Category Archives: Bands/Artists

Eli Jones at Mahoney’s Irish Pub 12/7/08 (Review)

Posted on by
2

IMG_3190

As I posted earlier, Eli Jones was booked to play Mahoney’s Irish Pub on Sunday 12/7. I was planning to hit the show if I got back from a weekend in Minneapolis at a decent time. As it turns out, I did, but it was a bit hairy coming out of Minneapolis with a bunch of snow blowing all over the roads, but we made it back in one piece, if a bit worn out. Thankfully, the show was an early start, and it got over early, so I could get back home and to bed since I needed to work the next morning.

I had never been to Mahoney’s before for some reason. Apparently it was because I couldn’t find it! My daughter Rae goes to Coe College, and that is in the same area, and she told me to take the H Ave exit off of 380, which is the same one that I take when I visit her on campus. I drove around a bit and found Paddy O’Roark’s on 16th Street but no sign of Mahoney’s. So, I busted out the trusty iPhone and hit the Maps application which helpfully indicated that I was damn near sitting on top of Mahoneys! WTF? Well, only in Cedar Rapids can we support two Irish-themed bars around the corner from each other!

IMG_3128

I got rock star parking in the small lot next to the bar, so I was pretty happy about that– as long as I didn’t get blocked in. Mahoney’s is a very small bar– long and narrow. The band of eight members seemed to take up half of the bar! I made my way to the back of the bar by the covered pool table and staked my place while the band worked through a spirited cover of the Classic Joe Cocker version of the Box Tops’ “The Letter.” The band was set up where seating would normally be along a long table in the center of the bar. It made for some awkward vantage points as far as shooting pictures was concerned, but I think I got some good shots. When I got there the band had already started, and the crowd was relatively thin but within an hour or so the place filled up. The crowd seemed to be a mixture of regulars and regular fans of the band. Even for such a small crowd, the place was electric! The crowd was supportive and the two ladies working the bar were very busy, but attentive and even entertained the crowd by doing some Ikette moves during the “Proud Mary” cover!!

The ladies behind the bar doing their best Ikette impersonations

In the four-hour set, Eli Jones did a set of songs that drew heavily from their 2007 CD Make It Right as well as their as-yet-unrecorded next album, in addition to some very complimentary covers. The cover run the range of 60’s R&B classics like the aforementioned “The Letter” and “Proud Mary” to more obscure classics like the Meters “Look a Py-Py” and they threw in some Prince and a frantic cover of the Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” that had Jonathon Edwards running around the bar, and I believe outside at one point! Later in the night he had to apologize to a guy who’s hat was lost during the race.

I think that this show was a good example of how a great crowd can make a great band better. There was a lot of interaction between the band and the crowd that night and they fed off each other. At one point during the third set I counted 45 people in the bar, but damn if it didn’t seem like the crowd was bigger! Brendan said in an e-mail after the show that about 10 people bought CD’s that night, and it looked like the tip jar was pretty full, too.

IMG_3121_grey

Eli Jones is one of the tightest bands I’ve seen in a while and while they don’t put on the choreographed stage show that the Diplomats are doing these days with the Diplomettes, they have their own style and would make a killer double-billing with the Diplomats. Stefanie Berecz holds her own against the three-piece horns section with a powerhouse vocal skill. Her wide range runs the gamut from R&B shouting to smoky blues and raw emotion. I don’t want to downplay the fact that Brendan O’Connell and Chris Corsale also contribute vocals which gives the band the necessary breadth of material to keep “Joe Sixpack” rocking through three sets.

Stefanie Berecz of Eli Jones

Brendan said that this show was the fourth time this year that they played Mahoney’s and he said that this was their favorite bar to play– they haven’t played anywhere else in Cedar Rapids! Considering the warm atmosphere and fun crowd, I can see why and I plan to make it back there when they play next, which should be sometime after they record their next album. If Eli Jones is playing anywhere near you I recommend seeing them.

Jill and the crowd get down
Set One

Make It Right
Bring Your Love To Me
Right Wrong
Poor Man’s Game (*)
The Letter
Better Way (*)
Proud Mary
Afraid Not To Die
Disco Smooth
Son of a Preacher Man
Ain’t Going Back (*)

Set Two

Finally Did For Me
I Could Really Hold On (*)
Doin’ Nothin’ (*)
Give It Up
Mary Jane
Kiss > Seven
Carry Me Home (*)
Stevie (Wonder?)
I’ll Get Down (*)

Set Three

Look a Py-Py
Use Me
Lift This Hurt
Candlelight and Satin Sheets
Since You Been Gone
Life During Wartime
Abracadabra
Whiskey High
Where Did The Time Go
You Got The Love
Before I Know Your Name (*)
Nobody (*)

(*) Songs that will be on the next album

Band Members:

Stefanie Berecz
Brendan O’Connell
Chris Corsale (guitar/vocals)
Greg Nergaard (bass)
John Smillie (drums)
Jonathon Edwards (baritone sax)
Jim Schram (tenor sax)
Eric Miller (trombone)

Click Here to see the other pictures from the show.

