The Black Crowes - Cleveland, Ohio 7/30/08

If Tuesday night was the "Cosmic American" version of the Crowes, Wednesday night was the "Rock'n'Roll Medicine Show." A straight no holds barred rock'n'roll show. Here is the setlist:

One Mirror Too Many

Evergreen

Wee Who See The Deep -> New Filthy Jam ->

Thorn in My Pride -> Drum solo -> Sugar Bee Jam -> Thorn

Sister Luck

Locust Street

Long Black Veil

Whoa Mule

Poor Elijah - Tribute to Robert Johnson (medley)

How Much for Your Wings?

Movin' on Down the Line

She Gave Good Sunflower

Oh Josephine

Jealous Again

Wounded Bird

Encore

Cold Rain and Snow (1st time played)

Ohio

Wee Who See the Deep was excellent live, it really rocked. It was great to see How Much for Your Wings back in the set though it was the one song that I really missed Marc on lead guitar. Tonight's highlight was the cover of the Johnny Cash/Band Long Black Veil (originally written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin.) The only repeats from the previous night were Movin' on Down the Line and Wounded Bird. It was nice to get another first time played, this time a cover of the Dead's Cold Rain and Snow (originally written by Peter Rowan and Tony Rice.) As one may expect, Jealous Again and Ohio really got the crowd worked up. Luther really impressed me tonight, he was smoking on lead guitar and thankfully not every solo was on slide. Thumbs up. Chris was dancing around more than usual and even traded off some guitar solos with Luther during the "New Filthy Jam."
Grace Potter and her band again played a great opening set. As with the Crowes, she only played a couple of repeats in her set...one being the very fun If I Was From Paris. She opened up with Neil Young's Tonight's the Night which means the show opened with a Neil cover and closed with a Neil cover...that always a good thing!


These were two great nights of rock and roll. Grace Potter was impressive in the opening slot and she has won a new fan. The Crowes illustrated that even with a new lineup they are firing on all cylinders and while they aren't quite the band they were in 05/06 they can still flat out put on great shows. This is not some static nostalgia act, this is a living breathing rock and roll band. I can't wait to see what happens next.

The Black Crowes - Cleveland, Ohio 7/29/08

Last night the Black Crowes the played the first show in a two night stand at the House of Blues in Cleveland. This was my first chance to see the new lineup without Marc Ford and Weird Old Ed. Reviews of the new band lineup have been mixed, so I was interested to hear them for myself. The band opened with the psychedelic jam intro to Moving on Down the Line and clearly were fired up. They followed it up with Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution, and then a very welcome electric outing of Cursed Diamond. After a funky Young Man, Old Man the band dug into the archives for You Don't Have to Go. A By Your Side B-side this was the first time they had ever played the song live. Then it was the Cosmic American part of the show. Gold in Them Hills is my least favorite song on the new album Warpaint, but sounded very nice live. This outing gave me a new appreciation of the tune...maybe it isn't that bad after all. Next up was a cover of Gene Clark's Polly. My favorite run of the show was My Heart's Been Killing Me, Girl from a Pawnshop, and Better When Your Not Alone. Wow...nice! This was my highlight of the show. Steve Groman stepped out from behind the drum kit to put on the big bass drum for an energetic God's God It. The band brought back the rock and roll with Share the Ride...with a very tasty outro jam. Soul Singing is always a crowd favorite, as is High Head Blues. Again High Head included some nice jamming. The set ended with a very fast and Beatle like reading of Wounded Bird. The encore was two covers...Buffalo Springfield's Hung Upside Down sung by Rich Robinson, and a very welcome and cooking version of Elmore James Shake Your Moneymaker. Great set...great show.

The Shadowy Rich Robinson on guitar.
Chris Robinson on vocals, Gormon on the big bass drum.The front man, Chris Robinson in mid dance.
Sven rocking out the Beatle Bass.

