Ramblings From Justin Penney

I hate Lawrence, Kansas. Mostly due to its geography. I grew up in Odessa, Missouri which is as far from Kansas City as Lawrence is ... in the opposite direction. I would hear about all of the great clubs, great shows and all around awesomeness of Lawrence. Like any rational teenager I twisted everything to make me hate that town. Kansas City is way bigger than Lawrence, why do they deserve all the shows?

Presently I live about 60 miles away and I have just come to deal with it. The bands that I love are going to play in Lawrence. There is no audience in KC for midlevel bands that aren't alt-country. This covers most music that I like.

Just this year I've missed some show that I now regeret. Gogol Bordello, twice. Ted Leo & Pharmacists. When I saw the The Hold Steady were coming I decided I was not going to let them come that close without seeing them.

I had a couple other people lined up to accompany me but they backed out. Luckily, Tommy Donoho joined me for the drive out.

We got in to town and bought our tickets and went to The Replay. We had some Guiness and I visited the hole I left in the wall after performing there.

The first band up was a Scottish trio named 1990s. Their music was pretty poppy and cheery. They didn't really get me going, thought a lot of people were interested in them.

I've never made it all the way through an Art Brut record in one sitting. I've always been on the fence as to whether they were tremendously clever, ironic or silly. They are all three. The performance and delivery of the songs made them a lot more clear to me. The sound at The Granada was phenomenal and overall ... a lot better than their albums. I'm going to revisit the recordings this week.

I had hoped to be completed drunk or full of painkillers when I saw The Hold Steady. I was neither. Tommy offered to drive back to KC so I could get my drink on, but with the extra 20 miles home I kept it moderate.

Thought smart and literary, Craig Finns lyrics are for real people. Drug and alcohol use, abuse, partying, struggling, and a little trashiness. What live was and could have along with a big dose of what you didn't want it to be. It felt like the entire crowd was feeling the same way. Well, the whole crowd except for David who sent me and IM saying "I must need some Hold Steady Viagra."

As much as The Hold Steady fight the irony that is easy to projec ton their style, the do fall in to some generic performer failings. "... Lawrence, Kansas ..." I heard phrase every 10 minutes all night. Art Brut and 1990s are to blame on that front as well. It seems hollow whenever bands give shout outs to the city they are playing in. Then there is the encore. I HATE encores. Just play a longer set. Don't play with the crowd and pander to them for even more attention than they are already giving you. These are the people that pay your bills, don't tease them.

# posted by Justin @ 8:26 PM