http://www.howwastheshow.com/index.cfm/action/potw.view/potwKey/110
More Sara Montour photos from the Sussed-tacular show are here
Friday, November 30, 2007
Sussed-tacular photo of the week at HowWasTheShow.com
A dramatic shot of Ashley Ackerson from The Mood Swings performing at the recent Sussed-tacular shindig made the Photo of the Week at HowWasTheShow.com. Kudos to photog Sara Montour for the killer shot!
http://www.howwastheshow.com/index.cfm/action/potw.view/potwKey/110
More Sara Montour photos from the Sussed-tacular show are here
http://www.howwastheshow.com/index.cfm/action/potw.view/potwKey/110
More Sara Montour photos from the Sussed-tacular show are here
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Latest Ed Ackerson news
Ed and his band celebrated the release of his new album by playing a dynamite set last night at the Electric Fetus record store in Minneapolis. Several songs from the new album were played in anticipation of the big Sussed-tacular show this Friday at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis.
Ed and Eric Lovold (from The Alarmists and part of Ed's band for the Varsity show) recently recorded a whole bunch of acoustic versions of songs from Ed's new album. Two of these are featured in the November edition of the Howwastheshow.com Artists Series podcast. "Three Great Days" and "Wired Weird" are included in the podcast along with a great interview with HWTS honcho David DeYoung.
The on-line Reveille magazine has an article this week along with an exclusive acoustic version of "Flashes of Light," another unplugged Ed and Eric track. Click here for the article + song.
Ed and Eric Lovold (from The Alarmists and part of Ed's band for the Varsity show) recently recorded a whole bunch of acoustic versions of songs from Ed's new album. Two of these are featured in the November edition of the Howwastheshow.com Artists Series podcast. "Three Great Days" and "Wired Weird" are included in the podcast along with a great interview with HWTS honcho David DeYoung.
The on-line Reveille magazine has an article this week along with an exclusive acoustic version of "Flashes of Light," another unplugged Ed and Eric track. Click here for the article + song.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Ed Ackerson update
A few recent dispatches from Susstones Central Command...
- Ed Ackerson is streaming another song from his new album on his blog. "To the Contrary" is a luverly piece of self-reflection set to the classic, chiming sounds of a vintage Rickenbacker. Think Byrds circa Fifth Dimension. Love those "la la la la lalalas," too. And it sounds friggin' great blaring out of the car speakers. Contact the Current and tell them to play this hot track!
- Ed and his backing band for the Sussedtacular show at the Varsity Theater on Nov. 23 will be performing live at the Electric Fetus store in Minneapolis on the day the album comes out. This should be awesome -- a nice little, intimate preview of the greatness that will occur a few days later at The Varsity. 7pm - Tuesday, November 20 - free. 2000 4th Ave. S (Franklin & 35W) - Minneapolis.
Stay tuned for continuing updates.
http://edackerson.com/blog/
http://www.susstones.com/mainwp/
http://varsitytheater.indietickets.com/events/IT_000004_11232007_18
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Neil Young 2007 Chrome Dreams 2 tour -- quick recap
48 hours until the Minneapolis show...
Neil has several shows under his belt now on his current tour, plus he performed 2 interesting sets at the Bridge School Benefit a coupla weekends ago that were chock full of songs from Chrome Dreams 2, including a few done up in the unique Acoustic Jam style that has become a frequent highlight for Neil at this annual event (who can forget the amazing 20 minute acoustic versions of "Change Your Mind" with Crazy Horse at the 1994 Bridge show?).
As the CD2 tour heads for the American heartland, the reviews -- as well as the buzz amongst the faithful -- have been very good, sometimes bordering on the ecstatic. The acoustic sets have, predictably, been extremely well-received and, after downloading a few of the early shows, i can see why. Aside from the considerable excitement generated by all of the gems being unearthed for this tour, the general caliber of the acoustic set as a whole is right up their with previous Neil acoustic outings, including the 1999 "gold standard." "Ambulance Blues" -- sung in a slightly lower register, is just absolutely breathtaking; i actually got choked up the first time i heard the recording of it from the Portland show such was its power. "Campaigner," "Journey Through the Past," "Harvest," "Mellow My Mind" … man, oh man, we're talking the real deal here, my friends. And how 'bout "A Man Needs a Maid" at the piano complete with the cheesy sounding vintage string synth? One of Neil's greatest, if not most misunderstood, compositions, "AMNAM" has finally been restored to a position of prominence after a shocking, almost inexplicable 3 decade long absence from the setlists. For this tour, Neil has masterfully captured the lonely beauty of this heartbreaking song; there's no doubt that this will be remembered as a highlight of a tour with no shortage of highlights.
To me, the electric sets haven't been as chill-inducing as the acoustic sets, but that doesn't mean they're any less thrilling. God love Crazy Horse -- and who doesn't? -- but it's immediately evident after about 30 seconds of "The Loner," that you're gonna be in for a different kind of electric ride. The patented Crazy Horse "primal drone" stomp is nowhere to be found, despite the fact that Molina is manning the skins. After listening to a few songs, i started thinking of the 1973 Time Fades Away tour as a reference point.
All of the CD2 material has been in the electric sets so far and this undoubtedly will not curry favor amongst many "fans" who've spent big $$$ for their tickets and feel almost entitled to hear RAWK versions of the "classics." The undisputed highlight so far of the new material has been the long, jammy reading of "No Hidden Path" which finds this new band firing on all cylinders. Sounds pretty "classic" to me -- and a good sign that some of the newer material will grow legs as the tour progresses.
