I got through a four hour show without once mentioning the fact that it was Friday the Thirteenth.  You can thank me later.

Next week, I’ll be back to my normal-sized two hour show, nothing to worry about. Four hours of me is a lot to take.

11:54 PM John Aler & Gino Quilico Les Pêcheurs de perles: C’est toi!…Au fond du temple saint from 100 Best Opera Classics (EMI)
11:52 PM Fleet Foxes White Winter Hymnal from Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
11:50 PM Sea Lions I Loved Her So Much from Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid to Ask (Slumberland)
11:44 PM Brandi Carlile Before It Breaks from Give Up the Ghost (Columbia)
11:40 PM Mavis Staples Wrote A Song For Everyone from You Are Not Alone (ANTI-)
11:37 PM The Mighty Imperials Thunder Chicken from The World of Daptone Records (Daptone)
11:31 PM Low Especially Me from C’mon (Sub Pop)
11:28 PM Dayna Kurtz Beautiful Yesterday from Beautiful Yesterday (Kismet)
11:24 PM Darkness Falls Noise on the Line from Alive in Us (hfn)
11:19 PM The Benny Goodman Quartet Moonglow from Greatest Hits (BMG)
11:15 PM Jason Adasiewicz’s Sun Rooms Run Fly from Spacer (Delmark)
11:09 PM Ha Ha Tonka Death of a Decade from Death of a Decade (Bloodshot)
11:05 PM Bell X1 Pinball Machine from Neither Am I (Island)
11:03 PM Nada Surf No Snow on the Mountain from The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy (Barsuk)
10:54 PM Carissa’s Wierd September Come Take This Heart Away from Songs About Leaving (Sad Robot)
10:51 PM The Darcys Glasnost from The Darcys (Arts & Crafts)
10:44 PM A Hawk And A Hacksaw Espanola Kolo from Cervantine (L.M. Duplication)
10:41 PM Mar Caribe Pirates of Lake Michigan from Songs From Under the Flight Path (self-released)
10:36 PM Herculaneum Elmyr from UCHŪ (EF)
10:31 PM Róisín Murphy Primitive from Overpowered (EMI)
10:27 PM Booker T. Jones Progress (featuring Jim James) from The Road from Memphis (ANTI-)
10:25 PM Little Ben & the Cheers I’m Gonna Get Even with You from Eccentric Soul: The Nickel & Penny Labels (Numero Group)
10:21 PM Girlyman The Shape I Found You In from Remember Who I Am (Daemon)
10:15 PM Sigur Rós Lúppulagið from Inni (XL)
10:08 PM The Avett Brothers Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise from I and Love and You (Sony)
10:05 PM Mumford & Sons The Cave from Sigh No More (Glass Note)
10:01 PM Cloud Control Ghost Story from Bliss Release (Infectious)
9:57 PM The Get Up Kids Close to Me from Eudora (Vagrant)
9:53 PM Rainer Maria Hell and High Water from A Better Version of Me (Polyvinyl)
9:51 PM Los Campesinos! Hate for the Island from Hello Sadness (Arts & Crafts)
9:49 PM April Smith and the Great Picture Show Terrible Things from Songs for a Sinking Ship (self-released)
9:44 PM Brown Bird Nothing Left from Salt for Salt (Supply and Demand)
9:40 PM Luke Roberts Anyway from Big Bells and Dime Songs (Thrill Jockey)
9:37 PM The Milk Carton Kids I Still Want a Little More from Prologue (self-released)
9:34 PM Lawrence Arabia Eye A from Chant Master (Bella Union)
9:30 PM Coconut Records West Coast from Nighttiming (Young Baby)
9:27 PM Tiger Bones When You Fall from When You Die (Candy Dinner)
9:20 PM Jacaszek Dare-gale from Glimmer (Ghostly International)
9:16 PM Marissa Nadler No Surprises from Covers I (self-released)
9:08 PM Nicole Mitchell F.O.C. from Awakening (Delmark)
9:02 PM Dave Douglas Bowie from Spirit Moves (Koch)
8:58 PM Sloan Take Good Care Of The Poor Boy from Between The Bridges (murderecords)
8:54 PM Guided By Voices Spiderfighter from Let’s Go Eat the Factory (Guided By Voices Inc.)
8:50 PM Whitehorse Passenger 24 from Whitehorse (Six Shooter)
8:45 PM Cat Power The Greatest from The Greatest (Matador)
8:40 PM Kathleen Edwards Change the Sheets from Voyageur (MapleMusic)
8:38 PM 16 Horsepower Wayfaring Stranger from Secret South (Razor & Tie)
8:33 PM Ray Davies Dead End Street (ft. Amy McDonald) from See My Friends (Universal)
8:29 PM JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound Baltimore Is the New Brooklyn from Beat of Our Own Drum (self-released)
8:26 PM Doomtree The Grand Experiment from No Kings (Doomtree)
8:21 PM Apex Manor Under the Gun from The Year of Magical Drinking (Merge)
8:18 PM Chris Connelly The Paraffin Hearts from Artificial Madness (Relapse)
8:14 PM Save the Clocktower You Got Me from Carousel (self-released)
8:08 PM Sandro Perri Love & Light from Impossible Spaces (Constellation)
8:03 PM Rufus Wainwright Release the Stars from Release the Stars (Geffen)

