Hideout - Top of the Pops

As musical bang for your buck goes, the Hideout Block Party is a pretty good value. On Saturday I paid $20 for a full afternoon and evening of musical entertainment. It's not quite $10 for 24 hours, but really, what else is?

I arrived in time to see the end of O'Death's set, followed by Dan Deacon. Since he was set up on ground level I couldn't see any portion of his set, but it was certainly high-energy. Most of the folks up front were pogoing with gusto. I appreciated the fact that he warmed up the crowd by playing "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid on his iPod. He even mentioned Sebastian by name, earning extra points.

I met up with Sam and Paul just in time for Mucca Pazza to parade right past us to the North Stage. We noticed a Detholz! member on cymbals. I've only seen Mucca Pazza once before, at the Conan taping over a year ago - which barely counts. I get the sense they'd be more fun in a smaller enclosed area - where things would probably get kind of crazy - but that's not to say they weren't also fun to watch on a big stage in a large truck parking lot.

Following Mucca Pazza was a short set from the Hideout Punk Band, a merry collective of Hideout bartenders plus Sally Timms and Jon Langford. Jon may have been under a blanket; I think Sally was wearing some sort of sheep outfit. They did a bit of an Art Brut tribute, and ended by insisting they were the real Art Brut - while the more widely accepted version got ready to start its set at the South Stage. I'm rather sorry we didn't get to see more of the Punk Band, actually. They were definitely one of the more fun and unique and aspects of the block party.

I wasn't familiar with Art Brut prior to Saturday, aside from seeing them perform on a late night TV show recently. I enjoyed their set, but I have to be honest - probably at least 50% of that was because I enjoyed their accents so much. And by "their accents" I suppose I really just mean Eddie Argos. I'm not usually that much of a sucker for your average British accent, but what can I say? It added a lot to the whole Art Brut experience. I'm not sure I'd buy one of their albums, but I would see them live again.

Art Brut was followed by the Blue Ribbon Glee Club on the North Stage, but I'm afraid I didn't see much of their performance. I'd decided to ride the wave of people who surged forward after Art Brut to get into a better position for The Frames, the next band due at the South Stage.

Last time I saw The Frames was also at the Hideout, more than three years ago. That was inside - not exactly a festival atmosphere. Whether there are 200 people or 2,000 watching, though, Glen Hansard is an excellent showman. I know The Frames aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I've been a fan since the first time I casually checked out this random Irish band playing at the Annex in Madison. That's due to their music, of course, but also due in a large part to Glen, who exudes charisma.

I haven't done a great job keeping up with The Frames of late, which means that I'm not familiar with their two most recent albums. Despite this, I knew most of the songs they played on Saturday night. If I attended a lot of Frames shows, that might have bothered me. As it was, I loved hearing so many of my favorites - "Revelate," "Fake," "Rent Day Blues," "The Stars Are Underground," "Lay Me Down," and "God Bless Mom" to name a few. I was pleased to see some subtle differences in their performance this time around - no "Ring of Fire" snippet interjected into "Lay Me Down" (though a couple of weeks ago 16 Frames actually became the sixth band I've seen perform part of that song live.) And Glen imitated a leprechaun during "Revelate" on Saturday as he sang "my lucky charms," instead of pretending to eat a bowl of cereal. These are the details that make me happy.

That's not to say that there weren't plenty of cover song snippets thrown in at various points in The Frames' set. Their soundcheck was actually a lovely rendition of "Into the Mystic," for starters. During the main set we got bits of "Wave of Mutilation," "Lilac Wine," "Leader of the Pack" (ha), and even a few lines of "Reservations" (by that other band I see a lot) during "Pavement Tune." One of the coolest things that happened all night was when Glen made the fangirl fantasies of two women come true. I guess I can't say that with 100% certainty, but he did invite a female fan onstage to sing Marketa's part in the duet "Falling Slowly." Seriously, how neat is that? Two women wound up onstage because the first one claimed she knew the song but then had second thoughts, so another woman came up as well, but then it turned out they both knew the song after all. I don't know. It was really fun to watch, though. Both of the women looked like they might die of happiness.

The last song The Frames played was "Where is My Mind," which I've actually seen them cover before. But they brought out the Blue Ribbon Glee Club to sing it with them, which was very fun. They came back to loud cheers for an encore of "Red Chord," which put them well past their scheduled end time. I didn't notice many people caring.

