Cracker / Camper Van Beethoven at the Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis (06 Jan 2017)
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Maybe it should have been called Lowery-Palooza…?!
As the leader of two bands, singer-songwriter David Lowery did double-duty on a co-headlining, sold out night featuring his bands, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, for a time trip both back into the 80’s and the ‘90s.
The bands have been touring together for the last several years since the former band reunited in 1999, and who released their most recent album, El Camino Real (Savoy Records) in 2014. Cracker, Lowery’s subsequent band, formed in 1990 upon CVB’s dissolution and has continued since, with guitarist Johnny Hickman at Lowery’s side, amongst a changing roster of sidemen.
Cracker’s most recent album is their ninth, also released in 2014 called Berkeley to Bakersfield (429 Records) with the “Berkeley” portion more influenced by punk/garage, and “Bakersfield” sounding more “California country”.
Camper Van Beethoven took to the stage first, playing just over an hour with their interesting blend of folk, alt-pop, punk, ska and world music. Starting with the Status Quo 60’s hit that they’ve made their own, ’Pictures of Matchstick Men’, the scruffy-faced Lowery and bandmates chugged through seventeen songs quickly and without much of a break or saying much in between.
The band took to a couple of covers early on – The Clash’s ‘White Riot’ followed immediately by a loose Black Flag cover of ‘Wasted’ before things went gypsy and Eastern sounding with the instrumental ‘R n R Uzbekistan’. Alt-radio smash ‘Take the Skinheads Bowling’ was next, with many in the Gen X crowd bobbing their heads along with the unlikely hit.
“We’re actually Acid Rain, a tribute to Camper Van Beethoven”, Lowery teased after ‘Bad Trip’, “we hope you enjoy our tribute act”. Violinist/multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Segel, responsible for much of their trademark sound, shone on ‘L’Aguardiente’ and the extended jam medley at the end of their set proved they’re likely the only band that can seamlessly segue from a part of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ into Jewish folk song ‘Hava Negila’ into Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’.
After a brief break and costume change by Lowery (he changed his shirt, took off his cap), dry ice fog pumped onto the stage and the intro music of Dio’s ‘Holy Diver’ brought on Cracker for their seventy minute closing set. The band started mellow and with just Lowery, Hickman, and pedal steel player Matt “Pistol” Stoessel on stage for the opening ‘Dr. Bernice’ and ‘Been Around the World’.
Athens, GA natives- bassist Bryan Howard and drummer CoCo Owens soon followed in, as the band launched into ‘Almond Grove’ from their most recent album. The widescreen ‘One Fine Day’ was expansive, punctuated with Hickman’s guitar riffs and the guitarist took center stage on ‘California Country Boy’, a song Lowery wrote for him.
1992’s ‘Teen Angst’, the band’s first breakout song, made the crowd move in a little more rowdier fashion, with 1993 radio hit, ‘Low’ following soon after (though not accompanied by the memorable black and white music video). Crowd favorite ‘Euro-Trash Girl’ had the crowd singing along with the eight-minute song, originally done for their Tucson EP, then hidden as track #69 on 1993’s Kerosene Hat.
The main set closing ‘Another Song about the Rain’ could have been easily re-titled ‘Another Song about the Snow’ with a blanket of such covering the streets, and near-zero temps outside. CVB guitarist Greg Lisher joined the band as they re-emerged for a single-song encore, the laid back and Buck Owens-influenced ‘King of Bakersfield’, a song celebrating the slow and simple lifestyle of that area in California.
It wasn’t because of the warmth of the building or the cold beers on tap that led people into filling the Fine Line on this dangerously chilly January evening—it was the promise of seeing important alternative bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven together on the same stage, mixing up their hot musical stew to serve up to the more than willing crowd—Lowery-Palooza was in session.
As the leader of two bands, singer-songwriter David Lowery did double-duty on a co-headlining, sold out night featuring his bands, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, for a time trip both back into the 80’s and the ‘90s.
The bands have been touring together for the last several years since the former band reunited in 1999, and who released their most recent album, El Camino Real (Savoy Records) in 2014. Cracker, Lowery’s subsequent band, formed in 1990 upon CVB’s dissolution and has continued since, with guitarist Johnny Hickman at Lowery’s side, amongst a changing roster of sidemen.
Cracker’s most recent album is their ninth, also released in 2014 called Berkeley to Bakersfield (429 Records) with the “Berkeley” portion more influenced by punk/garage, and “Bakersfield” sounding more “California country”.
Camper Van Beethoven took to the stage first, playing just over an hour with their interesting blend of folk, alt-pop, punk, ska and world music. Starting with the Status Quo 60’s hit that they’ve made their own, ’Pictures of Matchstick Men’, the scruffy-faced Lowery and bandmates chugged through seventeen songs quickly and without much of a break or saying much in between.
The band took to a couple of covers early on – The Clash’s ‘White Riot’ followed immediately by a loose Black Flag cover of ‘Wasted’ before things went gypsy and Eastern sounding with the instrumental ‘R n R Uzbekistan’. Alt-radio smash ‘Take the Skinheads Bowling’ was next, with many in the Gen X crowd bobbing their heads along with the unlikely hit.
“We’re actually Acid Rain, a tribute to Camper Van Beethoven”, Lowery teased after ‘Bad Trip’, “we hope you enjoy our tribute act”. Violinist/multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Segel, responsible for much of their trademark sound, shone on ‘L’Aguardiente’ and the extended jam medley at the end of their set proved they’re likely the only band that can seamlessly segue from a part of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ into Jewish folk song ‘Hava Negila’ into Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’.
After a brief break and costume change by Lowery (he changed his shirt, took off his cap), dry ice fog pumped onto the stage and the intro music of Dio’s ‘Holy Diver’ brought on Cracker for their seventy minute closing set. The band started mellow and with just Lowery, Hickman, and pedal steel player Matt “Pistol” Stoessel on stage for the opening ‘Dr. Bernice’ and ‘Been Around the World’.
Athens, GA natives- bassist Bryan Howard and drummer CoCo Owens soon followed in, as the band launched into ‘Almond Grove’ from their most recent album. The widescreen ‘One Fine Day’ was expansive, punctuated with Hickman’s guitar riffs and the guitarist took center stage on ‘California Country Boy’, a song Lowery wrote for him.
1992’s ‘Teen Angst’, the band’s first breakout song, made the crowd move in a little more rowdier fashion, with 1993 radio hit, ‘Low’ following soon after (though not accompanied by the memorable black and white music video). Crowd favorite ‘Euro-Trash Girl’ had the crowd singing along with the eight-minute song, originally done for their Tucson EP, then hidden as track #69 on 1993’s Kerosene Hat.
The main set closing ‘Another Song about the Rain’ could have been easily re-titled ‘Another Song about the Snow’ with a blanket of such covering the streets, and near-zero temps outside. CVB guitarist Greg Lisher joined the band as they re-emerged for a single-song encore, the laid back and Buck Owens-influenced ‘King of Bakersfield’, a song celebrating the slow and simple lifestyle of that area in California.
It wasn’t because of the warmth of the building or the cold beers on tap that led people into filling the Fine Line on this dangerously chilly January evening—it was the promise of seeing important alternative bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven together on the same stage, mixing up their hot musical stew to serve up to the more than willing crowd—Lowery-Palooza was in session.
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Camper Van Beethoven |
Camper Van Beethoven |
Setlist |
Cracker |
Cracker |
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Cracker at Fine Line Music Café, Minneapolis (06 Jan 2017) |