As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Lake Street Dive w/ The Lone Bellow - Wolf Trap, 6/16/2016


Row AAA, Seat 1 (front row of the pit, all the way over to the left)
Folks, it doesn’t get any better than this. Their tour isn’t over, so planning a trip to coincide with one of their upcoming dates wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world. It would be tempting to characterize them as a largely undiscovered treasure, but they did draw a nice crowd (although well short of capacity) to Wolf Trap and sold out the 9:30 Club a couple of years ago.
Figuring out a genre into which to fit the quartet isn’t an easy task. Their Allmusic.com bio at one point describes it as a “bright, fresh, charming, and exploratory version of jazzy pop/rock, full of hooks and plenty of R&B and soul flavors, with a big dose of the Beatles and British Invasion bands.” The instrumentation is certainly a little unusual, with percussionist Michael Calabrese (who came up with an unbelievable drum solo midway through their set), enthusiastic upright bassist Bridget Kearney, and Mike “McDuck” Olsen, who alternates between guitar and trumpet (sometimes within the same song). Vocals are the group’s trademark, however – Rachael Price (who’s recorded a couple straight jazz albums) has a combination of chops and stage presence that few can match today, and the others contribute harmonies on most of their material.
During their 100-minute set they got to almost all of the tracks from their recent Side Pony album, most notably “Godawful Things” (which opened the show), the equally rousing “Hell Yeah”, and a poignant rendition of “So Long” that they dedicated to Prince. Other highlights included a great mid-set cover of “Lola” (for which they brought out opening act The Lone Bellow), “Bad Self Portraits” (the title track from their previous CD), and a magnificent you-had-to-be-there version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” to end the evening. I have no problem giving the show a 10; had they squeezed in my personal favorite “Use Me Up”, I guess I would have had to go to 10.5.
To get a better idea of the group’s sound, check out any or all of the following:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EPwRdVg5Ug (I Want You Back – the video that went viral on YouTube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNCwoT96lZU (Use Me Up)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRgvrEmwxJ4 (Godawful Things)
The Lone Bellow, also favorites in XpnWorld, fully deserved their one-hour opening slot. More in a folk/Americana vein than LSD, and with more conventional instrumentation, they also emphasized great vocals, whether on rockers like “Green Eyes And A Heart Of Gold”, the classic “You Never Need Nobody”, or acoustic single-mic ballads such as “Watch Over Us.”
Setlist
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