Not so big, bigger, biggest: I caught three acts near and dear to my heart on a pre-Roots Picnic spree on successive nights this past week, in escalating levels of hugeness: The Waco Brothers (who have never been and will never be huge), M.I.A. (who quite possibly is on her way to being huge), and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (who are as huge, if not huger, than ever). Only two of the three did Bo Diddley covers.
The Wacos played the North Star Bar on Wednesday, to a crowd of maybe, 50 people. That's typical for Jon Langford, the Welshman who's been making galvanic, highly amusing, intellectually challenging Hank Williams informed rock and roll for decades, with the Mekons, Wacos, Three Johns or all by his lonesome. At the North Star, the swaggering Wacos were as good as they always are, kicking high like middle aged Rockettes, and closing with successive medleys of Diddley and George Jones. One regret: They didn't do "See Willie Fly By," which my friend Molly calls "the second best song ever."
On Thursday, M.I.A. - that's short for Maya Arulpragasam - played the 33rd Street Armory at Drexel. I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast, but back in the day, I saw both Nirvana and the Notorious B.I.G. there. That was a long time ago, however, and there haven't been any shows there in a good long while. The barrel vaulted room is spacious, the sight lines clean, it should be a pleasant place to see a show. But for M..A. on Thursday, the sound was terrible. M.I.A.'s percussive street beat agit-pop percolates and explodes in all sorts of fascinating ways, and her show last December at the Electric Factory was thrilling, a complete package of day-glo pomo visuals and a riotous coming-out party for her multiculti audience. But at the Armory, the echoey sound mix was so fractured and diffuse that it was simultaneously too loud and not nearly loud enough. Unless you pushed up to the very front of the stage, you felt like you were watching from a serious remove. I never thought I'd miss the Electric Factory so much.
As Petty pointed out, he's been coming to Philadelphia since 1976. He's never been all that of energetic performer, and there are only a few truly great songs in which he sings like he actually has something at stake - among them, "Even The Losers," "The Waiting," "American Girl," which Molly, perhaps correctly, says is "the best song ever." But if there's a dearth of truly great ones, there are more really good ones than you can count on your fingers and toes. Plus, he's got an excellent band, and his reach never exceeds his grasp.
On his second night at the Wachovia Center - in front of a crowd that's considerably more youthful than that commanded by contemporaries like Bruce Springsteen (that's what having radio hits will do for you) the 57 year old Petty did lots of them, plus covers of Them's "Mystic Eyes," and "Bo Diddley's A Gunslinger," and rarities of his own called "Sweet William" and "Girl On LSD." Plus, for the first time on their current tour, he brought out Steve Winwood for a pretty darn combustible version of "Gimme Some Lovin'," in which Winwood, at 60, sounded as much like a gruff middle-aged soul man as he did when he first sang it with the Spencer Davis Group in 1967 when he was 19. Doug Wallen's spot-on review of the previous night's show is here.
Philly.com discussions are intended to be civil, friendly conversations. Please treat other participants with respect and in a way that you would want to be treated. You are responsible for what you say. And please, stay on topic.
These boards are monitored by Philly.com staff. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us in our sole discretion and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. Personal attacks, especially on other board participants, are not permitted. We reserve the right to permanently block any user who violates these terms and conditions.