Leonard Cohen at Madison Square Garden: Concert Review

I want to be Leonard Cohen when I grow up.

After many years in hibernation, the endlessly cool 78-year-old singer-songwriter has returned to his career with a vengeance — perhaps literally so, since it was prompted by the embezzlement of his life’s savings by his former business manager. Since 2008 he’s been touring the world, playing arenas to capacity crowds and delivering shows that have been the best-received of his entire career. And the release this year of his latest CD, Old Ideas, demonstrates that he’s still -- to quote one of his best-known compositions — atop the tower of song.

At Madison Square Garden Tuesday night, Cohen delivered on the declaration he uttered early in the evening.

“I don’t know when we’ll meet again, but I promise that tonight we’ll give you everything we’ve got,” he said.

And that he did, along with a superb six-piece band and a trio of back-up singers that included the sublime Webb Sisters (Charley and Hattie) and his longtime songwriting collaborator Sharon Robinson. Performing for 3 1/2 hours including intermission, he delivered a career-defining show that included numerous selections from the new release.

The tropes of his performance style are by now familiar, but no less comforting. The spry septuagenarian, clad in his trademark dark suit and fedora, belies his age by literally skipping on and off the stage. He delivers many of his vocals either crouched in intense fashion or literally on his knees, and his ability to rise to his feet effortlessly even while singing provides a testament to whatever health regimen he’s on.

Far from his amusing self-description in his new song “Going Home” as “a lazy bastard living in a suit,” the performer invests his performance with a searing intensity that takes on almost religious overtones. Even in this cavernous arena, he held the audience spellbound throughout the lengthy evening, no more so when he quietly recites his poem “A Thousand Kisses Deep.”

His demeanor is ever courtly, profusely thanking the audience several times for their attention and repeatedly introducing not only his musicians and singers but everyone down to the sound mixer and the guy who rigged the curtain. During his band member’s numerous solos, he frequently took off his hat and sat by their feet, as if in supplication.

And it was well deserved, as the multi-national musicians enhanced songs both new and familiar with gorgeous instrumental flourishes, from Alexandru Bublitchi’s beautiful violin work to Neil Larsen’s bluesy keyboards to Javier Mas’ virtuoso playing of a variety of string instruments including the oud. The music touched on many genres — folk, rock, gypsy, blues, jazz, gospel, flamenco, waltz — with effortless grace.

Highlights are too numerous to mention. Casual fans were rewarded with stirring versions of such classics as “Suzanne,” “Bird on a Wire,” “Everybody Knows,” “I’m Your Man,”  “Take This Waltz,” “Famous Blue Raincoat” and, of course, the now ubiquitous “Hallelujah.”  But he also dug deep into the archives with such songs as “Who by Fire,” “Lover Lover Lover” and “Chelsea Hotel #2” as well as showcasing such new compositions as “Show Me the Place,” “Amen” and the rocking “Darkness.”

The latter prompted one of the evening’s most amusing moments, as he followed it with the mock admission that “I look in the mirror and I say, Lighten up, Leonard,” before launching into “Ain’t No Cure for Love.” Later, after receiving an ovation for his twinkly keyboard playing on “Tower of Song,” he asked, “Is this charity for the elderly?”

He generously gave the spotlight to Robinson, who handled the lead vocal on “Alexandra Leaving,” and the Webb Sisters, who delivered the penultimate number, “If It Be Your Will.”

The marathon evening ended shortly before midnight with the inevitable “Closing Time.”

“It’s hell to pay when the fiddler stops, it’s closing time,” he sang in his trademark rumbling baritone. For his sake as well as ours, let’s hope that doesn’t come anytime soon.

Set List:

Dance Me to the End of Love

The Future

Bird on a Wire

Everybody Knows

Who by Fire

Darkness

Ain’t No Cure for Love

Amen

Come Healing

In My Secret Life

A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)

Anthem

Tower of Song

Suzanne

Chelsea Hotel #2

Waiting for the Miracle

Show Me the Place

Lover Lover Lover

Democracy

Alexandra Leaving (Sharon Robinson)

I’m Your Man

Hallelujah

Take This Waltz

So Long Marianne

Going Home

First We Take Manhattan

Famous Blue Raincoat

If It Be Your Will (the Webb sisters)

Closing Time

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No Doubt Push, Shove, Shout and Let it All Out at SoCal Show: Concert Review

Yes, No Doubt has been a band since 1986, but even the most hardened of road warriors would be putting their performing chops and stage stamina to the test with a seven-night run at L.A.'s Gibson Amphitheatre. The fact that the band hasn't had a new album in over a decade? A disadvantage to most, but not this four-piece fronted by Gwen Stefani.

In fact, she was more worried about the Friday night crowd's resilience, and midway through their scheduled performances, having previously played shows on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, Stefani acknowledged the turnout with a thank you: "You've been working all week, you're exhausted, and you still f---ing came to see us," she said to rapturous applause from the 6,000-plus audience members.

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While the back of the house happily sang along with beers in hand, engaging mostly in the band's biggest hits "Just a Girl," "Don't Speak," "Hella Good," "Ex-Girlfriend" and "Settle Down," it was the pit that was filled with superfans. Among them: a man with Stefani's face tattooed on his arms, a woman desperately hoping for a Stefani-designed wedding gown, devotees sporting hand-made signs, and a 20-something who was invited on stage to display her sign that read, "I've been listening to No Doubt for 17 years."

By our count, that puts her right around the Tragic Kingdom and Beacon Street era, but not quite at the ultimate fan status of their 1992 self-titled debut. Nonetheless, Stefani was impressed with the fan's commitment and invited her up on stage to "make out or something" during the encore. Alas, they did not lock lips, but there were several hugs and bassist Tony Kanal stepped in to snap an iPhone photo of the duo in front of the audience. Talk about a show memento.

Opening about 20 minutes behind schedule, Stefani hit the stage with the energy of a pop star have her age, jumping around in a sparkly silver romper and a long black jacket, paired, of course, with black lace-up boots and fishnet stockings. The 43-year-old mother of two hardly looked the part of parent, exhibiting her royal rock highness status on "Push and Shove," "It's My Life" and "Hella Good." As Kanal strived to keep up with Stefani's energy (decades after ending their relationship, the two still clearly have chemistry -- frequently dancing together and getting lost in the music), Stefani shows no signs of slowing down and miraculously manages to hold on to her breath control in the process. Unlike many live shows, however, the stage went completely dark between songs with an audible pause. The mini-breaks did not result in any set changes, so one can only assume they were there to allow Stefani a quick recovery before whirling back on stage.

"I'm getting such a good vibe tonight," Stefani mused after "Ex-Girlfriend," one of the night's most well-received hits, in which the entire auditorium -- loud and without hesitation -- finished the track with a rousing "But I shoulda thought of that before we kissed."

Things did slow down for the regga-rific "Underneath It All," featuring a trumpet solo from Stephen Bradley, the acoustic "Hey You" and the ballad "Simple Kind of Life," clearly penned prior to Stefani's marriage to Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale and the subsequent birth of their two children. As she crooned "I always thought I'd be a mom," a smile crept to Stefani's lips and the crowd went wild. Watching her on stage, it's puzzling to connect Gwen Stefani the superstar with Gwen Stefani the mom -- a sensation probably not unfamiliar to her two sons.

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Those who were new to the No Doubt concert experience may have been surprised at the presence of trumpeter Bradley and trombonist Gabrial McNair, who also aided Stefani on vocals. The duo are rarely included in the band's promotional materials, but have been touring with the band since the mid-1990s.

Among the most visually performances: "One More Summer" and "Sunday Morning." While tonally different, each song included a backdrop of what looked like personal home footage. On "Summer," it was video of a family at the beach circa the 1970s and on "Sunday," there was staged footage from inside Kanal, Tom Dumont, Adrian Young and Stefani's respective homes. Each donning white robes, the video chronicles their routines on -- you guessed it -- Sunday mornings, in which they read the paper, drink coffee and play with their kids.

The group reached a crescendo with the song that made No Doubt famous: "Just a Girl." It came just before the encore and Stefani held nothing back. Indeed, when she needed more, the power singer challenged the audience to chant along until her ears bled. Naturally, she then instructed all the men in the audience to sing along with the chorus and then later teased that the women would put them to shame. They did.

By the time the encore came around, it seemed there was little left to be played. Their current single, "Looking Hot," of course, but what else? Changing from her romper into something straight out of her '90s closet (a sparkly red crop top and billowy red pants with sneakers), Stefani put her rock-hard abs on display and looked, well, hot.

They next launched into "Total Hate," which was selected as a fan request online. "I thought this song was retired, but apparently not," Stefani said as she introduced it. And before taking their final bow, No Doubt kicked things back up a notch with "Spiderwebs." At the end of it all, they made a less-than-dramatic exit from the stage, instead opting to stay and sign autographs for fans lucky enough to nab front row seats. After a few minutes of hand-shaking and high-fiving, they waved goodbye and calmly made their way backstage as the audience, equally well-behaved, exited the Gibson.

If No Doubt has mellowed, it seems unavoidable that their fanbase has, too. But for one night (or seven), all were transported back to the glory of the '90s. If nothing else, the performance proved that while the Push and Shove-era will still please loyal fans, it's the old classics that just might be impossible to top.

Set List:

Push and Shove
It's My Life
Hella Good
Underneath It All
Ex-Girlfriend
Hey Baby
New

Acoustic Set
Hey You
Sparkle
Simple Kind of Life
One More Summer

Sunday Morning
Bathwater
Settle Down
Don't Speak
Just a Girl

Encore
Guns of Navarone (The Skatalites cover)
Looking Hot
Total Hate (Fan Request)
Spiderwebs

Email: Sophie.Schillaci@thr.com; Twitter: @SophieSchillaci

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Grace Jones Brings Fierceness, High Fashion to Pre-Hurricane New York City: Concert Review

Grace Jones on Saturday at the Roseland Ballroom in New York

The veteran performer keeps it tight with her avant-garde music, out-of-this-world style and a Hula Hoop.

