I admit, this week's Show of the Week was almost a tie between I Was Totally Destroying It (Saturday at Cat's Cradle) and Valient Thorr (Wednesday at Pour House). I fully expect VT to put on a high-energy show, and I think the Pour House will be the perfect spot to see them (great sound, can watch the band from upstairs, plus Wednesday is mug night). But IWTDI sneaks ahead because I've been loving their new CD (which I'm now obligated to tell you I got for free -- more on that in another post), and Saturday's show is their CD-release party. Read the review at Triangle Music and see photographer Jason Arthurs' video of the photoshoot here. Admission gets you a free copy of the CD, so if you blog about it yourself, you might want to mention that. Lonnie Walker, Des Ark, Rat Jackson and the awesomely named Lake Inferior open.
I just spent the last half hour reflecting on my idealistic teenage years and writing up the reasons why I'm a bit let down by last night's U2 show at Carter-Finley. They were all more personal than need be, so I decided to strip out the self-reflection and just dive in. I don't want to give the impression that I hated the show, because I didn't. It was actually a very good show (Jonathan Lee called it a "multi-media spectacular," which sums it up perfectly), but it wasn't the eager, revolutionary U2 that once galvanized me.
The main point is this: If you love the new stuff, you would have loved last night's show, because that's mostly what they played. They did whip out a few requisite oldies, including "Sunday Bloody Sunday," during which the stage was bathed in green lighting to support the Iranian opposition party. And they did play one of my personal favorites, "The Unforgettable Fire." But no "I Will Follow"? No "Gloria"? No "Bullet the Blue Sky"?? No "Pride"???? I realize that when you have a body of work as vast as U2's, some songs have to drop by the wayside, but generally a few of the old classics manage to stay on.
Also, as impressive as that spaceship stage was, with its revolutionary collapsible video screen, I really just wanted them to toss all that aside and just play. I mean really play like they still believe their music will change the world. Yes, there was plenty of talk about changing the world, but no specifics (other than joining Amnesty International) on how to do it. Every call to action seemed calculated not to offend anyone. Bono managed to even call out both the John Edwards and Jesse Helms families for praise, which is, I'm sure, the first time anyone has done that.
The only things the band was willing to point out as wrong were the government crackdown in Iran, and the decades-long house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar. Pretty easy targets. Lets see them take a stand on Israeli settlements in the West Bank or demand a public health care option for the poor and unemployed in the U.S. Looks like the only thing that's revolutionary about these guys now is that video screen.
OK, this photo of Tom and Skillet Gilmore really does kind of sum up Sunday's Tom Cushman Benefit at White Collar Crime. A bunch of bands came out and rocked, and everyone you know came out and saw them rock, all to help out local punk icon Tom Cushman.
(Local rock glitterati The Infamous Sugar, Russ DeSena and Jennifer Halifax)
The love for Tom was palpable. Tom himself was looking healthy and seemed amazed and touched.
(Eddie Taylor and yours truly)
The suggested donation at the door was $10, but if you gave $15, you got a handmade T-shirt with the TCB logo. I picked a silver-logo-ed black T-shirt that had originally been some sort of tequila promo. And even though I have another, much better photo of me and Eddie showing off our shirts, I decided to sacrifice my dignity and post this one because the logo is more clearly visible.
(These little guys were a hit with the folks at the bar. Their owner told me they are service dogs!)
(The Trousers)
I was at the benefit for most of the early shows, and got there while The Trousers, who had the 4:30 p.m. slot, were playing. I've said before that White Collar Crime is THE worst place in town to shoot bands, but a skylight overhead made the daylight hours somewhat OK. For some reason I always seem to record the same song by The Trousers.
Richard Bacchus & the Luckiest Girls were after The Trousers, but I feel like I've got more than enough videos of them for the time being, so I just stood back and enjoyed the show. This was the first time I had seen them as a three-piece, and I seriously couldn't tell the difference.
Caitlin Cary was next, and she started with a song by Snuzz. Pay attention to what she says at the end of the video. I think she summed up the thoughts of many that day.
(Kenny Roby and Scott McCall)
The last show I saw was Kenny Roby, who played with his regular guitarist, Scott McCall. I really love seeing Kenny with a full band, and wish he would do it more often, but it was nice to see him with Scott. But "seeing" is a relative term here because by this time the sun had gone down, and the stage was almost pitch black.
(Jibarra)
About mid-way through Kenny and Scott's set I found out that every single toilet in White Collar Crime had overflowed, which made our decision to take off that much easier. If anyone wants to provide a report on the latter half of the evening please do.
We ended up going next door to Jibarra, which features half-price bottles of wine on Sundays, and is actually somewhat reasonable if you stick to the appetizer menu. We enjoyed the lovely malbec pictured above.
