City Stages 2008 Review, Day 2

Yes, it was Saturday the 14th. It was City Stages, Day 2: Electric Boogaloo.

There was some concern at first. We woke up pretty late since we got home from The Roots set at about 2 a.m. So we ended up sleeping late and a big rain storm caused us to wonder if the less-than-thrilling Saturday lineup, particularly during the day, merited a trip back to Birmingham. Fortunately, we came to our senses. No way were we missing Buddy Guy.

Also, at the risk of sounding like a doddering elderly person, thank goodness for YouTube and MySpace. It’s so nice to be able to look at a band’s name, type them into the computer a few places and have a variety of songs and videos to look at. You can determine within a matter a minutes whether a band is something you are interested in seeing or not. Such was the fate of the North Mississippi All Stars, who failed to impress Kate with their online offerings (although we both loved the electric washboard).

Thus, we left in time to miss the Mississippians but with every intention of catching Buddy Guy. And, obviously … Ben Harper.

We didn’t do much festival wandering. Linn Park is a lovely place for people to gather, but after a brief stroll through, we headed towards Buddy Guy. We saw the last song of the North Mississippi All Stars and a bit of some of the increasingly-bad local stage. Our sample size is small, but it’s depressing to learn that most of the local acts we’ve seen are bad metal bands. Who knew that Guns and Roses, Judas Priest and Motley Crue would continue to have such a major influence on the white kids from Vestavia and Mountain Brook who have decided to form bands? Terrible. Maybe some of the local acts we’ve missed have been better.

Anyway, Buddy Guy rocked. He was in full swing by the second or third song, a version of “Hoochie Koochie Man” that was made all the more amazing by the fact that he was able to convey a sense of dirtiness with his voice to a massive group of thousands of people standing around outdoors on asphalt. For an older man to convey that much lurid suggestiveness with his voice in such a non-intimate setting was just astonishing.

Also, he still shreds. If you are unfamiliar with the guitar talents of Buddy Guy, it is highly suggested that you familiarize yourself. It’s not just that he made a monumental and lasting contribution to what we know as rock and roll, it’s that he is still one of the most incredible guitarists alive. Sure, he has turned over some of the lead duties to a young guy whose name I didn’t catch, but Buddy still brings it when he’s playing. Sure, there are all the usual tricks (playing over your head, spinning the guitar, etc.) to delight the rubes, but the actual licks were also hot and heavy and made all the more impressive by the fact that he is up there shredding with this great look of mischief on his face.

We watched from the back, where the crowd was just terrible. Yuppies in golf shirts drunkenly slapped knees with their Hair Club for Men buddies, ignoring the fact that a music legend was gracing the crowd with yet another classic. I understand you idiots haven’t seen your friends in a while and I understand that it’s a nice evening to be outdoors. I even understand that you’re drunk and may not know who Buddy Guy is. But please: shut the hell up or move somewhere else to guffaw.

At one point in the show, Buddy Guy’s keyboard player blew out a speaker, maybe even somehow messed up the patch cable on one of his keyboards. Ever the pro’s pro, Buddy Guy came over and nodded, filling seamlessly. It was the kind of thing some people might not have even noticed, but Buddy Guy showed that he is a great band leader in addition to being a well-known frontman. He took the reins from the frustrated keyboardist (who was awesome, by the way) and soloed into “Mary Had a Little Lamb” before wrapping up the song. The idiots around us didn’t even notice.

They also probably didn’t come away truly awed by the vocal power able to be summoned by Buddy Guy at almost any point. And if I knew he at least had the ability to unleash a soul-curdling blues yowl, hearing it in person closes that circuit between expectation and experience in a wildly satisfying way. To see that sound coming out of that man’s mouth was well worth the trip alone. Also, he can make his guitar do things that I normally associate with Sonic Youth.

Finally, at the risk of belaboring this point: Buddy Guy is a true showman. He really gives to his audience. He had a great sequence where he was soloing, passed the solo to another member of his outstanding band, and went over and laid a cloth over his guitar like he was preserving it for later. Eventually, he went back over, lifted the cloth and then began to rub it across the fretboard, creating some weird and rhythmic washrag sounds. The was then shortly followed by an utterly amazing intro into Voodoo Chile, reminding me that Buddy Guy (born 1936) was not only a contemporary of Jimi Hendrix (born 1942), but also is in many ways a vision of what Jimi might have been. While crushing out the familiar Voodoo Chile intro, a tiny production assistant came onto the stage to offer Mr. Guy a cup of water. He took a sip and waved the kid away with what can only be described as a regal flick of the fingers. “No more water, kid. These fingers have magic to conjure.”

