“I expect a miracle every day” : Loufest Day 2
By Nathan Moore, Photos By: Gale Whitehead
Noon on the second day of LouFest found Kim Massie with a half filled drum kit and down one keyboard player. No matter, the regal Ms. Massie explained, “I was singing a capella way before I was singing with a band,” and proceeded to do just that, releasing a powerful version of “Amazing Grace” all by herself, converting her stage and audience into a friendly church congregation. After a few more gospel numbers, including a rousing version of “Lord Don’t Move the Mountain,” Ms. Massie turned to the audience for requests, leading to an extended version of “Feeling Good” and a rousing “Oh Happy Day. After a request for “Wade in the Water,” she instructed her band to play it; one problem – her keyboard player didn’t know the song. Easy enough. Massie: “It’s kind of like ‘Fever,’” to which the keyboard player struck up a beautiful arrangement and Kim filled it with her soaring voice. The band closed with a short tribute to Ray Charles, covering his “Them That Got,” before heading backstage to get out of the heat.
Next up on the Blue Stage were Carolina Chocolate Drops, a trio of black North Carolinians keeping alive the tradition of string music and bluegrass. Backstage, the Drops’s guitarist/singer/banjo/bonesman/drumer/dancer Dom Flemons spoke with me about the first LouFest: “It’s great to see so much good music being presented to St. Louis, because historically, St. Louis has given so much music to the rest of the world.” When asked to name his favorite St. Louis musician of all time, Flemons declared it a three-way tie between Chuck Berry, Scott Joplin, and Henry Townsend. One of the things that makes the Drops special is that their shows are a mix of entertainment and education; they always take the time to explain the origins of their songs, and the crowd was very receptive. It doesn’t hurt that the trio are damn good musicians, trading instruments and verses throughout the set. Besides, what was the last band you saw that covered Johnny Cash (“Jackson”), Blu Cantrell (“Hit ‘Em Up Style”), and Scottish Gaelic mouth music (not even gonna guess)? The crowd was surprisingly full for a 2 o’clock show, and many were up and dancing to “Will Adams Breakdown,” singing the chorus on “Don’t trouble in your mind” and cheering for a quick cover of “Maybelline.”
Alejandro Escovedo (above)
I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve got a man-crush on Alejandro Escovedo. The guy’s damn near 60 years old and still writes better music and puts on more energetic shows than almost anyone else out there. Escovedo and his backing band, the Sensitive Boys, took the Blue Stage at 6:00 PM and immediately launched into a rocking version of “Always a Friend,” followed in rapid succession by four other hard-hitting cuts from Escovedo’s two most recent albums, including a feedback-drenched “Street Songs.” No break for banter or tuning, the band was all business, firing on all cylinders and kicking ass. Escovedo slowed down at the 30 minute mark to switch to an acoustic guitar for “Down in the Bowery” and “Rosalie,” two heart-felt laid back numbers, before switching back to electric to close with three barn burners, “Chelsea Hotel ‘78,” ”Castanets,” and ”Real as an Animal.” “Chelsea Hotel ‘78” had the most impressive musical moment of the festival for me; about a minute in Escovedo broke a string on his guitar. Without missing a beat or stopping the song, he trades it for another, plugs in, makes some minor adjustments and proceeds to tear into the best solo of the festival. Afterwards, after asking his take on the first LouFest, Escovedo told me “It was a great time. Very well run. People treated us really well. Everything was great…except for playing in the excruciating heat.”
Jeff Tweedy (above)
For a summer music festival, the most important set of the day is always the one at sunset. The heat’s finally died down, the crowd is swelling, and everyone is ready to get their money’s worth. Saturday night, Built to Spill did a damn good job in this slot, stretching out on some serious jams and crowd favorites. Sunday, local-bone-done-good Jeff Tweedy, playing without his Wilco bandmates, was equally impressive. The stage set-up was pretty simple: Tweedy, in all black and black sunglasses, a microphone, five guitars, and a harmonica. I was not entirely sure Tweedy could hold the audience for 75 minutes by himself, but boy was I wrong. Tweedy was funny and thankful between songs, and spot-on during them. The setlist was impressively varied, mixing old and new Wilco numbers, covers (“Lost Love,” “So Much Wine”) and a couple of songs from Tweedy’s non-Wilco projects (“New Madrid,” “The Ruling Class”). I came away from this set with a newfound appreciation for Wilco’s songbook; even Yankee Hotel Foxtrot songs like “I’m the Man Who Loves You” and “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” stripped of all the studio bells and whistles, came out sounding somehow even better. The set had a number of high points, but “Jesus, Etc.” was the best. As the sun receded behind the Forest Park trees and a light breeze picked up, an intense Tweedy sang about old neighborhoods and asked “Do you still love rock and roll?” as the crowd sang along. Dear Jeff – yeah, we do. Tweedy also gave us the two best stage banter moments of the weekend; the first came when he was presented with a framed mayoral proclamation declaring August 28th to be “Jeff Tweedy Day” in St Louis. “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard” Tweedy responsed, before continuing “although, traditionally, Jeff Tweedy day is a three day weekend,” to the crowd’s approval. Second, a crowd member reminded Tweedy to finally pay his tab at Cicero’s (where Wilco got their start). Tweedy fired back “I don’t owe anyone at Cicero’s. They owe me…there’s just lucky I didn’t send em my bill from rehab.” Touche.
She & Him (above)
