New Multitudes @ The Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA 3/16/2012

I am posting this to have a "web log" of the event. After reading a few reviews of this show, I wanted to chime in with my own two cents, which I think is a bit different than what I have read elsewhere.

On the 20 year anniversary of the recording of Uncle Tupelo's third record, MARCH 16-20, 1992, I was in Boston, MA watching Jay Farrar play Woody Gutherie songs with his contemporaries Anders Parker (Varnaline), Will Johnson (Centro-matic, South San Gabriel, Monsters of Folk) and Jim James (My Morning Jacket, Monsters of Folk).

I work as an education policy research nerd in my day job at the University of Arkansas. This year, I decided it was time to be a little more of an adult, and rather than attend South by Southwest, submit a proposal to the annualAssociation for Education, Finance, and Policy (AEFP)conference which typically coincides with SXSW each year. I am nearing the completion of my degree, and thus, geting a publication under my belt seemed like the more appropriate option this spring. So while all my friends and fellow postcarders were planning their trips to Austin, I was busy getting ready to be in a town WAY more North by Northeast that at least rhymed with Austin...Boston, MA. I luckily found some light in the tunnel when I learned that theNew Multitudesproject spearheaded by Farrar and Parker were closing out their tour at the Paradise club in Boston, MA.

I encouraged two colleagues to also get tickets after they sampled the New Multitudes record on Spotify. Luckily, we got tickets in advance, because when we called the venue the afternoon of the show we learned that it had indeed sold out. All three of us had just presented that afternoon at the conference, and were ready to unwind. We met up with one colleague's friend and headed out to Brookline to Anna's Taqueria for a carnitas burrito and the most fabulous grilled squash, zucchini, carrots, red onion, and red peppers I have ever had at Mexican restaurant. Took a brisk 1/2 mile walk to the Paradise, found a terrible sports bar (we walked into hear the Dave Matthews Band on the overhead playing 'What Would You Say" and I immediately wanted to leave, but I owed my colleagues a drink since they picked up cab fare from Chinatown).

After guzzling Makers on the rocks, we walked to the pub attached to the Paradise, and grabbed another drink. While we waited to go to the show, I watched Ohio upset Michigan & Lehigh upset Duke. Bummed about my bracket, I chugged my second whisky and we headed next door to the show.

Bobby Bare Jr.was opening. He played acoustic, had a female singing harmonies and playing percussion, and was also accompanied by a multi-instrumentalist who primarily played a lap steel - I did not catch this individual's name. Bare Jr.'s set was unremarkable, to put it pleasantly. There was a decent version of "Cover of the Rolling Stone" but the mix was shitty..too much low end on the acoustic guitar and was all kind of "meh." What made it worse was that BBJ also let any cops who might be in the crowd that the band did not have any drugs on them, a comment apparently prompted by a mishap in South Dakota. He then continued saying: "if you are a cop, the band has no drugs...but if you are not a cop, I'll repeat: the band does not have any drugs." Moocher.

At about 10:30, the New Multitudes took the stage. All four walked out with no words and cut right into the record. As a matter of fact, they played the entire record, in order and never said so much as "hello" or "thank you" the entire time. Strong points in the set were "Fly High" with Anders and Jay singing together..."VD City" SLAYED with Will singing and Jay paying lead/harmonica, "Old LA"...again Farrar's solo makes this song blister...also, "Angel's Blues" was gritty and climactic. I was glad to see that in the live version, Will Johnson is singing a high harmony as he did when I saw him and Anders perform this song in Springfield, MO about 2 and a half years ago. Will Johnson's howl was meant for the harmony of this tune.

I liked the idea of playing the record in its entirety - and in order.

