The Afghan Whigs got back together, which was always cause for celebration (and seeing them multiple nights), but especially after a few albums that marked some evolution, they were just another great band making their way, the benefit of being old guys getting to keep rocking out not being so significant, but good to know that they’re still a presence. Also enough said by now that they could have just as well have been Greg’s latter band The Twilight Singers, with, like, maybe one original 'Whigs member changed out, so could have just as well have been either band, except that they'd get more traction with the old name, but keep everything else the same. But now they’ve moved on, and kept moving, and they don’t even bother as much with the pre-reunion ‘Whigs stuff, as if that wasn’t what carried them to where they get to be now. They might even have the benefit of having fans that aren’t only there for the songs they know from half their lives ago, and they might be mature (not necessarily old, but probably) enough to want to hear what Greg and the band have come up with lately, as well as the post-reunion stuff they might have blinked on because of distractions by commitments in life they didn’t have back in the day. Which might as well have been us, who weren’t even planning on going to the show until I got the offer from DoMoreLA (which we’d tested with the Primavera fest so we knew it was legit, and though we couldn’t expect what were probably big-ticket prices for a festival, we could trust the regular shows if they came our way. In this case we had no reason to say no, for free tickets (or $5 a month for the service)). So that made it easy, and a weeknight out. It also finally gave us the opportunity to hit the Belasco, a venue that had been open for a while but we hadn't had much reason to go (because of, you know, paying for concert tickets). We wouldn’t venture into downtown L.A. for much other reason than a show (which would ideally be somewhere else, particularly Hollywood, but there are other parts of the city that need some attention), and it had been a while anyway (even before moving out of the county). Carla and I had never even been to a show at the Mayan together, and that was right next door, making for weird politics to have venues sharing a wall, and maybe there’s a story, and maybe it has to do with how it looks like the Mayan has been shuttered for a while (at least for concerts, so maybe they’re just keeping their businesses separate). So the Belasco is nice enough, if for being a copy of the Fonda inside, which might be a practical template but a functional one, and with enough room to get around but not so small that it’s uncomfortable or can’t accommodate the potential of bigger bands. About the right size for the Afghan Whigs, who have always hovered around Palace-sized venues, at least in L.A. (and maybe that being their limit anywhere for a standard show outside of a festival). They and we were comfortable enough. Of course they were doing stuff off the new one, How Do You Burn?, which rocked as well as it needed to, sitting well enough among the stuff that sounded newer, for being post-reunion and not the stuff that has cemented into our consciousness from decades ago, and it was all loud enough, if for Greg knowing his own limits and not going crazy (and plenty sober). There was a mini-set of a few Gentlemen tracks in the middle, to celebrate its awkward 29th anniversary, and a few 1969 tracks, which all felt like a concession to the old material before getting on with the new, and grinding it out, if just to distance themselves from such familiarity to it after all these years. We know they’ve been tour dogs then and now, but we can’t know how playing all those old tracks can wear on them after all this time, whether they want to complain subtly about it or not, but they just don’t play the early stuff with nearly the same vigor. Luckily the new stuff works fine, if not with the intensity that they were known for as part of the song. They were also playing the same set, scarcely any covers (and nothing spontaneous) with just the five guys on stage with no extras or guests, a deviation from the party they used to have on stage where the show could go in any direction (or they could sell it like it could, especially when they go to the level of being required to be responsible enough), so it seemed worn already, but still enough just to witness what they play in the new show. It was also the last night of the tour, so they were clearly done with it all and could use a break, even if we were fresh and ready to go for whatever they gave us, which, after all, was enough (especially if you liked them enough to not be there just for the songs you know from way back when). Greg is bearded and paunchy now, but so is the audience (myself, of course, included). Then we ran into Andrew & Mary at the end, and they had passes for a bunch of shows, this being one, that sounded like a pretty good idea if we were that close to DTLA (and better than DoMoreLA, which had dry spots in its offerings, but could came up with a few good ones).
"I'll Make You See God"
"Matamoros"
"Light as a Feather"
"Oriole"
"Toy Automatic"
"Gentlemen"
"What Jail Is Like"
"Who Do You Love?" (Bo Diddley cover)
"Fountain and Fairfax"
"Algiers"
"Catch a Colt"
"Teenage Wristband" (The Twilight Singers cover)
"Heaven on Their Minds" (Andrew Lloyd Webber cover)
"Somethin' Hot"
"Please, Baby, Please"
"It Kills"
"Demon in Profile"
"A Line of Shots"
"John the Baptist"
"Summer's Kiss"
"Into the Floor"
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (The Smiths cover)
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