Click Here to visit Eli Jones’s Website

Upcoming Show: Cracker at Mississippi Moon Bar in Dubuque, IA 2/7/09

Posted on by
1

Why is David Lowery smiling?

Friday was a day of surprises for me– I found out a new venue just opened in Dubuque called Mississippi Moon Bar that is part of the new Diamond Jo Casino. Last week was their grand opening complete with a VIP show with Cheap Trick. The wife of a guy I work with works at the casino so he filled me in on the details. It looks like there will be a pretty good selection of upcoming acts (for Dubuque, anyway– Darius Rucker? The Doobie Brothers?). I was really surprised to see a Cracker show listed on the calendar in February. I jumped in and got first row seats. Apparently every seat in the house is less than 80 feet from the stage according to my brother, Steve.

Anyway, any reason to see either Cracker or Camper Van Beethoven is a good reason, and Dubuque is a pretty short drive and it’s on a weekend. Tickets are on sale now and at least as of today there are still fantastic seats available on the floor by the stage. Tickets are $25 for regular reserved seats (or standing) and $35 for fancy table seats or boxed seats. I’ve never seen the venue, so I don’t know what those are like (or if they are really worth more than front row?).

Click Here for Cracker’s Official Website

Click Here for Cracker’s MySpace Page (which they apparently hate).

Click Here for the Mississippi Moon Bar site.

Upcoming Show: Mark Olson & Gary Louris at CSPS in Cedar Rapids 2/19/09

Posted on by
Reply
Mark Olson & Gary Louris by Steven Cohen Photography

Mark Olson & Gary Louris by Steven Cohen Photography

Ready for the Flood, the new album from former Jayhawks members Mark Olson and Gary Louris is due for release on January 27th according to Amazon.com and other sources. Ready for the Flood was originally supposed to be released on September 15th on Olson’s home label Hacktone but was moved to New West Records, current home of John Hiatt, The Old 97’s and The Drive By Truckers and other artists who compliment Olson and Louris’s country-influenced sound.

Ready for the Flood was recorded in January with production help from Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, who also worked on Louris’s brilliant solo album Vagabonds. Since both Louris and Olson had solo records released last year that still needed to be promoted and toured, they decided to delay the release until late this year, and now the release is moved to January with the label switch.

Shortly on the heels of Flood’s release Olson and Louris will kick off a tour during February in support of the album hitting small venues across the nation, wrapping up at a hometown show in Minneapolis at the Varsity Theatre. If any of the torrents of the live shows in Europe are any indication, these shows will be a Jayhawks fan’s dream pulling songs from the new album and songs from the Jayhawks catalog in an intimate stripped-down acoustic set.

Olson and Louris will be playing the (sadly) best-kept secret venue of Cedar Rapids, CSPS on February 19th. Mark Olson played a well-received show there in February this year– in fact it will be almost a year to the date! Tickets are $17 in advance and $20 the day of the show.

Feb 3 2009 7:00P
The Ark Ann Arbor, Michigan
Feb 4 2009 7:00P
The Mod Club Toronto, Ontario
Feb 6 2009 7:00P
Somerville Theater Somerville, Massachusetts
Feb 7 2009 7:00P
Zankel Hall @ Carnegie Hall New York, New York
Feb 9 2009 7:00P
Sellersville Theater Sellersville, Pennsylvania
Feb 10 2009 7:00P
Birchmere Alexandria, Virginia
Feb 11 2009 7:00P
The Arts Center Carrboro, North Carolina
Feb 13 2009 7:00P
Eddie’s Attic Atlanta, Georgia
Feb 14 2009 7:00P
Exit/In Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 15 2009 7:00P
Phoenix Hill Tavern Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 17 2009 7:00P
Blueberry Hill St. Louis, Missouri
Feb 18 2009 7:00P
Mojo’s Columbia, Missouri
Feb 19 2009 7:00P
CSPS Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Feb 20 2009 7:00P
Park West Chicago, Illinois
Feb 21 2009 7:00P
Varsity Theater Minneapolis, Minnesot

Click Here to visit the MySpace page for Ready for the Flood with song samples

Click Here to visit the Facebook Event I created.


