Glad and sorry

Glad I got to go; sorry it's over. Tuesday night was the long-awaited return of Golden Smog to Chicago. I'd been looking forward to another Golden Smog show since this was announced, and bought my ticket when they went on sale - but recent intelligence reports that Jeff Tweedy would indeed be joining the band this time were certainly very tasty icing on the Smog cake. (Ew.) My second Golden Smog show in Minneapolis was a lot of fun, but I had been determined that someday I would see the full band together. That someday turned out to be September 19th, 2006.

Doors were fairly early; we were let into the Vic a little before 7:00. XRT was set up to tape the show, something I'm definitely looking forward to hearing. Tim O'Reagan opened the show with his band, including Jim Boquist, Peter Anderson on drums, and another guy whose name escapes me, but Tim first introduced as "a young Robert Redford". Sandy got her first of many shout-outs that night from Tim. The band played a nice variety of songs, ranging between tracks from his recent album, the Jayhawks' "Tampa to Tulsa", a Stealers Wheel cover, and an Everly Brothers tune.

And then it was time for Golden Smog. Any questions about whether Jeff would be brought out later as a "surprise" or just play throughout the night were put to rest when he walked onstage with everyone else to open the show. He is an full-fledged band member, after all. They launched into "Looking Forward to Seeing You", and we were off.

I enjoyed the night immensely. Plenty of old favorites, including songs I'd never heard played with a full band - "Lost Love", "Can't Keep From Talking" - and some I've heard plenty, like "If I Only Had a Car". The new songs were well-represented as well, and Jeff kind of took a backseat for many of those, sometimes leaving the stage or just jamming on a tambourine in the background. Several songs were helped out by a three-man horn section in the back, cleverly dubbed "The Chi-Town Horns" by Kraig. They played a couple of songs that I'd never seen live at all, like "Listen Joe" and "Long Time Ago". (Soundchecks don't count.) "Listen Joe" was particularly gorgeous, with Jeff really outdoing himself at the end on guitar. Gary reminded us that Golden Smog started out as a cover band, and accordingly we were treated to "Glad and Sorry", "Easy to be Hard", "Starman", a wonderful rendition of "Dang Me" - dedicated to Sandy - with Kraig on lead vocals, and a blistering "Revolution Blues". The final song was "Until You Came Along," and everyone from both bands piled onstage ... and then some. Blake joined in one one chorus, sharing a microphone with Gary and Kraig. Peter Anderson shook an orange like a maraca. Jeff sat on a stool in the keyboard nook and harmonized. I strongly believe that all concerts should end with a singalong like that. If they must end.

There's a gold mine in the local scene

I had a fun weekend in the Cities. It was sort of a farewell jaunt, because with Gina gone, and Lindsey heading out, my visiting mainstays are no more. I went out with Michelle to Uptown, visited Andrej's house so I could meet Kerby the dog, shopped at Mall of America, did dinner with Lindsey and Vikas, brunch with Mike, Rebecca, Kyle, Molly, Gena, and Lindsey (Hell's Kitchen makes some damn good porridge), and finally Golden Smog on Sunday night.

I arrived at First Ave. at 7:00 to find myself the third person in line. If only it were like that around here. The show was a lot of fun. There were a few technical issues, and the Smog definitely have some kinks to work out before they'd be a well-oiled machine on tour (it doesn't help that they all switch instruments so often) but they played for a long time - over two hours. It was a real treat seeing a full-length Golden Smog show for the first time. Gary was rocking some sweet striped pants, and it was nice to see Ed Ackerson and Jim Boquist helping out. Plus, Kraig Johnson was standing directly in front of me for most of the night, and I tend to forget that I could happily gaze at him for hours at a time even if he weren't doing anything important.

Although Gary seemed a little annoyed with the technical problems, overall, everyone looked like they were having fun onstage. I didn't know Dan Murphy kicked as much guitar ass as he does. Songs highlights for me included "V" (I think that's the only time I've seen it done), "Looking Forward to Seeing You", "He's a Dick" (which is not about Ryan Adams), "Hurricane", and "Revolution Blues". Oh, and some song they did that appeared to be about sex with an inflatable doll. A Golden Smog show without Jeff Tweedy seemed kind of like a New Pornographers show without Neko Case. They aren't actually necessary for a great show, and they don't leave a hole in the musicianship, but someday I am determined that I will see shows of these respective bands with the elusive members, because I have a feeling it would add another entertaining dimension to things.

Finally, a word to the wise - I've seen this happen time and time again over the years I've been traveling to the Twin Cities - Mapquest is a dirty liar when it comes to Minneapolis and St. Paul. I've been directed the wrong way down one-way streets, given fake exit numbers, and most recently, given completely nonsensical directions to I-94 from First Ave. In case you were wondering, if you drive down 8th Street, and then turn left onto 13th Ave., you do NOT merge onto 94 East in 0.1 miles. Instead you loop back around, get onto 55 East, stop at the sketchiest gas station ever for directions, and find out the real way to 94 East. Maybe that's what Mapquest meant.