Concert Reviews

In a man-on-the-street poll of British new wave pop-rock artists, Elvis Costello might be the more recognizable name to the average joe, but, over the years, when compared album for album, Nick Lowe can easily match him when it comes to consistency and quality of songwriting.

So when Nick Lowe decides to play a handful of solo acoustic dates in the US, it doesn’t even require a second thought; you GO.

Looking like a taller, ganglier Woody Allen, opener Bill Kirchen began his set with “Girlfriend” (“Be my wife and girlfriend, with a capital ‘G’”), from his 1999 Hightone Records album, Raise A Ruckus. Upon its completion, he described himself to the crowd as a “diesel-billy” artist. “I made up the category myself,” he admitted, “but, that way, there’s no competition in the field!”

He needn’t really have introduced himself to most of the folks in the audience; Kirchen is based out of the DC area and is a staple of the local venues, so he was essentially playing to a hometown crowd. A former member of Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, Kirchen played on the classic “Hot Rod Lincoln”; he’s also a well-respected solo artist, but what doubtlessly led him to tonight’s gig was that he played on Lowe’s Party of One and The Impossible Bird albums. In addition, he toured as a member of Nick Lowe’s band, the Impossible Birds.

“I don’t have too many angst-ridden songs where you have to bite the table cloth,” he observed, then adding, “but this is definitely one of them.” He then proceeded to perform “Man in the Bottom of the Well,” also from Raise A Ruckus. At its completion, Kirchen admitted, “That song even depresses me…and I helped write it!”

“Putting together the set list for tonight,” he continued, “I said to myself, well, I’d better put in the usual couple of Nick Lowe songs, and…uh, wait, no, I guess I won’t.” After a laugh from the audience, Kirchen said, “Believe me, not playing Nick Lowe songs seriously cuts into my oeuvre.” He then made “I’m not worthy” motions in the direction of the backstage door.

Later, as his set began to near its close, he said, “Well, since I can’t play any Nick Lowe songs, I’ll have to play a few songs from my other two heroes,” then launched into a version of Hank Williams’ “They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me.” Instead of following it with another cover as promised, though, Kirchen opted to perform his Grammy Award-nominated composition, “Poultry in Motion.” He then closed the set with a rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like Tom Thumb Blues.”

The turnaround time between Kirchen and Lowe was negligible, owing mostly to the fact that both fellows were performing in a solo capacity. When Lowe strode onto the stage, there was little question that he was not only an elder statesman of British pop/rock (and, now, alt-country) but, arguably, one of the coolest people in the room.

After opening with “There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Sits Down At The Conference Table),” Lowe greeted the audience. He admitted that, although he was glad to be back in the area and playing for them, the harsh reality of the situation was that he was, indeed, there to promote his 2001 release on Yep Records. Lowe said that, in a conversation he once had with Carl Smith a.k.a. “Mr. Country,” he was told, “Never talk about your last album…only about your latest.” With a smile, he added, “So I’d like to remind you of my LATEST album, The Convincer.”

Lowe stuck with relatively recent material with the first part of the show, visiting The Impossible Bird (“Soulful Wind”), Party of One (“What’s Shakin’ On The Hill”), The Convincer (“Has She Got A Friend?,” “Lately I’ve Let Things Slide”), and Dig My Mood (“Faithless Lover”).

After a cover of the Isaac Hayes/David Porter classic, “Love Is After Me,” he told an anecdote about how he came to write The Convincer’s “Indian Queens.” (To make a long story short, Lowe had been driving home from Cornwall, saw the name on an exit, and, during the course of the 4 hour drive home, the song basically wrote itself.) From there, Lowe broke out an incredible version of the song that gave him his 15 minutes of chart fame, “Cruel To Be Kind.” Longtime time fans might’ve been afraid to admit that they wanted to hear it…since, after all, there’s a hell of a lot more to Nick Lowe than “Cruel To Be Kind”…but it’s hard to imagine anyone was upset about it; the performance was exemplary.

As the show continued, so did the classics. After “Man That I’ve Become,” from Dig My Mood, there followed “She Don’t Love Nobody,” from The Rose of England, and “Without Love,” from Labour Of Lust.

The transcendent moment of the concert, however, was “You Inspire Me.” The combination of the sound system, the lyrics, and the performance on solo guitar combined perfectly to create a song to rival the sheer sentimentality of Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable.” I can’t speak for the entire audience, but I was absolutely swept up in the moment. Not bad for a song that I’d probably only heard maybe twice before.

After a rollicking version of “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ‘n’ Roll),” Lowe closed the set with the decidedly downbeat “The Beast In Me.” But, as with any good showman, he only left the stage for a few moments before returning for the inevitable encore.

There were requests from the audience, of course. Lowe’s amiable manner made that somewhat inevitable.

“I can assure you,” he told one forlorn fellow, “’Switchboard Susan’ sounds really, really bad on acoustic guitar. I’m only telling you this because I love you. But thank you very much for requesting it, anyway.”

Encore #1 began with a cover of Arthur Alexander’s “Lonely Just Like Me” (a demo of which can be found on Lowe’s box set, The Doings), then closed with Lowe’s most famous composition, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?”

When Lowe returned for Encore #2, he had Bill Kirchen in tow, and, together, the pair performed Johnny Horton’s “I’m Coming Home” and Lowe’s own “Lover Don’t Go” before closing the evening’s proceedings with “Half A Boy, Half A Man.”

An unnamed audience member was, after the show, overheard saying, “I just didn’t feel like things really got going until Bill came out on stage and joined him.”

Okay, y’know what? It was an acoustic show, not the Ozzfest. What did you expect?

SET LIST

There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Sits Down At The Conference Table)

Soulful Wind

What's Shakin' On The Hill

Has She Got A Friend?

