Legends of the Fall

Salt Lake City Upcoming Concerts: Michael Martin Murphy, Ben Lee, The Who

By Brian Staker, 11-09-06

	Staker Pick of the Week: Ben Lee

Circa Survive, Rise Against, Thursday

Musical styles always seem to move in a series of movements where new styles are initiated, their guidelines codified, then newcomers find them too monolithic and branch out into novel pathways that build on what engendered them, to discover new creative possibilities. Such is the example of the bands in this show and their perspectives on emo, which itself had risen out of hardcore punk.

The members of Philadelphia ensemble Circa Survive had cut their teeth on emo, a ‘hot’ genre in the McLuhan-esque sense of the word: emotionally expressive and volatile to the point of confessionality, but then they found the need to turn to the more cerebral artistry of progressive rock for inspiration. Their moniker, as well as the title of last year’s debut, Juturna (Equal Vision), imply the mythic stature of Roman society, which struck a balance between the animalistic impulses of sheer emotion and more intellectual aspirations. As a debut, however, it shows much more potential for the future than it delivers in the present, song structures and lyrics wandering a bit aimlessly without the self-imposed limits of the personal. Rise Against and Thursday evidence more traditional hardcore, not as exploratory a bent but on more solid if overly familiar ground.

November 9, Salt Air

Also appearing:

November 19: Denver, CO (Fillmore Auditorium)

Michael Martin Murphey

In a celebrity-obsessed era, Michael Martin Murphey has always been known more for his songs than for his face. Compare his career with that of Michael Nesmith of the Monkees, with whom Murphey performed in the Lewis & Clarke Expedition in the 60’s. Nesmith really hit the genetic jackpot with his mother inventing Liquid Paper, as well as being a gifted songwriter. But in the country genre, which recently has discovered the commercial magic of performers with cover model looks and bland sounds, sixty-ish Murphey was born too early for the western renaissance of the past decade or so.

Still, he has had a vaunted place in the genre, voted Best New Male Vocalist in 1983 by the American Country Music Association. That’s typical for the music industry, as he’d been ‘new’ for almost two decades by then. His songs have been covered by country luminaries like Flatt & Scruggs, Kenny Rogers and Bobbie Gentry, and his biggest hit, “Wildfire,” shows his vocal flair in the 70’s California country rock scene. He did find a face in films like “Take This Job and Shove It,” his laid-back yet determined persona put to good use, and his middle name added to avoid confusion with another actor. His dedication to western music is also evidenced by the West Fest celebrations, which he established in the late 90’s. Watch for dates around the middle of next month in Colorado.

November 9, Wasatch High School (Heber City)

Ben Lee, Rooney, Under the Influence of Ghosts **Staker’s Pick of the Week!**

It used to be that English groups took a while to get noticed in the States. Even after the Beatles, 80’s English new wave bands didn’t catch on here initially due to pre-internet record distribution difficulties. But now, when everything is happens seemingly instantaneously everywhere, Australian music still appears to be a bit off the American radar, though when we do here it, it clicks immediately, everything from Olivia Newton John to Men at Work, Midnight Oil and beyond.

The most recent example is Ben Lee, celebrated in England years before anyone here took notice. In the fertile (to the point of oversaturation?—everyone has a band now, including me) field of pop music, musicians like Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth promote new discoveries, as he did with Lee’s early 90’s unit Noise Addict. With the word ‘noise’ in the name, that’s a no-brainer for Moore. Lee’s solo work, however, has been more poppy, to the point where his take-off on the Lemonheads’ Evan Dando, “I Wish I Was Him,” was actually covered by the head Lemonhead.

No, Lee didn’t enjoy the huge commercial success of some of his contemporaries, largely due to the fact that ‘indie’ anything is still a niche market a good ten years in. But critically, once the ‘enfant terrible’ stain has worn off, discriminating listeners have fallen in line, noting his intelligence and by now, emotional maturity. Check out his podcast on iTunes to hear cogent discussion of music in a world of mediocrity. Last year’s Awake Is the New Sleep (New West) (label no association with this publication) is a breath of fresh air through the bedroom window. Rooney flies the flag of the Republic of California with their Beach-Boys-influenced, The O.C.-featured pop rock, and Under the Influence of Ghosts follow a similar vein with one of the most intriguing band names lately.

