Bryant Lake Bowl Theater - Mpls
This altogether enchanting celebration marked another year for Sussed!, the Susstones Tuesday night DJ event that has been providing an early-in-the-week music buzz for discriminating aficionados for a dozen years now, the last 4 at the Bryant Lake Bowl in Lyn-Lake. These events are always a blast, but this one was a wall-to-wall success: a full house, awesome music, abundant good times.
Strange Lights bright light Joe Werner kicked the night off with a brief acoustic set that provided a very interesting contrast to the trippy electric excursions that have been wowing audiences at Strange Lights gigs lately. He played some new compositions, a song from his last band (Bridge Club) and ended his set with the stellar "Zombie Boots," a highlight of most every Strange Lights set and absolutely one of the coolest local songs of the last year.
Janey & Marc turned in their second great set in a row; this very well could've been the best outing yet for this supremely enthralling duo. No John Eller tonight, but drummer Peter Anderson, keyboardist Tim Oesau and bass player "Louie" rounded out what is the 5th (or 6th?) lineup used so far to bring the J&M magic to to the public. Oesau has played in this expanded J&M lineup once before; his contributions were particularly welcome, providing all kinds of wonderful textures that greatly enhanced the sonic proceedings in the cozy BLB theater. The abbreviated set went by in a flash -- the rapturous audience gave them a nice ovation and was clearly primed for some more.
A couple of notable things… Perly didn't waste any time unleashing his newest toy (just acquired that afternoon!), a Fender Electric XII 12 string, a distinctive, quite rare guitar made for a few years during the original Folk Rock boom in the mid to late 60s. This stunning looking axe has been played over the years by a most impressive list of musicians (Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, Tim Buckley) and has been featured on some of the most famous recordings of the rock era (Tommy, "Stairway to Heaven"). Evidently, Perlman has decided if he's gonna do the "Folk Rock" thing, he might as well do it right!
Speaking of Tim Buckley, this was the second J&M show in a row that was highlighted by a song from the back catalog of this amazing folk/rock experimentalist, a true pioneer who left behind some of the most challenging, provocative music from Rock's golden age. Aside from being a gifted musician and vocalist, Buckley wasn't too shabby a songwriter either. Everybody in the room quickly fell under the J&M spell as they wove their way into "Song to the Siren," one of Buckley's most famous compositions (it was featured on the Monkees TV show and was also memorably covered by This Mortal Coil and the Cocteau Twins -- how's that for cultural diversity?).
Long afloat on shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
'Til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle
And you sang
Sail to me
Sail to me
Let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you
Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you here when i was full sail
Now my foolish boat is leaning
Broken lovelorn on your rocks,
For you sing,
"Touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow:
O my heart, O my heart shies from the sorrow"
I am puzzled
as the newborn child
I am troubled at the tide:
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Should I lie with Death my bride?
Hear me sing, "Swim to me,
Swim to me, Let me enfold you:
Here I am, Here I am, Waiting to hold you"
Simply stunning.
Their music may be new, but the past is never too far away when you take a trip into J&M's musical wonderland. The new retro axe, the carefully chosen period covers, the overall "folky" vibe -- all vivid reminders that often times the greatest music of today was also the greatest music of yesterday.
And continuing on the timelessness tip was Ed Ackerson + band, still basking in the glow of his fine solo debut album and related CD release party last November. The Susstones' Ace assembled the same crackin' good band he used at The Varsity: Peter Anderson, Tim Oesau, Marc Perlmam and Alarmist Eric Lovold -- nearly all the same players who had just backed up J&M. Talk about easy changeovers.
The entire set consisted of several songs from Ed Ackerson and every last one of them sounded great, not surprising considering the considerable collected talent of the band plus the quality of the material. After living with them for a few months, the songs on Ackerson's album continue to amaze -- this ageless collection of top drawer, often highly personal songs, inspired semi-acoustic instrumentation, beautiful singing and superlative production is a crowning achievment in Ackerson's long, storied career. On stage, the songs are vibrant and alive; in some cases -- like "Three Great Days" -- the needle gets pushed right up into the red as the band works things up into a truly impressive frenzy. I think the technical term for this is "rave up."
This intimate setting also allowed up close and personal contact with some of the best lyrics Ackerson has ever written.
Not bad for a "Space Rocker," huh?
