Peter Case Plays Live at Larkin September 18

            Peter Case and his all-star Buffalo band will perform again in the Live at Larkin Wednesday Music Series at Larkin Square, 745 Seneca Street, Buffalo, on Wednesday, September 18, in what is becoming a fine summer tradition.

           

Peter Case, right, with Mark Winsick
Photo by Val Dunne/Barkloud Productions

            The Grammy Award-nominated Hamburg native, best known for his solo electric and acoustic music as well as membership in the Plimsouls (the classic “A Million Miles Away) and the Nerves, will be joined by Buffalo Music Hall of Fame members Mark Winsick on guitar and vocals, Jim Whitford on bass and vocals and Rob Lynch on drums and vocals. Winsick and Whitford are childhood friends of Case, who will sing, play guitar, harmonica and probably some organ.

            Leroy Townes, well-known to Live at Larkin attendees and WNY music fans, will open the show at about 5 p.m. Case’s Live at Larkin concert last summer was not only a great rock and folk show itself, but in my opinion was one of the best shows of the 2012 Buffalo concert schedule.

            It would take an entire article or so to appropriately describe Case’s musical history and influence (hell knows, I’ve written several), but, after leaving Hamburg like fellow troubadour and rather talented musician Gurf Morlix, Case played in several bands, probably the first of note the Nerves, who released several recordings, the most prominent “Hanging on the Telephone,” made a hit by Blondie (my favorite Nerves’ song is “When You Find Out”). Case found some success and renown later with the Plimsouls, including a radio and alternative hit with his song “A Million Miles Away,” featured in the movie “Valley Girl” and covered by several bands, including Buffalo‘s the Goo Goo Dolls.

            After the Plimsouls ended, Case went solo and turned from the power pop/rock sound to more folk and folk rock, in both band and solo formats. His first two albums, the first self-titled and the second “The Man with the Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar,” with great songs such as “Walk in the Woods,” “Poor Old Tom” and “Two Angels.” There are really too many excellent Case songs and albums to name, and other musicians agree, recording a tribute album of his songs, “A Case for Case,” which helped to pay for his medical bills when he had open-heart surgery but no health insurance a few years ago.

            Case’s last regular studio CD, “Wig!” was a very cool return to 1960s soul flavored rock and roll songs and rave ups, with “Words in Red” my favorite, a slightly twanging rocker on which Case calls out hypocrites who try to force the Bible down people’s throats but don’t follow much of it themselves, without mocking the actual beliefs. Case was also one of the main focuses of Tom Weber's fine 2011 documentary, "Troubadour Blues."

            People should get to the show early and maybe bring lawn chairs if last year’s heavy attendance is any indication. Let me use this opportunity to thank Seamus Gallivan and the people at Live at Larkin for not only another very good concert schedule, but creating a fine place to attend shows and see friends in a great atmosphere.

Cover These Songs...With Dirt

When he hears the cover, only Alice cries

In the past few weeks, two covers of songs have particularly annoyed me to the point where I need to vent.

The first song, which I have heard WAY too much, is a slow, painfully bad version of Alic Cooper's classic "School's Out" that was used in advertisements for Staples. The song is slowed down to a soporific crawl with synthesizer swirls, and uses those incredibly annoying, not-even-cool-for-two-minutes affected/affectless vocals from a female I have not yet been able to identify. You have to be very talented and creative to take on this over-the-top, let-it-all-out hard rock anthem and make something good, interesting and fun of it, and the performer and producer do neither.

Irony, shmirony; this interpretation says nothing and does nothing for the song or performer, the identity of who I have yet to discover despite several attempts.

Kurt still feels the pain of the new version

The other painful cover I started hearing a few days ago was that of Nirvana's "Come As You Are," again by an unknown female singer. This version of the song is being used as part of a campaign by the Lifetime Network for several programs, including "Witches of East End," which is what I saw and heard when I was subjected to this dreck. In this cover, a female sings the song at a dirge-like pace, similar to the original, but with none of the emotion, urgency or intensity of the late Kurt Cobain. Quite frankly, I wonder if anyone at Lifetime actually listened to the lyrics.

On top of really disliking this version of "Come As You Are," I am annoyed that Lifetime all but forced me to show way more interest in this program than I had planned (zero), and I hope someone makes some money off of this who needs it (I remain confused over the control and licensing of Cobain's/Nirvana's music, as in how much goes to Courtney Love, Dave Grohl and/or Krist Novoselic).

