I'm going to see The Jayhawks in Denver tomorrow!

Long stupid day at work today 'cause I can't get this band out of my head and I can't wait to finally see them live!
Small venue, The Bluebird Theater on Colfax in Denver was originally a vaudeville house.
I've been a rabid fan of this group (one of the best bands in America, IMHO) since about '95. Almost ten years! Time flies.
Their music has helped me through some pretty tough times.
I'll report back after the concert.

Dan C

 

Can't wait for the review Dan, I love these guys - agree with your assessment that they are one of the best bands out there. I've turned a lot of people I know onto them.

On the negative side, I've never managed to be able to see them live. Have read some good things - very good things - about this current tour.

 

Just saw The Jayhawks do a smashing two hour show at Tipitina's in New Orleans last week. They did much of the new album, lots of "Hollywood Town Hall" (which even Gary Louris said has held up well...) and "Tomorrow The Green Grass", a couple Golden Smog tunes and one from the "Sweet Relief" album. Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum jumped up to sing that, too, and Gary later revealed he had lived with Pirner in Minneapolis, a two-week stay that turned into two years, and that several of the songs had been written at his house.

I didn't really realize it was drummer Tim O'Reagan who sings in harmony with Gary now. He has a great voice, too, and sounds a lot like Mark Olsen. They sound just like they always have.

A great and criminally underrated band, a killer catalog at this point, and they are fully capable of delivering the goods live. You will not be sorry you went, my brother!

Mark in NOLA

 

Thanks Mark, great review. It is criminal that they're basically ignored by the mainstream. Have been their whole career.

Hopefully I can snag that "Live from the Woman's Club" acoustic CD they've been selling at concerts. The eBay prices are insane!

They're also playing in Boulder tomorrow night. Maybe I'll be able to attend that one too! Then on Thursday Loudon Wainwright III is also playing in Boulder. I might never come home!

Better hit the road, I need to hit some record shops before the show.

Dan C

 

Dan - a local independent record store here in Portland, Oregon, is selling copies of the "Live From The Woman's Club". It might not be available at BestBuy or CircuitCity, but i'm certain that other smaller shops are selling it. Don't go to Ebay for this title. PM me if i can be of assistance.

 

If you can, please corner Gary L. and smack him upside the head with a Gram Parsons LP until he promises to get Mark Olsen back into the band. They were such a wonderful partnership...

 

Dan

have you checked out their official web site? tour dates, set lists etc, I live in the Mpls are and their playing 3 nights in december at First ave. I definately plan on being there, I've seen the live at the womens club cd at the local headshop in Mpls, they have a web site and you could order it from them. do a search for the Electric Fetus (bad name - great store) otherwise send me a PM if you want me to pick it up.

 

I have seen them four times. A couple of times acoustic and a couple times electric. They are a great live act and of course their albums are amazing
Hope they play "Trouble" from SOL; great tune.
I have their autographs too. Gary is a little aloof but he's OK. The other guys are friendly.
The drummer is indeed an excellent singer but watch him; he plays the drums backwards
Enjoy
Norm

 

Man, the Jayhawks are playing Saturday in Mill-Town but I work.

 

Thanks for the tip on the acoustic CD. I was able to order it online from Electric Fetus... "Waiting For The Sun" is on the extra CD that comes with "Rainy Day Music". Didn't see the track listing otherwise.

 

Amazing show.

It was a brilliant performance. Everything any Jayhawks fan could ever hope for, pretty much. Except Mark Olsen surprising us with a guest appearance, that would've been even better.
It was a packed theater but for some reason there was plenty of room at the stage, which is where I was for the whole show.

The songs are from all over their career and the arrangements were stellar. Many of my older favorites got played, like "I'd Run Away", "Clouds", "Blue", "Nothing Left To Borrow", and "Sister Cry" with a killer extended jam in the middle. They threw in a Golden Smog song and a Buffalo Springfield cover (and I can't remember them right now for some reason, but it'll come to me soon).

