Okay, psych. It turns out I thought I'd have more time to write over my vacation than I actually did. Blame that on two buses without outlets, and one very intrepid host that kept me too busy to write while I was in Boston. So, I know I said I'd try to get a Deer Tick review up before this post, but I didn't. So, I'll review the shows as planned and follow up with a Deer Tick review either later this week or sometime next week (and if I'm really ambitious a review of the Tokyo Police Club show).
DC:
As you may have read, I have already had the pleasure of seeing The Dead Weather live at Austin City Limits Music Festival last year. Now, this was at an outdoor festival show over the length of a football field away, amidst thousands of fans, ankle deep in mud. It was one of the loudest shows to which I've had the pleasure of attending. So the idea of seeing them at one of my favorite venues was incredibly enticing to me.
The opening band was a small band out of Austin, TX called, Harlem. These kids were young. I mean YOUNG. If it weren't summer I'd wonder what they were doing out on a school night. It may have been their youthful looks, attire, and demeanor. It could also have been that they were shit-faced drunk and could barely form sentences. I understand you're excited. I understand you're opening up for Jack White (and for other fans Alison Mosshart). I even understand that this might be your first national tour where you aren't playing no-name bars. But you have to control yourselves. They shambled drunkenly from song to song with no apparent set list often talking over each other conveying general thanks that people had shown up to see them. As far as their actual music? The first song, Beautiful and Very Smart, was actually somewhat catchy. The only problem is that pretty much all their songs run together in some giant drunken splotch of beach-blanket-bingo surfer rock crap.
After what seemed like an eternity, Harlem finally left the stage and made way for the headliners. It was surprising just how well dressed the Dead Weather's roadies were. Some of them walking around the stage looked kinda like Elvis Costello. The stage is set with a goat head and several other horned animals at each of the corners of the stage. It goes black, and the black tarp is ripped down from backstage to reveal a large pyramid with the all-seeing eye and the band ambles on stage.
A general blue light is cast on the stage as the individual members take to their instruments and Alison Mosshart, a.k.a. Baby Ruthless, to her mic. The minimalistic beats of Jack's drums and the guitars of Dean Fertita cue the intro for the first track from Horehound, 60 Feet Tall. Mosshart stood behind the mic, her hair a torrent of black hanging in front of her face. At every drum beat she shakes the mic violently and throws her head back in a maniacal way. She stalks on top of the monitors from one end of the stage to the other eying the crowd like some wild lioness sizing up prey. The band continued with Horehound's track listing with Hang You from the Heavens, one of my favorite songs. The more aggressive stalking was put aside for a moment while she thrusted, gyrated and gave the occasional crotch-grab. Needless to say, Baby Ruthless just exudes sexuality all over.
Jack left the drums momentarily to play a Them cover, You Just Can't Win. This blues-y heart breaker had the crowd whooping and cheering at any pause. Seeing Jack White play guitar that close live will be something I will always remember and talk about for years to come. The band continued with tracks off of Horehound with the next two songs, So Far From Your Weapon and I Cut Like a Buffalo. For the rest of the concert they moved to the new album, Sea of Cowards. Difference Between Us into I'm Mad drove the crowd crazy. If I thought that she could be sexy during Hang you from the Heavens, nothing could have prepared me for the way she performed The Difference Between Us. The band moved seamlessly into I'm Mad with the crowd mimicking Mosshart's maniacal, "Ha Ha's". I hate to admit it, but the song off the Twilight soundtrack, Rolling in on a Burning Tire was incredible. The finale for the show came in the form of an incredibly intimate performance of Will There be Enough Water? Jack left his drums again to pick up a guitar and sing with Alison Mosshart. They got so close to each other they could have been kissing. I almost wanted them to do it. I wanted them to have sex on stage and create a baby that would bring about a new era of rock and roll...ahem. Fanboy-ish freak out aside, Jack White has to be one of the most talented guitarists of our generation. This was THE loudest show I have seen. I couldn't hear right for the next 18 hours or so. You know what Madonna was singing about in Like a Virgin? Well this was that but with music instead of sex. I was just as deaf after this show as I was after my first concert.
