Steve Earle and Allison Moorer last night's show
WOW! Steve Earle and Allison Moorer played a fantastic show to a packed house at Stuart's Opera House in Nelsonville. Steve Earle has an amazing array of styles, instruments, (fans!) and he put his all into it last night. Working with a DJ for part of the show, was some of the most innovative work I have seen from a solid, veteran alt-country/ folk/ rocker ever, and it was very enjoyable and "works" well with his diverse music. Allison's voice is so powerful, and the duets were excellent. Steve played probably 6 instruments, adapting from his impressive body of work, updating versions, playing them solid and straight and everything in between. This was a SRO crowd; diverse in that intriguing way that an intriguing musician/ songwriter can attract people for all different kinds of reasons. Not knowing his full body of work, you could get the sense he pulled from all different eras, and had appreciation from different parts of the audience for all of it. He does some really interesting electronic stuff with his DJ- which I'll have to let someone else describe, who has more technical know-how- I don't know what the heck he had going on most of that time- but it worked to create a very enjoyable sound and vibe- especially in the unpredictability of "what was going to be next"- this is very unique and refreshing to experience. I hope readers will do some web searching about Steve from this, and find out about his music. He has solid social insights, political passion, human caring, to go with his intense life experiences, and he conveys that well to an audience that is receptive. He makes respectful references to Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and other revered musical legends in a way that has to pull some new appreciation in. Stuart's folks have to be, once again, proud and acknowledged for doing a great thing for the southeast Ohio area, by arranging to bring such acts in, time and again. There was an excitement surrounding the show, that keeps momentum alive for the other upcoming events, and all their fund raising efforts.
posted by steve tuck @ 5:03 AM
5 Comments:
hello, just happened to be sitting in front of you at stuart's opera house last night and overheard you talking about your blog and living in pburg.....nosy ok can't help it.
anyway, decided to check it out. Looks great, I love steve earle and have never had the chance to see him live before, what a treat. anyway,
I get the connection as my husband played at a recent songwriter thing and met your son andy,,,, small world the mid ohio valley,
he was the guy who sang about living in the big green school bus.
I'll be checking out your blog now on a regular basis.
beth n
Steve, I'm sorry, I love your blog and I know we have very similar tastes, but as someone who has played SE songs and been a fan for a long time, I gotta post this review. It's from my point of view, and I hope you don't take it in a bad way.
The Drunk in the Balcony and the Greenwich Village Drum Machine....
Well, last night was the Steve Earle concert at Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville.
Four years ago I saw SE right there in Stuart’s, and it was one of their best concerts. Not The Everbodyfields, but... I should have taken set list notes. Forgive me.
For you ultra-serious SE fans, I suggest you just skip this review. OR go and buy a Chris Knight CD -- it’ll do you good. As for me, the best part of the night was the salad at Casa Nueva, an hour before the concert.
Opener: surprise, surprise, it was Allison Moorer, or MRS. Steve Earle. Since 2005 -- one year after I last saw an excellent SE concert. I wonder....
Start from the SE start: I’ve been playing SE songs for years. And years. And years. But, I’ve always found him a little spotty compared to my favorite songwriters. For every gem, there are four or five duds.
Ta-da! Dud.
This is way low. Way low. But Mrs. SE stole the lower half of one of Hillary Clinton’s pant-suits. There, that’s over. I’m not a fashionista, but heck, this was just the beginning of a bunch of bad choices.
Four songs into Mrs. SE’s brassy-voiced and ultra-mediocre guitar-playing set, she launched into a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now”. At that point I headed for the bar/entrance hall down below and got a second coffee – no easy feat for a newly-reformed drunk: it was easier in the bar than staying to listen. My immediate thought was that it would take three plays of a double-live Fred Eaglesmith CD to excoriate this from what is left of my brain. Two minutes later, I was followed by my much-much better half, who just rolled her eyes and headed for the Marietta IPA. That’s it for Mrs. SE.
A little t-shirt, overpriced CD and DVD break and then, heeeeeeeeerrrrre’s STEVE!