About the new guys...Adam MacDougall was serviceable on keyboards, but I didn't really notice him. It was odd to look to stage right and not see the weird old Canadian standing at the keys. Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars is no Marc Ford...that is a given...but he did a pretty good job filling the lead guitar spot. My only complaint is he relied on the slide for too many solos. Hey I love slide guitar as much as the next guy, but come on...every solo?

The opener was Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Grace is a very attractive blonde who can really sing. She spent the set alternated between keyboards and guitar. They played a nice set of rocking blues tunes. The guitar player was especially good. At one point the whole band put down their instruments and they all played a drum solo...I've seen drum solos before, but not one with the whole band. Good set, I enjoyed it. I'll have to check out her albums.

Grace and her flying V.

Overall, it was a great show...I can't wait for tonight.

Todd Snider "America's Favorite Pastime" Take 2

A while back I posted a video of Todd Snider singing American's Favorite Pastime in a hotel room. Recently I got an e-mail from Gary at My Damn Channel about a Todd Snider exclusive. Check out this studio version of America's Favorite Pastime.

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in 1/72

As many of you know I tend to have all these great grandiose plans for my modeling. Few go anywhere. My idea for a great collection is the aircraft of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and OTUs in Canada. Yes it is sick, yes it will probably take my lifetime, but it is a good idea.

Here is the list:

Fleet Finch (Planet)

Tiger Moth (Pavla)

Menasco Moth (Aeroclub)

Fleet Cornell (MPM)

Stearman (Revell)

Harvard II (Academy)

Yale (Special Hobby/Azur/Heller kitbash)

Anson (Airfix - upgrade to Special Hobby someday?)

Crane (Pavla)

Oxford (Pavla and Tasman)

Battle (MPM and Airfix)

Norseman (Matchbox)

Stinson 105 (Sword L-5 convered?)

Fleet Fort (Airframe vac)

Bolingbroke (MPM and Airfix)

Lysander (Frog)

Northrop Nomad (MPM)

Swordfish (Revell/Matchbox)

Seamew (Sword)

Walrus (Matchbox)

Fleet Fawn (Can-Vac vac)

Hurricane (Revell)

Mosquito (Tamiya)

Liberator (I don't think I have a B-24J in the collection)

Mitchell (Italeri)

Kittyhawk (Hasegawa)

Hudson (Italeri)

Hampden (I don’t have an Airfix Hampden - shocking!)

Beaufort (MPM)

Ventura (Academy)

Lockheed 10 (Special Hobby)

Dakota (Airfix/Italeri)

Expeditor (Hobbycraft)

31, 32, and 33 are maybes. I've never been quite clear if the transports were BCATP aircraft, or just regular RCAF aircraft used for base flight runabouts. I'm also not sure if I'm missing some transports like the Dragonfly. I may make a decision to exclude all transports for simplicity and the fact it rounds out at 30 planes. (Unless of course I've overlooked something...) Look for it at the Nationals in 2172.

Metro Burger - Highland Square

One of my favorite parts of David Knight's blog...well outside of the "divine scale" modeling...are his occasional restaurant reviews. Since I am a closet foodie, I thought I would give it a try...but please keep in mind I'm no Anthony Bourdain...

Metro Burger is the newest addition to Highland Square here in Akron. I understand it is owned/operated by the same group as the Market Street Cafe in Wallhaven. The concept here is high end fast food but at a reasonable price. The decor in modern and minimalist. Upon entering you fill out a clip board menu of your choices and take it to the order window. You get a nice pager to alert you when your food is ready, and hopefully soon you get to pick up your order at the pick up window. Prices are reasonable, pretty much in line with what you would expect from a slightly higher class fast food place.

As with some of the burger chains (the terrible Red Robin for example), toppings are highlighted on the menu. You get quite a few choices of cheese, veggies, sauces, and bread. The burgers are pretty good for a fast food place, but they are no Whitey's. Sadly it appears you can only get well done. The fries are excellent. They also have kettle style chips, but I have yet to try them out. Overall I would give the food high marks for a fast food place, and the burgers and fries are better then quite a few of the chain casual restaurants (the woeful Applebees and the previously mentioned awful Red Robin.) We've visited twice and service was nice, but slow. This is one thing Metro Burger needs to work on. No one wants to wait 15 to 20 minutes for a burger.