After The Frames there was a frenzy of tear-down and setup, and then it was time for the headlining Andrew Bird. If you've read this blog before, you may know I'm quite a fan of Andrew Bird. Saturday night, though, wasn't one of my favorite performances. I'm not sure why - I think he's better suited to theaters, but that by itself wasn't really the issue. Andrew has always been one to change up the live arrangements of his songs compared to the album versions. That doesn't lend itself to singing along, since it's hard to know exactly what lyrics are coming or what changes might be made to the melody. That doesn't usually bother me, but maybe on Saturday night I was in the mood to communally belt out some songs - and it frustrated me a little that I couldn't do that. (Well, it didn't totally stop me. Some songs still work.) In particular, though it was nice to hear "Opposite Day" get played for a change, I wasn't a fan of the arrangement.

This isn't to say that Andrew gave a bad performance. "Fake Palindromes" was three minutes of pop bliss as always, and I enjoyed the buildup of "Simple X" into a swirl of sound that I appreciated even more than the album version. "Armchairs" was lovely in person, and Andrew even played "Dr. Stringz" from his big Nickelodeon debut on Jack's Big Music Show. His encore of the Handsome Family's "The Giant of Illinois" was unexpected (at least by me), and I enjoyed hearing something I'd never heard him play before. Still, I'd say The Frames were my favorite act of the night.

Once Andrew finished (thirty-seven minutes past the music curfew, according to Tim Tuten) the Chicago Short Film Brigade began running films on a big screen next to the stage. I loved them when they "opened" for Andrew at the Union Theater, but I was just too tired to stick around for more than a few. (Carmichael and Shane did crack me up, though.)



More photos here.

Ed Burch and friends - really

I never made it to one of the legendary original Hideout Monday nights featuring Edward Burch, though I've heard many tales about them. I always wanted to go, but the timing was never right. It's kind of a shame, then, that the Monday night show I finally attended was the one where Ed said goodbye to Chicago. Nevertheless, he bid farewell to the Hideout in style - so in some ways it was a perfect capsule of his many Hideout shows, with friends who played with him along the way.

I did actually catch Ed and friends performing Satan is Real last summer, and a song or two from that album made appearances again - among a buffet of musical treats diverse enough to appeal to any audience. Ed played two sets on Monday night, each about an hour and a half in length. The first set was the more tightly orchestrated of the two (literally, in some cases, since a string quartet was on hand.) The second set was much more loose and informal - not that there's anything too formal about an evening at the Hideout in any case.

After playing a few songs with his first guests, Ed asked LeRoy Bach to join him onstage. Together they played my two favorite LeRoy songs - "Special Day" and "Dad Says." (Full disclosure: they're also the only two LeRoy songs I know. But I do love them both.) I've seen LeRoy play many instruments over the years, but had never seen him simply singing with an acoustic guitar - I'm glad I got the chance at least once. More guests followed LeRoy, and I was delighted when the string quartet joined the crowd on stage and masterfully performed John Cale's "Paris 1919." Complete with trumpet. That's one of my (hundred or so) favorite songs, as you may be able to tell from the "About me" quote on this very blog.

A little later Ed called Jay Bennett up to join the party. Obviously Jay is partially responsible for a lot of my favorite music, so it was really nice to see him live at last. He and Ed are clearly good friends - one of the hallmarks of the night was definitely the relaxed, playful interaction between all of the musicians on stage, but it was especially true for Ed and Jay. They played an absolutely gorgeous version of "Venus Stopped the Train" with the string quartet, with Jay contributing some amazing piano work.

So many musicians joined in on stage that I couldn't name them all. John Peacock, Steve Frisbie, Andy Leach, even Pat Sansone for one song. Song choices ranged wide from Boston covers to Doug Sahm; from Beach Boys to Bee Gees; from Feetwood Mac to Willie Nelson. Sam's encore request for ELO was granted beautifully by Ed solo on the piano. Throughout the night it was plain to see how much respect everyone has for Ed - many musicians thanked him for all the music he introduced to them. Many came from out of town (some out of state) to be part of his farewell show. It was also obvious how much people will miss him. The residents of Austin will be adding another great musician to their scene, but I hope Ed won't be a stranger to Chicago.

I'm bringing my friends

Monday night was the Sky Blue Sky release party at the Hideout, hosted by Sam for Laurie's Planet of Sound (and the record label, and WXRT.) Having attended the release party for A Ghost is Born in 2004 at the very same place, I figured my driving time would be well spent. It was.

