AccessAtlanta > Music > Music Midtown > Blog > Archives > 2004 > May > 02
Sunday, May 2, 2004
Courtney Love
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“My name is David Grohl,” Courtney Love announced from the stage at Music Midtown Sunday night. But the real David Grohl, leading the Foo Fighters in a set the night before had a much larger audience and a lot less drama.
It seems a pop princess trumps a legally troubled rock star. As the show began, fans were still making their way toward the other side of the festival grounds to see Jessica Simpson.
Clad in a blue denim jumpsuit topped by a bustier, Love started strong with a competent if unspectacular version of the title track from the first Hole album, “Pretty on the Inside.” Things quickly degenerated.
I’d like to thank the academy of hell and the devil for [messing] up my life,” she said. Then things got weird. “And it’s peach season and there are no peaches.” Huh?
A plain imitation of “Malibu,” from the final Hole album, only highlighted that her band needed a little more rehearsal. But she didn’t seem concerned with the music. In fact, she seemed a little emotional and on edge.
But some things remain the same, emotionally fragile or not. No one could have been surprised when the top half of Love’s outfit came open. Breasts were flashed more than once, but that’s just what she does. Eventually, it got too cold even for an inveterate flasher like Love.
Later, Love spotted a blond girl in the audience and asked the secuirity guards to let her up. “You’re hot, sit here.” She asked the new girl to sing “Violet” with her, but it soon became obvious that the girl didn’t know the words and Love just pushed her aside. “Sit down, you can’t sing.”
All this theater would be fine if this was a theaer, but this was supposed to be a concert. If anyone was there for music, it wasn’t until near the end that they got anything worthwhile from the stage.
After the second of Love’s forays into the crowd, she returned to the stage and chided the crowd.
Then we got some music. “Celebrity Skin” sounded confident and rocking, though Love still had trouble staying in front of the microphone long enough to finish a verse. The band left the stage while Love remained, singing a snippet of Nirvana’s “Pennyroyal Tea.”
The band comes back, surrounds her and they all retake their places for “Reasons to Be Beautiful.” By the end, Love is crying. Suddenly, this theatrical performance seems all too real and watching the seemingly damaged Love for the past hour feels wrong and a little sad.
Permalink | Comments (23) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Journey
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rock-n-roll, big-hair band style, made a revival when Journey hit the stage Sunday night. The loud guitars, the heavy percussion, the screaming vocals, the power ballad — all were schrapnel emanating from this explosion of sound.
Steve Augeri, the group’s current lead singer, sounds strikingly similar to Steve Perry, the frontman who rose to fame with the group in the 1980s.
Augeri’s voice seemed to fade a notch or two as the night went on, but not his energy. He led the group through a spirited performance of its hits, which were enthusiastically received by the crowd.
Half of the audience seemed to sing along with the classic ballad “With Open Arms.” Another hit, “Don’t Stop Believing,” was greeted with hearty applause.
The lighters were in the air, the arms were raised and swaying from side to side and rock and roll was back.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Jessica Simpson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Where to begin on Jessica Simpson’s show? We could begin half an hour late, which is what she did, with no explanation or apology, as the crowd, shivering in the unexpcted cold weather, began to boo and chant “Get on the stage!”
When she finally came on, in jeans and what looked like a floral housecoat, the reality TV star and pop singer tried to tape her set list down to the stage and got the tape stuck to her finger. Then her ear monitor (which allows her to hear herself) broke, then it came out again, and she left the stage to deal with it, leaving her band to fill time.
Factor in that she also finished 10 minutes early, and that she spent a lot of time on inane patter (her recent Lasik eye surgery, her trip to the Kentucky Derby), and she actually sang fewer than 10 songs in what was supposed to be a 90-minute headlining set. And several of them were her “favorite.” “Have I said that a lot?” she realized at one point.
In concert, Simpson has a nice, generic voice — she’d do well on “American Idol,” which seems to be enough for the loyal thousands who crushed the Q100 stage, but is really not enough to give her equal status with the many talented musicians at Music Midtown, her current popularity notwithstanding.
Permalink | Comments (27) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Twista
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Without question, Twista is hot. And there’s little denying he’s a hitmaker, with the Chicago rapper’s latest CD debuting atop the Billboard pop charts and a No. 1 single in “Slow Jamz,” with Kanye West and Jamie Foxx.
