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

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 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

Neil Young 2007 Chrome Dreams 2 tour -- quick recap

48 hours until the Minneapolis show...

... 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.

3 new Ed Ackerson songs now streaming!

Three songs from the upcoming Ed Ackerson solo album are now streaming on his blog.

Wired Weird" and "Little White Lie" -- two hooky pieces of pop perfection -- are joined by "Waste of Time," a beautiful, moody soundscape that suggests what Paul Simon might have sounded like circa 1985 if he had gone to Manchester for inspiration instead of Soweto.

In other "Ed news"…

The backing band for Ed's set at the upcoming Sussed-tacular extravaganza at the Varsity theater in Mpls on Nov. 23 will be:

Peter Anderson - drums
Marc Perlman - bass
Tim Oesau - keyboards

and special guest Eric Lovold from The Alarmists on guitar and vocals.

Ed reports that initial rehearsals with Eric have been excellent and that all systems are GO for the Varsity show.

Also, speaking of the Varsity show, Strange Lights have been added to the bill. This new Minneapolis band -- a love child of freak-rock bands Bridge Club and First Communion After Party -- meld the transportive power of Spiritualized or the Verve with the teeth of vintage MC5 or Hawkwind.

Strange Lights on myspace

Buy tickets for Sussed-tacular @ The Varsity Theater - Minneapolis - Nov. 23

Neil Young opens 2007 Chrome Dreams 2 tour in Boise

Tour opener stuns hard-core fans!


(photo courtesy of Shawn Raecke - Idaho Statesman)



First off, take a look at the f***ing setlist!

(courtesy of Tom Hambleton, whose Sugar Mountain setlist site is an invaluable resource)

Neil Young
10-18-2007
Velma V. Morrison Center For The Performing Arts
Boise, Idaho

solo set
1. From Hank To Hendrix (acoustic guitar)
2. Ambulance Blues (acoustic guitar)
3. Sad Movies (acoustic guitar)
4. A Man Needs A Maid (piano/ '76 style synth) w/ Like A Hurricane tease near the start
5. No One Seems To Know (piano)
6. Harvest (acoustic guitar)
7. Campaigner (acoustic guitar)
8. Journey Through The Past (grand piano)
9. Mellow My Mind (guitjo)
10. Love Art Blues (acoustic guitar)
11. Love Is A Rose (acoustic guitar)
12. Heart Of Gold (acoustic guitar)

band set
13. The Loner (gold top Ben pedal)
14. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (old Black)
15. Dirty Old Man (Les Paul Jr ? - not Hagstrom, Ben organ?)
16. Spirit Road (Les Paul Jr ?)
17. Bad Fog Of Loneliness (White Falcon)
18. Winterlong (White Falcon)
19. Oh, Lonesome Me (acoustic guitar, Ben pedal)
20. The Believer (acoustic guitar, Ben pedal)
21. No Hidden Path (old Black, Ben guitar)

encore:
22. Cinnamon Girl (old Black, Ben guitar)
23. Tonight's The Night (grand piano, Ben lap steel)

Neil Young - guitar, guitjo, harmonica, piano, vocals
Rick Rosas - bass
Ben Keith - pedal steel, lap steel, guitar, organ, background vocals
Ralph Molina - drums, background vocals
Pegi Young - background vocals some songs, percussion (?)
Anthony Crawford - background vocals some songs, piano(?)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unbelievable!

A few random first impressions...

3 unreleased songs in the first set alone + one more in the second set (if you don't count live dvds).

• "Sad Movies" has only been played 5 times ever (including one aborted attempt) -- and that was 31.5 years ago during a memorable Crazy Horse tour of Europe and the UK.
• "Love Art Blues," an eminently fetching song from the legendary Homegrown lost album," was played a few times in 74 with CSNY and a couple of times solo in 92 (including a show for the ages i was lucky enough to catch in mpls).
• "No One Seems to Know" - a poignant, minor key piano ballad, aka "Once I Was in Love," that finds Neil at his most melancholy -- has been played live over 30 times in 3 of the last 4 decades but has never found its way on to an album.
• "Bad Fog of Loneliness" -- long a fan fave -- dates back to 69 and was recorded for at least two studio albs, including an early version of Tonights the Night, but never made the final cut for anything. It was played several times in 70/71 and then went into deep freeze until it shocked fans at handful of spring 89 shows with The Restless. It didn't show up again until it became a staple on the 2000 "Friends and Relatives" tour (a nice DVD document of that tour, Red Rocks Live, features a version of BFOL, it's only official release).

Other than a one-off on the 99 solo tour, "Harvest" hasn't been played since the 70s.

Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me" hasn't been played since 1970 (there's an unconfirmed report that it was played when Neil made a surprise appearance at a Bushwalla show in Nashville in August 2005, the night after his two night stand at the Ryman to record the Heart of Gold film).

Acoustic "Campaigner" -- don't think that's happened since 76. [edit - there were 3 acoustic performances on the 2003 European Greendale tour]

Not sure off the top of my head, but the last time "Maid" was played might also be 76.

