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Click any image to see the complete gallery from last Thursday's sold out show.
Steve Martin packed out the Jaqua Concert Hall last Sunday night. I only saw the first three songs but I'm willing to bet the whole show was a hoot. Steve was working in jokes between the banjo jams and had the crowd captivated from the instant he walked on stage. If you were at the show, leave comments and let us know whatcha thought.
Ellen announced earlier today via Twitter that she had a surprise in store for the UO. She didn't show up herself but a few tweets later she had students scrambling for bars of soap and doing their best to recreate a cheesy studio portrait with a camera phone. I won't speak too much about what went down but I've posted a gallery of photos from the taping. The episode airs tomorrow (9/30) so tune in to find out what happened.
Update: Watch a video of the segment. Thanks to Suzi for the tip!
Click any image to see the gallery of Mayer Hawthorne photos from last Saturday night.
M.H. & The County played a short & sweet set of songs from A Strange Arrangement and a few covers (including this one). I was a little disappointed that there was no horn section but the band's sound came off tight regardless. We rarely get good soul bands like this coming thru the Eug. It's a shame attendance at the WOW Hall was on the thin side. I'm guessing the Duck game and lack of students in town had a lot to do with it. Had this show been 2 weeks later, I bet it would've been packed.
Mayer also dj'd at an early evening in-store at CD World. His mix included everythng everything from Fela Kuti to Pharcyde, old soul classics to rare disco cuts, and even a remix of one his own. Those who were there were definitely feeling it ... including the rather older foot-tappin' fella on the couch.
OK ... so I'm über doober late on posting these shots. My bad. Originally, I was planning on pairing these with my thoughts on the stream I received of the forthcoming I and Love and You. But since everyone can now stream the entire album on NPR (a week before its release), I'll just tell you it's easily one of the best albums of this year and let you hear for yourself.
But I will leave you with a quote from I & L & Y's producer Rick Rubin that I think really sums up this band:
As soon as I heard the depth in their singing and songwriting, I was in for the ride. The Avetts' songs have such a sincere emotional resonance. The purity of the messages stops you in your tracks. It's unusual to hear such open-hearted personal sentiment from young artists today.
Click on any photo to see the whole gallery from the Britt Festival show.
Also, be on the lookout for an Avett's cover story in the upcoming issue of Shuffle magazine with a couple of photos by yours truly ... taken at the McDonald Theatre show back in May.
Last night's sold out Girl Talk show was the sweatiest, craziest show I think I've ever seen at the McD ... in a good and entertaining way. Hats off to security who were seriously working overtime. Click on any image to see the whole gallery.
This past Sunday, I went down to the Backyard BBQ Blues Revival at Papa's Soul Food Kitchen. It was the first time I've felt like I could've been back in Mississippi somewhere. Sorta filled a bit of that homesick gap. I got there a bit late so I missed 100% Pure Delta Stomp but I caught most of Hillstomp's set. It was the first time that I'd seen them play. Great blues band. Loved the fact that they were rocking cigar box guitars and bucket drum sets.
Papa's bringing a great southern tradition to town and you should definitely be on the lookout for the revivals to come. He mentioned the possibility of Alvin Youngblood Hart playing one in the near future!
