LouieB Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 As usual, Califone tore it up at the Hideout last night. There is just always so much special chemistry that the Hideout creates. This was the last US show before Califone goes to Europe. At the end I had a conversation with Tim about the unbelievable depth of talent here in Chicago and that I rarely see any non-Chicago folks anymore when I go out. Even Glenn Kotche showed up to see the show. Anyone else there?? LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 i wasn't there (duh), but i just recently got into Califone, and they are amazing. i have the latest record, which one should i get next? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 i wasn't there (duh), but i just recently got into Califone, and they are amazing. i have the latest record, which one should i get next?Quicksand/Candlesnakes I think is really good. Roomsound is good too. Doug McCombs, of Tortoise was also there last night, but didn't play with them, although he did on Roomsound. If you like Califone, Tortoise does the same sort of thing, without vocals and instead of improvising on roots music, they improvise more on jazz. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Thanks, Louie! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
renic Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 how in the world were you up so early lou? a nice introduction for me, i caught the last song when they opened for wilco & hadn't really thought about them afterwards but seeing them in a small place with them headlining was cool. i will give a record or 2 a spin to check them out!. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 how in the world were you up so early lou?Got stuff to do and places to be....LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
renic Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 i guess! i'm off to what's cooking myself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 i guess! i'm off to what's cooking myself.Sounds good to me....I am off for a haircut and the Chamber Strings. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mountain bed Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 If you like Califone, Tortoise does the same sort of thing, without vocals and instead of improvising on roots music, they improvise more on jazz. LouieBOur buddy Basil II turned me onto Califone...those guys are beyond description! Lou it sounds like I need to investigate Tortoise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 O how I long to see them make their magic live. I guess for now I'll give Roots and Crowns another spin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
deepseacatfish Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Our buddy Basil II turned me onto Califone...those guys are beyond description! Lou it sounds like I need to investigate Tortoise. Tortoise is great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 i wasn't there (duh), but i just recently got into Califone, and they are amazing. i have the latest record, which one should i get next? I second Lou's recommendation of Quicksand/Cradlesnakes, it's a toss up between that and Roots and Crowns for which of theirs is my favorite. Great band. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aricandover Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Tortoise is great. indeed they are Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 I was trying to explain to Wendy at the end of the night, how the Chicago post-rock scene all kinds of fits together. When you realize that the bass player from Tortoise/Eleventh Dream Day and the drummer from Wilco both showed up to see these guys, it is clear that everyone kind of feeds at the same trough, to use a rather gross metaphor. There are direct lines between groups like Shrimp Boat, The Coctails, Eleventh Dream Day and others up to the present, through groups like Sea and Cake, Tortoise, Califone and even Wilco and many of the Bloodshot artists. I realized I rebought Roots and Crowns at the show, since I forgot the new album has a different cover in vinyl, so now I have one of both I guess. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Hey, Lou - that's a great way to support a great band. Buy all their stuff. Twice! I'm still so dang tired from those two days of fun in Chicago. First night (Thursday) was Ryan Adams at the House of Blues and that was one hell of a good (and long!) show which should be a thread of its own. But this one's about Califone. And DAMN! I love this band. Tim Tuten (one of the owners of The Hideout) enthusiastically introduced the band, and then was stage-side throughout the show, smiling and grooving to the almost tribal/hypnotic beat rhythm of Califone's two percussionists, Joe Adamik and Ben Massarella. Watching those two work together is one of my favorite parts about being up close at a Califone show. Another great thing - Tim Rutili on his 12-string Epiphone when he uses the slide, and Jim Becker ripping away on his fiddle, banjo, guitar ... what great noisemakers these guys are! Electric FenceThe Orchids (Psychic TV cover)Slow RT. HandThe Eye You Lost in the CrusadesMichigan GirlsFisherman's WifeOur Kitten Sees GhostsA Chinese ActorSpider's HousePink & SourBottles and Bones (Shades and Sympathy)When Leon Spinx Moved Into TownMillion Dollar Funeral They played at least one more, can't remember what, but they strayed a little from the setlist. Funniest story of the evening was some Tim banter. He was telling the audience about his new life in LA. He really likes the surfing, he says. And he promised that the next time he comes back to Chicago he would be sporting a new much more svelte nose, taking advantage of the rampant plastic surgery scene out there. But actually, he had decided to just have the surgeon add a tiny little breast on the side of his face (complete with a fully sensory nipple, he insists!), so he could just play with his little boob conveniently all day long. After the show, Allison, Lou, and I chatted just a few minutes with Tim, long enough to thank