Greg Dulli, November 16 at the Troubadour

I’ve seen Greg Dulli before, back in the day with the Afghan Whigs then later with the Twilight Singers and the Gutter Twins, even a night co-billed with Mark Lanegan (though pretty much still the Gutter Twins), and it was always a great show, but in his later groups he's seemed like he was always holding something back. With the Whigs he was chatty and cantankerous (and probably also drunk and/or high); these days he's trying to be cool in front of Lanegan, say, or maybe just getting older and sober and letting his songs -- the good, new ones -- speak from themselves. As it was, this was billed as a show featuring not the band but the man himself so it could have gone anywhere, and that was the fun of it: was he going to show off the new stuff or would he reach deep into the catalog or could it be a bunch of covers (as he’s known to whip out spontaneously) or maybe be a little of all of that? Was he going to rock out or was he going to keep it cool and low? He certainly had a smorgasbord of material -- even just originals -- to choose from. Even with only two other band members -- and one of them being a violinist/cellist/upright bass player; no drummer -- he can still fill a room, with people and with sound. Even playing stripped-down, the band still rocked-out as much as if they were a full band (though the Troubadour's sound-system and the relatively small space could get some of the credit. It's never sounded better, though it helps that there was little distortion in the music and there wasn't a bunch of extra noise in it). He started out (only 20 minutes late) with what some might have considered an acoustic set then he brought out a very special guest -- the Whigs' bassist, John Curley -- and it suddenly became a very special, near-Afghan Whigs show, the closest we've gotten in more than 10 years. Curley fit in just fine with the band, playing mostly later Whigs numbers, but for the real fans that were there (and how many weren't long-time Whigs fans from way back when?), it was as close to rapturous as anything could get. Even for those few songs, it would have been more than enough, for the price of the ticket and for a satisfactory show by the current version of a rock star (in his own mind if not in fact). Of course Lanegan came out to guest for a song and Petra Haden also appeared, to play some of the new songs that she helped record. The rest of the show was, indeed, a mix of the stuff by rest of his groups, certainly his right to play, including stuff from the soon-to-be-released new Twilight Singers album, and it all sounded great. Though still the highpoint would be the Whigs stuff, the stuff that really rocked out, though “Teenage Wristband” never disappoints in that regard (but of course you knew I would have to say that). Carla and I went with Cid & John and we all waited around afterward for Dulli to come out to the merch table to sign stuff (something I likely wouldn't have done if I were there alone). Of course we were at the front of the line. I’ve met him before and I had nothing for him to sign this time but I still had to make an effort to engage him somehow, if only to have an etched memory of the event, so I said I was a fan and asked if there was any chance for the Whigs to get back together, maybe even to play Coachella. To the latter question he said, “It’s too hot,” then for the former, “Ain’t gonna happen, dude.” Though it makes me wonder: if he’s still cool with Curley, and they could get a new drummer (as the Whigs had a revolving cast in their day), and obviously Dulli doesn’t mind playing the old stuff (unless he was just doing it to include some Whigs stuff for his solo show since he knew the audience would expect it), and if it’s not legalities stopping them from getting back together (since those kinds of things can be worked around), and assuming it’s not McCollum holding them back (though I would guess that this is the main reason), then what’s the deal? Maybe we should have waited at the back of the line so I would have had time to get a more complete answer. Then again, the music always speaks for itself, the man’s new stuff is still good, and the old stuff was magic for back then and it's good now in its recorded form. That’s all we need. Though it’s nice when you get more than you were expecting.

Greg Dulli's set-list:
"St. Gregory"
"God's Children"
"Blackbird & The Fox"
"Bonnie Brae"
"A Love Supreme"/"Please Stay (Once You Go Away)"
"The Killer"
"Crazy"
"What Jail is Like"
"66"
"Let Me Lie To You"
"Forty Dollars"
"Step Into The Light"
"If I Were Going"
"Summer's Kiss"
"Follow You Down"
"The Stations"
"Never Seen No Devil"

"Candy Cane Crawl"
"Down the Line" (José González cover)
"Teenage Wristband"
"The Twilite Kid"