Concert Review: Tortoise at the Granada

I attended my first Tortoise concert last night.  More than 25 years into the Chicago collective’s career, I finally understand what all the fuss is about.  The songs that had always struck me as theoretical post-jazz abstractions came to life during Tortoise’s 90-minute performance at the Granada.  The paltry crowd of about 150 (including at least 20 women!) didn’t dampen my enthusiasm.  I drove to Lawrence and purchased a $25 ticket on a whim.  My impulsive act may have permanently transformed the way I think about music.


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My five favorite performances at Ink’s Middle of the Map Fest were by Group of the Altos, Ebony Tusks, Gallant, Jorge Arana Trio and Manchester Orchestra.  I contributed to The Kansas City Star’s reviews of the event on Friday and Saturday.

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I discussed Ida McBeth with Steve Kraske on KCUR yesterday.

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I ponder cultural appropriation in my preview of Disclosure’s concert at Crossroads KC.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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The new incarnation of recordBar at 1520 Grand Blvd. reminds me of the Slowdown in Omaha.  That’s a good thing.

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I felt like a proper German as I swooned over Robert Schumann’s third symphony during the Midwest Chamber Ensemble’s concert at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on Sunday.

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The bawdy blues artist Candye Kane has died.

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The Kansas City rapper Young Devi D has a video for ”Don’t Judge Me”.

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I’m pleased by the critical consensus for Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor's Guide to Earth.  The solid album deserves much of the acclaim.  Weeks before the release of Simpson’s album, a friend insisted that I’d love Shooter Jennings’ Countach (For Giorgio).  He was right.  The completely bonkers project opens with a sample of Waylon’s "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand."  The track gradually morphs into a disco/techno banger in the vein of Giorgio Moroder.  Jennings also transforms the warhorse I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone into a throbbing electro-twang dance track and a fiddle battles Marilyn Manson for supremacy on a delightfully campy version of David Bowie’s “Cat People.”  That's what being an outlaw is all about.

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I’m always surprised when people tell me that they’ve never heard the song “There Stands the Glass.”  TSTG pal and honky tonk authority BGO thought that this site’s readers might enjoy David Ball’s rendition of the standard.

(Original image of Tortoise by There Stands the Glass.)