Overall, this is a nice addition to the Highland Square/West Akron neighborhood and Akron burger fans need to check it out.

Favorite Fiction Aviation Books

About a month ago I posted some of my favorite non-fiction aviation books. Jeff asked about my favorite fiction aviation books. That took some thought. I enjoy aviation books and I enjoy fiction, but quite honestly most of the fiction aviation books I've read are silly. They are either sci-fi military thrillers, or really bad pulp war stories. Most flying scenes convey no sense to flying at all. I find it odd that with all the good fiction out there, very few have been about flying. That being said, I did come up with the following list. (Disclairmer: Outside of Catch 22 and No Highway, I read most of these books in high school.)

• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - Not really about flying, this is probably the best aviation fiction book I've read. A classic.
• Nevil Shute has a few books about aviation. No Highway is a good example. This is the story of the crash of the fictional Rutland Reindeer and an investigation into metal fatigue. Loosely based on the real life story of the Comet airliner.
• More of a novella, the Shepherd by Fredrick Forsyth is a supernatural story about a lost Vampire jet guided back to home base by a Mosquito. Only problem is the Mosquito that guided him home disappeared in the North Sea many years earlier.
• You would think that World War Two aviation would be rife for good fiction stories. Sadly very few are of any quality. Though I haven't read it in years, I remember Goodbye Mickey Mouse by Len Deighton being an enjoyable novel about Mustang pilots in England. Again, though I haven't read it since high school, I remember A Piece of Cake by Derek Robinson being an enjoyable book about RAF Hurricane pilots early in World War Two. I wonder if the lack of good WW2 aivation fiction is because the best stories are often true and presented in non-fiction titles.
• The opened scene of Stephen Coonts's Flight of the Intruder features some good writing about flying.
• Another good book about the Vietnam air war is Mark Berent's Rolling Thunder. Much like Coonts, Berent's first novel spawned a series which over time diluted the impact of the debut novel.
• Walter Boyne, is a former director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and his book Trophy for Eagles about air racing pilots in the 30s who end up fighting in the Spanish Civil War. This is a pretty good aviation fiction book. He wrote two sequels to the book, but I don't remember enjoying them as much.
• Finally I'll include Dale Brown's Flight of the Old Dog, but just to keep Matt happy.

Canadian author Spencer Dunmore has written some aviation novels over the years. Sadly, I have to admit I have only read his non-fiction books. Are his fiction books any good?

Lost Classic #1 - Waiting for George by The Freewheelers

For quite a while I have been thinking of starting a series of Lost Classic albums. Great albums that for whatever reason have been lost in the mists of time. So today I finally kick off the Lost Classic series.

It seemed that for a short time there all my favorite bands were signed to American Records. The Black Crowes, the Jayhawks, and the Freewheelers to name three. The Freewheelers 1991 self-titled debut album was released on DGC and was mostly a soulful laid-back set of songs. However with their 1996 American Records debut Waiting for George the band was firing on all cylinders and rocked it out. Driven by the piano and organ attack of Chris Joyner and Dave Sobel, and by the raspy vocals of Luther Russell this is rootsy swamp rock at its best. This record is an unholy revival of the Joe Cocker and his Mad Dogs and Englishmen sound by a bunch of LA kids. Some of the highlights include the opening riff rocker Best Be On Your Way, the Joe Cocker inspired Mother Nature Lady, the languid funk jam (Chico’s Selling) Maps to the Stars, the drunk but charming Walkin' Funny, and the blasphemous rock show tune Elevator Man. The energy level only drops on the dark but pretty finale Let the Music Bring a Smile. This might have been one of the best records of the 90s, but it is almost all but forgotten today; making it the definition of a Lost Classic. Sadly, this was the end for the Freewheelers due to public indifference, though Luther Russell has made some fine solo albums, including the recent Ethan Johns produced Repair.

