Concert Review: Ben Kweller @ Diesel – February 28, 2008 – Pittsburgh
I hadn’t listened to anything since Sha Sha so I wasn’t expecting nearly so much steel guitar. Apparently Kweller’s lean of late is a lot less pop and a lot more country. The change of style is a conspicuous one and you get the sense that it is a conscious, and perhaps a bit forced, attempt to show maturity.
I can’t say I’ve ever been a huge BK fan; the old pop Kweller was certainly catchy but lacking in depth and the new alt country Kweller feels somewhat contrived. But I have to admit, the show was pretty good. He played a few of the old favorites, but most of the set list was (I’m assuming, since I haven’t heard it yet) from the new album, Changing Horses.
Two highlights of the evening (one during the show, one afterward):
1. The mic stand fiasco
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3sqB5tjd0s[/youtube]
A bit of context: earlier in the evening, someone shouted “Kweller is a rock god” from the balcony to which Kweller humbly replied that he wasn’t. It’s also worth pointing out that this eruption was the culmination of an evening long battle with the aleged microphone stand. Without that context, Kweller may come off as a bit of a jackass in that video. But for a guy struggling to validate his maturity, you have to hand it to him. He handled the situation rather well, and gave us a few laughs at no extra charge. Hearing him say “Googling Youth Group to find the band is gonna suck” was worth the ticket price alone.
2. A rousing game of table tenis, post show
We bumped into the drummer (Mark Stepro) and bassist (Chris Morrissey) for Kweller at Dee’s Cafe after the show. As it turns out, they seem to be avid table tennis players and all around nice guys. Unfortunately I was not lucky enough to score a match with the either of them. But I did get to watch Chris embarrass some schmuck who brought his own paddle to the bar.
I guess the take-away here is that, although I probably won’t remember much of the show a year from now, I will certainly remember not to fuck with Chris Morrissey in table tenis.
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