Patti Smith, 'Just Kids' and My Heroes

             As I let magazine subscriptions end in recent years, I have been reading many more books; my tastes run almost entirely to non-fiction (although I am intermittently reading a book of Joseph Conrad stories), including history (World War II to present my main focus) and music. Because I wanted to keep this blog musical, I have not written about most of these books.

But one book that I just finished is not only a great book, it is a relatively recent release and is music oriented, that being “Just Kids” by Patti Smith (HarperCollins, 2010). The book is about the years that Smith and her best friend, sometime lover and often muse, Robert Mapplethorpe, spent living, loving and creating together, one way or another.

As well as a fascinating description of Smith’s growing up, moving about and eventual relocation to and maturing in New York City, it depicts just how close the singer, poet, songwriter and music journalist was to not succeeding. It also shows in rich detail how fortuitous it was for she to have met and fallen for and in with Mapplethorpe, the vastly talented but conflicted and controversial photographer, and how fortunate he was in turn.

Their support of each other, artistically, romantically and eventually as friends, free souls and artists, is also the story in large part of the New York art and music scenes in the late 1960s through the early 1980s, when Smith married MC5 leader Fred “Sonic” and moved to Michigan. Their growing up and maturing as most people do includes many events most people encounter, seen through somewhat different lenses.

The stories of successes and failures, estrangement, chance taking and eventual notoriety and fame are framed in a sweet, almost innocent voice by Smith, whose memory of and eye for detail draws the reader into stories time and time again. You can see the photography and other artwork, and hear the poems and later songs, as if they are there in front of you, and you can sense her confusion and acceptance as her former lover Mapplethorpe realizes, embraces and portrays his sexuality, for all of its raw context.

Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine

I had looked forward to reading this book since I got it as a birthday gift last year, but didn’t get around to it until this summer. As a massive Patti Smith Group fan and avid reader about her, Mapplethorpe and so many related artists and musicians for years (mainly through subscribing to The Village Voice from about 1979-2000), I was interested in this story as what I eventually recognized as a central point of my appreciation of music and art that was out of the mainstream. Smith’s depictions of people for exactly what they are, sometimes colored a bit by romantic recollection, don’t hide any warts or realities, but also do not condemn people, something Smith has been the target of too much of for years.

Having written about music for more than 30 years, I have some serious favorite bands and performers, but until now, I have only really had one hero, Clash singer/guitarist Joe Strummer. The more I realize how I feel about her music, what she exemplifies and how she communicates it, I believe Patti Smith has become my second musical hero, and reading “Just Kids” has helped me realize it.

The Women of Robot Holiday at Larkin Square July 31

(Most of) The Women of Robot Holiday, accompanied by some bunch of guys they found at the last minute to play at Larkin Square. Does anyone here buy off the rack? Photo by Val Dunne/Barkloud Productions

        It may have been the perfect night for a show at Larkin Square, with the weather sunny and in the low-70-degree range, Amy’s Truck serving dinner and me off of work/political volunteering for an evening. But what made it even better was the performance of The Women of Robot Holiday (and backing musicians).

        Robot Holiday, the brainchild of bassist, producer, songwriter and too-funny-for-his-own-good guy Jonathan Hughes and friends, has been recording and releasing new, original holiday music for several years, and playing shows at The Sportsmen’s Tavern and Larkin Square in particular for the last few holiday seasons. With all of the talented musicians involved, happily someone or several people came up with the idea of displaying this talent besides during the holidays, and featuring the many female musicians was a very smart move.

        The show featured Dee Adams on vocals and guitar, Cathy Carfagna on keyboards, vocals and guitar, Alex Lynne on guitar and vocals, Joelle Labert on vocals and Katy Miner on vocals, all singing lead and backing roles. If you had heard any one of these musicians before, you’d know this would be a fun show, but blending all of this talent with the added backing of Jim Whitford on guitar, Hughes on bass and Rob Lynch on drums should have told you that this was a show not to miss.

        The show began with a really good sultry, funky and lusty number by Adams, which grabbed attention, and Labert added her rootsy, yearning lead vocals to the next tune. Miner, the only Robot Holiday woman performing I had not witnessed in her solo act before, contributed a fine, low, slinky funk song, aided nicely by Carfagna’s keyboards and Hughes’ bass. Carfagna then took center stage with a funky rocking version of “Tumble Down,” a song she recorded on her “Turn Your Face to the Sun” CD as well as with one of the bands she plays with, The Outlyers. 

