Tony Lucca - World Cafe Live - Philadelphia, PA - March 5, 2011

Our first Tony Lucca experience was in February 2009, also at World Cafe. We'd seen Sara Bareilles three times during the previous summer when she was the opening act for a Counting Crows / Maroon 5 double-headlining tour. We really liked her, and wanted to see her headline. A friend who works for WXPN arranged for us to see her play World Cafe. Tony Lucca was the opener. We hadn't heard of him before that night, but we only made it about halfway into his set before Carter was out at the merch table buying a copy of each one of his CDs. We've listened to him a lot since then, and consider ourselves pretty big fans, but we hadn't had the opportunity to see him live again until now.

Carter: We went to Philly earlier in the day to go to the Academy of Natural Sciences. I had free tickets to it, courtesy of WXPN from when I called in to Kids' Corner one time and won them as a prize. It was very fun. We saw the live butterfly exhibit and I got to do a simulation of an archeological dig and look for fossils.

Mama: I like going to shows in Philadelphia. Since we can get there in under two hours by car or about an hour from the Lancaster train station, it's easy to plan around the shows and do other things while we're there.

Carter: Then we had dinner at Barbuzzo on South 13th Street, the neighborhood where my aunt and uncle used to live. We had a lot of tapenade. I loved it so much I wanted to bathe in it. It would be cool if I had a shower that sprayed tapenade and I had a towel made of bread...

Mama: That's kinda gross.

Carter: Not if you love tapenade as much as I do.

Mama: We really did have an amazing meal.

Carter: Maybe we should just make this blog post the "Tony Lucca and Tapenade" post. Because that was really a highlight of the trip for me, too.

Mama: Maybe not. After we ate, we still had some time to spend in the city before the show since it didn't start until 10 p.m. So we visited some of our favorite shops, walked down Walnut Street so Carter could try to find a copy of a book about Banksy that I thought I'd seen at Urban Outfitters, and even though we were saving room for hummus at World Cafe during the show, no trip to Philly would feel complete to us without a visit to Capogiro for gelato (convenient that it's right across the street from Barbuzzo).

Carter: Then we went to World Cafe Live. It's set up like a restaurant with a bar on one side. So you sit at tables like a restaurant while you watch the show. That's the upstairs venue. The downstairs venue is bigger, and can be set up with or without tables.

Mama: I think that Sara Bareilles show might have been the first time we ever went to World Cafe Live, but I've seen tons and tons of shows there over the last few years.

Carter: They have really good hummus (Mama, can you please make "hummus" in all capital letters and underlined and lots of exclamation points?). I love hummus.

Mama: Yeah, so I suppose it goes without saying that we ate hummus while we watched Tony Lucca. When I called to get tickets and make a seating reservation, I requested a table in the front half of the room. Because they also offer dining, I find that people tend to talk more than they might if it were a venue without seating, and I think it's easier to hear if you're not in the back of the room.

Carter: When they took us to our seats, our table ended up being pretty much on the stage. We couldn't have been any closer...while we ate our huummmuusss!

Mama: He played pretty much all the songs we wanted to hear -

Carter: Except for "True Story."

Mama: Yeah, that's a great song. He makes reference to his time on the Mickey Mouse Club in that song.

Carter: What's the Mickey Mouse Club?

Mama: Nevermind. Anyway, he played most of the songs I wanted to hear, including some newer ones I've only ever gotten to hear via YouTube, like "Take Me Home" and "Fight Song."

Carter: "Take me home, country roads, to the place I beloooooong..."

Mama: That is NOT a Tony Lucca song. The song I'm talking about is one that I've also heard referred to as "The Bus Driver Song." As the story goes, it was inspired by an early-morning comment from a tour bus driver.

Carter: I was really tired that whole night from walking around Philly all day. So I ended up almost falling asleep during the show. I felt bad.

Mama: What is it with you falling asleep at concerts? One of these days, we should do a blog post about all times you've fallen asleep in the middle of shows. I have photos from quite a few of them.

Carter: Even though I was really tired, I loved the show.

Mama: I liked seeing him play with other musicians, since we saw him solo the last time. It gave him a chance to play more of his rock & roll stuff, and I really enjoyed watching him wail on an electric guitar. But I was still glad when he played a few songs solo acoustic. It shows off his style of songwriting so well.

Carter: I liked seeing him play the piano. It sounded beautiful.

Mama: Me too. One of the songs he played was a cover - "Vienna," by Billy Joel. After that, he picked up a guitar again and talked about how there are always those songs out there that are so perfect that you wish you'd written them. He said the next song was one that felt that way for him, and that he'd discovered it on YouTube last year. Do you remember what it was?

