TV Show Review: Veep

Veep sucks.

Backlogged/Waterlogged Concert Reviews

Recently, I have been mainly posting concert reviews on this blog. People have expressed that they like reading them, so that's what I've been doing. I'm gonna post some pictures of ice cream and maybe start reviewing other things and possibly even finish Kid Nation, but I've been busy. I have a bunch of concerts that I attended that I would still like to share on here, so hopefully too much time hasn't passed. Also, hopefully my notebook, soused at last night's Ozomatli concert, is salvageable.

Here's some backlogged ones I'm gonna write:

ALO at Brooklyn Bowl

Ben Taylor at City Winery

2 Skinnee J's at Irving Plaza

Great Googa Mooga Festival

Here's some that I will write that have yet to happen:

Grace Potter at Irving Plaza

Fun at Terminal 5

Soulive at Rumsey Playfield

So get psyched.

Ozomatli Soaked in Strings

Yesterday, Los Angeles-based multicultural band Ozomatli took the Central Park Summerstage by storm... literally. A soggy day deterred the crowds, but those who attended (maybe 200 tops) were fortunate enough to witness something special as the group played its songs with accompaniment by the New York Pops, a professional symphonic orchestra. The Pops, led by Steven Reineke, added a variety of touches to Ozomatli's anthems. Songs like "Elysian Persuasion" and "Saturday Night" went into disco territory, while "Cuando Canto" was a beautiful waltz.

Although the rain stopped for the start of the show, about halfway through the set, the skies opened up and things got downright torrential. (Cue token comment about how much I hate the people around me at shows.) Too bad the asshole in front of me had to pull out the world's largest umbrella and block my view. I backed up and moved out of the center, and the band kept playing. Ozomatli and the Pops were joined by some Harlem School of the Arts' jazz students, including one amazing 11-year-old blind keyboardist, for oldies "Cumbia de los Muertos" and "Como Ves." The latter was taken to new heights with the orchestral backing.

I've never seen Ozomatli do an encore. They've always finished their set, and started a chant of "Ozomatli, ya se fue, ya se fue!" They then grab portable instruments and venture into the crowd for sing-a-longs of anything from the theme of Sesame Street to "Give Peace a Chance." After the set, the band waved goodbye, and the orchestra began packing up. The house lights came on and the PA started playing some music. Diehard Ozo fans like the ones who stayed for this monsoon of a show weren't going to just leave without a little more. After 3 minutes, the band came back out. "You ready for us to do this L.A.-style?" asked bassist Wil-Dog Abers. "Yeah!" we cheered, expecting "City of Angels," which come to think of it, would sound awesome with strings. But "City of Angels" we did not get. "Caballito," in my opinion, a weak song, closed the night, and they never came out into the audience. I guess people from L.A. melt if they get wet.

OZOMATLI WITH THE NEW YORK POPS – 06.12.12 – RUMSEY PLAYFIELD (1 hour, 25 minutes)
SET -
La Gallina / Elysian Persuasion / Dos Cosas Ciertas / Can’t Stop / Nadas por Free / Believe / Cumbia de los Muertos / After Party / Ya Viene el Sol / La Temperatura / Malagasy Shock / Chango / Cuando Canto / Here We Go / Saturday Night / La Misma Canción / Como Ves

ENCORE –
Caballito

Jimmy Cliff Busts Open the Bandshell

Jimmy Cliff kicked off the 34th season of Celebrate Brooklyn in Prospect Park tonight with a set of favorites. You'd never know that Cliff is 64 the way he dances rambunctiously around the stage. While his voice sometimes went a little flat in his old age (He was never one to hold back, so he still belts this shit out of his songs.), the show was fun and full of energy. The backing band was solid, with a real horn section, including a trumpeter that toasted and sang.

Leaping right out of the gate with "You Can Get It If You Really Want" set the tone for the hit parade that was to come. Following that with a cover of Rancid's "Ruby Soho" was an inspired choice, charging my brain with the task of figuring out who had actually written the song. The first of three medleys came next, a Special-themed one going from "Treat the Youths Right" into "Rub-a-Dub Partner" to "Reggae Movement" back into "Rub-a-Dub."

Listening to Cliff on my iPod this morning, I wondered if Cliff would play "Viet Nam." "Yesterday I got a letter from my friend fighting in Vietnam," doesn't exactly reek of topicality in 2012. As if he read my mind from the B train, Cliff changed the song to "Afghanistan," even going so far as to sing, "Yesterday I got an email." I guess snail mail is even out-of-fashion in Jamaica.