Lately I've Let Things Slide

Faithless Lover

Love Is After Me (Isaac Hayes/David Porter song)

Indian Queens

Cruel To Be Kind

Man That I've Become

She Don't Love Nobody (John Hiatt cover)

Without Love

You Inspire Me

I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock 'n' Roll)

The Beast In Me

ENCORE 1:

Lonely Just Like Me (Arthur Alexander cover)

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?

ENCORE 2:

I'm Coming Home (Johnny Horton cover)

Lover Don't Go

Half A Boy, Half A Man

ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS

23 June 2002: NTelos Pavilion — Portsmouth, Virginia

When Elvis Costello strode onto the stage of the NTelos Pavilion on the night of 23 June, it was the first time he'd set foot on a stage in the Hampton Roads area (generally defined as Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Hampton, and Newport News, Virginia) in almost 20 years. The last time on record was, to be precise, on 2 August 1984, when he played Hampton Coliseum.

At that time, he was still touring with the Attractions; these days, the Imposters back him. It takes but a quick check of the Imposters' line-up, however, to prove that, though the name might have changed, at least two-thirds of the group remains the same. Drummer Pete Thomas and keyboard extrordinaire Steve Nieve are still in tow; plucking the bass in place of Bruce Thomas, however, is Davey Faragher, late of Cracker.

But, of course, it wasn't the trio of Thomas, Nieve, and Faragher that the audience paid the big bucks to see. (Okay, perhaps that's a little presumptuous... but, come now; it's not very likely, is it?) It was one Declan Patrick MacManus.

It's a potentially combustible mix when you mix a large number of holier-than-thou music journalists and record store employees with a crowd of folks who only know an artist from his radio hits. The former get giddy at the sound of "Honey Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?" and can barely control themselves as they tell their significant other, "I can't believe he's playing something from Blood & Chocolate!" Meanwhile, the latter get progressively more pissed off as "Veronica" and "Everyday I Write The Book" continue to seemingly escape the memory of the man who wrote and sang them.

In this case, however, by playing in front of a crowd who hadn't seen him on their turf in nigh on two decades, pleasing the audience was, for Elvis, probably kinda like shooting fish in a barrel.

Costello started the festivities off in the same fashion he started his latest album, When I Was Cruel: with "45". He revisited the album rather a lot throughout the course of the evening, with "Spooky Girlfriend", "15 Petals", "Tart", "Dust" (or was it "Dust 2"?), "Alibi", "Episode of Blonde", and the album's first single, "Tear Off Your Own Head (It's a Doll's Revolution)". The songs, while not exactly the crunchy power pop hits of Costello's early years (excluding the single, of course), fit comfortably alongside such tracks as "Clown Strike" (from Brutal Youth) and "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror (from Spike). During the course of the evening, Steve Nieve favored the crowd with a few theramin solos, which were decidedly entertaining to watch on the large video screens, as he waved his hands above the instrument and produced a wide range of squeals and squawks.

Those waiting expectantly for Elvis Costello's Greatest Hits didn't likely leave disappointed. Elvis had no problem trotting out the classics. "Watching The Detectives" was the night's third song, and "Alison" was nestled snugly in the middle of the evening, allowing the more casual fans to slip out unnoticed and call it an early evening. Other highlights of the evening were "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea", "High Fidelity", "Sulky Girl", "No Action", and an emotional "Shipbuilding".

The main set ended with the incredible one-two punch of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?" and "Radio Radio". At the end of the latter, Costello threw in just enough of the Chuck Berry standard "Promised Land", just to show that he knew he was just across the water from "Norfolk, VA". (Whether he had California on his mind when he later left Norfolk remains unconfirmed.)

The two encores were a mix of old and new, each featuring a track from When I Was Cruel while also throwing a bone to the fans. The first encore opened with "Alibi", followed by "You Belong to Me". After a rousing "Pump It Up" and another departure from the stage, the crowd began to thin again, but Elvis and the Imposters popped back out for "Episode of Blonde" and a reworked version of "Lipstick Vogue", then closed the evening with a lengthy, wrenching version of "I Want You".

It was a downbeat way to end an incredible evening, but, since that's the worst criticism this writer can manage for the evening, all things considered, that ain't so bad. No, sir, that ain't so bad at all.

Glenn Tilbrook and the Fluffers

Although he put on a brilliant show, Glenn Tilbrook had a hell of a time even getting to play in Norfolk in the first place.

Tilbrook was originally scheduled to perform at the NorVa, a nice-sized general admission venue reminiscent of the 9:30 Club or the Bowery Ballroom; unfortunately, due to an unfortunate series of events, our man Glenn was bumped from the NorVa…by Melissa Etheridge. It seems that Melissa was scheduled to perform at the NTelos Pavillion, in Portsmouth, but the venue was still receiving repairs for the damage it received during hurricane Isabel, so her show was moved to the NorVa.

After a day or two of uncertainty in the Tilbrook camp (“Will the show be moved elsewhere? Will it be rescheduled? Will it be cancelled altogether? Or…gulp!…will Glenn open for Melissa?”), the decision was finally made to shift Glenn’s gig over to the New Belmont, a decidedly-smaller location…and one, alas, which indicated how few advance tickets had been sold.

Squeeze fans were understandably ecstatic at the thought of seeing their hero in such an intimate setting…but would Glenn be able to pull off a strong full-band performance in such a small venue?

Answer: anyone who suspected otherwise had clearly never seen Tilbrook perform before.

Tilbrook and the Fluffers had to fight their way through the gathered throng, but, after successfully doing so, they leapt headlong into a spot-on rendition of “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell),” thereby shoving aside concerns as to whether they’d be favoring the audience with any Squeeze songs. (Actually, that probably wasn’t a major concern; Tilbrook had already gone on record in a local magazine about how he viewed his entire musical career as one big palate from which he was free to choose.) In fact, the majority of the evening was spent commemorating the Difford/Tilbrook years; eleven Squeeze songs were performed before all was said and done.

