Old 97's Roll Call

They were a little rusty, but still great. I'll post the setlist and more thoughts tomorrow.

Agreed! Heard a few bumps in couple of places but thought last night was great. And it hadn't snowed much so the drive back home wasn't bad.

Well 9:15 came, and no Grey Delisle. Then 9:30, 10:00, and no Grey. My wife said she was probably somewhere doing her makeup. 10:15 came and on came that quartet of dullards known as the damnwells. I'm not sure why Rhett is friends with these guys, unless he has a secret thing for bad Goo Goo Dolls ripoff bands. And there really is no accounting for why anyone would like a band like this.

Then Grey managed to show up (just arrive via plane, did her makeup in the airport bathroom) with husband Murry on acoustic guitar and former Lone Justice dude Marvin Etzioni on mandolin in tow. She was enjoyable, but not "amazing" as the girl standing next to me proclaimed. Not nearly as enjoyable as at Bumbershoot, when she had a lead guitarist, Murray on bass, and a drummer, and when Marvin really cut loose and hammed it up.

The 97's took the stage at 12 and played until about 1:45. Some general thoughts…it really sucks when the guy next to you insists on twirling his ugly girlfriend around and ramming her into you throughout the show. And it sucks when she inisists on resting her head on your back and shoulders, as well as your wifes back and shoulders…

Ok, thoughts about the show. Much, much, much better than Rhett Miller and the Instigators. Ken's guitar work and Murry's harmony and lead vocals push them from being a good band to being a great band. Comparing the 97's to Rhett solo acoustic is like apples and oranges. Wouldn't expect or want Rhett to have the same energy level as when solo. They were a little rusty, Rhett flubbed some lines here and there. Rhett seems like such a happy guy, You wonder if he ever has a bad day, or even just a bad hair day.

Rhett seems to compliment each city he plays in. He calls Austin and Madison his favorite cities in America. He said something similiar in Seattle. Chicago is like their second home. Philly "fucking rocks". His compliment of DC seemed rather tepid by comparison, "People say DC is an ornery city, but y'all seem rather hospitable". "That's because we're Republicans" replied the icky people next to us.

So for comparisons…Can't remember how many times I've seen them now, but I would compare it in quality to their last headlining gig at the 9:30. Not as good as when I saw them in North Carolina on the Too Far to Care tour, and Rhett gave a shout out to Ryan Adams, who was sitting at the bar. And not as good as when I saw them at the Recher on the SR tour and the setlist was more heavily Wreck Your Life-centric. I think live they sound better doing stuff from the first three albums, and a bit more lame doing stuff from Satelite and Fight Songs. Thus, it was disappointing that they only played 2.5 songs off of their first two albums (Big Brown Eyes was on both albums 2 and 3), whereas in Chicago they played four songs off of Wreck Your Life alone (perhaps a nod to it being their one full Bloodshot album, and Bloodshot being in Chicago). They did a fair share of songs off of my favorite album, Too Far to Care, but less than the eight that Philly got.

They played four new songs. My favorite was "Smoker" with Murry on lead. Also enjoyed Ken's singing debut, and the faster of the two new ones Rhett did.

Favorites were all of the songs off of Too Far to Care album, and the duet on Valentine. Really really wish they had done Victoria and the Other Shoe off of Wreck Your Life.\\\\

Oh, and Ken was wearing a t-shirt of their friends the Deathray Davies, for anyone who might care.

The setlist:

St Ignatius
Rollerskate Skinny
Busted Afternoon
West Texas Teardrops
Streets of Where I'm From
Buick City Complex
Singular Girl
Smoker? (new, Murry vocal)
Coehla? (new, Ken vocal)
Doreen
Salome
Up the Devils Pay
Lonely Holiday
Denton Town? (new, Rhett vocal)
Won't be Home No More (new, Rhett vocal)
Crash on the Barrelhead
King of All the World
4 LEaf Clover
—
Question (Rhettt solo, was a request by a couple…the guy proposed, girl said yes…saved us from hearing "come Around")
Our Love (Rhett solo)
Valentine (Murry and Rhett duet)
—
Barrier Reef
Designs on You
Big Brown Eyes
—
Murder or a Heart Attack
Timebomb

Thanks for the review and setlist Rhett….minor point. NOBODY FUCKING CARES! ;)

the guy next to Kosmo and I said, "last time they had the worst fucking band ever open, the Deathray Davies", now I have never actually listened to the Deathray Davies, but I was not about to take this guys review seriously

and I like oranges more than apples :D

and by energy I dont just mean he jumped around less, he hit the spots in the a lot of the songs with less emphasis, he did not spit as much ;)

I also enjoyed Valentine

this was one of those shows which I had very high hopes for, probably also because I did not think I would be able to go for a little while, so there was no way it would have lived up to my expectations, but was very good show, and I heard a lot of "wow, that was great" on the way out, so people were happy

I saw Deathray Davies at the Vevet Lounge after the 9:30 club Sex Pistols show (there were *maybe* 20 people there). We thought they were great – a different vibe, maybe, than the Old 97s. 60s influenced, heavy bass and guitar rocker tunes. I think it may be at some shows, like the Old 97s, some fans are so in to the band they're there to see, that they're not all that open to any openers.

If they come through town again, I'll be there to see them.

