From Toto to Dave Matthews

Upcoming in Salt Lake City: Dave Matthews, Toto, Vinyl

By Brian Staker, 8-29-06

Salt Lake City Upcoming Concerts: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND, TOTO, VINYL, REGGAE SUNSPLASH, ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO

Dave Matthews Band, Robert Randolph and the Family Band

Do I really have to tell you who Dave Matthews is? The jazzy, jam-verging music has made him a hit with Deadheads, Phishheads and that ilk since their 1991 foundation. Unlike the Dead, however, in 1996 Matthews initiated an industry crackdown on live recordings. What Would Jerry Say? And you may have heard of the incident two years ago when the band’s bus driver accidentally emptied the vehicle’s septic receptacle onto unsuspecting tourists.

The jokes ceased being made or being funny months ago. The happy-go-lucky faux-world music jive continues unabated. DMB will have their work cut out for them to top last month’s USANA attendance pinnacle set by Def Leppard. But they have a secret weapon. At the end of the show, members of Tool will join Matthews on stage to jam. Not really.

August 30, USANA Amphitheatre

Also appearing:

September 12-13: Denver, CO (Pepsi Center)


Frank Caliendo

One of the few funny people still on Mad TV, who somehow hasn’t fallen prey to the Saturday Night Live/Mad TV curse of stars deserting for the world of film. Frank Caliendo’s comedy palette is seemingly endless because he is a master impressionist, doing everyone from Robin Williams to both George Bushes to Jack Nicholson to Fox’s NFL commentator John Madden. It’s a safe bet that he’ll do an extensive preseason preview under the latter persona. Unlike most impressionists, he actually is able to make himself resemble each subject, so it’s an amazing transformation from one to the next.

August 30: Wiseguys

Toto

Toto was, and unaccountably, still is, an LA ‘supergroup’ of sorts that helped define the sound of MOR (“middle of the road”) radio in the late 70’s and early 80’s. If you happen to google ‘Toto,’ you’ll find that totousa.com manufactures a complete line of commercial and residential plumbing products.

Besides the colossal chart success of top tens “Hold the Line,” “Africa” and “Rosanna,” the band was actually more popular overseas, especially in Europe and Asia, than domestically. Still, “Africa” was never chosen as the continental anthem of what used to be known as ‘the dark continent.’ But their songs may ring anthemic if you grew up during the period, or at least touch a familiar tone, whether that familiarity breeds contempt or comfort, or both. And if your formative years formed themselves a few years later, there’s The Fixx in concert in night before at the Depot.

August 31, Sandy City Amphitheater

Also appearing:

September 1: Las Vegas, NV (Boulder Station Hotel and Casino)

Vinyl

Naming themselves after a near-extinct form of audio reproduction for this Bay area band. I suppose it’s the ‘grooves’ in the Vinyl they are referring to. Yeah. Must be. With myriad keyboards, trumpet, sax, flute and percussion, they are free to get as jazzy as they wanna be. Describing their live show as a ‘high energy dance party doesn’t tell the half of it, with their forays into latin, funk and fusion side genres.

On their latest, Fogshack Sessions, longtime associate Bernie Worrell adds keyboard mastery; in case you were wondering where’s the funk, it’s all the funk over the place. That errand of funkfinding being an ongoing concern amongst music goers of many stripes. A ‘funk’ function should be included in those super-duper GPS units you see now. But even cooler, all their albums actually are available on vinyl.

September 2, Ego’s

Also appearing:

August 29: Breckenridge, CO (Sherpa & Yeti’s)
August 31: Victor, ID (Knotty Pine)
September 1: Jackson Hole, WY (Mangy Moose)

Reggae Sunsplash

“Sunsplash” is the most appropriate title for a reggae festival, with the sunny connotations of the music: with the bouncing yet mellow mood of the music; the jovial vocals even when discussing themes of heartache in common with the blues; the cloud-free weather usually conducted under, as if to mimic Kingston itself; and last but not least, the sunny dispositions of spectators and participants alike, regardless of substances spread with mere ‘contact’ as though the high was contagious, like some kind of hay fever allergen.

Many of the greats of the genre will be in attendance, including original Jamaicans Toots and the Maytals, up there in the pantheon with Bob Marley. Their The Harder They Come album was a reggae classic, a blueprint of how a reggae soundtrack should be done.

Maxi Priest evidences the dancehall style, and English ska band UB40 show the influence of the backbeat-driven sound in Great Britian, much greater and earlier than here, with which enthusiasts are still trying to catch up. But in a sense the real star is the sun itself, the heavenly orb without which their sacred ‘herb’ wouldn’t ripen, and the grins wouldn’t be quite as wide.

September 4, USANA Amphitheatre

Also appearing:

September 3: Las Vegas, NV (Mandalay Bay Beach Events)

Alejandro Escovedo Staker’s pick of the week!!!

Pat’s BBQ has come quite a ways from humble beginnings several years ago, only open for take out a few hours at lunchtime, to a full restaurant with soundstage in the back. The great ‘Q’ has been the constant from the start. This is one of those rare eateries where you’ll swear ‘I’m not in Utah anymore.’

And it’s another breakthrough to see Austin, TX denizen Alejandro Escovedo play the place. Starting in early punk band the Nuns, and later country punkers Rank and File, he later turned to alt-country, of which he became spokesman. His music has always been a stylistic muralist, however.

His esteem was such among musicians that in 2003, after collapsing with Hepatitis C following a concert, musicians provided support for his medical bills with a series of benefit concerts. My real pick of the week is President Bush’s visit to town, with his ‘entourage’ and the circus, media and otherwise, that is certain to ensue. But can you get barbeque at this Texan’s visit?


September 5, Pat’s BBQ

Also appearing:

September 7: Aspen, CO (Belly Up)
September 8: Durango, CO (Abbey Theatre)
September 9: Denver, CO (Bluebird Theater)

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