Joe Robinson - Jammin Java, July 12, 2013

Joe Robinson and his band mates delivered an amazing show at Jammin Java on Friday evening.  It was evident from the first few notes coming off his guitar that Joe is already (he is only 22) an accomplished talent able to deliver incredible music.

After deciding to see him based on nothing more than a suggestion on Twitter, I now own two Joe Robinson albums, Let Me Introduce You and Toe Jam (EP).  The recordings are good, but nothing like the live performance.    

Joe's vocals are good, but very understated.  The live show acknowledged this, and his guitar and his excellent bandmates were front and center.  His recordings contain a lot more singing, and in my view do not show him at his best.  Without having seen a live show, I would not be gushing to all my friends what a talent he is.   

The contrast that keeps hitting me is Gary Clark Jr.  Joe Robinson may be a better guitar player than Gary.  He is that good.  But he does not have a song like Bright Lights (and he has not played with Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger).  

It feels to me like Joe or someone advising him is trying to fit his recorded music into a "pop" mold, while his guitar playing screams rock & roll.  I am listening to Hurricane from Let Me Introduce You right now, and it sounds like very well crafted jazzy pop.  Very pleasant, but it sells Joe's talent short, or at least it compromises his popular appeal. 

I think Joe should get some advice from Gary Clark Jr on personal image management.  Gary has done a great job in this regard, and has established a well deserved reputation as "the next big thing" .  

Honestly, part of me wants Joe to remain undiscovered so I can see him again in an intimate setting like JamminJava in Vienna, Virginia where Joe can walk off the stage into the crowd and pose with his fan girls.  However he deserves to be selling out the 930 Club in DC.   

 

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls - Rams Head Live, 6/6/2013

I took Will and his friend Jamie to see Frank Turner and his band in Baltimore on 6 June.  I have to say, it is wonderful to have a child with great taste in music.  I can't imagine my dad taking me to a concert when I was 15 and both of us having a blast.  (Actually my dad was great, but he never took me to any rock concert.)  Jamie's dad is also a Frank Turner fan, and saw several of his SXSW shows, but unfortunately had a conflict and could not make this date.

I love seeing bands in bars or clubs.  I have pretty much given up on arena shows unless I can get tickets in the first 10 rows.  I would rather be in a place that is general admission and I can get close enough to see every detail of the performance, the emotion of the band and feel the energy of the performance.  The best time to see a band in a club is when they are just breaking, and maybe won't be playing clubs much longer.  Frank Turner is certainly in this category.  He is already playing arenas in his native England.  Here he is with his band earlier this year at Wembley. 

Rams Head is of course far smaller than Wembley, but Frank Turner was on fire, and the audience was totally into the show.  Will and Jamie knew every lyric, and there was plenty of audience participation.  

 

Frank Turner

Frank Turner is a very high energy performer, but I find it a little difficult to categorize his music.  A simple description would be English Folk Rock, but then Fairport Convention is in that category, and Turner is far edgier and very contemporary.  He comes to more traditional music via a punk band and brings a punk attitude.  However he is very well educated (Eton) and his music and lyrics are deeply anchored in English history and culture.  I described him to someone as an English Springsteen, and while imperfect I do think there is some truth in that comparison.  He calls his music English Country which I guess works too.

Nigel Powell

All of The Sleeping Souls were tight.  The photo above is drummer Nigel Powel, and I also especially like their guitarist Ben Lloyd, who barely ever stood still and is partially blurred in every photo including the one below. 

Ben Lloyd

Frank Turner is big fan of tattoos, and even has a song 'Tattoos' on his latest album which sounds pretty biographical.  I think I saw a mention in his Twitter or IG feed on getting some new ink recently on his current US tour.  Anyway, the art on his arms when he is playing is pretty cool.

Frank Turner Ink

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls are back in the Washington area on 1 August at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD.  Details here.   He and his band are great live performers, with interesting original songs.

Punch Brothers - 930 Club 2/7/2013

I made it back from Chicago in time on Thursday to catch the Punch Brothers at 930 Club, the first of two nights they played in DC.  It was a great show, but the original reason I went, and the reason I heard about the show was to see Sarah Jarosz who was supposed to open.  Unfortunately Sarah was sick, so did not play.  That was a shame.

