Reviews by...
Karen
Matthew
Spubs
NY Post -- DAN AQUILANTE
The Bowery shows were great. Hooray that Kenny gets his due recognition! I'm surprised the reviewer didn't mention the amazing LP, who was there like in Philly to sing Cinderella and the kick-ass new song, Perfect - now one of my favorite live songs, ever. On Tuesday (3/21), Joan Osborne was there to sing Nothing to Believe In (hadn't heard that for a long while) and she and Johnny dueted beautifully on Wedding Day.
I also enjoyed that they opened the show with St. Cajetan and got Low over with 3 or 4 songs into the set (didn't keep an exact set list). Johnny's sublime guitar solo at the end of Another Song About the Rain (played Monday night) cannot be properly described in written language, must be experienced.
Karen
Also, Brandy rocks. She's got all the songs totally down now, is inventing solos and fills that sound like they were there in the first place. I met her the other night, she's totally dreamy. I also think she's gotten a lot more confident with the backing vocals , although this may also be Woody's work; in any event, she sounds terrific.
The setlists, the vocals, the solos, everything is really sounding together on this tour. Kenny is doing a lot of great new stuff, the new songs sound great, everything is unbelievable. Rock forward.
Does this band get better each time or what? David, the solo blew me away! I've seen this band so many times and haven't seen anything like that yet. The energy was great, the band was loose and really looked like they were having fun, the sound was clear, the crowd was into the music. WOW! You would think that after so many shows I would be tired of attending by now. No way!
Again my apologies for the "uncool" kinda post here. But I really enjoyed that show! Okay...back to your regular, very cool and technical programming:) Thanks for listening!
Spubs
By DAN AQUILANTE
ONE song into Monday night's concert, Cracker launched "Seven Days," the band's spitting, in-your-face explanation as to why rock music is slagged by critics but still loved by the fans. The lyrics here are interesting, but the melody -- starting with a Stonesian "Dead Roses" guitar riff that folded inside out to reveal the song's punkabilly heart -- showed why fans go crazy for the distinctive snap in Cracker's pop.
At the first of two fan-appreciation concerts at the Bowery Ballroom, the Virginia band (by way of California) sifted through its four studio albums for a greatest-hits program that had the predominantly male crowd singing along with vein-busting enthusiasm.
Through the two-hour-plus performance, the quintet was consistently good and occasionally veered toward brilliance.
The band's frontman, David Lowery, was a favorite with the house.
His vocal bluster was only outdone by his rough treatment of his guitars, which suffered broken strings every other song.
But it was his partner, lead guitarist Johnny Hickman, who carried the evening, with one or two six-string solos per song.
He was outstanding through the performance, which lasted well past midnight, but hit his stride fairly early in the evening, during the born-to-lose anthem "Lonesome Johnny Blues."
Part of what made that song so special was a tiny brilliant moment.
The band was raging to Johnny's liquid-fast guitar flash and the song was a second away from sonic climax when the quintet -- as if they shared a single brain -- did a sudden stop to admire the view, then shot off the top of the musical mountain they'd built.
Sideman Kenny Margolis also distinguished himself with his performance on both the keyboards and the accordion.
As for Lowery, his vocals had unusual harshness compared to what he achieves in the studio. It's the kind of voice acceptable only because the fact and fiction behind the songs are his.
The better you know the songs, the better you like his singing -- a perfect match with all the lugs who sang in the campfire chorus.
from the New York Post