Friday, September 12, 2003
last night was great. let me tell you about it.
the Hackensaw Boys were the band that opened. they played a kind of Appalachian bluegrass, and were later joined by this Grand Ole Opry star (i don't remember his name, but apparently he's one of the old country greats. i dunno). i kind of felt sorry for them that the audience, at that point, consisted of about fifteen people. because they were probably one of the best folk groups i've ever heard live.
after the Hackensaws this band called the Detroit Cobras came on. i don't know what to say about them. they were playing their instruments and playing them well, i guess, but there was really nothing going on. there was no cool guitar stuff. there were no memorable melodies. the songs were identical. the drummer twirled his sticks once or twice, and that was about it.
well, then Cheap Trick came out. now they were amazing. but LOUD. anyway, they played all of their hits, and it was fun. i get the idea that the lead guitarist, Rick Nielsen, is incredibly obsessed with himself. he played a different guitar on pretty much every song, including this scary five-necked guitar on Surrender. i mean, five necks. what the shit. he didn't even play all of them. the whole point of that guitar is to get applause. although it was kind of cool.
but the whole time, Rick kept throwing his guitar pick into the audience and then plucking a new one from his mic stand (they seemed to be growing there like mushrooms), as if he was sure that everyone wanted a guitar pick used by the great Rick Nielsen. and i guess i secretly did. but eventually he was grabbing handfuls of them and throwing them into the audience. by the end of their set, the band was basically barfing guitar picks all over the club... i got one. jake got two. it just seemed kind of pathetic, like they were making ABSOLUTELY damn sure that we knew they were awesome, as if they were trying to compensate for the music (and the music was really, really good, don't get me wrong).
so in that regard, Cake (the band that i had REALLY come there to see), was a breath of fresh air. Cake has three guitarists, and they used three guitars. John McCrea's (the lead man) guitar looks exactly like it sounds on the records: old. acoustic. held together in places with duct tape. John was wearing a baseball cap and a t-shirt. he looked like some guy you'd see in the grocery store. he thanked us for coming. and their set was absolutely thrilling. let's see, they played (not in this order) Stickshifts and Safetybelts, Comfort Eagle, Haze of Love, Love You Madly, The Distance, It's Coming Down, Never There, Comanche, Ruby Sees All, Frank Sinatra, Sheep Go To Heaven, You Part the Waters, a new song that's going to be on their next album, and encored with a 10-minute long, interactive version of their masterpiece Jolene. each song was performed with near studio-quality. and wow, John loves to play that vibraslap.
and then we drove all the way back home from Minneapolis after the show. on one tank of gas, too. i got home at 5:30 AM.
the Hackensaw Boys were the band that opened. they played a kind of Appalachian bluegrass, and were later joined by this Grand Ole Opry star (i don't remember his name, but apparently he's one of the old country greats. i dunno). i kind of felt sorry for them that the audience, at that point, consisted of about fifteen people. because they were probably one of the best folk groups i've ever heard live.
after the Hackensaws this band called the Detroit Cobras came on. i don't know what to say about them. they were playing their instruments and playing them well, i guess, but there was really nothing going on. there was no cool guitar stuff. there were no memorable melodies. the songs were identical. the drummer twirled his sticks once or twice, and that was about it.
well, then Cheap Trick came out. now they were amazing. but LOUD. anyway, they played all of their hits, and it was fun. i get the idea that the lead guitarist, Rick Nielsen, is incredibly obsessed with himself. he played a different guitar on pretty much every song, including this scary five-necked guitar on Surrender. i mean, five necks. what the shit. he didn't even play all of them. the whole point of that guitar is to get applause. although it was kind of cool.
but the whole time, Rick kept throwing his guitar pick into the audience and then plucking a new one from his mic stand (they seemed to be growing there like mushrooms), as if he was sure that everyone wanted a guitar pick used by the great Rick Nielsen. and i guess i secretly did. but eventually he was grabbing handfuls of them and throwing them into the audience. by the end of their set, the band was basically barfing guitar picks all over the club... i got one. jake got two. it just seemed kind of pathetic, like they were making ABSOLUTELY damn sure that we knew they were awesome, as if they were trying to compensate for the music (and the music was really, really good, don't get me wrong).
so in that regard, Cake (the band that i had REALLY come there to see), was a breath of fresh air. Cake has three guitarists, and they used three guitars. John McCrea's (the lead man) guitar looks exactly like it sounds on the records: old. acoustic. held together in places with duct tape. John was wearing a baseball cap and a t-shirt. he looked like some guy you'd see in the grocery store. he thanked us for coming. and their set was absolutely thrilling. let's see, they played (not in this order) Stickshifts and Safetybelts, Comfort Eagle, Haze of Love, Love You Madly, The Distance, It's Coming Down, Never There, Comanche, Ruby Sees All, Frank Sinatra, Sheep Go To Heaven, You Part the Waters, a new song that's going to be on their next album, and encored with a 10-minute long, interactive version of their masterpiece Jolene. each song was performed with near studio-quality. and wow, John loves to play that vibraslap.
and then we drove all the way back home from Minneapolis after the show. on one tank of gas, too. i got home at 5:30 AM.