The verdict is still out, however, on whether the super-speedy rapper is worthy of headliner status. Three songs into his Music Midtown-closing, 45-minute show, the long-struggling featured artist on other acts records was doing another acts’ record: Do Or Die’s “Po Pimp”.
That was understandable as Twista did appear on that hip-hop tune. But then he followed with freestyles over four songs he had nothing to do with it. In a festival crowd playing other hits is an easy win, but in a traditional concert setting that may have just been considered lazy.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
REO Speedwagon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On REO Speedwagon’s Web site, the band attempts to portray itself as an equal to Journey in corporate arena rock scope and importance. Not true at all.
But REO makes a perfect appetizer.
Lead singer Kevin Cronin, looking trim with blond-dyed hair, ran around the stage like an angst-free, perpetually-grinnin’ Energizer Bunny through a 12-song set of radio-friendly hits.
Some of the songs held up well (“Keep on Lovin’ You” still inspires the Bic lighters and “Take it on the Run” remains a fun singalong) but others didn’t age like fine wine at all. ( “Back on the Road Again” and “Keep on Runnin’” included extended guitar canoodling.)
Then there was the still-turgid-afer-all-these-years 1985 hit “Can’t Fight This Feelin,” highlighted by the fact Cronin’s mike died halfway through. A suffering tech person’s sabotage perhaps?
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Ween
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“It’s such a great honor for us to be playing with REO Speedwagon and Journey,” announced Gene Ween, as his band Ween played the 96Rock stage just before those two aging power-ballad purveyors Sunday afternoon. The homage/parody divide is never obvious with this pair of jokers, so the sincerity of the remark is questionable. They were poking holes in rock’s cliches long before Jack Black dreamed up Tenacious D. After one too many mock-portentous opuses with long-winded guitar solos, that joke wasn’t so funny anymore. Fortunately, the band pulled it back together with a stomping, crowd-pleasing rendition of the unprintable lead track from their debut album, “God Ween Satan.”
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Jason Mraz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The field was still a little muddy and spongy at the Q100 stage, but singer-songwriter Jason Mraz’s voice was clear and confident. He’s done these big outdoor gigs enough to have it down by now. “Are you ready to lite-rock?” he jested. And when you could ignore the roar of REO Speedwagon coming from the nearby 96Rock stage, the crowd was and did.
The supple-voiced Mraz, sharing the stage with stalwart percussionist/harmony vocalist Toca Rivera and a small plastic gnome, supplied a terrific set mixing tunes from his debut album “Waiting for My Rocket to Come” and new tunes.
Permalink | | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
The Whigs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This year’s Locals Only stage was a hot spot for old-fashioned rock power-trios. The Tom Collins and Five Eight both played Saturday, and Sunday belonged to the Athens band the Whigs. Young, spunky and with a certain ’60s sensibility (they had big sunflowers on their mic stands), the Whigs played an exciting batch of compressed rock songs that ran on blasts of guitar melody. Book the band at a club with The Tom Collins and Five Eight and you’ve got a rockin’ triple-bill.
Permalink | | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Anthony Hamilton
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday service started a little later than usual over at the V-103 stage. Delivering the sermon was R&B singer Anthony Hamilton, a Charlotte, N.C. native whose powerful, gospel-gritty voice caught the ear of Atlanta-based So So Def Records CEO Jermaine Dupri. Little surprise then that among the congregation was Dupri, his mother, and Hamilton’s labelmate Brooks Buford as Hamilton so emotionally performed tunes from his latest CD “Comin’ From Where I’m From” that people were cheering “I love Jesus!” at the end.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Gavin DeGraw
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gavin DeGraw is an artist at ease. The pop singer from upstate New York took the stage Sunday and effortlessly tossed out his blues-tinged voice to the crowd, which gratefully received it.
He seemed at ease as he moved from keyboard to guitar on his third song, a straight-ahead rock jam that morphed into a cover of “Proud Mary.” He shifted comfortably into ballads, which he delivered with a passion missing from many of today’s pop acts. And DeGraw even showed a facile touch in covering a pair of Marvin Gaye classics, “Sexual Healing” and “Let’s Get It On.” The youthful crowd appreciated the touch of old school.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Switchfoot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A loyal, passionate crowd turned out for San Diego rock outfit Switchfoot’s hour-long set at the 99X stage Sunday afternoon. Despite dropping temps, threatening skies and a chilly wind, the audience gamely sang along to tunes from the act’s big label debut album, “The Beautiful Letdown.”