Jimmy skanked all the way along the amphitheater stage for a ska medley of his early '60s singles "King of Kings" and "Miss Jamaica," but the real audience treat was the set-closing mash-up of the Medlodians' "Rivers of Babylon" and Cliff's own "Bongo Man." Leading everyone on stage on hand drums and everyone in the crowd on vocals, Cliff saturated the air with such a communal vibe, one could not help but feel "irie."

JIMMY CLIFF – 06.05.12 – PROSPECT PARK BANDSHELL (1 hour, 33 minutes)

SET –

You Can Get It If You Really Want / Ruby Soho / Treat the Youths Right > Rub-a-Dub Partner > Reggae Movement > Rub-a-Dub Partner / Wild World / Rebel Rebel / Save Our Planet Earth / Afghanistan (Viet Nam) / World Upside Down / King of Kings > Miss Jamaica / Many Rivers to Cross / Let Your Yeah Be Yeah / I Can See Clearly Now / Rivers of Babylon - Bongo Man Mash-Up

ENCORE I –

One More

ENCORE II –

One More

ENCORE III –

The Harder They Come / Sitting in Limbo / Wonderful World, Beautiful People

Warren Haynes Plays at Guitar Center

Warren Haynes played a short but sweet set at the Guitar Center on 14th St today. Billed as a "workshop" with performance, Q&A, and signing, I expected talk of guitar strings and finger-picking techniques. What I got was 29 minutes of solo Warren Haynes and an autographed CD. Definitely not complaining.

I arrived at Guitar Center before 5:30 for the 7pm show, and was informed I was the last person in line. Wow, perfect timing. It turns out I was the last person in line to wait inside, which was probably better than panting out in the humidity. The line behind me grew, much to the dismay of the Guitar Center employees, although it's probably their fault for not policing it better. (If you waited outside in line and did not get let in, you can blame a bunch of people who said they'd been waiting in line inside even though they hadn't. Still can't explain how so many jam band fans can be such dicks.)

About ten minutes before 7, we were let into the vintage guitar room to pick our spots. Unfortunately, a sweaty Stephen Root-looking motherfucker chose (and by chose I mean kept bumping into people until he fit into) a spot next to me. Warren came out looking happy as ever, and took his place in front of the wall of classic six-strings. After two minutes of banter with the crowd (mostly people yelling songs at him), he slid into "Patchwork Quilt," a familiar song that elicited cheers at the "Jones Beach" line from the New York crowd.

As people continued to yell out titles of songs on Music from Big Pink, Warren began playing the David Crosby tune "Almost Cut My Hair." It became clear that Warren was gonna do what Warren was gonna do. "Sick of My Shadow" followed, one of the grooving numbers off last year's Man in Motion. Warren's friend evidently requested "One" before the performance, and he got his wish. As Haynes belted out "Love is the temple," you could really appreciate the stellar acoustics of the room, so kudos to Farmer and the people of Guitar Center.

One more song remained, amid hopeful murmurs of how he should play for another two hours. (For being a Guitar Center gig, we were getting a little antsy for some solos.) "Soulshine" was getting the most votes obviously. "There's people who say 'Play Soulshine,' and there are those that are like, 'Oh, not Soulshine," Warren joked. He went with the latter, even though I heard no audible "Soulshine"-detractors, strapping on the bottleneck slide for a soulful cover of "It Hurts Me Too."

No encore, but it was super-hot in the room, and everyone still needed to have their CDs signed. As I shook his hand, I revealed to Warren that it was my first show, but definitely wouldn't be my last. He smiled and thanked me, like the gracious man he is.

You can pick up a copy of the 2 CD/1 DVD set Live at the Moody Theater here at Amazon.

WARREN HAYNES – 05.29.12 – GUITAR CENTER (29 minutes)

SET –

Patchwork Quilt / Almost Cut My Hair / Sick of My Shadow / One / It Hurts Me Too

Frosting the Beacon with Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie played their second show in a three-night stand at the Beacon Theatre tonight, 4/28. I was fortunate enough to get sixth row seats for the event, which saw the Washington band collaborating with the 8-piece Magik Magik Orchestra and conductor Minna Choi. Four songs into the show, a skinny Ben Gibbard compared the Beacon shows to a sandwich cookie: "This is the part where you take the two cookies apart and lick the frosting out. That's how good this show is." I won't bother reviewing what the orchestra adds to the songs because everyone has already said how much it improves them.