Related posts:

1. CHIRP Playlist: Friday, January 20, 2012
2. CHIRP Playlist: Friday, January 27, 2012
3. CHIRP Playlist: Friday, December 9, 2011

One of my favorite moments in music in 2011 was the performance by Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers, and Bob Dylan at the Grammys last February.

Mumford and Sons performs “The Cave,” the Avett Brothers perform “Head Full Of Doubt / Road Full Of Promise,” and Bob Dylan fronts the combined bands as they perform “Maggie’s Farm.”

There are a lot of things I love watching in this performance. It’s pretty clear that the first two bands are thrilled to pieces to be there. I like “The Cave” — that harmonizing cornet line at the end! — and I like “Head Full Of Doubt / Road Full Of Promise,” and while I’m not sure I buy those songs plus “Maggie’s Farm” as a medley, it was entertaining enough that watching the performance the morning after the Grammys made me late for work.

It’s nice seeing a performance on the Grammys that isn’t heavily choreographed, too. Part of what I liked about this performance is the way they dig into what they’re playing with mostly acoustic instruments — that’s not something you see too often in a venue like that. They’re good musicians and it’s fun to watch them do what they do.

It’s also fun to see how thrilled they are at getting to back up Bob Dylan. Speaking of Dylan, he’s working it like RuPaul. Look at the way he steps around that bass and takes his rightful position at the front! Look at the facial expressions on that line behind him! In that performance and in that venue, Bob Dylan is an acknowledged diva, and he is playing that role with enthusiasm.

I’ve been thinking about this performance since February, and over the course of the fall semester I did a little work and a little research into this kind of thing, and friends, it sure does bother me that this kind of music I like a whole lot, this indie alt-country y’allternative singer-songwriter whatever, got physically portrayed on the Grammys as music played by white men only, with the Bob Dylan Stamp Of Approval™.

Here’s a list of all the performers on the 2011 Grammy telecast. This performance was the only one consisting solely of white men. When I watched it the morning I was late for work, even as I was clapping like a seal with delight, there was still that small voice asking, so does this mean that the publicly acknowledged acolytes of, or heirs to, Dylan are only young white men? Because that is one white male backup line.

“Maggie’s Farm” bothers me, too. Wikipedia gives a quick background on dominant readings of the song, but one thing that isn’t there is the inherent inclusion of gender in the title. We don’t hear from Maggie — Maggie is absent — and the speaker’s rejection of the farm always has to do with gender, because it’s not “I ain’t gonna work on this farm no more,” or whatever’s necessary to adjust for scansion. It’s “I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more.” Combine that with Dylan’s infamous performance at Newport ’65, where some people took “Maggie’s Farm” as a shot fired across the bow, and the Grammy performance takes on added layers of defiance outside of the lyrics — all of which is context bearing on the Grammy performance that can’t be ignored. The Grammy performance is a party in Bob Dylan’s honor, and the Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons are thrilled to be there — but it’s hard to see where anyone who doesn’t look like them gets to fit in.