Thrusting a brown Fender guitar in thr air while pushing his shaggy peroxided mane out of his eyes, leader singer Jon Foreman told the crowd, “This is an Atlanta guitar! I bought this in a pawn shop here for 100 bones!” The band then broke into the song, “More Than Fine,” a tune described by Foreman as “the hardest kind of song to write — a happy one.”
Overall, Switchfoot provided a solid, well-rehearsed tight set even if it wasn’t awe-inspiring. Fans were rewarded with two new songs, “Without Politicians” and “Circles.”
As the crowd cheered, Switchfoot finished things off with the closest thing they’ve had to a big hit single — “Meant To Live.”
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Cee-Lo
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Drawing from a deep reservoir of influences that included hip-hop acts and Barney the purple dinosaur, the benevolent Atlanta soul man Cee-Lo held court Sunday on the V103 stage. At one point, he requested a moment of silence and had his DJ spin “Stairway to Heaven,” and at others he reached into OutKast’s catalog. Cee-Lo, a canonball-shaped man with an infectious grin, has an unusually nasal voice and an equally unusual delivery. He raps and sings and does a kind of fusion of the two, making him a freaky cross between Busta Rhymes and Al Green. In front of his “home team” crowd, he clearly had a ball. “It’s so good,” he told the audience, “to be alive.”
Permalink | | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Fire Theft
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Fire Theft’s intricate, tightly constructed epics made a fine soundtrack beneath the ominous clouds gathering over the Music Midtown site Sunday afternoon. The former principals of emo kings Sunny Day Real Estate filter progressive rock through post-punk for a hybrid that had the small but appreciative audience as attentive as Sunday afternoon Music Midtown crowds get. Frontman Jeremy Enigk’s clear,high-pitched voice soared above the crowd as the band closed with their self-titled debut album’s closer, “Sinatra.” As the tune barrelled to a close with chunky chords and swirling guitar figures, you had to believe that the band earned a few new fans today.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ushering in a funky Sunday afternoon, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe played an accessible 45 minutes of tasty (and mostly instrumental) funk/jazz.
When Denson did sing, it was more decorative than lyrical; Denson and the super-tight Tiny Universe are all about serving the groove. To that end, the bandleader switched frequently from sax to flute, changing musical colors and keeping the proceedings from getting stale.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Meshell Ndegeocello
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Spirit of Music Sextet feat. Meshell Ndegeocello, 3 p.m. Sunday at the Coca-Cola/V-103/WB 36! stage.
That long name includes the words “featuring Meshell Ndegeocello” at the end for a reason: Ndegeocello as her fans know her was an afterthought. Meaning, no “If That’s Your Boyfriend,” no “Talk To Me,” no “Bitter” —nothing from her old catalog.
What the R&B singer-songwriter-musician unveiled was her jazz muse. It was an almost anticipated evolution, considering how the famously unpredictable talent has swiftly transitioned from incredible soul to strong religious and political statements, to stark, beautiful atmospheric music, then to reggae.
Without question, the sextet played well. But judging from the occasional moan that arose in the crowd, she didn’t play what some had expected.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Gary Jules
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Singer-songwriter Gary Jules proved to be the perfect hangover remedy Sunday afternoon at the 99X stage.
A few hundred festival-goers sat on the asphalt in stark contrast to Saturday night’s light pole climbers and mosh pit surfers who banged up their bodies during sets from Offspring and Foo Fighters.
Jules, dressed in a short sleeve denim shirt that partially hid a history of tattoo work, was as low-key as the audience. Jules played with just a multi-instrumentalist helping out on drums and piano, and his heart-wrenching tunes soothed the assembled without taking any unnecessary musical chances.
On “I Shall Be Released,” Jules connected effectively with the crowd, who slowly swayed along. Naturally, most of the assembled were there for “Mad World,” Jules’ slowed down piano-drenched cover of a 20-year-old Tears For Fears hit. The singer’s version of the tune was used in the hit indie flick “Donnie Darko.”
A half-dozen teen fans, who have obviously embraced the song as some sort of emo anthem, thrust cell phones in the air during Jules’ rendition.