           Lynne then sang a county and western flavored song with some real nice guitar interplay with Whitford possibly entitled "If I Were Lucky," where she is missing that special person; Adams followed with a chiming pop rocker, "Coming in for a Landing," where she seems to be seeing where things will lead. Labert and the women then sang a real nice C&W song with Carfagna supplying on-the-mark accordion, and Miner contributed "The Best of Me," slower and a bit dreamy. Carfagna then sang "Turn Your Face to the Sun," which sounded even better vocally here than on the CD due to the Women of Robot Holiday.

          

Cathy Carfagna singing, playing accordion and avoiding a snarky caption.
Photo by Val Dunne/Barkloud Productions

               I wish I caught the title of the next song, sung by Adams, which was a slower, smoky, bluesy country number with Carfagna's accordion and a good Whitford solo near the end standing out; Lynne continued the feel with a sinister, brooding cover of "Jolene" she recorded as part of Opaline with Hughes and guitarist, singer and songwriter David Mussen (who is also a big part of Robot Holiday).

               The evening came to an end with four more songs, a very danceable tune sung by Miner (with serious funky bass from Hughes and a disco guitar line from Whitford), Labert singing a cover of David Meinzer's "Right There in Your Eyes," Carfagna appropriately performing "Last Day in July," Adams and Lynne dueting on Michael Oliver's "Tell Me What You're Dreaming" and Adams then singing lead on the finale, a cover of "Hard Candy Christmas" from "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," which has been performed at previous Robot Holiday shows.

             Also deserving credit is Seamus Gallivan, who MCed the show and has been one of the contributing factors to the high quality of musical programming at Larkin Square and helping gain further support for the Robot Holiday cause, which again benefited the Food Bank of Western New York.  

Where Do You Dare Me to Draw the Line?

Cream would have written a more clever caption than this

As I finish writing the review of the Women of Robot Holiday and receive the photos, I had to mention an, um, interesting concert bill my wife Val mentioned to me today.

She said she was talking/writing with her friend Nikki, an expat Buffa

lonian in California working in television and movie industries. It seems she was waiting to go to a concert at the county fair, the double bill being Hall & Oates and Air Supply.

Air Supply - No, the night's aren't better

I hadn't recently felt my colon clench so fast; while I am a major Hall & Oates fan, Air Supply is WAY too pappy, schmaltzy, treacly and downright boring for me, even to sit through for a band I really like, from the "now I'm happy, really I am" of "Even the Nights Are Better" to the flat-out bathos of "All Out of Love," a song too many overemotional teens turned to when that one guy or girl dropped them.

I imagine hundreds, nay, thousands of people carefully scheduling their arrival and departures from this show so as to miss being subjected to Air Supply while not missing Hall & Oates. It would be tragic beyond words to miss Hall & Oates in any way, but to Air Supply? No can do.

The Fixx & Wang Chung at Buffalo Canalside July 25

            No doubt most of us attending the July 25 concert by The Fixx and Wang Chung at Buffalo Canalside were there for the memories, the admittedly large number of great older tunes by these bands.

            But both bands have relatively new CDs of original music, and one of the most interesting things to come out of the show was the two approaches taken to being in bands whose biggest moments commercially, and many of us would say artistically, occurred 25-30 or more years ago.

The Fixx 2013

            I don’t know of The Fixx was the entire tour headliner or if the bands are alternating the honor, but the Fixx headlined in Buffalo. The band opened with several songs off of their new CD, “Beautiful Friction,” displaying their approach, that of a band that may have been most popular 3 decades ago continuing to treat itself as a band recording new music and ideas and prominently including the material in their set. Singer Cy Curnin and the band performed the newer songs as tunes to be appreciated and not just as separators between the classic hits.

            I do not have The Fixx’s new CD, and Curnin did not introduce several of the newer songs by name, but some of these tunes sounded pretty good; the second song of the set had some cool atmospherics, followed by a song with some real energy and punch. Another song that was not introduced by name had a very strong gothic sound and feel, and Curnin’s vocals went off into very interesting Peter Murphy territory.

            The Fixx waited until the eighth song of the set before digging into the treasure chest, coming out with a spirited and seriously crowd-pleasing version of “One Thing Leads to Another.” After a pretentious, worst of U2-sounding new song, the band next played a really good version of one of my favorites, “Stand or Fall.” After a couple more new songs (one featuring some seriously good and heavy guitar), the band ended its regular set with a fun, extended version of “Saved by Zero.”

            Even during the encore, The Fixx stuck with its approach, with some newer material before ending with a strong version of “Red Skies at Night.”