Roseland Ballroom,
New York City
(Saturday, Oct. 27)

As the Tri-State area braced for the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Grace made landfall Saturday night at the historic Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The 64 year-old singer stormed the stage in wrap-up stilettos and dazzled the sold-out crowd for two solid hours with a hits-heavy set that featured a different costume for every song.

Her only U.S. appearance this year, the show was a one-of-a-kind event conceived by U.K. milliner Philip Treacy to feature the singer (and former model) in outfits by designers Issey Miyake, Jean Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen. Jones stayed in a black corset with thong, fishnets and heels the entire evening and spent the night accenting this with her various changes offstage, though she never made clear which designer she was wearing (most of the hats probably were Treacy, and one or two of the more unusual pieces probably Gaultier). Her fans dressed up, too: Holding the concert on the Saturday before Halloween only sealed the deal as the room looked like it was packed with extras from Party Monster and Paris Is Burning.

Fronting a six-piece band and two backup singers, Jones took the stage in near darkness and opened with “Nightclubbing.” The woman is in phenomenal shape and appears downright ageless. As she stood on a riser above the stage in an outfit that lit up, her sultry take on the David Bowie/Iggy Pop song set the mood for the evening as she sang, “Oh, isn’t it wild?”

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Jones moved off stage for the first of her 15 costume changes while the lights dimmed, though she held on to her microphone and addressed the crowd: “Welcome! I love you already!” The singer was brightly convivial all night, and surprisingly coarse. At one point, she announced, “Oh my God, I need to suck a dick!” Her salaciousness fit with her leering, preening manner, and the audience ate it up.

Jones returned to sing “This Is Life” from her most recent album, 2009’s Hurricane, and followed it with “My Jamaican Guy” and her cover of Pretenders’ “Private Life.” Whether she’s singing or talk-singing, Jones was in excellent voice all night. One of the many highlights of her set was the costume she wore for her take on The Police’s “Demolition Man,” which featured the singer with a shining metal hat and carrying two cymbals, which she crashed to great effect. “I keep it tight,” she said with a laugh.

Jones’ music ranges from avant-garde disco and new wave to reggae, funk and pop. Emerging from the darkness in gold sequined top hat and tails, she asked for a glass of wine; when she began speaking in French it became obvious what song was up next: her lilting light-jazz rendition of “La Vie en Rose,” one of her biggest hits. However, when the song began playing, she stepped on a revolving turntable, started joking with the crowd and missed her cue. She continued, though she admitted her mistake, which only served to unravel her and leave her and the crowd laughing.

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Jones featured two more tracks from Hurricane (“Well Well Well,” “Williams’ Blood”) before returning to classics like “Warm Leatherette” and her cover of Roxy Music’s “Love Is the Drug.” Her costume for “Pull Up to the Bumper” was a riding crop and a horse tail, fixed at her lower back. She pulled a young man out of the audience and danced with him onstage; after the song, she made him take off his shirt and flirted with him mercilessly.

Jones seemed to be having as much fun as the crowd, drinking wine, making lewd comments and at times even yelling at the spotlight operators: “I’m over here; no one’s over there!” When she sang, her voice was powerful, and when she wasn’t singing, she was dancing. And, as she famously did at Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee concert in June, the singer emerged from the shadows at the end of her set carrying a Hula Hoop. Jones then called in “Slave to the Rhythm” and proceeded to hula for the entire song, while singing in a thong and heels.

Jones returned for an encore of the aptly chosen “Hurricane.” She appeared in an Issey Miyake parachute wrap and stood in front of a fan that blew the fabric well behind her as she clutched a pole. The song finished, Jones left without saying a word. She is a tremendous performer, and at an age when many people are thinking about retirement, she looks and sounds far from it. Like a hurricane, Grace Jones packs a wallop.

Set List:

Nightclubbing
This Is Life
My Jamaican Guy
Private Life
Demolition Man
I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)
La Vie en Rose
Well Well Well
Williams' Blood
Warm Leatherette
Love Is the Drug
Pull Up to the Bumper
Feel Up
Slave to the Rhythm
Encore:
Hurricane

Twitter: @THRMusic

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Brad Paisley Turns Hollywood Bowl Into His Own Paisley Park: Concert Review

Wrapping up a 10-month tour, the musician captivated a packed crowd as a guitar hero, humorist, country boundary-expander and all-around musical multi-threat.

Hollywood Bowl
(Saturday, Oct. 20)

If you’re looking at the intersection between guitar heroes and currently popular hitmakers, you’re pretty much looking at an intersection of one. Brad Paisley brought that all-too-rare combination to the intersection of Highland and the Hollywood Freeway on Saturday night, where the Hollywood Bowl was packed out for country music’s best superstar standard-bearer. There was plenty of hillbilly horseplay, hooks about fishing hooks and enough Stratocaster mastery to make Mark Knopfler (who performs at the Bowl this coming weekend) feel afraid, very afraid.

Midway through the show, Paisley soloed at length on “Then” while strolling through the crowd up to a platform halfway back in the Bowl. His ability to stay in such lockstep with his band while improvising impressively and going farther afield than the Bowl’s follow spots could track was a testament not just to his talent but the reliability of modern in-ear technology. The steepness of the Bowl’s hillside seemed to impress him as, waxing slightly winded, Paisley admitted he was “feeling the altitude” once he got up to that secondary stage.

Perhaps he also was feeling the 10 months he’s been out on the road with opening acts The Band Perry and Scotty McCreery. Saturday night marked the end of that nearly year-long North American trek, but aside from that suggestion of panting, no one seemed the worse for wear at this tour-closer, least of all the eternally good-humored headliner -- who next will be seen as co-host of the CMA Awards on Nov. 1 before heading out to take his "American Saturday Nights" overseas for a spell.

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His 21-song, nearly two-hour set kicked off with “The World,” which remains an important song in his catalog: When that 2006 romantic barnburner topped the country chart, it marked the moment when it became clear that country radio would really let Brad be Brad, in all his fullness -- which is to say, embrace a tune that featured his Fender bending notes around virtually every line in the song, without waiting for the obligatory soloing break after the second chorus. Plenty of other subsequent hits played Saturday, all the way to the closing encore of “Alcohol,” followed in that tradition, with Paisley deliriously filling in every would-be lyrical pause in a style that owes equal amounts to Buck Owens’ guitarist Don Rich, Eddie Van Halen and, yep, Knopfler.

Paisley has a way of embracing both cockiness and humility on stage without ever having those qualities seem self-contradictory. Essentially, he’s showing off without seeming to be trying too hard to show off, which is a good persona if you can get it.

Paisley’s serious and silly sides both flew at full mast. On the sober side, there was “Welcome to the Future,” an age-of-miracles-and-wonder anthem that can make even a recession-plagued, news-bedraggled attendee remember that the world of 2012 is, in many ways, a pretty cool place.

His current single, “Southern Comfort Zone” (presaging an album due in April), is equally inspiring and brilliant. It arrives thinly disguised as yet another country song cataloguing everything that is superior about the land of Dixie, when what it really is is an anthem of anti-xenophobia and openness to all that the wide world has to offer -- while, sure, remembering to catalog a few things that are superior about the land of Dixie.

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But equally valuable in Paisley’s canon are his singular revivals of country’s great comic novelty-song tradition, which started early in the set with “Ticks,” which he altered to involve a woman having a Dodgers tattoo in the small of her back. He advised the people back in the grassy section to check each other for ticks, too, and you could forgive the Hollywood Bowl first-timer for not knowing he was playing an amphitheater with no lawn seating (assuming he didn’t mean the “tree people” who traditionally listen to, if not necessarily see, every Bowl show).

His truly soberest song, “Whiskey Lullaby,” was sung as a duet with opener Kimberly Perry replacing the recording’s Alison Krauss (after Paisley sang a snippet of The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young”). This testament to untimely death was followed immediately in whiplash fashion by “Warp Speed,” arguably the funniest song of the night in spite of being an instrumental, just by virtue of how Paisley and his band turning speed-picking into an extreme sport provokes admiring laughter.

Paisley used to sing a half-live, half-recorded duet onstage every night with a giant video image of Krauss on “Whiskey Lullaby.” Now that spot in the show has been taken with his nightly live-and-Memorex duet with an absent Carrie Underwood on “Remind Me.” In this instance, it’s made better or worse, depending on your thinking, by the fact that Paisley has designed it as a magic trick, in which the digital Carrie is life-sized, and she really does appear, at least from the 20th row or so back, to be standing in the rear next to the drum riser. The complicating factor is that (almost) everybody realizes a verse or so in that she’s not really in attendance, after initially rising to their feet for the superstar “guest.” Deflating the crowd midsong is always a risky gambit, but Paisley is such a tech nerd -- as he proves with other elements of his stage design and self-made LED screen animation -- that you can kind of allow him the glee that went into creating this illusion.

Paisley has a way of embracing both cockiness and humility onstage without ever having those qualities seem self-contradictory. Essentially, he’s showing off without seeming to be trying too hard to show off, which is a good persona if you can get it. There was a moment in the final encore of “Alcohol” that embodied that pretty well, and it wasn’t even the moment when a woman emerged from the wings and handed him a beer bottle with which to play a bottleneck guitar solo. It came a minute later, when he was out on the ramp into the audience and quickly bent over to autograph a couple of photos with his right hand while continuing to solo on the fretboard with his left. Entertainers should all be such effortless multitaskers.

Set list:

The World
Welcome to the Future
Ticks
This Is Country Music
Waitin’ on a Woman
Celebrity
I’m Still a Guy (incl. Good Hearted Woman)
She’s Everything
Online
Southern Comfort Zone
Then
Letter to Me
Mud on the Tires
Whiskey Lullaby (inc. If I Die Young)
Warp Speed
I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishing Song)
Remind Me
Old Alabama
Water

Encore:
American Saturday Night
Alcohol

Twitter: @chriswillman

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Justin Bieber Touches Down in Los Angeles With Out-Of-This-World Show: Concert Review

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Melissa Etheridge in New York City: Concert Review

The singer delivers a powerhouse, nearly 2 1/2 hour show that shows off her thrilling vocals and dynamic guitar playing.

Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge has always poured her heart and soul into her music, so it’s no surprise that the same depth of emotion permeates her shows. Playing for nearly 2 1/2 hours at Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom on Wednesday, the performer made the evening as much of a therapy session as a concert.

Having been on the scene for a quarter of a century, she qualifies as one of rock’s elder, or at least middle-aged, stateswomen, and she makes no bones about it. “I’m 51 and I’m loving it!” she cried at one point, in an example of the Oprah-like confessionals strewn throughout the evening.

She’s touring to support her latest CD, 4th Street Feeling, which features a heavier blending of soul, country and blues influences than usual for her. She performed the vast majority of it during the show, which also included such fan favorites as “I Want to Come Over,” “Bring Me Some Water,” “I’m the Only One” and “Like the Way I Do.”

It’s a strictly no-frills affair, with the singer backed by a terrific four-piece band that at times seemed superfluous, considering that she frequently put down her guitar to play accordion, keyboards, piano and, for “Bring Me Some Water,” even the drums.

Her powerhouse vocals so reminiscent of Janis Joplin have only seemed to have gotten stronger with age, and her guitar playing has taken on a harder, aggressive edge that she seemed eager to show off via numerous extended solos.

She frequently punctuated her songs with lengthy narrative asides which made them feel even more personal. When the crowd cheered during her extended version of “I Want to Come Over,” she confessed, “I’m glad I’m not alone in my misery.” And after another typically relationship-centric number, she wryly commented, “Oh yeah, like you’re gonna take relationship advice from me.”

But it was her introduction to “I Run for Life,” inspired about her well-publicized battle with breast cancer, that garnered the most powerful response of the evening. “I wrestled with that beast called cancer,” she said, before triumphantly adding, “I can now tell you I’m now nine years cancer free!” She proceeded to deliver a deeply emotional rendition of the song that exemplified this durable rocker’s indomitable spirit.

Set List: 

Shout Now
Falling Up
I Want To Come Over
Kansas City
4th Street Feeling
Chrome Plated Heart
Shadow Of A Black Crow
Be Real
Enough of Me
A Sacred Heart
Your Little Secret
A Disaster
I Can Wait
I Run For Life
Rock & Roll Me
I'm The Only One
Bring Me Some Water

Encore:
Like The Way I Do

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The Who at Barclays Center: Concert Review

Daltrey and Townshend and the reconstituted Who deliver the goods in this show devoted to "Quadrophenia" featuring state-of-the-art video projections and generous doses of nostaglia.

Barclays Center, Brooklyn
(Wednesday, Nov. 14)

It’s easy to tell when Roger Daltrey is about to sing one of the more iconic songs from the Who catalog such as like “Love, Reign O’er Me” or “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” He unbuttons his shirt to the waist, revealing an impossibly toned torso for a 68-year-old man. The gesture, as much as his still-powerful voice, signifies that this legendary band is still able to rock.

Performing at Brooklyn’s Barclay Center as part of its Quadrophenia tour, Daltrey and his fellow surviving bandmate Pete Townshend delivered a musically impeccable rendition of that entire 1973 classic rock opera/concept album, followed by a crowd-pleasing if too-brief selection of their biggest hits.

They’ve toured with this material before, back in 1996 and 1997, but this version was technically superior, boasting state-of-the-art video projections on multiple screens that enhanced the song cycle with images referencing its seaside-set coming-of-age storyline (lots of waves crashing on the shore) as well as a virtual photographic world history of the past 70 years. Featuring scenes ranging from the London Blitz to the present, it also included generous amounts of archival footage of the band in its prime, adding a genuine poignancy to the sight of its two main players who are now near-septuagenarians.

Not that their age seemed to matter. Daltrey’s voice sounded stronger than it has in years, as he displayed no visible vocal strain during the two-and-a-quarter-hour show or unveiling his massive roars on “Love” and “Fooled.” Townshend’s slashing guitar work was as exemplary as ever, and he infused his vocals on such songs as “I’ve Had Enough” with a moving world-weariness. Both performers reprised their signature moves -- Daltrey twirling his microphone and Townshend waving his arms windmill-style during power chords -- with enough frequency to garner cheers without launching into self-parody.

They were supported by their usual excellent band: Zak Starkey on drums, Pino Palladino on bass and Pete’s brother Simon Townshend on guitar, as well as John Corey, Frank Simes and Loren Gold on keyboards and a two-man horn section.

“You know that we could have carried around a few hundred more musicians and it would have sounded roughly the same,” Pete half-joked.

But the ironic highlights of the show came from the deceased band members, thanks to beautifully integrated video footage of John Entwistle delivering a mind-blowing bass solo on “5:15” and Keith Moon raucously singing the lead vocal on “Bell Boy.” The response from the crowd was rapturous.

After a straight run-through of the entire song list from Quadrophenia performed without a break, the band satisfied the demands of the audience with a mini-set featuring “Who Are You,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” “Pinball Wizard,” “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” all delivered with galvanizing power. Townshend was in particularly playful form during this segment, following his intricate guitar solo on “Who Are You” with the mock whispered pronouncement, “Jazz,” and he put particular dramatic emphasis on the lyric “Meet the new boss/Same as the old boss.”

They took time to sing the praises of the new Brooklyn arena -- “We didn’t come on the subway,” Townshend humorously pointed out -- and made frequent sympathetic references to the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

At show’s end, the two Who originals remained alone onstage to deliver a sweetly moving acoustic version of “Tea & Theatre,” the elegiac song from their 2006 album Endless Wire.

“A thousand songs/Still smolder now/We played them as one/We’re older now,” sang Daltrey. They are indeed older now, but as this show demonstrated, the aging kids are still all right.

Set List:

I Am the Sea
The Real Me
Quadrophenia
Cut My Hair
The Punk and the Godfather
The One
The Dirty Job
Helpless Dancer
Is It In My Head?
I’ve Had Enough
5:15
Sea and Sand
Drowned
Bell Boy
Doctor Jimmy
The Rock
Love, Reign O’er Me
Who Are You
Behind Blue Eyes
Baba O’Riley
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Tea & Theatre        

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The xx at the Palladium: Concert Review

The UK's buzziest band invites its loyalists to drown in drone, but side effects may include drowsiness.

The Palladium
Los Angeles
(Friday, Oct. 12)

British buzz band The xx packed Los Angeles’ Palladium on Friday night, but a couple hours before it was time to headline the 4,000-capacity hall, hundreds of ticket holders passed singer-guitarist Romy Croft on nearby Sunset Blvd. and likely never noticed.

With her trademark look -- side-swept bangs covering her eyes ever so strategically and an all-black uniform meant to blend not blast -- Croft, spotted outside the venue during a pre-show stroll could easily pass for just another in a sea of fans, which is perhaps one reason why, on stage, she connected so intensely with a typically hard-to-impress Hollywood crowd, many of whom had just weeks prior caught the xx’s performance at the nearby Fonda Theatre.

It comes as no surprise, however, that the xx, which includes bandmates Oliver Sim (bass, vocals) and Jamie Smith (everything else), would draw its fair share of repeat customers. The band’s songs -- a pastiche of heartbeat grooves, spacey, echoing guitars and a buzzy, constant drone -- are the textbook definition of hypnotic, while their understated delivery is an invitation for each audience member to get lost in his or her head.

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An xx show is nothing if not dark -- and that’s in every sense of the word. Their stage props: virtually nonexistent; lights go from barely there to blinding in a flicker, but mostly wash out the performers so all you see are long shadows and silhouettes. At times reminiscent in vibe to a Depeche Mode concert (though no one in the xx would be caught dead doing the Jesus twirl) and in aesthetic to Phantom of the Opera (the silent film version) or Frankenstein, with Jamie xx serving as a mad scientist in the wings, the xx’s music is moody and minimalist. Some find it sleepy, others captivating.

On Friday night (the first of two weekend shows in the city, the second appropriately set at another L.A. landmark: the Hollywood Forever cemetery), it was a little of both. Performing a mix of songs from their two albums, 2009’s Mercury Prize-winning xx and Coexist, which was released last month and debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, the trio hopped between proven crowd-pleasers like "Crystalised," their very first single, and “Fantasy,” both sung by Sim, letting his barely-above-a-whisper deep bass tone fill the room and shake it to its core.

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The band used downright Floyd-ian segues to introduce more recent fare such as the sparse “Missing,” the hopeful duet “Reunion” and “Sunset,” which truly lets Croft’s breathy vocals shine. The same can be said of warm-up numbers like “Angels” in which Croft wistfully pines for an intense love, and “Fiction,” where Sim takes the lead.

After appearances on several of America’s biggest festival stages -- including Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits -- the band seemed relieved to change up the material, remarking at one point, “It feels so good to be playing new songs.” Further proving their evolution, from the band heard on an AT&T commercial to true trailblazers of indie pop and beyond, they even turned the lights up in the form of a giant illuminated X, which made its debut near the set’s end. Dawn according to the xx, you could say, and it was glorious.

Twitter: @shirleyhalperin

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Neil Young and Crazy Horse Host Hollywood Bowl Blowout: Concert Review

A Neil Young and Crazy Horse concert is not for everybody, but Wednesday’s blowout at the Hollywood Bowl was high-grade catnip for the converted. Put quite simply, if this music didn’t move you, you might want to get your pulse checked.

On a warm, windless night, Young and his 43-year on-again/off-again compatriots played their first local gig since the well-intentioned but often wince-worthy Greendale tour of 2003-04. And the show recalled their late-’70s and early-’90s peaks, with gloriously fuzzy and extended songs that put the “jam” back in jam band.

And the emphasis decidedly was on jam rather than groove, relentless rather than meandering. Young and Frank “Poncho” Sampedro squared off like it was high noon, firing guitar licks from the hip and delivering feedback-fueled codas longer than most bands’ full songs.

