2013: Year in Review

My total attendance fell by a few shows to 23 as compared to my 2012 total attendances of 27, including 18 concerts, 1 single day festival, 3 multiday festivals in which I only attended one day, and 1 multiday festivals in which I attended each day, bringing my average down to an event about every 16 days. As far as I can confirm, only five of these shows were sold out, which is a lot less than last year, so I suspect that there were many more sold out than I realized.

Being my first full calendar year in Chicago, I saw more shows in the general Chicago area than anywhere else (19), including most within the city itself though also a show each in nearby Aurora and Bridgeview. Unlike in DC, where I saw a significant number of shows at the 9:30 Club, I visited a total of 15 separate venues in Chicago this year, not visiting the same venue more than twice. I saw additional shows in Killington, Vermont; Manchester, Tennessee; and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Unlike previous years in which I saw at least a show on every day of the week, I did not see any live music on any Mondays this year. Friday (10) was the leader, followed by Saturday (7) with no other day registering more than three events. The year was strangely weighted to a lot of shows in the latter part of the year, such that nearly three out of four of the events took place in the second half of the year including four each in the months of July, October, and November. These were all also months when I was not abroad at all, which certainly makes it easier to attend. February and May, months were I was gone a significant portion of the month, were barren.

Including all the bands that I specifically remember seeing, and therefore wrote about, I saw a total of 61 performances by 59 artists, seeing Björk and Trombone Shorty twice each. Of those, only 21 were artists that I have seen before; the remaining 38 were artists that I was seeing for the first time. This included 20 acts at single concerts, another 32 at the multiday Bonnaroo Music Festival, (my fifth time attending), and 9 at other festivals.

I still don’t have a broad group of concert attending friends to pull from in Chicago, so in the interim, Lindsey (16) gets dragged to more shows that she would otherwise attend on her own. I also attended three events on my own. No one else surpassed that number.

Total ticket cost of $1,124, an average and median of $49 and $38 per event, respectively.

More than half of my favorite sets of the year, as follows, were at Bonnaroo, all of which were the first time for me.

1. Frank Turner (Vic Theatre, Chicago)
2. Paul McCartney (Bonnaroo)
3. Japandroids (Bonnaroo)
4. Of Monsters & Men (Bonnaroo)
5. Postal Service (Lifestyle Communities Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio)
6. Cloud Cult (Lincoln Hall, Chicago)
7. Twenty One Pilots (Bonnaroo)
8. Phish (Northerly Island, Chicago)
9. Alt-J (Bonnaroo)
10. The National (Bonnaroo)

Honorable Mentions: Amadou & Miriam (Bonnaroo), Bjork (Bonnaroo & Pitchfork), Delta Rae (Bonnaroo)

Andrew Bird, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, Illinois

Multi-instrumentalist and Chicago native Andrew Bird often plays churches each holiday season, including a sold out four night run this year at Fourth Presbyterian Church in the Magnificent Mile neighborhood of downtown Chicago, for which we had tickets to the second night.

The church is large, though not as massive as many churches that I’ve been in before. The Gothic Revival structure celebrated its one hundredth birthday last year and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The event was held in the main chapel, a long grey stone sanctuary with sweeping ceiling lines and gothic statues. Above the altar are several long stain glass windows. The entire altar/stage was bathed in warm red light. I’m not quite sure how the seats were delegated, but we lucked out with ours in a close section, not far from the center and relatively close to the stage, perhaps two dozen rows from the front. Actually, I think even being a little further back from where we were would have provided improved acoustics. I wondered if the content rather than just the context of the performance would be different in any way based on the location of the performance. I guess I’ll have to see him a second time to compare.

For his show, Andrew Bird outfitted the stage with dozens of gramophones, including four large ones (about two feet in diameter each with a pair on either side of the stage), many small ones lining the altar, and a large and small pair of spinning double gramophones. Depending on the song, he would turn their rotation up or down. The rates of spin would creating an echo/warbling effect to varying degrees based on speed.