The Old Town School ensemble did a good job playing Wilco covers, and then backing the variety of dorks who took the stage for live band karaoke - myself included. Stacy and I ended up trading verses on "Hummingbird" - I don't really want to dwell on the fact that there's video evidence of this somewhere, but it was a lot of fun. I wasn't in the music room for every performance, but other highlights included Sam, Laura, and Kristina's rendition of "Outtasite," Evonne and Edie performing "Shot in the Arm," and of course Lou and Kris on "Hotel Arizona." The Wilco camp was very generous with the donations for the event - prizes for singing included free t-shirts, signed silkscreened posters, calendars, buttons, stickers, and more. That was in addition to the promo posters and postcards that were out for the taking. When I finally left the Hideout, I was laden with swag.

We danced, we drank, we chatted, we bought tamales, and we listened to the new Wilco album. Good times.

(Side note - after ten years of managing to avoid Sopranos spoilers, David Letterman finally did me in for the most recent episodes. Damn it, Dave. You're not supposed to give spoilers in a one-sentence reference to your guest.)

All possibilities

One of my favorite things about a Jon Brion show is the fact that I never know what I'm going to get. I've yet to find one anything less than captivating, but the details of any given evening are impossible to predict. This weekend I had two opportunities to watch Jon's show unfold ... plus all the extra laughter and fun we could squeeze in between.

Friday night was Jon Brion at Steppenwolf. Sooz and I sat in the center of the second row, which was, um, pretty okay. The show was perhaps a bit more formal than those to which I am accustomed from Jon - but then again, I'm used to sitting at a dim table in a tiny club in West Hollywood for these performances, so the theater atmosphere was bound to be a little different. It was an excellent set, and it's evident that Jon has a genuine fondness for Chicago. I'm incredibly grateful for that fondness, and his continued involvement with the Intonation Festival, because how many other cities outside of L.A. have seen three Jon Brion performances in the past nine months? At Steppenwolf there were some minor equipment issues, chiefly with the guitar amp, but as is almost always the case (for me) it only made things more entertaining. We were treated to some staples, like my beloved "Knock Yourself Out," and Jon responded to many audience requests as usual - including "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "Waterloo Sunset." It felt like a mini Intonation Fest reprise. Of course, last June Jon didn't combine Dylan with Nirvana - his weaving of "Lithium" into "Don't Think Twice" was a major highlight of the night for me. The Prince medley was certainly up there as well - and so was Jon's reaction to Sooz's audible gasp when he requested audience volunteers for keyboard duty. We had many friends in the crowd on Friday, some seeing Jon for the first time. I think Steppenwolf was probably a very good introduction.

After late-night merriment, a lovely walk to brunch, and a few hours of quality dining room table time, Uyen and Heidi and Paul and I headed out Saturday evening to meet Kris for the Badly Drawn Boy show at Metro. The show was sold out, much to our surprise - but due to a combination of luck and more luck we were able to come up with exactly five tickets to the show. I am not terribly familiar with Badly Drawn Boy, but I was impressed with what I saw. Gwen had cautioned us that Damon's shows could be a mixed bag, but he seemed to be in an excellent mood on Saturday - full of appreciation for the crowd, interesting tidbits about the songs, and amusing asides. All that, and the closer: a rousing singalong version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'." I am officially inspired to check out a full Badly Drawn Boy album. Saturday night wound up at the Raw Bar with a late dinner, Bossa Nova band, and complimentary vodka shots. We started Sunday with even more booze and fun, meeting up with Laura and Kristina for a wonderfully delicious brunch (including raspberry mimosas) at Sweets and Savories, largely thanks to Sooz's Paul, who is awesome. The fuel would come in handy for that night's main event: Jon Brion at the freakin' Hideout.

I can only imagine this is even more true for the longtime Chicago residents, but I find it hard to express how utterly perfect it was to see Jon play in that room, surrounded by so many of my friends. (Well, I meant I was surrounded by so many of my friends, but I guess Jon was too.) The booths, stools, and scattering of tables up front made the cozy atmosphere even better, giving us space to mingle and chat while still maintaining some breathing room (and no fear of losing our spots). But to see Jon there, playing along with Thax, introduced by Tim, on a stage where I have actually performed (I'd rather not discuss it further) ... crazy. Jon made himself right at home, and gave a near three-hour performance that was everything I could have hoped for. It was the informal, intimate compliment to Friday's show, complete with audience participation, singalongs, guitar shredding, vocoder action, and the entire second half of Brian Eno's Here Come the Warm Jets. Jon played one of the most blistering versions of "I Believe She's Lying" that I've had the pleasure of witnessing, slayed Gwen with some Roxy Music, gave us all the chance to holler along with the Bee Gees, and ended with a fantastic ukulele rendition of Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town" ... and a promise to come back soon. I can only hope.

How many amazingly great weekends can a girl have in Chicago within the space of a few weeks? At least two, and I'm willing to continue research on the subject.

