from
radio
hidebound - 10
March 2003
Thanks to my friend Gaelyn who clued me into this little club in
Arlington called Iota, I was able to catch Pat DiNizio last night. Great
show. The opening band, Starbelly, a regional band hailing from Balmur
(that's Baltimore for you not familiar with the way we 'locals' spell
it) and Annapolis were great. I was reminded of hearing the Irresponsibles,
which reminded me of XTC,
but they definitely have their own personality.
Great original songs, but I think we all got a kick out of their last
song, which they introduced, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, as an ELO song
saying something like, "yeah, like a three piece band could sound
like a nine piece". And that it "might suck". Gotta love
guys who say these kinds of things on stage. The song starts, and I must
admit it was sounding pretty freakin' familiar, then they launch full
steam into "Livin' Thing". It was a great cover and I don't
know about anybody else, but I was grinning like the chesire cat.
Starbelly's set ends and one gets ready for the usual 30 minute break
between the openers and the headline act, but as soon as Starbelly is
finished, Pat walks up on stage with this old acoustic guitar. It looked
like a pretty small guitar, but he is a rather large man, so it was
probably normal size.
If you don't know of Pat, it's almost impossible to watch him and not
think that he somehow belongs on the set of The Sopranos.
A couple of years ago I bought his first solo record, Songs and
Sounds, which is a great jazzy record and I was expecting to hear
only a couple of Smithereens tunes. He starts with one Smithereens tune
(maybe "Green Thoughts", but maybe something else - sorry, I
forgot to write down the track list), and then plays another, and then
another, including a great version of "She's Got A Way", which
he introduced as being written for his daughter. Knowing this adds a
whole new way to hear this song. Lovely.
At some point he mentioned being from New Jersey but that he lived in DC
for a couple of years in an area of town I've spent some time in myself
called Mount Pleasant, which just added a certain
"connectedness" to the evening.
He probably played a dozen or so Smithereens "unplugged"
songs, then brought Starbelly back onto the stage to help him out on
some more, including great versions of "Behind the Wall of
Sleep" and "Blood and Roses" from the first Smithereens
record.
Interspersed with all the Smithereens songs were a lot of great, and
unexpected covers. A lot of Beatles songs. "Blood and Roses"
morphed into "Come Together" and then back into "Blood
and Roses" during which a string broke on Pat's acoustic so he
borrowed Starbelly's guitarist's stratocaster while the guy from
Starbelly changed the string and then came back to swap guitars again.
Yeah, all the while they continued playing "Blood and Roses".
It was one of those kinds of nights.
Then Pat took a short break and Starbelly did an incredible cover of
"Band on the Run".
The covers continued and at some point included Blue Öyster Cult's
"(Don't Fear) the Reaper", one of my faves. These guys were
obviously having so much fun on stage it was most contagious. The
"last song", which was about five or six songs in rapid fire
succession ending with the Smithereens' "Girl Like You" and a
final mock arena-rock coda that would have made Blotto proud, started
with a cover of America's "A Horse With No Name" with one
inspired lyrical substitution - "I can't believe I made a million
dollars with this fucking song."
Hilarious. Good job guys. |
Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo! Mr. Baltimore and a Night on the Town!
By Rafael
Alvarez
Mister Baltimore loves rock and roll.
Michelle Alessi lured Mr. B to the Tattoo
rock club in the Northeast Baltimore neighborhood of Hamilton for a
March 6 DiNizio gig. If you a rock fan visiting from out-of-town - and
its unlikely that Mr. Baltimore will be outside of your hotel room
blowing the horn for you to jump in his Caddy - it's well worth the $12
cab ride from the Inner Harbor to the Tattoo.
"Graham Parker was my first big show and everybody was in awe that
all of a sudden, this rinky-dink bar on Belair Road had all these major
acts," said Andy Bopp, local Catholic gym teacher, guitar-hero from
Love Nut and Myracle Brah and the Tattoo's owner. "This is a
personable place," said Bopp, a 42-year-old family man who lives in
the neighborhood. "You can get up close to your heroes and stand
right next to the stage."
Which is what Mr. Baltimore was doing when the voice of the
Smithereens was joined onstage at the Tattoo by Starbelly,
a power-pop trio who complement DiNizio's passion for guitar-driven
melody.
Starbelly worships at the
altar of Badfinger, Cheap Trick, the ever-baffling Cute Beatle and the
band that put the Cute Beatle's mop on the map. Unless you catch a
Starbelly gig, chances are you will never hear the Wings' ditty
"Let 'Em In," performed live unless Paul is singing it.
I think they do it better than Paul but then again, I sometimes think
that Sir Paul should have his Beatles credentials revoked. The other
surviving Fab released a new album - "Ringo-Rama" - this month
which features the George Harrison tribute "Never Without
You," spiced by Eric Clapton's guitar.
With DiNizio fronting, the band kicked into a set of Beatles' songs that
began with "I'm A Loser" - "I sing it like me," said
DiNizio of the classic from Beatles '65, "not like John" - and
continued through "Free As A Bird," "I've Got A
Feeling," and "I Dig A Pony."
Strange and welcome and not your typical set of Beatle covers. DiNizio
applauded Starbelly for venturing into "Free As A Bird," with
him, saying he'd been trying for years to persuade the Smithereens to do
it.
"Believe me," said DiNizio after the group finished up
"Pony," from "Let It Be," "these songs are more
complex than you think."
March 26, Peter Case and the Plimsouls appear at the Tattoo - $12.50 in
advance, $15 at the door - and on May 10 and 11th, the great guitarist
Dave Davies of Kinks' fame will perform a "full-on" electric
show.
Mr. Baltimore had had a few at the Tattoo - not too many, but enough -
and let me drive the Cadillac back home to the Holy Land: everything
east of President Street and south of Patterson Park. |