Andrew Bird took the stage about 9pm. He was alone on stage the entire show. I thought that he would have some semblance of a backing band, at least for part of the show, so I was a bit surprised.

He mostly played the violin and sang, though he also whistled and occasionally played the guitar and glockenspiel (the German name for a xylophone made of metal). He mixed everything himself on stage, for example looping himself picking on the violin and then playing something else with a bow on top of it. Most of what he played was not significantly technically challenging in and of itself. Rather, it was the way that he layered one sound on top of another to create a complex, rich, and orchestral sound. His setlist pulled from much of his catalogue, including a pair of songs all the way back to Swimming Hour (2001) and multiple selections from his newest releases, Hands of Glory (2012) and I Want to See Pulaski at Night (2013).

Setlist:
Hover I
Hover II
Ethio Invention
Why
Action-Adventure
Lit from Underneath
Plasticities
Three White Horses
Pulaski at Night
First Song
Waiting to Talk
Cathedral
Give It Away
Orpheo
Happy Day
Dyin' Bedmaker
Frogs
Danse Caribe
If I Needed You
Weather Systems

Matisyahu, Park West, Chicago, Illinois

I have seen Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu several times previously and have found his shows to be a bit hit or miss, ranging from a terrible show in Baltimore circa 2008 to an incredible show in San Francisco the following year. The Saturday following Thanksgiving 2013 at Park West would be my fifth set, for which I was looking forward to, though with tempered expectations. We arrived to opening act Kosha Dillz, a Jewish rapper who I’ve seen perform with Matisyahu before, just taking the stage. His set was fine though somewhat forgettable. We secured a good spot that was both fairly close to the stage and the center; it was probably the closest I've ever been for a Matisyahu set.

It was my first time at Park West, which I found to be set up in a somewhat unique manner. As far as I could tell, the entire theatre is general admission but only the area closest to the stage is standing room. Fifty or sixty feet back from the stage are a series of full service tables and chairs. Tables and bar areas cover the floor all the way to the back doors. By the time we arrived, all the tables were occupied though I was pleased to know for future reference that if you’re willing to stand, you’re guaranteed a good spot.

Matisyahu took the stage about ten minutes after 9pm with a guitarist, bassist, and drummer. He was the only vocalist for the majority of the show though Kosha Dillz joined him for a single song.  He had since regrown a beard, but it was a short, modern, stylish beard as compared to his previous long beard and payots (sidecurls). Both his beard and hair were considerably greyer than I remember the last time that I saw him.

Though I couldn’t find the exact setlist, I remember that he played a few of his newer songs towards the beginning of the set. This included “Crossroads,” “Smash Lies,” “Live Like a Warrior,” and “One Day.” Also towards the front of his set was “Jerusalem” which I thought was a bit strange. He also played a good but nearly unrecognizable version of “King Without a Crown,” with a considerably different arrangement.

As it was the fourth night of Chanukah, he brought a menorah on stage about halfway through the set and lit the corresponding number of candles. Though there was little fanfare or comment, the candles stayed lit for most of the rest of the performance.

While I enjoyed the show, it was one of the stranger sets that I’ve seen, with a few unusual elements. At one point in the set he took a running dive off the stage into the crowd, which was barely thick enough to support him. There was no barrier between the audience and the stage, so a few attendees near the front took it upon themselves hop on stage and dive off as well. A few others crowd surfed, but it didn't last too long. At one point in the show, he invited the audience on stage with him. Many people happily obliged in a series of “hey look at me” moments. Without his direct invite, this also occurred during one of the encores as well, which was a bit unnecessary in my opinion.

His main set didn't really last all that long, barely an hour. I was a bit surprised by how short it was, especially considering that the last time I saw him, he played for well over two hours excluding an encore break. He definitely has the material to play much longer. He at least returned to the stage for a pair of songs and again for a second encore, perhaps to give the crowd time to dissipate from their infiltration of the stage. The house lights even came up between the two encores, during which I was halfway out the door before I realized he would return. He had fully wrapped up his show by about 10:35pm, so perhaps a total of 75 minutes of music.