But for a guy with such forward-thinking ideas as the hi-fi Pono music service and LincVolt electric car, Young is looking back musically and -- with the double-disc Psychedelic Pill, due Oct. 30 from Warner Bros. Records -- lyrically.

The two-hour, 13-song set featured five tracks from the upcoming record, whose recurring theme is assessing the past, sometimes with regret. A lyric in “Born in Ontario” -- look for this one to be played at Maple Leafs games if the NHL can salvage its labor-pained season -- cheerily notes, “This old world has been good to me,” but the mood went south in the ensuing “Walk Like a Giant.”

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The 16-minute pseudo-psychedelic rumbler with a whistled four-note riff laments a long-ago missed opportunity: “Me and some of my friends/We were gonna save the world/But then the weather changed, and the white got stained and it fell apart/And it breaks my heart to think about how close we came.”

Heavy, man.

The first four songs clocked in at 45 minutes, ending with a mondo transition to a solo acoustic “The Needle and the Damage Done.” (This was the rare show where people got up off their chairs for the slowest song.) The song’s sad anger expressed more regrets. Then it was back to the new album for “Twisted Road,” in which Young looks back again, this time more whimsically but still with a degree of melancholy: “Walking with the devil on a twisted road/Listening to The Dead on the radio/That old-time music used to soothe my soul/If I ever get home, I’m gonna let the good times roll.”

But it would be remiss to say the show was anything other than joyful musically, ranging from neo-folk to slogging hard rock framed with plenty of free-flow jamming. The unreleased “Singer Without a Song,” the night’s biggest left turn, might have been at home on 1992’s Harvest Moon. Young, now 66, sang it in that singular shaky-sure voice, which has held up remarkably well. Introducing the new album’s title track, he said, “You’ll notice this is just like the other ones -- same key, same melody, same dumb guitar solo.” He’s right, but it sounded great.

VIDEO: Neil Young and Jonathan Demme Discuss ‘Neil Young Journeys’ at Sundance 2012

The visuals were lighthearted, too. There were giant prop amp stacks and a microphone, workers dressed in white lab coats or orange Caltrans jumpsuits came onstage a few times, and the light show  recalled the acid-tested overhead-projector days. Young, Sampedro, bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina sometimes played in a tight circle center stage, as if gigging at a dive bar.

With the national election less than three weeks away, Young was primed for some stumping. The show kicked off with the band standing onstage as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played through the P.A., but surprisingly that was as close to a political statement as he made. There also was no mention or deployment of Americana, the band’s rather forgettable album of rejiggered U.S. folk standards that came out in June. Young never even name-checked or plugged the forthcoming record, let alone his new memoir.

Despite -- or driven by -- a set list light on radio staples, this was the best local Young/Crazy Horse gig since the wildly entertaining tour that followed 1990’s proto-grunge classic Ragged Glory. In “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black),” which closed the main set, Young sang, “Once you’re gone, you can’t come back.” So keep going to see Neil Young, especially with Crazy Horse, as long as he decides to keep doing this. Because if the new lyrics are clues, he might be ready at any time to unplug and head back home.

Set List:

Love and Only Love
Powderfinger
Born in Ontario
Walk Like a Giant
The Needle and the Damage Done
Twisted Road
Singer Without a Song
Ramada Inn
Cinnamon Girl
F*!#in’ Up
Psychedelic Pill
Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)

Encore:

Mr. Soul

Twitter: @THRMusic

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Gwen Stefani and Jakob Dylan Surprise, Lumineers Impress at KROQ Acoustic Christmas: Concert Review

The bill wasn't all that acoustic (or Christmas-y), but the alt-radio powerhouse proved its rock resilience with a mostly-strong first night that featured Linkin Park, Garbage and Bush.

Gibson Amphitheatre
Los Angeles
(Saturday, Dec. 8)

Other than Garbage singer Shirley Manson's abrasively sung “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” as the coda to one of her own band's numbers and the likable hee-haw singalongs of ascendant roots-rockers The Lumineers, there wasn't much acoustic or Christmas-y about the first night of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas.

The annual two-day station-run blowout serves as both a giant party and a state-of-rock-radio union and is celebrating its 23rd year in 2012. A booking, like a station add, can be a godsend for an up-and-coming band, especially one hoping to emerge from one-hit wonderdom; likewise, legacy acts can cement their longtime fan base's loyalty by blasting them with a barrage of reminders of why they're so beloved in the first place.

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So it's a testament to the eclectic nature of the current state of radio to look at this lineup objectively, especially considering that night one has long been a parade of heavier acts to offset the more Coachella-friendly indie-type sounds that traditionally mark night two, which starts Sunday at 5 p.m. This bill, however, saved the metal-influence to the end, with early acts like the L.A.-based co-ed electro-rock sextet Youngblood Hawke (whose current hit, “We Come Running,” was a high-energy blast of “whooa-aaahs,” though the young band's enthusiasm still hasn't found a way to lock into the audience at large venues) and “Anna Sun” hitmakers Walk the Moon -- a far more polished group that explores the same time-honored, synth-drenched sounds of New Wave with killer hooks throughout.

The smaller act that likely benefited the most, however, was the aforementioned Lumineers, whose rapid rise from tiny clubs like the Hotel Cafe to larger stages like this one has been bolstered by the addictive “Ho Hey” -- not to mention a Grammy nomination. They acknowledged their odd placement on the Linkin Park-headlined bill (“We don't exactly fit into this lineup,” said singer Wesley Schultz from the stage, “but thanks for giving us an open ear”) before a set that could have been described as Mumford & Sons-esque only with a girl in the band and slightly different strumming patterns. That's not an insult -- the Lumineers' propensity for the same sort of country-tinged sounds (not to mention a similar knack for earworm melodies) could mean arenas for the Colorado-bred band.

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Elsewhere on the newcomer end of the bill were The Gaslight Anthem, who, despite an appearance from the Wallflowers' Jakob Dylan, didn't quite connect with the audience beyond their Springsteen-like single “45”; Two Door Cinema Club, still not pushing past Anglophile ears; and AWOLnation, who can't seem to decide whether they're plumbing the depths of weirdo metal or if they'd just rather write pop-radio grooves (to wit: “Kill Your Heroes”).

As for the veterans: Garbage proved they're still powerful (and Manson, now 46, no doubt gave every other cougar in L.A. county a run for their sex-kitten money), Rise Against blasted through genre-mode mosh-pit metal, and Linkin Park, at the top of the bill, were surprisingly versatile. But the moment of the night belonged to '90s hitmakers Bush, who at one point seemed like they'd have faded as grunge afterthoughts but have had a shockingly successful second run propelled by 2011's comeback single “The Sound of Winter.” It was the now frighteningly classic-rock singalong “Glycerine,” though, that elicited audience wails -- thanks to a one-off duet between Bush singer Gavin Rossdale and a surprise appearance by his wife, No Doubt's Gwen Stefani. The duo looked gorgeous, sounded great and clearly are still in love, with goofy looks (and a quick kiss!) exchanged onstage.

Rock trends may come and go (and from this night, it's not quite clear in which direction the genre is headed), but if that sweet moment is any indication, there's hope for all these kids, after all.

Twitter: @THRMusic

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Aimee Mann Commands Stage (and Tweets) at Intimate L.A. Show: Concert Review

Aimee Mann’s month-old release, Charmer, is very nearly a concept album about narcissism, as this deft musical sketch artist introduces one character after another who doesn’t let the desperate need to be loved stand in the way of a lot of bad behavior. By that trying-too-hard standard -- and, maybe, a lot of the benchmarks of show business and rock & roll -- Mann isn’t much of a charmer herself. But she managed to turn it on anyway with a quietly magnetic performance Saturday night at L.A.’s Wilshire Ebell. For all of her modest demeanor and self-effacing stage patter, it turns out that humbly singing about wildly egotistical rascals and rapscallions is not a bad way to draw attention to yourself.

Over a set-closing instrumental refrain of “It’s Not Safe,” Mann offered her own recap of the 19-song, 90-minute show. “I think we all had a good time,” she told the crowd, in typically droll, bordering-on-deconstructionist fashion. “We rocked you in a mid-tempo way in the mid-Wilshire district. Two people told me they loved me, which was awesome. There was some tuning.” Earlier, her efforts to keep her acoustic guitar in tune had provided some comedy. “I hate my f---ing instrument,” she cussed. “That’s right, I’m blaming my tool. I’m a poor workman.” She encouraged the audience to use social media while they waited, and even offered a template tweet: “At this great Aimee Mann concert, where she’s spending an eternity tuning. #snore”

Someone might have been more likely to tweet: “She’s doing a lot of stuff from the new album.” But no need to add a derogatory hashtag, as Charmer is Mann’s liveliest and best collection of material since the mid-‘90s, and the album fully justifies the seven numbers represented in the show. Even if most of the songs are still -- yes -- mid-tempo, they don’t all feel mid-tempo, which is an important point of departure in the recent Mann canon. The title track, played early in the show, proved the best example of Mann harking back a bit to a late ‘70s/early ‘80s sound and using synths like rhythm guitars. Even when she wasn’t using those new-wave period tropes, the layered pop harmonies of a new tune like “Gumby” showed that Mann is still eager to please, wherever she stands philosophically on the charm issue.

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She’s not such a people-pleaser that she still trots out her biggest historical hit, Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry,” except on special occasion, this not being one of them. But there is a “hits” portion of the show, which would be the mid-set reprisal of material from Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, starting with a solo reading of the Oscar-nominated “Save Me.” That was quickly followed by a “Wise Up” that did not feature Tom Cruise on guest vocals but did feature an exquisite coda from keyboard player Jebin Bruni, making an electronic piano sound awfully close to a grand.

Other catalog choices ranging from the encore request “It’s Not” -- “because apparently somebody’s not depressed enough yet. I like to think this is my most depressing song. It’s a wide field!” -- to the similarly titled “It’s Not Safe,” which we like to think of as Mann’s most depressing, or maybe just despairingly bitter, if there’s a distinction to be drawn there.

