Chicago / Milwaukee Concert Preview
November 2-8, 2010
First Appeared in The Music Box, November 2010, Volume 17, #11
Written by John Metzger
Mon November 1, 2010, 06:00 AM CDT
11/4 - Jay Farrar / Bobby Bare, Jr. - S.P.A.C.E. - Evanston - 8:00 p
Jay Farrar has always held Neil Young in high regard. With each passing year, though, the tremendous role that Young’s history has played in shaping Farrar’s career has become increasingly obvious. Just as Young has continuously rolled one idea into another as he has oscillated among a variety of projects, Farrar doesn’t seem to stay in one place for very long. In fact, even within the scope of Son Volt’s output, Farrar has covered a lot of ground. After all, Trace and The Search are miles apart. Only by examining the entirety of his canon — from his solo set Sebastopol to Gob Iron’s Death Songs for the Living to Son Volt’s Okemah and the Melody of Riot — do all of the pieces begin to fall into place to create a coherent picture.
Not surprisingly, after birthing two albums in 2009 — Son Volt’s American Central Dust and a collaboration with Ben Gibbard (One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Music from Kerouac’s Big Sur) — this has been a quiet year for Farrar. For the moment, Son Volt is stuck in a holding pattern, and instead, Farrar has been hitting the road sporadically for small bursts of solo appearances. Save for a handful of Trace-era tunes and a passing nod to his work with Uncle Tupelo, most of his show in St. Louis this past summer was devoted to material that he brought to life in the last decade. There’s no reason to expect that Farrar will dig much deeper into his catalogue when he performs at Evanston’s S.P.A.C.E. on November 4. Providing the perfect complement to Farrar, Bobby Bare, Jr. will open the concert by tackling selections from his newest effort A Storm, A Tree, My Mother’s Head.
11/4 - Richard Thompson - Pabst Theater - Milwaukee - 8:00 p
11/5 - Richard Thompson - Vic Theatre - Chicago - 8:00 p
In 2003, Richard Thompson landed at #19 on Rolling Stone’s list of the best guitarists of all-time. Although the magazine didn’t spend much time documenting his rich and vibrant history — no more than six sentences were used to summarize his entire career — its editors made a point of imploring newcomers to see Thompson in concert whenever he toured with an electric band. It is precisely in this format that Thompson will appear when he performs at Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater on November 4 and Chicago’s Vic Theatre on November 5. The sojourn is designed to showcase material from Thompson’s latest endeavor Dream Attic, a collection of new songs that he recorded live at a series of shows that were held in February. In many ways, the collection echoes the eclecticism of Thompson’s catalogue, which makes it very easy for him to also offer expansive interpretations of tunes he first performed with Fairport Convention as well as with his ex-wife Linda.
11/6 - Los Lobos - Vic Theatre - Chicago - 8:00 p
Long before it was properly recognized for its work in the studio, Los Lobos was heralded for its riveting concert performances. Nearly 30 years later, the intensity of the band’s shows hasn’t slipped one iota. At the same time, Los Lobos also has woven a broader range of styles into its music. Its latest effort Tin Can Trust doesn’t really push the envelope like the outfit’s prior efforts have. Nevertheless, bolstered by a fresh batch of new material — including a superb cover of the Grateful Dead’s West L.A. Fadeaway — Los Lobos undoubtedly will sound rejuvenated when it descends upon Chicago’s Vic Theatre on November 6. In fact, considering the amount of time that David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas have spent participating in the Experience Hendrix project of late, Los Lobos might sound bluesier than ever.
11/6 - Azure Ray - Schuba's - Chicago - 9:00 p
Often after an extended period of growth, the only option a band has left if it wants to continue to survive is to take a break to pursue other projects. This is, of course, a common practice, one that generally yields positive results. After all, exposure to new ideas is exactly what artists require in order to avoid slipping into a formulaic routine. Although it had reached the peak of its popularity in 2003 after the release of its third, full-length effort Hold on Love, Azure Ray surprised everyone the following year when its principal members Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor decided to place the group back on the shelf for a while. Taylor recorded a pair of solo sets (11:11 and Lynn Teeter Flower), while Fink started out on her own (Invisible Ones) before assembling Art in Manila, which issued its debut (Set the Woods on Fire) this past August. More recently, Azure Ray has re-emerged with Drawing Down the Moon. The songs on the outing boast arrangements that are more complex than their predecessors. At the same time, though, the overall ambience of the affair is too monochromatic to be successful. At the very least, Drawing Down the Moon provides a fresh batch of material for Azure Ray to weave into its performances, and the effort likely will be heavily highlighted when the duo performs at Schuba’s in Chicago on November 6.
Of Further Interest...
Local Concert Preview for Chicago / Milwaukee: October 26-November 1, 2010
Local Concert Preview for Chicago / Milwaukee: October 19-25, 2010
Local Concert Preview for Chicago: October 15-18, 2010
Local Concert Preview for Chicago: October 8-14, 2010
Local Concert Preview for Chicago / Milwaukee: November 2-9, 2009
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