Heard You Missed Me--I'm Back!

First of all, I apologize for slipping off the radar for a week. Life gets busy, my kittens.

So I’ll burst back into your lives by posting my thoughts on three fantastic concerts I’ve seen in the last two weeks—Belle and Sebastian with New Pornographers; Donald Fagen; and Rosanne Cash.

A Belle Noir
The Belle and Sebastian show at 9.30 Club was fantastic. High on the success of their current album The Life Pursuit, the septet, sometimes octet from Scotland performed with an energy and professionalism that only comes from a band who loves playing music. The concert was pretty heavy on the new material, but featured quite a bit from If You’re Feeling Sinister (their breakthrough album from the late ‘90s), and a most satisfying performance of “Your Cover’s Blown,” a B-side from the “Wrapped Up in Books” single. Great energy, fantastic musicianship—a definite crowd-pleaser. I wasn’t disappointed with a single selection—and the encore song, “Fox in the Snow” was a real winner.

New Pornographers were fine, but I have to admit I was just anxious for them to leave the stage.

Fagen-tastic
The very next night, Brian, Bill and I went to see Donald Fagen at the Warner Theater. Now I’ll start by saying that Fagen has the stage presence of an old grumpy man. He took his seat at his Rhodes keyboard and didn’t get up until the end of the show.

But what a show it was! I’ve seen Steely Dan, and that was amazing, so I was curious how a Fagen solo show would be. It was equally amazing. He did material from his new album Morph the Cat (review coming up later this week), his 1981 first solo album The Nightfly, and a few tracks from the 1993 underappreciated album Kamakiriad.

And of course, he “dug into the Steely Dan files” for some terrific versions of old hits. The show opened, in fact, with an almost unrecognizable version of “Here at the Western World,” which rocked mine. I nearly “croimed my joins” when he did “Black Cow” and “Home at Last” from Aja and “Third World Man” from Gaucho.

I got the impression that Fagen onstage runs a damned tight ship. Steely Dan’s reputation for perfection has most definitely affected the final product, and Fagen’s stage show was no different. I caught him giving a bit of an evil eye to his young guitarist at some point; the picker got right back on track instantly (of course to us, it all sounded perfect). A great horn section, a terrific drummer, kick-ass bass player and of course, Fagen himself added up to a night of musicianship so good it made my teeth hurt. The night was over far too quickly.

Rosanne-credible
And just last evening, my friends Jen and Martin from Pennsylvania, Brian and I went to the Birchmere to see the incomparable Rosanne Cash. Before I get to that, I’ll chat a bit about her opening act, Iain Campbell Smith, an Australian singer-songwriter who now lives in DC. He was a terrific opening act—his songs made us laugh (out loud, at least for me), made us think, and even touched on some rawer emotions—all in about half an hour. His humor, stage presence and performance really set the stage nicely for Rosanne. Campbell Smith is a guy you wouldn’t mind grabbing a beer with.

So, Rosanne. DAMN, she was good. You all know how much I love the new album Black Cadillac—but I’ve always had a soft spot for her going all the way back 25 years to her breakthrough single “Seven Year Ache.” Well, Rosanne did not disappoint. Even MASSIVE sound problems onstage didn’t stop her humor, grace and elegance. She looked fantastic; her voice was clear, pure and dare I say better than ever. She, too, is someone you’d grab—well, maybe a coffee—with. The concert was heavy on the new material, which was great; you can tell she’s proud of the work, as well she should be. Older hits like “Seven Year Ache” and “The Wheel” brought down the house, as did her cover of her father’s song “Tennessee Flat Top Box,” which has always been one of my favorite songs of hers.

I love seeing people at the Birchmere and don’t do it nearly as often as I should. Among the terrific performances I’ve seen there have been Maria McKee, Aimee Mann and Michael Penn and Greg Brown, all of which have been fantastic. There is a sense of intimacy at the Birchmere you don’t find in other venues. Fantastic stuff.

Rosanne ended her show with an unlikely cover of “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” from My Fair Lady, which left my eyes a bit damp. It was slow, beautiful, and highlighted her clear, heartfelt voice. God, was it a good show.

So there you have it, kittens…three weeks’ worth of fantastic live performances. I’ve been very lucky.