Umphrey’s McGee Mantis Cover Art, Track List and another “leaked” track

Posted on by
Reply

The UM camp released some more information about Mantis recently including a large version of the album artwork, the track listing, another track from the radio promo and some nifty wallpapers. From The Floor blog, we get the radio edit of “Spires” as well. Notably, the “Made to Measure” that the band made available to everyone who signed up for a UMLive account is the full version of the track at 3:12. If you want to hear “Preamble” it is the first song played in the player on the Mantis mini-site.

Here is the tracklisting for Mantis:

1. Made to Measure 3:12

2. Preamble 0:36

3. Mantis 11:49

4. Cemetery Walk 7:30

5. Cemetery Walk II 2:19

6. Turn & Run 7:25

7. Spires 7:41

8. Prophecy Now 2:47

9. Red Tape 5:43

10. 1348 4:49

Total Running Time : 54:04

In case anyone was worried that Mantis was going to be some exploration in radio-friendly pop music based on “Made to Measure,” check out the track times. There are four songs over seven minutes, and one song clocks in at 11:49! So, while this may be an album representing a change in the band, they aren’t eschewing extended workouts from their catalog.

Click Here to Download the Radio Edit of “Spires”

Click Here to go to the Mantis mini-site and pre-order the album, and download some nifty wallpapers.

“Again with the Mantis and the Madness?” More Mantis Updates

Posted on by
Reply

Developments in the Umphrey’s McGee camp as it applies to the release of Mantis are keeping me pretty busy here. Mostly this is because I’m one of the folks who has invested in the pre-order of the album, so I’m eagerly awaiting any surprise freebies, downloads, etc. While the pre-order crowd waits for the stalled progress bar on the Mantis page to move to unlocking Level 7 and exposing the promise of Level 8 with baited breath, other events have transpired this week.

It seems that promos have been sent to radio stations who are “crunchy friendly” or would play Umphrey’s McGee in their rotation. This promo CD has radio edits of three songs apparently– the already-shared “Made to Measure” which is now freely available to anyone who clicks on the link on the page and signs up for a UMLive account, “Cemetery Walk” which is currently on the band blog complete with a posting talking about the development of the song which started back in 2007, and another track called “Spires” which was apparently aired on a couple of radio stations already.

Click Here to download “Cemetery Walk” (This is the obscured link on the blog page player– so if they take this down, this link won’t work).

In addition to all of this, Thursday this week (12/4) is when the pre-order folks will be able to download “Level 1” of the pre-order bonus material, which has some really cool stuff in it including four tracks of their 2005 Acoustic Christmas Benefit Show. More on that when I get to download that on Thursday.

Stay tuned!

Paula West Live at Campbell Steele Gallery 11/14/08 (Review)

Posted on by
Reply

George, Ben, Paula, and Chris

My friend Andrew won tickets to this show from a call-in contest Campbell Steele Gallery had in their regular e-mail blast of upcoming events. The last time I had been to Campbell Steele was maybe back in 2003 or 2004 for a special Liars Holographic Theatre show where they featured original songs from the players along with some of the regular skits. It was a lot of fun, as many of the Liars shows are and I had been meaning to get back for another show so I was happy for the opportunity.

Paula West is a jazz singer from San Francisco who has been performing and recording since 1989 and has released three albums to date: Temptation (1997), Restless (1999), and Come What May (2001). Paula was booked for two nights at Campbell Steele as part of their “Cruz Steele Presents: Brand New Favorites – Live at Campbell Steele Gallery” series which included shows with Pieta Brown on October 4th, Erin Bode on October 24th and 25th and the upcoming show with Prudence Johnson on December 5th and 6th. Accompanying Paula was George Mesterhazy on piano and two local guys on bass and drums: Ben Soltau and Chris Richardson.

I got there before Andrew so I hung out and talked a bit with Priscilla Steele who was acting as greeter/bouncer for the evening and got the lowdown about the show series as well as the changes that the gallery has undertaken since the last time I was there. The stage/backdrop I had seen last time for the Liars show was taken out exposing a bar where they were serving hors d’ouvers as well as wine and beer.  In the spirit of the cabaret style of Paula West, they brought in a bunch of cafe tables for seating– a change-up from the normal rows of chairs they use for the performances. Removing the big backdrop really opened the place up, and the seating made things very cozy– especially since it was general admission.

Andrew soon showed up and we staked out our table and ordered a bottle of 2007 Castle Rock Pinot Noir that we’d both had previously.

