Archive for the 'Music' Category

Etown Taping

I bought tickets for what I thought was a Rose Hill Drive concert a month ago or so, but what we attended last night was far from a normal show of theirs. I realized before going that it wasn’t going to be a normal show, but I wasn’t quite prepared for what it was. We arrived at the Boulder Theater about twenty minutes after the doors opened, grabbed our tickets and headed inside. The show was general admission but fully seated, so we found a couple of seats in the third row and patiently waited for etown to begin.

Accord to their website, “etown is an exciting weekly radio broadcast heard from coast to coast on NPR, public and commercial stations. Every etown show is taped in front of a live audience and features performances from many of today’s top musical artists as well as conversation and information about the world around us.” The show is not aired live, it is edited and then aired about a month afterward. I will have to find out when this episode will air.

Along with Rose Hill Drive, this show also featured Ruthie Foster, which I felt was a very interesting combination. Rose Hill Drive is a power trio of young musicians who play primarily rock music. I was not familiar with Ruthie before this show, and even though I later thought that she was really good, the combination of folk (her) and rock (Rose Hill Drive) was a little strange. The transition was made a little easier as Rose Hill Drive opened up the show by playing a couple of acoustic songs. I’ve never seen them play acoustic before and I really enjoyed it, especially the stripped down version of their song “Cool Cody.”

I think in total we saw Rose Hill Drive play about six or seven songs, which was a lot less than I was hoping for. I could have done without all of the interviews that host Nick Forster conducted, but I guess that is an essential part to the radio show. I don’t know if I will go back to see one of these performances taped live, but maybe the finished product is worth listening to on a weekly basis on the radio. I’m not sure since I’ve never heard an episode before. It wasn’t completely bad, just very different from a normal show.

Sell Out!

One thing that I’ve not gotten used to in Denver, is the fact that events actually sell out. I’m talking about concerts, sporting events, anything really. I have a big hatred of stupid Ticketmaster and their stupid fees, and like to pick up tickets directly from the venue. Sometimes I can get to the venue ahead of time, but other times I don’t have the chance to go until the day of the event. This worked fine most of the time in Kansas City, but here in Denver things that I wait to buy tickets for keep selling out.

Take tonight’s John Butler Trio concert in Boulder for example. Even though the Fox Theatre doesn’t use Ticketmaster, they still have “convenience” fees when buying tickets online. I should have known that this show was going to sell out, sucked it up, and bought tickets. But I didn’t. The show obviously sold out, and I was stuck looking for tickets on craigslist or eBay. Unfortunately, most of the tickets being sold are way higher than what the ticket and fees were. I just about gave up, but I finally found someone who was kind enough to sell two tickets for what he paid. It’s nice to know that there are still some decent folks out there.

O.A.R. at MSG on MSN

It seems that many people already know, but in case you didn’t, O.A.R. is featured on music.msn.com. If you follow that link you can watch and hear their entire performance at Madison Square Garden (minus one song). This is going to be released as a CD and DVD later this year, but you can check it out online now. It is a really good performance and the mix sounds amazing. I can only hope that the finish product is as good as this sample.

The Alternate Routes – Ordinary

I’ve been listening to The Alternate Routes a bunch since seeing them just over a week ago. If you didn’t already notice, you can listen to my recording of their entire performance on the internet archive. With their recent signing on Vanguard Records, they are re-releasing their debut album on March 13 and they even have a music video for “Time Is A Runaway.”

On top of all of that, you can download their song “Ordinary” from the same CD, Good And Reckless And True. If you like what you hear, I believe you can get the whole CD from iTunes now. Or you can wait for the CD to hit stores in March!

The Sound Is The Difference

We made the trip back to Boulder last night, after just going for the first time last weekend. I am already beginning to realize that Boulder is going to be a very common trip. And once again I am thankful that the drive is much easier than the drive from Kansas City to Lawrence. The reason for heading back so soon was a concert featuring The Alternate Routes, Jon McLaughlin, and Matt Wertz at the Fox Theatre.

I wasn’t expecting a large crowd, but as we pulled up to the venue I saw a line to get in that was at least half of the block long! Because of this line we missed most of Jon McLaughlin’s set. The Alternate Routes were next and they did not disappoint. The sound at the Fox Theatre is very impressive. It’s loud but at the same time very clear. My recordings are equally as impressive, I think. I am working to get those online for your listening pleasure.

Matt Wertz was the headliner, but surprisingly the crowd seemed larger during The Alternate Routes set. At least this was the case on the overage half of the room. The setup was such that half of the room was reserved for the over 21 crowd, and the other half was for everyone under. Well the under half was jammed packed most of the night, but we were able to stretch out on the over side and enjoy the show. Wertz played well, but I think The Alternate Routes stole the show. I hope I can get both tapes online for you to decide.