“I think we all had a good time ... We rocked you in a mid-tempo way in the mid-Wilshire district. Two people told me they loved me, which was awesome. There was some tuning.” — Aimee Mann

Lest that all sound bummer-ific, Mann has a way of making joy out of jaundice. In many ways, she’s the American Elvis Costello, though she’s almost as lyrically spare as he is verbose, finding an entire oeuvre of great songs in being disappointed by other people’s failure to live up to a basic moral standard… and finding subtle humor in the wordplay that can be worked around those letdowns. That’s never been truer than on Charmer, which would be hard-pressed to be beaten as 2012’s best-written pop album.

“Now I join the queue/of people dead to you/the one-time chosen few,” she sang in the set-opening “Disappeared” -- a tune that could serve as an anthem for Hollywood’s fair-weather friendships. The current single “Labrador” quickly upped the ante for misplaced loyalty and betrayal with a dog-and-master metaphor that was half-hilarious, half-pitiful. With a searing Jamie Edwards guitar solo for a climax, “Soon Enough” reprised the new album’s most overtly Beatle-esque sounds, though Lennon & McCartney never got around to writing a funny song about confronting an addict in a failed group intervention. 

STORY: 10 TV Show Themes That (Indie) Rock

Another Charmer highlight, “Living a Lie” -- a teaser for a musical Mann hopes to write someday with pal Aaron Sorkin -- was sung with the Shins’ James Mercer on record but in concert featured Chris Porterfield, from opening band Field Report, as her male foil. “Combatant” might be a better word, since Mann and co-writer/bassist Paul Bryan have come up with the nastiest great rock duet since the Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.” “I’m reminded that every night I have to look at someone I like and sing these horrible, vitriolic lyrics to him,” she explained, “so I apologize every night.” (Porterfield, a gentle, Bon Iver-esque singer, did almost look a little hurt, come to think of it.)

The almost affectless sweetness of Mann’s voice, and her instinctive melodic gifts and Dorothy Parker-worthy wordplay, make this medicine go down. But it’s not all bitter pills that she wants her audience to swallow, though it certainly helps to be a hardboiled cynic if you’re going to be one of her fans. There’s plenty of idealism at work, as in the key line of “It’s Not Safe,” which goes, “A thousand compromises don’t add up to a wish.” A sobering lyric, in the heart of the entertainment business, but words that Mann -- the turn-of-the-millennium model for going indie -- has lived and thrived by.

On a side note, it was a pleasure to see Mann at the Wilshire Ebell instead of the Wiltern, where she’s often played, not just because of its somewhat more intimate size, but for the un-muddy, wholly comprehensible acoustics. You might’ve found yourself wondering why there aren’t a great deal more shows booked into such a classy and perfectly charming 1920s hall.

Set List:

Disappeared
Gumby
Labrador
You Could Make a Killing
Lost in Space
Living a Lie
Charmer
That’s Just What You Are
Ray
Save Me
Wise Up
Slip and Roll
Soon Enough
One
Goodbye Caroline
It’s Not Safe

Encore:

4th of July"
It’s Not
Deathly

Twitter: @chriswillman

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Jane's Addiction an 'Irresistible Force' in Tour Closer: Concert Review

L.A.'s prodigal rock sons return home and show off all sides on an epic night.

Wiltern Theatre
Los Angeles
(Saturday, Oct. 27)

All of the elements were in place for a truly epic night at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre: Jane's Addiction was headlining a hometown show which was the final date of the band's Theater of the Escapists tour, plus it was the Saturday before Halloween.

Fittingly, the foursome came out in epic fashion, taking the stage just before 10 p.m. to the strains of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome To The Machine.” Bathed in red lights, a massive sculpture of two naked women behind them, dancers in long, flowing dresses on swings hanging from the ceiling and frontman Perry Farrell with his arms outstretched to both sides, the quartet opened with the hypnotic rhythms of “Underground,” from their most recent album, The Great Escape, and from there, steamrolled through a surprisingly short 14-song set that clocked in at just under 90 minutes. But whatever was missing in quantity was more than made up for in quality -- musically, visually and with true rock star form at every turn.

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Utilizing an effective mix of occasional video imagery, the blistering light show that melded blue, red and strobe lights and the dancers clad in leather during a monumental set-closing “Three Days,” the band created a massive production that perfectly complemented the music rather than overwhelm the songs.

That was most evident during the 10-minute plus “Three Days,” a locomotive of power, psychedelia and sex wherein the dancers, holding canes as they moved around the stage, flanked guitarist Dave Navarro during a stunning guitar solo and hovered around the shirtless Farrell as he slowly bounded around the stage ready to explode at any moment. All eyes in the sold-out Wiltern Theatre remained solidly fixed on a band at their musical peak. Indeed, the performance was also noteworthy for Stephen Perkins’ mighty drum solo.

Musically, Jane’s tends to be fiercest when on the same page, and that was definitely true of Saturday night as they displayed their full range of rock -- from frenetic to psychedelic to slow and mesmerizing -- and proved why, 20 years on, they remain, to quote one their own songs, an "irresistible force."

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It should comes as no surprise, then, that among the numerous high points were longtime crowd favorites like “Mountain Song” and "Jane Says," the latter of which displayed the band's versatility with a poignant rendition that positioned all four players at the front of the stage as Farrell held a bottle of bubbly. It was a moment that was both a moving and wistful celebration of their L.A. past and present. 

Farrell spoke often of his legendary hometown lore, from telling a tale of hanging in a parking lot with the Germs’ Darby Crash while he hurled bottles at trucks midway through “Just Because” to recalling a hooker with big “titties” before breaking into “Whores,” another highlight of the night. The banter became even more entertaining as chief orator Farrell somehow connected his love of breasts of all sizes and Halloween to his disdain for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. “They’re saying America will be a spooky place if Mitt Romney gets elected,” he said.

During interviews for the album -- only the band's fourth since breaking out in 1988 with Nothing's Shocking -- Farrell often spoke of creating an escape for the mind, body and soul. And other than the one Romney reference to bring the audience back to earth, Jane’s did just that, all the while reminding those in attendance that rock and roll can be simultaneously dangerous and inviting and dirty and glamorous. But most of all, in the hands of Jane’s Addiction, it is sexy.

Set List:

Underground
Mountain Song
Just Because
Been Caught Stealing
Ain’t No Right
Irresistible Force
Jane Says
Chip Away
Up The Beach
Whores
Three Days
Splash a Little Water On It
Ocean Size
Stop

Twitter: @THRMusic

Photos by Paul Familetti

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Mumford & Sons Promise All Pleasure, No Business on Night 2 at Hollywood Bowl: Concert Review

Buzzing Brits bring banjo, Beatles, sense of community and dramatic emotion to the iconic amphitheater.

Hollywood Bowl
Los Angeles
(Monday, Nov. 12)

“This is our second night here at the amazing Hollywood Bowl,” Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Mumford told the sold-out crowd Monday at the iconic amphitheater. “The first night was business, and this one is pleasure.”

Saturday night’s crowd might beg to differ, but certainly the U.K. rock band’s follow-up performance was solidly enjoyable, filled with grandiose swells of sonic emotion and an overwhelming sense of communal energy. The show, in support of the group’s new sophomore album Babel, forged a sensibility of togetherness, of the crowd joining with the musicians to augment the already-emotive numbers. This idea pervades Mumford’s lyrics as well, with the live setting lending additional meaning to lines like “And you are not alone in this/As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your hand.”

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With this as the band’s central thesis, it’s no wonder that live shows have become its defining quality. Although “Little Lion Man,” from the quartet’s 2009 debut Sigh No More, and new single “I Will Wait” have transformed Mumford & Sons into a radio band, it’s the consistent touring -- largely in the U.S. -- that has earned the group its devout fanbase. There is, in many ways, a surprising correlation between Mumford & Sons today and the response to Dave Matthews Band in the late ’90s.

Both acts are led by a humble but charismatic musician who knows when to highlight his solo effort and when to allow his band to rise around him. Both arose in a niche scene, eventually growing -- thanks in part to radio play -- to embrace a mainstream audience. And bands both allow their songs to grow and expand in the live setting, evidenced by Mumford & Sons’ notably powerful and dynamic performance of “Below My Feet” on Monday. There are sonic and stylistic variances, certainly, but there is a key correlation between the audience responses generated by the two artists. And this seems to rely greatly on the idea of community.

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At the Bowl, this was true both in the crowd and onstage. Mumford & Sons brought tourmates Dawes out to perform “Awake My Soul” -- something they’ve been doing consistently on this tour -- and wrapped the encore, again with Dawes, with a folksy, buoyant rendition of The Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends.” These moments stood out above the rest. Although the more introspective numbers (see: the dramatic crescendo of “Ghosts That We Knew”) held emotional gravity, it was the lively, banjo-heavy numbers that elevated the performance from, as Mumford said, business to pleasure.

If the only real complaint about a concert is that it lasted, perhaps, 30 minutes too long, then there is no real criticism at all. During the course of the summer and fall, Mumford & Sons have simultaneously tightened and loosened their live show in all the right places. They know when to aptly re-create their albums, invigorating the record cuts with live energy, and they know when to let them go, releasing the tracks into surging musical meanderings that -- dare we say -- could be construed as jams.

Set List:

Babel
I Will Wait
Roll Away Your Stone
Winter Winds
Below My Feet
Timshel
Little Lion Man
Lover of the Light
Thistle & Weeds
Ghosts That We Know
For Those Below
Broken Crown
Holland Road
Awake My Soul
White Blank Page
Dust Bowl Dance

Encore:

Lovers' Eyes
Whispers in the Dark
The Cave
With a Little Help From My Friends

Twitter: @THRMusic

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Rush Triumphs at the Gibson: Concert Review

Rush called its 2010-11 jaunt the Time Machine Tour, but that moniker easily could have been reserved for the current one. It would be fitting not only because of a stirring set list flecked with long-dormant period pieces but also due to the superb performance by three guys born in the early 1950s.

Simply put, Monday’s sold-out show at the Gibson Amphitheatre was another triumph for a band that never seems to deliver anything but.

