March 2025 Challenge Thread - Live Music (Really) Is Better!

Day 21: Yngwie Malmsteen May 2019, House of Blues– Went with a friend who wanted to see some shredding. Fully enjoyed the experience. Play something with a shredding guitar solo.

Lucinda Williams – Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone
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There are a couple on here, but the one on "Burning Bridges" comes immediately to mind.
 
Day 25: Steve Burns / Starlight Mints July 2004, The Casbah – Steve Burns (of Blues Clues fame) released an excellent album with Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips called Songs For Dustmites, and did a short tour with it. Was a little odd to see him sitting at the bar nursing a beer before the show to be honest. Lots of musicians have been on kids shows from Sesame Street to Yo Gabba Gabba, play something by someone that has appeared on a kids tv show.

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Day 23: Björk / Interpol / Jesus & Mary Chain / Arctic Monkeys / Gillian Welch & David Rawlings / Noisettes April 2007, Coachella
Play someone you saw at a festival, or someone who you would have headline your dream festival.

Man Man - Six Demon Bag
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We made sure to get to Pitchfork Music Festival 2006 early so we could catch Man Man’s early afternoon set and they did not disappoint.
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Day 26: Pearl Jam / Sonic Youth July 2006, Viejas Arena – Play something for a teacher or person that has inspired you.

This one is for a friend who I always found inspiring and renewing when we got together and also taught (as in turned me on to) me about a lot of music.

Rob was a DJ at my local NPR station. He ran the CMJ program there and hosted a show called ARC Overnight from midnight to 4am. I spent thousands of hours with Rob and his show over the last 15 years or so. We immediately hit it off and spent lots of time together "after class".

In the age of automated radio, Rob was an old-school dinosaur. He'd plan his first set and then go where the vibe took him. He could seamlessly transition any and everything regardless of genre or style. Rob was an absolute master craftsman on the air. He loved music, he loved animals, he had a biting, dry wit and he loved pushing the envelope. The night of Lou Reed's death, he played 4 hours of nothing but Lou and VU. Not exactly allowable under your FCC airplay regulations but Rob knew it was the right thing to do and took the heat.

Five months ago, Rob suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. I still haven't been able to listen to the show he nurtured and grew into the best 4 hours on radio since.

The first night we talked, Rob gave me this quote which I still often use,,,

"When in doubt, play The Clash." - Rob Daves

Rob broadcasting from Bonnaroo...

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Hopefully Rob will forgive me, but I'm going to eschew (he'd appreciate the use of that word) The Clash and instead play something I recorded at the last show we saw together. Rob and I met up for a free Rose City Band show on the tiny outdoor stage at Burial Brewing on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. The brew was good, the music was great, and the conversation and laughs were even better. We saw lots of shows together and shared lots of pints over the years. Thanks for everything, Rob. I'm lucky to have known you and I miss you terribly.

Sometimes you can set up a modest rig in the sweet spot, hit record, hit the bar, let the Taping Gods take it from there and they bestow a diamond upon you...

Rose City Band - Burial Brewing South Slope, Asheville, NC 9-10-23 - Wee Hours > Wildflower



My mics clamped to the table on the right...

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Rob and I literally saw Rose City Band playing under the rainbow...

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Rose City Band - Earth Trip

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Day 27: Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N’Dour September 1988, LA Coliseum – This stop of the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour also featured Bono & The Edge, and Joan Baez, and was meant to raise awareness of Amensty Internationals work. Play something by an artist that has stood up for people who struggle to find a voice themselves.

Fela Ransome-Kuti and The Africa '70 with Ginger Baker - Live!

Fela was pretty good at this. This is the best of a few live albums of his I've got.

And for my own gig ticket, I went with the stacked nature of your gig - the Roots, Pixies, and RHCP were pretty great (although I'd have them in that order not the reverse).



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Day 26: Pearl Jam / Sonic Youth July 2006, Viejas Arena
Play something for a teacher or person that has inspired you.

Wu- Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
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I really didn’t have many memorable or inspiring teachers. Most of my public school teachers would rather waste a couple of hours of class time airing Dead Poet’s Society on VHS than actually try to inspire us. That being said in 7th grade Social Studies we had to do a group project on the stock market/investing and I was able to convince my team to name our investment group C.R.E.A.M. as an Homage to The Wu-Tang and to my teacher, Mr. Lieddy’s credit/ignorance he allowed the name to stand (We invested in Microsoft and Disney in the early 90s, we did pretty well).
 
Day 27: Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N’Dour September 1988, LA Coliseum – This stop of the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour also featured Bono & The Edge, and Joan Baez, and was meant to raise awareness of Amensty Internationals work. Play something by an artist that has stood up for people who struggle to find a voice themselves.