Tilbrook also performed a handful of songs from his solo work as well, a few from his solo debut, The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook (“This Is Where You Ain’t,” “Parallel World”), and a few more from his new release, Transatlantic Ping Pong. While the new album finds Tilbrook sounding more comfortable than last time, some of the songs don’t necessarily have reach-out-and-grab-you melodies. Still, the brilliantly-titled “Hot Shaved Asian Teens” came across nice and punchy in a live setting, and “Reinventing The Wheel” proved so strong that Tilbrook melded it with “Black Coffee In Bed,” scoring no complaints but probably successfully selling a few CDs as a result. “Untouchable,” the lead track from the album, is solid enough that Tilbrook was wise to save it for the encore.

Still, the majority of the folks in attendance had come to hear their favorite Squeeze songs, and Tilbrook had no intention of disappointing them. If the selections were a tad on the predictable side (the whole of Singles – 45s and Under, minus “Cool For Cats” and “If I Didn’t Love You,” plus “Hourglass”), the audience didn’t complain, nor did the performances give them any reason to do so. Those who have caught Tilbrook on his solo acoustic tours will find that there’s far less audience participation when he’s gigging with a full band. Nonetheless, he still found time to wander through the crowd, even one as tightly packed at that of the New Belmont, performing “Goodbye Girl” without the aid of a microphone.

They haven’t always been called the Fluffers, but bassist Lucy Shaw, keyboardist Stephen Large (who’s a freakin’ wildman!), and drummer Simon Hanson have played with Tilbrook many times over the course of the past several years, so they clearly know the material backwards and forwards. Their most impressive accomplishment over the course of the show, however, was their recovery when there was a brief power outage right before the end of the main set, putting Shaw and Large out of commission. Tilbrook, still powered up, proceeded to perform “Slap and Tickle” solo until the problem was resolved, at which point the rest of the band added themselves back into the mix without so much as a hesitation.

Tilbrook and the Fluffers may have closed the evening with “Take Me I’m Yours,” but, frankly, they had the audience at “hello.”

Morrissey

So spoke Morrissey, upon his arrival on the stage of New York’s famed Apollo Theater on the night of May 6^th. This was, for all practical purposes, the middle of his five-night stint at the theater, having played the 3^rd and 4^th, then taken a day off…and, without question, the man was having a good time. Though the words “good time” and the name “Morrissey” may seem decidedly incongruous when used in connection with each other, nonetheless, that’s exactly what was occurring on stage.

Touring in preparation of the release of his new album, You Are the Quarry, Morrissey first did a five-night stint in Los Angeles (with a few other dates sprinkled around them), then opted to repeat the stunt in New York City. In that all the performances were sell-outs, with fans travelling hundreds of miles in order to attend (my wife and I came in from Virginia, though, to be fair, our trip to NYC was scheduled prior to the concert), it’s hard to call the maneuver anything other than a success.

The advance press for You Are the Quarry, the first new Morrissey album in seven years, has been positively glowing…but, of course, given the wretched reviews scored by 1997’s Maladjusted, even vaguely favorable comments are no doubt appreciated in the Mozzer camp. Some of these songs are upwards of four years old, having been road-tested during his between-album tour of 2002, which no doubt helped when the time came to record them.

Morrissey opened with “The First of the Gang To Die,” from the new album. Looking like the elder statesman of Britpop that he is, going slightly gray but still in reasonably fine shape, he whipped the microphone cord around left and right, waved his arms around in his inimitable manner, and was in strong voice. From there, he delved deep into his solo catalog to produce a slightly slowed-down version of “Hairdresser on Fire,” from Viva Hate.

Morrissey did an exemplary job of visiting his back catalog even as he spotlighted You Are the Quarry. Performing half of the new disc, he saved the lead single, “Irish Blood, English Heart,” for the show closer. The new songs were consistently enjoyable, but, admittedly, given that the material wasn’t yet in stores and therefore hadn’t yet been heard before by the majority of the audience, the crowd response was often slightly less enthusiastic at the end of these songs. Alt-radio staple “Everyday Is Like Sunday” was performed with an intro borrowed from the New York Dolls’ “Subway Train”…appropriate, given that former Dolls front man David Johansen was the opening act that night. (In fact, Morrissey has succeeded in reuniting the surviving Dolls to perform at the Meltdown festival in London this year.) Your Arsenal and Vauxhall and I were also revisited, courtesy of “I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday” and “Now My Heart Is Full,” respectively.

The songs that inevitably drew the largest response, however, were Smiths songs. “A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours,” from Strangeways, Here We Come, was a surprising choice, but “Shoplifters of the World Unite” has been played on previous tours. The one-song encore, a performance of the immortal “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out,” drew a sing-along from the entire crowd, with barely a dry eye in the house by its conclusion. The band left the stage one at a time, each laying down their respective instruments, taking a bow, and departing. It was extremely effective and, giving due credit to the crowd, each member seemed to get just as much applause and cheering as the one before.

Morrissey has often drawn criticism for the length of his shows, which rarely, if ever, top out at over an hour and a half. (The average length hovers somewhere around the 70-minute mark.) Nonetheless, he gives his fans exactly what they want in that amount of time…and if they aren’t complaining, why should anyone else?

The First Of The Gang To Die

"I hope no-one's come to see the BoDeans tonight," warned Sammy Llanas, during the opening moments of Absinthe's performance at the Jewish Mother.

It was a reasonable caveat. Absinthe's debut album, A Good Day To Die, hasn't received a great deal of distribution as of yet, and the majority of the crowd had turned up not because they'd heard the disc but solely because they knew Llanas through his work with the BoDeans. Hell, Guy Hoffman, drummer for Absinthe, was a former BoDeans member as well.

