false advertising... grr...

Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins in Denver tonight.....

First off, I have to admit that I was WAAAAAAAAAY late in coming to the Rilo Kiley party. I had never heard of them until early this year, when I kept hearing all this buzz about the new Jenny Lewis album. I think I checked out Rabbit Fur Coat before I got into Rilo Kiley... either way I am totally enamored of both bands. I think that Rilo Kiley is my current favorite band - a dead heat with the Eels, anyway.

I have a huge girl crush on Jenny Lewis. HUGE. So when I found out a month or so ago that she was coming to Denver I was ever so excited. September 30 at the Fillmore. I thought.... wow, the Fillmore is a really big venue for JL and The Watson Twins to be playing. They played a date at the Bluebird over the summer that I missed (for which I subsequently and repeatedly kicked myself). I'm terrible at estimations, but I'd have to guess that the capacity of the Fillmore is at least 4x that of the Bluebird.

I didn't think much of it though... at least until I got my ticket in the mail:

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!? Live Nation advertised this show as "Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins". At least when I first found out about the show. I bought the ticket through the ducatking website, and no mention was made of the North Mississippi Allstars. I should have known. It wouldn't really have made a difference - I mean I would have gone anyway. But I was really juiced for a JL show, not a JL opening set. And maybe it's me, but JL and North Mississippi Allstars seems like quite an odd pairing. Oh well.

On to the show. They opened with Run Devil Run - a severely different version than that on the album. But it was awesome. Then on to The Big Guns. After that, I can only say what songs they played... I have no memory for such things as song order. They played the following songs from RFC:

Rise Up With Fists!!!
Happy
The Charging Sky (my favorite on the album!)
Melt Your Heart
You Are What You Love
Handle With Care

There was a song where the girls sang a capella - the parts I remember are something like this: sunday I missed him, wednesday I dated him, thursday he didn't call, friday he did, saturday I dumped him. Ha ha, that is totally paraphrased, but it was beautiful.

There was a song that included the lyrics "I'll treat you kind, I'll rob you blind", and a song called Jack Killed Mom. I don't know if these were covers, or what.

She also did two new songs. One was called Fernando and was very catchy and had some great dance moves by the girls... :) The other was Jenny and her guitar with the rest of the band singing into the mic. The chorus was "I'm A Liar". Also about building fires and whatnot. It was fabulous. Neither new song sounded remotely like a Rilo Kiley song, so it'll be interesting to find out what she does with them. I wouldn't be too upset about another JL & TWT album down the line.

They ended the set with Born Secular and left the stage in phases... Jenny and the twins first, then the steel guit player and bassist, then Johnathan Rice, finally the drummer. Stupid Fillmore teased us by letting us cheer wildly for about a minute and a half before turning up the lights & house music. So no encore. Pisser.

Jenny has just the most amazing voice. Her albums don't do her any justice at all. Although there were 7 people on stage, I was completely mesmerized by her the entire evening. Whatever it was that made her forego her acting career for a life of music has brightened this world and made us all very lucky people indeed.

I had been debating (since receiving my ticket!) whether to stay for the Mississippi Allstars or not. I've never listened to them, but really have never had the desire to. I would have been willing to give them a chance, but it was about 800 degrees inside the theatre and I was very sleepy after drinking beer all afternoon at my parents' house. Also, I was there alone and not really in a "talking to strangers" kind of mood. When Jenny thanked the "Mississippi Allstars" for letting them play, I took it as a sign and left after her set.

It was kind of humorous to see the place after it was made clear there would be no encore. Kind of like a changing of the guard - all the JL fans were pouring out as the NMAS fans were pouring in. There were a LOT of people who left at the same time as I did.

Overall, I'm pleased. It was a great show... kind of a bummer to pay $25 for an hour long JL set, but it was still worth it. I just wish Jenny was getting most of my money.....

Since I listened to Rabbit Fur Coat both to and from the show, I'm doing some Rilo Kiley now:

I love you, Jenny. :)

you don't have to call me darlin', darlin'...

I saw Band Of Horses in Boulder tonight. Holy fucking hell, did they sound good!