While the setlists on this tour have understandably not varied considerably (asking an orchestra to learn seven albums' worth of material is a bit much), tonight's show differed from last night's by only three songs. The thirteenth song, "Cath..." was substituted with "Crooked Teeth," the encore tune "405" was replaced by a nice cover of R.E.M.'s "Near Wild Heaven," and "Your Heart is an Empty Room" made an appearance. These shows follow a formula: The orchestra accompanies the band for the set, Death Cab do a few encore songs, and the orchestra comes back to play a few more at the finale. So why don't they change up the encore songs a bit more? They even played "Near Wild Heaven" earlier this week in Pennsylvania. At least swap songs earlier in the set. Hopefully they sang and played better than last night because if I was someone who bought tickets for the hat trick, I'd probably be pissed. Fortunately for me, this was a one-off, so I enjoyed the show greatly. It could've been a little longer (like I said, seven albums), but all-in-all, a great concert to pop my Beacon cherry.

Oh, yeah, think of how awesome "Marching Bands of Manhattan" would sound with an orchestra. In New York. Maybe tomorrow's audience is in for the tastiest part of the cookie.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE WITH THE MAGIK MAGIK ORCHESTRA – 04.28.12 – BEACON THEATRE (1 hour, 49 minutes)

SET –

Passenger Seat > Different Names for the Same Thing / A Movie Script Ending / Title & Registration / Grapevine Fires / Codes & Keys / Underneath the Sycamore / Little Fury Bugs / Death of an Interior Decorator / You Are a Tourist / Bend to Squares > Hindsight / Crooked Teeth / No Joy in Mudville / What Sarah Said / Soul Meets Body / Stay Young, Go Dancing

ENCORE –

Steadier Footing / Near Wild Heaven / Your Heart is an Empty Room / Monday Morning / I Will Follow You Into the Dark / Tiny Vessels > Transatlanticism

A Delicious Discovery for March

It will be March in 6 minutes. Here's your genius tip of the month. McDonald's is now serving mint-flavored Shamrock Shakes in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Order one Shamrock Shake and one chocolate shake. Get another cup. Pour half of the Shamrock Shake into the empty cup. Now pour half of the chocolate shake on that. Pour the remaining chocolate half into the original Shamrock Shake. You now have two delicious Andes mint shakes. Thank you, Dustin! You are a genius!

NOTE: You can ask the person at the counter to put half and half in one cup, but they wouldn't do it at the McDonald's I went to today. But it's worth a shot. Also, you get two shakes out of this, so have a freezer or a friend ready.

My Morning Jacket Returns to MSG

Taking the MSG stage for the second time in their career after 2008's New Year's Eve performance, My Morning Jacket had a lot to live up to. I'm glad to say they did it. Though at first their set seemed somewhat front-loaded, as the show went on, I kept hearing more and more songs that I would've been devastated not to hear them play. I did however, find it highly suspicious that they didn't play "Highly Suspicious."

An early treat in the set was "Wonderful" as a duet with opener Band of Horses' frontman Ben Bridwell, he and Yim Yames seamlessly trading verses and harmonizing on the refrain. The fact that Bridwell excitedly hugged each member of the band directly after the song made it all the more poignant. Yames was definitely on his A-game for the show, leading the crowd in wordless choruses and shaking off leg spasms as he shredded his guitar. Brian Jackson sat in on flute for an extended "Dondante" jam and later on a cover of his and Gil Scott-Heron's "The Bottle." "Holdin on to Black Metal" made the best use of the stage design during the show, with cartoon demon sperm appearing on the screens to belt out the hook. The joyous evening came to a seasonal close in "I'll Be Home for Christmas" with Band of Horses singing backup.

BAND OF HORSES – 12.14.11 – MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (1 hour)

SET –

Cigarettes, Wedding Bands / The Great Salt Lake / Is There a Ghost / The General Specific / For Annabelle / The First Song / Islands on the Coast / Older / No One’s Gonna Love You / Infinite Arms / Ode to LRC / The Funeral / Am I a Good Man

MY MORNING JACKET – 12.14.11 – MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (2 hours, 28 minutes)

SET –

Victory Dance / Circuital / It Beats 4 U / First Light / I’m Amazed / Wonderful (The Way I Feel) (feat. Ben Bridwell) / Steam Engine / Outta My System / Dancefloors / Golden / Mahgeetah / Dondante (feat. Brian Jackson) / Smokin from Shootin / Run Thru / Touch Me I’m Going to Scream pt. 2 / Off the Record / Gideon

ENCORE –

Bermuda Highway / Wordless Chorus / The Day is Coming / The Bottle (feat. Brian Jackson) / Holdin on to Black Metal / One Big Holiday / I’ll Be Home for Christmas (feat. Band of Horses)