Kansas City, they don't come

My claim that Kansas City is a music black hole, it seems, is growing stronger by the month.

I’ve received a flood of concert announcements in my inbox lately, with several coming from my all-time favorite artists and bands.

Toad the Wet Sprocket is touring with Counting Crows.

Ingrid Michaelson is promoting a new album.

Fleetwood Mac is reuniting – with Christine McVie!

Nickel Creek is reuniting – after a seven-year hiatus!

Do any of those announcements include a stop in Kansas City or any place in its proximity?

Nope. Nada. Zilch.

If we were still living in Chicagoland? I’d be set.

Seriously. What is it about Kansas City?

For now, I'll take solace in the good chance I'll return to Summerfest -- the coolest and best music festival in the world -- this summer. Ray LaMontagne, Pentatonix, Fitz & the Tantrums, Foy Vance, Tegan & Sara, and -- if I'm really lucky -- Dave Matthews Band. For the record, Bruno Mars would be at the top of my must-see list, but that will be near impossible because I'm committed to something else the night after he makes his Milwaukee stop.

Behold ...

Summer means fun

It’s that time of year again, folks.

What did I call it last year? Oh yes, “The Good Times Tour.”

It’s that glorious 10-day span of every summer where the weather is perfect — not to hot, not too cold (I say that as we reached a record-high 91 degrees yesterday and we're experiencing another scorcher today). The colors in our yard are bursting. I celebrate a birthday. We gather with friends and family for Fourth of July festivities. And of course — cue the angel chorus — there's Summerfest.

The Big Gig begins tomorrow, baby. My tickets and enough parking passes — so that this year I don’t have to endure any boisterous, drunken, post-concert shuttle rides with the teenie-bopper/frat boy crowd — are in hand.

But then again, I’m feeling the least excited about this year’s Summerfest that I’ve felt in my entire Summerfest-going history.

Maybe it’s me getting older, becoming a father, having more responsibilities at home and not feeling as connected with the said teenie-bopper/frat boy crowd as I once used to. Maybe it’s the stress and crazy hours of my work-life these days. Maybe it’s just that the whole shine of Summerfest isn’t what it used to be for me ...

I really hope, though, that my lacking excitement has to do with this year’s less-than-stellar lineup ...

There’s only a couple bands I’d go to see — hands-down, no re-thinking needed — Guster and Shiny Toy Guns, who happen to be playing on the same night.

Now, I’ve been wanting/trying to see Shiny Toy Guns for two or three years, but every time they’ve come around they’re playing at the same time as another band I’m more interested in seeing, or their show is canceled ...

But Guster, over the last few years, has become one of my favorite bands in the world. I’ve seen them three times (2 1/2 times if you consider the night I decided to bug out because I wasn’t having any fun) and they remain super entertaining in my eyes. I also adore their music, packed with their sunbathed harmonies, singable melodies and Brian Rosenworcel’s percussion-playing.

Thus, Guster gets the nod over Shiny Toy Guns ... Sounds stupid, I know. Why go for a band I’ve seen multiple times when I could see a band I’ve been wanting to see for years? I guess it’s the comfort of being pretty sure I’m going to enjoy Guster, I'm pretty sure I'll get my money's worth, and Guster, over the last few years, has become one of my favorite bands in the world.

Few others on this year’s Summerfest lineup caught my eyes ...

... Barenaked Ladies ... But they haven’t had a hit in years. And with Steven Page departed, there appears to be a huge hole in their lineup ...

... Sister Hazel or Blues Traveler ... If this was 2000, I’d be all over it. But I’ve seen both a couple times and don’t have an urge to see them any time soon.

... Erin McCarley / Brett Dennen / Mat Kearney ... An intriguing list of up-and-comers playing back-to-back-to-back. But I've seen Brett and Mat, and the combo isn't enough to give up a couple extra hours of sleep and still get up by 4 the next morning.

... Train ... Kates and I thought about hitting them up again. But neither of us wanted to run the risk of devaluing their show a couple year ago — which we still regard as one of the best we’ve ever seen.

And the Marcus Lineup ... Last year’s lineup was stacked with greats; this year, eh. Bon Jovi — though I wouldn’t mind seeing him once — seems to come every year. Counting Crows, I’ve seen them. The Fray, seen them twice, not a fan. Bob Dylan — can’t stand his singing — with Willie Nelson, not interested. Stevie Wonder, saw him last year and I'm afraid of trying to top that. No Doubt, glad their reunited but they’ve never sounded good to me live, plus it's the same night as Guster. And Kiss, thanks but not a bit interested.