As great as the playing was, this show was equally memorable for the content. Whereas the Time Machine Tour was highlighted by a complete run-through of Rush’s 1981 album Moving Pictures, this one offered a surprising slew of mid-’80s nuggets that served as a perfect preamble for a heaping dose of its terrific new Clockwork Angels album. Nine of its 12 tracks were deployed, drawing big cheers, not just polite applause.

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“Tonight we’ve got, oh, 600 songs to play,” singer-bassist Geddy Lee said early on. A bit of an exaggeration, sure, but there were nearly 30 of them over 2½ hours-plus, and the set list served both as an introduction to strong new material and a gift to the old-time fans. The Clockwork Angels Tour has the venerable band reaching deep into its midcareer archives for songs absent from the live stage since the Reagan and elder Bush years. All that was missing was a DeLorean that runs on 1.21 jigowatts.

But they aren’t being dusted off for simple nostalgia; many of the Cold War-era deep tracks are eerily resonant today. We got the cautionary reality check of “Grand Designs” (“So much poison in power/The principles get left out”); the be-wary-of-progress sentiment in “The Analog Kid” (“When I leave I don't know what I'm leaving behind”); the cloud of a renewed nuclear threat in “Manhattan Project” (“Fools try to wish it away”); and, perfect for the Internet era, the identity-crisis plea of “The Body Electric” (“Images conflicting into data overload”). All were played with Rush’s typical precision and force.

The Clockwork Angels Tour has the venerable band reaching deep into its midcareer archives for songs absent from the live stage since the Reagan and elder Bush years. All that was missing was a DeLorean that runs on 1.21 jigowatts.

Among the show’s many highlights was one of four songs Rush played from its underappreciated 1985 album Power Windows. “Territories,” missing from set lists since 1988, couldn’t be more timely, with its face-slap warning against the extremes of jingoism and xenophobia. Alex Lifeson’s muted guitar runs and riffs laid a foundation for Neil Peart’s percussion acrobatics as Lee sang, “Better the pride that resides/In a citizen of the world/Than the pride that divides/When a colorful rag is unfurled.” It was a showstopper.

After an intermission, the band returned for a long chunk of the new record -- complete with an eight-piece string section and conductor. Because Clockwork Angels is a “concept album,” there could be a knee-jerk tendency to say Rush is reverting to its prog roots. Not so; the disc features some of the band’s hardest-rocking songs in decades, several of which hew more closely to Led Zeppelin than King Crimson. And all were equally meaty in the concert setting.

Almost as a yang to the show’s ’80s yin, several new songs recalled the hard bite of early Rush. “Headlong Flight” copped the feel of “Bastille Day,” and the suite-like title track channeled the band’s late-’70s records. “Seven Cities of Gold” flowed like a Watergate-era riff rocker, its string-bending finale recalling the last few notes of “2112.” All the while, the strings hummed along, though they rarely broke out amid the din.

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With all the ’80s and ’10s songs, the other decades of the band’s career received only the briefest of mentions; the encore featuring some “2112” -- apropos in 2012 -- was the night’s lone ’70s material. Regular concert staples such as “Limelight,” “Freewill” and “La Villa Strangiato” missed the cut.

Song choices aside, the trio again backed up its reputation as one of rock’s greatest live acts. Lifeson added heavy guitar to “Force Ten” and “Body Electric” -- both from an era that really needed it -- and grinned gleefully during his spotlight time on “Analog Kid,” replicating arguably his hardest-rocking post-’70s solo. A truly unsung guitar hero, he continues to plead his case in concert, sounding better than most of his contemporaries.

Meanwhile, the always-unsmiling Peart went about his drum business with the usual flawless skill. (So many in the crowd were air-drumming that you could distinguish the lefties from the righties.) But there were signs that the freshly minted sexagenarian is scaling back a bit: He gave three abbreviated solos rather than the usually requisite one looooong one, and his trademark stick tosses were less frequent and had less airtime. Even the new album seems to feature fewer of his signature kit-spanning fills.

These days, the other obvious difference in the hard-touring trio that has remained intact since 1975 is Lee’s vocals. Far from his shrieks of old, he has settled into a mostly midrange tone -- occasionally stretching but content with moderation. As he faces 60 next year (as does Lifeson), the vocal strain is showing. “I find [touring] more stressful than usual,” he told Grammy.com in September. “I think the physical part of it takes its toll on me, and the other guys I know for sure. It's a difficult thing for me to do right now.”

That said, Lee and his bandmates definitely brought it Monday night. If indeed there is an endgame in Rush’s sights, go see them while you can. (The band plays the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Wednesday.) But here's hoping that isn't the case.

Set List:

Subdivisions
The Big Money
Force Ten
Grand Designs
The Body Electric
Territories
The Analog Kid
Bravado
Where's My Thing?
Far Cry

(Intermission)

Caravan
Clockwork Angels
The Anarchist
Carnies
The Wreckers
Headlong Flight
Halo Effect
Seven Cities of Gold
The Garden
Manhattan Project
Red Sector A
YYZ
The Spirit of Radio

Encore:

Tom Sawyer
2112: Overture/The Temples of Syrinx/Grand Finale

E-mail: Erik.Pedersen@THR.com

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No Doubt Plays Surprise Set at Night 2 of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas

Midway through Neon Trees’ set during Sunday’s night two of KROQ’s 23rd annual Almost Acoustic Christmas, singer Tyler Glenn marveled, “This is the best lineup ever." While that might have been a bit of an overstatement, the multiact charity concert was, to borrow a song title from surprise special guests No Doubt, hella good.

After recently wrapping their own seven-night stand at the same venue, Gwen Stefani and company were shoehorned in between third-billed fun. and second-billed Jack White and had the crowd so jazzed that you had to wonder if anyone would have any energy left for the former White Stripes frontman and headliners The Killers. Yet both acts managed to hold their own.

CONCERT REVIEW: Gwen Stefani and Jakob Dylan Surprise, Lumineers Impress During Night 1 of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas

White came out with guns blazing, leading his all-male combo in a squealing blast of guitar noise that began just as No Doubt left the stage -- before his introduction and the turntable stage was put in motion to reveal him and his five-piece band. It continued as he ripped into "16 Saltines" followed by "Freedom at 21," the two most-rocking songs from his Grammy-nominated solo debut, Blunderbuss. Throughout his 45-minute set, White played selections from his varied career and various projects -- including The Dead Weather’s "I Cut Like a Buffalo," The Raconteurs’ "Steady, as She Goes," his Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi collaboration "Two Against One" -- and was one of the only acts on the bill to embrace the "almost acoustic" tag, with The White Stripes’ "Hotel Yorba" and "We’re Going to be Friends." He wrapped things up with a furious version of the Stripes’ "Seven Nation Army" that had you convinced, amid a night full of posing and preening, that he’s nothing short of the real deal.

The Killers took the stage following a brief break but also managed to make quite an entrance, doing their 2005 hit "Mr. Brightside" with the lights on. The Las Vegas quartet, led by frontman Brandon Flowers, seems to still aspire for that holy crossroads where Bruce Springsteen meets U2, and on that unattainable quest they’ve managed to crank out quite a catalog of hits. That was made clear in their 45-minute set, which ran the gamut from the goofy but infectious "Human" (sample lyric, "Are we human or are we dancer?" Is Flowers singing about a reindeer?) to the current hit "Miss Atomic Bomb." Nearing the end of the set, Flowers noted that the show had run beyond its originally scheduled six hours, saying, "I know you’ve been here a long time and seen a lot of bands, but do you have one more song left in you?" The Killers answered with their 2006 modern-rock chart-topper "When You Were Young," and the crowd obliged.

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Third-billed fun. is the breakthrough act of 2012, recently racking up six Grammy nominations including the big four of album, record and song of the year and best new artist, and they didn’t disappoint. The trio, augmented by three support musicians, is led by frontman Nate Ruess, who has the pinup-boy looks of Mark Wahlberg and a voice at times reminiscent of Queen’s Freddie Mercury. The band reached its full stride at the conclusion of the 30-minute set with the back-to-back blasts of their hit anthems "We Are Young" and "Some Nights," hitting an emotional chord with the mostly young crowd going through the pains and joys of growing up.

In general, these types of radio station-sponsored festivals are only as good as that station’s playlist at any given time, and for fans of KROQ, it’s been a good year. The station, which prides itself as being cutting edge (at least, as cutting edge as a major-market commercial outlet can be), has embraced two burgeoning trends at seemingly opposite ends of the musical spectrum -- electronic dance music and acoustic-based folk rock -- and both genres were represented Sunday night.

VIDEO: Fun.'s 'We Are Young' Gets the Middle-Age Treatment in New Spoof

French act M83, the night’s other recent multi-Grammy nominee, fleshed out its electronic-heavy sound with guitar and bass but rocked just as hard when the band members put the guitars down and jammed on keyboards and electronic drums. And they retained their human touch with Anthony Gonzalez’s ethereal but warm vocals, a mix of traditional and electronic drums and the sax solo in signature hit "Midnight City."

Boston-based electronic prepsters Passion Pit weren’t quite as successful, but the quartet showed chutzpah in starting the set with its current hit "Take a Walk." Despite a technical hiccup that clipped their "Moth’s Wings," the band were able to maintain the momentum throughout its set.

On the acoustic side, Icelandic indie-folk act Of Monsters and Men showed that it’s primed to follow the success of Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers with a sweet mix of male and female vocals, acoustic instruments and tasteful accents of trumpet and accordion. Although its set was marred by a technical glitch that sounded like the air-traffic control room at LAX has been patched into the P.A., the band was able to win the crowd over with its hit "Little Talks."

CONCERT REVIEW: Neon Trees at Webster Hall

In the more traditional alt-rock vein, Neon Trees’ ultra-commercial, new wave revivalist sound left some hipsters doubting the band’s authenticity. Unquestionably, the Provo, Utah, quartet isn’t breaking any new ground, but it’s hard to deny the catchiness of hits "Animal" and "Everybody Talks," and frontman Tyler Glenn has a voice that at times sounds like Billy Idol’s and some moves like Michael Jackson.

