Golden Smog

These guys make it look effortless. You could really tell they were having a blast. I spent the entire show three feet in front of Gary Louris, awesome. My ears are still ringing a bit...

The Golden Smog show in Minneapolis on Saturday night was quite a show. I travelled out from New Jersey to see the Smog, and I was not disappointed. These guys play a very loose, friendly show, laughing and joking with each other throughout. You could tell that they were up there playing for the fun of it, not the paycheck. Switching instruments around, playing each other's rigs, they were very versatile and everything sounded great. One of the nice things about club gigs is that you can actually see the band and hear them well. This was no exception. Every song was classic Smog, even a coupla unusual covers (who covers Bread, anyway?). Golden Smog doesn't come around much, if ever, but when they do they are worth seeing. Great vocals from Kraig Johnson, Gary Louris, Dan Murphy, and even Marc Perlman. Everyone shared the limelight atthis show, and everyone had the chance to shine. Very cool.

Kraig Johnson made the show rock! He sang most of the lead vocals- very well, and got a teensy bit Westy near the end. Could have turned up that vibe higher-

Perlman's bass was often out of tune, Louris looked clueless at points, the songs tended to meander during instrumental parts, as nobody really knew who was supposed to be soloing. Louris played a lot of wrong notes, Stephens drumming was often behind, or at best just very repetitive, falling back on the same beats, regardless of the songs-- obviously due to a lack of practice or familiarity with the songs. Worst of all was the mix-- - nearly impossible to hear Gary's vocals, the other vocals were ok, but still not loud enough in the mix. There is no excuse for a bad sound mix. On a bright note, the opening band was horrible, not only from a musical standpoint, but they kept apologizing for murdering their songs or being too nervous. Not what you expect or deserve from a band in this venue. The true bright spot was Murphy. He was excellent in terms of singing, guitar playing and stage presence. Never appreciated him enough before, he was really in the zone and made the night worthwhile.

Lame, very, exceedingly, superlatively. Self-satisfied, smug, self-congratulatory, and boorrrinng.

Great as usual! Only wish they would play more often and Tweedy and Pirner could have made it. That said, it was good fun to see Kraig, Jody "f'ing" Stephens, Marc, Gary and Dan together shaking it loose. Also, Jim Boquist was bouncing around with them too, which was a treat. Thanks GS for a really great weekend...please do it again soon!