Concert Round-Up

Jen was feeling under the weather this weekend, leaving me to catch the Gizmos and Dale Lawrence alone, which at least saved her from any possible crushing disappointment after I relentlessly hyped the concerts for the past two months as "the coolest shows in years!"

Not that she was likely to be disappointed, partly because by now she knows I tend to exaggerate, and partly because they really were the coolest shows in years! (Okay, maybe not the coolest shows, but they were pretty darned good.)

The Dot Dash show on Friday was an eclectic bunch. The opening acts ranged from the "actually not bad" Miss Alex White to the "actually not very good at all" punk stylings of Human Eye, whose show-stopping bit where they set a vacuum cleaner on fire and smashed it to bits was the only memorable thing about their act. After a couple hours of wailing and atonal noise, the Gizmos finally hit the stage around 11:30 and proceeded to blow the other acts away by actually appearing to enjoy themselves.

It reminded me of nothing so much as Xanadu, the 1980 Olivia-Newton John musical. If you've ever had the misfortune of seeing it, you'll know that it's almost embarassing to watch...except when Gene Kelly is on screen, because he's the only one that looks like he's having any fun. You see Olivia Newton-John in pink roller skates at the beginning and you immediately think, "How embarassing the Eighties were!" but later on, Gene Kelly is circling the roller rink in his skates and you think, "Wow! That looks like fun!" He took the material and he sold it to the audience in a way that the other performers couldn't.

And that's exactly what was going through my mind when the Gizmos came on stage. They were the Gene Kelly of the show, showing those whippersnappers up something fierce. They had a good time, the audience had a good time, and they didn't even have to set fire to anything.

The Dale Lawrence show at the Rodeo Bar on Sunday night was a much more low-key affair. He performed with former Vulgar Boatmen percussionist Jonathan Isley, both playing together for the first time in over a decade. I chatted with Dale a bit before the show and Jonathan immediately introduced himself. "I understand you're the token Vulgar Boatmen fan," he said, offering his hand. He then surprised me by knowing my full name already.

"That's impressive," I said.

"Well, when the number of people performing in the band outnumber the fans in the audience 2-1, it's not as hard to keep track of names."

Did I mention that it was a low-key show?

But it was a fine show nonetheless. (The woman sitting next to me even exclaimed, "Wow! These guys are actually really good!" unprompted after the first few songs). The headliners, Tim Carroll and Elizabeth Cook were excellent too; I mean, you gotta love a country duo that ends their set with a Velvet Underground cover.

And so, the weekend ended as it began - with a great concert. If you missed the shows and are curious as to what you missed, WFMU has an archive of The Cherry Blossom Clinic radio program featuring both the Gizmos and Miss Alex White available via RealAudio here. (The Gizmos show up around the 1 hour 30 minute mark; be sure to listen for the bit where Dale flubs the opening of "The Midwest Can Be Allright" and almost breaks up.)

The only problem with all these concerts last weekend was that it left very little time for sleep, which I should probably go do now. Pleasant dreams, everyone...