But before I continue with the post record performances, let me first talk about the crowd:

This show (and likely many others) clearly highlights the Yim Yames draw. At times the crowd acted as if there were not three other musicians on stage. It leads me to wonder about Farrar's decision to include Yim in this project. He is clearly a drawing component. One of my colleagues said to me prior to our trip to Boston "you're going to that Jim James show, right?" - When I corrected him saying that Yim was1/4 of the project and might sing 5 ish songs throughout the night. He then, quickly decided that he wasn't going. This seemed to echo the sentiment of the crowd on this night. You could sense the anticipation among the crowd for Yim to get his chance in the spotlight when the other members were singing their contributions. When Yim *did* sing, it was cell-phone city. And annoying. Video's, pictures, crowd shifting forward because being up front would make the song better (ugh). Then there were the folks saying "I know this is creepy, but do you mind if I sneak in front of you for minute to get a picture of Jim James."

This went on all night, and it was a shame, because for 90% of the crowd, only 25% of the show seemed to be worth their admission ticket.

It's clear that I am no Jim James, nor Yim Yames fanboy of this magnitude. However, I would be remiss if I did not note his contributions to rock n roll. For example, he is a hell of a frontman and a shit-ton of talent as a musician and tunesmith. I also think he adds an integral component to this project (for example, his tenor harmonies over Will Johnson's howling lead vocals are a marriage made in rock n roll Heaven). But I think that out of the four dudes on that stage Friday night, he was the one bringing up the rear.

So all in all the set was amazing. The crowd: not so much. At one point, an uber drunk who wound up dumping his beer all over one of my colleagues who came along...which kinda led to him not enjoying himself as much as he may have. There was a lot of "boxing" out space and crowd-fighting - which has never really bothered me, really, as that is all part of the game, but the music and the show were killer.

After the record was played in its entirety, Will Johnson came out, thanked the "friends" in the crowd, talked about this tour and how thankful they all were and then launched into "Little Raider," from his solo EP of the same name. During the song, one crowd member yelled in the direction of the stage "shut up" and I still haven't figured if the comment was meant for Will or the talkative crowd. Since this dude was in the googly-eyed Yim Yames' fanclub, my assessment remains inconclusive. Next, Anders Parker came out to play "Tell it to the Dust." He also thanked the crowd, and talked about the tour. "Dust" was a highlight. Then, next, Jay Farrar came out and after reading a review from the opening night of this tour, I took a page from the Yim fans and readied my iPhone camera. Sure enough, Jay ripped into "Still Be Around" - which NOBODY seemed to recognize (maybe 10% of the crowd judging by the woooo's). On the 20th anniversary of the recording of MARCH 16-20, 1992, Jay Farrar played me an Uncle Tupelo song and it was god damn glorious! Finally Yim came out for an acoustic version of "Wonderful (The Way I Feel)" which led to more crowd wooing, iPhoning, and random yelling of "YIM!!! YOU'RE AWESOME YIM!!!!"

It was a great acoustic performance of the Circuital track, but paled in comparison to this, in my humble opinion:

Next, the four came out and each played an original song with the full band accompanying them. I honestly didn't know which Centro song Will played. Anders played "Down the Street" (holy MOLY did it jam!) and Jay Farrar played "Bandages and Scars" which, as I recalled from the opening night review was relevant considering the chorus "the words of Woody Guthrie hanging in my head..." And finally Jim James contributed "The Way That He Sings" from At Dawn - and it was his finest contribution of the night. Poppy, driving, rocking, Farrar got to cut a nice lead part. quick and dirty rock n roll...

They should have stopped there. But they didn't. The evening ended with a Woody song NOT on the New Multitudes record: "Pastures of Plenty", a nice traditional-sounding vocal tune that was completely destroyed by a 20-minute feedback orgasm which, in my opinion, derailed the entire night. I'm on record saying that the bullshit feedback to the point of raping the crowd's ears is lazy rock n roll, and it was on this night. Had they walked off the stage after the MMJ song, it would have been the best show I saw all year...but this was a sour-noted-ending.

Overall, it was a fitting end to the tour, and I can only hope that this project continues to have active legs. The songs are killer and these four musicians gel very good. As hard as it is to sing a harmony over Will Johnson, it seems effortless for Jim James. Their voices blend together well. So do Jay and Anders for that matter.

I am sure they will do another leg of the tour. It is NOT to be missed.