Buffalo Soldiers

First, let me say, I have missed blogging about a few really good shows. June was a busy month for concerts. We saw David Gray with Amos Lee at Art Park, Steve Miller at Art Park, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, the Arkells and Iron and Wine with Ben Bridwell - all at Canalside in Buffalo.

Artist: Old Crow Medicine Show

Date: July 26

Venue: The Town Ballroom

City: Buffalo

Price: $34.00 US

Seats: General Admission

Genre: Mountain Music Revivalists – Folk/BlueGrass/Country

Overview:

Dean and I just read that “Old Crow infuses Appalachian sounds with the energy of a punk show” and that pretty much sums up the band, Old Crow Medicine Show, they are a rag-tag bunch of blue grass showmen who sing about Dixieland, cool rivers, moonshine and cocaine. Any band that can incorporate fiddles, harmonica, banjos and stand-up bass is pretty darn cool with me. This is a band that gives you lots to watch while tapping your foot and chugging lite beer.

How I got turned on:

Ron and first started listening to Old Crow after we watched “The Big Easy Express”, the Mumford and Sons documentary about the string of concerts filmed while theytoured around the American south on a train with Old Crow, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Of course, we fell in love with the Old Crow revised cover of the Bob Dylan sample tune “Wagon Wheel”. If you prefer the Hootie version of that song then we can’t be friends anymore.

Vibe:

I read blog before the show about how the band was playing up to their new found frat boy following, but, I thought the crowd was pretty well-behaved, mostly dudes in their 20s and 30s with their girlfriends all prettied up in sundresses. Although, I did have a drunken kid beside me who was ready to fall over and kept spilling his drink on my foot.

The lead singer, Ketch Secord, is an animated dude who doesn’t own a cell phone or a computer. Before each show he goes to the local public library to read about the town and the local news. He calls the public library the bus station of the internet. You can tell he does his homework before each show. At the Buffalo show he spewed off city names like Rochester, Syracuse, St Catharines and threw in references to the Indian Reserve, the Niagara River and Lake Erie. He gave a nod to the Canadians in the crowd as well, which was a nice touch. For inspiration, I am watching a YouTube video of a live performance from Fredericton in May 2013 and he drops in references to Oromocto, the St John River, the Maritimes and CN railway.

Venue:

The Town Ballroom is easily our favourite indoor venue in Buffalo. Ron and I are regulars there now and we have seen 5 bands there since New Years Eve. If you’ve never been, it’s like a dark fishbowl of awesome acoustics. You have the stage and the pit in front, but, then you have a semi-circle above the pit where you can lean against the rail and watch the band and audience below. Then, there is a third level where you can have seating and you can look down on everyone and the band. Since your reading my blog, you’re my favourite, and I will let you in on our secret sweet spot – the best place to watch any show at The Town Ballroom. When you enter the fishbowl you go up one flight of stairs to the first level right above the pit and head to your right past the bar. Keep going to the stairs that lead down to the stage/floor and stop on the landing about 5 stairs down. Park your beauty ass right on the landing and enjoy. We’ve stood there for the past couple shows and the sight lines to the crowd and the artist are amazing. The spot fits two people only and security won’t kick you out (they might if you try to stand on the stairs and not the landing).

Highlights:

The energy if this show was almost tangible…these guys know how to entertain. With the soft shoe dance routines, dueling fiddles, and the twirling of the stand-up bass you get a lot to see for your money! Ron’s favourite tune was Wagon Wheel, but, I was partial to Down Home Girl (which I learned was a cover of an old Stones tune, which I then learned they covered from a guy named Alvin Robinson) . Dean loved Carry Me Back, but, they played it in double time so it was crazy fast. They did throw in a Tom Petty cover of Won’t Back Down – supposedly for the frat boy crowd, but, I appreciate new takes on old tunes.

The best highlight of the night was their cover of Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier”. I went bat-shit crazy for that one! Bob is my best friend Mel’s favourite and I wish she was there with me for that! It was really cool to hear a blue-grass take on a classic reggae tune.

Lowlights:

We were a bit late for the show since there was a long wait at the border that night. We missed the opening band completely, but, we caught the whole Old Crow set. Sadly, our sweet spot mentioned above was already taken and we were relegated to a shitty spot on the first level behind a bunch of people. The only other downfall was a pair of nitwits budded in front of the couple beside us near the end of the show and she couldn’t see a damn thing. I offered to pour my beer on the guy, but, I didn’t want to waste it on a shithead. I’m not perfect, I have budded in front of people before, but, as I go to more shows I appreciate that if you love the band enough to get there early to get the best spot then you deserve to keep it.

The only other notable lowlight was the long arm of the ballroom law...the security was really tight. Ron got asked twice if he "was packing". I guess the security guard saw his corrections badge and immediately assumed he had a gun on him. Wow. Then, we were asked to keep the stairs clear when we couldn't get our "sweet spot" and tried to just stand on the stairs instead. We have stood on the stairs at one other show and never got any grief for it.

Tips/Notes:

If you want a taste of an Old Crow live show, watch the YouTube video of the Fredericton show in May 2013.

If you want to check out some tunes on Spotify, check out:

Down Home Girl

Mississippi Saturday Night

Carry Me Back to Virginia

Caroline

Tell It To Me

Outfit:

I opted to wear Jane’s cute little black romper. I wanted to wear a little strapless sundress with an Aztec print, but, I didn’t know how much jumping I would be doing, so I opted for some straps to keep all the goods tastefully tucked away.