November 10, Avalon Theater

Also appearing:

November 9: Boulder, CO (Fox Theatre)
November 11: Boise, ID (Big Easy)

The Who, The Pretenders

Who’s on first? The core of guitarist Pete Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey soldier on at this late date, four years after the passing of bassist John Entwistle and decades since Keith Moon’s never-since-beheld savagery against the skins. But then, in the triumvirate of British music royalty from the 60’s, compared to the Beatles and the Stones, the Who always seemed the most workmanlike; the most in common with the working class, and that shone through in the content of their music as well, and they held the most kinship with the punkers in episodes like rock opera Quadrophenia in the late seventies, which fused their 60’s mod image with London scenesters like (pre-Boring Old Fart) Sting.

In their own way the Who were as multi-faceted as the Beatles, with short rock numbers that were positively bracing, in addition to the psychedelia of rock opera Tommy and other numbers that extended and explored rock music structure years before the advent of prog. Numerous solo outings, several reunions and automobile commercials later, this tour provides something more than nostalgia with their first release of new material in years, Endless Wire. With hard rock, introspective ballads and operatic leanings, it’s a welcome addition to their catalog, though time will tell how it places in their overall oeuvre. Another musical legend, The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde is still as foxy as ever.

November 13, Delta Center

Also appearing:

November 10: Las Vegas, NV (Mandalay Bay)
November 14: Denver, CO (Pepsi Center)


Appleseed Cast, Copeland, Owen

College town Lawrence, Kansas has long been a haven for independent artists and musicians, and the Appleseed Castwas one of the first bands on the Emo hallmark Deep Elm label, adding elements of math rock, complicated time signatures and rhythms, to the mix. They weren’t the first unit to make these connections, but they have been one of the best. Towards the musical millennium, the combo drew further away from elemental emo to electronica and prog ala Radiohead, to very interesting effects, on the lately lamented label Tiger Style, that like many experimental art-supporting concerns, eventually couldn’t make it financially. This year’s Peregrine (Militia Group) re-energizes them post-rocking out (is that what ‘post rock-ers’ do?) after the post Tiger Style hiatus.

November 15, Avalon Theater

Also appearing:

November 14: Englewood, CO (Gothic Theatre)
November 16: Boise, ID (The Venue)

Matt Pond PA

What does the ‘PA’ stand for? Public address? Porn addiction? Poor attitude? Matt Pond relocated from New England to Philadelphia to start the band for which he stands, and the Boston area is one region where the musical bar is that much higher than elsewhere. Just the name often given to his style, ‘chamber pop,’ implies some kind of virtuosity or craftsmanship beyond the normal ditties aimed at hummability as the highest praise. Luckily for him and us on this night, the appellations are appropriate. Last year’s Several Arrows Later (Altitude), his fifth album in as many years, shows his subtlety and emotional depth as on target as his prolificacy.

November 15, Club Sound

Also appearing:

November 14: Colorado Springs, CO (Black Sheep)

Lee “Scratch” Perry

The Zephyr, with which I keep finding comparisons with relative newcomer venue the Depot, used to have autographed photos of musical greats who had graced its stage. Not relics or iced-over icons but living, breathing legends, musical elder statesmen who still have something to say. This category, remarkably, still includes septegenarian Lee “Scratch” Perry, in some ways the Louis Armstrong of reggae, still going strong. He didn’t invent the genre, or become its mouthpiece, like Bob Marley, but he took it farther in its formative years than anyone else, with dancehall and dub both in many ways influenced by his sound. Although records too numerous to catalog are out there, the best introduction to his work is Island Records’ 1997 overview Arkology.

November 15, The Depot

Also appearing:

November 16: Boulder, CO (Fox Theatre)

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