Carter: The "Bed Intruder Song." [giggles] "...we gon' fiiiiiiind you, we gon' fiiiiiiind you..." I would even think it was funny if my cat meowed and I turned it into an auto-tuned remix. That song makes me laugh really hard. When a real musician plays one of the viral video songs, it's either a total backfire or a total success. In Tony Lucca's case, it was a success and it was funny.

Mama: I guess it's a song he's played pretty often this year, but I didn't know about it, so it caught me off guard and really cracked me up.

Carter: After the show I got to meet Tony Lucca and then we went to bed because I was tired from eating so much hummus. (Exclamation points.)

Carter meeting Tony Lucca (and wearing his Hoots & Hellmouth shirt!)

Fast Forward

A Message from Carter

Dear readers:

I apologize for the inconvenience of our delay in posting. It is my displeasure to say we will not be reviewing the shows from the "upcoming" list at the bottom of our last blog posts. Instead, we will be fast forwarding through them and writing about shows within a few days of seeing them from here on out. However, I can give you a rundown for each of the shows from the last few months...

Spoon

The Forum - Harrisburg, PA

September 11, 2010

The Spoon show was horrible because of bad lighting. The lights were directly in line with our eyes because we had floor seats and the stage is sort of low. I couldn't see anything and so I fell asleep (but most shows that I've fallen asleep in I've loved). The sound was weird, too. It was a weird venue for a rock concert. We think we would have liked other stuff there. I have nothing against Spoon. But I have a lot against that show. No further comment.

Stupid lights at the Forum. It was much worse than it looks in this photo.

Hoots & Hellmouth

Mother Earth Harvest Festival at Spoutwood Farm - Glen Rock, PA

October 3, 2010

Very good concert. I like them because they have stomp boards made of wood with tambourines attached to them. Mama actually let me take photos, which is surprising. It was outside during the daytime. When Spoutwood has events, they have really good food. I had two cherry smoothies and two hemp soft pretzels. Overall, a really good show.

You can see the stomp boards. I took this photo!

Carter with Rob Berliner from Hoots & Hellmouth.

Jason & Grant from Ghost Hunters

Pullo Center - York, PA

October 15, 2010

It was the best show ever - and it counts as a show because they sang half of "Happy Birthday" to someone in the audience. They showed videos and electronic voice phenomena (EVPs) and they took questions, but Mama was mean and wouldn't let me ask any. Through a series of very fortunate events, I got to meet them afterwards.

Carter with his heroes, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson from TAPS/Ghost Hunters.

The Felice Brothers

Capitol Theatre - York, PA

October 21, 2010

Second best show ever! Mama is the most amazing person ever because she won a silent auction and got me a washboard that the band has slammed on a cymbal multiple times (and when I say multiple, I mean like a hundred) onstage in their shows. After the show, their merch guy got everybody in the band to sign it. Then I was hanging out, talking to Greg Farley, their fiddle player, and he said I should sign his drum because he thought I was going to be famous one day for playing the trumpet.

Carter with Greg Farley from the Felice Brothers and the washboard.

Carter signing a drum they use as a stand for a synthesizer.

Rusted Root

Pullo Center - York, PA

November 4, 2010

Front row, baby! Our friends, Mark DeRose and the Way Home, opened for this show. They played some of their new songs and we were singing along already, because we heard them in a living room concert before that. I knew the words when nobody else did, so it felt pretty special. Rusted Root was amazing. I liked the lead singer, Michael Glabicki's voice very much, and I liked Liz Berlin's voice very much, too. When they came out for the encore, Michael walked right up to the front of the stage and handed me a guitar pick. When we were walking out, the two of them were singing a song with one acoustic guitar at the merch booth. So we stopped and listened and then got to meet them and he signed the pick.

Carter with Michael Glabicki and Liz Berlin.

Langhorne Slim

Capitol Theatre - York, PA

December 3, 2010

This was the first late-night CapLive show. The opener for this show was Ryan Lauder. He was very good. He was from Scotland and I liked his accent. Langhorne Slim was very good, too. I definitely heard a lot of his music before because Mama loves him. I think concerts are more fun sometimes if you have heard the music before.

Carter with Ryan Lauder. We gave him and Langhorne Slim their very own I Love York City sweatshirts!

Carter with Langhorne Slim himself.

Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers

The Tin Angel - Philadelphia, PA

December 30, 2010

The Tin Angel is really small and there's a restaurant below the venue with really good food. We had dinner first and then went upstairs to see the concert. The opener was Javier Colon and Mama and our friend cried during one of his songs. The Sixers did not play my favorite song, but were very good. They did play "Big Easy" and "Start the Day Early," so I got to sing along to some of the show.