The Punch Brothers were originally formed by mandolinist Chris Thile, formerly of Nickel Creek.  They are bluegrass purists in instrumentation and play a combination of traditional and progressive arrangements.  I had never heard of them before buying tickets for this show, but have quickly come to love their music, especially their album Who's Feeling Young Now.  

The music was extremely tight, complex, but powered by infectious enthusiasm, especially from Chris Thile.  When I showed my twelve year old daughter a picture of Chris, her first comment was 'he's cute'.  I think if she had seen him in person, he would have had an instant new fan.  The interplay between band members was great, with most everyone soloing and playing instrumental duets at various times.  All of the instruments were pushed hard - these are clearly guys who are not afraid to find new sounds from their tools.

I have enjoyed bluegrass probably longer than any other type of music, having been introduced to it by my sister in the early 1970s, and later enjoying Jerry Garcia and David Grisman among others.  I am now really excited by some of the contemporary bluegrass from the likes of Punch Brothers, Sarah Jarosz (and closely related Mumford & Sons and Frank Turner) that use traditional instrumentation with more modern interpretation.  

You can't take a 'professional' camera into 930 Club, which they interpret as a DSLR, or more generally a big camera with interchangeable lenses.   I have used my Canon G10 in the past, but it is horrible in low light, and useless at high ISO.  I recently picked up a Sony DSC-RX100 as my new 'small' camera, and especially had concerts in mind.  The camera did not disappoint.   It is acceptably sharp at ISO 3200 and I was able to get an adequate shutter speed, even at an F4.9 aperture (which is wide open at full telephoto - while the lens has a maximum aperture of 1.8, it decays very rapidly at longer focal lengths).  Overall I love the RX100 and actually wish I could put some of its software features in my Canon 7D. 

Enjoy the photos, and give the Punch Brothers a listen.

Gary Clark Jr. at 9:30 Club

One of the most exciting concerts I have seen in a long time was Gary Clark Jr. at the 9:30 Club in DC last night.  I am a relatively recent fan, and first heard of Gary from an Austin Monthly cover story in March 2012.  Since then I have listened frequently to his Bright Lights EP, and more recently to his new full length album, Blak and Blu.

Gary Clark Jr. at The 9:30 Club 11/10/12 (Bill Phelps Photo)

Gary Clark Jr. at The 9:30 Club 11/10/12 (Bill Phelps Photo)

Gary's musical mentors were some of the legends of the Austin, Texas music scene including Jimmie Vaughn and Clifford Antone.  He has been a musical fixture in Austin for the past decade, winning a number of big awards.  He first broke big nationally after playing Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2010.  Since then he has played almost every festival in the US, and perhaps more impressive played for President Obama at the White House, joining Mick Jagger, B.B. King and other blues icons (video below).

While the comparison I hear most often for Gary Clark Jr. is Stevie Ray Vaughn, he rocks MUCH harder.  I personally think he sounds at times like Vernon Reid from Living Colour in his sound, at least in terms of his intensity, often sounding akin to heavy metal.  A Boston Globe review of Gary's concert there earlier this week described the heavy sound as 'transformative thunder' and that captures my impression very well.  I have been at Grateful Dead concerts when they shook the foundations, and Gary and his band surely achieved that effect last night.  

Zapata! (Bill Phelps Photo)

Zapata! (Bill Phelps Photo)

One of the main sources of the "thunder" generated by Gary's band was his guitar player, Zapata!.  He opened the show playing a wild two necked electric guitar, with a twelve string on top.  Zapata! had a large electronic effects board on the stage in front of him, and at times he configured it to lay down a wall of fuzz and reverb.   While they are blurred in the photo,  Zapata! wore huge rings on the fingers of his right hand, and I am not sure how he managed to play the guitar at all with so much metal on his fingers.  The other members of the band, Johnny Bradley on bass, and Johnny Radelat on drums were equally strong, and the drummer especially looked like he was having a blast playing.  

Gary Clark Jr. at The 9:30 Club 11/10/12 (Bill Phelps Photo)

Gary Clark Jr. at The 9:30 Club 11/10/12 (Bill Phelps Photo)

My favorite concerts experiences are when I have the opportunity to hear a talented musician who is on fire, and just exploding in popularity.  This certainly describes Gary Clark Jr. right now.  

I took these photos with a Canon G10 compact camera.  The 9:30 Club does not allow 'professional' cameras, defined as any camera with interchangeable lenses.  The G10 takes great photos when there is abundant light.  The photos here are well outside the camera's comfort zone.