popwreckoning

Despite being a self-proclaimed last minute addition to the bill, Greg Laswell held the World Café Live dinner crowd rapt with the somber yet beautiful songs that have come to represent him.

His demeanor wasn’t all serious, though. Sitting at the piano, Laswell announced he would play a cover song and launched into Richard Marx‘s “Right Here Waiting For You.” The audience audibly expressed its confusion and Laswell stopped to let everyone know he was joking with that tune before playing the most mellow version of Cyndi Lauper‘s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” known to the music world.

Following the the upbeat “How The Day Sounds,” it’s no surprise to hear that Laswell sold out of records while extensively touring the nation. He ended an excellent set with “High And Low” and thanked Hayden for letting him use their piano so he didn’t have to bring his keyboard on the train down from New York before ducking off stage for the next performance.

Greg Laswell

The beginning of Hayden’s set was very mellow as namesake and front man Paul Hayden Desser seemed to slur the lyrics of his mellow rock grooves making them indecipherable. Despite garbed words, the lovely tunes that emanated from the rest of the band made up for it. Desser, at times, urged the crowd to follow band mate Dale Murray‘s clapping patterns throughout the entirety of “Where and When” otherwise they would “mess it up.” The audience obliged and the echo of the clapping throughout the room was very cool.

Not a one trick groove pony, Hayden whipped up a combination of fun beats and throbbing bass lines, the latter of which contrasted beautifully with a light twinkling on the xylophone. The whole of the set often seemed like a long jam session for the four on stage, which was mostly welcomed as Murray was phenomenal on the guitar (making great use of the whammy bar) and Desser got lost in the music and later made the harmonica the sexiest instrument in existence.

Hayden

The night’s main attraction was public radio darling Juliana Hatfield. Hatfield received wild applause as she took the stage with the four members of her backing band. Her vocals are distinct and beautiful as she plays a brand of pop rock whose upbeat music masks its often unhappy lyrical content, especially on songs such as “My Baby…” on which she sings, “my baby doesn’t love me anymore / I just know.”

Played a great deal of music off her newest record How To Walk Away, it seemed that the most intricate of the guitar parts were played by Hatfield’s backing guitarist rather than herself. Despite a potential lack of technical skill, Hatfield won me over with sweet stage banter saying of her album, “this new album is pretty good, I mean, if you’ve heard it. [pause] If I do say so myself.”

For many a song, the crowd pulled out cell phones to call friends for songs with special meaning while others used their point and shoots to film entire songs. Though the set was mostly lovely, about halfway through, songs began running into each other and everything started to sound the same. The one highlight after the halfway point was a “cover” of a Some Girls song, a band Hatfield used to perform in prior to going solo.

Another highlight was an impromptu rendition of “Silent Night, Holy Night” as Hatfield tuned her guitar. My favorite song of the set was “Just Lust,” a ditty about the woman being unattached in a purely sexual relationship: “I get so fatigued / by these long emotional relationship talks. / I’d really much prefer / my own company most of the time. / I never said, ‘I can’t live without you baby’ / I just said, ‘you look good tonight.’” Another highlight was a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s “Bad Moon Rising.”

Overall, Juliana Hatfield’s performance was lovely and enjoyable. She has a string of West Coast dates before heading over to the United Kingdom for a brief stint so catch a set if she heads your way and pick up a copy of How To Walk Away.

Juliana Hatfield: website | myspace
Hayden: website | myspace | live review
Greg Laswell: myspace | download “The One I Love” | live review | Three Flights From Alto Nido review

After supporting The National in Europe, completing a sold out theater tour of Canada and an April tour supporting Feist, Canada’s Hayden continues to tour his latest release In Field & Town, this time headlining in the States. While touring, Hayden is playing with a full band including Corey Wood on drums, Wayne Petty on guitar, Paul Loman on bass, and Dale Murray on guitar and keys. The use of a full band has provided Hayden with a hard rocking, dynamic sound the held the audience rapt.