A few quick stories of note

An interesting article from the New York Times on private foundations.

Eight Reasons You Should Not Expect an Inheritance from the New York Times.

Tom Petty and Contract Law. (Thanks to the Trunk for the vector.)

Steven Tyler Laid Off From Aerosmith. More proof that the rock market isn't what it used to be.

Tom Petty and the Hearbreakers at Blossom June 22, 2008

I will admit I wasn't really excited to attend this show. Tom Petty may be my favorite musician of all time, but the last few shows I've attended have almost the exact same setlist and sometimes the band appears to be sleepwalking. Petty and the Heartbreakers always put on an excellent and professional show, but the inspiration is lacking. How many times can you play the same set of songs in the same order? It seems like Petty is catering to the shed "greatest hits" crowd rather then playing what he wants. It is kinda sad.

Blossom is always hell to get into and out of, so much so I dread attending a show there. Unless you show up at 3:00pm you can pretty much expect to miss the opening act while stuck in traffic. That is what happened to us. Sorry Steve Winwood, gridlock won and we didn't get to hear you play any Traffic. We did get you hear your last song Gimmie Some Lovin. He didn't sound bad at all, wish I could have heard more.

Petty opened with You Wreck Me, and followed it up with Listen to Her Heart, and I Won't Back Down. Wow Tom, haven't I heard this before... Even the Losers was a nice surprise and very well received by the crowd. Free Fallin' sounded pretty good and is always a crowd favorite. Hey at least he didn't save it for the encore. Things hit the low point with a pedestrian run through of Mary Jane's Last Dance. It sounded tired. However, something happened when Petty pulled out the Echo B-side Sweet William. The band was energized. Mike Campbell rocked out the guitar and the energy level rose quite a few notches. I expected a Wilbury tune next, but I didn't expect End of the Line. Nice choice, maybe next time play Last Night. Next up was the criminally underplayed The Waiting. The highlight of the show were a very bluesy Saving Grace and an all out rocking Honey Bee. Now this is more like it Tom! The band jammed with Benmot and Mike Campbell getting in quite a tasty solos. Campbell really stood out on Saving Grace with some great blues slide playing and even a jazz style solo. Even Tom took a guitar solo on Honey Bee. I was never happier to hear Face in the Crowd. Not one of my favorite songs, at least it was something different and not another Yer So Bad. The main set ended with You Don't Know How it Feels, an acoustic Learning to Fly, Don't Come Around Here No More, and a pretty energetic take on Refugee. Kind of expected, but at least the band seemed into these tunes, rather then going through the motions. I knew that the encore would be Runnin Down a Dream and American Girl, but Gloria was a really nice touch sandwiched in the middle.

Sadly Tom ignored his new Mudcrutch album, and outside of Sweet William, none of the songs were deep cuts. I find it frustrating that a guy with such a deep catalogue plays the same songs over and over again. I think Tom feels that if he plays summer shed shows, his audience wants a "greatest hits" show. That is sad as it sells both his band and his talent out. I also think it under estimates his fanbase. Tom should stop playing the sheds, pay some little theatres and really mix up the set. He will still sell out every show and his diehards will be in heaven. Sadly I don't expect it to happen any time soon.

After the show we waited over three hours in the parking lot to try to get out of Blossom. Arg... Corporate sheds still suck! Remind me next time I even think of attending a Blossom show just to stay home.

More Marc Ford for a Thursday Morning - Marc Ford and the Sinners

After his stint in Blue Floyd, Marc Ford put together Marc Ford and the Sinners. The Sinners consisted of Marc on guitar and vocals, Berry Oakley Jr. on bass, Chris Joyner and keys, and Gootch on drums. The band toured with Lucinda Williams and she helped them get a deal with Lost Highway Records. Sadly that deal fell through and Marc disbanded the Sinners and joined Ben Harper's Innocent Criminals. This video comes from the July 12, 2003 show at Gainey Vineyards in California.