Yeah, I know I should be posting more Martin listings from the past, but I've been super busy with a job rotation and just my usual up and down emotional rollercoaster of life. I did go to my first show since Covid-19 hit. I saw Kurt Vile and the Violators at the Ryman with Chastity Belt opening. I had heard Chastity Belt before, but seeing and hearing them live was just so wonderful I bought all the records they had for sale at the merchandise table. Kurt was amazing as always. I'm loving his new album "watch my moves" which is out on Verve Records. I pre-ordered it and got the neat signed lithograph with it. There was a moment during his concert at the Ryman when I gazed over at my daughter who accompanied me to the show and I felt like there was nowhere else in the world I would want to be at that time. I just dig the mesmerizing slacker rock vibe he consistently brings. I do so hope his guitar tech gets paid well since Kurt changes his axe almost between every song. I highly recommend seeing him live.
Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)
Kurt Vile and the Violators at the Ryman
Chazzy Don't Mind
Chastity Belt were rocking in a indie jangle pop/shoegaze 90's sort of style, but they really impressed me when the singer/guitarist Julia Shapiro swapped with the drummer Gretchen Grimm for several songs. It reminded me of seeing the Smithereens swap instruments when I would see them perform. Just like with Kurt Vile I hope to see Chastity Belt every time they make it to Nashville. Guitarist/singer Lydia Lund rocked out "Fear" at the end of the show while my daughter thought the always bouncing bassist Annie Truscott looked like Ren Stevens. As for the sparse crowd pictured: they were the opening band so lots of people always file in late plus there was a Nine Inch Nails concert just outside of Franklin and Jack White was playing Ascend Amphitheater too. Couple that with Covid fears and the fact that the Kurt Vile concert was streamed and the turnout was light. It didn't fill up much even when Kurt came on. Too bad for those who missed the evening. It was quite magical.
Chastity Belt at the Ryman
Different Now
Fear
Another huge highlight of the Kurt Vile concert was his cover of the Silver Jews's "Punks in the Beerlight" which was totally ripping with a smoke machine cranking out over the front rows while the stage lights strobed. This led me to revisiting the late David Cloud Berman's work with the Silver Jews and his last Purple Mountains project. It's a shame he's gone, but his work will live on.
Random Rules
Sharp eyed viewers will have noticed that the Chastity Belt video for "Different Now" was a great homage to the video for Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike" so let's take a look at one of my favorites from the grunge era. That moment at around 2:28 when the vocals drop out and the chords change and later at 3:23 when Chris Cornell comes back in yowling is perfection. Cornell is another one who is greatly missed.
One of the albums I'm looking forward to is by the Chicago band Horsegirl who I discovered via Bandcamp some time ago. They came out with an all new video and tune today. This song has a Swirlies vibe to it which is just cool. I keep wondering how these younger folks are channeling the 90's indie sound so well, but I really shouldn't be surprised as there were always lots of bands in the 80's that sounded like 60's bands. Anyways, dig "Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty" from Horsegirl. I already love the ooh's!
Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)
Finally here's a below the fold bonus. I may be old, fat, and goofy (and I am working on changing fat back to skinny...I do that every few years for kicks), but I am still writing tunes and shoving them out on to YouTube where they rarely get seen. So let's get one rarely seen here too. It does have a line which goes "K.V. in the AM and CB in the night, hey good buddies do you have your ears on, are you picking me up tonight?" where the K.V. is Kurt Vile. CB is another pop culture reference which was inspired by the movie Out of the Blue
I've run across three great live bootlegs in the mp3 format in the last few weeks which is always a treat since I'm not one of those bit torrent types.
First up: The Replacements from July 1st, 1985 in their hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. You can find it at Pop Headwound. It's a sufficiently rowdy and robust document of a band during 7th Street Entry gig. It's known under the title "Simply Unacceptable."
Next we have James Brown in Zaire playing a music festival in September 1974. It's quite funky and fast, but what makes it special is that this music festival happened right before Ali knocked out George Foreman in the "Rumble In The Jungle." Ickmusic has this polyester treat for all of you Maceo fans.
Greg at Captains Dead recently welcomed another future Pavement fan into the world so he shared one of his favorite Pavement shows from a June 26, 1995 Cologne, Germany show. So congratulate him and enjoy.