Again Somewhere Tomorrow

Over the weekend, we also made our first trip from Denver to Boulder. Originally I thought that the drive would be similar to the drive from Kansas City to Lawrence, but it was actually much quicker and not nearly as boring. Boulder actually seems more like a suburb of Denver than a completely separate college town. However once you are there, it does have that college town feel with the University of Colorado being there.

Our first stop was for some food and brews at BJ’s Restaurant & Brew Haus. At the time I wasn’t aware that there is a chain of these restaurants. So if you are near one, I would definitely recommend checking it out. We had the Santa Fe Spring Rolls to start, and split the Spinach & Artichoke Pizza. The appetizer was pretty good, but the pizza definitely stole the meal. It was delicious! As far as beers, I think the Jeremiah Red Ale is one of their tops, and the Piranha Pale Ale isn’t bad either.

After our dinner, we headed over to the Trilogy Wine Bar & Lounge to see Will Hoge. The venue itself is kind of strange. The front room really is a nice looking wine bar, however it is nearly impossible to get a drink. The concerts take place in the back room, which can hold a couple hundred people maximum. In this room, you will not see anyone drinking wine. The wine will be replaced primarily with beer and you may even see someone without any shoes on, I did.

The show was great! It had been years since I saw Will Hoge, and my first time seeing him/them headline. As good as their studio CD’s are, their live shows are incredible. In fact, they are releasing another live album in just two weeks on February 20th. I’m not sure if you will be able to find it in stores, but it will definitely be available online. Opening the show was a band called The Drams from Texas. They definitely had that southern rock vibe to them. Not my favorite style of music, but they did a good job opening up the show. Definitely catch this tour if it comes to a town near you.

Last.fm

I think I’m really late on this one, and although I’ve used the Last.fm website before, I finally downloaded their program that will track what I’m listening to. Now I can easily display a chart listing my most recent listened to tracks:

This chart is actually just an image that is stored out on the Last.fm servers, so it is not actually a real time list. They do have some feeds available that provide more accurate details. I’ll probably look into some wordpress plugins to better display the feeds, and hopefully I’ll get some charts on some of the other pages of this site. For now, you can view my profile page.

NOW 2006

I bet you thought I wasn’t going to come through this year, but I’m proud to announce NOW That’s What Ed Calls Music 2006! As I did last year, I am offering a BitTorrent download for all the geeks out there (this includes you this year, Phil). Click here to get started downloading the torrent file.

NOW 2006 Front NOW 2006 Back

For those of you who still don’t know how to use BitTorrent downloads, the compilation is available for download here on edpaffjr.com. I also have a couple of friends who are hosting the zip file temporarily and should provide for quicker downloads. You can access those downloads here and here. And as always, I will be carrying copies around with me very soon. I hope to have a small batch ready by tonight. Happy Holidays!

Dead Creek, Literally

One of my favorite music venues in the country, Deer Creek Music Center aka Verizon Wireless Music Center, could soon be no more. According to The Indianapolis Star, “The owner of Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville has put the 203-acre property up for sale…The area around the music center has become one of the Indianapolis area’s hottest sites for new commercial development and Live Nation wants to take advantage of rising property values in the area.” We can only hope that another entertainment business buys the property to keep it as is.

I’ve seen seven total shows at Deer Creek, all of which were headlined by the Dave Matthews Band. The last show I saw there was in 2004, but I still have many very fond memories of the concerts and the time spent camping in the nearby lots. I probably would still be seeing shows there if I were living in Cincinnati. It is definitely near the top of my list of outdoor amphitheaters, and blows both Sandstone (Verizon Wireless KC) and Riverbend away. Fortunately for me, Red Rocks should soon help fill the void that could soon be left by Live Nation.

Round Table At The Cabaret

Last night I attended a singer songwriter round table hosted by Barclay Martin at bar Natasha. This event consisted of four individuals taking turns playing their own music one song at a time. I was primarily there to see Tanner Walle perform who has been out on the road for the last month with Sarah Blacker, who was also one of the performing artists. The final performer was a piano player named Casey Matthews (I cannot find a website for him).

In theory the format of taking turns playing songs sounds like a good idea, but that’s where it ends. Even though the performers appeared to enjoy each others songs, I’m sure it was awkward for them to be sitting on stage doing nothing, waiting for the other three to play their songs. I thought that this would be a refreshing way to hear a variety of performers and songs, but I actually found it hard to get into any of their performances. Once they would build up my interest, their turn to play would be over and then you have to attempt the same thing again with one of the other performers. If they do this again, I hope they find a better format to use.