On Monday night, the Black Cat hosted the Big Shoulders Ball. We were there. We took pictures. We shot some video of Ted Leo and Andrew Bird. By now, other sites have weighed in. DCist posted its review. So yeah this show has pretty much been blogged about enough. It was a great night–one that I was perhaps too tired to even think about yesterday or immediately following the show! But there were some great performances by Ted Leo, the Waco Brothers, Andrew Bird, and Honeyboy Edwards. What made the night so unique–compared to the other balls–was that it was a) actually fun; b) it felt homemade; 3) you didn’t have to wear a tux (dress was “thrift store formal”; 4) speakers actually mentioned things like healthcare and unions.

I have a few more pictures that I didn’t have time to post the other morning. So here they are.

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We wrote about Monday’s awesome Big Shoulders Ball. There were more than a few transcendent moments. The show was reviewed by Brooklyn Vegan and Pitchfork, and captured by everyone else with a flickr account. But we got video. We captured two of the sweeter moments:

Ted Leo covering Pete Seeger:

Andrew Bird with members of Eleventh Dream Day, Tortoise, and Sally Timms:

Last night I went to the Big Shoulders Ball at the Black Cat. The show was tons of fun and without all the pomp and cheese cubes. The ball was “thrift store formal.” And it was a benefit too. Highlights: Ted Leo covering Pete Seeger and Curtis Mayfield. Andrew Bird’s wondrous violin plucking that he looped and looped. Tortoise finding a rhythm and sticking to it. Ken Vandermark’s tribute to Sun Ra. And Honeyboy Edwards showing how the blues used to be played. Here are a few pics. I’ll have more tomorrow and some video:

Ted Leo

Sally Timms

Andrew Bird

Andrew over on City Desk posted a smart critique of the Lincoln Memorial concert. The show’s lineup, he wrote, was way too boomercentric. Of course, he’s right. Garth Brooks singing “American Pie” had nothing to do with the future of the American economy, Obama, netroots, etc. It was just Hollywood’s outdated response to the failing economy, Obama, netroots, etc. Mellencamp singing “Pink Houses?” Hasn’t he sung that song enough? And just where were the musicians from say the last decade and a half? Half these people could have played Live Aid. Fuck what did James Taylor have to do with this moment?

The best performances are probably going to be the small ones. I caught Brother Ah at the Aloha Ball over at a small room in the Woodley Park Marriott. The band was tight. He was mystical (in a non-hippie-boomer way) turning the depressing room into a loft party. I half expected Amiri Baraka to walk in. The big ball performance of the weekend was Wyclef. I didn’t think much of it.

I know I missed the freakest moment of the weekend. George Clinton got a small portion of his band together and actually played to a room of like 200 at the Aloha Ball. I had to scope out the scene along U Street. Second prize was catching Usher at Ben’s.

Just returned from a spot of Indian food after the “We Are One” concert, where I collected some supremely lo-fi recordings of the hit-or-miss performances.  Garth Brooks got a lot of stagetime.  Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock got glossed over.  Will.i.am and Sheryl Crowe did some decent Marley with a sanitized “Where Is the Love” interlude.  My favorite performace, amazingly, was Bettye Lavette and (wait for it) Jon Bon Jovi on Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.”

Also dug U2 more than I’d expected and found Pete Seeger a welcome presence.

First batch below.  More in a bit, plus a rundown of last night’s Mike Errico/Alfonso Velez/Sketches show at Jammin’ Java.

Springsteen, with gospel choir, on “The Rising”:

National anthem:

Lavette & Bon Jovi on “A Change Is Gonna Come”:

James Taylor & John Legend on “Shower the People”:

I just got back from the Green Inaugural Ball on Constitution Ave at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. I’m sure Darrow will have photos of this event soon. But I was thinking: I just saw Wyclef Jean. And I felt nothing. At one point in my life, Jean’s old band dominated every single house party I went to. Tonight, he looked kinda old slogging away with his bad Marleyisms. The dude wore a wife beater. He had a bumper sticker on his forehead. He’s got a gut. He phoned in a version of the national anthem. He used a flange pedal on the national anthem. When’s this guy going to get his own cruise ship?