I mentioned that I did a little work over the course of the fall semester about things like this. One of my final projects was digging more deeply than I did in this post into the influence of the Mississippi Sheiks on Andrew Bird’s “Fake Palindromes,” and I found out a few things that surprised me. I don’t think Bird is responding to the Sheiks and “I’ve Got Blood In My Eyes For You,” as I did when I wrote that post. Instead, I think he’s using the music of the Mississippi Sheiks as a springboard for a response aimed far more broadly in the direction of systematic misogyny. Bird isn’t responding to a specific person, but rather a pattern of behavior, and that’s pretty notable. When speaking about popular music and musicians, as a general rule, we place value on influences — who people sound like, who they’ve played with, who they themselves want to emulate. The result is a kind of twist on Great Man theory — and, incidentally, a way to establish credibility with other people based on who you listen to.

The Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons look pleased as punch to be up there on that stage on national television with Bob Dylan — and they should be. It’s a nice career boost. But I wonder if it’s not possible to broaden this Great Man narrative of indie alt-country y’allternative singer-songwriter whatever, and instead try popular music from below. Thinking about what that might look like excites me.

So that’s my 2012 music resolution: think differently, get past Dylan, pay attention to context, and write about it — hopefully more here than I’ve done since I moved to Mississippi. Onward and upward, y’all.

Related posts:

1. This Week in Great Music – 10/26 – 11/1
2. Album Review: Bob Dylan, “Christmas In The Heart”
3. This Week in Great Music: 10/25 – 10/31

Another Friday night in the studio. If you missed me last night, you can catch me on CHIRP this afternoon from 2 to 4 pm, as an extra special bonus show.

I’m off next week, as my band’s got a gig that night.  (Occupy This! at Multikulti, music starts at 9 pm, proceeds benefit Occupy Chicago and Terra Firma Productions.)  But I’ll be back the next week.  Don’t miss me too much.

9:58 PM Sharon Van Etten Consolation Prize from Because I Was In Love (Language of Stone)
9:54 PM Jennifer Warnes & Jorge Calderon Keep Me in Your Heart from Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon (Sheridan Square Records)
9:50 PM Tom Waits Face to the Highway from Bad as Me (ANTI-)
9:45 PM Butterfly Boucher Another White Dash from Flutterby (A&M)
9:42 PM Acid House Kings Would You Say Stop? from Music Sounds Better With You (Labrador)
9:39 PM JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound Sister Ray Charles from Want More (Bloodshot)
9:33 PM Andrew Bird Pathetique from Thrills (Rykodisc)
9:29 PM lamb Lusty from Lamb (Polygram)
9:24 PM DRC Music Hallo (featuring Tout Puissant Mukalo and Nelly Liyemge) from Kinshasa One Two (Warp)
9:20 PM Laximikant Pyarelal Aa Jaane Jaan from Bollywood Bloodbath (Finders Keepers)
9:15 PM Broken Records A Leaving Song from Let Me Come Home (4AD)
9:10 PM Rob Crow Locking Seth Putnam in Hot Topic from He Thinks He’s People (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
9:06 PM Joan As Police Woman We Don’t Own It from Real Life (Cheap Lullaby Records)
9:01 PM Jeff Buckley Grace from Grace (Legacy Edition) (Columbia)
8:57 PM Coheed and Cambria A Favor House Atlantic from In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (Sony)
8:53 PM Dethlehem Sky Palace of the Dragonriders from The Ghorusalem Codex, Vol 2: Of Magick & Tyranny (self-released)
8:49 PM Black Tusk Carved in Stone from Set the Dial (Relapse)
8:44 PM Braids Plath Heart from Native Speaker (Kanine Records)
8:41 PM Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Bigger Than Yr Yard from Tape Club (Polyvinyl)
8:38 PM Fruit Bats Tangie and Ray from Tripper (Sub Pop)
8:34 PM Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore Something. Somewhere, Sometime from Dear Companion (Sub Pop)
8:30 PM Over the Rhine Rave On from The Long Surrender (Great Speckled Dog)
8:26 PM Girl in a Coma Adjust from Exits and All the Rest (Blackheart)
8:22 PM The Traveling Wilburys Handle With Care from Volume 1 (Rhino Records)
8:19 PM jj And Now from jj n° 3 (Secretly Canadian)
8:17 PM Netherfriends Rapid City, SD from Middle America (Plustapes)
8:10 PM Kurt Vile Downbound Train from So Outta Reach EP (Matador)
8:07 PM Retribution Gospel Choir Hide It Away from 2 (Sub Pop)
8:04 PM Mumford & Sons Roll Away Your Stone from Sigh No More (Glassnote)

