Live: Chris Mills with Ken Stringfellow @ Mercury Lounge 2.16.13

While the ticket to the left may state otherwise, save the wonderful times that the universe offers up shows with Chris Mills and some incarnation of the Mekons and/or their auxiliary, any show Chris Mills plays is a headline performance for the good folk of Jaded Scenester. This show was yet another in a recent string of great early shows at NYC's best venue and I hadn't seen Col in far too long either, so it seem all too prudent to double down and enjoy two of my favorite things simultaneously.

I braved the now all too old cold and posted up in a not especially full room and caught up with Col, scoring a vinyl copy of Almost Killed Me from Tad in the offing. Advantage: JS-NYC. In perusing the web before the show, I was none too pleased to find that Mills had played two full band shows in the past week, even more so when I found that Konrad was back in the drum slot, but this short set featured six or seven of the new songs that are slated to appear on the new Chris Mills record coming later on this year, along with a run through Atom Smashers. Chris seemed in good humor and the new songs are pretty damn aces, so things bode well for the new release. Stayed tuned to this space for details.

I can't say I've heard any of the last couple of Stringfellow releases since he's left town for Europe, but the room filled up pretty nicely by the time his set grew nigh, so it appears someone is keeping up. Ken was around and about the room for Chris' set, chatting and offering up spare instruments when needed. He played solo as well, but unfortunately opted to eschew both the stage and PA to play in the crowd for his set. Meh. Behind the lack of accurate set times at shows in this day and age, floor-based shows that aren't at homes or in basements are probably my biggest rock show pet peeve. Hey guys Ultimately we came to both see and hear you. Standing on a platform that facilitates this and using amplification is hardly putting on airs and should be a practicality realized and appreciated by someone who has been around as long as Stringfellow.  Alex Chilton sure wouldn't have done that. The two or three songs we made it through were decent, but having to strain to hear and see in a room as small as Mercury, paired with mildly ironic requests from Stringfellow to keep it down, prompted an early departure into the cold NYC night for both your heroes. He's got a new record that is probably good, so check it out if you were one of the decent crowd that stuck it out for the duration.

R

Chris Mills at Skyscraper

All:

Chris Mills has a new record out called Heavy Years 2000-2010 on Ernest Jennings. Read me wax rhapsodic about it at the Skyscraper web presence.

Here's a link.

R

Live: The Mekons @ Mercury Lounge 8.1.9

(photo left stolen from bob berger on the mekons list)
It had been a couple of years since I had seen The Mekons. I had seen many, many Mekons shows in the past in the last fifteen years and that was well before Langford solo shows and Waco Brothers shows started to factor into the equation. It's horrible to think that I could have gotten jaded even to The Mekons. Regardless, after this show,I'm right back on the horse.

I could listen to Jon Langford talk all night long. He is undoubtably the spiritual godfather to punk rock banter masters like Patrick Costello. The band was more or less intact, save for Tom's absence and Jean Cook stepping in at the last minute to play violin. Only an hour and a half of a set, but still better than most I've heard this year. Here's a setlist, courtesy of NYCtaper. Perceptive readers might be able to find a recording of the show on the interwebs.

01 [introduction]
02 Beaten and Broken
03 Club Mekon
04 Give Me Wine or Money
05 [banter]
06 Tina
07 [banter]
08 Corporal Chalkie
09 [banter]
10 Tempted to Believe
11 Perfect Mirror
12 Fantastic Voyage
13 [banter]
14 Abernant 1984/85
15 [banter]
16 Dickie, Chalkie, and Nobby
17 Diamonds
18 Thee Olde Trip to Jerusalem
19 Cockermouth
20 Ghosts of American Astronauts
21 Heaven and Back
22 [banter]
23 Big Zombie
24 Memphis, Egypt
25 [encore break]
26 The Hole in the Elephant’s Bottom
27 The Last Dance
28 Oblivion
29 Hole in the Ground
30 [banter]
31 Powers and Horrors
32 Hard to Be Human

Chris Mills popped up towards the end of the set for Heaven and Back, Mekon-approved blood alcohol level in tow, having previously fetched the alcohol rider for the band as the set ran on. I would have liked to have seen more of him, especially in an opening slot. Megan Reilly opened instead, backed by a stellar backing band comprised of Tony Maimone, James Mastro and Mekon drummer Steve Goulding. She was (and is) good, but it's hard to go wrong with a backing band like that. Heavy hitters aside, Reilly is not the Mekons, so she could only pale in comparison. Sadly, this was the last show of the short tour, but there was talk of a new recording, so I hope we see the band back in town damn soon.

R

Live: Chris Mills @ Cake Shop 10.23.8

This evening marked my first official foray into the nightmare that is CMJ in general and the 2008 version in particular. This was the Ernest Jennings Record Company showcase. Had it not been Tim's label and Chris Mills I would have passed, as Cake Shop is a scheduling nightmare, but the quasi-regimented CMJ schedule made it worth trying. Issues with the sound guy delayed things a bit longer, but before we knew it Mills and his band were on stage and making other bands feel bad.

It astounds me that Ernest Jennings hasn't sold a million copies of the new Chris Mills record. It's called Living In The Aftermath and only serves to reassert the fact that Mills is the best singer-songwriter we have in NYC. His crack band, with David Nagler on keys and Steve Goulding (Gang Of Four, Mekons) was a little rough, but still better than most other bands. We got a good representation of the new record, with Atom Smashers being the highlight, as well as a smattering from his first three records. It being CMJ and it being an early slot, the set passed pretty quickly. Too soon, really, to the point where I had to listen to more Mills once I got home. Get the home version of the Chris Mills rock show here and stay in the loop as to when the next show is here. You can thank me later.

R