Toadies/Local H, September 24, 2017 at the Troubadour

You’d think I might have had my fill of Local H by now, but I can barely help taking any opportunity to see them again. I can appreciate that they still play places far tinier than they deserve -- this even being the third time I’ve seen them at the Troubadour -- and they could have been doing yet another tour just the two of them with no team (which is astounding to consider, though young bands probably do it all the time, but the H have at least one hit that still gets played on the radio), and I can support that when I can. Carla is nearly the same with Toadies (though they’ve held on to their success enough to be able to consistently have roadies), and already I’d seen them more than a few times (even sometimes without her). Even if we might have hesitated for yet another show with either band (more for each partner rolling eyes that we'd want to see them yet again), when the wheel of combinations came up with these two together we were in for it. A show on Sunday night should have been easier to get to, not being after a day of work and commuting, though it ended up being a decompression event after having a harrowing and depressing meeting with our daughter’s guardians. But we had these tickets so at least we had something to go to, and maybe having plans even got us out of there sooner. While the show helped us recover, we were so zoned-out from the day's events that it passed through us, also mixing with recollections of the numerous other times we’ve seen both bands to be just another show not much indistinguishable from other times, except that both of these bands were playing together. Though Scott came out to do a cover of "I Put A Spell On You" with the Toadies. We missed opener Max Cady, and after whenever we got there we also spent much of the show in the back eating, and a bathroom break followed by checking out the merch turned in to us leaving, which might have been fine even for cutting out of a show early, except that we did it right after “Possum Kingdom” so we looked like those kinds of fans who show up for the big hit song then ditch out right after. I have the age to prove that wasn’t so but it would be hard to prove our case if you didn't know us. But no matter how much or how little we got of the show, they got our money as support to help keep them on the road.

Toadies set-list:
"Take Me Alive"
"Happy Face"
"You'll Come Down"
"You Know the Words"
"No Deliverance"
"When I Die"
"I Come From the Water"
"Broke Down Stupid"
"Summer of the Strange"
"I Put a Spell on You" (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins cover) (with Scott Lucas)
"Song I Hate"
"Possum Kingdom"
"Mama Take Me Home"
"Sweetness"
"Stop It" (Pylon cover)
"Tyler"

"I Want Your Love"
"Backslider"
"Rattler's Revival" (preceded by tease of Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good")
"I Burn"

Local H set-list:
"The Last Picture Show in Zion"
"Cooler Heads"
"Hit the Skids or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Rock"
"Gig Bag Road"
"Fritz's Corner"
"City of Knives"
"Freshly Fucked"
"Stoney"
"Laminate Man"
"John the Baptist Blues"
"Hands on the Bible"
"California Songs"
"Bound for the Floor"
"High-Fiving MF"

Bash & Pop/the Yawpers, March 7, 2017 at the Troubadour

It’s no surprise that I followed Tommy Stinson after the Replacements, through his various post-’Mats bands in whatever form they took. I didn’t find them until well after they’d stopped doing anything, being behind the curve on my Replacements obsession pretty much down the line, but I caught up eventually. His post-'Mats' band Bash & Pop's Friday Night Is Killing Me is a gem that I would have missed if not from the association. No matter who else Stinson had behind him, his groups were the familiar, scrappy bar-bands, though without the achy ballads and poppy tunefulness that Westerberg could bring to their former act, but it was still Stinson getting out and being a presence. I would have seen his solo shows (including the one at Spaceland with Alien Crime Syndicate opening, which still perplexes me why I wasn’t there), but even having been in a legendary band (two, if you count GnR), it still didn’t often get out that he was playing a show. I never would have thought Bash & Pop (or whoever that could be) would have played another show, because they weren’t a musical entity or Stinson had moved on, using a new name if he wanted a new band (though he had also been using his own, solo), but there it was, and the listing for the show actually got to me (from an e-mail mailing list if not the newspaper). I was working the late shift at the time but it was a friendly gig and I took one night off in the six months I was there (finding from that that I had PTO, but too late to do anything with it). And it was outside of the wife’s wheelhouse, as well as being a show during the week, so I went solo, flowing with the ease of the Troubadour. The night was so open I even treated myself to not making a mess of getting to the show, being there early enough to see the openers, the Yawpers, a bar-band in the usual tradition, and solid enough to be a good lead-in to the main act. The 2017 version of B&P might as well have been the same or completely different, with as much as anyone could remember about them from 24 years before (or, for me, no memory at all), and whoever was still a lingering fan enough to bother to show up (and judging from an energetic reaction to a casual mention to his former partner, likely the ‘Mats fans are still hanging on (like me, of course)). Stinson might have had a reason to keep the name even without the line-up, but he was still the draw. He could have played all the B&P stuff in a solo show (and probably had), but it was only half the set anyway, with his solo stuff and covers thrown in. Though it was still scrappy, even for Stinson’s legend, and we were still in a bar. It might have been all that Stinson had left after the lackluster Replacements reunion that was either too late or too ambitious and Duff went back to GnR, but he did it with a grungy panache. As long as he kept making music (especially if Westerberg wasn’t going to) he could call it whatever he wants.

