5/13/11, Red Square, Albany, NY
5/14/11, River Street Jazz Cafe, Wilkes-Barre/Plains, PA
FRIDAY, 5/13/11
An added perk of American Babies fandom (besides being the envy of all your friends because you clearly have impeccable taste in music) is that they are incredibly easy to find on the iPod-- very close to the top, you see. Though, this wouldn't help on Friday 5/13, as I have a rule of not listening to the band I am going to see on the day of (especially on the drive to) a show. The same thing goes for the ride back, but that is more lenient, as sometimes I need to hear a specific song the band did not play, and in rare cases must appease that craving on a song-by-song basis. Anyways, in the days leading up to the Albany show, I was pondering what my soundtrack for the ride would be, because over the past couple of weeks I have been listening to the Babies excellent new album, Flawed Logic, & the 4/29 Mercury Lounge show constantly. The Yanks/BoSox game got me through most of the ride, but when things went sour, I turned to the Bad Livers. Seemed appropriate.
Grape Drink is awesome and American Babies are my Grape Drink. I was psyched to see 'em again so soon. Live Music OCD actually had me really worried that if I didn't see their Burlington Metronome show the previous night, I would miss something spectacular. Like David Bowie materializing out of thin air, Knighting Tom Hamilton, and presenting him with the Royal Goldfish for Outstanding Achievements in Rock Music. Which didn't happen, but still-- what if it did and I had missed it? Yes, Albany would do just fine.
Upon arrival, I chilled outside for Turbine's set. Sure, it was a beautiful night & there was plenty of good company out front. But additionally, I am still ever-so-slightly mad at Turbine after the 3-5AMish moe.down xi RV lot set, in which their PA system was set up about 50 feet from our heads, resulting in us wanting to gut their souls for depriving us of at least 2 really important hours of sleep. Moving on.
American Babies called everyone inside with Dance All Night, which began a 2+ hour set of rock awesomeness. The show was mainly comprised of Tom Hamilton's sickeningly sweet originals, but also sprinkled with phatty covers like Dark End of the Street (Percy Sledge), Fa Fa Fa (Otis Redding), Further On Up the Road (made famous by Eric Clapton), & a sweet You Really Got A Hold On Me (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles). Unconventional selections. Original covers, if you will.
But back to the Original Originals. At the core of American Babies are Rock songs that sound so right, they may have been floating around in the collective unconscious since the Dawn of Time until finally someone (Hamilton) was able to recall them. (Putting the bag of chips down.) If you are a fan of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, The Beatles, Brian Setzer, Johnny Cash--- if you are a fan of GREAT ROCK MUSIC, you will quickly fall in love with this band.
The whole show rocked. Highlights of the highlights: Streets of Brooklyn, Desperate Times, Joeline, Rocker, Swimming at Night, Brooklyn Bridge, Fa Fa Fa, The Sin, Baby Don't Cry, Winter War Games, and both encores-- Restless Heart and a dirty/sick/gritty version of Dylan's Tonight I'll Be Staying Here w/ You. Shit yeah.
New bass player, Mark Karwan^ is fresh off the National Tour of the Broadway musical, In The Heights. This was his 2nd show with the Babies and he's quickly finding his spot in The Beat-Down Equation, which during show #2 was him pointing and laughing at you. What I mean by that is: Adam Flicker's keys will throw sand in your face before Dave Butler's drums kick your ass and Tom Hamilton's Zazz puts a cigarette (or two) out in your eye. And you'll fucking beg for more.
As always, thanks to promoter Greg Bell, for all that he does to keep the Live Music scene thriving in Albany.
5/13/11, Red Square, Albany, NY
Dance All Night
Streets of Brooklyn
Desperate Times
I Want A Girl
Dark End of the Street
Joeline
Telephone
You Really Got a Hold On Me
Rocker
Swimming At Night
Brooklyn Bridge
Fa Fa Fa
The Sin
Night Has Fallen
Invite Your Friends
Baby, Don't Cry
American Babies
Weight of the World
Further On Up The Road
California's Calling
Winter War Games
E:
Restless Heart
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here w/ You
SATURDAY, 5/14/11
I was awoken around 7AM by the faint aroma of Cheetos that seemed to be emanating from the carpet of a shitty hotel. Since there were no Cheetos to be found in the vicinity, my only guess as to it's origin was that this carpet was haunted by the ghost of a murdered Cub Scout trying to make contact from the afterlife in order to avenge his death. That, or Britney Spears had recently stayed there.
