Curating the Brain Candy Monthly Arts Series at Green Brain Comics in Dearborn has led to us paying more attention to all art forms, not just writing. More than we have in the past at least. This in mind, we attended many more concerts this year between national and local acts. We hit 34 shows in 25 different locations in 2019. 10 of those times we attended with somebody, the other two dozen we flew solo--something we said WTF to in 2019. It was an excellent year for shows and looking back, we don't think there were any that were disappointing. The following ten though were our favorites:
Honorable Mentions--both Bob Mould's show and Richard Thompson's show at The Ark were huge bucket list shows; Kings X at The Token was a great memory inducing show; a night of Lu Fuki and Divine Providence with Trey Priest and Sophiyah E opening at the Psychedelic Healing Shack was great; This Life. We Lead at Playground Detroit was fantastic; and the Songbirds show at the W.A.B. with (among others we're apologetically forgetting) Carmel Liburdi, Kubat, Finlay and Rose, the Luddites, Emilie Rivard and Sodra, and Courtney Hurley with Kate Hinote hosting was a great evening of music.
10. Amy LaVere with Will Sexton--John Merchant opening at the Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill in Grand Rapids in August
We've been listening to Amy LaVere since late 2007 when Jim Ruland wrote about her and her debut album for the music issue of The Oxford American that year. Earlier in the year we supported a Crowdrise or GoFundMe or something to help her with her latest, Painting Blue. However, we'd never seen her name listed anywhere near SE Michigan for a live appearance. Granted, there were some years there we weren't looking hard for concert opportunities, but still, not once. Most likely via Facebook we saw she was coming to Grand Rapids, only a couple of hours away, on a Saturday night. A crazy idea was hatched. We'd hit the Detroit Zoo first thing in the morning and then drive across the state, first stopping at Potter Park Zoo in Lansing for a stroll, before heading to Grand Rapids and checking into a room before going to the zoo over there, and from there to the bar for dinner and a concert. The day was a beautiful one and the trio of zoos made for a great way to spend the day. We didn't realize that Grand Rapids would be having their version of the Woodward Cruise that day and my hotel was on that main drag of road, but we still had plenty of time to get to the bar a few hours before anybody else was considering showing up. The opener, John Merchant, was great and we picked up his new ep. LaVere with Will Sexton on guitar were great and covered tunes from her career while concentrating on the new CD. Had a chance to speak with each after they were done and really all three (including Merchant) were really nice.
9. Carmel Liburdi with Maray Fuego, Emily Rose, and Jack Oats opening at the Trumbellplex in December
After a mostly entertaining opening, Emily Rose came up and played 5 or 6 songs with her usual excellence--a beautiful voice and great guitar playing, Emily added two secular holiday tunes to the night. Next up was Jack Oats, a band we'd heard of, but not heard, and they were great--a stripped down two person version of the quartet, they have an almost haunting version of a country/rock hybrid. Incredible stage presence by Mr. Oats (not his real name...). And then Liburdi came out and kind of played two sets--first she played her new CD which was released that night straight through, and then played close to the same number of songs from her past efforts. We don't know how many people fit into the Trumbellplex safely, but whatever that number is, the crowd was right there plus or minus a dozen. It was packed, they were appreciative and predominantly paying attention. The sound was excellent, the new CD is great. She had a band for most of the songs that included a trombone, a saxophone, a stand-up bass, and percussion to go with her guitar and words. It was great seeing a local CD release crowded and the show itself more than justified that big crowd.
8. Audra Kubat with friends at the D.I.A. in November
Speaking of a local act and a good crowd. Audra played in the large room at the Detroit Institute of Arts with the Diego Rivera murals and it was jammed. Hundreds of people in there, not dozens and they showed up early (if they were smart--we "thought" we were showing up early and had the privilege of standing in the back off to a side--but at least was IN the room). While we assume the view was better from up in the front, you could hear great from anywhere in the room. Audra brought up many of her friends to share songs with her--many of whom are on our list of favorites from the area. It was a pretty incredible showing of love for this wonderful singer-songwriter who has contributed greatly to the city's music scene, as well as to city members through her mentoring both in and out of schools.
7. Lucy Dacus with Quinn Christopherson and Taylor Janzen opening at the El Club in September
We showed up very excited to hear Lucy Dacus and then found ourselves leaving as big fans of Taylor Janzen as well. Her opening set was great--she and (we believe) Ben on guitar played probably 8 or 9 songs in a pretty stripped down fashion. Great songs, great voice and from Winnipeg of all places. Quinn Christopherson had won the NPR Tiny Desk concert and was also accompanied by a gentleman on guitar. The songs we liked of his we really liked quite a bit but it was more hit and miss than Janzen had been. The duo was definitely energetic and enjoying themselves which is always great. Dacus was simply excellent playing with a band. Not the biggest chatterbox in between songs, but spoke enough to be engaging to the crowd. The crowd was very into her music, including a couple of songs where she more or less allowed the crowd to take over the singing near the end of the night. As is typical with the El Club shows, all of the bands were out at the merch table after the show and those spoken to were very nice.
6. Emily Wolfe at DIME in September
This show was moved from The Pike Room in Pontiac to DIME in Detroit maybe two days before. We don't know if this contributed to the sparse crowd (if you count the band members and the workers we might have hit two dozen people in the room) or not but if you just paid attention to the stage you'd never have known the crowd was diminutive. Wolfe and her two bandmates played like they had a packed, screaming house, tearing through her songs. This was a show we decided to go to after actively looking for concerts to attend. We reviewed those coming to places like The Pike Room, The Crofoot, The Loving Touch, and El Club and found examples of their work online and on occasion were interested enough to pick up a ticket. These shows generally run 10 to 20 bucks and if it's not a great time, it's not the end of the world--unlike the insanity of prices for shows at LCA. We read a bit about Wolfe and then listened to some songs via YouTube, then ordered her latest via iTunes and decided the trip (so we thought) to Pontiac would be worth our time. The fact that it moved to DIME actually put it closer to the EWN homestead and got us into a new room--one run very well. Great sound, great stage, a nice bar in the back. And again, the band put on a helluva show, roaring through songs, hanging out with people after the show. We currently have plans to shoot down to Cleveland to see her in February as there's nothing in Michigan on the current tour.