With Javier Colon, who opened for SK6ERS at this show.

Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt

Strand Theatre - York, PA

January 26, 2011

Mama was writing a story about this show for Tri State Indie, and since it snowed that night, our seats got upgraded to about the fourth row. I liked the show. It was just two guys with guitars, so it was very different from a lot of the shows we've been to lately. They took turns playing songs and made funny jokes and told stories in between. I know it was a good show because country isn't my style, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Visit the Concert Calendar page to see what shows we're going to next!

Rhett Miller - Capitol Theatre - York, PA - September 10, 2010

Rhett Miller, lead singer of the Old 97s, visited York in September to a house full of die-hard fans. Central PA musician Adam Taylor opened. Mama's Uncle Joe was visiting from Dallas, TX, and joined us for the show.

Mama: I really enjoyed the opening act. His touring partner, Kate Young, played with him. You could tell they'd been playing together for a long time. I liked they way they interacted.

Carter: So did I. I liked their music a lot. After the show I got to talk to him for a second, until someone interrupted.

Mama: He was very nice to you.

Carter: I hope we get to see him again sometime since he plays in Lancaster a lot.

Carter talking to Adam Taylor after the show. Photo by Dave Wagenknecht.

Mama: I had seen Rhett Miller play solo once before, but it was a short set and I was looking forward to seeing him play for a longer stretch. He had received several requests before the show, which he honored, and he also dedicated a song to our friends Sean and Laura.

Carter: Sean books the CapLive shows. Sean and Laura went to see him somewhere else and introduced themselves and asked him to come play in York.

Mama: I'm glad they did. I really enjoyed his performance, and he is just such a sweetheart of a guy. He was so gracious, and said both onstage and off that he'd like to come back with the Old 97s to play again.

Carter: I talked to him afterwards and he told me to keep playing the trumpet. Then that same lady interrupted my conversation with him, too.

Mama: She was either really excited, or maybe had a little too much to drink.

Carter: My best guess is that she had a little too much to drink.

Rhett encourages Carter to keep playing the trumpet. Photo by Dave Wagenknecht.

Mama: I was a little disappointed that he didn't play my favorite song, but he did play the Old 97s song "State of Texas," a song that Uncle Joe really likes.

Carter: I think the reason Rhett Miller gets so sweaty onstage is because he plays the guitar so fast.

Mama: It did seem like he played at a really fast tempo for most of the show. Something about his music always reminds me of Roy Orbison. Especially the 97s s0ng "You Belong to My Heart." I'm not sure who wrote it, but it's an old song that has been performed by Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Jerry Vale, and many others. I've always thought the Old 97s version felt very Roy Orbison-esque.

Carter: If the Old 97s ever play CapLive, I will gladly go see them.

Mama: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Rhett Miller's hair in this post. That guy's got a great head of hair.

Carter: Then they matched him up with a great opener, because Adam Taylor also has good hair.

Mama: That's the truth.

Uncle Joe, Carter, and Mama after the show. Photo by Dave Wagenknecht.

Check back soon for our reviews of these live shows: Spoon at The Forum in Harrisburg, PA, Hoots & Hellmouth at the Mother Earth Harvest Fair, Jason & Grant from Ghost Hunters at the Pullo Center, The Felice Brothers at the Capitol Theatre, Rusted Root at the Pullo Center, Aortic Valve at ourhouse, Langhorne Slim at the Capitol Theatre, and Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia.

Carolina Chocolate Drops - Capitol Theatre - York, PA - September 8, 2010

The Carolina Chocolate Drops played in York once before, as part of the Susquehanna Folk Music Society's York Folk Series. We were excited about their return to our fair city, especially after Mama saw them back in June at World Cafe Live in Philly. We knew they were going to sound amazing in the Capitol Theatre.

Mama: We enjoy listening to Carolina Chocolate Drops, and seeing them live is also an educational experience, because they talk a lot about the origins of the songs they play, which have evolved from traditions of slave songs sung in the fields of the American South, Piedmont blues, traditional Gaelic music, and their own contemporary influence, bridging the past and present into something new that pays reverent tribute to our musical roots.

Dom Flemons. Photo by Digital Ephemera Photography.

Carter: I like their music. They all switch instruments throughout the show and they play the banjo, the fiddle, the jug, the kazoo, and Dom plays the bones. The bones are an instrument that goes clickity-clack. Sometimes when he plays the bones he stands up and dances and it looks like he's using marionette puppets.