(Check out a few more photos here)

There'll even be a band

Last time I saw Andrew Bird, I determined that the perfect setting for his show was the Orpheum Stage Door theater. I may now have to call it a tie, because Andrew Bird at the Hideout is pretty great too.

Saturday night's show had sold out in minutes, which was no great surprise - the Hideout is a tiny space, right on Andrew's home turf (Tim Tuten introduced him as Illinois's State Bird) - and in fact, his next show in Chicago after the new album comes out in March will be at the Riviera. Quite a difference. Despite the size and sold-out status of this show, the Chinook Lounge (hee hee) didn't really start to fill up until halfway through the Paulina Hollers' opening set. Come to think of it, that's another reason why I love the Hideout.

The Paulina Hollers themselves were quite enjoyable. I don't think their music has a particularly specific Celtic bent, but it nevertheless reminded me a performance we saw at a small pub in Glenbeigh when I was in Ireland. Must be all the fiddling. Although "Lost Girl" wasn't the Tilly and the Wall cover I'd secretly hoped for (I'd pay extra to see Jim Becker tap out some percussion), they wound up with a really nice rendition of the Dock Boggs classic "Sugar Baby." For some reason it seemed vaguely familiar.

Andrew warned us of a "marathon" set early in the show, and he was telling the truth. He played for about two hours, which was unexpected. By me, anyway. Accompanying him were Martin Dosh on drums, and Jeremy Ylvisaker on bass, guitar, and occasional backup vocals. The vast majority of the set was made up of new material - some songs I'd heard at previous shows, some I knew from the new Fingerlings disc, and some that were totally new to me. I like what I'm hearing, which makes me happy - I get the feeling the new album won't be as, well, different as the last couple have been; maybe not quite as adventurous - but I think it will still be good. I'm eager to hear the album versions of "Simple X" (a song Martin composed) and, if there is one, "Fiery Crash" - because both of them rocked quite hard in the live setting. Maker's Mark was being doled out courtesy of Katie, and the mood onstage and in the audience was pretty relaxed.

If I had to pick out some other highlights, I'd have to once again include "Why?" - Andrew is truly masterful at doing that one live. I think this was as close as I'd ever been to the stage for one of his performances, which made the subtle nuances all the more apparent and impressive. And of course, the smokin' closer of "Tables and Chairs." (In fact, I'm looking at Jay Ryan's lovely artwork for that very song on my wall right now.) Although he is "not one for singalongs," Andrew requested audience assistance with the violin melody toward the end of the song - he said he's been trying to get away from using any prerecorded tracks while playing "Tables and Chairs," so he'd need some help recreating that part vocally. We were only too happy to comply.

From the setlist:

Intro (TBD) [of course, I don't remember]
Nervous Tick
Measuring Cups
iMitosis
Why?
Sic of Elephants
Plasticities
Heretics
Armchairs
Dear Dirty
Simple X
Ravel
Cataracts [I think either this or Ravel wasn't played]
Scythians
Fiery Crash
Skin
Spare-ohs
Dark Matter
***
Glass Figurine
Tables & Chairs

Immediately following the show was the Hideout dance party. Sooz had to call it a night, but I was there with Sam for the better part of an hour. There was 90's party planning, a furry-hatted Tim jamming on congas by the bar, and some serious boogying with Thax. Also, if I had to coin a term to describe Andrew's dancing, I'd go with "gracefully spastic." All things considered, a worthy Saturday night at the Hideout.

A Tribute to Sun Ra, or November Rain

Wednesday we had gorgeous weather. Sunny, almost 70. And then Friday, when I left my office around 4:00 to get something to drink, I was quite startled to see that snow was whipping past the windows in thick clumps, and everything outside was covered. This was particularly great, because I was supposed to drive down to the Hideout for Thurston Moore's Sun Ra tribute that night. It took me about an hour an a half to get from work to I-90, and I almost didn't do it ... but the weather forecast for Chicago promised only rain, at least until after midnight. And a little past Janesville, as advertised, the annoying snow turned to less annoying rain. Whew. So...

The Sun Ra tribute at the Hideout was really cool. It was the kickoff to a weekend symposium on Sun Ra, and featured a couple of performances. First up was My Barbarian, a ... band ... from L.A. that was hilarious and pretty entertaining. They're heavy on the performance art. I looked them up just now and found the following: "If Gwar was a children's show", and (from the L.A. Times) "retarded/brilliant". That about sums it up!

After some between-set Sun Ra tunes, the main event took the stage. Thurston Moore on guitar, Jim Baker on keys, and the awesome Avreeayl Ra on drums. My background and knowledge of music-making can't do it justice with a good description, but I enjoyed it very much. They ended with a dreamier, slower piece after a frenzied beginning. And I'm hoping Kris has some good pictures.

