MattZ Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Last night's show at the Beacon was an odd experience all around. For a movie that probably doesn't have an enormous audience (e.g., the movie is opening in NYC at one of the smaller filmhouses), and for a soundtrack with a lot of bands that aren't exactly mainstream, this show sort of flew under the radar. And so it was, when the lights went down, and half the theatre (if not more) was empty. Literally empty seats. An echo in the theater. Completely bizarre. Todd Haynes was there to speak a bit about the movie. As was Heath Ledger to introduce a couple of the bands. But as the night wore on, and band after band came out, I was struck by the seemingly haphazard way with which this was all put together. Not that pulling off a show for 15 bands could possibly be easy. But acts didnt know what microphone to go to. Some performers needed to hold sheets of paper with the lyrics to get through songs and kept getting lost (I know this is Dylan, and the songs are long, but really??). The sound mixes were (predictably) off for many of the songs -- it took a good 30 seconds into many of the songs for the vocal levels to be adjusted properly. Some songs, like All Along the Watchtower, you couldnt hear the vocals at all until the 3rd verse. And then, when all was said and done, most of the evening was a pretty faithful reproduction of the soundtrack album but without the best bands from the album. I feel like this is a pretty negative review, but I have to admit that there was never a real flow to the evening. Too many different styles and breaks between songs to get bands set up. There was never any real juice. Except for two parts (and I will get there). Calexico did a good job -- they were out there for the first few songs as a backing band (e.g, Joe Henry took the lead vocals on Senor) but it was a pretty sleepy afair. Yo La Tengo did I Wanna Be Your Lover and 4th Time Around and were solid but not spectacular (and no one is a bigger fan of theirs than me). The two members of Gomez did a really nice job with Don't Think Twice. The Million Dollar Bashers with Lee Ranaldo and J Mascis were also quite good. The several performances by John Doe, Joe Henry, Mark Lanegan and Dan Hicks were just not that inspiring or interesting. Al Kooper was fine. Cat Power never showed up. Neither did Michelle Shocked or Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova. But the real highlights of the night were, without a doubt, not even close, Jim James/MMJ and The Roots. Jim James stole the first half of the show with Goin to Acapulco Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 But then, there was The Roots. They would have made Bob Dylan proud. And they made everyone else look like amateurs. They came out and played/sang Masters of War to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aricandover Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 But then, there was The Roots. They would have made Bob Dylan proud. And they made everyone else look like amateurs. They came out and played/sang Masters of War to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Holy crap. I wonder if this was taped... It is probably impossible to imagine, and I am not a good enough writer to describe it properly, but if you can imagine a slow somber rendition of the national anthem (very light drums) with just a softly played electric guitar and the words to the national anthem replaced with "them that builllllllld the big bombs"... into a Hendrix at Woodstock-esque rock out. The entire section I was in finally exhaled when they were done and the crowd that had been virtually dead to that point erupted. I mean an eruption. The three guys from the band came to the front of the stage and bowed and everyone went ape-shit. The obligatory "everyone on stage for the All Along the Watchtower finale" that immediately followed the Roots' performance paled in comparison. 6 guitars, a violin, two bassists, and two drummers couldn't match the energy the Roots had with one guitar, one tuba and one drummer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Nice description by MattZ. The Roots killed -- how did that guy do a flying leap off the stage with his tuba on? -- and there were some other solid performances--MMJ (with Jim James sporting a nice pair of mutton chops.), Yo La Tengo, etc. But definitely a bit of a trainwreck, which almost all tribute shows turn out to be in one way or another. Fun for sure, though. Here was the setlist, as best I could piece it together: -When The Ship Comes In -- Marcus Carl Franklin (w/Joe Henry on acoustic guitar)-? (instrumental) -- Calexico-Goin' To Acapulco -- Jim James (lead vox) and Calexico-Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) -- Joe Henry (lead vox) and Calexico-Man in the Long Black Coat -- Mark Lanegan (lead vox) and Calexico-All I Really Want To Do -- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros-It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry -- Al Kooper and the Funky Faculty (w/6-piece Uptown Horns)-As I Went Out One Morning -- Mira Billotte (lead vox) and Lee Ranaldo and band-Don't Think Twice, It's All Right -- Ian Ball and Olly Peacock of Gomez and band-Subterranean Homesick Blues -- Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks-Rainy Day Women #12 and 35 -- Terry Adams (of NRBQ) Rock and Roll Quartet-I Wanna Be Your Lover -- Yo La Tengo and band-Fourth Time Around -- Yo La Tengo (Georgia Hubley lead vox) with band (including John Convertino of Calexico on drums and Terry Adams on keyboard)-Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You -- My Morning Jacket-The Times They Are A-Changin' -- Mason Jennings-Pressing On -- John Doe (lead vox) and band [including Joe Henry on acoustic guitar; Al Kooper on organ and Joey Burns of Calexico on keyboard]-Buckets of Rain -- Jimmy LaFave [supposed to be duet with Michelle