November 2001

Stuck in a moment you can’t get out of

Eddie November 29, 2001 No Comments

U2’s drop-in date, on only two weeks notice, was as much of a surprise to this writer as it was to the capacity crowd at last Tuesday’s show. Unlike most events at Arco Arena, the colossal package, touting Interscope star acts U2 and No Doubt, boasted triple-digit ticket prices. Could the band fill a venue at $130 a pop? Or, even more importantly, live up to people’s expectations?

No Doubt, openers for the West Coast leg of the tour, were given the insidious task of opening for U2—which, no doubt, were the night’s headliners. From the beginning chorus of “Spiderwebs,” Gwen Stefani and her Orange County brethren played an energized set, highlighted by their TRL smash and current single “Hey Baby.” Sporting her navel and long blonde extensions, Stefani commanded the stage with reckless aplomb and her bandmates, who date back to the Tragic Kingdom era, worked the early crowd into a frenzy.

Those in the pit section, located in between U2’s heart-shaped walkway—part of that band’s minimalist stage show—showed great enthusiasm for No Doubt and were treated to the hits, including the smash ballad “Don’t Speak.” Although the band was confined to a small (60 x 40) section of stage, and couldn’t use U2’s platforms, all six players—including two horn players, percussion and keyboards—worked their magic. There were some avid fans throughout the venue. But, of course, nothing could prepare the crowd for the spectacle that is U2.

After the appropriate blasting of “All You Need Is Love” through the house speakers, U2 launched into “Elevation” and, similarly, took the crowd to dizzying heights. The first section of the show, pairing songs from All You Can Leave Behind and Achtung Baby, worked astonishingly well. Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. played like seasoned road veterans, even changing bridges in songs like “Mysterious Ways” and the time-sensitive “Sunday Bloody Sunday” from the War album.

During such numbers as the epic “Where the Streets Have No Name,” any other songs in our collective memories were rendered diminutive. You could forget everything watching Bono sway and run the ramps alongside The Edge. Even “Angel of Harlem” from Rattle & Hum was given renewed vigor in the live setting. My favorite track, “Bullet the Blue Sky,” set behind a backdrop of red gels and the rhythm section’s plodding repetition, never sounded so good.

Even compared to the band’s Joshua Tree tour stop in Oakland several years back, the evening’s performance far exceeded people’s expectations; it exuded all of the important qualities in a rock ’n’ roll show. Even the band’s memorial to the victims of September 11 were played to the numbers—names of the deceased or missing were displayed on the backdrop canvas—with the utmost respect for the families. U2 may have not changed the world but, for a fleeting moment, we were able to realize how life-affirming a good rock show can be. Amen.

(SN&R)

Einsturzende Neubaten

Eddie November 15, 2001 No Comments

This pristine collection from Germany’s finest experimentalist band features previously unreleased and hard-to-find versions of its songs from the last 10 years. Unlike most shoddy attempts to chronicle rare back catalog, this package helps to tune global consciousness, once again, into the true “industrial” genre. Not satisfied with dissonant guitars and keyboards, EN took on the insidious task of introducing the world to mobile button noises, steel bars and motorized book hi-hats. Strategies takes cues from opera, new wave and classic German folk, yet these tracks are as fresh and organic as the day they were put to tape. Highlights include the live version of “Redukt,” “Querulanten” and “Der leere Raum.” No wonder Trent Reznor turned up at the band’s California tour dates several years ago. Fans of Young Gods and early neo-industrialists from abroad should do themselves a favor.

(SN&R)

Low-fi underachievers?

Eddie November 15, 2001 No Comments

No, San Diego trio Pinback probably won’t be future VH1 fodder

Live! 8 p.m. Thursday, November 15, at Capitol Garage, 1427 l St., with Hella and Boilermaker. All ages; admission is $7.

Over half the overexposed trash that commercial radio shoves down our throats comes via bands that never paid their dues. Whether it’s a result of someone copulating with an A&R rep, laying out payola for record spins, foisting a band on the VH1 show Bands on the Run or onto tours sponsored by Nescafé or Honey Nut Cheerios, it would seem that the music has taken the back seat to a quickie paycheck.

Speaking of VH1, Pinback, a San Diego-based trio that plays Capitol Garage on Thursday, is a veritable Behind the Music episode waiting to happen.