L.A.-based quintet Grouplove managed to be more fun than fun., thanks to the exuberance of singer-guitarist Christian Zucconi and singer-keyboardist Hannah Hooper and brilliants songs like the hit "Tongue Tied."

Openers Imagine Dragons and Alex Clare have yet to prove they’ll advance past one-hit wonder status, though the former put on an energetic set, highlighted by the hit "It’s Time." Electro-soul singer Clare wasn’t as successful, with his cover of Prince’s "When Doves Cry" coming off stilted. Although he turned things around with his monster hit and Mircosoft commercial theme "Too Close," at this point he seems likely to join Matisyahu -- the other recent Orthodox Jew pop star -- as a cult act.

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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Deliver Intense Retro Marathon in Anaheim

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David Bryne and St. Vincent Put Moves to Music: Concert Review

"Thank you, we shall begin now," said David Byrne stiffly Saturday night. He had just walked onstage to roaring applause at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, accompanied by Annie Clark, who's better known by the moniker St. Vincent, and raring to conduct the 10-piece New Orleans brass band that stood behind them.

Launching into the bright horn intro of "Who," the opening track from the collaboration album Love This Giant he and Clark released last month, the audience was on its feet and singing along with the song's hook, asking, "Who is an honest man?" Byrne certainly was -- giving himself over completely to the theatrical production with amazing charisma. And that stiffness with which he spoke quickly translated to vibrant, robotic dance moves as he led the band in choreographed steps across the stage. 

Standing next to Clark, dressed in black with a bright white suit coat, his shirt buttoned to the top, Byrne strummed on a cherry red acoustic guitar belting out verse into a wire headset that provided a cordless mobility he would soon put to use. His voice was a sound to behold, too, as strong and clean as on any of the recordings.

As captivating a performer as Byrne proved himself to be, he never overshadowed Clark or their band, sharing the spotlight in a set that included the majority of Love This Giant’s track list, as well as St. Vincent originals and a number of classics from Byrne's back catalogue of Talking Heads, solo and past musical partnerships.

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In the next song, "Weekend in the Dust," Byrne joined the band in two formations that stepped back and forth in jazzy crossing parallel lines, while Clark led the show singing leads and playing electric guitar behind a collection of effects pedals and a microphone.

Wearing a purple strapless dress and high heels, Clark's performance seemed heavily Byrne-influenced as well, as she moved in little mechanic shimmy-steps while shredding out equally melodic and discordant guitar riffs. Similarly, her original songs also took on a new life as they blended in the sounds brass giving the feel of a Broadway bow.

In all, Byrne and Clark's stage setup was fairly minimal -- few lights and a flat matte screen behind them that took on some magnificent shadows throughout the set -- but the choreographed theatrics are what truly brought the show to life. As campy as it could have been, the ensemble pulled it off with earnest charm, illustrating the songs' vivid imagery through dance. For instance, during the St. Vincent number "Cheerleader", all the musicians but Clark laid down and played from the stage floor, recalling her movements in the song's music video. Meanwhile Byrne flapped up and down like a dying fish to sing the pounding chorus line, "I, I, I, I." 

Later in the set's second encore, the band moved in waltz-like steps for St. Vincent's "Party," followed shortly by The Talking Heads' "Road To Nowhere," which closed the show. Positioning each song like an act in a play, between tunes, the stage went black and the cast would scramble into new formations.

CONCERT REVIEW: Dream Pop Darlings Beach House Hypnotize Wiltern Crowd

Throughout the night, Byrne and Clark didn't banter much with the audience but were far from disengaged. In fact, that slight separation only added to the sense of theatricality, especially on songs like Byrne's Brian Eno-collaboration "Strange Overtones," the X-Press 2 track "I'm Lazy," on which he's featured, as well as his solo number "Like Humans Do" and Talking Heads hits "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)," "Burning Down the House" and "Road to Nowhere."

Byrne introduced the song "I Should Watch TV" as a number he and Clark wrote with Walt Whitman, "a personal friend" (many of the verses are borrowed from Whitman's poem "Song of Myself") and explained that it explores the idea of watching television as a way to relate with everyday people and the world better. Byrne elaborated that the song "starts with non-fiction" ideas from a few years ago "and an idea I don't have so much anymore… And the rest is self explanatory."

Later, he dedicated the soft and sweet set-closing "Outside of Space and Time" to the Higgs boson particle that was discovered by scientists this past summer.

Following an extended exit that included four bows and a bouquet of roses for Clark, the band returned for an encore and a personal moment. Reflecting on her musical partner, Clark told a story of first discovering Byrne's music when she was 3 or 4 watching Revenge of the Nerds. She said, "I fell in love with David's music then and if I'd told that 3- or 4-year-old version of myself that a few years later I'd be onstage with David and this wonderful band and with you guys out there on this gorgeous night, I would have called my future-self a liar."

"Sidebar," she added with a laugh. "I'm totally friends with the daughter of the screenwriter of Revenge of the Nerds, so everything works out is what I mean to say." 

Indeed, the night felt fortuitous for all in attendance, both onstage and off. 

Set List: 

Who
Weekend in the Dust
Save Me From What I Want
Strange Overtones
I Am An Ape
Marrow
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
The Forest Awakes
Ice Age
Like Humans Do
Lightning
Lazarus
Cheerleader
I'm Lazy
I Should Watch TV
Northern Lights
The One Who Broke Your Heart
Outside of Space and Time

Encore:

Cruel
Burning Down the House
The Party
Road to Nowhere

Twitter: @THRMusic

Photos by Cristina Dunlap

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Soundgarden Ignites Hollywood Club With Career-Spanning Set: Concert Review

Chris Cornell, left, and Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden play Tuesday in Hollywood.

It ain't for everybody, but for those who dig thick modern metal with a classic singer, this intimate gig was a stellar time-warping extravaganza.

The Fonda Theatre,
Hollywood
(Tuesday, Nov. 27)

Soundgarden fans will never get back those dozen-plus years between the band’s in-its-prime breakup and reunion, but if this show is any indication, they have plenty to look forward to.

With Audioslave a distant memory (did it really even happen?), frontman Chris Cornell is firmly back in his native habitat, delivering his extended-range vocals over a bed of thick metal -- "grunge" lump-in be damned -- on a bare-bones stage. For the record, Soundgarden definitely is back. And this intimate show was tremendous.

“I don’t know how you got tickets to this,” Cornell told the tightly packed Fonda Theatre crowd early on. “I couldn’t get ’em.”

Those who did were rewarded with a 25-song, 2½-hour sonic barrage, which showcased the band’s two-week-old album King Animal -- its first in 16 years -- but had plenty of time for shout-along hits for the dilettante fans and deep cuts for the devoted. Amid the small-venue intimacy and sonic mayhem, the tight-as-ever band was in fine form all night, often grinning sarcastically at the concept of 4/4 time signatures. Blessed with an enviable vocal range, Cornell never shied away from any of the signature showy yells and highs in his oeuvre; in fact, he drilled them all night, though his voice sometimes was muscled out by the bottom-heavy Zeppelin-battles-Sabbath din.

The quartet opened with three songs from more than 20 years ago -- “You guys remember those?” Cornell teased -- and the lead single from its multiplatinum 1994 breakthrough disc. A heavy drum exit climaxed starter “Jesus Christ Pose” and fed into “Flower,” the first track on Soundgarden’s 1988 debut. The hefty-catchy “Outshined” drew one of the night’s biggest yell-alongs, and “Spoonman” followed with its staccato drumline, furious bass and meaningfully meandering guitar runs. It was 20 heavy minutes.

Later, a pair of songs from the group’s 1989 sophomore album Louder Than Love provided walloping highlights. “Ugly Truth” was a gut-thump of Cornell’s droning lows and wailing highs, punctuated by a high-intensity extended faux-coda followed by a reprise. The menacing lyrics of “Gun” were matched by its music, accelerating from a slithering, Vanilla Fudge-like crawl to ramming speed, then backing off -- like a stifled adrenaline rush. The song remains among its most affecting, onstage or on record.

“Gun” also featured guitarist Kim Thayil’s first real metal lead of the night -- something the show could have used more of, especially judging by the crowd response. He always was more secret weapon than showpiece in Soundgarden, and the many fans who flashed the devil horns throughout the show fed sloppily at the soloing trough when they got the chance.

But if anyone thought this was going to be a skipping trip down nostalgia lane, the rest of the show featured 10 of the new album’s 13 tracks, which ranged from pretty good to pretty great.

During the new “Worse Dreams,” the band snuck up on a crowd with an ethereal, dreamlike bridge that suddenly was shattered by a wild, plaintive Cornell scream. “Taree” fairly chugged along, until a single bass chord thumped the crowd like a defibrillator. A promising, snarling lead at the end of “Non-State Actor” was cut short by the song’s abrupt ending. The rollicking lead single “Been Away Too Long” -- which not coincidentally followed a reverent reading of the band’s rock-radio smash “Fell on Black Days” -- jumps off the radio, but Soundgarden played it like the concert cranker it likely was written to be.

As for the radio hits, the stuttering jam of “My Wave” was followed by crowd favorite “Burden in My Hand,” featuring Cornell’s sung-shouted opening. One song later, the band fired into the hard-rocking “Rusty Cage,” with the vocal deliberately lagging behind the guitar-fueled music. The crazy tempo change and ensuing riffage worked as well as ever.

For all the serious music, Cornell was affable when he spoke and led the crowd in “Happy Birthday” for drummer Matt Cameron, who has been playing with Pearl Jam since 1998 and would turn 50 a half-hour after the show ended.

After playing a handful of club dates this month, the band embarks on a monthlong North American tour in January, set to wrap with three shows at L.A.’s Wiltern Theatre. With strong new music and a coalesced live show, Soundgarden not only remains in its prime but looks to be in it for the long haul. And that’s good.