Ah, who am I kidding? I’m going to Summerfest and I'll have a ton of fun hearing music and taking in the scenery. Just like I do every summer ...

Sweet music

I’ve been looking forward to writing this post for weeks …

There’s a new Weepies album out.

And it blew my expectations away. As if the husband-wife folk music duo of Steve Tannen and Deb Talan hasn’t made enough beautiful music to fill a lifetime, they’ve gone out and done it again with the dreamy “Hideaway.”

You could say The Weepies have been the soundtrack for us over the last year or so. I fell hard for them the first moment I heard their amazingly soothing harmonies and melodies last year, and I immediately turned Kates on to them. And then I went on a crusade to introduce them to anyone else who was willing to listen.

We’ve been playing them constantly over the last several months, and they helped make our long, cold winter so much more bearable …

And perhaps one of the coolest memories I’ll take away from Phoebe’s birth is the comments we drew with The Weepies playing in our hospital room. It was something Kates told me she wanted when she went into labor, so shortly after we arrived in our hospital room that Friday evening the iPod got plugged in and The Weepies were turned on. We had their music looping for the entire night and into the morning … And we turned the whole birthing staff onto them, too. Every time a new nurse came into our room that night, questions were asked about the music we were playing. And later, when the anesthesiologist arrived to administer Kates’s epidural, the nurse was giving him the whole giddy schpeel about the music, before he could ask about it …

Needless to say, this new album was hugely anticipated in our household this spring. The only other times I’ve looked so forward to an artist releasing new material is with Ben Folds, and that’s pretty huge considering my music interests and how long it takes me sometimes to warm up to a new artist or album …

Thanks to a couple Paste previews, I’d been listening to the title track and “Antarctica” over and over for weeks … Initially, I was a little surprised at “Hideaway,” which is a little more electrically-charged than their previous, more acoustic stuff. But like The Weepies of the previous two albums, the tune is so simple, catchy and singable, I couldn’t get it out of my head. “Antarctica,” too, is constructed of such a sweet -- and surprising -- melody that I started to believe I might be in for a real treat with the new album …

On April 22 it arrived. And I was propelled into bliss …

Indeed, the album is a little more electric and darker than their previous two releases, but it’s hardly a downfall. This album takes on a fuller sound that’s worth taking along …

The first two tracks, the twinkling “Can’t Go Back Now” and the celestial “Orbiting,” along with the title track, are easily my early favorites on the new album. The Weepies’ relatable and sincere lyrics are in “Can’t Go Back” as Tannen sings, “You know there will be days when you’re so tired that you can’t take another step / The night will have no stars and you’ll think you’ve gone as far as you will ever get.“ Then, on “Orbiting,” Talan takes the lead vocals on what might be the sweetest-sounding chorus, though the song is heartache-driven lyrically.

Still, there‘s a lot of good stuff beyond the first three tracks, too. “Not Dead Yet” is an upbeat standout. While the title says it all in “Just Blue” and “How You Survived the War” -- both songs are about loneliness, melancholy days and trying to move on when things aren’t going exactly your way …

“All Good Things,” a song on which The Weepies collaborated with Mandy Moore (a nice alternate version with Mandy singing lead appears on her “Wild Hope” album) also is a pleasant addition to the album.

The album ends appropriately with “All This Beauty,” a feel-good, upbeat gem that includes horns and sings “All this beauty / You might have to close your eyes / And slowly open wide.”

It describes my sentiments on The Weepies perfectly.

* * *

I’ve had quite a few listens now of one my other new favorite albums: Ingrid Michaelson’s “Girls and Boys.” … It took me far too long to get a hold of this one, but I finally did last week. Much like Regina Spektor and A Fine Frenzy, all I needed was to hear Michaelson’s sweet voice sailing lightly over the pianos and acoustic guitars and I was hooked. “The Way I Am” is a song I may never get sick of hearing, and “Breakable” and “The Hat” rank right up there …

* * *

I got the new Counting Crows a couple weeks ago too, thanks to my friend Raechel … Honestly, though, I had a better time hearing the new stuff live. “Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings” is good, but I don't think it measures up to the earlier stuff. Like I said, sometimes it takes me awhile up to warm up to a new album … I’m hoping that’s the case here.