Seated and surrounding the North Star’s elevated stage, the audience was completely enthralled with the sounds filling the bar. Hayden’s fans displayed the utmost respect for the Canadian musician by remaining perfectly still, eyes fixed on stage during each and every song the band played. Hayden’s rich and smooth voice coupled with his acoustic riffs were complimented wonderfully by three part guitar harmonies, pulsing bass lines and driving percussion.

Hayden played a set catering to both old and new fans, featuring songs from albums like 2004′s Elk-Lake Serenade, 1998′s The Closer I Get and, obviously, a majority of songs from the new record. Each selection was met with applause from the crowd. Those sitting bopped their heads along to the slightly poppy folk rock and flowed forth from the stage while those standing made no qualms about shaking what their mamas gave them.

Hayden’s stage banter also worked in his favor. He cracked jokes about Rocky, his Philadelphia audience’s fictional hero, reminisced about the poor choice in having A&W for lunch and recounted the excitement of the band hearing “Worthy of Your Esteem” while eating breakfast at IHOP that morning. He mentioned that some of the band members had never been to an IHOP, so he suggested heading there. “I don’t get played on the radio anywhere, so to hear me on IHOP FM was huge.” He followed the poppy “Worthy of Your Esteem” with another radio-friendly track, “The Hazards of Sitting Beneath Palm Trees” from 1998′s The Closer I Get, which was met with wild applause from the crowd.

Hayden and company play a tight set of new and old songs, alike, keeping in mind longtime fans. I highly recommend making it to a Hayden show as he and the band make their way towards the West Coast through the end of the month (dates below).

more @ flickr

Hayden:
Jun 08 – Arlington, VA – Club Iota
Jun 10 – Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506
Jun 11 – Atlanta, GA – Five Spot
Jun 13 – Austin, TX – Cactus Cafe
Jun 14 – Dallas, TX – Cambridge
Jun 17 – Tucson, AZ – Plush
Jun 18 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah
Jun 20 – West Hollywood, CA – Troubadour
Jun 22 – San Francisco, CA – Cafe du Nord
Jun 23 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater
Jun 24 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
Jun 27 – Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Culture Center
Jun 28 – Chicago, IL – Schuba’s

Hayden: website | myspace

Hayden:
Jun 03 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
Jun 04 – Allston, MA – Great Scott
Jun 05 – New York, NY – Knitting Factory
Jun 06 – Brooklyn, NY – Southpaw
Jun 07 – Philadelphia, PA – North Star Bar
Jun 08 – Arlington, VA – Club Iota
Jun 10 – Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506
Jun 11 – Atlanta, GA – Five Spot
Jun 13 – Austin, TX – Cactus Cafe
Jun 14 – Dallas, TX – Cambridge
Jun 17 – Tucson, AZ – Plush
Jun 18 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah
Jun 20 – West Hollywood, CA – Troubadour
Jun 22 – San Francisco, CA – Cafe du Nord
Jun 23 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater
Jun 24 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
Jun 27 – Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Culture Center
Jun 28 – Chicago, IL – Schuba’s

Colour Revolt:
May 09 – Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck *
May 10 – St. Louis, MO – Pops *
May 12 – Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506 #
May 13 – Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel #
May 14 – Philadelphia, PA – North Star Bar #
May 15 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge #
May 16 – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s #
May 17 – Northampton, MA – Pearl Street #
May 18 – Allston, MA – Great Scott #
May 20 – Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place #
May 21 – Toronto, ONT – Lee’s Palace #
May 22 – Akron, OH – Musica #
May 23 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean #
May 24 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity #
May 26 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Conservatory #
May 31 – New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks #
Jun 5 – Memphis, TN – Hi-Tone
Jun 6 – Hattiesburg, MS – Thirsty Hippo
Jun 7 – Pensacola, FL – Sluggos
Jun 8 – Tampa, FL – Orpheum
Jun 9 – Orlando, FL – The Social
Jun 10 – Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbits
Jun 11 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt
Jun 12 – Atlanta, GA – Vinyl
Jun 13 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo
Sep 28 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits Festival

* w/ The Breeders # w/ Snowden