The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion show at BottleTree, Birmingham, AL, US with Smith Westerns on 3 May 2011.
PARTIAL SET LIST (songs broadcast on We Have Signal):
She’s On It – Jack The Ripper
Feeling of Love
Black Thoughts
’78 Style
Boot Cut
Gadzooks
Shirt Jac
Tell Me That You Love Me
Son of Sam
Sweat
Bellbottoms
REVIEW:
“Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and The Smith Westerns Rock BottleTree
By Blake Ells, for Birmingham Box Set, 6 May 2011It’d be snobbery to pretend I can rattle off a list of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s greatest hits. And the same for the Smith Westerns. But I like rock ‘n’ roll. A lot. So this week, I attended both shows atBottleTree. And I was satisfied.
On Tuesday, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion played the loudest set I have ever heard. Literally, thousands of shows in my time (including KISS), and this one won. It’s hard to critique–do you like loud, raw rock ‘n’ roll? The room was half-filled with more gray hair than BottleTree has ever seen. And no one seemed to mind that the knob on Spencer’s volume had been broken off at eleven. But the contrast between Spencer’s Tuesday set and the Smith Westerns’ Wednesday set was where I found the most intrigue. Jon Spencer has worked with artists as diverse as Dr. John and the Beastie Boys. In our phone conversation last week, Spencer even alluded to the Beastie Boys borrowing their idea for their smash viral music video from the new record. The Smith Westerns are a buzz band, a meme. They are to 2011 what Jon Spencer was to 1993: something that makes you feel a little bit cooler because of knowledge.
And you’re right, both times. Spencer can still blast rock, and at higher volumes than the Smith Westerns. But while I watched the Smith Westerns, I couldn’t shake the sense that I was watching REM in 1983. The brothers Omori from Chicago, likely not old enough to buy a beer, had something. Cullen’s stage presence was awkward, hiding behind his hair and never interacting anything of value while the lead guitarist added riffs beyond the reach of some of rock’s finest.
The Smith Westerns, at their core, are pop rock. They are sold as “glam rock” in the vein of T-Rex orDavid Bowie (which REM’s Michael Stipe was raised on; the Omoris never lived in a world without Dave Grohl). But with Pro Tools, the band is cranking out Top 40 hits. Without it, they are raw, unrefined and melody-driven rock ‘n’ roll, inspired by the the same bands that shaped the godfathers of alternative rock, and on a 30-year delay, recollected the same result.
A generation was inspired by a unique genre created by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. If you don’t allow volume to alienate you, there’s still time for you to be as well. The music holds up. It’s like nothing before it, and it’s the torch bearer for what will come after. If you want to plant a seed and watch it grow, pick up Dye It Blonde by the Smith Westerns. Here lies a bright future.” – Blake Ells / AL.com“
“The “Bottletree” is an incredibly hip club. I heard that somebody in Man or Astroman owns it. To the right is a two room back stage, one of the rooms has a screen porch, behind the other room is an air-conditioned silver bubble trailer with a huge TV set and couches. It’s a nice backstage. It really is, Birmingham Alabama. I finally stumble in. The Blues Explosion has a very professional roadie. I can’t remember his name! He was tough and smart. He was from Pittsburgh and after introductions he said that he didn’t believe any of the stories he heard about me. There’s a drunk in my past. The first band he broke his rock and roll cherry with was Half Life. 1-2-3-4 Ward Street Hardcore, you were there right? Being a writer means that the game moves as you play. You see things and you typewrite. The soundtrack is always underlining the scene. A chick once asked me what my sound track would be- I told her and she was so un-hip, she didn’t recognize the band. Sad. Those who do not. The JSBX are a candle with which to light other candles. Blues explosion number one, radio stations I question their blueness.
My hands were shaking- I told Jon that it was from the anti-depressants which is reasonably true and I gave him a copy of the Gibson Brothers set list as well as a list of JSBX songs I found at Maxwell’s during the first Clinton Administration….
…The Bottletree is a cool, ultra-hip club. The JSBX is really tight (they go without set lists). How do they know what songs to go into next? I’m told that it’s all cues from Jon- either he says a title or he plays a riff. Oh, Russel missed a cue! They sounded slightly rough going into the “bellbottoms” song that turned into an audience sing-along and finally, the music just exploded. Wow, they can really rock the house. It’s a well-paced show as they play a shuffling blues number just before “She Said.” Jon is such a showman. He shouts out ‘blues explosion” every chance he gets until it starts to resemble one of the early Dada sound poems. Where the nonsense syllables just touch each other-radio stations, I question their blueness.
“Birmingham delivers!” he roars and the crowd responds. All of a sudden, they crash into “My War”- wow, they really flesh out the power of this song.” – Jim Hayes / Perfect Sound Forever @ Furious.com