Related posts:

1. CHIRP Playlist: Friday, November 18, 2011
2. CHIRP Playlist: Saturday, November 5, 2011
3. CHIRP Playlist: Saturday, October 22, 2011

If you’ve been following along here, you’ll know that I am a huge fan of random road trips to far-flung places, all in pursuit of Good Music.  It’s a trait also found in my partner-in-musical-crime, Mel, given her many reports from Places Where She Does Not Live.  Granted, I don’t always go through with my wacky road trip plans, but I like to plan them out anyway.  This year, I’m contemplating a trip out west for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival (in Telluride, Colorado), which just announced its full 4-day line-up.  Telluride is in its 38th year, if my math is correct, and in addition to a whole host of amazing musicians, they also offer workshops, songwriter/performer competitions, special intimate late-night concerts, and family-oriented areas on the festival grounds.

Tickets are on sale now.  4-day passes will set you back $185, and single day passes are available for $65.

Watch out, Colorado, you may be getting a Midwestern visitor.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

• Telluride House Band featuring Sam, Béla, Jerry, Edgar, Bryan & Stuart
• Sarah McLachlan
• Steve Earle & the Dukes
• Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
• Cornmeal
• The Head and The Heart
• Tim O’Brien & Kevin Burke

Friday, June 17, 2011

• Railroad Earth
• Béla Fleck & the Flecktones (The Original Line-Up)
• Emmylou Harris
• Trampled by Turtles
• Jerry Douglas featuring Omar Hakim & Viktor Krauss
• The Infamous Stringdusters
• Chris Thile & Michael Daves
• Joe Pug

Saturday, June 18, 2011

• Old Crow Medicine Show
• Sam Bush Band
• The Decemberists
• Yonder Mountain String Band
• Tim O’Brien Band
• Emmitt-Nershi Band
• Nora Jane Struthers & the Bootleggers

Sunday, June 19, 2011

• Robert Plant & Band of Joy
• Mumford & Sons
• Punch Brothers
• Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band
• Abigail Washburn
• Edgar Meyer 
• Darrell Scott & Friends Father’s Day Gospel Hour

Related posts:

1. This Week in Great Music: 6/20 – 6/26
2. Newport Folk Festival: July 30 – August 1
3. Awesome Summer Festival Alert

While the rest of the world was out enjoying themselves in drunken year-end debauchery, I was home making a best of 2010 mix. That’s basically the story of my life.

Check it out below, via this handy little Grooveshark widget. Happy new year, all.

Related posts:

1. Lollapalooza 2010 Lineup
2. April in Review
3. CHIRP Playlist: Saturday, October 1, 2011

While I’m a huge fan of Mumford & Sons, I’m also able to admit that there are legitimate criticisms of their music. Their songs have a tendency to use the same chord progressions and structures: slowly building intro which eventually leads into an anthemic chorus. If I had the technical know-how, I’d layer a couple of songs on top of one another to illustrate this. I feel as if Marcus Mumford and company may be playing it safe in their songwriting, sticking to what they know best, and to what they know will gather the best response from an audience. (Colin McLaughlin of Melophobe discusses this in his review of a recent Mumford show, and gets it spot on: “…if a band is going to pick a trick, a crescendo is a great one to land on, since it’s basically the musical equivalent of eating fat and sugar. It’s also one of the reasons their songs feel so powerful. That said, if Marcus Mumford’s voice wasn’t all that it is, the songs wouldn’t be half as good as they are.” True words, my friend.)

The criticism that I don’t buy is that which says their music is soulless, heartless, fake. Perhaps you could come to that conclusion if all you’ve done is listened to Sigh No More, which is rather slick and polished, particularly for a debut album. But their live show is something else entirely; I watch these four young men perform and all I see is heart and soul. The huge grins on their faces as they play and soak up the adoration of thousands of fans tell me straight away that they love doing this. There’s no faking that sort of joy. These guys aren’t hacks or phonies in it for the money or the fame; they’re in it for the love of the music.

