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David Byrne, front man from the band Talking Heads, took his artistic musical adventure to York, PA on 12-04-2008.  The ever quirky and creative David Byrne was years ahead of his time with his music, artistry, and videos during the 70′s and 80′s.  His songwriting has inspired many new and old bands and also got themselves inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.  That is a long way to come since playing their first gig at the legendary CBGB as an opening band for the Ramones in 1975.

This tour was called Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno.  David Byrne and Brian Eno worked together for a few short years starting in 1978 when Brian Eno began producing the Talking Heads albums including “Remain In The Light”.  Recently, they produced their first album together since 1981 called “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today”.  For this album, Eno wrote most of the music and David Byrne wrote some of the music and all of the lyrics.

The evening began with David Byrne explaining to the audience that the show will be much like going to a restaurant, only there are no selections on the menu, he will be our waiter for the evening, and only he knows what will be served to us.  Since it was a fixed setlist (for the most part) for the tour I think many did have an idea of what would be served up to us…. But I am not sure anyone expected it to be one of the best concert spectacles this area has seen in a while.

David Byrne is on tour with ten extra helpers which included a percussionist, a drummer, a keyboard player, a bass player, three backup singers, and four dancers!  About half the songs had choreographed dances that were performed during the songs like we were seeing a Broadway play.  The whole group looked like they were having a blast while performing.  It took a while but eventually the audience built enough courage to stand for the show but once they did, it seemed to lift the bands playing to a whole new level.  This was certainly a case of the band feeding off the audience and visa versa. 

The set included many Talking Heads huge hits including “Once In a Lifetime”, “Burning Down The House”, their cover of Al Green’s “Take Me To The River”, and Heaven.  It also included a heavy dose of the new David Byrne and Brian Eno album.

The full band came out in tutu’s for the second encore immediately causing a laughter from the audience.  David Byrne is always stretching every sensory to make each performance an experience for his audience.  You come to a show expecting the least expected.  I can only imagine what the early shows were like back in the day with the Talking Heads  at the legendary CBGB shows. 

The setlist for the night was:
Strange Overtones
I Zimbra **Talking Heads Song** (With Dancers)
One Fine Day
Help Me Somebody
Houses In Motion **Talking Heads Song** (With Dancers)
My Big Nurse
My Big Hands (With Dancers)
Heaven **Talking Heads Song**
Never Thought
Poor Boy
Cross-Eyed And Painless **Talking Heads Song**
Life Is Long (With Dancers)
Once In A Lifetime (With Dancers)
Life During War
I Feel My Stuff (With Dancers)

Encore 1:
Take Me To The River **Talking Heads Song**
The Great Curve (With Dancers)

Encore 2:
Air **Talking Heads Song**
Burning Down The House **Talking Heads Song**

Encore 3:
Everything That Happens

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Hackensaw Boys played the Abbey Bar at the Appalachian Brewing Company as part of Bluegrass Month on 11-21-2008.  The promoters, Round Table Presents, hosted a great month of bluegrass bands with the likes of Hot Buttered Rum, Oakhurst, and Hackensaw Boys.  Hackensaw Boys are are a fantastic band to see live and I am so glad that Round Table Presents continues to bring them back into Harrisburg.

The Hackensaw Boys played two sets of music this night in front of a large appreciative crowd.  I was very happy they played two full sets since I missed 3/4 of the first set while I was at the Derek Trucks Band show but I was still able to see about an hour and a half of music!

Harrisburg loves the Hackensaw Boys and I am pretty sure they are aware of it, each time they come they bring out a crowd in numbers and they all participate.  Hackensaw Boys have returned to the Abbey Bar many times. In fact, this is their second time playing the Abbey Bar this year alone.

This time, they played Harrisburg with a vengence.  The last time they visited, their hotel room was broken into and money, laptops, ipods, and music instruments were stolen from their room.  I am glad this did not discourage them from coming back!  They already play a high octane form of bluegrass and country… retro kids may say they are cow-punk.

This band loves their fans. They are very approachable and are not afraid to get out on the floor with them.  in fact, the last few songs they play at each show are completely acoustic and among the audience.  And when I mean among them, I mean they for a circle dead center of the floor and the audience all circles around them, stomp their feet, and sing along.

Go see the Hackensaw Boys and thank you ABC/Round Table Presents for bringing them to Harrisburg!

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Derek Trucks Band hit the stage on 11-21-2008 at the the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg, PA.  Derek Trucks has graced Harrisburg with his presence many times in the past and I am glad he keeps coming back.

It seemed everyone was in a great mood this night and this show.  Derek was the most outgoing and personable with the audience I have ever seen at his shows.  In fact, at one point during the sit down portion he broke a string and instead of having his guitar tech replace it with another guitar he asked the guitar tech to being a string out for him and then he replaced it on stage and joking with the audience as he was tuning it. “Does it sound good?”.