Paula West

Paula put on a great show. I’m not normally a big fan of Great American Songbook standards, but Paula delivers them with such a beautiful and distinctive voice, it is impossible not to be completely taken in. In addition to the standards Paula throws in a couple of interpretations of Bob Dylan songs, who she said was her favorite songwriter. It is a testament to the strength of Dylan’s songwriting that the songs like “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” can translate so well to torchy, bluesy jazz versions. In fact, I think that she should consider doing an album of her Dylan covers! Her between-song banter was warm and funny. She had just wrapped up a stint at the Oak Room at the legendary Algonquin Hotel in Midtown Manhattan and said that she received a surprised response from fans there who asked where she was going next, “Marion, Iowa!” Along for her little tour was pianist and arranger/band leader George Mesterhazy who provided a brilliant backing to Paula’s vocals. The addition of Ben Soltau and Chris Richardson on bass and drums made for a very complete trio, in my opinion. Initially, I didn’t recognize Ben, but his Yamaha bass seemed pretty familiar, and I remembered the bass in the press photo for New Beat Society, and sure enough it was him! At the break I introduced myself and we talked bass and the upcoming show at the Yacht Club.

George, Ben and Chris

At the beginning of the second set, Craig came out and told the audience that the piano that George was playing was a new purchase for the gallery. Apparently it is pretty difficult and expensive to rent a baby grand piano so it was easier for them to purchase one. Friday night was the piano’s maiden voyage and Craig christened the piano “The Mesterhazy” in tribute to George’s playing it! He then pretended to break a plastic water bottle on the it to the amusement of everybody.

At the end of the end of the evening Andrew and I hung out as the audience filtered out the door and talked a bit to Craig and Priscilla some more. We also talked to George, Ben and Chris who were pretty excited about how well the performance went and were making plans for Saturday night’s show. I mentioned to George that his playing reminded me of Bill Evans, and he said that he was a fan of Bill, too, which was pretty cool.

I had a great time at the show, and certainly plan to hit any future shows they might be putting on there. It’s easy to forget sometimes that Cedar Rapids and Marion have great venues to offer when there are so many other places in the area to see shows. We are lucky to have Craig and Priscilla bringing shows like this to our area.

Click Here to look at the complete set of photos I took.

Click Here for Paula West’s Website

Upcoming show at Campbell Steele: Prudence Johnson with Special Guest Michael Johnson December 5 & 6, 2008. Tickets are $25, and you can call 319-373-9211 for information. Tell them playbsides.com sent you!

Upcoming Show: Chicago Soul Group Eli Jones at Mahoney’s, Cedar Rapids 12/7/08

Posted on by
1

Eli Jones is an eight-piece band from Chicago that delivers tight accomplished Soul and R&B that draws equally from the annals of classic R&B and Soul of Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin or Stax as it does from the contemporary renewed interest in authentic Soul and R&B delivered by Alicia Keys, John Legend or Joss Stone. The seven-piece Eli Jones band led by the tasty guitar tone of Brendan O’Connell deftly supports the vocal powerhouse of Stefanie Berecz.

The band started in 2005 as a trio and added horns and Berecz arriving at their current lineup in 2007. They released their first studio album Make It Right in November of 2007 and are planning to release their second album in the Summer of 2009. The band has been gigging steadily around the Midwest and played Mahoney’s in Cedar Rapids back in April to a receptive crowd.

The group is coming back to the area again next weekend playing The Busted Lift in Dubuque on Saturday, December 6th, and here in Cedar Rapids at Mahoney’s on Sunday, December 7th. I’m not sure about the cover at the Busted Lift, but the Mahoney’s show is FREE! I can’t think of a better way to wrap up a weekend than some soulful, funky R&B, really. You can always watch “Desperate Housewives” online or Tivo it.

Click Here for the Facebook Event Page– let the band know you’re coming!

Click Here to visit Eli Jones’s website. They have four songs that you can stream.

Click Here to visit Eli Jones’s MySpace Page

Click Here to see the shows up on Archive.org

Click Here to listen to an amazing acoustic “Candlelight and Satin Sheets” from Alice FM in May. The song is taken to an intimate singer-songwriter performance.

Free Download: “Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT remix)” by Metric

Posted on by
Reply

For a bit last year I was fascinated with MSTRKRFT and all of their remixes. MSTRKRFT is Jesse F. Keeler from Death From Above 1979 and Alex “Al-P” Puodziukas who produced DFA 1979’s You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine.