Thankfully, their parents weren’t along to tell them otherwise.
Permalink | | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Heston
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Heston’s background is unique as his sound. This Dominican-born, Philadelphia-raised singer who now lives in Atlanta faced adversity before taking on the music industry.
Back in Philly, “I used to sleep in a closet…there just wasn’t enough space,” said Heston. “In the winter people would put their coats in the closet while I was sleeping, and snow and rain would drip on to me. But I endured it just because I wanted to be here (America).”
Today he feels fortunate and blessed.
From the stage, he told the audience how just two short years ago he sneaked into Music Midtown and got the chance to meet Erykah Badu. Even back then he said to himself, “I really want to get on that stage.”
Heston, looking casual and colorful in a pink blazer and striped shirt, seemed right at home grooving for the audience. He describes himself as a perfectionist, and it showed in his stage presence and in his music. His set included “Brand New You,” “Radio,” “Dreamy Eyes,” “Sunny Days,” “If,” a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Masterblaster” and of course “Songbirds,” a tribute to his musical influences.
The crowd was smaller than at earlier act Lil Flip’s set, but the dedicated few were feeling Heston’s sound and several knew the words to his tunes.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Big Boi
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One half of top rap duo OutKast equaled a whole show of impressive parts.
If Antwan “Big Boi” Patton had merely performed the many hits in the Atlanta twosome’s five-album catalog it would almost have been enough. And he did — including “Rosa Parks,” “Bombs Over Baghdad” and “Elevators.” But he also made full use of his fellow Dungeon Family members, inviting Killer Mike (“A.D.I.D.A.S.”), Pat “Sleepy” Brown (“I Can’t Wait”) and Khujo and Gipp of the Goodie Mob into his incredibly tight set.
Plus, OutKast’s longtime secret weapon as a live act is that they have so many individual acts backing them — including singer Cool Breeze, legendary R&B provocateur Millie Jackson’s daughter Keisha, funk-rock duo Whildcq Peach and dance group The Crowd Pleasers.
No, Andre “Dre” Benjamin never showed at what was one of Patton’s few solo performances ever, but as the line from last song “The Way You Move” kind of goes, OutKast’s appeal was everlasting.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
George Clinton
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
George Clinton was late. His plane arrived in Atlanta about 9:30 Saturday night, according to Music Midtown publicist Brian Cooley, which was a problem because Clinton’s set with Parliament Funkadelic was scheduled to start 10 minutes later.
But late funk is better than no funk at all, and Parliament can get along just fine without Clinton (who’s more cheerleader than singer anyway). So the show started at 10:20, and Clinton appeared about 20 minutes later. (He looked puffy-eyed, but did appear to have gotten his feathers trimmed for the occasion.)
The show was what you might’ve expected: Band members’ sartorial choices included a kilt, a diaper and a large false nose. But the music was heavy and satisfying. By the time the band got around to “Atomic Dog,” at least 10 people (and a small canine) were on stage, and a state of funkiness had long since been achieved.
The proceedings got ridiculous when a lightning storm started near midnight and Clinton kept going until either the storm or human intervention cut the stage lights. Even then fans were chanting: “Ain’t no party like a P-Funk party, cause a P-Funk party don’t stop.”
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
Foo Fighters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When tens of thousands of kids are packed together in front of the 99X stage and it’s late, and the humidity, hormones, sunburns and alcohol have all blurred together into a giant miasma, it hardly matters who the headliner is — this is not the most discerning bunch.
Fortunately, the Foo Fighters gave them exactly what they needed to cap a long day: a blistering set of hard rock and sing-along hits. Frontman Dave Grohl and his mates kicked off with “All My Life” and played without even drawing a breath for 30 minutes straight, each song pretty much barreling right into the next. Grohl, chewing his customary stick of gum to keep his mouth moist, opened his mouth so wide on some of his bellows he could have stuck his fist inside, and drummer Taylor Hawkins never stopped going berserk on his kit.
Grohl can also be a bit of a prankster in his concert patter, but instead of going off on his former nemesis Courtney Love, who plays Music Midtown tonight, he targeted Prince, who played Philips Arena Friday (has it been busy here or what?). After explaining that Prince refused the Foos the right to include their cover of his song “Darling Nikki” on a DVD, he dedicated the song “to my little pal Prince.”
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Music Midtown 2004
