April 14, 2008Concert review: Steve Earle, Allison MoorerFirst, the ever-lovin' deadwood version. Another good show at the Jeff. When are they going to book a dud? Earle, as is his wont, talked a little about politics. At one point, a guy in the audience yelled, "Just sing!" Earle ignored him. But c'mon. Do you expect to hear an artist like Earle and not get a dose of his opinions. It's not like we're talking Linda Ronstadt in Vegas -- and she has the right to say what she wants, too. This is a guy who nowadays is known nearly as well for his strong opinions as for his songs. And a lot of his songs have opinions in them. I guess it's just easier to ignore something about which you disagree if it has a nice guitar part with it. Still, the "just sing" guy wasn't the entertaining yeller. That honor goes to a guy who definitely loves him some Steve Earle. He was obviously one of those fans who has been with Earle from the beginning, and definitely digs the outlaw vibe of a lot of Earle's music. He just would not shut up, until finally an usher settled him down. But he did get in a couple of funny statements. Late in the show, Earle asked the audience, "Have I ever played here before?" Several people shouted no. The excitable Earle fan shouted: "Every night, at my house! In my car! In my house! All the time, Steve." Earle, who had tried to ignore most of the man's statements (lest he encourage him?), had to crack a smile at that one. Thanks to Chris Winston, business editor at The Roanoke Times, who apparently saw me leave before the set was over. Note to readers: Making deadlines is a dirty business, and I have missed some good stuff as a result. But Winston had my back. He texted me the names of songs that followed "Galway Girl." "Steve's Hammer (for Pete)," with audience participation, "Satellite Radio," "Way Down in the Hole." Encore: "The Mountain"; "Jerusalem";"Little Rock & Roller"; and "Copperhead Road." I had especially wanted to hear him do "Satellite Radio," maybe my favorite song on the new record. Like my old writing coach, Carole Horner, said: "The news is rude." McDonald did a really nice job on the tables. He gave particularly interesting support on "Transcendental Blues" and "Jericho Road." For some reason, the song that stuck with me best after the show has been "OxyContin Blues," from the new record. McDonald dialed in a four-beat bass groove, with light yet martial snare drum on top. Earle strummed a four-string banjo, which he took some time to talk about before the song began. "Bluegrass fans need not get excited, because it ain't that kind of a banjo," Earle said. "It's intimidating to play banjo around here, because this part of Virginia has produced some of the finest banjo pickers of all time. "I only play the kind of banjo that scares sheep." I could go on and on about Earle, a very good performer. But I'd like to add a little more about Moorer, who got short shrift in 12 column inches of print. I was reminded by a google search earlier today that her first single was nominated for an Academy Award. She co-wrote that song, "A Soft Place to Fall," which was part of "The Horse Whisperer" soundtrack -- hence, the Oscar nomination. She performed it at the Jeff, along with songs from "Mockingbird," her new CD -- featuring songs written by other women. Highlights included Jessie Colter's "I'm Looking For Blue Eyes." Moorer, 35, said it was the first song she learned, and that her grandmother tells her that she was coaxed to sing it for others when she was 3 -- but someone had to prop her up on a piano first. She also did a beautiful job on Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come." She told the audience that it's the most hopeful song she knows. "I thought if I could go around singing it, then I'd be putting some good in the world," she said. |
.....Advertisement.....
|
...Advertisement...
...Advertisement...
Comments
[April 15, 2008 7:55 AM]
Hank BostwickExcellent review, boys.
But we had a slightly different take on the show. Check it out at the Star City Harbinger.
http://starcityharbinger.com/?p=158
Cheers.
[April 15, 2008 11:22 AM]
Floyd County HokieAs I recall, Steve Earle ALMOST played Roanoke around 1990/91. I had tix to see him open for George Thorogood, and I was eagerly anticipating Steve's show (it was the Copperhead Road tour). Unfortunately, Thorogood decided to enter rehab during that tour and the Roanoke date was never rescheduled. I have yet to forgive George Thorogood. At least I got to see Steve & Allison at the Jeff...the music has changed quite a bit over the years, but it's still good stuff.
[April 15, 2008 3:04 PM]
RedDirtSceneI drove from Roanoke to Hampton one weekend sometime in the late 80's to see Steve Earle and Rosanne Cash. Guitar Town had blown me away and I was excited to hear an edge on Country radio again. As usual, Nashville couldn't understand it and probably still can't understand how Steve Earle exists, much less win Grammys. Although Steve's music has grown to be too political for my musical tastes these days, I still appreciate the influence he had on many of the artists I enjoy today. Jason Boland, Randy Rogers, Adam Hood, Miranda Lambert will all list Steve as a major influence. There's more to country music these days than what Nashville and Clear Channel pumps in to your radio. The music coming out of Oklahoma and Texas these days leads the way for those of us who can't listen to Kenny Chesney and Big and Rich.
[April 16, 2008 9:47 AM]
StuHaving read reviews and blogs regarding Steve Earle's concert in Roanoke on Monday I feel that I was at a different gig.
