THE SAUERBRUN REPORT

The snow here Tuesday sacked my plan to hit Toronto for the night but that’s the way it goes in the wintertime. Airlines are quick to gut schedules in the Northeast when there’s snow in the forecast. This latest weather event kinda came out of left field. It wasn’t until Monday afternoon that the weather man revealed the six to ten inch snow punch that would come Tuesday. Once I saw that, I called the hotel up in Toronto and asked if they’d cancel the rez and not charge me. They were cool about it. No prob said the woman working the desk, as long as I was using weather to excuse my no-show.

So with the off day to kill, I tromped over to Williamsburg to see if I could pick up the just-released Pangea record. I stopped by the new Rough Trade shop near the river on north 9th. They had what I was looking for but I was disappointed with the store in general. There are no quirks or pleasant surprises. It’s arranged inefficiently with racks at weird angles. Maybe the place needs to be broken in. Based on what I’d read in advance, I was expecting a serious record store but this is more of a generic Tower-like experience. Dull. Almost glum. Expensive. No used stuff that I could see. No surprise gems or fun bins. I’d predict they don’t survive. I bought a couple records and the clerk had zero spunk during the transaction. Vinyl is back but this place isn’t gonna cash in long term charging $20 for a LP you could get delivered direct from the label to your apartment for 15 bucks. That visit to Amoeba in SF about four months ago messed me up because now nothing compares. Rough Trade is trying to use part of its space for rock shows so maybe I’ll be back but I don’t think it’ll be to look at records.

As long as I’m complaining, let me just say that people who use umbrellas to shield themselves from the snow when it’s 15 degrees are jackasses. The snow won’t hurt you. It won’t get you wet. Forget the umbrella. People in other, less crowded cities don’t do this. When it’s cold and snowing, the flakes bounce off you. Unburden yourself and those who are walking opposite you – and leave the umbrellas at home. Dress warmly. Enjoy the snow. Allow it to make it contact with you. You will survive.

On the way to work Monday, I saw Congressman Charlie Rangel get arrested on the 94th Street bridge. I soured on Rangel after house ethics committee proceedings ended with his 2010 censure. But now I have this image forever locked in my head of a 83-year-old lawmaker from Harlem getting cuffed in front of the place of my employ. Rangel was ushered into a NYPD school bus being used as a paddy wagon at about 1 PM Monday. The mostly union crowd that occupied/shut down the bridge chose the MLK holiday to engage in civil disobedience as a way of highlighting the scores of outsourced airport workers who are badly underpaid. I’d expect the movement seeking economic justice for airplane cleaners, wheelchair attendants and non-federal security-related personnel to gain traction. But I think the quickest way to see wage fairness is through some kind of targeted legislation through the city council rather than a Port Authority bylaw.

As for what happened in Vancouver last weekend with Torts, the opening faceoff brawl and his subsequent spazz-out in the hallway near the visiting locker room, I just want to say the NHL is way off base in fining Calgary coach Bob Hartley 25-grand for his part in what happened. The NHL is over-reaching when it blames a road coach for starting a so-called “tough-guy” lineup without knowing for sure what the intent of that coach is. If a fourth line of players is deemed fit and legal to be included on a NHL roster, a coach can’t be penalized simply for starting said group if a brawl breaks out. The home coach has full control over matchups and can instruct a line with superior talent to play hockey, score goals and avoid fisticuffs. Yes, Hartley may have known what he was getting into with that group but it’s an unfair leap by the League to hold him responsible for the actions of others.

After a three and a half week holiday break, the Kevin Morby /Cate Le Bon tour that started in San Francisco in early December is back on the road. Thursday’s stop in NYC was special because it marked Morby’s first show as a solo artist in the big city he no longer calls home. Morby moved to LA last fall after seven years in New York City.

The set Morby played Thursday night at a sold-out Mercury Lounge mirrored song-for-song the one he performed on the tour’s opening night. The only major difference was that headliner Cate Le Bon did not come out to sing her lines on Slow Train as she did in SF. I had heard reports that this was the case at recent shows elsewhere and my hunch is that it simply became too much of a pre-show routine buster for Le Bon. I mean the cordiality between the two remains obvious as Le Bon dedicated the final song of Thursday’s main set to Morby. The only other subtle difference between night one of the tour and the great Morby performance Thursday night was the natural seasoning he and has band have added while on the road. The songs sound fuller. Tastier.

Here’s the 1-16-14 Morby set list. Running time was 38 minutes. I’ve made up the titles for the three non-Harlem River songs so wildly popular with the audience based on the bobbing of heads and dancing in place that goes on during them.

1. The Jester
2. The Count-up song
3. Sucker in the Void
4. Harlem River (Morby: “This is a song about and for New York.” Timed at 6 minutes, 50 seconds)
5. Wild Side (Dedicated to somebody. I didn’t catch the name)
6. Slow Train (Beautiful opening bass line that Evans reworked since the SF show. Also more creative improv-sounding organ spots from Canzoneri)
7. Miles, Miles, Miles
8. Call My Name or Love My Life

After playing Harlem River, Morby asked the crowd for a show of hands from those who thought he looked nervous. Nobody raised their hand. A woman in the front said: “A little bit, Kev.”

Morby never looks nervous. As front-man, he continues to have the mostly emotionless face of a bass player. If anything, he looked a bit tired. But in response to the woman he knew who answered his show-of-hands question, he acknowledged a touch of the butterflies. “It’s only because I see so many faces that I love,” said Morby.

Among those in the crowd were Babies bandmates Cassie Ramone and Brian Schleyer. Woodist founder and Woods colleague Jeremy Earl was also there. Just a week earlier, Earl announced a string of 18 live shows to follow the 4-15-14 release of the new Woods record With Light and With Love. Morby has confirmed he will not participate in that tour given the full attention he’s devoting to his solo endeavor.

The three songs Morby is currently performing live that do not appear on his debut release are clear-cut keepers that you’d expect will become the building blocks for his next record. In a Tweeted response to a fan who asked about the number that closed his set Thursday night, Morby said that it will indeed be included on LP #2.

The devoted recording engineer, Woods fan and Morby supporter Acid Jack was at Mercury Lounge Thursday night working his devices. He gained permission from Le Bon’s camp a day or two prior so expect both sets to go up on NYCTaper in the coming days.

This was an early show. With service charges, the advanced ticket cost $14.90. Doors opened at 630 PM. Morby went on at 7. Le Bon took the stage at 8 and finished about 9. The room was then cleared for a second, separate admission performance by Les Racquet and Dangermuffin. To maximize a night’s take, rock clubs will sometimes try to cram two events into a single evening which can often rush the proceedings on the front end – or make it a late night on the back end – or both. In this case, the unusually early start to Morby/Le Bon worked out fine since both acts have honed their timing and the audience seemed to know the set time details in advance. Personally, the early start – and early finish – was great for me since I had to work at 4 AM Friday. Had it been a standard 9 PM, 10 PM or later launch to the show, I may not have been able to pull it off.

Barring some kind of too-high-to-climb travel hurdle, I plan to hit next week’s Toronto Morby/Le Bon show.