Yeah, at times it sort of felt like we were listening to Wilco and an amazing guitarist taking turns on stage. But Nels Cline was the new guy playing someone else’s tunes. “Let’s just wait until everyone is in the studio writing new material together,” I remember thinking. “What they come up with is going to be unbelievable.”

What they came up with was Sky Blue Sky. It was a good set of songs. Their drummer, Glenn Kotche, sounded the best he ever has. And I wanted to worship Nels Cline for what he did on songs like “Impossible Germany.”

But it was really just a (mostly) good set of songs. It wasn’t the album I had been hoping for. And things still felt like Wilco and a great guitarist were taking turns at the front. They didn’t mesh. They didn’t feel like a band yet.

Wilco (The Album) came and went without much notice. It was fun. “You Never Know” sounds like it was ripped straight from a George Harrison album. And even though this was the second studio album with an extended lineup and a ridiculously talented guitarist, there was nothing all that interesting about the record.

I imagine that forever, if Wilco produces something new I will buy it, sight unseen. But that doesn’t mean I will always have high expectations. Each purchase will come with the excitement of hope: “Maybe this will be the one that blows me away again.”

So that is why I am so excited about The Whole Love. I have been blown away. Finally Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, Pat Sansone and Wilco feel like a band. Everyone is present. Everyone is part of the experimentation. And finally (!!!) the music feels like a collaboration rather than a song being written with someone coming in after to add their twist.

I’m about five listens in and I can’t even pick out one great song from the album because the whole thing seems to blend so well together. I am in love with The Whole Love because it’s truly a work of the whole band.

1. The red house over yonder.

It seems that while the Beatles were together, Harrison had been limited on how much he was allowed to bring to the recording studio. After the band broke up, Harrison not only had a lot to say, but he had loads of songs stored up and ready to go: back when music was released on those big, black, plastic, grooved turny things, three of them were required to store all of what Harrison had created.

This could have been the makings for tortuously long drivel full of anger and revenge. But that doesn’t seem to be what George Harrison was about. Instead, he created beautiful music filled mostly with spiritual messages of acceptance and moving on.

Decades later the music can sound a little dated (which I think can mostly be blamed on Phil Spector’s production influence) but given time to adjust your ears, it is continually rewarding. I find myself going back to it almost as often as I do the rest of the Beatles catalog.

“Juveniles” by The Walkmen

“Angela Surf City” by The Walkmen

In Depth: Lisbon is the closest thing I’ve heard from The Walkmen that can be thought of as cheery. It’s not, but the guitars are jangly and bright, and occasionally the music makes you want to tap your feet and smile. Overall, the music is much more accessible than what has come before from them and still shows off their talents. It’s a great place to start in order to see why The Walkmen are a great band.

What’s Next: If you end up enjoying Lisbon (took me several listens before it really opened up), then I think you should move backwards in their discography and listen to You & Me. It’s darker sounding and is probably more what The Walkmen are known for. It has that driving, steady guitar; heavy, deep drum beats; the lead singer’s screaming and screechy voice. At first, I felt the album dragged, but eventually I realized as a whole it is very rewarding and is probably be their best album to date.

Sample tracks to take in on You & Me are “Dónde Está la Playa” and “In the New Year.” Songs like these pull me through the album but it’s probably a quieter song like “Long Time Ahead of Us” that I’m starting to realize is really what makes the album beautiful.

How I Got In To Them: I first heard their song, “The Rat,” on XMU in 2004. It was probably the lead singer screaming “You’ve got a nerve…” over and over that drew me in. But eventually I realized there was a lot more behind the song, not the least of which is the insane drumming that doesn’t let up (even when it does for a few seconds).

Instead, pulled from the same CD collection, it’s the Lemonheads that are still in regular rotation on my iPod. I think this would bring a big smile to Little Adam’s face if I could somehow go back in time and tell him.