* * *

One of my favorite actor / musician blogs to read is the Mates of State "Band on the Diaper Run" about touring with their kids. (Other good blogs: Zach Braff, and Jenna Fischer …)

I don't read them often, but it's fun checking in every once in awhile when I think of it. So I was on a little Mates of State kick the other night and I logged on. Good stuff, as usual … For a good chuckle, check out Kori’s post about their daughter’s love affair with Feist’s “1-2-3-4.” (Every time I think about or hear the song, I have to mention the Letterman performance, which by the way, featured the Mates singing background …So good!) ... Magnolia's multiple personalities is a good one too.

Saturday night & Sunday morning

... By last night, both Kates and Phoebe were doing wonderfully well … We had a few visitors during the morning. But by noon, both of us were exhausted and we were taking the nurses advice again, this time on discouraging any more visitors …

Kates slept all afternoon. And I had a long nap, too, with Phoebe in my arms …

As the evening arrived, I helped Kates feed Phoebe … And then I went out -- to the Counting Crows concert.

Now before some of you go accusing me of being a terrible husband and abandoning my newborn daughter …

I’d bought a ticket to the Crows show with a complete understanding of the situation, and knowing that if I was unable to go, there were a few people waiting in the wings to buy my ticket … Kates understood the situation and was totally fine with it, too.

I had it in my mind that if there were any doubts about Kates’s health and well-being, or Phoebe’s, there was no way I’d be going to that concert. If we were discharged and home by ourselves, there was no way I’d be going to that concert … But as Saturday went on, both girls were doing well and I couldn’t say enough good things about the care our nurses were providing. I knew they would be just fine, and if I had stayed with them, all I would’ve done was watch TV. Or blog …

Going to the concert was totally worth it ...


It was my third Counting Crows show, and probably the best of the three. Good crowd. Fantastic music. And Adam Duritz was all over the stage, exhibiting his theatrics as usual …

Going in, though, I was a little weary of what to expect. As much as I would've liked to hear all of the hits, a lot of my favorites -- "Anna Begins," "Rain King," "Mrs. Potter's Lullabye" -- were nowhere to be found Saturday night ...

I sort of expected a good dose of songs from the new album, which after all is what they're heavily promoting right now ... And that's what we got. And, though, I have yet to get a hold of the new album, I was definitely impressed with what I heard ... Among the songs played Saturday night were “Los Angeles,” “Insignificant” “When I Dream Of Michelangelo” "You Can't Count On Me” and “Come Around.”

In the meantime, the old stuff that they did play was as tight and fresh as I'd ever heard them ... The Crows opened the show with “ Goodnight L.A,” before going into a sweet “Have You Seen Me Lately,” and an electrifying rendition of “Mr. Jones.” “High Life,” one of my favorites off the "Desert Life" album, “Colorblind” “Long December” and “Hard Candy” also were very good. And the band ended the night with “Holiday in Spain.”

Great show.

Check out my friend Sean's Web site for his pics from the show ...

Ramblin' on!

So a cool thing happened to me this morning ...

As I was leaving my house, the last song playing on my iPod was a version of Train doing a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On." The version is like 10 years old, and I've rarely heard it anywhere else ...

Then I get into my car, and on the radio is Pat Monahan (lead singer of Train) doing "Ramble On." At a live broadcast, right then and there on the radio.

Talk about a sweet way to start a Friday ... And it got better ...

The Summerfest announcements have started coming in and this afternon we learned the wonderful Stevie Wonder will be opening the fest at The Marcus. I'm seriously thinking about it ...

Then! We got word that Counting Crows -- one of my all-time favorite bands -- is coming to town next month! A couple days within Kates' due date! Are you kidding me!? ... Kates going into labor may be the only thing to stop me from getting to that show -- so here's hoping Baby arrives a little early like everyone seems to be predicting. Or a little late is fine too ...

Hey, the sun is shining brightly. It's nearly 50 degrees, and the snow is melting fast ...

I couldn't be happier.

Rain kings

... the rain didn't stop and it didn't stop us.

... The Counting Crows and Goo Goo Dolls were in Chicago last night. Tad and Jen flew in. We'd been awaiting and talking about this night for months.