Jean certainly worked the crowd (a couple hundred). But is it that hard to inspire a bunch of middle-aged gals who put paid $500 to get in? I counted only one lady doing some kinda hippie trance twirl thing in the back of the room. Just one. Is he pissed that will.i.am stole his schtick?

What made Jean’s performance tolerable was that you could chow down at the dessert tables and not feel guilty that you were missing anything. Let me tell you, the mini apple pie thingies with the cheese wedges on top really made the night. They were still warm by the time I got my mitts on them. And the fruit salad had just the right strawberry-to-melon-to-grapes ratio. The American Flag sugar cookies were a nice touch as well.

I still wonder is Wyclef the Phil Collins of hip-hop or the Kenny Rogers of hip-hop? I just thought of posting a clip of Rogers doing “The Gambler.” But I thought better of it. I’m going to try and forget I ever saw Wyclef Jean.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

This could be the perfect getaway from all the official events.

John Lee Hooker, Jr. has a simple plan for celebrating the inauguration.

“I’ll have a box of tissues here—no, a handkerchief—but I’ll be sitting on the couch, man, and relaxing and watching history be made.”

The son of the Boogie Man knows a thing or two about “change we can believe in.” After a precocious childhood on the Detroit blues circuit—and backing up his dad on tour and on wax—the would-be bluesman fell off the wagon, hard, and languished through broken relationships and crippling addiction for what he describes on his Web site as “many, many years.”

In 2004, though, he came back with a vengeance—Blues with a Vengeance, to be precise, the Grammy-nominated debut record that marked his return to the path of righteousness.

Now, with his ‘08 album All Odds Against Me he’s up for another Traditional Blues Grammy, and has crafted a new superhero persona for himself: Bluesman.

“Ever since I was a kid I always wanted to fight for truth and justice—fighting the pimps and rescuing the prostitutes and the damsels in distress,” Hooker Jr. said in a phone interview from his home in California. “Ironically, I got on the wrong side of justice. So I thought how fulfilling it would be for my dream to come true through animation.”*

[Video and more below the jump.]
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It is 12:34 a.m. This blog will be posted later. But right now, I am trying to get my head around the dullest news possible breaking out of the inaugural festivities. WTOP is reporting that at the Neighborhood Ball, Beyonce will be singing the first song that Barack and Michelle Obama will dance to. Beyonce will be joined by performers ranging from will.i.am to Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, and Alicia Keys. I can’t think of a more safe pick to sing during that most televised moment. I don’t expect M.I.A. or Cat Power. It’s just a little too safe.

Alicia Keys would have been the better choice. I just have this feeling–correct me if I’m wrong here–but the next four, five days are going to be a huge bland sandwich only with massive crowds, security zones, and huge traffic congestion. Safe acts (Sting, Sheryl Crow) meeting up with the usual Hollywood cameos (Kate Walsh?). It’s telethon-level talent. But what are they singing for? Obama? The fact that we’re done with Bush?

I can’t help but be disappointed. Again. Where’s Wilco? For my money the best show in town is going to be the Big Shoulders Ball at the Black Cat featuring folks like Ted Leo, Ken Vandermark, Tortoise, etc. I’m going to that show. I promise to post pictures and maybe a little video.

When I first heard about this it was just a concert/dance party, but now the affair has been upgraded to Wonkette’s inauguration party. Which changes very little, except that now a few more people will probably show up.

Otherwise it’s just going to be business as usual. Local duo Big Gold Belt, who sound kind of like a dirty version of 80s-pop band Nu Shooz, will perform with DJs Andrew Morgan and Beautiful Swimmers (Future Times records’ Maximillion Dunbard and Ari G) spinning funk and disco records shortly afterwards. By the way, BYOB.

Big Gold Belt, Andrew Morgan, Beautiful Swimmers
Friday, 1/16 at 10 pm.
Liz Glover’s Bikram Yoga Capitol Hill
410 H Street NE
$5 (Suggested donation, don’t be stingy!)