tangara

Forgive my completely and totally unforgivable ignorance, but where is a good place to start with John Prine? I've always enjoyed what I've heard from him, but for one reason or another, I never fully dove in. But someone sent me "Lake Marie" a few weeks ago, and I'm feeling the need to remedy all these years of Prinelessness. Gonna give that Isbell a listen this morning, I think.

I'm not sure I agree with the Rhett Miller comparison, but I think the rest of your assessment is spot on. As far as their youth, I think there are a lot of young bands that are putting out good music these days, everyone from Fleet Foxes to Vampire Weekend. Sure, you could argue those bands also wear their influences on their sleeves, but I think they're doing something interesting and different with those influences and making them their own. To my ears, Gaslight Anthem is just regurgitating those same old sounds.

I hear that. If it was so bad you felt you didn't get your money's worth, I can definitely understand not wanting to take that chance again. When I first saw him years ago....well, it was a strange evening to say the least. I think he used to be a lot more hit-or-miss. But he's really impressed me lately, in the past two years especially. The sets have been nothing less than epic.

I hear ya, Jay. I think this record was a grower...I didn't like it much at first, either, but give it another few spins and see what you think. I think "God & Suicide" "Black River Killer" and "Not Your Lover" are the other standout tracks.

Didn't mean to jump down your throat, dondo...guess it just struck a nerve! But this: I dunno, I guess I find this behavior particularly irksome at a Ryan Adams concert, since he's a performer with a reputation for volatility, and I think people should know better than to poke that bear. 'Cause that means a truncated setlist, more often that not. But I guess someone who's there to holler drunkenly and try to get a rise out of the artist probably wouldn't care much about the setlist...aaaaaand here we are back to square one Please pass the Centrum Silver...

Now you've got me curious, too. Are the songs streaming anywhere, or are you just listening to the myspace tracks?

No. Sorry. It's that line of thinking that makes concertgoing unbearable for the people who actually want to, you know, watch the concert.

Gah. I need to amend my original post...

Tease.

Got mine for the Chicago show. 5th row, woohoo!

I got a ticket for Friday, debating on Saturday...anyone wanna be my Valentine?

Uhhhhhhhhhhh yes please! That's kind of awesome.

Deluxe edition, if you're a completist.

Me too. Great, great tune. You can tell he's been listening to a lot of Sam Cooke, and that's never a bad thing. I don't like the Black Keys, but I like this disc pretty well. Currently listening: Andrew Bird, Useless Creatures. It's kind of world-music-y, and technically interesting to listen to as a violinist, just to hear all the different techniques he employs, like playing with the back of the bow on "Carrion Suite".

That's kind of awesome.

Ooh, cool - thanks for posting, Wendy!

Surprised to hear the Civic Opera House show is nearly sold out. Wow!

Damn, this is always so bittersweet. Guess the days of seeing them in little clubs are over. Do you have a link? I would love some context for this statement.

I also tore the cover trying to get the discs out. Ah well. And I wish the deluxe edition had come on LP. I could have justified paying $30 for that, maybe.

So, oddly apropos of Analog's link above, I watched the Immagine in Cornice DVD this weekend and damn if I wasn't totally distracted and underwhelmed by Matt Cameron's drumming. But the DVD itself is fantastic (gotta love Danny Clinch) and I'd forgotten about the MMJ cameo in the bonus footage. So good. I didn't get to see Pearl Jam until 2003 (insert long, sad story here about how I had tickets to a FREE PJ show in '93 at Marquette University, and my mom wouldn't let me go, and I became bitter and jaded and swore off Pearl Jam for years thereafter) but have seen them and Ed solo about

Lovely versions of the old songs ("Knot Comes Loose" is killlllling me), and the new tune "Dear Wife" is quite good too, with a 60's feel. I'd recommend it!

I'll be there, I think...I hope she announces a Chicago show too!

"Severed Hand", in particular, just kills.

Did you really? That's awesome, which ones? I couldn't do any of the PJ dates this year, but did manage to catch three of the Ed Vedder solo shows. Those were a lot of fun.