The concert was a great disappointment. Starting with Allison Moorer (as the concecert did) she does indeed have a strong voice but her set was one dimensional and, frankly, tedious.
Expectations were raised with Steve Earle's arrival on stage yet were soon dampened by his failure to engage with the audience at any level, songs were delivered in a fashion that seemed as though he was merely just going through the set list and earning his dollar.
The sound quality throughout the concert was appalling and, along with the manner of the performance, only added to the feeling that the paying audience were a mere afterthought. The cacophony of the drum tracks added by the so-called disc jockey was overpowering and amateurish - the playing and singing was drowned out by this poorly judged attempt to add width to the lacklustre delivery of Steve's undeniably wonderful songs.
Over many years of going to concerts I have been taken by friends to see artists to whom I was entirely indifferent only to be amazed and delighted by their performance and on the other hand I have been to see artists who I have previously held in high regard only to be disappointed by cynical performances that seems to rely upon fans' blind acceptance of getting to see a show by a loved artist; I believe that Monday's concert fell into this category.
I will still listen to the many Steve Earle recordings that I have, I will continue to love his music but the Roanoke audience deserved better from Steve Earle on Monday night.
[April 16, 2008 2:30 PM]
Tad : →http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/musicThanks for all the comments!
Floyd County Hokie: I think you can forgive Thorogood now!
Red Dirt: Who are the Oklahoma and Texas artists you are listening to nowadays?
Stu: Had you seen Earle perform live before? Also, do you not think the mix between guitar and tables improved after the first song, "Tennessee Blues"?
[April 17, 2008 8:09 AM]
StuTad: I had only seen Steve Earle on video or TV which, I grant you, cannot always be taken as a true representation as there will always be a degree of editing taking place.
Regarding the mixing of guitar and 'tables' - after the initial bowel-loosening onslaught the bass was backed off a little but, in my opinion, remained intrusive and detracting from Steve Earle's material.
I readily accept that every performer will have the idiosyncracies - after all, this is often adds to their appeal and what endears them to us - but I stand by my opnion that Roanoke was short-changed on Monday, and that's a great shame.
I would like to add that I thought that the Jefferson Center is a wonderful venue, Roanoke is lucky to have such a great auditorium.
[April 18, 2008 11:42 AM]
BWThe politics talk reminds me of a Bonnie Raitt concert at Wolf Trap near D.C. a few years back. She was talking politics too and none too friendly to the administration. My friends were in the seat section, not out on the lawn. Tickets were not cheap. A guy behind them kept fussing about Bonnie talking about politics and how she should shut up and sing, making it hard for my friends to hear what she was saying. One of my friends turned around and said to the guy, "I paid a hundred dollars for these tickets!" Guy said, "Me too!" Friend said, "And I didn't pay that to listen to you." Guy shut up.
I saw Steve Earle a couple of years ago at the 9:30 Club in D.C. It was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. (No DJing that time, FWIW.) Alison Moorer (his new love, not yet wife at the time) opened for him. I was underwhelmed by her set and glad it was short. Like Stu, I found it monotonous. She joined him onstage during his set, and I thought they sang well together. If touring with his wife is what it takes to keep Steve happily married, I'm all for it. But the samples from her new album that I've listened to didn't do it for me either.
[April 18, 2008 12:04 PM]
Tad : →http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/musicStu, I hadn't seen Earle live either. I saw one full concert, a few years ago, on MTV. He was with the Dukes, playing a prison. Great show, whether edited or not. He was certainly more animated on that show, but it was a rock 'n' roll show for a bunch of prisoners. You'd better be into it!
That said, I'm not sure I feel that he wasn't putting out for the audience. I'm not sure exactly what you expect. I do have a feeling he was trying not to encourage the guy who was yelling for him to "turn the damn thing loose." And it wasn't like he was wordless all night.
Something else to keep in mind here, particularly where his performance with McDonald was concerned: He had blown the groove a week or so earlier on "The Tonight Show," and I think he was focusing on keeping time with the digital equipment in play.
I see you give the "tables" the downgrade. Understandable in one sense. If you've heard "Washington Square Serenade," you would agree that the live accompaniment on those tunes was sparse at best. And it was too loud at first -- that night I thought my ears were adjusting, then later I thought it was the mix, because it came into balance pretty quickly. But as it progressed, I loved the subtlety on display in "Transcendental Blues" and "Oxycontin Blues." Mostly, it was just your basic beat box.
Quick question for you, Stu: Are you a fan of any hip-hop and/or rap? I'm not looking to judge, just testing your subjectivity. If not, what was going on that night would probably have been a turnoff. Not to say that McDonald was a master DJ. He was good, and that's it, but you also don't want too much cutting behind Earle's simple acoustic arrangements and country yowl.
If you are a turntable fan, I guess you just didn't like that particular combination, right?
Anyway, I appreciate your insights.
[April 18, 2008 12:16 PM]
Tad : →http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/musicBW, with Raitt, as with Earle, a political monologue or two is going to be a part of the equation.