Set list:
Jesus Christ Pose
Flower
Outshined
Spoonman
Attrition
Gun
By Crooked Steps
Taree
Non-State Actor
Get on the Snake
Blow Up the Outside World
Eyelid's Mouth
Ugly Truth
Fell on Black Days
Been Away Too Long
Worse Dreams
My Wave
Burden in My Hand
A Thousand Days Before
Rusty Cage
Bones of Birds
Rowing

Encore:
Incessant Mace
Black Hole Sun
Slaves & Bulldozers

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Graham Parker Draws Capacity Crowd, Lindsey Buckingham, Ryan Adams to L.A. Show (Concert Review)

The least credible moment of Judd Apatow’s new comedy This Is 40 comes when Graham Parker & the Rumour stage an L.A. reunion concert after 30-plus years and only about a hundred fairly passive fans show up. The lie was put to that by Tuesday night’s actual reunion gig at the Roxy, which couldn’t have less resembled the shambolic filmic premonition, particularly in its status as the month’s toughest ticket.

True, the deck was stacked by the fact that Parker’s opening acts were Lindsey Buckingham and Ryan Adams -- making for arguably the most potent triple bill the storied venue had ever hosted, not to mention an overcrowded marquee that surely prompted plenty of near-disastrous double-takes on Sunset Boulevard. But even if the show hadn’t been billed as a This Is 40 release party, the promise of Parker reuniting with the bandmates of his late-'70s salad days would have been the draw of the season for rock fans of a certain age -- even if that age would be better suited toward a soundtrack for This Is 50-ish.

The Apatow film makes a big point out of being deprecating toward Parker as well as celebrating him, with plenty of old-age jokes directed by unsympathetic younger characters toward the 62-year-old singer whose career Paul Rudd’s character is trying to resurrect. (Yes, the day has arrived when “gout” gags are directed at your new-wave heroes.) Not just Parker but all the Rumour members indeed returned to the Roxy as gray-hairs -- except for bare-headed bassist Andrew Bodnar -- but the flame still burned as red as it did when the combo last played the club on the Squeezing Out Sparks tour of 1979, when Parker was wrongly but understandably seen as competing with Elvis Costello for pre-eminent Angry Sneering Young Brit status.

"The promise of Parker reuniting with the bandmates of his late '70s salad days would have been the draw of the season for rock fans of a certain age — even if that age would be better suited toward a soundtrack for 'This is 50-ish.'"

Although rightly regarded as one of the great albums of the late '70s, Squeezing Out Sparks was a bit of a blip for Parker, whose influences before and after veered more toward Van Morrison than anything quite as punkish as that album’s sound indicated. But that’s the material fans were most hankering to hear from this crew -- and they wisely saved all those sparkplugs for the Roxy climax, even if the deliberately more subdued first stretch of the set might’ve had a few audience members wondering if they still had it in ‘em.

Of 22 songs played, six came from the band’s new reunion album, Three Chords Good, while 16 dated to the 1976-80 period when the Rumour was backing Parker. That left only one number from the 32 intervening years, a “mid-period” whose material Parker joked was “a mystery” to his old mates. (That was a bit of an exaggeration, since two Rumour members had played on the album that produced “Get Started, Start a Fire,” the lone track that Parker brought out from his so-called solo years.)

PHOTOS: Six Degrees of Judd Apatow

During the 110-minute show, Parker did just enough comic reminiscing to make you believe he could have added some decent improv to This Is 40. He recalled the band’s earliest shows at the club circa 1976-77, one of which had a manager knocking him off his feet with some well-intended Maui Wowee, only to be told as he stumbled onstage that luminaries including Diana Ross and Joe Cocker were in the audience. “Who was here?” Parker asked the crowd. When there was only the tiniest smatter of whooping, he quipped: “That’s good. Young people.”

He also made light of his '80s work, which found him enjoying greater commercial success even as his critical support went slightly south. “As we all know, the '80s were the best period for music. … Even I had half a haircut. And even Bruce Springsteen danced like this,” he added, swaying his arms from side to side in a devastating parody of the Boss’ “Dancing in the Dark” moves.

He had a better evaluation of the new Three Chords Good: “It’s very, very good.” Parker’s right there, though the material improved onstage, where Bob Andrews’ organ didn’t dominate the mix quite so much as it does on record and the twin-guitar interplay of Brinsley Schwarz and Martin Belmont were brought further to the forefront. They added some electric punch to the poppy “What Do You Like,” a This Is 40 soundtrack exclusive that Parker performs with the Punch Brothers on the recording. And the set really found its stride four songs in with the new “Coathangers,” which had all the muscle of the Sparks material (and which, with its pro-choice theme, might have been intended as a counterpart to the similarly abortion-themed “You Can’t Be Too Strong,” an encore).

The early stretches of the show made a good case the validity of Parker’s pub-rock days and currently more prominent Americana influences. But the crowd was there to indulge in the pre-Nirvana nirvana of Squeezing Out Sparks, and the band delivered at the end with a stretch of six songs from that album (interrupted only “Stupefaction,” from The Up Escalator, the 1980 LP that followed), all sounding as fresh as the day they were birthed. Three decades is too long to go without hearing Belmont and Schwarz in tandem, or the Bodnar/Andrew Goulding rhythm section (also famous for providing the bottom end on Costello’s “Watching the Detectives”).

VIDEO: THR's Writers Roundtable: Judd Apatow on the Fights With His Wife That Led to 'This Is 40'

The sweetness of much of Parker’s current material -- like the lovely sing-along “Stop Cryin’ About the Rain” or R&B-ballad flavor of the single “Long Emotional Ride” -- make it clear that fans were wrong to expect the seeming sneer he had in 1979 to remain fixed in place. But, particularly in a set that also made room for his tenderer or more soulful sides, the Sparks stuff was a lovely scowl to go back to.

The show opened with a brief intro from Apatow, who remarked upon the unlikeliness of the triple bill he’d put together and remarked, “This probably shouldn’t even be happening.” Adams’ appearance was a quickie, consisting three of his prettiest acoustic ballads, including the one that puts a capper on This Is 40, though his hunched, seated status ensured most of the packed crowd only saw tufts of hair from atop his head.

Buckingham stood at full alert for his six-song set, which included not just his 40 contributions but “Go Insane” and a couple of his more intense contributions to the Fleetwood Mac canon, packing about three hours’ worth of a normal mortal’s finger-picking into a half-hour. His set would have stolen any other show, and it made many of us wish that, instead of going out on another Mac tour next year, he were going out on another solo jaunt -- one that everyone present would be smart enough to catch this time.

Set List:

Fool’s Gold
Three Chords Good
Hotel Chambermaid
Coathangers
What Do You Like
Get Started, Start a Fire
Stop Cryin’ About the Rain
Long Emotional Ride
Howlin’ Wind
Live in Shadows
A Lie Gets Halfway ‘Round the World
Watch the Moon Come Down
Discovering Japan
Nobody Hurts You
Protection
Stupefaction
Local Girls

Encore 1:
You Can’t Be Too Strong
Passion is No Ordinary Word

Encore 2:
Don’t Ask Me Questions
Soul Shoes
I Want You Back

Twitter: @chriswillman

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'X Factor's' Chris Rene Hits the Sunset Strip for First Headlining Show: Concert Review

The season one finalist proves to be a consummate showman as he works a legendary room where many dreams were made.

The Roxy
West Hollywood
(Thursday, Oct. 18)

"Dayuuuuuuum!!!" For the uninitiated, that would be Chris Rene’s equivalent of a birdcall -- summoning the faithful near and far to join in his celebration of love, life and music.

Sure, it may sound like a romantic and flowery notion, but in a nutshell, that’s the essence of the 29 year-old X Factor season one finalist, whose boundless faith in his ambition to succeed has not only brought Chris Rene to the national stage, but allowed him to overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles, like drug addiction.

Indeed, his Thursday night headlining slot on the Sunset Strip may have been that quintessential moment that says, “I’ve made it.” Although it had been a year since American television viewers were first introduced to the velvety-voiced singer-rapper -- who ultimately came in third on the X Factor’s inaugural run -- with his debut, I’m Right Here, just released, and his signature song, the original composition “Young Homie,” having made its presence known on radio, Rene stands poised to break through from the reality competition pack and launch a viable career.

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In what seems to be a smart strategy, Rene isn’t looking to bite off more than he can chew. Rather than putting out a full-length, he’s issuing a seven-song EP. Instead of playing rooms large enough for a TV audience, he’s opting for smaller, more intimate venues. Meanwhile, his Roxy set clocked in at just under an hour -- not too long and not too short -- with some of the performance putting the spotlight on his voice (Rene delivered “Chains” and “Same Blood” with his own acoustic guitar accompaniment) and the rest showcasing his incredible knack for working a crowd.

At times hard to hear over the incessant screams of female fans (although there were plenty of men cheering in the crowd, too), Rene put his MC skills on display for “Rockin’ With You” then took down the tempo a couple notches for the reggae vibe of  his own “Where Do We Go From Here” and a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.”

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The show’s highlight came in the final act, however, when Rene rocked out to his new single “Trouble” followed by the Island-inspired grooves of “Love Me Like You” and the song that put him on the map, “Young Homie.” With a shimmy and a karate kick, he returned for the encore, introducing the appropriately named “Back from the Dead” with a brief reflection of his journey. “Seventeen months ago, I was in a different place,” he said from the stage. “I was suffering and messed up … I was ready to give up, ready to die … but I hung on.”

Clearly, his appreciation for life and his place in the world hasn’t waned in the 10 months since he last sang in front of Simon Cowell. In fact, throughout the night, Rene stopped to take in his surroundings -- the famous rock club artists dream of headlining, the industry movers and shakers in the VIP section, legions of loyalists (colliquiolly known as "Reneliens") positioning their hands in the double L formation that is his calling card, “Love life.”

“This is better than any drug I’ve ever done and I’ve done a lot,” Rene cracked. “This is why I’m here.”

Set List:

Chains
Gonna Be Ok
Rockin' With You
Where Do We Go From Here
Sexual Healing
Same Blood
Trouble
Love Me Like You
Young Homie

Encore:

Back From The Dead

Twitter: @shirleyhalperin

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