As the evening progressed, however, the familiarity of Llanas's voice made it easy for the audience to settle back and appreciate Absinthe on its own merits.

"It was a good day to die," sang Llanas as the evening began, referencing the suicide of his brother and setting the tone of the night's material. The lyrics of Absinthe's material are so personal that, as Llanas has noted, he simply couldn't have done them with the BoDeans; some of the topics covered are Llanas being tormented by a bully in his childhood, and how, after his brother's suicide, he found that his friends always seemed to die in his dreams. The lyrics proved even more gripping with Llanas only a few feet away from any seat in the house, and the darkness of the music easily matched that of the words...an impressive feat with song titles like "Defeat," "Messed Up Likes Of Us," and "Still Alone" to work with. Perhaps the best example the affecting music was the thrumming bass of "Bully On The Corner," which could be felt in the chests of all attendees. The songs regularly received strong applause; although it was a bit odd to clap for such subject matter, it was almost as if the crowd was thanking him for sharing his life's experiences, no matter how painful they might have been to offer up for public consumption.

"Thanks for sitting through the new stuff," Llanas said, as the rest of the band left the stage. Standing alone with his acoustic guitar, he explained that "it's just where my head's at right now." As his own thank-you to the diehard fans who'd shown up, he then performed a version of the BoDeans' "Naked." After that, the three other band members returned to play a few more songs to end the evening, among them "A Little Bit Of Hell," written about Jeffrey Dahmer.

As the crowd departed, one of the audience members was heard to remark that the intimate nature of the performance "was like the sort of thing you'd see in New York, or maybe Philadelphia."

Hampton Roads should be lucky enough to have this sort of event occur more often.

Better Than Ezra started their set at Peabody’s sounding as though they couldn’t get much worse; fortunately, they got…uh, better.

The first act on the bill, Jude, may have been brilliant, but, alas, the Ninevolt contingent didn’t arrive at the venue until after he had already left the stage. Who could’ve known that a show scheduled to start at 8 PM would actually start at 8 PM?

Train came out and gave a performance that lived up to their self-titled album, which is to say that it was mostly mediocre with only a few flashes of brilliance. One of those flashes, disturbingly enough, was a dead-on Led Zeppelin cover (“Ramble On”); when a cover song is the spotlight moment of a band’s performance, there’s trouble afoot. An extended jam during one of the band’s originals was by far the low point, boring much of the crowd into submission.

The crowd roared as Better Than Ezra stepped onto the stage. Three albums into their career, the band might not fill the Boathouse these days, but they still have a fan base large enough to pack Peabody’s. After opening the festivities with a remarkably rotten-sounding version of “King Of New Orleans,” however, the crowd nearest to ‘em might’ve kept their hands a’clappin’, but many in the back were wondering if Better Than Ezra had bothered to hire a soundman for the evening.

Fortunately, things began to clear up slowly but surely after that, even if they didn’t really hit their stride until a few songs before the end of the set. In fact, it wasn’t until the fifth song, “Good,” that the entire audience (i.e. more than just the diehards crowding the foot of the stage) became interested in the performance. Originally slated as the night’s opener (according to the set list), the choice to save “Good,” arguably their most popular song, for a few extra minutes was a good one; had it suffered the fate of “King Of New Orleans” in those opening few minutes, the crowd surely would’ve thinned immediately.

The band remained playful throughout the evening. During “Like It Like That” (from the band’s current release, How Does Your Garden Grow?), they threw in a snippet of Fat Boy Slim’s “Rockafeller Skank”; a bit of “Tubthumping,” by Chumbawamba, found its way into “One More Murder.” The latter song was, in fact, when the band hit that aforementioned stride.

Better Than Ezra closed the regular set with a scorching version of “In The Blood,” from their debut album, then returned to encore with “Live Again” and the hit, “Desperately Wanting.” In those final few moments, the band performed well enough to inspire most everyone in the audience to risk seeing them again in the future.

There are those among us who would say that a band whose various members consider themselves to be fans of Paul Weller, New Model Army, the Posies, Iron Maiden, and (a vicious rumor has claimed) Men At Work could not possibly be a band worth hearing.

Despite finding themselves performing at Players II, a club in Portsmouth, VA whose patrons are far more concerned with lager and billiards than with live music, Blunt put on a fine show.

Bassist Jeff Pierce opened the show by announcing that "we're gonna play a little pop music for you," then leapt into the a capella opening verse of "Cheers," a fine pop song indeed. From there, the band unsurprisingly played several tracks from their debut album, "Deedle Monk," including "Photograph," "Squeaky Clean," and "In Your Eyes" (perhaps their best song, and always a highlight of their set).

Despite a steadfast rule of not relying on covers in their set, in an attempt to attract more interest from the oblivious drunkards/gamesmen in the establishment, they played the only two they knew: "Pigs In Zen," by Jane's Addiction, and "Our Lips Are Sealed," by the Go-Go's/Fun Boy Three.

A lone mosher, gyrating, doing cartwheels, and mouthing the words during the former; blank stares during the latter.

There was but a smattering of applause following most songs (dead silence greeted them upon the close of "Photograph"), but it wasn't the band's fault; most of their songs contained memorable hooks, and they performed them quite capably, with witty banter scattered between them.

Isn’t it about time someone just went ahead and officially declared the Connells to be honorary members of the Hampton Roads music scene? I mean, hell, they’ve played this area more times than some bands that are actually based here.

And, yes, it’s true, Harborfest isn’t exactly renowned as the best place for a band that’s still commercially viable to be performing...as evidenced by the appearance this year of such artists as KC & the Sunshine Band and Firefall.

Still, the Connells pulled off a reasonably fine show. And please note that the chosen phrase is “reasonably fine” and not “rather great.”

