Monthly Archives: September 2008

Well, the audience inside the Majestic Theater certainly did their best to make our pal Xavier Rudd feel at home here in Madtown. From the moment his bare feet hit the stage people were giving out those warm Madison welcomes that seem at times to melt many artists w/a happy surprise (I always will remember Chali 2 Na‘s face when the crowd here erupted). Mixing in tracks fro the new album (Dark Shades of Blue) with a variety of what now feel like old favorites or a comfortable blanket from our musical childhood, the show was soothing with times stepping away from the didgeridoo kit & gave us some acoustical slide action. There were moments when worlds seemed to collide and the paste holding them together was some serious jams, keep on rockin’ in a free world…..wouldn’t it be nice?!!! I know after this show that Xavier Rudd is doing his part to try and make it more than a slogan.

Check out my most recent conversation with Xavier Here.

The final event of the Willy Street Fair for my ears was local act Whore du Jour and Madison’s own Jane Wiedlins (that’s right our very own resident Go-Go) new act Lady Robotica…it seems the members of Whore du Jour and Jane were Kidnapped, probed and became the rockin’ story tellers of Lady Robotica. The groups kicked some serious tail with a catchy avant garage band bounce and some seriously rocking riffs, held together by a solid beat keeper on percussion, Whore du Jour would certainly be many peoples favorite act at a concert. Lady Robotica has one serious message, have a lot of fun and purchase a ray gun cuz the probing ain’t done yet. Robotica featured 7 tunes, 3 of which were familiar Go Go tunes and the others were, well…tales of what has happened and what might be set to happen to any of you who become taken by the aliens….

Whore du Jour Willy St Fair 2008

Lady Robotica

Etran Finatawa was a blessing of an appearance at our final music festival of the summer season in Madison, the Willy Street Fair. Check out all the happenings here. Etran Finatawa’s musicians come from Niger which is one of the three poorest countries in the world, it is a landlocked country in West Africabordered by Mali, Algeria, Libya, Chad and Nigeria. In Niger there are eleven different ethnic groups most of whom are farmers or pastoralists, both sedentary and nomadic. Amongst them are the Tuareg and Wodaabe, many of whom are still nomadic.The group was formed at the time of the 2004 Festival in the Desert near Timbuctou. The literal meaning of their name is ‘the stars of tradition’. They are the first group to use the songs and music of the Wodaabe in a modern context. Starting as a group of ten musicians who wanted to unite these two nomadic cultures as a symbol of peace and reconciliaton. The touring and recording band consists of six players three of whom are Tuareg and three, Wodaabe-Fulani. In Niger the Wodaabe and the Tuareg live side by side on the desert’s fringes sharing pastures and water sources which sometimes leads to feuding. They work together to be strong and to give their culture a future in this changing world. The music of the two tribes is very different but the way it has been combined has produced a powerful and hypnotic sound and a new musical style of Nomad Blues.

Etran Finatawa in Madison 9/21/08

Also appearing that night was Berlin Germany’s 17 hippies and their mix of traditional music from Eastern Europe, France and America with the groups own Berlin background. They were an amazing act that recieved many wild acknowledgments from a pleased Willy Street Fair crowd.

Berlin’s 17 Hippies Madison 9/21/08

I am almost at a loss of words—Last night I saw and heard a great night of foreign music that I lost track of where I might actually be. Well…sort of. Gypsy Rock anyone? Well then Little Cow is for you. They write brilliant rock songs with hut spa and dance starting Hungarian rhythms that had the Annex crowd creating an interpretation of the sounds like no one was watching. Then the reason for ears, the Plastic People of the Universe emerged onto the stage and progressive rocked my avant ass into a psychedelic state of being, that I could see in Plastic for a moment in time. The history of this Czechoslovakian group inspired by Zappa and the attempts of their own government to shut them up and silence their lyrics and music (they often went against the grain of the Communist regime and due to its non-conformism often suffered serious problems such as arrests.) This was a rare event in Madison and I was not missing it. The Plastic People were funky with heavy rock and spiritually trancing jams with vocals that were as haunting as they were moving. If you have never heard of either act here, well, I hope you take some time to introduce yourself to their music and their lives as they exist outside of our united States and know that these people know how to make music…..real music.

Budapest’s LITTLE COW

Prague’s Plastic People of the Universe

Chicago’s Backyard Tire Fire brought its redneck rock along with finely crafted songs into Madison on Friday to the Annex. Opening was Missouri’s Ha HA Tonka. The show was plugged in and rip roaring. In support of the new album, The Places we Lived, Backyard Tire Fire featured many of their new tunes but also hit the crowd with many of their “let’s drink beer and have a party” style rock -n- roll, certainly enough force to make the Annex in Madison, a heavy hitter. Ha Ha Tonka was a nice surprise for me as well, they can jam, keep it simply sweet and man o’ man could those fellas sing. It is always nice to see artists matched up well in a live setting, and this was certainly the case. The windy city and the roaring Ozarks were representing proper on this night!

With opening act Greyhounds(who had Kofi on the flute for one tune), the Derek Trucks Band reminded me of what sound can sound like. From straight blues to the soul of the earth to a tweak and tuning adjustment of jazz to the slide of strings buttered with improvisational jams reinventing the very sounds we have come to know. The Kofi, Yonrico, Todd, Mike, Count M’Butu and Derek connection makes the stage into a exploration laboratory fit for musical mystery. With the opening group Greyhounds joining on stage for a wild rendition of the Lee Dorsey original Get out of my Life Woman ,featured trade offs galore between the entire collage of artists. There was a great crowd of energized music goers, each applauded the scene at various points for various personal interpretive moments in time that made them feel like, well…Its all about the music.

Check out my recent conversation with Derek here.

and a past chat here.