Josh Rouse - Brilliant, But Too Short a Show!

So I saw Josh Rouse at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA recently on his “El Turista” tour, and it was actually his very first show with his new Spanish band. (Josh is living in Spain now) He apologized beforehand if anything wasn’t quite right, but noted that it was their very first show, so there was plenty of applause for that – a good thing to do, as the audience was then ready to cut them a break if need be. But, it was not needed, at least as far as the band goes – the band was very good overall, not perfect, but really great. The one thing we all did have a reason to complain about was the length of the show. One hour, maybe a minute over…shortest headline show I may have ever seen, I think. I was a bit disappointed at that, and as it was probably the 6th time I’ve seen Josh, I know his previous shows were not that short. However, there are additional mitigating circumstances. He and the band had just flown in from Europe the day before, and earlier the same day of the show, they had gone and played about 15 songs for XM/Sirius Radio studios in downtown D.C. Ouch. Josh even said that because of that, he wasn’t sure if he could hit all his notes. Regardless, I will go see him again, and call it an aberration – he is a great singer songwriter, and one of my all time favorites with what he’s put out in the last decade plus.

Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker

So, I just saw David Lowery's bands a couple of weeks ago. David Lowery has fronted two great bands, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker and he's taken them both on tour this winter - rough night singing for both the opener and the closer! That's got to wear on your voice. However, the show was great and I couldn't tell a thing about the singing and I was listening! I had never seen Camper Van Beethoven, and they blew me and my friend Kenny away. The violinist, Jonathan Segal, was great and really adds an interesting aspect to the music. I didn't know they did so many Russian "polka style" instrumentals - they were great! It's been a long time since I've listened to them, and it was a great show. They played the obligatory classics, "Pictures of Matchstick Men" and "Take the Skinheads Bowling" - which got the crowd going.
Cracker was great too and really rocked - Johnny Hickman was wailing on guitar and they did a ton of their classics like "Low", "Get Off This", and Eurotrash Girl. However, I was missing songs from my favorite album "Gentleman's Blues". Now there is a kick-a$$ rock album all the way through. If you don't have it, get it and play it. That's rock and roll. But Cracker has a pretty extensive catalog and that album didn't chart so well, so that's what happens. Got to see a band on every tour if you want songs from every album.
Whew...I've got some work to do.