And what to say about Ben Harper? Since this review is already pretty long, I’ll try to keep it concise. His show was like church, even for the secular. He tapped into a holy kind of power, delivering a staggering, blistering, surprisingly political performance. I genuinely felt like Ben was giving something special to the people of Alabama and there was some SERIOUSLY mobilizing music. I love his political songs as much as anyone, but I didn’t really expect he would unleash so many of them on a red-state festival crowd packed with frat boys and teen girls expecting to hear him play his love ballads. No, there was no “Steal My Kisses” last night. Instead, there was a torrid “Excuse Me Mister” and an inspiring “Jah Work.”

He gave multiple shouts out to the Blind Boys of Alabama with whom he released “There Will Be a Light” in 2004. He performed a soaring “Take My Hand” from that album and remarked that he never truly knew how to sing until meeting the Blind Boys. “I knew how to carry a tune, yes,” he said, “but never really how to truly sing.”

There was the familiar whipsaw lapsteel version of “Ground on Down,” but I took particular delight in the 20-minute-long version of “Whipping Boy.” Some super-annoying girls in front of us thought they knew what song was coming on with the opening notes of the song and started doing a freakish teeny bopper dance. Little did they know that the song was far from the upbeat dance number they were expecting.

The last song was “Black Rain,” the scathing track from “Both Sides of the Gun.” I thought it was the perfect political blast to cap off an amazing show. Turns out, there was an encore, starting with the bizarre phenomenon of thousands of people singing along to “Walk Away.” I can’t imagine being at the show with a girl who is standing there with her eyes closed, singing along at the top of her lungs lyrics like, “It hurts me to look into the mirror at myself / And it hurts even more to have to be with somebody else.” Um. Aren’t I here with you now? Awkward!

But the encore wasn’t over. After hearing at least a dozen people over the course of the show say that they wanted him to play “Burn One Down,” I was delighted to hear him play it. The crowd went nuts. The version was absolutely nuclear. If only those had been lighters (or other burning things) held up in the air during the pro-marijuana anthem instead of the super-annoying cameras and cell phones.

And the encore STILL wasn’t over. After scorching the crowd with “Burn One Down,” then the techs bring out a little stand covered with towels, on which is a guitar. And then the guitarist from the Innocent Criminals comes out with a double-necked guitar. And then they launch into “Better Way,” one of the most inspiring and uplifting songs in Ben Harper’s catalog. Words can’t really capture the soaring feeling of Ben Harper, leaning out over the crowd like he was at some kind of revival talking about a better way.

A few other thoughts from Day 2:

§ Speaking of “better ways” and inspiration, there have been a lot of really cool, obviously homemade Obama shirts at the festival. I have never in my lifetime seen this kind of grassroots support for a candidate. Our favorite was the super gold foil one (sort of like this but better).

§ The Marines are there — a fantastic combo of hilarious, scary and pathetic. They have a massive hummer parked on the street blaring hip-hop. They have a pull-up bar and are challenging people to do pull ups. And of course, you can sign up to go die in Iraq. People are just standing around their hummer, admiring their hundred-thousand dollar bass and sound system, listening to mind-rotting radio rap. The Marines are getting off on helping cute young girls up onto the bar, touching their thighs and “bracing them.” The idea that anyone would sign up based on this ludicrous display is mortifying. And yet, part of me thinks that if our Marines in Fallujah could just do a few more pull-ups, the insurgents would give it up. Here’s to you, Hummer-driving Marines. Semper Fi! May you recruit many more of our nation’s desperate minorities lured in by your rap music and enormous bobbing inflatable drill sergeant.

§ Speaking of too much testosterone, there’s also some fun to be gained by looking at the police around the festival. Our favorites have been the super-redneck officer who is regularly spitting his smokeless tobacco dip onto the city streets. This seems counterintuitive since he also clearly spends hours polishing his jackboots (into which he tucks his pant legs). But with his flat top and steady fondling of his holster, he loos awfully sharp up in the Inspector Gadget Command Post. Doing a great job guys!

Today we are off to see (hopefully) Toubab Crewe, The Wailers, Michael Franti, and the Flaming Lips. Happy Father’s Day to all the Pops who read this blog!