Bash & Pops’ set-list:
“Not This Time“
“Rip This Joint“ (The Rolling Stones cover)
“On the Rocks“
“Bad News“
“The Kids Are Alright“ (The Who cover)
“Breathing Room“
“You're My Favorite Waste of Time“ (Marshall Crenshaw cover)
“Tiny Pieces“
“Anybody Else“
“Zero To Stupid“ (Tommy Stinson song)
“Come To Hide“ (Tommy Stinson song)
“Midnight Rambler“ (The Rolling Stones cover)
“Not A Moment Too Soon“ (Tommy Stinson song)
“He Means It“
“Unfuck You“
“Anything Could Happen“
“Never Aim To Please“
“Friday Night (Is Killing Me)“
“First Steps“

“Fast & Hard“

Electric Six, March 18, 2016 at the Troubadour

Dylan deserved a make-up show for the disaster that was taking him to the Observatory to see the Electric Six, though you know I probably would have gone with the opportunity anyway. I got three tickets but Carla decided at the last minute to not go, so it was just me and my brother, getting there (after burgers in Studio City on the way) about 10 minutes before they went on, which was just fine, and we missed Parlour Tricks, the opener. Also since I was with a pre-21 Dylan there was no drinking but it was about the show. They played much of the same set they’d been doing for a while, with all the (should-have-been) hits, and some of the newest album Bitch Don’t Let Me Die! mixed in. I might have seen them enough to be able to call this a typical show, and part of their ongoing tour of the smaller and smaller clubs in the L.A. area, but being in the middle of the road also means there aren’t particularly bad ones. We saw the show then left.

Electric Six’s set-list:
“Synthesizer“
“After Hours“
“Down at McDonnelzzz“
“Dance Pattern“
“Roulette!“
“The New Shampoo“
“Gay Bar“
“Gay Bar Part Two“
“She's White“
“Night Vision“
“Dime, Dime, Penny Dime“
“Future Is in the Future“
“Improper Dancing“ (with "(Who The Hell Just) Call My Phone?" played in-between "stop!" and "continue!")
“Danger! High Voltage“
“Adam Levine“
“Formula 409“
“Dance Epidemic“
“I Buy the Drugs“

“Jimmy Carter“ (Dick (acoustic) & Tate)
“Dance Commander“

Mark Lanegan, October 4 at the Troubadour

I wasn't planning to go to the Mark Lanegan show but Cidney bailed so Carla so had the extra ticket and I took it up. I have no problem seeing Mark Lanegan, whether solo or with his band or with another group or when he shows up to a Greg Dulli show because he was hanging around anyway. Lanegan's voice might do something to the nether regions of ladies but I can only wish to appreciate it in the same way, so for me, a male rock n' roll fan, it goes through my ears, not my panties. This night it was just Lanegan and an electric guitarist and that was it and that was enough. It was putting the voice right front and center. Lanegan might not like being in the spotlight but maybe he doesn't have a problem putting his voice out there. Maybe this was a show as a supplement to a full tour and he was just staying out on the road, which is what he does anyway. It's a shame Lanegan can't make enough of a living to not have to be such a road dog but maybe for this show he at least didn't have to divide up the revenue with a band or big road crew and could just ride along and do a minimal show. And it still worked, but that isn't hard when his voice is the star of the show. Of course the place was packed and hot and sweaty but on a Friday night so that was fine. He was touring for a covers album, Imitations, which blended in so well that it was hard to tell that he had a chunk of songs that weren't his own in there. But he's got a quite a catalog of material from dark places to pull from so we can go both metaphorically and figuratively. I wasn't familiar with everything but hearing that voice growling whatever he too or came up with was fine enough for any performance. 


Mark Lanegan's set-list:
"When Your Number Isn't Up"
"The Cherry Tree Carol" (traditional)
"One Way Street"
"Don't Forget Me"
"Where the Twain Shall Meet" (Screaming Trees)
"The Gravedigger's Song"
"Phantasmagoria Blues"
"Can't Catch the Train" (Soulsavers)
"Mack the Knife" (Kurt Weill cover) (first performance ever)
"You Only Live Twice" (Nancy Sinatra cover) (first performance ever)
"Autumn Leaves" (Yves Montand cover) (first performance ever)
"Resurrection Song"
"One Hundred Days"
"Mirrored"
"On Jesus' Program" (O.V. Wright cover)

"Bombed"
"Wild Flowers"
"Halo of Ashes" (Screaming Trees)