Lido Pimienta focuses quite a bit of attention on LGBTQ+/ Womens / Indigenous rights in Columbia (and elsewhere). Over covid she did a series called "Lido TV" as an outlet , sharing her voice and perspective via a Pee-Wee Herman styled show. At about 2min in the epsiode linked below there is a segment on a Columbian record collector/shop that is very interesting.

She was fantastic at Ohana a few years ago.

Lido Pimienta ~ Miss Columbia

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Day 27: Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N’Dour September 1988, LA Coliseum
Play something by an artist that has stood up for people who struggle to find a voice themselves.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts
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I took the low hanging fruit mainly because I wanted an excuse to spin some killer live Boss.
 
Day 22: Grateful Dead December 1989, Great Western Forum – Hearing the Dead bust out Help On The Way --> Slipknot! --> Franklin’s Tower to start the second set was a surprise in the best possible way. Play a rarity, or something that would blow you away if you heard it live.

Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend

Hoping for a full recovery from stroke! Would love to see all the way back to playing this great record. An all time favorite record for me.

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Day 23: Björk / Interpol / Jesus & Mary Chain / Arctic Monkeys / Gillian Welch & David Rawlings / Noisettes April 2007, Coachella – Went primarily for Björk and the first Jesus & Mary Chain show in 6 years. This was back when Coachella sold one day passes. Saw a fantastic variety of bands that day. Play someone you saw at a festival, or someone who you would have headline your dream festival.

R.E.M. - Green

Come on back guys, we need you.

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Day 26: Pearl Jam / Sonic Youth July 2006, Viejas Arena – This particular show was memorable for a number of reasons, getting Sonic Youth as an opener was a big one. PJ played the Mother Love Bone track Crown Of Thorns and the rarely played Satan’s Bed, but the high point for me was the dedication of Long Road to Ed’s late teacher Clayton Liggett, and how hearing of his passing inspired the song. Play something for a teacher or person that has inspired you.

Various Artists "Songs In The key of X" (1996 Warner; 2023 reissue)
So I had this drama teacher in grade 12. Monsieur Laflamme. Helped me "come out of my shell" so to speak. Become more confident in myself. One of the big class projects is that we put together a version of this quebecois classic play from the 50's titled "Zone". Playing in that was big for me. Never acted again though. As you'd have it, my daughter read "Zone" just this year for her French class, so that brought back memories. Anyway, the play is about teenage cigarette smugglers that live in the back-streets of Montreal. Who were they smuggling cigarettes for? I can only assume it was the Cigarette Smoking Man. Who else could it be?

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Day 24: The Beat Farmers November 1990, The Barn at UC Riverside - The Beat Farmers were led by the late, great Country Dick Montana who died onstage in 1995. One of the best bar bands I’ve seen. Play something by someone who leaves it all on stage.

Nirvana - In Utero

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Day 25: Steve Burns / Starlight Mints July 2004, The Casbah – Steve Burns (of Blues Clues fame) released an excellent album with Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips called Songs For Dustmites, and did a short tour with it. Was a little odd to see him sitting at the bar nursing a beer before the show to be honest. Lots of musicians have been on kids shows from Sesame Street to Yo Gabba Gabba, play something by someone that has appeared on a kids tv show.

Sleater-Kinney - All Hands On The Bad One

It says they were on Bob's Burgers!

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Day 27: Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N’Dour September 1988, LA Coliseum – Play something by an artist that has stood up for people who struggle to find a voice themselves.

I've been very lucky to strike up a friendship with Lee Bains over the last decade. He's a truly great dude - well read, well-spoken and finely in tune with what's going on in the world. He doesn't hesitate to talk about and write about controversial topics, mostly centered around equality, world order and governmental oppression.

I've taped Lee Bains both solo and with his band The Glory Fires a dozen times over the last decade. I'm going to feature a song from The Pinhook for a couple reasons - first, a blazing performance and introduction and second, I met up with @Nee Lewman at this show.

Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - The Pinhook, Durham, NC 7-27-27 - Nail My Feet Down To The Southside Of Town



Lee Bains III + The Glory Fires - Live At The Nick

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Day 28: Neil Young / Death Cab For Cutie / Everest October 2008, Cox Arena – Play a cover song.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Weld

V moving version of Blowin' In The Wind, paired with my one time of seeing him (with a somewhat underwhelming Oasis as support). He was incredible, as you might imagine.

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Day 28: Neil Young / Death Cab For Cutie / Everest October 2008, Cox Arena – Neil played a number of extended cuts this show – Love and Only Love, Cortez the Killer, Cowgirl in the Sand, and closed with a blistering cover of the Beatles A Day in the Life. At the end I think there were only 2 strings left unbroken on Old Black. Play a cover song.

Almost 50 years in and they still put on a great show. Plus the last few times I've seen them they've surrounded themselves with other great acts. The picture below is from 2017 where they shared the bill with Mike Watt and the Meat Puppets. And they always pull out the cover of Soul Kitchen.

X ~ Los Angeles

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