I'd show you pictures. But I'm still beating myself about losing my camera the other night at the Brewers game ...

... Kates and I left work early, packed our rain gear, hopped in the car and cruised to Steve & Emily's house in the north suburbs, where Tad and Jenn were waiting. Emily had tasty snacks on the table -- good thing, there was no time for supper -- and the six of us, as usual, had quite the time catching up, venting about work, swapping old high school stories and, well, laughing. A lot.

... Too bad we had to leave Steve and Em behind, but they'd already had their concert fun this week. They saw the Dixie Chicks on Tuesday night ... luckies.

'Say hi to Mr. Jones for me,' Em said as we were leaving.

'Yep. Mr. Jones, Mrs. Potter, Maria and the whole gang,' I said.

And off we went, crossing through the outskirts of Chicago into the south suburbs. Fighting the rain and our hunger, we made a pit stop at a Taco Bell joint, and hit the road again, wolfing down our food in the car ...

We arrived at the amphitheatre with barely a minute to spare. We'd already missed the first act.

We packed our belongings, flung on our rain gear, grabbed the blankets and trudged through the puddles flooding the gravel parking lot. Talk about a lovely night for a concert ...

Inside the amphitheatre, the crowd was buzzing. And the amphitheatre itself was like a concert palace -- a monstrous, steel roof over the reserved seating area, glitzy VIP boxes, large screen monitors at every view, tons of vendors and expansive lawn seating ... Unfortunately our tickets had us in the lawn seating, and that's because I refused to pay much more than $40 per ticket ...

I led the way up a staircase to the lawn and we cut over to an open spot without even realizing the Goo Goo Dolls were taking the stage. A moment later they exploded into their current hit, "Stay With You." I pumped my fist in the air and snuck a look at Tad. Neither of us had a care in the world; we were in summer bliss ...

The rain barely stopped and the Dolls played hit after hit after hit -- "Slide" (one of my favorite Goo Goo Dolls songs ...), "Iris," "Broadway," "January Friend," "Black Balloon" (another one of faves...), "Name" (a sentimental favorite that reminds me of my high school days ...) and new stuff "Better Days" and "Let Love In." But just when I thought they'd played all I needed to hear, the Dolls whipped out their wondeful take on Supertramp's "Give A Little Bit."... All the while I couldn't help but notice the group of teenagers standing next to us who were hanging on every word the Dolls sang.

For our group, though, the show was only beginning ... A few minutes later, the tide would change. It was our group hanging on every word the Counting Crows sang, while the Doll-heads next to us mumbled about not knowing enough of the Crows songs ...

Just when we thought the rain was subsiding, Adam Duritz, his crazy hair and the Crows emerged on the stage and launched the opening drum beats of "Anna Begins." Again, I screamed in excitement, pumped my fists in the air and huddled close to Kates, knowing "Anna Begins" is her favorite Crows song ... but she was slower in recognizing it.

" ... My friend assures me/it's all or nothing/I am not worried/I am not overly concerned ..." Duritz sang. Finally, Kates burst into a smile -- she had recognized the song -- and we swayed and sang to it the way we've done hundreds of times in the car ... But none of those times could beat the feeling of actually singing the emotion-packed lyrics and "rain falls down" under an actual pouring rain ...

... From there, the band rolled into a sweet, rousing "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby," a Crows song I've loved from the first moment I heard it, and it may have been my favorite song of the night. Then a crowd-raising "Omaha" and the fabulous "Monkey" ...

The show started to drag a bit with the slower, whiny "Time And Time Again." It picked up a little with the worn-out "Big Yellow Taxi." ... But things really started to drag when the Crows pulled out their extended, rambling version of "Round Here." It blew me away the first time I saw the Crows during the Satelites tour, but I've heard recordings of it several times since and on Friday night it seemed to only bore the crowd ...

The Crows kept the mood low-key, though, with an acoustic of "Mr. Jones," the lesser known "Miami" and then "A Long December." They played one more upbeat one with "Hangin' Around" and then ended the night on "Holiday In Spain" -- a good "ender" indeed ...

So, yeah, I was a little dissappointed they didn't play "Rain King," given the circumstances and the fact it is my favorite Crows song. Also missing was the big "Shrek" hit "Accidentally in Love" ...

But looking back on the entire show? I wasn't dissappointed at all ... It was like a Holiday in the Rain.