Shocked]-A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall -- Tift Merritt (lead vox) with Joe Henry on acoustic guitar-I Can't Leave Her Behind -- Lee Ranaldo (lead vox) and the Million Dollar Bashers [including J. Mascis on electric guitar, Al Kooper on organ and Steve Shelley on drums]-Santa Fe -- Lee Ranaldo and the Million Dollar Bashers (J. Mascis on lead vox)-Maggie's Farm -- Chris Bailey of the Saints (lead vox) with Lee Ranaldo and the Million Dollar Bashers-Ballad of a Thin Man -- John Doe (lead vox) with Lee Ranaldo and the Million Dollar Bashers (Lee on keyboard)-Masters of War -- The Roots-All Along The Watchtower -- ensemble [including Mason Jennings, Joe Henry and John Doe on vocals; Martin Wenk and Jacob Valenzuela of Calexico on trumpet; Questlove and Steve Shelley on drums; Al Kooper on organ; Joey Burns of Calexico, Lee Ranaldo and J. Mascis on guitar; and guitar and tuba player from the Roots] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Are The Roots featured on the album? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 -She's Your Lover Now -- Yo La Tengo and band [i know they did I Wanna Be Your Lover on the soundtrack, but I'm 99 percent certain it was announced that they did this song last night] Yes, this was announced incorrectly. An added bonus of the trainwreck was that Todd Haynes made a bunch of *bad* mistakes. He announced She's Your Lover Now, but that's not what they played. YLT did play I Wanna Be Your Lover. Then, when MMJ was done, he thanked only "Jim James". Are The Roots featured on the album? No, sadly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Yes, this was announced incorrectly. An added bonus of the trainwreck was that Todd Haynes made a bunch of *bad* mistakes. He announced She's Your Lover Now, but that's not what they played. YLT did play I Wanna Be Your Lover. Yeah, that makes more sense. Once it was announced, I wrote it down that way and admittedly sort of stopped worrying about what song it was. Should have known better. I edited my setlist above--thanks for the heads up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 -All I Really Want To Do -- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros BTW, do you have any idea what this was all about...? I have to assume this was a joke right? Talk about a trainwreck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 BTW, do you have any idea what this was all about...? I have to assume this was a joke right? Talk about a trainwreck. No, it was definitely a bit weird. They kind of had that freak folk, hippieish vibe. I remember that Heath Ledger introduced them as "my friends," but who knows if that's really true? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 No, it was definitely a bit weird. They kind of had that freak folk, hippieish vibe. I remember that Heath Ledger introduced them as "my friends," but who knows if that's really true? Yeah, but Heath Ledger chewing gun in the microphone when he introduced them? And the guy and girl hugging on stage? And the instruments not working? And the woman twirling? I assumed they were poking fun at the hippies and folkies from the 60s that were his initial fans. Maybe not. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
G_willy Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 I saw the roots do masters of war at bonnaroo and it was AWESOME! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Yeah, but Heath Ledger chewing gun in the microphone when he introduced them? And the guy and girl hugging on stage? And the instruments not working? And the woman twirling? I assumed they were poking fun at the hippies and folkies from the 60s that were his initial fans. Maybe not. I dunno. The instruments did work after a bit (and that was hardly the only technical problem all night). It just seems to me like a parody or whatever wouldn't really be in keeping with the respectful spirit of the show, but I could be wrong. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pathfire Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 MattZ, great review of the show...I don't know if I just hyped the show up too much in my head or what, but I did walk away a bit disappointed myself. Agreed that the highlights were MMJ and the Roots (Tift Merritt was also a pleasant surprise--I thought she did a fantastic job with 'A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall'). When everyone came out for the obligatory 'All Along the Watchtower' at the end, I couldn't help but think it would have been so much better if they just brought out MMJ to play it and end the show. They are the only ones who could have matched the intensity and electricity lingering in the room after the Roots. And I feel like I lost a little bit of respect for John Doe last night. Ok, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for needing a little help on 'Ballad of a Thin Man' (even though you had weeks to basically learn the lyrics to 3 songs), but reading your cheat sheet for lyrics to "All Along the Watchtower'?!? Kind of lame... I found Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros on Myspace, but there is no streaming music. There was a live video, but I haven't watched it yet. At least they were somewhat entertaining...I wonder if that girl knew that her entire dress was see-through Was definitely bummed that there was no Cat Power or Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I'm sure it takes a bit of a herculean effort on everyone's parts to put a show like this together, but the mix/feedback problems on many of the songs really were a detriment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Pitchfork Weighs In and Basically Says the Same Thing I Said (those damn copy cats) Excerpt:But the ticket price was justified by performances from My Morning Jacket, who did "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" (I'm Not There director Haynes, who periodically popped out in between songs, could only respond with "Wow") and the Roots, whose "Masters of War" was both chilling and ecstatic. Rapturous Dylan idolatry is not a particularly new or interesting phenomenon, but I'm Not There's pairings were weird enough to keep all eyes focused for twenty-four songs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
