A return to concert venues...and $22 beers!
Leave it until the day before Christmas Eve to write an article about events from Thanksgiving week! Procrastinators unite! ...maybe later.
Post-pandemic lockdowns, emails have been slowly and steadily returning to my inbox, suggesting artists and shows in my area that I might like. I have missed live events! For an authentic auditory experience, nothing beats seeing your favorite musicians live and in person. Dominique and I had gone to see the Gypsy Kings (for the second time) at the Chateau St. Michelle winery in August this year, but as that concert was outdoors, there was plenty of space and fresh air between you and your neighbor.
During Thanksgiving week this year, we attended not one but two indoor concerts. A few months ago, I saw that Arcade Fire was going to be in town for the Seattle leg of their "We" tour and that Beck was their supporting act. We had seen Arcade Fire during their 2014 "Reflektor" tour at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, and knew from that experience that they put on an amazing live show. However, when I heard about this year's concert, I was actually more excited about seeing Beck perform, even though it was only billed as an acoustic set. Beck ultimately ended up pulling out of all of the scheduled U.S. tour dates due to allegations that came out in August about the Arcade Fire frontman, Win Butler. This article dropped right before the kick-off concert of the European leg of the tour in Dublin, and the artist billed as the European support act hastily pulled out of the tour after two dates. Beck, understandably, followed suit, and the first I heard of all of the allegations was when I read the press release announcing Beck would no longer be performing.
With one of the main reasons for my attending the concert no longer on the billing, I looked into getting a refund for our tickets from Ticketmaster. Communication with support informed me that since the main performer was still going ahead, there was no option for a refund. I can understand that position if the supporting act that dropped out was some relatively unknown, up-and-coming artist, but Beck is a big draw in his own right, and like me, it's possible that fans would have purchased tickets solely on account of his association with the tour. So, with a straight-up refund not an option, I looked into selling my tickets via Ticketmaster's verified resale system (the face-value peer-to-peer "Ticket Exchange" didn't seem to be an option when I was looking to sell...if it was there, it was hidden away). Having paid about $70 in fees when buying the tickets, I was shocked to see that Ticketmaster was looking to charge me a similar amount in fees on the selling end too. What a shakedown! I have always had a major problem with some of the mystery fees that get tacked onto what should be a reasonable ticket price. Therefore, I am glad to see Ticketmaster under closer scrutiny after their botched sale of Taylor Swift tickets for her upcoming tour. I would definitely consider some of their business practices to be bad for customers and for musicians, and they leave a pretty sour taste in my mouth every time I have to conduct business with them.
So we ended up going to the concert anyway, and although the band was as great as I remembered, the show wasn't close to a sellout (I'd estimate 60–70% of capacity). So even if I were okay with swallowing the loss on my ticket costs, it was probably unlikely they would have been sold. I'm not really sure what the reason for the low attendance was. It was a Tuesday during Thanksgiving week? The fact that Beck dropped out? The revelations about Win? The Haitian band Boukman Eksperyans, which replaced Beck as the opening act, turned out to be pretty good and did their best to warm up whatever crowd was there. Arcade Fire played to the home crowd and did a decent rendition of "All Apologies" by Nirvana during their closing set.
Friday's concert turned out to be a much less dramatic affair. My wife's family was in town for the Thanksgiving holiday, and I decided to buy tickets to see legendary blues musician Taj Mahal during his annual residency in Dimitriou's Jazz Alley. I had seen him once before at a free concert in Central Park, New York, but on that occasion, he was promoting an album he had just released in collaboration with another artist. Thus, he played much less of his back catalog than I was hoping for (although he did do a fine performance of my favorite song of his, "Leavin' Trunk"). We had a great time at the post-Thanksgiving gig; Taj and his band were awesome, and the venue was really nice and intimate. Taj swapped between a few different guitars (including a rather beautiful copper-colored resonator guitar) every couple of songs, and my uncle-in-law pointed out that he had a banjo on stage, which I guess he didn't get around to playing. Sad face. Despite turning 80 this year and not so nimbly getting to the stage (unsurprisingly, there was no encore), he can still belt out those tunes, with an endearing lick of attitude to boot! I'm sharing some of his songs below; have a listen!
La Música
Please note: All song links shared below will bring you to Spotify. You'll need to create an account to listen.
Taj Mahal - Queen Bee
A lovely, sweet song. Close your eyes and imagine yourself somewhere far away!
Taj Mahal - Everybody's Got to Change Sometime
To me, Taj Mahal is certainly one of the kings of the blues genre - this is a fantastic, romping, blues song. Some great guitar and Taj's distinctive voice - perfect!
Taj Mahal - Leaving Trunk
I'd say this is my favourite Taj Mahal song. A fine blend of harmonica and blues guitar. This song was MADE for the Great American Road-Trip. The whole self-titled album this song comes from is worthy of a listen from start to finish.