But none of that is what this post is really about. While these thoughts were weighing on me as I embarked on my road trip, this post isn’t about internet bitchery or biased opinions or aging punk rockers tossing around derogatory terms to describe a band they’d never even heard of. Instead, this is a post about three nights of incredible, heartfelt music. Haters to the left, as the saying goes.

Minneapolis’ crowd had an infectious energy from the very start, despite the wait in the cold, one which was longer than anticipated for those of us who thought that the show started at 8 rather than 9. Someone told me that 25% of US sales of Sigh No More came from the state of Minnesota, and while that might just be a made up statistic, based on the enthusiasm of the crowd, I wouldn’t be surprised if that fact were true. According to the band, the show at First Avenue was the quickest to sell out on their US tour. Scalpers were asking $100-150; one desperate fan was offering $200 per ticket in hopes of enticing someone to sell. Face value before fees was $20, by the way.

Massive lines forming hours before doors opened were a common experience at all three shows I attended. In Milwaukee, the line stretched for about two blocks, over a river and winding around corners. What I didn’t know was that this was Mumford & Sons’ first show in Milwaukee and people were obviously very eager to see them. In Chicago, I thought that arriving 90 minutes before doors would still get me a great spot, given that they’ve played Chicago twice in 2010 (Lincoln Hall and Lollapalooza; three times if you count their brief set at a Lolla aftershow at the Hard Rock VIP lounge). Not so, however; the line was already curving around the end of the block and the people at the front had been there since 1:45. Now that’s devotion.

While each show had a similar setlist, that’s to be expected. The band only has one full length album out, after all (if you don’t count the older EPs that were self released, or the recent Wedding Band EP), so it’s not as if they have years worth of matieral to choose from. That’s not to say that each show was without surprise or novelty, however.

Minneapolis saw two new songs appear on the set list: “Lover of the Light”, which the band has been playing since earlier this year (they trotted it out during the May show at Lincoln Hall), and a much newer one called “Below My Feet”, which they said that they’d only played together a few times previously. “Below My Feet” is a really gorgeous song that continues on with some of the religious imagery which is sprinkled throughout the rest of Mumford & Sons’ songs.  I particularly love the chorus: “keep the earth below my feet / for all my sweat, my blood runs weak / let me learn from where I have been / keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn”.  While “Below My Feet” went off without a hitch, “Lover of the Light” came to a halt midway through whenever the power on the stage blew out in the midst of the banjo solo. Rather than be deterred by the unexpected power outage, the quartet soldiered bravely on, bringing out Cadillac Sky violinist Ross Holmes to join them on an unplugged rendition of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel”, which has become a staple song in their live sets in recent months. For their encore, they closed with an unplugged cover of a song by opening act Cadillac Sky, bringing out Cadillac Sky themselves and fellow opener King Charles to sing along.  They also gave “Lover of the Light” a second shot, given that the first go-round was cut short, before ultimately closing with “The Cave”.  The band’s banter and rapport with the audience was delightful as always, even when Marcus accidentally got himself off on a political tangent after someone in the audience shouted out “Fuck Gordon Brown!” during a tuning break. Marcus remarked at at least Gordon Brown wasn’t a threat to world safety (paraphrased); “come on, you guys had George W. Bush.” Fortunately for Marcus, most of the crowd was on the same page as he was, but it could have made for a very awkward moment elsewhere.  He quickly reminded himself that he shouldn’t talk politics at shows, then carried on with the set. 

Milwaukee saw the introduction of two other songs: one less new, “Whispers in the Dark”, and another much more recent song, entitled “Broken Crown”. It’s not wholly new, however, as it borrows heavily from the B-Side “To Darkness” with its lyrics and structure, which explains why I felt as though I already knew the words. Where “To Darkness” comes off as somewhat gentle, “Broken Crown” is more intense with its anger and raw emotion, particularly owing to some of the new lyrics that have been inserted (“crawl on my belly till the sun goes down / I’ll never wear your broken crown / I took the road and I fucked it all away / in this twilight, how dare you speak of grace” and later “in this twilight, our choices seal our fate”).  “Broken Crown” seems to get the biggest reaction from fans, and I’m hoping that’s because people find it to be a solid song, rather than just drunken enthusiasm over a casual f-bomb.  While there wasn’t as much banter in Milwaukee, the show was still very high energy, including a particularly raucous opening set by Cadillac Sky, who were rejoined temporarily by their recently departed lead singer, Bryan Simpson.  (Simpson left for personal reasons; his role has been picked up by Levi Lowrey, who fronted the Minneapolis and Chicago shows.  Although, the posts on Cadillac Sky’s webpage regarding Simpson’s departure and Lowrey’s joining have disappeared, so now I’m very confused.)  Cadillac Sky even got Marcus Mumford in on the action in Milwaukee, literally carrying him out to play drums on one of their songs.

