Get Out: The Monthlong Birthday Celebration Edition (Week Three)

The road goes on forever, the party never ends...

TUE (7 p.m.)--Christine Smith CD Release Party (Living Room, NYC)

The first part of the evening begins at the Living Room on Ludlow Street with the CD release party for Christine Smith's new "Tomorrow Blues" disc, featuring members of Marah, whom I think I've mentioned my fondness for. Smith's been playing keyboards at select Marah shows over the last year, and I, as the kids say, dug her solo set at the Night of Phidelity back in September. So I shall celebrate the release of her CD with yet another trip to the Living Room, where my brand-new New Jersey Non-Driver's ID will get its first onceover. I've mentioned the fine zucchini sticks at the Living Room (via Zozo's, which is just around the corner), but, upon the recommendation of Maybe Pete's Johnny Macko, I can now also add that the bag of doughnuts is also delightful.

TUE (9:30 p.m.)--Joe Ely (Joe's Pub, NYC)

After the Christine Smith show, it's up and over to the Joe Ely solo show at Joe's Pub. It's been awhile since Ely's done a solo show in the area (though he's done a few gigs with the Flatlanders), so it should be cool. Joe Ely, for those who don't know (and, what the hell, for those who do know, too), is one of Texas's finest exports--a great songwriter, a killer performer, and one of the first alt-country guys I latched onto when I first started listening to that kind of music. And I probably picked up "Letter to Laredo" (maybe his best, though "Honky Tonk Masquerade" aint bad either, or any of his live discs) because I remembered his name from the list of performers who played at the National Wrestling Alliance's Great American Bash cards in the mid-1980s. And that just goes to show you that it doesn't matter how you get there, just that you get there.

WED--Will Hoge (Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ)

Still on the fence about this one, as the last Will Hoge show I saw (at Southpaw in Brooklyn) was so overly populated by giggly, drunken party-girl types that it was actually distracting. I lost count of the number of pictures taken of groups of such lasses while they had their backs to the stage. Unacceptable behavior, ladies. Backs should never be to the performers. They're putting on the show, not you. I wouldn't go to your show.

Anyway, I've yet to decide if it's worth the risk of spending my actual birthday (yep, Wednesday's the day) at a show with lots of people that will just make me angry. But I think I like Will Hoge enough to think it may just be worth it. We'll see.

THU--Bruce Hornsby (Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ)

Oh, I know. Bruce Hornsby's not cool, right? Well, maybe not, but I like him (most of the time; I'll forgive him for the Dead years and a couple crappy albums), and one of my favorite all-time shows was when he played the Count Basie (a cool theatre in a cool town) back in, I think, 1995. He invited everybody up on stage at one point in the show, something I've only seen him and Andrew W.K. do with any sort of success, and it was just an overall really cool show. I have been mocked many times for my fondness for Mr. Hornsby, but, like my fondness for Huey Lewis (and, yes, I like "Jacob's Ladder"), I ignore the mockery. Plus, Tinsel and Rot devotee and sporadic blogger Bryan Chambala recently admitted a fondness for Mr. Hornsby. Is there any greater sign that it is time to declare Bruce Hornsby cool? Lest you think that question is rhetorical, I will answer it for you. No.

Two more fine reasons to go are (a) I have a gift certificate to the Count Basie and (b) everybody gets a free boxed set with admission. Sweet.

FRI--Centro-Matic/Bobby Bare Jr. (Mercury Lounge, NYC)

Am I tired of seeing Bobby Bare Jr. yet? Nope. After recently surpassing Bob Dylan (whose local shows I'm actually skipping this week because, well, I don't feel the need to see him in an arena again) on the Times Seen by James Sigman list, Bare Jr.'s back in town, opening for Centro-Matic, whom I've heard good things about but never seen. Yes, there are bands I've never seen. Weird, huh?

The Bobby Bare Jr. shows I've seen supporting his new CD ("The Longest Meow") have been damn good. He's got a real strong band behind him, and they're playing the hell out of the new stuff. Check them out. They also play Saturday at the same place.

As for the recap from last week, the Bottle Rockets show in Brooklyn was depressingly underattended (unofficial count of actual Bottle Rockets fans: 8) and started way too late for a weeknight (doors were supposed to be at 8; the opening band--not so good--started just before 10), but was fun anyway. Europa's a weird place, but I kinda like it. How can you not like a place with a picture of underachieving hockey tool Mariusz Czerkawski proudly displayed? But their production skills need a little work.

The Bottle Rockets/Yayhoos show, on the other hand, was as close to perfect as possible. After the Bottle Rockets roared through their set (the live version of "Zoysia" is one of the best things going right now), the Yayhoos kicked off their set with NRBQ's "It Comes to Me Naturally." If there is anything greater than a Yayhoos show opening with a cover of an NRBQ song, I'm not aware of it. And like the Q, the Yayhoos are so clearly having a ball on stage that the fact that the music is killer is almost secondary. If you can't have fun at a Yayhoos show, particularly one in New York City, then you can't have fun at all. And I also got to scream out the lyrics to the set-closing "Garbagehead," a fine Eric Ambel song that I very much enjoy screaming out lyrics to.

The Matthew Ryan/Michelle Malone/Thad Cockrell show at the Living Room was good, but I must admit that I spent some of the show thinking I should've gone to the last-minute Yayhoos happy hour show at the Lakeside Lounge. It was cool to hear some new Ryan songs (though it might've been cooler to hear a few older ones) and I liked Cockrell and Malone just fine (the drunken dude heckling Malone at the table next to me I cared for a bit less), but it was so mellow that I found my mind drifting at times. And then when I found out on Terry Anderson's blog that the Lakeside show featured no repeats from the Mercury Lounge show and started with "Battleship Chains," my weekend was ruined.