July 31 2008: The Long Winters - Castle Clinton, New York NY

Drove down for the day to see the Long Winters. Hadn't seen them play a full set in almost two years, which happened the last time I saw them in New York. Livingston and I met up downtown to made a quick pre-show liquor run (me: Wild Turkey; he: apricot brandy. Sorry Josh, this is supposed to be impartial reporting and we can't just gloss over the facts), and found some folding chairs in the back of the free afternoon show. The back of which was pretty close to the front. As the initially-humid day turned into a pretty comfortable late afternoon we poured our liquor into cups that were otherwise being used to provide patrons with $10 servings of wine (note: these servings did not look to represent what, in my mind, $10 worth of wine looks like), and the time at which the Long Winters would take the stage approached. Good times loudly proclaimed their imminent arrival.

The band opened with "Give Me a Moment," which I hadn't heard live since Sean McCormick and I personally requested it from Roderick outside the Tonic Lounge in 2003. Unfortunately it's not the best song to open a daylight/outside/no-opener show with. But I still enjoyed it.

Aside from that first song, nothing much notable about the setlist. Old and new standards like "Scared Straight," "Carparts," "Fire Island," "The Commander Thinks Aloud," "Ultimatum," etc, all played well. I don't think I'd learned to really appreciate "Teaspoon" until about a year ago, so it was nice to hear it played live again. Fun set, but I think the Long Winters are much more a late-night/dark-bar kind of band, and the afternoon sun and the folding chairs didn't work much in their favor. But it was, I feel, an excellent use of my afternoon/evening. And afterwards Livingston and I enjoyed some tall boy High Lifes in that park across from the New York County Courthouse before I had to head for home. Good times!

July 28 2008: Aimee Mann, Ashley Pond - Washington Park Lakehouse, Albany NY

Caitlin and I found out about this free show in a park a couple days ago. So we figured we should go. And it was fun, even though I didn't know most of the tunes that were played. I didn't even know she had a new album until yesterday. And listening to it in the car on the way to the show wasn't exactly the level of listening that seems to be required to uncover the quiet brilliance of her albums.

She opened with a few new tunes, followed by "Save Me," "Wise Up" and "Calling it Quits." It was pretty good playing, but the bass was pretty high in the mix. And there was no lead guitar player, just two keyboard players. Which was too bad - I feel like a good lead player is pretty important to her songs, and the keyboardists weren't able to do the same thing. But who cares - it was free and Caitlin and I were eating tomato/spinach/mozzarella sandwiches and drinking Widmers. A couple older tunes followed (including "4th of July," which I think she's played every time I've seen her and I don't understand why), then few new ones, and finally a set-closer of "How am I Different," which I'd never seen played before. So that was lots of fun. It was always one of my favorite of her tunes.

Somewhere in the middle there she said the show was being paid for with money that Elliott Spitzer got by suing record labels for payola when he was Attorney General. So, uh, go Elliott Spitzer.

The encore was "Today's the Day" and "Deathly." Two pretty great tunes. I think she's closed with "Deathly" every time I've seen her. Probably for good reason. But the keyboard-only arrangement of "Today's the Day" left out the guitar solo breakdown, which I always thought was the best part of the song.

I was slightly disappointed to hear nothing from "The Forgotten Arm," which I really really really like, and only one tune from "Lost in Space," which is a pretty fucking brilliant and only seems more so with time. But now I guess it's time to listen seriously to that new record and in six months kick myself for not appreciating the new tunes as much as I should have.

July 17 2008: Richard Shindell, Caroline Herring - Energy Park, Greenfield MA

Caitlin and I drove up for dinner at the Pint to be followed by a free Richard Shindell gig. The skies were blue and not too hazy and there was a hot air balloon floating around. Hard to beat an evening like that. Caitlin had never seen Shindell before, and I'd never seen him with a band. It was fun. He opened with "The Last Fare of the Day," which was the best tune of the evening, did that Jeffrey Foucault tune that he does, and a few of those painfully sincere tunes that he likes to do.

Drew found us about halfway through the set, dressed up like he'd come straight from work. Which he had. People who work sure are interesting. Always having to be places.

The Encore was Dylan's "She Belongs to Me" with Caroline Herring (whose set we caught the last couple tunes of) and Mark Erelli (whose set we missed entirely due to getting that second round at the Pint) on a verse apiece. Good times.

July 6 2008: Erin McKeown - Energy Park, Greenfield MA

Drove up with Drew/Lisa/Lisa's girlfriend to see Erin McKeown in Greenfield cause it was free. I'd never heard her play before. And I'm not tempted to hear her again. But her cover of that jazz tune "Rhode Island is Famous For You" was great. At least it was a nice day weather-wise.