"Winterlong," "Journey Through the Past," "The Loner," "Ambulance Blues" -- any one of these would make a Neil concert special for me.

4 songs from the new album -- all in the electric set. "No Hidden Path" was reportedly 15 minutes of vintage Crazy Horse-ish jam bliss.

Serious music fans are prone to hyperbole when things like this happen -- especially at the very beginning of a tour -- but if you're among the devout, it's pretty hard not to get excited about this. In the aftermath of the news about the Boisie lid-lifter -- which started with on-the-scene smart phone reports minutes after the show started...ahh, technology -- normally reserved "Rusties" on the "Rust List" were pretty much acting like the kind of crazed nutjobs you'd find on a Ryan Adams fan board. "This tour is for us," sputtered one fan, clearly on the verge of a trip to the ER. While that seems a bit, uh, much, you can't ignore the fact that Neil played a bunch of songs that a good chunk of the audience -- including most "serious" fans -- have never even heard of, let alone heard. Previous to this tour, "Sad Movies" had been played at 4 shows. In Europe. In early 1976. I've been a "Neil Nut" since 1970 and it took me almost 2 decades before i tracked down a dodgy cassette copy of a live show with this song (which, btw, is beautiful and haunting, a close cousin of many other "downer" unreleased songs from this era like "No One Seems to Know" and "Give Me Strength"). Over the years, serious Neil Heads have been known to complain about "stagnant" setlists and the lack of "bombshells" (in all fairness, almost every tour Neil's ever done has featured at least a few surprises -- the 2003 European Greendale tour being the most recent example of a tour with many heart-stopping unexpected delights). With only one show in the books so far, i predict that you won't be hearing too many of those kind of complaints in the coming weeks.

It'll be very interesting to see what else Neil will dredge up as this tour unfolds, especially since Neil is no stranger to left turns and defying expectations. Neil is likely travelling on this tour with the "big book" -- a massive, custom-made songbook with "all" of his songs & lyrics in alphabetical order, reportedly made by his archivist, Joel Bernstein. During a stop in Oakland during the amazing 1999 solo tour of the US, Neil was thumbing through the "book" and came across "Kansas," a song that was supposedly recorded in the mid-70s and was mentioned exactly one time in an old interview. There had been no "leaks" of the studio version and it had never been performed live. In other words, there were only a handful of people in the world even aware of the song's existence. As Neil was looking for "Kinda Fonda Wanda" (yes, somebody actually yelled that out at a solo Neil show), he mentioned something about "here's one nobody's ever heard," some punter predictably yelled "PLAY IT," and before ya know it, Neil did just that, offering up a haunting, abstract little sketch of a song that seemingly had absolutely nothing to do with the state referenced in the title. He was sufficently interested to play "Kansas"again 3 nights later in LA and then...back into the "vault."

Neil even has a sense of humor about his long-delayed archival releases. A few years ago, there was a 60 second video feature on Neil's official website courtesy of "Bernard Shakey" (Neil's nom de film). This short clip featured a through-the-lens tour of the actual archives -- the camera slowly went up and down the aisles, pausing every now and then to zoom in on shelves full of neatly arranged tapes. Just reading the info on the tape boxes was enough to cause irregular heartbeats for most serious fans. There were professional recordings of seemingly every live show he'd ever done. There were cryptic references aplenty scrawled on tapes and shelf markers (song titles? lost albums?) that Neil-ologists are still trying to decipher. There was about a 6 foot chunk of shelf space devoted to just the Tonight's the Night sessions (heart be still!). The camera even zoomed in on a book on a work table that turned out to be Ghosts on the Road, a fan-produced setist compendium/concert history devoted to Neil's long career. And the real zinger? The soundtrack to this short was, you guessed it, an unreleased song -- in this case, "Vacancy," yet another song that has never been heard by anyone outside Neil's inner circle. Neil has been torturing his fans ever since the admittedly superb Decades comp back in 1976 (Lucky 13 is barely worth a mention in this discussion) and here he is after 40 years of recording and a flippin' warehouse full of treasures...needling the faithful some more! Ha ha -- what a fricking comedian.

The time Neil has been spent in recent years trolling through his back pages has undoubtedly had an impact on him; it seems highly unlikely that he dusted off these obscure gems in Boise by accident. The alleged archival releases that are "coming soon" (really, they are!! - a claim that has been made numerous times over the last few decades) are the likely culprit, but with Neil, you never know. He's no doubt been wrestling with a lot of big picture stuff lately, not the least being his relationship with his fans, not to mention his own legacy. Maybe he really is throwing the fans a "bone" or maybe he's been assembling tracklistings for the reissues or maybe he just felt like doing something a bit out of the ordinary (not Neil?!). Whatever the reason, this tour is indeed shaping up to be something special -- if not extraordinay -- for Rusties far and wide.

I've got tickets for one show; if this keeps up, i might have to dip into my 401-K.

Boise review

Sussed-tacular! @ The Varsity Theater - Minneapolis - Nov. 23, 2007

there's no way this isn't going to be epic!