5. Big Thief with Palehound opening at the Majestic Theater in October
This ended up being a year of discovering a lot of bands that maybe a lot of others had already discovered. Some of it was by the route listed above--searching out who was coming to town and listening to their works. Other times it was opening bands and in the case of Big Thief (and Cherry Glazerr) it spun from being headliners on a tour Palehound was opening as we were going to buy tickets to see them for sure and decided we should probably find out who that headliner was. This one was a big win as Big Thief put out two albums this year that are on many critics best of the year lists--both of them, not just one. We found that we liked them quite a bit and were floored by their live performance. Palehound was great, having added a keyboardist since the last time we saw them and playing much from their latest, Black Friday, but filling in with some of our favorites from earlier works. And while the latest is a bit quieter of an effort than the last CD they put out, live tends to find them cranking things up just a bit. Then Big Thief came out and played like a four headed person, not a quartet--every movement by a member was perfectly offset or joined by one, or more, of the others. They played a crazy long version of the song "Not" from their latest album that was mesmerizing. And it was great to finally see a show at the Majestic as well. This was also the only show on this list that we attended with somebody outside of the EWN.
4. Ezra Furman with Stef Chura opening at the El Club in August
We believe our decision to attend this started by finding out Stef Chura was playing and having picked up her latest. As we found ourselves doing much of the year, that led to reading up on and then listening to Ezra Furman and realizing that hell yes we wanted to show up. Chura and her band were great, and Furman joined on the duet, "Sweet Sweet Midnight," walking up out of the crowd and hopping up onstage. It added to the fun that Chura and band were already providing. Then Furman and their band came out. They had on a black blouse with pearls and the trio backing all wore something akin to mechanic jumpsuits. Furman leaned into the microphone and stated "This is not the century we were promised" and then led their band through a solid hour and a half of what we'd call provoked angry protest music. Listening to earlier Furman albums there is less raw emotion, less anger, and maybe a touch more swing to the songs. Not to say the songs on Twelve Nudes isn't melodic, because it is, it's just performed at full angst--understandable these days--and in concert even a touch more so. Which from five or six feet away was incredibly powerful.
3. The Beths with Girl Friday and Benign Appeal at the El Club in July
Another that we purchased to attend after searching for a show to hit, finding great reviews of The Beths latest, buying it, and loving both it and their prior release. Benign Appeal is a local band that played 4 to 6 songs and were entertaining and one we'll look for shows from in the future. Girl Friday came out and kind of looked at each other for a few seconds, and then drummer Virginia did a ONE-TWO-THREE count on the drumsticks and BOOM! All four hit their microphones in unison with maybe the best cold opening we've ever been hit with--especially by a band we'd known nothing about. They crushed a 40 or so minute set leaping very high onto our list of live bands we've witnessed. They were loud, with oddly quiet moments, didn't have a lead singer but all took songs or parts of songs, the guitar was great, the drums fantastic (how her glasses never flew off still amazes me) and their stage presence was one where you simply knew they were having a blast and it became contagious. Then The Beths came out and played for over an hour and were nearly as entertaining--a cleaner sound, more straightforward songs, and they nailed them. They'd have been well worth our time and money with no opening acts--the fact that they brought out the others was an incredible bonus.
2. Charly Bliss with Emily Reo opening at The Loving Touch in June
Our first foray into this club, it's up high on our list of local favorites now. Yet another show where we had heard some good things, picked up a CD and bought a ticket within a day or two. We think we got lucky here--we'll be stunned if Charly Bliss is playing shows at venues this small again. Their latest and their concerts have been showing up on best of lists all over the place and the show was really quite packed. Emily Reo ended up being another opener that we'd go see for sure if she was coming back to town. A keyboard playing lead singer, she had a trio with her that at times looked like they were still learning songs, but the songs were excellent. Then Charly Bliss came out and were basically a ball of musical energy for the next 90 minutes. All four members were active and entertaining and great at what they do. The songs are high energy and live even more so as one might expect.
1. Marika Hackman with Girl Friday opening at The Blind Pig in October
Ticket purchased the day we saw the show announced. Embarrassingly, we'd not heard of Hackman at that time--we were simply excited we had another chance to see Girl Friday. However, we picked up Hackman's latest and loved it and then delved into past work and liked that quite a bit too. We got there early the night of the show and were outside where you can kind of hear sound check, but not completely clear. It seemed to be taking longer than one might expect based on door opening and show times--in retrospect we'll guess that it had something to do with making sure the Girl Friday replacement guitarist (Vera was sick and unable to perform) knew the songs well enough to get through the show. Turns out she did. Girl Friday was just as excellent, just as exciting, just as interesting--if not a bit more with the addition of a few new songs--as they'd been nearly four months earlier. They crushed their second show that we were fortunate enough to attend. Then Hackman came out and sang two songs solo--just her and her guitar. For song three and the majority after that her backing band joined her--that band was none other than Girl Friday again. They backed Hackman, filled in backing vocals where necessary and you'd have sworn they'd been playing her songs for years. She's a great front person--excellent singer and guitarist and her songs, especially the most recent album's worth, have great variance to them and hit on important topics. The fact that Girl Friday basically played the full show here certainly had something to do with bumping this show up to number one for the year.
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