Wang Chung 2013

            Wang Chung opened the part of the show we caught (apparently, Buffalo Canalside shows have taken the unusual step of starting opening acts on time, so we missed the first band); singer/guitarist Jack Hues (who looked and sounded ridiculously good and similar to his 1980s self) told the crowd before the show started that “We’re going to do some wanging and some chunging tonight,” so you could see where things were heading, even though the band released its first CD of new material, “Tazer Up,” in December. Original bassist/vocalist Nick Feldman also remains in the band and was apparently having a blast onstage.

            The band opened up with the first two songs from the new CD, “City of Light,” which kicked nicely, and “Lets Get Along,” a poppy sounding tune that had some punchy Tears for Fears touch. The sing-along chorus went from the song itself to the first insertion of the back catalog as Hues switched it to “Wang Chung tonight.”

            The next song, “Space Junk,” has been heard by some from the first episode of “The Walking Dead” on AMC, and Wang Chung followed with their first US single, “Don’t Let Go,” sounding both a touch dated but really good; no need to update the sound when it sounds good. Sadly, the next song, “To Live and Die in LA,” from the film of the same name, sounds both dated and still rather boring, the one Wang Chung song I can do without hearing again. I always thought the song was somewhat overwrought and boring, and it still sounds that way to me; somehow, the synthesizer had that real bad 1980s sound as if it hadn’t been played since the 1980s and was just removed from a time capsule. Hell, at least get a new floppy disk for it.

            Wang Chung returned to better songs with a strong trio to end their set, starting with a lively version of 1986’s “Let’s Go,” building to “Dance Hall Days” and ending with the international smash and beer commercial soundtrack (I bet lots of tour buses, studio time and mortgages were paid with it) “Wang Chung Tonight.”

            As if a nod to the 1980s when both bands made their biggest marks on the charts and to fans, both bassists played…Steinberg basses. Something you don’t see a lot of any more.

The Good, Michelle Weber and the Word Girls - Spiral Scratch Records July 20, 2013

While the other members of The Good continue to rock, vocalist He Who Shall Not Be Named is apparently off to hunt for a copy of Who Put the Bomp. Photo by Val Dunne/Barkloud Productions

            If Spiral Scratch Records and impresario Dave Anchovies (with wife Marisa Palumbo) aren’t careful, they will become possibly the coolest place to see and host of Buffalo bands.

            Val and I spent the vast majority of Record Store Day in Spiral Scratch, mostly its basement, listening to cool bands, and we caught a really good three-band show, namely The Good, Michelle Weber and the Word Girls July 20.

            The Good headlined the show and provided a fun, hard rocking, sometimes 1960s flavored sound in a slightly smaller format; guitarist Biff Henrich was not present, so guitarist Scott Michaels and Bob Kozak (who normally plays keyboard and guitar) made up for the change with some crunching and melodic riffs. He Who Shall Not Be Named added his usual high-energy, excitable vocals and worked the crowd a bit more than usual, including some mugging for the still and video cameras. Bassist Russ Steinberg continued providing bad jokes and support, while drummer Roger Nicol remained quiet between songs and powerful during them.

            Along with classic Good songs such as “Walk Around the World,” “Message From My Heart,” “Judy” and “Clouds,” it was great to hear the band reach back into the archives and play one of my favorites, “My Time to Leave.” HWSNBN also dedicated a song to Mary Moser, wife of Buffalo Music Hall of Fame member Bruce Moser, who is recovering from a serious medical situation.

            Michelle Weber opened the show and played both older and newer songs, including a few tunes from her classic “Cripple Head” cassette. The standout older tune was “Cut Them Off,” where Weber not only shows how far she will go to maintain a relationship but also demonstrates how far women are too often expected to sacrifice for others. Her guitar playing is still crisp and direct, blending melody and rhythm, and her voice shows signs of getting older/maturity in good ways, so that she doesn’t have to virtually scream or yowl in certain places to still make her point. One new song was a poignant piece on how she is processing the death of her father and the interesting situations that are generating memories.

            The Word Girls (for whom Anchovies plays bass), led by songwriter extraordinaire and guitarist Bill Nehill (also a Spiral Scratch employee), performed a startlingly good set, at times combining influences such as Jonathan Richman, Johnny Dowd and Nick Cave with battered but fascinating arrangements. The songs often focus on love and relationships sought, barely held onto and lost, and Nehill’s vocal delivery is mostly direct and dripping with emotions from happy to desperate and depressed. He has the uncanny knack of pulling you into a song, regardless how scary or hopeless it may sound, and his lyrics are powerful statements of someone trying to not only make sense of his world but trying to justify its, and his, existence in it. It had been too long since I caught Nehill live on stage, and I hope it isn’t so long until the next time.