Look for full fledged reviews of all these shows in the next week.
I caught Will Hoge here in Chicago last week. He's down to a four piece band, but that didn't matter as the bourbon and blues-rock template was as good as its ever been. The show was short for his standards (100-minutes), but tough to argue with. His latest record, THE WRECKAGE, is damn good, but not on par with his last two records (IMO), but still good. That being said, it did take me about 4-5 listens to fully appreciate. I was mad I missed MIlwaukee the next night as the show proved to be epic with a staggering 11 song encore...alas...
...I was at the Bottom Lounge catching LUCERO {antiMusic link}. Damn these guys are great. I had never heard them until two days before, but I'll be damned. These guys just rule the stage and what I love about them is their drive to exhaust the audience. Well worth the $$$ if they come to your town. The horns sounded great on this night.
http://www.antimusic.com/reviews/09/Lucero_Live.shtml
Bruce Springsteen in St Louis the next night. In short, a disappointment. If you had never seen him before, it would have been splendid, but considering how phenomenal the show was the previous year, this one fell flat on all accounts. The biggest issue was the holdover of the same songs from last year, not performed as well. Seeing BTR again was great, but the songs leading up to it and after it never gelled.
Was sent to review Kelly Clarkson two nights later. I despise American Idol, but I'm not sure if I can despise anything that brought a talent like this to the forefront. She did a slew of covers and even melded a Alanis Morissette and Kings of Leon song together. Her rendition of "Lies" by the Black Keys was jaw dropping. It literally sent shivers down my spine. She also made sure her
audience knew it was the Black Keys. She did a Patsy Cline song acoustic and in the encore, did a full on band version of "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes with horns and all.
Say what you want, but beneath the pop exterior is a artist screaming to get out. Many of her biggest hits were done differently (acoustic, with horns, etc). One of the best surprises I have had in recent memory as far as shows go. Let's hope some of her fans seek out those artists she covered. Also, she got bonus points for bad mouthing her record label as "A**holes" not once, but twice. After she did "Lies" she mentioned how she wants to do more bluesy numbers, but
"The A-holes I work for won't let me".
For prices between $20 and $50, a definite bargain...
xT