See more after the jump: more reviews, photos, setlists, and YouTube clips.

At Sunday night’s show at Chicago’s Riviera Theater, Halloween costumes were out in full force in the audience, with several people dressed as “Little Lion Men”.  The band commented on this, apologizing for not appearing in costume, but they said that they hadn’t realized just how seriously the US takes Halloween. Keyboardist Ben Lovett commented later that he was, in fact, in costume: as an American.  Well played, good sir.  Well played.  Chicago’s show had its share of unscripted moments, too.  At one point, banjo player Winston Marshall unexpectedly found himself alone on stage in between songs.  In an effort to kill time, he chatted with the crowd and offered to play us a song on the banjo.  Before he could get started, he changed his mind and offered up a drum solo instead.  Well, if there was anything that was destined to bring the rest of the band scurrying back out, it was the promise of a drum solo by a banjo player.  We were informed that Winston had been left to his own devices on stage as Marcus had apparently forgotten to make a stop off in the bathroom before the show started.  TMI, but hilarious anyway.  Winston indulged us with a few measures of drumming as the rest of the band filtered back.  We also learned of Winston’s disdain for cold bread, to which someone in the audience replied: “this is America, we have toasters!”

Witty banter would mean nothing without stellar music to back it up, and fortuately, Mumford & Sons have continued to deliver on that mark.  Their performance is tight, without skipped beats or botched notes, but not so polished as to feel inauthentic.  A two-man horn section joins them on tour this go-round, adding a brightness and vitality to songs like “Winter Winds”.  Marcus Mumford’s voice runs the full range of emotion, from joy to pleading to an angry growl.  At a time where more darling, “twee” sounding folk is popular, it’s a joy to hear something raw and real.  While a majority of their songs are upbeat, perfect for dancing and jumping, these are by no means overwhelmingly happy songs.  The lyrics are full of longing, doubt, relationships gone sour.  “I Gave You All” just kills me every time, especially with its line of “If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy I could have won”, which is something that rings true for myself and a lot of other twenty-somethings that I know. The repeated line of “I will hold on” in “Thistles & Weeds” starts out as a simple statement but as it’s repeated, blows up into something much larger: a plea, an attempt to convince oneself to stay, an “if I repeat it enough times, it will be true” sort of mentality.  

Openers King Charles and Cadillac Sky did a tremendous job at warming up the crowds.  King Charles is perfect in his eccentricity, but it would be easy to underestimate him based solely on that.  His songs are just as hyper-literate as Mumford & Sons, only with less Steinbeck references and more Oscar Wilde.  He opened his set each night with an a cappella track, then proceeded to deliver a short set of witty, thought-provoking tunes.  A particular crowd-pleaser was his spin on Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, swapping out Joel’s lyrics for more timely ones.  (“We all know Tom Cruise is gay” always got a huge response.)  Cadillac Sky blew my mind on the very first night with their high energy and furious playing.  Guitarist and singer David Mayfield is a bundle of heavily-bearded energy on stage, jumping and gyrating and taking pretend naps at the ends of songs.  He’s a showboat, for sure, but he backs that up with some downright amazing guitar playing.  They’re loosely categorized as a bluegrass band, but I’m sure bluegrass purists would disagree.  I classify them as awesome.  All together, the three acts seemed like friends and old family, and when they would join one another on stage, you could tell that you were watching something organic and spontaneous happening.

Before I go, a shout out to all of the great people who I met during my trip. To the kids from Duluth at First Avenue; my fellow Chicagoans at the Riverside; to the artist and the boys in the band from Detroit at the Riviera: thank you all for being awesome people and great concert buddies. I didn’t catch most of your names and we will probably never see each other again, but for those few hours of standing and cheering and singing, we were all friends.