froggie Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 http://www.nme.com/news/bob-dylan/32383 All-star Bob Dylan tribute show hits New York Sonic Youth, J Mascis and My Morning Jacket all play8 hours ago An all-star cast of musicians gathered at New York's Beacon Theatre last night (November 7) to celebrate Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan biopic 'I'm Not There'. Although contributor Cat Power was absent from the proceedings, My Morning Jacket, Calexico, Yo La Tengo, Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis turned up to play their favourite Dylan songs. The acts were accompanied by The Million Dollar Bashers, a house band put together by Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, featuring J Mascis on guitar and 'Blonde on Blonde'-era Dylan collaborator Al Kooper among others. Actor Heath Ledger, who plays one version of Dylan in 'I'm Not There', introduced several acts, including the ramshackle Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros. Hip-hop troupe The Roots earned a standing ovation when they reprised their arrangement of 'Masters Of War', which set the song's first verses to 'The Star Spangled Banner' before referencing Jimi Hendrix's 'Machine Gun' while sousaphonist Tuba Gooding Jr. hopped into the crowd with his brass. The following songs were performed: 'When The Ship Comes In' (Marcus Carl Franklin)'Billy 1' (Calexico) 'Goin' To Acapulco' (Jim James and Calexico)'Se Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Smokestack Joe Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 was Tom Verlaine playing in the Million Dollar Bashers? if not, thats the Bashers sans Cline/Verlaine, J Mascis took his place? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marino13 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Holy crap. I wonder if this was taped... http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/i...e-werent-there/ Includes the Roots and JJ's "Goin' To Acapulco" http://www.stereogum.com/archives/concert/...t-bea.html#more At the bottom is a video of the MMJ performance. Enjoy!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted November 9, 2007 Author Share Posted November 9, 2007 http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/i...e-werent-there/ Includes the Roots and JJ's "Goin' To Acapulco"http://www.stereogum.com/archives/concert/...t-bea.html#more At the bottom is a video of the MMJ performance. Enjoy!! goosebumps thanks so much... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marino13 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 goosebumps thanks so much... No problem, MMJ is probably my favorite right now and I like to spread the love for this band. These were posted over on their message board. Between this concert and last week's Bridge School Benefit performances, there is a lot of excitement about the enthusiastic reviews from new audiences. They received a rare standing O at Bridge School as well. It's a good measuring stick for the fans to talk about, and something to pass the time until the new album comes out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PigSooie Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/i...e-werent-there/ Includes the Roots and JJ's "Goin' To Acapulco"http://www.stereogum.com/archives/concert/...t-bea.html#more At the bottom is a video of the MMJ performance. Enjoy!! Woah. That's awesome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Wow. Watching that MMJ video, wobbly as it is, makes me want to see MMJ again pretty bad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aricandover Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 nice to see Scott Ligon up there. I didn't know he was part of any of those bands. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oatmealblizzard Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 Yeah, I was at this as well. Overall, I enjoyed the show but will 100% agree that it was something of a mess. The mostly short (though sometimes protracted) breaks every 1-2 songs really killed any chance the show had of gaining some sense of momentum ... or even flow. Some of the performances were just not good. But there were more than a few highlights, as already mentioned. The Roots, as has been said before, COMPLETELY blew away every other performance of the night. The recording above doesn't quite capture how good it was. They kind of saved the night in the end. MMJ was also good ... I enjoyed the full band performance better than Goin to Alcapulco, personally. Calexico was solid as always. And despite his referring intermittently to a lyric sheet on one tune, I actually enjoyed John Doe. (By the way, what was up with that Classic Rock Radio personality who introduced him? He was quite a caricature ... and a douche.) Yo La Tengo's performance of I Wanna Be Your Lover was also enjoyable ... though Fourth Time Around didn't do it for me so much. And Tift Merrit was a nice surprise. Also, the Million Dollar Bashers (even sans Cline and Verlaine) were quite strong with a few blistering solos and a really nice version of the unreleased Can't Leave Her Behind. Here's a mostly positive review from the NY Times. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
willywoody Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 was Tom Verlaine playing in the Million Dollar Bashers? if not, thats the Bashers sans Cline/Verlaine, J Mascis took his place? it'd be cool to have a band where you could rotate verlaine, cline and masics around as the songs dictated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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