by Michael Sherer
Steven Van Zandt has a brand new memoir entitled ‘Unrequited Infatuations,’ and to accompany it a discussion was had between him and an old close friend, screenwriter Jay Cocks. It was a very relaxed, down-to-earth and engaging one, as they’ve known each other for 46 years.
Their association is an interesting one: In ‘75, when Cocks was a cultural critic for Time magazine, he found out that Newsweek magazine’s counterpart Maureen Orth was doing a piece about Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, which Van Zandt had joined that year. Cocks then convinced his editor that they were about to be beaten out to the story by their main competitor. The unprecedented result was that both weekly magazines featured Springsteen on their covers on the same day of October 27th. This was the first time that a musician had achieved that. It stemmed from the breakthrough success of Springsteen’s third record ‘Born to Run,’ which had been released two months earlier and had rocketed to number 3 on the Billboard top 200 chart, after his first two records had hardly made any splash at all.
by John Noyd
Dressed in cowboy boots and a black rainbow-trimmed jump-suit, singer-songwriter and moving force behind Heartless Bastards, Erika Wennerstrom embodied the band’s power-roots love-in ethos, leading the crowd down that rocky road to the Promised Land with unrepentant strength and six-string wisdom. Playing the title cut to their latest album, “A Beautiful Life,” Wennerstrom sort of shrugged her shoulder as explanation of the song’s positive outlook and asked, “what’s ya gonna do?” The crowd knew; enjoy the moment. Delivering rousing tunes with big rhythms and sizzling solos, the Bastards encourage living in the present with double-barreled renditions of “Got to Have Rock and Roll,” “Doesn’t Matter Now,” and, “Revolution,” which reminded everyone, “the revolution is in your mind.”
The band felt right at home despite the fact they hadn’t played Madison since opening up for The Decemberists at the Orpheum Theater in 2009. Accustomed to life on the road as detailed by the slinky mid-show banger, “Went Around the World,” Ohio-bred Texas transplant Wasserstrom recounted spending time in Appleton at a monastery run by some friends while writing songs for the new album. She also professed her love for West Texas desert before launching into the haunted tumbleweed waltz, “The Arrow Killed the Beast.” A restless curious spirit, it made her band’s visit to the Majestic all that more special. A somewhat rare treat to be relished and cherished.
by John Noyd
For some reason Japanese Breakfast has always played Madison in September; from 2016 – 2018 they played the High Noon Saloon, UW’s The Sett and Majestic Theater. So, when Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner announced after the first song how cold she felt, I wondered if in their three-year absence she had forgotten what September was like in Wisconsin. A crisp night and a near full moon greeted the band’s fourth visit to Madison and a sold-out return to the Majestic, where whatever cold may have visited the band was soon removed by warm love filling the venue.
Madison holds a special place for Michelle, whose first Yelp review ever was to praise East Washington’s Five Star Barbecue. Sticking to her praise, she dedicated the closing number, “Everybody Wants To Love You,” to the Korean restaurant. Food is very special to Michelle, as detailed in her recent New York Times best seller, “Crying in H Mart,” and it seems only natural the only dedication of the night would be to a restaurant.
by Michael Sherer
NYC is, of course, a special place to perform, especially at the fabled and classy The Town Hall, just east of Times Square. It was the tenth stop on Buckingham’s thirty date U.S. tour this year, which began September 1st in Milwaukee. Most of the 1,500 hundred seats here at The Town Hall were full. This great sounding, 100 year old hall is an ideal venue to attend concerts and talks.
Buckingham was in fine form vocally, musically and physically, as was his whole band. They sounded taut and thoroughly rehearsed, which they have been, as seen from notices online. Co guitarist Neale Heywood, an Englishman, has been playing alongside Buckingham since 1997, when he first played with Fleetwood Mac at the concert known as “The Dance.” Heywood has toured with the Mac throughout the years since, as an added guitarist.
by John Noyd
Pitchfork Festival has always managed to be a diverse inclusive gathering that looks both into the future and back to its past with a reasonable set-up and eclectic roster. Beyond moving to September with mask protocol and vaccination mandates to ensure a safe environment to enjoy music, mosh pits and merch, the 2021 version was no exception. For some bands this was the first time they played since the pandemic, for others, recent natural disasters made the trip to Chicago particularly challenging. New Orleans’ punk powerhouse Special Interest barely escaped from Hurricane Ida. The Weather Station, whose latest album, “Ignorance,” tackles climate change, only hinted at difficult logistics when they claimed to have climbed seventeen mountains to get to the festival. Jay Electronica was the only last-minute cancellation with the remaining forty-one bands arriving well-rehearsed and ready to play.
From the one-handed cartwheel from Dog Leg’s guitarist to St. Vincent ’s rotating stage and choreographed nostalgia, the performances were uniformly impressive and energetic. Amaarae’s emotional intensity, Bartees Strange’s souful hopefulness, Tomberlin’s delicate declarations, Cat Power’s compassionate folk-blues; the entire spectrum of human feelings were articulated while black midi, Ty Segall and Thundercat unleashed feelings words couldn’t quite convey. The pandemic and the twentieth anniversary of 9/11 were occasionally mentioned, but an overall sense of appreciation and gratitude wove through the between song chit-chat and as in past years, the festival created a sonic bubble where lyrical wisdom and socio-political willfulness floated over life’s more immediate needs to chill out and rock on.
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