I have been a fan of Travis for several years. A friend of mine suggested I try out this band that she had been listening to for a while. I decided what the heck–I didn’t have anything to lose. It was one of my best musical decisions. I got my hands on “Writing to Reach You” and I loved it. I’ve been a fan ever since.
Though I’ve been a long-time fan, I’ve never had the opportunity to see them live. I came close on October 11th, 2001, when they came to my hometown of Ann Arbor, MI. Unfortunately, that was to be my last chance for six years! Then I got one of the coolest birthday presents ever from my buddy Rohit, two tickets to a Travis concert here in D.C.! So this past Monday, June 16th, 2007, after many years of waiting, my girlfriend and I saw Travis live at the 9:30 Club in NW D.C. Here are my thoughts:
My opinion of the venue hasn’t changed since my review of Anna Nalick. The only difference this time was that it was much, much more crowded. This is understandable, since Travis is of a completely different caliber.
Having never seen them live, I was concerned that they would disappoint me. Some bands are great in a studio but horrible live. I think that Maroon 5 is a very good example of this phenomenon. They don’t even sound good on awards shows. I am happy to report that Travis did not let me down. They were everything I expected and more. The great thing about the band is that they had real personality. They didn’t just stand on the stage and sing (I’ve seen artists do this.) They actually gave us a show. The on-stage antics of the band were quite amusing. Only the drummer, Neil Primrose, seemed a bit subdued. I was a little concerned when guitarist Andy Dunlop climbed the speaker sets. Luckily, he didn’t fall and kill himself.
The music itself was incredible. They played a wide variety of their music spanning from their first album, Good Feeling, to their latest, The Boy With No Name. Of course I heard all of my favorites, including “Writing to Reach You,” “Sing,” “Pipe Dreams,” “Driftwood,” and “Eyes Wide Open.” The end of the main set was “Turn,” which is definitely a great. Things almost went awry when lead singer Fran Healy got shocked in the mouth by his mic and stopped the show. He was actually good-humored about it, but it did spoil the momentum of their last number. The encore was great too. I especially liked their performance of “Flowers in the Window“. I guess you could call it an acoustic version as all of the band members crowded around an acoustic guitar and a single mic and sang together. I also loved “Why Does it Always Rain on Me?”, when everyone (yes, me too) did the pogo for the last refrain. Oh, and you can’t forget their rendition of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” (which I am told by a critical listener was very good).
Another great thing about this concert was that it made me appreciate the music more than I did before. I’ve always liked “My Eyes” from The Boy with No Name. Before the band played this song, Fran paused and explained that he wrote this song the night he found out he was going to be a “papa.” Though I thought I understood the lyrics before, they suddenly seemed to be far more meaningful than before. This might sound lame, but I think it made the music a little more real for me.
If you want to actually hear what I heard, go to NPR. Click on the “Listen” link to hear the entire concert. It sounds decent, but it was so much cooler being there. In the end, I have to say that this will definitely be one the few concerts I remember in my life. I sang along to every song and I had the time of my life. If you ever have the opportunity, check them out live. If that’s not an option, I highly recommend their albums. Enjoy!
Overall Rating: *****
Martina McBride performed at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA on Friday, February 17th. Ok, so this may be a bad review. Mainly because its difficult for me to be objective. Try as I may, I find it difficult to criticize Martina. I’ve always loved her music and I was looking forward to this show from the minute I found out she was going to be playing a local venue. Fairfax was a stop on her Timeless Tour to promote her latest album, coincidentally named Timeless. Though I was dissappionted a little with the album, I wasn’t let down by the show.
The Patriot Center is the basketball arena for George Mason University. I was there almost a year prior for the Brad Paisley’s Mud and Suds Tour featuring Sara Evans. That was a great show too, but that’s another review. The Patriot Center holds a basketball court, so its big but not that big. I like this venue. Its size allows for a lot seats, but still allows a reasonable view of the stage from most locations. I didn’t have a bad seat, E10 Sec 117. I had a clear view of the stage and the acoustics were fine. I was a little dissappointed by the seats, only because I thought I was closer. Somehow, for Brad Paisley I had managed to get fairly close to the stage. All in all, not a bad venue.
Now, according to Ticketmaster, the local radio station 98.7 WMZQ, and the ticket, there was no opener. Come show time, we found out that wasn’t true. The Warren Brothers, stars of Barely Famous on CMT, did a 30 minute set. I didn’t know a single song they sang, so I wasn’t thrilled that I had to wait longer to see Martina. It turns out that the Warren Brothers aren’t half bad. They sounded pretty good. I’m not going to run out and buy their CD, but I’m definitely goin to look in to some of their music.
Now we come to the artist herself, Martina McBride. For those who haven’t seen or heard her before, she’s beautiful and talented. She may be 40, but she’s still gorgeous in my opinion. Simply beautiful, but enough about that. I guess I’m showing my weakness for a pretty girl. Not a good weakness for a critic, but what the heck, everyone’s got one. The thing that made me a fan of Martina is her voice. Its an amazing singing voice. Its got great range and suits the various styles of country music she’s explored with her albums.
