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.

Honeyboy Edwards

Icy Demons

Ken Vandermark

Tortoise

Jon Langford

The Waco Brothers

Thomas Frank

Ted Leo

Ted Leo covering Pete Seeger:

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

Ted Leo

Sally Timms

Andrew Bird

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.

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.]

“People Want a Change,” one of the animated music vids off the enhanced verson of All Odds, features Hooker Jr. as Bluesman leading a grassroots movement to the lawn of the White House (where George W. Bush, styled like a James Bond-type villain, waits, flaccid and apprehensive). With an opening horn flourish that drops like post-Superfly blaxplo-funk, the song rallies the grassroots and bemoans the recession with lines like “Tax cuts for the rich / Ain’t that a bitch?” and “Is there a casket on craigslist?”

“This video shows the other side of Bluesman—he’s not just a hero, he’s an activist for national issues,” Hooker Jr. said.

As for the Grammy nomination—which pits him against heavyweights like B.B. King and Buddy Guy—Hooker doesn’t sound too stressed. “I’ll just say it like this, man: It’s great to be a little person in the company of giants. Just imagine this: an itty-bitty man up against B.B. King and Buddy Guy.”

And true to the sentiment of his album title, Hooker is finding inspiration from a familiar role model. “That’s the name of the CD: All Odds Against Me. And you may laugh, but that’s what the country did during the campaign—picked the best person in the country. Against all odds.”

Trouble viewing? Try callicore.com!

*Hooker Jr. also made a delicate admission about Bluesman: “Actually, I don’t know why they call him a superhero—if Bluesman gets shot in the leg, he’ll have to go to the hospital. Everyone knows he’s not inhuman.”

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.

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!)