits by Patrick Humphries, "He died the day before I was born and I like to think I passed him in the hall and he banged into me and knocked me over." Tom was born in Pomona, CA and later moved with his family to San Diego. "I wanted to be an old man when I was a little kid. Wore my grand-daddy's hat, used his cane and lowered my voice. I was dying to be old." Shortly after high school he took his first jobs working various shifts at a Bible factory, delivering newspapers, as a short order chef, car-wash attendendant, salesman, toilet attendant, truck driver, jewellery salesman, bar tender and doorman. He also had a stint as an ice cream man. "The hardest thing about driving an ice cream truck is getting the little bell out of your head at night." Some of the characters that would later emerge in his songwriting undoubtedly came from some of his early work experiences. He took his first paid piano gig at a local San Diego nightclub.
Fast forward 40 years and Tom would go on to record 20 albums each odder than the first. I first heard Tom Waits when I was researching Neko Case music on the Internet. I had already owned all of Neko's stuff and was desperately looking for anything else I could get my hands on. The only track I was able to find was a Tom Waits song she covered called "Christmas Card From a Hooker In Minneapolis" off of a Waits inspired tribute album. Vocally, Neko Case has sung nothing better. The songwriting was nothing I had heard before. The song is equally as imaginative as anything Dylan has done, but darker. The first Waits album I went on to buy would later be my favorite. To say Mule Variations had an affect on me would be a bold understatement. Frankly, the album scared the hell out of me. The night I took it home I think I listened to it on loop 6-7 times till 3am. Every time the album went by I could literally visualize everything unfold like a play. Often labeled as "experimental blues" the artists on the album play the turntables, the bari-sax, alto-sax, guitars, dobro, trumpet, optigon, chumbus, dousengoni, organ, piano, drums, percussion, pump organ, chamberlin, bassoon, bass clarinet and the violin. Twenty five individual artists lent their talent to the album and the list reads like a who's who of the recording industry. Combine that with Tom's voice, often described "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car" and you can begin to see how the experimental got put into "experimental blues". After it's release in 1999 Mule Variations would later win a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. I own over 1500 albums and even counting Bob Dylan's entire cannon of music I rank Mule Variations a solid number one.
I promised myself I wouldn't listen to any Tom Waits music on the drive up to Tulsa on Wednesday for fear of having pre-show burnout. When I first drove in It was a no brainer to stop at Chipotle (the closest one to Little Rock) to eat. I used to go to Chipotle everyday after summer school my final year at San Diego State. Awesome food, awesome music, and a cool modern/retro vibe kept me coming back. I always knew Chipotle was notorious for playing awesome indie music. Much to my surprise and enjoyment a Waits song came smashing through the tiny speakers. I can't recall the name but it was something off of Rain Dogs (1985). Halfway through the song I looked around to see if anyone else was appreciating the irony. Aside from me there was a local suburbanite soccer-mom in typical gym-clothes-fashion and an old couple complaining that the food was too spicy. After Chipotle it was off to the Brady Theater.
I arrived at the theater 2 hours early and decided to stop by a local bar called Caz's pub in the historic Brady district. Turns out Waits has a very active online forum and about a week ago an extensive list of pre-show hangout spots was formulated from Phoenix to Edinburgh. The bar was packed with faithful Waits fans and a mix cd playing nothing but Waits tracks. I met a nice couple from Omaha that were also seeing Waits for the first time. License plates in the parking lot were from Arkansas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, Alabama and Nebraska. Tom Waits is only playing 13 US dates in two weeks. He typically tours every 5-6 years and only for about 1-2 weeks. People generally come far and wide to get the incredibly rare opportunity to hear him live. Humphries adds, "The increasingly rare live shows had fans flying from all over the world; his profile found him stalked by U2 and The Pogues."
The show was scheduled to start at 8:00pm but the "will call" only ticket sales created a line a mile long. The Brady theater is by far the most interesting place I have had the opportunity to see a concert. The building was built in 1914 as a public assembly facility. The building's interior was restored in 1930 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The interior design is described as "Western Classic Revival". The seats had not been replaced since 1930 and the way they were tightly arranged around the stage reminded me of the haunting back-alley concert hall in David Lynch's, Mulholland Drive. Tom's stage could only be classified as a magnificent colorful collision of musical instrument store meets pawn shop. A suspended twenty foot hat rack acted as the back drop and a massive chandelier mounted with antique bull horns and sirens was the set piece. A tiny circular circus stage would later be Tom's platform for much of the set.
