I found out about this homecoming show through the Jill Sobule mailing list, but was happy to hear she was opening for John Doe. He's most well known for founding X, a seminal rockabilly-punk band from the '80s. This promised to be an interesting show, since Jill has an acoustic pop-folk focus and Doe's work with the Sadies is country rock. It would be interesting to see how much crossover there was with the fans, too. I got there early enough to hear both acts do their sound checks.
Jill Sobule
I recently reviewed Jill's California Years, so I won't spend much space reminding you who she is. One point to reiterate, though, is how she's built her strong fan base by sharing her music and connecting with her fans. Before and after her show, Jill was very approachable and happy to talk with anyone. Aside from introducing everyone to her mother, who was working the merchandise booth, she also expressed her frustration over Warner Brothers pulling her I Kissed a Girl video off of YouTube.
During the soundcheck, she played a bit of All the Young Dudes, at one point throwing in some lyrics referencing the sound man. Then she asked us if we'd sing along on the song during the show.
There was a good crowd on hand for her set, although it wasn't as packed as it would be for John Doe. Most of the audience knew her songs and were happy to see what Jill would play. As the opening act, she only had about 45 minutes. There was still time for a nice range of material, including a couple from California Years. While I really enjoy her amusing songs, like The Rapture or her cover of Nelly's Hot in Herre (with her mother adding vocals), the high point for me was Mexican Wrestler. This is a love/loss of love song that showcases the kind of raw vulnerability that Jill can bring to a stage with just the right amount of vocal break and facial expression. Eric Moon sat in on accordion and, with a subtle touch, added a sweet sentimentality to the song.
Jill closed out with an older song, Bitter, which talks about wanting to take the high road and avoid becoming a cynic. In this version, though, she improvised a number of things she is bitter about, name checking the loss of a lot local Denver memories that have faded away. It was a great end to the set.
Oh, and we all sang the chorus of All the Young Dudes when it came around in the middle of the set. We didn't want to let her down.
John Doe and the Sadies
I wasn't familiar with John Doe's work with the Sadies before the show. I had just heard that it was serious country music, as opposed to most of what Nashville does these days. The Sadies, a Canadian rock and alt-country band, have collaborated with artists like Neko Case and Blue Rodeo, so meshing with John Doe's rockabilly vibe makes perfect sense. While they did play a couple of X songs and Sadies' originals, most of the set focused on the material from their album, Country Club. This album, delivers loving covers of classic country hits from the late '50s through the early '70s without a speck of irony.
The whole band brings some serious energy and great chops, which delivered a knock out set. Brothers Travis and Dallas Good provided contrasting if not dueling guitars. Each has his own tone and sound, from the chiming jangle of a Gretsch to the icepick punch of a Telecaster. They also each contribute some vocals and Travis pulls out the fiddle for a couple of tunes. Sean Dean plays a steady bass drive on the upright and Mike Belitsky pounds the country cut time beat on the drums. John Doe sings most of the lead vocals and plays acoustic rhythm guitar.
John's voice is a natural fit here. Whether he's conjuring Hank Williams for Take These Chains From My Heart or channeling Webb Pierce's There Stands the Glass, he evokes the same kind of solid truth. These moments are about as pure as the originals. When Travis or Dallas sing lead (like Travis on Marty Robbins' Big Iron), it sounds good, but it doesn't quite hit that same place that John seems to naturally gravitate to. Normally, I'm not as interested in covers, but John's delivery carried the night, from sentimental to emotional to joyous exaltation.
The peak was Ray Price's Night Life. This was less of a straight cover, with a jangly echoed overdrive straight out of the Beatles She's So Heavy crossed with an Oh, Darling bridge. It started out mellow and built up to a psychedelic hard blues jam. The second most impressive moment came at the end of the regular set on Tiger Tiger. At this point, the Good brothers blew me away by playing twinned leads on each others' guitars (watch at about 2:15). Unfortunately, I didn't get a clean picture of this, but here's one I found by Jason Carlin (http://www.flickr.com/photos/the2scoops/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). Look carefully at the hands. Lots of fun!
The song was fast and loud, in the spirit of X. Speaking of X, the band did do some X covers, like The Have Nots and New World, which were a bit faster than the originals. They weren't bad, but they really needed Exene Cervenka's voice to complete them. The encore closed out with Call of the Wreckin' Ball. With ears ringing and a drive ahead of me, it was a topper on the night. Given the dive nature of the bar, I should have been drinking the Old Style they had, but I had Bass Ale instead. It didn't seem to hurt the Sadies' hard, honest country.More photos on my Flickr.
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