He’s always a better guitar player than I expect him to be. When he plays with a band, he’s never THE guitar player -- so you forget that he is a better-than-average player -- despite the use of the same three turnarounds for each verse/chorus in every song. He has great timing, rhythm and beat. This is important, as the last two live acts I’ve seen as a paying customer were Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack, both of whom, and especially Kimbrough are really GOOD players. Both are also great, concise, important songwriters who are not living on their laurels.
The sound was fairly good. Vocals could have been better, but heck, the sound man can’t fix enunciation.
That said, SE’s first five or six tunes were good. Good playing and fairly good vocals. Heck, it’s Steve F’n Earle. Ya know what I mean? Sure ya do.
Next: The Drunk in the Balcony. Yep. There’s always a drunk in the balcony. And he’s always a major nuisance. This one was. But he was also something that both the Bush administration and Steve Earle need: a Truth-Teller.
Steve Earle is using a DJ operated drum-machine and loop technology. The last guy I saw using loops was Bruce Cockburn. SE ain’t BC.
The DJ looked like a fey version of John Goodman. He sported a little superior
smile on his fat little fey face that smacked of arrogance. He had a “moog” t-shirt that just gave off that new Greenwich Village ultra-hipness that SE is now evidently a part of. He spun his little turntable squeakies. He thumped his finger-activated drum-pads. He had little maracas running in the background, interfering with some spare but nicely timed dobro from SE.
(Note: SE was from Texas. Then Tennessee. Now it’s Greenwich Village. Pardonne-moi, but AMERICANA is Texas and Tennessee
-- not Greenwich Village. Sorry, it’s just not. Folk music, yes -- NOT Americana.)
Then came “The Drunk in the Balcony”. Usually I hate these guys. I want to pay bikers to kick his ass. Heck, I wanna join in on the ass-kicking. But in this case HE was the hero -- not SE.
After the first DJ aided massacre, we heard this slurred voice from the balcony: “Throw the drum machine in the dumpster.”
After the second DJ mess: “Throw the drum machine in the dumpster and fade on into the sunset.” (A very poetic Drunk in the Balcony, now.)
After the third DJ abortion: “You ain’t all that! Throw the drum machine into the dumpster.” (By now I think I have a man-crush on this drunk.)
SE brings MRS. SE out for a duet. They CO-WROTE it! It’s terrible. Three-year-olds have throw-aways better than this. The drunk in the balcony is back and I want to buy him another but he’s still stuck on the drum machine.
Last thang: The COVER of Copperhead Road. If you don’t want to do it right, don’t do it. I KNOW it’s your song. I’ve done it so many times, I don’t care if I ever hear it again, but if YOU feel like you have to do it, F’n do it right.
One last thang: if you are such a liberal, that big, black Silver-Eagle better be running on F’n vegetable oil. And remember, Steve Earle is a “union guy”, and thanks to him, there was a bass player and a better-than-average drummer signing up for unemployment tonight, replaced by a fey John Goodman DJ.
My take on the whole thing: God Bless Fred Eaglesmith. And Steve Earle ain’t Steve Earle anymore.
response to Jackscrow: no, I don't take it in a bad way at all; glad to have the exchange and I appreciate and admire your forthright-ness and opinions/ good observations and insights.
I made a "vow" when I started this blog to focus on positives/ encouragements / etc. (I know this is naive / cheerleader-ism, etc. but just the way I've chosen to approach my love of music- but I know there is more truth/ honesty / critiquing out there. Keep posting!
Thanks Beth- my wife and I were so awed by your drawings!!! We'll be talking about that (to anyone who will listen!!!) for months! I am greatly impressed - look forward to more exchanges and future mutual music shows!
Thanks Steve. Appreciate your patience.
Here's my last word on it(I think).
Actually the drunk in the balcony was refering to a SE song "The Week of Living Dangerously", and he was saying "throw the car seat in the dumpster". I just put my own spin on it....
I hate drum machines. It's a cheap way to make music and it is almost as bad as kareoke. THAT's boring. And it puts the good musicians that SE can afford to hire out of work. It also sounds bad.
He can do whatever he wishes, even up to screwing his own show and the paying customers over -- I don't have to like it though, and have every much the right to express that dislike.
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