him for a great show and wish them a good tour in Europe. We learned: No one in Califone speaks any foreign languages, but they manage okay. Just the 3 members are going (Ben can't be away for family responsibilities). But don't let that stop any of you Brits from going to one of the 5 shows in England. I saw the band with just the 3 of them, and they do just fine, truly accounting for the absolute brilliance of Joe Adamik. I really do hope you go. And as Lou mentioned, Glenn Kotche (and wife Miiri) was in the audience. After the show, we talked briefly with Glenn, long enough for me to say how much I love Califone and how great it was that they opened for Wilco at the Auditorium this past Thanksgiving weekend, and that I hoped Wilco would take Califone out again when they tour to support the new Wilco CD, and Glenn agreed saying that, yes, Califone is the perfect opener for Wilco. So I can only keep my fingers crossed that the two bands really do have such plans. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 So Wendy, is Tim starting to worry yet that you might be stalking him? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Surprisingly no - I think he "gets" me (especially since you and I ran into him in that bar in Ann Arbor), because I got a really big smile and a hello from him and Ben when they first saw me after sound check at the front of the indoor line. I was there with two other serious Califone fans, Frank and his girlfriend *name can't remember* ... see, I'm not alone! Yay! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Basil II Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 OH YEAH!!!! I love these guys.........live shows are hard to come by though........... -Robert. Hola Wendy!!! -Robert. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Robert!!! If you were in Chicago, you would have been right up there in front with me and LouieB and Renic!!! I just know it! I'm pretty sure they're not done touring behind Roots & Crowns yet. (owl would know more than me) I'm rooting for a Seattle show at least, and hopefully you could make the road trip if they do. (I know how you don't have much hope for Spokane, ditto Fort Wayne). Unless you are talking about live show recordings, which I agree those are hard to come by, too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Basil II Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Sleazattle is a trip........I will catch Glenn in town next month,though....... -Robert. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Leo Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Very jealous of you guys (Allison, Lou and Wendy). Having seen them 3 times in the past 4 months only leaves me wanting more. Listening to them more than anyone else these days.Lou, strange (maybe not) that you mentioned Eleventh Dream Day. I just pulled out and listened to LivedTo Tell for the first time in years on Saturday. What a great album. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 And as Lou mentioned, Glenn Kotche (and wife Miiri) was in the audience. After the show, we talked briefly with Glenn, long enough for me to say how much I love Califone and how great it was that they opened for Wilco at the Auditorium this past Thanksgiving weekend, and that I hoped Wilco would take Califone out again when they tour to support the new Wilco CD, and Glenn agreed saying that, yes, Califone is the perfect opener for Wilco. So I can only keep my fingers crossed that the two bands really do have such plans. I don't have any details about the tour after Europe...at all. But "someone" did tell that that Wilco was trying to get Califone to open their shows in the spring. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 Lou, strange (maybe not) that you mentioned Eleventh Dream Day. I just pulled out and listened to LivedTo Tell for the first time in years on Saturday. What a great album.Eleventh Dream Day was/is a great band, which has anchored the Chicago indie rock movement for years. I did not see them really early on (it was during my rock hiatus days), but when I did finally see them, Tim was playing second guitar for them at the Double Door, a huge crazy show it was. I once had a tape a friend made of EDD, that had an opening set by Nirvana; yea, that Nirvana, which shows how far back they go and how important they once were. (This was at the Metro... to a sparse crowd.) Rick Rizzo is still one of the best guitarists in town, though now he is an English teacher at Von Stuben High School. Needless to say the other members have gone on to other groups, Janet to Freakwater and Doug to Tortoise, etc. But it goes to show how interconnected the Chicago scene is. EDD members played on many of the early Califone recordings. Red Red Meat came to prominance after EDD broke the ice. It's all pretty cool really. EDD's early record, Praire School Freakout, was reissued a couple years ago and is a worth the time and money. (On a weird note, I dreamed about Califone last night, re-running the fact that I inadvertedly re-bought Roots and Crowns at the show, because I have a vinyl copy and when I was buying a tee-shirt the merch girl said I needed the new album, which in CD form has a very different cover and I just went with it, thinking maybe it was a tour CD I didn't have (I do have the other tour CD...), well I guess it won't hurt to have two copies. I found a vinyl copy of Quicksand recently for $3 in the Metro East area, so what the heck.) By the way, I am impressed that Wendy knows the titles to these numbers. I recognize many of them now, although some I can't place (oh yea, we copped a set list now it makes sense.... ) LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Well, you may have more copies of "Roots & Crowns," but I bet I have more Califone t-shirts than you. (Got a box of 50 in the mail yesterday.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 I bet I have more Califone t-shirts than you. (Got a box of 50 in the mail yesterday.)I guess that is one way to not have to do the wash for awhile.... LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.