October 2- 8, 2003

music

Scene & Heard

Second Wind

As much as any Method diehard, Christopher Guest prides himself on the realness of his satirical docufictions; though she could’ve gotten by just clutching a mic, Parker Posey learned to play the mandolin for A Mighty Wind, Guest’s affectionate jab at the ’60s folk boom. Posey left her eight-string at home for A Mighty Wind: The Concert, but it was the only noticeable departure from the film: Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and eight of nine New Main Street Singers all reprised their film roles onstage, with Bob Balaban as the tongue-tied emcee. The only element of the movie that couldn’t be reproduced was the deafening indifference that met the bands’ long-unawaited reunions: It’s hard to imagine even real folk legends receiving such ecstatic welcomes. Surprisingly, many of the evening’s highlights came on songs excised from the movie (though available on the soundtrack and newly issued DVD): The New Main Street Singers’ Sunday-school sing-along, "The Good Book Song," The Folksmen’s unintentionally surreal "Corn Wine" and their surprisingly credible version of "Start Me Up" (only on the CD, sadly). Perhaps those songs that, in the movie, seemed to push the joke too far, worked best onstage as self-contained three-minute comedy routines; that would explain why the Main Street Singers’ offensively cheery shtick played the best, while the bittersweet tension between ex-lovers Mitch and Mickey (Levy and O’Hara) played out as a set of pretty but short-on-laughs love songs that had to be broken up by a bladder-control jingle. Jennifer Coolidge doesn’t sing, but her surprise appearance as malapropism-prone publicist Amber Cole was the evening’s comic highlight: Miraculously, during the closing ensemble number, she even managed to clap in character. Trading forced banter with Balaban’s emcee, she mused with vapid earnestness, "I always think, you know, how do they do it? But they do!"

—Sam Adams

A Mighty Wind Sept. 19, Tower Theater

Art Is Hard

Even if their sound is tough to swallow, you gotta give The Blood Brothers credit. They can take hardcore punk -- a style of music that’s been beaten to death, resurrected and beaten down again -- and carry it somewhere completely unique. Dueling vocalists Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney shrieked, shook and slammed into each other before a sold-out Troc, where they opened for Cursive. Their vocals were rapid and restless, often indiscernible but ripe with feeling.

Fast? High-decibel? Noisy? Sure, that's just about any band in the current hardcore world, from trendy heads The Locust to underground faves Storm the Tower. But what makes the Brothers shake with hyperventilating ingenuity is the way they aren't afraid to drag, say, an organ onstage to bang along with "Every Breath Is a Bomb," only to come frighteningly close to knocking the damn thing over while flailing away at "U.S.A. Nails." Or the way drummer Mark Gajadhar works a complex triple-time jazz beat over the fist-pumping "Jennifer." Or the way Blilie and Whitney collapse onstage in between songs and struggle for breath. You don't get the feeling they're pulling any how-punk-are-we affectations; it really seems like these boys are brutally worn, but they keep going and dive along with the next song.

—John Vettese

The Blood Brothers Sept. 20, The Trocadero

Good Old Man

With Warren Zevon gone, it’s up to Randy Newman to carry the flag for the cynic-storyteller sect of ’70s L.A. songwriters. And just ’cause Newman was probably tinkering with a movie score when the Excitable Boy was out raising hell doesn’t mean he’s any less worthy of your attention. Armed only with a Steinway grand piano and his soulful wheeze of a voice, Newman was like the ringmaster at some circus of human folly on Wednesday night. One by one, the dreamers, junkies, bigots and American blowhards got their turn in the spotlight. Between songs, Newman’s banter ranged from delightfully rude to near-senile ranting to good ol’ self-loathing. And just when you wondered if he was pandering a bit much, he pulled out a song like "Dixie Flyer" or "Rednecks," and you remembered that there are moments when a comedy of errors is no laughing matter. Newman sang "Short People" so angrily (he even admitted it mid-song) it could’ve been "God Save the Queen." And though critics have been calling "Political Science" too obvious a satire of U.S. imperialism ever since it came out, it hasn’t made the 30-something tune any less creepily prescient. This is what happens when we drop the big one.

—Michael Pelusi

Randy Newman Sept. 24, Keswick Theatre

Nicks vs. Buckingham

Stevie Nicks plays air guitar like she’s never seen a real one up close. It’s a curious pose for a woman whose proximity to fingerpicking phenom Lindsey Buckingham is well-documented, but Nicks has charms of her own. On Sunday, the pair transformed "Say You Will" -- the monotonous title track of Fleetwood Mac’s most recent album and the occasion for Nicks’ lousy air guitar -- with sweet a cappella harmonies. With both in top form, it was a draw. And make no mistake: Buckingham and Nicks may play for the same team, but 26 years after chronicling their romantic breakup on Rumours, they’re still keeping score. Since losing keyboardist Christine McVie, it’s been up to Nicks and her two backup singers to fight the good fight against the band’s newly lopsided masculine energy. After her filmy "Rhiannon," a seven-man army (including three drummers) held Nicks back for Say You Will’s "Come," but she rebounded with "Gypsy." She gets a point for resurrecting "Beautiful Child"; give Buckingham credit for "I’m So Afraid." He racked up more electrifying moments, but she won their staring contest during an intense "Silver Springs." Buckingham went out with the edge, but Nicks is sure to demand a rematch.

—M.J. Fine

Fleetwood Mac Sept. 28, Wachovia Center