And that’s why I can’t get behind the criticism of Mumford & Sons that says that their music has no heart or soul, that it is meaningless. It takes a special band to bring out the type of exuberant joy I saw in the crowd at these three shows. It takes a special band to inspire the sort of devotion that drives people to travel far from home to see a show (and I’m not just talking about myself here). Say what you will about the sometimes formulaic nature of their music; that might be truth, but the honesty and intensity of their lyrics and performance are what has made their fanbase fall in love with them.

Wagon Wheel (unplugged)

Broken Crown (new song)

Setlists (may not be 100% accurate; based off of the setlist on stage, but I know that several nights saw some changes)

Minneapolis
Sigh No More
Roll Away Your Stone
Winter Winds
White Blank Page
Timshel
I Gave You All
Little Lion Man
Lover of the Light (partial)
Wagon Wheel (unplugged)
Thistle & Weeds
After the Storm
Awake My Soul
Below My Feet
Dust Bowl Dance
Encore
Cadillac Sky cover (unplugged)
Lover of the Light
The Cave

Milwaukee
Sigh No More
Roll Away Your Stone
Winter Winds
White Blank Page
Below My Feet
Timshel
I Gave You All
Little Lion Man
Lover of the Light
Thistle & Weeds
After the Storm
Awake My Soul
Broken Crown
Dust Bowl Dance
Encore
Wagon Wheel (unplugged)
Whispers in the Dark (I think this is where it went in the set list)
The Cave

Chicago
Sigh No More
Roll Away Your Stone
Winter Winds
White Blank Page
Below My Feet
Timshel
I Gave You All
Little Lion Man
Lover of the Light
Thistle & Weeds
After the Storm
Awake My Soul
Broken Crown
Dust Bowl Dance
Encore
Lady in the Water (King Charles cover)
Go to Sleep (Avett Brothers cover)
The Cave

Related posts:

1. Concert Review: Mumford & Sons, Lincoln Hall, 5/24/10
2. Mumford & Sons at WXRT
3. Concert Review: Andrew Bird at the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago (WXRT’s Night at the Museum)

If you’re looking for me this week, I’ll be on my Mumford Midwest Mini-Roadtrip.  (I can’t think of another word with M.  Migration, maybe?)  I’ll be arriving in Minneapolis the 28th — it’s my first time there, so I decided to go in a day early to explore the city a bit.  The show there is the 29th; then I leave the next morning for Milwaukee, and then the morning after that, it’s back to Chicago.  It will be epic, and I will be exhausted, and I will sure be wishing that I had a vacation day on Monday.  Oops.

Monday, October 25
Joshua Radin, Hard Rock Cafe. 6 pm, free
Robbie Fulks, Justin Roberts; Hideout. 7 pm, $10 suggested donation
LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip; the Aragon. 8 pm, sold out
Tyler Hilton and Josiah Leming; SPACE. 8 pm, $15-28
Ezra Furman, Danny Malone; Schubas. 8 pm, $6

Tuesday, October 26
LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip; the Riviera. 8 pm, $35
Dar Williams; SPACE. 8 pm, $30-35

Wednesday, October 27
Maroon 5; UIC Pavillion. 7:30 pm, $39.40-77.45
Mayer Hawthorne and the County; Subterranean. 7:30 pm, $17

Thursday, October 28
Shawn Mullins; SPACE. 8 pm, $22-35

Friday, October 29
Shawn Mullins; Schubas. 9 pm, $20-22
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound; Hideout. 10 pm, $10

Saturday, October 30
The Weepies; SPACE. 7 pm and 10 pm, sold out
Bob Dylan and his Band; the Riviera. 7:30 pm, $61
Deer Tick; Bottom Lounge. 8 pm, $13
Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar; Symphony Center. 8 pm, $25-100
The Morning Benders; Lincoln Hall. 9 pm, $15

Sunday, October 31
Mumford and Sons, Cadillac Sky, King Charles; the Riviera. 7:30 pm, sold out
Joe Firstman; SPACE. 8 pm, $12-20

Related posts:

1. This Week in Great Music: 10/3 – 10/9
2. This Week in Great Music: 10/11 – 10/17
3. This Week in Great Music: 5/23 – 5/29

I am having a love/hate relationship with this year’s Lollapalooza schedule.  It’s not like last year, where I was able to fill every inch of my day with bands.  But maybe that’s a good thing — more time for aimlessly wandering from stage to stage, more opportunities to discover something new. 