The biggest left-field electric pleasure for me has been the versions of Don Gibson's "Oh, Lonesome Me" that are being offered up. A truly unexpected delight -- beautifully sung and played. Simply marvelous. And missing waaaay too long from the setlist -- damn near 40 years.
... even the slightest songs [on Harvest] are gratifying musically, and two of them are major indeed -- 'The Needle and the Damage Done' and the much- maligned (by feminists as well as those critics of the London Symphony Orchestra) 'A Man Needs A Maid.'
Robert Christgau
Neil has several shows under his belt now on his current tour, plus he performed 2 interesting sets at the Bridge School Benefit a coupla weekends ago that were chock full of songs from Chrome Dreams 2, including a few done up in the unique Acoustic Jam style that has become a frequent highlight for Neil at this annual event (who can forget the amazing 20 minute acoustic versions of "Change Your Mind" with Crazy Horse at the 1994 Bridge show?).
As the CD2 tour heads for the American heartland, the reviews -- as well as the buzz amongst the faithful -- have been very good, sometimes bordering on the ecstatic. The acoustic sets have, predictably, been extremely well-received and, after downloading a few of the early shows, i can see why. Aside from the considerable excitement generated by all of the gems being unearthed for this tour, the general caliber of the acoustic set as a whole is right up their with previous Neil acoustic outings, including the 1999 "gold standard." "Ambulance Blues" -- sung in a slightly lower register, is just absolutely breathtaking; i actually got choked up the first time i heard the recording of it from the Portland show such was its power. "Campaigner," "Journey Through the Past," "Harvest," "Mellow My Mind" … man, oh man, we're talking the real deal here, my friends. And how 'bout "A Man Needs a Maid" at the piano complete with the cheesy sounding vintage string synth? One of Neil's greatest, if not most misunderstood, compositions, "AMNAM" has finally been restored to a position of prominence after a shocking, almost inexplicable 3 decade long absence from the setlists. For this tour, Neil has masterfully captured the lonely beauty of this heartbreaking song; there's no doubt that this will be remembered as a highlight of a tour with no shortage of highlights.
To me, the electric sets haven't been as chill-inducing as the acoustic sets, but that doesn't mean they're any less thrilling. God love Crazy Horse -- and who doesn't? -- but it's immediately evident after about 30 seconds of "The Loner," that you're gonna be in for a different kind of electric ride. The patented Crazy Horse "primal drone" stomp is nowhere to be found, despite the fact that Molina is manning the skins. After listening to a few songs, i started thinking of the 1973 Time Fades Away tour as a reference point.
All of the CD2 material has been in the electric sets so far and this undoubtedly will not curry favor amongst many "fans" who've spent big $$$ for their tickets and feel almost entitled to hear RAWK versions of the "classics." The undisputed highlight so far of the new material has been the long, jammy reading of "No Hidden Path" which finds this new band firing on all cylinders. Sounds pretty "classic" to me -- and a good sign that some of the newer material will grow legs as the tour progresses.
The biggest left-field electric pleasure for me has been the versions of Don Gibson's "Oh, Lonesome Me" that are being offered up. A truly unexpected delight -- beautifully sung and played. Simply marvelous. And missing waaaay too long from the setlist -- damn near 40 years.
Speaking of setlists, the running order so far has been a bit more static than i initially would've thought, but i don't think that will be much of a problem unless you're booked to see more than a few shows (and who the hell could afford that??). "Tonight's the Night" has been the usual closer, with "Like a Hurricane" rotated in a few times. I still haven't seen a confirmed setlist for the second night in LA (?!) but "Cortez" reportedly was played as the encore closer. Gotta get plenty of those "classics" in, doncha know...
And, much more significantly, "Love in Mind" supposedly was played in the first set at LA #2. Now that would be some news, perfectly in line with the archaeological motivations evidently behind this tour. One of my all time fave Neil songs (a claim Mpls rocker Kraig Johnson of Jayhawks, Golden Smog fame would also make), this absolutely gorgeous song was a highlight of the 1971 solo tour, Neil's first extended foray on his own and the first time most of the world was exposed to the power of Neil Solo. "Love in Mind" was played 18 times on that tour plus once more at the very beginning of the early 1973 tour that was eventually documented on the Time Fades Away live album. And then...nada. Strangely -- for everyone but maybe Neil -- "Love in Mind" is one of two recordings on TFA that aren't from the tour of the same name. The TFA version of "Love in Mind" is actually from the 71 solo tour, its only official release (for you trainspotters, this "Love in Mind" came from the 1/30/71 performance at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus, a recording that also yielded the version of "The Needle and the Damage Done" found on Harvest as well as the other non-73 track on TFA, "Journey Through the Past"). Unfortunately, Time Fades Away still hasn't been released on CD, a sad situation that, again, is all too typical in Neil World. After all, here's a guy who didn't release 4 of his albums, aka "The Missing Four," on CD until just a few years ago. The fact that one of those missing albums was On the Beach, indisputably one of his best releases, is one of the most perverse examples of artistic stubbornness i can think of in the entire history of Rock. Neil is certainly a man of principles -- that much i'll give him. As frustrating as his uncompromising nature can be for the fans, can you imagine having to work with him? :-)
I normally don't like to yell requests out at shows like this -- lord knows, there are plenty of mooks out there who will be -- but if there's even a chance that Neil would play "Love in Mind," i might have to let my inner freak flag fly. Apologies in advance...
See ya in the trenches.
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