Electric Six, March 2 at the Troubadour

It's no surprise that with all the shows we go to, it's often that we're seeing a band that we just make a habit of seeing every time they tour.  Of course this counts for most of our favorite bands, just going to see them when they're in town, and most bands tour so infrequently that it's at least a few years between dates anyway.  Electric Six are a band that bucks that trend, that they tour and put out albums with a frequency that puts all other bands to lazy shame.  And as much new material as they put out I'll get and as many shows as they play locally I'll try to get out to see them.  Of course this volume of material is necessarily inconsistent, especially with a band past their commercial prime, but they're still doing it.  A band can pull off a good show on a band album (though I still didn't regret not being able to get out to see the show they did for Heartbeats and Brainwaves).  And a band could still play a great show no matter how many they play on a tour, though there can be all manner of other factors when they can't bring a great performance or one as good as others have been.  It's also unfair to compare a show to a past one, since it's a different place they're coming from now, but it's not unfair to hope that a show can be at least as good as past ones -- that's why you go to the show.  So call it what you will, this E6 show was not the best they'd played.  They didn't have a new album out to tour for, which might have been good for a best-of set, but they were also playing the Troubadour, a step smaller from the Key Club up the street, where they would usually play but recently went away.  Could they have sold the Key Club if it was still around?  The Troubadour actually might have been a better fit for them, like it was when they played there when they were coming up (Carla was there for that, I wasn't), but the place contained their sound way too much. They might have even known as much since they didn't seem to put as much fire into it as they often do.  All of Dick's banter and acts on stage might have been recycled from show to show, and we didn't know since we usually only saw them once, but what there was seemed worn, like he wasn't putting much into it, and the rest was just the music, which the band was just pushing through.  I don't know what might have contributed to a lackluster show but it didn't compare, for whatever reason. Though to be fair: even a poor show from the Electric Six destroys most shows from any other band, and I've seen them enough times that I can't help but be critical.  But they're still one of the best and funnest live bands around, and they'll probably -- hopefully -- keep grinding through it, year after year.

Electric Six's set-list:
"Crazy Horses" (The Osmonds cover)
"It Ain't Punk Rock"
"Devil Nights"
"Jam It in the Hole"
"Gay Bar"
"Gay Bar Part Two"
"She's White"
"I Wish This Song Was Louder"
"Hello! I See You"
"Future Is in the Future"
"Danger! High Voltage"
"I Invented the Night"
"Gridlock!"
"Formula 409"
"Down at McDonnelzzz"
"I Buy the Drugs"
"We Were Witchy Witchy White Women"

"Dance Commander"

Local H, September 24 at the Troubadour

Local H may never again reach the heights that they got to for a fluke hit back in the mid-'90s -- that "copacetic" song (actually "Bound for the Floor" but no one ever seemed to get that).  Though they don't seem to mind -- part of their charm is that they're going to be pissy anyway.  The problem is that they actually keep making great albums and they keep putting on great live shows, and the fact that it's only two guys makes it all the more remarkable, but they don't draw a big crowd anymore.  One of those great albums is Hallelujah! I'm a Bum, one of my top albums for 2012, and what they were touring for for this show.  I can't tell if the pissiness is an act or not.  I might be pissed too if despite all my best efforts and even if I was making better work than I did at my commercial peak, 20 years later I couldn't get anything I did to grab much attention once the world had moved on from the rest of the genre I was stuck in, even if the rest of the stuff made by peers was dreck.  As great a venue as the Troubadour is, there's not much smaller, and Local H always seem to want to get out of L.A. faster than they'd have to bother with going to Spaceland for.  At least they can hang on to the Troubadour.  And that night they grabbed it and smashed it.  The show started off slow but only because it was new material that the crowd didn't know.  "Bound for the Floor" was early in the set, played out of obligation before they'd even really warmed up, but it also left the crowd scratching their heads as to what could come next.  It's the audience's own fault if they didn't give the new stuff a proper chance.  It might have even taken longer for them than it should have to finally smash into something the crowd recognized, the "all right, of yeahs" of "All Right, Oh Yeah" but once they had it, they really had it and the smashing began.  The tardy circle pit started and all the guys who threw the same elbows 20 years and 40 fewer pounds ago went nuts.  The whole place did.  After that it barely let up as Scott and Brian tore into one familiar anthem to anger after another (or what seemed familiar  at least).  It was a lot rougher crowd than I would have thought for a bunch of guys who got a babysitter on a weekday night.  I saw one guy in front of me get his head busted open.  If you want to judge a show by how rowdy it got, that was one of the best in a while.  Scott will probably keep plugging away at it, which will be welcome to a few, even if he can't connect it to any kind of massive success again.  And if it fuels his rage and that leads to more great albums, even when only a few aging fans are paying attention, at least he's still getting out there.  It was one of the kinds of rough shows that Carla used to go to before me so at least she was comfortable.  We also met up with Noa, who of course was in the middle of the pit just like she was the first time we saw Local H (at the same place), and Erica, who I hadn't seen in a while.

Scott apparently opened for himself but I don't know what he did, and the Ambassadors played before Local H but we didn't see them.

Local H's set-list:
"Waves / Cold Manor"
"Paddy Considine"
"Bound for the Floor"
"They Saved Reagan's Brain"
"Everyone Alive"
"Manipulator"
"Night Flight to Paris"
"Back in the Day"
"Say the Word"
"Feed a Fever"
"Another February"
"All-Right (Oh, Yeah)"
"All the Kids Are Right"
"Fritz's Corner"
"Hands on the Bible"
"Waves Again"

"2112" (Rush cover)
"California Songs"
"Look Who's W"