From the Sound Of Lies album I only recognized the excellent "Sixteen Down". Not enough songs from that album unfortunately.
They played some of the better songs from the Smile album, including "Lost in Ohio" with an arrangement that's FAR superior to the album version.

Plenty of tracks from the current album were played too, like "Save it for a Rainy Day" and "Stumbling Through the Dark" (which they opened with).
Perhaps the most incredible moment came during the encore. They played a beautiful stripped down version of "Settled Down Like Rain".
For me at least, the last verse has always been very emotional:
"You packed up your bags and belongings
And crept out through the back
The sound of footprints on the ground"
For some reason it's always struck me. I had a lump in my throat myself, but so did Gary. He actually stopped and laughed it off while the band played. After it was over he wiped his eyes and apologized.
After all of those performances, that song still has so much meaning for it's writer.

A note on the opening act.
The Sadies are from Canada and they're friggin' GREAT!!! A cool, if slightly peculiar mix of traditional western, surf, and rock music. They play an upright acoustic bass and sometimes a fiddle, but they rock! And in the middle of their own songs they did a killer version of Elvis' "Wearin' That Loved On Look" from the Memphis album.
During the encore with The Jayhawks they came out for a couple of excellent jams.

Obviously I couldn't see the show in Boulder tonight, just not enough time and money unfortunately. But I'll never forget last night!

I was able to take quite a few photos and I'll post a couple tomorrow from work (faster computers there )

PS: Thanks for the offers and tip on "Live from the Woman's Club". They did indeed have it there for just $10 and I got it.

Another PS: More than one person traveling with the band told me that the rare and long OOP "Bunkhouse" album will indeed be reissued by Lost Highway soon. I'm hoping that's all true but you never know until you have it in your hands!

Dan C

 

Nice review, Dan. You are right, this tour was one for the fans to savor...

The Buffalo Springfield song was Neil's "Expecting To Fly", of which they did a stellar version.

And I asked about the acoustic CD but the merch booth situation was a little chaotic and no one knew what I was talking about. I had to pay a bit more to get it from Electric Fetus so you done good!

 

Nobody seemed to care that I had a camera. In fact, quite a few fans had cameras. Pardon the slight movement, it was really dark and I didn't want to annoy everyone by using flash (which looks ugly in the photo anyway).
Dan C

 

Gary's peddles.

Bassist Marc Perlman, far left, was quite ill that night with the flu or something. He mostly sat, dripping with sweat, and a few times looked like he was about to topple over. Poor guy. But he played very well. Hope he's feeling better soon.

Dan C

 

One last photo of Gary. I stayed in this spot most of the night, great access in that old theater.

Dan C

 

Thanks for posting the pics, Dan. Very nice!

The Lost Highway site now has a cool Jayhawks show on their Radio Hour. If you have software like Total Recorder which records as you stream and are willing to spend an hour and work with it, you can make yourself a nice little CD. This is from a live performance done special for them in Chicago on Nov. 11th, hosted by Stephen King, of all people.

This is the portal in:

http://www.losthighwayrecords.com/home.html

Take the Artists Entrance, then Radio Show.

 

Cool, thanks for that tip! I'll most certainly check out that show.
Did you hear their NPR performance a while back? I think it was on Weekend Edition. Excellent live in-studio performance and a great interview. I made a CD-R off the air. Obsessive, ain't it? That show's probably archived at the NPR site.

Dan C

 

Yup, that is definitely archived. I snagged it off the NPR site and made a GREAT CD of it, too. Those were really nice performances...

 

Thanks to Norm I recently got turned on to The Jayhawks, via the new album. We took it on our roadtrip from DC to Cleveland last week and both my wife and I love it. I played it at the in-laws on Christmas and several folks asked about it and liked it a lot.

Great stuff

 

Make sure everyone who hears and likes it buys their own copy!
This beautiful record hasn't sold nearly as many copies as it should. I bought a copy for my mom for Christmas. I also bought the vinyl version for myself recently. A gift from Santa.

Dan C