An Evening With Corb Lund

Much to my annoyance it is rather rare lately for me to take in some live music.  Its even rarer for me to catch a Canadian performer, since North Carolina is not on everyones tour schedule.

So when future music legend, and self professed cow afficianado, Corb Lund, came to Asheville, I jumped at the chance.

So last night my wifey and I found ourselves in a little (120ish seats) theatre in downtown Asheville, sitting front row, to see a great concert by Corb Lund, and the Hurtin' Albertans.

If you don't live in Canada, and have not heard of Corb Lund, you are not alone (If you are in Canada, and haven't heard of Corb Lund, I can't help you - perhaps you should try paying closer attention to your awesome country).  He is a country performer, who sings about the typical country things, like horses, cows,  and more esoteric things like history, bad cows (I know what you are thinking and that there are no downside to cows, but they are actually complex, emotional beasts - kinda like Emo kids, but taste better on the grill), murder, soldiery things, smuggling, and getting stuck in the mud.  (Check out his stuff here.)  Its quite the mix of quirky humour and dark broody stuff.  A great mix, really.  I'm not normally a fan of country, but I can dig Corb.  Corb is good, and wise, and musical.

It was a fantastic concert - great sound, great seats, awesome songs - he even took requests.  I did take time out from being immersed in the concert to take some photos.

This is the second time I've seen Corb, and both times were excellent.  I highly recommend you check him out if you get the chance.

Mandatory Fun

Last Friday night I had the pleasure of seeing "Weird Al" Yankovic in concert.

Let me tell you, it was a heck of a concert.  Weird Al is an amazing performer, and every song he did was in costume and followed his videos.

The first song of the concert was the song Tacky.  If you recall, the video for Tacky was done with one camera shot.  Amazingly Weird Al duplicated this feat live in concert.  The concert started with the band on stage playing the music, and Weird Al being displayed on the video screen, somewhere in the bowels of the theatre.  He starting singing as he walked thru the theatre, and even took a trip outside for a while, all while the camera followed him.  He made his way thru the main lobby, and entered the back of the seating area, walked thru the crowd, and hit the stage just as the song was ending.

Amazing.

He finished that set by singing a few more songs, and using bubbles (it's a special effect).

 He performed Fat in his fat suit, including makeup.  Dunno how he got the costume on so fast, but he did.

Foil.

Smells Like Nirvana

Canadian Idiot ended with a cloud of streamers bursting over the crowd.

White & Nerdy.  He came on stage riding a Segway.

Amish Paradise 

Yoda

Finished the show with The Saga Begins, and some rockin acordian polkas

Like I said, it was an amazing show. Its like getting the best of the top 40 songs for the last few decades, but with better lyrics and performed by someone with actual talent. Whats not to like?

Lets Play Catch-up... Brad Paisley vs. Aerosmith

So I haven't blogged since I got married. Let me tell ya, things are going great. Deborah Lynn is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I've been so busy enjoying living my life with her I didn't have time to blog... but now its time to get back to it!

Why the sudden return to blogging? Well, its because I am in Chicago on a business trip, and I was forced to leave Debbie at home. So I blog to kill time...

So whats the topic de jour? Well, not surprisingly its music. recently I had the privilege to attend two amazing concerts. The headliners? Brad Paisley and Aerosmith.

Brad Paisley

I originally agreed to go to Brad Paisley because he is one of Debbies favourite country stars. Happy wife is a happy Dave, so I bought tickets, and took my wife. I expected the show to be boring... I was in for a surprise...

First of all, the opening acts (Taylor Swift & Rodney Aikens) were entertaining. They both put on a great show, was entertaining and funny, and played solid music that sounded great. They set a high bar for Brad... which Brad leaped over with 6 feet to spare.

Brad is an amazingly talented guitarist, and he used it to rock out for the entire show. He played several guitar solos, including a marathon 10+ minute blister-fest that contained some of the best sounding guitar I have ever witnessed live.

Brads stage decoration was a large stack of monitors that constantly shown graphics and animations appropriate for each song he played. It was an impressive show. Brad definitely won a fan out of me.

Which leads me to...

Aerosmith

A week and a half later I dragged Debbie out to see Aerosmith. This is the third time I've seen Aerosmith live, and they blew the socks off their other performances. They played some 90s hits, and a couple songs from their recent blues album, Honkin On Bobo. Then they played a solid lineup of their oldies - solid rockin blues rock. Joe Perry went on several improv solos that were simply amazing. He played his guitar behind his back. He played it by having the drummer drum on the strings, and he played it with Steve Tyler fingering the chords from behind his back - absolutely amazing.

The energy was cranked to 1000% for the entire concert. It was nothing but pure excitement. Steven Tyler gets more crazy, and Aerosmith gets louder every time they go out on tour. The older they get, the better they get. They are truely the gods of rock, and there is none higher. If your a rock fan and have not seen Aerosmith live, you are cheating yourself out of an experience you will never forget.