The Avett Brothers, UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois

Arriving just in time for opening act, Deer Tick, we secured a close house right spot. The Avett Brothers took the stage a few minutes after 9pm. The original band consists of two brothers – Scott (banjo) and Seth (guitar) Avett – as well as Bob Crawford (double bass and occasionally violin). Joe Kwon (cello) and Mike Marsh (drums) are also official touring members and have contributed to studio productions as well. Paul DeFiglia also joined them on the piano as well as a female violinist whose name I couldn’t find.

While the show was still good from inception, I noticed a significant uptick in the performance around the midpoint mark, including the quality of the songs and the energy level of both the band and the crowd. Also, instead of keeping with more or less the same personnel and instrumentation throughout the show, they frequently changed things up. While their set was mostly acoustic set, with the brothers and Bob on the banjo, acoustic guitar, and upright double bass, for a few songs, they switched to electric instruments. This gave their normally folky sound a harder edge. Scott’s long hair was flopping wildly as he head banged. It was a smart play on their part as it really livened up the show. Furthermore, the core band – Scott, Seth, and Bob – ventured closer to the audience on a little outcropping past the main stage for several songs. This included a handful of songs performed as a trio as well as Scott and Seth each taking a turn with a solo performance. The change up in players and instruments allowed them to include quite songs like “The Ballad of Love and Hate” that would be more appropriate for a campfire sing-along as well as foot stomping and clapping songs like “Kick Drum Heart” that seemed more fitting of our actual arena setting.

They covered a bit from nearly the entirety of their fairly large catalogue including songs from Mignonette (2004), The Gleam (2006), Four Thieves Gone: The Robbinsville Sessions (2006), Emotionalism (2007), The Second Gleam (2008), I and Love and You (2009), The Carpenter (2012), and the recent Magpie and the Dandelion (2013). They also played several covers, including songs by John Denver, Doc Watson, and Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson. The show’s lights and visuals were nothing too special though they had a few nice backdrops and videos which complimented the performance well enough. It actually reminded me a bit of a diluted Sigur Rós performance, particularly a backdrop of a still image of candles and a video of the moving sea.

Setlist:
Open Ended Life
Live and Die
Morning Song
Pretty Girl from Cedar Lane
Down with the Shine
Salina

Another Is Waiting
Distraction #74
Laundry Room Thank God I'm a Country Boy (John Denver cover)
Pretty Girl from Chile
Bring Your Love to Me
I Would Be Sad
The Ballad of Love and Hate
Nothing Short of Thankful
Murder in the City
Living of Love
Little Sadie (Doc Watson cover)
Colorshow
Kick Drum Heart
I and Love and You
Encore:
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise
I Can Get Off on You (Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson cover)
Souls Like the Wheels
Vanity
If It's the Beaches

Cut Copy, Riviera Theater, Chicago, Illinois

Once again at the Riviera, we arrived early and were able to secure a good spot behind a raised railing so that the shorter member of our group could still see well. In doing so we had to suffer through one of the worst opening act that I have ever seen. It was comically terrible. His set included a song about being a sexy toddler, enough said.

Australian synthpop band Cut Copy got a late start, a bit after 10pm. For those of us with day jobs, that’s never appreciated. The light spectacle they had put together was quite impressive, even if a tad too bright, so I was glad to have a proper vantage point to enjoy it. However, the sound quality at the start of their set was a bit off. The mids were drowned out by heavy bass and lead vocalist Dan Whitford’s voice. On top of that, I suspect that there’s quite a bit of voice effects used on their albums and even during their live performances. However, it sounded as they hadn’t yet kicked in, so his voice sounded irregular and a bit off. Fortunately, they seemed to fix the problem pretty quickly. Guitar, bass, drums, synths, and voice were again in harmony.