When the lights finally dimmed at 8:40 a man in the back screamed at the top of his lungs "TOM WAITS IS GOD!". God? I would hardly want Tom Waits being in charge of my salvation. He would more likely soak it in whiskey, bottle it and try to pawn it off at a street fair. The applause was deafening and went on and on and on. The band took the stage and Tom jumped on to his 12' diameter circus platform. The concert started as all of the others have with a song called "Lucinda". As the first two songs of the night rang out, Tom stamped his foot into the platform with such vigor one would wonder how many they go through in a two week tour. The stagehands must have purposely layered his small platform with a dusty chalk-like substance. Every time his foot came down the chalk dust would kick up giving him the presence of a maniacal carnival barker. The lighting for the first couple songs was a faint rustic amber pitched directly on Tom's little stage casting a fifty foot tall shadow in the back of the stage. The rest of the band was not illuminated until a few songs later. He blew through several of his songs but the highlight for me did not come until the end.
During the middle part of his set the band seemed a little rusty and often took solos out of turn. A couple of songs were started off with poor timing and his son Casey Waits had to quickly vary his beat on the drums. In his blog, Andrew Gilstrap sums up Tom's stage demeanor well, "Waits himself was a wonder to behold, barking, crooning, and marionetting himself around the mic like one of his strings had been cut. He grabbed the mic stand, pressing its base into the floor like it would help him tap into an even more primal beat. Attired in his trademark porkpie hat, dark jeans, and jacket, he mugged for the fans, reaching out his hands like claws and adopting the old-man mannerism of clutching his jacket to his chest when he spoke."
My only real complaint of the night came with the crowd. Often yelling over each other, people just kept shouting out songs they wanted to hear. I had the impression that it turned into a "I'm a bigger fan than you are" contest as each request was more obscure than the last. During a couple songs Tom repeatedly tried to get the crowd clapping or singing along only to leave huge gaping moments of silence. Towards the middle Tom just simply stopped trying and had nothing near the passion of his first couple songs. You began to almost feel sorry for him after on top of everything else a couple of his jokes flopped. I can't put all the blame on the crowd though. I began to realize that if the Brady theater was last renovated in 1930, well then its ventilation and air conditioning are rigged to pre World War I standards. The outside temperature Wednesday afternoon in Tulsa was 99 degrees. It must have been 104 in the Brady Theater. It got so hot that at some point my back stuck to the antique wooden chair. It really was miserable and I think a lot of people just didn't have the energy to get into it.
Tom's best song of the night (one of my favorites) came right before the encore. I think Tom realised this was hit and summoned up his initial stage presence and screamed out the lyrics to "Come On Up To The House" for a showstopping ovation that brought the house down. The crowd was now pumped and Waits banged out three more "Make It Rain", "Eyeball Kid" and "Time" for the encore.
All in all it will probably not rank near the best in the two week tour. However, it was Tom Waits singing Tom Waits songs and what more could you really ask for. I challenge anyone to come out to his next tour in 4-5 years. Even if you are not a fan it is still a performance you will undoubtedly not forget.
-T
Quotes used without permission from:
"The Many Lives of Tom Waits" by Patrick Humphries.
"Innocent When You Dream" by Mac Montandon
and Various liner notes / Wikipedia...
Good friends, good drink, and good music. All three are necessary ingredients in the recipe for a great Friday night. All three were present Friday night as Sera Cahoone and Grand Archives put on an impressive show for us at Sticky Fingerz. I showed up early and alone and the man and woman at the door asked if I'd like a table for one. They looked at me funny when I said that, in fact, I would be needing a table for 10, thank you very much. "Well, what time will the other nine be arriving?" they asked. "I don't know, at different times." "Well, what time will they start arriving?" "I don't know, in five or ten minutes." "How many will be here in five or ten minutes?" "I don't know. A few." I let them off the hook and told them I didn't really expect them to provide me a table for 10. In the end, the eight-top that the lady from the front door graciously pulled together for me ended up comfortably handling our crew of 12. Those folks at Stickyz are a pretty accommodating lot when it gets right down to it, and it's one of the better places to see live music in town, especially when you look at some of the talent who have come through there recently -- Hayes Carll, Claire Holley, and, Friday night, Sera Cahoone and Grand Archives.