Here’s where you’re most likely to find me this year:

Friday
B.o.B, 11:30-12:15, adidas MEGA stage.  Not gonna lie, I really like that song “Airplanes”.
Los Amigos Invisibles, Playstation stage, or The Walkmen, adidas MEGA stage, 1:00-2:00.  I’m torn on this one.  I’m dragging my husband with me to Lolla this year, and he, like Los Amigos Invisibles, is Venezuelan, so we kind of want to see them.  But boy, would I like to see the Walkmen.
Mavis Staples, 2:00-3:00, Budweiser stage.  She’s a legend, and her new album is full of fellow Chicagoans like Jeff Tweedy, Kelly Hogan, and Nora O’Connor. 
Drive-By Truckers, 3:00-4:00, Playstation stage.  I missed them earlier this year because of my dislike of the Vic.  Not going to miss out on them this time.
The New Pornographers, 4:00-5:00, Budweiser stage.  Last time I saw them, Neko Case had just dropped out of the tour because she broke her foot.  TNP with Neko >>>> TNP without Neko.
Lady Gaga, 8:00-10:00, Parkways stage.  Shut up, I am totally excited to see Gaga.  Don’t you judge me.

Saturday
Who’s got two thumbs and might be sleeping in on Saturday?  This girl.  I’m going to spend some time over the next couple of days getting to know the morning acts to see if there’s anything that really interests me.  Otherwise, I may just be wandering aimlessly until the afternoon.  And then, of course, from the afternoon on, my day turns into a mess of needing to clone myself to see everything I want to see.
Blues Traveler, 1:45-2:45, Parkways stage.  I love me some harmonica.
Stars, 2:15-3:15, Budweiser stage.
Dan Black, 3:00-3;45, BMI stage.
Gogol Bordello, 3:45-4:45, Parkways stage.  I didn’t make it to their show at the Congress earlier this year.  I will not be thwarted this time.
Deer Tick, 5:00-6:00, Sony bloggie stage.
Metric, 5:15-6:15, Playstation stage.
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, 6:30-7:30, Sony bloggie stage.
Green Day, 7:45-10:00, Parkways stage.
Phoenix, 8:30-10:00, Budweiser stage.  The good thing about the headliners not starting at the same time is that I’ll be able to see a little bit of Green Day’s set before wandering back to Phoenix.

Sunday
The Antlers, 12:15-1:00, Budweiser stage, or Nneka, Parkways stage.  I’m so torn!  I love both of them, I’ve seen them both live before, so I’ve got no idea where to go.
Blitzen Trapper, 2:00-3:00, Budweiser stage.
Mumford & Sons, 3:00-4:00, Playstation stage.  After Lady Gaga, they may just be the band I’m most excited to see, even though I just saw them a few months ago.  I love these guys.  I’m just sad they’re not going to hang out at the autograph tent, although this may be for the best, because I may have a hard time containing my excitement otherwise.  (I did manage to have the self control to not pounce Andrew Bird last year, but my restraint is not infinite.)
Erykah Badu, 5:00-6:00, adidas MEGA stage.  Let’s see what kind of crazy shit she comes up with.
The National, 7:15-8:30, Playstation stage.  To be honest, I’ve never really loved their live music, from the bootlegs I’ve heard.  Maybe this will change my mind.
Arcade Fire, 8:30-10:00, Budweiser stage.  I’m also not a huge Arcade Fire fan, but I’m really not interested in seeing Soundgarden, so indie-hipster-whatever central it is.

Related posts:

1. Lollapalooza 2010 Lineup
2. Concert Review: Lollapalooza Day 1
3. Lollapalooza-palooza.

Look what’s up in a timely fashion, my friends.  I did a lot of non-blog related writing this past month, and almost all of it was completed to a soundtrack consisting of Mumford & Sons, Peter Wolf Crier, and Joe Pug.  But there was other stuff, too.  Check it out.

Related posts:

1. Album Review: Peter Wolf Crier, “Inter-Be”
2. Telluride Bluegrass Festival: June 16-19
3. Concert Review: Freelance Whales with Peter Wolf Crier, Schubas, 6/11