The band started off sounding rather ragged at first, and, unfortunately, the raggedy nature resurfaced more than once throughout the show, mostly notably (and unfortunately) during “New Boy.” While one would’ve figured it easy enough to blame it on the P.A. system, reports that the BoDeans sounded “excellent” the night before with the same system made it hard to do so. Still, it hasn’t been all that long since the band’s primary vocalist, Doug MacMillan, suffered through a bout with diverticulitis, so it’s only fair to cut them a little slack.

So, anyway, during the course of an afternoon where rain threatened to erupt at any given moment, the Connells took the crowd through a nice mixture of tracks from their new album, but they also played a large amount of older, more familiar material.

Yes, the purpose of the show was still ostensibly to promote the new record, Still Life; inevitably, the label-chosen emphasis tracks were heard (“Soul Reactor” and “Crown”), as well as three or four others, among them “Curly’s Train,” which gave guitarist George Huntley a chance to step up to the mike. (A side note: for any Connells fans who haven’t investigated it or simply aren’t aware of it, Huntley’s 1996 solo album, brain junk, is more than worthy of purchase.)

In fact, they managed to pull at least one song from each of their past albums: Boylan Heights (“Choose A Side,” “Over There”), Fun And Games (“Hey Wow,” as well as the title track), One Simple Word (“Stone Cold Yesterday”), and Ring (“Slackjawed,” “’74-’75,” “Running Mary”). And, yes, even Darker Days, their 1985 (has it really been that long?) debut, was represented. They dusted the cobwebs off of “Hats Off” and performed it as their final song of the day; its mere inclusion left even the most diehard fans stunned but thrilled. A pleasant plus to the concert was the band’s decision to perform a cover of Nick Lowe’s “Cruel To Be Kind,” which will appear in recorded form on an upcoming soundtrack.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the show was that their last album, Weird Food & Devastation, was almost ignored, with “Maybe” being the day’s only selection taken from that record. This could, perhaps, explain why a fair amount of Still Life is more of a return to the band’s lighter, poppier days.

It wasn’t one of the band’s best appearances in the area, nor was it the worst...but here’s hoping that the next time the Connells re-surface in Hampton Roads, they’ll perform in a more consistent manner.

A band that’s been voted one of the top ten pop bands in Austin, TX, can’t be all bad, right? True enough. Touring in advance support of their forthcoming release, The Other Palm Springs, put on a fine show---quality indie pop, albeit with a heavier emphasis on the “indie” rather than the pop. Their originals were great, but for a crowd unfamiliar with the material, the well-chosen cover of the Cure’s “Inbetween Days” put the audience at ease. Keep your eyes open for a possible return visit.

Who doesn’t like They Might Be Giants? I mean, they’re a wacky and fun bunch of guys. Now that they’re a full band rather than just a duo, their live show is all the more impressive. With a set including songs all the way from their self-titled debut (“Don’t Let’s Start”) to their most recent release, Factory Showroom, not to mention a conga line that included virtually the entire audience, the Boathouse really deserved to be packed rather than the barely-half-full that it was.

Playing their first show in Tidewater since 1991, the Mockers popped their way through a fine set of their hook-laden originals, as well as a cover of “Have Love, Will Travel,” by the Sonics. Locals who hadn’t seen the band in near about forever were treated to old favorites like “Invisible Ink” and “Here Come The Lackeys.” The band is celebrating their substantial take from the door by using it to help pay for their tour of Spain.

The first mistake, inevitably, was having a quality pop band like the Gladhands perform in an area sponsored by 96X, a radio station who wouldn’t play one of their songs on a bet; also, just about everyone who came to the so-called Extreme Arena came to watch the skating and biking demonstrations, not to see a band play. Plus, the charging of five dollars admission to said area wasn’t exactly conducive to people interested in checking out new music, especially with so many other stages around that didn’t require an entry fee. These facts are, presumably, why I was the Gladhands’ audience in its entirety (unless you count the backstage crew, who came around to the front to show their support). No matter what the case, the band put on an incredible show, chock full of hooks and harmonies, and despite the fact that everyone missed them this time, if they’re willing to risk playing here again, no-one should miss out the next.

“It’s great to be back,” said Elton John to the sold-out crowd at the Virginia Beach Ampitheater, as the applause following his opening number, “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding,” died down. “We closed the tour here last year, we’re opening it here this year...” A slight pause. “And, Jesus, it’s cold!”

Unlike some of the more fortunate members of the press, I observed the show from the vantage point of the lawn. Not only was it mighty darned chilly, it was windy, it was damp, the ground was muddy, and I’m pretty sure I caught a cold...and, yet, despite all of that, it was still one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.

But, then again, when you’re dealing with Elton John, what else would you expect? The man has an almost-unparalleled back catalog of hits to choose from...and that’s even excluding the now off-limits “Candle In The Wind.”

The aforementioned opener was the first sign that Elton had no problem embracing his former hits; in fact, it wasn’t until the 8th song that he even risked playing one of what would prove to be the evening’s two selections from The Big Picture, the current release he’s ostensibly touring behind. Oddly, though, he didn’t play that record’s big single, “Something In The Way You Look Tonight.”

Album rock staples “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and “Honky Cat” were followed by family favorite “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” (with the video screens alternating shots of Elton with scenes from “The Lion King”). Then, it was back to the oldies with “Tiny Dancer” before fast-forwarding 12 years to “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.”

On “I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That,” he demonstrated some of the piano theatrics that’ve been taken up by such contemporary artists as Ben Folds. On a related note, Elton prefaced “Daniel” by mentioning several of his piano-playing heroes, among them Little Richard, then dedicated the song to hometown boy Bruce Hornsby, one of his current inspirations.

The list of classics that were reeled off seemed almost limitless, with “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me,” “Rocket Man,” and “Crocodile Rock” among them. He even included a few of his more popular album tracks (“Grey Seal” and “Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters”) for good measure.

But despite claims to the contrary in other local publications, Elton did not play “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”...not that it was particularly missed, mind you.