Their show included a good mix of songs from all their albums, stretching all the way back to a pair of songs from their lesser known debut album Bright Like Neon Love (2004) in the middle of their set. They jumped around the catalogue from their three most recent albums, including half a dozen songs from their break out album, In Ghost Colours (2008), a trio from Zonoscope (2011), and a further five from their most recent, Free Your Mind (2013).

Considering the type of music, the crowd wasn’t as hyper as I thought it would be. The energy seemed to ebb and flow with the tide of their biggest hits. When they wrapped up their encore with “Light and Music” around 11:30pm, the whole theatre went pretty nuts. I was impressed by the degree to which fans seemed to know the lyrics to even their newest songs, considering the album was released only eight days prior.

Setlist:
Free Your Mind
Where I'm Going
Feel the Love
In Memory Capsule

So Haunted
Hearts on Fire
That Was Just a Dream
Zap Zap
Strangers in the Wind
Take Me Over
Out There on the Ice
Let Me Show You Love
We Are Explorers
Need You Now
Encore:
Meet Me in the House of Love
Lights and Music

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Vic Theater, Chicago, Illinois

New Orleans brass phenom Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews is one of those acts that I’ll always jump on the opportunity to see whenever we happen to be in the same town. We arrived at the venue fairly late in the evening, just as he was taking the stage. He was joined by a large band including a pair of saxophones (tenor and baritone), guitar, bass, drums, as well as himself on trombone and trumpet. As many musicians as there were on the stage, it sounded like there were even more of them. We quickly found a good house left spot on one of the risen areas. Though the view was partially obstructed by a side balcony, we could still see and hear quite well.

Like all his shows, his set was lively and fun with a lot of extended jams. It’s the kind of music that anyone present could get easily swept up into, whether you’re a hardcore fan or a casual listener. I couldn’t find the exact setlist anywhere, but he played a lot from his two most recent albums, Backatown (2010) and Say That to Say This (2013), including songs such as “Something Beautiful,” “On Your Way Down,” “Backatown, and “Hurricane Season” as well as a few covers, including an encore rendition of the New Orleans standard, “When the Saints Coming Marching In.”

Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, Vic Theater, Chicago, Illinois

I had only first heard a few of Frank Turner’s songs a few months ago, but over the past few months, I found myself listening to him with increasing frequency. Less than a week before the show, I finally dinged him as an artist who I should keep an eye out for, looked up his upcoming concert schedule, and found that he was coming to the Vic Theatre very soon. I picked up a ticket and listened to his albums even more so I knew what to expect at the show. His show at the Vic Theatre, his largest ever in Chicago, started very early, about 10 minutes after 8pm. I arrived only about 20 minutes prior, but was still able to find a good spot on the left side, a step up from the pit area but relatively close to the stage. This kept me well out of reach of any moshing, which kicked up for perhaps a quarter to a third of the songs.

Frank, a somewhat wiry Englishman, took the stage joined by his band, the Sleeping Souls, including Ben Lloyd on the electric guitar and electric mandolin (the latter of which I’m not sure that I’ve seen before), Tarrant Anderson on bass, Matt Nasir on keyboards, and Nigel Powell on drums. Normally Frank plays the acoustic guitar, but he would forgo playing an instrument on this tour. He clarified that it “wasn’t a Michael Bolton” thing, but rather due to a back injury earlier in the year. The compromise with his doctor, who wanted him to cancel the tour, involved getting a replacement guitarist and wearing a back brace. He didn’t mention this situation until a few songs into the set prior to “Losing Days,” more or less a song about getting old, with lines like “Oh my broken battered body, in the days when I was younger, used to fix itself quick sharp, after every slip and stumble.” His acoustic guitar replacement was Dan Allen of Ducking Punches, who Frank teased about being Irish in a band full of Englishmen, suspecting that he would kill them all in their sleep; he also apologized for all those centuries of oppression. While his backing band was great, they were missing some of the instrumentation from his studio albums, including a few well utilized horns segments. Overall the setlist was great, though he didn’t play “English Curse” more of a spoken/sang poem about than a song, but one I thought would be cool to hear.

