South Side Works, Pittsburgh, PA.... New American Music Union festival The festival was two days long, featuring a lot more bands than listed above, but due to childcare these four were the only ones I was able to see. Of them Gnarls Barkley and Spoon were terrific. The Raconteurs and Bob Dylan not so much. Gnarls Barkley was already on stage when Betsy and I arrived, running through their great cover of Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone." Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo were wearing tan jackets over a white uniform (Cee-Lo quickly removed his, due to the summer heat) and their band all had maroon-looking vests over their dress whites (the drummer gussied up his uniform with a bowtie). Other highlights were "Run," a set-closing "Smiley Faces," and even their ballad (which I'm not as into on record) "Who's Gonna Save My Soul." Naturally, "Crazy" was great to hear live, but I was a little surprised that the crowd didn't go, well, c...
Mr. Smalls, Millvale, PA..... I had interviewed Martin on the air at WYEP that afternoon as he as touring the country promoting his latest album Seeds , and I was going to be making stage announcements prior to his set at Mr. Smalls, so Martin invited me to hang out backstage with him and his band. Sometimes these sorts of situations can be awkward, but Martin and his band made sure I was included in the conversation and the joking around. When it came time for the show, the band gathered in a circle and Martin asked me, "Mike, do you want to join us in a non-denominational, pre-show prayer?" No one had ever asked me that before backstage at a concert, so of course I said yes. Martin gave a little postivie-thinking type invocation, and then we were off the the stage area, me to introduce them and them to perform. While Sexton did a good show, I didn't really see the opener due to being backstage.
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