If there was any possible complaint about the evening, it was a too-lengthy stretch of recent material during the third quarter of the concert, which proved boring to a segment of Elton’s older fans. (Another lawn-seated individual was heard to proclaim, “Why doesn’t he play something we know?”) But it was hard to complain too much, because he followed that particular segment with “Take Me To The Pilot” (complete with a lengthy piano intro which allowed Elton to show off his chops), “Philadelphia Freedom,” and “Benny And The Jets. A stomping “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” brought the crowd to their feet and closed the main portion of the show.

The first encore opened with “The Bitch Is Back,” which was followed by a rousing cover of “Great Balls Of Fire” that had the crowd a’jumpin’. But when Elton and his band left the stage afterwards, there was little doubt in the audience’s minds either that he’d return or as to what song he’d play.

And, so, a solo piano version of his signature tune, “Your Song,” completed this excellent evening.

Sure, tickets for the show were astronomical in price...but an Elton John concert is one where there’s no doubt that you’re going to get your money’s worth.

On the face of things, John Fogerty appears to be doing nothing different from any of dozens of other ‘60’s and ‘70’s artists currently on the summer tour circuit: playing a nice, long set of songs from his sizable back catalog of hits, occasionally throwing out a song from his latest studio album, thereby giving the I-only-know-what-the-radio-feeds-me fans a chance to use the restroom or get yet another beer.

For one, until he embarked on the tour to promote his most recent studio album, Blue Moon Swamp, it had been over a decade since he’d been properly inspired to hit the road. So it isn’t as though he’s been milking his past on an annual basis, like far too many others whose names could be easily reeled off. Also, this was the first solo tour where he’d even opted to play more than a tiny handful of Creedence Clearwater Revival songs.

This could be why there was no shortage of them when he performed at the Virginia Beach Ampitheater.

A performance by Whiskeytown started the evening off right, with a short set only slightly marred by technical difficulties (i.e. strings breaking). The biggest surprise was the band’s decision to play all new songs; while arguably a great chance to show off stellar material to a larger audience than they usually play before, it was still a disappointment for the band’s fans in the crowd not to hear any of their favorites from the studio releases.

In case anyone didn’t get the word about the inclusion of Creedence songs this time around, he started things off with “Born On The Bayou.” And lest anyone feel it was an isolated incident, he immediately followed them with “Green River,” “Lodi,” “Looking Out My Back Door,” and “Susie Q.” From there, it was into the Screaming Jay Hawkins chestnut, “I Put A Spell On You.”

The first new song of the evening, “Premonition” (from which his new live album takes its title), was extremely enjoyable, as was the follow-up, the almost-as-new “Bring It Down To Jelly Roll,” taken from Blue Moon Swamp.

The most amusing part of the evening came during “Who’ll Stop The Rain.” While singing the lyric, “I went down to Virginia/ Seeking shelter from the storm,” the crowd inevitably went wild...but Fogerty’s reaction to THEIR reaction was one of surprise at first. Then, you could see the gears turning, and, even as he continued to sing the song, he grinned sheepishly and rapped his fist against his skull, as if to say, “Doh! I can’t believe I forgot I was in Virginia and didn’t play up that lyric!” After the song ended, he waited for the applause to die down, then he played and sang the bit about Virginia again, just to enjoy the response. Later, when he trotted it out yet again and heard the screams of the easily-amused crowd once more, he commented, “Wow, man, I could’ve only played one song tonight!”

What he could’ve done is one thing, but what he did do is favor the crowd with thirty immaculately-performed songs. The musical highlight was probably the Creedence-tested, audience-approved cover of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” but other perfect moments included “Down On The Corner,” “Rockin’ All Over The World,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Fortunate Son,” the closing “Travellin’ Band,” and, surprisingly, the overplayed (at baseball stadiums, anyway) “Centerfield.”

Whether Fogerty ever hits the road again with so many Creedence songs in his repetoire remains to be seen, but those who attended the Ampitheater show and left disappointed were few and far between.

It's been a fair while since Lloyd Cole last shifted mass units in the States...if, in fact, it can truly be said that he ever did; he's never really troubled the charts there, and shifting from a major label (Capitol) to an independent (Rykodisc) can't have helped matters any.

Still, he managed to pack 'em in at the Cat's Cradle, located squarely in the center of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The turnout was somewhat surprising, in that Chapel Hill is notorious as a college town, and, still being in the midst of the Thanksgiving break, many of the students were still at home with their families. Then again, Lloyd probably hasn't too many new aficionados amongst the current student body, anyway; through no particular fault of his own, he's still more or less coasting on the reputation (and the fan base) he made during his days with the Commotions.

"Those were some songs you didn't know," he says, after opening the show with two songs from his most recent (and, ironically, his best since his days with the Commotions) album, "Love Story." Perhaps sensing the crowd's concern, he assuages them by noting that he'll be playing older material as well; before the night is over, he's serenaded them with "Perfect Skin," "Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?," and "Jennifer She Said," perhaps one of the greatest pop songs ever written.

With a tight band behind him (featuring, among others, occasional Golden Palomino Amanda Kramer), Lloyd, strong of voice and material, created a brilliant night for all.

After their 1982 debut album, Business As Usual, Men At Work were just about the biggest band in the world. Even now, during Flashback Lunches around the country, the lyrics to "Who Can It Be Now?," "Down Under," and "Be Good Johnny" come immediately to the lips of a generation.

And yet when a Men At Work concert is announced, the first question is invariably, "Wow, they're still together?"

It's not the original line-up; Ron Strykert (guitar), Jerry Speiser (drums), and John Rees (bass) are nowhere to be seen. But Colin Hay is still fronting the band, handling vocals and guitar, and Greg Ham is still there to contribute saxophone (tenor AND soprano), flute, keyboards, and harmonica as they're needed.