=====
Adam Gerard
[my address]
Washington, DC 20009

May 13, 2008

Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge
7800 Cellar Door Dr.
Bristow, VA 20136

To Whom It May Concern:

I attended the Sunday, May 10 Radiohead concert at Nissan Pavilion and I am appalled at the lack of preparation on the venue’s part for emergency weather conditions. With over a decade’s experience in organizing outdoor shows, your poor preparation for the storm that hit the DC area on Sunday is simply reprehensible. The result of this lack of foresight created an environment for concert goers so unsafe that I will not attend another concert at Nissan Pavilion until you have addressed these dangerous conditions.

The rain was not a surprise. Weather reports accurately warned us of what was to come including flood warnings throughout the region. You know that due to the design of the pavilion, flooding is a possibility. The venue should have been ready with trained staff prepared for potential flooding along with a contingency plan to help concert goers enter and exit as safely as possible. But it was clear that there were no special preparations for the weather. Attendees were left to completely fend for themselves. Just one example: the concrete walkway behind the 300 sections of your venue was flooded with water rising up to my ankles. Many people tried to exit out the front of the venue under the cover of the pavilion which had a clear path to a non-flooded and paved walkway. But your staff refused to let us through, telling us all to turn around and guiding us directly into the flooded walkway.

And the unsafe conditions continued. There was a complete lack of crowd control, no signage I could see guiding concert goers back to the parking lots in the dark and rain, and due to a lack of walkways, people shared the road with frustrated drivers who were just starting the multiple-hour trek out of the Nissan Pavilion grounds.

This is unacceptable and is an embarrassment for one of the premier concert venues in the DC area. I don’t expect a refund; I saw the concert that I paid to see. But I demand that you take actions to address the problems that have come to light as a result of this concert. Until this has been done, I cannot feel safe attending a concert at the Nissan Pavilion.

Sincerely,

Adam Gerard

cc: Virginia Department of Emergency Management

Well, I have officially lived. Last week as part of the grand finale of the Washington, DC Regional US Air Guitar Championships, I witnessed a mob on stage at the 9:30 Club air guitaring through every second of Free Bird. Yes, that kind of air guitar. And yes, it was an actual competition. With judges. Heck, this was just a small potatoes regional championship. The winner of DC competes in New York City at the US finals. And the winner there competes at the World Championships in Finland (for the chance to win a real guitar, that as it was pointed out, the winner will likely not know how to play).

Here’s how it worked: in the first round 24 people got up on stage one at a time and air guitared for a minute of a song of their choosing, and were scored by the judges. The five best scores moved on to the second round (scored like figure skating, which as we all know has a high score of six. Wait, am I the only one here that knows that off the top of my head?). At that point the finalists heard a surprise song together and in order of their scores improv’d air guitar to the music. Add up the scores and we have the best fake guitarist that will be representing DC in the US Championships.

Before you ask, YES, there is clear difference between the good and bad air guitarists. Performers can apparently even have that hard to pin down “it” quality, even if they are holding nothing but air in their hands.

For example, the first performer on stage gave it his all. He had the energy and the moves, the tight pants, he even had the mohawk hair. But he just tried too much too fast, ripping off his coat and immediately “playing” his “guitar” between between his legs, behind his back and even with his tongue. Impressive moves, but he wasn’t feeling the music. Much later, the audience was treated to the real experts. One performer came out in a flannel shirt and straw hat slowly rocking to a twangy tune (in the same genre as “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”) and built his performance up as the music picked up, eventually pulling an air fiddle out of nowhere and jamming with that too! The crowd went wild! (for the record, you must focus on air guitar during your routine, but other stringed air instruments are allowed as well). Another competitor threw his air guitar into the air, did a somersault and caught the guitar, ALL WITHOUT MISSING A BEAT (and without his air guitar evaporating into thin air)! And yet another…oh, just watch this video (he eventually went on to win).

From start to grand finale — which you can experience yourself thanks to video taken from the chaos on stage — this was all a sight to behold (seriously, everyone was air dedicated for the entirety of “Free Bird,” which must be something like 87 minutes long).

But there is one problem. There were no female competitors (at least in DC). I know women can air guitar it out just as hard core as the men. I’ve seen you in the crowd at concerts; I’ve seen you in your cars at stop lights and traffic jams. Air guitaring women of Washington, DC: I’m calling you out. Let’s see you on stage next year!

And remember, Make Air, Not War!

photo taken by flickr user dtnemail