Frank Turner got his start in the punk scene with the band Million Dead. After the band’s break up, he began a solo career, but transitioned his music to more of a folk influenced sound. His albums are a little more folky than his live shows, which still retain the folky lyrics and acoustic guitar, but really turn up the volume. Kind of folk music set to a punk tempo. The show was very punk influenced as well in terms of its focus on incorporating the audience into the show, becoming friends, and having a cathartically good time, with Frank frequently requesting audience participation, like singing or clapping along. At one point, he asked us to kick it up a notch by jumping and clapping at the same time. The audience, which was heavily slanted to the male end of the spectrum, was very enthusiastic and dedicated. The hyped guys in the front section seemed to yell every word of every song back to him, but even attendees further back sang along quite well. At one point, he asked who’s first time seeing him perform. Not a whole lot of hands were in the air. He welcomed us newbies to the family, then clarified, “That makes it sound like a cult; I swear it’s not a cult.”

One of the other things about Frank Turner’s music that really captured me is the quality and tone of his voice. It’s powerful, infused with emotion, carries his thick English accent, and perfectly straddles the line between singing and screaming without ever crossing over to just noise. With all that he still clearly annunciates his lyrics, which are often story based or dripping with imagery, as per his folk influenced side. At the beginning of the show, I thought his voice sounded a little weak compared to the album. At first I thought that it was either because he couldn’t recreate the vocal advantages of the studio or that night after night of touring was just catching up with him. However, his voice actually noticeably improved within a few songs, so perhaps he just needed a bit more of a warm up.

I often comment that band frontmen are clever and personable, but Frank was unusually so. He truly did make me feel like we were all just friends hanging out at a party for an evening. He had lots of clever commentary to provide and witty banter with his band mates. This included one off comments, like in the moments before he was able to start a piano-accompanied version of “The Ballad of Me and My Friends” he quipped, “I feel like I should be wearing a cocktail dress, hell, I’m already wearing a corset,” referring to his back brace. He’s also a bit of a fact and tour statistics geek, a man after my own heart. He noted that it was his 1483rd show (full list available on his website) and took a few minutes to tell us facts that he learned about Chicago including that jazz, the zipper, and soap operas were all invented in Chicago. As I also frequently do, he clarified that he read it on the internet so it must be true. He would also get into little point of reference tangents throughout the show with the himself or band mates, then call it off with a “what are we doing, no one out there cares; we can discuss this after the show.”

Disregarding doctor’s orders, Frank finally picked up his guitar to play a single solo song at the beginning of the encore. During this tour, he had been playing locally relevant covers in each city he visited, for example, Tom Petty’s “American Girl” during a show in Florida. For Chicago, he chose a song by the band Shellac, one of Steve Albini’s (who I only knew from his sound engineering work with Nirvana and others) bands, called “Prayer to God.” I had never heard the song before, but what a gloriously disturbing and demented, yet thoroughly entertaining song. Basically, it’s the vocalization of a man praying to god to kill his ex-girlfriend (painlessly) and her new lover (painfully). He ended with a couple other songs, the last one being “Four Simple Words,” which refers to the specific words “I want to dance.” The crowd kicked it up a notch and I ran down into the pit to bounce around a little before the end of the show.

Setlist:
I Still Believe
Try This at Home
If Ever I Stray
Losing Days
Plain Sailing Weather
Glory Hallelujah
Reasons Not to Be an Idiot
The Way I Tend to Be
Wessex Boy
The Ballad of Me and My Friends (Piano Version)
Tell Tale Signs
The Road
I Am Disappeared
Peggy Sang the Blues
I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous
One Foot Before the Other
Long Live the Queen
Recovery
Broken Piano
Encore:
Prayer to God (Shellac cover)
Photosynthesis
Four Simple Words