the Band: the Screaming Females, the Dead Weather
the Date: Monday, July 13, 2009
the Venue: 9:30 Club (DC)
(Photo credit to Carlos Avilez and his Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/people/soulrac)
The Screaming Females opened. Not my cup of tea … at all.
The Dead Weather was the main attraction. The band is made up of Allison Mosshart (the Kills), Jack White (the White Stripes and the Raconteurs), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age), and Jack Lawrence (the Raconteurs) who while touring together a couple years ago, they just decided what the hell, let’s make another band.
I’ve been blown away by previous shows of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs and I’m a big fan of the Kills and Queens of the Stone Age. This show was just, um … okay. The tunes were from the Dead Weather’s debut album, Horehound
. The band put forth lots of energy, but there were only a handful of songs that I really enjoyed. I wouldn’t say a full-on disappointment, but I just didn’t walk away thinking, “Wow, I can’t wait until this band comes back to town.”
Nonetheless, I'm glad NPR recorded the entire show and saved it here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106385053
. The band put forth lots of energy, but there were only a handful of songs that I really enjoyed. I wouldn’t say a full-on disappointment, but I just didn’t walk away thinking, “Wow, I can’t wait until this band comes back to town.”Nonetheless, I'm glad NPR recorded the entire show and saved it here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106385053
Full setlist: 60 Feet Tall / Bone House / Outside / So Far From Your Weapon / Cut Like a Buffalo / Forever My Queen (Pentagram cover)/ Rocking Horse / New Pony (Bob Dylan cover)/ No Hassle Night / Will There Be Enough Water / ENCORE / Treat Me Like Your Mother / Child of a Few Hours / Hang You From The Heavens
, Calexico’s most recent release, but they were sure to play many of the fan favorites. Of all the Calexico shows I’ve seen, this was the best. The rest of the crowd seemed to love the show too. There was plenty of dancing and the gritos were howled … Aaahhhuaaaayiiii! My personal highlights of the evening were Roka, Sunken Waltz, Two Silver Trees, El Gatillo (Trigger Revisited), Alone Again Or, and the final song of the evening, Guero Canelo.
, but their set spanned all four of their albums. My favorites of the night were Closer, Taper Jean Girl, Milk, Use Somebody, On Call, Slow Night, So Long, Knocked Up, and Charmer.
. My favorites of the evening included What’s in It for Me?, Wake Up, Louisiana, The Rat, Little House of Savages, Long Time Ahead of Us, and In the New Year (where Hamilton's voice crescendoed into a scream in the chorus). It was just an amazing performance from a band that I love. We even had a surprise guest appearance from Peter’s little boy. Awwwww.
. Many of the night’s tunes came from that album. I mean, they played nearly that entire album. Thankfully, they played tons of other songs too including some of my favorites, Off the Record, Anytime, Golden, Gideon, Lay Low and, of course, One Big Holiday. It’s also worth noting that they played Cobra, a rare tune off of the band’s 
EP … that’s like a 20 minute song!
compilation CD. One of the other bands on the CD was the Black Angels. I must have listened to Black Grease a million times. We’ve seen them a few times before, including under the blazing sun at Lollapalooza 2006 and down in Austin at a small club during the Austin City Limits Festival 2006 (Austin is where they’re from by the way). Needless to say, we love ‘em!
. My favorites were Black Grease (of course), Manipulation, Doves, and The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven. I’m sure the rest of the crowd left the club as I did, with ringing ears and a grin on my face. Thank you, Black Angels … thank you.
(a split/double album with their alter-ego South San Gabriel), that's aside from the 4 Centro-Matic EPs, the 3 South San Gabriel albums, and the 2 Will Johnson solo albums. These Texans have put out a whole heck of a lot of music!
, the setlist covered the entire Breeders catalog and even included some tunes from the Amps. My favorites (if there is such a thing as a favorite among favorites) were Huffer, No Aloha, Happiness is a Warm Gun, and the tear-jerker Here No More (apparently written about Kim and Kelly's mom and Alzheimer's disease). We just simply could not get enough. But you know what I love about the Breeders? EVERYTHING!