The New Frontiers, an indie quintet from Dallas, started out the night. Honestly, my first impression of this band's performance was that it was loud. They were having trouble controlling THE VOLUME OF THEIR AMP(!!!). It was turned up to 11, and Alex Bhore hacked away like he had something personal against the drum kit. But when they settled into some of their more restrained material, things really started to sound much better. And I can't be too hard on them because they're recorded stuff is not bad at all. "Black Lungs" and "Walking on Stones" are personal favorites from their new album Mending. And hell, they're earnest. And I like earnest people.
After an hour of sipping tea by herself during The New Frontiers' set, Sera Cahoone took to the stage next. She's currently touring with Grand Archives and was formerly the drummer for Carissa's Wierd (yes, they intentionally misspelled "weird"), a band which, not coincidentally, Grand Archives' frontman Mat Brooke used to play guitar and sing for. They were also both in a little-known act called Band of Horses. Her music combines elements of country with a bit of indie rock, and she's touring to promote her latest with her new label Sub Pop Records, 2008's Only as the Day Is Long, a nice little CD with some great songs. The banjo adds a great touch to some warm, subdued music that's easy to listen to. Cahoone's smooth voice layers nicely with the music, and it's even more evident on the CD, which I highly recommend purchasing. On their website, NPR describes the sixth track, "You're Not Broken" as "the sonic equivalent of a foot-rub at the end of a long day."
It was after 11:00 when Grand Archives struck their first note. I'd been listening to their CD for a week, so "Miniature Birds" was instantly familiar (and welcome). A few of their songs will disappoint listeners at a live show who have only heard the CD if they go into it thinking it's going to sound the same. It's simply too difficult to replicate the sonic layering of a CD track like the hypnotic "Sleepdriving" on the small stage. But if you remove those expectations, the stripped down version doesn't disappoint, and it's impressive how they can come so close to replicating that full sound with just guitar and keyboard. "Swan Matches" and "Index Moon" were simply beautiful, with a falsetto harmony that took you to another place. But "The Crime Window" is where we really got to hear what this band can do live. Its clever lyrics and upbeat, driving rhythm took the performance to the next level, to the point that even the blackberry gazers at the table had to look up and take notice.
We got to hang out with Sera Cahoone and Mat Brooke for a while after the show. They were all getting ready to pull an all-nighter on the road to Austin, but they couldn't have been more gracious with their time, talking shop and signing posters and CD cases. They even initialed a couple of pins for some of the girls in our group. Nothing like having a little autographed flair. By the time we headed out the door to let the bands hit the road we came away with the sense that these were very down-to-earth people who want nothing more than to perform the music they love for people who love it too. I can tell you that at least some of those people live right here in Little Rock.
Here's hoping that the road leads Sera Cahoone and Grand Archives back to Little Rock again soon.
-G
 I had never been to Studio Joes, much less heard about it before last Wednesday night. I used to work at Barnes and Noble and do remember seeing it several times. During big store events all of the employees were required to park in the lot right next to the place off of Autumn and Chenal. I always thought that it was a hair salon. When Mike Dollins messaged me on Myspace a month ago he asked if our web page (at the time Street Scene Little Rock) had anything to do with San Diego's annual Street Scene Music Festival. Well yea, in fact it did. I used to live out in San Diego and got the name from it. But how would someone in Little Rock know about that?? It turns out Mike grew up out in San Diego and moved out to Arkansas after college. Sound familiar? In San Diego I worked at a popular music store for most of high school and all of college. Turns out Mike knows many of the same people and places I do. He started a local Blues Newsletter in the area and jammed with many of the bigger blues musicians of the area. Long story short our conversation was one of those "Wow what a small world" scenarios. He told me about a musician named Len Rainey that would be playing through town on June 18th.
