Real Gone!!!

Attended the weird concert, A Musical Tribute to Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck. A nine-hour show with a lineup that appeared intruiging and exciting. I was worried about what exactly to expect as I noticed very little public advertising. Only a couple of e-mails from Live Nation and Ticketmaster. All the well, we lined up a babysitter (my wife's friend who ended up taking the kids for the entire day and night!!!!) and shot off to the Concord Pavilion. I had a feeling things were going to be odd when pulling into the parking lot at two that afternoon with the 2:00 showime and our car was in the front parking lot. We wandered up the concourse and towards our seats and found a venue that was maybe, MAYBE 1/10th full. I've actually never attended a concert with such low attendance. People SLOWLY trickled in all afternoon, not reaching maximum capacity until the headliner, Sheryl Crow, hit the stage at 9:00 at night. Even then, since her performance was a rescheduling, the Pavilion was no more than 3/4 full. This was just the crowd. Then there were the performers:

Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irions - an acoustic folk duo; Arlo's daughter and husband. Beautiful harmonies and wonderful family-style songs.

Henry Rollins - spoken word; brilliant forty-five minute rant about the state of the nation and American culture. Typical Rollins; insightful and witty, piercing and hysterical. Thought of you, Tony Holt, all afternoon.

Son Volt - was really looking forward to hearing this band as it had always been talked up as "one of those bands" that you never listened to but always should be listening to. Actually, I won't be listening to them. Their performance, while solid, was pretty non-descript and I was pretty non-plussed with their set. Their sound was rock and roll for rock and roll's sake but I have found plenty of other bands to hit me harder and more emotionally than Son Volt. Sorry, guys.

The Mike Ness Band - I was really sweating Ness's performance as I can't stand Social Distortion. I've seen them once and they were good for a live punk band. That's like saying your doctor pulled off your barium enema without a hitch. Ness's band still incorporated the crotch-level Les Paul-eighth-note-strumming-loud-lack-of-dynamic-power-chording-monotonous-singing garbage that I can't stand. However, he also had a lap steel guitar player and the band played several classic country tunes that were quite good. Overall, the punk sound over-ruled the alt-punk/country and by closing with a Social D song, I had had enough. Wife and I ended up being able to walk up to the lawn, lie down and catch a much-needed cat nap!!!

Cat Power and the Dirty Delta Blues Band - Cat was one I was really interested in catching. Her band's great - very Pink Floyd-y with solid blues leanings. Cat's stage presence is quirky and idiosynchratic; she walked all over the stage and in and out of the audience. I do know she played a dirge-like "Fortunate Son" which was great. The biggest bummer was that her vocals were so low in the mix that I couldn't make out a single word she sang the entire hour. I was curious about what she had to say; I only had the chance to hear the tone of her voice. Bummer.

The Black Keys - I've heard their last record; I've read the reviews. Hoping not to see the White Stripes' competition. I caught the White Stripes' competition. What they do, they do very well but these guys are basically a one trick pony. Fifteen minutes and you've heard their entire discography. Oh well.

Sheryl Crow - finally, the headliner. I'd been wanting to catch Sheryl for nearly a decade. Things never clicked. Even had tickets for six years ago that I had to give up to move my brother to Chicago. Finally, this was going to work. She came out and KILLED the place with a solid band, a crack guitarist and a live voice that shone. She's amazing live, and she puts everything into her performances. I was bummed to see that basically Sheryl gives an 85-90 minute performance, as she's done throughout her career, but now I see why. She belts so hard that she's tired by the hour mark. Her set, however, was fantastic and I couldn't have been more pleased. Of course, I wished to have heard another ten or so tunes (including, yes, Real Gone from Cars, which is probably the one song I've listened to more in my life than any other) but was pleased as punch. The entire ensemble came out at the end to one-off (with an extremely scrambled vocal swapping) This Land Is Your Land. Great soloing with Crow's guitarist and Son Volt's. Also loved hearing Sarah Lee and Thomas Steinbeck (John's son and a dead ringer for him) introduce the events of the evening. Here's Sheryl's setlist:

GOD BLESS THIS MESS
SHINE OVER BABYLON
LOVE IS FREE (tease into I Can See Clearly Now)
LEAVING LAS VEGAS
STRONG ENOUGH
CAN'T CRY ANYMORE
MOTIVATION
MY FAVORITE MISTAKE
GASOLINE (with a killer tease into Gimme Shelter)
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD (Walk This Way tease)
DETOURS
IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY
OUT OF OUR HEADS
SOAK UP THE SUN
EVERY DAY IS A WINDING ROAD
****************************************
REDEMPTION DAY
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND

Was the gig worth it? You bet. Will the show be an annual, like announced? Doubt it but hope so. I wonder why other artists with longer track records shouldn't get asked, like the Boss, himself. Heck, he's covered Woody and quoted Steinbeck in his music. Maybe next year?!?!? :)