Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Totally Tuesday

I don't usually blog about a Tuesday night ...but there's a couple of things to call your attention to for tonight ....

At the Aladdin it's the triple bill of Dave Alvin, Chris Smither, and Peter Case - can't wait to hear some of my favorite songwriters swap songs, play and harmonize behind each other, and probably needle each other a bit ... three veterans who know their way around a tune and know how to entertain an audience. Shouldn't miss this one .... 8 pm, $25

Over at the Alberta Rose it's a sold out show of spoken word with Henry Rollins ... maybe you can catch a ticket at the door if you really want to go.... 8 pm, $30

The first Tuesday Notes from the Underground series at the Mission Theater will feature The Kora Band. They just won the "2010 NW Jazz Recording of the Year" award from Seattle's Earshot Jazz .... 7:30 pm, $7

Happy hour music to start your evening .... how about the weekly Jackstraw gig at the Laurelthirst? .. 6 pm, no cover

And, up at the Mock Crest it's Atomic Cocktails time, with Johnie Ward and the Eagle Ridin' Papas featuring Lauren Sheehan on vocals .... 8 pm, no cover

Yep, Tuesday .... get on out!

1 comment:

Eric said...

Awesome show last night at the Aladdin Theatre !!!

Two fun filled sets packed with new tunes, old classics, and some
well picked covers...
along with great intros, anecdotes, a puzzling guitar/sound issue at the beginning, that Dave played to perfection...
and even a touch of political humor

Dave Alvin stole the show
(IMHO of course) with his sense of humor, class, phenomenal guitar playing, and smooth vocal work...

his new songs were excellent -- esp. "Harlan County Line", and "Black Texas Rose" - which was about his former fiddler Amy Farris, who died shortly after Dave's last great Aladdin performance a year and a half ago (she was one of the many Guilty Women that night, including Cindy Cashdollar and Christy McWilson)

he wowed the audience with riveting versions of his classics, like "Dry River", "Ashgrove", and "Here In California" --

Chris Smither delivered a solid
crowd-pleasing performance, complete with his usual upbeat
vibe. He really hit it out of the park on "No Love Today", "Crocodile Man" and his set closer "Leave The Light On"

Peter Case was fine, but I wasn't
overly impressed with his choice of songs, and his voice takes a while to warm up to, in my opinion. I really liked his story telling, his humorous outlook on life in general, and his musical fate in particular.

Christy McWilson and Rick Shea were equally phenomenal backing musicians throughout the show.
Although no mention was made on stage about the absence of Nina Gerber and Laurie Lewis, but it was explained afterwards by Dave Alvin's manager at the merch table, along with getting the poster signed by Chris and Peter.
(Dave probably went straight to the bus?)

Another incredible and memorable night at the Aladdin. Good to see you there, Jim!