Apparently Len Rainey has toured with all kinds of bands and lived in Chicago for a while. Mike has his own band that tours quite frequently around the Central Arkansas area. Mike shared the stage with another predominant local blues musician, Joe Pitts of the Joe Pitts Band fame. I had meant to see the Joe Pitts Band play at Cornerstone in NLR a month or two ago but didn't get a chance. I could write up a whole blog on just what these 3 people have contributed to the blues scene but I will let you do your own research.
G and I headed over to the show just after it got started. Len played bass and sang some of his own own stuff as well as some more popular blues standards. I really didn't know anything about Len other than he currently lives in San Diego, and plays bass. When he took the stage he completely blew me away. He had a an awesome voice and completely ripped it up on the bass. Between Mike Dollins and Joe Pitts trading licks there was never a dull moment. Most of the members of the Mike Dollins band took the stage in the second half and added a keyboard and harp player. Another phenomenal blues musician, Essie the Blues Lady, came up for one song with Mike, Len and Joe. Another guy from Austin came up and played some lead with Len and Joe backing him up. The surprise of the night came when Ginny Becton took the stage in the second half. I knew Ginny was in the Mike Dollins band but had never heard her sing. G and I were completely floored! Her singing was worth the trip out to the show alone. I saw Aretha Franklin in Memphis a couple months ago and Ginny's singing kept bringing me back. Unfortunately I forget the drummers name but he really held his own. He jammed several drum solos and kept a solid beat throughout the night. All in all the event was a great opportunity for me and G to get exposed to the local blues scene here in Arkansas. And folks, the scene here is alive and well.
It was odd that almost everyone in the audience either played at some point during the night or was married or friends with someone on stage. G and I kind of felt out of place at first but everyone was extremely welcoming. Studio Joe's is a real interesting place and we will definitely be back. Apparently they are open for open mics Tuesday and Thursday. They are also open Fridays and at other times when there is an event going on. Part recording studio, coffee shop and lounge, and right next to a doctor's office, it is obviously an interesting place. I really was blown away with the amount of talent in the room that night. I was even more blown away that G and I were hearing all this right off of Chenal. We drove all the way to Helena's blues festival last year and didn't see anything as good. I really wish more people could have made it. Apparently Studio Joe's has a maximum capacity of 65 people and I would say they were pretty close that night. I highly recommend going to the 24th Arkansas River Blues Society event at Juanitas this Tuesday night. Most of the same people will be there I am sure. Thanks to Mike Dollins for inviting us out, you rock.
http://www.myspace.com/lenraineyandthemidnightplayers
http://www.myspace.com/mikedollinsband
http://www.myspace.com/essietheblueslady
http://www.myspace.com/joepittsband
http://www.myspace.com/ginnybecton
-T
 Yawn...
I think it's funny everybody hyped this thing as the "new sounding Coldplay". To me it sounds like everything else and just proves that Coldplay are a one-trick pony. I do like their sound but honestly, I'm kind of getting tired of it. Back when Parachutes came out I thought Coldplay offered a refreshing new sound to the scene. Not quite Radiohead, not quite U2, Coldplay's sound seemed to fit nicely into the rock/pop genre. When "A Rush of Blood to the Head" came out they stuck with their original formula and produced another killer album. When "X&Y" came out people began to wonder if that basic formula was really all they could do. "Viva La Vida" was supposed to be the album that broke free. Free of their stereotype that haunted their last couple of albums. They failed...
This album just sounds like Eno came in and Enyanized the whole thing. The overdubbed vocals, stabbing Enya chords and new age tribal beats got boring by about track three. Everything else sounds roughly the same. The album starts off and ends with a nice synth hook reminiscent of something off of Eno's "Discreet Music" album. The first couple minutes of instrumental actually started off real promising. I laughed out loud when track two started as it was right back to that old Coldplay sound we have all heard over and over and over. I'll probably listen to it for a week or two and it will collect dust as X&Y did a few years ago. As for Eno he should continue his work as a solo minimalist artist. Either that or stick with producing more talented bands like U2 that can actually appreciate and apply some of his weirder musical principles.
