Play me a sad song because/ That’s what I want to hear/ I want you to make me cry/ I want to remember the places that we left/ Lost to the mists of time … On buses that move through the night/ We sleep on and on/ We got off at Memphis, blacktop heat will make us thirsty/ We’ll never get sick anymore.—”Sad Song,” by Au Revoir Simone, from the album The Bird of Music.Don’t be sad, great art comes under duress, que no? If that meirda’s true, then what follows is a frikkin’ masterpiece! I’ve been battling my own white blood cells this week; sometimes my hands get swollen, just like in that Pink Floyd song that’s also about lamenting the past. The muscles in my arms and legs stop working, too. So I’m a pain the arse to be around, grumble a lot and have trouble performing ordinary activities and actions. Apparently I can still write, though—especially about music, culture and politics. Here’s an example of that where I implore Alibi readers to go out and see some shows.
Show Up!: Friday
Eric McFadden
Courtesy of the artist
Someone wrote me a letter. It read, it said, “Hey douchebag, are you going to cover Eric McFadden every goddamn time he plays in Albuquerque?” My response to such entreaties? Hell, yes dude! Besides being a gifted and worldly guitarist, McFadden’s connection to Burque is deep and def. Show up for his Freaky Friday the 13th gig at Sister (407 Central Ave NW) on Friday, Oct. 13. It’ll be scary good. $8 • 21+ • 9pm
Show Up!: Saturday
Electric guitars can be used to make jazz music. Once you get used to that, it’s not a far stretch to believe the match grip is not a drummers only stick-holding choice. But that’s a whole different story. I wanna emphasize jazz guitar here by suggesting an expedition to the Outpost (210 Yale Blvd SE) on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 14. That’s when the legendary Leni Stern Trio plays Burque. She’s a complex, inventive guitarist who had a band with Bill Frisell, worked as a session player and scholar of West African music and developed into one of this century’s most innovative and thoughtful wielders of the axe. Now she digs the n’goni too. $20 to 25 • All Ages • 7:30pm
Show Up!: Monday
Dinosaur Jr.
Via Bandcamp
Right off, I will tell you how I was one of those members of Gen X that wasn’t particularly interested when Dinosaur Jr. came out in the ’90s. At the time their music seemed too earnest, too hookless—plus the droning, careening J. Macsis as Nick Cave thing turned me off. Interestingly I remember digging the Lou Barlow projects, especially Folk Implosion, that followed. Some time has passed and those original two, Barlow and Macsis—plus founding drummer Murph—are back together to remind audiences how damn good independent, punk-hybrid homegrown rocanrol can be, even if the critics demure. Show up and see these for realz rock royals in action at Sunshine Theater (120 Central NW) on Monday, Oct. 16. $25 • 13+ • 8pm