After only moments of cheering, the band returned to the stage with possibly my favorite song of theirs, Blue Blood Blues. Once again, the crowd exploded in people singing and banging heads. Only I Can't Hear You separated that from the closer, Treat Me Like Your Mother. The crowd thrashed to the out and out skill of Dean Fertita. The tempo change that comes in the middle of the song ripped the show open and exposed everyone's guts. Everyone joined in the chant of "You blink when you breathe; and you breathe when you lie. You breathe when you lie."
Trust me stalwart reader, I am not lying when I am saying that this will be in my top 5 shows for the year. Who knows? It may even grow to join my top 5 shows of all time. Many reviewers stated that Jack tended to hog the show. I've always seen the band as a joint venture with White and Mosshart sharing vocal responsibilities. They're loud, they're dangerous, and they're possibly the hardest rockers on tour right now. I was left as wilted and exhausted as Alison Mosshart's hair which had gone from wild torrent to wet mop at the end of the night.
Baltimore:
For brevity's sake, I will not be as expansive on this review as I was on the last. Primarily this will be a comparison to the DC show. I can tell you up front the Baltimore show was not as good as the DC show. There were two major things that factored into this were the actual venue itself and the crowd in general. I feel like even the latter may have been affected by the former.
To understand my experience, you need to understand Ram's Head Live as a venue. This place is a three story monstrosity with ample railing space for people too old or too frail for life in the pit. The ground floor seems to have way more space than the ground floor of 9:30 Club in front of the stage. The layout is terrible. All that extra space on the ground floor and yet the layout makes it feel like there's less space to see the actual band. They have two large "wings" off the actual venue floor for the bar and something else I didn't even bother to see. And the worst, WORST thing about it is that the sound booth is located smack dab in the middle of the floor. It's ridiculous.
The crowd was relatively weak. No movers, no bangers, just a bunch of scenesters talking about which festival they went to/are going to. They're rude as all hell too. There's no morals about just sneaking in and posting right up on you or worse, in front of you. Por ejemplo, what may have been the tallest person in the venue and his daughter/date (I hate that I have no idea which she was) stepped right in front of me. Albeit, they did try to maintain a clear line of sight by allowing me to shift into their shoulder gap. Still, it didn't help that the stairways from upper floors fed right into the middle of the floor allowing people venturing down from the rafters to just shove into people already there.
First off, Harlem. It was readily apparent that someone had a talk with them since their DC show. They were up front with the crowd stating that they only had 10 songs to play and then they would get off the stage. They quickly made their way through their set only stopping briefly to talk over each other. Only the bassist seemed singularly focused on getting through the set, cutting off the other band members in order to get through it quicker.
The Dead Weather came on just like they did in DC only they opened with The Difference Between Us and cut right into I'm Mad. It really made me believe that these two songs, just like they are on the album, are permanently linked. The set list was virtually the same although they dropped Rocking Horse and Rolling in on a Burning Tire; and traded I Can't Hear You for Jaw Breaker. The Baltimore set list also opted to mix the old and new albums a little more. Alison seemed to trade her bestial stalking for more dancing, twirling and climbing. She was climbing some of the scaffolding for the lighting. I found it somewhat humorous as she climbed stage right and found herself stuck up there momentarily.
As far as their actual performance? It was still a good show by normal standards. But for one reason or another I couldn't get as into it as I normally do. I also felt that the band was phoning it in. Solos were not as epic or as frequent. Even Will There be Enough Water? was not as good as it was in DC. Barring any kind of situation where a band I love but have never seen is playing there, I doubt I will ever return to Ram's Head Live (I will admit that it was ironic that they were putting up rams' heads up at Ram's Head).
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