The Wallflowers – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC (12.07.02)
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 12.11.2002
The Wallflowers are at their best on their new tour in support of Red Letter Days and I get to experience a truly great rock concert!
The Wallflowers are on the road right now in support of their recent Interscope release Red Letter Days, which is reviewed for 411 Music here. This was their last stop on the East Coast leg of this tour, which started November 20 in Denver, CO. Jakob Dylan called the night “the end of the beginning of the beginning.” Optimisitc, no? Just like Red Letter Days.
The Venue
This was my first trip to the 9:30 Club. The Club seems to get some really great acts and was a good enough place. Plenty of standing room and a balcony, which is always nice. I was a few rows of people back on the floor, a little to the left and right in front of the speaker, where I always seem to wind up. I was impressed by the Club’s underage drinking precautions. A girl in front of me going in was under 21 and had done a little pre-Wallflowers bottle lifting, and she was kicked out upon entering the door. Neither I nor the 9:30 Club condone underage drinking. One negative, however, was that the Club’s address listed on their site was 815 N St. NW. The site informed me there was parking on 7th Street, so I parked in a lot on 7th and K. Well, long story short, the Club is at 815 V St. NW, which is a lot of alphabet to walk after midnight in Washington, DC with no jacket in December! All in all, though, a great sold-out crowd and a nice venue.
The Price
Tickets were $25. I got mine through Tickets.com, who were nice enough to charge me a little $4 fee to go with it. God bless Tickets.com. I didn’t think I’d ever get rid of that money. $25 seemed a little steep for a club show to me, but not too bad for a Wallflowers concert. The show was definitely worth the price, but I have a right to bitch and bitch I shall.
The Opening Act: Ours
I have seen a lot of great opening acts who really turned me on to their music. Lucinda Williams, Orange 9mm and The Argument are some who have really been enjoyable. The Wallflowers’ opening act was a band called Ours. I had no prior knowledge of Ours before the concert. Apparently they have a couple of albums out. Ours really reminded me of U2. They had a good sound and were amazingly tight for an opening band I’d never heard of. They also had a good look for a straight out rock band. Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t seem to really know Ours and to be honest, they didn’t win me over. They didn’t suck, however, and I wouldn’t surprise to see them on MTV one day for their fifteen minutes.
The Band
Jakob Dylan : vocals, guitar
Rami Jaffee : keyboards, vibes
Greg Richling : bass
Mario Calire : drums
Yogi: guitar
MoeZ: backup vocals, percussion, keyboards
The band sounded terrific tonight and the sound system was great. The Wallflowers are touring as 6 for this album, with the 4 band members, Yogi (formerly of Buckcherry) on guitar and multi-instrumentalist MoeZ. MoeZ was really into it. His vocals were amazing and I’ve never seen somebody play tambourines with such energy in my entire life. He was doing tricks and dancing. Wow. Definitely an unexpected surprise. While the left side of the stage had MoeZ and Yogi rocking, the right side was cool as a cucumber, with Greg Richling laying down his solid bass lines and Rami Jaffee lighting up a few Marlboros and commanding the keyboards. Jakob Dylan bantered with the crowd a bit, letting us know how much the Wallflowers cared about our well being. A fan also let us know tonight was Jakob’s 33rd birthday. What better place to be than with me, Jakob? I wondered if Bob Dylan had called him to wish him Happy Birthday. I’d get excited if Bob Dylan called me on my birthday, but not so much if my dad called me. Anyway, I thought probably not since they were both on the road. I don’t know if Jakob Dylan has a cell phone, but I somehow doubt Bob Dylan does. What? Oh, the concert. It was really good.
The Songs
When You're on Top
Everybody Out of the Water
Three Marlenas
How Good It Can Get
If You Never Got Sick
6th Avenue Heartache
Three Ways
Sleepwalker
Letters From the Wasteland
Empire of My Mind
See You When I Get There
One Headlight
Feels Like Summer Again
Heroes
Too Late to Quit
Everything I Need
Encore
Closer to You
The Difference
Peace, Love and Understanding
Eleven of the songs from this nineteen song set were from the Wallflowers’ new CD. That may seem a little strange, but I have to reiterate from my review, this is the Wallflowers’ strongest set of material ever. There is not a bad song on this album and I highly recommend it. It’s probably my favorite album of the year. The inclusion of almost this whole record in the set list shows me that The Wallflowers really believe in these new songs, too, and that’s never a bad thing. That said, however, it was a little disappointing to not hear anything from their underrated debut album. It doesn’t really surprise me, though, since only two of The Wallflowers now were in the Wallflowers then. They did play all their best known singles, but tonight, even the old songs were new, with a slow, piano driven version of “6th Avenue Heartache” and an amped up reading of “Three Marlenas”. Jakob Dylan gave the fans what they wanted, too, delivering energy filled sing-alongs of “One Headlight” and “The Difference”. The good songs were great and the great songs were um, even greater. They closed the set with a cover of Elvis Costello’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding”, a perfect cap to the night, paying respect to the earlier generation of uplifting straight out rock music.
The 411: The Wallflowers start the West Coast leg of their North American tour on Jan. 15 in Boise. If you get a chance, definitely check them out for a night of great rock music. You’ll get to hear the songs you’ve loved and the songs you will love before the night is over.