Lovold once again deserves special mention -- his acoustic & electric guitar and harmony contributions are key elements in helping to elevate these live versions to a level they deserve. Kudos to him for coming along for the ride.
The night ended up with a brief but enjoyable set from "Phear and the Bullet," the nom de rock for Phil Solem (formerly of The Rembrandts) and Ryan Smith (currently of The Melismatics). These two cats have been playing around town in recent months – first as a mostly acoustic duo, lately as an electric three piece with the addition of Melismatics drummer Ron Caron. When they have the time to stretch things out (and perhaps consume a little “inspiration”) the combination of their chops, songs, charisma and undeniable comedic skills can be a potent force. On this occasion they only had time for 6 songs – some first rate pop from Solem (including “You Are Here,” a mesmerizingly good song), a couple of Melismatics gems and a finale that included, yup, you guessed it – “the song, I guess, we have to play.” Even though you’ve heard the Friends theme song a million times, only a cranky churl would deny its pure pop pleasures. And when P&TB whip up a spirited version of it on stage and everybody in the audience does the “clap thing” during the first verse...well, it just doesn’t get much better than that. Seriously!
What a perfect way to end the night – with a big fat smile on your face. And why not? We had just seen two hours of fantastic music in one of the coolest spaces in town, had been served drinks and food right we're sitting and hadn’t paid a damn thing for cover. That’s Sussed! – the weekly music bash that just keeps on giving. :-)
Their music may be new, but the past is never too far away when you take a trip into J&M's musical wonderland. The new retro axe, the carefully chosen period covers, the overall "folky" vibe -- all vivid reminders that often times the greatest music of today was also the greatest music of yesterday.
And continuing on the timelessness tip was Ed Ackerson + band, still basking in the glow of his fine solo debut album and related CD release party last November. The Susstones' Ace assembled the same crackin' good band he used at The Varsity: Peter Anderson, Tim Oesau, Marc Perlmam and Alarmist Eric Lovold -- nearly all the same players who had just backed up J&M. Talk about easy changeovers.
The entire set consisted of several songs from Ed Ackerson and every last one of them sounded great, not surprising considering the considerable collected talent of the band plus the quality of the material. After living with them for a few months, the songs on Ackerson's album continue to amaze -- this ageless collection of top drawer, often highly personal songs, inspired semi-acoustic instrumentation, beautiful singing and superlative production is a crowning achievment in Ackerson's long, storied career. On stage, the songs are vibrant and alive; in some cases -- like "Three Great Days" -- the needle gets pushed right up into the red as the band works things up into a truly impressive frenzy. I think the technical term for this is "rave up."
This intimate setting also allowed up close and personal contact with some of the best lyrics Ackerson has ever written.
It's only salt in the wounds now
Bringing up boats that I missed and how
I didn't live up to something
I never asked for
Parallel universe envy
Won't change anything here and now
I missed my calling...
Not bad for a "Space Rocker," huh?
Lovold once again deserves special mention -- his acoustic & electric guitar and harmony contributions are key elements in helping to elevate these live versions to a level they deserve. Kudos to him for coming along for the ride.
The night ended up with a brief but enjoyable set from "Phear and the Bullet," the nom de rock for Phil Solem (formerly of The Rembrandts) and Ryan Smith (currently of The Melismatics). These two cats have been playing around town in recent months – first as a mostly acoustic duo, lately as an electric three piece with the addition of Melismatics drummer Ron Caron. When they have the time to stretch things out (and perhaps consume a little “inspiration”) the combination of their chops, songs, charisma and undeniable comedic skills can be a potent force. On this occasion they only had time for 6 songs – some first rate pop from Solem (including “You Are Here,” a mesmerizingly good song), a couple of Melismatics gems and a finale that included, yup, you guessed it – “the song, I guess, we have to play.” Even though you’ve heard the Friends theme song a million times, only a cranky churl would deny its pure pop pleasures. And when P&TB whip up a spirited version of it on stage and everybody in the audience does the “clap thing” during the first verse...well, it just doesn’t get much better than that. Seriously!
What a perfect way to end the night – with a big fat smile on your face. And why not? We had just seen two hours of fantastic music in one of the coolest spaces in town, had been served drinks and food right we're sitting and hadn’t paid a damn thing for cover. That’s Sussed! – the weekly music bash that just keeps on giving. :-)
