Yesterday saw a slew of new releases and a few surprises, including the first single—the title track—from Neil Young’s forthcoming album, Second Song. (Only in my household, I’m sure, did anyone yell at their cats mid-song, “No more tussling! This is Neil!”) I plan to spotlight several of them in the coming days, but for now:
Since seeing her in Durham last month, a voice inside my head’s been shouting that Mikaela Davis needs to release a live album from the tour (which picks up again in September), as it was a phenomenal show. Part of that, I’m sure, is due to Bruce Springsteen’s Philly concert finally hitting the virtual racks over at nugs.net. Finding that 30-year-old Maria McKee bootleg added fuel to the fire, as well, as did the bounty of live clips I indulge in some nights before bed. Yesterday morning, in fact, I almost wrote on one of Davis’ Instagram posts: “You should record a show and share it via Nugs.”
Let me back up: “Live music is better/bumper stickers should be issued” is an age-old lyric from Neil Young that has resonated with me since I first heard it way back when; to crib from something I wrote in the late 1990s, “Live, music makes an even greater visceral impact than a CD, LP or cassette—it’s an immediate connection. You feed off the performer, he feeds off you, and you’re there, wherever there is, not stoned but STONED, and not from drink or drugs but from the music itself.” In this case, obviously, the “he” is a “she,” but the fact remains: live music is better. So imagine my surprise when a Bandcamp missive from Mikaela hit my inbox last night: “Here’s a little taste of what my band’s been up to this summer. Recorded on a hot July night in New York City, ‘Live at TV Eye’ is OUT NOW! Happy Bandcamp Friday.” Yep, a live album!
The 13-track, 77-minute set was recorded on July 18 at the TV Eye club in the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood. As hot as the night may have been, Davis and her band—John Lee Shannon (guitar), Kurt Johnson (pedal steel, lap steel, guitar), Shane McCarthy (bass), and Alex Coté (drums)—are even hotter. The big difference between it and the show in Durham: McCarthy’s bass doesn’t engulf the body in quite the same manner. (Seriously, those vibrations were intense.) Otherwise, it’s the same songs-first affair focused on her recent Graceland Way album, with the highlights being the infectious opener of “(Looking Through) Rose Colored Glasses,” the poppy fun of “Junk Love,” the flight into the long-ago via the feathery “Little Bird,” the feedback-laden “11:11,” and a glistening “Spring Petals in the Snow,” to say nothing of what I jokingly call the ode to radio static, “Nuthin’s on the Radio,” and her cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Only Over You.” It’s a tremendous set.
Of course, a live recording is a different animal than a concert—not better, not worse, just different. Sometimes memories of shows we saw color the proceedings, even if the memories hail from different tours (as is the case, for me, with the Kinks’ One for the Road); other times it plays out as a live best-of that’s a perfect pick for a road trip. It’s too early to say which one Live at TV Eye is, though my money’s on the first. It conjures the Durham show in the best of ways and, as such, is a perfect keepsake from the tour.
(At present, best that I can tell, Live at TV Eye is only available as a digital download from Bandcamp. It’s well worth the expense.)
The Old Grey Cat 