I'd never heard of them until a few months ago when someone recommended their "Everything All The Time" (EATT) album. I liked it immediately. I hear them compared to My Morning Jacket a lot, but I don't know - to me they kind of sound like The Shins. At any rate, it's a fabulous album.

I didn't know what to expect from the show, as it turned out it was way more rocking than I thought it would be, based on EATT... they started with The First Song (well, obviously...) I can't remember what was next, but song 3 was The Funeral. The Funeral is far and away my favorite song on the album, and the live version just blew the album version away.

After a new song, they did a cover of Steve Goodman's (or David Allan Coe's?!?) You Don't Even Call Me By My Name. I think this was the precise moment that I stopped really liking Band Of Horses and started loving them. Indie pop meets country & western, indeed.

After that, details of the setlist are sketchy at best. I know they played another new song, a few more from EATT, and they closed the show with covers of The New Year (don't know this band) and ELO.

Definitely a rocking good time. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Now playing - well, clearly:

andrew bird, why must you forsake me? (or, hippoPUBamus, i hardly knew ye)

So, it's Saturday night. I had big plans. Yup. HippoPUBamus is tonight, and Andrew Bird is playing at the Bluebird. The pub crawl started at 5:00 in lower downtown Denver (LoDo), so my plan was to hit the first few bars, then head up to Colfax to catch Andrew. HippoPUBamus is finishing on Colfax, so I planned to hook up with the pub crawlers after the show.

My evening started out great - 3 bars on the pub crawl. I had a whiskey and ginger ale at Double Daughters, a margarita at the Rio and a beer at the Falling Rock. Then I headed east to the Bluebird and Andrew Bird. This is where the evening fell apart.

Andrew Bird was SOLD OUT!!!!! Can you believe that shit?!? I suppose I really should have bought a ticket before the day of the show, but really... who knew that so many people in Denver would ever have HEARD of Andrew Bird, let alone want to see him play?!?

So, once I found out the show was sold out I had few options - I could head BACK downtown and hook up with the pub crawl... though they were heading my way shortly. I could wait on Colfax until the crawl caught up with me - in about 45 minutes. Or I could head home. Sadly, I have to admit... I am old. The thought of being home by 10 was rather enticing... so here I am.

At any rate, I am chatting online with my sister now. So... hippoPUBamus I apologize for not waiting for you. And Andrew Bird, you owe me a concert. :)

whiskey river take my mind...

Willie Nelson at Red Rocks last night. Yeah, that's right. Willie kicked some serious ass. My sister and I took my dad for a late father's day present. He's been a Willie fan for a long long time, and the last time he saw a show was at Cheyenne Frontier Days 12 years ago!! It was hard to tell for a while if dad was having a good time, but by the end he was singing along with everyone else... :)

I had only seen Willie once before - ironically when my dad took me years and years ago. I couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 at the time.

As expected, the crowd was very diverse. Fortunately they were also very cool... at least from where we were sitting. Our friends Leah, Laura and Bryan joined us at our seats - about nine rows back - and we all had a blast. Leah's supposed to send me a picture of all of us so I'll post that when I get it.

A pleasant surprise was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band opening the show. We didn't know who was opening until they were announced. It was great to see them - first time I've seen them live.

We rounded out the holiday weekend with a family birthday party/BBQ today at my parents' house. All in all it was a very fun weekend!!!

thank you chris thile for not making me deaf

I saw Chris Thile and his band in Boulder last night, and did they EVER tear that shit up!

It's been a while since I've seen a good bluegrass show, and while I am still sad about the impending Nickel Creek hiatus, I have to say that Chris Thile has managed to put together quite an impressive 5 piece band. I think I love the banjo player - Noam Pikelny. He's funny, he looks like Jake Gyllenhaal, AND he plays the banjo!!

Separated at birth? You make the call:

Talented (and good-looking) musicians aside, it's not everyday that I get to hear bluegrass covers of The Strokes, The White Stripes and Radiohead. I mean, seriously, how fabulous is that?!?

It was a bit disconcerting, though, to hear Chris use the phrase "fucking around" during their cover of The Strokes' "Heart In A Cage". What happened to that Nickel Creek wholesomeness... lol. I guess the kid is growing up.

Anyway, enough rambling for now. The album is out on September 12, you should buy it. It's awesome.