The opening band, Let's Go Bowling, offered up a very listenable performance of ska, based more in the style of classics of the genre, like Madness. But, inevitably, it still sounded pretty much like every other ska band ever.

When Men At Work took the stage, it was to mass applause. Rather than opening with one of their hit singles, they chose to begin the evening with "Touching The Untouchables," from their debut; it might've left many of the young ones mystified, but the majority of the mostly-twentysomething crowd still recognized it.

Playing to their biggest success, the band performed all but one song from their debut. The one exclusion was "People Just Love To Play With Words," which, by no small coincidence, was written solely by the absent Ron Strykert. During the show, Ham mentioned that Strykert "now lives here in the US...in Montana...in a bomb shelter"; the amount of truth contained within this statement remains unconfirmed.

All of the hits found the audience ecstatic: the aforementioned singles from Business As Usual, as well as "Overkill," "It's A Mistake," and "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive," from Cargo. Even the one hit single from Two Hearts, "Everything I Need," made it into the set. Hay's voice was pretty much on the money throughout, excepting only the last part of "Be Good Johnny"; still, considering how high the original was sung, it's amazing that he was able to even come close.

There were a few bonuses for fans of Hay's solo work; he performed "Waiting For My Real Life To Begin" and "Can't Take This Town," from his album, Topanga. The band also performed an excellent version of "The Longest Night," a new studio cut tacked onto the band's 1998 live album, Brazil.

Let's be honest, though; the majority of the audience was there to relive their past.

Now, however, it says, "We will sign your 8x10's, shirts, ass, tits, or anything else you got!"

Or, at least, that's what was handwritten in magic marker on the posterboard sign that hung above the merchandise stand at the Warrant/Quiet Riot/Slaughter show at the Boathouse on December 4th. Although the days of heavy metal ruling the airwaves may be gone, the bands themselves are not. They continue to release albums, they continue to tour, and their diehard fans continue to buy the product and see the shows.

Local band Over Flow opened the evening's proceedings. While they performed a competent-enough set, their music seemed based far more in the Seattle sound than in the metal stylings that would follow them.

The lesser of the three main acts, Slaughter might not have had the huge mainstream following that their tour mates did, but it certainly wasn't for lack of snappy stage patter.

"People say rock is dead...?" asked Mark Slaughter. "They can fuckin' suck me off!"

"Radio," he additionally claimed, "doesn't have the balls to play Slaughter," also adding that MTV sucked, presumably for the same reason.

Lighters were thrust aloft during the band's power ballad, "I Wanna Spend My Life With You," and they remained in the air during "Fly To The Angels," which Slaughter dedicated to guitarist Tim Kelly, who died in a traffic accident earlier this year. The latter was, admittedly, a poignant moment, and it was probably the only part of the band's set where they didn't seem like a complete caricature; still, when they ended up attempting to set some sort of record for the number of false endings a song can have (in this case, four), much of the effect was lost.

Quiet Riot hit the stage to the tune of the "Peter Gunn" theme, with all of their original members in place: vocalist Kevin DuBrow, bassist Rudy Sarzo, drummer Frankie Banali, and guitarist Carlos Cavazo (guitar). Perhaps it's just the romanticism surrounding all things '80's, but Quiet Riot definitely seemed like the elder statesmen of the evening, not to mention having the most credibility (relatively speaking). Things went slightly awry during "Thunderbird," which was dedicated to their former guitarist, the late Randy Rhodes; placing aside the fact that Rhodes didn't become a metal legend until he left Quiet Riot behind and teamed up with Ozzy Osbourne, Banali's drumming was way off base during the song, and...well, DuBrow's voice simply isn't that of a balladeer. That, however, didn't stop the crowd from breaking out their lighters again and treating the song as if it were as much of a classic as, say, "Cum On Feel The Noize," "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," and "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)." And, yes, all three of those tracks were performed, with the fans' fists constantly punching the air throughout them. In fact, during the aforementioned trio of tunes, Quiet Riot received the best crowd response of any of the night's bands.

The final performers of the evening, Warrant played the well-worn "Let's get ready to rumble!/Are you ready for this?" soundbite before leaping headlong into their opener, "Down Boys." Frontman and sometime guitarist Jani Lane still sported his blonde locks and mascara as he and his bandmates favored the crowd with versions of "Heaven," "I Saw Red," and "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Lane seemed fascinated with the name of the city they were playing, referring to it as "Nor-Fuck" several times in rapid succession. As the set continued, however, it became apparent that he simply enjoyed using the f-word as much as possible; on several occasions, when the crowd began to sing along, he was heard to utter, "That's so fucking cool!" Still, Warrant gave a strong performance overall, peppering their hits set with the occasional new track, such as "Undertow." The evening was forced to a relatively-abrupt close when the curfue beckoned, but, before leaving the stage, Warrant made sure to slip into "Cherry Pie," a song which Lane declared to have been named by Playboy as one of the best songs to be played in a strip club. A dubious accomplishment, perhaps, but Lane seemed infinitely proud.

Heavy metal may never again find its way to the upper reaches of the charts with the regularity of a decade or so ago, but at least its former bright lights continue to give their fans what they want...such as it is.

Despite an undeniably pitiful audience turn-out, the Squeeze concert at the Boathouse was easily one of the stronger area performances by any band this year.

Currently touring behind their latest album, Domino, Squeeze have no delusions about the majority of those who attend their concerts. Like every band, they have their diehard fans, but, in the long run, they know it’s their best-of, Singles - 45s and Under, that brings in the majority of the concertgoers.

Of Singles’ 12 songs, 9 were played live…and of the remaining three tracks, 2 of them were obviously left out due to their vocalist (or co-vocalist, as on “Slap & Tickle”), Chris Difford, retiring from touring with the band. The band also delved into less commercially-heralded portions of their discography, playing “Melody Motel” (from Frank) and “This Summer” (Ridiculous).

