04.01.07

Keep reading until you get to the word “Sauna” and then read some more

Posted in cricket spazzes, drag the river, drakkar sauna, hot live action, lucero, todd snider - April 1st, 2007 at 2:36 pm by Cricket

This weekend began with Mimi off gallivanting in Florida, probably laying on the beach or ogling Navy boys somewhere. And me laying on the couch watching High Plains Drifter and wondering if there’s anyone in the world who loves me enough to bring me Krystals with cheese so I don’t have to get dressed to go get food. These are things you’d think we could both manage without incident, but then if you think that, you clearly haven’t been avidly reading these pages. Because Mimi’s hotel caught fire and the landscape guys cut the cable line from the street to the house leaving me with no internet or Clint Eastwood. And Mimi, well, I haven’t heard from her since the call telling me about the fire, so I’m hoping for the best that she’s not dead or decided to run off to Texas.

I did, despite no technological connection with the outside world, have a pretty darn good weekend. But let me cover a few little things before I tell you about the music.

One of my friends sent me this comic. I mean, really, what are the chances in the universe of a Sunday comic about Todd Snider? Especially one about my favorite song? I’m not usually one for newspaper comics, but this one, in one short strip, has wormed it’s way into my heart.

I’m mentioned it before, but y’all have checked out Last Chance Diner for the latest in Cory Branan goodness, right? Speaking of Cory, while Mimi actually got to see Cory Branan last week, I merely ran into him at the Lucero show (more on that in a second). In a related discussion about the show, someone said to me, “Let us hope [Cory] never uses his powers to start a cult or something,” which I’m posting publicly here so that perhaps on some off chance Cory will see it or someone will pass the message along. Cory, dear, you could rule the world, but please spare us all, as I fear what that world would be like.

I’m completely giddy, ludicrously pleased to say that there’s going to be a Lucero tribute album. I don’t have much information to relay, just a few loose rumours that Cory Branan will be contributing a song and confirmation from Suburban Home Records that Drag the River has covered “Old Sad Songs” for it. You can hear it, for a limited time, on their MySpace page. I will certainly be posting as I get more info on all of this.

So, yes, as you may have guessed I went and saw Lucero play a couple nights ago here in Nashville. Due to everyone in the world running late (and by everyone, I mean me) I missed a good bit of the openers, but I did get to see Catfish Haven, a funky, bluesy sort of Americana rock band who managed to rock my socks off. Well, not literally, because I was wearing cowboy boots and it would take some serious insanity to rock my boots off to get me to my socks, but the metaphorical socks were in fact rocked off. I don’t know much about these guys, but I will be checking them out and, I expect, reporting back to y’all.

Lucero played one of the tighter sets I’ve ever seen from them. In addition to Brian Venable, John C. Stubblefield, Roy Berry and Ben Nichols, Rick Steff was on stage with them playing keys and accordion. You might remember the magic I declared him capable of at the DtR show last winter. Well, he’s equally as spectacular with Lucero as he was with the Drag boys.

The crowd wasn’t really what I expected. The Nashville turnout was hipster, bespectacled emo boys with their tattooed girlfriends, both too cool to sing along or dance or anything and ton of frat boys giving some of the most amazing displays of homoeroticism I’ve seem in a long time—arms around each other as they sang all the lyrics to each other while raising their beers to the band. At least they weren’t soaking the band in beer like that time in Louisville. What do I expect from a Lucero crowd? I dunno, vaguely rednecky, kinda punk guys and lots of tattooed girls. And yeah, I guess that was in evidence that night, but the crowd really did feel more like two worlds colliding than anything else.

The band played a good twenty-plus songs, an even mix of stuff off the new album and older stuff. I’m pretty sure everyone in the audience heard at least three of their favorite songs. One of the high points was Cory Branan getting up to sing “Tears Don’t Matter Much” with Lucero. I still want to know what that “evil streak” lyric is about.

It was a supremely fun night. I got to talk to the band a little after and I have to confess (if it wasn’t clear from my other reviews here) that if I was independently wealthy I might pack it all in, quit my day job and follow Lucero around the country. I think I could be happy with that life.

Also I want to give shout out to my boys, N., J., and A. for hanging with me during the show, driving my ass around and buying me beers. You all know who you are, you’re the best!

Sometimes after an incredibly great night, like the Lucero show, I kind of dread the next show on my calendar. Or rather, I feel a little sorry for the band, because they have so much to live up too. Luckily, the next show I caught after Lucero was Drakkar Sauna.

Hot holy jumped-up Moses do these guys put on a great show. It’s just a couple boys out of Lawrence, KS, their guitars, a mandolin, assorted hand percussion instruments, a harmophone and the tambourine shoe. It’s kind of funky, old-time roots folk—a description which does no justice to the quality of their performance. The lyric writing is so spectacular, so full of detail, innuendo, metaphor and cleverness that I’d like to go back into Academia just so I could write a dissertation on them. Immerse myself in studying the words and trying to extrapolate the tales behind them. In addition to the music, they did some awesome story-telling between songs. Sort of larger than life, carnival barker, sing-song-y story-telling that you have to experience to really believe how much fun it is. It filled me with the same sort of wonder as story time at the library did when I was five years old, but this time with adult themes and subjects and a sort of joie de vivre that I don’t see enough of in artists of all types.

If you’re willing to take my word on it, just from this small review, then go buy their albums. If you need more convincing, well, keeping reading on into the future, mon amis, as you will most definitely be hearing a lot more about them here in the coming weeks, months, years, even.

And now, I have my internet back, I just need Mimi to come home. In the meantime I will bust out the High Plains Drifter DVD and watch it for the millionth time, since I missed the ending on TV the other day. Why is it sometimes more satisfying to accidentally find your favorite movie on TV than to just watch the DVD?

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