gig review: kristin hersh @ great american music hall

[rone]

Kim and i drove into SF a bit late; this prevented us from indulging in our SF concert tradition of dinner at Henry's Hunan.

Note: if you are going to watch a show at the GAMH, do NOT NOT NOT park at 1000 Van Ness -- the parking's there for moviegoers and, for others, its rates are extortionate, second in badness only to the $20 flat fee for Giants games. GAMH will validate your parking at 1000 Van Ness.

Fortunately, we didn't miss the opening act, Andrew Bird.  He was very good on violin and guitar and a fine voice.  Bird would sometimes play the violin like a ukulele -- unorthodox, but it worked.  On Bird's final track, in came Howe Gelb, who then fitfully tried to improvise on the piano over Bird's violin loop.  It was a little embarrassing... but, hey, whatever.  Gelb started off on the piano with a wacky tune that was a winking takeoff on Lou Reed, which i enjoyed, but then his Merry Band of Danes came onstage, and they just weren't very good, individually, and very slack as a band (percussionist, stand-up bass, lap steel/mandolin, and an awful singer chick).  Gelb tried to switch back and forth between an honest alt-country vibe and, well, "weird shit".  "Avunt guardy", as perhaps a redneck would call it; Gelb would suddenly turn up the distortion on the guitar and play a couple of chords directly across the beat, and on one song, the mandolin tried to channel Kurt Cobain by causing feedback.  ON A MANDOLIN.  Bird joined them for one track and easily outshone them all.  Their set was probably a couple of songs too long.

Kristin came out and declared Howe's "hootenanny" over.  She played her heart out, which is even more remarkable given that she's currently suffering from corneal ulcers, which have her nearly blind and almost caused permanent blindness in one eye.  Set list:

• Sno Cat
• Heaven
• Your Dirty Answer
• 37 Hours
• Soap & Water
• Teeth
• Tar Kissers
• Spain ("I don't like this song.")
• The Letter ("... but i really hate this one.")
• Pearl
• Deep Wilson (Andrew Bird joins)
• Snake Oil (Howe Gelb joins)
• Sovay (an Andrew song)

Howe Gelb singlehandedly wrecked "Snake Oil" by bringing in electric guitar into a song that has no space for one.  That, coupled with Kim being tired plus having an allergy attack caused by, we suspect, the cat hair on the clothes of the couple in front of us, caused us to leave early.  I really don't understand what the hell Gelb was thinking... it sounded like he was experimenting!  Not exactly the right place for it.  I'm very disappointed.  The Grotto is remarkable because of the lightness of the violin and piano... so why didn't Gelb stick to the piano?  It's unacceptable.

Comments

[wisn.livejournal.com]

I've been a Howe Gelb fan for years, he's always had a stumbling gait to his style, but also knows how to mine a groove ("Center of the Universe" - great album).

It's a shame he was shitting on the vibe. Maybe he's losing it.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was just that night... i dunno. I don't mind stumbling gaits if they're done well; Ives' "Country Band March" is an example of something that sounds like the musicians have been drinking, but is a great piece of music. And the bit where he was imitating Thelonious Monk (in that Lou Reed song) was dead on. But the man had no subtlety when it was called for.

[themannnnnnnnnn.livejournal.com]

I saw them in Boston a little while back and I seemed to be the only one that liked Howe. He did one thing where he played Miles Davis over one of his songs, only I seemed to think it was cool

[2wanda.livejournal.com]

Tiredness and allergy attack aside, I would have wanted to stay if Kristen continued to play solo, or just with Bird, who blended with her very well. When Howe stepped it, it was like being witness to a very bad jam session, where the musicians seriously failed to find the groove. I wondered why they thought we wanted to witness such a painful experience.

Bird made the comment in the beginning of the concert that they have been, "playing each other's music, and it has been getting increasingly bizarre." Bizarre isn't what I would have called the combined efforts of Hersch, Bird and Howe. Disjointed and horrible would have been more the word for it. I was more displeased with the concert than ronebofh, and I'm generally very tolerant of times when musician flounder, because my children are musicians. But I kept waiting for what I would have considered talent in Howe Gelb and his band, and I just couldn't find it.

Late comment, but I just found this

[(Anonymous)]

While trolling for 50 Foot Wave info. I was at this show too, and I totally disagree with your Howe Gelb comments. I'm totally unaware of his music outside of his contribution to the Grotto, but I enjoyed his set a lot. And that version of Snake Oil that night is the best I've ever heard. Howe did not ruin it at all.

(I also parked at 1000 Van Ness, but I've never been charged anywhere near $20 for parking there)

Brian Ferrin