This was a stunning set of music which featured my personal favorite of the evening, a mesmerizing rendition of “Favorite Things” that went into psychedelic avant garde jazz.  Derek was in a zone during this song tearing the structure down into a jam and started throwing all sorts of stuff out the band.  he loosened his low-E string such that it sagged off the neck, he pulled that string back towards his body and over top of the neck pickup, plucked the string and then loosened and tightened the string altering the note’s pitch.  That is what you come to expect with Derek stretching the avant garde Jazz genre into the the next generation just like his jazz favorites did decades ago. 

Yet wnother fantastic set by the Derek Trucks Band, they have never let me down and in fact, each time I see them they get even better than the last time I saw them.

1. Done Got Over
2. Down Don’t Bother Me
3. Down In The Flood
4. Days Is Almost Gone
5. Anyday
6. Soul Of A Man *
7. 44 Blues * 
8. Meet Me At The Bottom * 
9. Drumz>
10. My Favorite Things
11. Get Out Of My Life
12. Get What You Deserve
13. Leaving Trunk
ENCORE
14. Gonna Move

* w/ Todd on guitar

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Derek Trucks Band hit the stage on 11-09-2008 at the the State Theatre in State College, PA. The night prior Penn State lost all hopes of playing in the national football championships so the town was in need of some Soul Serenade.  I always enjoy a Derek Trucks Band show in State College, it is after all the city that I first saw them live on 11/20/2001 and I have been a dedicated follower ever since.

I love this band.  Not only is their music amzing in terms of depth, versatility, precision and skill but the band members are all fantastic people.  I have met a lot of musicians large and small in popularity.  I have had the fortune of meeting the Derek Trucks band nearly 10 times and each time they have been grateful of their fans. This is why I will always support this band.

Speaking of supporting the band, this fall tour is a tour is partly a promotional tour for the upcoming release, “Already Free”.  The release date for the new album is slated for January 13th.  Please support the band and preorder a copy of the new album.

Derek Trucks, a phenomenal guitar player, plays complex riffs and solos so effortlessly that he is often completely expressionless.  Derek’s class on stage astounds me.  His band is also very complex and does not get enough credit for their contributions.

Todd Smallie is an incredible jazz influenced bass player.  The depth and complexity of his bass lines are inspiring.  He wears a huge grin on his face on stage while his fingers dance all over the fret board to the rhythm of Yonrico Scott’s drums.

Yonrico Scott, the drummer, puts his whole heart and soul into every performance.  Yonrico pounds on the drum skins while bobbing his head and at times making cartoonish faces all the while looking like he is having the time of his life.

Kofi Burbridge, brother of Oteil Burbridge of the Allman Brothers Band, plays the Hammond B3, the keyboards, as well as the flute.  Kofi’s contributions are undeniable he not only plays the chordal changes for the songs as most do, he also often mimics Dereks riffs on his keyboards that at times you have to concentrate just to hear the separate instruments. Together, the dueling instruments add a lot of emphasis and power to the songs.

There was much discussion during the set so the setlist as written oddly looks nothing like what was actually played.

This is what they actually played:

1. Done Got Over
2. Gonna Move>
3. Sahib Teri Bandi
4) Crow Jane
5. I’ll Find My Way
6. These Days Is Almost Gone
7. Down In The Flood 
8. Get What You Deserve
9. Anyday
10. Get Out My Life 
11. My Favorite Things
12. Key To The Highway
ENCORE
13. Leavin Trunk

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Arizona opened up for the Derek Trucks Band on 11-09-2008 in State College, PA.  It was my first time hearing and seeing Arizona.  Arizona is a 4-piece band from Asheville, NC that immediately drew a My Morning Jacket comparison from me (see My Morning Jacket photos by clicking on the “Bands” link at the top of the page).

Though the mixture of the two bands on the bill seemed a bit odd…..  But, I personally love My Morning Jacket so it was a pleasant surprise to see this band open.  The band’s music was very melodic, I was impressed with some of the song melodies.  They played some of them were non-traditional melodies and worked out perfectly within the song’s structure.  Fitting I suppose because I later learned their producer, Danny Kadar, has done work with My Morning Jacket.

The first thing I noticed when they hit the stage was the Jim James(esque) hair-do and bearded lead singer/guitarist in pastel blue knickers up around his knees with tights….. Sort of  a Ben Franklin on Easter morning look.  They apparently have a sense of humor about them too which is nice when you are trying to win over an audience as an opener.

They have made significant airplay on WXPN and have toured with the Band of Horses and The Slip in the past.  Which if you blend Band of Horses with a little My Morning Jacket I think you might get a good idea of what they sound like.

The band is made up of Ben Wigler (Vocals/Guitar), Alex Hornbake (Bass/Vocals), Nick Campbell (Vocals/Guitar) and James DeDakis (Drums/Vocals).  If you get a chance to see them, it is worth the trip if you like bands like My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, etc.