Mama: He does that when they play Snowden's Jig - a song they learned on a visit to York. When they were getting ready to play it, Rhiannon talked a little bit about the history of the song, which is fascinating.

Carter: During that song, the whole crowd was stomping and clapping along with them.

Mama: I also liked when Rhiannon got up and did a little softshoe kind of dancing. All the songs are just so different from each other, and since all three members of the band are very talented singers and musicians, they can switch things up for every song and the show ends up being full of all these wonderful little surprises.

Carter: My favorite instrument was the jug.

Justin Robinson. Photo by The Susquehanna Photographic.

Mama: I don't know if I could pick a favorite. I was just so impressed by how good every song sounded, with all the different combinations of instruments and who was playing them.

Carter: This sold-out show was exhilarating. I hope they come back to the Capitol again.

Carter and Dom Flemons. Photo by Digital Ephemera Photography.

Final note: Yesterday it was announced that Carolina Chocolate Drops have been nominated for a 2010 Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album for Genuine Negro Jig. Congratulations!

Check back soon for our reviews of these live shows: Rhett Miller at the Capitol Theatre, Spoon at The Forum in Harrisburg, PA, Hoots & Hellmouth at the Mother Earth Harvest Fair, Jason & Grant from Ghost Hunters at the Pullo Center, The Felice Brothers at the Capitol Theatre, Rusted Root at the Pullo Center, Aortic Valve at ourhouse, and Langhorne Slim at the Capitol Theatre.

A Note from Carter

Dear friends, family, and followers:

My mother and I have not been very on top of our blogging lately. We apologize and we will get caught up. Thank you for your patience.

We have still been going to a lot of shows and we will try to write posts about all of them soon.

--Carter

Lee Harvey Osmond - ourhouse - York, PA - August 22, 2010

We first saw the Canadian band Lee Harvey Osmond when they opened for the Cowboy Junkies at the Capitol Theatre on Mama's birthday a few summers ago. Then we had the opportunity to see them play at our friends Pete & Lindsey's house. We kept looking around the room and thinking how awesome it was to be able to see such talented and seasoned musicians in such an intimate setting - I think there may have been less than 25 people there the last time they visited. These guys are the real deal. Big time musicians. We were thrilled when Pete & Lindsey announced that LHO would return to play their living room again.

Carter: The show was awesome. The lead singer Tom Wilson and the drummer Ray Farrugia were there, and also Aaron Goldstein, who played guitar and pedal steel. Tom's son Tommy played the bass. He let me hold his bass after the show. It was red and gold and it looked like an Iron Man bass.

Mama: They had just come from playing the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and had to leave as soon as they loaded out to head back to the Philly area.

Carter: I wonder if they got any sleep?

Mama: I don't know, but I am so glad they fit a visit to York into their schedule. And especially since it was to play at P&L's house.

Carter: Pete & Lindsey's house is a place where you can hang out with all different kinds of people. And they have a birch beer keg. AND a popcorn machine. I know how to work both.

Mama: Pete & Lindsey got a grant from the York City Artist Homestead Program when they bought their house. The program encourages homeownership within the City of York for artists looking for live/work space. Lindsey is an artist and both she and Pete are musicians. The first floor of their house is used as gallery and performance space. Lindsey's work, as well as that of other featured artists, is on display. They host bands who are traveling through or near York while they tour, giving the bands additional performance opportunities, and even a place to stay (their third-floor rock hostel is outfitted with bunk beds to give musicians a night off from crashing in their vans). The house is also set up for recording, if the bands are so inclined.

Carter: Pete & Lindsey also sometimes play music with the bands. So in the middle of the Lee Harvey Osmond show, Tom Wilson called for Pete to come and play his sax with them. It was amazing.

Mama: It was really cool. When they finished their second set, our friend requested their version of John Henry, which Tom Wilson came out into the middle of the room with all of us to sing a capella. It felt like we were transported to some tent revival in the middle of a field in the old south somewhere. It was magical.

Carter: The pedal steel had the name Carter on it. So I told the guy it was mine, and he couldn't say "I don't see your name on it." But he didn't let me have it.

Mama: I really enjoyed getting to hang out and talk with them a little bit while they were packing up.

Carter: This was a great concert. I'm very happy that I get to do this stuff even though I'm a kid.

Favorite songs at this show: Cuckoo's Nest, You Drove Me Crazy Now I'm Going to Stay That Way, and of course, John Henry.

Final note (Mama): Tom Wilson has an amazing head of hair.

Generations: Carter and his Mama with Tom Wilson and Thompson Wilson.

