Posted and updated by:
Chuck Miller January
1, 2019
I
usually like to bring in the New Year while listening to
live music. I can't actually remember the last New Year's
Eve that I wasn't at a show or watching a pay-per-view event
at home on the couch. I just didn't feel the need to
get another live show in before 2018 ended. As luck would
have it though, just before I went to bed last night I saw a
Late Show with Steven Colbert re-run that featured Jeff
Tweedy from Wilco singing "Let's Go Rain" from his new solo
album WARM. That was a pleasant surprise and
fitting end to 2018.
Looking back, I had a satisfying year, musically. I heard
and recorded some new bands and attended concerts performed
by old favorites. The older I get, the more I appreciate live
music. The quality of live sound now plays a large role in
that for me. PA systems, even in small clubs, sound much
better than they did when I was young. I heard plenty of
poorly mixed performances when I first started going to
concerts. That was a turn-off. Now, I expect to be able to hear the words the
singers are singing and also hear all the instruments clearly.
These days, even small bands doing their own sound from the stage
can achieve that. Stompin' George Eldon's band does that every
time I see them. That's part of what makes a band worth
recording -- good sound! When I started to hear really good sound at
concerts, especially from the Grateful Dead in the 1980's,
that's when I got interested in making recordings. That's
what led me here.
When I buy a concert ticket or pay a cover charge to see a
band play these days, I expect to hear high quality sound.
That was the case with my
last concert in 2018, which was the December 29 Cracker and
Camper Van Beethoven double bill at the Soiled Dove
Underground in Denver. I've seen both bands many times. I
love their music. Both bands played very well, of course.
But they also sounded great! It was easy to make a quality
recording. You can read my review and listen to the recordings I made
by following the link
here if you're interested.
I'm looking forward to 2019. So far, I have tickets and plan
to see moe., Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and
Toad the Wet Sprocket at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. I'd love to
see Wilco this year. I haven't made a personally
satisfactory recording of them yet. Hopefully they'll play
somewhere in Colorado, and I'll get the opportunity. Closer to
home, there is a Bob Dylan tribute this month featuring
among others, some friends of mine at Stargazer's Theatre
and Event Center. Woodshed Red, a band I recently discovered
and really like, is
playing at that same venue in February. I'll record that
performance. I want to record Stompin' George Eldon's band soon,
too. They are
so unique. I want to expose them to more people.
I also want
to record some more diverse music in 2019. I see a lot of
jam bands, mainly because they tend to be more open to being
recorded. Contact me by email
here if you know
of a great local band I haven't covered yet. After all,
that's part of my mission: to highlight and expose people to
good live local music.
Well, those are some of my wishes for the coming year. I'm
excited after learning about some of the events that have
been announced already. If 2019 is anything like 2018 was,
I'll be happy and busy making recordings and sharing them
here with you. Cheers.
