Red Wanting Blue “Live at City Winery”
When I think of live records (And by that I mean truly live records that are bands in their element, which would be like Nirvana’s “From the Muddy Banks of Wishkah”, not like Nirvana’s Mtv Unplugged album) only a handful really come to mind. I know they’re out there, but it seems even recently that there haven’t been as many as their used to be. In my youth, I listened to 311, Gutermouth and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones on live albums. I also listened to a Social Distortion “Live at the Roxy” album more than my fair share of times. But where have the live albums gone?
Well, sure, we have “Argue with a Tree”, one of my favorite Blue October albums (I like most of the songs on there better live than studio recorded) and we have the much more obvious “Skin and Bones”, which is from the Foo Fighters (Which if you didn’t know, you need to go listen to it right freaking now). Okay, so The White Stripes also have a live album and the more I sit here and actually think about it, the more names I can probably come up with. My point is that most bands don’t even really seem to have live albums anymore, let alone release one entirely for free as a potential way for you to hear them for the first time. (And yes, this is my first time hearing Red Wanting Blue)
My initial impression of this band is not good. I do not mean that in the way that I do not like the music or that the music itself isn’t good, it’s just that the aspects of other music which I wish to compare it to are not the best. For instance, I can see some definite salt of the earth rock in here ala Hootie and the Blowfish, which is a name that should only ever been used in a comedic way. I also can sense some hints of musicians and bands coming through the likes of Shawn Mullins and Lifehouse. But again, if you told me that this band was a cross between Shawn Mullins and Lifehouse with the ideals of Hootie, it would probably not make me want to listen to it.
On top of that, I also find myself echoing the comments in one of the songs (Which Local H also wrote a song about) about how there are too many songs about L.A. and NYC. But then the singer decides that his heart is in Ohio and, well, we all know nothing good ever came from Ohio.
Prior to the seventh song, “Cocaine”, the singer has some interaction with an audience member, but he can’t quite understand what she’s trying to tell him so he just passes it off as her being drunk. This is just one of the many little chats in between songs that the band has with the audience that I enjoy and adds a real sort of personal quality to the album.
On the same note of the song “Cocaine”, the singer compares his love for a woman to being like cocaine. Umm… Yes, because I want to put her up my nose and have a strong chance of my heart stopping. I kid of course, I understand the comparison and he explains it much better in the lyrics than I do. Especially the line “I want to buy you for ridiculous amounts of cash from Columbians I don’t quite fully understand the accents of”. (Another joke)
So based on these words, it would appear as if I have trashed both the musical style of this band (I did bring up Hootie) and make fun of the lyrics. But in all reality, I really do like these songs and a good rock band like this doesn’t come around every day so to hear them performing live is a real treat. The fact that you can download this album for free just sweetens the deal.
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