Some really great remixes came from this pair ahead of their first album The Looks. The Looks, in my opinion didn’t completely live up to the expectations set by their remixes. “Easy Love” was a great single, though. MSTRKRFT’s trademark 808 beats with dirty analog synths and bass guitar funneled through distortion deliver a party in every mix in my opinon. Mixes to look for include their mixes of “Woman” by Wolfmother (you might recognize the original version in Guitar Hero II), “Listen Up” by The Gossip, their brilliant remixes of “Two More Years” by Bloc Party and “Got Love to Kill” by Juliette & the Licks.” I stumbled over their hilarious remix of “Love in this Club” by Usher. They reproduce the piano ending of “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos in it!

The fine folks at RCRD LBL, which is sort of a self-described “network of ad supported online record labels and blogs” have re-served up a MSTRKRFT remix of Toronto indie band Metric’s “Monster Hospital.” The original track, which you can hear served up on their MySpace page is kind of a punky guitar song that sounds a bit like Sonic Youth to me. MSTRKRFT flips the song on it’s side and refocuses on the chorus and even changes the overall tone with a neat stripped-down electric piano and vocals. The rest of the song is nearly a complete re-imagining of the song in a different key.

Worth the download if you want some dancy disco electro.

Click Here to go to the RCRD_LBL “Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT)” page.

Click Here to go to the MSTRKRFT Wikipedia Article that has a complete list of the remixes they’ve done.

You could look here to see if there are MSTRKRFT tracks to download…

New Order ‘Collector Editions’ Reissues Subpar; Rhino Issues Reissues…

Posted on by
Reply

New Order Buttons

I’m a pretty big New Order fan– I was turned onto them in college via the essential Substance 2 CD set of “hits.” Through the 90’s I collected all of the albums and as many of the remixes and singles as I could get my hands on– I even have the quickly-deleted Run2 12″ that had the contested John Denver sample in it. I saw New Order in 1989 at the World Theater in Chicago in a lineup with Public Image Limited and the Sugarcubes, which was pretty exciting at the time.(Note: Apparently it was June 30, 1989)

In 1997 through a newsgroup or something I found out about a 3 CD collection of mp3’s being put out by a fan out of Quebec that had every album, every single from every country, bootlegs and included the side projects of the members (Electronic, Revenge, and The Other Two). I paid too much for it in retrospect because they are only 128Kbps rips– but in 1997 there wasn’t a better way to get something like this.

I was pretty excited to hear that usually-perfect Rhino Records was going to do a set of re-issues of the first five New Order albums (Movement, Power, Corruption and Lies, Low-Life, Brotherhood, and Technique) with second discs of bonus remixes and b-sides similar to the Cure sets they did a few years back.

Unfortunately, it seems that Rhino might not have done enough quality control on these releases when they were released in the UK and the US releases, which are based on the UK versions are plagued with the same issues. A  look at the comments by Amazon reviewer Paul “Slop” from Orange County gives a very detailed breakdown of the issues on the releases including errors in the liner notes and artifacts from what would seem to be direct vinyl transfers with no cleanup. It also seems to extend into the original album tracks as well– on “Sunrise” from Low-Life there is a right-channel drop in volume, and “586” from Power suffers from “an abrupt ending.”

Rhino Records is doing the right thing by offering exchanges for the bad pressings. In their press release on the situation they state that they are in the process of correcting the problems, but note that the age and condition of the original source tapes the sound quality may vary. They only state that the bonus material has the issue, I hope that they also fix the issues with the albums, too. There will be a future statement when the issues are resolved which will include the process for exchanging the CD’s.

The bad deal here is that the botched discs are everywhere and I couldn’t find any online retailers that mention the situation– this includes Amazon who still offers them for sale. I hope that Rhino will clearly distinguish the new “fixed” pressings so that the consumers don’t end up with the bad pressings unknowingly! Beware eBay on these as well, I’d say.

I haven’t purchased these yet, so when the new pressings come out and I’ve figured out how to safely get the fixed ones, I’ll post something here for the constant readers.

Click Here for the exhaustive list of flaws from neworderonline.com

Time is Running Out on the PepsiStuff / amazonmp3 Promotion

Posted on by
Reply

I got an e-mail yesterday from Amazon letting me know that I only have until 12/31/2008 to take advantage of the fairly decent PepsiStuff promotion, where you can spend 5 PepsiStuff points for one song download.

I guess I wasn’t aware that this promotion had an “end date” but, I guess it couldn’t go on indefinitely. I’m not really a Pepsi drinker– I’m more of a Coca-Cola guy– but there is a guy at work who drinks gallons of it a week, so he gives me his caps which is generous, although I feel like I’m contributing to his eventual kidney failure or diabetes or something.

At any rate, make sure you get your points spent before the time runs out!