It’s a safe bet that Pinback’s three members have become disenchanted with the music industry by now. The trio was signed to the Portland-based Tim Kerr label, an Astroturf indie that had the Wipers, Pere Ubu and Dandy Warhols on its roster. But Pinback’s contract with Tim Kerr had some major pitfalls, which precipitated a six-month legal battle that eventually landed them on Ace-Fu Records, home to Tight Bros From Way Back When, the Champs, Heartworms (ex-Velocity Girl), and Sucka MC’s. Blue Screen Life is the trio’s second full-length platter—although the band has released a self-produced, low-fi live effort titled Live in Donnie’s Garage, along with a 7-inch single and a hard-to-find EP called Some Voices.

Bassist/vocalist Armistead Burwell Smith IV, better known as the monosyllabic Zach, and drummer Tom Zinsor both had a short-lived run in 3-Mile Pilot. But that band suffered from the same lousy distribution, via the San Diego-based Cargo Music label, that effectively marginalized such local heroes as Forever Goldrush and the now-defunct Drop Acid, the latter featuring Kevin Seconds and Heckler magazine’s Sonny Mayugba. Pinback also features vocalist/guitarist Rob Crow, whose CV includes such luminary combos as Optiginally Yours, Heavy Vegetable and Thingy.

Crow has a few opinions on why certain releases come to fruition, particularly the band’s live CD-R, which is available only at Pinback’s live shows. “It’s mostly just kind of killing two birds with one stone,” he says. “It’s cool to have something different to sell to people that want to see you, [so they] have something to take home. We don’t purposely make it so people can’t have something.”

As for paying dues, Crow has worked at his share of shit jobs—McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, Carl’s Jr., apartment manager/slumlord. Whether or not he finds “success” with his current bandmates has yet to be determined. Fortunately, the daunting task of going on tour pales when compared to flipping burgers. What’s most important for Crow is that, these days, he seems focused on just making good music. “All I want to do is write music and try to make something with integrity,” he says.

Anyone looking for sonic dissonance and overt song structures can find solace in Pinback. From Brian Eno to the Jam and the Beatles, Crow and Smith aren’t afraid to post influences on their sleeves, whether they originated from their previous bands or came from current music. The result is Blue Screen Music, an album overflowing with melodic, introspective rock.

Perhaps on this November’s tour, one of whose stops is Capitol Garage, Sacramento’s last bastion for true indie rock, the band will bring along another CD-R to satiate the appetites of its acolytes and newfound fans. If Pinback’s live show is anywhere near as good as performances by its members’ former bands have been, you should be in for a real treat.

Why should you bother to leave home to see Pinback? Why not? It certainly beats waiting 10 years to see a rehash on VH1’s Behind the Music.

(SN&R)

Calling young conservatives: groovy beat music!

Eddie November 1, 2001 No Comments

A little knowledge of your history—whether current or past—goes a long way.

Michael Franti had been politically active long before most Spearhead fans had reached puberty. As the frontman of the Beatnigs, San Francisco’s answer to Gil Scott Heron on biker swimming-pool chemicals, this onetime Davis resident made considerable headway in bringing politics into music without dulling the content.

After the ’Nigs demise came the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, whose first and only disc for the one-time, independentally distributed Island Records subsidiary label 4th & B’Way neglected to dent the pop charts. However, the record got favorable press notices and landed the Heroes—which included Franti, Rono Tse and guitarist extraordinaire/future jazz star Charlie Hunter—a national tour with Public Enemy.

However, it wasn’t until Spearhead—a durable blend of hip-hop, reggae, soca and other world musics—that Franti finally became an activist who could sell records.

A recent Sunday show at Harlow’s turned out to be a gosh-darned swell homecoming for Spearhead, as the group parlayed that anticipation into a sweaty set that kept the 300-plus in attendance on their feet. Hot on the heels of Stay Human, Spearhead’s latest album on the San Francisco boutique label Six Degrees, the band’s performance was incendiary, and its 6-foot-7 frontman rocked the mic like no other. Even Franti’s a cappella raps on this particular evening salted any underground rappers’ material.

What makes Spearhead different from the typical reggae act, with its reverence to Jah and the Almighty I-and-I, are Franti’s lyrics, which seem derived largely from current events and his interpretation of them. Franti has rewritten the way reggae music should be played, and his band helps him deviate even further—with upbeat jams, jazzy breakdowns and hip-hop inflections.

Fans of Canada’s late, lamented Messenjah, Inner Circle or Bob Marley’s latter years should investigate Spearhead’s catalog and, most important, see the band live. If you’re looking for intelligence and grace within a reggae context, any of these fine artists will do. Fortunately, Spearhead actively tours and promotes its albums, and local promoter Renegade Productions’ Robby and Kaati always find a way to bring them to the area. Don’t miss ’em next time, OK?

(SN&R)