-T
Maybe it was the beer. Or maybe it was the brown-haired girl in the white summer dress. Glossary had been a disappointment with their out of tune guitars, muddy vocals and nonexistant keyboards. But then The Drams took the stage and it all got better. This wasn't the band I had intended to listen to tonight. I was going to go to Rev Room and hear Headlights and Mates of State. But I couldn't get anyone to go, and I'm not one to go hear music by myself. T was already going to hear The Drams, so my itinerary for the night changed. I wasn't exactly excited about it. I'm a little alt-country weary. I'm fairly new to the genre and I've been pouring it on thick lately, to the point that Drive-By Truckers have been the soundtrack to my dreams. It was time to take a break. But, by the end of the night, I was thoroughly enjoying myself.
The Drams hail out of Denton, Texas and are comprised mostly of members of the former band Slobberbone. They've been touring with Drive-By Truckers, playing their first studio album Jubilee Drive. They're one of the most amped-up alt-country bands I've heard in a while. Tonight was the second night of a two-night gig at White Water with Glossary. You could tell they enjoyed the crowd.
I don't know what it was with Glossary, but they sounded like they were having some major technical problems, although from the looks on their faces they were oblivious to it. They're clearly talented, and there were moments in their set which showed some promise, but I thought their performance fell short of the standard set by their studio work. It was a Glossary crowd, though, and they clearly loved it. I thought it was a nice touch when their keyboardist joined The Drams on stage and played cowbell with all the fervor of Will Ferrell. Bruce Dickinson would have been proud.
But it was a Drams night, no doubt about it.
-G
 Honestly, today I didn't feel like going through this weeks list of concerts and events. It's hard to justify spending several hours a weekend sifting through countless bands passing through Little Rock when your site is hardly getting any hits. That is... until I heard Travis Linville from Norman, OK and The Good Time Ramblers from right here in Little Rock.
Hearing their music on their Myspace pages completely reminded me why I started this in the first place.
For the music.....
That's right, not for the thousands of viewers, advertising revenue, or hits on the Myspace page. -G and I started this site in order to force ourselves to get out and listen to some unheard of artists that we never would have given the time of day before. Travis Linville is one of those artists. There is no way I would have stumbled upon him by reading Sync or the Arkansas Times. There is no excuse for The Good Time Ramblers. Unless I missed something they are a local band that also do not receive a bunch of much needed exposure.
Little Rock has a music scene that showcases most of its talent during the work week. Let's face it, when you are only getting 200 or so people for a weekend show, most respectable bands are going to drive straight on through. Over the past month or so I have begun to realize that Monday-Wednesday shows are typically the best. Claire Holley, Ryan Bingham and Band of Annuals are the three best acts I have seen since I moved here 2 years ago. All three shows were on either a Monday or a Wednesday. I realized unless you actually go out of your way and actually give some of these artists a listen there is no way you are going to show up for their gig.
Anyways, today I was slowly getting ready to throw in the towel. My thanks to Travis Linville and The Good Time Ramblers for their incredible music and reminding me why this site still matters. :)
-T
 Well Reckless Kelly came to town against a nice 1950s backdrop provided by Little Rock's annual Cruise-a-palooza. The downtown area was completely packed with classic cars, street bikes and the latest and greatest in modern sports cars. I had totally forgot about the event going on until I got stuck in a line of cars almost a mile long. It wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that I showed up in a faded silver four door Honda Civic. Needless to say I stuck out like a sore thumb as practicality was nowhere to be seen in the long line of muscle cars stretching from the Clinton Library clear down W. Markham.
I finally made it to the event just in time to watch the opening act leave the stage. I really had no idea how big Reckless Kelly was around here. Out in San Diego I had listened to some of there stuff on multiple occasions but always thought they were more of an independent act that shied away from the mainstream. I should have known better as country style music seems to be the defining genre for the Little Rock area. The venue was completely packed with most people in their late 20s and early 30s. Reckless Kelly played as expected and blew though a dozen and a half of their biggest songs. I listened to several of their live albums earlier in the week and was moderately impressed. Overall, nothing really spectacular on the stage. Lead by brothers Willy and Cody Braun, their sound is a little bit Southern rock and a lot of country. The Nashville sound is only heard in their instrumentation as the vocalist sounds more like a southern rock / alternative singer than anything else. Most of the faithful fans in the audience knew all of the lyrics and proudly sang along.