It’s ironic that what will likely prove to be the coolest Hampton Roads concert moment of 1999 only occurred because of the low attendance.

Tilbrook sent the rest of the band offstage, then he suggested that, due to the intimacy of the evening (i.e. the venue only being about 1/3 full), perhaps things should be moved outside for a few songs. And with that, Tilbrook strolled out, armed only with acoustic guitar. There was a brief flurry of concern from the beer garden when it was realized that alcoholic beverages weren’t permitted to be taken outside, so Tilbrook gave them a moment to quaff their drinks, then everyone followed along. Choosing songs which easily gave themselves to audience participation, Glenn performed solo acoustic renditions of “Goodbye Girl” and the more obscure “Piccadilly,” from East Side Story before returing to the stage with the rest of the band.

The absence of guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Difford was never forgotten; not that the very tight current incarnation of Squeeze didn’t fill his shoes handily, but, rather, Glenn Tilbrook wouldn’t allow Chris to be forgotten. His non-presence was mentioned almost immediately, and, when the band’s introductions were made toward the end of the evening, Tilbrook asked that the audience pay homage to the currently-at-home-in-his-bed-and sleeping Chris Difford.

Closing the night with “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell),” Squeeze sent the small but faithful crowd home with memories to last a lifetime.

Set List

Prior to attending the Cult show at the Boathouse on Oct. 1st, it would’ve been hard to calculate the odds that the resulting concert review would have the potential to bear the headline, “Omigod, The Cult Kicked So Much F***ing Ass!” But, rest assured, it was indeed in the running...if only for about five seconds, before a sense of common decency kicked in.

Following in the footsteps of Bob Dylan (albeit far from directly), during the later years of their biggest mainstream success, i.e. the Sonic Temple and Ceremony years, the Cult were known as a particularly crap live band. Would that this writer could produce specific quotes from reviews of past Cult concerts in the British press, a land where “tact” is a four-letter word*; though far from exact, a hazy memory exists of a comment to the effect of how all the years of sucking Satan’s…erm, John Thomas, shall we say?…had taken their toll on Ian Astbury’s voice.

Not, as noted, a precise quote, but closer to precise than one might like to think.

As it happens, it was probably something closer to the realm of alcohol and chemical abuses that resulted in Astbury’s less than stellar vocal performances. Those days, however, are past…and the audience proved the benefactor.

Playing to their strengths, the Cult…featuring not only Astbury but guitarist Billy Duffy and drummer Matt Sorum (ex-Guns ‘N’ Roses) opted for a set list consisting of virtually nothing but hits; they pretty much ignored their last two albums entirely (which, unfortunately, meant no “Wild Hearted Son” or “Coming Down”) and only played one new song. With the crowd going wild, however, they did have the common sense to mention that they’d soon be entering the studio to work on a new album.

All of the classics were performed brilliantly: “Li’l Devil,” “Sun King,” “Rain,” “Edie (Ciao Baby),” “Fire Woman,” “Revolution,” “Sweet Soul Sister,” “Wild Flower,” and “She Sells Sanctuary” were among the multiple highlights. Closing the encore with “Love Removal Machine” pretty much brought down the loud, rambunctious house.

Perhaps the most bizarre moment of the concert, however, was when the band was leaving the stage in preparation for that inevitable encore. Astbury shouted, “If you wanna hear more music, let us f**king know!”

Ian, dear Ian: after a stellar show like that, why would you even waste your breath? Didn’t you realize that you had us at “hello”?

*Please do not write in to observe that “tact” is, in fact, a four-letter word everywhere.

Tori Amos has perhaps one of the most rabid fan bases witnessed in recent memory. One can't help but wonder if Kate Bush might have tasted more than just a cult following had she ever opted to embark on nationwide concert tours (let alone release albums more than once every four or five years).

The evening began with a set by the Unbelievable Truth, whose only claim to fame thus far is that their vocalist, Andy Yorke, is the brother of Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead. Described, in fact, as "Radiohead without the strange bits" by British magazine Q, the band put on a serviceable set, if one that didn't really get the crowd going until its final two songs.

Although the audience was polite...even appreciative...to the Unbelievable Truth, there was little doubt as to whom they'd come to see. The moment the lights dimmed, the place exploded in screams.

Tori opened the evening with "Precious Things," from her debut album, 1991's Little Earthquakes. And the crowd, perhaps inevitably, went wild. Smoke billowed everywhere, both during that song and throughout the evening; the lighting, colorful and fast-moving, was spectacular.

The song choices covered all of her albums, with particular emphasis on the current Songs From The Choirgirl Hotel. Highlights, however, included the Beatle-esque "Father Lucifer" (from Boys For Pele) and Under The Pink's "Past The Mission" (surviving nicely without Trent Reznor's backing vocals from the studio version) and "Cornflake Girl," which featured an extremely sultry acapella opening.

Although the band's performances were uniformly excellent, the most moving moments during the middle of the set, during the three songs where it was simply Tori, alone with her piano; the best and most gripping of these was "Merman," dedicated to the "boy in Wyoming."

Tori and company blessed the crowd with two encores. The first encore, consisting of two songs from her latest album, began with "Black-Dove (January)" and closed with "Raspberry Swirl," the latter turning Chrysler Hall into an acoustically-perfect discotheque as the crowd danced en masse. For the second encore, she and the band performed "Tear In Your Hand," from her debut; upon its completion, the other three waved farewell to the audience and left the stage, leaving Tori once more alone at the piano.

She closed the evening by performing a lovely version of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," a song which gets the tear ducts going no matter who's singing it.

Having witnessed a live performance of Tori Amos, it's hard to imagine that there's anyone who wouldn't be swayed into her camp after such an experience.

NICK LOWE w/ BILL KIRCHEN