One thing I despise about artists is the neccessity for “technilogical assitance.” Britney Spears doesn’t sound the same in person as she does on her CDs. Neither does Maroon 5, Hoobastank, and several other artists. If you can’t sing a song without all the gadgets in a recording studio, do you really have the talent to sing it? Ok, so that may be a bit harsh, but I’ve heard artists on award shows that sound nothing like their CDs. That’s just dissappointing. That’s why this concert was a test for Martina in my mind. Does she sound like she does on her CDs in a concert? I am very happy to report that she does! Not that I ever doubted (well ok, maybe just a little).
Her performance was broken down in to two parts. The first hour was dedicated to songs from Timeless. Most of the songs off of this album never really grabbed me, so I was a little dissappointed when she said this at the beginning. Turns out that the first half of the show gave me a new appreciation for the album. Its still not my favorite CD by her, but I definitely like them more now. Since the songs are country classics, they never had much energy. During the concert, I think that they got that spark they needed. Perhaps, they are best suited for a live performance.
The second half of the show was dedicated to her hits. This part of the show was amazing. I got to hear most of my favorites live. She covered all the greats, including My Baby Loves Me, Valentine, Happy Girl, and A Broken Wing. I was thrilled when Martina pulled out her harmonica during Loves the Only House. She’s multi-talented! I always liked Concrete Angel. Its a sad song, and it sounded perfect when she sang it. Martina also took requests. I was thoroughly impressed by Hit Me With Your Best Shot. She hit it dead on (no pun intended).
I was pleased and dissappointed by the encore. I was pleased because she sang Over the Rainbow. She does an amazing job with this song. She proved she’s got a powerful set of pipes with this one. I personally liked it more than the original. That may be blasphemy against the great Judy Garland, but I think I’m right. No offense Judy. I was dissappointed only because her encore was one song. It was a great song, but still only one song.
The tickets were $50 + ticketmaster fees. Though I felt it was a little steep, it was well worth the ticket price. I honestly thought I couldn’t like Martina McBride more than I did before the concert. I was wrong. In my mind, she proved there is true talent out there. She also showed she really has a voice, no post-processing required. If you ever have the opportunity, see her in concert. You won’t be sorry you did.
Overall Rating:*****
This review is a little overdue, but better late than never. Anna Nalick preformed live at the 9:30 Club in norther Washington D.C. on Tuesday October 11th. The opening act was a group called Blue Merle. Now this review is a supposed to be about the show I saw, but it will be difficult not to make it a review of her debut album Wreck of the Day. Either way, I have positive feelings about both, but the two have very different aspects that make them good.
To get the minor details out of the way, I’ll mention the venue. The 9:30 Club isn’t exactly the coolest club I’ve been to. Its not very attractive on the outside and the interior isn’t exactly exciting. It does have two floors, the second of which has a large balcony overlooking the first. The one thing this place has going for it is that it makes for a very up-close-and-personal show. I could actually see the stage well and I didn’t need a jumbo screen to see the artists’ faces.
Blue Merle opened the show. This group isn’t bad and with time, they might grow on me. I must say I was a little dissappointed because I was told the lead singer, Luke Reynolds, supposedly sounded like Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t true. Unfortunately, most of the music seemed to overpower the lyrics. I couldn’t hear what was being sung, which made it kinda hard to follow allong. They weren’t a bad band, just not a good one.
This brings me to Anna Nalick. The show started off stong with Citadel. The song is pretty solid so it was a good choice and a nice beginning. Nalick tends to do little dances while she sings. She’s not exactly an amazing stage dancer, but it is better than simply standing and singing. Unfortunately, after her opening song, she dismissed her band and announced she had laryngitice. I was not happy, because I thought she was going to cut the show short. Lucky for me, she believes in giving her fans their money worth. She changed the show to an acoustic performance.
I like the music, which makes a huge difference when it comes to critiquing the show. In my opinion, a good show requires three things, good music, a good voice, and stage presence. I’ve already commented on the music, but Nalick’s voice is her true strength. Despite her bout of illness, she never missed a note. She sang every song clearly. One thing that really impressed me is that she sounded like she did on her CD. In an age of digital enhancement, its hard to tell what is true talent and what is computer aided. Some artists, Maroon 5 for example, sound nothing like their CD when they preform live.
For the final component, stage presence, Nalick has a good beginning. She’s young, hip, and funny. Through out the show, she constantly traded witty remarks with the audience. She also likes to tell stories, which are usually pretty good. It worked well for her in such a small personal setting. She can interact with the crowd and keep everyone engaged. Unfortunately, I don’t think this would work that well in a bigger venue. You can’t chat with the audience when you’re performing in front of hundreds of people. I think the stage presence you need to play to a big venue will come with time.
I hope Anna Nalick becomes a little more mainstream. She isn’t super popular, but she’s not unheard of either. Her album went gold last week. If she lasts, I think we can expect great things from her. If you haven’t already, check out her album Wreck of the Day. You won’t be disappointed.