From Texas to Tennessee

I'm going to take it to the United Nations or to a rock and roll radio station... (Old 97's - Please Hold While the Train in Moving)

I've been listening to Bruce Springsteen's The Promise quiet a bit lately, but I wanted to talk about a couple others that are also on my current playlist.

First to leave the station from Texas, the Old 97's and their latest release The Grand Theatre Volume I. The Old 97's play rock and roll with a twist of Texas country. They are lead by charismatic front man/lead singer Rhett Miller, with Murry Hammond on bass and vocals, lead guitarist Ken Bethea and drummer Philip Peeples.

The Grand Theatre was recorded in Austin Texas after the band had rented out the Son of Herman Hall in Dallas and played the new songs to see how they would sound in concert. A couple of dozen songs were recorded. A second volume is to be released this spring.

At any rate, The Grand Theatre is the Old 97's besting outing since probably 2001's Satelite Rides. The cd starts off with the title track, a rocker with interesting lyrics; Every Night is Friday Night is instant likable breakup song; Champaign, Illinois is a rewrite of Bob Dylan's Desolation Row (Dylan is given half the writing credit); The Dance Class and Please Hold On While the Train is Moving are highlights; on Let the Whiskey Take the Reins gutiarist Ken Bethea is the star as Rhett Miller sings in a low voice; Murry Hammond takes over the lead vocals on You Smoke Too Much and You Were Born To Be In Battle with winning results.

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Second up from Tennesee are Kings of Leon and their 5th album Come Around Sundown. After a change in direction on their last album Only By the Night from garage rock to stadium rock the Kings continue in that direction. Sundown is again produced by Angelo Petraglia and Jacquire King and leans a little in the direction of U2 with it's atmospheric sounds.

The cd opens with the very atmospheric The End; Radioactive, the fine lead single follows; Mary has a 50ish feel to it; the highlight is the ode to southern hospitality Back Down South. Come Around Sundown may not pack the punch of the Kings early work or have the mega hits of Only By the Night, but it is a fine listen.

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Kings, Keys & Whigs

She's such a charmer, oh no; she's looking at me... (Kings of Leon - Charmer)

I saw a hot show in Cincinnati, OH at the Riverbend Music Center (my favorite venue) on Saturday (9/04): The Whigs, The Black Keys and the Kings of Leon.

It was almost exactly a year ago that I saw the Kings of Leon in Lexington, KY. The Kings still touring in support of 2008's break through Only By the Night, played 8 of the 11 songs from that cd. They also teased us with an new tune, Pyro, from their fourthcoming new CD Come Around Sundown (to be released October 19). The Kings provided many highlights, but my new favorite Kings song and highlight was Charmer from 2007's Because of the Times.

The nights middle act was the Black Keys, who's latest CD Brothers has been in my CD player all summer long. The Keys were amazing playing a portion of the set with only the two members vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. Two additional musicians assisted on the remaining portion of the show. The standouts for me were Tighten Up and 10 Cent Pistol.

The opening act was The Whigs, a trio from Athens, GA (a very musical enriched city). The Whigs played a short energetic set of southern garage rock. Lead guitarist Parker Gispert entertained with his balancing on one leg guitar playing. This band requires further listening.

Kings of Rupp

I've been roaming around, I was looking down at all I see; painted faces fill the places I can't reach; You know that I could use somebody... (The Kings of Leon - Use Somebody)

The Kings of Leon invaded Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY last night (10/10/09) and played to an estatic crowd of about 10,000. The audience stood for the entire show and sang along to most of the songs.

KOL dipped heavily into their most recent and last years suprise success Only By The Night, leading off with Closer, Crawl & Be Somebody. The show steamrolled into some older material Taper Jean Girl and Molly's Chamber. The show moved at an amazing pace and each song felt like a classic. The screen overhead flashed live scenes with pre-arranged graphics and images seamlessly which greatly added to the overall show. The highlights were numerous; the fun Taper Jean Girl; the rocking Molly's Chamber and the powerful Sex on Fire. The house came down during the encore and Use Somebody was played, everyone sang and danced. Last night in Rupp they were the Kings.

SETLIST:

• Closer
• Crawl
• Be Somebody
• Taper Jean Girl
• Molly's Chambers
• Fans
• Revelry
• I Want You
• Charmer
• Four Kicks
• The Bucket
• Sex on Fire
• Notion
• On Call
• Cold Desert
• Slow Night, So Long
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• Knocked Up
• Manhattan
• Use Somebody
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