Originally posted by mankie:
Thanks for the review and setlist Rhett….minor point. NOBODY FUCKING CARES! ;)

I second that. ;)

good gig - late though for a 9.30 club show - the new Smoker song is class

Only the second time I've seen them but thought they were excellent and really seemed to be having a lot of fun up there

Props to whoever was dj'ing as well…

The Old 97's drummer and one of the Deathray Davies guys are in a side project together. called I Love Math. They'll be playing SxSW.

I expect the next 97's show to be better…after they've been back together awhile…

Rhett, I've got a question for you. Since you've seen them well before the real Rhett had become some goddamned pretty, did he always toss his head back and forth like that? I know it's a minor point, but his movements seemed very conducive to letting his locks fly. Seemed odd to me that he would do that with the short haircut he used to sport.

Anyway, I had a great time at the show. They played just about every song I would've wanted to hear (with the except maybe of Victoria and Over the Cliff). I too had a pretty annoying couple next to me, who were drunk and dancing so badly I couldn't help but laugh. But hey, at least they knew the songs. And I'd like to give a quick thanks to our Rhett for going on and on about the 97's in the first place. I wouldn't have checked them out without your constant droning on about them ;)

Thanks, NKOTBIE. glad I was able to help make a fan of you, and a few of others as well. I've always said that of all the alt-country bands, the Old 97's probably have the most appeal to the casual or the alt-country nonfan.

To answer your question, when I first saw then in '97 (of all years) on the TFTC tour, Rhett had a longish, pseudo-grunge style haircut (kind of long and unlayered, longer in the front than back). The headshake worked well with that 'do. Back then, he wore oversized 80's style geek glasses and looked really dorky (which i thought was more endearing than the pretyboy look). Guess he decided to go with the contacts because his glasses would get so steamed up he couldn't see what he was doing. The he cut it short and preppy about the time of Fight Songs, and he still did the headshaking, but lacked the hair to toss around.

If you have Hitchhike to Rhome, you'll notice he was a complete dork with a short buzz cut. (though i read that he had really long hair that he wore in a pony tail in high school).

The Post review…

Old 97's

Bands are often torn asunder by members who have different ideas of what the group should sound like. So far, the Old 97's have escaped that fate, choosing instead to give equal time to guitarist and singer Rhett Miller's gritty rock tastes and poppier instincts and bassist and singer Murry Hammond's more countrified leanings.

At a sold-out 9:30 club Friday night, the appealingly scruffy Dallas band played a lengthy and fervent set that neatly combined the two styles into a satisfyingly organic, and at times mess-of-fun, whole. It was after midnight when the band came onstage and just before 2 a.m. when it left for the last time. In between, it sated the desire of rowdy fans that have had to wait a couple of years since the band last toured. (Miller, who recorded a solo album in 2002, has toured more recently.)

Opening with the aching "St. Ignatius," Miller gave voice to despair, singing, "Someday when we're older, deep in loneliness / Things we said today won't matter, no one could care less." That bit of darkness gave way to brasher tunes such as "Rollerskate Skinny" and such rave-ups as "King of All the World," "Singular" and the caterwauling, punky-tonk "Doreen." And in one of those "Aw, ain't that nice" moments, he dedicated "Question" – a sweet song about getting engaged – to Brian and Heather, a presumably newly betrothed couple in the crowd. Hammond took lead vocals on alt-country fare including "W. TX Teardrops," "Crash on the Barrelhead" and the exquisitely sad and lovely "Valentine."

Despite their clearly different tastes, Miller and Hammond seem to be complements of each other. Along with drummer Philip Peeples and guitarist Ken Bethea, they produce a sturdy, impressive sound all their own. Soon the band will head to the studio to record a new album – its first since 2001's "Satellite Rides" – and its strong songwriting along with a willingness to experiment and accommodate a variety of directions and interests almost ensures a favorable result.

– Joe Heim

Originally posted by SPARX:
You might want to take time to see this while your there: One critic's comments from Sundance on Ondi Timoner's DIG:

The best documentary I've seen so far is Ondi Timoner's DIG! Shot over a period of seven years, it's about a curiously obsessive competition between the charismatic stars of two '60s retro bands – the genius-y, aggressively self-destructive Anton Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and the not-quite-as-gifted, certainly more career-savvy Courtney Taylor of the Dandy Warhols.
Boiled down, the film is basically about the goal of making beautiful art vs. attaining industry prominence and success.

Timoner examines the limits of bad behavior (i.e., Newcombe's) as he rails against various rock-industry scenesters and environments, and does a solid job of charting the stylistic and political differences between Newcombe being hell-bent on creating awesome sounds vs. Taylor being a bit more devoted to commercially making it, perhaps, than coaxing a smile out of God with one or more of his songs.



Timoner provides a fascinating journey into both the gritty day-to-day routine of bands trying to get over and make it happen, and the trippy-antsy psychology driving their two leaders. There's an understandable emphasis on Newcombe's shenanigans (arguments with band members and his manager, fights with audience members, a bad heroin habit), since they're more entertaining than Taylor's, who isn't whacked as much as driven and intense.

I don't know if you heard, but DIG! won the Grand Jury Prize in the documentary category.

The movie was bought and will be released in theatres later this year.

How cool is that?