The high energy style of the songs made for a pretty decent party atmosphere. I went by myself and got asked to dance on a couple of occasions. It wouldn't have been so bad but...
A) I don't dance
B) I sure as heck don't know how to do the two-step
I had to explain to the unsuspecting female that, really.... no really.... I don't know how to dance. She wasn't convinced until she had to start physically shaking me to get me to move. I kind of felt bad for her but we still had fun and had a good laugh about it. It was partly my fault anyways because after the second person asked me to dance I realized I was standing on the dance floor. I was trying to watch the lead guitarist (Dave Abeyta) up close and didn't quite realize where I was positioned.
The highlight of the night came when Dave came out on stage with just the drummer during the encore. His solo performance was amazing as he effortlessly blew though some crazy Stevie Ray Vaughan, almost Jimi Hendrix-like blues solos. I could tell the lead guitarist knew what he was doing though most of their set but he tore it up at the end. Overall, I guess I'm not as big of a Reckless Kelly fan as I once thought I was. All in all they didn't do anything that really impressed. I would give them a C but I did see a TON of people having a blast so I have to remain a little selfess. B-
Band of Annuals was the band to see this week.
-T
 Today marks the 25th anniversary of U2's legendary concert at Red Rocks - the one that made the outdoor amphitheatre near Denver world famous and which was the setting for the concert video Under a Blood Red Sky, produced as a companion to the live album of the same name. What a scene. June 5, 1983. Steady rain, drifting fog, large lighted torches surrounding the stage, and the natural cliffs of Red Rocks. These were the dramatic backdrops for one of Rolling Stone's 50 Moments that Changed Rock and Roll. The performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday stands out as a classic, with Bono marching to the edge of the stage to plant a white flag of truce in the crowd as a statement against the violence in Northern Ireland. Segments of the video were frequently shown on MTV and helped expand U2's American following. Read this May 23 Denver Post article to find out how it almost didn't happen. To celebrate the occasion, a re-mastered CD and bonus disc, as well as a concert DVD, will be released August 19.
 But fans don't have to wait until August to get their U2 fix. July 21 will see the re-mastered re-release of the band's first three albums, Boy, October and War. And all of this is happening against the backdrop of the band's current recording sessions with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, leading up to the expected October release of their 12th studio album.
-G
There's no place like The White Water Tavern. Little Rock is really fortunate to have it. Walking into it is like stepping back in time. It's a tavern in the truest sense of the word. Ancient wooden floors, neon signs that haven't worked in 20 years, blue ribbon beer for a buck fifty, and stage lighting so old it looks like it might have been used on the set of I Love Lucy. Matt White and company may have modernized the crowd but the setting has stood the test of time. And thank God for that.
Monday night was a great night even by White Water standards. Band of Annuals were in town from Salt Lake and they played a night's worth of fine music for no cover charge. What a deal. Describing themselves as a folk/country/rock band, their sound really is very hard to categorize. Lead vocalist Jay Henderson's voice has been likened to that of David Gray, a comparison I didn't agree with at first but on reflection is pretty accurate. The lap steel guitar is what lends the touch of country to their sound, but the keyboard takes it in a different direction. Henderson and keyboardist Jeremi Hanson (she's a girl) harmonize beautifully on vocals. The interplay between the band's mellow sound and Henderson and Hanson's harmony is really easy on the ears and, quite frankly, mesmerizing after a while. Particularly after the second blue ribbon.
After playing maybe half the set, the band members took a much-deserved break, hung out with the crowd, had a round of shots, and then it was back to the old grindstone for the second half. If you've never heard this band, I really recommend you check them out on their Myspace page and listen to a few of their songs. And if you missed this show, don't worry too much about it. They'll be coming back through sometime in late September, according to guitarist Jamie Timm.
The one complaint we always have about WWT is that the bands never seem to start anywhere near on time. That's not a problem on a Friday or Saturday night, but on Monday night...well, it makes for a helluva rough Tuesday morning. All in all, though, this band was well worth the wait. I'll be back to see them again in September.
-G
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