Raitt has been socially and politically active since before she became a name musician. Maybe it was just that this guy sitting near you had only heard her sing "I Can't Make You Love Me," and had no idea who or what else he was going to hear?
"And I didn't pay that to listen to you" is a *great* shut-up line!
I remember seeing jazz guitar great Larry Carlton play the Baked Potato in Los Angeles. A woman near the back of the room kept shouting a request. Carlton was dismissive, and for some reason the woman thought it would help her cause to yell back, "I didn't pay to get in!"
Carlton's reply: "Shut the hell up, then!" It busted up the room, and nary a peep from her was heard again.
[April 18, 2008 12:19 PM]
Tad : →http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/musicBW, with Raitt, as with Earle, a political monologue or two is going to be a part of the equation.
Raitt has been socially and politically active since before she became a name musician. Maybe it was just that this guy had only heard her sing "I Can't Make You Love Me," and had no idea who he was going to hear?
"And I didn't pay that to listen to you" is a *great* shut-up line!
I remember seeing jazz guitar great Larry Carlton play the Baked Potato in Los Angeles. A woman near the back of the room kept shouting a request. Carlton was dismissive, and for some reason the woman thought it would help her cause to yell back, "I didn't pay to get in!"
Carlton's reply: "Shut the hell up, then!" It busted up the room, and nary a peep from her was heard again.
[April 18, 2008 12:42 PM]
BWYeah, I thought my friend's delivery was perfect. His "I paid $100 for these tickets" was said in an indignant tone, suckering the guy into thinking my friend was agreeing with him. The follow-up must have felt like a slap upside the head.
I dunno what his problem was except that in the D.C. area, some folks in audiences don't like hearing musicians take an anti-administration stand, even when the musicians' views are not secret. I've seen it time and again. Probably true elsewhere too. Some folks seem to see musicians only as entertainers.
We also saw Bonnie the next night at an outdoor show in Solomons, Maryland, a little town near the Chesapeake Bay (Holmes Brothers opened for her--great show!), and she didn't talk politics there--she talked about the great crab cakes she'd had before the show.
[April 18, 2008 4:40 PM]
RedDirtScene : →http://www.galleywinter.com/main/Tad, you asked... I'm always willing to push MKOM.
I'm listening to a lot of Adam Hood right now.....ever just hear a band name and want to check their stuff out? Frog Holler did that to me.
It's probably just easier to send you to wikipedia... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dirt_(music)
Red Dirt is a music scene based out of Stillwater, Oklahoma (the college town where Oklahoma State University is located), with a fan base that now reaches to Texas, Europe, and beyond. The name Red Dirt comes from the soil in Oklahoma. It is an outstanding feature of the region and comes from the large amounts of iron oxide found in the soil, which give it the classic red tint. Although Stillwater is considered to be the "Nashville" of Red Dirt music, Red Dirt artists now live coast to coast.
Critics say that Red Dirt can best be likened to the indie genre of rock 'n' roll as there is no definitive sound that can be attributed to all the bands in the movement. Most Red Dirt artists would be classified by the music industry as Americana, folk, or alt-country, though the range of sounds in the Red Dirt spectrum goes beyond these genres. It has been described as a mix of folk, rock, country, bluegrass, blues, western swing, and honky tonk, with even a few Mexican influences.
[April 19, 2008 12:59 AM]
Stu"Quick question for you, Stu: Are you a fan of any hip-hop and/or rap?"
In short - No; but a qualified No.
Firstly, while I can appreciate the idea of trying to mix some DJ-style backing to the embellish certain tracks played from the Washington Square Serenade album it was clumsy and did not do Steve Earle any credit - why not bring along a young percussionist to the do the job properly ?
..and now to the 'qualified No' part
I find rap and hip-hop a big turn-off, however one of the albums brought over with us to listen on the plane was Damian Marley's Welcome to Jamrock and there are many well-mixed tracks on this album; recordings by such performers as The Orb, System 7, Durutti Column & Portishead feature in the collection that my son (18 yrs) and I share. So while neither of us have much time (if any) for rap we both are happy to listen to music that has either come out of the DJ-type realm of uses, to a greater or lesser extent, sampling.
As we have come over for MerleFest, I can live with a sloppy show from Steve Earle but if The Infamous Stringdusters start having a boom-box backing there will be trouble in North Carolina next week !
[April 19, 2008 6:23 PM]
Tad : →http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/musicThanks, Stu. Good to hear your thoughts on the show.
I hope you all have a great MerleFest. I'm sure the Stringdusters will perform sans such backing. If they do, you won't be the only one thinking trouble, I'll bet.
Enjoy! And feel free to post your thoughts on MerleFest.
[April 20, 2008 7:43 AM]
StuJust getting bags together to head off down to North Carolina now.. while the SE gig may have been less than expected it has been good 'chewing the fat' about it on this blog.
All the best...... Stu
[April 20, 2008 5:19 PM]
Tad : →http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/musicSafe travels, sir!