No matter. I had said "why the fuck not?" the night before and decided to see American Babies at the River Street Jazz Cafe in Wilkes-Barre, PA on Saturday too. It was kiiiind of on my way home anyway. So-- fuck it. I was already psyched to hit a Pilot Truckstop (of course there'd be one). It's the little things.
The River Street Jazz Cafe is a cool little venue in a little office-type complex & when I arrived, some locals (it's a safe assumption) were ATV'ing around the parking lot. Welcome to Pennsylvania.
This is why the kids call it "interactive multi-media".
What was most bizarro to me on this day was that American Babies were opening for a Jeff Beck tribute band. Mad respeck to Jeff Beck, but my head asplode. After drenching the room in bourbon-honey-bacony goodness with a delicious Streets of Brooklyn soundcheck, at showtime the Babies took the stage and blew the crowd away straight out of the gates. There was a great energy in the room and all eyes & ears were on the band... Except for in my peripheral vision, where I was trying to stop watching the Yankees have their asses handed to them... again^^.
Eventually, I turned my back to the total shit-show on the bar's TV and took comfort in the music I had traveled to witness. Annd focus: American Babies. Sweet Rock. They had the crowd eating out of their palms by the end of these 90 minutes. Winter War Games, pushed it way over the edge. Holy fuck. The audience was excited and the room was abuzz.
In Bassist Mark's 3rd show with the band, he sounded more relaxed and confident in exploring the material. He and Dave were laying the rhythm down thick. It's a great combo. Perhaps he is beginning to pour salt into the burnt eyes of your sorry ass. Adam Flicker was again, a shit-ton of fun on keys. Tom Hamilton shredded on Lead Guitar while simultaneously wearing the fuck out of some suspenders. The chemistry up there is magic. More, please!
I skipped out on the Jeff Beck tribute band to get a head-start on my 2 hour drive, which went swimmingly-- and I even saw my very first coyote!! Freakin' bonus!!
A giant thank you to Tom, the owner of River Street Jazz Cafe, who was super awesome, hospitable, and I couldn't find to thank in-person on my way out. Another huge thanks to the American Babies who kept me entertained while on mini-Grape-Drink-Tour. Totes awesome. Can't wait for the next show, but come on back to NYC, willya?
No tapirs. You'll just have to go see American Babies for yourself! Check their website for the most updated Tour Dates!
American Babies, 5/13/11, Red Square, Albany, NY & 5/14/11, River Street Jazz Cafe, Wilkes-Barre/Plains, PA: 9 HUZZAHS!!! If you don't love American Babies, the Terrorists have already won.
5/14/11, River Street Jazz Cafe, Wilkes-Barre/Plains, PA
Dance All Night
Streets of Brooklyn
Desperate Times
I Want A Girl
Dark End of the Street
Joeline
Telephone
You Really Got a Hold On Me
Rocker
Swimming At Night
Night Has Fallen
Fa Fa Fa
Invite Your Friends
Weight of the World
California's Calling
Winter War Games
^ Jim Hamilton is currently way too busy serving his family, City, and/or Country full-time, to hit the road even part-time. Understandable.
^^ As a total aside, I'd like to add here how completely doomed my fantasy baseball team is and that a head-to-head league format this year may actually destroy me. Last week Kendry Morales was sentenced to season-ending surgery (before his season even began), Jason Heyward lost all feeling in his right hand (awesome), Cano has dropped into a slump like it's '08, Ian Desmond and Mitch Moreland (who I picked up to replace Kendry) are suddenly sidelined with tight hammies. Hughes was a bust from the start, Bailey's been on the DL since opening day, CC just blew another game, and then a few songs into this set I got a news alert that KC had spotted a flaw in my elite closer Soria's delivery-- I don't even know if that's good or bad news anymore. *breathes* (picks up bag of chips.)
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