Check back soon for our reviews of these live shows: Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Capitol Theatre, Rhett Miller at the Capitol Theatre, Spoon at The Forum in Harrisburg, PA, Hoots & Hellmouth at the Mother Earth Harvest Fair, Jason & Grant from Ghost Hunters at the Pullo Center, The Felice Brothers at the Capitol Theatre, Rusted Root at the Pullo Center, and Aortic Valve at ourhouse.

Hot August Blues - Oregon Ridge Park - Cockeysville, MD - August 21, 2010

We heard about Hot August Blues a few months ago, when a friend who’s obsessed with Jackie Greene and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears told us both were on the bill for the festival. At some point, Jackie Greene canceled, but by that time we’d had a chance to see the entire line-up, and we were pretty excited. This was the 18^th annual event, and Mama got to interview festival organizer Brad Selko earlier in the week for a story she wrote for Tri State Indie.

Oregon Ridge Park is an easy drive from York – it’s only two easy turns off I-83.

Mama: There was plenty of parking in a field adjacent to the festival. There was an area for food vendors, with an adjacent side stage, an area for non-food vendors, and a main stage at the bottom of a large hill that reminded me of a ski slope.

Carter: There was a corn-on-the-cob vendor. I didn’t try it because I was too stuffed.

Mama: I had an ear of corn with Old Bay on it for dinner. It was delicious. For lunch, I had a crepe stuffed with tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella. They had the traditional, junky festival food, but also some atypical options from local businesses.

Carter: I had a sausage sandwich and some fries. They had pizza, which was also delicious. At the end, I had an ice cream cone that they dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts when I ordered it.

Mama: It was really hot, even at night, and I didn’t want to deal with an ice cream cone, so I had a root beer float for dessert.

Carter: Now, for the actual show. The Bridge, from Baltimore, was playing when we got there, but I wasn’t really paying attention.

Mama: We caught the end of their set, but I think you were still looking around and getting acclimated to the whole vibe.

Carter: There were other good vendors that didn’t sell food. I got a cool wristband.

Mama: I liked that booth the best.

Carter: The guy was really, really nice.

Mama: He was, and his stuff was cool. He makes all the leather cuffs from repurposed belts and things.

Carter: There was a hula-hoop vendor there, too. I got to try out the hoops.

Mama: After we walked around for a little while, we headed back to the main stage to stake out a good spot for Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, since they were the act Carter was most excited to see. It was pretty easy to find a spot in front of the stage to spread out our blanket. Of course, once they started, we stood up and danced our butts off.

Carter: The day involved a lot of lemonade and water, just like at XPN Fest.

Mama: It was really, really hot. For some reason, I wasn’t expecting it to be that hot. I kept wishing we’d brought those cool packs that go around our necks that we got at XPN Fest. We used a lot of sunscreen and drank a lot of beverages.

Carter: Black Joe Lewis was awesome. They didn’t play “Get Yo Shit,” though. Mama started yelling “Get Yo Shit!” and so did most of the people around us, but they didn’t play an encore.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

Mama: After that we saw Keb' Mo', who might be in the top three coolest people on the entire planet.

Carter: #1 and #2 are Chuck Norris.

Mama: [sigh] ...Anyway, he is the Real Deal. His music just feels like the South. It's blues-y, and it's warm and welcoming and lonely and familiar all at the same time. I could have listened to him for hours.

Carter: After Keb' Mo', we saw some people playing hackey-sack.

Mama: I could see you eyeing up the circle, but you were being kinda shy about walking over and joining in.

Carter: So Mama and I went together. They were really nice and everyone was giving me pointers. Mama thought I was good.

Mama: I was surprised by how quickly you picked it up and how well you took everyone’s advice on moves to try. I think you’re a hackey-sack-hippie-hustler.

Carter: It runs in the family!

Mama: I was a little rusty, but I used to hack a lot, back in high school and college. It’s a great way to meet new people.

Carter: They were very, very nice.

Mama: I think all of them were involved in one way or another with the show. One was a guitar tech…not sure what everyone else’s role was, but they were on break and I had fun talking to them while we played.

Carter: Then it got dark and I got my ice cream cone, and we watched Lyle Lovett, and I was happy, and we left.

Mama: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band were really cool. The band was definitely worthy of its name. It was a 16-piece band and they took up the whole stage. They were all really good musicians, and it just felt so cool to hear Lyle Lovett in that big open space under the stars.

Carter: I thought it was a well-organized event. I’m excited to go back next year.

Check back soon for our reviews of these live shows: Lee Harvey Osmond at Ourhouse in York, Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Capitol Theatre, Rhett Miller at the Capitol Theatre, and Spoon at The Forum in Harrisburg, PA.