When the show was finished, Tim gave one last TimSpeech. I said hello to Señor Cline on my way to the bar, and upon my return to the music room I noticed that two cops were making their way in. But no worries - they were just Thurston fans. Ha. I love the Hideout. Anyway, I drove back to K-town in the rain (no snow!) and that was Friday.

Edit: What do you know, Kris does have some good pictures!

As long as I gaze on Union Park sunset

Sunday was Day 2 of Intonation Festival at Chicago's Union Park. I had one goal for the day - to see Jon Brion. It's so rare that he performs anywhere outside of L.A. anyway, let alone Chicago. But since his tendinitis, even his Largo appearances have dried up. This was definitely not to be missed.

I started the morning checking out Gina's new digs on the North side, and we really had the best of intentions to keep Heidi and Uyen company on their Jon vigil. But by 11:30 it was raining and our resolve failed. We instead lunched at the Golden Nugget, watched an Eddie Izzard DVD, and got to Intonation around 4:00 p.m. In time to catch the end of Annie's set, and (more importantly) dryness, spotty sunshine, and mellow temperatures. Perfect weather for air guitar, headbanging, and hair flinging during the Sword. For the guys around us, I mean.

By the time Jon came on, we had quite a solid presence up front. Even Sooz, balancing delicately on her crutches, was in the fray. Jon's set was obviously way shorter than his Largo nights (although he was the first non-headlining performer I saw to get called back for an encore) and he was mindful of that, keeping his customary long-burning song builds somewhat limited. Though he didn't show it while playing, it also seemed pretty clear that his wrist was bothering him. He brought along some piano assistance in Benmont Tench, who is on tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Even though Jon can't be that used to the outdoor festival crowd, he did a great job of combining his usual improvisation, witty comments, cover songs, and originals in the slightly more structured atmosphere.

Somewhere along the line there was a request for "Glenn" to come up. I thought, "Nah..." But sure enough, Glenn Kotche came up and slid behind the drum kit to help out on a few songs - including the encore of "Waterloo Sunset". The very first time I ever saw Jon at Largo, Benmont Tench and Glenn Kotche were among the surprise guests. So this was like very pleasant déjà vu. The interaction between the three guys onstage was great. Near the end of the main set Jon made Glenn play a crazy drum solo, which is something you don't get to see too often. And Jon even kicked his piano over at the end of a fabulous version of "I Believe She's Lying". Rock. And. Roll.

We stayed a little while after Jon's set, and listened to some Robert Pollard from the other stage. (In retrospect, telling Glenn that due to outdoor festival acoustics nobody would have been able to tell if he sucked anyway was probably not the most reassuring statement.) Then we went out for Thai food, and wound up at the Hideout on Sam's suggestion for the second half of Ed Burch and friends' performance of the Louvin Brothers' "Satan is Real". It was pretty awesome. After a brief foray down North Ave. I dropped Gina at her place and headed back home. And then the thunderstorms and pouring decided to arrive. Yay! Oh well. Still better than during the festival.

My pictures are taken from Chicagoist, by the way. Visit Chicagoist!

Wee Hairy Beasties

Thanks to Lou's generosity, I made it to the kids' show at the Hideout yesterday despite its sold-out status. The whole thing ended about an hour earlier than projected, but I got there in time to see Jon Langford, Sally Timms, and Kelly Hogan's band - the Wee Hairy Beasties - which was my main goal of the afternoon. My favorite of their songs was the tale of a Karaoke ... squirrel? A karaoke something. And his wife, who was a bee. Named Marjorie. They ended with Langford's take on "The Fox", and I wished my nephews could have come down, because they like that song.

The Blisters followed with an excellent set of songs, as usual. "Sweet Home Alabama" is always a crowd pleaser, but I think my favorites are their opening original composition, and "She Don't Use Jelly." It's always fun to see people who haven't seen them before realize that this band of elementary school kids is going to bust that one out. I might add that one Blister, and his younger sibling, are quite good at snowball fighting as well. Sheesh.

I was planning to attend the night show at the Hideout, too, with Chris Mills, Califone, Edith Frost, et. al, but that didn't end up happening. Instead Paul, Chandler, and I enjoyed a superb gourmet dinner and dessert prepared by Sooz and Laura (well, Paul peeled potatoes and chopped sage) and then hung out in a happy food-induced stupor rather than driving over to the Hideout. Ah well. At least Gary Schepers got my ticket money regardless.

Colin Meloy at the Park West tonight.