CD release party for the new Ed Ackerson solo album + much, much more


Tickets are now available for what will surely be one of the coolest shows of the Fall:

SUSSEDTACULAR! AT THE VARSITY

Friday - November 23, 2007

Varsity Theater - Minneapolis

featuring...

Ed Ackerson (of Polara) celebrating the release of his new solo album on Susstones

with very very special guests

The Melismatics
The Mood Swings
Janey & Marc (Janey Winterbauer & Marc Perlman)
Strange Lights (new band from members of Bridge Club and First Communion After Party)
Susstones Omniphonic Orchestra

plus

DJ The Guv'nor spinning a cornucopia of Scrumptious Sounds and deep Black Friday grooves

and

other stuff that shall remain nameless for now...

Varsity Theater calendar

Another new Janey & Marc track

(photo courtesy of Tony Nelson)




A new track popped up on the Janey & Marc myspace page last week -- "Beautiful Day." Astute trainspotters may recognize this title. A version was recorded for the recent Golden Smog album, Another Fine Day, but didn't make the cut (another Perlman composition, "Cure For This," is one of the highlights of that woefully underrated/misunderstood record). And a rare live version was performed at the supergroovy Polara Guest Sessions gig almost exactly 2 years ago in St. Paul.

It was also performed last week at a Mad Ripple Hootenanny session in Minneapolis, along with other recent J&M gems. Perly even was cajoled into singing an old Only Ones classic, "Even Serpents Shine."

"Beautiful Day" is a most, er, beautiful song -- another winner from this monumentally talented duo. World domination awaits...

Golden Smog in St. Paul - 9/21/07

Here are some better late than never pix from the most recent Golden Smog show in St. Paul.

The Smog played a compact, 75 minute "festival set" that, while not quite up to the standards of their last show in Waseca, was still very enjoyable. It was thrilling to hear another beautiful rendition of "Cure For This" as a picture-perfect sunset played out in the background. "Beautiful Mind" was also top notch; this epic track has become a centerpiece of Smog sets these days. No big surprises other than the fact that the boys "jammed" a bit on a few songs, an almost perverse little bit of stubborness in a shortened set setting. In other words, another classic "Smog Moment."

The lineup was the same as the Waseca show: Tweedy-less + the more than able assistance of world-class utility player Fil Krohnengold, vocalist extraordinaire Janey Winterbauer and the superstar himself, Greg Wiz.

The sound was a bit sketchy and there was persistent, very annoying feedback throughout the set (and much of Soul Asylum's as well). The general setup for the festival in Harriet Park was fine, with two stages on either end of the park providing overlapping, constant music throughout the evening. The attendance was "decent" -- maybe a couple of thousand -- for a fall outdoor music fest in Minnesota, although it was a drop in the bucket compared to the huge throngs that show up for Taste of Minnesota in July. From a comfort perspective, low attendance is very much a good thing although i'm not sure the promoters for this would agree!


Golden Smog
Minnesota Music Festival - Harriet Island
Saint Paul, MN, USA
September 21st, 2007

1. Looking Forward To Seeing You
2. Ill Fated
3. Beautiful Mind
4. V
5. Starman
6. To Call My Own
7. If I Only Had A Car
8. Frying Pan Eyes
9. Cure For This (Janey Winterbauer on lead vocals, Perlman on lead guitar)
10. Won't Be Coming Home
11. You Make It Easy
12. Corvette
13. Until You Came Along

lineup
Gary Louris - guitar/vocals
Dan Murphy - guitar/vocals
Kraig Johnson - guitar/vocals/bass
Marc Perlman - bass/guitar/vocals
Fil Krohnengold - keyboards/guitar
Greg Wiz - drums

Ackerson and Prenzlow announce new joint venture

Surprise Rock 'n' Roll nuptials! 

 

 Ed Ackerson (Susstones poobah, Polara mainman, producer extraordinaire and Twin Cities music scene guiding light for almost 25 years) and Ashley Prenzlow (formerly of The Meg and Basement Apartment; currently rockin' with Susstones' sensations, The Mood Swings) were married on Friday in a private ceremony in Minneapolis. Technically, I guess, they "eloped" -- if driving a few minutes to the courthouse in downtown Minneapolis can be described as "eloping." :-) Even though they've been engaged since last Christmas, many of their close friends were nonetheless a bit taken aback by their entry into a state of "rock-a-mony." The wedding announcements consisted of a mass text mail message sent out early Friday evening:

Ed and I officially tied the knot today!!!

and an e-mail with the following subject line:

We got married!

Not the kind of thing you normally expect to see in your inbox or cell phone! An "informal" reception was held later Friday night at JPs in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood of South Minneapolis, and later spilled around the corner to the Bryant Lake Bowl, the unofficial "clubhouse" for the Susstones gang. The entire Golden Smog entourage + members of Soul Asylum -- fresh from a gig across the river in St. Paul -- and many friends joined in celebrating the blessed event with the esctatic couple -- Ashley was a vision of loveliness, glowing and radiant, while Ed was smiling so much that some feared he may need reconstructive facial surgery to get things back to normal. We at 60>0 wish Ed and Ashley all the best. Love & kisses, long may you run and rock on!